Summer sewing hiatus
It's summer and I mean really summer this year in Alaska. This means abundant light, great temps and lots of time outdoors. Hence not a lot of sewing happening. I did buy two new books that I'm looking forward to sewing from, but those project will likely wait until fall.
Until fall, happy sewing. I hope to come back from summer motivated and inspired to make lots of new projects.
Booster seat
My good friend was over so that I could sew some black fabric on the backs of her little girls' curtains so they can get some sleep. It isn't getting dark here these days until after 9p.m. and the days will only continue to get longer. While I was sewing, she was looking through my sewing books. She ran across this booster seat in one of the best sewing books I have. I had a remnant of oil cloth hanging around so we whipped up the seat.
I had never sewn oil cloth before, but its awesome, no frays, goes through the machine so smoothly. The original pattern calls for hand stitching it shut after putting in the foam, but I decided to try a zipper. I've only semi-successfully sewn a zipper once before. This one I was very pleased with and I like how it's bright orange (it's just something I had in my stash). While I didn't have the foam, I did receive an email later that evening that not only did the foam fit, but it also zipped (hooray!) and held when the little girl used it (another hooray!). I think we're going to make another so when her daughter has little friends over everyone can reach the table.
Another day, another sundress
I love this sun dress pattern. This is the third time I've made it now. It's the perfect hour project to whip up as a gift for a little girl. I've made it in sizes 6-9 months, 18 months and 2T. I've been very happy with each of them.
This time I used bright floral fabrics so it could be worn this summer. I love all the bright spring fabrics it's hard not to buy one of each when I'm at the fabric store.
Using up scraps
I love making little dolls and stuffies. Its a great way to use up scraps of cloth and other odds and ends. Here are two I made to send my niece.
The little doll is just that little. It should be the right size for a 6 month old. It's completely baby friendly and is small enough that it shouldn't overwhelm her in her crib or laying next to her.
I think my favorite part about making these is I just make them up as I go along. I really love this bunny. He really came "alive" when I embroidered the face.
Needlebook
Update: This post keeps doing weird things with the pictures, so I'll leave it for now and see if I can't figure it out later. Click on the pics to see them.
Home sick today; it's day two of whatever nasty bug I've got. So to keep myself entertained, I've been embroidering. I've got this lovely green fabric I'm embroidering flowers onto before turning it into a pillow cover. However, I do loose my needles a lot so when I ran across this project, I decided it was the prefect low key easy and useful project for this morning.
I stole a little piece of the blue vinyl my husband bought to make a new arm rest cover and used left over scraps of felt for the rest.
I love this button. I used the other in the set to make a plant pick over a year ago and it still keeps my snake plant company. I didn't have a bead like the tutorial suggested, so I made one out of an extra button.
Now I can take my embroidery to bed with me, get cozy under the quilt and not worry about waking up with a needle stuck in my side or the bottom of a dog's foot.
- Posted from Магаданская область, Russian Federation
An old project resurrected
Front view. I love the kimono sleeves.
I started sewing a little crafter's smock from this book last May just after the successful completion of a few projects, like this one. I was overly ambitious in trying this one at the time since when I was sewing the sleeves I didn't understand the instructions and sewed the arm hole shut. Frustrated and not sure how to fix it, I folded up the project and stuck it on a shelf. It wasn't until just last week that my sewing skills caught up enough to fix this and not just let all that cute fabric go to waste.
An awesome sewing book
One Yard Wonders lets you sew lots of great projects with just a yard or less of fabric. I've made a couple of projects from the book and so far no complaints. The first project was a yoga bag (sorry no picture) for a friend's birthday. In fact, it was the need for a gift that prompted me to head to the fabric store to figure out what I could make and I stumbled upon this book. Since then I also made the hot cold obi (again no picture) for a friend that had thrown out her back and a little purse with an attached changing pad as part of the future baby sewing.
- Posted from Магаданская область, Russian Federation
Silk scarves
Much like the scarf and hankies I made here, the technique was the same - zig zag stitch on the edges. The trick here was to use a fabric stabilizer to help the silk feed through the machine with minimal effort and bunching. I used a tear away stabilizer, but there are lots of varieties. For the scarves, I made the cuts, then pinned the silk to the stabilizer, ran the seams and then once sewn removed the pins, cut along the seam to remove the stabilizer. Don't just pull it off, it can tear the seam and fray the silk. Trust me, I learned this the hard way.
Another Christmas Toy
I made my niece another toy for Christmas. It's nice to have a little one to sew for and I think I made her more things than anyone else and she's not even old enough to really know what she's getting, except whether it can go in her mouth. For this toy I made a glove dog from this book.
Patchwork hankie
I got the bowling themed material to make a little Lebowski sleep sack for our future baby. I'm a huge Big Lewbowski fan. To practice patch working the pieces together, I made this hankie for my husband on the eve of a trip he was about to take. It certainly isn't perfect, but it works.
