Who wouldn’t love a little Pooh…

I have been working on a new project recently and wanted to pop in and give you all a sneak peak of what is to come. Also I ordered some new Pooh and Friends embroidery designs and wanted to share how that experience was.

I am working on a baby quilt! The progress started a little slow but now that I have it figured out we are moving right along! The reason for the slow start was I was trying to make the quilt with 5.5” x 5.5” squares but because that is slightly smaller then my embroidery hoop it was causing random issues with embroidery so I had to scrap what was done and make the squares 6.5” x 6.5” which is going to make a larger size baby blanket.

I have always been a fan of the classics when it came to baby stuff so I saw this as a great opportunity to order some Winnie the Pooh machine embroidery designs. I found a fantastic website called ‘Save On Designs’ and they had a 500+ Winnie the Pooh Machine Embroidery Designs set for only $14.99. I was able to select delivery method as download so I had all the designs within an hour of ordering them.

I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t see what the designs looked like prior to putting them on my machine and thought I would email the company to see if there was another way. To my surprise I received an answer in less then an hour on a Sunday night via email from their support team telling me they would set me up with a viewer so I could see what all the designs!

Needless to say I got started right away to see how these would look and here are just a few:

I will be back with more once I finish the quilt to reveal the entire project.

If you haven’t ordered from ‘Save on Designs’ before I highly recommend them. The Designs are well created and their service was excellent. Not to mention they have a great selection of embroidery designs, file types and the prices are amazing.

Do you have any favourite embroidery design websites?
If so please share!

 

Passion 4 Fashion

Well it is official!

Today the Spring 2012 issue of Life in Clarington came out and what will you find in freshly laid ink? That is right – me!

Ok so before you get as excited as I am, I am the designer for this magazine so it wasn’t so much of a big deal that the publisher asked me to contribute by writing a small piece. However, none the less I was thrilled. It is my first published piece as a ‘Fashion Designer’ and it will be displayed with pride in my sewing room:)

I of course have known about this small spotlight for a few weeks now and have been dying to share it with you!

You can check out the article online at the Life in Clarington website.

I am also reposting the writeup here:

ARTICLE FEATURED IN LIFE IN CLARINGTON:

Passion 4 Fashion

You likely know me as the Art Director of Life in Clarington Magazine. As much as I truly love being a part of the Life in Clarington family, Graphic Design is actually not my first love. My one true love has always, and will always be Fashion Design!

As a child I had the old-school fashion plates (yes I realize I just dated myself there) which I was absolutely obsessed with, and which eventually led to my carrying a sketch book everywhere I went, so I was always prepared whenever inspiration took hold! In my teens I used to make pants out of our bed sheets, which thrilled my mother when she came home from work to discover me wearing our “converted” linens.

But then college came and went and I became so busy with life and my career, that sewing became a thing of the past. Years went by without much thought to my much loved passion until about a year ago when I decided I was going to try and bring sewing back into my life.

I created a little nook in my house for my own little sewing den, and a year later sewing is a huge part of my life again! In the spring I will be starting a 2 year ‘Dressmaking and Design’ college program, not for career purposes but to grow and expand my passion.

So it was with thrill and excitement that I accepted Susan’s offer to share a little bit of my passion with you; in this issue of Life in Clarington!

My very first published fashion piece – of which I can say with pride that I am sure my parents will hang on their fridge!

Michelle Koehler, Life in Clarington Art Director

The Ultimate Recycled Purse?

Make a cute, chic purse in an afternoon using an old pair of jeans! 

Step One:
Grab a pair of jeans. If there are any large rips or tears above the crotch patch them.

Step Two:

Cut the legs off at the crotch.

Step Three:

With right sides together sew across the bottom.

Step Four:
Create straps out of the leg material. Any size you want.

Step Five:
Create a lining with scrap material or skip this step and sew on your strap!

Step Six: DECORATE ANY WAY YOU LIKE!

For more detailed instructions on this project or other sewing fun you can turn to my sewing blog at:

http://SewForTheLoveOfIt.wordpress.com

 

Raglan Star Quilt ~ Guest Post

It is my pleasure to welcome a guest post today written by Francine Koehler. Francine will be walking us through how to make a raglan Star Quilt. She will be introducing ‘new to me’ tricks and tools that I can’t wait to try out myself – and trust me this will be a project I plan on tackling when I find some time!

So get ready to be inspired to make your couch nice and cozy during these cold winter days…

These quilts are nice for sitting on the couch on a cold winters’ night. This pattern is my own design using some known techniques and my new toy the Big Shot from Stamping Up.

Let me first introduce my new toy, the Big Shot. I got introduced to this little gem while attending a greeting card workshop and then discovered it also cuts fabric. That did me in; at that point I had to have it!

This machine is used to cut out different shapes and designs, depending on the dyes you select. The designs can then be used to create many different projects from cards, to quilts, to bibs etc. In today’s project I used it to cut out star designs that I’m going to appliqué on my quilt.

The big shot is so simple to use; layer the plexiglass sheet, the dye (this is what cuts the fabric), the fabric and the second plexiglass sheet and run it through the big shot manually by turning the handle. Voila, you have a perfect design.

NOTE:  the layering technique will change depending on what dye is selected. The machine comes with instructions on how to layer each dye.

To start this quilt you will need to select four coordinating flannel fabrics. I used flannel for its warmth and its great ability to fray. I selected a green and beige plaid, a red and beige plaid, a plain green and a plain beige flannel.

My quilt measures 42” x 42” in size. This is a great size for a couch or even as an extra blanket on your bed. To start, I cut out 72 – 9” squares. Broken down as follows:

• 18 green plaid squares
• 18 plain green squares
• 18 red plaid squares
• 18 plain beige squares

I then cut out 36 – 6” squares of quilting batting and several 6” squares of both the red and green plaid to use for cutting the stars. I needed 20 of both the large and medium size stars in the red plaid and 18 of both the large and medium stars in the green plaid.

Now, the work is over and the fun begins. With everything cut, you are now ready to start putting the quilt together. The positioning of the squares and ultimately the design of the quilt is all up to you. You will want to decide how many star squares you want and how many plaid squares. Also, think about how you will place the squares in each row to make your design. I actually built the quilt one row of squares at a time and determined what the pattern for each row would be as I went along. I made the squares for each row as I got to that row. All 72 squares were layered together, but I didn’t decide how I was going to sew them until I needed them.

With the 72 – 9” squares, you want to layer a plain square, batting and a plaid square together to make 36 squares in total. I layered the green plaid with a plain green flannel and the red plaid square with a plain beige square.

For the squares that will not get the stars appliquéd on them, the plaid side will be the front of the quilt. To make these squares, I used a straight stitch and sewed through all three layers from corner to corner, making an X on the square.

For the squares that will have the stars appliquéd on them, the plain flannel square will be the front of the quilt.

Now I have been using the term appliqué. What I mean by this term, is sewing a separate piece of fabric on to another piece of fabric.

I used a zigzag stitch to apply the stars through all three layers on the plain side of my squares. I used 2 large stars and 2 medium stars for each square. You could use whatever you want – the design is all yours.

For the plain beige squares I used red plaid stars, for the green plain squares I used the green plaid stars. Again, the choice is yours.

*REMEMBER*: you need to sew through all three layers, the plain fabric, the batting and the plaid fabric and you want to sew around the design, in this case the star.

Remember; think about your quilt pattern before you make up all your squares so you make enough squares of each pattern. As I indicated before, I put my quilt together one row at a time making my squares, as I needed them. My quilt is made up of 6 rows of 6 squares arranged in the pattern below. The squares are sewn together with the seams to the front of the quilt. These seams will be cut up at the end to make the raglan look.

PATTERN

Row One: green plaid square; plain beige square with red stars; red plaid square; plain green square with green stars; green plaid square; plain beige square with red stars

Row Two: plain green square with green stars; red plaid square; plain beige square with red stars; green plaid square; plain green square with green stars; red plaid square

Row Three: green plaid square; plain green with green stars; red plaid square; plain beige with red stars; green plaid square; plain green with green stars

Row Four: plain beige with red stars; green plaid square; plain green with green stars; red plaid square; plain beige with red stars; green plaid square

Row Five: red plaid square; plain beige with red stars; green plaid square; plain green with green stars; red plaid square; plain beige with stars

Row Six: plain beige with red stars; green plaid square; plain green with green stars; red plaid square; plain beige with red stars; green plaid

When sewing the squares together, sew each square to the next with a 1/4” seam allowance to the front of the quilt. Attach each row together the same way. Once all the squares and rows are together, sew around the whole quilt using a 1/4” sew allowance as well. I used a fancier stitch for my border but that option is all yours; a straight stitch works well too.

Now for the fun, take a pair of scissors and snip the seams all around the quilt and around each square. This is done to provide the raglan look. Be careful while doing this so you don’t cut through your seams. Make each snip fairly close to the next, about 1/8” apart. When finished snipping around the quilt and around all the squares, wash and dry the quilt and you are finished. Your quilt will have a great frayed look on the front and a very nicely finished back.

ENJOY!!!!

 

Winter Fun Accessories!

Let’s have a scarf party!

Ok so party is probably not the best word as a party usually consists of more than one person, however when you are a party of one you can still have a lot of fun!

This post is going to show you how you can make some of the most must-have scarves available this season, at a fraction of the cost and in literally just minutes! I hope you enjoy these popular, quick, fun and very affordable fashion accessories to keep you warm this winter!

The snow took its time getting here but we all knew it would come. It has been awfully cold the last couple of days and I found myself looking more and more like a homeless person when it came to my fashion choices to keep me warm. Being bogged down with layers and layers of clothing, the cold and lack of sun leaves me feeling less motivated to put effort into the way I look and I realized I need to find some cute girly fashion accessories that will keep me warm but will also make me feel feminine again! There is no reason why we can’t find beauty in our oversized sweaters and comfy boots!

Here I have made 4 different types of scarves that don’t require a pattern and won’t take you long to add cute chic accessories to your winter wardrobe or to add that much needed splash of colour!

So without further delay lets have a scarf party!

Scarf #1 – The Bandana Scarf 

Version 1

Version 2

This scarf can be very versatile! Depending on the choice of fabric it can be a super cute lightweight scarf to add a little something extra to your outfit. Or you can make it out of heavy fleeces, cottons or flannel and it is a great scarf to wear out on the hills if you enjoy boarding or skiing! The bandana scarf is warmer and stays in place better then your typical scarf!

What you will need:

• Fabric
• Contrast fabric if you wanted one side to be different
• Thread
• Seam binding (optional)
• Velcro
• Sewing Machine

Cut a square that measures 20” x 20”

I did make my own pattern for this one so my triangle would be even.

This is how I made my pattern:

I took 6 pieces of regular letter size paper and taped them together:

Then marked 20” wide and 20” high and cut the paper to be a 20” x 20” square.

Fold the square exactly in half and cut the paper along the fold – Now I have my triangle!

This is the pattern for my bandana! Your longest side should measure anywhere between 26” and 28” to fit an adult. Using a 20” x 20” square made my longest edge 28”.

Use this pattern piece to cut your fabric. Do the same with your contrast fabric if you are using two different fabrics.

I am going to show you how I did both the above versions of this scarf.

Version 1:

Using seam binding.

Take your two triangles and with wrong sides together sew all the way around the triangle.

*Tip for sewing around corners: sew along your edge and when you reach the corner lift the pressure foot with the needle down (through the fabric) turn your fabric, then lower the pressure foot and start sewing again.

Once you have sewn all edges and both triangles are completely sewn together take your seam binding wrap it along your raw edges and sew in place. This covers all your raw edges!

Cut a piece of Velcro that measures 4.5” long and sew it on the right side of your bandana. Take the opposite piece of Velcro and sew it on the wrong side of the opposite corner.

Once this is done your scarf is complete!

Here are other versions I have done:

Back:

I tried to use my seam binding foot to create my own binding out of the fleece but I was unfortunately disappointed. I was unable to get it to work as I did before, maybe due to the fabric being a lot thicker then the fabric I used in ‘A treat for my sewing bag’. Due to frustration I gave up on the foot and created my own binding by hand with great success.

Option 2:

No seam binding.

This option will be faster because you won’t be using seam binding which I find can take some fiddling and extra care in sewing to make sure you catch both the binding and fabric!

Take your two triangles and with right sides together sew all the way around leaving a small opening on one side.

I found the best place to leave the opening was on the top edge (your longest edge). This is where the Velcro would go so it helps in hiding any imperfections when hand sewing.

Do not leave the opening right at the corner! Instead sew around the corner and continue sewing about an inch in then stop jump over about 2” or so and then continue sewing. See below picture to show where I left my opening (opening is between the two pins):

Once sewing is complete make sure to trim your seam. If you have a serger you can use that to trim off the extra fabric.

Also be sure to trim your corners like so (trimming avoids bulk once turned right side out):

Take the bandana and pull it through the opening you left so that it is right side out.

Tuck the edges of your opening in and hand stitch the opening closed.

I used Velcro in this version, however, I would suggest using a snap or hook and eye instead – it would suit the lightweight fabric much nicer. Sew that on and you are done!

Finished product:

Scarf #2 – The Snood Scarf

I was only recently introduced to this after searching the internet for ‘how to look good while staying warm’… Yes I do google these things when I am board but yet too lazy to get up and actually be productive. I guess this is what happens when you don’t have cable

I came across this cute fashion video ‘How to dress for winter’ and it introduced me to the snood scarf.

A snood scarf is a super cozy tube of fabric that can be worn as a bulky scarf and is also large enough to pull up over your head like a hood when going out into the blizzard.

What you need:

• Fabric
• Thread
• Sewing machine

I cut the fabric 40” wide by 30” long.

Fold it right sides together so you have a rectangle.

Sew along the long edge of the fabric. You now have a tube where the top and bottom of the rectangle are left open.

Turn right side out and voila you are done!

Depending on your fabric choice you may have to hem the top and bottom so your fabric doesn’t fray.

I  made up the size and it is a little on the dramatic side for bulk when wearing it but I still love it. Play around and make it any size that you feel suits you!

Scarf #3 – The Infinity Scarf

Chunky Knit Version

Vintage Silk Version:

We have all heard of this one I am sure. The infinity scarf is a great addition to your office wear – add a splash of colour and a little extra warmth while still looking professional.

I made two versions of this as you can see in the above examples.

What you will need:

• Fabric
• Thread
• Sewing machine

I cut my fabric to be 60” long by 21” wide.

Fold your fabric in half right sides together along the longest edge.

Sew along your longest edge. You will have a tube like you did in the snood scarf tutorial, however this one will be much smaller and you probably won’t be able to fit your head through it;)

Press your seam open (see image below) and then turn it right side out.

Fold in half with raw edges matching and seams matching – right sides together and pin.

Sew along the raw edges. Leave about a 2” opening – don’t sew all the away around!

Once you have done that pull the scarf through your opening so that it is right side out.

Once you have your scarf right side out find the opening you left and fold the raw edges in and pin – hand sew shut.

Both versions turned out amazing and have very different looks to them, I can’t decide which one I love more <3

Scarf #4 – The Chunky Faux Bandana Scarf

What you need:

• Fabric
• A large button
• 1 – 13mm snap
• thread
• sewing machine

In my example I am using two fabrics so I measured 11” wide by 60” long and cut both fabrics that size.

If using only one fabric measure it to be 22” wide by 60” long.

With right sides together sew along all raw edges leaving about a 2” opening – I suggest leaving the opening somewhere along the middle of your long edge, this will least likely be seen and it will make it easier to pull the entire scarf through the middle verses pulling through one end.

Once sewing all raw edges, minus the opening is done then trim your seams and corners, turn right side out and tuck in the edges of your opening – hand sew shut.

I used snaps behind my button because I didn’t want to go through the trouble of making a button hole – my button was too large for my button foot and I didn’t want to risk ruining my scarf trying to make a button whole without the help of my button hole foot.

How I determined where to put the snap and button:

I draped the scarf around me and fit it the way I liked. I then marked where I wanted the one side of the snap, secured that snap in place then sewed the other end of the snap and the button onto the corner edge closest to my face. And that is it!

These are just a few alternatives, By far my favs are the chunky knits! Both the black snood scarf and the purple infinity scarf suit my style! There are so many different looks and fabrics out there so go out and discover your new best fashion accessory for this winter!

 

The Ultimate Recycled Purse?

Mom and I are tackling this project together… we are definitely making this up as we go along, one idea turned into another and the final vision changed with every step we took.

Our vision:
Make a purse out of old jeans and scrap material using only items we have on hand – making this a completely fun and FREE Saturday afternoon project!

What we used:

• Old Jeans – Thanks Dad
• Scrap material
• Jean-a-ma-jig tool
• Large snaps
• Thread
• Sewing machine

We made Dad raid his closet for old jeans because neither one of us had any that we wanted to part with – especially since we had no idea how nor if this would turn out.

Step One:
Here is one pair of jeans that we are starting with – just your everyday blue jeans! If there are any large rips or tears in the upper legs (above the crotch) feel free to patch them either on the outside or use scrap material sewn on the inside so you can see the pattern of the material through the rip!

Regular Jeans

Step Two:
Cut the legs off.

Cut the legs off at the crotch. You are going to cut a little higher than what is shown in the photo below – make sure that bulge in the middle is gone! I had to cut higher after I took this photo:

Cut the legs off

Put the legs aside for now we will be using them for different elements of the purse along the way, but don’t put them too far as we will be coming back to them very shortly!

Step Three:
Sew across the bottom

You will now have what looks like a mini jean skirt to work with. Turn this inside out so right sides are together and sew along the entire bottom to close the opening. Once done, trim the corners and turn it right side out. Here is our purse base:

Sew across the bottom

Step Four:
Cutting our straps.

You can do this however you like, long, short, medium, wide or narrow…. I did mine longer as I prefer that, Mom did hers a bit shorter as to her liking. I cheated and used my pattern piece for the strap from ‘The Perfect Messenger Bag’ because I really liked the length of the strap… however, assuming you don’t have the same pattern piece as me I would say figure out what length you want and cut that by a width of about 6”.

What to do: I cut one seam off of the leftover leg part so that I could open it up:

Leg Cut Open

The pattern piece that I am using should be cut on a fold to get the length that I like but since I can’t do it that way I will cut two pieces and sew them together.

Strap Pieces

The strap will have a a seam in the middle now but that won’t bother me since we are making this from scraps it will just add character.

Strap Seam

Step Five:
Making our strap.

Once you have your strap base you will then fold it right sides together and sew two of the three sides together. Sew along one shorter edge and along the larger edges leaving the second shorter edge open to turn it. This is a bit tricky to turn right side out because there isn’t a lot of room to work with and the denim is stiff. Once you get that flipped right side out you will want to sew shut the opening you left – fold in the raw edges and hand sew shut. I also pressed and topstitched mine so it would lay flat.

Final Strap

Sewing the strap is also where the jean-a-mig-jig tool comes in super handy.

Use this to sew over any bulk! It is super simple to use and the instructions are on the package.

Jean-a-ma-jig Tool

A quick overview of how it works and what it does:
When you get to a bulky part that your machine can’t  feed the material through on its own, lift your pressure foot with the needle down in the fabric, insert the jean-a-mig-jig tool and lower your pressure foot down on top of it, continue sewing. This tool will make your pressure foot even with the ‘bulk’ so that you can sew through it – works amazing!!!

Jean-a-ma-jig Tool in Use

Step Six:
To finish or not to finish…

Step six can either be the final step or you can do a few more cool things to really personalize your purse!

Option A: You can make this project simple and sew your strap in place and be done, or

Option B: Creating a fun lining with scrap material lying around.

We went with option B. We lucked out because I had some very large scrap pieces of fabric, however, if you don’t then just be creative and sew together a fun and funky lining with many different scraps of fabric!

How to create your lining:
Our lining pieces measured about 36” wide by 48” long. *REMEMBER* this will differ depending on the size of jeans you are working with!

We folded our lining in half so that it was 36” wide by 24” long right sides together. And placed our purse on top of it.

Purse placed on to of lining

We used our purse as our pattern piece here and traced around it adding about 1/2” all the way around.

Draw around your purse adding an extra 1/2" all around

Once cut, sew the two sides and the bottom together then insert the lining into the purse so the wrong side of the lining is touching the wrong side of the purse.

Wrong side of lining matched with wrong side of purse

Leave a good couple inches at the top so you can fold it down. To do this: Grab the top of the lining and fold it down towards the top of your purse so that the right side of the lining is showing. We will tack down the raw edge of the lining to the inside of the bottom of the waistband.

For a splash of colour don’t fold the lining all the way down, leave a little at the top so you can see it when the purse is closed.

We pinned along the bottom to make sure the bottom of the lining stayed lined up with the bottom of the purse while folding the lining down. Then pinned the edge of the lining to the bottom of the waistband so it could be sewn in place.

Lining pinned in place

Once it is all pinned stitch along the bottom of the waistband – Do not sew over belt loops, you’ll want those open for your belt or scarf decoration. Also be sure to avoid sewing over metal zippers too – you don’t want to break your needle. Just tack down the lining where you can to keep it secure!

This is the inside of Mom’s purse once the lining was sewn in:

Inside of Purse

Step Seven:
Sew on your strap.

You can do this any way that suits best for the way you did your project! Mom and I stuck each end on the opposite sides lining it up the best we could with the sides of the jeans between the waistband and the lining. We used a triple stitch to hold it snuggly in place.

Strap sewn on

Step Eight – OUR FINAL STEP:
It’s your purse, decorate if you want to!

We tried threading a scarf through the belt loops, using leather belts, adding dangling key chains, embroidering and adding snaps to close it. You can do whatever suits your style!

We also made matching makeup cases out of the left over lining scraps and leg scraps – to learn how make your own makeup case check out ‘Sew pretty on the go’.

The most important thing to remember is there are no rules – this is your very own creation so make it yours!

I would love to hear how it turned out for you if you make one!

PS. One of my goals for 2012 is to try incorporating video tutorials into my blog where possible. The video below was a test playing with iMovie. Here I have used photographs instead of video because that is what I had, but I am hoping to start doing video tutorials where I find video might be more useful!

I have just found out that I can’t post videos here without upgrading so check it out on my new YouTube Channel:

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

Enjoy:)

 

A Quick Cover up …

I thought I would throw you all for a loop and write two posts in one weekend… I know look at me go

Today’s project is going to be super quick – I would say in total it probably took me no more then 15 minutes to complete!

While cleaning up I realized how grungy my ironing board cover was getting so this is my attempt at creating a new one.

Let me start by saying I really had no idea what I was doing!

I quickly measured my board before I ran out to grab fabric, the length was about 55” and the widest part was about 16”. I would also need to add about 1” all the way around for the cover to tuck underneath. I guessed that a meter would cover it… This would have been correct had I paid attention to the width of the fabric – yes this is the second time failing to do so… I will learn!!! I needed fabric that had a width of 60” to cover my length but the fabric I grabbed was only a width of 45”. However, I was able to make this work by cutting off some of the width and sewing it onto the length. This did create a seam in my cover but thanks to the square pattern you can’t even notice it.

What you need:

• Enough fabric to cover your board – check the fabric width!
• Elastic
• Thread
• Sewing machine

Here is my original cover – you can’t really see in the photo how grungy it is getting but it is marked up from the iron and has water mark stains from my iron falling over a few times thanks to the dogs. This ironing board is also about 6 years old now too.

Here is what the chosen fabric looks like, really fun looking eh!

I obviously didn’t have a pattern for my own ironing board; not even sure to be honest if they sell patterns for ironing board covers but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did, I have just never looked. I knew though that I could use my original cover as my template and go from there.

Laying the new fabric on the floor I laid the original cover on top of it and tried to get it as smooth/flat as possible so I could cut around it.

I then cut around the original cover, cutting about an inch or so larger so that the edges would tuck under the board.

You can see from the photo above I wasn’t too concerned about being accurate…

1. it is only an ironing board cover and
2.  these edges will not be seen.

Once you get your fabric cut it is time to grab your elastic! My original cover was not done with elastic but with a drawstring – I figured an elastic would be easier and way less work!

I bought 3 meters of elastic and I used almost all of it.

What I did was I lined the edge of the elastic up with the edge of the fabric and I sewed it all the way around the entire cover making sure to pull/stretch the elastic tight while sewing. What will happen then if you pull/stretch the elastic while sewing it will allow the cover to fit snug on the ironing board frame.

This is what your new cover will look like with the elastic sewn in place:

You will notice this cover will not lay flat like the original drawstring version but none-the-less it will work just the same.

Once you have done this you can stretch your new cover over your ironing board frame and you are done!

A great 15-minute fix to a grungy old aged ironing board cover! Plus this one is way more fun and colourful!

Now go get creative and dress up your old ironing board!

 

Oh sew classy…

Cause for
CELEBRATION!

Second post of the year!

I would love to be doing so more but unfortunately having a career interferes with me trying to be a photographer/writer/seamstress – by far too many hats to be wearing… but I have some very fun projects coming up to share so you can start getting excited!

Today we are going to look at sewing a vest.

NEWLOOK 6008 Pattern

Usually I don’t wear vests but this one caught my eye so I am taking it on!

First time using a NEWLOOK pattern so lets see what my review on NEWLOOK will be…

I am trying things a little different this time. After having to buy a pattern twice for ‘A dress fit for the awards’ I have decided I will cut all the pieces from now on out as the largest possible size and fold in to the size I need instead of cutting it. If I use the iron to flatten and hold the folded portion this may just work. This way if I make something that ends up being too small I can reuse the same pattern since I didn’t cut off the larger sizes.

There are a lot of pieces in this project plus we are lining it so I am excited to try this!

I bought what I originally thought was a really nice black heavy denim like material with a subtle ‘sparkle’ to it, but looking at it more and more I am starting to realize this is blue not black. Hopefully the black lining I bought to go with it will look ok.

Iron is warm so lets start folding in the required pieces.

Folding worked fairly well, much better on the straight folds obviously then the curved edges. But overall worked pretty good!

Pattern Pieces Folded

I cut each piece and marked them carefully, writing a ‘W’ indicating the wrong side because it was difficult to tell the right from wrong side with this fabric, and I also marked all the required markings. You will see here I also mark the pattern piece number because when I shift things around while working it makes it easy to find the needed pieces and the easier I can make things for myself the better

Marked Fabric

A good 2 hours later everything is cut… I have one of everything cutout of the fabric and again of the lining and then piece 1 and 10 cut of interfacing. I am hoping all of that was the least fun part of this project.

Now to find the energy to actually start sewing!

Just after two steps it is already starting to look like a vest

Vest Front Step 1 and 2

I have to be honest and share that I initially did step two wrong the first time as I didn’t pay attention to the colour of illustration and I put the pieces together wrong. After I removed that and read the instructions more carefully it looked a lot better. Maybe step 2′s are just not my thing considering I always seem to hit a bump there!

Next step pocket flaps.

I am not quite sure why I wasted my time doing all these marking on the fabric as I have only just covered them all up with interfacing and lining! Live and learn I guess…

And how great do these nice faux pockets look???

Front with Pockets

Yes I am proud of those Now I have to do the same process as above minus the pocket flaps with the lining.

The lining is looking just as snazzy as the vest itself check it out:

Vest Front and Lining Front

Now sewing the lining to the vest! To my surprise it actually all lined up quite nicely. Job well done

Here is one side of the vest lined and the other side with the lining pinned to the vest:

Vest Front and Straps Lined

The front of the vest at this point is pretty much completed so now we can move onto the back. Here is the back sewn together:

Vest Back

Because I did something terribly wrong with my serger on my last project, all my serger needles are broken so I am not using it on this project, instead I am pressing the seams open like so:

Seams Pressed Open

This is actually working in my favour because it helps the fabric and lining match up nicer and lay flat.

And here we have a nicely lined back:

Vest Back Lined

Once I had the back and front sewn together it was time to try it on to fit the straps. Unfortunately the armholes were way to large for me and the straps weren’t sitting in place well at all. So I called up Mom to see if I could come over and have her help me pin.

If I owned a body form this would not be an issue! And this is where I broke down and ordered a SINGER DF150 Adjustable Dress Form, in red from Amazon.com for $104.40. This is by far the best deal I could find,  most dress forms in stores around here are well over $300 and I think I have been doing enough sewing now I owe it to myself to get one! I can’t always be running to my moms so she can pin something I can reach due to wearing it!

Dress Form

Can’t wait to receive it!!!!

I had to take the lining and garment in 1.25” on both side seams for the armholes to fit properly and Mom also pinned the straps in place for me. I had to change the design a little as the straps where suppose to cross and tack onto the point on the back but it didn’t suit my shape so I modified it like so:

Vest Straps

Getting down to the last few steps! Somehow along the way my peplum became shorter than what I needed it to be so I had to re-cut pieces 11 and 12. This wouldn’t have been such a huge deal if I had enough lining left over to do so. Lucky enough Mom once again came to the rescue on this project and had several different scraps of black lining to choose from so I picked the best option and saved myself the trip to fabricland.

After that was all done it was just a matter of adding some buttons and button holes and we were good to wear!

Final Vest

My final thoughts on NEWLOOK… LOVE ‘EM!

They are definitely simple to understand, easy to follow and the final product turned out great. They have made it to the top of my favourite list when choosing a pattern to buy!

And now off I go to find fabric and buttons for my scarf party…. Look for the post on that soon!!!

 

Comfy Toes!

Today’s fun project is McCall’s M6449.

Pattern MaCall's M6449

I can’t speak for all fabricland stores, but my fabricland takes samples of completed work and hangs both the finished piece with the pattern envelope from the ceiling so when wondering around the store you are surrounded by inspiration! That is how I came across this pattern.

Never would I have gone in looking to make slippers, but when I seen the finished product up close and personal I knew right then I had to try it!

Apparently I wasn’t the only one. When I went for the pattern there wasn’t a single one left, however since I was already headed to Lens Mill to try and find some back satin for ‘A dress fit for the awards’ I didn’t panic as I could look for the pattern there… sure enough they had it!

I am not the biggest McCall’s fan due to the fact I haven’t had luck with their patterns in the past so I was a little intimidated to start. I think it is due to the lack of illustrations in their instructions. Being a purely visual person I find it easier to follow instructions seeing pictures of how things work vs. reading about it and McCall’s is more verbal than visual.

I recently bought a new cutting board from Curry’s art store – which I highly RECOMMEND. They are about half the price for what they go for in fabric stores! I purchased the 24” x 36” board for $38.99 when I have seen it for well over $100 in fabric stores!!!

Anyways, back to my booties… so not many pattern pieces and the shapes of each piece were pretty basic so I thought I would try out my new cutting board, a rotary cutter and my not yet made pattern weights – soon to be made pretty when I take the time to do so… and yes that will also be blog worthy

Cutting Board and Pattern Weights

Being a first time pattern weight user I ‘may’ have over killed the amount of weights I used in the above photo – I really wanted to make sure nothing shifted on me

Okay step one base stitch lining and outer fabric together. Simple enough. I used 1/4” seam as they said to, but I think for the base stitching I would do it a little closer to the edge so it isn’t seen if my finished seam isn’t oh sew perfect which well lets face it, mine isn’t always 100%.

So step one out of the way, moving onto step two and you guessed it… stuck once again.

I tell you this thing called ‘reading instructions’ is difficult! Where are the pictures???

All jokes aside it really did take me quite some time sitting there thinking. I tried googling the pattern to see if anyone else posted anything on it and found finished products but no step by step so I will do a step by step since my mind was finally able to piece it all together on its own.

Pieces shown are for boots F:

1. With the wrong sides together take piece 4 and piece 6 and lay them on top of one another as shown below:
   

   Pattern Pieces 4 and 6

2. Slowly start to wrap piece 4 along the curved edge of piece 6 as shown below, pinning as you go along
   

   

   Pinning Piece 4 and 6

3. Once pinned stay stitch in place (using your normal stitch, stitch the pieces together).
   

   Finished Pinning

    

4. This is what your bootie should look like after piece 4 and 6 are sewn together!
   

   Piece 4 and 6 Sewn Together

I hope the above instructions and photos will help you if you are anything like me. Plus lets face it by the time we get to sit down and sew, we’ve already put in a days work, done all our little must do’s and have to’s and we are tired and want to do something we love without to much thinking… That’s how I feel anyways

Everything after step 2 was smooth sailing…

Once you do the above step you are going to use seam binding to finish the raw edges. Be sure to get the double fold extra wide binding or it won’t be thick enough to cover your seam!

Binding Raw Edges

Once that is done then you can sew the back on! What makes this pattern different from pretty much all other patterns is you are always sewing wrong sides together instead of right sides together so all your seams are on the right side of the garment, the seam binding is being used to cover all those raw edges.

Back Sewn On

Once you have the back sewn on as shown above you can then finish off the side and top with some more binding!

Top and Side Edges Binded

We are almost done! Next we just have to put on the bottom of the slipper. For this you will need two special items:

• Quilt batting for a little extra cushion in your step (optional depending on your choice of fabric) and
• Non-slip fabric

The non slip stuff comes pre-cut and packaged so you will most likely find that where you would find the other notions in your local fabric stores. The first time I bought this it was sold by the meter but my fabricland has discontinued carrying it that way – may not be the same for other fabric stores so be sure to ask if you can’t find it.

It does get a little tricky sewing the sole into place but that is only because you have so many layers at this point and also there isn’t a whole lot of room to maneuver the pieces in this step.

I found using the Brother Walking Foot helped quite a bit.

Walking Foot

I have to admit the final product turned out pretty good and the project seemed to go with little to no troubles. Overall I would say you could easily finish this project in less then 2 hours.

I ended up giving these slippers to my mom; even though I made the largest available size apparently they weren’t big enough to fit my monster-sized feet? Who knew size 9 was oversized!

Slippers for Mom

The slippers fit her perfectly and strangely enough perfectly matched what she happened to be wearing that day. Almost as if she knew

After successfully completing slippers for mom I decided I would make a pair for my niece and sister! I used a faux fur fabric (be prepared to clean up some fuzzies) for my niece’s slippers, which turned out super cute:

Faux Fur Slippers

And for my sister’s slippers I found this awesome leather fabric – best part about this fabric was it had a soft wool kind of batting on the wrong side so it required NO LINING and not only that but I didn’t bind the raw edges either because it looked really good with the puffy wooly stuff showing! Having no lining to sew, and no binding to sew, took off almost half the time! Now try telling me these don’t look super comfy and warm:

Leather Slippers

There is no better time then winter to sew a great pair of slippers for you! So go have fun and enjoy there are lots of fabric options at this time of year and let me know how it went!

 

Warm at work

This is going to be a simple post today – figured my readers would appreciate that after the long post last week

Winter is quickly approaching and my hands are starting to feel it. I have noticed that while I am working on the computer or if I am sewing my hands are starting to get extremely cold… I am definitely talking ice cube cold! So when I came across this Kwik Sew pattern it immediately made the ‘must make’ list!

Random beauty fact – if you have poor circulation (cold hands) it will cause your nails to become weak, brittle and break. Just another reason for me to jump on this ever so simple project!

Kwik Sew #3806 – Fingerless gloves! Perfect for keeping my hands warm while still being able to work without interference

Pattern

You would honestly be surprised how warm these keep my hands. For a project that cost me less than $10 and took less then an hour to complete it was worth every cent and minute spent!

I chose a super soft, fluffy black material, I wanted something I could wear at work without it standing out to much so I figured black was a safe bet.

This project couldn’t be any easier! 1 Pattern piece! Cut it twice.

Pattern Piece Cut

This material was pretty fluffy so to decrease any extra fluff floating around I serged all the raw edges on both pieces.

And for a little extra personalization I then embroidered my logo on the two pieces before proceeding to sew.

Gloves Embroidered

Those two extra steps I created was pretty much the bulk of the work. After that all I had to do was fold the glove in half lengthwise, raw edges together and right sides together and sew. Don’t forget to leave an opening where the pattern indicates for your thumbs!

Here is a close up shot of them done:

Final Gloves Close Up

And then a final shot of them on:

Wearing them!

I cannot say enough about these, from how simple they were to how useful they are for me… Absolutely in love with them!

 

A Dress Fit For The Awards…

Those of you that know me know that I started a new job October 17^th of this year; well I was honoured to receive a call from my prior manager inviting me to attend the Awards of Distinction taking place on November 4^th.

I saw this as a perfect opportunity to take on a new project of course! I did not however see this turning into the adventure it ended up becoming.

Adventure one begins.

I was off to Fabricland to find the perfect dress pattern. Those of you that follow read my blog sewing journal know that 99.9% of the patterns I use are Kwik Sew and you will be excited to see that I have branched out into Simplicity!

Ok well maybe the excitement is more on my end but hey I can pretend that my fellow followers (thanks Mom and Dad) will be excited that I have tried something a tiny bit more advanced and new;)

The perfect dress pattern for this event was Simplicity 2053 Dress ‘C’.

Pattern Found. Now let the search begin for the perfect material.

I had my heart set on finding a really nice back satin, unfortunately the only back satin that Fabricland had was in stock was bride white and well that would not work. So this adventure led me to Lens Mill.

I am sure all of you at one point or another have been to a Lens Mill, they always seem to have good prices and tons of selection; but with my luck I still couldn’t find any back satin and when I asked, no one seemed to know what I was talking about. So I started shuffling through piles and piles of fabric… I couldn’t find anything that I ‘loved’ but I did find a nice red poly blend that I thought would work and with time running short and the lack of fabric stores in KW I knew I had to pick something and move on.

So pattern and material purchased…

Pattern and Fabric

Time to head home and get started!

Based on my measurements and the measurements on the pattern envelope I figured that the size 10 would best suit me so that is size I cut out.

The pattern was super simple to follow and I wouldn’t hesitate recommending Simplicity to any beginner nor will I hesitate to purchase from them again.

The first couple steps explain how to create the first shoulder strap, however I chose to not use that strap because I wanted the dress off the shoulder on one side so skipping to the next part, I created the top portion of the dress (the bodice).

The top involved simple elements like front and back facing and darts. It is projects like this that remind you how important your friend the iron is in every step. The dress would not have turned out as well as it did without carefully pressing every step of the way. This allowed the facing to lay perfectly flat and the darts not to bulge.

Top portion completed, next part was to sew the skirt front to the top front. Once that was done it was time to try something new… pleats!

Pleats are very much like darts however with a dart you would sew right off the fabric in a V form where a pleat you sew a section which may not start or end at the edge of your fabric (kind of like making a fold in the fabric). Pleats are used as a design element where a dart is used to fit a garment.

This pattern called for about 8 pleats all the way down the one side of the dress.

Darts in the back of the dress. You will see the darts lay are pressed flat:

Darts

Pleats down the side of the dress. See how they differ from darts? They more overlap or bulge/ruffle…

Pleats

The fabric I chose turned out to not be very photogenic so it made taking photos of the progress a little more difficult. I apologize.

After sewing the skirt front to the top front (bodice) and the skirt back to the bodice back it was just a matter of sewing the side seams and the zipper and the dress was well on its way.

The zipper instructions were a little fuzzy to me so I put in the zipper my own way, as that is what I know and it works for me!

My process for zippers is super easy; I base stitch (use a long stitch) the seam together and press the seam open. I place the zipper face down against the middle of the seam and pin in place. I then proceed to sew the zipper in place using my zipper foot. Once both sides are in sewn I use my seam ripper to open up the base stitching and voila my version of an invisible zipper! It never fails me.

Once the bulk of the dress was sewn together to a point that I was able to try it on and see how it was fitting I did so, this pretty much resulted in the end of adventure one and the start of adventure two…

The size 10 was a tad tight on me. With the facing and zipper in place I didn’t want to go through and try and fiddle with making the seams smaller to see if the I could get it to fit a little looser and since I only paid just over $13 for the fabric I figured I would go out and get more material and try again. As bad as it sounds it only gets worse if you read on

So even though I had to start over it wasn’t a total waste as my sister had a wedding to go to on the 11^th and she needed a dress and loved the one I made so in a way it was a win win for her!

Adventure two begins.

Back to Lens Mill to find the same fabric so I can make dress number two. I found the fabric close to the same location as I found it the first time in the store and I re-bought the pattern a second time as I had already cut the size 10 so instead of trying to figure out how to make the 10 a 12 I figured I would just buy the pattern again and cut the size 12 to save me some time.

Get everything home and start all over again…

With the first dress taking just a little over 4 hours to make I wasn’t worried about making it the second time. Actually I didn’t mind at all since doing it a second time allows me to change what I didn’t like about the first round.

Things I wanted to remember for round two was pay closer attention to the zipper height at the top of the dress and back stitch at both the start and finish of my pleats so they don’t come out as they were on the first dress.

Now back at a point where I can try the dress on… and it fits! Perfectly I might add!

There was only one small issue, at the back of the dress it dropped a bit due to leaving out the one shoulder strap. This ended up being an easy fix, though because this was in the back and I don’t own a dress form (yet) I had to call mom over to help me pin while wearing it.

Once the pins where in place and I knew where to take in and how much I just simply added a third dart to the bodice back. This allowed the back to lay flat for me and gave it a much better fit and look.

The reveal of the final dress number two:

My Final Dress

Where normally this photo would represent the end of the adventure this one goes on to a story that provided many (those that where there and even those I told after) with a good laugh…

The dress looked great, it felt great and I received a number of compliments while at the Awards of Distinction… though all did not end well.

About half way through the night my dress ended up ripping – right where my butt was! Words can’t even explain how embarrassed I was and without being able to see myself I am sure my face matched the colour of my dress. Thankfully being with good company they helped tie a sweater around my waist so my butt wasn’t hanging out for all to see and we all shared in a good laugh.

The words of a good friend “at least I handled the situation with cl’ass…”  Ha ha

Ripped Dress

Here is a better view of the rip with the dress off:

Ripped Dress Photo 2

You can see that the fabric literally ripped away from the seam, which was even serged!

At this point I have convinced myself that I completely suck at sewing and I will never wear anything I make ever again!

I couldn’t imagine how my sister would have felt had she worn the dress and this happened to her instead! There was no way I was letting her wear dress number one! This then took me to adventure three…

Adventure three begins.

Mom and I had planned before any of this even happened a trip to Hamilton to check out the fabric district. I took a sample piece of fabric with me so I could talk to some people that know a thing or two about fabric and sewing. I was determined to find out what went wrong so that either I can make sure something like this would never happen again or second option give up sewing all together.

After talking to some super nice and extremely helpful staff at the Fabricland in Hamilton I found out that it was in fact faulty fabric and NOT my sewing that made this happen. Talk about being relieved.

They took the sample fabric and showed me how they were able to rip it in different ways and even rubbing it between your fingers allowed the fibers to loosen from each other. They told me that that should obviously NOT happen and that fabric should only ever rip in one direction not all directions.

So with my confidence slightly restored and still owing my sister a dress I started looking for fabric a third time.

Being in Hamilton allowed for a much larger selection of fabric and I found a beautiful burgundy satin for her dress. The fabric was much nicer than the original fabric bought so again I was excited to get started.

Satin Choices

Once home I laid the fabric out so I could start placing my pattern pieces for cutting. Looking at the fabric laying on the floor I thought to myself how the fabric looked strangely small but I just shook my head and carried on.

I laid the pattern pieces one by one before pinning in place. When I got to one of the final pieces and realized… hmm there is no room for it? I sat there starring blankly for a few moments until suddenly I realized what happened. I bought enough material for the dress had the material been a width of 60” (which most fashion fabrics are) and you probably guessed it, the fabric I bought was only a width of 45’.

SERIOUSLY?!? 

At this point I didn’t know if I should laugh, cry or scream.

Adventure number four begins.

Back to Fabricland I went as there was no way I was ever buying material at Lens Mill again after the past experience and to find material for the fourth time.

Had it not been 8 PM at night I would have gone back to Hamilton for the selection but there was no time left. I raced off to Fabricland as I only had an hour before they closed. Thankfully since the last time I was there looking for myself they had got in a few more polyester options. So I grabbed a nice red material (again) and another zipper and more thread and headed home to start.

Of course I definitely double-checked the width of the fabric before requesting it to be cut this time!

This time all went smoothly, I mean I could have probably sewn the dress together without looking at the instructions at all at this point but at the end of the day this oh so simple dress has taught me a handful of things that will most definitely help me out in the future.

And my sister’s final dress and the end of this adventure…

Final Dress