Category Archives: Sewing/Fabric

What's been going on (and photos!)

Lately so much has been going on that I tend to just want to zone out and not think too hard whenever I get the chance. So, I hadn’t been updating. Oopsie

Quite a bit has gone down since the last post. On Valentine’s day I got a wild hair to head over to Joanns to hit up another pattern sale. I didn’t find anything I wanted but I did get a few more fabrics and some supplies. The kids weren’t feeling the trip so to calm their happy asses I got them each a little painting set. After we got home they happily painted away and made this:

Aww they love me!

Awww. :) The hubby was at work but he got a kick out of that when he got home.

Since I’d been wanting to get deeper into sewing clothes for me I thought I could use a little more help in the fitting area. I still haven’t gotten around to making a duct tape dress form but I do plan to do that someday soon. In the meantime I got another book to help me understand what I need to do to get my clothes looking right:

I hear you!

While I’m not thrilled with the blouse design I can use this to help me get my dress pants in control. I have yet to find a commercial dress pants pattern that doesn’t have bellbottom legs on them. Either that or they’re meant to stop above the ankle. Not my idea of cute when it comes to slacks. This book even has actual full-size patterns so I don’t have to enlarge and print on a crapload of paper like with other pattern books I have.

I also couldn’t help myself with that leopard print stretch knit fabric. I used to have a night gown I loved in that fabric I am thinking about making a full pair of PJs with it. :)

Later on in the week I got a nice box of goodies from Chelsea!! Sweet goodies from afar!

The patterns are a size on the small side but I will be working my trace-a-pattern magic; with the simple lines of these garments it shouldn’t be too much effort to simply draw in extra room. That said, had I not consumed all the candy I might not NEED to upgrade the patterns. But you didn’t hear that. ;) Not pictured, is some jewelry she kindly threw in for Biggest Beanlet. Chelsea, I want you to know she wears the circle pendant EVERY DAY. Thank you so much!! he

I’ve been knitting, but not working on the stuff I SHOULD be working on. Boy Beanlet lost his other hat I made him(how, I do not know, he never WORE it), so I made him a hat to match his Irish Hiking Scarf. This one, he wears every day.

Irish Hiking Hat

I’ve also been shuffling between Word Search puzzles(Oh how I missed those) and reading during commutes and waiting for appointments. A recent trip to the bookstore got me these two:

Good books

I’ve long been a fan of Octavia E. Butler. I’ve read “Lilith’s Brood”(a compilation of the books, “Dawn”, “Adulthood Rites”, and “Imago”) twice, as well as “Mind of My Mind”, and “Wild Seed”. I intend to read those again too, but in the meantime I needed something I hadn’t read before. I can’t resist a good book sale either, so I got “The Time Traveler’s Wife” for half off. ;) The movie sounded interesting, so I know the book has to be way better. “Kindred” is the story of a Black woman from 1976 who winds up travelling back in time to the early 1800s over and over again, each time becoming more involving and subsequently, dangerous. This is a real eye opener, folks. All I can say is Wow, you think you KNOW stuff…

I want to dive into that orange sock yarn but I won’t. I still have sweaters to finish. The way the weather is going lately they might come in handy longer than I’d anticipated. ;) There is also a dress in the works. I’ve got Simplicity 2660 view A traced and cut out but I’m thinking this will have to be a muslin. I don’t know how but the fabric must have slipped and the waistline is no where NEAR even on both back pieces. I could just pull one up but then hem will be majorly uneven. And I don’t want the dress any shorter than it’s supposed to be. Hm. I’ll figure it out.. Until then,

Happy Crafting!

More Kwik Sew-ing (and sweater blocking)

Last night I started, and today I finished Kwik Sew 3710. It’s another pattern I’ve had simmering in my stash for a long time. It’s a dressy-casual type of dress but I used some lounge wear knit fabric I got at the Save-A-Thon.

Kwik Sew 3710

This was a quick project. I got to use my serger for the majority of it, only referring to the sewing machine to do bust darts(which again I don’t think I need). Over all I had fun with this and I have more fabric like it in hot pink so I’ll make another. This one is going to be a house dress. I goofed and didn’t think about the big line of mashed up flowers going down the middle of the fabric when I cut out the pattern. Oops. Also, the armhole and neck are WAY too big and I need a shirt under this. I’m thinking it was a bad choice of fabric for this particular design. There’s too much stretch. I’m thinking when I do it again, I’ll use one of the smaller band sizes

I also need to work on understanding the tensioning on the serger. I got a lettuce edge effect on the bottom of this, which I like, but wasn’t really the intended effect. It was supposed to be topstitched or blind hemmed. The serger can actually blind hem, but I was desperate to get this finished and put it on. I guess that means I need to work on my PATIENCE too. ;)

For the most part, I enjoy the simplicity of Kwik Sew patterns but I’m beginning to not like their approach to plus-size sewing. While I fully understand that getting your clothes to look right means working on getting the best fit, it still irks me how designers seem to think all round women are TALL. I am so NOT tall. 3710 comes with two views. I was thinking of view B until I opened the pattern and saw how long view A was. Yeah, exactly. I wound up using the armhole and neck lines from B but the length of A. (B is sleeveless which is what I wanted.) So, while I like Kwik Sew’s watered down techniques I’m going to have to go with something a bit more fitted. Something more along the lines of these:

In the queue

Joann’s had a sale on Simplicity patterns. For $.99 I couldn’t pass it up. These bad boys usually go for $15 so this was a deal even if they don’t work out. But I’m hoping they do. It’ll be a learning experience, that’s for sure. :)

As for knitting, I’ve finished the pieces for Basic Black and it’s on the blocking board as I type this:

Basic Black-on the blocking board

forgive my half-ass blocking. I know Big Beanlet will be glad it’s done. I’m a little upset with myself for taking so long with it. I just have been preferring to sew more than anything. And with the Spring and Summer coming I’ll probably let knitting go by the wayside again this year. It’s easy to do when you see how much faster a sewn garment is compared to a knit(or crochet!) one.

This morning I washed some lace edge fabric for kitchen curtains. It’s a thin cotton/poly blend(I think?) and it’s probably already dry. All I need to do is cut the width I need and sew up the sides and make a casing. No pattern needed. I think I hear it calling me. ;)

TTFN

Kwik Sew 3586 Done!

Behold, my first adult button-down shirt!!

Done! With buttons

This was one heck of a trip. In my previous post I talked about jumping into the wilds of garment-sewing, via this shirt. I plum forgot about those graduation dresses I made last year!! But still, I think what made this harder for me was that the intended recipient is ME, and that makes trying on as I sew, more difficult. I keep thinking I want a dress form, but I hear they’re a hassle to work with sometimes. And they’re $$$. At some point I’m going to have to get on the ball and make one of those duct-tape forms. I’m sure the Mr. will love wrapping me in tape. ;)

Anyway, On with the show. Let’s go down the list of shirt highlights and things I’ve learned/become annoyed with:

Goofed up collar/neck

First off, the collar stand. See that? It’s supposed to reach the edges of the button bands and it doesn’t. I double checked the pattern piece and I did indeed cut the right size.. This one issue makes me not want to make this shirt again. I’m debating if I want to just get a different pattern or try messing with adding length and extra seam allowance to this one. That’s another issue I had: seam allowance. Pretty much everything else I have sewn garment-wise involves 5/8″ seam allowance. At the very least, they were always more than the 1/4″ I was allowed on this one. Pressing seams open was a bit of a problem when I barely had enough fabric to hold down. Combined with this slightly stretchy fabric, the small seam allowance caused me to have to resew some seams because they’d come apart! Part of me wants to serge all the unfinished seams but with such small area to work with I might accidentally make the shirt too small. So I’m leaving the insides just as they are.

Buttonholes!

Buttonholes! Aside from the collar, another of my big fears was the buttonholes. I was so afraid I’d mess it up. Part of that was because I thought the buttonhole foot would also open the hole, so if I messed up I’d ruin the shirt. But that’s not the case, and once I practiced on some scraps I was good to go. All I had to do was cut open the hole with my friendly neighborhood seamripper. (Mr. Seamripper and I have become very friendly lately.)

Lastly:
Bust dart?

Bust dart! At first I wasn’t sure how to sew this part. I’d never sewn one before. And based on this photo I’m thinking I didn’t need it. I never paid much attention to where the darts are on purchased clothing, but then that rarely if ever fits me correctly anyway, so it’s anyone’s guess. I’m thinking, next time to leave the dart out somehow. At least until I actually do have a form to try the shirt on. I have some dress patterns that I think have darts too, but I might just leave them out if the fabric is busy enough.

All in all, not bad. I could have made the visible seams straighter but I don’t go too many places so this is good enough for home and such. I got over the major hurdles: buttonhole, darts and figuring out how to attach the shoulder seams to the back yoke. That there was a doozy. One other frustation I had was sewing the curves of the bottom edges. Actually the sewing wasn’t the issue, it was the pressing flat. I might just draw in a square bottom; should be simple.

Though this pattern put me through some ups and downs I’m not giving up sewing. It’s not perfect, but at least I know, it’s made in America! :D

TTFN

Sew it's come to this…

Oops

Inspired by Karen to brave the wilds of garment-making, I set out to sew my first button-down shirt. I’ve had the pattern in my stash for at least a  year, along with two pieces of fabric but I was always too chicken to actually do it.  I chose what I thought would be a really easy pattern from a brand I like a lot(Kwik-Sew!) but I still had a few issues. I managed to get through the shoulder seams, confusing though they were, only to really fark up and wind up with what you see above.

That’s right. I sewed the sleeve on the wrong side. After pinning and repinning that section and finally seaming it, I was all kinds of YAY and then realized I’d boo-boo’d. Sigh. The seam ripper and I are on drinking buddy terms right about now. Not that I’ve actually BEEN drinking–I suspect that had I been the screw-up would have been worse!

This isn’t going to stop me from making more shirts, though. Though I’m still too chicken to go for long sleeves, I do look forward to sewing a few more projects from this pattern. Summer’s coming and I sure could use them.   As I type this the sleeve needs fixing, and then I can seam the other, then all there is left to do is seam the sides and sleeve bottoms and *GASP*… buttonholes! *nailbiting* Luckily there’s plenty of scraps left to practice buttonholing with. ;)

TTFN

I Can Sewz Needle Roll?

I Can!
My first Needle Roll!

I finally made something without consulting/following a pattern. I just went with what I remembered from viewing various other needle roll patterns on the internet. There were some lessons learned and I left out a step(I was thinking of putting in a layer of batting and forgot), but overall it was a simple process. I also forgot about a top flap, but with the roll closed I didn’t experience any danger of the needles falling out. This isn’t something I planned on taking places with me so that doesn’t really matter, but for next time I will remember to incorporate that feature.

DPN roll close-up

Another oops was that I should have used a doubled over piece of fabric for the pockets. Next time I also plan to sew the pocket seams from bottom to top and back again, to eliminate the thread ends sticking out. Finally I should have gone very slowly to keep the lines straighter. In a hurry, that’s me.

All rolled up

All in all, not a bad deal from stash fabric and trim. I actually sewed two fat quarters together to get the outer fabric and pocket section but wound up cutting a lot off. I couldn’t seem to wrap my head about how long the roll needed to be. That alone has me a bit worried about the roll for my circs. Perhaps I should come up with something else. I also have crochet hooks to get in order but that should be much easier.

Making sense of it all… or, I’m officially F-SABLE!

Fabric stash, before

This is my fabric stash. Any questions? ;)

I am officially F-SABLE, or Fabric Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy. Actually, if I live to be 75 I might be able to use it all for something. But it’s still a lot of fabric. There’s no set amount one should be able to use within a year, but whatever that criterion is, I’m past it.

I figured disorganization is part of what’s been keeping me from using the stash. I didn’t know what I had and I’d go buy more. I’ve yet to buy the same print twice without knowing it, but I keep finding new stuff, only to get home and find I’ve got something similar, or which would be just as good for a project in mind. So, to help put an end to that, get a better idea of what I have, and fall in love with my stash again, I set out to ‘organize it’.

I put the word organize in quotation marks because, well, organization for me is futile at best. Mainly because I lack the space I’d really need to put it all away the way I’d like

Fabric Stash... after

This is my cotton yardage so far. I’ve got a bunch of scraps I want to put to use at some future date in another bin of its own, which also houses my many fat quarters I purchased when I was in a fat quarter-buying haze. Also not pictured is a bin with stretch knits and stuff I want to make clothes out of. I think I went a little overboard buying knits for my new serger. Crazy that I bought it near the end of the Summer last year and figured I’d stop with the T-shirt making because it was going to be Fall soon. We see how that turned out! I could have just kept going. Hopefully I can get a head start for the Summer THIS year.

Lest you think I’m not knitting:

Basic Black for Big Beanlet

“Basic Black” is coming along. I got over the hump I was stuck behind in regards to the shoulder shaping of the fronts. After I finish this, though, I MUST do something with the Heather Hoodie Vest before it gets too warm. I’ve decided to just keep it with no sleeves. I should be able to do the hood and button band with the three balls of handspun I have left. I can’t wait!! I’ve been reading the hood has been turning out extra big for some knitters so I will have to keep an eye on when exactly to accommodate for that. That should leave me with more yarn for the rest of the project.

The only thing bugging me about the Basic Black is the yarn is 80/20 Acrylic/wool. It was a gift to me, so I can’t complain. I just hope the blocking goes smoothly with what little wool content it has. Otherwise seaming will be a doozy!

As for actually sewing, Nashe challenged me to sew a knitting needle roll-freehand! I’m up for the challenge but I’ve got some cleaning to do for guests this week and getting the fabric under control took a lot more time than I’d hoped for(it lives in the livingroom, so I had to do something). I’m typing this during a cleaning break. I’m almost done and hopefully I’ll have tomorrow while the kiddies are in school to catch up with the needle roll. I do desperately need one. Or two, or 3! (DPNs, circs and crochet hooks)

I guess that’s it for now!
Later gaters!

Overcoming Sewing Fears

I’m always on the internet looking for sewing inspiration. I’m finding it, too. Blogs aplenty showcase home-sewn fashions, accessories, and decor. And each time I see something I really like, I say to myself, “I’m going to try that!”. Sometimes I actually get the materials/supplies. And then, I blank out. I don’t know WHAT to do. It drives me bananas seeing others sew these awesome outfits and stuff, and I can’t seem to get my ass in gear. And I think I know what it is. Fear.

Fear of messing up lovely fabric. I know, I know. The solution to that would be to just get a crapload of fabric I don’t really care for and work the pattern with that FIRST. But believe it or not, it’s so hard to see any fabric as something I don’t really ‘care for’. Oh sure, there’s prints and such that I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing, but I’m thinking the issue with this is.. Two different fabrics won’t drape the same, so making a muslin with a cheap fabric might lull me into thinking I’ve done the right thing. Then when I use the ‘real’ fabric, everything goes wonky and Oh SHIT! I spent all that money. I’m afraid I’ll be relegated to wearing my muslins. (To be fair, I’ve seen some really nice ‘muslins’ out there, so someone’s getting it right the FIRST TIME).

Sigh. All I ever heard growing up was, ‘if it looks to good to be true, it probably is. And so I take that into my sewing psyche. Yeah the dress LOOKED simple and blammo! I farked it up. Like that “One Seam Convertible Dress” I made a mess of about 3 years ago. I’m half crazy enough to try that again with a fabric I’ll WEAR in the street. But messing that up really stung me. I almost didn’t want to sew again after that debacle.

Yet, I kept at it, and came forward to my favorite pairs of pajama/lounge pants, and the two awesome graduation gowns I made the girl Beanlets. We got a lot of compliments on those dresses; they were my proudest creations. But with the beginning of a new year, I’m starting to get afraid again. I’ve got fabrics and patterns and ideas calling out to me and I hide. Combine a fear of screwing up with procrastination and it’s a wonder I get anything done!

But I’m working on it day by day, and I hope I can create things I’ll be excited to share(and wear!)

TTFN

Getting There…

That’s been me with the knitting and sewing, among other things.
Patchwork Belt
“Belt It!” from Pretty Little Patchwork
I made a belt for little one but it needs some fixing up. This belt is mine. I was able to correct my mistakes with this one at least. I’d much rather have a belt with a buckle and latch but I didn’t have the hardware for it so this was the next best thing.

I had a photo of me wearing the belt but, as luck would have it, my camera decided to conk out on me when I wanted to get the photos off the memory chip. Nothing in the house will read the chip except my printer, but that will only PRINT the photos and not let me move them to a flashdrive. The computer is back in the shop and doesn’t show any signs of coming home any time soon. Sigh. I swear something is killing my electronic devices and it ain’t me. Luckily, I didn’t dispose of the old camera(merely ‘gave’ it to hubby) so I could at least take a shot of the belt. Whew. More good luck, is that the camera is still under warranty so I’m going to see about getting it fixed.

In other ‘getting there’ news, I’ve seamed the Heather Hoodie Vest(did you think I forgot? ;) ) and am ready to do the final parts. I still am not sure if I will make it with what I have but I’ve decided to just be ready to dye more yarn if I need to. Upon inspection I noticed one front of the vest is way lighter than the rest of it. Oops. Can we say patchwork knitting? ;)

Nothing new on the cooking horizon, as while making my belt I learned something rather disturbing. I had to lay the fabric out to fuse the interfacing to it and um.. my belt was longer than the ironing board! Not good. Gonna have to do something about that.

I had a brief flashing of wanting to knit/sew xmas gifts for family outside my home, and then realized I have way too many. Since I don’t want anyone to feel left out, well, I just said F it. ;) Maybe if I get started in January 2010, I’ll make it for Xmas huh?

I tried.
TTFN!

Craft Ramblings (photo heavy)

So what’s been going on? Quite a bit, actually.

Finished a slew of hats for the kids. And I got some proof of the statement that certain color dyes affect the overall feel of a yarn. This holds true even with acrylic, I’ve found.

(forgive the blurriness, please)

Boy Beanlet’s hat, made with the Eat-a-Hat pattern, in Loops and Threads Impeccable in black. This is 100% acrylic and this particular color was harder to knit with than the lavendar or brown that I made the other hats with. I’d never heard of this brand of yarn before and it being on sale sealed the deal. I’ve no regrets but I know next time for black yarn I’d have to splurge a little and get something with some wool in it.

Then there’s

This time it’s the Kable Kid hat pattern. I could have sworn I made one like this before.. only without the pompom, and in handspun. It’s just as well, seeing as the Mr. accidentally felted that one so now kiddo can have it ‘again’. :) Again in L&T Impeccable in Lavendar.

Finally we have a simple ribbed beanie(during which I seriously jacked up the crown decreases)
Same yarn, in Chocolate. This was by far the softest of the colors I have. And it still had a little of the typical squeakiness found in most acrylics.

Though it seemed to soften up when I knit this into an Irish Hiking Scarf to go with it:
Irish Hiking Scarf

I’ll probably do another of these for Boy Beanlet. Littlest one already has a lavendar scarf, so all she needed was a hat and mittens. Nothing fancy there, just standard stuff. I’m seriously considering double stranding the yarn with wool for extra warmth. I know wool is supposed to keep your warmer than acrylic but honestly, as far as I’m concerned nothing really warms me except a heated room! But that’s another post…

In sewing/fabric news, Ugh. I’ve had a hell of a time getting my hands on the one book I’ve probably been wanting without realizing it. I never figured it would exist. I’m talking about the 101 One Yard Wonders book. You know the 101 One-skein wonders series? Same concept but with fabric/sewing instead. I drooled at the thought of working some of the patterns in there. Yeah there are certainly free patterns out there in the webosphere that you can do with just one yard of fabric but I can’t help myself. I love craft books. And I’m always on the lookout for new patterns/ideas. I would have never dreamed of such a book but apparently someone was reading my subconscious. ;)

Now if I could just get my fat little hands on it, I’d be ok. I’m working on that, trust you me. Oh! and if you’re an Etsy fiend like me, and you sew, you’ll want to head over to Keyka Lou‘s for a fantastic 2-fer sale going on now! I already ordered the Business Card Wallet and the Lots of Pockets tote. I’ve heard so many good comments about this designer and I really like what I see, so I had to try it myself.

If you check that first picture again, you’ll notice what the hats are resting on. While digging in my closet for yarn to work on Boy’s hat I re-discovered my old keyboard I got almost 20 years ago. I used to love playing with that thing. I took a basic piano class in high school and kept playing at home. There were a bunch of songs I could play for hours of entertainment. One song I loved most, was “Wind Beneath My Wings”, as sung by Bette Midler in “Beaches”. (FTR I never saw that movie, and have no inclination to. In fact I didn’t know the song was in there. Rather, I learned of it from heavy radio airplay during the Gulf War of the late 90s.) Anyway, mom would love to hear me play and sing that. I stopped playing when she died. But for some reason I felt like trying again. And Oh Em Gee, my hands hurt lol. I forgot how much work piano playing is. I’ve never been able to really read music on the fly so I am relegated to memorizing the notes. I suppose I’ll have to forget a few phone numbers, blood types, children’s middle names and how to cook in order to find room for this one song. ;) I was gonna sell the keyboard but big kid is taking a music class and could practice on it. One of my favorite things to do as a teen was to play on my keyboard and have mom there with me. Here’s hoping I get to relive some of that with my own kids.

TTFN!!

Easy on Sunday…(photos!)

It took everything in me, not to take out my hair dryer and work on the hoodie pieces:

Heather Hoodie blocking

It’s STILL drying, but it’s almost there. Maybe tonight I can start seaming. And then I can work on the hood. I still have two full skeins left, which should be enough for it. While that’s percolating, I cast on for the Hat Heel socks last night. I don’t have a pic of that; it’s not much to look at. I’ve got some thoughts about this pattern but I’ll keep it to myself til they’re done. ;) I also hope to get some use from these

Ohh Yes!! before the long weekend is out. I’m trying not to drop WIPs to start something new. It’s a struggle, I tell you.

Brand-spanking-new Gingher Dressmaker shears! A gift from my crafty chat friends!! The love keeps coming, I tell you. I mentioned how my kids got a hold of my sewing scissors and used them to cut PAPER. *cue blood-curdling scream* Well my friends heard my lament and sent me a new pair! Weeeeee! I haven’t had possession of an all-metal pair of scissors in who-knows how long! :D Thank you again, ladies!!

Glamour shot: Mine!

I’m being spoiled all around, it seems. The kids have figured out that if they do things around the house they might get treats. My son has always been more willing to do chores without being asked but this takes the cake. I snapped a photo of him and lil sis washing and drying the dishes the other night, so that I could whip up a smoothie for them

They're up to something..

Now to get them to understand that they should help out around the house because they SHOULD and not just to get things.. ;) too late, huh?