Cozy toes!

The holiday sewing season is upon us. Heck the holidays themselves are almost upon us and I'm not really ready yet but I keep plugging away at it anyway. Somehow, I'm more behind this year than in other years. Oh well, I do what I can. I did manage to make up a bunch of different PJ bottoms for my kids using the pattern from Heather's Ross Weekend sewing book and I love how they turned out. Sadly, no pics of those as they got put to immediate use but judging by the amount of wear, they were a big hit. I still have a pair for myself on the to-do list - you know maybe one day when all my other projects are done.... a ha ha ha ha ha

Meanwhile, I have been dying to try out this boot slipper pattern from Favorite things. Don't they look awfully cozy on the cover?
So I whipped up a few pairs. My feet are always cold and these will be perfect for the mountains. Mine are lined with Minkee from Benartex. This is a super cuddly and soft fabric perfect for blankets and anyplace you want extra loft and warmth. A little Andalucia on the outside from my stash. I also made the most adorable pair for a friends new baby - they are so much cuter when you make them in size infant small. And of course, my daughter wanted a pair as well. I added some lightweight interfacing to the sides of hers to stiffen them up a bit - they were a bit too floppy for my taste in the larger sizes. I think the interfacing solved that problem.
I thought that my pair needed a little extra padding to be more comfortable as a slipper rather than a sock - so I added 2 extra layers of batting to the sole of the next pair and they are more comfy that way. The only drawback to this pattern, for me, was that seam of the sole is on the inside of the slipper and you can feel that when you are wearing them. If you have sensitive feet like I apparently do, you might want to alter the way the sole is constructed, either by putting the seam on the outside and adding a little decorative stitching to cover the seam or by adding an insole to the inside so you can't feel the seam. I will have to do that on my next pair. Still they are cozy and warm and will be great for cold winter nights.

Happy Holidays and happy sewing!

Skort Stack

Summer is coming and that means summer camp season - what does the fashionable yet playground saavy fashionista wear this year? Why a stylish skort of course! I have been busy making these. I made a couple last summer and they were so simple to make, I decided that this summer I wouldn't buy a stitch of off-the-rack ones for dear daughter. I've been working in the sweatshop - err I mean the sewing room for 2 days and here is the result. I made 8 of these suckers - I think that should do her for the summer don't you think?

My daughter actually picked out the fabric combos for these first 4 ~ she did a great job don't you think? I had so much fun making them, I decided to do a few extra. I would keep going, but really how many skorts can one girl need?

Look at these cute ones with Lila Tueller's Soiree fabric (really lovin' this fabric)


Ok so you want to know how to make these?

Measure the length of the finished skort you would like. I usually just grab a skirt or something that fits well and is the right length. For mine the total length is around 13" from hem to waist.

Decide how you will tier the skort - will it be one layer or two or more? I have done a few styles here, but the basic style is this one: So for a typical size 8 skort, I make the bottom tier around 9.5" wide, the middle tier is 3.25" wide and the ribbed waistband is 4" wide. (None of these measurements include seam allowance, so you will have to add that). I usually cut the bottom tier 63" long and the middle tier is 30" long. The ribbed top tier is a bit shorter, usually around 24-25" long. If you need a different size, just adjust the measurements to suit your child.

Sew the strips into circles by sewing along the side seam. Gather the bottom tier to fit onto the middle tier and sew the seam. Topstitch the seam on the outside to secure it. Hem the bottom of the skirt.

Shorts - I used a basic shorts pattern (eg. Simplicity 2628), you can find whichever one you like - just needs to be basic elastic-waisted shorts - no bells and whistles. I sewed them up completely except for the waistband. Once they are done, you will insert them into the skirt and baste the top of the shorts to the top of the middle skirt tier. Be sure to mark the front of the skort/shorts at this point - so you don't put the shorts in backwards - or have the seams of the waistband in front. With me still?

Now sew the ribbed waistband into a circle as well and place it over the top of the skirt on the outside. The knit ribbing stretches so you can get it to fit on the middle tier without having to gather it. Sew a length of 1" wide elastic into a circle (cut it to fit the waist of your recipient, 25" on mine). Now place the elastic over the ribbed knit and fold the knit up so that it encases the elastic. Sew the waist seam stretching the ribbing/elastic as you go. Turn it all out and topstitch on the top edge of the middle tier (folding the seam allowance down on the inside). And you are done!! How easy was that? You can try varying the way you cut up the tiers to change the look.

In this version I've added another fabric along the bottom tier.Here is a 3 tiered version.

Use different fabrics for the waistband and the middle and bottom tiers.
Have fun sewing these up - you'll find it's a bit addictive.

Bella Bag

I felt it was time for a new bag. I haven't made one in awhile, and correspondingly, i'm getting tired of carrying the one i have. Time for a shot of color. Here's my newest purse design made using Patty Young's Andalucia fabric and some ultrasuede. Coordinating fabric for the lining, of course. :)

Goodbye ready-made!

I have been playing alot with knit fabrics lately. They are my new favs. Tee-shirts really do whip up very quickly. There aren't that many seams to sew and nothing very complicated. The toughest thing about knits is to not pull the fabric so it puckers. That makes keeping the fabric flow evenly through the machine pretty important but aside from that there isn't much else to master. I have found that lowering my feed-dogs a bit helps with feeding heavier weight interlocks or multiple layers of fabric.

Finally, after many months of good intentions, I managed to eek out some time to make a couple tees for myself. So I pulled out my Zoela pattern and got to work. Zoela is a simple raglan sleeve pattern but I'm not usually fond of that style on myself so I started with some scrap knits to do a dry run before I committed the nice knits to the project. After fitting the dry run I was able to proceed to the good knits ~ Et voila. I think the hardest part is coming up with unique and cute fabric combos, well that and my limited knit supply. Nice quality knit fabrics are actually pretty hard to find, not to mention two or more of them if you plan to mix prints together.


Taking a page from our european sewing sisters, I've been inserting little folded ribbons into the side seams of just about all of my tees lately. I don't know why I am so enamored of this approach ~ must be the little added detail I suppose ~ well, that and an excuse to use some of my ribbon stash. The ribbon here is from Patty Young's Andalucia line which is rapidly becoming an all-time fav of mine. Works well with these fabrics, yes?

Now that I've got the basics down, I think I'll embark on some embroidery embellished tees and save myself the exorbitant costs they are asking for ready-made ones these days.