~ practicing for swap 3

I'm doing another Swap. Yes, I am. This time it's this cute little gathered clutch from Noodlehead sews. The swap is being run by Penny, SewTakeaHike. I decided to do a little practice clutch the other night partially because I have been meaning to make a simple little pouch for some time. I need something to store my hexies in on the go, and they are just generally handy little things for who knows what. So here is my practice run using some scrap Flights of fancy from my stash

I left out the card wallet holder because I don’t intend to use mine as a wallet. But the divider pocket is a great idea. Scissors on one side and hexie templates on the other don’t you think?

~ The Back

And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as my daughter saw this one, she immediately requested one of her own …like I didn’t see that one coming…. She is a purse girl for sure.

So I made her this one embellished with lots of Farbenmix Ribbons in her favorite Peace/Love theme.



And while I was at it, I made simpler zipped pouches for the pool.


One as a wet bag to put in her soggy swimsuit and the other just for storing small personal items in her pool bag. The pool versions are both made of laminate so they stay dry. These are so fun to make and whip up so quickly.

I need to make a bigger one for my on-the-go knitting projects ~ so the needles don't keep poking through the ziplock bag I am currently using ~ I know, pretty pathetic huh?

So all in all, a fun project, quick to sew up and plenty useful. Try it sometime! I’ll have to make another one for my swap partner soon.

And while I'm on the topic of swaps, check out this lovely pillow and keychain I received from my Pillow Swap Partner, Liz of ollie.kate, from Pillow Talk Swap 3 ~

Isn't it gorgeous? And works perfectly on my sofa see? ~


These pictures don't really do it justice, it's so much nicer in person ~ I'm thrilled.

Happy Sewing!

Yet another skort variation

Ok, it's time for the final installment of Skort Stack 2010. Really, it is endless the number of possibilities you could come up with to vary a skort. Here's another skort following along the lines of Tuesday's tutorial.

This time the construction is the same as the original tutorial but I've added some details. This skort is a solid fabric which highlights the pintucks made along the bottom of the hem. To make this skort you should follow the details listed here. There isn't much to this, I just added an extra 3/4" to the width of the bottom tier to account for the 3 ~ 1/4" tucks I made. I also added a bit more to make the hem a bit wider on this version. You can do the same, just double the width of your tucks and multiply by the number of tucks to figure out how much to add.

I marked lines on the skort before gathering, folded along the lines and sewed my pleats 1/4" wide.

After pressing, I ended up with this ~

Adding in some pretty Farbenmix ribbon to the hem adds the final touch. In this case, I also appliqued an embroidered bird which matches the ribbon because I happened to have that handy. The bird is from the Helen's friends embroidery set from Huups by Helen Dardik. The white fabric I used was Kona snow white which isn't quite a true white, but slightly off white.

Pretty simple but effective ~ the possibilities are endless.

I've started a Flickr pool for this and other tutorials. If you decide to make your own skort, please do share and add it to the pool - I would love to see it!

Happy Sewing and Happy Mother's Day!

Ready-to-wear, kinda

Ok so I had this whole plan for winter sewing.
~ Make some new fleece's for myself using the cover stitch machine - check!
~ Make some long sleeved tees for work - check!

All of this with still plenty of time to wear them this season. Right? Wrong!!

What did Mother Nature do?? She sent us a little El Nino to visit. Such a strange winter ~ with most of the country and many parts of Europe getting dumped on by record snowfalls, here in the western US it is spring. Well technically it is still winter, but it feels like spring. We have had unseasonably warm weather and all my plants seem to have been fooled too because they are budding out like crazy. Sooooo, needless to say my excitement over new warm and cozy clothes is somewhat abated. Now I feel like I need to get my act in gear and get started on summer clothes lest that whole season passes me by too quickly - did I mention it is still February???!!!

Ok I'm not really complaining here, I am loving all this sunshine and warm weather ~ really I am! But I'm still going to show you the warm and cozies because this is probably the only exposure they are going to get this year.

Now added to my list of Farbenmix patterns accomplished is Pellworm. A versatile hooded or collared zip jacket designed by Anja Müssig aka Schnittreif.de.

I have made this one now 3 times and plan to use it a few more times in lighterweight fabrics for spring, umm yea I guess I'ld better get started on that.

Here it is in sweaterknit fleece - a new to me fleece available this past year. Looks like a knit sweater on one side but is really polartec fleece with the loft and softness of fleece on the inside and all of the warmth and washability. Perfect for Northwest weather (well usually).


I added some embroidery to spice them up a bit. Designs are from Debra at Embroidery Library.




As always (because I can't leave well enough alone) I made some design changes. In the orange jacket I lined the hood with a lightweight knit because I don't like the seams showing and thought it gave it a more finished look. I did topstitch all the seams (well most of them) using the coverstitch in reverse (sewn inside out over the seam) so that it would be more decorative and because I like that look.



I hand sewed down all the facings on the inside because I didn't want them to flip out when worn. I also shortened the jacket quite a bit (maybe 3") at the bottom and on the sleeves. This still falls easily to my hips/wrists. I'm average height 5'7", so if you make this you might want to check the measurements for fit before finishing. I didn't include the thumbhole option on the sleeve because I just didn't want to mess with it. I suspect this is probably why the sleeves were a little longer, to account for the thumbhole option.



And if you're wondering where I got all those color-matched zips, the answer is zipperstop.com (no affiliation with these guys). I have ordered from them many times over and always been pleased, plus they carry all kinds of colors and types of zips to match your application. I'm a perfectionist that way and didn't want to go with the standard 4-color options available in my local box store.

Here is a knit version and the prototype, unlined and still in progress because I have to get that handsewing done but I like it just as well.


In this case I used contrasting fabric, stitching and trim and I like the outcome. Don't mind all those little pins you see poking through - I'm not planning on wearing it that way, but my dress dummy isn't a complainer like me!



Happy Sewing!

Tons 'o' Tees

Yup, that's right - Tons of tees - or tonnes - ok well not really, but a lot of them. I've been collecting knit fabrics for the last year - mostly because it is really hard to find good variety in quality cotton knits. So I snag them where I can and have now amassed a nice stash - too much of a stash really - time to get busy using some of them up. It was always my intention, after this blogpost, that I would just make up a bunch of tees for myself. Well that was in January and well, you know how it goes, spring and summer rolled around and other projects took priority and it just never happened. Now it's well into fall and almost winter again and I figured I'd better get them done soon or I'd be putting them on hold for another year ~ Plus that stash really needed a little denting. So I cut cut cut out a bunch of them using the Zoela pattern, then collected a bunch of grown-up embroidery to compliment the fabrics (harder than you might think really), then stitched them on and mass-sewed them all together. Now I should say that t-shirts whip up pretty quickly and it really shouldn't have taken as long as it did, but finally I managed to finish up the last one. And here they are -
ok there are only 4 but it still took me weeks to complete them all. I would really love to make a few more - do I need more tees? No! But the fun is in the designing after all.





And wouldn't you know it, whenever I'm having fun with the designing part, my dear daughter shows up and wants to help - this is her way of saying she wants to design some for herself - and of course she wants matching embroidery too - I have created a monster - a design monster that is. But that's cool! One of these days she is going to compete with me for sewing machine space. But in the meantime, here are some of her self-designed versions using the Farbenmix Drunter and Druber pattern:



Some random t-shirt wisdom from me:
A serger isn't an absolute must, but it sure does make for nice sewing, so put it on your Christmas wish list!
Use wooly nylon in your loopers to give your seams a softer feel on the inside. I've noticed that there is less chance of unraveling with this stretchy fabric if you use the wooly.
Don't stretch the fabric as you are sewing the seam, this will help prevent puckering. One exception would be necklines where you might have to stretch a bit if you are easing in the neckline ribbing. You might have to adjust your feed dogs especially when you are sewing across the grain with ribbed cottons.
Go crazy and have fun! There are lots of new products out there to help embellish your tees. You can use Fold-over elastic (FOE) on the necklines/hemlines/sleeves in place of ribbing if you prefer - gives it a different look. There are also lots of embellished elastics you can use to apply to your edges. Consider picot edged elastic, or ruffled edge elastics to add a little flair to your tee at the neckline or on the sleeves. (Myrinda at Fabrichound always has a nice selection)
Use ballpoint needles - these are usually marked 90/14 BP or 80/12 BP
Don't sweat the knits! Check your anxiety at the door! It's easier than it looks/sounds - You can do this!
Practice on an old t-shirt first if you are still worried about it.

Happy sewing!

What happened to October?

I'm still stalled in October and it's already the middle of November??? Accck! The dreaded swine flu hit our house about a week before Halloween and I'm still playing catch-up. So before December hits, here's a look at our Halloween costumes from this year - I was really much to sick to pay much attention - thankfully the kids were able to get themselves ready and dear hubby was there to chauffeur them around. Luckily the costumes were done well before the pig and his friends showed up - or else they would've been trick-or-treating in their PJs or something.



Pippi's dress is in fact a Farbenmix VIDA done in a solid corduroy and embellished with patches and fake 'darned' holes. I have to say this is the easiest hemline I've ever done - just shredded the thing. The pocket was added later because, apparently, Pippi has to carry a monkey along with her everywhere. Umm okaaaay Pippi. Said monkey also needed a hat, shirt and tie - sigh - so the shirt was cobbled together using this handy doll shirt tute from thingsofcloth, and enlarged just a bit until I thought it would fit the monkey. I think at this point I was already a bit feverish because it took a couple tries to get the shirt the right size.

Dear Daughter and Hubby pitched in and finished up the hat with felt applied over a straw hat - I think - must've already checked-out at this point.


The nearly-headless reaper dude (err whatever that was supposed to be) was achieved using this handy dandy cape tute. Thank-you Vegbee! Enlarged just a bit because my son wanted it full-length and I didn't curve the hood piece because I knew he wanted it pointy - you know like a nearly-headless reaper dude should be - err yeah.

And there you have it - Halloween 2009. Phew. Ok now I'm a little behind, because I really wanted to have a few more things done before Christmas sewing set in. Oh well, it'll get done one way or the other. Or not ~ I refuse to stress over it because sewing is supposed to be fun.

'til next time, happy sewing!

Halloween sewing!

Yes it's that time of year again, annual trips to the pumpkin patch, costume planning/sewing and lots and lots (too much really) of tempting little chocolate bars all over the place.

So in the spirit of the season, I crafted up a couple of Halloween shirts for the kids. These are both from Farbenmix. My daughter very much loves this style called Drunter and Druber from Traumschnitt which is german for under and over. Hers is the 'over' version done up in Pumpkin knit print and coordinating solid orange rib knit. She picked out the embroidery for this one (cat embroidery from Bunnycup embroidery)



The shirt in action!










Then the KleinFohr pattern for my son. He's 10 so this one is a little darker



Here there be monsters embroidery from Urban Threads.


And now we move onto the costumes. I have to come up with a brown cloak for the headless horseman? and a jumper for Pippi ~ Stay tuned!


Happy sewing!

Where's Ling Ling?

Since I can't sew these days, I'm filling the time online shopping for future sewing projects - apparently. As you might've noticed from previous posts, I'm a big fan of Farbenmix patterns and all things Euro.

Nic of Luzia Pimpinella, Farbenmix fame has this gorgeous line of ribbons and embroideries. I love her stuff - she is always so creative at putting together prints and colors (you can check out some of her fabulous creations here on her new ribbon crafting flickr group). After I saw her gorgeous children's set made with Ling ribbon and a matching Ling embroidery - I had to sleuth out the source of that cute embroidery design. So, after much searching I finally found her - Ling Ling. Isn't she cute? Here she is available at Kunterbunt-Design online embroidery site!! I can't wait to stitch her up. I don't know why, but she just tickles my funny bone, she's a cute one that Ling Ling. She is created by the very talented Anja of mymaki ~ who has alot of serious cuteness on her blog page. Check out her latest MOHNika design, and wait wait there's more - matching ribbon soon to be released! Very cool - apparently I have a thing for matching - yeah that's not really new information.

Stay tuned for some sort of Ling creation in the future, hopefully. Happy Sewing!

Images from Farbenmix, Kunterbunt-Design, respec.

Ch- Ch- Ch- Changes

Continuing with the unofficial theme of the week, which is sewing for grown-ups, we have installment 2. This shirt was done with the Antonella pattern from Farbenmix. As with my Zoela, I'm just figuring out what fits here, so nothing fancy was happening on this shirt.

I have to say this shirt took quite a bit of alteration to get it to fit correctly. I really think the cap sleeve pattern piece for the double-layer tee is cut wrong. The sloper doesn't follow that of the armhole and won't fit. So, as a work around, I decided to just use the sleeve pattern piece and cut a short sleeve and a long sleeve and just joined them at the underarm seam. That worked perfectly.

Another change: the shoulders are really wide on this pattern - it looks really deconstructed this way, which is not my personal preference. I don't think it's just my samples, if you look at the design examples on their site, they are all this way. So, to solve this problem, I cut my pattern pieces 1 size smaller in the shoulders only. Left everything else the correct size and this did seem to alleviate the problem.

Yet another change: I thought the neckline was very wide on this pattern which I didn't like either - so I raised it up a bit before cutting out. My version is about half-way between boat-neck and crew-neck.

Yes, that is a lot of changes for one pattern. So you might want to keep that in mind if you plan to go down the Antonella path. I do like the final result and the fit is now perfect, so I will keep using this pattern for this style of shirt.
So now I have 2 pattern tees with a great fit - time to get to some serious embellishing.

Happy Sewing!

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.

Simplicity

Sometimes simple is just better. If you have really lovely fabrics, you can let them do all the 'talking' and pull back on the design complexity factor. Case in point: Here's a simple tiered skirt, inspired by one a friend of mine made, (Debbie of la*tee*da*kids) and in this case just plain pretty because the fabrics work well together. One of my all-time favorite lines is Heather Bailey's freshcut, she really nailed the color palette on that line and hence all things made with Freshcut look fabulous. All I did was add a little scalloped eyelet edging because I thought the fabric could pull off that little bit extra, shabby chic kind of thing. Now I need a matching top - anyone know a great source for cotton batiste?

Then a little black and yellow action with this aptly named Taxi fabric from Timeless treasures. I have always liked this color combo and considering this is my second project using this fabric, I guess I like it alot. The dress is TINI from Farbenmix which is a very easily constructed peasant dress. Great for spring.

Meanwhile, there are new Valentines custom listings in the Trillium shoppe. I am remiss in not mentioning these before now - my apologies.

Christmas is coming!

Are you ready? I'm not, but I'm not sure I'm ever ready - seems like I'm scrambling every year and then it comes whether I'm ready or not - usually not. However, we did have a few snow days already, which meant no school or work and therefore, lots of free time stuck in the house. soooo, I took advantage of that and finished up my Christmas baking.

Then it occurred to me as I was finishing up the last of the holiday handmade gifts, including a messenger bag for my mother-in-law (hope she doesn't read this blog),

that my kids didn't even have xmas shirts. Well, of course they don't need them, but my daughter does like to wear a special holiday themed shirt for special occassions.

So off to the machines I go. This is the Drunter and Druber pattern from Farbenmix. And just in time for her Christmas party tomorrow.


Happy Holidays everyone!