Where there's a will, there's a sewing machine!

It's catch up day in my household. I had a few hours to kill, so off to the sewing room with me. I have a stack of potholders ready to sew. They're cut out, the backing is cut out, and the InsulBrite is cut out - All of them have been just waiting for me to do my thing.

I sell my potholders on Etsy and eBay. Guess what? I sold two that hadn't been finished yet! Eeep. That's one of those things that one should not do, but I did. Thankfully, it's a holiday weekend and I have an extra day before I have to mail these out.

I sewed the lattice on the two unfinished pieces and did the machine side of the binding. As I speak, I've finished 2-1/2 of the hand sewn backs. Whew.

Now I'm in a sewing mood. I have some amazing vintage fabrics and patterns that I have lined up for fall/winter clothing. I've cut out one eyelet top and have a striped brown fabric to make slacks. Another outfit consists of an asymmetrically closed top using two different fabrics. No special slacks for that blouse. As always, I have 100 more ideas than I have hours, but I'm going to give it a go.

Thankfully, I got the potholder pile caught up. I'm sure there will be a new pile in its place before you know it.

So, I had pneumonia - guess what I did? Sewing, sort of. (Update: 09/14/14)

 I don't crochet, I really don't. But, I used to, sort of.  

I crocheted a very small rug about 25 years ago. It lived in the bathroom for years. I had a book about crocheting fabric and remembered that I used to crochet as a kid. I wondered how hard it could be, and it wasn't. I did the easy oval that was shown in the book and used up tons of remnants of fabric. The yarn is 1-1/2" strips that are torn, attached to each other with just a few stitches, and then rolled into a ball. The hook is either J or K. Whatever it is, it's huge. 

Well, I ended up with pneumonia somehow and had to stop exercise classes and take it easy. I made a blouse (will share that after I have a photo). I repaired all the mending that needed help. I was so bored. I wasn't in the mood for fine hand sewing to work on my hexie quilt. I broke out that big hook, started tearing remnants into strips and began my oval. I made the first piece THREE times. I took it apart because it was so humpy in the middle. (I can't find my book, so was going on memory and a few online instructions.)  After taking it apart the third time, I got it to the size shown here. And I was running out of remnants. 

I found a bigger piece of fabric that I had intended to make into the bodice of an Empire waist dress. As it turns out, I made two dresses out of that pattern and neither were all that great. They became "toss on in the morning until you get dressed" dresses. A third was no longer in the works, so I tore that into strips too. Why not? And I crocheted and crocheted and crocheted, and the result for round 2 is below. 

Interestingly, the light blue above is the print that would have been the rest of the Empire waist dress I never made. Between that and the rust color is some old brightly colored snake fabric. I knew I'd never use it for anything, so into the rug it went. 

I then moved on to a darker blue, which I ran out of fairly quickly. I grabbed some light weight lavender fabric and tore it into strips and got started on growing the rug even larger. I got around one time with the lavender and said to myself - You are not sick anymore. You do not need this rug anymore.  

And I was right. 

I tied it off and put it in the dog's crate. I'm making a cushion for her crate, but it's not big enough for the whole thing, so the newly dubbed Pneumonia Rug fills in just right. 

It's not pretty, it's lumpy and bumpy, but you know what? I love it. It has kept me company and kept me semi sane for a few weeks now. My obsession with crocheting kept me from being obsessed with my illness. 

Today, I went to exercise for the second time since being ill, I am back to feeling like cooking, and I am sleeping again - all of those things were disrupted or interrupted for several weeks. I'm so happy I'm back! 

Another upside to being sick, but not sick enough to not sew, is finishing those little unfinished projects I had lying around. 

Thanks to everyone who wished me well and let's get back to our needles and thread! 

Update: My dog loves the rug and the covered dog pillow which now live in her crate. We keep the door open and she stops in once in a while just to hang out. And sometimes, dad gets in with her. 

The dress of the damned (updated 07/11/14)

I have called this the damned dress more than I would care to admit. I shared with you the beginnings. My goal is to make a couple dresses and to refashion a dress I made into a skirt. That should pretty much take care of summer clothes with the items I already have. As I'm losing weight, I don't want to spend a lot of money on clothing right now, so making things out of fabrics and patterns on hand is the deal.

It looks a little plain and frumpy on the dress form, but it looks great on! I need to hem the sleeves and the dress itself, but other than that, the damned dress is done. 

For the next one, I need to lengthen the bodice about an inch. The neckline fits almost perfectly. I have a summer dress! The fabric is super thin. That's what made it so difficult to work with. I had to put in one sleeve since I caught the sleeve itself in the seam the first time. Argh. No matter how long you sew, you make mistake that just make you want to shake your head. The skirt attached to the bodice has a few seam errors, but they really don't show. I need to avoid this type of fabric in the future. 

Lesson learned is that even if you are calling your project in progress lots of nasty name, go ahead and finish it. You just may be amazed. 

Update 07/11/14 - this dumb dress ended up in my crocheted rug; it became the finishing lavender edge that told me it was done. It sucked as a dress anyway :)

Works in Progress or UFOs

If you're like me, you have a bunch of works in progress and stacks of fabric waiting to be turned into a garment or a treasure or both. I thought it was time to make a list of what I'm working on and maybe see if I can manage to get these things done!

1. Hexagon quilt: I've been working on this for a few years. It's hand sewn and will take a while longer. I finished one of the two twin quilt tops. The second one is about two-thirds finished. 
2. Smurf dress: I cut this dress out last year. It's a girl's size 5. One of my Hippie Sewing friends gave me a zipper to put in it. I went to start stitching this together two days ago and found that I no longer have the pattern envelope with the instructions in it. I can probably put it together without instructions, but I'm a bit squeamish when it comes to zippers. This zipper will go into a lined bodice. Eeep! I ordered another pattern from Simplicity. They have a certain number of  out-of-print patterns and thankfully, this was one of them. What a wimp, huh?
3. Steelers mug mats: I have two of four made. I tired of them almost immediately, but put them on Etsy, so when they sell, I'll definitely finish them. I have two packages of craft batting to make things like this, so I guess that it sitting around means it's another unfinished project in and of itself!
4. Christmas stockings: I have several of these started. The ones that are waiting for me include one made of denim strips and Christmas trims, two cut out of a cutter quilt to which I added reinforcement zig-zag stitching, and several lining pieces. 
5. Dish or hand towels: I have a couple of hearts cut from the above-mentioned cutter quilt to applique to a recycled bath towel or two. You can never have enough dish towels, right?
6. Black and white dress: This is a drop waist dress made of black and white as well as black fabric. I ran out of the black and white, so did some strip piecing for the bodice. It has patch pockets short sleeves. I made the bodice and lost interest. It hangs in the sewing area and stares at me. 
7. Skirt: I have the pattern, pins, and scissors on my cutting table as well as the fabric - a cheater patchwork quilt fabric (not quilted). I'm not sure what the holdup is here. Once cut, it will take a couple hours to make. My intention is to make the same pattern with several pieces of fabric I have hanging around. 
8. Skorts: Oh skorts. How you taunt me. I bought a pattern for a simple skort. The pattern cries out for my attention, but I haven't gotten there yet. 
9. Robin's quilt: Robin's mother asked me to make a quilt out of her mother's hankies and I said yes. I have a box of hankies, some clothing for accents (Robin's mother recently passed away and I asked her to pick up a few pieces that remind her of her mom), and a sky/cloud fabric for the background. It will be an 18", 5 x 4 blocks quilt-as-you go similar to the tee shirt quilts I've made in the past (you can see a few in my gallery; link on the right). I'm holding off on this quilt for a little while. I'm not ready to tackle it yet.
10. Last, but not least, Tracey's quilt. I've posted pictures of this one in progress. I plan on sewing more of it today; in fact, I did sew a row of tumblers earlier. I also cut out more of the denim tumbler pieces. I most likely will finish the top today. At least, that's the plan!

I have a longer list of things I'd like to sew in my head, but it's overwhelming to think about it. Maybe simply spelling out this list will spurn me forward. I'll update as I finish these. 

How many projects are you working on? 

Stash busting - UFOs - Hand Sewing

We've talked before about half finished projects or items that merely need that last bit of hand sewing done, right? For instance, when I make placemats or pot holders, I apply the binding with machine on one side and by hand on the other. I have a really bad habit of finishing them up to the point of the hand sewing. I bet I am not alone on this!

 

The latest is a set of Peter Max and M&M potholders. I finally finished the hand stitching on the binding on the one bound in green last night. It's been sitting around for about a week or so just waiting for me! I still have remnants of the Peter Max and of the M&M fabric and who knows what comes next for them. For now, I have one more placemat to bind! 

I had a bag that I put all my hand sewing in and took it to the living room with threads, needles, and all the other items I'd need to finish them up. Every night while we hang out, I work on a different piece. I've made a deal with myself not to start something new till these are done. That includes no machine stitching on the Peter Max tote bags I have cut out. It feels good to finally be using those fabrics that I've been sitting on for so long!

One last stash busting note - I sent out five boxes to people from my email group and have three more to fill when I get the postage together. It sure feels good knowing that fabric has found a good home. It has also been an eye opener for me, reminding me what I have on hand and what I don't need to keep. Bust away fellow sewing people!

P.S. for an easy how-to for potholders, I have a generic potholder project/instructional/tutorial for you on the Scrapstitching project page. These are easy, use up all sorts of scrap fabrics, and require very little in the way of buying. The only thing you really need to buy is Insul-Bright Mylar/Poly Batting. The rest of the parts, you already have. If you don't have Fiberfill, use an old towel.

Unfinished projects - UFOs

It's been a sewing few days:

• I'm getting ready to travel, so I got a small Cathedral Window quilt cut out and all the machine work done. That's ready to go with me for hand sewing on the road.
• There was a set of prequilted placemats waiting to be bound in my placemats container. I got out the strawberry fabric today, made bias binding, bound the strawberry quilted placemats  by machine, and they now are on the table, adding some much needed color and love to the room.
• I have a stack of 4" square Halloween fabrics. I've wanted to make trick-or-treat bags, so I started stitching the squares together and cut some 2" strips to go with them, made handles, and made a prototype lined bag. I didn't like the size, so I redesigned and made another one - perfect! I now have a design for trick-or-treat bags that I can work with and made one more. Those will make a nice sale item. I have models in mind and will take some photos when I get back from AZ. 
• Though this is not sewing, per se; I've rounded up all the denim pieces and jeans I have around the house and have been dissecting them to beat the band. I've got a nice stack of 5" squares to work with when I return from vacation. I want to make another Smurf quilt. 

So there you have it - my sewing room has not been sitting quiet. I've been a busy beaver. I have a lot of projects left to finish and many more to begin, but it's all going to have to wait. I have another trick-or-treat bag to finish first!

Working on unfinished projects!

Recently, I spent some time cleaning my sewing area and during that time, I organized my unfinished projects in such a way that I'm able to get to them and work on them easily. I don't have oodles of things to complete, but I do want to get them done. As I was sewing today, I thought of several more projects to begin! It's never-ending, isn't it?

Today, I pulled out a lap quilt I started - Smurfs! I use junk jeans for a lot of things. One of the items in my box of fun things to finish is a Smurf lap quilt. I'm using 5" squares of Smurfs fabric (a vintage sheet I purchased on eBay) alternating with recycled denim. It's a nice look! I put together three rows today and attached them one to the other, for a total of four. The end result will be nine rows by eight squares, and the binding will be smurf fabric that I will piece together from bits of the sheet. I am backing this particular lap quilt with minkie that I have which was purchased for another project and not used. It will make for a wonderfully soft backing and warm too! I like to use fleece when I can with denim quilts because the denim is so heavy that it's often difficult to work with a traditional backing and batting.

It felt great getting this one to about the halfway stage. I'll be making at least one more row tomorrow and then it's time to cut more squares. Before I know it, my unfinished projects box will be empty!