Category: Crafty

Haunted By Past Projects
Crafty · Sewing

Haunted By Past Projects

LSiehLeave a comment

I hope you are all doing well. We finally have some nice weather and I took my lovely gift card to spend it all! I was very restrained.

The featured post is a knit that will be a simple dress. I also got some peacock fabric to make a bellydance costume, a piece of shirting to fix a too small project, and a cotton fabric that mimics wool for a jumper. I told one of my coworkers that I would show off the dress they had bought me after I made it. 🙂 The jumper fabric is one I’ve wanted for a while. I also snuck in some crazy flamingo fabric to make an apron. It was too much for a 50’s style poufy dress, I thought.

I also cleared off my sewing table downstairs and sorted some more boxes and unearthed projects from the past. I was disappointed with most of them. They all are too small! Yesterday was a super frustrating sewing adventure trying to fix them.

Take this dress for example:

Super cute, made from a vintage sheet. This was one of my first efforts and I misread the pattern and didn’t add a zipper. I took it to my MIL and said “Is there supposed to be a zipper?”  She very kindly didn’t laugh at me, just told me yes. I then promptly put it in a bin and forgot about it. The skirt part fits, but after I cut the back for the zipper, it doesn’t work. The Husband says I should keep intact for motivation, but it might get chopped for a skirt.

This was supposed to be pants, but I was silly, and didn’t wash the fabric, so it will shrink like crazy. Also, why in the world did I choose brown linen?!

I wouldn’t have worn these, even if they were the right size. Geez… Anyone want some linen remnants? I might make some tote bags for Etsy with them or something.

This dress is still in the muslin stage. I despise making muslins. Ick. You have to make two dresses, one of them unwearable, if you don’t use good fabric. I understand why you would want to make a muslin, I just haven’t.

I may try to dye this after I’m done. It has some complicated techniques that I wanted to try before using my fancy (not brown) linen. Maybe I can actually use this muslin!

I cut out a new pattern this weekend, despite Fancy not wanting me to do anything but pet her. 🙂

I pulled a couple of fabric possibilities for it. This red batik has a very light floral pattern.

This fabric was originally grey; however I washed it with a large piece of purple batik and now it’s light purple… It still looks pretty.

I want to make the red in the first version and the purple one in the second, without a high low hem.

Now, I did end up with one successful project at least.

I had tried serging the edges of the white fabric and it was not a pretty sight. Now it has pretty edges and strawberries on the back!

I realized I make pretty aprons for my Mom, but forget to make them for me! How silly!

Well, that’s my UFO update for now. I’m hoping to have some more to report next week. The Husband has started asking me “What do you need to finish?” when I say I don’t know what to sew.

Wish me good seams! And less frustration!

Wordy Wednesday
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Wordy Wednesday

LSiehLeave a comment

My Tuesday was busier than expected. I was at the tire place getting a bulging tire replaced, Fancy demanded walks when I got home, and I hosted craft night. Somewhere in there, I took an accidental nap. I had to go back on the stronger allergy meds and they are kicking my butt. I will be so glad when the weather figures out what it’s trying to do here. So instead of “Wordless Wednesday,” you’ll get a quick sewing related post.

I put the borders on the rainbow railroad quilt a few days ago. Somehow I ended up sewing one of the strips on the wrong side, so it’s two rows shorter than it was going to be because I was super frustrated. I had a bunch of squares left over anyway, so maybe I’ll make a bonus one or something.

(Please excuse the dog toys. Someone decided I couldn’t put them away and kept taking them out of her basket.) The quilt has a red and white polka dot border. It was going to have a red flannel backing, but I don’t have enough of it. Batting and backing quilts will be the death of me. I had to run out to get more batting. The backing will be whatever cotton or flannel I have enough of that matches. I have a red batik that might work.

I also made a shirt. I stayed up way to late to finish it, but I’m pretty happy with it. It’s a double gauze jersey material, I think.

It’s less wrinkly on and feels like I’m wearing jammies. 🙂 I used a zig zag stitch and made my own neckband! The neckband fixed the problem of gaping at the neckline and I may go back and add one to other shirts I’ve made.

Because it was midnight, I accidentally had the selvage edge out, but I actually like it, so won’t be changing it. The sleeves are snug. I had made them longer, but didn’t quite get the bottom edge right. They feel good though. I’ll just widen them next time.

This was a woven pattern originally, so I was glad that it worked out. I have at least one knit t-shirt pattern that I’ll try soon, but I needed a quick and easy pattern. I made it after getting frustrated by not having everything for the quilt.

Here’s the bottom hem. It’s a little wavey, but I choose to think of it as a design feature. I may add a band at some point. It’s super soft and cuddly.

I picked up a couple of new sewing books (I know, I know!) from the book sale on Sunday. Two were Singer books, one was about different types of fabrics, and one was a sewing book for dog cots and accessories.

The “Creative Ideas” is so 80’s, but the techniques are still relevant. It has beading, different pocket shapes, seam finishes, and different trim options. The “Timesaving” book has very good instructions for sewing collars, seams, home decor, and talks about tools, machine feet, and other equipment.

The dog book has coats, costumes, dog beds, and accessories. Some of them we may not use, but there are some super cute things in it, like a princess costume. 🙂

I was excited to find the fabric book because I know very little about fabric types, which mens I generally stick to quilting cotton. If I want to grow as a sewer though, I need to branch out and get comfortable with other kinds too.

This book has everything from African mudcloth to about 5 types of wool. Each fabric has its own page with what type of needle, an example of a garment, weight, markings, thread type to use, and even how to lay it out. There’s so much info! I know it will be very helpful.

I was pretty well restrained in the craft section of this book sale. We’re going to another, bigger one on Sunday, which will be crazy town. That one is in a mall, lined up in the hallways. 🙂 We’ve gone before and they have a little bit of everything. I’m hoping for some good reads.

Now though, it’s off to work, where I will only be able to dream about fabrics and sewing. Have a great day!

All Wrapped Up In Sewing
Crafty · Sewing

All Wrapped Up In Sewing

LSieh3 Comments

I accidentally pattern matched on my jammies and didn’t realize it until just now. Disappearing flamingos! Ha! Sometimes it’s the little things that make me happiest.

In other news, I finished the dress for the wedding! Before we have to leave! I still need to make a small purse to take with me, but think I got my carry-on sorted as well.

This bag has been sitting in my UFO box since grad school. That would be four years, for those keeping track. I had it all sewn except for the strap, which was too thick and wouldn’t stay attached to the bag. My older sewing machine had fits trying to make it work.

It has a nice padded and zippered pocket to hold my iPad and enough space to throw  book and sewing project in it for the plane.

I’m glad to finally get it finished and be able to use it. I have to check the airline guidelines to make sure it works within them. How fun is it though for a travel bag?

Now, on to the dress! I was originally going to make a silk dress from a saree; however, I thought all the way through transporting a I had to re-cut the bodice as it was quite apparent that the medium size was meant for someone a bit differently shaped than I am… It is a family event, after all.

It was a crazy, annoying thing, but I figured it out. I’ve not worked with knits before. The seams are a bit messy, but luckily around the middle where you won’t see it. The next time I make it, I will get the seams a little bit neater. I probably should have made a test dress instead of using my good fabric. It worked out though.

This is how I want to wear it for the wedding. It’s in a swanky winery, so I thought the color was appropriate. Someone furry, with a “fancy” name, likes to chase the tails when I am trying to figure out how to tie them. Here are a couple more options.

I do like how this one looks on me. Very neat and simple. The back is just about the same.

This one I think I would like better if this was the back instead of the front. This one has smaller straps across the back.

This one looks so glamorous, I think! Here’s the back.

I might not be able to pull this one off. It might be too much.

Let me know what you think! The Husband says he thinks it’s pretty, but I should probably get “a girl’s opinion.” 🙂 (Fancy doesn’t count. As long as I am petting her, she doesn’t care.)

Recipes and Adventures!
Crafty · Life Posts · Recipe Roundup · Sewing

Recipes and Adventures!

LSiehLeave a comment

I only made two new recipes last week and then we went on an adventure! I did help make a new ice cream recipe on our adventure, but our friends did the cooking, which was so nice.

I have one picture of the three recipes I made before we left. I redeemed myself from the chicken potpie that we don’t speak about, using leftovers from a roasted chicken.

The chicken recipe was from The Family Recipe Keeper. We had roasted potatoes from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I threw some carrots in with the chicken.

Here’s the potpie and Fancy, being so jealous.

We also had Meatball Marsala, from one of the Food Network magazines. I’ve misplaced it, but when I find it, I’ll post the edition number. It was good. I made fancy mashed red potatoes to go with it. It wasn’t a very pretty looking dish though.

Fancy was very concerned that we were leaving her behind and started laying on our bags or sticking like glue to one or the other of us. She also didn’t let me finish the quilt I needed for this weekend.

I ended up attempting to car quilt, which just made me a little car sick and then finally finished it while everyone else was napping.

I believe it’s a split 9 patch from Bonnie Hunter, but set on point instead of regular. The pattern has something funny with it, but still looks okay. Baby S loved it and spent at least a half an hour rolling around in it. This is what happened when I first attempted pictures.

Fancy loved her time with the tiny human and was so concerned about him that she spent the whole weekend following him around and whining when he cried.

She was very gentle with him, although she did try to chew on almost all of his toys. She shared hers, for the most part, but did very nicely take the ball back from him when he grabbed it. She was a spoiled dog and got a tennis ball of her very own, but chewed some holes in it instead of playing nice.

K made some lovely baby and dog friendly treats and S didn’t like them cold, so he shared them all with Fancy. She quickly learned that his highchair  meant delicious dropped things from up above.

The Husband and I ate very well too. There was beef stew waiting fir us when we arrived. We had homemade butternut squash ravioli and beef and parm ravioli for lunch.

The squash were cooked in butter and sage and the beef had a homemade golden marinara sauce over it. Mmmmm…. K gave me  ravioli maker to play with, so I might be making some pasta on Friday.

We had the traditional dinner of corned beef and cabbage, with roasted veggies and carrots. Traditional soda bread too. It was all delicious!

We made Irish Whiskey Salted Caramel ice cream for dessert. One of the coolest things about K and A is that they have chickens and ducks! We got to use extremely fresh eggs for the ice cream. Guess which egg yolk is a duck egg yolk…

The ice cream was a little soft and a lot boozy! It was delicious though. Had it been harder, we probably would have made ice cream sandwiches with the giant homemade cookies that were made for the Husband. 🙂

I think we used a Pioneer Woman recipe for the Caramel sauce.

We had a great time and it was fun to meet the baby. He definitely helped wear Fancy out. She slept for most of yesterday.

Now she’s out basking in the sun. If we would let, her, she would probably stay there all day. 🙂 Hope your day is as sunny as her day!

Fancy and Sewing
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Fancy and Sewing

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Fancy has decided to monitor my sewing and bedtime in a more active capacity lately. She decided the quilt in the quilting hoop was actually a dog tent and a wonderful place to nap.

She doesn’t try to bite it or anything, so I thought it was funny, but then she decided napping on my lap wasn’t good enough and proceeded to climb up my torso until she was tucked in under my chin. That made it very hard to keep quilting, so I just had to stop and cuddle the dog. This quilt is a secret, so I can’t show much of it yet. Oddly, it matched my leggings perfectly. 🙂

Last night, I was quilting again and she decided that 11:30 pm was too late and I should be sleeping, so she did this. It’s a little blurry, because she was moving, but she kept pawing at me until I put down the quilt and then she took over my lap and wouldn’t move.

She will also hang out by my sewing machine, especially when the Husband was out of town. I thought the machine might be scary for her, but even my Grandma’s machine doesn’t seem to faze her. This was her from last week.

Luckily, she didn’t try to guard the pedal.

I got the fabrics for all the quilt tops I need to finish last Friday and since we were dogless, I was able to get the two bigger ones pinned. Here is the second one.

I have started putting the Rainbow Rail Fence quilt together. It’s on the machine, so no pictures yet.

Fancy is currently snuggled up next to me on the couch with her paws draped over my feet, so I can’t get up. 🙂 She’s snoring as usual.

I’ve been working hard on these couple of quilts and haven’t really sewn anything else. I did get grey satiny fabric to go with my grey and purple lace. I think I might make that into a dress for the wedding. I have enough for a fancy slim fitting dress.

In other news, I’m excited to say that I was included in a roundup post about sewing and mental health on the Sewcialists blog. I have been reading the blog for a little while now and when they put out a call for stories of how sewing has helped your mental health, I knew I had to write my story. Check it out if you are interested! There are some inspiring stories out there. I’m planning on writing a longer post about this issue as well.  https://sewcialists.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/who-we-are-sewing-with-and-for-mental-health/

Now, I’ve got to get some quilting done before work. It’s my late night at work, so I won’t have a lot of time tonight. Have a great day!

Monthly Review
Crafty · Monthly Review · Sewing

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

I know February is a short month, but man, it seemed to be even shorter than usual. I swear, it was just the beginning of February a week ago. Regardless, it’s now time for a review again.

I made 14 new recipes, 4 from new cookbooks, and three me method recipes.

Hits were the buttermilk pancakes, Voracious cupcakes, chai pear scones, Asian burgers, the chicken and shrimp jaozi, spicy beef tortellini soup, and the bao.

We also enjoyed the creamy mushroom pasta.

Misses were the salted caramel frosting, creamy mushroom chicken, candied oranges from the cheesecake, and Instant Pot pot roast.

The goals that I completed were to use the Instant Pot, go through a cookbook inventory, and use new foods for the party. I didn’t complete a freezer inventory or actually give away the cookbooks I don’t want. I know which ones they are, they just haven’t left my house yet.

Things I’ve learned this month are to trust my instincts about seasoning. Also, I need more recipes for slow cookers. I may need to make some up, if I can’t find enough.

Fancy liked her biscuits a lot, so I may make that recipe again. There are a ton of them though, so I ended up freezing them. She doesn’t mind.

New Food Goals

– Actually get rid of the cookbooks I don’t want.

– Get the lighter fluid for my kitchen torch.

– Meal plan consistently.

– Cookbook inventory to find the ones I haven’t used yet.

Craft Review

When I first went through my posts, I didn’t think I had actually have that much done. I’ve been focused on finishing things. I finished the rainbow crazy quilt.

I also fixed my leggings, so now have fun flamingos to wear.

I made three new flowers.

Buttons were added to these tea wallets.

Here is my favorite combo.

Obviously a glittery butterfly button needed to be on this tea wallet.

I have two rainbow quilts in progress and will be working on them today before work. I made a table runner, but keep forgetting to take pictures.

Things I’ve learned:

I need to prune my stash. It’s time to be ruthless about giving things away. I get a lot of satisfaction from finishing things, so I want to focus on doing that.

New Crafting/Sewing Goals

– Make a dress for the wedding in April.

– Finish the two rainbow quilts.

– Finish OT quilts and mail them.

– Finish one of the completed quilt tops.

– Regular Etsy updates.

My work schedule seems to be getting a little more normal, so if I can continue to be productive, I should be able to get a bunch done. If the Fancy pup will let me that is. She’s currently dancing and whining for me to play with her or walk her. 

I’d better go get her taken care of. She’s licking my iPad case. Weird dog. Hope your day is less weird than she is!

Rainbows And Motivation
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Rainbows And Motivation

LSiehLeave a comment

The featured picture was from the “Science of Pixar” exhibit. The Husband and I went this weekend and it was absolutely fascinating to see how they make all the effects and movies. This picture is a digital painting from Brave! The Pixar people actually made a new program for the cloth in the movie because they didn’t have one they liked. How cool is that? I’ll show more of those pictures later.  (Sorry about the lighting. It was a bit dark in there.)

In other news, think I may have figured out where my motivation to make things has gone. I’ve been taking stock of my stash and realizing how much fabric and how many unfinished projects are just hanging out. I have some that don’t fit because they are years old! It’s a bit embarrassing actually. 🙁

Take this quilt, for example. The night I finished this, I didn’t want to start anything new. The thought of cutting out more fabric.. ick. Trying to decide which project to start… Ugh.

So instead, I pulled this quilt top and the backing fabric with it, gave it a little iron, quilted it, and bound it. I used a zig zag stitch with a pastel color changing thread. Tada!

It has an owner, but they don’t know it yet. 🙂 I was quite excited to finish something.

So much so that I started to put together another quilt that was waiting.

This one also has a home. 🙂 It’s going to take me a little to finish it though. I only made 8 of each color before deciding on this pattern. I need enough for 1 1/2 more large squares. Back to the sewing machine!

I also fixed a pair of flamingo leggings. They said they were one size, but that size was a little smaller than me sized. The band stretched, but it wasn’t the most comfy and I had a yoga pant waistband hanging out, waiting to be used.

I just chopped the original band off and sewed the other one on with a regular zig zag. Now they are extra comfy!

Other than a dress for the family wedding in April, I might see how far I can go on finishing things. Maybe my motivation for new things will come back, if I can get the other stuff from off my project list.

For now, I think I’ll take a page from Fancy’s book and head to bed. Maybe I’ll dream of new quilts!

This Is The Quilt That Never Ends…
Crafty · Monthly Review · Sewing

This Is The Quilt That Never Ends…

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Sometimes quilts get away from me. This one is doing that right now. The book says 24 rows of 18, but I took two off the ends. We’ll pretend I was smart in the beginning and meant to make 16 across in each row, since I had 8 colors and that makes two of each… That sounds good, right? Obviously it had to be a rainbow. 🙂

There are a few mistakes, I had one square sewn the wrong way and need to see if I have to pick out the whole row, or if I can just switch one around. I can always hide it at the bottom and call it my “humble square” if needed.

I’m trying to decide to reduce the columns too, so that they are proportional, but am also trying not to end up with random extra squares. The extra squares are winning. I made a bunch of extra strips last night, but made too many of the wrong colors! Now I have to decide if I need to continue to make more of the strips, or go with the 19 rows. I have 12 made already. I have these piles complete with all the colors. I’m leaning toward just dealing with the extra squares and using only the ones I have completed.

This one I picked specifically to use a project from my books. The book is called Relax and Quilt and it has very nice projects, mostly traditional piecing.

I checked my original notebook and I have 6 potential quilts picked out from this book. I tried to pick at least a few from each book, so I would have options. I must have gotten it from a rummage sale, it has a $1 sticker on it!

Fancy decided to “help” me lay out the quilt.

She’s been attached to me since I got home from work and is currently keeping my feet warm. 🙂 I like snuggles from her.

I’ve really only worked on the quilt this weekend. It was fun going through my scrap stash to find pieces that would work. I even cut into a few pieces of my fabrics I’ve had forever with no actual plan for them! I used a mix of older and newer fabrics, including some from my Christmas fabric box from my Mom. It’s a big step!

I realized that I’ve never done a review of the books I’ve used. I’ve gone through my cookbooks, but not the sewing stuff. Since I only worked on the quilt, I thought it might be a good chance to go through them.

I’ve finished a bunch of projects from my UFO box and a couple from online. I typically use Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville quilt plans. http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

Her tutorials are quite easy and I use her scrap saving system, so I have the right pieces already cut. The Rainbow Chevron is one of her quilts, the “Friendship Braid” border.

Another book I’ve used is Quilts From The Quiltmaker’s Gift, by Joanne Larsen Line and Nancy Loving Tubesing. This is one of my favorite kids’ books. The illustrations are beautiful and the quilts are the quilts from the book. The book tells the story of a quilter who gives away quilts to those in need, but refuses to give one to the greedy king. He gets mad and tries all sorts of ways to get one, but there’s a surprise ending that I won’t spoil.

I loaned my copy out and it sadly, never returned, but my Mother in law gave me her copy for Christmas a few years later, so I was so excited! I used the Flying Birds pattern and put it in the “Streak of Lightning set. It still needs borders and backing.

The Rainbow Snowball quilt was from Making Scrap Quilts To Use It Up by Lynne Edwards. 

That was another quilt that wouldn’t end. It’s still hanging out in my house. I may need to find a backup home for it soon.

The kudsudama flowers were from Button and Stitch by Kristen Rask. 

It’s kind of weird to think that in 67 projects, I only used about 6 books. I used some patterns too, but didn’t want to get them all out. I also don’t think of them as books per say. I know I have a few more that I’ve used, but one of them was a total dud and the other has been lost somewhere in a pile..

I should probably start weeding these books out too. I just like to have options. I might be a dragon in disguise actually, with a hoard of sewing books and fabrics. I like that better than admitting to possible hoarding tendencies…;)

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed touring a few of my books. I’ll share some that I haven’t used yet in another post!

Monthly Review
Crafty · Monthly Review · Sewing

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

Here’s to another month! January flew by as usual. We had a lazy first weekend in February. Fancy spent most of her time playing tug with the Husband and her rapidly shedding rope toy, or snoring on my lap. She did not move for much of anything. She was not interested in the puppy bowl, although she was a little confused by the puppy squeaks. She squeaked her ball a lot though, in protest of us watching other pups.

I think I’m off to a good start with sewing. I’ve been working on a bunch of projects and I made some things that I needed and finished a bunch of projects from the UFO box.

This project takes care of both of those categories. I made some hot pads for the kitchen. One has a loop and one doesn’t. They came out a little small, so we’ll probably use them for trivets.

They were easy to make, but not too pretty on the other side. Yikes.. The binding was too big.

I have also started a new rainbow quilt. I’m not counting this one against my total. It’s technically for an old project that I hadn’t started yet.

I swear to finish something big soon. My quilt tops are stacking up. If I don’t finish some, I’ll have to get a bigger tote. I’m considering just backing everything with fleece. I have batting for a bunch of them, but not all.

So for UFOS I have made 13+ tea wallets, the hot pads, a Christmas zippered pouch, the evil fairy bag, and the library bag.

For new projects, I made a self-drafted tunic and the castle shirt.

I have also added two more quilt tops. Well, partial. They aren’t sewn together yet. They are also rainbow, since I apparently can’t do anything else. I think I’ve decided on this block for the pastel rainbow one. I found a cute white on white floral to use for the center of the blocks. I may need to make a few more of the scrap blocks depending on how the layout looks. I also have the chevron one in the featured pic.

Man… sometimes admitting the things I haven’t finished yet makes me cringe. I don’t normally put stock in negative self talk for motivation, but apparently sometimes it works. I’ll be working on some backed up projects for sure this month.

I’ve done much better in food terms this week. 15 new recipes and 12 new cookbooks. Hits were the lamb, the cinnamon ice cream, the Parmesan crusted chicken, and the Gordon Ramsey noodle and mushroom dish.

The hotpot was also a hit. It was a fun dinner with bonus noodle soup!

Misses were the pho (smelled like “lamb and feet”) and the pie contest apple pie. Not too bad for the month.

Goals: 

Sewing/crafting:

– Make the dragon dress

– Fancy up my work clipboards so I don’t get them mixed up with the office ones.

– Fully finish a quilt.

– Sew a pair of leggings! (Eek! Sewing with knits!)

Food goals:

– Use the InstantPot

– Try a new breakfast recipe

– Try a new lunch recipe

– Meal Plan/Pantry shop

– Make more ice cream! (Yes, I know it’s winter, but ice cream!)

I will also try to snuggle this puppers more to her standards. She feels sadly lacking in the snuggle department… You can plainly see she’s terribly sad about it. She probably also needs more treats. I mean, how could we resist?

I think I’ll take her current example and take myself off to bed. Have a lovely, restful night!

Sewing Confessions
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Sewing Confessions

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I have no one to blame but myself for this spree. I had told Kayla about the magical discount fabric store where everything is $2.99 a yard and we finally managed to go on Friday. It coincided neatly with a pattern sale at Joann’s and the rest is history.

Here are the patterns I bought:

L to R top: Dress with shawl collar, sweetheart neckline with button accents, tunic and cardigan

L to R bottom: Peter Pan collar for my dragon dress (fabric is the featured pic,) Wrap dress that wraps from the back to the side. It looked so interesting, I had to get it. Plus, the Simplicity patterns were all .99.

The good news is that I have plans for the fabrics I got from the discount store and it will hopefully help me get more comfortable with knits. I have an irrational fear of them, but also several different knits waiting for projects already.

Kayla was very excited once we got there. She and I both had projects in mind. I want some more tunics and she wanted some raglan shirts. It was fun to introduce her to the store. They had moved recently into an even bigger place.

The Husband knew I was going and when I came home with black fabric with tiny beach umbrellas on it, he said “Well, of course, you needed that. You can make a sundress with it.” Oddly enough, that’s exactly what it is going to be.

How cute is that?! I tried to resist, but it lured me in. I sort of have a style in mind for it, just have to find the pattern.

This lace for $2.99? I probably should have gotten more of it. I got 3 yards to make an overlay on a dress. I got grey material, which I thought would work underneath, but I think I accidentally got rain poncho fabric, which is fine. I need a rain poncho.

I think this is the back of the lace, but I like the grey part showing.

This is apparently double knit. I have no idea what that means, except that it has another knit on the back. The owner was excited by it while she was cutting it. I’ll have to do some research. It was going to be a casual, kind of slouchy tunic.

Navy polka dot knit. I resisted buying a $42 dollar maxi skirt from a semi-famous fancy clothing company last summer and have been on the hunt for a polka dotted fabric ever since. This will be a $4 maxi skirt, which I’d say is a win.

Tunic! It’s hard to see, but it has little shadows of the colors in it. I like it and it will be a very nice tunic.

This will be a dress like the strawberry dress. It’s actually a deep Kelly green and a deep navy. They are both very vibrant colors, but got washed out when I took the picture. I think it’s a cotton rayon blend. It’s got nice body and drape and is slightly heavier.

We will be going back, I’m sure, but not for me at least, until I get some more projects done. I have probably three or four more knit fabrics downstairs waiting to be made into something useful.

Lest you think I frittered my time away unwisely in a grand shopping spree, I’ll show you the projects I have finished lately.

Christmas Lily zippered Pouch for Etsy/Twinflower Fancies.

Two tea wallets because I had black thread loaded.

These were from a random Halloween batch that didn’t get finished. I have a couple more too, but am waiting to see what I get back from what I had at Hawthorne and Vine. Obviously, I still need to get the threads cut and a button added to the cats.

I self-drafted this curved hem on the tunic. I used a familiar shirt pattern and extended it. The sides are split and turned under. The neck and sleeves are finished with a thick black bias tape. I’ll add a tiny bit more room if I use cotton again. Knits would be fine with the same dimensions. It’s got a cute silver sun or starburst pattern.

Here is an in process shot of the fabric:

I also finished my castle shirt!

This is the fabric I ordered with the dragon fabric. I made the sides flare a little and added some more pleats to the neckline and back. The original line is too wide for me, but I need it that size elsewhere. I gathered the sleeves, so they look a little better. I kept thinking I had put them in upside down, but they just needed to be poufier.

I’ve also been organizing up a storm. We got a nightstand for my side of the bed yesterday and I was able to clear out some of my dresser. I was pretty ruthless with my closet stuff too. I put several things in the giveaway pile. My winter sweaters are now hanging in the closet in a sweater hanger thing. I’ve still got a bunch to do, but at least it’s a start.

Fancy is giving me this look and whining. We are 15 minutes past her bedtime and she is terribly unhappy. I’d better go put her to bed.

Hope you enjoyed seeing all the sewing! I’ve got a pretty good momentum going that I would like to keep up. I’ve got to beat my 67 project record, after all. 🙂