My Sewing Space

I know that a lot of people think that sewing for boys isn't much fun.  I might agree.  But, when you're looking to clothe your family as much as have fun sewing, I find sewing for my son simpler and faster than sewing for my daughters. These shirts are exactly the same as the ones I made last year , just one size bigger.  I wasn't sure that I should do that at first, but I couldn't come up with a good reason not to - other than it being a little weird, but I could hardly consider that a "good" reason.  Anyway, my son is happy with them, I used up more of my stash, and he has more much-needed warm weather shirts. Having new clothes for the kids to wear makes them much more cooperative with getting dressed in the morning.  However, it does not seem to help them with the issue of matching tops and bottoms...   Next up:  Birthday party favors!

This tunic and leggings is the last of the things I'm sewing for my older daughter's fall wardrobe.  I actually finished it a couple of weeks ago and my daughter has worn it twice, but each time I asked her if I could take a picture and she said, "Yes, but only one and you have to do it fast."  Well, okay then.  The odds of one quick picture turning out well weren't so good.  So, I photographed them without the daughter. Generally, I consider this top unsuccessful.  Let's start with the fabric.  The white print is pretty lightweight interlock.  Someone gave this to me awhile back (I think the same time as this fabric).  I made pajamas out of it for my daughter a couple of years ago and had about a yard left.  I pulled it out of the stash to match some hand-me-down red leggings.  I was having a really hard time getting past the idea that it was pajama-ish, and knew that it would need to be made into more than a plain T-shirt...

I made this top for my daughter a couple of days ago and she was pretty excited about it.  She noted that it was pretty long and I told her it was called a "tunic." When she put it on the next morning, she ran to the Preacher and said, "Look, dad!  Mom made me a tooney!"  He was confused as a tooney is the Canadian $2 coin. I've had this fabric in my stash for awhile.  It was a pretty good match for a hand-me-down pair of leggings.  I really wanted to make a tunic with a hood, but didn't have enough fabric.  So, then I made a two-layer neckband to go along with the layered look of the sleeves.  The bottom layer was white and wider than the top layer of the pink print.  But, when I wanted my daughter to try it on to check the side seams, we could not get it over her head!  So, I took that off and put fold-over elastic around the neck.  I'm not as excited about how it looks, but I was being lazy and wasn't too intere...

Two more T-shirts.  I only took pictures of one because the second one is even less exciting than this one! They are intended to be worn under a hoodie and a fleece pullover (both hand-me-downs in great shape).  Do you remember me mentioning that the Preacher is rather particular about his T-shirts ?  Well, these tops are made from two T-shirts that he wore only once or twice and then deemed unacceptable.  The fabric isn't great, but for layering T's, it works fine. I used fold-over elastic on the neck.  This is the first time I've used it and I really like it.  It looks nicer than a ribbing neckband and is stretchier than a bound one.  Putting it on couldn't be easier - just fold the elastic over the edge and stitch it down.  It should be stretched a little bit, but not a lot.  Before putting it on, I sewed one shoulder seam and then sewed the other seam after the neckline was finished.  It seems easier to determine the best leng...

After seeing this shirt, my daughter told me that it wasn't really a good idea to wear short sleeves in the fall and winter.  I explained that I made it to be worn under a cardigan.  Then she said she thought the color was really pretty.  So, I think everything's going to be okay now. Last fall she had a long-sleeve T-shirt to wear under a hoodie and she hardly ever wore it because it was so frustating for her when she was getting dressing.  And after the long sleeves that were too short , short sleeves looked good to me! The fabric is left over from a top I made for myself a couple of years ago.  It's an interlock knit and looks more purple in real life.  The pattern is Kwik Sew 2918 , modified to have a gathered and bound neck.   That pile on my desk is getting smaller....

It seems my daughter grew while she was at school on Friday.  I measured her in the morning before she left, made this shirt during the day and then when she got home and tried it on, the sleeves were too short!  BAH! I seriously measured her arms and then compared the pattern pieces to a long-sleeve shirt which had sleeves that were too short so I would know how much longer to make them.  I made this new one 1.5" longer.  Still too short!  After figuring out that she grew 1.5" between June and September, I'm not all that skeptical that she DID grow noticeably while at school. The sleeve situation is very frustrating, but I like everything else about the shirt.  I used the pebble piping (just like on this top ) around the neck and really like how that looks finished.  The fabric is a really nice, smooth jersey with lycra that I bought at Fabricland several months ago when it was a good deal.  And, I like to see my daughter in blue - it's a ...

I think that this green top is the last of the warm weather clothing I'll be making for my kids for now. I'll probably make some more things as the summer goes on, but I think I'm calling it "good" as far as them having enough clothes to make it from one laundry day to the next. This top is (of course) Kwik Sew 2918. I left off the sleeves on this one, too and added ties to the shoulder seams. To make the casings for the ties, I increased the seam allowance to 3/4", pressed it open and stitched down each side. I threaded the ties through the casing and then caught them in the neckband. So, this meant that I had to put the top together in reverse order from usual. First I sewed the side seams, then finished the armhole, then sewed the shoulder seams and put the neckband on. The shorts were a hand-me-down pair of pants that I cut off because they were too short. Pretty wild, but my daughter seems to like them. As if the first picture isn't silly enough, th...

I bought this piece of lavender cotton/lycra jersey last month off the remnant table at Fabricland . It was priced at $2.00/meter and the cut was just less than one meter. It looked good to me because my daughter had a purple skirt that we found at a second-hand store (for $1.00!) that needed a matching top. The top is Kwik Sew 2918 minus the sleeves. I finished the edges with "Pebble Piping" from this Kwik Sew newsletter . I came across this via Dawn's blog . It is a pretty easy technique and I think it looks great finished. The picture was taken after washing and drying the top. The piping isn't quite as smooth as it was right after finishing, but it still looks pretty good. I also made shorts to be worn under the skirt from Burda 9615 . The elastic is narrower than I usually use for a waistband, but it should still do the trick. I asked my daughter to pick out a ribbon for the "tag" identifying the back of the shorts and after considerable deliberatio...

I did indeed find time to work on the dress for my younger daughter. It was done mostly in 10-20 minute bits of time throughout the day. My sewing room is centrally located in the house and it's easy for me to do that sort of thing. Certainly, I would prefer a larger chunk of time to work, but I'll take what I can get. The dress is a version of Kwik Sew 2918 . The bodice is cut off about three inches below the armhole. A large rectangle gathered at one long edge and hemmed at the other long edge makes the skirt. I initially bound the neckline but it didn't look good, so I took it off and put on a narrow neckband instead. The puffed sleeves are bound at the bottom. The bloomers are Butterick 3782 . Instead of making a casing for the waist and leg elastic, I serged the elastic to the wrong side, turned it down to the inside so that the elastic was covered and then sewed it down with a triple zigzag stitch. The gathers stay evenly distributed this way and the elastic can't...

Two more T-shirts for the little guy. Nothing too exciting....made from Kwik Sew 2918, of course. The blue camo fabric is from a thrift store. It's a pretty hefty waffle knit and I think the rest of the piece will become pajamas. My son's impression: "It's a little wierd." But, he likes it. The striped fabric is rather awful. I believe it was a JoAnn's clearance buy from a couple years back, but I'm not sure about that. A cotton jersey, it is thin and doesn't stretch very much and the stripes feel very "painted on." We'll see how long it lasts. I just finished cutting out my younger daughter's new dress. Perhaps there will be time to work on that tomorrow...

More fru-fru dancing clothes for my daughter… The shirt is made from Kwik Sew 2918, yet again. To add the gathers at center front (CF), I slashed the neckline down into the bodice in three places close to the CF. I spread these apart while keeping the CF on the straight grain. I slashed in the side seam under the armhole and overlapped the pattern to release the bubble made from spreading at the neckline. This is essentially moving a dart, but this pattern doesn’t have any darts (or need any) to start with. Overlapping at the side seam shortened the seam, so I added that back in at the bottom. The neckline is finished with a binding. I also slashed and spread the sleeve pattern in three places from top to bottom to change the basic sleeve into a gathered, puffed sleeve. If I do this again, I think I would add more into the sleeve. It really doesn’t “puff” all that much. But, this fabric is pretty lightweight and for something with more body the amount I added would probably b...

So the dress met with the four-year-old’s approval yesterday. She likes the color and the “ruffles.” And it’s good for dancing… …and twirling! A few months ago she told me that the difference between a pretty dress and a really pretty dress is that a really pretty dress is one that is good for twirling (read: has a full skirt). I guess this one works for her. I used Kwik Sew 2918 again. I made the short sleeves a little longer and decreased the width of the back at the side seams. The neck opening is a little larger than I would like, but that’s because I had to cut off my first attempt at finishing it. I tried sewing down the center of a strip of fabric onto the wrong side of the neck edge and then turning it to the right side, so that there would be three raw edges turned to the front. I saw it in Threads #121, but could not get it to work for me. I trimmed, clipped, understitched, and pressed but it would not stay turned to the right side. So off it went, and I bound t...

I’ve been sewing T-shirts for the little guy this week. Most of this has happened while he is napping or having some “quiet time.” Today when he came upstairs after quiet time he said, “What did you make for me today, mom?” Gotta love that. A couple of months ago the Preacher and I went to a minor league hockey game. Turns out it was a T-shirt give-away night. Everyone got a T-shirt! Lucky me! The team's mascot is a Muskie and is featured nicely on the shirt. The little man thought a fish playing hockey was really pretty funny. So, I cut it up and turned it into a shirt for him. You can imagine how hard it was for me to part with a large black men's T-shirt with a hockey playing Muskie on it, but hey, that's just the kind of mom I am. This shirt is made out of the leftovers from this shirt. The navy stripe is sewn on top, not pieced. The brown and blue stripes are from Metro Textile in NY. A very soft jersey - not sure of the fiber content. Orange and white stri...