Tag: sewing

Crafty · Sewing

Truthful Tuesday

LSieh1 Comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wordless Wednesday- National Park Quilts
Uncategorized · Wordless Wednesdays

Wordless Wednesday- National Park Quilts

LSiehLeave a comment
Bryce Canyon
Badlands
Death Valley
North Cascades
King’s Canyon
Everglades
Isle Royale
Isle Royale
Isle Royale
Wordless Wednesdays

Almost Wordless Wednesday- Stash Shopping

LSieh2 Comments

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.
Thready Tuesday
Life Posts · Sewing

Thready Tuesday

LSiehLeave a comment

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

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

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

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

Here is one of my finished blocks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!