Tag: sewing

Sew Satisfying
Crafty · Sewing

Sew Satisfying

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Hello! I hope your weekend was splendid. Mine was surprisingly hot, but filled with sewing projects and yard work. I didn’t want to go back to work today, so I made a Lego unicorn and a rainbow. The unicorn is going to join the octopus and the flamingo and be my office mascot. His name is Heinrich. 🙂

We didn’t completely finish the garden, but we did make good progress. We also bought two pots of zinnias and a solar gazing ball for the porch, as well as a pretty purple and yellow flower pot to start my fairy garden. A few more solar stakes made it into our basket, one being a flamingo, of course. 🙂

We took Fancy on a pretty walk on the river on Monday. She was very excited to go to a new place and didn’t try to chase too many of the bike riders.

It was pretty hot though, so we were only out for about 45 minutes. She took a nice nap while we went to visit the Husband’s Grandma.

After our walk, I made a nice sleeveless dress to wear to Grandma’s because there is no air conditioning over there. It’s a very nice old house from the 30’s, but it does get a bit warm on the hotter days. We had fans though and ice cream. 🙂 Here’s the dress.

It’s another Agnes from Halla Patterns. I love this pattern quite a bit. This one is hemmed. 🙂 It’s quite cool and breezy, so it worked well.

I made two other dresses this weekend as well. Same pattern – Simplicity 8294. I used two different skirt styles, one gathered, one pleated (views A and C.)

This is C, with added sleeves and no collar or tabs. I need to do a final iron before wearing it. They have a side zipper.

This is A. Excuse the face, I was trying to take a quick picture before leaving for a funeral. I like this pattern, although I added an inch to each side of the bodice. I think my dragon dress will be made from it and I’d like to try it in a drapier fabric too. These are both quilting cotton.

I think I just figured out why the necklines don’t work. I think I was supposed to bind it, not put in a knit style band. Whoops…

Since this weekend was so hot, I discovered that I needed more capris and shorts to wear in the house. This was the remnant from another Agnes dress.

I repurposed a yoga pant band which made these a 20 minute sew. I hemmed them too! They unfortunately get a little see through when stretched, so they will be indoor pants, or worn with a very long tunic. They are comfy though.

I had a second band sitting around too, so I used it for these purple bike shorts. They have been worn, so are a little wrinkly.

They are not hemmed yet. They have a castaway look to them. 😬 I desperately needed shorts though and they are super comfy. Both of these are Cotton Lycra.

I received a new type of fabric, Liverpool knit, in the mail, which I couldn’t wait to try. It’s a match for the ever so stretchy pencil skirts I love so much. I made a pencil skirt, of course, but I think it would make some cute dresses too. It’s textured on the front and smooth on the back.

I played dress up and found my Valentine’s day outfit for this year. 🙂 I wore the skirt today to see if my Lula loving boss would comment and she thought it was super cute. I think I’ve trained my work ladies well. If I’m wearing something particularly cute, they now just ask if I made it, instead of where I got it.

I did some cleaning tonight and finally unpacked two more desk boxes from downstairs. I had to stop though, too much dust, not enough asthma meds. Blech. I’m feeling better now though and am excited to have a clean desk there again. Hopefully soon, I can sew down there soon.

For now though, I should head to bed. Have a great night!

Me Made May Memo
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Me Made May Memo

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I really need to work on my pun game apparently. 🙂 I’m a little behind mid-May update, but I thought I would share some thoughts on my experience so far.

I’ve very much enjoyed sewing new pieces to wear and exploring ways to wear my previously made clothes. New techniques and fabrics have been used. Cotton Lycra fabric is my newest experiment for a test run of leggings.

Leggings look so weird in flat pictures. They are super comfy. I wore them briefly last week and Fancy got so comfy that she peed on them in her sleep! Silly dog.

My sister-in-law is getting a pair of panda leggings for Christmas out of that type of fabric. I’ll have to do some creative editing on those pictures… The pandas are not happy morning pandas. Hilarious, but not happy. 🙂 Don’t worry, she knows about them. I had to check first to make sure she would like them.

This dress is also Cotton Lycra. I wore it when we went to the Zoo to not pick a new dog. 🙂 We didn’t come home with a friend for Fancy, although there was one that really, really wanted to come home with us and looked exactly like her. He was smaller and younger, but had the same eyes. The sad, sad eyes! We really need someone to adopt him soon, so we can stop feeling guilty.

Back to the dress!

We took the picture in the bird exhibit, as it seemed to fit right in. 🙂 It’s a nice, heavier material, but not overly warm. It feels like a good quality t-shirt. The pattern is from Halla Patterns and it’s the Agnes Tunic. It’s actually cut on the regularly sized people tunic line. I added an inch to make sure I’d have enough to hem it, but wouldn’t have needed to at all.

The only thing I don’t like is that the bands stretched out. The material doesn’t have enough recovery and it sticks out weird and looks wrinkly, especially on the sleeves. I may cut off the bands and replace it with plain black in a smoother, stretchier material.

I felt lovely in it though and it was perfect for the zoo. At which, I will say, I didn’t steal any penguins (Dad..)! I’ll post some of those pictures tomorrow.

I’m working on a color blocked dress in double brushed polyester, which is the super soft leggings material.

It will have a black panel in the front and back of the skirt and two lines of the red on each side. It will be a long dress. I was excited that my neckband looks as nice as it does, but in true late night sleep deprivation, I accidentally used the midriff parts as arm bands and had to cut more. This version of the dress isn’t supposed to have sleeves, but I would have to wear a sweater to work with it all the time, so I added them in. I should be able to finish it in the next couple of days.

I do like this pattern for color blocking, but don’t really like it for just a regular dress. My clock dress looks cute, but it was fussy to sew.

The lines get a little wasted on the same fabrics. I may have to look for another one for options. Of course, I have the Agnes, so I may just make everything in that for a while. 🙂

The other dress I have made that I love is the green and blue striped one.

I have a couple of tweaks to make it perfect, but I think this style really suits me. My especially stylish friend liked it too and she always looks like Audrey Hepburn, so I think I’ll keep it. 🙂 The green was a risk for me, but it paid off.

My other favorite outfit has been my original Agnes Tunic, the floral and lace one.

It hits at just the right spot and makes me feel slender and cool. I really want to use more lace in things now.

I haven’t been keeping up on taking pictures of my daily outfits, although, I have been good about wearing me made at least three times per week. I am finding myself reaching more for those items than I am for my other things, but sometimes it’s been hard to pair outfits.

The realization of how my skills have improved is sinking in too. Some of my previously made skirts don’t fit quite the way I want them to, or the pockets are too small. I have at least four shirts that don’t fit right either. I learned after making them, that I wanted a small extension to make them longer. Those first ones hit at a weird spot and the necklines are a little too wide. I get concerned about leaning over sometimes!

I still love my strawberry dress and will definitely keep that pattern as  tried and true pattern, but will add the green striped pattern to my list as well.

Today I didn’t wear anything that I made, but wore my flamingo yesterday and received several compliments. I think my work ladies are catching on, sometimes I just get asked if I made it right away. 🙂

The Husband has been super supportive as well, so I do appreciate him putting up with a table covered in fabric and sewing accoutrements.

Overall, I think this is a good experience for me. I’m making things not out of panic, but out of a desire to have pretty, well-fitting things to wear. I’m getting better about taking pictures and being able to critically look at them. I’m more involved in the online sewing community and am getting more courageous about trying new things.

Right now though, my main desire is to join this cuddle bug in slumber. She’s snoring away quite sweetly on my lap.

I hope your night is peaceful! Let me know what exciting things you’ve been up to lately!

Sew Much Fun!
Crafty · Gardening · Sewing

Sew Much Fun!

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Ha! Sewing puns…. They go well with my sewing machine leggings!

I was so excited to finally get these made. I now want all the leggings fabric though… It’s cool to have leggings just the right size for me. 🙂

We went to our good friends’ house for J’s birthday party over the weekend and while the Husband played Halo 2, I sewed along with his wife. 🙂 I was super productive and ended up making 2 pairs of leggings, one regular and one capri length, and a new woven shirt.

The shirt is a flamingo shirt. Printed cotton front, black cotton back.

I’m going to wear it to my teen group on Monday. I don’t think they quite believe me on how much I like flamingos. I modified my regular shirt pattern for it. It’s the same as the Castle shirt. I’m trying to convince my friend to try wovens and I think this might have helped win her over a little. 🙂

Here are the leggings:

They don’t look terribly different, but I assure you, they are different sizes. 🙂 They are made with performance fabric/ athletic knit from Joann’s. I’m still working on my waistbands. The measurements on my pattern seem off. The pants part don’t stretch as much and I haven’t quite figured out the correct length yet for it.

They are very smooth and nice to wear. They aren’t see through at all and stay up. I wore the capri ones to do a spot of yard work on Sunday and they were nice and cool. We, of course, did a bunch of yard work and then couldn’t leave it alone even after cleaning up. I took down a tree wearing my lace trimmed tunic and flip flops.

I was super proud. 🙂 Fancy was very excited to help us take care of the rest of the tree.

She broke that branch off by herself after peeling all the bark off and snapping all the dry branches off. She was quite excited.

It rained a bunch on Saturday, so I did some more work on UFO’s. The rainbow railroad quilt is done! I don’t have a picture, but it’s backed with a brown doggy print fleece that was hiding in our guest room where I promptly forgot about it. Darn safe places!

I do have a sneak peek picture of a present for a friend that was finished on Sunday.  I saw the fabric and couldn’t resist. I hope she likes it too!

We’re seeing our friend soon, so I’ll show you the full picture after that. 🙂

Staying up late to sew had a lovely ending this morning, although I was very sleepy. This fabric really wanted to be a flirty, twirly dress, and now it is!

It has a pocket! Just one because I wanted to get it done. It’s big enough for my phone and keys. I will be fixing the sleeves, they are tight. It makes me feel super cute though and I love how it looks on me. There are more twirly dresses in my future!

I’m going to try to get some more of the in progress projects done. It’s lots of fun to make new things, but I’m kind of forgetting about the things waiting to be finished, which is a bad habit of mine.

The basement work area desperately needs to be organized again. Perhaps I will have an organizing day on Friday. If you don’t hear from me over the weekend, I’ve been eaten by a fabric monster. Send a search party!

With that said, I hope you have a great night!

Why I Sew: The Long Version
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Why I Sew: The Long Version

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Hello all! One of the prompts for Me Made May from Sew Sew English on Instagram was “Why I Sew,” and it really got me thinking. I sew for a lot of different reasons, but I think they all come down to creativity and love. It’s also an outlet for the stress of my job and a way for me to make sure there’s beauty in the world, despite the trauma. Clothing that fits is also a plus, of course.

My Grandma Shirley and my Mom taught me to sew, but it was my Grandma that I sewed with more. We would attend the quilt group at church together and she made her grandkids quilts. I have sweet memories of her whenever I sew something that she would be proud of. The shoe is one of her pincushions. 🙂 She would be very proud that I’m working with stash fabric and trying to use all the scraps.

I made this shirt over the weekend and think that it’s the best thing I’ve made so far.

It fits me so well and I feel lovely in it. I added a band of antique lace to the bottom hem and the sleeve bands, which I pulled from my stash.

It’s a knit; rayon spandex, I think, from Joann’s. It was one of my birthday haul fabrics. The pattern is the Anges tunic from Halla Patterns. I love it and will need to make a bunch. It hits at just the right length and doesn’t make me look or feel huge.

Here’s another reason I sew:

So I can make my own fancy leggings! Although with shipping, these may not be cheaper than I can find them for online, I take great pride in knowing I can make my own. I have sewing machine leggings.

I had enough fabric left over to make a pencil skirt, arguably the most comfy skirt I own.

How fun is that? I’m going to pair it with a lovely black sweater for the Dita Von Tease show on Thursday. 🙂 Stars for the star!

I also made the most of my maxi skirt scraps by making a super cozy yoke for my new pj pants.

I bought this knit at the discount fabric store a few years ago, specifically for yoga pants and finally made them! They are very comfy. I have enough of the polka dots to make cuffs, but can’t decide if I want them cuffed or not.

This dress is also fabric that I bought many years ago intending on making an infinity dress out of it.  I would have only had enough for the skirt part, so I made this new knit dress pattern out of it instead.

Sadly, I missed all the time related puns while posting it.. “Time to sew, etc.” It’s secret pajamas. I enjoyed putting it together, although about halfway through, I was nervous that it wouldn’t work.  I finished it about 30 minutes before leaving for work.

I do have to remind myself that I’ve got some older projects to work on too, but these are so much fun! Most of it has been stash fabric too, so I’m using that up.

It’s been interesting to evaluate my clothes as I try to think of what to wear. There’s a huge pile of skirts on my bed reminding me that even my early self-made clothes weren’t always the right fit (pun intended.) Luckily, knowing that I can take them apart and fix it is helping me be less discouraged.

Another benefit of sewing is that I’ve been inspired by so many people and clothes from around the world! Everyone has their own style, even with the same pattern. The lace on my first shirt, for example. I’ve seen a couple different patterns paired with the fabric, but none had lace like mine. Who knows? Maybe I’ll inspire someone else to try something different with a pattern!

Hopefully I’ve inspired you to try something new this week!

Monthly Review
Monthly Review

Monthly Review

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We have been busy beavers lately. Last year at this time, I had three jobs and was rapidly losing my mind. This year, I can actually focus on the house and yard. I feel much more settled.

We finally put up the hanging pegs we decided we needed in the bedroom. I think we’re going to paint it blue maybe, to match the bottom walls, but for now it’s grey.

We have some spring bugs coming in again, so it really was time to get my purse and work bag off the floor. The Husband also hung new work lights downstairs over my sewing area and now I really need to clean it up. I can see everything! 😳 I knew I had to clean up anyway, in prep for moving back down there for the summer sewing season, but those lights make it hard to ignore things.

We also broke down yard projects by section last weekend and started on some of them this weekend. We chopped a bunch of the out of control front landscaping and I pulled everything from the side of the garage. This was about halfway through.

I ripped weeds! Pulled dead things! I tore out trees! With my bare hands! Well… with a huge trimmer, while wearing gloves. 🙂 Now it looks like this:

Doesn’t it look so much better already? I’m going to put my fairy garden here. It will mostly be in planters and will have butterfly and bee friendly flowers in it. If the ground cover gets too crazy, we may rip it all and put down mulch.

The Husband chopped up some tree limbs that had fallen on our windy day, mowed the grass, and wielded the leaf blower and hedge trimmer. I feel much better about the yard now knowing we can take it in small chunks and get things done.

We were going to get the garden started, but we couldn’t find the tiller at our inlaws. We did get it staked.

Hopefully next weekend, we can till that spot up and get started. So that’s some yard/ house projects from the month. Let’s move on to the food!

Food Review

I used 19 recipes this month. 10 were new recipes. Hits were the fried chicken, prosciutto wrapped chicken, the white pizza sauce, and the dulce de leche ice cream.

The pasta in this picture is homemade fettuccine! Pasta is definitely not as scary as I always thought it was.

Chicken seems to turn out well for me. It’s one of the meats I can regularly eat more than once without texture issues. I also made a different version of spaghetti with a can of sauce and 3 cans of tomatoes. It was much less liquid.

We did have some misses, including one that was so bad, I didn’t even blog about it! 😬 It was a crockpot version of Italian Wedding soup,  but it got weird after the noodles were added and got all slimey and starchy. Blech. I don’t even want to talk about it, except to say, don’t cook noodles in the crockpot ever… The other miss was more of just an “eh..” moment. Beef stew in the crockpot. Wasn’t great, wasn’t horrible.

I honestly think that this blog has improved my cooking skills. I wasn’t as confident about trying new recipes, or trusting my instincts when it came to seasoning. We also haven’t had very many misses lately, so that has to count for something. I also used my spice grinder that I got for Christmas and will be definitely using it again. It made it very easy!

Speaking of skills that have improved, let’s move on to the sewing review.

Sewing Review

I have made 5 projects this month. I have made four more in the past three days, but those haven’t been blogged about yet. Stay tuned for Monday or Tuesday!

My favorite has been my polka dot maxi skirt.

It’s so comfy and lovely. Plus, I saved $36, plus shipping! 🙂

I actually loved everything that I’ve made and am proud that I’m using my stash. It’s so fun to walk in wearing something I made and get to tell people that.

Here’s my other polka-dotted item.

My secret pajama shirt with my very first knit neckband. It’s a proud moment for me. I blame my friend and Instagram for that. She and all these other people keep making all these cute knit things and I couldn’t be left behind!

So far, I’ve made 28 or 29 projects since January. If I keep this up, I might beat last year’s record!

So, for goals this month, I have mainly the same ones.

Food Goals

* Try a new technique, or equipment

* Meal plan consistently. I don’t know why this one is so hard for us, but it is. I end up panic cooking halfway through the year

* Pantry meals 1x per week, at least

* Make more side dishes

 

Craft/ Sewing Goals

* Complete decorating office clipboards

* Decide on summer decorations/ make summer decorations

* Complete Me Made May

* Go through clothes and get rid of unworn ones

* Make 2 solid color or neutral pattern dresses

* Use my serger!!

I think that’s it. I’ve got another shirt waiting on me to sew, and a sad puppy wanting pets.

Have a good night!

Me Made May Adventures!
Life Posts · Sewing

Me Made May Adventures!

LSieh2 Comments

I’ve decided to do something big and scary. I’ve decided to go even further out of my box and participate in Me Made May. Started by Zoe, from “So, Zoe, What Do You Know?”, it’s a way to examine your handmade wardrobe and figure out how to fill gaps and wear more of your handmade items. You create your own challenge and can choose to document in any way you want. Most people use photos and a lot are on Instagram. I took my first picture for it today.

I decided that I would use this time to really figure out what works for my wardrobe and what doesn’t and get more comfortable with taking pictures of myself. Part of the reason I sew, is because it helps me feel better about myself to be wearing well-fitting, cute, one of a kind clothes.

To start, I made a pledge post stating that I would commit to wearing me made items 3 times per week, documenting on Instagram, and here, with either flat lay outfit pictures, or pictures of me wearing the outfits. I will also try to make 2 plain or neutral printed dresses.

I did a closet inventory of my handmade items yesterday.

I have 10 shirts, 9 dresses, 3 pj pants/shorts, and 17 skirts. I need to go through everything and pull the ones I haven’t worn, or won’t work. A lot of my skirts are made from novelty fabrics and I need to get more creative about what to wear them with. I think this will help me really narrow in on what I like to wear and help curb my novelty skirt phase. Not that I shouldn’t have cute clothes, but I need to be more aware of what I can make work together.

I did just make two more knit things, a tunic, which can be worn with several colors, and a polka dot maxi skirt.

This one feels like my expensive tunics, but was from the discount store. It skims my curves and is from the Perfect T pattern. I would tell you who it was made by, but I left the pattern at my friend’s house… It totally threw off my plans yesterday.

This maxi is black with white polka dots and has a large fold over waist piece. It’s super comfy and a good substitute for the very expensive one I was pining after last summer. This one cost $6 or so. I was very proud.

I tried to sew last night, but everything went wrong and then this morning, I had terrible sewing dreams. Fabric went missing, people were yelling at me to finish, I was on Project Runway, Scissors disappeared. I had to use paper scissors to cut fabric!! 😳

I took tonight off, but do have some projects planned for the next couple days. The fabrics in the feature picture are going to be two dresses and a red, short-sleeved tunic.

Hopefully they will go fairly well and I won’t freak out. Wish me luck!

Stay tuned for more Me Made May news.

Wordy Wednesday
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Wordy Wednesday

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My Tuesday was busier than expected. I was at the tire place getting a bulging tire replaced, Fancy demanded walks when I got home, and I hosted craft night. Somewhere in there, I took an accidental nap. I had to go back on the stronger allergy meds and they are kicking my butt. I will be so glad when the weather figures out what it’s trying to do here. So instead of “Wordless Wednesday,” you’ll get a quick sewing related post.

I put the borders on the rainbow railroad quilt a few days ago. Somehow I ended up sewing one of the strips on the wrong side, so it’s two rows shorter than it was going to be because I was super frustrated. I had a bunch of squares left over anyway, so maybe I’ll make a bonus one or something.

(Please excuse the dog toys. Someone decided I couldn’t put them away and kept taking them out of her basket.) The quilt has a red and white polka dot border. It was going to have a red flannel backing, but I don’t have enough of it. Batting and backing quilts will be the death of me. I had to run out to get more batting. The backing will be whatever cotton or flannel I have enough of that matches. I have a red batik that might work.

I also made a shirt. I stayed up way to late to finish it, but I’m pretty happy with it. It’s a double gauze jersey material, I think.

It’s less wrinkly on and feels like I’m wearing jammies. 🙂 I used a zig zag stitch and made my own neckband! The neckband fixed the problem of gaping at the neckline and I may go back and add one to other shirts I’ve made.

Because it was midnight, I accidentally had the selvage edge out, but I actually like it, so won’t be changing it. The sleeves are snug. I had made them longer, but didn’t quite get the bottom edge right. They feel good though. I’ll just widen them next time.

This was a woven pattern originally, so I was glad that it worked out. I have at least one knit t-shirt pattern that I’ll try soon, but I needed a quick and easy pattern. I made it after getting frustrated by not having everything for the quilt.

Here’s the bottom hem. It’s a little wavey, but I choose to think of it as a design feature. I may add a band at some point. It’s super soft and cuddly.

I picked up a couple of new sewing books (I know, I know!) from the book sale on Sunday. Two were Singer books, one was about different types of fabrics, and one was a sewing book for dog cots and accessories.

The “Creative Ideas” is so 80’s, but the techniques are still relevant. It has beading, different pocket shapes, seam finishes, and different trim options. The “Timesaving” book has very good instructions for sewing collars, seams, home decor, and talks about tools, machine feet, and other equipment.

The dog book has coats, costumes, dog beds, and accessories. Some of them we may not use, but there are some super cute things in it, like a princess costume. 🙂

I was excited to find the fabric book because I know very little about fabric types, which mens I generally stick to quilting cotton. If I want to grow as a sewer though, I need to branch out and get comfortable with other kinds too.

This book has everything from African mudcloth to about 5 types of wool. Each fabric has its own page with what type of needle, an example of a garment, weight, markings, thread type to use, and even how to lay it out. There’s so much info! I know it will be very helpful.

I was pretty well restrained in the craft section of this book sale. We’re going to another, bigger one on Sunday, which will be crazy town. That one is in a mall, lined up in the hallways. 🙂 We’ve gone before and they have a little bit of everything. I’m hoping for some good reads.

Now though, it’s off to work, where I will only be able to dream about fabrics and sewing. Have a great day!

Monthly Review
Monthly Review · Recipe Roundup

Monthly Review

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I intended to write this earlier, but it’s raining, gross and cold, and then this happened.

How could I be expected to resist the sleeping puppy lure? Now she’s ready to play again and the Husband and I are sleepy and ready for longer naps. 🙂

We had luckily already taken her to the dog mall before it started raining, where she was petted by several strangers, including several teens. She also saw her favorite employee at the dog bakery and got a sample treat.

I had an exciting ravioli tutorial to share before I did the review. My friend gave me this ravioli maker which made my ravioli skills much nicer.

It is the coolest thing! 

First, you put the pasta sheet down over the metal part and the gently put down the white part into it to make a depression. Then you fill the middles and put down the other sheet.

Roll over the ravioli and it seals and cuts it!

Then you have beautiful pasta, just waiting to be used for delicious dinners.

We’ve had them in a mushroom cream sauce twice.

We also used the last of the carne asada in mac and cheese.

It was pretty good, but could have been a little creamier.

So on to the review…

Sewing Review

I just finished this little purse yesterday to take when I didn’t want my big bag.

I did something silly though. I sewed two zippers, though I didn’t need the “extra” pocket piece, and now have two zippers for just the one pocket, instead of two pockets…. I wasn’t using a pattern, so got a little confused on what went where. I’m debating taking it apart to fix it, but it might not get done before the trip.

My other completed projects this month were the wedding quilt in the featured picture, the world computer bag, and the infinity dress.

I also bought new patterns. The one on the bottom right is a knit dress. I’m working on it tonight, I think, if Fancy will let me stop petting her long enough. 🙂

I have one of the other wedding quilts in progress and one pinned, so made some progress on that. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the sewing I did this month. I finished a bunch of projects and it felt nice to check some big things off my list.

Goals for April

* Make a dress

* Make leggings

* Finish a quilt

 

Food Review

We used 17 recipes, 8 of which were new recipes. Hits were the cheese fondue, chicken and gnocchi soup, Irish Whiskey ice cream, rigatoni with sausage, chocolate oreo ice cream, and the chicken ravioli.

I don’t think we had too many misses. None horrible enough for me to remember at least. I suppose that good…

 

Food Goals

* Teach the Husband how to sear pork

* Put together freezer meals

* Meal plan

Overall, a pretty good month. I would like to do more with recipes, but my evening schedule is real weird right now. Well, I’m just gone a lot, so not really weird, just late.

Fancy-pants is staring sadly at me from the hallway. She feels her ratio of play to naps has been sorely neglected today. I’d better go fix that. I hope your weekend is off to a great start!

All Wrapped Up In Sewing
Crafty · Sewing

All Wrapped Up In Sewing

LSieh3 Comments

I accidentally pattern matched on my jammies and didn’t realize it until just now. Disappearing flamingos! Ha! Sometimes it’s the little things that make me happiest.

In other news, I finished the dress for the wedding! Before we have to leave! I still need to make a small purse to take with me, but think I got my carry-on sorted as well.

This bag has been sitting in my UFO box since grad school. That would be four years, for those keeping track. I had it all sewn except for the strap, which was too thick and wouldn’t stay attached to the bag. My older sewing machine had fits trying to make it work.

It has a nice padded and zippered pocket to hold my iPad and enough space to throw  book and sewing project in it for the plane.

I’m glad to finally get it finished and be able to use it. I have to check the airline guidelines to make sure it works within them. How fun is it though for a travel bag?

Now, on to the dress! I was originally going to make a silk dress from a saree; however, I thought all the way through transporting a I had to re-cut the bodice as it was quite apparent that the medium size was meant for someone a bit differently shaped than I am… It is a family event, after all.

It was a crazy, annoying thing, but I figured it out. I’ve not worked with knits before. The seams are a bit messy, but luckily around the middle where you won’t see it. The next time I make it, I will get the seams a little bit neater. I probably should have made a test dress instead of using my good fabric. It worked out though.

This is how I want to wear it for the wedding. It’s in a swanky winery, so I thought the color was appropriate. Someone furry, with a “fancy” name, likes to chase the tails when I am trying to figure out how to tie them. Here are a couple more options.

I do like how this one looks on me. Very neat and simple. The back is just about the same.

This one I think I would like better if this was the back instead of the front. This one has smaller straps across the back.

This one looks so glamorous, I think! Here’s the back.

I might not be able to pull this one off. It might be too much.

Let me know what you think! The Husband says he thinks it’s pretty, but I should probably get “a girl’s opinion.” 🙂 (Fancy doesn’t count. As long as I am petting her, she doesn’t care.)

Fancy and Sewing
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Fancy and Sewing

LSiehLeave a comment

Fancy has decided to monitor my sewing and bedtime in a more active capacity lately. She decided the quilt in the quilting hoop was actually a dog tent and a wonderful place to nap.

She doesn’t try to bite it or anything, so I thought it was funny, but then she decided napping on my lap wasn’t good enough and proceeded to climb up my torso until she was tucked in under my chin. That made it very hard to keep quilting, so I just had to stop and cuddle the dog. This quilt is a secret, so I can’t show much of it yet. Oddly, it matched my leggings perfectly. 🙂

Last night, I was quilting again and she decided that 11:30 pm was too late and I should be sleeping, so she did this. It’s a little blurry, because she was moving, but she kept pawing at me until I put down the quilt and then she took over my lap and wouldn’t move.

She will also hang out by my sewing machine, especially when the Husband was out of town. I thought the machine might be scary for her, but even my Grandma’s machine doesn’t seem to faze her. This was her from last week.

Luckily, she didn’t try to guard the pedal.

I got the fabrics for all the quilt tops I need to finish last Friday and since we were dogless, I was able to get the two bigger ones pinned. Here is the second one.

I have started putting the Rainbow Rail Fence quilt together. It’s on the machine, so no pictures yet.

Fancy is currently snuggled up next to me on the couch with her paws draped over my feet, so I can’t get up. 🙂 She’s snoring as usual.

I’ve been working hard on these couple of quilts and haven’t really sewn anything else. I did get grey satiny fabric to go with my grey and purple lace. I think I might make that into a dress for the wedding. I have enough for a fancy slim fitting dress.

In other news, I’m excited to say that I was included in a roundup post about sewing and mental health on the Sewcialists blog. I have been reading the blog for a little while now and when they put out a call for stories of how sewing has helped your mental health, I knew I had to write my story. Check it out if you are interested! There are some inspiring stories out there. I’m planning on writing a longer post about this issue as well.  https://sewcialists.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/who-we-are-sewing-with-and-for-mental-health/

Now, I’ve got to get some quilting done before work. It’s my late night at work, so I won’t have a lot of time tonight. Have a great day!