Bowling Shirt

This pattern is one of my fav's!  I've made it twice so far and have another ready to cut out.  I love that you can customize it to your hearts content.   It's another Scientific Seamstress pattern (can you tell I'm addicted?)  The bowling shirt really is awesome.

With this shirt, my four year old picked out the fabric for himself.  He's one of those opinionated types.  I actually love that he knows what he wants to wear.  I wish I was more decisive like that.

I tried to talk him into cute robots, but when he started noticing the skull/crossbones fabric I realized we were good with flames and I better stop trying to debate the issue.  It's Alexander Henry fabric and we found it at JoAnns.  The black is just kona cotton.

 Yep.  I would consider that a win.

Shana Tunic

  

I made another Sis Boom pattern this week.  I decided to try the Shana tunic and I love it.  It was tons of fun to sew.  I must somewhat selfishly admit, that I like sewing for myself.  Especially since discovering the Scientific Seamstress/Sis Boom patterns.  They fit right for me every time. 

 

Carla's instructions are impeccable as always.  I made the XS and it still plenty roomy making it very comfy to wear.  The pattern gives you plenty of options to customize.  I made the 28 inch length.  I did modify the sleeves because I didn't want the pleated sleeve in the pattern.  I taped all the sleeve pattern pieces together and then folded it so that the piece tapered down.  I found the fabric at JoAnns.  Hello 50% off!  Whoot!  Love those deals!

The neckline does take some time, but it isn't hard.  I thought it looked intimidating, but it went together just fine.

Rosie Crossbody Bag

 One of my most favorite things is to make bags.  Love, love, love making them.  As a result, I often give away bags for presents.  This bag is one I made for my niece. 

The pattern is the Rosie Crossbody bag by Swoon (affiliate link) .  Alicia at Swoon patterns is great!  She comes up with new designs often and they are always reasonably priced.

The hardware on this bag comes from one of those hefty, vintage, soft-body, overnight type bags.  The hardware was glorious.  I love re-purposing and the vintage bag that had this hardware was no longer in usable condition.  Seriously, you can't find hardware that amazing anymore. 

 The fabric on the flap and the interior is by Alexander Henry.  I took my breath away when I first laid eyes on it.

I was terrified to cut into the fabric.  Almost paralyzed that I would make a mistake.  So I let it sit on my table for weeks before I was brave enough to try.  I finally decided that what would help was to cut out the flap pattern out of parchment paper so I could see through it and then place the parchment pattern piece on the fabric, moving it around until I found the placement that was just right.  I still second guessed myself several times.

 I kinda think I need to take time to make one for me.

Jamie Dress

I've recently discovered the pdf pattern world. 

I learned to sew in a cool, upstairs room of my high school with Mrs. Lewis our wonderfully patient home ec teacher.  We all gathered together to giggle, gossip and try to sew sweatshirts as a first project (I made mine this HUGE, gray thing because the style at the time must have been to wear ginormous shirts and see how poofy your hair could get),  and then we were able to pick projects of our own.  Mrs. Lewis carefully taught us what the elusive instructions meant, and if you came to her with tears in your eyes, she would even help unpick your mistakes. 

If you don't have a Mrs. Lewis in your life, learning to sew can be frustrating.  Enter the  pdf designer.  Many pdf designers give tutorial-like instructions and many, many pictures so that a beginning seamstress can follow along and learn new skills.

Not all pdf pattern designers are equal, but I have fallen in love with the designs and expert instructions of Carla Crim, the Scientific Seamstress who also designs patterns for Sis Boom.  You seriously can not go wrong with her patterns.  I have been sewing for at least 25 years and I learn some new construction technique every time I have sewn one of her patterns. 

This dress was supposed to be my Easter dress, but I didn't have time to finish it in time for Easter after working diligently on my girls dresses that week and I had been busy procrastinating the weeks before that.  I decided to sew the Jamie dress for me. 

On thing that makes Carla's patterns so great is that the sizes aren't nested together.  She gives you the pages you need to print for your size.  So while the pattern may have an enormous amount of pages with fantastic instructions, you only need to print the pattern pieces for your size and then just read the instructions right off the screen.  Saves a ton on ink which is one of the downfalls of a pdf pattern.   

  

I bought fabric, thinking I would go with a different length of skirt, but then spontaneously decided to go with the maxi length.  I wasn't able to follow her hemming instructions as I was trying to squeeze as much length out of of the fabric as I could and I kind of wish it was maybe just a touch longer.

I did add one pocket.  The side zip goes down too far to add pockets to both sides, but I love a pocket in a dress so I added it.  I used the pocket pattern piece from another of her patterns, the Angie.  A mom needs a pocket for taking snotty Kleenex or for  hiding the matchbox car all the kids decided to fight over right in the middle of church.

Another change I will most likely make when I made another one for me, is making the skirt a little less full.  That is just personal preference.  My daughter is already begging me for a dress of her own like this and I think the fuller skirt will be perfect for her. 

I'm loving this dress this summer because it is very wearable and easy. 

The Rae Skirt

My poor, neglected blog.  I've been busy.  And tired.  And really, really, busy.  Some of my favorite things just got put on hold for a long time.  Life is like that.  Slowly, I'm trying to find my way back out of the busyness and back into the things I love: sewing and blogging being two things I want back in my life. 

Several months ago, I applied to be a tester for one of my favorite pattern designers, Tasia at Sewaholic .  You can not imagine the screams of excitement when I received the email that I was accepted as a tester for the Rae skirt. 

No, I'm so not kidding.  There may have been shouting.  And some texting.  And possibly some more screaming.   My kids just rolled their eyes at me.  That's all right.  I was too excited to care. 

 The Rae skirt is really perfect.  Just perfect.  It is absolutely wonderful for a complete beginner seamstress, but if you are more advanced just choose a trickier fabric that you were previously scared of trying. 

(pictures were taken by my 10 year old son)

Lightweight fabrics really seem to be key.  I tried a heavier fabric and it didn't work well for me.  My daughter is smaller than I am, and the heavier skirt worked fine on her so I pretended like I was excited that it worked for her.  But for me the heavier fabric just got too bunchy around the hips.  Ain't no mama of five kiddos need that!  I  sewed this skirt with a lightweight, sheer polyester that I found on clearance at Hancock Fabrics and then lined it with some soft, lightweight, navy blue lining. 

The waist is elastic, which can look frumpy if not done right.  Tasia did it right.  She put in details into this simple skirt that elevated it.  For example, the side seams are graded in just a bit where the hem will fall so that you don't have to ease in the hem.  Total genius and a design detail I so appreciated.  Easing in a hem and never getting it smooth irritates me.  The whole time I was cutting and sewing, I kept saying, "wow!  she just thought of everything!" 

Growing up

While my four year old is wanting twirliness, my nine year old is wanting to look more grown up. She is starting to act more grown up too. I'm really proud of her.

I wanted to sew something for her birthday waaayyyy back in September. Almost two months after her birthday, her dress is finally finished. Life got crazy with craft fairs and I don't know what all else so it got put aside for awhile, but it is finally finished.

The fabric from Amy Butler's Lotus line.
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.
I think Lotus is my very favorite line of hers, although the new Lark line is gorgeous too.
I bought it quite a long time ago with no particular purpose in mind. I just knew I loved it and wanted to have some on hand. Kinda toyed with the thought of making something for me, but it looks perfect on my daughter so I'm glad I hung on to it for just the right thing.

When her Daddy saw her in her new dress, I'm pretty sure he got tears in his eyes. I think that means we succeeded in getting her to look more grown up.

Very Hungry Caterpillar

Little Pumpkin turned 4 years old last week. Turning 4 is a very big deal. She is no longer a toddler. Sometime this past summer, she grew up and started acting more like a pre-schooler.

She decided she wanted a Very Hungry Caterpillar party to celebrate.

I wanted to celebrate the fact that even though she is getting older, she still likes to twirl.

So I made her a twirly, caterpillar skirt with red tulle peeking out the bottom. It makes me smile every time I see her.

I found the Hungry Caterpillar fabric at the Fat Quarter Shop.

Scooter Skirt and Shirt

Maybe a better title for this post is: "It is more fun to start a new project than to work on one"

Maybe I'm the only one who does this, but I love dreaming up a project and buying new fabric. (Especially the buying new fabric part) Than I work on it all gung-ho for a day or two.

But when it is so close to being done and only the most mundane of details are left to complete, I abandon it for a new, more exciting project. It took me two weeks to force myself to finish the hem and the buttonholes on the shirt. Bah!

I learned there was a reason I don't usually make shirts. Tailored shirts are on a whole different skill level than I currently possess. I won't point out all my mistakes to prove it though. You will not find any close up pics of the collar and let's not even talk about the hem. . .

The buttonholes though are beautiful if I do say so myself. But I can't really take credit for them. I have an old treadle Singer that has been converted with an electric motor that has a buttonhole attachment. It makes the most bee-you-tiful buttonholes.

The fabric is from a collection by Timeless Treasures: Vespa Scooters on Paris and I used this pattern.

Giveaway Day-Spring 2011

Giveaway is closed

Sew Mama Sew is sponsoring another Giveaway Day and I'm excited to join in. Love any excuse to sew up something fun and I'm hoping to use it to kick start my blogging again. Thank you to all who have let me know that you miss my posts. I am hoping to blog at least once or twice a week. I have missed you all so very much too.

So let's get on with the giveaway:

I used Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room Pressed Flowers in Teal to create the exterior of the bag. I'm so in love with this print!!! It is a decor weight fabric that should be durable as well as pretty.
The pattern is from Simplicity which can be found here. I really liked it and thought it sewed up quickly.
The closure is a button.

The interior has a gold vinyl at the top and gray cotton lining the bottom. It has one pocket.

How to enter:

• Leave a comment-make sure I have a way of contacting you if you are the winner. I will choose another winner if I can't reach you.

• Follow my blog and leave another comment telling me that you are a follower

I will use the Random number generator to pick a winner on Thursday, May 26. International readers are welcome to participate.

A bit of bragging

Mom's can be obnoxious when bragging about their children. I totally get that, believe me.

BUT. . . I have to brag about my 8 year old anyway

She sewed this shirt all by herself! Talk about a proud mom moment! I gave her very limited help. In fact I often gave her instructions and then walked away because I have a tendency to want to take over. Crazy huh? I think that is a mom tendency too. . .

H. has been so patient. We gave her the fabric and pattern for Christmas. And then our family got sick. . . again and again and again. Blech. So many advantages to having a large family but it takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R. for a sickness to make it through the whole family and by then the next illness starts. Nasty sicky winter it has been too.

But last Saturday I told H. we were going to finish her shirt no matter what. She was so excited to wear it on Sunday to church.

The pattern is from Simplicity. They have created several patterns for people just learning to sew with extra instructions and simpler patterns. This pattern didn't have a set in sleeve for example, rather it is kind of like a short kimono sleeve that is just cut out as part of the bodice. Great for beginners.

So, yeah I'm proud of her.

Bucket Bag

I bought Lisa Lam's book, The Bag Making Bible, several months ago and have been dying to try some of the patterns given. Actually, it is much more than a book with wonderful patterns in it (which it does have by the way. . .) because it also shows you a lot of techniques for making bags that you can then incorporate into your own designs. I have so many design ideas swimming around in my head it's not even funny, but because my sewing time is limited right now I decided to just make one of Lisa's patterns.

This would be the perfect bag to take to the library to get a stack of books, as a smallish diaper bag for those times when you need to just take a few things with you, to the farmer's market to buy some produce, to the craft fair to stash your amazing finds in. . . you get the idea. A perfect, not-too-big tote bag with a ton of great uses.

I used Heather Bailey Nicey Jane fabric for the interior and exterior. The binding, covered button, and bottom of the bag are from the Amy Butler Midwest Modern collection. It uses just 1/2 yd. of three coordinating fabrics so I could buy some of the fabric I had been drooling over without breaking the bank.

If you don't have the book, don't want to buy the book (I personally recommend buying the book if you like making bags), but LOVE the bag and really want to make one you are totally in luck! You can find the pattern for FREE (Yes FREE!) at Sew Mama Sew!

I had so much fun sewing and had a few scraps left over that I couldn't waste that I whipped up a zippered bag to go inside. I followed the same self-quilting technique that I used to make this birthday placemat.

Embroidered Card

A couple of weeks ago, I received an invitation to a mail-in baby shower for my cousin who is expecting her first baby. I made her a hooded towel following my tutorial here and totally forgot to take a picture of it so you could see it-Sorry!

After I wrapped the gift and got it ready to mail, I realized I had forgotten to buy a card. With 5 children, running out to buy a card did not appeal to me. So I decided to make one.

I have been completely inspired by Aimee Ray's embroidery books: Doodle Stitching and Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection. The Motif Collection has been wonderful in particular because you receive a disk with all of the designs on it that you can mix and match to make your own composition. But both books, have inspiring ideas of things you can embroider. One of the ideas in the books was to embroider gift tags. I expanded on that idea a bit and ended up embroidering a blank card.

I can't tell you how much fun I had creating this card. I printed off the design using my computer printer and then held the card over the design on a window so that I could see the lines and softly traced it onto the blank card. I'm so high tech you know.

Embroidering on paper has its problems because you can't see where your needle is going to poke through.

Now here is the key to doing this project that I figured out with much trial and error: Poke tiny holes in your outline with your needle so that you can embroider with a running stitch just like the sewing or lacing cards that kids like to do.

This method would only work with a running stitch though so if you are wanting to do the backstitch you would have to be a bit more careful and hold you project up to the light so that you can see the outline on the back of the paper and then carefully push on the needle until you see a bump on the front of the paper. If it is in the right spot you would continue to stitch, if not try again.

It would actually be a great beginning project for a child who is learning to embroider, but there was no way I was giving my project over to one of my children this time because I selfishly wanted to do it myself. But it would be a great idea for a grandparent's birthday card or maybe a Mother's day card.

The nest is not fully embroidered. I embroidered a few of the twigs and then traced the remaining twigs with a brown colored pencil. It was just a bit too many twigs to do easily on card stock.

A dumb question:

Do you preshrink your fusible interfacing???

For Christmas, I gave my daughter this pattern and fabric and told her we would work together to sew it this week. I have been sewing for more years than I want to claim and I have never preshrunk my interfacing so you can imagine my surprise when the step-by-step-helping-the-new-little-seamstress kind of instructions said to preshrink the fusible interfacing by putting it in hot water for 20 minutes.
Seriously????
I do have one dress that I made where the interfacing went wonky on me. At the time I blamed it on the fabric which was ridiculously hard to work with, but now I wonder. . .


Locals: Don't forget about the scrapbook paper and sticker sale tomorrow, Jan 1. Details are here.

It's a good idea to read directions before sewing. . .

I needed a gift for a 13 year old. I already had a gift to give, but wanted to add just a bit more to it so I decided to make Noodlehead's Gathered Clutch. It should have been so very simple. I have made this clutch before and had no trouble.

BUT this time I got cocky and didn't read the instructions closely. . .
or maybe I was listening to "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" too loudly. . .

Do you see the problem???
I'll give you a hint: the zipper
ACK!!!
I have the zipper tab on the right instead of the left! I had it fully sewn in AND topstitched before noticing the problem.
Why oh why do I do things like this???

I shamefully admit that I debated if it would be okay for the zipper to open in the opposite direction.
But then I remembered how much I love my niece, and so I re-did the zipper. I guess a little more love was just poured into the gift.

We filled it with Mood fingernail polish from Claire's because it is just so cool. I wish I had some. I wish I had nice nails to show off in the first place.

Anyhoo. . .if you need a quick stocking stuffer for a young girl here ya go. But for pity's sake read the directions.

Circle Skirt

To make this skirt I used some black and white houndstooth from Hobby Lobby and this pattern. It would be a perfect project for anyone new to sewing, No gathers and no closures! So quick and easy with lots of twirling action girl's love.

Pumpkin wasn't thrilled with the fabric until she realized she could wear her boots with it. She is a boot girl just like her Mama.

I have another skirt that is already cut out waiting to be sewn. . .

Projects that can be completely sewn during nap time are a wonderful thing.

Christmas Dress #2

For Pumpkin's dress we used the same pattern as Princess', but with different variations. It is one of the few patterns I could find with long sleeves or any sleeves at all for that matter. Do pattern makers not think little girls get cold in the winter?

The fabric is also an Amy Butler print , Bali Gate in periwinkle.

And the best news???

It's a twirly dress. That is important stuff to a 3 year old I'm telling you.

I was thinking the other day about how my sister and I would stand over the floor radiators to get our dresses to poof out. Little girls are a hoot.

Christmas dress #1

I know I haven't been able to post as often as I like. The little man is a demanding guy, but he is starting to become a bit more social, and dare I hope, happy with a dash of contentment. Not too much contentment, of course, because he wouldn't want his Mommy to completely forget about him, but just a touch which is a great deal more than he had before.

We love him.

With Christmas programs and recitals coming up all December long, sewing needed to happen even if the little man didn't think it was as important as he is.

Amy Butler fabric was on a one day sale at Fabric.com several weeks ago and I jumped on it. I have been in love with this collection since it came out last year. I let Princess look at all the fabric with me online so she could pick what she wanted. Seriously can't go wrong with Amy Butler so I knew whatever she picked would be great. She chose Paradise Garden in periwinkle. I was supremely happy with her choice because it is actually my fav. I didn't want to jinx it and tell her that though.

The pattern we used didn't have the ruffle at the neck. The print was so bold, I felt like it needed something to give the eyes something to rest on so I found some of this blue Kona Cotton in my stash (I don't know the color-sorry) .

We came up with a ruffle for the neckline. It is a circular ruffle with no gathering.

I didn't need a very long ruffle since it is for a small girl so I drew a circle using one of our dinner plates and then a smaller circle in the middle of the first circle using a small bowl. Then I cut out the large circle with a straight cut to the interior circle and cut out the interior circle. If you needed a longer ruffle you would cut out a spiral. Then, when it is laid out flat the fabric will naturally ruffle. So cute and soft looking. I hemmed the ruffle with a small rolled hem.

If I didn't do a good job in explaining the ruffle, let me know I could try to do a tute sometime.

For her hair, I made a headband out of FOE (fold over elastic) and glued a flower to a hair clip. Crazy girl wanted the flower even bigger.

Apparently when you are 8, you can never have too many ruffles and super big flowers.

Feeling a bit stifled

There are many seasons of life.
Some girls are in the season of life where they are single and long to be married, some are married longing for a baby, some have children and are longing for some freedom.
Seasons change and they won't last forever.
I LOVE the season of life I'm experiencing right now, but with five children and one of them being only 3 months old I have been longing for a little creative time.
It doesn't happen often that I get time just for me. Immediate and necessary needs crowd out the wants. And it should.
For me sewing helps me to cope with the repetitiveness of my days. Dishes will get dirty again and have to be washed, food will be eaten and need to be prepared again (my 10 year old is consuming a shocking amount of food right now), laundry will always be piled up faster than I can get it clean and back into the drawers.
But when I sew something, I can use my creative energy to make something that stays done and I can feel good about what I accomplished.

This weekend it was time to make something for me.

I made this skirt out of fabric from Anna Maria Horner's Drawing room collection. It is Trellis in Ivory and is home decor weight cotton.
I love Anna Maria Horner. She has such an amazing sense of color and there are no rules about what colors can go together.
This fabric does have such a strong pattern that thinking about the pattern placement was a must. I almost ended up with a huge distorted flower centered over my bum. Clearly that wouldn't have been flattering. So when working with some fabrics, thought is required. Not my strong suit. Fortunately I recognized the problem before I cut the fabric.

The pattern is McCalls 3341. It was easily sewed in one day. I have to admit that I didn't even look at the directions so I have no idea if they are clear or not. I just sewed it together the way that made sense to me.
It was a bit shocking to figure out my size. The size I ended up sewing is 3 sizes bigger than the size I would buy in a store.
Gulp!
How the sizing can be that different is beyond me and makes sewing for myself a bit distressing, but just tell yourself that the size doesn't matter as long as it fits.

I have more fabric to sew for me and more coming for the girls so hopefully there will be a lot of sewing happening around here.

Barn Sale

Beki hosted a Barn Sale at her farm this year and invited me to be a vendor. It was a new experience for me because I had never sold anything at a craft fair before, but my husband encouraged me to try it and I'm so glad he did.

We decided to make and sell superhero capes. I have been sewing like a crazy woman into the wee hours of the morning trying to get as many capes sewn as I could. It was completely worth it. I loved getting a chance to meet the people who were buying my capes and hearing feedback. It was so much fun seeing the children run around with their capes on imagining themselves being a hero. It made me smile.

Of course, it is always fun to see Beki although we didn't get a chance to talk too much since we were all busy. It was also fun to see the other vendors and admire all the amazing things they had created for the sale. They were a talented group of people!

It was a good day.

Thank you Beki for opening up your lovely farm and organizing this amazing event.