Is Sewing A Sport?

Elephants are coming!

2010-05-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

I have to chuckle at myself...I look into my fabric closet and am overwhelmed by how much I have accumulated in a relatively short period of time. I think to myself that I will not buy any more fabric and try and make stuff from the ever-expanding stash. So, since I did just add a few more yards to the stash, I thought I should get sewing. I pulled out a pattern I was anxious to try out and decided that I was going to make two! One for each dd. That ought to get some fabric used up.....yeah, about an eighth of a yard. Doubt I could of found a project that required less fabric! HA! Oh well, my dd's have enjoyed them and I finished them up quick enough to spend some time outside with my kids!

Here is the first elephant. This is a Heather Bailey pattern.

It is a cute little stuffed animal (or pincushion). I used some of the Heather Bailey fabric that I had purchased to make these cute little guys.

I purchased the eyes for these guys from an etsy seller called 6060.

Well, all in all, I had fun making these and my girls love them!

I have been thinking a lot about my current wardrobe and the types of clothes that I like to wear. I really am mostly a knit kind of person for my tops and casual shorts, capris or pants/jeans for the bottoms. I wouldn't mind a casual skort to add to my wardrobe. I really like a lot of the clothes on Athleta. I have a hard time finding patterns that would fit these styles, so I keep thinking that I need start doing some pattern manipulation or drafting. Just thinking about it. Any of you ever used any pattern drafting software? Well, that is it for now!

Easy Shorts

2010-05-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

These simple shorts are from BWOF. They are April 2009 - 140. They are just 4 pieces and an elastic waistband, not much to them. I added a stripe of velvet ribbon down the sides and at the back (for identifying front from back). I had these traced out in a size 110 (probably did that last summer) so that is the size I made. She would really fall into the 122 -128 sizing, but since I was making them out of knit instead of a woven, I figured they would work and they did!

They will be just a pair of play shorts. I made myself a pair too! I didn't put the stripe down the side on mine.

For mine, I was turning a old pattern of lounge pajama pants into a casual knit short pattern. I always have issues with the rise on pants, so I cut out 3 inches in the rise of the front and back pieces. It was a little too much. I can still wear them, but they fall lower than I want. I need to raise the front an inch and the back 2 inches. I will make those changes and try again in a black knit. Simple shorts for doing yard work or wearing to the beach, or working out in (on occasion I add that to my reportoire of things I do...). So, I received a package of more fabric and few patterns from Heather Bailey's line. Some more cute designer cotton coordinating fabrics and a couple of pincusion (stuffed animal) patterns and a bag (and wallet) pattern. Not sure what I feel like sewing next. I will have to surprise you!

She's ready for summer!

2010-05-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

It must be nice to be young and look cute in just about anything!

Here are my promised pictures of my youngest dd in her new top! I paired it with a pair of white leggings that I made a while back from the newest Jalie legging pattern.

It is a nice top for summer! This pattern is ModKid - Ava (in case you forgot....).

We had the perfect day to wear this top today! And she is still in it, so it must be comfy too!!

Next up, I am sewing some quick and easy summer shorts in knit for me and my older dd!

Another ModKid

2010-05-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the second top that I have been working on. It is hot off the presses and hasn't even been seen by my younger dd yet! I promise to get a picture of her in it though! This one went together very smoothly as I still had the instructions fresh in my head.

I used little ladybug buttons for decoration on the front of the dress. Funny thing, I think I actually like this top better than the first one. I liked the fabrics for the first one better, but for the total outcome of the design, I think these worked better. These fabrics were actually designed by ModKid pattern designer (Patty Young) and are in the Flora and Fauna line.

Well, I am done for tonight! I am pretty sure that I will be working on some easy knits next......my first sewing love!

ModKid Ava Top

2010-05-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

I have been on a kick lately involving designer cotton coordinating fabrics. These particular fabrics in this blouse are from Jennifer Paganelli. The pattern for this top below is ModKid - Ava. This is the first ModKid pattern that I have tried and I am pretty impressed with the pattern instructions and the pattern design quality.

This is a cute little summer top. There is a little elastic waist skirt included in the pattern, but I think I will have my dd wear pink or black leggings/shorts or jeans with this top. It is pretty blousy, so with a blousy skirt...there is no form. I really like this top, though. It has cute little pintucks that run vertically in the bodice and then more in the underskirt layer of the top running horizontally (pretty hard to tell in these pictures....).

Here is a picture on the model. She just came in from running in the hose and was all wet and needed to change, so I got a quick photo as she changed clothes!

Here is the back side. It is elastic along the top backside. She is wearing another skirt under the striped layer (not a part of the top....). I am going to try and get her to wear it with something that looks better and get another photo.

I am currently working on one for my younger dd as well in completely different colors. Stay tuned!

A whole family!

2010-04-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

So, I told you that I was going to have to make more of these, right?!? I ended up making one for each dd and a baby size kitty for the dd in the picture. That means I will probably have to made another smaller one for the other dd too..... To make the smaller one, I printed up the pdf file on the printer with 2 pages per printed page (the pattern falls onto 4 pages that you have to tape together originally). So I cut out this smaller kitty and taped together and thought it was still too big, so then I threw it on the copier and reduced it 75%. That got me to this pint size kitty. I think I am kittied out! My dd's had fun picking out the eyes, nose and mouths. Not my first choices, but hey, they aren't for me, are they!

Kitty Pillow

2010-04-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

My older dd is going to a birthday party tonight and I picked up a gift card at the favorite 'tween fashion store at the mall, but I felt that something else needed to go along with the gift. Last time we were at this store (Justice...in case you were wondering), my dd really wanted a "sleep over" pillow. There was no way I am paying for a pillow I could whip up in no time.....so that got me thinking that a cute little pillow would go nice with the gift card. I did a little internet search for a pattern and found this! It is a free pdf download from Amy Butler's website. Too cute and totally fit the plan! These are the pics from her website:

So, I downloaded the pattern, printed it out and dug into my stash. About an hour later, I had this! Here is the front side of the kitty.....

And here is the backside...I added a little stitching with embroidery floss for some personalization. As you can see from the face, I changed a few things, but I think it is just as cute! :)

My younger dd was with me while making this, helping me out and asking when we were going to make one for her! Once my older dd saw it and found out I made it, she was asking for one too! It is a hit in our house!

Another top for me!

2010-04-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

As promised, I made another top for me! This was the other knit I pulled from my stash over the weekend. This is another knit that has been sitting in stash for quite awhile that I got from the Fabrics & Notions co-op group. This time I went for a new pattern. I traced off BWOF 11-2008-125. I didn't realize it when I first decided to make this, but it is very similar to 11-2008-124 which I have made (here). I made a size 44, which is a first for me. I was afraid it might be on the small side, but it fits just fine! I made some modifications to this top. First off, I eliminated all of the facings and instead made a band (folded a length in half wrong sides together) that I stitched right sides together to the shirt, then flipped and topstitched. I did this on the yoke portion (that extended around the back side of the neck) and the front v portion. On the front v portion, I stitched two different bands (one on each side of the V), then stitched those together where they met at the front V. The other thing I did was to raise the bottom of the V about 2 inches tapering to nothing at the top of the V. Lastly, I ended up topstitching the yoke band down to the front so it wouldn't flip up. Which leads me to my final realization about this shirt.....it is very similar to the Jalie that I just finished!! Oh well. Not sure why I didn't see this to begin with, but I didn't. The sleeves and the back portion of the top are very different than the Jalie sweetheart top. The back of the BWOF, is cut in two pieces, a top portion and a bottom portion. It gives the shirt a nicely fitted look. The sleeves are a dolman style with the side seam ending at the bottom of the sleeve. I actually had quite a fit working with this fabric. For a while I was getting skipped stitches while topstitching, then I switched machines from my brother to my viking and no more problems. Same needle, same thread. Interesting. I did a rolled hem on the bottom edge with the serger. Easy and I didn't need to worry about stitch problems. Below are a couple of scrunchies that I made to go with the shirts I just made. Great way to use up scraps and made up in minutes! Love those type of projects!!

I am not sure what is next. I will have to go stash diving again and see what fortune I find! :)

Sweetheart top for me!

2010-04-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it! I made something for me!! Yay! I went shopping this morning at the mall and bought the girls lots of new outfits (nothing for me....) and decided when I came home that I deserved a new top! My dd's had gone next door to play and dh is in china on business, so I was all alone....what's a girl to do! So, I went to a tnt - the jalie sweetheart top. This was a pretty easy top that I already had traced off and I used up a yard from stash (Yay!). It took me about 2 hours to complete. I did a rolled hem on the sleeves and bottom edge (the lazy way out!). I have lost about 20 pounds since the last time I made this top, but decided against a smaller size because mostly I was being lazy to trace off the new pattern, but also I justified it by this fabric is very thin and clingy and needed to fit a little looser to look good on my lumpy body. According to the jalie measurments, I should have made two sizes smaller.....I think I would have looked like a stuffed sausage if I had done that! This is one of those prints that looks a lot better made up into a shirt than laying flat. I am really liking all the colors much better now. It has been in my stash for at least a year....maybe longer. I bought it from the Fabrics & Notions group.

This is my third version of this top. I just retired one of them to amvets, so hopefully the pattern won't look too familar! Well, I pulled out of my stash another knit print fabric.....so maybe another quick jalie shirt is in store! Stay tuned! :)

Taxes are done!

2010-04-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems forever since I have sewn something!! We had a week of spring break vacation in palm springs, then a week back to get my taxes done! Finally, some sewing time. I am still on my kid kick sewing. Although, after a week in palm springs by the pool....I figured out that I need to have some new suits! Anyhow, I decided to continue on my skirt saga and make another one for my oldest dd. This pattern is Portabellopixie - Gracie, View D, the tiered skirt. This was not a hard skirt to put together, a little time consuming with all the gathering and piecing together. It turned out to be longer than I had envisioned in my mind. Although, it looks like the photos in the pattern! I got this fabric from fabric.com and it is by Patty Young designed for Michael Miller, Flora and Fauna collection. I picked out 9 different coordinating fabrics. This skirt actually incorporates 3 of them. The skirt has a top waistband piece, a top tier, a middle tier, and a bottom tier. I used the same fabric for the top and middle tiers because it was a border fabric (with the flowers in the border), and then polka dots between the borders that ran along the selvage. You can't see the waistband fabric that well in these pics...but you could try clicking on the photo to make it larger.

My dd seems to like it, but declared today was too hot to wear a long sleeve tee and long skirt and changed back to shorts fairly quick.

It definitely has twirl factor! All in all I like it. I hope it doesn't look to "folksy" or homemade. I may shorten it up and try again for a more stylish length. Or am I out of it and long is in?? I have always been more of a fan of knee length or shorter skirts probably because I am 5'1" and long skirts don't look right on me! What's up next?? I am feeling the need to summer sew! I just received my latest issue of Ottobre. I perused it really quick and wasn't that inspired......I have a need for shorts. I will probably just by those, though. I am in that nomad space where I am not inspired by much.....not fabric, not patterns, not rtw things. Oh well, I am sure it will soon pass! I am looking forward to reading about what inspires everyone else!

Pink Fig

2010-04-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the skirt I have been working on the last couple of days. The pattern is from a company called Pink Fig (you can find the owner's blog in my blog roll under vintage chic). The pattern is called the Nie Nie skirt. This skirt is all about the ruffles! Ruffles and loads of them. I was actually very surprised how much fabric it took to make this skirt. I actually left off the last row of ruffles because I ran out of my black fabric. (This is a great stash buster pattern.....). I used up close to 4 yards of stash fabric on this skirt! I barely got some photos....she said she loved the skirt, pulled it on over her shorts, let me take a few photos, then took it off. No lingering in this skirt.....I guess I was keeping her from playing with her friends!

Here she was doing a few twirls for me. This was the only clear photo I got.....

One last standing up photo to show the length of the skirt. I want to make a top to go with it. I am thinking about a black t-shirt with a pink flower (or something??) applique out of the pink fabric. Would that be overkill? She has a few black tees she can use in the mean time.

Happy sewing to all of you!!!

Sping Blooms

2010-04-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

I got my camera out and took some photos in the yard a couple of days ago. Spring is really a great time of year! I love all the flowers and new growth. Only a couple of my rose bushes have roses opening, another couple of weeks and I'll be loaded! Here is some new growth on one of my grape vines. The grape leaf is one of the most beautiful leaves and I love their little wispy vines!

A snapdragon that grew up from seed where I had some planted last year....

Orchids are always amazing...

The freesia not only add remarkable color, but their smell is heavenly!

My first red rose of the season! Classic beauty!

Thanks for taking a walk around my garden with me! I have a project on the sewing machine. Maybe tomorrow I can show you the finished product! It is more work than I anticipated.....lots of fabric yardage in a skirt for a girl (over 3 yards!)....think ruffles!

Cupcake pincushion

2010-03-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

This is one of the new patterns that I recently purchased! I bought this little pincushion kit from Portabellopixie website. It came with the materials to make the pincushion and the pattern. I absolutely love this little pincushion! The instruction booklet that came with this pattern is phenomenal! It is a 20 page full color booklet with pictures and illustrations for every step of the way making this pincushion.

My dd was really excited watching me make this. She couldn't wait for me to be done with it. As a matter of fact.....I haven't got to hold it since I finished it! This was a fun little project that took me about 2 hours (with lots of distractions) start to finish. The pattern comes in two sizes, a "high calorie" size and a "low calorie" size. The kit had the supplies for the low calorie size. I could definitely see making the "high calorie" size too. Especially since I am not sure when I am going to get this back!! What a great gift for fellow seamstresses too!

Twirly girl

2010-03-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

Here is my other sewing gem for the weekend. After completing the first Studio Tantrum - Redondo skirt, I was excited to make another. Here it is! This time I used two batik fabrics left over from a project long ago. (I almost completely used up these fabrics, just a couple of scraps big enough to make her American Girl doll a pull on elastic skirt...a project yet to come.) . We have lots of purple t-shirts, so I didn't make a coordinating top (although, the original project for this fabric was a top for her older sister which probably fits her by now...). I got a couple of twirly shots this time!

So, I received a bunch of goodies in the mail yesterday! I had ordered some patterns for the girls (and some fabric to make those patterns....). I'll show you those soon, I promise!! Gotta go, I am being beckoned by her majesty!!

Another swimsuit!

2010-03-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the other swimsuit that I finished this weekend. I got my older dd to wear it and run in the sprinklers! We are having beautiful weather right now! This is a Kwik Sew pattern. It is a tankini, and I made it in a size 7.

I only did a couple of alterations to the pattern. I added the ruffle at the top edge to the bottoms. I lined the top front and lettuce edged the bottom hemline (I used wooly nylon in the serger top and bottom loopers and regular serger thread in the needle). I also fully lined the bottoms. I added an inch to the waistline of the bottoms and the top bottom edge. She isn't petite like her sister. In fact, I think in a few years she'll be taller than I am!!! :)

She got into posing for the camera:

I finished another project over the weekend, but that will have to wait until the next post! Gotta love the nice weather when all the kids want to play outside!

Swimming Anyone?

2010-03-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hot off the presses, here is one of the two swimsuits I just finished up! This suit shown here is Kwik Sew 3165. I made it in the size 4 with many alterations to reduce the chest, waist and hips! (Size 4 was the smallest size the pattern comes in...). My dd is 4, but she only weighs 28 lbs and is a very petite little thing, hence many alterations to get patterns to fit her.

This suit has an attached skirt that covers up most of the bottoms. I made the bottoms out of a contrast coordinating material. You can see them peeking out in this side shot.

When she isn't running all around the skirt hangs just so you can't see the bottoms. The fit came out great. I always completely line my swimsuit bottoms (pet peeve of mine to see swimsuits creeping into little places they shouldn't be....or showing stuff that shouldn't be shown). Completely lining them gives the added bonus of hiding all the serged seams between the lining and the fabric to give a nice finished inside look. I lined the top front but not the back. I probably didn't have to line the top, but I made my older dd a suit last year where I decided not to line the top and every time she wears it, I wish I had lined it! So, lesson learned and I line the top front piece. I purchased both of these fabrics from Chez Ami. (If you have never visited over there, go now and see the cute kids fabrics you can buy!) All in all, I am very happy with this new suit!

I also finished my older dd's suit, but I haven't got her to put it on yet. I used a different pattern, but the same fabric, so it has a different look to it! Stay tuned. BTW, if you were following my rants about using my stash and not buying more fabric, you'll be happy to know I came to my senses and purchased a whole bunch more fabric and few more patterns!! :P Yep, absolutely no control....

Gone fabric shopping....at home!

2010-03-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to dig through my box of fabric that is at the bottom of the pile and see if I even remembered what was in it and if I could find some inspiring fabrics inside of that box! Low and behold, I probably forgot more than half of what was in there!! I pulled out a few pieces that I thought I could find a project for..... This first one is probably my favorite, fanciest fabric. It is a white background with pink designs and it is a border print. It is brocade-ish, silkish, and I don't remember the exact fabric type, but it looks and feels expensive. I had always imagined a really pretty fitted dress for my dd's. The orange one is a cotton lawn and the green one is a cotton batik. Both would make great lightweight skirts or sundresses, or summer tops.....

Here are a couple of cotton batiks that I thought could possibly go for another "redondo" skirt, I don't have a whole lot left maybe only 1/2 yard of each.

Again, I thought these could go together for a layered ruffly skirt for my dd's....

And yet, one more option for a skirt.

So, I guess I had better stop scouring the internet for fabric to purchase and start digging into my own fabric storage!! It seems that I have many options for many things! This is only a few things out of that big box......then there are 4 more big boxes of fabric. I must stop buying fabric!!!!!! I know....it is an addiction. I am sure I will be posting soon my new fabric purchases!!! I just purchased a new pattern for another skirt for my dd's. :) Happy sewing (and fabric and pattern collecting)!

My promised pictures!

2010-03-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures of my dd in her studio tantrum skirt. She thought she looked fancy and loved her skirt! She wasn't all that interested in posing for pictures, though and so, these aren't the greatest!

She was telling me, "lets go already mom"!!

The rest of my day today was spent hemming a pair of rolled cuff slacks for my dh. Can I just say, that was a pain in the a$$!! I had to unpick the tacks then unpick the blindhem. Cut off necessary adjustment. Iron in new hem. Sew in blindhem. Iron in rolled up cuff. Sew in tack on the cuff. It took me an hour and a half!! Blah! Now I know why I just walk on my pants and never hem anything I buy in the store! :) Hope you all had more good sewing adventures this weekend!!

Studio Tantrum pinwheel!

2010-03-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this remind you of a pinwheel? Here is my studio tantrum redondo skirt. I wanted to get my dd in it and twirling, but right now bolt is more interesting, she said she would wear it tomorrow and I could take her picture then! Hmmppff! So, for now you get a pinwheel! Anyhow, this was pretty easy to cut and put together. I didn't add the optional ruffles in the seams because I wanted to get one under my belt before modifications. It turned out cute and I already want to make more! I used the striped fabric for the top portion of the "curl" and the flowers for the bottom portion of the "curl". It is comprised of 5 "curls" that are then sewn together, then the waistband is added and the bottom is a rolled hem. I did the majority of it on the serger with the exception of finishing off the waistband (stitch in the ditch to catch the backside). It is a fun skirt and I am ready to go dig through my stash to see what else could work for another skirt! Later!

Happy 7th Birthday and a shirt!

2010-03-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my dd's 7th birthday! We had fun, stuffing ponies, decorating their t-shirts, playing games and eating cake!

The kids had lots of fun stuffing ponies!

Time sure flies....pretty soon she'll be graduating college!

So, I had a very busy Saturday, but Sunday I got a little bit of sewing in! Finally!!! This is the shirt I had cut out awhile back but needed the right color serger thread. So, I got that last week and so this project got started! Now, if you remember, I didn't have enough fabric to cut the sleeves, so I decided I could piece them together and managed to eek out the sleeves with the fabric I had.....only I cut 2 fabric pieces for the sides of the sleeves...instead of 4 (I needed 2 pieces per sleeve...). So, I made them black instead.

Here is a picture of my black and green sleeve. I topstitched with the olive green thread.

Here I added an embroidery of a gecko (I got this from embroidery library). I changed the colors to be just an olive green and black to blend into the shirt.

Next on the agenda....either the raincoat or the studio tantrum skirt..........

Got my stuff

2010-03-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

So, I received many packages this week!! I received my raincoat fabric and lining. I got my zipper for the raincoat. I got my studio tantrum pattern. With my raincoat material I got the fabric for my studio tantrum skirt. I received the olive green serger thread to sew up the t-shirt I cut out for my dh a while ago. I received the stuff my dd's bday (that is tomorrow!!). For my dd's bday, I decided to buy ponies (it is a horse theme party) to stuff and little t-shirts for the ponies which the girls can decorate with iron-ons. I got them from here. I ordered the little t-shirts from them (for $1.50/t-shirt I couldn't possibly be bothered to make 20 of them!). What I did do this week, was dye the little t-shirts so they looked cuter. I made some pink, some purple, and some denim blue (there will be a few boys at her party). They turned out really cute! I had never dyed anything before and was surprised how easy it was with nice results. I printed up lots of stuff onto iron-on transfer paper and cut them all out so the kids could pick what they wanted to iron-on to the shirts. I will post pictures after the party tomorrow to show you how they turn out. BTW, the horse stuffed animals I received are completely cute and good quality (for $5/horse), they come with a birth certificate and a little foam heart to put inside the pony. It is hard to believe how inexpensively some things can be made?? Unlike my dd's upcoming raincoat which cost me $40 in materials alone! Go figure! Hope everyone has a great weekend! I hope to get sewing on Sunday!!!

I've been planning.....

2010-03-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have this great urge to be sewing and don't have the perfect project?? The other day, I decided to cut out my dh a t-shirt in an olive green siltex interlock knit that I had in stash. I felt I was being good finding a project for a piece of fabric in my stash and not succumbing to purchasing more fabric. I had 1 yard. After cutting the front and back, I really didn't have enough for the arms and neckband as drafted. So, I decided to piece together the sleeve adding the seam in as a design element and figured I could bind the neckline and use two pieces to form the neckband to bind the front then the back separately. Dilemma solved......except, I don't have olive green serger thread, so I ordered that today and am waiting for it to arrive!

Then, I got to reading a post by kathi on her raincoat and absolutely loved it! I had been looking for some laminated fabric to make this raincoat for my youngest dd and well, I found it!

I found some lining from the same Amy Butler line, here is the laminated fabric for the raincoat (same as Kathi's):

And the lining:

Did I mention that I found all of this great stuff at fabric.com? Yeah, and I used a 20% coupon and added a couple of other things to reach $35 to get the free shipping! Score! (Although, that is not what my dh calls it when he pays all of my fabric bills.....). So, the only part left to that project that I needed was a zipper, so off to zipperstop for my plastic separating ykk zipper. If you have never shopped zippers from them, you should check it out. I have always been happy! I even received a notice about an hour later that it was already shipped!! Now that is service! So, in a couple of weeks, my dd should have a great raincoat (and all the rain will be done here in sunny sun diego........). So did I mention I bought a couple of other fabrics at fabric.com? Here they are:

I bought these because I was thinking of a cute skirt for dd. I had this pattern in mind, so, of course, I had to go and buy it as well:

I actually had a hard time finding this pattern! I finally found it here at this site.

Oh yeah, and I got a package today with fabric in it!! It was from Chez Ami! I purchased these fabrics from their clearance sale they had for $3/yd (2 yard minimum). These two are swimsuit fabrics for the girls (and maybe me):

And this microfiber fabric, I thought I would make into board shorts or capris for the girls (they are cute little crabs):

And then to top it off, I bought some tommy bahama shirting from the evil fabric queen last week!! So much for not adding to my stash! Oh well, that is the fun of having sewing for a hobby! :)

Now I am off to get a weekend of skiing in!! (Bet you thought I was going to sew this weekend, huh??) :)

Fashion for the AG!

2010-02-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well, someone got something sewn for them! She got a little dress. She got some jeans too, but dd didn't want to take the dress off of her, so you just get the pictures of the dress! :) It was a pretty simple little pattern. I believe it is simplicity 7083, view H. I can't be bothered at the moment to run upstairs to find out what the pattern envelope says.....

The neckline is gathered with some elastic, I attached some ribbon around the sleeves and bottom edge. I wish now I had chosen the white ribbon I had, instead of the contrasting blue, but oh well, she hasn't complained!

So, I got the house I am selling into escrow! My agent put it on the market thursday morning last week and by monday I had 5 offers! Yay, that went easy! I met with the tax accountant yesterday, so that is done, yay! With those things off my chest, I felt I could get a little bit of sewing in without feeling too guilty! Next up, I am going to try another version of the t-shirt I made dh, with the changes he requested. I think this one will have to be short sleeve, though, I only have one yard! Chat with you later! :)

Stuffed animal sewing??

2010-02-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

Have any of you sewn stuffed animals? If you have, would you say that it is worth it? I am toying with an idea of sewing up some stuffed animals for my dd's bday, but don't want to get in over my head. I have about a month to get it done. What do you think???

My February sewing!

2010-02-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

It seems that I sew in spurts these days, with long periods of nothing in between! I sewed two tnt nighties from Ottobre 6/2009 - 17. These are going together super quickly now that I have made them a few times. The girls love their nighties! I used knit interlock from stash. The little ones has purple unicorns and the older ones had little puppy faces. Cute prints I got from the evil fabric queen.

Such a poser!

Here is a little fleece hat that I made up. I used simplicity 4311, I have had it in stash for quite awhile so it is probably oop by now. Anyhow, it was pretty simple. I found my head circumference in between the medium and large (I think this is a teenager pattern), so I made the large. It was too big (puffy looking) so I just took about an inch deeper seam where the circle top and band around the head meet. I like it now....my little one is my photographer!

Lastly, I found some time to squeak in a shirt for my dh. I made the purple t-shirt under the top shirt. I actually made the top one too, but that was about a year or so ago. He thinks he is funny posing dorky, maybe just dorky.....

Here he is with just the t-shirt. It was made from a knit that is brushed on one side and super soft. I put that on the inside of the shirt. I used Kwik Sew 3299. Another pattern I have had in stash for awhile. There are a few things I would change on that pattern. Number 1, I think the neckband is too wide, I think I would cut it close to in half. The other thing is the neck opening is a little larger than dh's favorite t-shirts, so I would make the neck opening shallower. The other thing he requested is that the body length be a couple of inches longer. I could have made the sleeves a tad shorter, but the shirt was a surprise (he was out of town), so I didn't get his arm to measure!

Well, that is all folks! I am not sure how much sewing I am going to get in the next few weeks....I have my plate full of stuff to do! I am selling a house, my dh's bday is friday, my dd's bday is in march and needs planning, I have my taxes to do, and taxes from a deceased relative to take care of. Plus normal day to day stuff. I may just need to sew to stay sane! :) Take care everyone!

Ta Da!

2010-02-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, here we go! First up is a pair of shorts for my older dd made from Jalie 2920 (the legging pattern): I added a little ribbon trim to the backside for looks and identification of front and backside when putting on!

On the front side I added a little rhinestone crystal heart at the bottom of the leg.

Next up are my leggings.....you don't want to see me in tight white leggings without the skirt on....I put a little heart in hot fix crystals at the bottom of my leg too....

Here is the tank top and the leggings under a skirt. Here, my youngest dd wanted to take the picture of me....I had to kneel down to get the tank top into the picture!

I added this little ribbon accent to the side of the shirt so it wasn't so plain....

Next up is my Burda 4-2009-122 shirt! I think it turned out pretty. At first I wasn't sure how I would like it, but after finishing it and trying it on with the tank top, I think it looks cute. This was pretty easy to make up....I bound the neck and front edges instead of doing facings, I don't particularly care for facings and a bound edge has a nice clean look. I did a rolled hem on the serger for the bottom hem and the sleeve edges using a shiny embroidery thread that matched the pink in the shirt. I turned all the seams in on themselves so the raw edges were enclosed and topstitched (is that a french seam?) so the inside has a nice finished look. For the casing, I serged the edges of the seam (at the middle) and then just topstitched it down from the right side.

And last on the list, here is my youngest modeling her new legging pants:

Again, I added a little rhinestone heart to the leg...

I added a ribbon trim to the backside (like on older dd's shorts)...

Close up of heart....

Well, that makes up for the lack of sewing in January, right? Now, what next???

Finally inspired to do something!

2010-02-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

I found my camera and downloaded the hundreds of pictures from christmas! Then I took some photos of my finished American Girl clothes! Yay, I got something sewing to show you! This is the pattern I used for the american girl clothes. It is simplicity 7083 and I made the little jumper and shirt in the top left hand corner. Here she is! I added some trim around the sleeves and the bottom of the jumper, to help tie this outfit together. There is blue in the jumper stripes, but it seems to get lost in the sea of pink. I got this trim off of a christmas gift...it was wrapped around a child's hooded towel to make it look prettier and I decided to save it. Funny where you can pick up cute trim! The pink jumper is a seersucker material leftover from some capris I had made my older dd a long time ago. The blue shirt is leftover interlock knit from a tank top I made myself last summer. The American Girl is the right size to use up those leftover scraps that are big enough they are hard to part with and small enough you are not quite sure why you are saving them!

Here is a full-length shot (I know - she doesn't have shoes on, that is the first thing my dd always takes off....)

Now on to some new projects! I'm really going all out here! This is one of my latest purchases of fabric from fabric.com. It is a cotton lawn. I have never used cotton lawn before, nor really knew what it was, so I wanted to give it a try. For those of you clueless like me, it feels like a light and airy cotton. I really love the pattern and you can't see in this photo, but there are bits of gold metallic in the design as well around some of the white pattern edges. Very cute. I was originally thinking a light airy skirt....but I didn't feel like dealing with lining and couldn't find the right pattern that I had in my mind, so it has become a shirt!

I am going to use this burda pattern on the cover of the 4/2009 issue. Many people have made this up and posted on patternreview and I really like the results of everyones creations. I added a couple of inches to the top bodice section for boob room and because I traced the size 42 (largest size) and I am more of a size 46 around the bust. I also added a little flare out at the hips of about 2". Lastly, I added 4" to the length of the bottom portion of the top, because I like my tops to cover my tummy and some of my booty!

I have it all cut out and ready to sew!

Next, I thought that I would want to wear a tank top underneath the above top, so I pulled out my tnt tank top pattern from Ottobre 2/2009 #1.

It is this one here in the gray. I cut mine out of an off-white bamboo interlock knit.

Then I decided that I would like some leggings to go with the outfit, so I pulled out my new jalie legging pattern and cut out some leggings in the same bamboo interlock knit. I then decided that the girls could have some leggings too and I cut my younger dd some in a white interlock knit and then I didn't have quite enough of the offwhite left to cut my older dd leggings, but some shorts! Kind of like bike shorts style. Stay tuned to see all of this sewn up!! Ambitious, huh!?! (maybe just crazy......)

no mojo

2010-02-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

WELL, you would think for not blogging for quite awhile I would have lots of exciting things to share with all of you...alas, that is definitely not the case. I did sew up another doll outfit, but I haven't photographed it, so I can't show it to you. I finished that a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I have really wanted to sew, but honestly, I haven't been inspired to sew anything. I even got some new fabric that arrived today. Still, I have no inspiration.....not even enough to photograph it and show yah. I figure it is just a phase I will have to muster through....maybe it is our hot then cold again weather. I can't figure out whether I want to make long sleeves or short sleeves, sweatshirts or shorts! I haven't found a pattern I really want to make.....so I thought I would be inspired by my fabric stash and then find the perfect pattern, but that didn't work either. In the meantime, I am still enjoying reading everyone's blogs and love the stuff everyone is making! Don't give up on me!

Simplicity 5276 American Girl!

2010-01-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

I received all of the American Girl patterns that I ordered just after Christmas! I love the fact that there is only one size and that I can actually cut up the pattern rather than tracing first!! Silly, I know, but it is a lot of work getting a new pattern ready for material to be cut! I took two of the six patterns and cut up the sheets getting all the little pieces ready to be placed on material and cut (I actually cut out a lot of them, rather than just getting them roughly there, why....I don't know!). There are probably about 40 pieces in each envelope! I asked my dd to pick a pattern and she picked the leopard looking ones below. As always, my younger dd thinks that it will (or should) look exactly like it does on the envelope (actually, my dh is like that too....). So, I searched into my stash and found something pretty darn close! It was a pink leopard print leftover from a halloween costume I made for my older dd when she was 2. So, here is Alexis! My dd loves that name and that is the name she gave her doll! She is in a two piece pajama set. And, it actually fits her pretty well. This is a plush fabric so, I spent the time to pin well, because it moves on you. I probably spent about 1 1/2 hours sewing up this outfit for the little girl. More time than I thought it would take, but I did spend a lot of time pinning. Anyhow, it was interesting how most of the outfit is put together in the flat, unlike how we are used to sewing our clothes. The neckband, the arm and leg bands and the waistband on the pants, were all put on in the flat and then the last seam sewn up after the addition of the bands. I used little pieces of velcro for the the closure of the back of the shirt. I probably need to add more, because it pulls open a little (but then again, this is a doll outfit....).

My kitty found her pretty interesting too.....

So, one outfit completed! I have a few more cut out and ready to go! We'll see if I have any time today to get to it! :)

Done but no picture...

2010-01-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I keep waiting to get a picture of the leggings (the new jalie pattern), but they keep getting into the laundry before I get a pic! I actually finished these up on New Year's Day. I made a pair for each of my dd's and a pair for me. It took me an hour to sew and hem up all three pairs! Very quick and very comfortable! I love my pair! I wouldn't wear them out of the house except under a skirt, but around the house, I put them on to exercise and to lounge or sleep in. The girls have worn theirs under long shirts and over their gymnastic suits. I am sure more of these are coming in the future! I should be getting my patterns for the American Girl today or tomorrow. I am kind of excited, because I am sort of at a stand still as to what to sew right now. I don't seem to be very inspired by very much. Not enough to actually trace out a pattern. I thought maybe searching in my stash would bring inspiration, but that didn't work out either. I want to be sewing, though. Hopefully, this will soon pass!

Happy New Year's Eve!

2009-12-31T08:14:00.001-08:00

So, I have this pattern in my pattern stash now. This is the next project up on deck. I picked a black polyester lycra material to make the leggings from. I have traced and cut out 3 sizes. I have one for each of my dd's and one for me. I am not sure where I would wear mine (I guess I need to make a casual skirt to wear leggings under.....). The girls, I figure they could wear theirs to gymnastics and under their skirts or shorts. It is a super simple pattern, I think I probably could have adapted this from another pattern, but as I write that I already know that is just more than I want to fool with, so the pattern is in my stash. Don't know if stirrups would ever come back into style?? (Honestly, I hope not!). While my legs need a lot of work to be seen in a mini that short......it could be cute for the kids (with tights or leggings).

I probably won't get to this until Sunday at best. My mother is visiting and she is staying in the room where I sew, so no sewing until she leaves (which is sunday). Not that I am counting or anything! :)

I have been reading about how much fabric people have added to stash and removed from stash and I truly wonder where I fall in that category.....I am scared to add it up! I just know, that the area I keep my fabric in is getting more and more cramped! I have 2 big bins and 2 big boxes of fabric, plus a cupboard with some smaller bins of stuff that I don't like anymore (may be good stuff for American Girl clothes....), plus some overflow that won't fit into the bigger bins. I did categorize it somwhat into knits, wovens, swimwear (or gymnastic wear), and fleece, sweatshirting, t-shirting, & ribbing. The new stuff sits on the side waiting for room to fit in!

Well, I don't really have any sewing related goals. I enjoy sewing and try to do it as much as I can without neglecting my children or any of my other responsibilities. It makes me relax and feel really good. I enjoy creating things and people are always astonished when I tell them "I made that...". I don't know very many people who have ever sewn (besides my blog friends!) and they treat it like it is some sort of magical power that I posess. Anyhow, I really get a lot of personal satisfaction from sewing and I am really happy to have found this hobby! My dh bought me my first machine when our older dd was almost a year old. She is almost 7 now. So, I have been sewing for about 6 years. I attribute my sucess to getting a great first machine (Viking Platinum 770). I now have that machine, my brother innovis 1500D (which does embroidery also), and my Babylock Evolve wave (serger/coverstitch). I probably use my Babylock the most and the brother comes in second. I think the viking is a better machine than the brother, but the brother has more creature comforts I have become accustom to using. I would use all three if I had more room....I only have room for two machines to be set up at a time. I think I lost track of where I was going with this rant. Oh yeah, I love sewing! :) It is great to have found this sewing community! I learn so much from reading other's blogs and from pattern review. A few years ago, I didn't even know there was such a machine called a coverstitch machine and I had seen sergers, but thought those were embroidery machines! Ha! Now, I can't live without my Babylock! Well, I know everyone created loads of great stuff last year because I read it all! Keep up the great work, and keep blogging! Happy New Year!

Sewing Again!!

2009-12-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my own eyes! I actually broke out of my rutt and found a couple of hours to fit in some sewing time! I picked a pattern that I had already tried before and knew that it would be easy. I spent half and hour cutting out these two nighties while playing games with my dd's. Then, while they watched G-Force, I sewed them up these two nighties! These are from Ottobre 6/2009. Yeah! I am so happy to have something sewing to put on my sewing blog!

I knew that they liked them, because they took off the jammies they were already wearing so they could wear their new nighties. They must have been comfy, because she fell alseep quick!

Well, one of them did anyhow!

Sewing related - I also purchased 6 new patterns! I purchased from sewingpatterns.com because they had their simplicity patterns for $1.99 and their shipping rates aren't too bad. I just missed the Joann's simplicity pattern sale... Are you wondering what I bought? Well, I am not big on their patterns for things I would wear, but I have a little girl that I needed some patterns. An American Girl! My youngest dd got an American Girl doll for her birthday from her grandmother. She is taking very good care of her and after looking at the cute clothes in the catalog, I knew sewing was going to be the only way this girl was going to increase her closet! Their clothes (albeit very cute) are way to expensive!! They cost more than what I usually spend on my dd's clothes (or mine for that matter!)!! Anyhow, six patterns are on their way! I have left over of the teddy bear knit print I made dd's nighties from, so I can make her AG doll a matching nightie!

Other sewing related news, I received my new Jalie pattern! I had pre-ordered the new Jalie leggings pattern. I received it on Saturday after Christmas. I am excited to give it a try. I want to make the girls some leggings to go over their gymnastics suits (it is freezing in the gym) and that they could also wear everyday. I also kind of want a pair. :) I have some black stretchy material in my stash that would be perfect! I just need to find my dining room room table under all the christmas gifts to trace out my pattern....that is going to be the hard part!

Lastly, sewing related gifts! I received an invisible zipper foot and a binding foot for my sewing machine. Both I am eager to try out! Also, I received one of those huge boxes of madeira embroidery thread - you know the ones with every color thread? Really cool, and it comes with a disk of embroidery designs! Awesome! I had a great Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve with my sister's family and mother. Then came home and spent Christmas night at our house. Later Christmas afternoon, we drove to my in-laws house and had Christmas dinner and spent the night up there. Then back home the next day. Lots of running around, but, still enjoyable to be able to spend time with everyone! Hope you all have had a wonderful holiday!

How many things have you sewn this year?

2009-12-23T20:57:00.000-08:00

I just added a new poll in my sidebar. How many items have you sewn this year? I had to go through my blog to remember everything, but I came up with 53 items. That averages 1 a week! I am actually very surprised considering it has been so dismal here in the month of december with my sewing. Tell me, dear readers, how many items have you sewn?? Take a minute to reflect and then pat yourself on the back! You are a creative soul! I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you eat well, and visit with your loved ones until your heart is content. Happiness to all (and to all a good night)!!

Happy 4th Bday!

2009-12-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

My youngest dd's bday just passed. She turned 4, feels like only yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital! She had a great time at her party with all her friends. We had a string art project, pin the paw on the puppy, pass the puppy ( a version of hot potato), a freeze dancing game, and a pinata. All the kids seemed to have a great time. There is the birthday girl! The pinata didn't make it through all the batters!

The kids are looking for my koi! The fed them my whole jar of food! They won't need feeding for awhile!

This was the dancing game...

It is always hard to plan a birthday party in the middle of all the christmas hoopla! I don't want to cheat her though. After she opened her presents from us (after the party), she turned towards the christmas tree and asked to open more. I told her she had to wait. Like she didn't get enough ??!! She was a good girl, though. She got two zhu zhu pets (the new hot toy this year) from her friends and she decided to give one to her sister without a thought to it. Her sister was thrilled!

I am in a sewing void. I would soo like to be out of this void. However, I have presents to wrap, christmas tortillini soup to make, family to visit with, and kids to take care of!! After christmas........ (I did order one of the new jalie patterns.)

I am jealous of all of you out there sewing, I just get to type!

Christmas is in the air

2009-12-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how quickly the month of december is progressing!!! I am not even close to being done shopping, or baking, or maybe getting a sewing project in!!! We did, however, get to go to Christmas on the Prado, which is a cool event that goes on here in San Diego every year. It is down in our Balboa park. The museums are all free during this event, there is live music at the amphitheater (pictured below), and lots of food at all of the international houses! We ate our way around, then listened to some music, and went into some museums ( the train museum is one of our family favorites....), and then back for some more food and music. It was fun and very christmassy. That is going to be my christmas card picture this year!

Last christmas, my best friend got me a gift certificate for a mani and pedi together. We just got around to using it this past weekend. I added some paintings! The guy doing my nails did an awesome job on the pictures! I got a christmas tree and a snowman on my thumbs, then a christmas tree and a snowflake on my big toes (I am way to cold right now to photograph my feet - they are staying in my warm socks and shoes...hhmmm wonder if anyone will see them?).

I am really craving some sewing time. I washed up my new fabric purchases and keep thinking that I would like some yoga style pants (notice that I said "yoga style" because I don't actually do yoga or even exercise to the point I need exercise wear) to lounge around in at night. I looked up on patternreview and saw a lot of people made kwik sew 3115. I was looking for something with a little more detail like a front yoke . Anyone have any good patterns for pull-on close fitting pant with a more boot or straight cut leg?

What is everyone sewing? My dh actually asked me for some sweatpants. I will have to dig into stash and see if I can come up with anything appropriate. Most of my sweatshirting material is pink.

Ta ta for now! Hopefully I will have some project pictures next time we chat!

More fabric for stash

2009-12-04T12:24:00.000-08:00

Like I need anymore?? Oh well, sometimes I just can't resist. This is my latest shipment from the evil fabric queen at Fabrics & Notions. I got a whole load of knits. Most of these will end up pajamas/nighties for the kids. Yes, my kids have lots of sleep clothes! They love them, though and that is what makes sewing fun (and they are quick and easy to make!). The pink camo one may end up on me. The black is rayon poly blend bottom weight knit which will make some nice stretch pants for me and the girls. The blue one is a juicy couture print with juicy couture written on it in a gold metallic. The grey one is more of a furry raised ribknit, could be pants, could by a top, could be a jacket. Not that I seem to have even an iota of time to sew right now! I have all of my time planned until christmas! So, since I have no time to sew, I ordered more fabric online today! HA! When I run out of money (hopefully never), I will have fabric to sew with for years! :) So, what are you asking for that is sewing related for christmas? I asked for an invisible zipper foot (a whopping $13 purchase). I think I have everything else.....I can't think of anything else that I would like to have (beside apparently more fabric that I won't have time to sew with...). Is there some great tool or machine that I don't know about that I must have? Let me know so I can get it on my list! I have been very good this year! :)

Done with the denim!

2009-11-25T20:56:00.000-08:00

Here are the jeans! Done! I always forget how much longer it takes to do pants as opposed to shirts. So many pieces, so much topstitching, so many little details like belt loops, rivets, zippers, and buttons.

The good thing, she really likes them! She keeps bending over and meowing at people (yes, with her butt....). The one pocket has a kitty embroidered on it and the other pocket I used hot-fix crystals and made the word "Meow!". I meant for the pockets to be on the reverse "cheeks", but realized too late. Ce la vie!

The length is just right. The waist is actually a little big....I should have done the gaposis fix in the back. Oh well, they don't tend to fall down, and that is what is important. I wanted to give this pattern a try before I used up too much fabric making myself a pair. It was an easy pattern to follow. Sometimes, I was tempted to do my own thing, but I restrained myself and was very happy with all of the results exactly as written in the instructions. I didn't get a pictures of it, but I used a betty boop cotton for the insides of the front pockets. She really liked that!

I think they look rtw! That was the goal (and of course to have them fit......)! Happy Thanksgiving! I made my cranberry sauce and my apple pie tonight. We are off to have dinner with my in-laws tomorrow! I am looking forward to a wonderful day!

It's been awhile.....

2009-11-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been quite awhile since I have blogged, so I decided even though I am in the middle of a project, I should get some sort of update out to you all! First off, here is the other nightgown that I made for my older dd. It is a fleece. You will notice that there is no girl in the nightie.....she announced that it was too hot and itchy to wear. Since when is fleece itchy?? I can give her the hot (our cold mornings are 63F in the house), not cold by many standards. I haven't even resorted to turning on the heat in the house yet. By about 10am, the house is in approaching the 70's and quite comfortable. Maybe in another month.....

This project below is the one I am currently working on....

It is the famed Jalie jeans pattern. I am making these for my youngest dd. I have cut them out in the smallest size and added a couple of inches of length.

As you can see, I am still working on the waistband. Then I have the topstitching on that, the button and button hole, and finally the hem. Soon, they should be done soon......

Part of the reason, I have had no blogs for so long, is that I have been busy! Last weekend, we went wine tasting for a friend's birthday. It was fun, she got a bus (there were 35 of us), and we visited a few wineries as a group, had a catered lunch, then set off on downtown Los Olivos to visit wineries of our choice (there are about 25 wine tasting rooms in a 2 block radius). Here is a picture of me below at one of the wineries. That is a jalie shirt (2788 twist top) I am wearing, one of my favorites. I made it about a year and a half ago. I love that pattern!

On that note, I am wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey, eat lots of pie, and most importantly enjoy your families and loved ones!

Nightie Night!

2009-11-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

Here is Ottobre 06-2009-36, this is called the "Mocking Bird" nightdress. I prefer to call it a nightie! I used some fleece that I got from the Yahoo group, Fabric & Notions. It is a big hit! It was really easy to make. I even got to use some techniques that I don't use very often! It called for the sleeves to be flatlocked. I did this on the serger with a wide 2-thread flatlock stitch. Basically, you put wrong side together and stitch. Then you pull on the stitching and the fabric layers pull to lay flat on top of each other (more or less anyway).

All went well, until she realized that San Diego doesn't get that cold this time of year and so the nightie came off, then she got cold and put it back on. Then again it came off, then again went back on. Then she realized she could just pull it way up and not take it all the way off. Got to love kids!

I made another one for her sister out of a different patterned fleece. She hasn't put it on yet, so I will wait for a photo op and do a different post!

As for upcoming projects, I got started on Jalie 2908 (jeans) for the dd pictured. I have such a hard time finding pants that fit her. She is almost 4, and very much on the petite side. Her waist is 18". Even the jalie size F (the smallest one they make), has a waist size of 20". I am trying it though! I have such a problem finding pants that fit her in the waist and length. Even the buttonhole elastic pants don't have enough elastic much of the time. If I buy a size 2 pant with the buttonhole elastic, it will pull small enough, but then the pants are not long enough! During summer I stick to capris, but come winter and she is continually pulling her pants up because they are falling down! (Oh, what it would be like to have that problem..........I probably did like 35 years ago before the booty kicked in!) Anyhow, sewing mom to the rescue! I hope anyway! :)

Happy Halloween and a project!

2009-10-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!! I spent most of the day carving pumpkins! Here are a couple I did and a couple my dd's did: Here are 5 more - My older dd did the one on the right by herself and I did the others.....did I mention that I spent a lot of the day carving pumpkins??

Here is my sewing project that I finished up after carving the pumpkins and cleaning the mess and roasting pumpkin seeds......

These are the same pattern as the pink ones in the last post....Ottobre 6/2009-17 "neat beat" pants. I added the machine embroidery to the leg.

Here is a closer picture of the embroidery, it is from Embroidery Library:

Bad lighting shot....oh well....here are the finished pants!

Have a haunting Halloween! And get an extra hour of sleep tonight!!!!

"Neat Beat" Pants

2009-10-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Here is Ottobre 6/2009 - 17, they call them their "Neat Beat" pants. I used a bottom weight knit that I got from Chez Ami 's clearance fabric for $3.50/yard. It is not too stretchy and very stable. The pattern called for a stretchy denim or corduroy. This seemed to work just fine! The pattern is labeled slim, but I didn't add any to the normal size I cut for her, in fact, I forgot to add my seam allowance in some of the leg seams as I was cutting out! These were easy and fast and I think she likes them. I like the yoke in the front. I added topstitching in the butt seam....needed reinforcement!

They have a little bit of elastic at the back waist, forgot to get that into the picture! I hope to be making some more of these pants, they were easy, they look nice and she likes to wear pants that are "soft" as she calls them (jeans are not soft!).

My first Ever!

2009-10-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

Creativ Blog Award!

Thank you to JC for nominating me! I have finally gotten a few minutes to do this!

Here are seven things you don't know about me. Here we go:

I love to cook and eat!
I hate cleaning house and do it as little as possible!
I have a Bachelor's and a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
I grew up overseas (Guam, Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong).
My favorite country that I have visited was Austria.
I am a libra.
I love to snow ski (and the apres ski afterwards)!

Thank You JC!

Here are seven blogs that I nominate!

Renee Always makes beautiful stuff!!
Dawn I can always count on something fun to read! She sews more than anyone else!!!
Angie I love to read her blog, it has such charm!
Trina She has always intrigued me with all her wonderful dresses and I love the photo shoots! First blog I started to follow!
Cidell I always get a laugh and I love the other stuff I learn! Second blog I started to follow!
Christine I love the stuff she makes!
Debbie I always am learning something new from her blogs!

Okay! I did it....that was a lot of work! So....here I am going to be lazy and not write to each person to let them know I have nominated them (and that is also the introvert in me....).....if you actually read my blog and see your name, Congrats!!! Carry on the tradition, and let us know about you!!!

I'll be reading you later!!

Pumpkins and projects!

2009-10-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

Two girls in a sea of pumpkins! These photos are of the pumpkin patch at a farm close by, we go every year for activities and pumpkins! She found hers!

We were there with some friends....

The girls were so cute posing for their picture!

And on to projects! This is a close-up of the owl applique I put onto their t-shirts to wear with their leggings.... I made a shirt and leggings for both of the girls.

Here is the outfit. I wish I got them while they were wearing them.....instead I pulled them out of the dirty clothes to shoot a picture!

They looked super cute on them.....unfortunately, the pants I don't think are going to make it much longer without some work. The knit is pulling holes in it at the butt seam on both of the girls pants. I stitched them again inside of where they were pulling and they just pulled more. I was thinking that I could fuse some knit stablilizer to the seam.....if that doesn't work I guesss they get to go to the donation bin or garbage! I finally got my zipper last week. Remember how I had the perfect color and not the right length? I ordered up the right length, and decidedly got the wrong color! I don't know what I was thinking......I put it in anyway. My dh reminded me that it will be outgrown in a few months anyhow! Hmfph....

I like it still though. I will make this pattern again.

Jalie 2795 jacket progress

2009-10-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here is some progress shots of my jalie 2795 jacket for my older dd.

My zipper I had in stash is the perfect color! Not the right length......bummer!! I ordered the right length in the same color from the zipper stop online (plus a few more for stash to make up for the $3.95 shipping charges).

There is a hood to be sewn and put on still and the cuffs for the sleeves. There is a lot of top stitching in this jacket. It went fast though. The cuffs are out of the pink sherpa too. The hood is out of the main fabric.

So, I will put together the hood and put on the cuffs, then I will have to wait for my zipper! Maybe I will get to find my owl fabric.......

Watcha workin' on?

2009-10-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

I am finding very little sewing time right now.....not sure why.....just busy busy busy with the kids right now! My little one is very demanding of my time lately....she used to play with her toys in her room next to me while I would sew, now she wants me to play chase, do a puzzle with her, have a tea party with her, play ball with her......I love it, but it means less sewing time! So, anyhow, I managed to squeeze in some pattern tracing and cutting (and there it lays next to my sewing machine). I pulled out Jalie 2795 and traced a size K for my older dd.

I am using some of my hilco fabric intermixed with some pink sherpa for the design.

After I get that one done, I am determined to pull out a knit I purchased last year - it is black with little owls on it, Perfect for Halloween! I can see little leggings and a cute orange top (yes I have orange interlock knit in stash) with an owl applique on top. Do you think I can get it done in time for dd's to wear before Halloween??!!??

Stay tuned as I find time to get everything sewn up!

An angel at last!

2009-10-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here she is! Hot off the presses, my angel......

She really likes the costume. I think it is very cute on her.

Don't you like the wings? Of course those I purchased! There is a cape that goes with this, I am debating whether or not to sew it up. I probably will, don't know if she will wear it with the dress or not. This was a pretty straightforward pattern. I made a few changes, such as machine stitching the marabou boas on rather than doing it by hand. I made a size 7 and I had to cut 8" off of the length and put in a couple of pleats in the front at the neckline. I forget how large the big 4 patterns tend to run....I usually avoid them. Don't know if the zipper in the back was truly needed......the marabou took away the stretchiness at the neckline. I imagine it would have worked without the zipper, but I decided to conform and use their instructions.

Halloween is on its way...

2009-10-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I must admit that I haven't touched any sewing for over a week now. However, I have started the planning stages of a Halloween costume for my older dd! My younger dd has decided she wants to be a puppy and use older dd's old Halloween costume from 3 years ago (score!....only one new Halloween costume to make this year!). My older dd decided she wants to be an angel this year (I wish she were an angel all year.......). I found this pattern, Simplicity 2861 and am making view D:

I purchased some angel wings and a halo online to go along with the costume. She picked a white stretch crushed velour for the dress and a white sheer with halographic dots on it for the cape. I purchased white marabou boas for the the trim on the dress and the cape. This is my project for the week! Wish me luck on finding time! :)

Hair Scrunchy Tutorial

2009-09-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what to do with all of your fabric scraps?? Hair scrunchies!!! Here is a quick tutorial of how I make a hair scrunchy. This is my own made up method, so go ahead and use it, no copyright laws!! :)

I start by purchasing black hair bands (about 2" diameter...I get mine at Target) for the elastic part of the scrunchy. Then I cut 2' by 4" strips of fabric for the scrunchy. I make this completely on the serger, but I am sure this would work on a sewing machine as well. I then sew the fabric short sides right sides together so the fabric is in a circle. I put the hair band in between the wrong sides and fold over so wrong sides are facing and start serging the edges with a rolled hem all the way around adjusting the fabric around the hair band until the hair scrunchy is completed. You can click on the pictures to enlarge and see the edges of the hair scrunchy.

I hope you make lots!!!

Show me thar booty!

2009-09-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Once again I have made gymnastic suits. This time I modified the pattern a little bit to make a cap sleeve. The pattern has instructions for no sleeve, 3/4 sleeve and full sleeve. It is still too hot for longer sleeves, and the girls complain about the elastic at the armholes on the sleeveless option. Solution: cap sleeve. I just shortened the pattern for the longer sleeves. One thing that I did different on this go around was to use clear elastic as opposed to the regular elastic. I had never used clear elastic before so this was a little bit of a learning process. It was pretty easy to work with even though I had read some posts that suggested otherwise. It acts pretty much like regular elastic. I did prestretch it (I had read that and the instructions on the package said to also). I sewed it in round and put it in with pinning in quarters and stretching as sewing. The one thing that I did like was that due to its being thinner, it lays flatter and has less tendency to turn out.

Can you see the skull and crossbones in red on the stripes?? Click on the picture to make it bigger.

I made this one and one for my older dd....she is off playing today, so she hasn't seen hers yet. This is one pattern that has definitely been worth the money! This makes gymnastic suits #11 and #12! Let's see here....$12 for the pattern...makes $1 per suit plus .50 in elastic for both, about $2 total in fabric (including the 2 hair scrunchies), makes $2.25 per suit and hair scrunchy! A bargain at twice the price! Have I mentioned that the suits at the gymnastics place cost $40 - $55 per suit (with a hair scrunchy).

And....I always get people asking me where I buy mine! :)

Another reversible outfit!

2009-09-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here are Ottobre 04-2009-6 and 04-2009-9. These are a reversible hooded top and a skirt. I used some of my hilco fabric for these...

Here is a closer up of the hooded section (and a cute little face inside):

Here is the topstitching of the hem on the stripe side, the reverse side shows the coverstitch portion:

Reverse side of topstitching on reverse side of the top. The striped side is just wrapped around the printed side and their are top stitched together in one step.

Here is the binding of the hood:

Here is the reverse side of the binding:

Here is a look at the skirt portion, it is super simple. There was supposed to be just one seam in the skirt, but I didn't have a long enough piece of fabric, so I made a two seams, one on each side. There is a ribbing piece for the waistband, no elastic, just one seam in the center backside.

Here is a view of the hem, I used my 5/8" downfeller on my coverstitch:

No pinning, no measuring, no trimming.....having the right tools can really save time!

All in all, it was a pretty easy project! Two outfits with the reversible top and yet another happy girl!

More kid sewing

2009-09-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I know it isn't quite as exciting to some but I seem to be on a roll for kid sewing right now. I traced and cut out two patterns from Ottobre 4/2009. They are #6 "Bubblegum dots" skirt and #9 "Reversible top". I am using some of my Hilco purchased last month.

I am using the one on the left and the one in the middle for the reversible hooded shirt. And the skirt is out of the one on the left. That fabric has a soft backing, like a sweatshirt fleece and the one in the middle is a cotton knit with some lycra in it.

The hooded shirt in this picture below is the pattern I am using for the top.

The little skirt in the picture is the pattern I am using for the skirt.

I am using the size 92, this is for my 3 1/2 yo dd. She is still really tiny around, so on the skirt I traced the waist for the size 80 and the length for the 92. These are all cut out sitting next to my serger awaiting time to sew! Maybe tomorrow........if not hopefully this weekend! :)

Another addition to the outfit!

2009-09-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

This is Ottobre 04-2009-22 and it is a reversible skirt for girls. This is made with the same materials as the previous shirt and leggings and is made to coordinate with those items. In this first view I have the skirt all periwinkle with a ribbon hand sewn (ugghhh..) onto the skirt to hem band seam. Here is a close-up of the black petersham ribbon that I sewed on to cover up the seam between the skirt portion and the hem band. Have I mentioned how much I hate hand sewing? It took me over an hour to hand sew this on. I didn't have a choice though, because I didn't want the stitching to show on the reverse side, being a reversible skirt and all.....

Here is the reverse side of the skirt. On this side I incorporated the stripes. I love these stripes!

Here is the hem band/skirt portion on this side. I just topstitched close to the seam.

Here is a fun picture of the skirt becoming a hat! She loved the skirt and the fact that it is reversible, so overall this was a success! Yay!

Gotta love a happy kid!

Ottobre 4/2009-35

2009-09-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

Here are my final photos on the model. Read my previous post for the musings of the makings of this shirt! The shirt is Ottobre 4/2009 - 35. The pants are blogged about below too. I am pleased with how the outfit looks and have more outfits planned. The shirt was supposed to be long sleeve, but it is still too hot here for that!

Back side.....

Fashion model pose...

Side ways pose:

Not meant to sew....

2009-09-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days, or projects, where everything that could possibly go wrong does?? This little t-shirt did that to me. It is not a hard pattern. There aren't too many pieces. It started out wrong from the get-go, though. I had the pattern traced out - sans seam allowances. I usually just cut my seam allowance in by cutting a 1cm border around the pattern piece pinned to the fabric. Well.....I had a few minutes to cut out the fabric while dd's were playing and dinner didn't need started for a few minutes. I was proud of how quickly I got the 7 pieces cut out. A couple days goes by and I haven't had a chance to start sewing said project, but I have been thinking about it and decide to read over the pattern instructions (this is a project from Ottobre kids 4/2009 - 35). I immediately realize that I forgot all of my seam allowances! The only pieces unaffected were the binding strips. AARRGGHHH!!! Well, I thought to myself, this was a tad on the large side for my dd, so maybe I will go ahead and proceed and hope that it will work out. So, first things first, I put the yoke on the gathered front. I topstitch like it says to and it gets all stretched out and wonky. I try the back and get a little better results and decide dd's hair will cover the areas that aren't perfect. I pull the topstitching out of the front and decide I really don't need it. So, I proceed to bind the front yoke using my binders and coverstitch. Well, it was f*** up! It looked absolutely awful, everything stretched out and was unfixable at this point. Frustrated, I tossed that piece aside and started on the back piece. The binding went on much better for that piece, except for some reason, there wasn't enough to finish the binding!!!! I thought it would be hidden and I would just piece another bit of binding on. So I did it, it looked crappy but it would be hidden. Exept.....re-examining the instructions shows the back laps over the top so, nothing is hidden. AARRGGHH!! Next step was to wait a day to cool off!@! Coming back to the project somewhat calmer, I decided the front was trash and recut those pieces (still with no seam allowance so as not to screw up things further). I got the front gathered and the front yoke pinned to it and managed to get it all sewn together great. Except I sewed the yoke on upside down. Rip out all of the serging and put it in right. Recut my binding strips, got the back binding ripped off and sewed the new binding on with nice results! I go to sew on my front binding and realize I actually put the yoke onto the front with the wrong side facing.......I consulted my dh to see if he could tell and he couldn't so I just left it. I got the binding on great. I basted the top shoulder area together....not sure how the instructions were trying to tell to do it....but I got it to work.....I think there was a typo in the instructions. It said wrong sides together, when I believe it should have been wrong side of back to right side of front, since the back overlaps the front. I got the sleeves put in with no issues. I started to pin up the sides and realize that my stripes aren't lining up quite right on one side with the under arm area. I fudged it in. When I went to hem the bottom, I realized that I had mismatched a whole stripe at the bottom and that is why under arm area didn't line up right.....had I worked from the sleeve down I wouldn't have had this problem.....oh well. So, my bottom hem isn't straight with the stripes as it should be.....but unless you sew, you would probably never even see this.....no one I showed it to did! I don't think I was meant to sew this shirt!I hope to add some pictures of my dd wearing her new ensemble and I hope she appreciates the trials and tribulations that I endured making this for her!! :)

Ottobre 4/2009 - 23 Girl's Pants

2009-09-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest sewing! I made up a pair of stretch pants for my dd. These are from Ottobre 4/2009 - 23. I especially like the pintucking on the legs! There are 11 rows of pin tucking on each leg.

Here is a close-up of the pin tucking. I used the pin tuck foot on my sewing machine with a twin needle to do this. I followed the grooves in my pin tuck foot instead of the lines on the pattern for the spacing. This made getting the rows spaced evenly very easy. This is a bamboo/lycra material that I got from Fabrics & Notions coop group. The color is a periwinkle. My dd tried them on and loved them. Of course I didn't have a picture of them on her!! I need to make a top to go with them. There are some more patterns from Ottobre 4/2009 that I want to make for the girls and there are some t-shirt patterns that would go with these. I was thinking of using a black and white stripe cotton/lycra and incorporating some this material to have something that coordinates.

I also included a little loop on the back out of some stetch cording so she knows which side is front and which side is back! Don't look too closely, I had some issues with the chain stitching on my coverstitch skipping stitches and ended up throwing it on the sewing machine to stitch down the waistband in a few areas! (Normally, my waistbands look much cleaner!)

Here is the rest of my latest fabric acquisitions from fabric & notions coop:

The farthest left is a navy corduroy with a little stretch in it, then there is a black, burgundy, yellow and white high tech outdoor materials (think ski jackets/pants), and last is a rayon batik which is an olive base color with purples and greens in the flowers. The corduroy will be pants/skirts for the girls, the high tech stuff is for jackets/pants, and the batik will most likely be for me (I have no idea for what though!).

I am off to trace some patterns!

Back from paradise!

2009-08-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I am officially back from vacation! I have caught up on laundry, unpacked the suitcases (and put them away), went grocery shopping and other various errands. I have unpacked a box of fabric that I received from the Fabrics & Notions group while I was gone (although it didn't get very far, just out the box onto the table where it still sits). I uploaded all of my photos onto my computer, managed to go through them and upload some of them to picasa online. Here is a link if you want to view them! Hawaii pictures

I have been catching up on my favorite blog readings. I perused my newest issue of bwof (not much I am overly excited about yet). I don't have any sewing inspiration at the moment. I have included two pictures from our trip here. The first is the sunrise from our balcony in Kauai and the second is the sunset from our balcony in Maui. Enjoy them, I sure did every day!

Time to go

2009-08-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

This is a no photo post. I have nothing new sewing wise to share with you. I had hoped to complete a couple of bathing suits this week to take on our hawaii trip (we leave tomorrow for 2 weeks!), but alas life took over every last minute. I spent a lot of time this week with my Aunt in the hospice facility. She left us this morning. It was her time to go. So sad, though. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in May. We were her family, she had no kids, and her dh had passed years ago. She was supposed to go with us to hawaii. I am glad that I got to help her this last week when it was so hard for her to do anything, she will be deeply missed by many. I have to pack my bags today so we are ready to go too....life is always some sort of adventure. I depart for now, but will be back.

Jalie 2805 with a scooped neck

2009-07-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here is my finished t-shirt! I didn't take a close-up, but I topstitched the neckline and hems with a contrasting black thread. I am pretty happy with how this turned out. I took about 4" off the neckline from the orginal pattern and bound the neckline using my binders. It is nice to have some variety. I use this pattern alot!! I am a t-shirt sort of gal. I downloaded the embroidery from the website embroidery library. I like the designs there and the costs are very reasonable! I need to look through my stash to figure out what is on the agenda. I know we still have many hot days down the road here. It doesn't usually start to get coolness in the air until the end of October or November. So with three more months of hot weather, there is plenty of time to still do summer sewing. I was chilly last night watching my dd's at swim lessons (they end at 8pm), I was thinking that it had to be in the high 60's.....when I got into the car, the thermometer read 75 F and didn't budge. I laughed at myself. It is all relevant to what we are used to!! I hope everyone has a good sewing weekend!

Work in progress

2009-07-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Here is the embroidery that I chose to go on this Jalie 2805 short sleeve t-shirt. This t-shirt is supposed to go with the wild capris that I made a little while ago. I thought I would continue the island motif onto the shirt. I used a mango colored sophia knit for this t-shirt. This is really a very stable knit to work with. It is a little bit thicker and lays very nicely when worn. This particular fabric is sort of two toned in color. The outside is almost more of a coral color, while the inside has two colors knitted together: an orange and a pink. I like the color alot! I cut the neckline deeper and plan to bind it. The rest of the t-shirt will be standard per jalie 2805. For those of you that embroider.....what do you use to cover up the stitching on the inside so it isn't scratchy? On a non-sewing related topic, I am ready for Hawaii! We have a little more than a week until we leave! I made my Hawaii weight loss goal of 20 pounds today! Yay! My weight goal for while we are gone for two weeks is just to try and maintain that loss!!

A sleeveless Jalie 2805

2009-07-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here is my modified Jalie 2805. I cut the neckline about 2 inches deeper than the round neck version and I narrowed the armholes at the shoulders by about 1 1/2". I bound the neckline and armholes with a black lycra knit using my binder and coverstitch. I lettuce edged the bottom of the shirt. I had to stabilize the shoulders, neckline, and armholes. I started to seam up the shoulder and saw how stretched out it got, that I ripped it out and stabilized before starting again. After stabilizing these areas, I had no issues. Even with the ripout and stabilizing, this only took about 1 1/2 hours. I made it this morning and wore to a birthday party this afternoon!

Here are my promised pics!

2009-07-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here are my pictures of the Kwik Sew 2884 swimsuit. She is having fun! I made a hair scrunchy in the fabric as well. You can see that the bottoms of this suit provide ample coverage.

I have my mind made up to make bwof 4-2009-122. I traced in out in a size 42, adding some extra for a fba to be sure the casing was in the right spot. I had this fabric below picked out and sent it to the washer and dryer because it had never visited them. It is a neat fabric. It has elastic in it making the crinkles. After the washer and dryer I laid everything out and realized I didn't have enough fabric to make what I wanted to make!!! AARRGGHH! So, I still wanted to use this fabric and decided to make a jalie 2805 with it....but I will make it sans sleeves and bind the neckline and arm holes with a black fabric that has some stretch to it. Here's hoping it comes out cute!

Time for a swim!

2009-07-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

I decided around lunch time to do a swimsuit today for my older dd. I traced out the pattern (I needed a larger tracing....), cut out the material, and had it sewn up in 1 1/2 hours! How fast can you drive to the store and purchase a suit and drive back home?? This is kwik sew 2884 View B. I made this in a size 7 for my older dd. I got this fabric from the evil fabric queen. It is lovely fabric. I lined the bottoms of the suit (not called for in the directions). I usually line the top front of the suit, but this time I decided not to since this fabric is pretty heavy and dd doesn't have much to show through anyhow. If I were making it for myself, of course it would be lined! I took out an inch on the bottoms through leg to waist area, last time I made these, my dh said they looked too wide in that area.

I lettuce edged the bottom of the top instead of turning and hemming.

I added a little ribbon in the back of the inside top to indicate which way to put the suit on!

I will get a picture of this later today with a model in it! We have swim lessons this evening!

Hilco!

2009-07-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

My newest fabric acquisitions!

I have been in-love with the fabrics in the children's Ottobre magazine....almost all of which are listed as Hilco as the manufacturer. So, I decided to do a search and found a few places in the united states that sold them. (Hilco is a European company.) The place with the best selection and pricing was Banberry place located in Texas. Now, even though I say they have the best pricing.....these are expensive fabrics! The two prints were $21.25/yard and the stripe was $19.51/yard. Thank goodness there is no tax! Anyhow, I didn't think I was a cheap fabric buyer....but I had a hard time ordering these! I am very happy with the quality of the fabric.

The prints have very vibrant colors, the stripe has great stretch and recovery. The prints are french terry on the inside....a soft fuzzy feel. They are not quite as heavy as a sweatshirt material, but heavier than a t-shirt. Probably great for our san diego winters! I purchased a yard of each one. I figured I could get 6 items made from this for the two girls. The stripe one will be leggings and the prints will be tops of some sort! I am anxious to use them; however, it is in the high 80's today and I am having a hard time even thinking of making something warm! They will most likely have to wait. BTW, Banberry place has great service and super fast shipping! Go over and take a look, they have a lot of European fabrics. I am sure I will be back over there, but with those prices.....I need to have a definite project and not just stash shopping!

Don't you love the cute polar bears peeking out??

Ottobre capris 02-2009-13

2009-07-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the finished capris! I wasn't kidding around with the description! They are a bit on the wild side, but I love this fabric. These are going to Hawaii with me in august! I used Ottobre 02/2009 13 - "Practicality" cropped pants. I like this pattern. I adjusted the length on my pattern paper before cutting. I had to take out 3 inches of length to get them to hit my leg mid-shin. They have front yoke pockets, and are a good pocket length. They have an extra wide faced waistband on them, and belt loops with a zipper fly. The hems at the bottom are turned up at 2" for a nice wide hem look. I made a size 46. This pattern was sized 46 - 52. The fabric is a 100% cotton, more of a shirting weight, but I wanted to have a light pair of breathable capris. I plan on these being roomy, but right now they are more of a snug fit. I am still on my weight loss journey, though and hope soon they will be looser! (I have lost 16 pounds! Yay!.....my intermediate goal is 20 by hawaii....I have 3 weeks to lose 4 pounds). I have an orange sophia knit that is sitting in my stash that is definitely going to be a shirt for these pants. If you ever get a chance to pick up some sophia knits - do it. They are nice and stable with great recovery, a little bit thicker to smooth the insides. My lavendar tank top was a sophia knit.

It is hard to see the buttons (you can click on the picture to get a bigger view), but these are from button drawer (online company). They are a cute molded design in the island motif. Have you ever shopped buttons from button drawer? They have sooo much you will get drawn into their website for hours! Fun though! Whatever you may be looking for, they will have....at a decent cost and fast service!

more jalie 2792..gymnastics anyone?

2009-07-12T09:09:00.003-07:00

Here we go again! I don't know if you remember the last time I made a version of these (only a short month ago!)? Anyhow, I stupidly used a fabric with cute sparkly dots for the top bodice portion. Thoses cute dots continue to be a pain in my a$$!! Everytime the girls put on those suits, I hear complaints that the dots are scratchy and itchy, even though I painstakenly cut off all of the dots on the inside of the turned over hem. So, even though I think the others are far cuter, I made new suits for the girls with no scratchy and itchiness to complain about! I made a hair scrunchy to match the suit....I am going to have to make another one. I didn't think it would even stay in my younger dd's hair, but she made me try and it worked....so one more of those to make!

I just figured out that this makes ten of these suits in different variations that I have made now! At $40-$50 a pop to purchase one, I have saved $400! I figure it costs me about $3 a suit to make, at most! I have been using material from my stash that I had purchased for swimsuits, so maybe these are almost free! :) Sewer logic!

I do have something more interesting brewing on the back burner. I traced out a pattern from Ottobre 2/ 2009 for a pair of capris. I have a fabric in stash in mind for them, they are a black fabric with cute ladies in beachwear on them. Stay tuned!

Ottobre 02-2009-8

2009-07-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

I started and finished this top this evening. Another 2 hour max adventure. I am still in need of a bra to wear with all these tops! This is Ottobre 02/2009 #8 (a sundress). In the magazine the model is wearing the top over leggings. After I made it up the length of the pattern, I realized that it was just too long. As a sundress, this would have been a sack on me. Shortened as a top I like it. I just wish I had figured that out before I wasted so much fabric!! This top has ties that tie on the shoulder. A tie strap goes through a casing in the front and back. This was really easy to sew up and I think it turned out pretty cute. I usually shy away from sleeveless tops because of my fat arms, but this summer I am going for it! I got this fabric in my last shipment from the evil fabric queen. Are you a part of the fabric coop? If not, you need to go join over at the yahoo group fabrics & notions. I get 95% of my fabric over there. Unfortunately, there are so many cute fabrics that you tend to overbuy. The way it works is Ressy puts up a picture album or description of some fabrics. You put in your order, then she orders it up. It is delivered to her, cut by her, then shipped out to you by her. Her pricing is better than most places and she gets things that you just don't find anywhere else. The only drawback is that you don't get what you order for a month or two. That isn't an issue with me since I have purchased so much that my stash has taken on a life of its own! I have plenty to choose from no matter what the season! My problem is that I tend to overbuy!! I get in my head that if I don't get it that I may never get a chance to again! Oh well! I wasn't sold on this fabric for this top, but after it was completed I am pretty happy with it. I think it would look nice with some black capris or shorts. I had orginally envisioned this would be a skirt.....except I don't wear skirts! It has a crinkle to it and a little bit of stretch. It is a soft knit on the inside. Alright, I think I have written more than enough about this top! Catch you later!

bwof 7-2009-124A

2009-07-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hot off the presses! I think this is a first time ever that I actually finished something from the month the issue came out in! I am really glad that I cut out the size 42 and didn't make it any bigger. This particular fabric is just very relaxed with a lot of give to it. The black fabric is a bamboo interlock manufactured from Siltex that I got at the yahoo group Fabrics & Notions. It is soooo soft that I love it for that, but I need to remember to down size a little using it. I used a jersey knit for the neck strap and the ties around the waist. The bwof instructions were pretty simple....this is a one dot pattern. I actually didn't hardly follow the instructions, not too much to the top with cute results. I didn't photo the back side because I haven't purchased my strapless bra yet! In this photo my hair covered up the straps! I wish that I could go braless, because this would be the perfect top for that! The whole shape of the top changes when I tried that :) !! I really like this top and it will be a perfect addition to my vacation to hawaii wardrobe! I think that this top took me about 1 1/2 hours to sew up and about 30 minutes to trace and cut out, so we are talking 2 hours start to finish. Those are my kind of projects!

Hope you had a great 4th of July!

2009-07-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! I got a picture before my dh put up the flag with the girls!

I couldn't resist bwof july 2009 124a, the first picture in my last blog! I traced this afternoon - I traced the largest size 42 because I was planning on using my siltex bamboo interlock which has a lot of relaxation to it and seems to expand as the day goes on. The last shirt I made with this seemed at least a size too big after making it and as the day goes on gets roomier. I measured up today and found to be a burda 46. I am giving it a try and hoping that it will work out for me....if not, I am still on the weight loss wagon, so it should fit soon! I chose a black color bamboo from my stash (which seems to be growing waaaayyyyyy faster than I can possibly sew!), with a coordinating fabric for the sashes and the necktie. It is all cut out awaiting the sewing, stay tuned!

I sewed up a nightgown today for my older dd. It is jalie 2805 with 12" added to the bottom to make it come down to her shins. She was happy with it, it was a tinkerbell knit from my stash. I have made these before a few times and both of the girls love this style. It only took me an hour to sew it together including all the hemming! I got a new down feller for my babylock machine. It is a 5/8" hem, which is what I always use for knits. I tried it out on the bottom hem of the nightie and had great success and definitely saved time pinning! Any tool that saves time and makes your work look nice is a great tool to have!

I also stitched an ear back on the little puppy in the picture. It was a high quality fair win....I would have tossed it, but my dd has been patiently waiting for me to get the ear back on him, so I figured I had to do it!

All in all, it was a pretty productive day!

Finally got my bwof for july!

2009-07-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

I was excited to see in the mail my beloved bwof! They had tricked me the last couple of months to expect it a few days before the end of the month and then this month it didn't show up until the 3rd! I was very pleased with many of their designs......except for the plus sized stuff. Since I fall in a 46 - 48 and am on my way to being smaller (down 14 pounds!!), I was hoping that the designs would extend towards the 46 side on the regular designs. Alas, nope! Most of them seem to end at a 42 this time! Bummer! That means extra work tracing to size up to a size that will wrap around my plump body. Well, my work but not impossible! Here are some of the designs that really caught my eye: I love how simple the shirt is, yet very stylish. I would need to get a strapless or clear strapped bra though! Here is another one I really like, although I think I would shorten it to knee length or maybe calf length: With all of the gathers at the bust, I think it would be easy to add in extra fabric for a fba. I am just too short to wear full length!

This would make a great swimsuit coverup.......

Nice and airy!

This one I like for a little summer dress. Again, I would shorten the dress. I think this one would be cute shortened above the knee for a sassy fun dress.

So, all in all, I do really like this issue of bwof! I also think the shorts have potential, who doesn't need shorts? I liked the bikini, however I am not sure I will ever wear a bikini again. My tummy didn't have the stretchy skin that snapped back into shape like some people! Mine more resembles the skin of an orange! Oh... to be a teenager again! I really do love that this burda issue has real summer clothes, living in san diego - summer is most of the year! The really disappointing thing about their plus size designs was that they were not summery! Can't a plus sized person wear a short sleeve or a pair shorts?? AARRGGHH!!

Okay, I am off for now! Enjoy your burda everyone, I can't wait to see what everyone makes! Me.....I may get to something in the coming week!

Have a happy fourth of july!!! God bless all those who have fought for our freedom!

Swimming Anyone?

2009-07-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

I got them done, at last. My sewing time has dwindled down to almost nothing these days! With the kids out of school, you would think there would more time at home to do stuff, but it hasn't worked out that way!

I had some bad news about a close aunt having cancer; she lives close by to me and is alone (her dh passed years ago and she never had kids). My mom and her other sister have been here taking care of my aunt. I have had relatives in town I haven't seen in ten years. Anyhow, a lot of my time has been spent visiting and helping out however I can help.

On a lighter note, didn't these suits turn out super cute?! My older dd's has a surfer girl on the top front, I left the bottoms all blue. I used the elastic listed in directions for hers. For my little dd, I used a roxy fabric for the suit. I got both of the fabrics from ebay (lycra4sale). On her suit, I sized the elastic down in the waistband and band for the top (going from 19" to 18"). The leg openings I sized down considerably (going from 13" to 11"). I could have made my younger dd's suit a little smaller in the top. I could have taken out an inch all around and the straps could have been cut down 1/2". Next time! They work fine for now! Best of all, the lining provides the discretion needed so the suit isn't creeping into places it shouldn't! I don't understand why the suit doesn't call for lining!!

The bottoms fit nicely, no gaping leg holes. All in all, these went together very nicely and I will be making more!

Swimsuits in the making

2009-06-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have started on two new swimsuits for my girls (1 each). I am using ks 2884 (oop now). I am making view A for both of them. I am about half way done, I am up to the elastic insertion stage. Hopefully, I will finish up tomorrow. I have to take some of their measurements for the leg elastic and the bottom band of the top and the top band of the bottoms. My older dd is sensitive to the elastic being too tight (read pain in my a$$ here....) and my younger dd is so tiny that the standard measurements given are too big for her. I was really bummed to see that this pattern was oop! I was thinking that next year I would have to get the larger size up(8-12). I never understand why kids patterns don't call for lining?? I hate to see little girl swimsuits creeping into their privates! Needless to say, I lined the bottoms completely and the top front.

Here are a couple of preview pictures:

Another Tank....

2009-06-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Here is another version of Ottobre 2/2009 Tank Top! It is amazing the different results with different fabrics! This one is soo much looser than the previous version! I made this one out of Siltex cotton interlock. I almost needed to go down a size. I debated taking it in a little on the side seams, but looking at the picture it doesn't look bad so I think I won't. This time I decided to cut the straps to the width of the binders and eyeballed it and cut them a little narrow and so it didn't fold under nicely is a couple of areas. I know I am the only one who will notice that though. It is something for home and boating on the river anyhow!

Ottobre 2/2009 Tank Top

2009-06-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

I cut this out traced off this pattern and cut it out Friday night, then this morning stitched it up! It would have been super fast if I didn't decide to try my binders. This is really the first thing I have used my binders for, so there was a bit of learning curve there.....some ripping out and redoing. I think I have learned them now though! I am ready to try another tank top! I will mark the straps next time, this time I tried to wing it and wound up with one being 5.25" long and one 7.25" long! Whoops! More ripping and redoing! Even with all the ripping and redoing, this didn't take very long. I used a lavendar "sophia knit". This is the first time I have ever bought or used this fabric. I am pretty happy with it. Not too stretchy, great recovery. Here is the picture (please ignore the wide expanse, the addidas sign showing through the tank top in the middle and the uniboob due to the sports bra!).

Photo Shoot Jalie 2792

2009-06-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some pictures! I got my little dd into her suit for a photo shoot. Not the older one, but you get the gist since the suits are identical except for size! The only alteration I did to the suit was the back clasp. It called for a swimsuit hook and I used little eye hooks instead. Mostly because I had them and wanted to finish, but also because that area seemed wider than would fit a swimsuit hook, so I am not sure how that would have worked. I also custom fit the leg elastic because I have found that their leg elastic measurements tend to run small. As you can see my dd isn't very big and doesn't have very big legs, but the one time I used the elastic according to the pattern, both girls complained their suits were too tight. I actually increased her elastic measurement by an 1 1/2". I barely had to stretch it to fit the leg hole. Good fit though!

I finished something!

2009-06-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

Do you hear the horns of triumph! I can not believe how long it has taken me to finish these two gymnastic suits. Now that I am done, I must admit that the choice of fabric for the top may not have been a good one. The sparkly dots on it will be itchy and scratchy (which is a huge no in my older daughter's eyes!). I actually spent the time to trim off the sparkly dots everywhere on the inside of the garments. Yes, that took a long time and was tedious. Yes, I did cut through the fabric a couple of times and had to mend it up. They have both tried them on, but not for long enough to get pictures. I suppose Monday gymnastics will have to be photo day! Here is a picture of the finished garment sans the cute model. The two suits look the same just different sizes. I hope they like them and don't complain about being scratchy! So what is on the agenda? I am not even sure since these took me soooo looonnngggg to make, I can't even possibly remember what I was excited about and even if I still am! Something to think about!

Still nothing

2009-06-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

I still have nothing to post on my sewing blog. I started to finish the gymnastic suits over the weekend and after sewing the top portion to the bottom portion wrong (front to back and back to front), and having to cut it out.....I lost interest. There it lies. I have many things interesting me right now. I want to make some summer outfits for the kids, I want some tank tops, swimming suits still on the agenda. No motivation right now though! I know it will come, just don't know when! I decided to subscribe to Ottebre and I received my free gift issue which was the latest women's issue. It had some cute tops and capris that interested me. I really want to make the tank top. Dawn made it and it was really cute! Well, not much else to report sewing wise. On the weight loss front, I am down 8 pounds! Yeah! It makes me not want to make much for myself because it won't be the right size for long! :) I still need some summer wear though!

Life Moves....

2009-05-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I have no new sewing to report. My gymnastic suits remain on my desk next to my sewing machine unsewn. We were out of town last weekend for Memorial day weekend, we went boating on the Colorado river at Palo Verde, CA. It was great. We had about 30 people with 6 boats. It was the maiden voyage for our new boat and I am happy with everything about it! Yeah! The week before the trip was spent planning, buying, and packing for the trip. We camped so that is always a lot more planning, buying and packing. The weekend before that I thought I would have some time to sew, but my sister needed some emergency help embroidering some Rodeo Queen sashes.....that took 5 hours, then we went out to eat with my in-laws. And there was a birthday party and a graduation party thrown in there. I have been busier than I like to be! So, I have decided to kick up my weight loss a notch and I joined the jillian michaels website. I read her book Master your Metabolism and it made so much sense to me that I decided it was time to work a little harder at removing the weight! I just started at this (day 2), so I don't have much to report yet. I am just glad that I am motivated to do something! If you have weight to lose, go get that book and read it! I got mine at Target, so it is easy to find! I don't want to go on and on about it, but it made me want to make a change. I definitely want to get some swimsuits going (for my daughters and me) after I finish up the gymnastic suits. My goal is to have the suits done before gymnastics this coming Monday. It is good to have goals...... Later!

Gynmastics Time Again!

2009-05-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

I have growing girls! Actually I need to make new gymnastic suits mostly because the last ones were 3/4 sleeves and with the weather getting warmer I thought it would be nice to have sleeveless ones. I am using my trusted Jalie 2792. This time I am making view C which is the light blue and white one in the picture.

I traced out the pattern pieces for both girls and then dug into my stash. I have a lot of fabric that is suitable for this pattern, so I finally decided on a blue, red and white hybiscus hawaiian flower pattern for the body with a white stretch velour that has silver sparkly dots on it for the front and back yoke. I cut out the fabric yesterday while the kids played with the neighbors kids (my moment of peace during the day). I am not sure when I am going to have time to sew it up though. Gymnastics is on Mondays, so I hope to get them done by then. Hope. The days are looking pretty busy for awhile. The house needs some cleaning too. The washing machine is agitating away. There is a lot to do and really not enough time to play on the sewing machine.

So....I have completely been out of control with my fabric buying. I don't even make it out to the fabric stores! I do it all from the comfort of my computer, late at night, early in the morning, a few minutes here and few minutes there. OUT OF CONTROL! I blame the evil fabric queen at the yahoo group fabrics & notions. That is where I get 90% of my fabric. The other 10% (my swimsuit and gymnastic suit material) comes from ebay. I have 4 big boxes/crates of material in my closet with a huge stack on the side. I must have at least 100 yards....maybe 200? I hope it isn't that much! I keep saying I am not going to buy anymore because I really do have enough for a couple years of projects. She just keeps getting stuff that I think I must have because I will never have the chance again to get it. Do you think I could resist the remainder of the year???? I can't think of anything that I really need. Like I said, I could sew for a year and still have stash. Self control is my weakness. Do all sewists have this weakness????

Shirt with a view

2009-05-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished shirt! I decided that I didn't want the sleeves or length any shorter so I did a rolled hem with the serger instead of hemming it like I originally planned. I wish my darn arms weren't so darn fat! I am sure you have seen this fabric before! It was pretty popular on PR last year. I actually decided not to make something right away because of how popular the fabric was! I mean when you sew, you really don't want everyone to have the same thing as you, right?? Anyhow, I am very happy with how it turned out. I will get photos of the back side later.....this was a timed photo and I had the (expensive) camera precariously sitting on the top of a chair to get this shot! I had my daughter take one...but it turned out to be just bust and up. Later, when my dh is home I can get him to take some pics!

working on jalie 2788

2009-05-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

This is a cute top pattern. If you haven't made it, you should. I have made it one other time, and I always get compliments on the shirt. So....I have decided to make it once again. I am 3/4 of the way through it right now. I hope to have it done later today and get some photos of both of the shirts. Here is the pattern:

I have made it with the short sleeves, but not poofed like they show in the picture. The sleeve is gathered at the top, but I am just going to hem it. In the first version, I just did a rolled edge on the sleeve with the serger. This is a pattern that I sew completely on my serger/coverstitch machine. It is very quick and easy, maybe 2 hours worth of work. This time, I decided not to seam up the back and just cut it on the fold. I am not sure what the seam adds? I didn't put in the flounce in either version.

To change the subject....I had a really nice mother's day. My dd's had each made me a card. My younger one had also made me a bookmark. My older dd had made a handprint with a poem. My dh had them make stepping stones with their handprints and the year (I get this every year...it is the one thing I ask for!), I got 2 dozen long stem red roses, and bottle of nina ricci "love in paris" perfume, and breakfast made for me! What more could I want? Nothing. We all had a nice day together! I sent my mom and dh's mom chocolates for mother's day. We gave them a call and wished them happy mother's day. It was indeed a nice day.

It's in the Bag!

2009-05-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

The bbq that is! Well, the bag is done....the bbq is sitting up on a shelf waiting to be put in the bag by dh....my statue would require a ladder to get it and I am just not feeling up to it right now! Maybe later I will struggle it down off the shelf and into the bag for a photo session. When I pulled out the strapping that I had purchased online, I saw that it was too short!!! So, this morning after I dropped my older dd at school, I took my younger dd to our upholstery store to get some more strapping. Thankfully they had acceptable colors in the width I wanted! Decent price too, so I bought lots extra. I am one of those people that likes to have everything on hand for when I feel a fancy to do a project. I detest having to get supplies just to start a project. I have a hundred cones of serger thread (at least 4 cones of each color in 25 colors), probably 60 spools of sewing thread, at least a hundred spools of embroidery thread, a hundred needles in all differing specialties, zippers galore, buttons galore, elastic galore, I am getting tired and forgetting the purpose of my rant.....anyhow, I am adding more to my stash of something I may or may not use in the forseeable future. Time to get the finishing touches on dinner....more later!

What's next .... a vinyl bag ala dh!

2009-05-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, I guess it is time once again to sew for my dearest dh! This time he wants a bag to hold the portable bbq so he can put it in the new boat with out getting the boat dirty. I bought some vinyl that matches the vinyl in the boat and a looong separating zipper, and some strapping for handles. I measured up the bbq (38" x 10"x 18") and drafted up a pattern for it. I cut out the vinyl and hope to start that project tomorrow! (Maybe late tonight). Dh has been on a work trip for 1 1/2 weeks and is coming home on Saturday, so he will be pleasantly surprised! The boat's maiden voyage is memorial weekend, so my time to get this done is running out!

What do I want to be working on? I just received my Jalie stretch jeans pattern! I really would like to try this out....my denim isn't stretch so I will need to pay attention to sizing. I would love

to be able to make my youngest dd some jeans that actually fit around her waist and are the right length. She is so tiny, many pants (a size smaller even) won't stay up!

I am excited to try this pattern after making my last pair of jeans. I had some problems with the denim fraying at the seam (even with the edges serged and the seams topstitched) on the last pair and had to do some surgery on them. They came through fine, thankfully. This time though, I am going to do the seams like rtw pants where the edges are wrapped....probably why rtw pants are made that way!

Two Outfits and 1 shirt!

2009-05-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

I have two hams! Well, I think that they liked their outfits. The t-shirt material seems to have a lot of "loose-ness" to it. So much, that I think I probably should have made a size smaller in my littlest dd's and maybe even my shirt. My older dd's shirt seems to fit the best. I liked the pattern of the littler one's skirt better than the older dd's skirt. I think next time I will adapt the pattern to look more like the younger dd's skirt. They loved the cupcake applique. I used the skirt material for the bottom of the cupcake and a pink sherpa for the top of the cupcake. My shirt is View D of the jalie 2805 pattern. I like it....but I don't love it. I needed a new white t-shirt and I like that it isn't totally plain, but I am not in love with the style. The way it hangs seems to make me look larger.....it could be the material though. It is super soft though and I am sure I will get lots of wear out it.

Here is a closer shot of the applique....can you tell her front two teeth are about to fall out?

Cutting done!

2009-05-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well, off to the next project! I wanted to make a couple of new outfits for my dd's. I picked out one of my new fabrics from the evil fabric queen (EFQ). It is a sweater knit....see picture. I am going to use this for the skirts and I am going to make t-shirts with a cupcake applique on them tying in the same fabric into the bottom of the cupcake. I cut the sweater knit out using patterns that have been in my stash for awhile. For my older dd I am using Simplicity 4104 (I made this before a couple of months ago) and for my younger dd I am using Butterick 3674. They are similar, the flounce of the bottom is constructed a little differently though. The simplicity one is curved half circles sewn together, while th Butterick is 3 long rectangular pieces sewn together and gathered (this will give me a chance to use the gathering foot on my serger!). Then for the t-shirts, I am using my old tnt Jalie 2805 with a round neck. I received some bamboo interlock from the EFQ in my lastest shipment. It is the absolute softest t-shirt material that I have ever felt!!! Nothing else even compares...not even my t-shirt from l.l. bean that is 90% cotton and 10% cashmere. So, I have the bamboo in white, black, brown, and a natural color that is prepared for dying (PFD). I cut the kids t-shirts out of the white and will do the applique of the cupcake on the front. While cutting their t-shirts out I decided that I could really use a white short sleeve t-shirt, so I cut out Jalie2805 for me too. For mine, I decided to go with view D, which is the one with the buttons. I haven't tried that version yet, so I am excited to see how it will turn out!

Five items cut and waiting to be sewn, a house that needs vacuuming, beds that need sheets put back on them, kids that need played with and read to......I think the sewing is going to have to wait! First the kids, then the vacuuming, then the beds. Later, when the kids are playing with their friends, maybe I will get to sneak in a little sewing. Otherwise, it is after they go to bed tonight!

Lace Bolero

2009-04-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished product! The is McCall's M5144, the bolero. This is a heavy lace with gold sparkle in it. I got this from the evil fabric queen. I just got my box from her yesterday and I was proactive getting everything out and washed! This fabric called out bolero to me. After the kids went to bed, I started. It took me two hours from cutting to finish. Nice quick rewarding project after spending so much time on the jeans! I serged the seams and then topstitched them down on the sewing machine. For the edges I turned under about 1/2" and then just topstitched them down. The advantage of the material is that you can't see any of the topstitching, so it could be crooked and no one will ever know! :) I am just noticing that the picture on the envelope shows 3/4 sleeves and mine ended up full length. I am short. I whopping 5'1". So I always have to shorten things. I like the full length sleeves. I am very happy with this little project! Here is the lace material.

Here are the finished pictures!

2009-04-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Okay.....I wish I had a fabulous body like some of our sewing friends, so I could showcase my creations more pleasingly.....lol! Alas, I am what I am for the time...

This is a picture of the pocket details. Here is a picture of the backside of the pants. Here is a picture of the front of the jeans. Here are riveting details. Which I had some issues practicing putting them in. I kept having the pin punch through the top of the rivet.....then I realized that the top side needs to be down and hammer from the inside of the jeans on the back side of the rivet. I saw the light and then didn't have anymore issues with the rivets. I used an awl to punch a hole through the material, then inserted the pin. I then capped the pin with the top of the rivet, turned the whole thing over so the rivet top side was on the ground (in the garage on the concrete floor), then hammered on the back side of the pin with a rubber mallet. No damage to the rivet front side or back side. I purchased the rivets and buttons from grommetmart.com . I bought a pack of 100 of each. Paid somewhere around $30 with shipping for both.

Here is a picture of the front waistband detail and buttons.

Here is a picture of the fly detail. I just drew it in instead of copying it from the pattern, adding the reinforcement in the desired places.

Making progress on the jeans

2009-04-28T08:56:00.001-07:00

WELL....I would be lying if I said that these jeans were easy sailing. The pattern isn't difficult, it is just the heavy material and thick thread that probably have posed the most problems. I have ripped out so much thread because of tension problems and getting "gobbly guck" on the underside during topstitching. I have tried using the coverstitch and have had problems with the thickness of some areas....so I ended up using a combination of some topstitching on the coverstitch and some on the sewing machine. It looks as good as any rtw topstitching, not perfect though in my mind....some times I get stuck on the perfect look of the stitches, which are never noticed later anyhow! I haven't got the camera out to get photos, but soon!! I also have to photo my dd's nighties (which they love, thankfully!) I ended up reducing the width at the knee and down on the legs by about 2" on each seam, so that is quite substantial....I like the look better. I put the pants on without the waistband and determined pocket position, put the pockets on... then attached the waistband and no longer liked where they were. I had to rip them off and raise them up about 2". After I got them on and checked them again, I wish I had raised them even more, but I was done messing with the pockets. I wanted the pockets to sit a little lower on the butt like a lot of the rtw ones do. They sort of look right....with a shirt they will look right for sure. I don't think I will make this pattern again for jeans. I must get the new jalie jeans pattern. I just wasn't sure about using it for non-stretch denim. I could just go up a size for the non-stretch. The pockets on these jeans are not long enough for my liking. I like to be able to stick my hands all the way in. These don't allow that. I am debating fixing that still. I didn't really follow bwof directions for the zipper, I just put it in. It was long, so I have to remove some of the teeth with some needlenose pliers, then cut off the rest. It looks good installed. I had a b**ch of a time with the button holes, which I normally don't have any problems with. I think it was just the thickness and heaviness of the material and the thread and it wasn't feeding properly on the feed dogs. I should have increased the presser foot pressure. Hind sight.....it was 11pm last night when I was working on it and I just wanted to finish! Which, I finally did. SO, I have to hem the pants, install the two tack buttons, and install six rivets (which I haven't tried using yet...). Give me the strength to finish these!!!! Pictures coming, I promise!

sewing, cutting and losing weight

2009-04-20T11:22:00.001-07:00

Well, I made it home from our vacation in palm springs! It was fun in the sun and lots of pool time! Everyone is tan and kind of peeling! Very dry weather out there and we are having a heat spell here right now! Inside the house it is 77F, outside I think it is in the high 80's or low 90's! I just went and checked....95F! Hot! Shorts weather!! Well, since I have been home I have cut out 6 pairs of panties for dd's and 4 nighties for dd's. My jeans accessories arrived while on our trip, so those are all ready for deployment! However, instead of the jeans, I worked on the panties! Those are all done! I worked on the nighties next, and all four of those are done! I think I am procrastinating on the jeans! Could it possibly be because I have seemed to have found another 5 pounds lately? Especially since I haven't shed the 5 I put on at xmas.....not to mention I had 40 to lose anyhow!!! I wish I had one of those super fast metabolisms and hated chocolate! So, today I decided enough is enough and it is time to trim the excess. My goal is 25 for now....once I get there I will set a new goal. I always need that push mentally to get going and after getting on the scale this morning and seeing I had entered a new weight decade (I didn't want to be in the last one....), I decided that I had just gotten the push I needed!

Easter is near and some projects...

2009-04-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't got a start on the jeans yet. It looks like no sewing is going to happen before our easter spring break trip. I have great intentions that don't always pan out with 2 dd's! The one thing that I did get done though is to order all the little notions that I needed. At grommetmart.com I ordered 100 rivets and 100 jeans tack buttons. At Atlanta Thread I ordered 4 spools of the Levi gold jeans thread. Hopefully this works well on the serger. At zipperstop I ordered a few black jeans zippers. They are 7", so I will have some trimming to do for the pants on the waiting table. Some other things that I ordered were really for projects that my dh has planned for me and his new boat. He wants a longer cover than the boat has to protect the gelcoat from oxidation, so I ordered some sunbrella marine canvas from fabricmaster (50 yard bolt to be exact) and then ordered some of there lycra fabrics for swimsuits and gymnastic suits (to have in stash). I also ordered up some marine vinyl (to match the vinyl in the boat) from trimstore.com because he wants me to make a bag to put the camping bbq in so it doesn't spew black stuff on the new boat carpet. He has so many projects for me....I am not sure when I am going to get in my stuff! And his projects are, simply put, boring! Last year he had me make 10 wheel covers to cover the wheel and tires on his boat trailers and motorhome so the tires don't get sun damaged. I also had to make 2 spare tire covers (that had embroidery on them) for the boat and sea doo trailers. He also wants me to make covers for his tools in the garage. He also wants some sort of cover for the back of the suv that he can attach for when we drive down the rock road to the campsite with the boat, so that the rocks kicked up from the suv don't hit the new boat. (A little paranoia with the new boat......) Does anyone else have their dh want so much? Oh well....at least he sees my sewing obsession as useful to him too. :) On the funner side, I spent last night parusing my past issues of bwof to jot down all of the potential projects. This was actually a really good exersize, because I forget what I wanted to make. Speaking of bwof, how many of you rely of the pictures versus the line drawings. I used to look at the models and decide from there if I wanted to make the item, now I am realizing that the line drawings provide much more insight to the pattern. So many times, it is hard to tell the details of the garment from the models...I also get swayed by their fabric choices. Looking strictly at the line drawings enables me to think of my own fabric choices a little clearer. Something else, I always like to make stuff for my dd's, but the clothes they have in bwof for girls are usually items that I would never make for mine! I was pleased to see some shorts in one of the recent issues. Looking at the line drawings, also let me see the potential in some pants patterns too. Most of the tops are too fussy for my dd's. I made one from 8/2008 and spent a lot of time making it perfect and I loved it, but dd wore it once and declared it to be "itchy". It was 100% cotton weave material. She is a knit lover. I put the top away for the younger dd, hoping that it will get more than 2 wears in its life! Well, I better get some laundry started or we won't be taking clean clothes on our trip! I also have Easter eggs to fill and hide in a luggage with the easter baskets, jelly beans and chocolate bunnies! Happy Easter everyone!!! Eat lots of chocolate!!

My denim for 9-2008-138

2009-04-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures of the denim that I am using for my bwof 9-2008-138 pants. I am going to go subtle and use the black side of the fabric. You can still see the gold through it. My dh said I should do the pockets in the gold side. That would be really cool if I had an a** that I wanted to draw attention to.....I am going to stay black for the pockets. I have the pattern cut out. Of course, I don't have any of the notions I need....like the zipper. It shouldn't be a big deal finding a black jeans zipper though....even walmart should carry that! I have heavy black thread for the stitching. I wonder now if I need to be using heavy thread for all of the stitching....I suppose I should be. See, something else I need to get! I wanted to do the majority of the stitching on the serger to enclose the seams and stop fraying. I need to look for heavy duty cone thread! I have denim tack buttons. I don't have rivets.....I wasn't sure if I was going to use them or not. This project will probably have to wait until after our spring break vacation! I should have been cutting out swim suits!!!

Working on bwof 9-2008-138

2009-04-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

I have really wanted to get in on Dawn's jeans sew-along! I really wanted to buy the new jalie stretch jeans pattern. But....I have two very cool pieces of Seven denim in my stash that are not stretch and they really do want to be made up into some jeans. So, I have been pouring over my issues of bwof (I have 9/2008 - current issue) to find a pair of pants that doesn't call for a stretch fabric that would be suitable to make into a pair of jeans. I finally came up with bwof 9-2008-138. Upon first look this is a trouser pattern...but, I studied it enough to feel it could make up in denim, the only thing is I will have to add some back pockets. The yoke of the pants is good sized so the pockets will sit a little lower, which will work just fine in the vision in my mind. I have traced out the pattern. Now I am just debating which denim to cut into.....they are both black, but one has silver thread in it and the other has gold thread in it. I really like the silver better, so I am debating whether or not to use it since this is my first time making this pattern. I will probably make it up in the black with gold.......

Panties anyone?

2009-04-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here are two pairs of kids panties hot off the presses! These are for my two dd's! A tiny pair for my little one and a bigger pair for my bigger one! These were pretty simple. I didn't get too fancy with the fabric because most importantly, I wanted them to be soft and comfortable. I had some leftover siltex interlock that fit the build perfect. I used a darker pink lycra cotton for the waistband and leg bands. I topstitched the seams in the middle and the butt on my sewing machine, then coverstitched the band seams to have more stretch. These didn't take very long, and I am sure that they would go quicker next time. I put them together on my serger with a 4 thread overlock. They haven't been worn yet, later tonight after bath will be there debue! I definitely see making more of these!

thatdarnkat childrens undies pattern

2009-04-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I found something to sew! Not super exciting, but a needed project none-the-less. I was reading someone's blog and found this pattern and checked it out and decided to try it! So far, I have already cut it wrong.....because I failed to read the instructions....but easily fixable so no big deal! I have the undies for my younger dd started and the ones for my older dd cut out (yes, they are cut wrong too....). I don't have pics yet, but when they are done (tomorrow) I will get some pics. These are super easy, just no sewing time today. Well I was planning on posting the link and when I went to her etsy site, the undies pattern doesn't seem to be there anymore. Hmm...I just got it last week and it was e-mailed in a pdf format. Oh well. Here is the link to the etsy shop anyhow http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5195957 . Here is a picture from the pdf document for the pattern. They look super cute! Mine are going to be much plainer! My scrap bin doesn't have a lot of soft cotton scraps....so the first couple pairs are just pink (nice siltex interlock though). Stay tuned!

I appreciated the ideas on what to sew next! I really don't hardly wear dresses or skirts anymore (not sure I ever did come to think of it)....I am a pants, capris, shorts type of person. Maybe I need to branch out though.....get out of the comfort zone? Maybe.....it is a thought! I am such a t-shirt and pants person!

What is on the horizon?

2009-03-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Sew.....I am done with the projects I had cut out and planned and now I am at a loss for what to sew next! What is everyone else sewing these days? I know my kids need new jammies and nighties, I need to get some new patterns though and I am not sure which ones yet. Our weather is cool mornings and cool evenings with warm days....so maybe a light weight cute jacket?? Maybe some capris?? I loved Dawn's jean idea, but my stash is non-stretch denim and I am trying to use more of what I have.....I don't know of any great jean patterns....are there any from bwof in the past year? Hmmmmm.....any ideas?

11-2008-124 is done!

2009-03-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I got it done it time for our ski trip! I like the top, but I don't like it enough to make another. The neck part of it is a little wierd. It looks nice and feels nice but when I look down at it, it seems wierd to me. Okay, that being said, the sweatshirt went together pretty well. Please, excuse the photos, my dh took them and I was just being corny and actually most of them had to be deleted! The bwof instructions actually were pretty clear. The part I didn't really like how the back facing and the front facing were separate, because on the inside it isn't super neat looking. On the outside you can't tell...

I used a hot pink thread to topstitch. Instead of putting it on the coverstitch, I used a stitch on the sewing machine to finish the sleeve hems and bottom hem.

I wish I had got a colored drawstring for the neck, because this looks plain to me. I was actually thinking about dying it to match the topstitching thread but got too lazy and thought it was okay the way it was.

Some sewing...some reading!

2009-03-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

I was excited today to get my april bwof in the mail!! I don't normally get it until the first of the month, so this was a whole week early! There are a few things in it that interest me. I haven't looked at the line drawings yet....but I think I can still see a couple of things that I might just have to make! I am finding myself torn about what to make. Even though I live in sunny san diego, our mornings and evenings are still cool....cool enough to wear jackets and sweatshirts. So I am a little torn at whether to sew something cozy and warm or to venture into spring and short sleeves! Anyhow, I am finally getting to work on bwof 11-2008-124, the cozy sweatshirt! I was making good progress until I noticed an area in front that isn't quite even, so I will be doing some measuring to see where the discrepanies are and if I need to seam rip or if I can do some trimming....I am hoping for minimal seam ripping because the sherpa doesn't like it at all!! I had never put eyelets in before and had some issues with those stupid things...after four of them....I finally realized that I forgot to interface the area and so they were ripping out of the fabric. I ripped them out, triple interfaced, them punched them through and pressed them in. Wa...La! I was also having some issues with my coverstitching....while I have done extensive amounts of coverstitch hems, I have not used the chain stitch feature very much. Also, I don't typically use topstitching thread for coverstitching ...I just use serger thread....so, I had to tweak around the needles and settings, and use a net for the topstitch thread, then I got acceptable results. I don't know if the chain stitch is any stretchier than using a straight stitch on my sewing machine.....Oh well. I topstitched the seams on my sewing machine after messing around so much with the chainstitching. Hopefully I finish it up tomorrow! We are going skiing on Wednesday and it would be nice to have a new sweatshirt!

Finished the animal skirt!

2009-03-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

Light blue, teal leopards! This super simple skirt turned out very cute and dd loves it! She is wearing it to school today! We were lucky enough to find a shirt in her dresser that went with it! The flounce at the bottom is cute, she was pretending to do the hula because it would swish around! She got her anklet with flowers on it to wear with the skirt. I am always happy when they like what I have made for them! This skirt has 4 pieces (2 pattern pieces each cut twice) and a piece of elastic. I serged the elastic to the skirt and then flipped it and topstitched it down instead of a casing like the instructions call for.....I think it looks more rtw. I did a rolled hem on the bottom with the serger in blue thread that matched the skirt. I actually did the whole skirt on the serger and then did the topstitching with the coverstitch. I also topstitched the seam of the skirt and flounce, so she didn't have something "itchy" on her legs. This only took an hour to sew up.....I can see making more of these in the future!

Finished Kwik Sew 3484

2009-03-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

I finished it! See the happy model below! I think he likes it....he was actually worried where to hang it so the kitties didn't jump on it and ruin it! Then he said he thought it looked expensive. He is definitely my biggest critic. It was a really hard fabric to sew on because the threads in the fabric would get pulled just under the tension of the needle. I started off using a denim needle then switched to a microfiber needle. That definitely helped. The material has some lycra (or stretch of some kind...) in it, so I had some puckering until I lowered the tension considerably. All in all I like the finished product, I am sure I will make another sometime, but not too soon!

Simplicity 4104

2009-03-09T13:05:00.003-07:00

I am making the skirt with the cute flounce on the bottom for my older dd. I just cut out the fabric, it looks like something super easy to put together. Just two pattern pieces cut twice each for a total of four parts with an elastic waistband. I hope it turns out cute because I could see making a few different versions... It calls for a weave fabric, but I am using this knit:

Hopefully it won't be too big, I may have to do some adjusting as I make it.

Oh yeah....no, I am not done with my dh's shirt yet! It was easy to cut this out while cooking soup for lunch! I couldn't go and sew while cooking lunch! :) Now I have two projects waiting in the wings for the dh shirt to finish!

Not Done Yet but significant progress

2009-03-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a glimpse of the almost done shirt. I still have to do the buttons and buttonholes, hem the sleeves and hem the side slits. Then I will get a finished product shot! I am happy with how it is turning out. I fussed with the collar a little bit (as I always do....) but it turned out well. I need some couture class of collars, because I want mine perfect and they never seem to be absolutely perfect. Well since my kitty insists on sitting in front of my computer monitor and I can't see and I need to get dinner going (easy to lose track of time now that it stays light later.....), I will have to add more later!