Mmmm-Hmmmm....

Last Saturday I was happily lolling around the house, revelling in my laziness when my mother called and asked me if I would like to have my niece, Sadie, spend the weekend. I should really learn to stop "mmm-hmmm-ing" everything my mother says, because before I knew it, I had agreed!!

Although I was a touch horrified at the thought of having a "tween" for a full weekend, it did give us a chance to work some more on our VERY BIG PROJECT, which is teaching Sadie how to sew. We actually got two projects finished, and planned out two more.

The first project that we finished was Simplicity 3887. She made the shirt entirely on her own except for the neckline, which I did for her; and I helped her with the handsewing on the waist tie. She insisted on having thimbles on every single finger, which did hobble her somewhat.


Sadie wanted to sew the top with the waist tie, but wanted the short flutter sleeves, not the gathered sleeves. The first issue that we had to address was what size to sew for her? My niece, although 11, is a very tall girl and her measurements are 33 1/2, 27 1/2, 37 1/2, which means that she does not fit at all into the children's patterns, even the size 14's.

But, this does present a bit of a problem, as many of the Jr. and Misses' patterns are way to adult for her. So we had to work a bit to find a pattern that was youthful enough for her, and not revealing.

Also, her measurements place her between 10 and 12 for the bust and between 12 and 14 for the waist and hips. But, we cut a size 8. Because it's Simplicity, and Simplicity is ALWAYS huge. That was tough to explain to a beginner after talking to her about how important it is to measure yourself and go by THOSE sizes, and not the sizes you wear in the store!!

She did very well guiding the fabric under the presser foot, and understood the instructions very well, which were also well-illustrated. Overall, I am surprised at how well everything went together with this shirt, and how well she handles the sewing machine...her seams are perfectly straight, and does a great job overall. Much better than my earliest attempts at sewing!!

This turned out to be a great project for a beginner. All the pattern markings and notches are right on, the sleeves are put in "in the round," but are not really set in because of the way the neckband is attached. The gathers at the neck and waist are simple to do, and other than those gathers, there is no easing anywhere. Also, no buttons or zippers! But for all the simplicity of the construction, she got a wearable shirt that is fashionable, and she will be proud to show off.

I would highly recommended this pattern to anyone who is a beginner themselves or teaching a beginner to sew.

Here she is in her shirt, she was so very proud!



Coming off of her fantastic success of her first shirt, Sadie immediately wanted to move on to her next project. She dug into the "stash" that I had made for her, and determined that she wanted to do PANTS! Can you hear the panic from there? I won't even sew pants for myself! Why do you think I wear so many dresses! I hate pants! I suck at pants!

But, I couldn't let my student think I didn't know what I was doing, could I? So she selected her pattern, Vogue 8523. They are a wide-leg pant with back zipper, and darts at the waist. The first thing was finding out what size to cut. I took her measurements and checked the pattern envelope and it indicated a size 12. A SIZE 12!! She's just a baby! I cut a 16 for me!! So I took her measurements again. And then I did flat pattern measurements. And then I scratched my head. And then I made her go upstairs and get the jeans that she was wearing earlier, so I could measure them. And I was able to determine that she was between a 10 and a 12. So, this pattern runs pretty close to size. I asked her if she wanted them to be tight like jeans, or if she wanted room to grow. She said "room to grow!!" so I cut out the 12 and we started on our alterations.


Since Sadie only has a 25 inch inseam, and is also short in the rise, we had to alter this pattern. Fortunately, Vogue was kind enough to include "shorten or lengthen here" lines both above the crotch and below. We slashed the pattern and created a one-inch overlap above the crotch, shortening the rise by two inches (overlap by one inch, shortens each piece of the pattern by one inch, two inch loss in length overall). We then slashed again on the leg, and overlapped by two inches, shortening by four inches overall. We could have gone three inches, though, since I cut off 2 more inches from the bottom before I hemmed them.

She was absolutely amazed at how pants were actually sewn together, since you sew the crotch with the leg side seams open. She said "It looks like an apron, Aunt Missy!" Once I helped her pin up the side seams, the light came on and she said "Now they are pants!" I also showed her how to put in an invisible zipper, and she was pretty worn out after all that basting.

Here is the finished product:



The back ended up fitting better than the front, we could still take the rise down by a centimeter or two. But for our first attempt and with a drastic shortening of the pattern, I think that they turned out really well. She'll just use them for uniform pants at school, so it's not like they had to be incredibly fashion-forward.

Grandma did say that she wore them to school on Monday and had to tell everyone, including the principal, that she made them.

So, good job, Sadie.

Next time we get together, we are going to tackle knits. Fortunately, I am a lot better at those than I am at pants!!

The Ottoman Empire

When I was in graduate school I was broke. Completely. Utterly. Disastrously. Broke. I think that is one of the reasons that I learned how to do so many things for myself because, really, if I didn't build it, chances were, I wasn't going to get it.

When I was in grad school I also desperately wanted a kilm-covered ottoman that Pottery Barn was selling for a mere $650.00. I'm not sure why I ever started receiving the Pottery Barn catalog, lord knows I couldn't afford to buy anything from it. But I wanted that ottoman. I wanted it so damned bad I could taste it. Every time a new version of the catalog would come I would immediately search through it looking for that ottoman to make sure it hadn't been discontinued. Because you know, then I could buy it.

Well, I never did buy that ottoman. Mainly because I never found myself with $650.00 just lying around. But, I did find that I still needed a coffee table. Come on, I was a grad student, not a complete heathen. So, I decided that I would MAKE an ottoman, and I would make it for a hell of a lot less than $650.00. Not only did I make it, I made it so sturdy that I still have it 10 years later, recovered for the third time to match the current decor.

Here is my version:

Here is what you need:

1 piece of 3/4 inch plywood, 36 inches by 48 inches. They will cut it at the store for you, you don't need a saw
4 ready-made legs, you can buy these in the same part of the store where you get trim and and parts for stair rails
Sandpaper and stain for the legs. Try to get a 1-step stain and finish in one. It doesn't have to be super-perfect, they're not really going to show that much
4 clinch nut plates
20 1 inch Philips screws
2 yards of upholstery fabric
2 yards quilt batting
Upholstery foam, 6-8 inches thick, measuring 36 inches by 48 inches
Staple gun
Electric drill with Philips head driver

Once you have all your materials assembled, the ottoman is super-easy to assemble. Other than staining the legs, it only takes a few minutes to put together.

The first thing you need to do is sand and finish your legs. When you buy your legs, make sure they already have screws inserted in them. I used a foam brush to apply the stain and polyurethane. I also used water-soluble poly. This makes me a heathen, just ask my father. However, I have now been using this ottoman for 10 years and it has lived through 4 moves, so I think it was just fine.


Next, clear a place on the floor and begin to lay out your materials. Lay out your upholstery fabric (upside down) on the floor. Then top that with your batting. On top of that, center your block of foam. Then, on your foam, place your piece of plywood.

Now starts the fun part, stapling the fabric.

Starting on one side, grasp the center of one side of the fabric and batting and pull it up on top the plywood. Staple. Repeat on the opposite side. Then do on the last two sides until you have four staples in place.

Now start stapling the fabric around the ottoman, tucking in the fabric on the ends like you are wrapping a birthday present.


When you are finished stapling the fabric, lay out your clinch nut plates and using the electric drill, start driving in the screws. The screws are short so there is no reason to drill guide holes. They will go right through the layers of fabric, also. If you don't use the clinch nut plates and just insert the legs directly into the plywood, eventually the holes will strip out and the ottoman will not be strong enough for someone to sit on. Once the clinch nut plates are in place, insert the legs.


The fabric is easily removable and can be changed as your decor changes. Mine currently matches my red and gold living room, but it has been a variety of other colors. Not only was it inexpensive to create, it is easy to completely change the look for just the cost of a new 2 yards of fabric.


Since I finished grad school and have a job, I could totally afford $650.00 for an ottoman, but now I don't even want it. So there, Pottery Barn.

A BIG New Project

A few weeks ago I was visiting at my Grandmother's house, and because I was also intermittently watching my baby nephew while my brother went to a funeral, I took a couple of sewing projects that needed cutting out to work on while the little guy napped.

My 11-year-old niece, Sadie, was there also and the whole time that I was cutting the fabric out she was right there with a million questions, collecting and pocketing the fabric scraps. I finally asked her "Sadie, do you want to learn to sew?" and she very nearly passed out. So, I set aside the cutting, bundled up the munchkin, and we went to the fabric store to pick out a project.

At Hancock's, the Simplicity patterns were on sale for $1.99, so I handed her the catalog and we talked about what an appropriate pattern to start with would be. She is hard to fit, because she is a tall girl, and developing, so the little girl's patterns are too small. But the big girl's patterns are too skanky!! She eventually selected Simplicity 3887, with the waist tie and puff sleeves.


She selected for her fabric a white quilting cotton with red balls and black jacks on it; which I thought might be a touch young for an 11-year-old. NOT that I was going to point that out to her. With the battles (often resulting in tears on both sides of the dressing room door) that I have waged with her over low-rider pants, tummy-baring shirts, and high heels I wouldn't have said anything if she picked a fabric with pink fluffy teddy bears farting hearts and glitter.

Over the past few weeks, we have been spending Sunday afternoons together learning about the sewing machine, and working on her shirt. Last weekend I gave her her own sewing machine (which will live at my house until she can get through a whole pattern on her own). I found for a good price on Craig's List a Singer 403 in a table. Since she is used to using my Singer 401, it is an easy transition for her. Also, these old Singers are built like little tanks and there is very little that she can do to the machine that I can't fix on my own.

Here she is putting her machine through it's paces, really just playing with all the cams and getting used to the foot control:



She was so excited that the machine was "hers." I taught her how to oil it, and we cleaned all the lint out of it. It was a great deal, just $65.00...much less than even the most basic of machines than I would have been able to get her new; and any machine for that price would have been complete garbage.

Since she has continued to be excited about sewing, this week I took advantage of another pattern sale at Hancock's and some clearance fabric to make her a small "stash," so she would be able to work on a few projects.

For just a few dollars a yard, I got her fabric for a jacket, pants, and a knit shirt:


With the knit with the flowers, she can make either the scoop-neck shirt from Simplicity 4076
or the tee from New Look 6735. Using the gray suiting, she can make either short jacket from Simplicity 3565 or the vest from Vogue 8523. She can use the black to make the pants from the Vogue pattern, New Look 6836, or McCalls 5710. All those patterns are now in her "stash" thanks to the sale at Hancock's. She also has some fancy buttons, a few zippers, thread, bobbins, pins, scissors, chalk, and all the things that she needs to get started. I put everything into a big rubbermaid tub that will be "her" sewing kit.

Hopefully when I see her tomorrow she will be happy with it, even though she didn't get to pick out the patterns and the fabric. I also hope that the sewing will help with other areas of her life. Unfortunately, these lessons are one of the things that she gets to do when her mother doesn't pick her up for visitation. She is supposed to see the children every other weekend, but since she is a crack-head, living in a motel, with no transportation, currently on parole for cooking meth, and in arrears for thousands of dollars in child support I am perfectly happy to fill that Sunday with a sewing lesson so she doesn't mope around about her mother not showing up again.

I also hope that these lessons will help Sadie with some of the other challenges in her life. Namely, building some self-esteem. With a mother on parole, who may or may not be actively working as a prostitute and/or a hustler, I am generally horrified at the items that she will give Sadie to wear. I do what I can to counteract this, when I take Sadie shopping for her school clothes, but it is hard to combat when her mother buys her things like thongs. Thongs! For an 11-year-old! And I'm not talking about flip-flop shoes. But, working on patterns does open the door to talk about things like raising necklines and lowering hems and what is appropriate and what is classy and why no one wants to look at the crack of your butt.

She also struggles with reading and comprehension, and I hope that working through pattern instructions and illustrations will help her with that. If she is able to work through these issues with something she is interested in, perhaps that will spill over into her schoolwork.

I also hope that this opens the door to her understanding the importance of learning useful skills for the future. Because her parents are not setting any useful example for her at all. While I love my brother (mainly because I have to, I think it may be the law or something), he is a terrible example for his children. He can't hold a job, and is constantly dumping them on relatives, mostly his mother. So Sadie doesn't have a strong adult role-model; one who can show her that a good work-ethic is important, and that skills are important in making and maintaining a home. Hopefully this will provide her with an alternative to what she has seen.

Her Uncle Ricky, who is a machinist, also pointed out to her that patterns are just like blueprints, except you cut them apart. And if you can run a sewing machine, you can run a mill at the shop...which started the gears turning in her head....