Flashback Time

[insert flashback music here]

I changed my mind about talking about my pajamas. Sew Mama Sew is doing a Pajama Party sew-along, so here goes.

These are my pj’s I made from this fabbo vintage pattern.

The pattern has bloomers going with the short pajama top, but I really wanted to have some knee-length bottoms, so I lengthened as much as made sense to me…really it was a botchy sort of affair–but I added a lot of seam allowance in the side seams and basted them together, tried them on and pin fit things until they worked which was a good solution.

The lace was super fun to use. I ran out of the lace I used on the collar by the time I got to my little shorts, so I used a cotton blend lace I had in my stash.

Then I overdyed the whole thing after I finished construction.  The fabric is a really nice white sheet I found at the thrift store. Generally I use old sheets for muslins because they’re so cheap, have good drapability, and offer a lot of yardage for their aforementioned crazy cheap price. But here I decided a sheet was good enough for the real deal. Really when you think about it–you sleep ON sheets, so sleeping in them is not too big of a stretch. Plus that nice crisp clean sheet feeling you have after you’ve freshly laundered your sheets–yes, you can have it in your pajamas too.

Right–back to overdyeing…I liked this sheet for its weight and its pattern (which seemed to fit the design and the era of the design fairly well), but I really wanted pink pajamas.  Since I use polyester thread, I knew it wouldn’t take the dye, so I used a pink thread to compensate.  The lace I used on the top, being polyester did not take the dye which was purposeful on my part just as I knew the eyelet on the pants would take a little being a cotton blend.  Actually the eyelet took the dye only on the edges which I really liked.

 

Sock monkeying around!

These are my sock monkeys for Craft Hope.  I’ve been dragging my heels (literally–haha–I love sock monkey humor) on this project.  I’m not sure why.  I love sock monkeys.  They are just inherently funny.  At any rate, I woke up early on Sunday and made the pieces before I ate breakfast and stuffed and started sewing them together while Nathan and I watched Masterpiece Mystery (love that show!–that and Jeopardy–I do love running an opera category).

Noah enjoyed them later–but in this pic he’s looking at the fan.  Such a mesmerizing thing, fans…

I need to make him his own sock monkey sooner than later.  He was really wanting to play with them, especially after they started dancing for him.  I kept them drool free for the sake of the kids who will receive them.

The monkeys in a family lineup:

And two of the monkeys just being monkeys:

I used fabric scraps instead of the heels for the mouths–some more successfully than others.  I like the contrast but it needs to be monkeyed with a bit.  Besides that, I used the tutorial that was on Craft Hope–I like the sock monkeys from Sock and Glove better, though I think.  They’re more primatey (I’m liking these monkey inspired adjectives and verbs in this post however incorrect they might be).

 

Practical

I’ve been ironing all of my dear little projects on a college sized ironing board on the floor.  Through 9 months of pregnancy and years before that, I’ve trucked around my little blue ironing board from college that I only ever used if I absolutely had to.  Given that sewing forces you to make nice with your iron and my projects are not getting smaller and the thought of being a little old lady wracked with creaks and humps from leaning over something on the floor for long periods of time every day seemed rather terrifying, I decided it was time for an upgrade.

Enter….I don’t know circa 1985 via the thrift store?

 

Lovely, isn’t it?  Starched to a glistening crispness, this floral beauty has been loved through many a tailored shirt.  What–this funky fabric is not for you?  Don’t fear, my friend!  Alexander Henry knew that this day would come.

Much better.  I used the super easy tutorial at U-Handbag to change out the old fabric.  Just some pinning and some serging and it’s all done.

 

Surprise pockets

Finally, this outfit is for the little boy in the Burmese family who is 4 1/2.  I’ve had this khaki fabric in my stash a long time.  I had it to make a skirt for myself, but what with not teaching, I don’t really need it and realistically it’s not the most flattering color for my backside.  It’s super high quality and denim weight–one of the few serendipitous JoAnn apparel fabric purchases.  I knew it would make excellent pants, but I also knew that it’d be too heavy for inseam pockets, so I used this fabric:

Tada!  I think all pockets should be made out of outrageous fabric just for kicks.  Sure, your hands are the only ones who get to enjoy that little surprise, but I think they know.  Making functional inseam pockets was my goal for these pants and they turned out really quite well.  The pants also have some jiffy side pockets too.  Just the thing for little boys wanting to cart around things to gross their sisters out with (like the frog put on me while sleeping one time).

The shirt I constructed entirely with the serger…so easy!!!  I did try to hem it with the rolled hem which really wasn’t a good idea.  It did okay on the bottom, but it made lettuce edges on the sleeves (mainly because I used a rib knit for the sleeves because JoAnn, typical to form did not have a single color of knit fabric that matched a solid knit and I didn’t want 3 colors on the shirt)…not so cute for a boy.  So I folded that mess under and hemmed them as best as I could, but they’re not super.  I still feel like my serging is getting better…I just need to use it when appropriate, not just when I want to save time.

 

Linings are fun

 

As promised, here is another outfit for the Burmese family.  This is for their little 8 year old daughter.  I had this wild fabric in my stash that I got on super ultra mega clearance ages ago.  It was too sheer and didn’t have enough weight to make this dress have a satisfying stay-putness to it, so I lined it with some really nice nylon fabric that I had leftover from my green maternity dress I made for myself a while back.  I cut the bottom of the lining a couple of inches shorter so that it’s not obvious when moving around.  I pinked the bottom edge to finish it, but it doesn’t fray so it ended up being decorative.  I suppose I could have added lace if I had thought about it.  I learned how to do add lace on a vintage nightgown I made a while back (I’m not posting pictures because I feel weird posting about my undies.  Here’s a link to the pattern though which is super cool).   This dress was SUPER easy to line because the top edges are simply finished in bias tape.  On to the bias tape…

Girls’ dress

Goal: Have nice bias tape bound edges on the top of the dress

I picked up a GREAT tip from one of the ladies’ at my Janome store.  We were making quilts and she had us bind the edges as normal, but when you flip the edge of the tape over, she had us tack it down over the first line of stitching with a glue stick (I love glue sticks–actually, I love most office supplies–there’s about 8 million uses for each and every one of them–just makes my little practical soul leap with joy.  If I ever get post-its in my stocking at Christmas, I might bust with happiness).  Then you set the glue with your iron and stitch in the ditch from the right side.  The stitches sit right at the bottom edge of the wrong side…it’s so beautiful.  So simple.  And the glue washes out!  This was yet another moment when I think Nathan thought I was crazy for all the little happy dancing that was going on.

 

Outfit for a wee one

Like I said, lots of projects going on here.  Now that I’ve finished a pile of them, you’ll be hearing about them over the next few days. 

My church has been sponsoring several refugee families the past couple of years who come to CO from their countries for a different life.  There’s a new family from Burma and they need clothes for the family among other things.  I thought–why not.  They have 3 kids, so I made an outfit for each.  On Lauranie’s excellent advice I took advantage of Hobby Lobby’s sale on McCall’s patterns last week and bought patterns that would suit each kid.  I had fabric enough in my stash for everyone minus a little denim and a little bit of knit fabric.  The dress and shorts are for their nearly 2 year old daughter. 

I love the little shorts–they’re so sweet.  I always have a problem telling the front from the back on elastic waist pants without looking at them closely, so I put the little applique on the front.  Cute and functional!!  I seriously need to make Noah some cuteness one of these days.

 

Something different

Too often I neglect to write about food.  I think part of it is that it’s so much a part of me that it doesn’t seem very interesting.  I mean, I’m LEARNING how to sew, so there’s just a lot more fodder to write about (I’ll never be done learning to cook, I just trust my instincts a lot more because I’ve been doing it longer).  That being said, when I started this blog, it was my intention to write about food more.  Hence today.

My good friend Tamara (who is often my partner in all crimes food) made a similar salad the other day for lunch and I thought it was delicious.  She put tuna and avocado in hers and served heirloom tomatoes on the side.  I love grain salads, but I never think about rice.  Plus, it makes a lot of salad which ensures easy lunches for me for a couple of days which is handy with a wee one around.  It sounds like a lot of ingredients, but really, you could make it as wild or simple as you like based on what’s hanging around your fridge. 

Salmon Rice Salad

1 cup dry basmati rice cooked–I’m not sure how much that yields…

1 shallot, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 cup green beans cut into 1″ lengths

juice of 1 lime

1 rib celery, diced (if you have any celery with the inner leaves–use them too…they’re yummy)

1/2 cucumber, peeled and julienned in about 2″ lengths

3 green onions, chopped

1 tomato, seeded and diced

1/2 cup cashews

2 good handfuls of cilantro, torn off stems

1 can wild salmon, drained and any obvious bones removed

1 T rice vinegar

olive oil–enough to suit your fancy–say 3-4 T

salt and pepper to your liking

If the rice is leftover, you’re set.  If you’ve just cooked it, spread it on a baking sheet that’s been lined with parchment or waxed paper to let it cool. 

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 T oil when the pan is hot.  Add the shallot and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent.  Add the green beans and saute until the beans are crisp-tender.  Salt and pepper the beans to taste.

Toss the beans and rice in with all the other ingredients.  Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Sit down and have a lovely lunch.  You deserve it!

More sewing later.  Gnomey is back.  She had a good nick in the throatplate (I thought my 1/4″ foot was a blind hemmer–whoops!) and a worn out link that was causing the problem.  There are lots of projects on the table…almost so many I feel a bit discombobulated.  Such is life.  Noah’s cutting a tooth too, so that could have to do with my state of I’m-not-sure-what’s-going-on-here.

 

This really wasn’t what I was hoping for

August is Hand Sewing month at Sew Mama Sew.

Isn’t it a cute button?  Would that I could get excited about hand sewing.  Gnomey has a bit of a cold.  Last night she stopped working spontaneously…there is thread getting stuck around the bobbin.  I had a couple of dings on the throatplate that I filed out, but the thread is still getting caught.  So I’ll have to take things in on Tuesday when the store is open. 

While I was sad when my serger was out getting fixed, I could still sew…but now…sans Gnomey…I feel like my right arm is gone.  I have about 200 more yoyos to sew before I can start piecing my next coverlet, but my heart’s not in it what with Gnomey and all. 

Oktoberfest is coming soon though, and I DO have a lot of music to learn, so perhaps I’ll be accordioning away my sewing blues.  I’ve said it before…polka can’t not make you smile.

 

Thanks Grandma!

I found this dress in the midst of some of the lovely fabric I found when Nathan’s Grandma let me raid her stash.  At first I just thought it was a bit of fabric very cool patterned lightweight polyester.  I unfolded it and saw that it was not only a dress, but it looked suspiciously like it was cut precisely to my size.  Exactly.  Perfectly.  Amazing too, given that I would guess the dress is from the 60’s. It’s a Jackie-O looking style dress.  Here’s a good one on Etsy for comparison (don’t you love the jacket?!).  The scarf is a vintage Echo 100% silk scarf I picked up at the thrift store for $2.

The side seams, center front, and center back seams were sewn, plus the zipper beautifully installed (phew–I hate putting in zippers).  The darts and the faux princess seams were basted in.  The shoulder seams were handily not done at all, which gave me some room for experimentation.  I’m going to start listing my goals that I have for garments that I make.  Call it a new feature to the blog.

Grandma Williams’ 1960’s Jackie O dress

Goal:  1.  Draft my own facings to finish the neckline, back, and armholes.

             2.  Make button loop closures at the shoulders so that I can still wear a dress and feed my child

Goal 1 success?:  I think so.  I recently took Pattern Review’s facings class (it was fantastic–such great information.  Facings were so confusing to me before).  With the info from the class I was able to quickly and painlessly draft my own facings that fit this garment with an unknown/unavailable to me pattern.  The dress fits me like a glove and I LOVE it.  Maybe I’ll start scrounging about for 60’s patterns.  Perhaps it’s more my style than I’ve given it credit for being.

Goal 2 success?:  I made some loop closures out of white rattail that I stitched to some grosgrain ribbon for stabilization.  They work, but the loops could be a bit smaller, and more buttons would be more fun and more secure.  Still, the loops are functional, which they need to be.  The back shoulder is a bit wider than the front because I didn’t bother measuring.  Oh well.  There’s a 98% chance that  I’ll pop a cardigan over the whole thing once it gets cooler here, so that will be my own little secret. 

 

Summer Top Strap Sleeves Tutorial

Yea!  I’m back.  My serger is online again and I feel much better.  Sewing shall resume its normal place in my life.

I thought about doing a tutorial of the sleeves on my summer top, so here goes:

For those of you, like me who are rather tired of straps on summer tops that don’t cover your bra straps, and if strapless is a 4-letter word, this is a good solution to your dilemma.

Materials:

Basic sleeveless top pattern, cut out, front and back sewn together

1/2″ wide ribbon

pins

disappearing ink marker

1″ gridded paper or graph paper

fashion ruler

1/4 yard fabric, same as the top

1/4 yard lightweight, fusible interfacing (I’m using SofKnit)

tailor’s ham

1.  Baste a long length of ribbon where you want the strap to hit you on the back on each side.  Try on the top.  Pin the ribbons to each bra strap where the top edge of the top meets the ribbon.  Mark 1/2″ below this point with the marker.  Also mark the top point of your shoulder on the ribbon.  Note: you only need to mark on one side, but do pin on both sides, because your measurements will be more even.

2.  Take the top off and take out the basting at the back.  Measure the distance from the top of the shoulder to the back and the top of the shoulder to the front on the ribbon.  Make a note of these measurements because you’ll need them for the next step.

3.  On your paper, draw a 4″ line.  Mark the center of the line.  From the center mark, measure the distances from step 2 and make a mark in each place.  Centering your ruler at each mark, make a 2″ line that is parallel to the 4″ line. 

4.  Use the curved edge of the fashion ruler to connect the ends of all of the lines in a nice pleasing curve.  Cut out the template.  Cut along the 4″ line, leaving a 1/4″ hinge.  Pin the back of the strap to the back.  Try on the top and pin the front to the front edge of the strap.  Open the slash until the strap sits flat (sorry about the photo…it’s plum near impossible to photograph yourself doing this).  Measure the widest part of the opening. 

5.  Take the top and strap off again and spread the slash open the distance that you measured in step 4.  Fill in this gap with paper.  Use the fashion ruler to create a new edge.

6.  Repeat step 4 to check your work.  If you’re happy with things, go on.     

7.  Lay out the template on your fabric and cut 4.  Cut 2 of the interfacing.  Fuse the interfacing to two of the pattern pieces according to the manufacturer’s directions.  Facing right sides together, pin and sew along the long edges of the straps with a 1/2″ seam allowance.  Clip along the curve in the seam allowance every 1/2″ or so to the stitching line.  Also cut out v’s at the sharpest points of the curves.  

Now trim the seams, trimming the part of the seam that will lie next to the body a bit less–this is called grading and it will reduce some bulk when you turn the strap right side out.  Turn the strap right side out and press it on your good old buddy, Mr. Hammy or a folded towel if you don’t have a Mr. Hammy in your life.

8.  Finish the bottom edges of the straps however you wish.  Today I used pinking shears, but you could serge it, or fold the raw edge under…choose your own adventure–I promise you won’t end up in a black hole.  Topstitch along the long edges 1/8″ from the edge.

9.  Sandwich the straps upside down between the facings and the right side of the garment.  Stitch them in place.

10.  Enjoy the cute straps you just made! (Wow, I look caffeinated).