I'm hoping this will kick-start my sewing and blogging mojo. I haven't been sewing much, but I do have a few things to blog, some from as long ago as February. Yikes.
And for some housekeeping: Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Guest Posting at Once Upon a Sewing Machine Today!
I'm guest posting at Once Upon a Sewing Machine today as part of their Sew You Had a Boy series. Please stop over to check out O's birthday shirt, inspired by our recent trip to Boston.
I'm hoping this will kick-start my sewing and blogging mojo. I haven't been sewing much, but I do have a few things to blog, some from as long ago as February. Yikes.
And for some housekeeping: Follow my blog with Bloglovin
I'm hoping this will kick-start my sewing and blogging mojo. I haven't been sewing much, but I do have a few things to blog, some from as long ago as February. Yikes.
And for some housekeeping: Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Tutorial: Camp Half-Blood Freezer Paper Stenciled Tee
About a year ago, my teenage niece suggested that O and I should read the Percy Jackson books. We share a love of Harry Potter, so she thought we'd enjoy them -- and she was right! O has been pretty much obsessed with all of Riordan's books ever since. I made him a Camp Half-Blood tee for Christmas and my niece loved it, so I took this opportunity to make one for her as well.
Orange tee
Black fabric paint
X-acto knife
Freezer paper
Template
If you're new to freezer paper stenciling, start by reading through Rebecca's tutorial.
Open the text template and add whatever clip art you'd like, or make a separate stencil for the image. I chose a centaur, but other suggestions would include a pegasus, Poseidon's trident, Athena's owl, Zeus's thunderbolt, or the symbol of another Greek god. I used the Adonais font for the text, if you'd like to make your own stencil with a different layout.
Print and carefully cut out the stencil with the X-acto knife, making sure to keep track of the tiny negative space pieces. I didn't realize until I made this one that I'd forgotten the piece that separates the centaur's arm and arrow on O's shirt. Apparently not a big deal, since I didn't notice for over a month!
Center the stencil, iron it on, and paint.
The black covers well, so it only needed one coat in most areas. When you're satisfied with the coverage, peel off the stencil. It helps to use a pin and a tweezers to get the itty-bitty pieces off.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
"Fun" with Cuddle Fleece
I have such a love/hate relationship with cuddle fleece. It's so awesomely soft and everyone loves it, but it's also such a pain to work with it. It stretches like crazy and sheds ridiculously. I can't even tell you how many times in the last couple of months that I've run out to pick a kid up from school only to realize I was still covered in fuzz!
I gave my oldest nephew an IOU for his main Christmas present, suggesting a t-shirt quilt or convertible mitts in his school colors as possibilities, but he immediately asked for a blanket made out of cuddle fleece like his brother's. I had learned my lesson about the mitered corner version and just did a simple turned and topstiched finish this time. It was tricky keeping it lined up --and the green was somehow 4" wider from selvage to selvage?! -- and it seemed to stretch out of shape badly when I sewed it, but after washing and drying, I think it popped back for the most part.
When I was at Joann's picking up the green and navy fabrics, I also spotted some in a cute popcorn print. I had pretty much sworn off cuddle fleece by this point, but O's class fundraiser basket was going to be a movie night theme, which his teacher told me was inspired by our holiday gift. I emailed her a pic and asked what she thought about a throw blanket. She loved the idea, so back I went. I decided to try rounding the corners and binding the single layer with double-fold fleece binding this time.
I don't think this ended up any easier or cheaper, but I do like how it looks. Well, except for the one corner that got stretched out and won't lay flat even after a trip through the washer. Hopefully whoever wins the basket won't look at it too closely. It's still nice and snuggly, and his teacher thought it was really cool.
Hopefully it will inspire some extra bids!
I gave my oldest nephew an IOU for his main Christmas present, suggesting a t-shirt quilt or convertible mitts in his school colors as possibilities, but he immediately asked for a blanket made out of cuddle fleece like his brother's. I had learned my lesson about the mitered corner version and just did a simple turned and topstiched finish this time. It was tricky keeping it lined up --and the green was somehow 4" wider from selvage to selvage?! -- and it seemed to stretch out of shape badly when I sewed it, but after washing and drying, I think it popped back for the most part.
When I was at Joann's picking up the green and navy fabrics, I also spotted some in a cute popcorn print. I had pretty much sworn off cuddle fleece by this point, but O's class fundraiser basket was going to be a movie night theme, which his teacher told me was inspired by our holiday gift. I emailed her a pic and asked what she thought about a throw blanket. She loved the idea, so back I went. I decided to try rounding the corners and binding the single layer with double-fold fleece binding this time.
I don't think this ended up any easier or cheaper, but I do like how it looks. Well, except for the one corner that got stretched out and won't lay flat even after a trip through the washer. Hopefully whoever wins the basket won't look at it too closely. It's still nice and snuggly, and his teacher thought it was really cool.
Hopefully it will inspire some extra bids!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Guest Posting on Heron's Crafts Today!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
A Sweetheart Dress for a Birthday Girl
Just when I was starting to think I'd never decide what kind of outfit to make E for her birthday, I found out I won luvinthemommyhood's Sweetheart Dress pattern from a giveaway on 2 Little Hooligans. Decision made -- it was the perfect choice for my littlest Valentine.
I didn't want an overly Valentine-ish fabric, and I had a cardigan in mind for her to wear with it, so this purple fabric with metallic silver dots was an easy choice. Since E's chest measurement is between a 3 and a 4, but she's closer to a 5 for length, I cut a 4 for the bodice and added 1/4" to the bottom, and used the size 5 skirt dimensions.
The bodice construction was new to me. It's fully lined and all done by machine. Since I hate hand-sewing, I was all for that, but there were definitely some fiddly bits. I especially had problems getting the 1/2" seam allowance of the upper armhole turned in nicely, since it's along a curve. After fighting with the front bodice, I decided to do the back bodice differently and basted that part, clipped and ironed the seam allowances, and then took out the basting stitches. That went much better. Next time I'd also try opening out the seam allowances when sewing the shoulders together, pressing the shoulder seam open, re-pressing the seam allowances in, and then continuing as instructed. It seems like it would be a cleaner finish, unless I'm missing something that would prevent that from working. Those minor points aside, I love the tidy lining.
I also used my new favorite method for gathering the skirt. I wish I had thought of it myself! It makes for such even gathers. I still need to pick out the bottom line of basting, though. I ran out of time last night, but I don't think anyone noticed at school today!
The thread button loop was new to me also. I'm not sure I'd do it that way again -- at least when I'm sewing under the wire, which is pretty much always -- but once I got the hang of it, I liked it. It's a nice detail.
E usually doesn't show much interest in her clothes. She doesn't talk, so she's not as opinionated about her sartorial choices as some other five-year-olds I know. When I showed her this dress, though, her face absolutely lit up.
A sleeveless dress with a back cut-out isn't exactly seasonally appropriate, so she's layering with this adorable little sweater she got for Christmas. She's also wearing her pantalets underneath, since she loves to show off her flexibility by pulling her feel over her head!
I didn't want an overly Valentine-ish fabric, and I had a cardigan in mind for her to wear with it, so this purple fabric with metallic silver dots was an easy choice. Since E's chest measurement is between a 3 and a 4, but she's closer to a 5 for length, I cut a 4 for the bodice and added 1/4" to the bottom, and used the size 5 skirt dimensions.
The bodice construction was new to me. It's fully lined and all done by machine. Since I hate hand-sewing, I was all for that, but there were definitely some fiddly bits. I especially had problems getting the 1/2" seam allowance of the upper armhole turned in nicely, since it's along a curve. After fighting with the front bodice, I decided to do the back bodice differently and basted that part, clipped and ironed the seam allowances, and then took out the basting stitches. That went much better. Next time I'd also try opening out the seam allowances when sewing the shoulders together, pressing the shoulder seam open, re-pressing the seam allowances in, and then continuing as instructed. It seems like it would be a cleaner finish, unless I'm missing something that would prevent that from working. Those minor points aside, I love the tidy lining.
I also used my new favorite method for gathering the skirt. I wish I had thought of it myself! It makes for such even gathers. I still need to pick out the bottom line of basting, though. I ran out of time last night, but I don't think anyone noticed at school today!
The thread button loop was new to me also. I'm not sure I'd do it that way again -- at least when I'm sewing under the wire, which is pretty much always -- but once I got the hang of it, I liked it. It's a nice detail.
E usually doesn't show much interest in her clothes. She doesn't talk, so she's not as opinionated about her sartorial choices as some other five-year-olds I know. When I showed her this dress, though, her face absolutely lit up.
A sleeveless dress with a back cut-out isn't exactly seasonally appropriate, so she's layering with this adorable little sweater she got for Christmas. She's also wearing her pantalets underneath, since she loves to show off her flexibility by pulling her feel over her head!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Swim Bag, Take Three
I think I'm going to keep gifting these until every kid I know has one. It's a practical gift, but still kinda fun. This bag was for a five-year-old who likes pink. I made hers the same as my niece's, although I must have marked the drawstring openings wrong, because they were off a bit. Still functional, fortunately, since I didn't realize it until it would have required serious tear-inducing seam ripping.
I love this print. After making a play sling and a dress from it, I'm down to just a few scraps. It's so girly and spring-like. And I'm so very done with winter. It appears that winter is not done with me, however.
In completely unrelated, but nonetheless awesome news, check out the envelope art on this pattern I won from What Nancy Drew Wore. Pretty much the coolest ever. I think I'm going to frame it to hang in my sewing room.
The birthday girl really likes pink, so my original plan was to have a pink zipper and drawstring, but Joann's didn't have any appropriate pink cord. The PUL lining is very, very pink, though! Hopefully that pinked it up enough for her liking.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Handmade Holidays: All the Rest
So I had big plans for blogging the holiday crafting in a timely manner with nicely categorized posts. It started off well, but then I started reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series and more or less stopped being productive entirely. A friend sent me the first four books a couple of months ago, and I smartly decided not to start them until after I'd finished my gift-making, but I probably should've held out until I'd both blogged everything and cleaned up my ginormous mess in the sewing room. I haven't picked up the final book from the library yet, so I'm taking this opportunity to catch up in one big blog post. I've made a good dent in the cleaning department today too, as I mentioned on Facebook. Tomorrow, back to reading!
E's most time-consuming gift was a stroller blanket bag thing. Technical term for sure. We've been using a Papooska (which seems to be defunct now, unfortunately) on our walks to school and back, but it was getting too short for her. I basically just enlarged the Papooska, adding about 4" to the width and a foot or so to the length, so it should work for several years.
The original had a nylon outer, but I used some lightweight Windpro (I think) stash fabric along with fleece lining like the Papooska. It's heavier and seems warmer, but the one drawback is that it's considerably bulkier.
There's also some elastic that gathers the bottom and loosely gathers the upper between the buckles. In hindsight, I'm not sure either of those is necessary.
Other than fabric selection and enlarging it, the only other change I made was to use adjustable buckles rather than snaps.
It took waaaaay longer than I thought it would, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Since we walk to school pretty much every day -- unless it's below 0F with the windchill like today -- it will get a lot of use.
I made a couple of other blankets also. For one of my nephews, this one is made from cuddle fleece with a Lego-esque applique, minus the yellow. The font is Legothick.
I tried to make it the same way as the kindergarten quilts, but since that method requires precision, ironing, and a lot of marking, and cuddle fleece doesn't really allow for any of those things, it didn't go well. One of the corners is extremely wonky. Fortunately, my nephew loved how soft is is and wasn't bothered by its issues.
I made O a fleece blanket also. His was Star Wars fleece on one side and blue cuddle fleece on the other, turned and topstitched, which worked much better with the super-stretchy cuddle fleece.
Also sneaking into the above picture was the Camp Half-Blood shirt (from the Percy Jackson books) I made for him with a freezer paper stencil. I'll be sharing more about this one next month as part of Heron's Crafts Storybook Craft Project Series.
For my younger niece, a quick headband from Heather Bailey's Hooray for Headbands (opens a PDF). This was a fun little pattern. I think there will be more of these in my sewing future!
Ray participated in a Secret Santa exchange at work. One of the days, he gave her this ribbon bookmark. He chose the ribbon, beads and charms; I just had to put it together.
I also made Ray some Green Pepper Glove-itts like O's in some blindingly bright lime fleece, thinking he might wear them running on really cold days. He's been wearing them to work, though, instead. Even better!
I also made the Green Pepper Tuck-Away Balaclava hat, without the balaclava part. I'm not sure if I miscalculated or the sizing is off, but it's way too big, so I still need to decide how I want to fix that one.
And that is finally it for Christmas sewing (okay, there's one more thing I still have to make for my oldest nephew, but that's it for the completed gifts). I have a few things that need to be sewn up soon, but I probably won't blog again until I've finished A Dance with Dragons. ;)
E's most time-consuming gift was a stroller blanket bag thing. Technical term for sure. We've been using a Papooska (which seems to be defunct now, unfortunately) on our walks to school and back, but it was getting too short for her. I basically just enlarged the Papooska, adding about 4" to the width and a foot or so to the length, so it should work for several years.
 |
| Snug as a bug |
The original had a nylon outer, but I used some lightweight Windpro (I think) stash fabric along with fleece lining like the Papooska. It's heavier and seems warmer, but the one drawback is that it's considerably bulkier.
Like the original, I used reflective tape -- although I wish I'd either have moved it down a few inches or added another stripe -- and used buttonhole elastic to cinch it up. The buttonhole elastic goes down along the sides below the buckles and through a channel on the top of the back part.
There's also some elastic that gathers the bottom and loosely gathers the upper between the buckles. In hindsight, I'm not sure either of those is necessary.
Other than fabric selection and enlarging it, the only other change I made was to use adjustable buckles rather than snaps.
 |
| That's her owl bag peeking out from the bottom of her stroller. |
I made a couple of other blankets also. For one of my nephews, this one is made from cuddle fleece with a Lego-esque applique, minus the yellow. The font is Legothick.
I tried to make it the same way as the kindergarten quilts, but since that method requires precision, ironing, and a lot of marking, and cuddle fleece doesn't really allow for any of those things, it didn't go well. One of the corners is extremely wonky. Fortunately, my nephew loved how soft is is and wasn't bothered by its issues.
I made O a fleece blanket also. His was Star Wars fleece on one side and blue cuddle fleece on the other, turned and topstitched, which worked much better with the super-stretchy cuddle fleece.
 |
| Christmas morning action shot |
Also sneaking into the above picture was the Camp Half-Blood shirt (from the Percy Jackson books) I made for him with a freezer paper stencil. I'll be sharing more about this one next month as part of Heron's Crafts Storybook Craft Project Series.
For my younger niece, a quick headband from Heather Bailey's Hooray for Headbands (opens a PDF). This was a fun little pattern. I think there will be more of these in my sewing future!
Ray participated in a Secret Santa exchange at work. One of the days, he gave her this ribbon bookmark. He chose the ribbon, beads and charms; I just had to put it together.
I also made Ray some Green Pepper Glove-itts like O's in some blindingly bright lime fleece, thinking he might wear them running on really cold days. He's been wearing them to work, though, instead. Even better!
I also made the Green Pepper Tuck-Away Balaclava hat, without the balaclava part. I'm not sure if I miscalculated or the sizing is off, but it's way too big, so I still need to decide how I want to fix that one.
And that is finally it for Christmas sewing (okay, there's one more thing I still have to make for my oldest nephew, but that's it for the completed gifts). I have a few things that need to be sewn up soon, but I probably won't blog again until I've finished A Dance with Dragons. ;)
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