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. :)

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!

Here's A Better Photo of Burda 9676!

Burda 9676

Well, here is a review of Burda 9676 with bad photos. Maybe tomorrow it will be warm enough to take photos outside. :)

I really like this pattern a lot and Sunny loves her coat so much she slept in it last night. For real. It must be warm because she woke up sweaty.


The one review on Patternreview for this pattern said the hood was so pointy that it could look like a certain hate group's outfit if it were sewn in a light color. I completely agree, so if you plan to sew this pattern in a light colored fabric, I highly recommend either changing the hood's pattern piece so it isn't so pointy or adding a big pom-pom to the tip of the hood so it doesn't stand up (that's what I did).

The outer fabric is Clifford The Big Red Dog fleece and the lining is Clifford The Big Red Dog flannel that was interlined with Thinsulate batting from Vogue fabrics in Evanston.

I'll get better photos tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be a nicer day!! It's been cold here (frigid, really) and overcast. Perfect for getting the blahs!

EDIT: To see a much better photo of this coat, click here.

Butterick 4277

Here's a quick and easy skirt to sew.

It's a bit wrinkled because Sunny wore it to preschool today.

Here it is before she went to preschool:

She likes that it has a dog on it (of course!).

Can you tell the girl likes dogs?

Some construction details:
I serged the seams, added an adjustable elastic waistband, and added dog paw print bias to the front top edge. It is made from a midweight corduroy that I bought at Joann's many moons ago.

It was easy to sew and I might sew it again. It's a nice skirt, but I think the pattern is drafted for a beefier kid. Sunny is anything but beefy.

I bought the embroidery from Embroidery Library and embroidered it using my Husqvarna Viking Designer Diamond. I love my embroidery machine!

The Woodland Explorer Vest in American Patchwork and Quilting

This is way. too. cool. I loved seeing the Clothworks Fabrics advertisement in American Patchwork and Quilting!!


I think it has ruined me, though, because now I want to see more of my stuff in magazines!


That's not a bad thing, is it???

Thank you to everyone who has contacted me about a pattern for the vest. It was really nice to hear that you like it! I'm working on putting a pattern together in three sizes: 18-24 mo, 2t-4t, and 4-6. There will also be options for different pockets and d-ring placement. Would you prefer a paper pattern or a .pdf that you can download?

Applique Dogs

My girls won't wear anything unless it has dogs or monkeys on it. So.....yesterday, I turned two inexpensive, plain, sweatshirts into two cute, still inexpensive, sweatshirts that my girls will now wear without tears.


The funny thing is, they don't like to be dressed alike. So, when I asked them to stand next to one another for a photo, this is the best I got:

You'll be seeing this dog again because I have a quilt planned that will use this applique along with a few other dog appliques I'm sketching. I also have a few coloring books with dogs in them and will probably copy some from there (the dog applique above was copied from a coloring book). Coloring books are so great for applique ideas!!

Have a happy weekend!

The specs:
Main fabric: quilting cotton
Purple fabric on ears and nose: linen
Wonder Under used to fuse pieces to sweatshirt and then I straight stitched around edges.
Hand embroidery for eyes and mouth.
Applique measures 4.5"X 5"

Arizona + Belly Dancing = OMG LOL!

Yes, I've taken up belly dancing. To say I look ridiculous is an understatement, but it's so fun I can't help myself!! There will be no photos of this new undertaking of mine, so there is no need to shield your eyes from this post.

The sad fact is that my waistline has grown and because I am a working mother of three young kids I eat poorly and rarely have time to exercise. But, there's no time to whine about it because I have a project to show you! And no, it isn't a belly dancing outfit. ;)

Backpacks!

My girls needed backpacks for preschool, so I made them quick and easy drawstring backpacks with fabrics they chose. Of course Sunny chose dogs.

And Elle chose monkeys.

Ellie wanted her name on her backpack, so I did a quick embroidery of her name for the pocket.

I used fusible fleece as interfacing on both backpacks. That will add durability to the fabric (it is quilting cotton from JoAnns) and add some cushion. Both bags are also fully lined with contrasting fabric.

I used a heavy duty grommet kit from Home Depot to install grommets on the bottom of the backpacks to hold the straps. Seriously, if you want good grommets, get the kit from Home Depot. Previously, I had the plier tool from Joanns and nothing I ever applied with it stayed on for long. I also fused vinyl to the corners of the backpacks to help the grommets stay put.

Next, I'm making reusable insulated sandwich and snack bags for Luke's lunchbox. That will save hundreds of plastic baggies from the landfill during this school year. I'll post a link to the tutorial I'm planning to use after I've made the bags.

My sewing room is also getting a mini makeover, so hopefully I can show you some pictures of it later this week. :)

Sewing A Pillowcase is Fun!

One of the classes I teach at Joann Fabrics is Kid's Sewing 101: the Pillowcase. I have never been interested in sewing pillowcases because I thought it would be so boring. But, I had so much fun sewing my class samples! I made a Curious George pillowcase for Ellie (her favorite character). There it is behind her in the photo.

And there it is again.

Ellie, my daughter who would never allow me to photograph her, is suddenly the big ham.

For the class I teach, the students are instructed to straight stitch and then zig zag the seam allowances, but for Elle's pillowcase I used french seams. I don't know if you can see them in the photo because Ellie was trying to model it for me. She's so funny.

Oh, and there's some topstitching. Hey, Elle, can you move your cute face for a minute?

:)

Speaking of Joann Fabrics, they are hosting a quilt contest and the grand prize is $2,500. You can also win an AccuQuilt GO! and a lot of other great prizes. I'm not eligible to enter because I work for Husqvarna Viking, but I thought I'd tell you all about it in case you want to enter. I really wanted to enter and am bummed that I'm not eligible. Let me know if you do enter...I'd love to see your entries!

A Pair of Crazy Bright Capri's

My three year old twin girls love bright, funky colors and prints. So, whenever we go to Joann Fabrics, they always pick out some crazy fabrics and I spend the afternoon sewing shorts, capri's or pants. Yesterday, I made these Snoopy capri's for Elle.

They're very bright and fun. They have a mock front fly which you probably can't see because the print is so busy and they are supposed to have ties at the hem. But, Ellie wanted yellow binding so I eliminated the ties. Bias was quicker to finish, so I didn't mind. Since the bias binding was extra wide double fold binding, I used my adjustable bias binder foot on my sewing machine. Have any of you used an adjustable bias foot before? It's one of my favorite feet to use next to my regular bias binder foot. I'd show you a photo of it if my camera's battery didn't die.


Since Ellie loves her Snoopy capri's so much, she was a very cooperative model, which is always a good thing. Here's the "jumping-on-the-couch" shot.


And the "I've-fallen-and-I-can't-get-up" shot. lol.


Sunny wants a pair just like this pair, except she wants bright blue bias binding instead of yellow. So, you may be seeing another pair of these soon. They are made using Burda 9890, which I reviewed here on Pattern Review, if you are interested.

The Woodland Explorer Vest

Good morning!

In my haste to finish and send in the Woodland Explorer Vest I sewed for the Clothworks contest, I forgot to take a photo of it. So, I'm swiping this photo taken by the crew at Clothworks.


The ad for Clothworks that will be featured in the next issue of American Patchwork and Quilting is here if you want to see what it will look like.

I really loved working with the Woodland Friends II fabric. It's very cute, isn't it??

You can click on the above photo to go to Clothwork's Flickr page. They have a lot of cute photos on their Flickr page of their fabrics and projects sewn with their fabrics, including this cute quilt, which is a free pattern:


I want to thank Clothworks for this contest. It was truly a lot of fun to design and construct the vest! Thank you!

The Loretto Vest....

is almost done!!! All I need to do is knit the buttonbands and sew on the buttons.

I can't wait to finish this one so I can start on a crocheted cardi (the Everyday Cardi from the current issue of Crochet Today).

Also, remember the contest I entered from Clothworks Textiles? I ended up winning it! YAY! You can see it here on their blog (you'll need to scroll to the end of the post). So, my Woodland Explorer Vest will be featured in an ad for Clothworks in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. It was a really fun contest and I'm very honored to have won it.

Do You Have A Bias Binder Foot? You Should!

Yesterday I made two pairs of shorts for my girls and they reminded me of why I love the bias foot for my sewing machine. Here's Ellie's pair:

Do you see my glaring mistake? I really thought the fabric had one column of monkeys facing up and one column facing down, so I thought it wouldn't matter how I placed the pattern piece. After I cut them out I realized that wasn't the case. So now Ellie's shorts have one leg with monkeys facing up and one leg with them facing down. Ugh. She doesn't care, so neither do I. Well, I do care, but not enough to throw this pair out and start over.

Here's Sunny's pair:

She has a thing for polka dotted dogs, so when she saw this fabric at Joann's she asked to have pants made from it.

Now, about the bias binder foot. I love them so much I have two just in case one breaks or something (the heir and the spare, so to speak!). Check out the stitching on the bias on Sunny's shorts:

Click on it to enlarge it if you can't see the stitching well. Isn't it beautiful? I could never do that without the foot. Well, I suppose I could, but not as reliably as the bias foot. ;)
Here is how you use it:

And one last photo of it just in case you aren't sick of seeing it yet:


Next month it looks like I'll start teaching beginning sewing classes at Joann fabrics, so that will be fun! Between working for the Viking Sewing Gallery (where I'm now a Manager In Training. YAY!) and teaching sewing classes I'll be busy! Then add three kids and a home to take care of and suddenly I'm thinking I'd better hire a maid. :)

Have a great day!!!

Polyester Paradise

I went to an estate sale near my house yesterday because there was a Singer Featherweight there. The lady who once lived in the house was a seamstress, so there were bolts and bolts of fabric, boxes of trims, buttons, and other notions, a lot of patterns, and 4 metal pattern cabinets stamped with the McCall's and Simplicity brands. The featherweight was gone; someone grabbed it before I got there, but there was a Singer 500 (a rocketeer). I didn't buy it since I have enough sewing machines, but I did come home with a bolt of fabric. Honestly, the fabrics there were awful. Before I walked into the garage (which was converted into a sewing studio) I had high hopes for the fabric selection because as I was walking in, a woman was walking out with two bolts of what looked like nice linen. I seriously considered tackling her to the ground and fighting for the bolts, but I thought there would be similar fabrics inside and it wouldn't be necessary to rough-up anyone. You can imagine my disappointment when I walked in and saw wall-to-wall 1970's polyester. I've never seen so much polyester in one place in my life! I consoled myself with the assumption that the nice linen the woman before me was buying was most likely some type of poly blend made to look like linen. Regardless, I couldn't help but wish I had gone with my gut and tackled her and yanked those two bolts of fabric from her arms. They were probably a poly blend, though, right?? Right??!! One can hope. And just when I thought all was lost, one bolt caught my eye....

I recognized the stamp from across the room:

Fishman's Fabrics!! WooHoo! Generally, they don't sell crap there, so I grabbed the bolt without even considering what it could be. Turns out there is no label on the bolt, so I'm not certain of what it is other than it is almost definitely a synthetic and it's a thin, single knit (one way stretch). There are about 15 yards on the bolt and I got it for $20.

Anyway, I did a burn test and this is the result:

The flame extinguished itself and because there is a black bead I believe it's a polyester or a poly blend(not surprising given the other fabrics at the sale!). Suddenly, I'm hit with buyer's remorse. Ouch. I avoid polyesters because I'm always cold in them (which is odd, i think), but this fabric feels really good to the touch, so maybe I'll use it. It's soft and as long as it doesn't develop static cling, I think it will make a wonderful lining for another thin knit.

I also bought some bra patterns in case I ever feel like trying to make myself a bra.


And I bought a slip kit from Bernina:

I bought this kit because the package was cute. No other reason. The fabric inside the kit is nylon and I hate wearing nylon because it makes me sweat and smell, but I bought it anyway. My inner hoarder was starting to surface, so I paid for my stuff ($21.50 total) and went home. All in all it was a fun sale. The vintage 70's fabrics were fabulous to look at, but last night I had a nightmare that I woke up in 1975 and we were all dressed in those polyester prints. Ack! And I really loved the garage converted to a sewing studio. What a great idea! If you don't have a car, that is!