Category: Sewing

Crafty · Life Posts · Monthly Review · Sewing

Christmas Gifts And Review

LSiehLeave a comment

Well, hello there! Glad to see you’re still around. I went through a bit of a busy time and got a little out of practice from blogging. I did just pay for three more years of the blog though, so you’re stuck with me for at least that long. 🙂

It has been a whirlwind and I did learn a few things over the past year in terms of sewing. I love my serger! My MIL was right when she said it would be a game changer. I’m sewing things I never would have dared to sew before, including hoodies!

I’ve experimented with more fancy stitches, new patterns, and traveled with my serger! I started making A wardrobe for my office dolls, which has been surprisingly fun and stress relieving. Here are my latest creations. The top two are the Riley tank dress from Made for Mermaids and the bottom right are Kelli Kimono Robes, also from M4M. The bubble dresses are the Vada’s Bubble Dress from CKC patterns. I’ve been enjoying using them to try new techniques in a less stressful way.

Of course, there were some negatives. I developed tendinitis from scissor use, had quilt fails, and added some more projects to the WIP and naughty bin. Oh, and I trashed my iron very well. Tripped over the cord and whipped it point down into the floor. Apparently irons aren’t meant to show their insides like that…

Overall, the positives outweighed the negatives though, so that’s always good.

I have a couple of goals this year. Making pants is one of them, as is figuring out undergarment patterns (don’t worry Dad, I won’t put pictures of the finished products on the blog.)

I joined the 52 Week Sewing Challenge on Facebook, which gives you a different theme or idea to sew each week. Each week is sponsored by a couple of different sewing related shops and when you post what you’ve sewn, you’re entered to win the giveaway from the sponsor that week. The cool thing is as long as you post something finished, you’re entered to win, so if you desperately need to finish a specific project, you have that option. The Week 1 challenge was to organize your sewing space and it was fun to see all the different ideas people had. Here is my before and after of my sewing table. The rest of the space is still a work in progress.

If you’re interested and on Facebook, you can look it up by that name and join the group. You have to answer some questions to join, but they’re all basic. It’s been fun so far. This week was UFO/WIP finishing week and I finished the owl quilt I was working on starting at New Year’s Eve.

It is from the book Rainbow Quilts For Scrap Lovers by Judy Gautier and is called “Owls Well That Ends Well.” Isn’t it cute? These are all from scraps, except the white, which needed to be from yardage. I used up a whole bunch of fabrics in it though. It’s backed with a purple and blue tye dye batik and gave me a bit of trouble. My sewing machine tension is off somewhere and the thread is misbehaving severely. The quilt looks cute though, just don’t look at the back seam…

I made a lot of our Christmas presents this year and it has been ridiculously hard to keep them a secret. Since the summer, I had been working on a traditional Finnish Costume for my Mom and will share that in another post as it was very interesting to do. It was my dad’s idea, but the whole family was in on it. 🙂

Another present I made for my Mom was this quilt, which I have been working on since last Christmas. I have enough fabric to make one for myself as well.

Here’s some pictures.

It’s a modified Shining Star pattern from one of my scrap quilts books. I added sashing too it, as I thought it needed a little something extra. It’s tied with buttons and the background of the squares is music fabric. The backing is a plain red and the binding is a glittery white and gold plaid fabric. I got super fancy and made my own bias binding.

Here’s some more closeups of my favorite stars.

I have heard that she likes it! 🙂

My friend K used the fish leather from the Quilt Expo last year to make a wallet for her dad. She said it was pretty easy to work with, so I decided to be brave and got some to play with this year. The end result were two little belt bags for my younger brother and his girlfriend! They are both salmon leather and from Fiskur Leather. The owners were super helpful in helping me figure out what would work best to sew it- polyester thread and a leather needle. I’m pretty proud of them. They’re meant to look a little rustic to match their characters. I used frog clasps to close them.

Their unit colors are purple and black, so I thought that this combo would be cool. I have also heard that they liked their things as well. The fish leather was pretty easy to sew with. It was more complicated to figure out the pouches with no pattern and with limited amounts of the leather. Sewed together fine though.

One of my goals for this year is to use up some more fabric. To that end, I used up my smaller fleece scraps by sewing up mittens and ear warmers for an organization called Night Angels. They work with victims of human trafficking and have a community outreach program. My work was making some Christmas bags for this program, so these were added to the presents. Here’s the prettiest ones:

I did buy some fleece remnants to make sure I would have enough, but they have all been used up. I used the last bits to make sleeping bags for the office dolls. Someone requested beds for them, but I don’t have room for furniture.

I painted these ornaments for my boss and the administrative staff at work. They each got a little set of three ornaments. I don’t have the best picture of them, but here is one of them.

I was gifted this lovely set by my MIL, who made it in one of her embroidery classes. It includes an apron, a pot holder, and a kitchen towel.

I’m sure to be sewing a bunch more things this year and am going to be taking on a few of my sewing fears, so it would be an interesting time. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to learn about!

Have a creative year!

Sewing

Sergers And Thread And Doll Clothes, Oh My!

LSiehLeave a comment

My tendinitis has died down a little and I have figured out a system for managing the pattern cutting, so I have been sewing again. It’s super exciting to be sewing regularly again! I do have to take more breaks and only cut a few things at once. My rotary cutter doesn’t like very stretchy knits, so I’m a bit annoyed by that, but I’m getting better at cutting neatly around pattern shapes.

I made a bunch of new doll clothes, as my kid clients have been requesting new warmer clothes for the office dolls for winter. Another request was more school books, but I just made those quickly with construction paper. Both the new clothes and the books have met with approval so far.

Forgive the working picture, it was the brightest one. Isn’t this an adorable dress? I’ve decided I just need to preview my wardrobe combos in doll sizes first. They turn out so cute!

This is the Vada Doll Dress from CKC Patterns. I thought I should try some of the other patterns I had and this one was super easy. I have some more sweater scraps that will be used for a couple more of these.

Another outfit that I probably will duplicate in my sizes is this yoga set.

A couple of friends have approved this idea. I got the yoga fabric from K, as she had gotten an end of bolt deal and was generous enough to share. It’s a bit thin for pants for me, but I think a tank would be cute and I have blue leggings material too. It just made me giggle over how cute it was.

I also used a Love Notions doll pattern, the Laundry Day dress to make these two dresses. Because I was not looking to sell these, I just serged the edges. It was much easier!

I used a tried and true shirt pattern for these shirts. It’s the Ellie and Mac Simply Sweet doll shirt. It’s very easy and looks cute. I used a couple of sweater knits for the mint one and the purple swirly one.

I used the fabric scraps from a cardigan to make this adorable winter skirt and scraps from a matching leggings set from my other K friend. These are both the Bonny skirt from Made for Mermaids.

I used more scraps from the checkered material to make more Doll Bonny leggings. You can never have too many leggings, after all.

I also made a capri length of leggings and a matching leotard, as apparently both of the girl dolls need one. The leo pattern is much easier once I decided not to try turning all the edges. It looks much better without the turning.

I had a request for another book bag too for the dolls. Apparently they all needed their own to take to school, so I made this little sparkly bag out of tiny scraps of fabric and ribbon.

It was very well received. When you’re 8, the sparklier the better apparently!

I still have a pile of scraps to use up with new doll clothes and less feelings of silliness about learning how to make them after doing some more research on pricing. They’re a really quick, fun thing to do when discouraged too.

I mentioned on the garden post that I had attended a bellydance event and vended at the same. I have a lot of stock currently, so I didn’t really make much more. The green skirt just needed tassels and the gold skirt was a fabric that I bought intending on making a shirt with it. It was too thin for me though, so hip skirts it is!

Sadly, I didn’t really sell anything, but the dancing was good. I’m invited back for the winter one in February too and will hopefully be able to build more interest. This event was pretty last minute.

These leggings are pretty comfy, but there’s something weird happening at the waistband. The fabric isn’t as stretchy one way as the other. They work, but they are a little less comfortable than my other ones.

I just loved the quilt square aspect of them.

Another fun print I have been working with is this sewing machine print, which I made into a hoodie! I tried a new pattern and despite looking complicated, it is super easy.

It is the Ellie and Mac Undercover Hoodie. You can technically make a hidden pocket, but it hits me at kind of a weird spot and I don’t really need a pocket all the way across my stomach. This is the second hoodie I made and I added thumbhole cuffs and reduced the hood size. The first hood falls down over my eyes. 🙂 These are both cotton lycra fabric, so not super warm, but very comfy. The magenta is from Purple Seamstress and the sewing machines are from Seweird Fabrics. It was a custom print and was too cute.

Here’s the first one, made with two french terry fabrics. The hexies are very stretchy and feel more smooth with very low loops. The blue is more sweater like.

It is great for lounging as it’s more drapey than the machines. I love them both though and have been wearing them constantly. The aerial yoga instructor almost fell over when I told her I had made this one. She didn’t realize how much K and I actually are able to sew. 🙂

The pink fabric with the machines is actually the same fabric I used to make the leggings in this outfit.

The floral fabric is a cotton voile, very lightweight and lovely to wear. I made a Brunch Blouse from Patterns for Pirates. For the hems, I used a fancy rolled hem stitch on my serger and it was lovely! A rolled hem is an easy way to finish a seam properly while using the smallest amount of fabric. It doesn’t look like much, but I felt very accomplished! I now can hem slippery or sheer fabrics much more easily. Here’s a picture of it.

Since it’s gotten colder lately, I’m not sure how much I’ll wear the top, but the leggings will be very helpful all winter.

This sweater is my newest favorite cozy sweater with thumbhole cuffs and a funnel neck, which is really just a looser turtleneck. I wanted a full cowl, but accidentally cut the first piece wrong, so had to go to a funnel instead.

I do need to redo the cuffs, as I accidentally made the stretch go the wrong way, but they still fit, I just can’t fold them down, which is inconvenient. I have new ones already cut, just have to redo them. This fabric absolutely was meant to be a sweater in this style. I used the Relaxed Raglan pattern from Patterns for Pirates. It’s a very easy, but can be fancy pattern.

So that’s what I have been sewing lately. I should probably go fix those cuffs. My coworker saw my post on Facebook about it and asked why I wasn’t wearing it today at the office. 🙂 Have a cozy night!

Sew What’s Up?
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing · Uncategorized

Sew What’s Up?

LSiehLeave a comment

Having an injury that prevents me from sewing is really showing me how much I actually need to sew to keep myself on an even keel. I have other hobbies, like reading, marathoning Star Trek episodes, dancing, or finding all the book sales, but sewing is still one of my top three stress relievers. And believe me, I needed the stress relief!

Also, look, the book sale wasn’t my fault. It was to support a Catholic School! Don’t you want those kids to have a good education?! The Husband graciously drove me and found some good books as well.

I found a couple of psychology books, including a Brene Brown book. She’s fantastic and I still haven’t read most of her books, so I was excited to find it.

This book jumped into my bag when I wasn’t looking! Sneaky book!

Amazingly, I have put the books away already! I know, it’s super weird for me too, but we had a game night and needed the table space. Pictures for proof!

Here are a couple of quilts from one of the books. It has only a few blocks, but gives you at least two options for putting them together. The basic block and then a secondary setting option. It’s pretty cool.

We also went to a quilt show and although I was too shy to ask to take pictures of the quilts, there were lots of fabulous ones. It was one of those weird situations where it was all much older ladies and they seemed very confused by why us young whippersnappers were interested. There was a really cool music quilt that someone had made in high school to take to band camp, a really detailed landscape type quilt, fairy houses, and an amazing sewing themed quilt. That one had tons of appliqué and the Husband pointed out that several of the machines pictured on the quilt were “plugged in” across the quilt! It was so cool! I hope that one won first place. I did see a couple of scraps of fabrics that I have in my stash too, so that was fun.

I found a cool book too and some fun fabrics. They had a scrap table where you could stuff a bag for $5! Here’s my scrap haul and the book.

While we were there, I finally found the weighted rotary cutter that I have been looking for. I thought it would be easier on my thumb and wrist for cutting. You barely have to push at all because of the weight of the blade. Now I just have to get better at cutting clothes patterns out with a rotary cutter and I should be all set.

Speaking of which, I have used it already. I made a comment to a friend about working through my mending pile, since most of those things need less cutting and she replied with something a long the lines of “mending your clothes while mending your body.” I really liked that image and am trying to remind myself of it when I get frustrated with the slow pace.

Today, I cut off the elastic waistbands of two pairs of leggings to cut them down a little, and to replace the elastic with a yoga style band instead. They both hit at a weird place and would gradually be up around my ribs throughout the day. Since they are navy blue and grey, I didn’t want to just replace them. I need plain leggings, as well as plain dresses and shirts. So I added navy blue dpb to both for the new waistbands. I didn’t have any grey and it should be covered anyway.

These tea wallets were in my “to be finished” pile, so I sewed and turned them at least, but will have to figure out how much I can hand sew before I can do the buttons. I think I can probably do them one at a time.

Aren’t they adorable? I think I might try to sell them as a teacher set or something. They look so cute together.

I have also made blanket! It’s a very special sewing blanket and it’s surprisingly heavy. The Husband said I accidentally made a weighted blanket after I dropped it folded up on his arm. The pieces were 2 yards each, so it ends up being about a 100 inch square?

It is made with blue background dpb for the sewing machines and a strawberry red french terry on the back. I serged the edges together and am very happy with it. I was originally going to make something to wear, but the pattern is really big comparatively and a couple of other people made blankets with it on the sewing boards. It’s a little too warm still to use it now, but I think I will love it in the winter, as I am always cold.

I made these dog themed pictures for the September celebration of Fancy’s “Gotcha Day” and still need to put paw prints on one and a picture of Fancy on the other. I think they look cute even without the finishing touches though too. The Husband likes them as well.

So there is my recent sewing update! I’m relearning how to work around things and have also been reorganizing the basement, so it’s been a process. A good process that I will be glad to be done with at some point! I have to get back to that part though. There’s fabric in the wash I just remembered that I forgot about!

Sewcation!
Life Posts · Sewing

Sewcation!

LSiehLeave a comment

We were excited to visit friends a few weeks ago for a weekend. I shared some of the pictures on a Wednesday, but forgot to include these last few. I’m always amazed at just how cool our friends are. They can simultaneously keep both children and animals alive and thriving! Also, they are excellent hosts. I didn’t get pictures of the food we ate because I was too busy enjoying it. One of the highlights was homemade zeppoli for breakfast the day we left, but we also had delicious BLTs and a lovely chicken and pasta dish.

Here are some of the other pictures.

I got to snuggle a baby and it was fun to see their older boy, who we haven’t seen in a year or so. He was talking up a storm, including telling the Husband a long and involved story about “coconuts poofing” away while he was attempt to nap. He was also fascinated by both the superhero stories we brought the boys and the Husband’s grown up book that had only words, no pictures. Fancy stayed with a dog sitter, as we weren’t sure how she would handle a toddler and a 7 month old, but the older boy might have remembered her a little, after I showed him pictures of him and Fancy at our last visit. We have a picture of Fancy and S from last time up on our mantle display at the moment. 🙂

Besides seeing adorable children and our friends, we had an ulterior motive. Well, I did at least. My friend K (technically K 1, since we met in college) has not has not had much experience sewing with knits and wanted to learn, so I brought both my serger and my sewing machine up, as well as fabric, and some of my free patterns. She has a vintage Viking machine that purrs like a kitten. I was expecting a little trouble honestly, since my modern one has issues sometimes, but it loved sewing knits!

We used this really cute elephant fabric to make matching leggings.

Here’s a legging closeup:

We’re both wearing Lago tanks in the picture too. I made both of those, but K(1) made herself a black Lago after making the leggings. We also have matching leggings in this fabric:

Mine are shorts and hers are full length leggings. K(1) was nice enough to share fabrics. There may also be another pair of matching leggings coming when I can figure out how to cut things without hurting my thumb again.

This was the weekend I decided I really did need to get my hand looked at after I woke the Husband up by rolling over on my right hand and whisper screaming when I couldn’t move my thumb. I now know I have sewing related tendinitis and am not allowed to use scissors for a bit. I think I can still use a rotary cutter though, but have been resting it as much as possible.

Regardless of hand condition now, I did manage to make a pj set for K(1) which turned out so cute that it almost didn’t make it. 🙂

I had already made myself a pair of jogger pants with the neon sign material and was able to get a tank out of the mint fabric, so she did get it in the end. It was close though!

I also finished these two Lago tanks, one out of heathered blue tri blend- a mix of cotton, rayon, and spandex, and the dino one out of swim material.

Both are jus t serged on the hem because they are workout or sleep tanks. They are both super comfy. I cannot stop making this tank pattern. I think it’s almost my perfect pattern.

I let K(1) use my serger to finish these beautiful linen napkins that she had started. She sent me this picture after we had gotten home and it made me all smiley and giggly.

Look how pretty they are! I did one as an example and then she did the rest.

She also made myself and my other sewing friend, also a K, these adorable pin cushions and sent me hime with some super cool vintage patterns.

I was a bit jealous of this super cool vintage pattern box that includes everything you need to make this dress.

How cool is that? I’m excited to see it made up in the future.

We had a very lovely time and it was so much fun to introduce her to a couple of my favorite patterns. I’m hoping we can see each other again soon and to be able to finish some of the things I have for her and the boys. Send some healing vibes for my thumb and I’ll try to rest up as well. Otherwise, I’ll have to find someone I can bribe to cut out my patterns and fabric for me!

For now, I’m off to dream of more sewcations!

Serging Forward!
Crafty · Sewing

Serging Forward!

LSieh4 Comments

No, that’s not a typo! I bought a serger a little bit ago and I have been having a lot of fun learning how to make it do all sorts of things. It is a “previously loved” Babylock Enlighten.

My mother-in- law is partially to blame, when I asked her about pricing, she said she would just come with me to the sale. 🙂 My sewing friend K was also there, so we both picked her brain about sergers and what features to buy. This model automatically adjusts tension and threads itself when you push a button. It solves the worst problems with sergers in general. 🥰

A serger, by the way, is the machine that makes fancy hems on t-shirts and other items. The stitches look like this:

They are more flexible and secure than a zig zag stitch on knits and make everything look a little more professional. My MIL said it would be “a game changer” for me and it seems to be that way. I have sewist guilt though, about not using my machine. I don’t know that I will use the serger on quilt seams, as that feels a bit weird.

So far I have made some pants, leggings, tank tops, and a woven skirt with the serger. I haven’t had problems with seams, except with the neck and armbands, which are generally tiny and obnoxious to get the spacing just right.

Here are the tanks I have made:

The red one was the first one I made.

I noodled around on scrap fabric for a while and then just jumped right in. It was very exciting! I haven’t worn it yet, mostly because I need to trim the end threads.

This one was made as a subtle Shark Week outfit. It’s a thinner tshirt knit with low recovery from Seweird Fabrics. I had just enough to make it work.

I had three intakes at work during Shark Week and while I think most of them probably wouldn’t have even registered that I was wearing sharks, I figured I should attempt to be professional. Hence the subtle shark tooth motif. I wore a red cardigan (because, hello! Shark Teeth!) red and black jewelry, and my black jean leggings. I definitely giggled to myself all day, but have worn the tank a couple more times after. I still haven’t figured out hemming where it won’t be seen on the shirt. Excuse the thread. I was using up what I had.

I also made a casual or workout tank out of teal cotton lycra. This was out of a remnant from my friend’s leggings, so I was excited to see I had enough. I’m really working on using up scrap pieces to test patterns and be more conscious of my fabric collecting (hoarding) habits. It is currently in the wash, but imagine a teal version of the red tank.

The tanks are all the Lago tank pattern, as it is my favorite.

I also made this shark skirt out of woven fabric, but it didn’t quite hold up as well as I had hoped. I hemmed it using a special stitch called the “wave stitch” that was one of the primary reasons for buying this particular serger. You can sort of see the black/grey waves on the edge.

There’s a hilarious story involving a luckily no show appointment, binder clips, and the absence of a TJ Maxx to explain what happened, but I might not have blog space for it. You’ll be happy to know that Rite Aid carries sewing supplies and I made it through the rest of the night with a hastily sewn shut skirt. The intern was very amused and pretty impressed that I fixed it as quickly as I did. I’m still debating if I need to just make another version of it, or just assume it wouldn’t be good for a skirt. It’s a very thin cotton batik.

I almost forgot that I made these little yoga shorts too. They are a little see through to wear to actual yoga. (Knowing me, I would forget that and wear the most wildly printed underwear I had…) They work really well for sleep shorts or under skirts or dresses though.

They are double brushed poly, so super soft and comfy.

I made these shark leggings ankle length so that I could wear them all year. Sharks need love year round, after all. I used the Patterns for Pirates Peg Legs patterns for both the yoga shorts and the leggings. They are cotton lycra for both fabrics. I quite enjoy them.

I did try to make this shirt for Shark Week too, but it went horribly wrong and has been put in the naughty bin for now.

It sticks out weird at the lower back portion. I think I need a sway back adjustment to help control extra fabric. The lighter blue is also a very thin knit and I think I need one that is a little thicker to help control the pull. The water fabric is a quilting cotton and as much as I want to wear it, I think it might not be destined to be.

I did also make a tank out of a remnant from a fabric that K found before me at the discount store. It’s super soft and I used black cotton lycra for the bands, as the fabric wasn’t quite stretchy enough.

In other sewing news, I had a bit of an unexpected trip to the UP for our family friend’s funeral and although that was a sad part of the trip, I did remember to take pictures of the quilts that are at my parents’ house that I made, but forgot to document. Two of the three of them are my Dad’s and despite him actually receiving three total (one shredded from too many bias cut strips,) he still strongly hints that he should receive another one. I think maybe he should be grateful and let Mom have a turn. 😉

These are several years old, but they look like they are holding up well.

This is the second one he received after a year or so of hiding the old one so I wouldn’t take it to throw away when it started ripping. I believe it is from Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville. I think it is the Maverick Star quilt.

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/maverick-stars.html

It’s backed with flannel, with no batting. I’d forgotten how much fun it was and now am itching to make another one. I just can’t stay away from the scrap quilts!

This one is a 9 patch from one of my books, I think. It’s a fairly common pattern. 9 patch with a plain alternating block. I used this cool gun fabric for it after seeing it in a quilt shop and needing to get it for him. This one is backed in cotton, no batting, after the flannel one was said to be too hot.

I’m pretty proud of the color scheme. I used up a lot of oddball fabrics for this one and I believe it uses pre-cut 2.5 inch squares for the 9 patch, so it’s pretty easy.

This one I did make for my Mom, wonky hand-stitching and all!

It’s composer fabric and hangs in her studio, doing double duty, protecting the harpsichord from drafts and being decorative. Yes, my Mom is the cool Mom with the unusual instruments. 🙂

I have sewn a few more things, but some of them I cannot show you yet. I have to learn to alternate things I can show, with those I can’t. It makes posting a little difficulty occasionally. I have also been doing some organizing. I now have enough bins to put everything away and as my Mom gleefully reminded me this past weekend, should probably be on another fabric buying ban until I sew some more of them down.

I should really go plan out some more projects, or maybe clean off the table. We’re having our Big Summer Blowout this weekend and the table is currently covered with tracing paper, fabrics, and serger accoutrements. Wish me luck and maybe call the Husband if you haven’t heard from me in a few days. 😉

Shear Fun!
Sewing

Shear Fun!

LSiehLeave a comment

Ha! Sewing puns. I blame my Grandpa Ollie and I do crack myself up, even if no one else laughs.

The featured picture is from my office, where my flamingo sequin pillow has become very popular. I thought it was too cool to not get a picture of before it got redone.

I found a new tank top pattern that actually fits without alteration! It actually fits much better than the Bonus Tank from the last update, so I’m excited. I have discovered that I need some more plain tank tops though, so that’s next on my list. I keep dropping things on my current plain tanks. The pattern is a free one, which is nice, although you have to create an account on the site. It’s called the Lago Tank from Itch to Stitch.

Here are the new ones so far.

This one has fireworks! Sadly, I made it the week after the 4th of July, but it will be around for next year. I added a little bit extra to the hip area, so it flows a little bit more. It’s super soft and comfy and has been teen approved.

This galaxy one is also fun to wear. I graded out at the hips again, as it fits perfectly around the bustline, but needs a little bit around the hips. I added less to the hips, but it still looks very lovely on.

I can’t get enough tie dye, especially ones as pretty as this one. I probably should have put the lighter side on the front, but didn’t think about it until after I had it already cut. I still like it though. It adds interest. This one is flowier, like the first one.

This one I banded at the bottom to make it look a little different. I also thought I would try something a little different and do a fun outfit shoot instead of the regular hanger pictures.

The Husband says that if I start wearing Ugg boots and drinking Starbucks, we’re going to need to have a talk. He didn’t sign up for an Instagram, picture taking, outfit making, basic wife. 🙂 I assured him that I would attempt to keep things weird enough for him.

All of these fabrics were ones that I only had a yard of and I used pretty much all of it with only scraps left. They are all double brushed polyester, otherwise known as the fancy legging fabric.

Speaking leggings, I realized that I had made my entire workout outfit the other day and made the Husband take a picture. Coincidently, this grey tank was the first Lago tank I made to test fit.

I wore the leggings with the side vents and felt very stylish! The Husband said it looked like I bought my tank, which sounds like a weird compliment, but it means it looked very professional. I was proud!

I also had to make a pair of shorts for the Star Trek Exhibit and took a better picture of them with the shirt I wore.

I also tie dyed the Star Trek weekend! It was lots of fun, especially since our friends were here. The boys played video games while we sweated our butts off for fancy fabric art! 🙂 Here’s what they looked tied and dyed:

And here’s what they looked like washed and dried:

I wasn’t sure about the green one at first, but I think I can make it work. I plan to make a maxi dress with the purple one and a skirt, possibly a dress for the green one.

I’m discovering wardrobe holes this summer! I have all sorts of shorts, but they tend to be colors that don’t necessarily match other things, so I need to make a black pair of shorts. I thought I had pants linen left over, but discovered I could make either a back or a front for a pair of shorts, but not both. That would certainly be awkward! I do have material from the discount store that was going to be a skirt, but I need shorts more, so I will use that.

Plain tanks, of course, because I can wear them under cardigans and not be too hot. And suprisingly, a couple more pairs of sleep or lounging shorts. And I always need more dresses. Shark Week starts on the 28th, so I need to finish a couple more things before that too. This weekend we don’t have to much planned, so maybe some of those things will get done then.

For now though, I need to go cut out some more tank tops and shark items. See you later!

Sewing

Just Keep Sewing! Just Keep Sewing!

LSiehLeave a comment

I feel slightly like Dory lately, from “Finding Nemo” and “Finding Dory,” in that I seem to have a short attention span for sewing projects lately and lots of indecisiveness for what to actually make.

I do need to get my shark themed outfits done for Shark Week, which starts on July 28th! I have three more things to make, I think, and then will be able to wear shark or ocean themed outfits all week! Oddly enough, I don’t think anyone will actually notice. My teen clients last year mostly just rolled their eyes at me when I told them they should be watching it, but I have hope this year, as I have some younger kids who do like sharks. I have to have someone to talk to about it after all! The Husband can only take so much. 🙂

I didn’t sew any shark themed items this week. I was focused on tank tops for part of it and workout gear. I did make a sleep tank top out of the scrap material from my SIL’s sweary panda shirt, but out of deference to my Mom, I won’t show it.. 😉 It’s got a cute panel on the front with the pandas and pink cotton lycra along the sides and back. It was really cute for my first time color blocking a pattern.

I hacked the Bonus Tank from George and Ginger to make it. I have used this pattern four times now, as it is a free pattern and has only three pieces. It includes actual pieces for the neck and armbands and it’s been nicer than having to measure them out. I’ll show you two other versions, but the third one isn’t done yet. It still needs bands and adjustments.

This one is from a remnant from Joann’s. It was actually the smaller of two cuts that I bought. The bigger one will be a skirt, I think. I believe it is rayon spandex, but I keep forgetting to take a picture of the end of the bolt with the info. It’s lovely, soft, and very light, even in the heat. It also goes perfectly with my blue chambray shorts I made last year.

This one is from a performance fabric, I believe nylon and spandex, also from Joann’s. All the performance and printed knits were on sale for $7.99 a few weeks ago and I stocked up. They are normally $13-20 a yard. I also had coupons!

It’s a bit of a different fabric that I normally use, but is supposed to be moisture wicking and all that fancy stuff. It’s soft and comfy. This was the first one I made and I have since narrowed the shoulders a bit as they were a tiny bit too big.

I also made these leggings with cutouts that I think are super trendy and cute.

They are just black cotton lycra with these panels and I don’t have a good picture of them on. I still have to take about two inches off the bottom of the leggings, but it won’t affect the panel at all. I am short, so the Capri length are actually somewhat closer to ankle. Chances are good I won’t want air conditioning in my leggings in the winter! The Husband thought they were cool too.

Since it has been so hot lately, of course, the best thing to do is to make a sweater, right? 🙂 I actually pulled this out to make because I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it, so it was something I could do quickly. I think it looks cute on me and this pattern has some magic that makes me feel cute, even in a slimmer cut. The fabric is a double knit and was from the Discount Fabric Outlet, which sadly, has closed. 🙁 I had just enough to make it work. The neckband is navy cotton lycra, as the blue floral doesn’t have enough stretch to work for that.

It’s the Fall In Love Sweater from Ellie and Mac. I love it! I have made a black and rose sweater in this pattern too and probably will end up with a couple more for fall and winter. It’s the perfect professional sweater pattern.

In a more seasonally appropriate direction is this dress, which is the Brunch Blouse from Patterns for Pirates extended to my actual dress length with a slight High/Low hem.

If you remember, this is a pattern I have made before, but forgot to add more to the skirt portion when I shortened the torso and ended up with a lovely tunic instead. Joann’s came to the rescue as they had almost perfectly matching bias tape and thread to finish the edges. It is made from rayon voile, which I bought after seeing the fabric on clearance online. I have not worked with this fabric before, but it is so smooth and floaty that I want all of it now. It works perfectly for a little summer dress! I have worn it belted to a friend’s birthday party and with a cropped jean jacket for work (which I thank the same friend for making me buy it every time I pull it out.) It looked lovely both ways and makes me feel super stylish and cute. I plan to make more of this pattern as well.

I have been finding a couple of stash busting hashtags on Instagram that I’m hoping will help inspire me to keep evaluating and adjusting my wardrobe. I’m finding that my style is really emerging and I’d like to keep up that momentum.

This weekend I have fun plans to try tie dying some white cotton lycra to see how it works and I will have some cute things to make after that. For the summer, all the online fabric places have really cool tie dye fabrics and my friend and I decided to try to make some on our own. And of course, my list of projects grows ever longer. For example, how cute are these patterns I found at the bag sale at my local quilt store?

I blame my MIL for part of them. It’s okay though, she got similar fabric (the water color looking ones) to me and blames me for that.

It’s dangerous when we shop together. Also, she has the ruler I need for the Twister Gnomes, so how could I not get it? And and iron pattern called “The Irony?” I mean.. I’m their target market on that one. (By the way, everyone may get a gnome themed table runner this year. Hope you don’t mind… 😉

To distract from more fabric purchases (although they do have a purpose- a quilt with the watercolors/batiks and a skirt or shirt with the floral,) I’ll leave you with this derptastic picture of Fancy on a car ride.

I hope it makes you smile as much as it did for me!

Sewing

So Much Sewing!

LSiehLeave a comment

Hallelujah! I have found my sewjo again! I have tried a couple of new patterns lately with great success and now have renewed confidence. I also went off my fabric fast with a bang, but in my defense, did have plans for almost all of it… You’ll see some of those lovelies tomorrow for the Wordless Wednesday post.

For now though, I’ll start with the additional vending things that I made. The show itself, Detroit Raks, was excellent and I was excited to see all the local dancers participate. I did very well vending too and had lots of people jazzed up about my costume pieces. It was funny though, I stayed up way too late to make three more things and one of those things was the first thing to sell!

It was this little dino skirt.

I call these “hip skimmers” based on a pencil skirt pattern. I came up with them one day after work when I went to class, but had forgotten to bring dance clothes to change into. Luckily, I happened to be wearing a stretchy handmade pencil skirt and leggings, so just hiked up the skirt a little for ease of movement and it looked super cute! So of course, I made more to try out to vend.

The lace one is see through, which garnered a surprising amount of comments. I assumed everyone would know it was really to be worn over leggings (I was wearing one to demonstrate,) but people seemed confused. The red fabric is awful to work with! I ran out of three three times and gave up on the third time. It looks cute though. I have a couple more, but these were the ones that I actually got pictures of.

I also made new hip skirts, one of which has been adopted into my costume stash. I mean, really, when it looks this good with an existing costume, it definitely needs to be mine.

It’s dreamy! It’s backed with a gold fabric, seen here. It’s crackly, but hard to take pictures of.

Here are two more.

The black one is also calling to me, but I really am going to try to sell it first. I can’t find the peacock fabric at Joann’s at the moment, so really do only have one additional one. I’m hoping to get my Etsy store up again. It’s currently closed for renovations and evaluation.

Also, on my completed, but not really for me list are my cutest doll clothes so far, the bathrobes! Aren’t they just adorable?!

I now have three dolls, so I need one more, but these are a good start. One of the few boy dolls that I have seen went on sale and I figured it would be helpful to have a boy too. I have a couple of boys who love to play with the doll food and tell me which clothes to put on which girl doll, but refuse to interact with the girl dolls and I’m wondering if they would use a boy doll. I made a couple of more neutral shirts and pants too, just in case.

These pants are made out of sweatshirt material that I promptly used the stretch the wrong way for, so I am interested to see if they will actually go on the dolls. I haven’t tried it yet. The office dolls are all slimmer than my Kirsten doll. I do have a collared shirt pattern to try and have a bunch cut out, including a linen one from scraps of my Ren Fest shirt.

I made a second leotard too and I’m going to use a different method for putting it together if I ever make one again. It’s a little wonky, but decent for my first one.

It’s funny, some of these patterns use techniques that are intimidating to try on bigger clothes, but easier to try out on smaller pieces first. I definitely feel like my skills are growing just through the sheer act of sewing pretty continuously.

I have sewn some things for me too, not just for other people. I made these spectacular leggings on Saturday, when I was missing aerial yoga, due to vertigo and a headache. I thought spinning around might not lead to happy things. These leggings did make me happy though. They’re electrifying!

They have a black waistband, you just a can’t tell. They are cotton lycra from Timeless Treasures. I’m actually a little disappointed in the quality of the fabric. I have worn them once and washed them inside out and they are pilling on the inside of the thighs already! It also doesn’t have as much recovery as most cotton lycras have. The pink is from Purple Seamstress and is fabulous, but I don’t know that I’ll be buying that company’s knit again. It makes me very sad, as the constellation fabric I wanted is from them, but if it’s going to be bad quality, I don’t want it! They will be cute for as long as they last though.

This is a new pattern, the Brunch Blouse from Patterns for Pirates. I have had this pattern for quite some time, but was all intimidated by how good it looked on everyone who made it. It’s two pieces… Four if you do the optional chest pocket and the Henley button placket on the neck.

It’s supposed to be dress length, but the hip curve was hitting down by my knee, so I shortened the pattern by an inch (measured and everything! I was very impressed) and forgot to then extend the skirt portion. So now it’s a really cute tunic and I like it a lot. It has bias binding along the neckline and hems everywhere else. I will probably do a binding along the hemline next time too, it would be much neater than just a turned hem. I did discover that I have a blind hem foot on my machine, but I couldn’t quite get it to work and was too impatient to wait. I love it, even with forgetting the bust darts. I’ll try those with the next one and see which way I like it. It’s peachskin fabric, which kind of feels like fuzzier board short material, I guess. It’s super smooth on the inside and very cool to the touch. I wore it all day at work and didn’t get overheated at all. I’m sure it’s polyester. I have a couple more planned and will definitely be keeping this pattern in mind.

Of course, my crowning glory for this sewing round up is the Shark Dress. 🦈

I blame the Husband. Well, and Shark Week. I asked him if he would mind being seen with me in public while I was wearing a Shark Dress and he said he wouldn’t be seen with me if I didn’t make and wear it. I wore it to his theater banquet, where no one even blinked an eye. Here it is!

It is a CKC Amy dress, with pockets. It’s my fourth dress from this pattern and I think it suits me very well. I was slouching in this picture a bit, I think. It has shark lined pockets! My hems went a little wavy on the bodice, so if I used this fabric for anything else, I will bind it or interface them before I sew them. Once it’s on, you can’t really tell. Both fabrics are cotton lycra. The Sharks are from Purple Seamstress and the navy is from Elevated Fashion Fabrics. The sharks are thinner than the navy, so I was glad the bodice is lined. It gave it a little more support.

I adore it, of course! Some of the sharks are emo sharks and look like they are simply undone by life.

I had to order more, because obviously, I know some boys who might enjoy shark outfits… Luckily, they have awesome parents, who might also appreciate sharks. 😉

I’m pretty pleased with my sewing adventures these last couple weeks. I’m still working on getting the basement presentable and organized again. It’s supposed to rain most of the week and into the weekend, so I think that I will do a bunch on Saturday after my staff meeting. Friday, I have plans to can and Sunday is aerial and sewing. Hopefully a productive weekend, even if rainy.

Fancy is giving me this look in an effort to make me go to bed.

She likes to lay on my feet and doesn’t like to go to bed alone at night. I should probably take her advice and head that way.

Have a lovely night!