UFO, The making of...

Since my big hang-up on finishing the quilt was the binding, I thought I would tell how I managed to get through it. Originally, I had planned to follow some instructions I had that had extra inches of the quilt backing folding around and binding the quilt edge. I had left several inches of backing and a bit less padding to allow for this, but the test with the potholder looked poor. Part of the problem was how thin the backing was... a simple muslin. So I ended up buying some 3/4" double fold binding. As mentioned, I read a few tutorials and tried it on a potholder and was pleased with the result, but I was concerned about the joining: I had to join two packages of binding tape as well as find out how to finish the end of the binding when they overlap.

There were plenty of tutorials about joining the binding. It was far simpler than I expected. So much so, that I am going to try to actually make binding for my next quilting project.

Once pinned, as shown in the picture, I machine stitched just inside the fold until I had only 12 inches left on one side. Then I had to address joining the binding. The joining of the binding on the quilt-- once the binding has gone all the way around and starts to overlap -- was a bit more complicated. I found several tutorials and write-ups on how to deal with it, but I couldn't quite understand them. I knew I could try to do it in action, but if I got so far as sewing on the binding and then screwing up the joining to the point I had to rip it all of again, I would risk throwing the whole thing out. Instead I found a video tutorial that was extremely helpful.

Quilt Binding: Joining Ends II . The video helped make the steps very clear, but her descriptions were most helpful. The only confusing part for me was shen she was marking the join point with a pin and mentioned something about the seam allowance. I thought she was suggested you needed to add a seam allowance for the join, but then decided I must have misunderstood as that doesn't make any sense. She did give other helpful hints, especially about not having to worry about the angle as the stitching would work out regardless of the angle of the two ends. That was extremely helpful, and as I was doing it, I actually came to understand why.

Final finishing, where the binding was joined to the back of the quilt, I did by hand. I had a used Threads magazine that details various hand stitches, so I followed instructions for the suggested stitches. It came out looking fantastic, and I felt cool having done some part of it by hand.

Final review: Quilting isn't so bad, especially as the painful memory of putting the peices together is well in the past. Funny that the binding was what took so long to finish the project, because it ended up being rather fun. I'll do another one for Catriona's bed so I can also try to make my own binding. After that, I'm guessing there may just be a t-shirt or memory quilt and that should do it for me.

UFO #2: An honest to goodness quilt

Years in the making. Actually it may be 5 years. I finished the quilt top, added the batting and backing and pinned it all together and then quit. I was intimidated by the binding. I tried one technique on a potholder and hated it so much I just stopped. I finally tackled it by buying some bias tape. I tried the bias tape on another potholder and it turned out so much better, so I finally tackled it.

And after I read everything I could get my hands on, I finally tackled it. I am impressed how well it turned out, especially after I gave up on it so long ago. It is like seeing it with new eyes. From practically a throw away, to something I don't "just like" but now really value. Cool beans. It is now on my daughter's bed, but I've decided to make another one for her so I can keep this one around my craft room... maybe having it in sight, it will help me spur on some other UFOs.

Deck out my ride

Let's not use the term p-mp. You just cannot use that word in a story involving craft sewing with snooopy fabric. Apparently the Spring cleaning bug has started to bite. I not only decided that I really needed to clean out my car, but for some reason I decided that the center console, which holds DD snack foods, drinks, glasses, coins, etc was getting too dirty and I just couldn't get it clean enough in the car. So I went ahead and disassembled the car, removing the center console and brought it in for a through cleaning. I was am to figure out I could remove the useless coin tray that was in it and did nothing but attract lint and dirt which was impossible to get out of. The car maker obviously did something right... the coin tray could be traded out with 'blanks' that were to the left of the steering wheel, so now I don't have to keep watching that gather dirt and crumbs for the next 4 or 5 years.

While I had it out, I decided to replace some of the black felt tray liners with something a little more cheery. So, I traced out the pattern and sewed up a few with some Snoopy cartoon fabric I had. Certainly brightens up this black and grey interior, doesn't it?

Pillow Covers

This should pop up now and then. I decided that the pillows that came with our living room couches were just too big too be practical. So I will be doing a number of small pillows. These first two pillows were made to fit two pillow forms I already had or had recently purchased. I used some clearance fabrics I saw at Joanne's and zippers I already had and followed an online zipper tutorial to try to hide the zippers. The hiding didn't work too well, but this was my first attempt at hidden zippers, plus the pillow forms were overstuffed while the covers were rather tight, so maybe that is the problem? I'm not sure, but I should have more practice. My plan is to start de-stuffing the existing pillows and using that stuffing to stuff the future pillows I create.

UFO #1: First Summer Dress

This is a dress I started last summer for my then 2-year old daughter. I managed to get to step 3 when I got thoroughly confused by the directions and put away the project once the weather got cold. I pulled it out after finishing the two bags and after 5 minutes, voila! -- the directions suddenly made sense and I was able to quickly finish it. I had made it a little big for her, and it remains big for her, especially around the neck, but I figure that just means she can wear it next year too!

I'm not real fond of the style, at least not on her. She has a bit of a buddha belly. With the front seam at chest height and the ties that pull the dress tight about belly height, it looks a bit funny on her. I think she will be better suited to a dress with a defined waist. I'll have to give that a try sometime. This isn't a knock against the pattern, I thought it was a good pattern, its just not the right style for my daughter at this time.

Pattern Review: Simplicity S5118
It was a great pattern for a first dress. As mentioned I got confused early on, but since this is my first dress pattern, I think EVER, that may be more my fault than the pattern. I sewed the front pieces and cut the back pieces and then sewed those two together. Then the directions moved to the sleeves. I was thinking of attaching the sleeves to the dress, but the directions were actually about making the hem for the end of the sleeves. I couldn't understand how the hem worked with attaching the sleeves to the dress (it didn't, it was unrelated) but I got stuck on that... not being able to forsee the next step, and that is where I got stuck. But once I understood the directions, I was able to quickly finish the dress, even working with the lace around the edges of the neck and sleeves and the elastic in the neck without a problem.

My daughter complains the dress is itchy, which is a good point. I didn't choose soft lace, which I should have. This year she can wear a tank under the dress, which will help fit her better anyway and maybe next year she'll be less sensitive to the lace. This may even work as a nice peasant top when she gets older. Although I cut it out, I didn't attach the 'flounce' on the bottom (why is it not just called a 'ruffle'?) I had already finished the end of the dress and was not real interested in the frill anyway, so I skipped it.

Final review: Did I like the pattern? Yes. Would I sew it again? Maybe. If not, it would be because the dress is not the right look for my daughter and not the fault of the pattern. I do think I will be putting together a pair of the little shorts so she can wear something under it and still run and play. Unfortunately, I don't have enough of the same fabric, so that may be a little while.

Creativity abounds!

I am so thrilled that I am finally getting some craft things done. The first thing I worked on was these bags. I only planned to make one, but made a minor mistake by using what was supposed to be interior lining as the handles for the large bag. I had completed the handles and realized they were too short for the bag, so I made the correct handles for the large bag. This left me with an extra pair of handles, so I had no choice but to make another bag, right? Luckily the pattern came with a pattern for a smaller version of the same bag, which my pre-made handles fit perfectly. So I made two. The first bag has a pink moire interior, and as I found out, the interior pocket edges frayed too easily (one wash) so I tried a different approach for the second bag, and bought a blue moire interior which I liked better. Successful completion of this project has started me on several other projects, interrupted by a few quick projects for Easter (more on that). Stay tuned for a quick pattern review.

Pattern Review: Simplicity 8331
I have had this pattern forever. I bought some unique fabric online from an independent designer in Australia and new I wanted to make a bag. I decided to first make a bag out of another fabric in order to learn the pattern. I made pattern 'C' which is the dark blue and the green with blue flower bag in the photos. For my second smaller bag I used pattern 'D' which is the plaid bag. There is a smaller version pattern 'E' which I did not attempt.

Obviously I ran into one problem when I made the interior lining into handles instead of the handles. I could say it is confusing as both the handles and top interior lining are about the same width. (The interior of the bag suggests using 3 or so inches of the exterior fabric at the top of the interior lining, and then attaching the remainder of the interior lining. So you have two different fabrics in the lining, I suppose so at a glance with the closed bag you only see snatches of the interior fabric) but the patterns are clearly marked as 'handles' on the pattern. So, you have to actually READ the pattern peices?

The other issue I had was with the corners. After two bags and four corners, I still do not understand what they wanted, and I'm not sure it is any easier or stronger than just squaring the corners. But in the end, I got two nice looking sturdy bags.

Do I recommend this pattern? Yes. Would I make another bag with this pattern? Yes. But I won't use my precious Australian fabric on this pattern. I'll save that for another.

The first signs of insecurity appear

I've re-read my posts and I am already worried how vain and shallow I look. I am concerned that I'm not conveying exactly what it is I want to convey. But rather than give into that and stop the project, I persevere. My last post was about how proud I was to have sold some trinket on etsy. *Ahem* I'll address my worries about THAT post by adding my own comment to it at a later date. But for now I'm going on to my next even more vapid post and will address how shallow I fear I sound in THIS post in another later comment. Anyway, here goes:

I did some shopping today (I enjoy the girly shopping way more than I would like to admit. I love perusing. I love finding a bargain. And as usual my shopping was at an off-price store. But I'm trying to make it something more than a brainless chick shopping trip). Despite being very frugal in what I buy and how often, I still often end up with items I never or rarely wear. Today I bought a few skirts. I'm about 99.9% pants right now, and that won't likely disappear anytime soon, but something about the Mom gig seems to imply I should wear skirts now and then and I enjoy wearing them if they don't restrict my walk or lifestyle (to tight or too short are out of the question).

Both skirts combined cost under $10. I helped justify the purchases becauseI really liked skirt one, and skirt two was so cheap.

Skirt one (this green and yellow number) probably fits as is, but I've decided to make some minor adjustments to the waistline. The fabric is 97% cotton and 3% spandex and has no lining ($9 bucks on clearance if you are wondering). It has a 6 inch yoke around the top which is in one peice in the front half and two peices divided by the zipper in the back (shown). I'm wondering the best way to adjust the skirt in order to make the waist a litte smaller, but keep the hip size about the same. I'll probably check some of my sewing books... maybe a princess seam (is that the right term)? A few little tucks on either side of the zipper in the upper yoke. Then what do I do with the green piping at the top? Ought I remove it, do the seams and then put it back on? (I know I should, I'm just lazy and know my wardrobe enough, that I'll wear the shirt overlapping the hem). Hopefully, I'll get back to you on the progress of this project.

Skirt two is this grey and white striped number. It is 55% linen and 45% rayon shell with a 100% polyester lining. It is a size 1x... way too large as you can see, but at a whopping .49 cents, I decided it was cheaper than buying the fabric alone, so I if I completely screw it up, I can simply turn into into some stuffed animals to sell on etsy for a big profit.

I'm a bit more worried about this one. On initial look, I thought that it had separate pieces for each pleat, but turns out there are two big pieces: front and back and those pleats are sewn in, who knew? (You regular sewists must be laughing at me) So my original plan of slicing off a few of the pleats may or may not work. I'm not sure where to start on this one. But to help myself get going, I will state for the record that I hope to have these in wearable condition (or in the aforementioned stuffed toy sale on etsy) by late spring.

And if anyone has ideas on how to spruce up this skirt or what else it could be done with this style, I'm all ears.

Also, can anyone explain that weird bow-tie like twist of fabric near my outstretched hand? At first I thought it might be an elastic thing for better stretch, but it really is just a small double-twist of fabric on one side of the zipper. This seems really odd to me, but a lot of fabric and or styles in the clearance bin do tend to have those 'special touches.'

Check back with me in Spring/Summer for my progress.