So I entered February very excited to be working on Family Fleece and thinking about my lovely simple wool coat. It was cold outside. I was pretty jazzed. Then the second week of February my plan got derailed. That Friday I started feeling so sick I could hardly stand it. I think you know where I'm going with this. I had been told the week before (when stuff was already going on unbeknownst to anyone) by a doctor that although there was nothing wrong with my husband or I that we may need some fertility help. We couldn't afford it so I was trying to reconcile myself with waiting till next year to start a fertility treatment plan. Big, happy, welcome surprise. God Is Good!
Today marks the start of my 12th week. I know my second trimester is a week or two away (depending on who you ask), but my sickness seems to be gone. Now that my days are being spent upright again (instead of face down in bed) I went down to look at my sewing stuff and discovered that I still have the family fleece cut and ready to sew. Alex's is almost done (minus a sleeve and bottom hem), but Brian's and mine are just cut. I'm feeling Spring so I think they may go on the shelf to be worked on when it's actually cold. Luckily, plus size patterns lend themselves to lots of material in the mid-section. (I won't find out the sex till like June so I don't want to work on baby stuff yet.)
Hopefully my sickness will continue to leave me alone and I will FINALLY get back into my sewing room to do some damage!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Simplicity 2743- Little Man Vest
Simplicity 2743 is the latest thing off my machine. I actually had this project cut out before we moved from West Virginia. Lucky for me pattern sizes run big. I chose a very boy-ish sweatshirt fabric covered in skulls for the vest. Alex can be kind of tough to please. Sometimes he loves the things I make and sometimes I have to chase him running and screaming to even get a picture. He wasn't with me when I bought this fabric, but he loved it when I had him try the vest on. He's also really excited about the next project I have for him, but more on that later.
Here is the vest:
You can see that there is an issue with one side being longer than the other lengthwise. Yesterday I thought about seam ripping and trying to fix it, but he was so excited to wear it I just let him go to school in it first. The top edge and the separating zipper line up nicely so the only fix needed is to adjust the hem. It has seam tape on the inside of the pockets, the armholes, and the collar so it looks nice on the inside as well. It's another case of ninja pockets, but if you look closely you can see them. They definitely blend in.
When I had bought the notions for this project I had mistakenly (drunkenly? j/k) bought a regular zipper instead of a separating zipper. I don't know how I made that mistake, but c'est la vie. A few weeks ago I went and bought the 22" separating zipper called for. It was huge! For a regular zipper I would have probably just adjusted it, but with a separating zipper I would have had to gotten all frustrated with the needle-nose pliers. I was feeling lazy so I went out to see what more appropriate size I could find. I was hoping for an 18", but I only found a 16". I think, if you disregard my mistake with the hem, that 16" worked in this case.
I know I haven't updated in a while so I want to include some (badly taken) photos of some projects I have finished since my last update.
Here is an outfit for a friend's little girl from an out of print Simplicity 5374:
I had purchased the pattern and fabric when my now five year old was a toddler. When I was unpacking I found the pieces already cut out so I completed it for my friend's daughter who was of the approximate age. My friend lives in another state so I could not adjust the straps correctly. I'm not positive I would make the jumper again because I don't like the way the straps come together and I really don't like putting buttons on kids clothes (I kept panicking and redoing them over and over). If I made it again I would do faux buttons and probably Velcro or snaps. I did really like the bloomers. It was a bit of challenge trying to pull elastic through an edge so tiny, but other than that I really liked them.
I also made Halloween costumes. My son was Woody from Toy Story. I bought the hat, the t-shirt and the bandanna. I used fabric paint to do the plaid on the shirt. I used Butterick 3244 View B for the vest and View C for the boots and belt. I omitted the fringe on the vest and just left the fabric whole. It ended up being too short and I had to add another piece at the bottom. Alex was pretty tickled with the costume.
My husband and I wanted to kind of match with our son so we did Simplicity 2172 and Simplicity 4083 (View C). We were in a time crunch because I was making them as we were preparing to go to Walt Disney World so I skimped on the buttons and do-dads. I have them so next time we want to wear the costumes I can add them, but for this occasion Velcro was our friend.
That was probably not the best pose for me to do. I cut the jacket too small and it really shows here. I was too tired/lazy to add the accent around the neckline (again, I have it in case I want to add it). It's Velcro-ed closed. The skirt was bought because I could not get my skirt to fit together. Something went wrong somewhere and the pieces just weren't matching up. The part I really loved about this pattern was the corset. I LOVE that corset. It was a lot of pieces and a lot of work, but it looks fabulous. If I could figure out a way to work them into my daily wardrobe I would make like 20 of them.
Here you can see that my husband is a nut. And his costume. Those are his own pants and bought goggles, but I made the dickey, the vest, and the jacket. He really really liked them. He was very proud of my sewing abilities and he had a really great time wearing it. His costume was cut correctly (hint of jealousy on this end) and he wore it well. He's a sexy beast anyway so I knew he'd look great.
Now looking forward to the future projects. It's still cold here in VA and it's supposed to stay that way for a while. It seems to me like it took a long time to get cold so I'm hoping it will hold out. Next project I'm thinking of tackling is one of these two:
A fleece jackets for all of us. Or:
Just a simple yet kind of fancy coat for myself.
I'm not a 100% sure which I'm going for just yet. I think it's going to be the family fleece, but I am really excited about the simple coat. We will see.
Here is the vest:
You can see that there is an issue with one side being longer than the other lengthwise. Yesterday I thought about seam ripping and trying to fix it, but he was so excited to wear it I just let him go to school in it first. The top edge and the separating zipper line up nicely so the only fix needed is to adjust the hem. It has seam tape on the inside of the pockets, the armholes, and the collar so it looks nice on the inside as well. It's another case of ninja pockets, but if you look closely you can see them. They definitely blend in.
When I had bought the notions for this project I had mistakenly (drunkenly? j/k) bought a regular zipper instead of a separating zipper. I don't know how I made that mistake, but c'est la vie. A few weeks ago I went and bought the 22" separating zipper called for. It was huge! For a regular zipper I would have probably just adjusted it, but with a separating zipper I would have had to gotten all frustrated with the needle-nose pliers. I was feeling lazy so I went out to see what more appropriate size I could find. I was hoping for an 18", but I only found a 16". I think, if you disregard my mistake with the hem, that 16" worked in this case.
I know I haven't updated in a while so I want to include some (badly taken) photos of some projects I have finished since my last update.
Here is an outfit for a friend's little girl from an out of print Simplicity 5374:
I had purchased the pattern and fabric when my now five year old was a toddler. When I was unpacking I found the pieces already cut out so I completed it for my friend's daughter who was of the approximate age. My friend lives in another state so I could not adjust the straps correctly. I'm not positive I would make the jumper again because I don't like the way the straps come together and I really don't like putting buttons on kids clothes (I kept panicking and redoing them over and over). If I made it again I would do faux buttons and probably Velcro or snaps. I did really like the bloomers. It was a bit of challenge trying to pull elastic through an edge so tiny, but other than that I really liked them.
I also made Halloween costumes. My son was Woody from Toy Story. I bought the hat, the t-shirt and the bandanna. I used fabric paint to do the plaid on the shirt. I used Butterick 3244 View B for the vest and View C for the boots and belt. I omitted the fringe on the vest and just left the fabric whole. It ended up being too short and I had to add another piece at the bottom. Alex was pretty tickled with the costume.
My husband and I wanted to kind of match with our son so we did Simplicity 2172 and Simplicity 4083 (View C). We were in a time crunch because I was making them as we were preparing to go to Walt Disney World so I skimped on the buttons and do-dads. I have them so next time we want to wear the costumes I can add them, but for this occasion Velcro was our friend.
Now looking forward to the future projects. It's still cold here in VA and it's supposed to stay that way for a while. It seems to me like it took a long time to get cold so I'm hoping it will hold out. Next project I'm thinking of tackling is one of these two:
 |
| Guess which one's mine |
Just a simple yet kind of fancy coat for myself.
I'm not a 100% sure which I'm going for just yet. I think it's going to be the family fleece, but I am really excited about the simple coat. We will see.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Teacher Appreciation
I remembered to take a picture before I gave it away! Hooray! The last thing I made was a Cars shirt for a friend's little boy, but I forgot to take a picture before I gave it away. That was months ago. I really have been in planning mode more than actual sewing mode. I've been tracing pieces to cut out in fabric at a later date and washing fabric, but the two haven't met in weeks. It's almost time to put away the summer sewing and begin the Fall/Winter sewing. Thankfully, I have a fabulous issue of Ottobre Woman to get me through the transition.
My son is starting Kindergarten next week. He's excited and plans to make tons of friends. I, however, am not as excited. There have been a couple of mornings with tears in my Frosted Mini-Wheats. Shortly after we moved to VA I enrolled my son in the local Gymboree. An art class at first till they opened a School Skills class. For a while we were there 3-4 times a week. We even had his 5th birthday party there. He's had two wonderful teachers that have always been really sweet to him and who he really loves. Today is his last day so I wanted to make sure they knew they were appreciated. Thanks to Pinterest I was able to make something really cute for them. Totebags and a snack!
These totes are from the directions from Skip To My Lou. I was already subscribed to this blog and saw this a while back, but when I did a search for teacher gifts this came up and I knew it's what I wanted to do. The outer fabrics are from Wal-mart on clearance. The inner fabrics were from Joann fabrics remnant bin. The directions were from reversible totes, and they are, but the inner fabrics are just plain white and beige.
Inside I put a special snack gift.
This is the idea and tag from Domesticated Lady. She did it in a smaller form, but I wanted to do it a little larger.
Both teachers seemed to really love them!
My son is starting Kindergarten next week. He's excited and plans to make tons of friends. I, however, am not as excited. There have been a couple of mornings with tears in my Frosted Mini-Wheats. Shortly after we moved to VA I enrolled my son in the local Gymboree. An art class at first till they opened a School Skills class. For a while we were there 3-4 times a week. We even had his 5th birthday party there. He's had two wonderful teachers that have always been really sweet to him and who he really loves. Today is his last day so I wanted to make sure they knew they were appreciated. Thanks to Pinterest I was able to make something really cute for them. Totebags and a snack!
These totes are from the directions from Skip To My Lou. I was already subscribed to this blog and saw this a while back, but when I did a search for teacher gifts this came up and I knew it's what I wanted to do. The outer fabrics are from Wal-mart on clearance. The inner fabrics were from Joann fabrics remnant bin. The directions were from reversible totes, and they are, but the inner fabrics are just plain white and beige.
Inside I put a special snack gift.
This is the idea and tag from Domesticated Lady. She did it in a smaller form, but I wanted to do it a little larger.
Both teachers seemed to really love them!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Worst Thing I've Ever Made
It's not really the worst thing I've ever made, but that's how I'm feeling about it right now.
I made Alex a shirt. I wanted something I could put together quickly that didn't require me to do anything especially fancy. I used Butterick 3475. I've made Alex shirts before, but this pattern was for just boys instead of for both genders. This made the fit more "manly". With the previous shirts I've made they were tighter in the body because they needed to look good on a little girl as well as a boy, but this one has a looser body. I really liked the pattern and I can forsee making it again this summer.
The problems were with me. The shirt has standard hemming on the sleeves, but after doing one I realized I wanted to hem the sleeves like Simplicity 3856 with a pintuck. I had already done the first one with a tight stitch and ripping it out was a huge pain. However, I persevered and after taking longer than it should have I finished it.
The second, much larger in my opinion, mistake was the buttonholes. First of all, before we get to my error, I want to say that my machine has a one step buttonhole. I remembered having issues with my buttonholes, but didn't remember why. I did one on test fabric. It looked fabulous. Confidant I then moved on the the actual shirt. I marked where they were supposed to go and started. It just kept sewing the same section over and over not making a buttonhole at all! I thought maybe it was a fluke and tried again with another while I tried to push and pull it to make it move along the fabric. Still a disaster. And then I had TWO not a buttonholes to seam rip. Buttonholes are not the most fun thing to take out (especially ones that have been messed up this way) and it took me a while. Then I tried again. This time I made a buttonhole that I had forced along, but it was slanted and looked a little funky. I started to get really frustrated. It was about this time I just so happened to push on the push plate that I had pushed when I made the first buttonhole and had, mistakenly, believed would stay pushed. It seems that was the magic word. Nothing in the directions mentioned that this plate had to re-pushed every time you make a buttonhole. With this new found knowledge I was finally able to make actual buttonholes. Relieved and tired I finished them up and sewed the buttons on. I was so proud of my work....
till the boy put it on and I realized they were not only too far over, but they were on a diagonal. The pocket also isn't the prettiest thing I've ever seen.
My son likes it though. He picked this fabric out himself from the clearance at Hancock Fabric. I think it only cost me a dollar or two. The buttons were Wal-mart cheapos. So, even with my mistakes, it's a keeper.
To make it up to him I also stitched up some super quick super easy cheater pillows.
I actually stuffed the long one with a pillow form I found a Joann's that fit the dimensions. He's in love.
I made Alex a shirt. I wanted something I could put together quickly that didn't require me to do anything especially fancy. I used Butterick 3475. I've made Alex shirts before, but this pattern was for just boys instead of for both genders. This made the fit more "manly". With the previous shirts I've made they were tighter in the body because they needed to look good on a little girl as well as a boy, but this one has a looser body. I really liked the pattern and I can forsee making it again this summer.
The problems were with me. The shirt has standard hemming on the sleeves, but after doing one I realized I wanted to hem the sleeves like Simplicity 3856 with a pintuck. I had already done the first one with a tight stitch and ripping it out was a huge pain. However, I persevered and after taking longer than it should have I finished it.
The second, much larger in my opinion, mistake was the buttonholes. First of all, before we get to my error, I want to say that my machine has a one step buttonhole. I remembered having issues with my buttonholes, but didn't remember why. I did one on test fabric. It looked fabulous. Confidant I then moved on the the actual shirt. I marked where they were supposed to go and started. It just kept sewing the same section over and over not making a buttonhole at all! I thought maybe it was a fluke and tried again with another while I tried to push and pull it to make it move along the fabric. Still a disaster. And then I had TWO not a buttonholes to seam rip. Buttonholes are not the most fun thing to take out (especially ones that have been messed up this way) and it took me a while. Then I tried again. This time I made a buttonhole that I had forced along, but it was slanted and looked a little funky. I started to get really frustrated. It was about this time I just so happened to push on the push plate that I had pushed when I made the first buttonhole and had, mistakenly, believed would stay pushed. It seems that was the magic word. Nothing in the directions mentioned that this plate had to re-pushed every time you make a buttonhole. With this new found knowledge I was finally able to make actual buttonholes. Relieved and tired I finished them up and sewed the buttons on. I was so proud of my work....
till the boy put it on and I realized they were not only too far over, but they were on a diagonal. The pocket also isn't the prettiest thing I've ever seen.
My son likes it though. He picked this fabric out himself from the clearance at Hancock Fabric. I think it only cost me a dollar or two. The buttons were Wal-mart cheapos. So, even with my mistakes, it's a keeper.
To make it up to him I also stitched up some super quick super easy cheater pillows.
I actually stuffed the long one with a pillow form I found a Joann's that fit the dimensions. He's in love.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
More Baby Gifts and Simplicty Sew Along Skirt
Looking at my previous posts I realized I haven't updated in a month! How did that happen?! So I guess this is more of a monthly round up kinda post. This month I made three things. Two for tiny people and one selfish sewing project.
First up is a baby bib. Last month I had made a bib for a baby shower I attended using Simplicity 2924. Although I wasn't completely happy with it a friend at the shower thought it was pretty awesome and asked if I could make one for her little guy. I had reviewed in my head what I had done wrong with the first one so I was more than happy to make another. She's a little rock n' roll so I asked her if it would be cool to make it in a non-baby kinda pattern just for a little fun. She's into zombie and skulls and has stuff for her kids in that style. I really like the way it turned out!
Next up is a project I had actually anticipated making for previously mentioned baby shower, but ran out of time. It's an infant pillow from Simplicity 2389. I found out that the Wal-mart by my house has a row of pre-cut yards of fabric (and another Wal-mart around here still has an actual fabric department!). Which means they also have clearance of said fabrics. I picked up 2 yards of this pre-quilted pink check for $3!
I had felt already in my stash for the face. The face took me a while. I can still see the mistakes, but from afar it looks pretty cute.
Lastly, I have the skirt I made for Simplicity's Sew Along on Facebook. I didn't contribute a lot, but I did read what others were saying and finished the project on Memorial Day. I discussed it in my previous post.
I really like this skirt. It's extremely spring-y, it twirls, and it has pockets! It's got a side lapped zipper which took me a little fidgeting to get right. After I had it hemmed (where I accidentally cut into the fabric instead the excess, oops) I put it on and realized I had accidentally sewed the lapped over part shut and had to emergency seam rip to get it on.
However, after I put it on I realized I really don't see any of the mistakes. It still needs a hook and eye above the zipper, but I've already worn it twice without it so I'm not super concerned. I will definitely use this pattern again. Originally I had bought ribbon for the waist and pockets, but after putting it on one of the pockets I didn't like the way it looked so off it came. I was unsure of the size. In real life I'm a 16/18, but measurements said 22. I made a 20 and crossed my fingers. It's actually slightly big in the waist, but that's fine with me. This makes me believe that I may be able to get away with a 20 for the Simplicity 2562 pants.
First up is a baby bib. Last month I had made a bib for a baby shower I attended using Simplicity 2924. Although I wasn't completely happy with it a friend at the shower thought it was pretty awesome and asked if I could make one for her little guy. I had reviewed in my head what I had done wrong with the first one so I was more than happy to make another. She's a little rock n' roll so I asked her if it would be cool to make it in a non-baby kinda pattern just for a little fun. She's into zombie and skulls and has stuff for her kids in that style. I really like the way it turned out!
Next up is a project I had actually anticipated making for previously mentioned baby shower, but ran out of time. It's an infant pillow from Simplicity 2389. I found out that the Wal-mart by my house has a row of pre-cut yards of fabric (and another Wal-mart around here still has an actual fabric department!). Which means they also have clearance of said fabrics. I picked up 2 yards of this pre-quilted pink check for $3!
Lastly, I have the skirt I made for Simplicity's Sew Along on Facebook. I didn't contribute a lot, but I did read what others were saying and finished the project on Memorial Day. I discussed it in my previous post.
I really like this skirt. It's extremely spring-y, it twirls, and it has pockets! It's got a side lapped zipper which took me a little fidgeting to get right. After I had it hemmed (where I accidentally cut into the fabric instead the excess, oops) I put it on and realized I had accidentally sewed the lapped over part shut and had to emergency seam rip to get it on.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Let's Do This!
I'm going to be doing a sew along! I "like" Simplicity patterns on Facebook and they will be doing a sew along starting tomorrow to make a skirt. They are doing Simplicity 2185, but the only requirements were that it had to be a Simplicity or New Look pattern preferrably with a zipper. I'm going to go with New Look 6899 View B.
The fabric is from the tutti frutti collection at Joann Fabrics. I'm a little concerned about the fabric. I wanted something light and festive, but I'm worried it's going to be a little clown-ish. I really like this pattern and if I get overly ambitious I can see myself making one of the tops in the pattern too.
I still have three other projects I'm working on, but this will get completed as the sew along progresses.
 |
| She looks SO thrilled. |
I still have three other projects I'm working on, but this will get completed as the sew along progresses.
Monday, April 18, 2011
In A World Of Pure Imagination...
Finally! This past week I finally took my sewing machine out of it's box and unpacked some boxes of fabric and notions. I even completed some projects. Unfortunately, you are going to have to use your imagination for right now because I didn't take pictures of the finished projects. I had a baby shower to attend Sunday and a smart woman would have started making the gifts the moment she found out...this woman started it the day before...after walk/running seven miles. I was up till midnight and tried to fix some things the morning of, but they were completed and I think that's what counts.
The first thing I made was a baby blanket.
This was the first thing I thought of to make when the shower was mentioned. I had this fleece in my possession since 2006. Since I have a boy I'm not sure why I bought it, but now I'm glad I did. I did have to go out and get the blanket binding. The original blanket was going to take two packages of binding, but I had only bought one. I went back to get another, but I got the wrong color (picutured is "hot pink", the blanket has "shocking pink"). My husband pointed out that the original size blanket was going to be super huge for a tiny tiny person so it was downsized to a square.
Gift two was a bib.
I always raid the remnant bins at Jo-ann Fabrics and at some point had picked up vinyl and this cute fabric. Add the leftover bias tape from the Buzz Lightyear costume. I used pattern Simplicity 2924. It wasn't perfect. My husband pointed out that it was good enough for a baby to spit up on. (He's so helpful, lol.)
I added a newborn dress that I couldn't resist at Target and a small loaf of banana walnut chocolate chip bread (recipe from Food Network Magazine). I was very proud of the way it all turned out (although I was apologizing like crazy because that things weren't perfect at the shower).
Coming up, I still have Al's vest. It's all cut out and taunting me. I didn't even start the pants yet. I think I may see if I can find a bigger pattern to fit my big butt.
In the meantime I'm going to (hopefully) make a dress for myself. Gotta love the selfish sewing!
Hopefully the dress will be finished before the summer ends.
I also received my first issue of Ottobre Design Woman. See that face. She's saying "Hello, make my clothes!".
I feels good to be getting back into the groove. I'm already thinking about Halloween costumes. My son, having conquered being Buzz, has decided he wants to be Woody. As I was going through my blog today I realized I never updated with completed Buzz costume. I had made some updates before the actual party last September. I will look for that and update soon.
Thanks to all my readers that have stuck with me!
The first thing I made was a baby blanket.
This was the first thing I thought of to make when the shower was mentioned. I had this fleece in my possession since 2006. Since I have a boy I'm not sure why I bought it, but now I'm glad I did. I did have to go out and get the blanket binding. The original blanket was going to take two packages of binding, but I had only bought one. I went back to get another, but I got the wrong color (picutured is "hot pink", the blanket has "shocking pink"). My husband pointed out that the original size blanket was going to be super huge for a tiny tiny person so it was downsized to a square.
Gift two was a bib.
I added a newborn dress that I couldn't resist at Target and a small loaf of banana walnut chocolate chip bread (recipe from Food Network Magazine). I was very proud of the way it all turned out (although I was apologizing like crazy because that things weren't perfect at the shower).
Coming up, I still have Al's vest. It's all cut out and taunting me. I didn't even start the pants yet. I think I may see if I can find a bigger pattern to fit my big butt.
In the meantime I'm going to (hopefully) make a dress for myself. Gotta love the selfish sewing!
 |
| McCall's 6037 View C |
I also received my first issue of Ottobre Design Woman. See that face. She's saying "Hello, make my clothes!".
I feels good to be getting back into the groove. I'm already thinking about Halloween costumes. My son, having conquered being Buzz, has decided he wants to be Woody. As I was going through my blog today I realized I never updated with completed Buzz costume. I had made some updates before the actual party last September. I will look for that and update soon.
Thanks to all my readers that have stuck with me!
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