Uncategorized

Sewing Up A Storm

My dresser drawers are getting full of clothing I’ve made and I’m finding myself being in me made outfits from head to toe more often than not. Today it was about half and half for work. I still have nice store bought pants and sweaters that are in the rotation, but I wear so many me made things now that everyone at work just assumes I made whatever I have on. 🙂

Speaking of work, one of the biggest things I’ve sewn lately has been this quilt that I essentially finished in a weekend for my director, who got married! She’s always elegant, so I thought this color palette would be nice and not overly girly for her husband and family. I’ve been told that everyone loves it, even the dogs! 🙂

It’s a little wrinkly from being wrapped up. This is the second Jellyroll Serger Quilt I’ve made, after taking the class in the winter at Decorative Stitch with my MIL. This time, I remembered to add the sashing! I think it turned out super cool. I have enough leftover fabric to make a baby quilt to gift when needed. The featured picture is a close up of one of the unicorn squares. Had to have a little whimsy, after all. Isn’t it so vibrant? The quilt was actually inspired by the fleece blanket that I used for the back. I had bought one of those no sew fleece blanket kits, but hate how the fleeces feel when you tie them and they are the perfect size for quilt backs.

I’ve been batch sewing a bunch of Lago tanks lately, as they are my absolute favorite tank so far. I have pictures of three of them, but have made two more too, a purple one and a long one for a night gown. The night gown used the rest of the black skull and hearts fabric from my purple skort. Here’s the ones I do have pictures of in a handy collage.

The pink one is a little, very soft and cool feeling, rayon spandex night shirt. The bicycle one is also mostly for sleep, as it can be a little more sheer than I’d like, but could be worn for every day too. The mint one was for my friend with the little boys. I’ve had this fabric since last year for her, but couldn’t figure out what I wanted to make for her with it. She liked this one a lot, so I think I made the right choice. It’s tunic length, so could also be a sleep shirt.

The Husband was traveling for work near where our friends live, so he was able to drop off a little box for them and get us two pints of the best (and pretty much only) maple syrup I will eat. There may have been some nerdy LOTR references made when she told me we could get it in pints. 😉 Yum!

I made a Patterns for Pirates Sweet Tee for her as well.

I was pleased with how this one turned out. I have a couple of Sweet Tees myself, so was pretty sure she’d like it.

The boys got shark themed outfits for Shark Week, which is coming up August 9-16th. I mean, we all know what I’ll be doing that week, but now the boys and I can match!

I hope the boys like their outfits! I made sure to send pants this time, as the older boy last time was slightly perturbed that he had only a shirt. 🙂

I made some more doll clothes for the office, but have pictures of just a few of them. The rest are at work and have been used already by the littles.

The button shirts have been seen before, but the snaps all came out, so I used velcro or snap tape the second time around.

Masks are not freaking me out as much to make currently, although they do hurt my hand, no matter which tool I use to cut them out. I have a bunch of pet themed ones started to do a fundraiser for Fancy and Piggy’s rescue. I found the most ridiculous cat dating site fabric for some of them and it cracks me right up. I’ll be sure to take a close up picture of that one. In the meantime, here are some of them.

The flamingo with the camper mask is staying with me, of course.

A few of these are going to work with me too, for anyone who wants to take them. The papery masks make me itchy and are super uncomfortable, so I wanted to offer them if other people were having the same issues. I figure if I get a set number of them ready, I won’t be inundated by requests and will be able to calmly get them out. I’m not taking custom requests or selling more than I have made up.

I used the camper/flamingo fabric to make Linen Lounger shorts, but need to go back and add a taller waistband, as I forgot to increase the back rise. I added pretty pink lace though and think they are super cute. I added pockets too.

Another victim of not enough rise, are these pants. At least I think that’s what’s happening? They’re also a weird length, hence the sad face.

I need new capri’s and pants though, so I’ll keep trying things out. I did make knit shorts from this cool zipper pattern cotton lycra. They’re very comfy and have pockets. I used the Solar Flares pattern by RAD patterns. The theme last week for the sewing challenge was Pants or Shorts.

I also made another skort! This book fabric was a custom fabric from Peekaboo Fabrics and they don’t have any more. I had just a half yard of it and it worked out perfectly. The shorts underneath are a blue anti-microbial athletic fabric that apparently runs easily. I may switch it out for a plain cotton lycra at some point. It is very comfy though and looks tidy enough that I do wear it to work on days when I have mostly kids.

Well, that’s all the sewing I have pictures of, so I guess I’ll sign off for the night! I’m definitely relaxing in my zipper shorts tonight. The house got pretty warm when we were all out of it. I’ll leave you with this picture of Piggy, because if it doesn’t make you smile, I’m not sure what will.

Sweet Dreams!

Sewing

Still Here!

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!

Crafty · Monthly Review · Sewing

Monthly Review- November

Here I am! With puppers in tow, of course. She’s stealing my blankets and giving me sad eyes when I stop petting to type. Silly dog. 

I have been a busy girl this month, but some of it, I can’t show you yet, as it’s super secret Christmas business. You’ll see it next month though. I have been focusing on presents and sewing warm things for our Christmas trip to the snowy North. Which, by the way, is next week already! Crazy talk! 

This sweater was one that I was originally going to make for a gift, however, it turned out to be meant for someone who doesn’t lift (so not my brother’s lovely girlfriend,) so I kept it. Oh darn… I had to keep this lovely cardigan… The Husband claims I planned it that way, but don’t listen to him!

French Terry for the main body with lace lined front panels.

It’s a Cocoon Cardigan from Patterns from Pirates. I love this pattern and it looks pretty flattering on everyone, I think. 

I made another one this month.

To be fair, this grey one only needed the band, but I was undecided on that and it got put away until it got cold out and I suddenly needed ALL THE SWEATERS! Don’t worry, I have some additional ones now, but I think I’m destined to be cold all winter again. It does seem to happen.  Dad will say my blood thinned when I moved downstate, but I distinctly remember being super cold when I lived in the snowy North as well.  

Speaking of warm clothes, I made a sweat suit, which is currently in the wash, as I wear it as much as possible. It’s not terribly glamorous and I don’t have pictures, but it’s a lovely warm blue sweatshirt material. The pants have grey flannel pockets and the top is made from the grey ribbed material of one of my other new sleep shirts. 

These are the flannel pants that lead to using scraps for the sweatpants. 

I used the Linen Lounger pattern and accidentally flared them. 🙂 I think they are cute though and the flannel is so soft! 

I have two more flannel pants planned. I think they will have slimmed down cuffs with cotton lycra to make them stay on my ankles. My blue and grey ones slide up my legs and then I have terribly cold ankles. Fancy doesn’t always sleep on them like she should. 🙂

One of my pretty consistent goals is to use new patterns and I have made three dresses from the CKC Amy pattern, which is a knit dress with a v neck and a gathered skirt. I use pleats because gathering and I are not friends. 

I love them! It’s nice to have dresses that I can count on not to wrinkle and look adorable, if I do say so myself. This dress is made from Liverpool Fabric, which is textured on one side with a pebbly feel and is very smooth on the other. I think technically it’s a double knit, meaning two sides are knit together. It’s a very stable knit and makes excellent pencil skirts and lovely dresses. I bought the last three yards of this fabric because it needed to be a dress and I still have enough for at least one shirt too. 🙂

This Cotton Lycra version has pockets! It also makes me feel a bit gothy, especially when I wear black jewelry, a black cardi, leggings, and boots.

I wore it with my owl cardigan to work and every time I went into the lobby, someone new would compliment me on it. I must have not been wearing my hair up for people to see the owl, because I have worn it lots of times before and it hasn’t been that big of a thing. I was very careful with my pattern placement and think I lined things up pretty well. Both of these were heavier fabrics, but I have some planned with lighter weight fabrics too. I’m interested to see the differences between them. 

This raglan was made out of some of the scraps from the red and a grey french terry material. The french terry isn’t as soft as some other of the same fabrics I have, but it’s still a cozy sweatshirt. Here’s a detail shot of the pattern and the cuffs.

Besides the grey cardigan, my UFO bin also got some love. I finished my tree skirt! My MIL finished her tree skirt too, but I don’t have a picture of it, as there were presents all over it! It is, of course, displayed with the flamingo side up. 🙂 

My other UFO is a wall hanging that’s been sitting in the box for several years. I attempted to do some hand embroidery, but it looked terrible. I finally pulled the stitching and machine stitched around the middle. 

It has watch gears on it, for a slightly steampunk vibe. The squares are the tiniest scraps from my box. I enjoy it a lot and might have to make some more tiny squares. 

Another recent scrap buster project I discovered was these little gnomes or tomte that were presented in one of my sewing groups- So Sew English Craftalong on Facebook. These little guys (and the one beardless lady gnome) are made from only stash materials. They are made with scrap fabrics, stuffed with scrap fabrics, and I used stash yarn. 

This one is a wizard!
This is the lady gnome!

Aren’t they cute? I want to make some specifically Christmas ones for decor. Tomte are good luck, according to Scandinavian folklore, as long as you keep them supplied with porridge. 

These ornaments are also made with stash things. I bought these glass balls last year, I think, or the year before on clearance and have started to love the mercury glass look. Since I now know how to make them, I kind of want to mercury glass everything! 

Two of the Christmas presents I’ve made so far can be shared, as they were for the Husband’s sister and she has already seen them. She was happily wearing them today after making sure they fit. 🙂 

The leggings are Peg Legs from Patterns for Pirates and the shirt is the Relaxed Raglan. Be warned, the shirt has some rude language on it, so don’t look too close if you might be offended. 

The white fabric was originally intended to be leggings as well, but it wasn’t going to look good. She loved it as a shirt, so I’m happy with it too. I might actually make clothes for other people soon! 

My goals for the month include making my own snow pants, assuming tje fabric comes in on time, a few more warm shirts, including some layering ones, and finishing my warm pants as well.

Obviously, in the next week, finishing my Christmas presents is a priority and making Fancy a nice sweater.

This post got super long, so I’ll post the food review in a few days. For now, I’ll leave you with this silly meme about buying fabric. 

Have a wonderful night!