Stashin’

Made a little headway on organizing my fabric today. Didn’t actually organize any of the fabric, but got a step closer. When we decorated the office/sewing room this year, we chose the Expedit bookshelves from Ikea for my main storage units. I put my books, projects and fabrics in the available 24 spaces. The problem is that fabric shouldn’t be exposed to light because that has a tendency to fade it. I’ve looked for drawers or doors or anything that I could install on the shelves that would help with hiding the stash, but nothing seemed to fit.

Finally, though, I found the Itso fabric drawers from Target. They are the perfect size—exactly the dimensions I needed. The colors matched the room decor we set up and look really nice. For Christmas, I told Robert that I wanted eight drawers—enough to hold my entire fabric stash and box up some projects. He got them and now I’m in the process of putting my fabric in them.

I spent today working on the sample cards that I intend to keep in a box or perhaps on a flip ring. I made a template in Word that has space for width, length, prewashed status, fabric content, care instructions, where and when purchased and price paid, after discounts if any. Most importantly, I included a spot for box number. I intend to number all eight boxes and as I fill them, I’ll make a card out for each fabric. I will cut out a 3”x3” swatch to glue to the back so I can see what I have at hand easily. At this point, it won’t matter if a fabric is for me, the kids or Robert (my current system—we all have shelves, more or less) because I can just look in the specific box and find what I’m looking for. I also intend to try to keep the stash to just these eight boxes, so I won’t be getting the itch to go out and buy stuff when I don’t have any place for it.

In all, I’m pretty excited about it. I need to get to work measuring and describing the stash I have, but as soon as I’ve got it all labeled and boxed, it will all be smooth sailing. When I get new fabric after I get it organized, it will be a matter of minutes to get them into the system and put away neatly.

Bring on the Snow!

Or, in my case (as I live in East Texas), the slush!

Finally finished Laura’s jacket. I cut it out probably a month or so ago, along with the stuff to make a jacket for Harrison as well. As so often happens, the projects got set aside for life and I have only in the past few weeks or so gotten enough time to get to them. I finished Laura’s completely today, although all I had left was the snaps and the hole through which I bagged the lining. The sleeves threw me for a loop—the directions seemed totally non-intuitive, but I trusted Ottobre to have worked out the details as they so often do and it came out perfectly.

I used a short napped fake fur from Hancock’s and lined it with a nice, cushy baby pink knit. For the bears, I embroidered the facial features instead of using buttons. I figured since she’s still under a year that there was no reason to be tempting fate with chokey things.

I think the only thing I would have changed is to add some bear ears to the hood. At the time I was making that part, the fabric was being kind of fiddley and I just didn’t want to make the effort to add them. As it is, it looks really cute, but ears always make things better. Maybe next year.

I’ll get pictures of the girl in it soon. She wore it out Christmas shopping today and was oooohed and aaaaahed all over the store. More importantly, she kept rubbing it and smiling, so I think it was pretty successful.

Now, on to the boy’s jacket!

Grrrrr…I mean, Brrrrrr!

Working on the girl’s jacket since it’s finally winter here in East TX. It’s going together pretty quickly, considering that I’m working with fake fur. It’s got a really short nap, so it’s not too bad, but I’m definitely going to think twice about using this fabric again. If I didn’t know how adorable she’s going to be in it, I’d have given up hours ago. Nice thing is that it’s entirely lined (bagged!), so I don’t have to worry about finishing the seams. I’m finger pressing them open and running over them at the junctures with seams to keep them open and that’s pretty much doing the trick. I might tack them down in a few places, but overall I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. I’ve got to redo the hood (again), but I think I’m going to work on that tomorrow since it’s nearing midnight and I do actually work for a living. :)

Will hopefully get to the boy’s jacket by the weekend, although I’m not as worried about his just because he’s already got one really good jacket. I am making him a reversible hoodie so it will be warm without being too hot or bulky. It’s cut out, I just need to get it finished up. One project at a time!

Wonder Baby

So, the promised costume details.

I literally whipped this all up in one day, so it’s really a no brainer. I did the tiara first. Wonder Woman’s tiara curves up on top and slightly so on the bottom. (I’m referencing the real Wonder Woman here, not the TV Wonder Woman.)

First step, obviously, is to measure your kid’s head. Laura’s was about 19-1/2 inches, but I figured the wig would take up some room so I went ahead and made my circumference 21 inches. I then drew a rectangle that was 2 inches by 10-1/2 inches. (A quick note here—I’m math-tarded, so if I could figure this out, really—you can too!)

I then measured up from the center one inch and made a mark. I did the same half an inch down. Out came the trusty French curves and I made a nice gradual curve on top and bottom.

I folded my gold lame on the grain, lined up the pattern on the fold and cut out two pieces. Stitch around the edge (I used a 3/8 inch seam, but float your own boat—more or less to taste), leave a hole for turning, and then turn it.

I want to note here that I did not interface this. Actually, let me restate that: I did not interface the final iteration of this. I tried interfacing it with a really stiff interfacing I had hanging around, but had trouble turning the danged thing and ended up throwing that one away. Lame shreds, y’all! I decided against interfacing on the second go-around because it didn’t seem necessary and, quite frankly, I just didn’t want to do it. If I were making this to stand alone, I would definitely stiffen it up, but as it was going to be tacked onto a baby’s wig, I figured no one would care. Turns out, they didn’t. Score one for me. :)

So, anyway. If you’re industrious, slip stitch the hole closed. I’m lazy and knew that this was the only time she would likely be wearing it, so I got some Wonder Tape (appropriate, I think…) and tacked it closed. Seam finished.

Next, I played measured the height of the tiara and figured that I would need about a 1-1/2 to 2 inch star. Okey-dokey. You could totally free hand this. You could also just find some big red star stickers. I, being the anal retentive freak I am (and the broker than broke chicka I am, since I spent so much money on tights and fabric markers) went to my old friend, Photoshop, and used the alignment bars to set up the size I wanted, embiggened the star to the right size (yeah, I know it’s a made up word…whatever…), and printed it out. Tacked it to the scrap of red sweatshirt material I happened to have laying out for another project. Snipped it out. Wonder Taped it in place. Zig zagged it on with a narrow stitch. Poof, done. Fabu.

The wig took about the same amount of time, but only because I had to do the tiara twice. So I guess, real world estimates, it took twice the time of the tiara. Whatever. Artist—not math teacher.

I have lost my pattern, but basically, I took her head measurement (bumping it up, again, to 21 inches), divided by four (since I was going to be making a skull cap type of hat with four pieces) and drew another rectangle, this time five inches (the height I was making the had from crown to edge) by 4-1/4 inches (head circumference divided by four). At the top of the rectangle, I marked out the center (2-1/8 inches) and drew a gentle curve from there down to each side, about an inch or so down. It ended up looking like an upside pointy-ish letter ‘U.’ Stitch two of the pieces together along the crown, and then stitch the other two together. Line up the two stitched together pieces with seams matching and stitch around the now-very-large-curve. This should make you a nice little skull cap.

I sewed mine out of black fleece. It was pretty stretchy, so along the two sides that I had designated the sides of the head, I got a little bit of clear elastic and gathered it a bit. I didn’t want it smooshed up too much, but I did want it to grab a bit.

Then came the fun part: I laid out my black fleece and started cutting out some long swoopy shapes. They were kind of like long, pointy 8s. I kind of just used my rotary cutter and let it do its thing. No one is going to be inspecting this thing up close and personal (and if they do—good grief—it’s cartoon hair! Get over it!), so they don’t have to be perfectly symmetrical or anything. Just long and swooshy.

Once I had about 20 or so hair pieces, I started sewing them to the cap. I started doing this on the machine, but really, it was much easier to just tack in them in place by hand, which I started doing about half way through. The key here in hair placement is that you want to stitch it upside down from where it’s going to be so that the point of the ‘8’ will fold under the hair. I didn’t do that on my first layer of hair and so I had all these little triangles sticking up. I ended up covering them pretty well in the end with subsequent layers, but it was kind of frustrating at first. Whatever. Live and learn.

Which leads me to the other important thing about the wig—start at the bottom of the head and work your way up. I started with the back and sides, got a layer or two in and then went in and tacked the tiara into place. I machine stitched it in center back and hand tacked it (with red) on the star. Then I added more hair, going all the way up to the edge of the tiara to make the waves.

I think, overall, the effect was pretty darned nice, if I do say so.

My last step was to sew a clear elastic chin strap to keep it in place. I totally expected my little fireball to be ripping at the wig, trying desperately to get it off, but she was surprisingly cool about it. She fooled with it at first, but once I showed it to her in the mirror, she laughed and stopped messing with it. I put it on her a few times while sitting around the house so I could take pictures and would take it off when she got frustrated with it. Then, when we went out trick-or-treating, I put it on her and she didn’t mess with it at all.

The tights were super easy, as well. I got some plain white baby tights (do you have any idea how hard it is to find baby tights sans ruffles? That was the hard part!) and put them on her to figure measurements. I used a pencil to mark her knees front and back, as well as the soles of her feet. I pulled them off her, put some cardboard in to give shape and to block paint seepage and started coloring them with a red fabric marker. I left a white stripe down the front and after I colored in the sides and backs, I went around the top about half an inch up from the top with just a thin line, to indicate the white stripe at the top of Wonder Woman’s boots. Super cute, super easy and Laura loved looking at them and playing with them. (Amazingly, she didn’t try to eat them.)

So that’s it. Wonder Baby on the cheap and easy!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

BTW, if any of this doesn’t make sense and you’re desperate for clearer instructions, leave some comments or email me or something and I’ll be happy to try to work this all out in Photoshop or Paint or something. I’m lazy, though, so I figured I’d go the minimal route tonight… :)

Jacket Progress

Slowly inching along on the kids’ jackets. I’ve got both completely cut out, although I think I’m going to add ears to Laura’s hood. I mean, you can’t very well have a faux fur teddy bear jacket without ears, can you? I’ve got the teddy pockets cut out and the pinks of the pocket ear tape-basted in place. Now I just need to get some time to get the sewing machine and serger cleaned up and threaded so I can get some sample sewing done to figure my zig-zag size for appliquéing the pinks on. No problem, right? Aside from the ear quandary, I think instead of sewing buttons on for eyes, I’m going to satin stitch the them, as well as the mouth. No need to give my little girl who is just getting to the ‘every thing that is in my hands obviously belongs in my mouth’ stage something on which to choke. She’ll provide that kind of fodder for herself.

Harrison keeps telling me he doesn’t want a hood on his jacket, but I know that if I don’t put one, he’ll just turn around and ask why I didn’t put one. So on it shall go. I think, since the jacket is reversible, that I’m going to flip the solid and the print on the hood so that when he’s got the print on the outside of the jacket, it will be on the inside of his hood and vice versa. I think that’s the kind of detail he’ll enjoy. I also think that instead of putting binding on the hood (one of my least favorite things to do, despite my awesome binding attachment), I’m going to make a casing and then just put some elastic in at the edge. I don’t know—I’ll look at it and see what I think.

I’m really excited about these jackets. It’s getting really cool around here lately, so I think the kids will enjoy wearing them. I know I’ll enjoy seeing them in them. :)

Pattern Work

Sat down to my sewing machine tonight for the first time in months. I hate the beginning of the school year because I always end up getting bogged down with tons of crap and I don’t get to sew or do much of anything not work related at all. Very depressing.

So anyway, I’m getting some patterns cut out using Pam Erny’s technique. I’ve got a reversible hoodie for the boy (Ottobre 04/09 #14) in the works made from a Wall*E fleece print we picked up at Hancock's. The girl is also getting a jacket—I’m making her the Teddy Bear jacket from Ottobre 06/08 (#10). I’ve got a short nap fake fur and a pink knit—I think she’ll look adorable (but then, when don’t I think that?). I’m also getting the girl’s Halloween costume rounded out. It’s a surprise, but let’s just suffice it to say it’s got gold lame and is going to be awesome. :)

Maybe I can get some time to actually sew this weekend instead of pretending to do so.

Steppin’ Out With My Baby

Got to wear my new top tonight. Hubby had a business dinner thing we were supposed to go to, so I figured that would be a good time to try it out. I was really happy with it—it fits very comfortably and was neither too hot nor too drafty. I wore the sweater I made from Ottobre 02/06 (#18) with it and it looked, I think, rather nice. I’ve got several skirts with which I can pair them, as well as some slacks, so for now this is one of the most versatile pieces in my wardrobe. :)

I didn’t get around to taking in the under arm of the band, but because the jacket covered it, I didn’t worry about it. I’ll probably try to get it taken care of this weekend, but I think that even if I don’t, it will still be very wearable. I can’t wear sleeveless shirts at work, so I’m always going to be wearing something over it. I think I want to fix it for my own peace of mind, though, so Onward! and Upward! :)

Wooot!

I always feel good when I finish a project, but I feel even better when I finish something that has been languishing on the back burner for some time. That describes #14 from Ottobre 05/07 pretty much perfectly. I bought a bunch of fabrics back in early 2008, among them this lush bamboo rib knit that just longs to be fondled. It’s stretchy as all get out at times, but sooooo soft that it’s worth the extra trouble. At the time I bought it, I knew I was going to make something out of 05/07, but hadn’t decided between shirt or skirt. I finally decided on the Sleeveless Jersey Top because I had bought the last of the bolt of this stuff and there was not going to be enough for a skirt. As it was, there was barely enough for the top. I had enough for all the ‘outside’ parts, but there was nowhere near enough for the facing on the inside of the straps.

So it sat on my cutting table.

And it sat.

And it sat.

And I finally put it away in the cubby I have for all my unfinished projects and there it sat for at least a year. I finally pulled it out the other day and got to looking at it.

For the facing, I ended up using a lavender t-shirt knit. This worked for several reasons. First of all, it was in  my stash and so I didn’t have to go spend money on it. Seems like that wouldn’t be that big a deal, but we’ve had lean pick’ns lately, so every little bit helps. Secondly, it was a bit sturdier knit than the bamboo had been, so I think it’s going to help hold up the integrity of the shape, while the ultra drapy, ultra soft bamboo can do its magic elsewhere in the garment.

I’m really happy with the shirt, overall. I added some beading to the yoke band to make it more interesting. It adds just enough sparkle to make me happy while not being so obnoxious that I would never wear it. I can see this under the blazer and the sweaters I sewed a while back. It doesn’t look bad without a topper, but I will have to wear something over it at school—the no-tank-top rule in our dress code and all.

I might end up taking the stitching out of the bottom three inches or so of each arm band so that I can sew a little triangle out of them and then restitching the bands. It gapes a little bit and I’m forever pulling at it, which is not an attractive look. I’m not sure if it happened that way because of the fabric being so droopy, or if it’s my sloppy pattern and fabric cutting from that era—I’ve gotten much neater about both—but I’m pretty sure it’s not the pattern itself.

That aside, the fit and the drape of it all is really nice. Robert, upon seeing me in it, said “That makes you look really skinny!” which is the aim of every garment I sew or buy. Some hit the mark closer than others, but I think this one is going to be a keeper. I’m wearing it to a business function with Robert tomorrow night and I’ll get a picture of it modeled to post soon.

Makin’ Time For Momma

I started working on some pieces for myself last year and, like much that I do for myself, sewing-wise, they never got done. This week, I took matters into my own hands and have been trying to get two of the things done before my high school reunion (15 years!?! When did that happen?!?) and school starting (which is the Monday following the reunion). If I work it right, the outfit I wear to the reunion can be my first day of school outfit, too. :)

I’m currently working on #14 from Ottobre 05/07, the Sleeveless Jersey Top. Now, I know that I recently did my croquis and body analysis that said because of my arms, I shouldn’t be wearing sleeveless. However, as soon as I get done with the sleeveless top, I plan to get out and finish the Tunic Jacket, #15, from the same Ottobre issue. Like the Sleeveless top, I’ve had this outfit cut out and marked, ready to sew for some time. I’m making it from a transparent organza, all blue, brown and black swirls, that will go nicely with the brown bamboo knit that the Sleeveless top is being made from. If I find time (ha!), I’m planning on making the Flared Skirt, #13, from 02/07. I’ve got a nice brown crêpey knit that has some viney stuff embossed on it that I think will go well with it.

The sleeveless top should go all speed ahead from here on out (famous last words?) since I got the beading detailing I wanted to do to it finished. I decided that the band in the front was kind of boring, so I took a few hours and randomly scattered some brown beads on it to make it more interesting. Besides, who doesn’t love a little sparkly? ;) Now to just get the rest of it put together, but really, it looks pretty easy so I just need to sit down and do it.

Cross-Pollination

I spent the better part of my afternoon working on the blog today. Or blogs, I should say. I started up a wing in my blog house several years ago that I had intended on devoting to my sewing obsession. Seemed logical. Fun, even.

Except that life happens.

At the time, Harrison was three and Laura wasn’t even the proverbial gleam in my eye. I was teaching, momming, and wife-ing. Still am, two years later, and then some. I decided, though, that I wanted to go ahead and get this stuff segregated. When I post sewing stuff, I’m never sure if my sewing peeps give a crap about what else is going in my life. Alternatively, I’m sure people who follow my ‘life’ blog (hello? do you exist, outside of my husband?) don’t give a crap about my sewing obsession.

My solution, then, is to post sewing stuff here and non-sewing stuff here.  Things that have relevance to both will be posted on both. I’ve taken the already-posted sewing stuff and posted at Wanna Share A Needle?, with the life stuff clipped out.

(Why do I feel like I’m going through a divorce, all of a sudden? You get the sewing posts every other weekend and I’ll get them for all major holidays…)

I also intend to go back and do pattern reviews at www.PatternReview.com (duh, right?) for all the clothes I’ve sewn in the past two years but never got around to reviewing. In my spare time. (Ha.) The pictures and links to those reviews should eventually show up in the sidebar of Wanna… eventually.

I have a tendency to over-complicate things sometimes, but I really think this is going to work better for me. At least in my head, it will. If you follow me (hello? do you exist?), feel free to follow either or both postings. :)

(Anyone else ever worry about sounding self important…?)

Seeing Myself

I always wonder if the things I make for myself are really as flattering on me as I think hope they are. I have such a distorted view of myself—as I’m sure lots of people have of themselves—and  so it’s hard to know what really looks good. Even in photography, I’m always wary because, well, I don’t know. It just seems that I will like something, it will seem perfect and then I’ll see a picture of it and be embarrassed that I ever thought to put that particular outfit together, much less on myself. Or, conversely (and much less often), I’ll wear something that I’m not thrilled about but that’s clean and/or available and seeing it in pictures, I’ll realize it actually looks pretty good.

I read an article some time ago in Threads magazine about creating your own croquis, or design template. I had sat it aside, thinking I’d get around to it one day, but never really having the time to and finally just forgetting it existed. Recently, I went through a bunch of my old Threads, looking for a different article that I had read and wanted to look at again when I came across this one. (It’s in the June/July 2006 issue, if you’re interested, pp. 51-55.)

In the mean time (meaning sometime in the past three years), I read Donald H. McCunn’s fabulous book How to Make Sewing Patterns, which had lots of great design options peppered throughout. I also, of course, have been subscribing to Ottobre for several years now, as well. So the time seemed ripe for pulling the info from all of these sources, tying it all together with my passably decent proficiency in Photoshop (which I first learned in college, but have tinkered with in the past 10 years or so with the help of my computer genius husband).

I took a digital photo of myself (actually, hubby did that part...) in exercise clothes with tape at bust point, hips and knees and string tied around my waist. I then used Photoshop to draw on an upper layer, giving myself a line drawing from which to work for later use. Using the Singer Sewing Reference Library's The Perfect Fit, I looked at my proportions and made note of what pattern adjustments and styles I should be using and which ones I should avoid.

Colored lines mean the following:
red = body divided into quarters--where the average figure usually fits
black = where my stuff actually fits
blue = midpoint between underarms and hips--where the waist should lie
green = torso shape

I started playing with hemlines and styles to see what works for me. For reference on the styles, I used McCunn's How To Make Sewing Patterns. Once I had played with that, I went to my Ottobre line drawings and started sketching in their styles. 

Incidentally, you are looking at the backside of the pages. As per Nancy Shriber's suggestion, after sketching in the details in pencil, I went over the lines again with a fine tipped marker and then flipped the page over to see it. This way, I wasn't looking at the body lines along with the clothes--much less confusing. Several of the drawings—bottom right hand corner of the second page and the bottom two in the left hand corner of the third page—are Harrison’s offerings. The first one is a “Marrying Dress,” which he seems to think I need despite the fact that Robert and I just had our 15 year anniversary and we have no intentions of needing “marrying clothes'” ever again. The bottom two were Ottobre designs that Harrison decided to pair. He drew all three outfits in pencil and I went over them in marker. I had to fudge the lines a little when I did my part to make the design more legible. :)

I learned several things about myself through this exercise. First, it’s time to get off my bum and get going losing the baby weight! But until that happens, I know that lower hemlines on shirts work for me (I always suspected I was long waisted—my shirts always ride up in the back!), knee level is good for skirts, but in the grand scheme of things, I think I’m more a pants kind of girl. And, much as I always suspected but never really tried (pregnancy aside), empire waists are not a flattering style on me. Period. Surprisingly, the princess seamed thing I tried looked like poo on a stick. I had always been told that princess seams were good for the busty gal, but seeing it in black and white like this, I’m going to have to pass on those patterns from now on. Sigh.

Of course, when he saw the fun I was having with my drawings, he had to have some of his own. I took a picture of him (in shorts!) and used Photoshop to make his line drawing. I didn't bother with the proportions as I did for myself, obviously--he's a kid!--but I did leave the body pretty bare. I knew he'd be drawing pants and I didn't want him to have to worry about seeing his underwear through the pants.
These are his Ben 10 characters. I know next to nothing about the show and, honestly, he doesn't really know much either, but he got a Ben 10 watch the other day and so now he's obsessed with as much about it as he knows and/or understands. :)

The blue one is my favorite—I think his name is Spider Monkey and Harrison says he has four arms. I also like the green guy with the red/orange hair—apparently, he’s some kind of fire sprite? I don’t know—I just thought it was kind of cool. :)

[…]

(Originally posted on Monday, August 3, 2009 at 11:58 PM.)

Dia Del Muerte Purse

Finished my purse today!

In all fairness, I’ve only been working on it in earnest for a day or two, but it’s been on a back burner for months. I bought this cute little purse back in November when I was at a teachers’ convention in San Antonio. It had this Dia Del Muerte print that was really cool and I was super excited about it.

However, it had a few small problems. First of all, it was super tiny—I could barely fit my cell phone and wallet in it, much less any other paraphernalia I might need to carry around (and this was pre-iPhone when I was carrying around a little Samsung slider!). If I wanted to carry my iPod with me, I was out of luck unless I had a pocket in which to stow it.

Secondly (and probably for the better, as it turns out), the zipper on the purse died a few weeks after I bought it (no pun intended). I was much peeved, but I carefully, carefully dissected it, taking it apart stitch by stitch until I had two small panels of the fabric left. These scraps of fabric sat on my inspiration board for months, waiting for me to get to them. I knew I wanted to make another purse from them and I was pretty sure I wanted to use the Dotted Dream pattern from Ottobre’s online pattern selection. The ‘how’ of it all has been percolating in my mind for some time, though, through baby clothes for my daughter, several shirts for my son and a birthday outfit for my best friend’s kid. Finally, though, I was able to get to my sewing and here’s what I came up with.

I ended up using a red baby cord to go along with the skulls. I fussed with the cutting out of the top panel pieces since I wanted them to come to a chevron pattern, but I wanted them to come to a 45 degree angle.

I got these panels sewn together and the side panels sewn on and then I had to interface it.

Because I was using baby cord, I decided to use a sew-in interfacing instead of iron-in, and I think it worked out pretty nicely. I got the stiffest stuff I could find, but it was still flexible enough that when I was turning the lining bag outside in, it fit through fairly easily.

Speaking of the lining bag, I added pockets to it so that I’d have places for my phone, my wallet and a pen or pencil. I think I’m going to make a matching Purseket-type thing for it, as well. I made one several years ago, but I used really ugly fabric for it since I was just figuring out the dimensions of the project. I got really lucky with my pattern since, size-wise, it was pretty perfect, but I think I’m going to make another one using this really stiff interfacing and see how that works.

(Originally posted on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 11:59 PM.)

Hearts‘n’Flowers

I finally finished working on Sarah’s outfit! Yay! I used the Hertta skirt (#19) from Ottobre 01/09 and the free tank top pattern from the Ottobre website. All fabrics came from my local Hancock’s.

Overall, I’m really pleased with how it came out. My serger acted like an absolute brat a few times, but I think that forced me to find some creative solutions I might not have tried else wise. For example, when I couldn’t get the cover stitch function to work, I had to apply the binding with my sewing machine. I got to playing with it and realized that I liked the look of the raw edges, as that tied to the raw edges of the appliqué, thematically.

Speaking of the appliqué, I really, really love the way that came out. I had planned on putting the chipmunk from pattern #20 in the same issue on the shirt and ‘girling it up’ (Sarah’s request—it was to be wearing a dress and shoes). However, time and fabric stash decreed that that was not to be on this go-around. Down the road, maybe this fall, I’ll get around to doing that special order shirt, but for today I decided to go with a flower from the skirt fabric. It spiffed up an otherwise very plain tank top and now the shirt  can be worn with the skirt or it can be worn with some jeans or solid colored shorts that match the colors. Very versatile, I think.

In the future, when I’ve got two weeks to work on something that can go as quickly as this did (actual sewing time was only two days—half of one day was the tank top!), I need to get going much sooner so that if problems do come up I can deal with them in a much more timely manner.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

(Originally posted on Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 11:59 PM.)

No Time For Sewin’

I was supposed to be able to sew all day today since both kids were at their respective schools and I didn’t have any workshops to take. What happened, instead, is that I got to take my van out to the Chrysler place to get the door worked on. They were really nice about ferrying me back and forth between my house and the dealership, but  a good chunk of my time was spent riding in cars.

In addition, instead of staying home during lunch (after being ferried back here), I got Robert to take me out to eat. We went to this new (to us) Thai place downtown that was really good. I had never had Thai food before, but was really pleased with what we had (Pork Pad Thai). Prices were reasonable and the food was awesome. The only glitch was that it took over 30 minutes for them to get the food to us. In their defense, though, they cooked it fresh right then and didn’t have it sitting around waiting for someone to come in and order it. All told, I will definitely eat there again—just might call my order in ahead of time.

Back at the dealership this afternoon, I was struck agog when I tried out the door they had fixed and it still didn’t work!!! I mean, yeah, you could push the button and the door would open and close. But it wouldn’t stop at the end of the ‘open’ cycle so if you were planning on getting in that door, you had to be very, very fast. I showed it to the guy who had just handed me my keys and he seemed surprised. I was surprised that he was surprised—did they not have someone check the button to see if it worked when they finished installing the part? It seems so logical to me, but I’m just an Art teacher—I don’t know anything about being an auto mechanic. Perhaps I’m over looking some pertinent piece of information here. Or maybe they’re just maroons.

But it’s fixed now. Works like a charm.

Didn’t get to do much sewing before supper because I was watching Transformers with my son. Robert finally got it fixed, removing all the vulgar language and the worst of the violence (yeah, he left some fighting in, but c’mon, they’re robots! That’s different!). When he realized what the ‘surprise’ movie was, his jaw just about dropped off and his eyes nearly fell out. That’s my kind of reaction to a surprise. :)

I’m still not done with Sarah’s skirt—my stinking coverstitch machine is being a brat. It works fine as a serger, but when I try to use the coverhem, it goes postal on me. I’ve already called the shop in tears because of this machine and it’s tweaky performance. I’m getting very near ready to tell them exactly what I think of their machine. Or maybe I should just call them and ask for help again….

Either way, I’m getting Sarah’s skirt done under duress, but it will get done. Soon.

(Originally posted on Thursday, July 23 at 11:43 PM.)

Ducklings

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The jammies, by the way, are the ones I finished the other day. I need to get a better picture of her in just them and not in a giant toy, but I think you can get an idea of how they fit, more or less. They’re kind of big in the torso, but just about right in the legs—I’ve got a long-legged pony here! There’s plenty of torso room, so I think even as she gets taller, she should be able to wear them for a while. Pattern is Ottobre 03/04, #6.

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(Originally posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 at 11:51 PM.)

Finished!

I finally finished Laura’s jammies! I used #6 from Ottobre 03/04 and was really pleased with them. Fabric was the pink color way of the Chickadees and Hearts knits offered by The Joys of Sewing co-op recently, as well as some brown velour I got in a grab box from Sewzanne’s a few years ago.

I have plans to make another pair of these jammies in the blue Chickadees color way. I’ve already got the pattern cut out—all I have to do is find the time. (Ha.)

They have not been very hard to sew at all—there was that invisible zip, but it was really no problem. The velour I used for the middle panel was kind of tetchy, but even that wasn’t terrible. I put the last snaps in tonight and the girl is asleep in them right now. Of course, that means I don’t have any pictures of her wearing them yet, but I’ll take care of that in the morning. The size is a little large for her—I made a 68 and I think she’s closer to a 62 right now. However, they’re close enough and she has plenty of room to grow into them. I hate making an outfit and having it outgrown in just a few weeks!

Next up, sewing wise—got to get the “Hertta” skirt and “Tiku” t-shirt from Ottobre 01/09 made up for Sarah’s birthday party this weekend. Both patterns look really easy—should be able to get them whipped up over the next few days, especially as both Wednesday and Thursday the kids will be in their respective schools and I will be able to devote both days to sewing. Have needle will travel!

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(Originally posted on Monday, July 13, 2009 at 11:38 PM.)

So very near done…

…with Laura’s pajamas. I’ve been fighting working on them for several days now, between fighting with taking care of the kids and trying to not completely neglect hubby. They’re really not that bad to sew; it’s the velour that’s giving me the most fits. I’m using the pink and brown hearts and chickadees coordinating fabrics I got from The Joy of Sewing co-op a few weeks ago, but in between them, I’ve inserted a panel of brown velour. It’s soft, cuddly and pretty much a total brat to work with. That being said, I really like how the thing is coming out, so I may or may not use it again in the blue colorways of the same fabric. We’ll see—I’ll probably want to take a break from it pretty soon…

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(Originally posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 11:09 PM.)

Chilled Out Sunday

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Got started cutting out some jammies for Laura. I’m using the Chickadees and Hearts coordinates I got from The Joy of Sewing Co-op the other day—really good quality stuff, really cute prints. I’m combining two prints with a solid brown velour panel in pattern #6 from Ottobre 03/04. The sewing part shouldn’t take too long once I get everything cut out, so I’m hoping to get started by tomorrow night. I also need to start digging around to find some fabrics for Sarah’s birthday gift—she asked for #19 and #20 from 01/09, but I have to ‘girl up’ the chipmunk with a tiara, a dress and some shoes. Should be interesting. :)

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(Originally posted on Sunday, July 5, 2009 at 11:11 PM.)

The World Was Our Oyster

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As promised, I finally got pictures of the boy in his shirts. They are #22 from the 01/09 issue of Ottobre Design. I’m currently working on some jammies for the girl from 03/04—should have a pair of them done in a few days if I can keep the kids occupied enough to get to my sewing machine.

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(Originally posted on Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 10:58 PM.)

Oogas For All

Got photos of the kid’s stuff that I’ve sewn for them, finally! Sat down yesterday and got Harrison’s Ooga Booga shirt sewn. It was #22 from the 01/09 issue of Ottobre Design, minus the long sleeves. I could have found another pattern that I didn’t have to alter, but this book was in hand and, well, I’m lazy. It came out fine, although at size 110, it’s a little big for him. I prefer that, though, since it means he’ll get to wear it for a while.
I’ve also got some girly Ooga fabrics, so I think I’m going to make a similar shirt for Laura so they can be coordinated. :)

(Incidentally, getting him to stand still for me to take a picture was not happening. Maybe later…)
Also got photos of Laura’s dresses and coordinates. Finished sewing them a few weeks ago, but never got the pics up. Patterns are #1, #3 and #4 from 01/08 Ottobre, and #2 from 06/08.

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(Originally posted on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 1:12 PM.)