My Sewing Space

The amount of time or effort I put into a sewing project makes no difference in the amount of appreciation I get from my kids. They each have their own idea of what makes something special (a certain print, twirlability, sparkles, etc) but they all love comfy, cozy clothes. Who doesn't, really? I guess that doesn't make my kids unique. My son is my most tactile child and in his mind cozy and fuzzy are synonymous. He felt a pair of fuzzy pants in a store and badly wanted to take them home with him. They were a terrible fit, so I told him I'd make him some. I picked up this ribbed fleece fabric at Fabricland and used Ottobre 4/2013 #27 to make his new favorite thing to wear. The pattern is called "Ultimate Casual Basic Sweatpants." I thought that was pretty perfect. I stripped down the basic pattern even more by leaving off the pockets and bottom leg cuffs. My daughter needed some more warm clothing as well, so I made the pants again (just adding length) a...

I had to interrupt a nice stretch of selfish sewing I had going on to make swimwear for two of my three kids. They had swimming lessons starting up and their suits were so shot after the summer that wearing them even just once more was not a good option. Shopping for new suits this time of year sounded painful. Thankfully, I could make them and I even had everything I needed on hand: fabrics, patterns, notions. Stashing for the win! My daughter's suit is made from a fabric that someone passed on to me. I don't really care for it, but my daughter does like it quite a bit. I used Kwik Sew 2605 (now out of print) - a basic one-piece racer back suit. Sadly I did not add enough length to the size I made. This will get her through the next few weeks and probably not much longer. I didn't pay any attention to print placement when cutting out (I was in a hurry!) but I find the three flowers diagonally across the body rather pleasing. But, then there's the back: Oi...

At the end of the summer, my family went on a lovely vacation through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. These are beautiful states and we enjoyed experiencing them and learning more about them. New Hampshire's state motto is "Live free or die." That wasn't news to me, but it was interesting to see it stated so many places. It feels a bit edgy and unique to me. After reflecting on it a bit, it reminded me of this quote from Robert Louis Stevenson that I really like: To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. After making that connection, I decided I wanted a T-shirt with the motto on it. I like graphic T-shirts, but usually feel torn about them - sure that's a nice bird/flower/bike/whatever on the shirt, but shouldn't it mean something? Maybe that's too much thinking about a T-shirt, but here I saw my chance to have a graphic tee and have it be meaningful. The ...

Okay, plaid shirts aren't really something new to me. I wore plaid shirts all the time in high school (hello, 90's!). But, that was awhile ago and there hasn't been one in my closet for many, many years. I made most of those shirts I wore in high school and I am happy to say that my shirt-making skills have come a loooong way since then! This shirt marks the fifth time I've used Burda 04/2010 #114 (only two other version are blogged: here and here ). Having the fit issues all worked out means I can just pull out the pattern and start cutting. I love that. In this case, I spent some time matching plaids and made some minor detail changes. Chest pocket: Undercollar and inner collar stand cut from chambray: Sleeve placket and inner cuff also from chambray: Bias-cut yoke (inner yoke is chambray): I have to say I'm a bit flummoxed about the plaid on the sleeves. I'm pretty sure I thought to match them to the bodice, but now I'm not sure w...

This fall, my want-to-sew list seems to have a lot of items on it that have new-to-me elements. Whether it's the style or the fabric, I'm eager to try some things that I haven't done before. As always, the want-to-sew list won't be entirely completed but I think it's good to have the inspiration and ideas. One of the things on the list was printed pants. They moved to the top of the list when someone gave me some printed denim. Since making another pair of shorts like these at the beginning of the summer (never blogged them) I've been curious if I could alter that pattern to a traditional jeans look. For the alterations, I started with making the pant legs narrower. This article from Threads was a big help and gave me good results. Then I cut off the top of the back piece to create a yoke and incorporated the dart by overlapping it along the dart stitching lines. On the front, I drew different shaped pockets and created the facing and pocket bag piece...