angry chicken

summer sweater (that's really a t-shirt)

I was fussing about not having the right cardigan the other morning—one to wear when I am a bit cold, over my jammies, while making breakfast. It needed to be soft, very thin, fitted, with 3/4 sleeves. Something I could throw over dresses and then maybe sleep as well. That kind of thing. I have about 152 cardigans and found it hard to believe that I didn't have one that met all these requirements, but I didn't. Until now.

This is a long-sleeved t-shirt (this one is from j.crew in the tissue-weight jersey, which I love to hate) that I took a pair of scissors to—and it's perfect. It's my new favorite cardigan and now I have about 3 more (and 3 fewer long-sleeved shirts) and I love them to death.

No sewing is needed. There are no seams to finish here—the jersey doesn't unravel. I have done this with both v-necks and scoop necks. I didn't add anything, I just let them hang loose or tie in a knot. Done and done. Someone take away my scissors. I'm going to wonder where all my shirts are this Fall, but for now I am thrilled.

quite patriotic

I made up the Collette Pattern that I had on the boards for a few weeks. I really sweated on the fabric choice here. I wanted a ton of pattern, which I knew would mean sacrificing the insanely cute pockets—just too much going on. But I also knew if I made made this in a solid color, it would show so many potential flubs, especially with the gathering. I found this outstanding silk at Mill Ends and had to buy it immediately.  Check out Melissa's version. It looks so awesome.

I realize now I probably needed to make it in a smaller size. This style of dress is not one I would normally make for myself, so I was a out of my element on the bust/ribcage/waist measurements. I also made quite a few changes to the pattern, so many it's confusing and too long to list—but in a nut shell, I lined the bodice instead of making a facing. So, this affected the gathers. I also ditched the button strap detail and made normal straps. I'm glad I lined the bodice, the silk would have been a bit thin on its own.

The pattern itself was a pleasure. The directions are clear, easy to follow, and the format of the pattern is really pleasing to use.  I think she has a great pattern line here and my only caveat is that I would not recommend this dress to beginning sewers. But for sewers up for more of a challenge, this is a really rewarding pattern to tackle. I can't wait try the skirt next.

Need any amazing pie recipes this weekend? The Tie One On Gallery is up (and the newest theme is set) and along with amazing homemade aprons you will find more than 40 pie recipes posted. You all are so rad—thank you!

slippy (adventures in sewing with silk part I)

 

 

This silk slip was made with some swearing. In theory it was very easy. 2 side seams and some straps. I used a silk slip I already had as a pattern to copy. I laid it out on the bias, cut, and sewed. Done. But, it was too big and taking it in didn't go as planned and then it was shorter than I intended, so a wide bias strip was added to the hem—which worked great but ended up using more yardage than I wanted. I had bought extra to use in other projects. Aside from all that, the slip is lovely, feels incredible, and was a nice project. I did confirm my theory of bias cutting + slippery fabric that is also expensive = stressful sweating and unnecessary yelling at my children who seem to only be interested in helping when I use the most expensive fabric.

Some notes:

• I did switch to an extra fine sewing machine needle for this and that was a wise decision. If I am ever too lazy to switch sewing machine needles, kick me.
• I finished the edges with the serger and added stretch lace on the neck and arm edges. I used lingerie elastic for the straps because the stretch lace is too stretchy. If I had no serger (can't image this) I'd use French seams for finishing and swear my way around the rest.
• I used the rolled hem on the serger to finish the bottom edge and this made my life so good. I would not try to do a rolled hem on the bias in silk. No way, man. Not for a million bucks. (You could also finish the hem with an overlock stitch and then stitch lace on the edge if you don't have a serger.)
• This wasn't the cheapest project, but was still less than the $49 some mall store that shall remain nameless was charging for their silk slips that were shorter. This project was also much less expensive $150-200 I've seen for similar slips at some high-end boutiques both in person and online. Silk makes all the difference here, satin was just not doing it for me.
• Although I didn't use a pattern, I think I should have. It somehow grew too big without one. Not sure why, but it did. I'm sort of crying right now looking at all these vintage lingerie sewing patterns.

More silk sewing to report on soon. And speaking of old-timey loveliness and crying, I'm in a tizzy about this line of vintage reproduction luggage. You know, for that 1928 world cruise I plan on taking (after I get my time machine working again.)

simple is hard. sometimes.

This is Simplicity 2922 and is wasn't so simple. I'm really happy with how it turned out and it's very wearable and comfortable (ignore the wrinkles, it's linen) but you know, simple is hard.

The pattern has a several variations, like many of the Project Runaway patterns that Simplicity is putting out. In theory, this design is easy to sew. The sleeves aren't set in, and the variations allow for both a gathered neckline/sleeves or without. I went with the option including gathers.

Here's what I changed and noted:

• The pleating on the sleeve top shoulder is a really nice detail. I copied it for the front instead of the gathers, because really—the gathering look terrible. It barely needed to be gathered, and with a solid fabric, it just looked like it was sewn wrong. It impossible to evenly distribute the gathers across the front.
• There are rows of top-stitching on the neck and arm bands which is nice looking close-up. I think attempting this in a contrasting thread (as it suggested) would be a very swear-y experience.
• The back has a slight gather as well, and again, it would be nicer with pleats instead. I used an invisible zipper, although I am going to try an exposed metal zipper really soon on something.
• This dress is not what I would call a beginner sewing project. At least not in a solid colored linen. I sure like it however, so that's good. It was fun to make but I found myself thinking that I would never let my beginning sewing buddies try this pattern without a serious talk. There are too many places where any mistake would be painfully obvious.
• The pockets are awesome. They look great and are so useful—I love them.
• Melissa has a great bit about sewing from commercial patterns. It's so full of goodness, please check it out.

I finished this about 2 weeks ago, so onto the Collette pattern next. I am excited.

on the boards (revised)

_{photo by Collette Patterns}

The men's floral shirt is taking the backseat for awhile. I just got my hands on this pattern from Collette Patterns, and it's freakishly cute and must be started immediately. I have a linen dress I am finishing up now, and then this little number will come next. I'm thinking I will skip the buttons and make the straps non-opening (there is a side zipper) and use possibly 3 different prints/solids for the dress. Daring, I know, but I think it will look very stylish if I can find the right prints in the right weight. Or, I might not do 3 prints at all, but a gingham. Sigh. I will let the fabric gods guide me next time I go out to the fabric shops. Sometimes I feel like a fabric dowser.

_{photo by Collette Patterns}

I will report back soon. I am super excited to start this project, especially these tiny pockets. Please take a look at all of Sarai's patterns, they are swell—that skirt might be next.

summer skirt

Okay, this sassy skirt was made using the standard skirt pattern in Sew U. I forget about this basic pattern often, but it's a great one to alter and customize. (I used it here, too.) I shortened it and ditched the waistband facing using a pre-made white bias trim instead for the waist band. It has an invisible back zipper. The white buttons are set just inside the dart lines, mimicking a sailor pant-bib type button-up-thing. I really dig the buttons on the front of pants/skirts right now. I'm all about the nautical-cuteness.

I used a soft navy linen and am slightly cursing myself for not lining it. I sewed a few silk tap pants that make for an easy slip for this type of thing, so it's all good—but next time I will line it, mostly because the linen is soft, I think a lining would help keep it in shape.

I finally had to stop fussing with the button placement. It was a little crazy making. Everytime I shifted they looked crooked. But then I figured I'd usually be moving around in this skirt, not standing still like I am now (?) so, what the heck. They look straight enough to me.

And the blouse is super old—from the Gap about 7 years ago.

My eldest child is learning the poses.

I ♥ fat quarters!

Okay, this was so fun. I was ridiculously excited I was asked to create a fat quarter pack for the lovely online fabric shop, Sew Mama Sew. I named it Summer Picnic—to bring on the sun in rainy Portland.

You can buy the pack and read more about it here. I love fat quarter packs so much. I unexpectedly received a pack as a gift years ago and it was one of the best gifts ever. It had so many fabrics I wouldn't have necessarily chosen on their own. Something about the small cuts of fabric all tucked together make it a kind of happy crazy bundle of fun. Hope you all dig it!

I'm sure you all already know how wonderful the Sew Mama Sew is. Please check them out. Kristen and her staff do such a wonderful job of creating a friendly place to buy fabric in the shop, get sewing help in the forum, and find inspiration on the blog. Thanks ladies!

Okay, I just got confirmation from Sew Mama Sew and it's sold out—but the individual fabrics will be in stock again soon. Thanks all!

on the boards-men's dress shirt

I have been wanting to try a men's dress shirt for Pete for a while now and after a recent jaunt to a fancy-schmancy clothing shop—I have decided the time is now. Or, sort of now. When I get around to it, anyway. Some of the floral ones I saw there reminded me of Liberty fabrics. I adore men in florals. The mix of the masculine cut of a shirt paired with a preppy/classic floral is just too good. I'm not really thinking something as formal as this image here, but I liked it anyway. I'm looking at Kwik Sew 3422, probably the short sleeve version, mostly because dang—that Liberty fabric is so expensive.

 some contenders, all Liberty of London-

This is a favorite of mine.

I haven't even looked here in town or even online much for Liberty fabrics—these are all directly from the Liberty of London site. With shipping, it would be crazy expensive. But the fancy shirts I am looking at in the shops are around the $250 range. Still, there is no way I'm going to get this project done for less than $70. Maybe I should try it in a linen first, but then I have to try it in a Liberty print. See, here's my rationalizations. First— it's flippin' Liberty fabric, so there's a good reason right there. Secondly—the weight. It's so perfect, so thin and so crisp at the same time. But having said that, I do need to try this pattern in something else first. Just a simple men's shirting. See how I talk myself off the ledge? But I will revisit the ledge soon, I can feel it. I also have a shirt making book coming from the library, ready to tackle collar stands with gusto!

Liberty must be in the air! I just got this update from A.P.C.—lest I think I am clever. ha!

 

very very excited by this top

This top is deceiving. It looks pretty sophisticated (to me anyway) but is really simple. It's Simplicity 2593 and it's a new design by Cynthia Rowley. It's got no darts, just a front and a back. Very easy. I made a little alteration by using a pre-made bias tape in white to finish the armholes (the pattern instructs you to make your own to match) and I didn't bother binding the inside on the neck edge, I just serged it, because I knew the twisted neck band would cover it. The twisted neck band is on the bias, so this pattern requires more yardage than you'd think. It's just a big tube you twist, pin on, and hand tack down when you are done. I love it so much—so sculptural and simple. I'm thinking a linen or a silk charmeuse version would be outstanding.

This is made up in a seersucker purchased for crazy cheap at Joann's. I belted it here (orange belt from target) but a self-tie would be nice. It looks good unbelted as well.

The newest Tie One On gallery is up! Please check out the outstanding submissions. I have decided to give away a new craft book with every new theme (randomly chosen from the apron submissions.) I will be posting the chosen book for the next new theme, Pie Makin' Apron, very soon. I went back through the old galleries today and counted—over 975 aprons have been made for Tie One On since it started. That is frikken amazing! Thank you all so much for your total radness.

 

a new dress

This is a dress made from Vogue 8232 and I am pretty happy with it. I got the pattern with Frenchie (she made up a stellar dress which is next on my list) and she also alerted me to this flippin' awesome print. I got this at the sale at Bolt (it's Alexander Henry, My Secret Garden—Wine and is available all over online, and in your local fabric shop) It reminds me of Vera in the best way, even if it looks a little like I am wearing a tablecloth.

I changed/added a few details. I altered the neck to make more of a boat neck shape, used an invisible zipper (the only kind I use when I can because they are so easy and are invisible!) added a contrasting red waistband-type detail, which is just sewn over the top on the dress, and then some little covered buttons for some sassy love.

 

And here's the real life version 20 minutes later after freezing my hiney off. Yeah. Well, at least I can garden now.

homemade cards

 

These cards were made for 2 reasons. Documentation and blank card requirements.

We have been writing down our kids comments on a master list the last few months because they have been getting more and more amazing. I know this is the case with all kids, but dang. So, I wanted to document these quotes and was originally thinking flash cards, but wasn't sure what to do with them. Then I was thinking small business sized cards—I could tuck in cards and gifts, but again, wasn't sure how they might be kept, save putting them in a scrapbook/photo album. We needed a blank card recently to give to a family member and I realized putting these quotes on cards would be perfect.

I love making homemade cards so much. It also fulfills my creative urges to combine stark simple design with crazy child brain. (Apologies to certain design talent who are totally over Helvetica, you know who you are.)

the minutiae of jersey

Here's a new underwear set, this time from Pete's old t-shirt. The undies are from the sleeve (I made two pairs) and the long camisole/short nightie is from the shirt part. A few things-

• Although I love stretch lace, I think it's a bit stretchy for the straps. I am going to try narrow lingerie elastic next time.
• Tissue t-shirts kind of make me mad. They wear out so fast, are usually kind of see through and are too soft and stretchy for undies, in my opinion. These stay up fine, but I think a thicker t-shirt makes for a nicer set.
• Using the existing hem of the t-shirt as the hem of the camisole/nightie top makes this so very easy and makes me feel clever, and I love feeling clever.
• I used the same t-shirt fabric for the gusset, eliminating the contrasting fabric gusset, which although one doesn't see all the time (presumably), is nice and understated.
• I also finally encased both seams on the gusset piece, which is easy, but kind of a weird moebius strip-type thing to do. This made for a much nicer finish and looks much more professional. On the other hand not matching my thread on the inside was a little less professional looking (me = lazy) so let's just call it a deconstructed/raw look and pretend that's exactly I was going for.

Unrelated—

• I am really digging this new comment platform Typepad has. I can reply much easier now to questions and am really having fun with it. I also like the new feature which allows you all to reply to each other. So cool.
• I am having a book giveaway over on Tie One On, so check it out! (There's a catch.)

paper flowers

All 3 bonnets were sewn in time for Easter this year. It wasn't that bad, but I will say sewing the same thing for three girls gets a bit tedious. Also, they either need to be pretty much identical or totally different— otherwise there is much comparing and discussion. These were all the same, pink linen with a lovely fabric lining, the only detail that made them unique was the color of ribbon and flowers. I knew I wanted to use flowers to trim them, but was stumped. I looked at the craft store and the silk ones were pretty awful. They were not silk, too huge, and expensive. I wished I had a secret stash of vintage millinery trims, but I do not. I was getting pretty discouraged and then found a gold mine in the paper/scrapbook section.

Okay, there is a huge paper flower selection out there that I didn't know about and they were perfect for the bonnets. I actually am not sure how you would use them in a scrapbook, they are 3D, so I'm not sure how the book would close, but they are great as little embellishments for craft/sewing projects.

I glued these on with E6000, which is very stinky but sure works well. I also glued them to tiny terra cotta pots that had chocolate eggs tucked in them for the girls' baskets. Next I need to make some brooches with paper flowers for my spring/summer cardigans. I have the compulsion to gussy up unadorned cardigans, but realize it's not always best to make the embellishments permanent—hence the brooch idea. And i've been seeing some very stylish hair clips with flowers too, so I will try that next.

it's coming soon! (sorta)

I am jumping-up-and-down excited to let you all know that my second book, Bend the Rules with Fabric: Fun Sewing Projects with Stencils, Stamps, Dye, Photo Transfers, Silk Screening, and More (Potter Craft Summer 2009) is now available for pre-order!

Here's a sneak peek inside. I was able to work with the same ridiculously talented team on this book as my first (photography by Alexandra Grablewski and design by Amy Sly) which means this book looks amazing, is clearly organized, and puts a big smile on my face.

This book is all about altering fabric—and not all the projects require a sewing machine, so it's great for sewers, and non-sewers alike. Woot! Here's a painted toile artwork project shown with an inexplicably creepy mask.

Here's how to make t-shirts for your family band. These say It's not my bedtime. You will freak out when you try this technique—it's silk screening without photo emulsion or drawing fluid or Gocco. Life changing, I tell you.

And the Uncle Pete and Aunt Sarah dolls make an appearance, of course.

There are plenty of sewing projects with patterns as well, and they all come with ideas, techniques, and tips on altering fabric to make it your own. I really think you guys will dig it (I hope so!) Please pre-order it, how's that for a hard sell?

It's available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local book shop (I didn't see it yet at Powell's) and it will be out in the world, for real, the end of August. I already have a book signing/party set up at Powell's here in Portland the end of September (and I will have one at Bolt, too) and I just want to say two words. Cake walk. I'm serious.

 

vintage/new quilt

Following the calico patchwork theme from the last post, here's an outstanding quilt Grammie just finished. The top is vintage, found by Grammie in Indiana a couple years go (right, mom?) She took the top, added a batting and a backing and then machine quilted a wonderful design on it. I love it so much— the borders and sashing are so randomly wonderful. Were are both kind of freaking out about how cattywampus it is.

 

Like the fabric in the last post this uses a cheater cloth—the block patterns are not pieced, but printed. Although we both think the border colors are very 1930s, we have decided that the top is probably from the 1970s-the calico seems to be leaning that way. As I write this, I am remembering that long ago in blog time I posted about quilt related items every Monday. So, here's a very long overdue Quilt Monday.

I'm not sure what I'm going to start for a new quilt project, but I sure am having fun over at All People Quilt looking at all the patterns, especially this one here (which isn't actually from All People Quilt, but from Better Homes and Gardens, which owns All People Quilt, confusing, but you know what I mean. I never know where I end up after all the clicking.)

Unrelated, I read this really interesting article about Facebook yesterday. I signed up on Facebook, but we just never hit it off.

sewing for kids is a good thing

Happy Friday! Here's Miss Delia playing in clothes that Grammie (we call my mom Grammie) made for me circa 1976, as if you couldn't tell. Oh the patchwork. It's a cheater cloth, but still. The colors, so very Holly Hobby cool.

Grammie has this huge box full of clothes that she sewed for me when I was little. There is a lot in there—I had no idea she made that much. There is often a ballet/dress-up freak out party when they go over there involving characters like Snappy Tomato and Bella Blue. It's so sweet and makes me remember why I want to sew for my girls when I am swearing at my fabric/machine/elastic and getting a neck cramp or some such thing. So, I better have some grandchildren—and some better be girls at that. Ha! No pressure, or anything.

I need to start a new quilt project

Material Obsession: Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots, by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke, is on the table right now and I am so happy looking through it. The quilt projects are really unexpected in a very cool way, with refreshing color combinations which bridge the gap between modern/simple and vintage/complicated. I made some horrible scans of the inside pages (what's my problem?) that aren't worthy to show, but here's some nice interior shots and a much more thorough review of this book at CraftyPod.

easter thoughts

                                                    _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

In thinking about Easter/Spring baskets for the girls I found myself on Etsy and was struck by the simple loveliness of the items for sale over at Dream Child Studio.

                                                    _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

                                                  _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

I'm really digging the use of wood here in this photo. And of course the crown is just perfect. These would be so sweet in their baskets. I also plan to sew up some bunnies (cute insanity!) from this Wee Wonderful's pattern and print some Shiny Happy Printables from The Small Object as well. A little homemade and a little purchased—that's my speed right now. Add some unpainted wooden eggs and paint for them to decorate and we are done. Oh, and chocolate lambs and chocolate nests, can't forget those. And bonnets. Okay, the list is getting longer now.

matchy

 

I couldn't stop looking at the belt on this dress and had to copy it. I see these referred to as corset belts sometimes. I'd like to make another with smaller grommets, and more of them, so it really looks fairy tale/hobbity. It would be nice a little wider too, and laced up in back. Then I would need help getting dressed—which is always fun, however impractical. This wonderful print is vintage and hand silk-screened. I have been saving it for something special—like a belt, match handbag and

earrings. In a fit of insane matchiness, I also made earrings. I love matching accessories more than anything. Even though I don't normally wear them all at once, I like knowing I could.

The belt is 3 layers—the floral print, an interfacing in the middle (iron-on, I dislike the stuff, but this had to be stabilized) and then a light blue lining fabric on the back. I used a pre-made bias tape and sewed it on with the method shown in my "no swearing" video tutorial, and finished with the grommets which come with a little fastening tool, making them very easy to apply. (I get a huge thrill putting grommets in anything. Not sure why.) A little leather lace is threaded though the grommets to tie it up.

The handbag pattern I designed. I originally wanted to make an over-sized clutch, but I just couldn't get that 1980s, so the ladylike 1960s style won out. I used grommets and the leather tie on it as well, but these details are non-functional—the closure is actually a little magnetic thing-y on the inside. The white strap and the trim is the same bias tape I used on the belt.

The earrings are covered buttons with the shanks removed (easy to do with pliers) and glued to earring backs.

I feel more belts coming on. I have this notion of making a few lightweight linen dresses that are baggy and loose, (maybe they are nightgowns) and then I could just cinch them up with a belt like this, grab a matching handbag, and boom—dressed for the day! Okay, maybe I wouldn't really sleep in the dress, but I like the idea of a nightgown/dress fake-out with a belt/handbag as the secret transformer.

easter bonnet

Easter is approaching and the girls' heads continue to grow, which is a good thing, I know. So, new Easter bonnets are in order. I am using my handy bonnet pattern (conveniently displayed above) which is also for sale. This pattern comes with 3 sizes—baby, child, and adult. Last year I also made a variation without the brim, as shown here, and was thrilled with the storybook cuteness of it. You can see more bonnets made up from this pattern in the flickr mailorder group.

I think for Easter this year a neutral linen would be lovely for the bonnets, with a sweet calico lining. Then we can wear them when we make our butter. Okay, really, no one in the house digs the butter making as much as I do, but they sure eat it up with no complaints. I think I need to try the jar method, so they can actually get into it more.

new (old) bag

me: okay, today we are going to take pictures of mama, 'cause getting out the tripod never works with the baby out and running around. so, who's first?
sadie: me!
delia: no me!
me: alright, delia look through this hole. hold this thing tight, it's very expensive. no, this hole. no the screen won't show you—look through the view finder. awesome. now press the button. open your eyes. now press that button. awesome! aim it at this red bag. see this? right here.
sadie: why are we taking photos of your new purse?
me: um, well, kind of the same reason I take photos of our breakfast. it's my new bag. it's preppy.
delia: what's preppy?
me: um—delia, put the baby down.
me: delia, put the baby down.
me: put the baby down.
sadie: mom, I can't see the photos on the screen. Is this good? I like your belt. where did you get your bag?
me: thank you. It's a Coach bag I found used online. I had to have it because it reminds me of being 16, when I got my first one, which I can't find right now. we need to go through boxes at Grammie's to see if she has it.
sadie: the bag matches your tights.
me: yes, I'm not sure if it's too much, but oh well.
sadie: like wearing too much pink at the same time.
me: exactly.
delia: can I take more? one of my sisters?
me: yes, but let's put the strap on first.

let it be noted that baby shattered the french press that she was playing with during this photo session. I was wondering why she was so quiet.

green

Why I didn't think to post these on the 17th, I have no idea. They would have been perfect St. Patty's Day fodder, so let's pretend I did. Happy St. Patty's Day!

These are made from an old t-shirt are are so comfy and soft they might just be my favorite pair yet. I can make 2 pairs from one t-shirt, so I am thinking of making another, or a matching not-very-functional bralette, can't decide. The pair I copied these from were a high waisted vintagey style. I really dig the Wonder Woman look. These would be stellar in a stretch silk. It's so nice to have a fuller cut. I get so sick of the lack of coverage with the sassy boy short cut, you know? Nothing like flashing friends and neighbors every time I bend over to pick up a kid.

So, this is just like the first pair I made. No serger needed, just a t-shirt, some stretch lace and a little extra cotton for the gusset.

button-y

Button It Up: 80 Amazing Vintage Button Projects for Necklaces, Bracelets, Embellishments, Housewares & More, by Susan Beal is out and I am thrilled to have a project in this lovely book.

You all know Susan from Super Crafty and Bead Simple fame—she is a crafting star and a wonderful person as well. This  book is full of clever projects and ideas for how to use your button stash, making me want to collect even more. Come see Susan at one of her upcoming events, all of which are listed her on her cool button it up blog, along with PDF's, extra projects, and other fun stuff. She's going to have a button-y gathering this Friday, March 20th at 7:30 at Powell's. Congrats, Susan!

a bit more sassy-

Still sewing underwear. Here's a little set I made about 2 weeks ago. It's dark brown stretch lace (sounds scary but it's actually very soft) with some super cool light blue stretch lace trim. I found both of these items here locally at Mill Ends. They actually have quite a bit of this type of stuff, and I have learned the hard way that you really need to feel and stretch potential fabrics before buying. It's just too risky taking a chance of what you will wear on your bum. The stretch lace trim I have great success with buying online, but not the stretch lace fabric.

This was copied from a DKNY set I had bought years ago and loved. It was dumb expensive when I bought it and once again, I am in shock at what is charged for these types of items. There is a cotton gusset sewn in the knickers in dark brown. I have a few dark t-shirts I use for the cotton lining gusset material. 

I did make it to Molly's book-signing and it was so wonderful to hear and see her in person. Then I found myself chatting later with people and talking about making underwear. So, it was a good evening.

Thanks for the spoon print love. The week was made even worse by the disappearance of our beloved 12-year old orange cat, Lionel. He has been gone 6 days now and I fear the worst. You all know how pet loss is and how it makes you cry in public and all that, so add the death of Gramps in there, and I am a soup of emotional craziness. But, we are moving forward and I am trying to stay positive while knowing that he is probably really gone. The girls are all ready for kittens or possibly a tree frog, they say. I am trying to borrow their enthusiasm and their kid-way they deal with stuff.

One more thing, I'm trying to write down more rhymes, you never know when you will need to bust out some rap (um, I don't think the kids say rap anymore, huh?) and Pete just rhymed frittata with gymkata.

stripey set

More homemade underwear. This set is actually made from a shirt, which I sewed last spring. So, from raw fabric into a shirt, into underwear—talk about re-using. Now if I could figure out a way to cook it and eat it, it would be a complete cycle.

 

The booty pants. Boy-short style stitched with my best friend, stretch lace. A cotton gusset is sewn in there as well, you just can't see it. (Henceforth, the cotton crotch will be referred to as the gusset, because that word I just typed, I can't type again—it being such an unpleasant and funny word to me, not in a good way. We all have our issues.)

And the not-terribly-functional but very comfortable bra. I have seen these called bralettes, which sounds cute, but better for a 16 year old, I think.  Again, the stretch lace is perfect here. The straps are not adjustable, because they only have to fit me and I can take them up a bit when it gets stretched out.

Again, these are made-up pattern copied from a set I had (similar to this fancy one) and it helped me justify the cost knowing I could copy it. This one just pulls over my head, no fasteners needed. I have another set to show soon, I can't seem to stop. Why is sewing my own underwear so much fun? I find it oddly rebellious and wonderfully silly. The girls think it's very funny and are now asking me, when I stop and look at one piece of clothing too long, "Are you going to make underwear out of that?" Never in a million years did I think this is what would be coming from my children's mouths.

4 girls in the house and only 1 brush

While the girls were working on their ATC cards for the swap (due in the mail this weekend) I worked on the hair ribbon thingies I had been meaning to make.

These are modeled off the fancy hair bands with ribbons given to the girls for a birthday or Christmas gift from I think a family member. I don't remember because I am bad. They have become pretty popular. The middle child also wears them as bracelets, which means baby does, too. They have pink and lavender ones and I thought it would be cool to have more. They look better when they are monochromatic (not to be too controlling, but you know what I mean) so we went with green and blue.

That's it. Just tie the ribbons in a double knot. This was with 3 ribbons per band, a yard each, which was a bit long. Then I trimmed them. Later I trimmed them even more and scrunched them a bit.

Here they are finishing up their cards. I feel sort of silly posting ribbons tied to rubber bands (the bands are made by Goody and available at the drugstore, the ribbons came from the fabric shop) but they were so well received, I thought I'd show them. They would make such sweet gifts too. A homemade shrinky dink charm would be cute—attached with a jump ring on the band. Oh, we should do that!

And so random, but we have the fraggle CD turned up way too loud right now and there is a duet with Mokey and Gobo that sounds just like Meatloaf.

happy ending (working with fake fur part II)

The fur was much better to work with this time. I had this lovely very lightweight wool sweater passed on to me and the lines were so nice. Super long ribbing made it quite awesome. However, it was crazy tight, see-through, and a turtleneck—all issues for me.

I cut it up the middle, finished the edge with a rolled hem on the serger, and sewed on a fake fur collar. (Sorry about the jammie pants there, what can you do? It was in the morning.)

 

I really dig the way the turtle neck flops over now.

So, this fake fur trim was purchased. I could have made it myself. it's just a strip of fur folded in half and serged, but buying a fake fur this cool is kind of expensive, and this trim was already made—so there you go. I got it at Mill End Store here in town. It was about $5 a yard, so not cheap, but I only needed a yard, less than that actually, so it was still a great deal. I think this is my favorite re-fashioned sweater yet.

Thanks for all the blog b-day love! I have nothing interesting to report today. I got my haircut and it was flat ironed, which I always find thrilling/creepy. I got some new shoes (in the teal color). They are perfect and I love them to bits. I can't finish Outlander. I'm just not swept up in it. I think I need to take a break. I'm more than half-way through, but it's not sustaining me right now. Harem pants are a horrible thing (even through I like Free People)—and I totally am tucking in my blouses now, (librarian chic) after saying in a video no less, that I would never do that. So I am a big hypocrite.

snow tomten (working with fake fur part I)

 

This is the snow tomten. He (the only male character Delia plays) is wearing a fur capelet and a fur hat, as you can see. The fur was kind of disastrous to work with. It's been over a month now since I made this outfit, so the fur particles floating in the air and on every surface in the sewing room are finally gone, but I am still a little traumatized. I serged all this because hemming wasn't a great option. It all turned out fine, but again, working with the stuff wasn't fun. Having said that, I worked with fake fur again recently because I felt compelled to—being on this furry/black forest/pelt kick this winter.

The hat. You can see how I finished the capelet collar there, just a serged edge, which was much easier than trying to make a lining. I found many tips online for sewing with fake fur, all of which I read and then promptly ignored. If I hadn't, it might have made this project less swear-y, but I don't know how I could have avoided the fibers getting in my nose, which was the worst part.

No patterns here, which was fine for the capelet. That was just a circle cut up one side and then adjusted. But the hat was a bit harder to make up as I went, especially in fur. This was hat attempt #3.

And from someone very special—the tomten now has keys! The tomten whispers a very gruff "thank you" and goes back to his barn/cave.

happy presidents' day

photo from hand over fist

I am so in love with these bandanas from hand over fist. They are hand drawn by Marissa Corwin and printed in Brooklyn.

photo from hand over fist

photo from hand over fist
 

I am showing my underwear, again.

 

So, I made this sleep set and am now kind of obsessed with sewing my own undergarments. This is cotton jersey with just a wee it of stretch, like 10% Lycra, I'd say. It's a bit thicker then the standard underwear jersey, which is nice.

 

I made this pair in a boy-short style. I used a pair of undies that fit me well as a pattern. Then, after really looking closely at how these types of items are made (from my own dresser and in shops) I sewed these with some stretch lace. I still love FOE, but I think stretch lace is now my new best friend. I am fickle.

Here's the camisole with a bit of sassy ruching. Again, no pattern, I just used what I had in my dresser drawer as a guide. The stretch lace makes the straps. Easy as pie. Even easier, actually.

Okay, I could write a flippin' book about how fun this is. I can't stop. Here are some things I want to mention before I forget.

• Please just take a favorite pair of underwear out of your drawer and copy it. It will fit you much better than any pattern you might purchase.
• I have used t-shirts for this type of thing and will show them soon.
• I got all my stretch lace here and they shipped it out super fast.
• To avoid a lot of swearing, please read this book on sewing with knits. It's easy, but not if you make it up as you go. For these, I use a straight stitch on the side seams (where it shouldn't stretch) and a small zigzag over the lace around the leg openings and waist, where it needs to stretch. The edges are raw and they don't fray, because it's a knit. I don't pull the lace as I stitch it on, just let it lay flat.
• A serger is absolutely not needed to make these. In fact, I barely used mine and when I did, it was just to make it neater inside, I still reinforced with a normal stitch.
• I have learned all these tricks for making these (especially for all the different ways to make the cotton lined gusset) and am continually learning more—I'm thinking about a video tutorial for a basic how-to.
• I want to get some nicer fabrics for another set and try a different cut of knickers. The stretch lace is great with knits, but I have also purchased stronger lingerie elastic to use with silks and wovens.

More soon on all this stuff, but dang—where have I been? Not sure why it took me so long to try this type of garment sewing. I want to try a bunch of different styles and items, like robes, high-waisted vintage style undies, and all that. And bloomers. Don't be scared. Cute ones, not Little Bo Peep ones. Anyhow, with prices what they are for this stuff (when it's well made, out of nice fabrics, not the cheap-o stuff) sewing it is a fraction of the cost. I think this set was less than $4 to make, actually. I have been in a few of the really nice lingerie shops here in Portland lately getting inspiration and they have such amazing collections. But, for real, there's no way I am paying $75 for a non-functional bra. But, hey, I'l sew one for sure!

dress + scissors = sweater & scarf

This cashmere sweater dress was just too short, but it was too flippin' cute to give up on. I stared at this dress for so long before I decided how to re-fashion it. I am always tempted to go crazy with details and adding trim, etc. but realized the simple solution was the best here—plain ol' scissors.

 

I cut off the bottom and it is now my favorite sweater.

 

Much better.

 

And the part I cut off is now wrapped around my neck pretty much 24/7—it's the perfect scarf. I finished the short ends of the scarf with a rolled edge on the serger, but realized I didn't really need to, so the long side I let roll onto itself. It's so warm and cozy. It's even warmer when I wear it with a shirt. I realize I am sort of in my PJ's here—long story.

Here's a detail of how I finished the edge of the sweater—a 3-thread rolled edge on the serger.

Hey blogliners—I have a new banner up and some new links, just so you know.

re-fashioned small style

I recently was the recipient of some clothing castaways. It's always more fun re-fashioning other people's clothes, or thrifted clothes, than clothes from my own closet, I think. I take more risks and am much more ruthless with the scissors. Free is such a good price. This top, (quite cute as-is) was commandeered by Miss D-

 

A short sleeve jumper appeared in its place-

And the sleeves turned into leg-warmers. She loves it, as do I. I am so digging this rag-tag-box-car-kid style. Here's the list of alterations, which may not be that helpful, because it really just only makes sense to make the decisions as you sew when doing this type of thing. That, and try it on about 100 times.

• The front was stitched up, making the cardigan a dress
• The sleeves removed, and made thinner, creating leg warmers
• The buttons shifted and were reinforced
• There is a new large box pleat in the back, taking up some girth
• The shoulder seams were raised.

Most of the edges are serged with a 3 thread rolled hem, but some edges are raw and look fine that way. I used a large zig-zag when I stitched up the cardigan. It was a collaborative effort, with lots of opinions thrown in by the 4-year old. Thank you so much miss black apple!

And wow, the alarm clocks! Who knew you all had so much experience with the moonglow? So, I lost the auction—curses. I will keep looking and there will be another round of this, I will not be beaten.

The Tomten—for real

The Tomten outfit Sadie and I made for Delia for Winter Solstice was a huge hit. HUGE. Two nights ago, when Delia wore it all to bed (the whole outfit) she woke up twice, hysterical, because her beard had come off. Here's a drawing of all the pieces. I have not found suitable keys yet, but they appear in the book below, and they look cute in the illustration, so I added them in. This outfit is based on the book combined with the ornament in this post. I got smart and made sure the whole costume worked over the red nightgown I was sewing for her gift anyway.

Some specs:

• The hat is soft fleece. I didn't finish the seams or anything, just made a wide cone and stitched it up. The pattern came with the nightgown pattern below, which was so convenient.
• The smock is felt and made from an enlargement of the smock pattern in my book. To make it look like a pine cone, I cut out strips of scallops and stitched them on (actually Sadie did.) It just ties in the back.
• The beard is one layer of cotton quilt batting with elastic sewn on.
• The keys don't exist, but should, so I am looking.
• The slippers are the classic ballet leather ones.
• The red nightgown is a simple pull over in red mini-corduroy made from McCall's 5510. I love this very versatile pattern. It's great for dresses, nightgowns, and costumes—super easy and fast.

The Tomten says in character all day. She is quite solemn and a bit gruff, and it's all very very funny. She knows this, but won't crack a smile.

We got this surprise in the mail—The Tomten and the Fox book with no note or message. It was quite thrilling. We now know who sent it (thank you!) and love it so much. This whole Tomten business is so wonderful. I love the woodsy, natural, bearded little troll gig. There is a lot of princess love in this house and this is such a nice balance—you know what I mean.

 

happy holidays!

I wanted to cross-stitch a little stuffed linen ornament for the tree this year, but didn't get to it. So, I changed the 2008 to a 2009 and will be ahead of the game for next year. It's a crazy snowland here in Portland—so there has been a lot of down time, which has been lovely, to be honest.

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday, a safe and fun New Year's Eve, and a grand start on the New Year. And Happy Solstice! We have solstice gifts, candle lighting, and a late night shadow puppet show on the schedule for tonight. Excitement!

Click here to get the pattern for this.
Download hoilday.pdf (0.0K)

Enjoy! See you in 2009 and thanks for being rad, people.

much improved

This was one of those impulse purchases that I made, without trying it on, and never wore. Just a simple pullover sweater. I never wear pullover sweaters. They make me feel me claustrophobic. This wasn't always the case, but after kids, I realized I need to only wear cardigans. I also haven't worn a turtleneck in over 6 years for the same reason—too much fabric on my neck. Anyhoo, before it went in the donate pile I thought I'd give it another chance.

I shortened the sleeves, cut it up the middle, added velvet ribbon and 2 vintage buttons. The buttons are only decorative, I sewed little snaps underneath. A little ironing on the reverse side helped straighten out the ribbon.

Much better. Now I will wear it for real. I love changing sweaters.  What's funny is every time I do it, I think I am being so clever, not remembering that I have done it before. Several times.

Snowstorm alert 2008!

We might get snow here this weekend, very exciting for our sad children who never see snow unless we drive 45 east to go sledding at the mountain. I feel like I have more to say regarding cooking, baking, and homemade gift giving, but haven't had enough coffee to gain clarity. Our dishwasher (new!) is broken, so that is awesome. I am cutting out fabric for the girls solstice gifts—nightgowns. Sadie's is white with tiny pink polka-dots and Delia's is deep red. I pre-washed them together. Oops. So now Sadie's is light pink with polka-dots. Our family tradition is that the solstice gifts have to be handmade. The girls' ideas are amazing—and challenging. A glue gun may have to be employed. More developments soon.

**update

Okay, the edges are not finished.

This is okay because I dig the frayed/ratty look of worn sweaters—having said that I am lying slightly here because the stitching on the green ribbon keeps the edge from fraying too much. The edges are raw on the arms as well, so I encourage them to roll a bit during the day—so far, so good. I'd run a stitch around the cut edges if it were a chunky sweater (but then it was also ruffle and stretch a bit, which would bug me.) I probably will wash it in hot water one time to slightly felt it, and then stretch it out while it's damp. I hope this isn't too random, but there you go. It's not an exact science, depends on the sweater, the fiber content, and my willingness to wreck it. Whenever I add buttons, I use snaps underneath because trying to make new button holes would be a swear-fest.

what I did instead of packing (part I)

I wanted a new winter skirt, that's the thing. I knew I needed to start packing up my art room, for real, but I found this wool (12 years old) in pristine condition in the back of my closet and it just wouldn't go in the box. I never found a skirt that I wanted this fall after a dumb amount of time searching online (and the j.crew one was over $100), so I made this 2 nights ago. It's inspired by an Anthropologie skirt I got on mega-sale a few years back. A quick consultation with my girl Frenchie (who has the same Antro skirt) pointed me to my own bookshelf—the skirt pattern in Wendy's book, which I had not made before, but was perfect.

I lined this with a light lavender material and used an invisible back zipper. Can I sing the praises again of the invisible zipper? Life changing. Just make sure to buy the metal foot especially made for your machine—not the cheap-o plastic ones you find at the fabric shops. It felt so good to actually sew a tailored garment again, with darts and all, instead of the quick-and-dirty skirts I had been making all summer. This skirt is perfect for the naughty secretary look that I love so much, and the best thing is I didn't have to leave the house to make it—I had everything here. That's sort of scary, actually. Packing for me has been like cleaning my room when I was a kid. I could never finish because I would start playing with all the toys I forgot I had. Back to the skirt, I made a self-ruffle (both sides are surged with rolled hem) and stitched it down the middle, over the front darts down to the hem. The skirt hem is just surged. I dig the deconstructed look and the ruffle would be too bulky to turn up.

So, packing is really happening now. I am did the kitchen this morning. How many half-open apple cider vinegars bottles did I have tucked back in the cupboard? Five. And what's up with all the gross honey jars I have?

Unrelated, I think I need to start lifting weights because every morning I am struck by how hard I have to push to get the plunger down on our french press. Seriously, it's one of the hardest thing I do all day and I am just waiting to sustain a coffee-related injury.

On the new music front: Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and The Pica Beats. Any other suggestions?

arm warmers, undies & links

I busted out the arm-warmers I got last spring from sock dreams. I love them so much. I really dig the sweater vest or 3/4 sleeve look—but then I get the chilly forearm thing. So, arm-warmers come in handy. Why I haven't knit these, I don't know. (I am still making progress on my sweater, by the way.) I am rockin' the look from the Shire today. That's cool, albeit rumpled. I didn't realize how much it looked like I slept in this shirt until I saw the photo. Awesome.

I am still not over my homemade undies trip, although I haven't made any yet saving these. Here's some patterns I found/discovered that I am super excited about.

-The most excellent Knicker Making Pattern/Kit by Gemma Jones. Please order this pattern—it is so rad, all hand drawn and naughty/sassy in the best possible way.

-An awesome (and free) looking knicker pattern at Burda Style

-Tap pant/boxer style also at Burda Style (I linked to this one before)

If you know of any great knitted arm-warmer patterns or knicker sewing patterns (free or to buy) feel free to leave it in the comments. My research skills today are horrible. I am recalling a book out there that even combines the two subjects, I think it's knitting spicy undergarments? I think it's even put out by my publisher—yes, here it is—Naughty Needles, which is out of stock. Does anyone have this book? I need to get my hiney over to Ravelry, pronto. Knitted knickers sounds so cool. Can I say knickers as an American without sounding pretentious? Pretty soon I will start spelling color with a "u". Watch out.

I see London I see France

I didn't wake up planning to sew my own underwear.

It actually came about because I was trying to sew less. I think we actually will be moving soon, which is happy good news, but is stressful nonetheless. My art room is sort of dismantled, so I though I'd cut myself some slack and not sew until we are settled in our new house. I bought a few jersey dresses like this one and needed tights, pronto. It's been a while since I've worn dresses like these. I was excited to just throw these on, like a nightgown, over tights and top with bulky sweaters. Add some boots and I am done. Repeat the following day. I did just that, but realized right away I needed a slip.

The slips I had on hand were gross at best. They are mostly vintage and have been worn out completely Also, the full slip, which I have the most of, isn't the right style for these dresses. Tap pants are perfect, and I had none. A quick internet search made me realize that no tap pants are available anymore. Why? They are my ideal slip/underwear of choice. Another search made me realize what is available slip-wise is horrid, over priced, and made of terrible fabrics. So out came the packed away sewing machine. I bought some silk charmeuse (if I'm gonna sew tap pants, I'm going to make them with the best fabric, not some icky poly-nonsense) and made these.

These were so fast and easy, it was one of these head-slapping moments. Why had I not made these before? Or any of my slips? So, 2 half-slips and 4 pairs of tap pants later (the half slips are not silk, but a nice quality lining material) I felt an overwhelming urge to add even more to my undergarment collection in the near future. Full slips, camisoles, an impractical silk bed jacket, possibly a kimono ala 1920s—all that. I have one new sewing pattern that is vintage inspired I am quite pleased with it—has a great assortment of items, but I haven't used it yet. Of course, I am trolling for vintage patterns now and plan to copy what I have in my closet that is vintage—which is what I did for these pieces shown here. Not surprisingly, new sewing patterns for lovely undergarments are very hard to find. Here's a nice one, however.

There is a nice free pattern here at Burda Style for a similar pair of tap pants and a top that would be super sweet to sleep in. Its styling is different than these, it uses a casing for the waistband, but I am all about lingerie elastics and edging with lace.

I used an assortment of what I had on hand for trim and the like. I serged all the seams (with a wooly nylon thread on one spool) and then turned and edged with lace. Sometimes stretch lace, sometimes not. I primarily used lingerie elastic and a 3-stitch zig zag for the waistbands, but you can see I used a coral colored FOE waistband on the green tap pants and one of the half slips.

This was LOADS of fun. All the fabrics came from Fabric Depot. I thought for a millisecond about the appropriateness of showing this stuff, but come on. It's not terribly risque really, and hopefully won't come up in too many random google searches. In the last few posts I think "hot vampire sex" has been mentioned more than once in the comments, so it's hard for me to get all worried about the people who will end up here searching for "panties" Panties is a awesome/funny word, by the way. One of my faves.

a whole cloth quilt

This quilt is made with fabric I designed over at Spoonflower. I was thinking forever about what to design. I wanted to take advantage of this digital printing process by using several colors and designing a pattern with a large repeat in a pretty large quantity, because that would have been a drag to try and silkscreen in my basement with 3 kids screaming at me.

I decided to design a cheater cloth, partly because they are so cool, and partly because it meant a quilt in a flash, which is better for my lack of sewing/craft time right now. I love the idea of cheaters and wanted to design a modern one. It's quilted around the squares, to make it seem like patchwork. In a quick search, I found that cheater cloth started to appear as early as the 1850s. It was printed to look like a patchwork pattern or applique—all it needed was to be quilted, not pieced, hence the "cheater" name. I love Denise Schmidt's modern cheater cloths here at Cia's.

It's simple and minimal and I am very, very pleased. This is 2 yards of Spoonflower fabric with added borders on the top, bottom and sides—making a generous sofa quilt. Grammie, my quilting rock star mom, put this on her gammill and quilted it for me, reminding me again I am the luckiest daughter in the world. It's been washed twice and I am really curious how the colors will hold up. I suspect some fading, but we shall see.

Unrelated, I now have a search feature on my blog! I have received more than a few requests for this feature, because my categories are a bit spotty (understatement) So, if you are looking for gingerbread, that post about plastics, or something else you think I wrote about over the last 3.5 years, you can search for it easily in that box over there to the right. Also, don't forget to read the comments in the posts—I have the best commenter's ever and there's a ton of amazing info and links in there.

the wrap dress no longer from the 5th Element

Wrap dresses come and go in my life. I remember sewing a DKNY one in 88'-ish—I know I was in high school. The short sleeves were too long and it took a gazillion yards. I kind of forgot about wrap dresses until recently. I couldn't find one I liked enough to buy, so started researching sewing patterns. This dress pattern was chosen as a fall staple because 1.) I knew I could nurse in it. 2.) I can wear it under cardigans, and 3.) it got rave reviews over here. There are great tips in the reviews too—like to add an 1" or so to the bodice length because it runs strangely short.

In my version above, this Vogue 8379 dress is sleeveless because of the mishap mentioned in the previous post. It's all good—I prefer sleeveless tops and like to use a little 1/8" elastic to make a sassy little gather like I did here, right across the shoulder seam. Even though I sewed this like drunk train wreck, it came out just fine. I have knit fabric waiting for another but I'm not sure I need 2 of these in cotton knit jersey. I'm tempted to try it in a woven. It calls for a moderate stretch knit. I'm so glad I didn't break the bank and get the organic jersey for this because there was a lot of hacking. A long sleeved one in wool jersey would be kill. Oh, that would be soooo nice. We shall see.

Next up, I am all about this dress pattern—so stinking cute!! And so similar in overall vibe to the A.P.C. dresses this season. Dare I make it in a plaid? Not sure about the non-functioning pockets in the Vogue pattern. I think they would have to functional for me. So much to consider. I also have my eye on this one, which could look awesome, or very wrong.

no place like home—my tie one on apron

I had to make it. I was researching chicken scratch for the Tie One On gingham apron theme and then, without realizing it, I started looking for Dorothy images. I had Grammie pick up a lovely black and white gingham but when she brought it she also gave me this blue and white gingham, which she has kept since I was about 7, apparently. This is pretty much normal for Grammie.

Once I saw it, I just couldn't stop humming "follow the yellow brick road." I love making costumes so much, especially iconic ones. A red cape, a witch,—all those types of things. Modifying Dorothy's dress into a pinafore/apron version was totally fun and simple. Also, it makes it so much easier for growing bodies to fit into. No closures to get in the way. Here it is on Sadie.

Here's Delia with a munchkin. Or a flying monkey, depending on who you ask. There was no pattern here. I used photos from the movie for inspiration, although I love the original book illustrations, too. After digging around for props, like a Toto basket among other items, we were able to magically put together a Glinda outfit from the dress up box for the middle child, complete with a white felt crown I made about 3 years ago.  This is totally awesome and a huge load off Halloween preparations. It's also a bit scary when I realize how much dress up stuff we have.

Sadie, God bless her, put on her new fall red shoes as ruby slippers, didn't even say a peep about needing new ruby ones but just scrounged for what we had on hand—but come on, I may have to get her some red ones with glitter.  Glinda (Delia) is also totally content with her pieced together outfit as well but has requested a homemade magic wand "really big, as tall as a cane." So, there you go. The girls want Liddy to be a munchkin, I want her to be a flying monkey, and Pete's vote is for the wizard.

Bring on the gingham aprons!~The aprons for this theme are due by September 1st. The next theme for Tie One On will be in early 2009, so we can all slow down and enjoy the holidays without extra projects. Plus, I have 2 birthdays to contend with.

fall jacket for the first born

I made Sadie's fall jacket right before we left for the coast because I knew it would be chilly there. It was, and she wore it the whole time. It had ice cream, sand, melted marshmallow, and chocolate on it immediately. I took this photo before that, of course, although if my battery hadn't died in the camera, I would have shown it all loved up with food and filth.

This is made with a cotton sweatshirt fleece that I found on sale at Fabric Depot here in Portland at their outdoor sale, and it was quite the score. The pattern is Butterick B4908 (out of print, lame.) I am gloating here because this jacket cost $8 to make. The fleece was $4 a yard on sale and I only needed 2 yards. Whoot. Online there are a lot of colors here at SewZanne's (I didn't see 100% cotton) and some lovely organic options with plenty of 100% cottons at NearSea Naturals. I'm sure there are ton more online sources as well.

So, this jacket has a lovely drape-y hood (think Ladyhawk) and concealed big industrial snaps to keep it closed. The wooden button is looped with a bit of blue elastic (a hair rubberband) and the front is trimmed in a Black Forest style tapestry ribbon that I have boatloads of 'cause I love it so much. I serged the whole thing. I was going to use a flatlock stitch but had a brain fade about threading the right needle with two threads and Mariko didn't set me straight until it was already made. I love the flatlock however and need to use that stitch soon. I did use my normal sewing machine's hemstitch and I forgot how useful this stitch is on jerseys and knits. Most machines have it. I might show this in a tutorial because dang, it really is a nice finish if you don't want to hem by hand, which is a good way to go, too.

I did some real soul searching before I made this jacket for her. It's her third I have sewn, one each fall for 3 years now and the first two she liked just fine, but they were a bit heavy for our climate. They got worn, but not a lot, and she dresses like me I guess (lots of layers) so a light jacket that can go over sweaters made more sense. Also, like most kids, she's rather wear a towel, or a blanket, or anything that feels like a towel or a blanket. I worked hard on her other coats and lined them and all, but she would always go for the soft cotton hoodie on the coat rack when we'd play outside, so this year I decided not to make the jacket with a lining and go all out, but make the jacket she grabs everyday -- the comfy one. The go-to jacket. Then I can see it all the time. It was a good decision because she has already worn this more than the other two jackets combined. I'm only slightly exaggerating here. And seeing it with the hood up in all its fairytale glory just kills me. I'm tempted now to make the longer version in red.

the sweater got gussied up.

I was so into this j.crew sweater I had to try something similar and am so pleased with how this turned out. My rule was no buying anything new, I used what I had on hand. I pulled out the red cotton cardigan I've had since last winter, stitched a pleated ribbon to the neckline, and added a jaunty broach which is a blackwork stitched pin I bought from the crazy-wonderful Pin Pals a bit back. Please see their wares, especially the amazing paper dolls. I added a felt/ribbon circle to back the pin, making it all matchy.

The ribbon is zig-zagged on, and I added new (vintage) buttons. Thanks Hillary, I am 99.9% sure these are from you. The broach is on a stickpin for easy removal, like for when the baby tries to eat it. I must get some velvet pleated ribbon soon, I am sort of freaking out about it, not quite sure why I didn't notice this trim before now.

This was all pretty easy, however the collar stretched a bit and there is potential for much swearing. A careful pressing was needed (after misting with water) to get it all back into shape. Next time I will stitch a stay-stitch first, to keep the ribbing from stretching too much. (A stay-stitch is just a normal stitch, not sewing it to anything, just to keep it from stretching.)  it's all so autumnal looking—so I need to put it away. I still need summer, dang it! It's been really mild here this week, but I hear the heat is coming soon. Bring it.

We are gonna do a whole lot of nothing the next couple weeks. We are headed to the coast, have friends coming in from out of town, various house projects on the list, and much pie to bake and eat—so I'm gonna lay low for a bit and work the lazy. This includes reading more trashy historical fiction and seeing Brideshead Revisited and possibly starting a new cross stitch project. See you all in a few weeks! I will be on the e-mail machine, but hopefully on sloth-time.

FOE-fold over elastic tutorial*

Okay! Here's a FOE tutorial. For easy reference, I've listed some projects I have made using this handy fold over elastic. There are links in the various posts on where to buy it.

-5-minute skirt
-A blouse
-Sadie's dress
-Delia's dress (a sort of hard way to use the foe with a knit- not recommended unless you want to get agitated)
-Another dress for Delia

I hope you find it informative. It's about 8 minutes long. Sometimes when a bunch of people are trying to watch videos at once, you tube says it's no longer available—which is hogwash. Just come back later and try again. Here's the direct link, too.

And look what I found! A video tutorial on using FOE for diaper covers. There are a ton of sewing tutorials on you tube, including what appears to be a 17-part series (possibly more?) on sewing your own underwear. For real. I think it is only one pair (the pace is pretty slow going and the clips are really short, hence the high number of episodes) and combines all the crazy reasons I love the internet. It's incredibly rad, you'll know what I mean when you watch it.

*stick heads included. You can see their first appearance here.

a new summer dress (but it's the same pattern)

So, this here is another summer dress (like this one and this one), but this one is a total mini boden rip off. This is Delia's color and when I found it super-cheap on the outside sales table at Fabric Depot, it had to come home with us. It's rayon. We got some green for Sadie, too. Liddy got nothing, but she has yet to tell us her favorite color. We can't understand a word she says.

It's hard to see in this shot, but the FOE is a light blue. It is also used, unfolded, to slightly gather the bodice. I got fancy and made a ruffle by serging strips (3-thread rolled hem) and gathering it before stitching it on. Lovely. The whole dress just pulls over her head, so no closures to worry about. The mottled rayon look is a bit early 1990s but I still love it for the girls. And I just got the newest mini boden and didn't see that dress in there this year, so I am even happier I made this.

I am thinking about making a video tutorial for FOE soon. I need to find my stick puppet heads.

 

5-minute skirt*

Here's the 5-minute skirt how to I have been meaning to post. Please see the disclaimer at the bottom.

And are you annoyed trying to read all this while at your sewing machine? I am! So get the PDF version right here. It's kind of a big file, just so you know.

This super easy to sew skirt is 2 pieces, front and back, cut on the bias. The waistband is FOE (fold over elastic) and the hem is rolled with a serger. You don't need a serger for this project—it just means you will need to hem your skirt the traditional way, which is any way you normally would.

Here's what you need:

-skirt fabric (I strongly suggest a woven cotton with a wee bit of stretch. EDIT-—t's better if this fabric has no stretch than a fabric with too much. So a normal woven cotton would work, but not a cotton knit or jersey.)The best way to make sure you have enough fabric is to make your paper pattern first and take it to the fabric shop. Or, make your paper pattern and measure it out first, if you are ordering fabric online. Don't forget to get extra fabric for shrinkage. For a rough guide, figure about 2 1/2 yards for an XL and 2 yards for a XS, depending on the fabric width and your skirt length. This is a generous estimate.

-FOE (fold over elastic) you need this for the waistband, so get at least your waist circumference.  You can find it in a gazillion colors at SewZanne's

-A big ol' piece of paper to make your pattern. I love Swedish tracing paper, but you can use whatever is big enough. In a pinch, you can also use muslin or another piece of fabric if you have some lying around. (In a major pinch, you can skip the paper pattern and draw these lines directly on the skirt fabric, but you didn't hear it from me.)

1. To make the paper pattern, get your tape measure:

A=your waist circumference divided by 2 plus 3" (So let's say my waist is 28", ha, that's funny. That would make A=17")

B=A+22" (So, in my fabricated small waist example B=17"+22" which is 39")

C=Your favorite skirt length. (Try measuring your favorite skirt as a guide for the length. If you are serging a rolled hem, no extra is needed. If you are using a traditional hem, add what you need, about 1" should do it if you are making a smallish hem. On my skirt, C =24") When drawing the pattern, Notice how the hem dips a bit, in the front? It's about a 1/2" dip, but it's really not a big deal, include it or leave it out.

2. Lay this pattern out on the bias onto your folded skirt fabric.  This means the grain of the fabric should match the arrow on the skirt in that sketch up there, see that? So the skirt pattern will lie at an angle. You will need to cut 2 pieces, which is why the fabric needs to be folded in half.  3/8" seam allowance already included.

3. Sew the skirt side seams right sides together. Turn it right side out and try it on. You should be able to fit it over your booty with a good tug. If it's too tight, cut 1/2" off the top to make the waist wider. Don't make it too big, it should be snug. It will stretch a bit over time.

4. Now sew the FOE onto the waistband using a zigzag stitch, stretching the FOE as you stitch. Try not to stretch the skirt fabric at all. Don't pre-cut the FOE, just stretch and sew it on. It won't fray, so when you are done stitching it on just sew right over the end, overlapping where you started.

5. Using a serger (and wooly nylon thread if you are extra fancy) serge with 3 thread rolled hem. The wooly nylon on one cone makes the rolled edge nice and full, covering the fabric edge completely. If you are sergerless, fold the edge over twice and edge stitch, or use the hem stitch on your sewing machine (Yes, there is one!) Go slow and ease as you need to, hemming on the bias can be a bit swear-y. You could also hem with bias tape, that would look super cute. You can use this method here.

*Disclaimer: The 5 minutes only apply if you have a serger, all the supplies at the ready, and are sober. Please allow for extra time if your personal situation deviates from this.

lovely clothes that I can't buy

Wonderful clothes here—

The eggplant told me about this site. They don't ship to the US, so it's just eye candy. Look at these tiny well placed pockets!

So cute. This reminds me of sweaters from 1985 that kind of looked like this. I actually never had any. I was more of the black-sweater-vest-with-the-white-t-shirt-underneath type girl. Or Benetton sweaters. But I love this. Not sure I could pull off the puffy sleeve. Maybe it's more for Sadie. I find it amusing that it's the puffy sleeves that give me pause, not the infantile figures on the front. I think I am going crazy.

see, I can delegate & what's in my mouth?!

I didn't make Liddy's party invitations this year. This is a big deal not because I felt guilty (these are so crazy cute I am thrilled to have found them) but because I Iove making invitations and all paper type items for the kids and was sad to not have the time to design any like Sadie's last b-day invite or Liddy's birth announcement. I don't remember what I did for middle child's last party, but I think it was cute? (Hopefully this isn't a potential therapy topic for her.) I was reminded of all this reading Sally's post about b-day stuff for her boys. That lady knows how to plan a party. I am so excited by the ceramic popcorn containers she linked to. I must have them.

Anyhoo, I bought these locally at Oblation and they are printable, so you can run them right through your printer at home. They made me so happy. The font I found here. I love handwriting fonts so much.

Of course, the matching thank you notes had to come home with me as well. There are a bunch of seriously cute patterns in this collection. Now I want to make more! But I don't want to have more parties, just print more invites. I should print invites for a virtual party. That would be cool. Or perhaps not cool, but dumb, I can't decide. Probably dumb.

I am freaking out as I type this because I am eating Christopher Elbow Chocolates right now in the form of a dark chocolate bar that has pop rocks in it. I am serious. This was sent to me by some evil genius as the best late b-day gift ever. Thank you!!!

furoshiki

I was e-mailed link to this image and PDF from Vanessa and am geeking. I love furoshiki. And I love diagrams. And I love this color green. And I love diagrams that have white lines on a dark background, like old blueprints. This is making me so happy. And hooray for using fabric for wrapping gifts and not paper that just gets thrown away.

swearing and then happiness

So, I'm not mad at this dress anymore. It's been 2 weeks now, or maybe just one week. We are friends. Middle child loves her and actually cried when she was getting washed, which is a first. I realize now I was unconsciously trying to recreate this dress which is dear to my heart (it's from mini boden) and I get a little panicky when I think of it getting too small, so I am really happy I can make something similar. No matching sketchbook this time, I ran out of fabric, but little barrettes instead which seem like an unacceptable substitution. Again, see the genius of the small object hanger.

There's my little sitter—like for a portrait. Posing for photos is her new thing, so stinkin' cute. Especially because it's all a farce, this demure gesture, because she was probably spitting out chewed food on the rug about 5 minutes later. That's my girl.

The issue with this dress is, unlike Sadie's striped version which was a woven cotton with just a wee bit of stretch— this one is a true knit. Trying to use the FOE to both finish and gather the neck and arms was completely crazy. Here's why—the knit, no matter how careful you are, stretches when you pull the FOE tight while zig-zagging it on. So, you end up with pretty much no gathering. It's a lovely finish, and FOE is wonderful with knits as an ungathered edge finish, especially if you don't want to monkey with hemming, but as a gathering finish—not so good. In hindsight I could have tried a stay stitch to secure the edge of the knit, but I'm not sure that would done the trick. Possibly, and I should test that.

After some swearing, cutting, and messing around, I ended up just running a basting stitch around the neck and arms, gathering it the old fashioned way, and then binding it with the FOE. Wrapping the FOE over a gathered edge was not a super awesome experience, but I did it, and the cool thing is when you do all that and clip the basting thread, it retains it's stretch beautifully. I then added 1/8" elastic across the front and back bodice and this time covered it with FOE using it as a trim, unfolded, to cover the elastic. That's that wide lavender ribbon there across the front of the dress. The girls have very different tastes, Delia picked out the fabric and trim color and it s 100% her, which I love. The fabric is from SewZanne's, as is the FOE.

The Built By Wendy knits book has a wonderful serger tip— I now keep my serger on a 3-thread overlock stitch (instead of the 4-thread) then when I want to use the 3-thread rolled hem, all I need to do it turn a dial. Yeah, it's awesome. Before when I used my rolled hem, it involved a bit more adjusting because I was going from a 4-thread to a 3-thread stitch.

My new thing with knits is no hems, just rolled edges. Within reason, but you know what I mean. I just finished a skirt yesterday in about 5 minutes, no joke. 2 pieces, cut on the bias, FOE waistband, and a rolled hem. It was a woven cotton with a bit of stretch and it's killer. I wore it out to dinner with my mom and brother for her birthday and got compliments on it from the hostess and was showing the FOE waistband off after I asked her if she sewed. Yeah. Someone shut me up and tell me to pull my shirt down. And I just want to say I would buy everyone my serger if I won the lottery, for real. I've had this particular model almost 4 years now and every time I use it I am ecstatic bought it. I'm just saying. It's an Babylock Imagine and I am in no way affiliated with this company, but I wish I were. I actually believe pimping this serger is more like a public service announcement, it's that good.

And thank you for all your rad comments about soy and gladiator sandals! Seriously. This is why I love blogs.