Necessary Sewing

My most recent work has been a long way from exciting. I really don’t like home decorating sewing very much. I find it is usually a lot of long, straight and really boring seams put in a lot of fabric with a lot of pressing. Handling all that fabric gets cumbersome. This type of sewing feels like a chore to me. The fact that I don’t think I have much of a gift for decorating probably adds to my lack of enthusiasm. However, sometimes it is necessary. And now is one of those times.

I made a valence for the girls’ bedroom out of this fabric:

And a curtain for a bathroom out of this (cream-y colored cotton gause):

Pictures of them up and in place would probably be more exciting, but they won’t go up until we move back in.

So, it wasn’t so bad once I did it, but I’ve had this fabric since November and have just been putting it off since then. I do have a couple more curtains to do, but I don’t have that fabric with me.

I also did some sewing for the girls’ group at our church. They need these “flags” for a liturgical dance sometime in the fall. Thankfully, serging around the edges is sufficient because there are about 40 of them and the fabric is not at all nice to work with. I have a lot more of these to do.

Now I likely won’t be sewing again until the end of March. There just won’t be time with cleaning, moving, and unpacking. And then I’ll be in NYC for a few days. Have I mentioned that I’m excited about that?!? So, there won’t be any posting here for awhile, but I will be back!

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The Burda Skirt Again

I'm not sure what prompted it, but awhile ago I decided that I needed a green skirt. The last time I was at Fabricland I saw this green wide-wale corduroy. I wasn't really looking for the skirt to be corduroy and the color was a little different than I was hoping for, but since I had my eyes peeled for awhile and hadn't seen anything better, I thought I'd try the corduroy. After looking for a suitable pattern, I settled on the Burda 2/2010 skirt that I've already used three times . Because of the weight and bulk of the corduroy, I didn't want to try to mess with too many details. I'll use another skirt pattern soon. Really, I will. One of the things I really like about this pattern is the pockets. This time I made the pocket facings and part of the pocket bag out of a cotton woven solid to reduce bulk. Since I'll be wearing this skirt with tights I added a lining. Adding the lining was really simple except that I cut the lining exactly the sam

Grocery Bags

More gifts! These are just like the still-all-too-ubiquitous plastic grocery bags, but they're fabric. I followed this tutorial and you actually use a plastic bag as a pattern. The instructions are very good and include a pocket so that the bag can be folded up and is easy to keep in a purse or a car's glove box. Mostly for the sake of the gift recipients, here's how to fold up the bag.... 1. Lay the bag pocket side down and fold it length-wise using the edges of the pocket as a guide. 2. Fold it in half, aligning the top of the handles with the bottom of the bag. 3. Fold in half again and then reach into pocket with your hand and turn the whole thing (pocket included) inside out. Happy shopping!

Shopping Bags

Most stores in our town charge you a nickel for a plastic bag when you check out. I love this practice and the way that it encourages people to bring their own cloth bags or reuse their plastic ones. My habit of bringing along bags to the grocery store is well established, but I used to find myself stuck at places like the drug store or farmer's market or other impromptu stops. Then I picked up a bag at an upscale kitchen goods store that rolls up quite compactly. Now I keep that in my purse, so I always have a bag with me. I like my bag so much that I wanted to replicate it for the art sale. The final result is a hybrid of the bag I purchased and these that I made last year. The bag is a little bigger than the average plastic grocery bag. The velcro tab is used to keep the bag rolled up, but also can close the top of the bag when it is full. Most of the bag is a single layer of cotton, but the handles are faced. There is a double row of top-stitching around both edges of

My Sewing Space

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