Trying something new

Ever since I got the Alabama Studio + Design book, I've been obsessed by every technique (well, almost every) in there.  One thing I especially want to try is stenciling.  A few years ago I stenciled my dining room, entry way, and family room.   I used a variety of different stencil types and really loved it.  I imagine that doing it on fabric will be a lot of trial and error as well.  The difference is that when you mess up on a wall, you can just paint over it and try again.  Fabric is another story.

Well, the Alabama Chanin stencils  are all very cool, but also very expensive!  The great thing is that a lot of those stencils are available as free downloads on her website!  I downloaded the Anna's garden stencil and took it to Kinkos to have it printed since it is quite large.  I could not find stencil film locally on a roll, so I bought a package of 12 X 18 sheets.

I laid the pattern down on my cutting table and taped a stencil sheet over it. I used a Sharpie pen and traced the design.  Since my pattern is bigger than the sheet, I had to alter the design a little to make it fit on the edges.  The other thing is that this is a forgiving pattern, so it doesn't matter if the tracing is exact or not.







I overlapped the next stencil sheet over the first and decided where to split / overlap the designs.  I also had to shorten the design on the opposite edge since it was still larger than my two sheets.

The first obstacle was that it says to cut over a sheet of glass.  Well, I don't have any sheets of glass that I'm willing to give up  for this, but I did find an extra floor tile in the garage.  I think this will work perfectly.     

My original trepidation over cutting this stencil was the idea of using an exacto knife to do this.  I have bad arthritis in my hands and knew that it would not only be painful, but that I also might not be able to do it carefully enough.  When I was in hobby lobby the other day I saw a heat tool for cutting stencils.I decided to give it a shot. 

Day 2

Well, I am getting better with the heat tool, but I am still not happy with the results.  The heat tends to melt the plastic beyond where you want.  The edges are rough and sometimes curl up or warp.  I tried heating it with the hair dryer and put something heavy on it to make it flatter.  This helped.  You can see the difference below where I cut one stencil with the heat tool and started the other with  an exacto knife.  The knife gives a much better, cleaner cut.

cut with xacto knife

cut with heat tool

I've done some looking around on the internet, and I'm thinking it may be due to the template material that I used.  I'm going to try ordering some different types of template film and see if that makes a difference,  It certainly is easier and faster to use the heat tool, but the knife gives a much better result.

It's May - and I almost forgot!

I almost forgot about Me Made May!  I just signed up this morning, but I think I actually have worn something each day that I have made.  Yesterday it was my purple dress and Tunisian shawl.  I usually don't remember much before whenever "yesterday" was!  But I do know I've worn my hand stitched skirt this week and a couple of other things I've made.  I haven't gotten dressed yet today, so I better go find something!
Also, lately I've been intrigued with zentangle.  I'm going to find a way to incorporate a little of this in my sewing!

Sewing by Hand

I have always loved sewing by hand.  When I was younger, I learned to embroider, and I embroidered tea towels, shirts, table runners, and lots of other things.  There's just something nice about making stitches by hand.  As I became more confident with garment construction, I incorporated more and more hand stitching.  I enjoy putting in a hand picked zipper.  Of course, when I was first learning to sew, there weren't all of the tapes and fusibles available today.  Facings were sewn down by hand as were linings, hems, and basting.  My mother hated hand sewing, but I kind of liked it.  She loved to knit but hated sewing the pieces together.  I didn't like to knit (I do now although I'm painfully slow) but I like hand piecing.

A few weeks ago, I ordered a copy of Alabama Chanin's Studio Style + design.

 I had seen several reviews from garments made on Pattern Review, and I thought I'd check it out.  I had known about the Alabama Chanin books for years, but I guess I didn't really understand what they were all about.  Well, now I'm hooked!
I was first inspired by the fitted top, but I'll write more about that later.





I was surfing the internet looking to see what people had done with either the AC patterns or from inspiration from her techniques.  I ran across this post by Rice, and was inspired.  I HAD to make that skirt!  The next day after work, I ran over to the Bargain Basement (or whatever that place is called in Exeter) and bought three size 3XL T shirts for $6.99 each.  I would have gotten 4XL if they would have had it.  The only fabric store around here is JoAnns, and we also have a Hobby Lobby.  Neither one of them carry cotton jersey.  I took those shirts home and threw them in the wash.  Then I traced the skirt pattern out of the book and cut up the black Tshirt.  The pattern just fit on that shirt (I cut a size large according to my measurements.)
These are the materials that I used:

• 3XL cotton T shirt from bargain store
• Alabama Chanin short skirt pattern from Alabama Chanin Studio + Design book
• button hole thread from Wawak.  (I love this thread, but it is very thick and may be slightly waxed.  I had a hard time finding an appropriate needle)
• large eyed embroidery needle (I'm still looking for a better needle choice.  This was the only thing I could get the thread through, but it was also like pushing a nail through the fabric)
• 1" wide fold over elastic in black from JoAnns.
• cotton all purpose thread for basting also from Wawak
• DMC embroidery floss for hem trim (I think I got it at Hobby Lobby or Michaels)
• Pins
• Tailors chalk

After tracing the short skirt pattern from the book, I chalked around it on the fabric and cut it out.  I basted it together and saw that the fit was pretty good, but that I needed to take it in at the waist, which I did.  I probably should have taken it in a little more, but now it sits about an inch below my belly button, which is actually pretty comfortable.  

The skirt is a 4 gore and I stitched them together with a running stitch using buttonhole twist thread.  The stitches are longer than you would use with regular thread.  I pressed them down and then topstitched them using the same type of running stitch.  The AC book calls this an inside felled seam, but this is not what we typically call a felled seam.  Mock-felled is more like it.  BTW, the seams on these patterns are 1/4", so that makes it pretty easy with the hand stitching.

After stitching the skirt together, I realized that I had the wrong side as the right side.  Jersey rolls to the right side.  Oh, well, I was not going to undo all that stitching and do it over.  I decided to make it work.

I sewed fold over elastic at the waist edge.  I had it 1:1 at first, but that was too loose, so I shortened the overall length about 2 inches.  I probably could have gone more than that.  First I basted the elastic on because the pinning left too many gaps.  I used a stretch basting stitch that I made up!

I sewed the elastic on with buttonhole thread using a herringbone stitch (also a stretch stitch)

I tried pinning a couple of different trim styles at the hem but was not happy with them.  I finally decided on just using a flat piece of the fabric (right side facing up!) and using a cretan stitch.  I used embroidery floss (2 strands doubled) for this.  I wanted something right at the edge that would keep the hemline from rolling under.  I also wanted something to give it a little extra weight to hang better.  I thought about beading, but decided to save that for another project.  I wanted to wear the skirt!

I really like the effect of this, especially since I washed it, and it was able to roll and deconstruct a bit.

All in all, I'm really happy with this skirt.  It is super comfortable and cool.  (It's already been in the 90s here!)  The only bad thing about black cotton knit is that it attracts animal hair like a magnet!  I know there will be a lot more of these in my future!

Mini Bow Tucks Handbag

A couple of weeks ago I made this purse by Quilts Illustrated.  It is called “Mini Bow Tucks”  I’m really digging this purse.  I started making it because my plan was to teach how to make a purse on my trip to Uganda this summer.  Unfortuntately, as it turns out, I will not be going to Uganda this summer due to a number of factors.  I am really looking forward to going NEXT summer though.

Anyway, this purse is made from scraps from my stash.  The light green main body fabric is actually fabric that I purchased last time I did go to Uganda.   I wish I would not have used such a bright lining, only because the lining does show.  There are some changes I will make when I make this again.

First, I would make at least a 2” strip of facing from the main fabric at the top of the lining.  This way, not so much of the lining would show.

Next, I would change the pockets on the inside.  I would leave the open pockets on one side, but I would insert a zippered pocket on the opposite side.

This pattern has you use fusible fleece interfacing on the lining, but I think I would omit that next time.  I think using it on the body is enough.  I might use regular interfacing on the lining though.

I do like how they have you cut a piece of cardboard for the bottom and cover it in fabric.  

The outside of this purse is quilted, and I really enjoy doing the free-form machine quilting .  I’d really like to make another one of these.

Since this purse doesn’t close completely at the top, I think I will make a small zippered bag or two to slip into the inside so that when my purse falls off the front seat of my car onto the floor, everything doesn’t spill out everywhere!

Now, If I could just find a pattern for a small wallet that I really like!!

Silhouette Patterns 150 Dana's Top

I have seen Peggy (Owner of Silhouette Patterns) wear this top a few times on different webcasts.  I made it several years ago, but I never really liked it because it was too tight.  I had made a size 1 in the shoulders, 2 at the bust, and 3 at the hip.  The knit I used the first time didn't have much stretch either, so although it looked fine, it was not comfortable.
This is Silhouette Patterns' Dana's Top

If you have never made a Silhouettes pattern, I would highly recommend it for several reasons

1. All Silhouette patterns come in B, C, and D cup sizing
2. The patterns go together easily and quickly
3. The instructions are always well-written and easy to follow.
4. Peggy is super helpful if you ever have any questions about her patterns.

This time I made a straight size 3 - as Peggy is always recommending.  I'm pleased with the fit.  The only change I will make next time is to lower the angle/slope of the shoulders.  I might also do a sway back adjustment.  I actually traced the pattern to be 2" longer, but I did not have enough fabric, so this one is 1" longer than drafted.

Also, I somehow lost the directions out of this pattern, but it was not difficult to put together.  I already have pulled out some other fabric to make another one, but I want to make it long sleeved.

Camden Convertible Hat

One of the designers on Ravelry is Scattered Dahlias.  She designs slouchy hats and I really like her patterns.  She also opens up her patterns for testers a couple of times a week.  I have tried to get in on this several times, but never get in on time (The call is always when I am at work, so I usually miss out.)  Well, last Monday I was at a drs appt and just happened to pull up Ravelry on my ipad, and there was an open test!  I was excited that I was able to get in on it, even though I wasn't sure how much I liked the pattern.  So, I layed my knitting and broomstick lace projects aside to make this hat.  I'm actually pretty happy with it, and the cool thing is that you can wear it as a hat or a cowl!  You can read my review of the pattern on Ravelry.  or try this link
Here are some pictures:

"My First Sweater"

I decided to sign up for the My First Sweater class on Craftsy.  They had a great deal on the yarn "kit", so for less than $20, I ordered all the yarn I needed to make the sweater.  It's just Lion Brand Wool Ease, but it's working up very nicely.  I have other, nicer yarn, but for my first attempt at making a sweater, I didn't want to go all out.

I've known how to knit for years, but the problem is two fold.  1.  I attempt to make things that are much harder than I am ready to do, and 2) because of this, I make lots of mistakes, but have no idea how to fix them!  Maybe this will be what I need to improve my skills and get ready for the next level.  Plus, I think the pattern is pretty cute.

The class uses this free pattern from Lion Brand.  It also has options for a pullover (which I intend to make next) and a cardigan with longer sleeves and/or a collar.

On the sewing front, I'm planning on doing some cutting out after lunch.  Andy will be busy listening to the football games, and I'm not really a fan.  Since the home stereo system will be covered with football, I'll just turn off the speakers in the sewing room and turn on my audio book.  I have a 35 minute commute to work each way, so I listen to audiobooks and it really makes the time go by - plus I get to "read" books that I wouldn't have time to otherwise.

A little detour to Winter Wonderland

I took a little detour from my Rebel Broomstick Lace Cardi.  I saw this pattern in Love of Crochet magazine and had to make it for my grand daughter.  I just couldn't stop thinking about it, so I knew I had to make it!  But, I wanted to make it in blue, which I did.   I'm calling it "Emma's Winter Wonderland Cape and Hat."   I'm really happy with how it turned out.

 I think Emma likes it too, since she didn't tear it off like she usually does with her jackets and sweatshirts.  She even put the hat back on when it fell off after we were in the house!

We are blessed to be able to have Emma spend the afternoon and night with us every Wednesday and a couple of Sundays a month.  She really loves coming up here because she gets to run and play a lot outside.  She gets to play outside at her house too, but its not the same as being out in the country of course.  She's only 26 months, but she knows what she wants to do!

I have made some progress on the Broomstick lace cardi though.  I really am enjoying making that.

Now that the holidays are over, I'm hoping that things will settle down a bit.  I've been going to some Common Core Training at work, so that is taking some extra time.  I spent 3 hours in my classroom today making lesson plans for a substitute when I could have been home doing something else!  Oh well.

Emma stayed with us today, so while she took a nap I was able to trace one of my patterns for the swap.  I will be making the Silhouettes Patterns twinset out of a gray knit. i got the pattern traced and tissue cut, but didn't get to fabric yet.  I better get on the stick and make some clothes, because I'm finding that I don't have too many things to wear for colder weather.  Thinking about making them does not get them made!!

The nice thing about knitting and crochet is that I can sit in the living room with my husband and do it while he is there.  When I'm sewing, I'm kind of off in my own world (physically and mentally!)  I'm much better at crocheting than knitting.  I love the look of knits, but my problem is that I don't know how to fix my mistakes when I make them.  I find this pretty easy in crochet, but next to impossible in knitting.  Probably the issue is the fact that I choose things to make that are considerably above my skill set!  I think I may sign up to take the "MY First Sweater" class at Craftsy.  I do know the basics, but I have never knitted anything more than scarves, hats, and mittens.  I've attempted a few shawls, but have torn every single one of them out since I usually find mistakes several rows back and have no idea how to fix them.  If it's a simple knit or purl stitch, I can usually fix that, but sometimes I can't figure out what the mistake is.  Either I've twisted a stitch, messed up a YO or some other dumb thing.  I probably need to start with something more simple, so the Craftsy class might be the answer.

There are only 2 disadvantages of crocheting over knitting.  First and foremost is the fact that it really bothers the arthritis in my thumb.  Knitting does not.  The other thing is the fact that crochet projects usually take much more yarn than knitted projects, and I have a taste for expensive yarn.
Well, sewing doesn't bother my hands at all (well, hardly at all) so thats what I should be doing!  I'm ready to get started on the gray twinset, so I will post progress.  I have a great brocade type fabric that I want to make a skirt with.  It's not part of my swap, but it will go with the gray set.  I've had this fabric earmarked for a pencil skirt for years, and yet there it sits.  How long does it really take to make a skirt anyway?  I should have made a dozen.

Broomstick lace

I signed up for the Broomstick lace class on Craftsy.  I took the Tunisian Crochet class from Jennifer Hansen, and she is a wonderful teacher.  So, this was my Christmas present to myself.  I ordered the yarn(beet red), the extra large knitting needles, and now I am taking the time to learn the technique.  My first practice turned out pretty well and I love the look.

That was yesterday.  Today, I tried to make the swatch (which uses a different pattern) and mine came out too big.  This is easy to fix, but I hate taking the time to make another swatch when I am anxious to get started on the project LOL!  Well, I WILL do it, because I don't want to put all the work in and then have it not fit!  The finished project is the Rebel Lace Cardi and you can see some great pictures of it here

Here is the cover photo:

I think some of the examples on Ravelry are even better looking.  I'm (attempting to ) make mine in the same color as the sample above.  Tonight I will try to finish swatch # 2 and hope that will be the end of it!!

On another note, my son did something really cool and different for me for Christmas this year.  (I say "me" because my husband can't appreciate the photos since he is blind.)  He has a friend who has a GoPro camera and remote control helicopter that is made for it.  They came out to our place when I was not home and took all kinds )over 200) aerial shots of our house, the river, and the valley floor.  The resolution is so high that I can zoom in on things across the river and see what I never could with my eyes.  I had to reduce the resolution considerably in order to post on line, but here is an example of one of the shots that he did.

SWAP - I've got a plan

I've got a plan - but that doesn't mean I'll stick to it!  Years of experience tells me that the SWAP plan always changes by the time it is over!  Right now my plan is of all new made garments.  If I don't finish everything by the end I can substitute since this year we're allowed

• one purchased garment
• one previously made garment
• one garment made between now and the start date of December 26

I do plan on making a pair of pants (or two) before the start date.  If I don't finish everything, I do have black skinny pants or a top that I can substitute.   I should be able to make everything by the end though since I do not have any major trips or moves proposed by the end date!

I originally wanted to make everything from stash, but I found a great coating for a great price at fabric.com.

Also, I have been wanting to make this Sandra Betzina skirt for a long time, but didn't have the right stripe.

Of course, once I found that stripe, I had to have the aqua too!  Everything else though, will be from stash.  I will keep you posted!

I guess I'll let him live (LOL)

OK, today I can laugh about it, but yesterday I was in tears.  All the time I had allocated to sewing was spent cleaning up soot and ashes.  It's amazing how much ash can fly out of a shop vac in just a split second!  Fortunately, my cabinet doors to the fabric cabinet were shut, but everything I had out (I'm still unpacking) had/has a fine layer of ash all over it.  I guess I'll continue to clean as I go.  Not much else I can do about it.

I did make a little progress yesterday.  I usually trace all of my patterns, but I probably won't mak this dress more than once, so I just cut it out.  I did trace the front bodice sine I wasn't sure how I wanted to do a FBA on this.  I knew I would want to rotate the dart into one of the pleats, so this is how I ended up doing it.


This pattern has the typical Vogue method of sewing in the lining, which I don't like.  It seems that the shoulder seam never looks quite right when I try to insert the lining and then join the shoulder seams last.  I prefer to use my standard method which joins the side seam last.







So, I've got the front completed and the back bodices sewn to the skirts.  The pleating in the front was more time consuming than I anticipated.  It's fairly simple, but then getting the top and bottom to line up is extremely difficult (Well, maybe not if you're a much more accurate sewist than I am.)  I think I ripped this out 4 times and this is the best I could do.  Fortunately, it will be covered with a belt, but I like to know that it looks good.  At least this is pretty close.

I like the way the pleats form the front of the bodice.

Today I would like to finish cutting out the lining and sew it together.

On another note, Stitcher's Guild is starting up for the next SWAP (Sewing with a plan)  This year it is 11 garments.  3 mini packs and 2 wildcard.  You can find the official rules here.  For the last several years, I have attempted SWAP and failed miserably.  In fact, last year, I don't think I even completed one garment from my proposed SWAP!!  So, looking at it that way, I can only succeed in improving my progress from last year!!  Plus you can use a few items that you already have made, so I am planning to use this dress and the pair of pants (that still need hemming) that I made last weekend.  Are any of you planning to SWAP this year?  It officially starts in December, but you can actually start sewing and planning now.

The Best Laid Plans (or How to Get Your Wife to Want to Kill You)

I had so much enthusiasm today - I knew I was going to finish that dress!  Well, unfortunately, my sewing room is also the home of the litter box.  There was some litter on the floor, so I asked my husband to bring in the shop vac so I could clean it up.  My husband has had the brilliant idea lately of cleaning out the fireplace with the shop vac.  You might guess where this is going.  Said husband comes into the sewing room and turns on the shop vac. Tragically, he has the hose in the WRONG hole and it is set to BLOW.  NO, he did NOT clean out the shop vac after the last time he cleaned the fireplace.  Well, he will not have to now since all of the soot and ash have shrouded my entire sewing room!!  I cannot believe this just happened!  I've spent the last hour and a half cleaning and mopping.  No, I'm not in the mood to sew anymore.  I'm just frustrated!