May 24, 2008
· Filed under Child-rearing, Sewing
My fashion album includes photos of many lovely pieces I have seen in magazine layouts and would love to one day add to my own wardrobe. This skirt is similar to one of them. I think it turned out pretty well being that I didn’t have a pattern. I have been learning how to visualize a piece of fabric and all its folds and turn it into a piece that resembles something wearable. The drape of this skirt is not as smooth as I would have liked. I look forward to the day I have a mannequin to “play dress up with” as my husband would say. I can imagine it would be simply wonderful to be able to fasten my prickly pinned fabric to a mannequin instead of me!
I’ll wrap up this post with a photo of one of my favorite pairs of shoes. When I went to take the snapshot, I realized that the floor was covered with alphabet blocks and thought to myself, “Doesn’t that just speak truth in a million different ways.” I’m sure all you mothers out there understand the rare days you get to put on a pair of heels and trip over toys!
May 24, 2008
· Filed under Sewing
I have been learning to sew during my time away and this is one of the most recent products. It is a very simple infant dress that I will be sending to my cousin. Their third baby arrived a few months ago and I had only just now got around to making a replacement for the original dress I made that turned out about two years too old! I am sure she’ll look sweet as a summer strawberry in it!
May 24, 2008
· Filed under Crafting, Sewing, Ummmm...
So, I thought I would use up some of my stash to make some super cute cloth diapers but I didn’t have any PUL fabric or waterproof fabric. SO, I did a little searching through a really informative cloth diapering forum and found out about silicone waterproofing spray for fabrics. Now, I thought this was going to be my saving grace because it was only a few dollars for the can and it would last through repeated washings. After spraying the inside and outside panel of the outer shell (decorative fabric) I thought it would be nothing but success!
Well, I did like the diaper pattern which was a bit of this, and a bit of that, as well as a bit of my own idea (adding a zipper to slide the inserts into). Although I didn’t add this feature, I think gussets are an ingenious asset to cloth diapers! As you can see, the diapers are sweet to look at but they are certainly not as functional. I tried inserting cloth diapers as well as a “waterproof” liner” but it was simply ineffective.
I’m thinking the only way to salvage these poopers is to cover them with a plastic diaper cover; of course, that covers up their cuteness. Unfortunately, my wee one has already outgrown these so I am contemplating finding some PUL to make the next size up. Has anyone out there had a good experience with waterproofing their own fabric? If so, what product did you use?
October 27, 2007
· Filed under Favorite Things, Fun, Sewing
Recently, someone asked me a question about fashion and about how one might develop their own sense of fashion. It was definitely a question that got me thinking about my love of fabric and design. It only took a moment for me to realize that I was already implementing a very effective tool for developing a sense of individual fashion and expression. ..my fashion album.
Now, many of you are probably thinking that cutting out clothing, shoes, and snippets of anything else inspiring could be a huge waste of time, but hear me out! How many of you have looked through a magazine and found yourself earmarking pages or saying, “I would love to have a ______ like that”?
A fashion album could easily be called an inspiration album. I find myself cutting out pieces of furniture because I love the lines. I snip wallpaper because I love the pattern. Many elements can be used to recognize your personal fashion sense; whether it be in the realm of clothing or home decor. I mean people pay to have a n “expert” discover these things for them – save the money and take a journey into yourself.
I will cut out pieces from magazines over months and slip them into my photo pages. Over time I come to find I have an entire outfit – and typically not the outfit originally published in the magazine. I will find a pair of shoes in October’s issue, a pair of pants in August and a shirt in July; as you can see in my example pages above and below.
It’s pretty apparent that I have a love for vintage designs. However, it is SO obvious when you flip through my album that I am pretty bohemian and eclectic as well. And while I am very familiar with my own style choices, there are times that even I will learn something about myself by looking through it. A couple weeks ago I realized that I probably had six or more shirts and jackets that donned the same collar style. After realizing that I evaluated why I liked the rounded collar so much. It’s feminine, it’s soft, it’s set further out to the sides so that the buttons can still be seen in all their glory. Simple things, but they are revealing.
Being that I am learning more and more about sewing, my hope is that I will one day be able to find similar patterns and/or design my own based on these pieces. It’s also like playing paper dolls as an adult! However, in most instances I cut the heads away so as not to compare myself to the models and to focus on the pieces themselves.
So, get clipping! I am eager to hear what you learn about yourself.
October 26, 2007
· Filed under Crafting, Sewing
This month we celebrated hubby/daddy’s birthday and it took me FOREVER to finish his birthday present, but here it is in all its glory! It is a field kit to carry his artist materials. The front is the coolest part, in my opinion. I took our five-year-old’s rendition of dad and embroidered her original drawing onto the fabric. It was a lot of fun!
I simply made a photocopy of her original drawing and then placed the copy on top of the fabric where I wanted it displayed. I then placed the embroidery hoop over the paper and the fabric and proceeded to embroider the pattern. In the end, I simply tore the paper away from the stitches and “voila”! I intentionally angled the picture because I think it added great character. The orange button was a must because it is his favorite color.
The kit unbottons and folds open to a snap flap, that when opened reveals a three-panel-pocket for his art pencils, homemade art journal and art supplies tin. the journal was a lot of fun to make. I learned about gutting, binding, painting and decorating a journal. It was bound in coptic stitch and the round, white, photo you see is actually a photo transfer onto polymer clay. That worked SO well! I know I will be using that technique on future projects.
I will be adding links to some of these techniques soon so please remind me if you are interested and I haven’t yet.
September 6, 2007
· Filed under Sewing
In addition to my other current projects, I am recycling a dress of mine to appear in a family photo sitting (FINALLY, Mom!). It is being transformed into three skirts for the girls and a top for myself. My vision is that each of the skirts will also have a colored crochet embellishment – perhaps unique crocheted flowers.
The itty-bitty-baby-sized skirt will be decorated with some frilly lace and cheery yellow flowers.
The medium-sized skirt has a longer hem and it will be growing some in-your-face red flowers.
The largest-sized skirt (thinking Goldilocks and the Three Bears yet?) will be adorned with some head-in-the-clouds blue flowers. The flower color choices are meant to be a reflection of the girls’ personalities which is a part I really love about designing, or rather, redesigning clothing.
I’ve pinned a knit waistbandish element to my top and I LOVE the contrast it adds to the lighter fabric. Also, because I am long-waisted, it really benefits my shape – practical and oh-so-cute – gotta love that!
I’ll leave you with a glimpse of some of the beautiful lace I was given last week. These are amazing treasures and I am so excited to use them! Thank you so much for unloading them on me grandma!
August 27, 2007
· Filed under Crafting, Crochet, Sewing
That sweater looks so pretty…so serene there hanging on the chair. I was so excited to be nearly finished with it until I decided to take out one of the sleeves because I needed to lengthen it and I had missed a few stitches in the pattern that I didn’t understand until I got to the second sleeve. I was inspired by the fact that our five-year-old was actually really excited that I was crocheting her a “pretty sweater” and so I started ripping out stitches, only to discover that it was actually the front panel and not the sleeve as I had thought. So, I continued pulling the yarn thinking that I would just take out the sleeve but it actually started unraveling the back panel! I was so frustrated, that what remains of the kinky yarn lies in a pile of knots; a pile that could easily resemble my body due to the stress of it all.
It got me to thinking that if I were a knitter, I am sure it would take me a lot longer to thrash my yarn in a fit of frustration because the work would have taken me so much longer to complete to that point. Flying knitting needles also seems a more dangerous vision than crochet hooks. I really wouldn’t have been so emotional if I had *made a choice* to rip out all the stitches, but I was really happy to know that the sweater was going to be eagerly received that it made it that much more painful, and a tantrum on my part ensued. Well, I will be back to crocheting it again in a day or two and I am hoping that by the weekend I can be closer to the finish line than I was before today – before the incident today, that is.
On a happier note, I am also sewing up this adorable dress for the babe. It is a really simple pattern but I have been putting it off because I had to make up my binding. Tonight I got that done and I am going to finish up pinning it tomorrow. I haven’t touched my sewing machine in about a week and it feels strange. I am looking forward to getting this doll of a dress done. Isn’t the vintage pattern just precious?! Can you see the price up there in the corner – yep, that’s right .35. Now that was back in the day!
August 15, 2007
· Filed under Bargains, Crafting, Sewing
This question was met with laughter…much laughter. While she had never heard the term, she had a pretty good idea I was referencing a nursing cover. The Hooter Hider aka Bebe au Lait was one of the best gifts I received with our latest addition and because the pattern was so simple, I decided to give it a whirl as a gift.
Having used mine for many months now, I knew there were a couple features that I would change. The first of those was to add weights to the corners of the fabric so that at the first sign of a breeze, I wasn’t flashing everyone in sight.
I also added a liner to the nursing cover because the fabric was rather sheer and the liner contributed to privacy, weight and cleaner lines. It reminded me of a giant pillow case after it was sewn up. I wanted a pocket that would be more easily accessible and a bit larger than the triangular corner pocket on the original so I fastened this one to the top. I will await feedback from the momma recipient as to how convenient it is in that location.
I loved the feature on the original that allowed visibility of baby through the top due to an added strip of stiffness in the hem. I reduced the size of the rings because it tended to scrunch of the fabric when I loosened and tightened the original. I am hoping there will be less room to do so with the smaller rings.
I really like the way it turned out and I will certainly be making more in the future for friends and family who intend to nurse their little bambinos.
August 15, 2007
· Filed under Crafting, Sewing
I’ve started my adventures in sewing now that I have discovered what was ailing my sewing machine. I received my sewing machine as a gift nearly a decade ago now and while I have used it v-e-r-y intermittently during those years, I have not actually attempted to learn the art of sewing.
So, as with most things I desire to know, I checked out some books and started reading. I visited my local thrift stores and began to collect, no more like hoard, wonderful patterns and fabrics. I pulled out my sewing machine, cut fabrics, broke thread, fed fabric to the feed dogs rather than through them, stitched, unstitched, stitched, unstitched, learned the value of backstitching by holding down the backstitch button so the machine feeds the fabric and I don’t have to shove the fabric backward through the machine damaging my needle, thread and fabric all at once! This delusion that I could simply press a button came from watching women with thousand dollar machines on television press their button so carefree-like. Note to self: I do not own a fancy shmancy machine like those women who make money sewing on television and no matter how much I treat my sewing machine like a fancy shmancy machine it will not morph into such.
I did make my own bias tape for this, my first, clothing project. As you can see though, I failed to tuck and fold the bias tape where it ended. Ah, the beauty of knowing that my daughter will never know, or care, that the haphazard seams of her shirt screams, “I was made by a novice!”
May 2, 2007
· Filed under Bargains, Crafting, Sewing
I have been meaning to learn to sew for something like ten years. In fact, I was inspired by my first child. I wanted to make her an outfit out of this cute red corduroy printed with dalmation puppies. I ventured to make a pair of baby overalls. I think I tried to make them in a 12 month size, but I was so intimidated by how small the seam allowance seemed to be that I overcompensated enough to morph it into a 6 month size. Needless to say, my daughter never wore it and I decided to wait until I found someone who could help me along before trying anything else.
Well, my sewing machine moved from one closet to another and I never happened upon this “someone” who would instruct and inspire me. SO, the next time I used my sewing machine was last year. Of all things, I decided to reupholster our couches. I have no idea what I was thinking, having never sewn a zipper or a three dimensional covering but I apparently lost enough brain cells over the last decade to cause me to believe it was possible. I actually did nearly complete our loveseat. The cushion was the hardest part, by far! I did learn how to create a pattern from existing pieces and how to keep from crying every time I had to re-thread the machine. However, I struggled through breaking the thread every minute or so – you mean you aren’t supposed to use garment thread on upholstery?? I also struggled with the corners – you mean you should cut slits in the corner so it will overlap naturally as you sew?? I guess there’s also different needles for different projects. Wow, I knew a whole lot of nothing when it came to sewing. I am surprised the couch didn’t disintegrate when we sat on it for the next year!
So now I come to my third sewing machine project ever – inspired by our newest addition. It is a dainty little sun dress I cut out of cloth napkins. I really like the pattern on the napkins as it is very delicate. The photo below actually gives the appearance that I know what I am doing but I haven’t gone so far as to even thread the sewing machine yet. I need some Divine wisdom because at this point I am going to continue to cut out pieces that will mock me while they lie in wait. My new motivation is that I am very eager to design my own patterns. I even have a couple very elementary sketches of some ideas.
If anyone knows of some great online sewing resources – or books, for that matter, please share!
