Category: Sewing

My Year Of Sewing- 2020
Monthly Review · Sewing

My Year Of Sewing- 2020

LSiehLeave a comment

How has it been a year already? I sometimes feel like I’m still stuck in March when the world shut down and then all of a sudden, it’s 2021! I have had my blog for four years! There’s been a lot of changes. (My auto correct tried to change that the chocolate, btw. It’s not wrong.) Some of them were not my favorite, but a lot of them were for the better.

Looking over my completed projects this year, I was very pleased to see that I had completed around 110 projects. That’s not counting the tea wallets, masks, doll clothes, and bowl cozies separately! Little thing like that are much too annoying to count individually, since I tend to make them in batches.

Shark Week Masks!

I’m very proud that I was able to make so many things, especially with all the current stressors going on in the world. A lot of my clothes projects this year were very practical too. I filled some wardrobe gaps, faced a couple fears, and made some pretty cool things. Of course, there were things that didn’t go so well and some that have ended up in the naughty bin or even got tossed in the scrap pile. I’ll start with the positive projects.

My most used patterns for the year were the RAD Patterns Solar Flares, the Itch to Stitch Lago tank, the Panel Undies. Here’s a collage of most of my Solar Flares.

I think there are a couple other pairs around that I don’t have pictures of.

Here’s the Lagos- again, not all, I’ve lost track of how many I actually made.

Runners up were the Be Creative Hoodie (A very recent pattern!) and the Shenanigans Skort. Here’s my three Be Creatives- two work appropriate cowl, one casual hoodie.

The Shenanigans Skorts were lovely, but I’m going to have to take two of them apart and add some other shorts in a different material. They tend to slip down a bit. My first one was by far the best. I wore it every chance I got in the summer.

The Solar Flares, the Shenanigans and the Be Creative were three of the new patterns I tried this year. Overall, I tried 30 new patterns! That’s quite a lot for me. A lot of them were intimidating at first, but when I finished them, most of them turned to be easy!

I completed all the weeks for the 52 Week Sewing Challenge and will be participating again this year. It was a very good motivator to keep sewing. I didn’t follow all the challenges, but did choose some new patterns because of the challenge. I found a few new pattern and fabric companies too. I plan to try to get bonus entries when I can bynusing a sponsor’s pattern. Here are my quarterly collages for 2020. Mostly clothes, but there are some other things scattered in there.

The things I’ve learned this year are:

-To keep my pattern cutting table clean

– Getting my patterns printed in large format is definitely worth the money

– Wardrobe basics don’t have to be boring or uncomfortable.

– Elastic isn’t scary

– Sewing for other people can be fun too!

– Tendinitis hurts and is super annoying. If I wear my brace when cutting fabric, like I’m supposed to, it doesn’t hurt as much.

The skills I want to work on this year are learning how to do flat locked stitches on my serger, button holes on my sewing machine, using the Accuquilt (this is a pretty darn cool quilting machine, so there’s going to be a post on it once I can play a bit,) darts, and grading patterns.

Patterns I want to make this year are the SOS pants and the Penelope Dress from Patterns for Pirates, the Valley Skater Dress and Lotte hoodie from Sinclair Patterns, a couple of tshirt patterns to compare, boxers for the Husband, tshirts for the Husband, and the Mix It Up by George and Ginger. There are more, of course, but I’ll start with those.

I’d also like to restart my monthly reviews. It makes it a lot easier to keep track of everything if I do that. It also might help keep me motivated to continue to try new things. I really do think my sewing confidence has grown and I’m proud of myself for being able to continue to blog and sew during what has been a really rough year, both physically and mentally. Hopefully this year will bring more determination and drive, as well as a positive outlook.

I hope this year you’re inspired by whatever makes you feel brave and creative! I’m looking forward to finding new projects and favorites!

Sewing

Sewing Update

LSiehLeave a comment

Hello! A lot of my sewing has been Super Secret Christmas Sewing, but I have made a few things I can share. I needed a grey shirt one day before work, so I made one! One of the perks of working from home, I guess. This is the Sun-kissed Tee from Peek-a-boo patterns. I like this pattern as a simple tee pattern. I did add a thin band at the bottom because the cotton lycra was being a huge jerk and rolling.

It’s lovely and comfy. The fabric is really soft.

Next up is a hat for sleeping or for wearing downstairs to sew. It’s a free pattern from Patterns for Pirates. I used scraps from the triblend and a pink plaid double brushed poly in the inside. It stays on my head very well and is warm, but not overly warm. Excuse the face. Apparently I was tired.

I finally got around to making microwave bowl cozies for us. You have to make absolutely certain none of your supplies are anything other than plain cotton, or they can catch on fire. I don’t have a picture of the bottom, but it is red with bowls of “bassgetti” on it. They are super cute. I should probably make two more for us, in case we ever have company again.

I also made two separate doll wardrobes for different Giving tree or adopt a family gifts. They were really fun to sew and the second one is a smaller doll size. I hope they fit and the kids like them!

These are for a 14.5 inch doll. Even tinier and cuter than the 18 inch one. I’ve had a couple people request I make them adult sized versions of some of the outfits.

I am currently wearing my gnome pants that were originally for last Christmas. I may switch them to tight cuffs at the bottom though, so no pictures yet. It drives me crazy when my pants ride up on my legs at night.

I’ll share the Super Secret Sewing when all the recipients have received their presents, but for now, there’s some almost last minute sewing to do. Have a creative night!

Crafty · Sewing

Stress Sewing

LSiehLeave a comment

Why hello there! It’s been a stressful week! I think this week has actually lasted about 6 weeks. I’ve been sewing and sewing to keep my anxiety in check. It’s not working as well as it normally does, but it is working somewhat.

Painting things has been fun and I had a fun crafty day with our bubble friends painting some cute wooden decorations. Some of them went to the friend that couldn’t attend and others made it into our Hobbit Day celebration!

All the hats were painted greenish gold and they had beards and noses at the end!

I also painted some acorns!

Comfy clothes have been high in the rotation. I made this lovely chunky, cozy sweater last week and got double takes at work when I said I made it. 🙂 Excuse my wet hair!

Piggy got a couple of cozy new blankets too. She only has a couple and needed one for downstairs too. Of course, she needed piggies! I just bought two yards of both, split it, and serged them together. She seems to enjoy them.

Even the Brother got fun cozy pjs in the mail with his Hobbit Day cookies! I once wrote him a book titled “26 (?) Things To Do With Rubber Duckies,” which included a short choose your own adventure book where every ending ended with something exploding. 🙂 So obviously, he needed ducky pjs.

I made the shirt too and he was super surprised that I could also make “cool regular clothes.” He says they are both super comfy and was excited to get them. It was fun to make the set for sure. If I have enough ducks, the Husband may also get a pair. You know, after I make him the three flannel pairs I owe him already…

My friends’ boys have Viking shirts ready to mail. I should send them shortly, so they still fit them when they get there! I was trying to make something for their beautiful Mom too, but haven’t made the next thing yet. Here’s the bigger shirt. This is the Ellie and Mac Kid’s Raglan.

This shirt is a cozy sleep shirt. It’s pinky peach thermal with sleeves made out of an old pair of leggings, so I didn’t even have to hem them! I made a teal and grey shirt too out of this pattern, but I don’t seem to have a picture of it. Both of them are the Patterns for Pirates Relaxed Raglan.

I made a new shirt pattern too! This is the Sunkissed Tee from Peek-a-Boo Patterns. I really like it! It’s a dolman style tee, meaning the shoulders are incorporated into a single pattern piece. I made the first tee to the pattern measurements and the second one was altered by grading out, adding bands, and using a royal blue for back.

I made a second Uvita from Itch to Stitch because I really wanted to like the pattern, but the earlier floral thermal one was just horrible and looked like an old lady shirt. This one is made with a triblend fabric which is stretchier and drapes better. I also sized down two sizes and that seemed to help. K2 thinks I need a full bust adjustment to actually make it fit perfectly, but I don’t think I will spend my time on that. I have other patterns that I like better to spend my time on. It is so soft and comfy though, so it will be a good around the house shirt.

I found this cool possibly vintage bellydance pattern set from Mary Supplies on Etsy while I was buying elastic. It’s more fusion style, which I don’t have a lot of. I’m pretty excited to try the tiered skirts!

Last, but not least, here are my challenge entries for this week! The challenge was to alter or mend items, so I cut off the ill fitting waistbands on two Lularoe skirts and replaced them with yoga bands and then made a Lula dress into a pair of leggings. Upon putting on the leggings, I think that I will remake them into shirt sleeves as well. They don’t have quite enough stretch to be comfy.

In my organizing downstairs, there is still quite a pile of clothes to be altered or cut up into something else. I enjoyed finding new uses for these and am going to continue to try to get through the rest of the pile.

This weekend, K2 and I are having an at home sewing retreat to make up for having to miss the one we had booked. We weren’t comfortable with the rising Covid cases and the lack of prep for keeping everyone safe at the retreat center. So we’re hanging out at our house, sewing up a storm! It’s been lots of fun already. We’re all yawning and old people now apparently, so I’m going to head to bed to be ready for more sewing tomorrow! Have a good night!

Sewing for Sanity
Sewing

Sewing for Sanity

LSiehLeave a comment

Considering the fact that I’ve been fighting off panic for most of the day, this title is unusually apt. I’m not sure why my anxiety level is so high today, other than *gestures broadly* everything. There’s also construction in front of my house. They’re repaving, so we cannot access our driveway. We have to park half a block down and walk to an from. Super annoying when it’s windy and raining, let me tell you!

I have definitely been hard at work sewing lately. I have a lot of masks done for the pet themed fundraiser, just have to start posting them. Here’s a peek at some of them.

I wore a rainbow paw print mask today at work actually and it was very comfy.

I sent a couple of gift packages out this weekend. K1 was lucky and got the pair of “jean” leggings I made that ended up not having quite enough stretch. I used the fabric originally to make RAD Pattern Solar Flares that are super comfy. I had enough fabric for the leggings, a pair of baby leggings, 4 pairs of doll jeans, and a pair of doll shorts. My friend from work gave me an absolutely disgusted look when I said I’d made them the day I was wearing them. 🙂 I didn’t grab a picture of the leggings before I sent them. Here’s the shirt that was also in the package.

This is a Tulip Tee from Patterns for Pirates with the optional under/nursing layer. It has three layers on the front. I was especially happy with my floral cascade! It’s DBP and black cotton lycra. Long sleeved for winter. It might be a bit big. This was a new pattern for me, so I wasn’t sure on sizing. I could have gone down one for her. I made a plain black Tulip for me, with just the plain/single layer. I needed a long sleeved black shirt.

The Husband was shocked when he saw I had just made a plain black shirt. Since I’m short, I can actually wear this as a tunic. It hits at just the right spot. I can also pull the band up to my waist and make the shirt a little blousy instead. It looks lovely either way. Maybe I’ll make some more of them next. I banded everything because I have lighter thread on my serger and didn’t want to switch to all black. I may only have two spools of black left. Yikes!

For my second gift package, I made two little baby sets. I used the Bonny Leggings from Made for Mermaids. The shirt is a Kid’s Raglan from Ellie and Mac. This is the faux denim fabric. It feels like secret pjs.

They go with this outfit, which I made a bit ago and then got nervous and didn’t send.

The dino outfit is a Wee Lap Tee from Patterns for Pirates and the Bonny leggings. These are both for one of my other friends with a baby. I hope she likes them and they fit for a bit yet!

One project that I have finally finished and passed along was these napkins for my friend. I owed her for watching Fancy for us for a weekend trip to see K1 and shamefully, didn’t finish them for a while. In total, I think there were 32 napkins. She was quite pleased with them. I just made a double layer of fabric and serged the edges, as she was not picky about how they were finished. It probably would have taken me at least another year to do them if I had to turn and iron all the hems. Yuck. Ironing.

Contrary to the Husband’s belief, I can indeed make solid color items. I just don’t all that often. They can be boring. I made this grey dress from a nice rayon spandex fabric. It’s a CKC Amy, of course, with fun umbrella pockets. It’s been very helpful as it’s a neutral color. It will be extremely useful in winter when I can wear it with boots and any of my fun leggings.

The jacket pictured is a Kimono cardigan by Halla Patterns, I believe. It’s made from a stretch chiffon, possibly. It was a remnant at Joann’s and I had just enough. The sleeves and neck are purple cotton lycra. It’s very fun to wear.

Also very fun to wear are my latest “never thought I’d sew those” socks!

I blame K2. She was sewing them and they are a great scrap buster. Plus, they appealed to my prepper side that insists I should know how to make literally everything I wear so I can do it if the apocalypse comes. Which now, seems oddly relevant. Regardless, I can make comfy socks! I don’t know that I’ll make a lot of them, but it’s good to know. I now have a pattern for ankle socks too, which is what I typically wear. I know. So weird. But also so comfy. 🙂

I made this shirt on the night of the Presidential debate. I thought it was better for my mental health to not watch the circus, so I sewed instead. It is super comfy. The pattern is a Relaxed Raglan from Patterns for Pirates. I made it a tiny bit too short by accident, so added the band to cover it, but I really like it the way it is. I used a new method to band the sleeves. Really, I just folded the sleeves down on themselves and serged the folded area. It cuts the excess off and seals the edges all at once.

The snowflakes are DBP from Purple Seamstress. Aren’t they lovely? I liked them because they were so different. So overall, I’ve had fun. I’m going to start to work on some Christmas presents, so will have to balance out the Super Secret Sewing with regular sewing.

Well, now that I’ve written about sewing, I actually want to go sew more fun things. I’ll be sure to show off what I come up with next! For now, enjoy this 3rd quarter collage from my 52 Week Sewing Challenge!

Sewing

Sewing Adventures

LSieh2 Comments

Hello again! I have been enjoying sewing again and have made a lot of things. Only one plain dress and no pants though. I should probably get on that before fall and winter are here. One thing I have been making a lot of is masks. I’m working on a fundraiser for the rescue and wanted to have a set amount of masks to sell. I’m not planning on making custom ones at all. Too much stress. I did, however, need more Shark Week masks, as I only had two! I needed a couple more subtle shark ones, as I had intake appointments that week.

I made a new pattern for sleep shorts! This is the same pattern I made the Husband’s sleep shorts with. These are the Walk the Plank Pjs from Patterns for Pirates. It’s quite a baggy pattern, but it makes it extra comfy. Here are the Husband’s sleep shorts. They are grey french terry. Mine are a soft quilting cotton.

I also made a new skirt out of these pretty sharks. It has two pockets and is super comfy. It just has an elastic waist, but I used a new technique to attach it and it was less scary than I thought it would be. I did break another serger needle though. It doesn’t like it when I pull on the fabric when it has needles in it apparently. Now I can watch for that and hopefully stop breaking all my needles.

I have had this skirt material since last year some time, I believe. K2 has a periwinkle blue matching fabric, so I was excited to make it. I just cut it out and used the gathering stitch on my serger. It doesn’t have pockets, as I lined it with cotton gauze and it was being a jerk. The fabric on top is just draped on my dress form, but I am planning on making it into a shirt. It’s very cool and drapey, so I think it will be nice to wear.

This is another new pattern for me and a new silhouette too. I used the Sunny Day Dress and Tunic from Ellie and Mac. The bodice is lined by a cool technique known as “the burrito” method which encloses all the seams. I pleated it, as I hate gathering. Also, only one pocket, as I cut the skirt piece on the fold. The skirt is just a rectangle cut piece, so I made it a maxi length. Shortly after this picture was taken, I added two knee length slits, which really help the movement and flow. It looks so beachy and pretty! I’ve gotten several compliments on it when I’ve worn it to work. Piggy was impressed as well, although I think more with the fact that she can now easily lick my knee. She’s a weirdo.

I made the chair covers for this week’s challenge- it was to make something you’d never made before. They are Star Trek, because, what else? 🙂 There are six for our dining room chairs in hopes that we will be able to have game nights again somewhere.

I bought this swimsuit fabric to make a new suit. K2 talked me into it. She keeps sewing new things that then I also have to try. Gosh, I have good friends!

I think I have a few more things completed, but I don’t have pictures of them. I’ve been wearing them too fast! I’ll see if I can dig them up for the next post. In the meantime, enjoy the other pictures!

Sewing

Still Here!

LSiehLeave a comment

Hello! I promise we’re still here. Just resting and kind of in a whirlwind of emotions, work, and not a lot of gumption. It’s been super hard since Fancy passed away. Both of us have had bad days and things that still make us upset. But we took a big leap of faith and signed up to foster a tiny chonker of a dog in desperate need of a safe place to heal. Her name is Diamond and your guess is as good as mine as to what breed she is. 🙂

She’s so adorable! She was a mama, so is a little.. um.. dangly? Has some excess glandage? She also waddles and while we were walking today, refused to go anywhere because the neighbors were out and she wanted to see all of them. She makes piggy snorts in her sleep and while sniffing in the yard. She’s quite short and sturdy. We hope she will like living with us for as long as we have her.

Because I was nervous last night about taking her, I made a pillow, using a quilted wall hanging kit and the backing and zipper from a bed cover that Fancy had partially shredded.

It is stuffed with a folded, mostly shredded sheet and has fabric scraps in a bag of sorts made of ripstop material for waterproof needs. It works pretty well! It looks small, but she is pretty tiny and fits well. Here she was being pouty about not sitting on the couch during dinner.

I had originally bought the fabric for a pillow for Fancy, but she was so sick that I wasn’t able to concentrate enough to figure it out. Now it will be a comfy spot for any dog in our home to use. I have managed to convince the Husband that we need a dog, even only a foster dog, so we both are enjoying having this little chonker around.

I have sewn a few more things as well. This week’s challenge was Random Acts of Kindness and I have made two shirts for my friends’ boys- no pics because I haven’t sent them, the dog pillow, and a baby dino set for another friend’s baby girl.

How adorable is that? I used the Patterns for Pirates Petite Pegs and the Wee Lap Shirt, both free patterns.

I have made two skorts from the Shenanigans Skort pattern from 5 Out of 4 patterns. One in this cute purple and pirate fabric combo, amd another in a beautiful blue bird fabric and anti-macrobial athletic fabric. They are super comfy to wear and I can even wear the purple one to work. The blue birds is a little short for work.

I used the skort leftovers from both to make tank tops. The purple brushed athletic fabric has sewing machine french terry on the back. I only had enough to make one side of the tank of each fabric, so it worked out perfectly. The tank is the Lago, from Itch to Stitch.

I made those mash up pants/skirt combo I had mentioned a few weeks ago for the challenge. They are super comfy and I love them. I did purposely make them longer, as they are dance pants.

I needed some more sleep and lounging shorts, so I made these Linen Loungers out of lady scientist quilting cotton. I think they’re pretty fun! They’re also comfy.

I also used this pink fabric to make a pair of Solar Flares and a pair of capri leggings.

I can’t find a picture of the flares, but they are really fun! My coworker has a pair of pink plaid pants that I covet, so I saw this dbp and made my own!

I have some other things, but will have to take pictures later. Right now there’s a dog to pet and breakfast to eat! Have a great day!

Sewing Update
Sewing

Sewing Update

LSiehLeave a comment

I have been sewing some things lately, mostly smaller things. I made some more underwear and then laughed hysterically when I tried to get them in my drawer. So I went ruthless on my store bought ones and threw them all away! It was pretty exciting. Side note: how am I old enough to be excited about organizing my underwear drawer? 😆

Remember that serger quilt I took a class on with my MIL? Well, I finished it! I quite forgot the sashing as the directions are somewhere around in a very safe place. 😬 It’s supposed to have thin grey strips in between all the squares.

It looks super pretty though! It’s backed with a thin grey fleece from a fleece tied blanket kit that I got on clearance. I love the combination of colors and how it looks with the grey. I want to make another one that’s got the sashing in the correct place. It really brightens up the office and hopefully will be very comforting to clients.

I finally took pictures of my other pairs of RAD Patterns Solar Flares too!

The pink ones are a fantastic squishy and plush athletic blend. I used black cotton lycra for the pockets because the pink is thicker. The orange and grey are a lovely french terry. Black cotton lycra works for both waistbands. They don’t have much of a flare, just bootcut. I wear them a lot!

My favorite pair of Solar Flares so far is this extremely fancy and comfy pair of grey crushed velvet. These are the regular flare, but there is an extreme flare too, which would be fun for dance pants.

So fancy! 🤩 I do enjoy swanning about in them. I need to tack down the pockets though. The static makes them pop right out when you remove your hands.

I had purchased enough for a set of pjs, because I really wanted fancy New Year’s Eve pjs meaning I had enough for this scrumptious sweater. It’s so lovely to wear. It was horrible to sew, all slippery and ridiculous, but I managed to get it to behave.

I forgot to add this apron in the last sewing post too. Excuse the terrible wrinkles, I was rushing to meet the challenge deadline and my iron was out of water.

Isn’t the fabric cute? My MIL got it for me a bit ago. It has mixers! I have enough to make some hot pads too.

This next week for the challenge is to mash or hack a pattern, so I’m still looking for an idea for what to do. My thoughts are an Amy and a circle skirt, or a pair of dance pants (the solar flares) with a pencil skirt grafted on top. I should really put more things away and clean as well. I tidied up my patterns, in an effort to find something to use.

Wish me luck in that effort! For now, I’m going to tackle the mound of fabric on my cutting table.

Crafty · Sewing

Truthful Tuesday

LSieh1 Comment

Today has been a whirlwind. Actually, this whole week has been a whirlwind. Unless you’ve been in a cave for the last couple of weeks, you’re aware of the Covid-19 virus pandemic. It’s pretty much all over by this point and anxiety levels (mine for sure) are pretty high.

My office shut down for physical appointments today and I’m working on transitioning 50-60 appointments online for two weeks. On the plus side, it gives us more time to pack our offices for an office move (yeah, that’s happening too…) but it’s still jarring and unsettling. So far, it is going as smoothly as I think it can go. I’m doing a lot of self-care right now, including eating like a 5 year old; cheese, crackers, fruit, and veggies, and sewing a lot. The Husband is partially working from home right now, as his office is doing staggered schedules to try to limit exposure.

I have sewn a bunch of doll clothes again. I was organizing fabric scraps and was cutting out doll clothes and underwear with the pieces that were big enough. Here’s some of the new items I have made.

Two Bonny Leggings, and a pair of pants from Read Creations. They are all free. The pants with the paisley are the ones from Read. The website is here: https://myagdollcraft.blogspot.com/2014/02/scrub-pants-simple-pants-for-american.html

They are pretty easy and designed for wovens. I used a knit yoga style waistband for my pants, so they are a little tighter and easier to make. I do not enjoy making elastic casings.

A bunch of long sleeved shirts were requested by some of the kids who like the dolls, as it’s winter and they were concerned that they were cold. These are from Imagine Gnats, website is here: https://imaginegnats.com/sewing-free-18-inch-doll-shirt-pattern/

I have used the Chloe tee from this pattern set. I have not tried the cardigan pattern, but I assume it is as easy as the tee. They are a bit tight around the neck, I have found, but it doesn’t seem to bother the kids.

I have my usual shirt pattern, the Simply Sweet Shirt, in there a couple of times, from Ellie and Mack. Here’s my cutest one to date, I think.

It makes me so happy! Also, makes me want ice cream 🙂 This set of patterns isn’t free, but Ellie and Mack has sales all the time. The next set is free though. These are from Fleece Fun, but you have to sign up for the newsletter to access the free pattern section. There are quite a few though, so I think it was worth it. This is the cardigan pattern. It’s a really easy sew.

These cute robes are the Kelli Kimono from Made for Mermaids. The flamingo one matches one of my Brunch Blouses. 🙂 The glittery one has been deemed the “Rock Star” shirt.

One more free doll pattern I have used is the Trendy T Shirt pattern from Liberty Jane Clothing. I found it through what is now Blueprint and have had it for a while. It’s kind of fiddly around the sleeves because they are so small and has turning lines for neck line, hem, and sleeves, but I was lazy and serged them. I’m not super concerned and it looks good that way. These were the more neutral or “boy” shirts. There’s another rust colored one too, but it didn’t make the pictures. I sewed the back up on the green one, but the stripey one wasn’t stretchy enough. I also sewed the velcro in backwards on one side, so it looks weird and wonky, but it fits all the dolls. It just turns out to be a slimmer fit.

I have made a couple of things for myself as well. I made this shirt that I’m not entirely sure I like. It looks a little granny-ish according to both the Husband and myself. It is the free Utiva pattern from Itch to Stitch.

Here’s what it looked like when I was cutting out the fabric. I’m so glad I made special pattern weights and then put them in a very safe place. :p

Fancy only tried to steal back the flamingo once! It works well as a sleep shirt though and it might be better with a tighter or fabric with more drape. I don’t know if I’ll make it again though. I have some other t shirts to try first.

This shirt turned out perfectly on the first try. Not surprising as it is my favorite woven shirt pattern so far. It is New Look 6895. It’s an older pattern, so I’m not sure if it’s available anymore, but I do like it a lot.

I used double gauze for it to fulfill the “new fabric” challenge this week. It is so comfy and soft! The company I work for has a dandelion as part of our logo, so I thought it would be perfect.

My favorite things I have made in the last couple of weeks are these floor poufs from Closet Case Patterns. It is a free pattern if you sign up for the newsletter.

I used the non enlarged AO file to print the doll ones and the regular sized for the human ones. The best part is that they are washable! Well, the covers come off on the human sized ones, as they have snaps on the bottom. They are stuffed completely with fabric and thread scraps!! I used some gifted sheer material to make a bag to put inside of them and then stuffed them full. The doll sized ones don’t have a bag to contain the scraps and the covers are just sewn on. Here’s the inside of one of the big ones.

How cool is that? They are really comfy. The only mod I made was to halve the size of the side panels so they would be more comfy for sitting and playing. I did end up with enough panels to make four and Fancy liked one of them, so one will probably be at home. The other three will go into my office to make a comfy reading nook.

I do have some more projects going. I had planned to take the next two days and sew, but with the office closure, I’m not going to have two completely sewing filled days. But I aim to make the best of it. We have books, butter, and belly rubs for Fancy, so I think we’ll be just fine.

Speaking of Fancy, she is reminding me of the importance of proper sleep hygiene right now, as seen below. 🙂 I think I shall follow her example and head to bed. Hopefully I will feel more peaceful after a good sleep.

Thready Tuesday
Life Posts · Sewing

Thready Tuesday

LSiehLeave a comment

I had a wonderful, relaxing day last Tuesday! I took the day off work to go to a Jellyroll Serger Quilt class with my MIL.

A jellyroll, in quilter terms, is not a cake, but a roll of 40-42 pre-cut strips of fabric, typically measuring 42 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide. I would show you a picture, but I made my own! My MIL has a die cut machine that chops all your strips to the correct width. (I’m pretty sure it’s actually tiny gnomes because it’s so magical.) We were both determined to use what we had at home, at least for the blocks. I think we both ended up getting additional border fabric and she got some additional sashing fabric.

Here’s one of her blocks in a very pretty blue colorway. Her quilt turned out much more scrappy than mine, as she had more variety of strips. Mine is more planned, which is weird for me, but I like where it is going.

My blocks were based of a stack of fabrics I got a few months ago at the same place we took the class. You can see all three of the original fabrics in this stack- the dotted pink at the far left, the watercolor looking birds three in from the left, and the leaves next to it.

Here is one of my finished blocks.

I’m super excited to see what it looks like all put together. I’m using a light grey for the frames around the squares. I have a different colorway of the birds for possible borders, but I have to see if they look okay or not. It’s more green than blue. If not, I’ll find something else lovely to use, I’m sure. All of the block fabrics are from my stash!

The quilt pattern looks super complicated, but it’s actually really easy. Just a lot of sewing strips, cutting, and turning them. For the record, I was using my travel iron, so it’s not as powerful as a big iron and didn’t get all the wrinkles. I still have to buy a new regular iron after the tragic demise of my current one. 🙁

It was actually a big sewing weekend for me, as I vended at Detroit Raqs- a local bellydance fundraiser. I made my table extra fancy this time.

I did sell a few things, but sadly, none of the leggings I made specifically for this show sold. Here’s a close up of most of them in the baskets. Those polka dotted ones may end up in my drawer. They are sooooo pretty! They are all the Patterns for Pirates Peg Leg pattern.

The leggings fulfilled two weeks of the 52 Week Sewing Challenge for me. I made the olive and rust ones last week, along with a pair for my friend. I don’t have a picture of her leggings up, but they are a black background with white grid lines and hot pink roses. They are really fun! I didn’t follow the challenge of doing something for the kitchen last week. This week, I made stripes match on a pair of leggings, which is one of my sewing fears, so accidentally fulfilled the theme.

It looks like they don’t because the net is see through in between the stripes. They are super fun though. Since I now have a serger, I’m more confident in making things for other people. There’s much less of a chance that these will split along the seams!

I have finished a couple of projects that I had in my UFO bin. These two shirts just needed a couple of extra touches to be done. The purple one needed sleeves, so I added this mesh type fabric and I think it looks cute. I can wear it as a work out shirt or as a regular shirt. It is the Fall In Love Sweater pattern from Ellie and Mac, with modified sleeves.

This one is a Sweet Tee from Patterns for Pirates. I have a long sleeved shirt in this fabric as well and like it so much that I used the remnants for a short sleeved one as well. It’s triblend, I think, so soft and cozy. It’s a mix of rayon, cotton, and spandex.

I just serged the bottom hem and it looks good. I did grade out at the hips for both of these shirts. I’m shorter and hippier than the models/pattern blocks for this pattern.

I also dove into sewing my own underwear! I know! I was shocked at how easy it is and how much I like them. Every time I try to wear store bought underwear now, I just have to take them off. They are so uncomfortable.

I used a whole bunch of different patterns to find ones that I liked. Here’s the links, in order of how much I liked them. Fair warning, there’s butts ahead. Not mine, but butts in the pattern links. 🙂 Feel free to skip ahead if you’d like!

1. Ellie and Mac Feeling Frisky Panties https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/feel-frisky-panties-pattern?_pos=1&_sid=f15442949&_ss=r

1A. RAD Panel Undies https://www.radpatterns.com/product/panel-undies/

These two were my favorite patterns. They are pretty true to size, although they look alarmingly big when you make them, but trust me and try them on first. The panel undies allow you to use smaller pieces of fabric, but are a little confusing to put together at first. I also changed how I added the liner because I hate extra steps and don’t care if my edges are exposed. Honestly, if someone is examining my underwear that closely, they will shortly have some other, potentially lead coated things to worry about coming their way. Or a barky thing with teeth, depending on who’s home.

I also add the leg elastics with the pieces laid flat. It’s so much easier than trying to stretch them with everything sewn together already. I have used picot/lingerie elastic, fold over elastic (which I left flat, not folded,) stretch lace, and made fabric bands for waistband and leg bands. I may have ordered enough fold over elastic to last until doomsday, so I have been mainly using that. I found elastic with all sorts of fun prints including planets, pitbulls, narwals, piano keys, printed lace, and a ridiculous amount of other cute things. Several Etsy sellers are super happy with me right now. 😉 Mary Supplies, Once Upon a Stitch, and Fluerisy are all the sellers I used. I have been quite pleased with the quality and pricing. My underwear drawer will never be boring again!

2. Made for Mermaids Mama Vicki Hipsters https://www.madeformermaids.com/product/mamavicki/

The Vicki was a surprise hit and is self lined, so is sometimes easier. It does require a longer length of fabric.

The ones I really didn’t like, which I was sure that I would like, were the Stitch Upon A Time Bunzies. They fit all wrong and I was not happy with them at all. I might try going up a size, but in all honesty, I will probably just stick to the patterns I actually like. I have a couple more to try too. It has been super fun to pair up fabrics and elastics into new combinations. I used a bunch of the legging scraps too, so I have a whole drawer of silly and pretty undies.

Okay, I know I said I wouldn’t post pictures of my underwear, but I never said I wouldn’t post detail pictures for the ladies. 🙂 So here goes!

Thanks for sticking with me this far! I haven’t really been sewing much outside of vending and underwear, but am hoping to branch out again soon. Have a great week!