Vacation and sewing fun

I'll be vacationing far away from the internet (and cable, and, just possibly, cell phone towers) for the next week so this blog will go into silence mode for that time.

To tide you over, here's some pics of what's I've been up to!


Some bags I've made. The far left one, the yellow and red one, is a padded laptop bag. The rest are green grocery bags. Lots of fun and very easy to make!


The two most green grocery bags ready for transport. The green flower one folds up into it's handy pouch while the solid green one rolls and gets tied up. I prefer the pouch personally but I wanted to experiment a bit.



More coasters, this time in fuzzy mode! The lighting's bad right now so I'll have to make it up with better pictures later. The blue one is showing that the blue felt isn't inheritantly tacky, it's just tacky when I try to pair it with red and white, like the previous coasters. I wound up googling wedding colors and got a truck load of ideas of what colors actually look good with others. This blue with lime green coaster was a result. And the green lime thread is serious stash - it's on a wooden spool and cost 30c when new. I assume that was whenever this color was last in vogue. But it's still strong and it's not like any important seams are depending on it! The brown coasters were me FINALLY trying to sew on a beginner's level (I never was any good at that, even as a beginner. Which is why I have so many ... interesting ... things ... as relics of that time) and just doing straight lines across the felt. I really like how they look. They're best when the straight lines are done with a slight zig-zag stitch for definition but even at their most basic they're nice. Good to know!

And, in other news, I finally have a sewing class ready to start up! It'll begin a week after we get back. So much to do!

Playing with my machine

After years of avoiding any sort of embroidery on my machine, I decided to give it a go. I've been making up samples of projects for the sewing class I'm teaching (staring in just a few weeks!) and our first project will be simple little drink coasters made from felt. Theirs won't look like these - at least I don't expect them to.  We'll start with straight lines.  I made up a handful of samples with just the straight lines and I like them - but these are the ones that caught my camera's attention.  :)

These were made with two pieces of felt, one red, one brown.  I put brown thread in the bobbin, red in the needle, and then followed the pictures I'd sketched in the felt.  More or less - the marking pen didn't show up very well so a good amount of it was freehand.  The tapering lines you can see in each coaster were formed by sewing along as I narrowed the stitch width.  Somehow the combination of guiding the fabric with the left hand while turning a dial with my right made me feel so very coordinated.  It's a rare feeling for me so I enjoyed it!

I did the border last, though maybe I should have done it first.  Will try next time.  Anyway, the cheap felt tended to stretch and skew due to all the dense stitches so I finished off by sewing the borders then trimming off a good 1/4" from the edges.  Anyway, this was a fun little project that whipped up quickly.  Hm.  Wonder if I could make coasters for my aunt's birthday present?  Wonder what she'd like ... 

A Tale of Two Robes

I thought I'd show off two of the robes I've made from the same pattern. It's amazing how much the fabric changes the look. The pattern is, by this point, practically self-drafted. I think I started with McCall's 2940 but hated how massive it was. There's roomy and comfortable and then there's being consumed by fabric. Even the small was too large to move in. So I began changing it. I narrowed it about 4" at each shoulder, redrafted the armcyc to fit a little more closely, redrafted the sleeve cap to fit, flared a bit at the waist, and shortened it to hip length. And that was the first round of changes. I think I made more after that but before the blue robe was made. So, yeah, I consider it "my" pattern by this point. I figure I've earned it!

Blue Robe

I love this robe. It was originally inteded to be a bridal shower gift for a friend but I finished a little late and we haven't gotten together since. I got married a few months after she did and she bought me some stuff as well and, since we haven't been in the same place at the same time, we both decided to just keep the gifts we would have given to each other. Odd, but it works. :) And I've been wearing this robe to bits! It's fantastic for throwing over a pair of pants and a cami. It's nice enough that I could wear it out but super, super comfortable. I let my DH cut out the tie and it turned out far shorter than it's supposed to be. This is why he plays with computer code rather than wood working or sewing or anything else that requires measurements. :) Still, it works well enough that I haven't felt the need to recut it. Lazy, me? But anyway, LOVE this robe. Need to make more. Many more. And it sewed up in less than an hour thanks to serging all the seams. Gotta love that.

M's Robe

This robe was fun to make because I really got to let the fabric influence the design. Because it had a directional cross-grain weave and decorated borders I tried to make the most of it. The main pieces were cut with the bottom edge on the selvedge. Technically this affected the curve of the hem, making it straight, but the pattern's curve was already so slight that you can't tell. Due to a cutting error the long sleeves became elbow-length. I could have recut them but decided the shorter sleeve looks so good that I wanted to keep it. The sleeve cuffs are cut from the border and give a good weight to the sleeve. The neck band shows off the "wrong" side of the fabric. The belt is similarly made with the "wrong" side out but the border weave makes it hard to see in the picture. Ah, well. It was stunning in real life, if I may say so!

It took something along the order of 18 HOURS to sew this because I (a) had the bright idea to flat fell the seams which took forever and looked so bad I had to seam rip and redo them and (b) because SO MUCH of it was hand-sewn. I wanted it to be so beautiful on the inside that you could wear it inside out if you wanted. Part of doing that meant hand-sewing the band to the inside, stitch by TINY stitch. After seam-ripping my first (machine) attempt. I also blind-hemmed the hem. On the good side, I'm a far better hemmer now! By the end I was really enjoying the process. There's something very peaceful about hand-sewing and now I might be a little addicted. We'll see how long that lasts. :)



I really enjoyed making both gowns and have plans for yet another one in the works. I'll be sure to show it off when I get it made up!

Finished! Finally!

After roughly 18 hours of work, the robe for one of my friends is finally done! I'll talk about it more tomorrow (or Friday, or...) but here's a preview. I'm proud of it. :)

Next on the Sewing Agenda

Pretty!

I have a lot of things I SHOULD make but this would just be pure joy to try. It's Susan's "farewell to Narnia" dress from Prince Caspian, coming out on May 15th. I just love the look of the dress ... or at least the look of the top. Unfortunately this is the only picture of this dress so everything below the elbow is a mystery. There's a lot of chatter over on Narniaweb.com about the skirt and lower sleeves and really, any of the guesses could be right.

My guess? Look on.



Yes, it's a bit Pirates of the Carribean extra-ish, but I suspect it'll look better when made up in bright, crisp fabrics. I'm working on some technical sketches and such and will get back soon (really!) with some progress!

Sewing Videos Online

Just thought I'd start putting all those videos I find online into a neatly organized section on the blog so I (and others!) can find them again. Because it's so annoying to spend 20 minuets googling that video when all you remember about it was that it was about sewing and absolutely fabulous.

Singer Sewing Company quicktime videos. - Lots of short videos on how to use their feet. Since one manufacturer's feet look like another's, useful to anyone who has a machine.

Threads Videos - Quicktime and Realtime. Good videos on pressing (by GorgeousThings!), a tour of a fabric store, knit neckline bindings, and a video showing Pancho Martinez do amazing embroidery with just a zigzag machine. It's not something I'll be doing any time soon (especially after watching how close his fingers get to that unguarded needle!!) but it's pure inspiration and eye candy.

That's it for now, I'll get more up later!

McCall's Spring Preview - What's Hot, What's Not

Not Hot
Starting out with what's Not because it's just so much more fun that way...

M5578


This dress is giving me bad flashbacks to fourth grade. Baggy top, gathered knit skirt, and buttons in the back? And those horribly placed pockets? Trust me, it wasn't particularly attractive on a fourth grader in the early nineties and it's no better on a grown woman. Worse, actually. I'm pretty certain that this dress is specifically designed to make a woman look her absolute dowdiest. Yes, those longer sleeves are kinda cute. Do yourself and all who look at you a favor and morph them onto a better bodice. The world will thank you.

M5577


The purple line drawing doesn't look so bad ... but that's only if you can tear yourself away from the train wreck of the blue jumper to look. Seriously, could the proportions look any worse? That tiny top with the child-carrying pockets just looks off. Granted, it's the kind of look you can envision seeing during Project Runway ... but it's usually the result of too little sewing time, a bad choice of fabric, and strange materials. We don't have that excuse. If, for some reason, you just HAVE to have a jumper like this then take your cue from the purple girl - wear it with a full shirt, use drapey fabric (maybe even a lush silk knit) and DON'T USE THOSE POCKETS! Put discrete ones in the side seams, if you like but please, by all that's holy, run from those horrible ones. They give all pockets a bad name.

M5588


This one isn't terrible ... it's just not good, either. The proportions with that neckline just seem very, very off. It looks like it's both engulfing and binding the poor model. Not exactly the look I go for when I get dressed each day.

M5565


The absolute, no doubt, unarguable worst of the bunch. It screams Happy Hands at Home in a way that makes one flinch from sewing. It's giving a tiny model thunder thighs. It looks like a maternity outfit made by a sweet aunt who only bought her fabric on sale ... back in the 70s. It's got those horrid thick fabric straps that only show up in bad sewing patterns and those oddly placed buttons that just feel so wrong. From top to bottom it's just so completely ick. Congrats, pattern, you've won top price at worst pattern of the season.

Hot
Moving on to happier grounds, the best of the bunch. Honestly, this was really difficult. There were so many patterns in this batch that I really like and would love to comment on. However, these are the five that I finally settled on as my absolute favorites. Enjoy!

M5576


It's a sack dress that also has shape - beautiful! And I love the use of the silver fabric and the totally mod gems on the green. Just too cute. And how can you not love a pattern that says, under notions, that it requires "purchased plastic or acrylic stones to creatively embellish motifs within the fabric for dress B or front yoke on dress C."

M5575


What a hot little tunic. I've got a similar one that I've been wearing to death over a pair of simple black pants. No leggings for these legs. It's worked really well, I get a number of compliments on it and it really is slimming. I'm not sure how since empire waists and mid-thigh tunics are usually my kriptonite, but it is. I might pick up this top and try and repeat the previous one's success. With a cami underneath - that's a pretty impressive v there.

M5590


This is a basic that NEEDS to be in your collection this year. High waisted pencil skirts are back with a vengeance and this is the perfect template for a lot of very stylish creativity. Added bonus - once you've got this pattern fitted for your figure it's an easy trim away from being a perfectly fitted regular-waist skirt. Since I hate the fitting step I'm all for that.

M5597


Look at that jacket. Look at it! Is that not an instant trip in time to the suits of the 30s and 40s with their small but fantastic details? Despite not having any need for the suit jackets I already have, I'm feeling a need for this one. Just wearing it is instant glamor. A definite must have for my pattern collection.

M5584


There were a lot of great patterns but this one is the one that I fall in love with a little more with each look. It's so retro modern, so over the top glamorous, that I can't stop thinking about it. Logically I shouldn't even consider it - I'm a curvy hour glass that should, by all the rule books, stick with close fitting silhouettes. Yet I keep wanting to float around in a deep olive green satin version of view C with black tulle poking out beneath and thin gold and silver celtic knots embroidered around the top band. I'm very seriously considering making it up for a wedding we're going to tomorrow evening. After all, with as little fitting as this dress has, it can't be all that difficult to make. And it would feel so very glamorous. Maybe with a little black velvet bolero ... I'm sold.

Monday - Weekend Report (just a little late)

Sorry, I realized after I got in bed last night that I'd forgotten that I'd forgotten to do my Monday report. Granted, it's not like I have much to report anyway, so it wasn't like you were missing much ... but still, I like keeping deadlines. Especially self-appointed ones.

So what did I do this weekend?

Not all that much. As far as fabric and thread goes, it was all just mending and alterating, my two least favorite parts of sewing. My hubby needed his new cassock's hem shortened by a good three inches (not a standard alteration for my 6'1" husband - I'm not sure what giant they designed this thing for) and then he popped a button on his pants so that got sewn back on. So things that needed to get done but nothing really fun and nothing for me. This was mostly due to how full Sunday suddenly became - we went out to lunch with friends from Church, kept chatting until mid afternoon, and then were invited over to our neighbors' apartment for dinner. And, because we forgot to reset our kitchen clocks for daylight savings time, we showed up an hour early. It turned out great because that gave us more time to chat but when it was all said and done we had a whole two hours at most at home that day. Not enough to get started on sewing, not when a warm bath was calling. So for my first weekend report I get to report very, very little. Next time I hope will be far better!

Nov Series - Sewing Corner Part 1

Y'all asked for it so here it is!

My little sewing corner of bliss:



I'm still working out a few kinks but on a whole I like it. What you're looking at is the corner of our study - which SHOULD be the master bedroom in this teeny two bedroom apartment but, before moving in, my husband and I decided that we use far more room studying and sewing than sleeping so our bed's in the tiny room and our desks and all this stuff is here. I like it!

And for the tour part 1 - A General Overview

We bought the shelves specifically for this odd little nook. They're IKEA MALM shelves and I already had a good collection of MALM stuff from previous apartments (I love the flexibility) so we just worked out what would fit, figured out how much of that I already had, and bought the rest for less than $50. The white boxes are also from IKEA and are PERFECT for pattern storage. And the wooden drawer unit, guess where it's from? Yep, IKEA. I love that store.



On the top you can see my inkle loom, jar of thread, my two little girls Kit and Samantha (Samantha wearing a test garment from my own pattern) and a couple storage boxes. Below that is general sewing stuff storage - books, ribbons, lace, patterns, odds and ends, more patterns, sewing machines, and fabric.



Over to the left is my sewing table. It is NOT from IKEA and is, in fact, a piece of junk. Its only saving graces are that it's the right width and it was free. Even so, I keep hoping to replace it soon, not least because I really dislike sewing with the presser foot up on that ledge. But it is what it is for now ... one major expenditure at at time.



On the right is the ironing corner - to save space I have one of the over-the-door ironing boards. It's not ideal and no where near as nice as a standard free standing board but it's exactly what I need right now - small, out of the way, with a very small footprint.

Anyway, there's your preview of my sewing corner! I took a virtual roll of pictures and will load you up over the next few weeks on them but figured this week would be a good introduction/teaser for the later installments.

Proposed Blog Schedule - aka, how long do you think this idea will last

As one of the nursery workers I oversee notes, I am a list fanatic. I have lists for what needs to be done each day, lists for how the nursery runs, lists for homework, books I've read, books I want to read, sewing projects I want to do ...

I have a lot of lists.

This is not because I'm an organized person, as she seemed to think. This is because I am disorganized. Horribly disorganized. If a project is not on a list then I WILL forget it. Even if it's something like my own birthday. It's happened before.

So, in honor of my obsessive list-making, I'm testing out a schedule for this blog. My hope is that the schedule will limit the "what should I write about today" blocks that come up and keep me from camping too long on one topic. Like I said, it's a hope.

The proposed schedule:

Monday - Weekend Sewing Report I do most, if not all of my sewing on Sunday since that's my official day of rest. Or afternoon of rest - funny, when you work at a church Sunday's not very restful at all. But despite half of the day being spent herding cats - er, kids - and then sleeping to recover, I try to spend that second half doing whatever I want which usually means sewing. So I figured Monday's a good time to report what's been happening in my sewing corner.

Tuesday - Greek Geekery Greek manuscripts, Greek grammar, Greek trivia - if it's (koine) Greek expect it to show up on Tuesday. Current ideas are a series on collating manuscripts for those who are interested (and to hopefully raise interest in those who aren't!) and a post or two on my very favorite NT city, Colossae.

Wednesday - Patterns and Fabric I spend more time looking at patterns and fabric then actually working with them so figure I should give at least 1/5 of blogspace to that. Hey, it gives me an excuse to keep it up!

Thursday - Randomness Whatever I feel like from sewing to Greek to children's ministry to neat stuff I find online. Both things that don't fit elsewhere in my tidy list and those things that fit but I don't want to wait to post them.

Friday - Monthly Series See the poll over on the right? This would be the day you get to see the results of your voting. And unless something strange happens it looks like this Friday will start a 5 part series on my sewing corner and it's organization (or, at present, lack there of).

So there's the plan. Let's see if it lasts through November!

Oh, and this schedule takes effect tomorrow ... right now Hebrew is kicking my little rear.

One Robe Down

You should thank me ... the original title of this post was "One Robe to Rule Them All" but I realized it was all cultural referent without any actual meaning. I mean, if this robe had rings or crowns or some other hint to royalty or Lord of the Rings then it would work. But since it doesn't I just couldn't justify the title.

Though now I have an idea for a future robe.

Anyway, the robe -



This is a bridal shower present for my friend. My friend who's been married for, um, 6 months. While I've never been the one who had my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving, still, I'm usually a little more punctual than this. Fortunately this was just part two of the present - part one was a sweet but sexy nightgown made out of a fantastically soft and ever so slightly see-through cotton my mom bought long before I was born. So I don't feel as bad as I might over the delay in getting this robe done. Also I've had a few interruptions in my own life ... little stuff like finals, getting married, moving, and starting a new semester while unpacking to deal with. So anyway, the robe is finally done!

The pattern is my own design, modified heavily from a basic robe pattern from, I think, Simplicity. It's been a while since I've worked with the base, so sorry for the vagueness there! Anyway I made up one version with the original pattern for another shower present (for some reason all my friends have suddenly decided to get married) and even size XS was HUGE. Short but HUGE. It was absurd and just plain unflattering.

So for this second version I traced off the pattern and started modifying. As best as I can remember I thinned down the pattern by a good 2" on each side (more than 8" total), added a slight flare under the waist, reduced both the diameter and the length of the sleeves, straightened the shoulders, and shortened it a bit. While it's not yet perfect, I do like it.

I also really like the colors - my friend who's getting this is a huge Amy Butler fan so I wanted to make her something with that "look." This led me into colors and contrasts I wouldn't ever have picked for myself. But you know what? I love it. At the same time as I picked up this fabric I got a more subdued pair for my own robe (not yet started on) and in the 6 months between buying and making I'm still in love with these fabrics (more than I was when I bought them) and I'm tired of my own robe's fabrics. I think I need more bright colors in my life.

The pattern whips up in just a few hours, even under this slow seamstress's needle. I serge everything except for the hem and even that's just a basic straight stitch.

My favorite part of this pattern is the opportunities it presents. Since it's for home wear it's a great chance to do some crazy color-matching or use more novelty patterns that wouldn't make it out on the streets. It's also a blank slate for other modifications - add a square pocket on the front made from the edge fabric, perhaps make it ankle length from flannel for winter, some embroidery, trim or topstitching ... endless possibilities!

What would YOU do with this pattern?

A very productive day

Instead of the sewing I'd been planning on, I spent this day of rest very productively doing very little of tangible value - and I enjoyed every moment of it. One friend invited us and another dozen of her closest friends over for lunch and it was a great time. Or at least it was when the one family left - I love kids (which is good, given my day job) but at an event that's otherwise entirely adults and when the kids really could use a bit more discipline in their lives? Yeah, not so much. Especially since I spent the morning running our Children's Church bit entirely on my own. Which meant that when one kid really needed some time apart from the others I couldn't do a blessed thing about it. But back to the lunch. By the way, if you're child is used to giving orders DO NOT bring him or her around me. I've got a zero tolerance for a child telling me what I'm going to do. It's one thing when we're playing pirates and she tells me that I fell overboard. It's another when a kid walks up to me WITHOUT KNOWING ME and orders me to move. Right. That kid is going to get some tough love very quickly.

For what it's worth my "mom" voice has been known to snap teenage bullies to attention. When I was younger than them. So don't mess with it.

But the lunch. Once the family left (blessedly early) we all had a great time talking about campus politics, quirks of society, and new television shows. Just a great time hanging out with some Dutch Blitz thrown in (I won!).

Afterwards we came home and I indulged my love of all things Disney for a good 6 hours. I'm a certified Disney affectionado, with my greatest love being the Disney parks. I was literally raised at Disneyland, going no less than once a year (and, at some points, once a month) to the park until I was 9 and we moved to the east coast. A few years later my parents tried a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip to Disney World and since then we've gone more times than I can recall. Instead of having Christmas at my parents' this year, my husband and I are meeting up with my family and mom's extended family to spend a week at "The World," or, as my mom calls it, "home." Yes, we're Disney nuts.

And believe it or not, there's a sewing connection to all this.

In my afternoon of reading all things Disney I found this highly informative description of a behind-the-scenes tour of Disney World that includes two paragraphs on their wardrobing department. Did you know that Epcot has it's own costume shop? That it's patterns are drafted on a computer, resized for various castmembers, then printed out? That it has a highly specialized, hands-free cutting table that I would LOVE to test drive at some point? That's the gist, but I highly recommend reading the article for yourself. Granted, had I been the one writing there would be far, far more about the wardrobe department - but what he gives is great stuff. I don't think I'll ever look at those character costumes or cast member garbs the same.

Cozy weekend plans

Maybe it's our sudden bought of cooler weather (meaning, below mid-80s) or maybe it's the halloween candy everywhere but I'm in the mood to make something warm, cozy, and very now.

I want to make a sweater dress.

I mean, just look at this beauty ....


Now I'm not exactly the standard figure for these current tube sweater dresses. I'm curvy all over with little lumps and bumps in different places. I'm actually a "normal" weight for my hight (that is, doctors don't give me grief about watching what I eat or getting more calories) but that weight is kinda all over in various distributions. So sweater dresses, at least the RTW versions, are inheritantly wrong for me.

This is why I sew.

My plan is to frankenpattern this whole thing - a close-fitting deep cowl-neck shirt from and OOP Simplicity pattern, bell sleeves from one of my many prospects (I like bell sleeves and wind up buying patterns that I otherwise dislike just because of that detail), and then draft in an a-line skirt. My two best bottom shapes are a-line and flared but the flared tends towards the sexy side and I want to be able to wear this to church. So a-line it is.

Right now all this is purely in my head but I'll try and get it out this Sunday (my sewing day). I might even mess with DH's computer and see if it likes my camera and upload some pictures that way.

If I do that I can even show off the cotton robe I made before I give it to the bride-to-be (who, incidentally, got married 6 months ago - so I'm a little slow with my presents) next week. So much to do, so much to do. But all very fun. In contrast to the midterm I should be studying for. (sigh) Back to the grind...

In progress: Simplicty 4047

To start off my SWAP I cut out and began sewing the shirt in this wardrobe out of some heavy black mystery polyester. Unfortunately this will probably have to suffice as an unwearable muslin... The poly fabric is giving me as much trouble as it physically can. Each and every seam and dart (and this pattern has a number of them) is ruching up and the entire effect is very cheap and very handsewn (in the worse sense of the term). Since I'm not certain the fabric is the problem I need to play around with some scraps and use a smaller needle, different thread, and try holding the fabric taunt as I sew. If any of those provide a cure I might go back and try and salvage the shirt. Otherwise I'm not entirely sure. I'd like to make this shirt in something shiny black but now I'm a little tired of poly. I love working with cotton but I've yet to see a black cotton I really like. Mostly they just look faded and worn. So I'll keep my eyes open next time I go fabric shopping. Hm, maybe silk ... now wouldn't that be lux!

40s Senior High

Isn't this the cutest little top/skirt combo? I especially love the green and brown version. It's more of a high-school senior dress than a hanger dance dress but I still love it.

(from Out of the Ashes Collectibles)

If I were to make this (in, of course, my large, well lit, and always organized sewing studio, where it's always spring outside and french doors overlook a well-tended herb and flower garden) I'd probably start with a brown wool flannel for the body of the dress and crisp cream cotton for the collar and sleeves, giving it a cute jumper look. Then I'd start experimenting with stripes on the bias, maybe go a little crazy with quilting cotton like this from fabric.com with solid color collar and sleeves. Because print to print matching should only be done by a professional and numerous attempts have shown I'm not quite at that level. Actually I'm more of a thrice-over remedial student in that area ... there's a reason my stash and closet are almost all solids! Still, in my imaginary studio I'm sure I'd suddenly be inspired to print-matching genius and come up with the perfect combination!