Tag Archives: Sewing

Yummy Tiramisu!

A few months back I bought a pattern from Cake Patterns for a dress called “Tiramisu”.

I envisioned a comfortable red dress for summer, and trolled Fabric.com for a good buy on some cotton knits.

I found a color called “Rust” that looked nice online, but when it came ended up being more purpley than red.

But, it felt so nice and soft that even though it was a decidedly more fall color than summer, I decided to forge ahead with it anyway.

And I am SO. GLAD. that I did!

You’ll have to excuse the crappy pictures; I was playing with the self timer on my camera and fighting the fact that there is not one decent place outside to tale pictures where there’s not unsightly overgrowth everywhere (stupid rainy summer).

Also, Susan’s not here to be sure I get some flattering and high quality garment shots, so we’ll just have to deal with what we get.

07.17.13a

Also, excuse the dumb look on my face.  Like I said, I was still playing with the timer, and I wasn’t sure it had set.

07.17.13b

Or we can all just face the fact that I don’t like posing for pictures.  Not because it isn’t fun, but because I am no good with facial expressions.  In fact, I am pretty sure I have This Condition.

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Side View.  Complete with camera glare and thread all over my shoulder!

I have not finished the hem yet as per the instructions on the pattern to wear it a bit first and let the fabric fall and settle a bit.  I also had to take in the size a LOT.

I don’t use knit fabrics a ton, and my first instinct is to generally cut a bit larger than my size, just in case.  With this one, I measured myself and cut to that size, but there was an insane amount of positive ease in this fabric so it ended up hanging on my frame awkwardly.  It’s also a bit heavier weight fabric than I was hoping for, but in combination with the color I think it will be outstanding for fall.  I really want to make more in black, grey and pumpkin color as well as a nice teal if I can get it in a tissue weight.  It’s a great pattern, and now that I have it down to proper size, it’s very flattering and majorly comfortable.   It was also pretty darn easy to put together.

There you have it.

Now go make your own!

 


Tagged: Sewing

Finally Free-Motion

FMQ= free-motion quilt(ing)
After walking around the blue quilt blocks, starching, prepping, observing... procrastinating... avoiding...

front of block 1
back of block 1
I took the plunge.  I finally said, "Adri, get it together and just free-motion quilt.  Just do it!"  So, I revved up my FMQ mojo by watching Leah Day on her Craftsy class and her blog videos.  I finally bent back the pin of my FMQ foot, wrapped it with a rubber band, and then, I did it.  I free-motion quilted.  The mods to the quilting foot work well by the way.  I had tested it before - I've been practicing on a quilt sandwich for a while - and working with the modifications afterward make a difference.  It's worth giving it a try if you have a generic foot at home like mine.

front of block 2

back of block 2

 And, I think my first two quilt blocks are a really good effort!  Whadya think?  I feel like I have more control when my hands are further apart, so I'm going to try and rig up a stand or something to keep the blocks at the same height as the sewing machine.

The sensation of FMQing is a lot like drawing or doodling, but with a whole new kind of stylus!

Ramble, ramble. It’s what I do.

pie time!

Thought I was getting caught up here, but then my annual summer misery kicked in and I was forced into air conditioned hiding by so many 90º days.

Before the heat settled in, there was pie,

delicious, fresh strawberries

... which you don't get to see. It was ugly pie, but very delicious. I am not a gifted dessert maker, that is for sure. I can make all sorts of tasty things, but they all come out looking bedraggled if not extremely disadvantaged in some way. I am just not a big one on the fine details when it comes to something we will be immediately consuming. Or that is what I tell myself so I don't feel so bad when I fail again and again.

In not-ugly land, I made this Matilda cardigan for a friend's baby and just loved how it turned out.

Matilda cardigan

I'm making the same for Lydia in a different yarn and I just started binding off the bottom edge. I'm not positive I have enough yarn for the sleeves and the edging, so some fudging may occur. We'll see.

In other small thing cuteness, I ordered a Miss Maggie Rabbit kit from Alicia Paulson's shop somewhere around Lydia's birthday.

 BunnyBunnyBunny

just starting out

getting there!

I'm glad you like your legs, Miss Maggie, but now it's time for bed

Miss Maggie has taken up knitting!

Lydia finally likes her bunny

I still haven't gotten around to the little boots yet, but I'll do them one of these days. And I have plans for a tiny apron too.

Miss Maggie's playing the banjo now

I noticed today that the marigold Ethan sprouted at school for Mother's Day is now taking over the windowsill, and that the candle jars really ought to be cleaned and put away for the summer, and that there is a giant goose feather I keep meaning to clean. Ah well. I can still sort of see the yard from there.

my Mother's Day plant from Ethan is taking over the windowsill

But anyway, look how hot is is. These are from today, and I'm sure one look at these pictures and you can feel me out there dying among my unhappy plants.

sad, limp raspberries

Sad.

not so exquisite looking blackberries

terrible, terrible blueberries

I looked at my one blueberry and was amazed to see BLUE berries on it, untouched by the birds! I wondered why they hadn't eaten all of these yet and popped one in my mouth and realized it's because birds are smart and these berries are total crap. Bitter, tiny, horrible little things with tough, extra bitter skin. But I had a chuckle, and I'm sure I'll be the subject of many little birds' dinner conversations tonight.

Wondering why the birds hadn't touched them, so I ate one. Yeah, they're crap.

But back to whatever I was working my way around to.

finally got one fenced

I finally got the gardens planted on the 22nd (I know, I know, but I moved them late and all that), and just last night finished some "fencing" for one of them. Tonight I'll finish the other if all goes well. I have a trellis project starting to go between them, so that'll be a thing soon.

Here's the layout,

late start

and I have leftovers of several of them for a fall planting, plus a few unopened ones tucked away.

a few for a fall planting

I ordered everything from High Mowing Seeds because what I've used from them in the past has just out-performed everything else in the garden. I even had some mixed lettuces that I let go to seed and *ahem* never got around to collecting them, so they planted themselves, survived the winter and three different diggings/dirt transfers, and STILL sprouted in the spring and gave me many salads worth of delicious mixed greens. They always say Vermonters are tough, and I guess that goes for their seeds too. ;)

But did I mention how hot it is?

Not, in fact, my giant head, but rather my new gardening hat.

Believe it or not, that perfect circle at the top of my shadow is not my huge alien bubble head. It is my first official gardening hat, and it is lovely (and under $15, win!)

new hat!

And with that, I will finally put the brakes on my unexpected burst of energy today. Expect too many garden pictures soon!

WIP: Blue Quilt Progress

Just a quick note on the blue quilt.  I finished attaching the blue borders to all 20 squares... next up is the free motion quilting!


What I did on my Summer Vacation

Last week, I was on vacation. The week before that I kind of took a vacation from the blog as well, and I have been kind of slow getting back to it. I have been thinking of you all, but things like farmers markets and Harry Potter movie marathon have got in the way. (Did I mention I made an Athrun-friendly version of Butterbeer?) Since we have no extra money to speak of, and I generally find travelling stressful enough to need a second vacation, I stayed home, slept in, probably drank too much wine, and made things.

catinasweater
Minerva in a baby Sweater

As mentioned in the previous post, I knit a baby sweater, and as promised, Brock put it on the cat. She is asleep in this picture, so deeply so that she allowed herself to be posed.

catinababysweater
I do think magenta and orange are her colors, don’t you?

While that was a fun little lark and it kept my hands busy in the evenings, in reality, I really spent the better part of three days sewing. The first project was the cute little tote bag in the previous post. The second was another handbag, for me to actually use.

reversiblebucketbag
The Reversible Bucket Bag

This is the second pattern in The Bag Making Bible and the bag featured on the cover–a big part of the reason I wanted to buy the book. I am very smug with myself that I finally managed to sew it. It’s not perfect. The seams are a little more crooked than I used to sew, and I pretty much made up how to attach the bias tape because the instructions in the book were too dense, but I really like how it came out. I especially like the fabric–the perfect mood and combination of patterns. I generally find pattern combinations (like the one on the cover-ay yi yi yi) in books like these to be a bit to bold for my taste, but I was able to find some patterns that I though complimented each other instead of fought for space. (They were all quilting cotton from JoAnn.)

insidethereversiblebucketbag

I am especially in love with the silver calico I chose for the lining. It’s so special, it’s only for me. (Yes, while the bag is technically reversible, I don’t plan to use it that way.)

Spending some time sewing this past week, I learned something important about myself. While knitting and spinning are productive, enjoyable ways to spend my time, I can perform them while doing other things: listening to an audio book, watching tv, socializing. Those fiber arts don’t take my full attention (most of the time). When I sew, however, I jump head first into a deep, dark tunnel from which I may not emerge hours, days, or weeks, and if anyone comes in looking to find me, they are likely to get bitten. Seriously, hours passed in what seemed like minutes, and I had no idea. As I shake the rust off my old sewing hinges, I think it unlikely that this mindset will change. Hopefully it will take me fewer hours overall, but I seem to be capable of sewing with a single-mindedness I seldom spare for any other activity–and it scares me enough that I realize I won’t be allowing myself to descend into that sort of madness too often. But don’t expect this handbag to the last sewing project you see on this blog.

And a teaser:

weddinginvitationenvelope
Wedding invitations have been produced, assembled, and mailed. Next time, what’s in the envelope and how we made them.

A Line Skirt

I finally finished a skirt I’d cut out months ago.

Just in time for our first campfire of the season!

05.31.13a

The fabric is a delectable avian print by Joel Dewberry.

05.31.13b

And can I say how much I enjoy having a serger to make nice finished edges?

05.31.13c

The pattern is one of my absolute favorites.  It’s Amy Butler’s Barcelona Skirt pattern, and I’ve made many of them.

05.31.13d

They’re comfortable, flattering and super easy to make.  I don’t know why it took me so long to get this one sewn up.


Tagged: Sewing

Me-Made-May final days!

Here are the last few days of May, and I've been happily wearing me-made stuffs.  I'm kinda bummed this month is nearly over, but I'm so glad I brought out my hand-made goodies.  The weather has been so crazy, I was actually able to wear some of my winter hand-knits!

May 26th, I wore my Mod-Podge jacket.  Little did I know I spent most of the day with the snaps misaligned.  Oh well.

 May 27th, all this hand-made goodness inspired me to finish a pair of jeans!  I had the fabric ready, but was unsure it would be enough to make a full-length pair.  They're tailored and about ankle length.  I think they look rather fetching at ankle length.  I've worn them twice now, and they're quickly becoming a fave.

 May 28th, the second time I wore the jeans, I paired it with one of my favorite cardigans knit in Malabrigo Lace which is super soft and fuzzy.  I had no idea I'd be wearing hand-knits and it's nearly June.  The weather's been crazy.

 May 29th, and I think this may be my final Me-Made-May post.  I have a wedding to attend this weekend in Italy, and I don't know how likely it will be that I can photograph my wardrobe.  So, I did it!  I wore hand-made items 4 days of each week.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I did get lazy last week.  The cold weather actually helped me pull stuff from my hand-knit collection that I might not have worn.  So, today I pulled out my alpaca shell.  One of my warmest hand-knits and one of the earliest garments I knit.  I love it and it used exactly one giant skein of Alpaca with a Twist yarn.



If I dooo manage to finish the dress in the background I'll post a pic. ;)
Happy Me-Made-May!

ETA: final me-made photo.  'twas too cold to wear the dress-in-progress unfortunately.  But, I did manage to wear my nicely brightly colored loop!  Who would have thought the end of May would be so cold in Italy!
May 31st, me-made-loop/cowl, Bassano del Grappa, Italy

Sewing as Literary Device

sweater6
I finished my Etherial last week. I think it looks pretty rockin.

Since then, I have finished, another sweater, my Tule which came out perfectly, but of which I have no photographs yet. They are coming, I promise.

Since I am still trying to keep up with my 12 sweaters in 2013 goal, and the Tule was Sweater #3, and the Etherial was Sweater #4, and it was already the end of May when I finished them both, I decided Sweater #5 would be adorably tiny. Yesterday I cast on the Newborn Vertebrae. Brock said this was cheating to keep up with my quota. I say, I never said all of the sweaters had to be full-size adult sweaters. And also, I have never knit a baby sweater before, so I am still learning something. Mostly I am learning that baby clothes go delightfully fast. I probably would have been done today, except I spent a very humid afternoon (I could have shut the windows and turned the AC, but I was concentrating too hard) making this!

totebag
I have not sewn in ages and ages. This some medium weight cotton I had sitting around to someday make project bags out of–and not necessarily what I would chose to make myself an everyday tote bag out of–but I do think it came out pretty cute. The pattern is form this book which I have had since I moved in to this apartment. (For those keeping score that was in July of 2010, so not quite three years ago). For some reason, I was afraid to work my way through the book–even after I bought a second sewing machin 2 1/2 years ago. And even though I use the second sewing machine mostly for mending (about once every six months), you would think that a person with two sewing machines might actually do some sewing….

Turns out, a person with two sewing machines mostly just fantasizes about sewing and then feels insecure about her abilities–even though ten years ago she had people offering to pay her to sew costumes….

That is what happens after allowing an interest lay dormant for a decade through a tumult of self-debt and the sort of feelings that are only ever realized in a Bildungsroman. But today, I sewed, and I am excited to do so again.

And finish my tiny baby sweater.

Sewing Sunday: Produce Bags

I’m re-posting a little sewing project that I did a couple of years ago for this week’s Sewing Sunday. These produce storage bags were a big hit with readers back in 2010 when I whipped up my first batch, and the original post still gets lots of hits everyday. I think that’s because they are incredibly easy to make, even for a novice sewist. They’re also super-functional and great looking, so win-win-win, right?

This project was inspired by all the amazing produce and lettuce we regularly receive from our local vegetable CSA. We investigated the best way to store natural’s bounty, and discovers that loosely wrapping lettuces and the like in tea towels is optimal. Home-sewn produce bags are a neater alternative.

All you’ll need for this project is a stack of new (or clean) tea towels and your sewing machine. If you live near an Ikea, you can snag a dozen of the towels I used for under $10. Otherwise, any inexpensive cotton toweling will do, although I would avoid terry cloth, which might absorb too much water.

Buying the towels is actually the hardest part of this project.

Simply fold the each towel in half and stitch up the sides, leaving the top open.

To make smaller bags, cut the tea towels in half and followed the same procedure.

If you wanted to go fancy-fancy, you could add a drawstring to the top of the bags, but open tops are actual better for airflow and will keep your produce fresh longer.I was really pleased with the results. They are terribly French looking, oui?

I love this kind of sewing. It’s practical and completely un-fiddley. Plus, the results are instant. Perfect for a lazy holiday weekend.

Shorts for Oona

Last summer or so I started an Oliver & S short set for Oona in some adorable Moda knit fabric.

Before finishing the waistline on the shorts I tried the outfit on Oona and discovered it was going to be WAY too big on her.  So I stashed it.

Yesterday I pulled it back out and finished it.  When we tried it on her again, it fit!

05.24.13a

05.24.13b

05.24.13c

05.24.13d

I’ve yet to use a pattern from Oliver & S that we haven’t loved.


Tagged: Sewing