WIP Wednesday: The Not-Sewing Part of Sewing

Tags

mending, SCRAP Tri-Cities, sewing, WIP Wednesday

WIP = Work in Progress

Happy Wednesday!

I have been busy doing everything sewing-related that doesn’t involve actual sewing this week.

I’ve more or less finished my fabric database in Evernote (I thought I was finished, but then happened to look over to my left and notice a couple more yards I’d put in a project bag).  89 pieces of fabric!  No idea how many yards that is yet, but will update my Excel spreadsheet this week and figure it out.

Stashbusting has taken a definite hit lately, what with being out of town and that $2/lb. fabric sale at SCRAP right before we went on vacation.  And then there’s that fabulous turquoise batik in the photo above–that was a curtain that I got for free from my Buy Nothing Facebook group.  I do love me a bargain, but my stash closet overfloweth.  The plan for September definitely calls for more sewing and less acquiring!

I also sorted and organized my stash as I catalogued it.  This is the bulk of it right here:

As an aside, I tried REALLY HARD to buy some fabric while in the UK and just had a terrible time managing to do so.  I went out on three separate excursions to find quilting shops that Google assured me were there and couldn’t find any of them.  The fabric store I did find in central London didn’t have anything that grabbed me, though my partner and I did spend a minute admiring the gorgeous £100/meter tweeds.  It wasn’t until our day trip to Cambridge that I stumbled on a quilt shop by accident that had some fat quarters that I could bring home to my sister for taking care of my cats while I was away.

I brought three meters of this home for me:

I’m saving this one for spring fever sewing next year.

So now I’ve got all this fabulous stuff in my stash, and I’ve been pondering what to make next.  It’s still plenty hot here, and will be for at least another month, so something for hot weather makes sense, but what?  A drapey tee with that lovely rayon jersey?  A dress out of that raspberry linen?  Or a shirt out of the turquoise batik?  I spent way too much time on Pinterest yesterday considering possibilities . . . .

While I play around with ideas, I’m working a bit on the dreaded mending.  Tonight’s job was hemming a pair of pants and putting patches on my partner’s kikoys.  He acquired them on a cycling trip through Africa a good 25 years ago (!!) and the fabric they’re made of is on its way out.  He loves them, though, and wears them daily, so I’m trying to patch the tears as they happen.

Someday, both kikoys will be covered in patches and he’ll be set for another 20 years or so.

Some of my patches.  I have so much fun stuff hiding in my scraps!

More patches.  He may not appreciate the fish, but I enjoyed it.  🙂

Three items out of the mending pile.  Progress!

By the way, if you’re in the market for indie patterns, many sales seem to be happening right now in order to benefit Texas hurricane relief efforts.  If there’s a company you particularly like or a certain pattern you want, this would be a good time to sign up for the company’s e-mails or Facebook page to get their sale code.  Love Notions, Muse, and Schwin are three indies having sales that I’ve run across just this evening.  Time to sew that stash!

Have a great week and may your path be ever strewn with bargains.

STH

ETA:  This appears to be a public post, so hopefully the link to it will work.  This is a list of pattern companies participating in the sales; sale codes are in the comments.  Some of these sales are short-lived (I think the Love Notions one is only for 8/31), so don’t dawdle!

Further ETA for Chic Mona, and anybody else who might be interested:  On Monday, Craftsy is allowing members to view their classes for free.  Here’s a link that explains how it works.

 

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Sunday Sevens 06-26-17

Tags

Eugene, Oregon, quilting, SCRAP Tri-Cities, sewing, Sunday Sevens, travel

Hot afternoon still life with binding.

Sunday Sevens hasn’t been happening too often around here lately, as I just haven’t had many opportunities to take interesting photos.  I’ve got a few fun things to share with you today, though, so let’s get to it!

SCRAP recently had a jewelry repair workshop and Rachael and I fixed about a bajillion broken bracelets.  I had been stuffing broken jewelry in a box for YEARS, and I’m so happy to have it all back!  This was a big mood booster for me, as I LOVE my jewelry and the arthritis in my hands is to the point now where I pretty much can’t wear rings any more.

I’ve been working away a bit at a time on my fabric database in Evernote.  I’m up to 64 pieces of yardage, which I think is maybe 2/3 of the total.  I’ve pulled out the ones I don’t love and they’ll be going to SCRAP.

This feels like the bigger accomplishment, though.  I went through all my scraps and filled these three big bags with all the ones I don’t like and won’t use.  These bags were posted in my local Buy Nothing Facebook group and wound up going to a little girl who’s taking a sewing class and wants to make doll clothes.  I thought it would be hard to give all this up, but I realized as I went through everything that these fabrics felt more like a burden than anything else–I didn’t want to use them, couldn’t see a way to use them, but I felt a lot of responsibility to not waste them.  When they were picked up, and that burden lifted, I felt light, and so moved that I was able to help out a beginning sewer.  And all my scrap drawers close again!

This past weekend, my partner and I headed down to Eugene, OR, so that he could ride a 300k brevet organized by one of his buddies.  While he was out there riding (in temps over 100F!), I explored Eugene, which I hadn’t seen since I was a kid living in Medford, OR.

Lots of cool older houses and mature trees!

Love this Craftsman bungalow, now divided into offices.  Every time I go to Oregon, I’m reminded how big and new everything is in the Tri-Cities, where I live–pretty much everything here was built after World War 2.

Nifty older theater building.

This looks more like a courthouse, but it’s actually a Protestant church–that’s stained glass in those second floor windows.  I like the blue banner celebrating Ramadan; on the left side is a Pride flag.  This is the kind of thing that cheers me up when the political news is ugly.

Saturday afternoon and evening were spent in the air conditioning at the motel, watching some good TV (PBS) and also some bad TV (horror movie starring some menacing frogs and a very young Sam Elliot) while I worked on my quilt binding.

As always, many thanks to Natalie over at Threads and Bobbins for starting Sunday Sevens and encouraging us to document and celebrate our adventures.

I hope you all have a very excellent week and have a little sunshine wherever you are (temps below 100F would also be nice).

STH

 

 

 

Sunday Sevens 04-30-17

Tags

cats, Columbia Park, food, Kennewick, Olympia, politics, quilting, randonneuring, SCRAP Tri-Cities, sewing, Sunday Sevens

Baby geese!  Many, many baby geese!

I was too fried to post last Sunday when we got home from Olympia, so I’ll try to catch up on the last couple of weeks in this post without burying you in zillions of pictures.

Last weekend was the annual Northwest Fleche ride, a one-way (fleche=arrow) bike ride to Olympia, WA.  I drove up to meet my partner and his team at the end of the ride and participate in the March for Science at the state capitol in Olympia.

All of us old hippies on the way to the capitol.  All of these marches I’ve been to since January have been majority women, often majority middle-aged and older women.  We know a bully when we see one.

A few short speeches before the March.  It rained BUCKETS as I was driving over there and searching for a parking place, but the rain petered out as I was walking to the capitol, thankfully.

I enjoyed this sign.

Off and marching.  Estimated attendance 5,000 people, which I thought was pretty impressive considering that nearby Seattle also had a huge march.

Tacos for dinner.  Partner advised me that you really don’t want to hang out with randonneurs if you’re trying to lose weight because this is how they eat.  (Not shown:  equally impressive lunch.)

We came home on Sunday afternoon to find that my Nature’s Fabrics order had arrived!  I waited until they had a discount code available for members of their Facebook group, then used that and the gift certificate I won a while ago.  I got these two cotton/lycra knits, plus two heavier cotton knits for leggings.  I LOVE THEM.

Tuesday night clean-out-the-fridge-before-I-go-grocery-shopping pizza.  Sauce was a weird pesto made with leftover parsley, mint, tarragon, basil, and some broccoli.  Covered with random bits of veg, some ham that needed using, and various cheeses.  A little strange, but we ate it.

Quilt top is finished and sandwiched!  The back is also pieced–used up a LOT of scraps on this.   More scrap quilting to come, as I’ve realized that scrap stash is a bigger problem for me than actual yardage.  (BTW, Shelby is contemplating the napping possibilities here, you can just tell.)

I was inspired by this lovely post over at Mona’s place and filled another bag of clothing for the local shelter (partner also contributed).  The white bag in front is filled with 8 1/2 yards (plus some large scraps) of fabric to go to SCRAP.  Yay!

As always, all credit to Natalie of Threads and Bobbins for coming up with the idea for Sunday Sevens and giving us an excuse to talk about (very) random pizzas.

Have a great week, everybody, and I hope that you find some beauty in the world this week.  Sometimes it’s hard to find, and sometimes you have to make it yourself, but it’s there.  Hang on to it, and each other.

STH

WIP Wednesday: Preppy Plaid Pillow

Tags

Butterick 5948, clothing, Kaleo, music, SCRAP Tri-Cities, sewing, WIP Wednesday

(WIP=work in progress)

Brand new!  Hot off the pr . . . uh, sewing machine!

I just finished this late this afternoon, and I’m feeling all ready for summer now.

I’ve been a little bit grumpy about how gray and wet it’s been here lately, so I pulled out a bunch of my most summer-y fabrics and patterns and pondered what I could make that would remind me of sunny, hot days.

I started with this fabric, a remnant that I picked up at SCRAP a while ago–great colors, nice, crisp feel to it, but only 7/8 of a yard (53″ wide), which isn’t much.  It’s actually a Waverly home decor fabric and “dry clean only” (HA), but it came through the wash fine, wasn’t stiff like most home decor, and Google told me it was 100% cotton.  I’m not at all a plaid sort of person, but I love the fresh look of this print.  It was probably meant to be pillows for a chair on the deck of a beach house in the Hamptons, but, hey, I can do soft and pillowy, no problem.

Here’s the pattern I came up with–dated 2001, but actually still in print.

View B on the far left only requires 7/8 of a yard for 60″ fabric, so that was what I made.

I was worried it was going to be boring, though, with such a simple design, so I used the pocket included in the pattern and bound the neck edge with a bias binding.

Arm holes are finished with some bias tape that I made some time ago and accidentally cut too narrow.

This fabric had a huge selvage on it and I just barely had enough width for the two pattern pieces.  I wound up having to sew one side seam with a little bit bigger seam allowance, just so the selvage wouldn’t show.

Doing French seams doesn’t work well with vents, so I finished the side seams by turning the seam allowances under and stitching.

Sewing this got me thinking about preppy style, which I’ve always liked.  Not the pastels or the polo shirts, but the straight skirts, button-down shirts, and little cardigans.  There’s just something so neat and tidy about that stuff, you know?  It was a socially-acceptable way for girls to dress that wasn’t frilly or fussy (in other words, I could get away with wearing it while still living with my mother, even though it edges a bit closer to androgyny). It occurs to me that if clothing is a language, we sewing people can use our hobby to explore the facets of what we’re trying to communicate, why, and to whom.  Like lots of things, a simple little tank top can be the start of an interesting meditation.  🙂

This was a quick and easy project–not the 2 hours promised, but are they ever?–and a nice basic pattern to have around.  It’s sized for wovens, but I might try this in a knit just to see how it works.  I spent the winter replacing my oldest fleece tops, but I could stand to do the same with my tee shirts.

I hope you’re seeing signs of spring where you are and having lots of sunny summer dreams.  Here’s some sweet summer music for you to listen to.  (I really like this band–try this and this, too!)

STH

Catching Up

Tags

Butterick 5689, Butterick 6383, clothing, SCRAP Tri-Cities, sewing

That corduroy is so gorgeous!

 

I finally got it together to take some (admittedly meh) pictures of what I’ve been making, so let’s take a look.

Here’s the finished vest; if you recall, the two front pieces are corduroy, and the collar, back, and lining are a drapey poly/rayon, all from the stash (pattern is Butterick 6383).  I like the drama of this style–and LOVE the fabrics–so I will wear it, but NOBODY better say a thing about clown collars.

Believe it or not, I am not a professional model.

I had planned to wear this with a black turtleneck, but it looked much better over the red.  What it REALLY needs, actually, is the same top, but in maroon, which would coordinate better and not upstage the corduroy so much.  Will keep my eyes open for something like that.

Also, I didn’t realize it until I saw the pictures, but the neckline is a bit wide on this.  I’ve already overlapped the fronts more than the pattern called for–it was pretty huge.  I took advantage of the roominess of it to just sew the button through all the layers; this is one of those rare and beautiful instances where the lazy sewing method is also the more attractive one, as my machine would have made a mess of a buttonhole on these fabrics.

(Side note here:  does anybody understand the logic of when Big 4 patterns include a lining and when they just have facings?  I lined this and I actually think it was a lot easier than the big hassle the instructions put you through to face all those raw edges.  Are a lot of sewers intimidated by linings, so they avoid them?)

Need to tack down the point on the right front, I think.

Yep, black.

 

I am much more enthusiastic about the red jacket, though it took me a while to get there.

Pattern is Butterick 5689 (out of print, but available on Amazon), fabric is 2 1/2 yards of fuzzy red fleece from SCRAP.  Total out-of-pocket cost for this was about $13.

Whoops!  Collar wants to stick up, but I’m training it to curve nicely and it’s getting better.  The color of the fabric is much brighter in real life–not enough light in my living room.

Pattern didn’t call for a lining, but it has big facings. 

Apparently, I like living dangerously, because I cut this out on the day after the election.  I was in a state of horror/grief/shock, and I knew I shouldn’t take on grading a pattern in that frame of mind, but I did it anyway because I couldn’t bring myself to care about screwing it up.  I also didn’t cut this thick fabric in a single layer like I should have, because keeping track of that was more than my brain could handle.  I’m frankly a little bit amazed that all the pieces actually fit together like they were supposed to.

I constructed it in a similar mental state, and I now have no idea how all those front pieces go together (this jacket is a lot more complex than it looks), but I just followed the pictures carefully and it worked.  I had graded up a bit, but I wound up taking out the extra in the side seams.

YOWEE–look at the scrap of fabric I found in the stash for the pocket linings!

The biggest problem I had was with the collar.  I continued the front topstitching all the way around the base of the collar, hoping to hold the facing down, and that was a mistake.  All it got me was a weird lump under the collar that kept it from lying down flat.  Once I removed the extra topstitching and slip stitched down the facing, the whole area looked better.  I also put in some thin shoulder pads.  The collar still wants to flip up, but it’s getting better each time I wear the jacket.

There was no way my sewing machine would be able to do a buttonhole in this fabric, so I used a big snap under the button. 

That wearing business, though, that’s turning out to be surprisingly fraught.  I haven’t actually managed to wear this jacket anywhere other than the mailbox yet.  It turns out that the taboo status of red from my childhood is still stuck in my head.  Yep, I know it’s nuts, but I just seem to keep finding reasons to NOT wear this.  That’s why it keeps getting worn out to the mailbox–I’m trying to get used to that color, that particular color that nice Catholic girls just DO NOT wear.  Though I am crazy about bright colors, I thought for a long time that I didn’t like red.  It was a big deal a couple of years ago when I made the red knit top that I’m wearing with the vest in pics above; I only had that fabric because it was part of a Freecycled bag of fabric, as it wasn’t something I would have ever bought for myself.

Another problem with wearing the jacket is that I wasn’t sure for a while if I liked it.  It’s a little bit unstructured and droopy; my partner said it reminded him of a bath robe, which happened to be exactly what I had been thinking as well.  But I wore it today–to the mailbox, of course–and decided that unstructured was a perfectly respectable thing for a jacket to be, especially if said jacket is as soft and cuddly as this one.  So one of these days I will actually wear it someplace other than the mailbox.

In the meantime, my partner’s new fleece cycling jersey is all done, except for the new top stops for the zipper that I am waiting for UPS to bring me (why yes, the need for top stops was discovered the hard way).  And the Hello Kitty pullover is coming along.  It is easily the goofiest thing I have ever made and ZOMG I FREAKING LOVE IT SO MUCH.

I hope you all are getting down with your goofy selves, and wearing all the colors, too.

STH

 

Endings and Beginnings

Tags

cats, clothing, politics, SCRAP Tri-Cities, sewing

Happy bears make everything better.

How’s everybody doing?

It’s been a supremely weird, discombobulating couple of weeks, hasn’t it?

I actually wrote a long, long post about the election the other day, but then decided it was so “inside baseball” that it was probably interesting to nobody but me.  I felt better having written it, and that’s enough.

All I really want to say about the election, and our rather uncertain future, is this:  President Obama was on a conference call the other day with some Democratic activists and he told them that they have until Thanksgiving to mourn, then it’s time to get to work.

I sent a card to Hillary Clinton to thank her for her lifetime of service to the country and apologize for how she has been repaid for that service.  I’ve told Chrissa and Rachael at SCRAP that I won’t be volunteering there for a while.  My partner and I are going to sign up to work at Second Harvest; I’m also looking for a local immigrant organization that needs volunteers. And, even though I’m one of those people who really hate telephones, I made my first political call today to Paul Ryan to express my support for Obamacare.  My goal is to make one call a day.  I’ve also put myself on a news diet, just for my own mental health.  I’ve been a political junkie for some years now, but I need to change how I engage with politics–less time spent reading about horrible things that I have limited power to change, much more activism to hopefully help change what I can.  #ImStillWithHer  #StrongerTogether

And, while I’m doing that, thank goodness there’s sewing, and cats, and fall weather, and delicious food, and all the pleasures of life.  The American Thanksgiving is coming up this Thursday, and my honey and I will eat too much at the buffet, take a walk in the cold, and then come home to mulled wine, an afternoon nap, and sleepy cats on the bed with us.

On the sewing front, much has been happening here.  I finished both the vest and the red fuzzy jacket, though I haven’t gotten around to taking pictures of them yet.  I have reservations about both, but I probably need to actually wear them out of the house before I decide what I think.

In the meantime, I’ve started work on my partner’s cycling jersey, which then promptly came to a halt when I realized I’m out of narrow elastic and the zipper I bought for the jersey isn’t long enough. 

Also, my plan for the extremely fabulous corduroy has changed again.

I’ve had such a hard time committing to a pattern for this, I think because it’s such a great fabric and I don’t want to waste it.  I love jumpers because I can layer them and change how they look, but I wanted something really interesting and non-frumpy for this one.

So I got this at Joann’s on Saturday:

Looks like I’m finally going to have to learn to pattern match.  😛

I’ll have to lengthen it a bit, but I should have enough fabric to do that.

This dress is lined, and that’s a good thing, because that corduroy is going to fray like crazy.  I went to the stash, not expecting to find anything suitable that would be long enough, and found this:

No, not the fabric model–look at all that color around him!

This is a really unusual cotton that I bought at a quilting store years ago.  It’s magenta at one selvage, then shades to purple, blue, green, and finally dark gray at the other selvage.  I had figured I’d use it as a quilt backing, but I think it’ll make a cool lining for my cool ’60s style jumper.

But before I do that, I simply MUST MUST MUST do something with this:

MUST.

This Hello Kitty remnant has simply GOT to get combined with some other fleece pieces–I’ve got light pink, dark pink, orange, white, and black–to become a pullover.  I’m not sure why, but I’ve been dreaming of colorblocked fleece (and grabbing fleece remnants at SCRAP) since the middle of last summer, and fleece season is finally here!  And I really need me some cute and colorful and silly right about now.

So I’m hoping to get the cycling jersey done this week, then get to the Hello Kitty pullover.

Hope all is well with you folks.  Back soon with project pictures.

STH

 

 

Dramatic Developments

Tags

clothing, Healthy and Happy: SSWD, SCRAP Tri-Cities, sewing, Simplicity 8349, Simplicity 9873

The gun that is introduced in Act One . . . .

Sorry to have disappeared on you folks!  I keep doing that, don’t I?  I’m going to have to get a regular weekly-or-so thing going again . . . .

Anyway, the good news is that I am better at sewing than I am blogging, and work on my Destination Happy and Healthy collection has been coming along well.

You’ll recall that I wanted to make a slightly-slouchy turtleneck using this vintage pattern and some black cotton knit I got from SCRAP.  What I was going for was a top with lower armholes, a looser fit, and a softer, less constricting neck than the base-layer-type turtlenecks I see in stores.

I wasn’t sure how much ease I’d want in this, so I tried to err on the side of more–about 5″.  That was pretty close to perfect; I just increased the seam allowance a bit on the side seams to get it just the way I wanted it.  I also shortened the top and raised the shoulders so that the seams weren’t halfway down my upper arms.  And the collar piece was just ridiculously long–something like 13″, I guess for those women with “swan-like necks”?–so I shortened it, folded it in half, and sewed both edges to the neck of the top.

Dropped shoulders still dropped, just not as far.

Loose, comfy fit, but not sloppy.  Win!

 

I’ve also finished my black jumper!

My goal with this was to make a plain black dress that I could wear with a blouse or turtleneck underneath (and maybe leggings also) and accessorize with my VAST collection of hefty “statement” necklaces (see a small portion of said collection in the top photo).  Which I seriously love but never get to wear because I don’t have anything plain enough to serve as a good background for them.

---

I’ve had the lightweight, stretchy black denim for this in my stash for a couple of years now, but I’ve been putting off making it, I think because I was afraid it wouldn’t work.

But we have a success!

I really like it!  I was going for “Art Teacher” and hoping to avoid “Nun” and “Dystopian YA Novel” and I think I’ve done that.  (I have some experience with nuns and they don’t generally go for statement necklaces.  I just hope I don’t look like an extra from “The Handmaid’s Tale.”)

I was surprised when I first took the pattern out of the envelope–I had already cut it and had totally forgotten.  I suspect that project was a wadder; this dress is fairly fitted and I had cut out a 20, which would have been too small.  This time, I graded up to a 22 at the bust and hips, 24 at the waist, and the fit was right on.

This is a really simple style, but it took some time to complete because the denim frays like you wouldn’t believe, and I had to finish all those long, long seam allowances.  I didn’t want to use my usual French seams because of the bulk of the denim, so I chose two different finishes:  for the princess seams front and back, I pressed the seams open, folded the seam allowances under, and stitched them down about 1/4″ from both sides of the seams.  I also changed the back zipper from a lapped to a centered style so that I could approximate the look of the topstitching on the back seam as well.

You can see some zig zagging there; I initially hoped that would be enough to tame the fraying, but no way.

I inserted pockets of black rayon-poly into the side seams (YAY POCKETS), then bound the seam allowances with some bias fabric strips I had cut the wrong size some time ago and never used.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, my sister and I signed up for an “Intro to Beading” class at the new Makerspace that opened up here recently.  And I made this:

I’m pretty sure I was the only one in the class that didn’t think it was weird, but it reminded me of a Mid-Century Modern walking tour I had done not too long before.

I was thinking of that black jumper as I was making it, and then I remembered that I still had some of that fantastically-soft purple knit in the stash.  So obviously I had to make a purple turtleneck to go with my black dress and purple glass necklace.

 

AND, as if that wasn’t enough, I’ve also taken my first stab at making leggings!

Which . . . didn’t work out so well.  I need to take them in at the waist and, I suspect, add some elastic to the yoga waistband, so I’ve set them aside for now.  I’ve still got about 2 yards each of the black and the purple knits, and definitely want to turn those into leggings once I have a pattern that works for me.  I’m going to have SO MANY cozy warm layers to wear this winter!  I’m really pleased with how my fall sewing plans are progressing.  I’ve now got 6 wearable items done!

Next up may be the vest, now that I have the turtleneck I wanted to wear under it.

I hope that your creativity is flowing in dramatic (and well-fitting) directions.

Talk to you soon.

STH

ETA:  I have linked this post up to Crafty Quilter’s October UFO Linkup.

 

 

 

 

Folk Art Flannel

Tags

Butterick 6099, clothing, Healthy and Happy: SSWD, SCRAP Tri-Cities, Sew Alongs & Sewing Contests Facebook Group, sewing

I am so very much NOT a fan of brown, but I LOVE this shirt.  Love all the fun colors, the super-soft flannel, the shape, everything.  And I did an image search to see if I was totally off-base comparing this to folk art and, nope, I was right.

Just to refresh your memory, the brown fabric was 2 yards of flannel from Goodwill, supplemented with some scraps of green flannel from my stash.

The illustrations on B6099 don’t do a great job of selling the pattern, but I liked the fact that it had some unusual features and I thought it might give me sort of a peasant-y look when paired with the flannel.

I did view A and sized down to an L based on the finished measurements, which worked out perfectly.  When Butterick puts “loose-fitting” in the pattern description, they mean it.

Still have a comfortable amount of ease there.

Cutting this out was quite a project.  I deliberated a long time on what fabric to pair with the brown, but I ultimately decided that I wanted something dark that wouldn’t upstage the main fabric.  Problem was that I only had scraps of the green.

I shortened the sleeves a few inches, but still had to piece them in order to get them on-grain.  I also added a center seam to the yoke and the collar facing.  The cuffs were narrowed and done in two pieces, as I didn’t have big enough scraps by that point to cut them whole and fold them over.

I added extra buttonholes and buttons (somehow I keep on doing that, don’t I?)  I marked the first buttonhole going the wrong way–perpendicular to the band rather than parallel–but I liked it, so I did them all that way.  😉

Breaking with tradition, I got the collar on the first try!

I don’t repeat patterns very often, but odds are good I’m going to try this one again; I think it would be wonderful in a lighter fabric for the spring, maybe a solid to show off the features better.  It’s not really a quick and easy sort of pattern, what with the pleats, front band (those things always confuse the hell out of me), and the cuffs; I think it could be very versatile, though, depending on the fabric you use.  In the meantime, however, I’m really loving how this came out, and I’m looking forward to wearing it if it ever cools off here.

This is project #2 in my Destination Healthy and Happy sew-along.  Project #3–the denim dress–is actually finished also, but I don’t have any decent pictures of it yet.  And decent pictures may not be possible until I up my exercise to where it should be and lose a few pounds I put on recently (I am HARRUMPHING SO HARD about this right now, you have no idea).

Next up is the black jumper that I’ve been meaning to make forever; I cut out fabric for a muslin last night and will sew that up this weekend.

There is a chance, however, that plans could change.  Just look at what happened today:

I saw this fabric yesterday at SCRAP and didn’t buy it.  Because I’m a sensible person, and I have lots of fabric, and I really don’t need more, right?  But then I obsessed over it–I actually dreamed about it, if you can believe that–and I went back this morning and bought it.

I initially thought it was fake fur, as I commented over at Steph’s place, but it’s actually a fuzzy fleece–even better!  The real color is a bit darker than the photo, just the richest, deepest red you can imagine with a subtle floral pattern.  I rarely wear red, for multiple reasons (that I really should write about sometime), but this is just gorgeous and so cuddly.  A jacket made out of this may yet find its way into my fall sewing plans.

Have a great weekend, everybody, and I hope you’re planning all sorts of colorful sewing for fall.

STH

Note:  I am linking this post up to Finished Or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Skirts and Other Adventures

Tags

Astoria, clothing, Garibaldi, Newport, Oregon, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Rockaway Beach, SCRAP Tri-Cities, Seasonal Sew Wardrobe Destination, sewing, travel

A beautiful September day on the Oregon coast.

I haven’t posted in a bit, because I have been busy!

First, I have 3 of my 8 projects finished (!!!) for my Destination challenge, so my sewing has been moving along.

My first item was my circle skirt, which I made when I taught a circle skirt class at SCRAP.

Not a great picture, but the best I could do.

The fabric is a mystery synthetic with a nice drape and a soft, brushed finish.  I am most definitely not a fan of synthetics, but you know those light, drapey polyester fabrics with the beautiful, bright colors?  They are pretty much perfect for a circle skirt.  I made several skirts in preparation for this class, and had two persistent problems:  a circle skirt gives you a HELL of a lot of fabric around your hips (just where many of us don’t want it), and all of that fabric can weigh a TON, especially if your skirt is long like mine.  I made one that I really liked, but found that it was kind of a pain to wear, just because the cotton knit was so heavy.  I’m enjoying this one much more because it just doesn’t have the bulk or weight of a natural fiber fabric.

When I developed the class, my goal was to come up with a way to make these skirts without math.  Personally, I think being able to actually USE PI IN A SEWING PROJECT is super way cool, but I know a lot of folks would prefer to avoid math as much as possible.  So I use the waist template found here; you simply fold your fabric (at least 55″ wide fabric, unless you are a very little person who wants a mini) in quarters, then place the template at the fold.  (In other words, cut the skirt according to the instructions in the tutorial.)

My other goal, though, was for my circle skirt method to work equally well for knits and wovens, but not involve gathering (which nobody likes, admit it!)  If the waist of your skirt can go over your hips, and your hips are bigger than your waist, then you’re going to have extra fabric at the waist.  So I used the bias tape waistband method from this tutorial.

I threaded 1/4″ elastic through the waistband, stitched the ends, and sewed the bias tape closed.

Since I had some fabric left over, I also added a band of fabric to the bottom of my skirt to make it a little longer.  I haven’t hemmed it, though I’ve decided I will, as the unfinished edge is just bugging me!

The other stuff that’s been happening here, besides sewing?  Vacation!

My honey and I have been feeling a little restless, since we didn’t travel much over the summer.  So we decided to take an impromptu trip to the Oregon coast.  And I brought back photos!

We started in Astoria and worked our way down the coast.  This is the bridge that extends from Astoria, crosses the Columbia, and goes all the way to Washington state.  Yes, it’s supposed to dip down in that rather alarming way.

Astoria reminded me a bit of San Francisco–very hilly with many grand Victorian houses.

So many beautiful beaches!  And so very different from the beaches in southern California, where I grew up.  Very few people out there, even though the weather was beautiful.  And the water’s super cold, so nobody gets in it (which seemed very odd to this California girl).

We rode a steam train from Garibaldi to Rockaway Beach and back.  Half an hour each way (to go four miles!) with a half hour layover, long enough to get an ice cream cone for the trip back.

We saw puffins (oh, and some other stuff, too) at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.

And we flew kites, and ate fish and chips, and just generally had a great time.

Back soon with projects #2 and #3!

STH

Fall Sewing Plans

Tags

cats, Chiawana Park, clothing, Columbia River, Healthy and Happy: SSWD, Pasco, SCRAP Tri-Cities, Seasonal Sew Wardrobe Destination, Sew Alongs & Sewing Contests Facebook Group, sewing, Washington

Banks of the Columbia River on a warm late-summer evening . . . good place to ponder what to sew.

I have this terrible conflict when it comes to making sewing plans.

On the one hand, I want to be free!  Free to follow my muse wherever she leads!  I am a feather on the breeze!  Etc., etc.

On the other hand, I really like sewing with other people, even if only online.  Sewing is usually such a solitary thing, and it’s so fun to do it with a supportive group for a change.

I’m a member of several sewing groups on Facebook and one of them is hosting a sew-along with the theme “destination.”  You make 8 items (one of them can be an accessory) between August 15 and December 15 and post them in an album in the group.  Your destination can be a real place you’re going to, an imaginary place, somewhere you’d like to go, whatever.

I thought I might give it a try.  I’m really feeling these days as if I’m turning a corner in my life.  I’ve had a pretty lousy couple of years, and I’m working on making things better.  As I’m hoping to be employed soon, I’m going to need some new work clothes, as well as some things for hiking and walking outside in the cold.  And I really, really need to keep my energy and momentum going.  I need to be excited about the future I’m working toward because, you know, this is all really DAMN HARD WORK.

So, off we go, destination:  Healthy and Happy!

In no particular order, here are my planned sewing projects:

• Circle skirt.  I taught my circle skirt class last Saturday at SCRAP and worked on this in the class.  It’s some synthetic mystery fabric with a nice brushed finish to it.  Love the colors!

• Black jumper.  I keep promising to make this and it doesn’t happen.  This time it will.  The fabric is a lightweight denim with a bit of stretch.

• Brown flannel shirt.  I got this flannel from the Goodwill in Newburg, OR, last spring.  2 yards for $1.99.  I normally despise brown, but the colors in this are so pretty and I love the folk art-y style of it.  I cut this out last Sunday and was short on fabric, so I used some of this green flannel as well.  I’m doing view A.

• Denim shirtdress.  I got this fabric from SCRAP with the intention of making an overalls-type dress, but I reconsidered and decided to make something a bit less cutesy and more work-appropriate.  I’ve used this shirtdress pattern before and it was a winner, so I’m trying it again with this lightweight embroidered denim.

• Red vest.  This is the leftover stretchy fleece from the cycling jersey I made for my partner a few years ago.  The pattern is from SCRAP.  Still undecided on the lining, but the current front runner is a white cotton jacquard from the stash.  I’m thinking it needs snowflake appliques, too.

• Fleece hoodie.  Is this fabric great or what?  It’s a remnant from SCRAP, so it’s going to be combined with some other remnants to make the hoodie.

• Purple vest.  I haven’t decided which of these fabrics to use, but I’m leaning toward the purple tweedy stuff.  Both are mystery synthetic remnants from SCRAP and whichever one I choose will be paired with this black fabric (poly/rayon, I think) from the stash.

• Black turtleneck tunic.  To be worn with the vest and lots of other things.  Fabric is a nice cotton knit I found at SCRAP last Thursday; there’s enough of it to also make a cardigan, if I can find a pattern I like.  The T-neck pattern is from SCRAP, too.

• Maroon dress.  I don’t know if this style will work on me, but I love the cool modern look of it.  The fabric was a lovely surprise–I bought it years ago for making bags and had no idea I had nearly 3 yards left.  It’s the thickest, softest corduroy you ever saw in your life.

Here’s a better picture of the fabric.

OMG YOU GUYS JUST LOOK AT THIS YUMMINESS

So, that’s 9 projects (10, if you count the black knit cardigan) and I only need 8 for the sew-along, so I have a little flexibility.  I am not a fast sewer, and some of these will be somewhat complex, so this is pretty ambitious for me.  Even if I don’t finish, though, I expect to come out of it with some sharp new clothes.

As of right now, I have the circle skirt hanging up while I decide whether or not to hem it.  The brown flannel shirt and denim dress are cut out and ready to sew; I think I’m going to get going on the latter, as it’s about 95F here and I can wear it right away.

I leave you with a picture of Shelby demonstrating the proper use of a scrap of embroidered denim that your mom has given you to play with.

Off to sew.  Have a great weekend, all!

STH