Tag: fabric

Sewing

Adventures In Capsule Sewing

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A lot of my sewing groups have been running extra challenges with fun prizes and percentages off patterns, so you know I’ve been abandoning my previous projects like a snake shedding skin. 🙂 For this particular challenge though, I was able to fill a couple of wardrobe holes.

The idea of a Capsule Wardrobe has it’s roots in minimalist culture as a way to get the most out of a few pieces. They are all supposed to mix and match, so you have lots of options. Generally this means picking a focus fabric and carefully thinking about prints.

I called it my “Picture Perfect” Capsule, because I needed a few new work things, especially something for my new headshot. I had planned to sew up mostly solids and did succeed in getting some more made. I had to abandon part of it though, as I ran out of tracing paper.

This particular challenge was sponsored by Made for Mermaids and Patterns for Pirates. They are PDF pattern companies run by two sisters. The vibes are similar. Made for Mermaids tends to be softer and more flowy. Pirates seems to have more sleek things. I have a bunch of patterns from both, so was excited to use new ones. The deal was that you had to use only patterns from both companies and you could mash them together if you wanted to. You had to have 9 items total and could use up to four previously made items.

Mine ended up being almost all Patterns for Pirates by accident. More of them fit into my capsule idea and I ran out of time and tracing paper to include the Eloise and the Lauren from Made for Mermaids. Here’s what my original concept was:

It took me a while to combine the fabrics, as I didn’t start with a main fabric. Once I realized that having a main fabric would help pull everything together, I settled on this one: a floral Liverpool with a navy background.

After that I pulled a couple of coordinating colored fabrics. The purple rayon spandex below really wanted to be an Eloise and I have it cut out, just not finished yet. The glittery blue is actually on a black background and is ITY, which is a cool, slippery feeling fabric. The flamingo is a rayon challis, I believe. The green next to it is another rayon spandex, but it’s thicker and more slinky feeling than the purple. It could possibly be bamboo rayon, but I’ve never felt that, so I don’t know for sure.

The main dress is a Patterns for Pirates Sweetheart Dress. It has a full circle skirt and is very dramatic and excellent for twirling. I may have twirled every time I got compliments on it. 😉

The only thing I didn’t like is that the neckline feels like it’s strangling me. I’m going to scoop it out lower for comfort.

My original pre-made items (we were allowed 4) for my capsule were a pair of grey leggings, a navy floral Brunch Blouse from P4P and a grey cardigan. I switched it up at the end as the cardi didn’t really go and I was running behind on time. I decided that after all the work clothes, I would probably need an after work outfit and used my vaccination outfit as my final two pieces.

This is the Made for Mermaid Penelope dress. I have been waiting a long time to make it, as it seemed very complicated. It has princess seams which run straight down from the shoulders, making it drape nicely and flare at the bottom. It has cap, short, 3/4, and long sleeve options. It also has mini, knee, and maxi length skirt options. My sleeves were slightly longer than the short sleeve.

This is fine in the front for work, but is a bit shorter than it probably should be, due to my curves at the back. I’ll most likely be wearing this with leggings or shorts when I do wear it to work. I really like how it looks on me and will definitely make more.

This beauty is the Patterns for Pirates Gala Gown in the knee length option. It’s made out of ITY, which stands for Interlock Twisted Yarn. It’s silky, slippery, and cool to the touch. It also rolls like crazy and was super annoying to sew! I wore this dress for my professional headshot and it made me feel special and confident. It’s got a fantastic twirl factor too. The pattern is complicated, with many pieces, but not difficult to put together. I did forget to add in the pockets though.

I love it and had a grand time swishing around in it. It also looks flattering on pretty much everyone that I have seen make it. I’m interested to try it with some other fabrics.

This is a Brunch Blouse from Patterns for Pirates. I think it’s rayon challis. It’s nice and drapey to wear. I switched this out for the Eloise.

I made pants to go with it! They are super comfy! I have been irrationally afraid to make the Patterns for Pirates SOS pants for a while, but they weren’t that hard to make. I do need to grade out at the hips. This pair has some pulling in the seams. But I do have plans to make more with my fancy pants fabrics. Excuse the wrinkles, I forgot pictures before wearing them.

Overall, it was fun to push myself to try new and somewhat intimidating patterns. I will make all of them again and it’s boosted my confidence in trying more of my patterns. I should be on a pattern buying ban, but we all know that’ll never happen. 😂

I think I’ll go find some more capsule options and work on filling my wardrobe holes next! Wish me luck!

Sewing

Stash Shopping- Challenge Accepted!

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While we were sorting out the pantry the other day, I came up with a good idea to potentially help me get a handle on my fabric storage issues. Namely, I need to sew more and buy/store less. The problem is, I get excited about new fabric and don’t sew up the old fabric, or get bogged down in ideas about what things could be and can’t decide what to make with that particular fabric.

So I decided that in order to cut down on some decisions, I would make myself a new challenge. I will only use the fabric that’s sitting out until most of it can then fit in my bins. Of course, there are a few exceptions. If I need a particular solid color for accent, or a specific fabric for the 52 Week Sewing Challenge bonus, I can use that. I took pictures of all the fabrics I had that weren’t put away yet so I could stay accountable.

The funny thing is, I generally have an idea of what I’d like to make with the fabrics, I just get distracted.

Left to Right: Pink French Terry, Teal Cotton Interlock- no stretch, light blue lightweight sweater knit, heavy quilted sweatshirt fabric, polka dotted french terry.

The pink french terry has enough to make part of a sweater. It’s thinner, so it would be good for a short sleeved shirt too. The teal interlock will be a shirt. Light blue sweater will be a summer weight Cocoon Cardigan, as it has little holes where the bow ties are. The polka dotted french terry wants to be a sweater pattern. I don’t have a ton of it though, so not sure which pattern yet. Blue quilted knit will be a vest, I think for fall. It’s super heavy and not very stretchy, so I’m not sure I want it to be a full sweater.

Black Birds- cotton interlock, not super stretchy. Good for tshirts. Music fabric is a gorgeous, thicker double brushed poly. It might be a skirt for a dress, or a tunic. I can’t decide if a tunic would be too busy. I have a lot of it though. The monsters are for my favorite little boys. It’s a cotton lycra. It will pair nicely with the black cotton lycra that’s next to it. The grey is leftover DBP from a tunic dress for K1. You can’t really go wrong with a nice grey shirt or tank top, so that’s probably what that will be. Actually, I do need to replace a grey tank I have that just doesn’t work for me anymore. This would be perfect!

Grey lightweight sweater fabric has already been made into a very nice tunic length Grandpa Cardi .

It’s got a little shimmer to it and is light enough that it doesn’t make me too warm, but keeps me at the right temp. I think it will be perfect in summer too.

The flamingo fabric is swimsuit material. I was going to make a swimsuit this week, but chickened out. I need to make a test version first and just didn’t have the time before I was down and out from the second vaccine dose.

The plaid is a soft hacci sweater knit. It wants to be a tunic or sweater dress. The starry fabric is french terry. I have a Cocoon Cardi in this, but liked it so much I wanted more for hoodies. The teal is crushed velvet for fancy pajamas. I know I swore off crushed velvet, but I couldn’t help it. These last three are from Olga’s Closet and so will be bonus entries for the challenge.

Top is a scrap of french terry for accents. I’ll make the Husband more shorts with it if there’s enough. Next is my River Tam panel, which is going to go on the back of a motorcycle jacket because it’s that awesome. The teal is a dbp and will probably be leggings or a tank. Black is dbp as well and will also be leggings. I only have one pair of black and that hasn’t been enough. The red is more berry like in real life and is double gauze. That will be a nice peasant style blouse or dress.

The wildly printed fabric is dbp and will be used for test night attire and other muslins. I really wanted it, but ended up with a lot, since it was on clearance. The white is a loose weaved sweater knit for a summer sweater. Probably a grandpa cardi as it doesn’t have a ton of drape for a Cocoon. The grey is a thermal. Probably a shirt for the Husband or the Brother, or possibly another sleep shirt for me. The gold veined fabric is a dark teal in real life and is cotton lycra. Originally it was going to be leggings, but it’s super pretty. It actually goes really well with the mustard stars, so it may end up being a hoodie instead. The stars are french terry.

The top is knight and dragon flannel that will be Husband pj pants now that I’ve found a good pattern. The next one is actually a dark navy and will be capris or pants. The next one is black jegging material and will most likely be Solar Flares. The last one is a navy bullet/Liverpool and will be a short sleeved dress. I think I’m going to try a Mix it Up dress by George and Ginger with a really pretty neckline for interest, since the rest of the dress will be so plain.

So that’s my plan for the next couple of months. Hopefully I can figure out what to do with my scraps too. They’re taking over the basement. I know some of the H&M stores will take them to recycle them. Maybe I can find a Girl Scout troop or something too. It seems Piggy needs more cushions too as she tends to curl up on whatever she can find sometimes. She needs a bed for the Husband’s office so she’ll go hang with him and not make trouble in the living room. Wish me luck!

Sewing

Handmade Presents

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Hello again! Now that everyone has finally gotten their gifts, I can finally share what I sewed this year. It took forever for our Christmas presents to reach people this year. It’s a good thing we celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas! The Husband said he was told at the post office that the building had been so full of packages that you couldn’t actually walk inside! Crazy times we live in!

Here’s some hats I made. The one with the hippo was for my Dad and the plain red one was for my friend.

My dad one year when I was little, kept singing the song “All I want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus” and we ended up finding him a clay hippo statue at the local thrift store which made us all giggle. I thought it was time for him to have a nice warm hippo hat to remember his daughter. The hat for my friend is lined, although I forget what I lined it with. I think a dbp maybe? He’s outside a lot and I made neck warmers last year for him, so I thought a hat would also be useful. He is married to K1.

For K1, I made a nice Cocoon Cardi and I might have to make a matching one for me. It’s so elegant looking! I did forget pockets though, although sometimes they don’t look nice in dbp if it pulls funny.

The boys got Viking shirts, which was really fun! I had virtual tea with both Ks today and the older boy was wearing his. It warmed my heart!

My younger brother got another set of pjs. This one had flannel pants with food puns and a plain blue raglan shirt.

I made the pun pants in memory of my Grandpa Ollie, who could clear the room with a few well placed puns. My brother says they both fit nicely and are very warm.

Everyone got microwave bowl cozies and a soup mix from Motown Soups. They were a hit! When we had our family zoom with my inlaws and sister in law, the inlaws opened theirs first and my sister in law was so impressed that I had to suggest she not go looking for any until her package actually got there. 🙂 The inlaws got bowling pin fabric. These two below are my parents’ set and my sister in law, I believe. My aunt got lemons and my brother got the same “basgetti” ones that we have. I really need to make a couple more to take to work as they would be extremely helpful there.

The Husband also got one of the pj pants that I have said I’d make him and then didn’t… Whoops! In my defense, the pattern I used first was not comfortable and I couldn’t find another one for a while. Since I’ve found a good pattern now, I can hopefully catch up. This pair has bears in sweaters. The Husband has a thing for bears in sweaters.

Piggy got a few handmade presents as well, although not by me. My inlaws made her some adorable bandanas and a little coat that will need some adjustments. She is still a chonky one.

She also got food treats from K1 when we got our cookies and gets so excited for them!

It’s so funny because she is so little on the face and then opens her mouth and it’s like you can see to Australia! I’ve actually compared it to a Tardis from Dr. Who- much bigger on the inside. 😉

I made these cute ornaments from toilet paper and paper towel tubes, because 2020 may have been sh*t, but I could at least make something pretty with it. 🙂

Behind it you can sort of see the Lego Christmas Village, which has a new home in the china cabinet. What? You mean other people actually display their china in the china cabinet? That’s some small imagination right there it is! Legos look much better there!

We missed the Lego Christmas Village set this year, unfortunately, but did get a really cool A Christmas Carol Lego book, which will look very neat in the village next year.

For my work people, I made a few spa things- peppermint sugar scrubs and green tea peppermint bath salts. I don’t have pictures, but they were both super cute. I packaged them in a zipper pouches. My parents got fun masks too. My dad got a soaring eagle and my mom got pianos that she can wear while teaching.

Although I didn’t make as much as I wanted to make this year, I’m pretty happy with what I did get done. The bowl cozies were super well liked and I gave a lot of people books too. I hope to start earlier this year and make more of Christmas handmade.

For now, I’ll leave you with a peaceful Piggy picture. I don’t know about you, but I could certainly use some extra peace on Mondays!

My Year Of Sewing- 2020
Monthly Review · Sewing

My Year Of Sewing- 2020

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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

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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!

Sewing

Sewing Adventures

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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!

Wordless Wednesdays

Almost Wordless Wednesday- Stash Shopping

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The Husband brought me a new sewing table from his work, as they were going to get rid of it in their building move. It inspired some more organization and I took some pictures of some of my stash. Enjoy!

Terrors of the Deep! Will be octopus leggings (probably) and a shark shirt for Fancy
All woven- ends are poly rayon faile and the middle is hand batiked rayon. I had to stare down an older lady at the Expo who tried to take the bolt out of my arms and repeatedly petted it while it was clasped to my chest protectively. Ask K 2- she was there!
Cotton voile for a shift dress, ombre chiffon for a dance veil, rayon challis for a dress.
Future sewing themed quilt or sewn travel organizer
fabrics that are not primarily blue or black to expand my wardrobe. L to r: maxi skirt, sweatshirt, tank top, dress
Utterly gorgeous DBP. Was supposed to be leggings to sell, but I cannot part with it. It will be a dress for me.
Two future maxi skirts and a dress, all are ITY, so super slinky and cool to the touch.
Sew What’s Up?
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing · Uncategorized

Sew What’s Up?

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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!

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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!