Traipsing back & another bag

When my children were young, I made many of their clothes - shirts, shorts, dresses, vests, overalls, you name it. We were, as most couples are, young and pinching pennies, and there was a fabric store in town that was known for selling cheap and inexpensive fabrics. Since kids grow so fast, I shopped there often, especially their remnant table. For my boys, I had a particular shirt I liked to make for warmer weather and I wondered if the pattern were still available.

I scoured my brain and the internet both, looking for just the thing, and I found it. It made me smile because I also made my older son many pair of slacks from the same pattern. I have been saving some fire and rescue fabrics and decided to go ahead and buy the pattern to make a shirt or two out of it. And so I did!

I finished this shirt today. It's 100% cotton, so it may wrinkle a bit, but I hope some young man enjoys it.

Love the band on the sleeves. 

The pattern called for piping and a band on the pocket, but not this time. 

It was a trip down memory lane making this shirt and I think I just might have to do it again.

I had energy to burn today, so I made another Peter Max bag and put it on eBay.

A jacket walks into a bar....

Okay, no jacket really walked into a bar, but it got your attention!

Last year, I bought a seriously ugly knit print. I have no idea why I bought it, but I did.

This year, I have an obsession with making cardigans to go with all my tees and tank tops for fall and then with blouses for the winter.

Boom! Ideas started brewing and then I got to thinking. I'll make a knit cardigan. I dread sewing with knits so tried to simplify the process as much as possible. I chose not to cut a facing, opting to go with hem tape (a lacy seam/hem tape) that matched the fabric. I stitched that on around the front opening and turned it under, then top stitched. Voila! Well, voila until I put it on. It fit right, I loved the pockets and the weight of the fabric, but that front was all wrong. It kept rolling out from wrong side to right, making it nigh on impossible to wear.

Dang, now what? Then the light bulb went off again. Yes, it did. 

I had ordered a tank top to wear (under cardigans, of course!) and really didn't like the way it fit. I'm not a fan of wearing what look like painted on clothes. I wore it once and decided I'd shelve it forever. 

Now I had two items that I was never going to wear. Not acceptable in my book. 

I cut the front off the tank top and then folded it down the center. I cut about 4" from the center on both sides, giving me about an 8" strip of shirt that included the neck opening, snaps, and a good amount of shirt. Then I pinned that to the inside of the cardigan with the wayward facing. I had to be extremely careful to not stretch to the left, right, up, or down; remember, I hate knits! I did this flat on a table with the cardigan front carefully placed over the pink tee. I used probably 3 times the number of pins I needed, but I really wanted it to not shift. 

And guess what? It worked. I actually have a two-fer that I love. You never know what your mistakes can be turned into. It wasn't a hard thing to do, just exacting. I don't mind exacting if I know things will come out okay. And here's the star of today's show:

It's not as frumpy on as it is on the dress form. You'll just have to trust me on that one. Totally machine washable and a toss it over your head kind of top. 

Now, someone stop me from buying a knit piece of fabric again!

Sewing something for myself, Simplicity 8426, Jacket/Cardigan

It's getting a touch chilly on the east coast, so it's time to go through my jacket and cardigan patterns and see what I want to make. That's how this got started. It snowballed from there.

Using junk jeans is a hobby of mine. I'll turn them into place mats, potholders, doll clothes, blankets, and now into clothes for me.

I chose an older pattern that had no darts, Simplicity 8426. Then I gathered up my pile of blue jean legs.

This picture of the unfinished jacket back gives you an idea of how I put the jeans legs together higgledy piggledy. I made a piece big enough for each of the two front pieces of the pattern and then started stitching legs together to have a piece large enough to cut on the fold for the back. I used jeans legs that had been opened up at the inseam for the sleeves. (The right sleeve is not in this picture.) That's the only place I left on the original blue jean seam. 

Here's a shot of the front. Again, no rhyme or reason for the positioning of the fabric. I just kept adding pieces till it was big enough to cut what I  needed to cut. You can see the pockets on the front in this picture. 

I found some gray bias tape in my goody box and decided to use that rather than more denim for the front facing. The layers of denim get very thick, and this bias tape did the job just fine. Here's how the front looks from the inside. 

And the pockets! I got the handy dandy seam ripper and took pockets off the back of a couple pair of jeans. I was able to salvage two. The placement is as shown on the pattern. I did not line the pockets. 

Here's a side view and you can see how the sleeve has the original side seam in it. 

I need to add the second sleeve and hem the cardigan and the sleeves. I took great care not to stretch the fabrics too much so that there wouldn't be puckers. Denim is a bear to work with, but I think this is going to be a cardigan that gets worn a lot! I'll add more photos when it's done. It looks better on me than the dress form!

Summer sewing has begun

I used to have a couple empire waist dresses that I wore in the summer. They were flowy, comfortable, had pockets, and could be worn with sandals. I loved those dresses. They're a) too big and b) long since given away. I set out to find a similar pattern and found a fun one by McCall's:

McCall's 8249 from 1996, which is when I had the two dresses mentioned above. 

I bought three runs of fabric, so I want to make the dresses each a little different. My first dress is made of extremely lightweight fabric. It probably wouldn't hold up to buttonholes, so I decided to cut both the front and the back on the fold and made some bias tape for the neckline rather than a facing. I rarely use a facing; I'll line and item or make bias to either surround the raw edge or apply it and turn it to the wrong side and hand sew it on the inside.

I added a wide trim to the center front and used some of the bias tape I had made to weave through the holes rather than using ribbon. 

This shows the neckline a little better. 

Next, I will do the sleeves, apply the pockets to the skirt, and then attach the skirt to the bodice. I think I'm going to like this dress a lot! More to come.

Sewing, fabric folding, and fabric covering outlet covers

I've been busy again! A custom order on Etsy for outlet covers, a Halloween lap quilt/wall hanging/doll quilt, a jacket for my high school reunion, fabric folding and styrofoam making pine cones, and more sewing. Let's start with the light switch covers.

A person who had bought one of these from me before wrote and asked for more. Then she wrote to me again and asked if I could make some for her mother! So, I rounded up the last of my M&Ms fabric and some covers, and set to covering. They're fun to do, but do take several days for drying the Mod Podge and vinyl coating between layers. 

I went to Dallas in July and needed a hand sewing project to take with me. My go-to travel project is a hexagon piece or a cathedral window.With Halloween around the corner, I started a small lap quilt which could be a wall hanging, a table runner, a large doll quilt, or whatever. I finished it with receiving blankets as the batting and a Halloween fabric for the backing, and tied each corner with variegate black and variegated orange threads combined.

 

Then it was time for a Halloween jacket for a child. I tried a new pattern and it came out okay, but I made a big mistake. Not on the front.

Not on the back. 

But on the pocket. I lined the jacket, which meant I took a seam allowance that wasn't accounted for with the pattern. Ooops. It's still cute!

I also made a jacket to wear to my 40th high school reunion. I washed it after I made it. Well, I had lined it with receiving blankets (I use them a lot!), and the linking shrank in the dryer while the jacket did not. Argh. Couldn't wear it, so I had to run out and buy something lickety split. The next day, I took all of my receiving blankets and washed them and ran them through the dryer. I won't let that happen again.

And I've been playing with folded fabric. I saw a picture of the pineapple made with folded fabric. I'll post pictures of the group when they are done, but here's the first one:

The second one turned out much nicer and more pine cone shaped.

Lastly, my son moved recently. He left behind the curtains on the windows. They are dark blue and aging somewhat, but perfectly usable. I have an old cutter quilt top that I've been saving and now was the time to put it to use. I cut it into four 8" strips, reinforced all seams with zig-zag stitching as they were hand stitched (rather poorly, too!), stitched them to the tops of the curtains and added ribbon to embellish and hide raw edges. The room is rather bare right now, but there is a bed, bedside table, and nice curtains for our visitor coming for Thanksgiving. 

The quilt on the bed is one I made about 10 years ago out of patriotic fabrics and denim cut in 4" squares. 

I am finishing the  hand sewing on my second twin hexagon quilt top, completing the tying on the Halloween hexagon piece, and have been making a few items of clothing. I've been searching for a vintage Simplicity 8618 pattern for a two-fer top. I found it in a size larger than I need. I will be trying to adjust the paper pattern next week. I have a really tacky knit fabric that would make for a nice, warm, casual top to wear with jeans. 

Lastly, I've collected a couple more pieces of Peter Max fabric and was fortunate to attend a Peter Max exhibit in Richmond, VA a couple weeks ago. 

I think I need more sewing to do!

Caftan completed - Simplicity 5718

I learned a few valuable lessons sewing this pattern. The pattern was indeed what I wanted. I found it on Etsy:

It was new and uncut, dated 1982. I generally liked patterns from that era and wanted something very simple in lines and construction. The bodice is about the right size. The sleeves fit well at shoulder insertion, but man, they're full of way too much fabric. I added elastic to the cuff because I don't care for hanging sleeves. I also ran out of fabric! I pieced the sleeves. Remember, this is just something to throw on in the morning; I won't be wearing it outside the house. Whew! Lastly, the body of the caftan is huge. I will cut at least 4" from the center of the front and the back next time, and I do have another set of fabrics ready to use. I added a matching ribbon here and there, and am showing a closeup below.

The sleeves look a little funky in the picture because of the piecing, but you can see where there's way too much volume in the gathered portions. That's easily corrected. The non-checkered fabric was used for the cuffs and I used 2" elastic because the cuffs were so large. I will make them half the size next time and perhaps use 5/8" or 1/2" elastic.

I happened on the ribbon at Joann's and it matched the flowery fabric perfectly.

Overall, I'm okay with the pattern itself. The fabrics I chose are too heavy and, as mentioned, I ran out and had to do some not-so-pretty piecing. Live and learn! I have some lighter fabric that I've had for years and wouldn't use for a garment that is perfect for this type of garment. It should be a quicker sew as well. The pockets from 1982 are cut kind of funky, so I adjusted them and made them a little deeper.

This caftan will get worn a lot this winter. I can see me frumping around with this, socks, and slippers when I take the dog out in the morning.

I have a cardigan cut out and ready to go next! Plus, my package of sale knits came today, so more cardigans are in the works!

Keep sewing, even when it's ugly. You will learn something and just might get some wear out of it too.

Update (09/14): Hated this house dress. The yolk is now gone and I used the rest to make a really nice summery skirt. I have a salmon colored tee that goes well with it. 

Sewing and finishing stuff! (And always more to come)

I finished the button mannequin project. I'll have photos when the sun is bright enough to get a good view. I coated it with a concrete-like paint and finished it with a vinyl coating. I actually like it a lot. More to come!

I've lost a considerable amount of weight and need clothes. I don't want to buy them, so am doing a buy-a-few/sew-a-few combo. For the summer, I had bought a few pair of shorts, some solid tees, and made a number of skirts. I want to share one of the skirt sets as it's a recycle project, where I took a business suit and turned it into summer casual. More to come here too!

I've been working on tote bags too, like this one:

It has a recycled blue jean pocket in the lining and the lining itself is the large M&M fabric. All my M&M ribbon is finally gone!

I've cut out an open weave cardigan and am almost finished with a caftan that I'll throw on in the mornings. I want to make two of them. Next comes a couple pair of pants for the fall and winter. I plan on making several cardigans to go with the pants I have and use the tees from this summer underneath. I have a ton of receiving blankets that I use inside Christmas stockings and placemats, and they'd make the best liner for a woven fabric cardigan. I did buy two pair of jeans at Walmart. A girl's gotta have jeans, right? I'll be ready for the colder weather in nothing flat! More to come!

I'm sewing just about every day - how about you?

Vacation!

Sorry to be gone for so long. I'm on vacation and thought I would take a quick minute to check in.

Before I left home, I cut out a Kwik Sew 3147 jacket/cardigan out of a light paisley denim and finally found enough time to get it together. There's a picture and a description of the pattern in my October 9 post.  It turned out really nice and fit really well. I'm so glad I added pockets. I did not use buttons and chose to leave the front open with no closures. I wore that and a brown V-neck tee along with beige capri pants for the flight, and my assistant after my last flight asked me if I was "a businesswoman." I told her that I wasn't really, and she commented on how "professional" I looked! What a great compliment, especially when you're wearing something you made. I thought it was a great looking outfit myself and the jacket pulled it all together. So keep sewing your stuff - you look great!

I also carried my Peter Max oversized tote as a carryon in lieu of a purse (my purse was actually in the bag!), and got unsolicited compliments and comments on that. Seeing as that was truly a scrap project, the fabric coming from a vintage curtain, I got another proud moment!

I'll be doing some hand sewing while I'm out of town. I always take my hexagon project with me. The flight attendant started a conversation with me about quilts when he saw me sewing. That led to conversation about tee shirt quilts and his grandmother and mother, and everyone else he had known who sewed. Let people see you sew! It makes for good chat openers and may encourage someone else to give it a try.

So enjoy your fall weather wherever you are, and I'll be here in Phoenix wasting away in their gorgeous climate.

Sewing, sewing, sewing!

It's been a month or so of finishing projects, organizing fabrics after giving away about 20 pounds or more of fabrics that I sorted out as "stuff I just might not use." It's SO hard to do that! Every piece of fabric could be turned into something, right?

I realized that my hexagon quilt is going to take more than I thought to finish, so I have been basting fabric to paper seemingly endlessly. This is not something that will get done quickly, for sure. I love working with the English piecing and the hexagon shapes, but it has gotten to where I had to buy some charm fabric packets from a variety of people on eBay and Etsy. It turns out, a lot of people have just as much fabric as I do! By my last count, I'm about 1/3rd of the way done with the quilt top. What I thought would take about a year will probably take two years, and that's okay by me. I'm flying to Phoenix on Monday, and I will take the hexagon bag with me again to make rows while waiting in airports or just while doing a little bit of nothing else.

I'm on the lookout for more Peter Max fabric, and I have been working with my smaller Max scraps making potholders. What a great way to use up small pieces of fabric! I keep a small supply of heat resistant batting on hand so I can always fabricate a set. I had thought about decorating hand towels with scrappy bits of Peter Max fabric, but I'm not sure it would hold up to that much washing.

I also sold a few Halloween items. I made placemats and trick-or-treat bags and though they didn't all sell, some did and now I have a couple left for next season. Along the way, I cut squares of the Halloween fabrics and sold a few charm collections myself.

And just today, I finished a jacket I cut out some time ago, just in time to wear on my flight. I added pockets and did not add the buttons. I also redrew the hemline for the front pieces and made them into a wavy line rather than a straight one. The back is also straight. I used a light fabric with a brown and turquoise paisley pattern, and used a bias tape I made out of a complementary fabric (turquoise crystal type fabric) to bind the front, sleeve edges, and pocket edges. This gives it a bit of a retro look, but it also added a unique look to a very simple line. It was not a hard pattern to make, but it was a touch time consuming for me because I'm used to making smaller items. A full sized jacket was a bit bigger than I generally take on, but I loved making it. I love that it fits well and that I have the perfect tee shirt for wearing underneath it. I also love pockets and with the two pockets on the jacket and the several in my capris, I'll have plenty of  room! I'm flying from Virginia to Phoenix and this fabric is light enough that I can wear it for a bit of warmth on my side of the country, but not too much for the warmth of Arizona.

I have so many sewing projects in my head. Will I ever finish them all? Will you? Sew on, friends. Fall is here and it's time to sew clothes to keep you warm!

Wow! Time has flown, hasn't it?

Let's see - an earthquake and a hurricane, no power for a period of a few days, several sewing projects  being worked on, then on hold, then being worked on, and a busy life in general! That's no excuse for ignoring the blog, now is it? Time for some good karma!

I have a store-bought quilt that is falling apart on the patchwork side, but the back is in great condition. I decided to rescue it and repurpose it and make it a loved member of our winter warming blankie collection. I gave away lots and lots of my stash, but I held onto the browns I have. I cut those all into 8" squares, saving the smaller pieces to make binding. I've been spending time at the machine sewing the squares into strips. It looks like it will be 10 squares by 12 squares to cover the queen quilt top. A true scrap stitching project, I'm using threads that are left over from other projects and garments. I have so many that are gold/brown/off white! After I get the top completely sewn, all the strips combined into one piece, then I will tie the patchwork onto the old quilt, trim up the edges, and bind it anew. I'm very close to finishing the quilt top!

I've also decided to make some clothes for myself. In making this decision (and knowing I'm losing weight), I went through my patterns and have decided to put all the oversized ones on Etsy for sale. As things tend to happen, I found a bunch of 18" doll clothes patterns that I had in duplicate or were collecting dust, not to be used, and am also selling those on Etsy. Soon, I will put together the unlined paisley shirt jacket and the aquamarine top to wear under it, and thus will have a new outfit for flying in October.

Lastly, I have been looking into purchasing more Peter Max fabric for bags and other items to sell. I get so many comments on my Peter Max bag. Every woman should have one!

Happy sewing and look for pictures soon of the browns quilt. It's coming along. Happy Labor Day and enjoy the end of summer. Think good karma!

P.S. Here are a couple pillows I made on contract:

 

and their backs:

Smurf day!

Twas Smurf day in the sewing room. I know, it's supposed to be Friday and I should be planning the weekend. But I am not. I am relaxing after having cut and sewn and Smurf'd my way through the day.

I cut the remainder of the 5" squares for the Smurf quilt. That didn't take long, but I used an "I spy" technique so that I could utilize the fabric in the best way possible and get a good image on each square.

I also cut out a little girl's twirl dress using the Smurf fabric. I will be putting a white Peter Pan collar on it and using some white decorative ribbon to fem it up. I have to get that fabric and the zipper for the back, but other than that, it's cut and ready to sew.

With the remaining pieces on the floor, I cut bias strips and made the binding for the Smurf quilt.

Okay, so I did cut a few denim squares and it wasn't 100% Smurf fabric day, but it almost was! Happy Smurf Day!

Hexagons! Knee progress! Life!

I've blogged so much about the hexagon quilt lately, but honestly, that's what I'm sewing these days. I spent a couple hours sewing individual pieces together to make rows and in a few days, I will put a few rows together and then, voila, there will be a whole 10 x 13 block done. It's a slow, but steady process.

My knee is almost fully usable! I am driving my car (with clutch) now and today I went to a real grocery store for the first time since 12/14.

 I worked concessions at the theater last night and watched the first half of 42nd Street (go tap dancers!!!). I'm beginning to live again and it feels good.

I plan to cut out a blouse this weekend and to make a commissioned pillow or two. I have one last Valentine's heart to complete. That should fill my sewing need for the weekend.

The Stupid Bowl is Sunday. I'll be moderating on ESPN a good part of the day, so it'll be a lot of "Steelers suck" and "Packers suck" and "Go Steelers" and "Go Packers" and lots of stuff in between. I have snack making plans that will take up the part of Sunday that is not working time.

A very exciting life!

My patterns arrived

And now I need to get them cut out so I have them ready for sewing. That way, I can sew when I have time each day and get the blouses made in nothing flat.

I made four more Valentine heart ornaments - two are quilted and two are stuffed. I'll be sure and take photos when I put them on the tree.

I am also making time for my hexagon quilt.

Can one do three sewing projects at a time? Well yes, they can! I do it all the time. I have a few UFOs (uninished objects) to work on, including some placemats (I've made all but 2 of the set of 8 I am making), potholders (a couple left to bind), and baby bibs (I always have those in the works). I have plastic bins with each of these particular projects in them and which ever one I feel like working on, I'll pull it out and work on it. As I finish them, I'll start something new and put it in the plastic bin. It's a whacky system, but it works for me.

What are you sewing?

Junk jeans!

I spent an hour today gathering a huge stack of old denim (legs, pockets, etc., that had already been dissected). While I was on vacation, I had an idea for a denim skirt involving 6" strips. I ordered a 6" x 24" ruler and it was home by the time I got here (believe it or not, it was less expensive to buy the same ruler on line than in a store, including shipping!). I dusted off my cutting pad and dug out my table from behind a bookcase, and finally found my rotary cutter. It's been a while!
Then for the next hour, I cut 6" and 4" strips of denim, and sorting pockets for weighing and selling later. The 6" strips are what I was interested in for myself. Although I only did cutting today, it felt good to be doing something that involved fabric. Everyone I know brings me their old jeans, so it felt doubly good to be cutting denim with purpose. The next step in the skirt is to make strips and put the strips together to make the fabric from which the skirt will be cut.
As for those pockets and 4" strips, I think I'm going to make packages with each of those and my 2" strips and put them on eBay. I'll save enough 2" strips to make Christmas stockings, but I think I'm done with those.
So what fabric recycling are you into these days?