Archive for the ‘Sewing’ Category
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August 16, 2010
Today we experienced the many emotions of dropping our little ones off at school for the first time. Preschool to be specific. Thankfully, the girls really like the school they’re going to. It’s a small Montessori school about 30 minutes away, but well worth the drive. Unfortunately, though, with just a 3 hour school day that means I won’t be able to go back home for some time to work on my own projects while they’re in school. No biggie…I may not be able to dive into a bunch of new projects any time soon, but I will be able to get my work-out on! And I think I’ve decided that this will be my workout bag:
I accidently printed the pattern too small, so it’s too little to be an everyday type of bag, but just big enough to hold a towel, a set of headphones, a water bottle, and a set of keys! Such a shame for a pretty little bag, but I’m happy to have found a use for it.
The doilies were much easier than I expected to appliqué onto the bag. I just used my fabric glue to hold them in place while I stitched over them with my machine. I used a pattern and tutorial from Very Purple Person. If you use her pattern, just don’t forget to check her test square on your printout!
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Two More
Can you believe summer is almost over? In just a little more than two weeks my two little babies (2.5 and 4yrs) will be starting preschool. I don’t know of anything that can be more sad, yet more exciting at the same time. What in the world will I do with all that time??? (hahahaha). Actually, it’s only 3 hours a day, and their school is a little more than a 30 minute drive, so I doubt I’ll be spending much of that time at home. Which is a shame, because I really need to paint my bedroom wall one color. I was thinking about yellow, hence the two tones, but I think I’m going to go in a completely new direction all together. We’ll see.
I’m still turning out bags as quickly as I can. Each bag comes with a new skill to learn, so sometimes they take a while.
For example, it took me one whole evening to figure out how to install a zippered pocket in the lining. I read tutorial after tutorial, but it took me doing a hacked-up practice run on some scrap fabric to finally figure it out. But…I lurrrve the finished product!
Details:
Green bag: I used Made By Rae’s free buttercup bag pattern. Outer fabric is a home dec weight thrift store find, inner is something from the remnant bin at JoAnn’s.
Purple bag: Basic pattern from a Japanese bag book (pics to follow in the coming days). Outer is Echino “bird to hang” cotton/linen blend, inner is Momo’s Freebird Eggs in grape.
I’ve got two more bags waiting in line, but I’ll probably have to put them on hold until next weekend, unless I can sneak in some time between all of the busy-ness we’ve got going on this week. Isn’t summer supposed to be laid back?…Looking forward to Fall for things to slow down a bit.
Take care folks…I’ll see ya soon!
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Month O’ Bags
Well, I’m back after taking some time off from Ye Olde Blog. Things were a little upside down around here towards the end of June. On the heals of celebrating my 31st birthday at the beach I was faced with the news that my father had passed away. Disbelief. Sadness. Acceptance? Perhaps. Either way it took a while for me to feel like crawling back into my tiny little craft room and getting back behind my machine. But, alas…I finally did.
And I made a bag.
I followed this very simple tutorial and used some 25cent upholstery-type fabric I had picked up at a thrift store at the beach. And I was so lazy I didn’t even bother to add a snap or pocket or anything useful. But, it was my first time back on the horse in about a month so I’m going to cut myself some slack already. 
.Then, I made another bag. I followed Noodlehead’s very popular gathered clutch tutorial.
The Kaffe Fasset fabric was an excellent score from the Sew Mama Sew FQ Swap. I really love the design of this clutch, but I think the gathers would be much more becoming on a solid fabric. Maybe I’ll give her another go. If I do sew up another one of these cuties, I’ll also use a bigger seam allowance around the lining, do away with the end tabs on the zippers, and add a little wristlet hangy thingy. What are those things called?
But, at least I didn’t skimp on the add-ons this time. I included the divided pockets and compartment separator (not shown)!
I also currently have a buttercup bag in the works. The pieces are all cut up and waiting to be stitched back together! Since bags are currently my, um, bag, I am hereby declaring the rest of July “Bag Month” for myself. I’m going to see how many totes, purses, clutches, handbags, etc. I can turn out in the next couple of weeks and hopefully be a bag expert by the time all is said and done.But not tonight. Tonight I am watching reruns of Glee and knitting up washcloth #3 out of 10 for the latest Craft Hope Project. There’s still time to participate, so please go check it out.
See you soon!
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Daily Spice a la Julia Child
Friday night we had the great pleasure of joining our friends for dinner at their place. My girlfriend, Christine, recently found a new passion in cooking and delighted us with steamed artichokes and baked brie, followed by a main course of veil marsala. Yum, yum, yum.
I thought an apron would be a fitting gift for Christine, and, knowing that she’s a big fan of Julia Child, I took my inspiration from this book:
I found this pretty little fleur de lis print from the American Jane Breath of Avingnon line (purchased at a local quilt shop) and it couldn’t have been more perfect with it’s tiny red fleurs all throughout. And, as fate would have it, a visit to JoAnn’s led me to find two cuts of red Kona cotton, nearly a yard a piece, in the remnant bin. Fancy that. 
Heather Bailey’s Daily Spice apron pattern is a really lovely pattern and came together relatively easily. I cut the pieces one night, spent an entire afternoon sewing all the bits together, and was able to finish the hand stitching the following day during two episodes of Glee.
Dinner was delicious and it was such a treat to be able to spend some time with our friends. The weekend is winding down now and things will be probably be slow around the blog next week as I try to attack my list of things to do to get ready for our little girl’s birthday party. Hope everyone stays safe and well over the Memorial Day weekend and I’ll be back when I can!
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Dress-up Party Preparations
Party preparations are moving right along for the fairy/butterfly/princess/king/superhero dress-up party, but I’m at a bit of a roadblock with the invitations. I had hoped to don Annabelle in some of the party elements and snap a picture of her, but things just weren’t coming together as I had imagined and I ended up abandoning the idea all together. What to do, what to do…. still thinking.
FYI: Used a mash-up of tutorials from Juicy Bits and Balancing Everything for the felt crown. I think both called for fusible interfacing, which I omitted because I have a tendency to skip steps whenever I can. I know…bad, bad, bad! Also used templates from Ambrosia Girl for the masks, although Hazelnuts has a spiffy one as well!
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Kids Clothes Week: Days 6 and 7
Here are the last two tops I completed for Elsie Marley’s Kids Clothes Week Challenge. The tops are from an Oliver + S pattern available from Stitch Magazine. I think they’re my favorites of the week. They’re so summery and both girls looked mighty comfy their respective tops. Oh, and they absolutely, friggin’ adorable!
I made Charlotte’s using a couple of vintage pillow cases that I’d been holding on to. The yellow flowers are so sweet and “lello” is her favorite color. I had such a great time participating in this challenge, and I don’t think I have ever been more productive in my life! The challenge definitely helped keep me going, although I did stray a bit from my original list. I still need to make a couple aprons for my girlies but I think I’ve still got enough steam in me to make them tonight.
Hope you enjoyed following along, and be sure to check out all of the awesome stuff the other participants have shared at this flickr group!
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Kids Clothes Week: Day, um…3,4,and5?
I was so bummed to miss posting the past couple days, but I really wanted to spend my time sewing so that I could actually finish something!
I used a thrifted polka dot fabric for the top skirt and the leftover fabric from Annabelle’s dress for the bottom. The tutorial can be found here. These skirts come together pretty easily, although all the little steps involved do take time. But gosh are they cute on!
Charlotte put hers on straight away and the fit is great. How in the world do people get their kids to stand still long enough to take a great pic?
On to some more sewing now! Or maybe a nap. Hmmm….nap sounds good. Perhaps the aprons can wait until tonight.
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Kids Clothes Week: Day 2
I sufficiently wore my girls out this morning and the result was a beautiful 3-hour nap from both of them! I would not have been able to finish this dress today with anything less. As simple as it is, I still came across some hiccups along the way and spent more time than I’d like to admit just picking seams out. The pattern is Dress M from this Japanese pattern book (I omitted the wrap-around and added a pocket). The fabric is a navy quilters cotton and a thrifted floral print from my stash for the straps.
Charlotte tried it on and even though I used the smallest-sized pattern it’s just a smidge too big…not too big to wear though, and she’ll likely grow into it over the summer.
I couldn’t be happier with how the dress turned out. I really love sewing from those Japanese patterns…even though some of my hiccups would have probably been avoided if I could read the writing. The diagrams are usually very detailed so that even a novice such as myself can figure them out. And the styles…oh, my do they have some cute stuff!
This wraps up day two of the Kids Clothes week challenge. Still to come are some skirts and maybe even a couple aprons! See you soon!
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Kids Clothes Week: Day 1
Naptime was a bust. I was only able to finish a pocket and even that probably needs to be redone. Hoping things pick up after bedtime! Be sure to check out the Elsie Marley Flickr Pool to keep up with how everyone else is doing!
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Pretty Little A-Lines
I did not learn to sew from my mom. That is not to say, however, that my mother didn’t sew. She did…once. For a brief time, my mother was the main caretaker of my two nieces, who were quite small at the time. Teeny-tiny little 2 and 3 year olds to be exact. It makes me smile to think of them at that age…they’re 12 and 13 now (eeek!).
But I digress… So, here was my mother, caring for these two little girls all day long. Such a familiar scenario to myself now, but it was a very new situation for her. You see, she worked full-time while my brother and I were growing up, so this was her first foray into the world of stay-at-home parenting. And what’s a girl to do when you’re at home caring for two little girls all day? Make ‘em a dress!
While my mom’s stint as a stay-at-home-mom was brief, she absolutely made the most of it. She baked, she crafted with the kids, and she even sewed them a dress or two. I remember how much fun it was for me to see this new side of her. My nieces benefited greatly from the time they spent with my mom and today they share a very special bond with their grandmother.
Mom’s dress-making days are long past, but that little snippet of time in her life lives on in the lessons she passed to my nieces, and even a little dress that has been passed down to my own little ones.
This simple a-line dress was worn by at least one, possibly both of my nieces 10 years ago and has been very well loved for the past year by Annabelle. Now that she’s growing out of it, it will be handed on to Charlotte. I anticipate some disappointment from her losing such a vital part of her wardrobe, so I recently tried to make a similar frock.
Certainly not a replacement, but I think it will do.
Today is the first day of Kids Clothes week, so I’ll be updating throughout the week about my progress. I got a bit of a head start by getting most of my cutting done, so I may actually make a dent in that long list that I made. Happy sewing everyone!
(photo by Annabelle)
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