Newest Addition 1931 Singer

My newest baby.  A 1931 Singer in a beautiful bent wood case.  I found this at my local Goodwill way back before COVID happened.  It's taken me some time to get her into good shape, but she got her last oiling last night and I spent several hours sewing with her.  Beautiful!  And so quiet!

I was working yesterday on a new quilt.  It's just random fabric scraps that I didn't try very hard to match or make a nice pattern with.  I don't know.  It's probably the ugliest quilt I've ever made.  For some reason, I decided to do the piecing last year more out of duty to use up those scraps than any real desire to make a quilt or any real creativity.  

As a result, I could probably win the ugly quilt contest hands down.  I suggest.  No, I implore.  Please don't ever do this to yourself. 

I am however, determined to press on.  I will free motion quilt the squares in sections that are 25"x25" and go ahead and make it anyway.  This is the first time I've used Insulbright instead of cotton batting, so I will be curious as to whether or not it is actually warmer than a regular quilt.  Any of you have experience using Insulbright?

Mama's in the Kitchen--Aprons Galore!

Okay, so I've never met a jar of pasta sauce that  didn't spill on my clothes at the first introduction.  Or a hamburger that didn't spatter me with grease while cooking.  Why haven't I made any aprons sooner?  Good question.  Wish I had a good answer.  I could've saved myself a lot of money over the years on clothes I didn't have to replace.

There are so many cute aprons out there.  And so much cute fabric.  Heck! I should  just make some.

So I did.

First I bought some lightweight canvas.  Because quilting cotton makes great aprons, but the canvas was on sale and it had just the most pretty or adorable prints.  This tropical flower print is easily my favorite of the lot.

Next, I drafted me up a pattern that looked like it would work.  I tend to be a visual pattern drafter so I eyeball a lot of what I draw.  The first draft wasn't perfect, but the second was pretty good, and the third even better.  Then I added a pocket or three on the front.  Because I love pockets, and I'm always looking for places to put things down.  I even made some with contrasting binding around the edges.  Extra work, but I think it looks really cool. 

Then I said to myself, "Self, other people might like an apron, too.  People who don't sew, or who don't have the time."  Hence, my Etsy shop.

I've got aprons on there, of course.  But also tea towels and pot holders that match, because I do like it when the things in my kitchen match.  So I figured other people might like that, too.

I've also popped up some hand braided jewelry as well.  Because it's fun to make, but some folks just don't have the time, or the patience, or they just don't consider themselves crafty enough to make things like that.

Take a look, if you're so inclined.  I'd love to have your feedback, sewing and crafting friends.  I always love good feedback.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheTrinityTreeShop

Cute Baby Clothes

My oldest son and his wife had their first baby last August.  I didn't get to make nearly enough baby clothes as I was busy working ridiculous hours as a theatre costume shop manager.  This year will be different *evil grin*  This kid will have so many clothes, her mother will only have to do laundry once a month.

I did manage to make this batch early on before my work got beyond insane.  They didn't find out she was a girl until she was actually born, so I made mixes of girl and boy clothes.

I love footed pants for babies.  I think they're so adorable and they eliminate the dreaded Lost Sock Syndrome.  The tops are all onesies with binding around the neck and leg edges and long prong fasteners at the crotch.

These were made from Big 4 patterns, and as we all know, the fit left a great deal to be desired.  I used the newborn size and naturally they were all too big.  And my granddaughter was not a particularly small baby.  Let's just say she wore those footed pants with the narwhales for quite some time.

When my contract with the theatre ended in October, I did some serious revamping of the onesie pattern and also made Granddaughter a few dresses.  None of which I took pictures of, of course. 

However, she needs more, so I will definitely get pics of those.  I've got three different kitty cotton knits (okay, one is tigers, but those are just big kitties, right?) that I've been just dying to cut in to.

I've also got a red brocade to make her a Christmas dress (hey! can't prepare too early) but I'm going to wait on that for a bit.  Guessing what her size will be six months from now is not likely to be accurate.

Racerback Tanks in Jersey Print

It's summertime and time for some new tank tops.  My old ones are pretty much worn out and recently I've had to throw several away.  One got stained beyond rescue and in two others the lycra gave out and made the fabric all ripply and weird. 

I love these two newest additions to my tank top stable.  I spent many an hour developing this racerback tank top until I got the pattern and every little curve of the straps just the way I wanted them.

The yellow print is a cotton/lycra jersey several years old trimmed with the same print fabric in the black colorway.  The binding is a tiny 1 inch wide before it is sewn on -- you have to be very, very careful with that one, there's no room at all for error.

The camouflage -- and I do love camo -- is a plain cotton jersey, kinda flimsy and I don't think this tank will make past this summer season before it starts to develop holes and such.  But it was so cute, I couldn't resist.  If you look closely, you can see the butterflies integrated into the camouflage pattern.  Is that awesome or what?!  I used a slightly wider binding on this one -- 1 1/2 inches unsewn.  You wouldn't think that just a little bit of extra binding could change the look of a shirt so much, but it does. 

I've got two more tanks tops to finish off and a knit dress for Daughter as well.  As soon as those are done, it's off to a couple of simple ballet tops for me.

What Do You Do...

...when you're frustrated?

I have a pretty piece of ivory colored poly/rayon burnout jersey.  Not much stretch but lots of drape, as you can imagine with a poly/rayon.  I had (notice the past tense) 3 yards of it.  Until I totally wasted a yard on a shirt that doesn't fit, will never fit, can't make it fit, etc, etc, boo hoo hoo.  I thought I'd make just a plain tee to wear over a white camisole top, but somehow I got my patterns mixed up or something, because what I just cut out and put together was a 100% fail.  *sigh*  I hate wasting pretty fabric. 

So what did I do?  You mean after I got done ranting, raving and shaking my fist at the sky? 

I made a dress for Daughter instead.  Isn't it pretty?  It's the same boring button down pattern I've been using for a while now.  I really need to get more creative with her dresses.

I have another one in the wings (ha! ha! that's a pun, there's birds all over that dress...my sense of humor is really hurting, isn't it?) but for some reason I decided it would be brilliant to put a gazillion buttons all the way down the front.  The buttonholes are sewn and cut, so there's no going back, but I've been procrastinating sewing on the buttons for over a week.  If I don't hurry up, she's going to grow out of the dress before she ever gets a chance to wear it.  And that would be a shame, because it really is very pretty.

I've got my new Jalie swimsuit pattern, I've got some old nylon/lycra and some new, so I've got everything I need to make new swimsuits for both me and Daughter.  I also got some microfiber to make board shorts for Youngest Son and I've had the Kwik Sew pattern for a couple of years now, so I've got everything I need for him, too.  I'm so looking forward to the swimming/kayaking season and I want to be ready for that first perfect day.

Raven in the Window -- Finished at Last

Gorgeous!  This one turned out positively gorgeous!  I knew when I first saw the fabrics lying next to each other on the cutting table that this was going to be a nice project.  But even I was surprised that it turn out so well.  I wish I could've gotten a bigger and better picture, but it's like 2F degrees outside with a wind chill I don't even want to think about.  That's a little cold for me to be standing around taking snapshots.

Dove in the Window is one of the few quilt piecing patterns that I've done multiple times.  I'm not sure why I'm so fond of it, but there you have it.  You like what you like.

Okay, for those who are interested, here are the technical specs:
The dark fabric is part of Michael Miller's Nevermore Collection.  A sort of Victorian meets Gothic motif going on there.  The crosses on black is another Michael Miller fabric, rather descriptively named "Ornate Crosses."  The gold is from JoAnn's -- one of their extra wide backing fabrics, which I also used for the backing of this quilt.  The batting is Warm and Natural 1/4" loft cotton batting.

No, these lines aren't really visible, that's just
the camera picking up some of the
left over chalk which is practically
invisible in real life.

The quilting is pretty straightforward.  Just some straight parallel lines in the large square of the "doves" er, "ravens" ...

... and some stippling in the gold ...

...and some more stippling in the sashes.  This one was tricky, because my thread so well matched the black background that I couldn't see where I had already sewn.

I figured if I couldn't see it, nobody else could, either, so I didn't try too hard to correct any mistakes.

And even the back is pretty.   Had to get the tensions just right, or the black thread would show on the back or the white thread would show on the front.  Errors in this department I did rip out and fix as they were so painfully visible.


I also had my foot pressure set too tight for a couple of squares of parallel lines and ended up with some pretty ugly bubbles, bumps, pleats and stuff.  These I ripped out, too, and kept fussing until I figured out the problem. I'd be embarrassed, but I am a novice quilter after all.

Anyway, there she is, in all her splendid glory.  Going off to garment sewing for a while now.

Quilting Sabbatical -- Cause We Need Some Clothes!

Much as I've been enjoying my quilting journey, I've got to move on for a while and get some clothes made -- before we're all stuck in that famous condition:  I've nothing to wear, dahling!!

Raven in the Window is nearly finished -- I completed the quilting last night so all that's left is the binding.  I'll get you all some pics in the next couple of days.

This weekend, I'm going to try to get some clothes made.  Daughter needs two or three dresses and Youngest Son could use a couple of button down shirts.  I've already got the fabric -- it just needs to be washed, dried, and ironed and it's ready to go.

Daughter already got a new dress this week.  The pattern is my self drafted knit wrap dress.  The fabric a lovely drapey charcoal rayon/cotton interlock with dusty pink roses on it.  A very pretty fabric that works well with the pattern.

I'm going to try and make her another this weekend using this Kaufman jersey.

 And perhaps a second one using one (or more!) of the organic cotton wovens I've gotten in the last few months.

For Youngest Son, I have a yummy royal blue broadcloth that's going to make a handsome shirt that will go nicely with his wool suiting vest.  He likes to be well-dressed, and who can blame him?  Jalie Men's Shirt Pattern will do nicely for that.  I'll have to trace out a new size since I know he's grown alot since the last time I used it.

For me, well I can start on my Jalie Women's shirt for the PR contest as of Saturday.  I think I'm going to use a tan pin striped stretch linen.  Oddly enough, it's the negative of the fabric I used for my last PR contest.  Instead of light tan with darker tan pinstripes, it is the darker tan with light tan pinstripes.

So, wish me luck!  As always, I've got lots of plans, and sometimes I even get it all to work.

Free Motion Quilting -- aka Drawing with a Sewing Machine

Okay, so where've I been this past month?  Truth is, I've been sewing nearly every single day.  Which has been awesome, even if it's only 10 or 15 minutes.  Some days, I've only had time to put the quilt markings on one square of the quilt (I'm doing straight parallel lines for my current quilt and I can't freehand them good enough to satisfy my perfectionist tendencies), and other days I've only had the time to stitch a single square of that quilt, and still other times, I've been able to mark and stitch and mark and stitch for hours at a time.  I'm not going to show the quilt I'm working on just yet.  I'll wait until it's finished.  But I will show you some of my practice squares. 

I was so excited when I first started free motion quilting.  It's like drawing with a sewing machine.  A little tricky to get the hang of, but such a fun process.  I like leaves, and flowers, and vines as decorative patterns and FMQ seems to be perfectly suited to just such artwork.  If I can get the hang of it.

My first try at feathers was a total disaster.  Just couldn't quite visualize what I wanted to do and translate that to the fabric.

My second try was little better.  They look more like ferns or leaves than feathers.  I spent a little time drawing with paper and pencil and I just couldn't get it. 

Then I spent some time looking at pictures and videos and finally it all clicked.  I suddenly, in a flash of insight, knew exactly what I'd been doing wrong.  I'd had leaves on the brain.  Or maybe my head is just stuffed with dried leaves.

I felt positively silly that it had taken me so long to figure it out.

I tried it with contrasting thread, too, so all the mistakes would show in glowing detail.

So, do I feel confident with my ability to FMQ feathers?  Nope. Ask me again in about two dozen more practice squares.  But I see hope on the horizon, and that's enough for me.

I did discover ( I love YouTube) a clever way to stitch all those practice squares together.  They're not exactly pretty, and the colors and patterns definitely don't go together, but it's such a shame to waste all that time and work and fabric and batting.  I think it'll make a fine quilt for keeping in the car trunk or using to move furniture or whatever.

I got this technique from Leah Day's You Tube tutorial  on joining quilt squares.

So, after I've showed you all my lame attempts at feathers, let me say that I love stippling and expect to use it often in the future. I could do this forever and not get tired of it.

This is a sneak peak at my current project.  The fabric is 108" wide backing fabric from JoAnn's.  I never used to like paisley, but when it's done in neutral tones like this, I really, really like it.  I got the blue, too, for a blue and white Crow's Feet (or Bear Paw) quilt that I have in my project list.  Which comes after the black/gray/white Irish Chain that is next up.

Yes, that's right.  I have my next two quilts planned even before I've finished the last one.  Daughter wants to help sew the squares on the next one which is why I chose Irish Chain, for it's delightful lack of bias seams.  But before that, or maybe concurrently, I want to join the PatternReview.com Fitted Blouse Contest.  Because I've had this great idea for shaping a blouse without darts for about six months now and no motivation to try it -- until now.

One of Last Year's Projects --Girls' Button Front Dress

Here's one of the dresses I made for Daughter last year but never got around to blogging about.  She picked this fabric from the quilting cottons at JoAnn's.  Okay, so taking a picture of it while she's standing in front of a door that is nearly the same color is probably not my best photography decision of the year.  Nobody's perfect.  I'm a dressmaker, not a photographer.

Anyway.  The buttons are a little too bright, with a little too much orange in them to quite match the red berries on the dress, but that is pretty much the only flaw and I think I can live with it.

When I was younger, I had a number of dresses made like this one.  This is one I call the Shamrock dress.  I made this one about 13-14 years ago (yes, it still fits) but hardly ever wear it.  Daughter absolutely loves the style, which is so much more appropriate for her than for me, so I set about making one for her.  I had to create my own pattern for her dress, as I couldn't find a button front pattern, though I confess I didn't try very hard.  The conversion is pretty fast and easy.

I start with my trusty Butterick 3360, which I have made many times.  This pattern has the front on a fold and a back zipper for a closure.  Remove the center back seam allowance and cut on the fold.  Add a self-fabric facing and interfacing to the center front, and Voila! you pretty much have a button front dress.

The only trouble is all those buttonholes to sew and cut and all those buttons to attach.  But the buttons on the front are alot easier to fasten than the zip at the back which is so hard to reach sometimes. 

All in all, it's a gorgeous dress.  Daughter is very happy with it and has put her order in for another.

Formal Garden Quilt Finished At Last!

 So here is the Formal Garden Quilt.  I only quilted the actual squares, leaving all the linear parts kind of puffy from the batting.  Each square is 7 1/2 inches with the 2 1/2 inch divider in brown.  The quilt is 7 squares wide and 8 squares long -- I think the finished measurement turned out to be something like 71 inches by 85 inches.  Sounds a little random.  I think my measuring skills need some work.

This thing took me three weeks of sewing time from beginning to end -- about 30-35 hours.  I always get just a little tired at the end of a project.  Enough that I have to be careful not to rush through the final finishing steps.  But really, this quilt turned out so nice that I'm really proud of it.

I put a lot of time and attention into getting the corners matched up as well as I could.  They're far from perfect, but certainly quite good.

 The backing is a tan paisley print 108" wide cotton from JoAnn's, and I bound the edges of the quilt by cutting the backing extra large and just folding the edges to the right side and topstitching.  Hmmm. Shoulda took a picture of that.  Oh, well.

Here's a close up of the quilting.  Right from the start I want to say that I have never done free motion quilting before.  I didn't even know my machine could drop its feed dogs.  So this is beginner's work, but for a beginner, I have no gripes.  Getting that whole giant blanket quilted like this seems to me a great accomplishment.  I'm looking forward to doing it again.  I even bought some variegated quilting thread to try.

So all in all, my first couple of experiences with "real" quilting have been fabulous.  I'm planning a new quilt as we speak.  I think I mentioned it before.  It's called Raven in the Window.

Whew! Who Knew...

a blankie could take so long?

Okay, they're a lot more sophisticated that that, but still.  I've been working on my Formal Gardens quilt for three weeks now.  I guess I shouldn't complain.  I didn't have to sew it all by hand, which probably would've taken me three years.  Good thing my family is not a pioneering family, or we would have all frozen to death by now.  Especially since right now, New England is suffering single digit degree (F) and below 0 temps pretty regularly for the past few weeks.  It is an amazing 23F degrees right now and we're forecast to actually get above freezing.  Woo Hoo!

Here's my first quilt that my Daughter christened "Cobblestones."  Fall colors pretty much gleaned from my stash of fabrics...I don't think I bought a single brand new fabric for this quilt.  The backing is a flannel sheet I've been wondering what to do with for years now.  I'm glad to have finally found a use for it.

Here's a close-up of my first attempt at free motion quilting.  Just straight lines (well, more or less) with little leafy seedling type things along them.  I've got seedlings on the brain 'cuz I'm ready for Spring.  Daughter and I are going to start our indoor plants (pepper and tomato and maybe some broccoli) soon and we're both tired of waiting...

An Old Quilt Friend

I thought I'd introduce you to one of my old quilts.  This one was made in 2005.  I know this because it's the first quilt that I embroidered the date on the corner.    It's been in use since then, and it was one of those blankets I tried using a microfleece blanket for a backing.  I had to seam the blanket to make it fit the top and then it frayed at the seam and came apart.  And the top tore where the strings were tied from too much stress.  It other words, I messed it up six different ways to next week.  I repaired it as best as I could, and 8 1/2 years later, I now know better, and I won't make those same mistakes again.  I'll probably make other ones instead, but that's besides the point.

No matter all it's flaws, I still think the top is pretty, and Storm at Sea, while by no means a very difficult pattern, is kind of fun and interesting, and is likely my favorite patchwork pattern to date. I would love to do a wall hanging in this pattern with the small pink squares being 1" or 2" and the rest of the pieces in proportion to that.  Now that would be quite a project...

Quilt-Fest --Still Sewing

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since my last post.  I'm still sewing away on my quilt tops, happily free motion quilting, piecing, and of course shopping for fabric.  I've gotten several 104" wide backing fabrics from JoAnn's in the past couple of weeks (on sale of course), some more cotton batting (also on sale), some fabrics that I just couldn't resist.

Michael Miller's Nevermore Collection was completely beyond my ability to resist.  How awesome are these?

I'm not sure yet how to use these gems in a quilt pattern, but I'm thinking seriously about Dove in the Window.  Daughter immediately pointed out, "You'll have to call it Raven in the Window, Mom."  The black fabric is Gothic without being gruesome, very Edgar Allen Poe, who didn't need graphic crime scene descriptions to create an atmosphere of foreboding. 






The white fabric is milder, with a literary theme that I absolutely adore.  I still use pen and ink for my artwork, I've been doing calligraphy since my teens, and I have an assortment of pen nibs for every occasion and ink in all colors of the rainbow.  The ravens add that extra touch that is just perfect.


I bought other fabrics, too, these are just my favorites. 



In progress news, the Cobblestone quilt is completely quilted, my first attempt a free motion quilting.  In my opinion, this first try was a major success, and I am happy, happy, happy.  I have, however, picked up a pair of quilters gloves with grippy dots on the palms for the next project.  Perhaps then my arms will not get so painfully tired.

 And quilt top #2 is finally finished.  Up next is a pic and description.  I'm hoping to lay it out and baste the layers this weekend at the latest.

From Blankets to Quilts

I haven't made a patchwork blanket in quite a while.  I used to do it rather extensively, and pieces of my patchwork are all over the house.  One serves as a curtain in my sewing room (Dove in the Window), another is the front of a sofa pillow, and everyone in the family has had at least one blanket.  I've made:

•  an Irish Chain, in green and white
• a Drunkard's Path, in blue plaid and light blue pawprint print
• a Storm at Sea, in rose, green, and tan
• a God's Eye, in orange and tan
• a Bright Hopes, in yellow, orange, blue, red, and tan
• a Steps to the Altar,  in rose and green
• a Jacob's Ladder, in green, white, and gray
•  a whole bunch of others whose pattern names I can't remember,
•  and numerous random nine patches or single large patch blankets.  

I've been sewing for close to 30 years and I've been making patchwork all that time, so I've had lots of opportunities to try lots of patterns.  Sadly, most of them have worn out and been replaced and I don't have pictures but I remember many of them fondly.  At some point I will hang the ones I have outside so I can take full size pictures of the entire things.

I call them blankets because all but one or two have been tied rather than quilted, and they don't always contain a batting layer.  My mother always made blankets with a heavyweight pieced top (usually denim weight) and some kind of inexpensive backing tied together at intervals with colored yarn.  I grew up in an area where the textile industry was the main employer, and rolls of 3-6 inch wide denim could be bought in outlet type stores for very good prices.  Ready made strips for strip patchwork.  Perfect.

About 10 years ago I grew dissatisfied with this technique, and instead tried backing some of my patchwork with microfiber blankets.  This worked okay, but the store bought blankets usually had to be pieced -- and they could come apart at those seams.  Very frustrating.  The Storm at Sea was one of those, and I have since re-backed it (while securing and leaving the microfiber blanket inside for insulation) and it now resides in a place of honor on Daughter's bed. 

After those relative failures, I tried backing the next patchwork with polar fleece.  And I got real ambitious and stitched in the ditch, creating my first real live quilt.  Sort of.  Since it doesn't have a batting sandwich, is it quilt?  Not sure.  But Bright Hopes is an appropriate name, isn't it?

This is also one of the few patchworks I made using fabrics bought specifically for the project -- usually I just use whatever scraps I have left over, or fabric that I bought for a project that I've abandoned.  Friends, knowing that I sew, also give me fabric.  I don't discourage them :o)

The quilt was so hard to handle, though, in my small harp sewing machine, that I went back to tying blankets.  I abandoned fleece because it pilled in record time.  I started putting a polyester batting layer in my tied blankets, which was way better than simple backing, but I still wasn't satisfied.  I finally decided there was nothing left to do but to learn how to quilt for real.

My Daughter has done some of the piecing of this quilt top and she's done a very fine job.  The pattern was originally intended to be Cogwheels (specifically chosen for its easiness, HA!) but we ended up muffing the lights and darks of the four-patch squares.  So Daughter gave it a new name: Cobblestones.

But most of the work is mine, and it's the very first super-duper careful quilt I've ever done.  I don't have a large work area, so laying out the layers and basting them all involves crawling around on a hardwood floor on one's hands and knees.  Not exactly the most comfortable of work environments.

I used Warm and Natural unbleached cotton batting and a flannel sheet for the backing.  I laid out all three layers on the floor (over and over and over again until I was finally satisfied) and took long basting stitches to secure all three layers.  Then, naturally not happy with an easy solution, I decided that free motion quilting was the way to go.  I got out my never-before-used darning foot, checked my sewing machine manual on how to perform the never-before-used action of dropping the feed dogs, and watched a few YouTube videos and how to do this never-before-attempted technique.

For those of you who read this blog before, you know I like to draw.  I do pencil sketches, water color pencil sketches, pen and ink, digital art, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Never before (there's that phrase again) have I drawn with a sewing machine.  And it's cool.  Way cool.  I can't wait to get good enough at it to do it with something elaborate.

After a couple of practice squares, I figured, "I can do this."  The quilting stitches on this quilt are pretty much straight lines with little leafy seedling things at pretty regular intervals.  Very simple.  Very basic.  But it's my first attempt, and I'm pretty proud of it.  The picture shows just the one direction of quilting stitches and the basting stitches still in.  By the time I was done with the quilting, there was rows of stitches running horizontally and rows of stitches running in both diagonal directions.  That was alot of free motion quilting.  Did I mention that my arms are still tired?

I still have to trim the edges and put on the binding, but once those are done, I'll get a picture of the whole thing.  But really, what you see in the picture up above is pretty much what you get.  Random green, red, brown, tan, orange.  A very autumn quilt.  If I'd had more skill at free motion quilting, I'd've quilted leaves all over it.  Maybe next time.

Twinkle Toes and Tshirts

Here's the wool socks and the fleece slippers, elegant aren't they?  They both have gotten a workout already.  Daughter wears the slippers every single day.  She's definitely going to need one or two new pair before this New England winter is over.

And Youngest Son's long sleeved tshirts are finally finished, too.  It's so hard to make interesting clothes for boys.  There just isn't that much variation in boys' clothing.  The pattern for all of these is Jalie 2918 Men's Tshirts.  A very nice, well-drafted pattern.  I used a size slightly bigger than his measurements, so a little room to grow.  I like the length on these.  Kid's shirts always seem to be too short for Youngest Son, but this pattern fits fantastic.

All the seams are serged, and the hems, sleeve hems, and necklines have all been coverstitched.  This is the technique I've been using to make t-shirts from time immemorial and I rarely have any trouble with it.  Occasionally one of the children will pull too hard on the hems or neck opening and pop the coverstitching.  It's pretty rare, so I haven't bothered to change the way I do things.  I guess if I really wanted to make them last, I'd put wooly nylon in the loopers.

This one on the left is a chocolate cotton/lycra -- probably from Fabric.com -- with organic cotton ribbing -- definitely from Fabric.com -- for the neckline.









The one on the right is brown organic cotton jersey with conventional organic green cotton jersey for the stripe and organic cotton rib knit for the neckline.




Here we have brown organic cotton ribbing and charcoal conventional cotton ribbing.  The color block seams really wanted to ripple on this one, but a session with my iron settled that rebellion.

The one on the left is a plain gray cotton ribbing.








This one on the right is camel and brown organic cotton jersey with brown organic cotton ribbing.








Not very exciting, I know, but sometimes the sewing just isn't that exciting.  I want to make a few Christmas gifts next, so those should be a little more interesting.

A Week in Plain Sewing

Sometimes you've just got to bite the bullet and do all that sewing you've been putting off because it's boring.  That was last weekend for me.  Several pairs of thermal pants and many, many t-shirts were at the top of the priority list, so I got out my trusty Jalie patterns, a pile of knit fabrics, and my 45mm rotary cutter and got started.

First I cut out thermal pants using Jalie 2328 Mens Thermal Underwear.  I think this is the very first pattern of Jalie's that I ever bought.  Oddly enough, I vaguely remember not liking it at first, but I can't for the life of me imagine why.  I was probably expecting something unrealistic.

In any event, this pattern gets my unqualified approval, regardless of my first impression (thereby proving that first impressions aren't always accurate, right?).  The tops fit well, the pants are well designed.  If you have men who work outside in the wintertime, and your winter is anything like New England's (or worse!) this is a great pattern to have. 

A really long time ago, I worked in a textile factory making, you guessed it, thermal underwear!  A before that I worked in a factory making, you guessed it again, long-sleeved knit shirts!  Um, so I've sewn pieces like these alot.  Like thousands of times.  So I feel like I'm a good judge of this kind of pattern.

I cut out three pair from some nice cotton thermal knit that I found at JoAnn's a few years ago.  Two of them are sewn and the last is waiting patiently to be assembled.

Assembly time: less than one-half hour.

After those, I started working on long sleeved tees for Youngest Son.  For these I chose Jalie 2918 Men's T-Shirts.  I haven't used this pattern at all yet, so I'm walking into unknown territory.  What I do know is that Jalie has been very reliable over the years, so I have no reason to expect disappointment. 

I started with the size that matched his measurements, but Youngest Son has got rather broad shoulders.  Made with a cotton rib knit, it fits in the chest, sleeve length is good, overall length is good, but the shoulders just don't quite fit.  I don't think it's the pattern though.  I think it's going to be a standard alteration on all patterns for Youngest Son.  This first tee is wearable, but it won't be long before he grows out of it.  I love how forgiving knits can be.

Next pattern tracing: Size up by 2 sizes to accommodate the shoulder broadness. 

Should have at least 3 or 4 of these tees finished by the end of the day.

So that's what I've been up to.  I do get tired of sewing practical items sometimes, but I get alot of satisfaction knowing that a great many pieces of my family's clothing have come from my hands.  That makes it all worth it.

Another Girls' Butterick Dress

Are you guys tired of this pattern yet? It's Butterick 3350 and now that I've sewn all three necklines, I believe that I am finally tired of it.  Also, this is the largest size in the envelope, so once Daughter grows out of this, we'll need to find a new pattern anyway.

This is made in a pretty  quilting cotton that I bought at JoAnn's earlier this year.  Very nice and soft and easy to sew.  I love this fabric print, a little old fashioned and antique-y but still perfect for a little girl. The back tie is a double sided ribbon, also from JoAnn's but I'm not happy with it.  I thought for the added expense, a double sided ribbon would be a little more substantial than the single sided or the grosgrain.  It's not.  They made it thin and cheap and I really don't like it.  I'm looking for a source for decent ribbons.  Any suggestions?

I put an invisible zipper in the back of this version, too.  So much easier and nicer looking than regular zippers.  And as I get older and (I hope) wiser, I'm more inclined to enjoy the hand sewing aspects of making clothing.  I say this because I sewed the center back seam allowances of the lining to the zipper and the entire lining waist seam entirely by hand -- and I enjoyed it.  That would not have been true just six months ago.

Anyway, like I said, I've sewn all three necklines:
The plain rounded neckline

The sweetheart neckline

 And, of course, this latest one, which I'm no sure what to call. Which do you like best?

Mini Wardrobe Contest -- Third Piece Finished!

I had some sewing time open up yesterday, so I spent those precious few hours working on the next piece of my mini wardrobe: the safari style vest.

I really like the way this turned out, even though I'm not terribly excited about the collar.  It also doesn't look a whole lot like what I had drawn in my storyboard, except in a general sort of way.  I was planning to use just a plain vest pattern and adding some pockets, but when I looked through my stash of patterns, I found that I didn't actually have a plain women's vest pattern.  Amazing.  I tend to collect plain patterns, so I can use them for a base and then apply my own creativity to them (which I haven't done lately, but the intention is there).

Instead, I found this Butterick pattern, B5616,  which I decided was close enough to what I wanted.  The pockets are just plain patch pockets, rather than expanding cargo pockets, but since I used a stretch sateen they kind of expand anyway.  It's unlined, which is okay -- I just serged the seams and some of them are topstitched down as well.  And it has a higher neckline than I was quite envisioning, along with the collar, which I wasn't intending at all.    But I decided to go ahead anyway.

I traced a straight size 6 in the View B with length of View A and pretty much followed the instructions.  I had to take in the sides about two inches and gave it some waistline shaping, of which it has practically none. The envelope says that it's loose-fitting, but even though I've used lots of Big4 patterns, I wasn't expecting quite so much ease.  I left off the back ties, though on reflection, maybe I should have put them on -- the vest still fits a bit more loosely than I'd like.  I'll probably sew this again, in a non-stretch fabric, with the other collar option.  I have a really cute brown and pink paisley Kaufman corduroy that I think would work great with this pattern.  Oh, wait.  It's a stretch corduroy.  Oh, well. Whatever.

All in all, I like it.  And it goes well with the linen shirt and with the tank top.  I still have a few days before the contest ends.  If I get a move on, I can get those pants finished.