Ellie's Ottobre Shirt

Here's my latest sewing creation...it's an Ottobre pattern for a basic long-sleeved knit T-shirt (#11 in issue 4/2008). This is Ellie, who looks very much like Sunny. But, don't you dare call them twins because currently, they don't like it. Oy.

The whole shirt is serged and honestly, it took me less than two hours to cut and sew this. It went together very quickly. I can't believe I was ever afraid of knits. They're my favorite thing to sew now. I think the best thing you can do to make sewing knit shirts easier is to sew your sleeves in flat. Trying to serge a set-in sleeve can be frustrating!

The kitty fabric is a cotton interlock and is from Joann's. The purple cuffs and neckband are a cotton pique Lacoste fabric from Denver Fabrics. Denver fabrics is awesome. They have a TON of fabric, some of it is designer. They occasionally have Burberry prints.

The hem is cover stitched, of course. Speaking of cover stitching....I'm thinking of buying a Babylock cover stitcher. Baby Lock has a binder attachment for the cover stitcher that I'm drooling over. I want to see it successfully apply a knit binding to a neck edge before I buy it, though. My Viking 936 does a fantastic cover stitch, but it doesn't have a nice binder attachment. It has a binder foot, but the foot doesn't put a double fold binding on. It's single fold and it looks crappy, in my opinion.

I don't know why, but Ellie wanted me to take a picture of the candy she was sucking on while I was taking photos. So, there ya go. Yum.

After I took that photo, she was outta here. So much for that.


See you soon. :)

Say Hello to Andy *Woof*hol

Isn't it cute? I love it. So does Sunny. In fact, she wouldn't let me take it outside to photograph it. She's a little possessive, I'd say.

I purchased the embroidery design from Embroidery Library and changed the colors to make the quilt look like an Andy Warhol print. Or, at least, my version of one.

The quilted wall hanging measures 18.5"X14.5".

Here's a closer up view of the embroidery....


I used my Viking Designer Diamond to embroider it with 40wt. Robison Anton Rayon threads. The fabric is a white cotton twill. I think I used cotton batting...

Here's the backing:


Bright and cheery, isn't it? Just the way I like it. :)

I Finally Finished The ORB Quilt!

Y'know, I can't even remember what year it was that Old Red Barn Co hosted a quilt along where the prize was a Janome 6600. Let me look....Ah, yes. It was 2009. And here it is 2011 and I have finally finished quilting and binding the quilt top! Here is my only photo of it:

I used an extra loft 80/20 batting and quilted it with a criss-cross pattern. It turned out really nice and the extra loft batting made it perfect for snuggling up in. I hope whoever wins this quilt loves it.

A man I know at work participates in the yearly Ride For AIDS so I donated this quilt to his team so they could auction it off. I hope it raises a lot of money! Ride For AIDS is a two-day, 200 mile bike ride. You can read about the organization here. The ride is this weekend (July 8 & 9) and if you want to donate money, it isn't too late.

I wish I had taken more photos of the quilt, but it's huge and was difficult to photograph indoors. I need to set something up outside so I can easily take photos of large quilts. I see a lot of you use a clothesline outside. Perhaps that's what I'll do because my kids aren't tall enough yet to hold up a large quilt. And they're much too goofy. Knowing my kids, they'd roll themselves up like a tamale in the quilt before I can snap a photo. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kwik Sew 2596

Hey YOU!

My Mama made me a t-shirt with doggies on it and I love it!

Sunny is so funny.

She was bonking me on the head with a pool noodle while I was taking these photos.

This t-shirt/tunic is Kwik Sew 2596 and it was really easy to sew. The fabric is from JoAnns and it's really nice. Sunny loves dogs and I love Joann's 50% off coupons. Have you downloaded the Joann app yet? I really like it because I'm one of those people who always forgets the paper coupons. With the app, my coupons are stored on my phone. Pretty cool.

Kwik Sew 2596 is designed for stretch knits only and has directions for both serging and sewing. I serged this one and coverstitched the hems.

I have a Viking Huskylock 936 and I love it. It makes a great coverstitch. If you also have one, but have trouble threading it, check out the online threading guide at the Viking website. It's very, very helpful.

Here is the tunic flat:

Kwik Sew 2596 is a fun and easy pattern and I'd recommend it for beginners as well as for seasoned sewists. And knits are great for kids...they're comfy and they wash well. I only wish there were nicer prints available in cotton jersey and interlock. I have a baby-ish print with horses on it (actually I think they're zebras) and Ellie wants a tunic made from it, so that's next.

Some Charity Pillowcases

One thing I love to do is sew and knit for charities. I have also been looking for ways to quickly de-stash some of my fabrics and one of the best ways is to make pillowcases. They are quick and they require a yard of fabric.

I made two of the pink/white pillowcases. The fabric is an older Amy Butler print that I love. It's so vibrant! And some little girl will love the princess pillowcase.

I also made two of these Lightening McQueen pillowcases:

I don't know a 4 yr old who doesn't love Lightening McQueen. :)

I have my own method of sewing pillowcases and follow the general rule that a finished, standard pillowcase should measure 20"X30". If you need a tutorial, there is a great one here on Film In The Fridge, or here on Made. The quickest way to sew them is to use a serger, but I've also sewn pillowcases with french seams. French seams are the prettiest, in my opinion, but a serged seam is pretty darn nice (and quick!).

Here are three pillowcases that I made for charity, but were stolen from my sewing room!

Luke said he loved this one and wants a quilt to match. I don't think it's the pirates so much that he likes, it's the map. He really likes maps. If I can still find this fabric (I know I got it from Joann's), I'll make him the quilt he requested.


And Ellie still loves monkeys (although they are slowly being replaced by a love of horses), so she took the above pillowcase.

And then there's Sunny. Sunny, Sunny, Sunny. This girl is still dog crazy. And it's so cute. And it still drives my mother-in-law nuts that Sunny wears, lives, and breathes everything dog.

I didn't use a contrasting band on this one and I would've liked my topstitching to be more prominent, so next time I'll use a topstitch needle and a 30 wt thread.

I'm not sure which charity I'll be sending these to. I have three others to sew up and then I'll pick a charity. It will probably be ConKerr, but then someone at work told me that "the cancer kids always get stuff and the transplant kids get overlooked." That made me feel bad, so I'm going to try to find a charity that gives pillowcases to kids awaiting transplants. Do you know of any? Let me know if you do!

I have two quilts to show, too, but I need to finish one binding and take photos.

I also re-organized and rearranged my sewing room (again!) and I love how I have it set up now. The only problem is that I have less room for fabrics. So, that's why I'm trying to quickly de-stash. I also want an industrial sewing machine and a long-arm on a frame (an Innova), so I need to make room. I "test drove" the Innova at the Sewing and Quilting Expo and WOW. Just wow. Its an amazing machine. The machine itself is fabulous, but I think what really makes it great is the stitch regulator and the frame. The rollers on the frame move the machine like it's moving through butter. No jerking and you never felt like you were fighting the machine to get it to move. Just beautiful. And beautiful stitches.

Have a lovely day!