My Sewing Space

Remember this bag ? I like that bag. It's quirky and unique and I get funny comments about it when I carry it. However, The Preacher does not appreciate that bag. He claims to be embarrassed to be seen with me when I have it. That doesn't usually stop me, but now I have a second option when I need a very large (and respectable) tote bag. This is the Mondo Bag from Quiltsmart . The pattern was a gift from my mother-in-law, who works at a quilt shop. The pattern includes fusible interfacing printed with a grid for doing the patchwork. The technique is similar to the one I used here . You produce four patchwork rectangles and then sew them together in a swirled plus-shape. That’s the best description I can give - it's rather unique and the final result looks more complicated than it actually is. The fabric I used for the outside is from CherrywoodFabrics . I purchased a pack of fat quarters at Quilt Expo to use with this pattern. I would not have combined th...

A few years ago I made these little wallets for the gift cards that I used regularly. The new school my kids attend participates in the same program, but it is much bigger here. That little wallet I had wasn't cutting it anymore. Some searching on Pinterest (it'll cure what ails you every time) led me to this tutorial for a pretty large gift card wallet. Mega even! I thought this might be more than I really needed, but I liked the concept of it. I had been playing around with this braided-look patchwork and decided to incorporate it in this project. I backed the exterior wallet piece with upholstery fabric to give it some extra heft. You can see some smudges on the back part. I've been using this for a couple of weeks already and can say that I'm really pleased with it. It is indeed more than I need, but I like having the space to keep everything sorted and also keep the loyalty/coupon cards with the gift cards. And the last page with room for gro...

A couple of years ago I started assembling these quilt blocks with my daughter. It was a good project to work on together and my scrap bins were over flowing. We worked on it on and off in between other projects, usually eight or ten blocks at a time. I figured we'd do it until we had enough for a twin size quilt and then see if we wanted to keep working on it. This is twin size and we are done. The original inspiration is here and the accompanying tutorial for paper piecing the blocks is here . We made our blocks 8.5" square because we used the 8.5" x 11" printer paper we had on hand. I just eyeballed the placement of the white strips, so those don't all line up precisely, but I'm okay with it. I really like the variety of colors combined with the white strips. The diamond shapes and variety of stripe widths keep the eye moving, but the white provides some grounding, too. I don't have plans to finish this in the immediate future because...

It's finally (finally!) feeling like spring here. The sunlight, warmth, and blue skies are doing wonders for morale and energy levels. I made this little zippered pouch back in February, when I was starved for color and cheer and needed a simple project. The patchwork is done using the fusible interfacing technique . I had not tried this before, but I liked it. It simplified maintaining the placement of the squares. There was no need to come up with a system for remembering the order of the arrangement when moving back and forth from the machine to the iron. Each square finishes at 1". The patchwork pieces were quilted to fusible fleece. I like the texture of all the stitching lines and the contrast of the white thread against the colors. The text fabric for the lining has lots of sewing and quilting words. I used the Open Wide Zipper Pouch tutorial from Noodlehead for the pattern, adjusting the size slightly. This pouch rides around in my purse, corralling ...

My sewing machine has been busy here lately, but not much of it has been blog-able. Some client sewing, some gifts. The client sewing has all been picked up and the gifts are all done. This is the point where I start thinking, "I could still make such-and-such for so-and-so!" I've learned it's best to squelch that voice with one big "NOPE!" Being done a little early and having a little breathing space makes the holiday break with the kids much more enjoyable. Yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed sewing a simple little thing just for me: This is Noodlehead's Open Wide Zipper Pouch . Sometime in the last year the zipper broke on the cosmetics-counter freebie bag I used for makeup when traveling and I threw it out. I'm just getting around to replacing it now. Behold! The wide opening! This is great for pouches that you might need to root around in. Or just want to see into. Love it. Sometimes it's the little things. I love that green tab a...

Awhile ago I saw a picture of a Wonder Woman apron and knew immediately that I wanted to make one like it for my friend's birthday. I started with the pattern I made for this apron and modified it slightly. After I had the pattern how I wanted it and settled on the other details (logo and waistband), it was a pretty quick project to sew up. I found the logo through a Google search and adjusted the size to my preference before transferring. It is fused on and then appliqued with a satin stitch. The waistband is stitched on top of the apron front and the ties extend from the ends of it. The neck strap is adjustable with D-rings. This is a good thing for this version - I think the bodice is rather short. If I make it again, I will make it longer. The outer red part is a cotton twill and it is lined with a lightweight broadcloth. I'm happy with how this project turned out and it was a gift well-received!

My youngest child (my baby!) celebrated her fifth birthday in January. I must confess that this sent me into a minor tailspin. I don't want to go back to life with babies, but I'm not sure I'm entirely ready to be done with the "little kid" stage, either. Anyway, my emotional state aside, I wanted to make her some new clothes for her birthday. The big day was a Monday, but we celebrated on Sunday. I made my decision to sew new clothes on Friday afternoon. Since she would be home all day Saturday I only had Friday evening to make it happen. I chose simple things and didn't have any trouble getting the three-piece "suit" all done. Pardon the wrinkles - this has been worn and washed a few times already. I always like the birthday number shirts that Joy makes for her kids and decided to copy her. The "5" is fused on and then edgestitched in place. I stitched over the same line three times to make it a little bolder. The leggings ...

A couple of years ago someone gave me a box of quilting scraps. Her style is similar to mine and I have used many of the scraps in various projects. One of the real gems in the box was a partial charm pack of Authentic by Sweetwater for Moda . There were also some fat quarters and other larger random pieces from the line. I loved this fabric when I saw it and knew that I wanted to do something just for me with it. After pondering it, I thought it should be some sort of tote bag, but I still wasn't sure exactly what it should look like. There are a lot of patchwork tote bag patterns out there, but not a lot of them that get me excited. When I saw the Perfect Quilted Tote pattern from Oh, Fransson! I knew it was the one. It was still quilted  patchwork and also modern and unique. Generally, I followed the pattern, but I wanted a larger bag so I altered the dimensions. The pattern is good - clear instructions, helpful photos, and useful tips. Her instructions for making the l...

I made this knitting needle case for my mom's birthday. It is intended for double-pointed and circular needles and I really like the zippy pouch to hold all the other knitting tools. It folds up in thirds and ties with a ribbon. It's hardly visible in the picture, but I quilted the outer layer with a large diamond grid. The pattern called for fusible fleece, but I didn't have any on hand. Using regular batting worked pretty well. The pattern is from this book, Everyday Handmade by Cassie Barden and Adrienne Smike , which I picked up at my local quilt shop several months ago. The instructions were good and there are a number of other cute projects that I'd like to try, like this lady bug coin purse... This Weird Science lap quilt is actually what made me want to buy the book. Love it! But, actually, I should probably first make myself one of the knitting needle cases. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I had to pull my dpns and circulars out of ...

The top of the quilt is complete! I still can't get over the size of it. You'd think I'd never seen a queen-sized blanket before. I have. I've just never made one. Pardon that stray string.  My excitement level over this quilt has varied a bit. I was pretty excited with the pile of fabrics before I started. Assembling the blocks was enjoyable and soothing (straight seams, lots of pressing, well-behaved cotton, etc). When I started arranging the blocks to determine the layout, I wasn't happy with the look. That was disappointing. The pattern for the quilt has the rectangles arranged vertically, while the quilt that I was inspired by (see previous post ) has them horizontally. I initially planned to follow the pattern since it was the colors and "feel" of the inspiration quilt I was after. But, after being unhappy with it, I recalculated and switched them to vertical. That was an improvement and my excitement rose again when I got some distance f...

For the top, I used Kwik Sew 2918 (heavily modified). I was inspired by this top . Or was it this one ? Hard to remember... The jersey fabric was dirt cheap when I picked it up a couple of years ago. I intended to use it for muslins because I wasn't so sure I liked the color. It did serve the muslin purpose well a couple of times, but I recently noticed that it matched this quilting cotton that I had in my stash and an outfit possibility was born. The shorts are New Look 6884 , again lengthened to meet school dress code approval. Next Up:  Simple Summer Stuff, Part 3 (of 3. For now...)

The Ottobre adventures continue! It has been fun to have a few issues at hand when planning warm weather wardrobes for my kids. This latest project comes from the spring 2011 issue - a flippy, ruffled skirt. The plan was to use the remainder of the striped fabric from these dresses to make the ruffles on the skirt. I made a very valid attempt, but those stripes drove me absolutely batty. First I cut the pieces out without placing them on the fold, so they weren't long enough. Then, I tried to cut out two more, figuring I would just have seams at center front and back. But, I cut them the wrong direction and no matter how I turned those rectangles, I could not get them to work together. Since I wanted them to match all along one tier, but be the opposite of the other tier, it made it more complicated than my brain could handle. In the end, I bought more fabric and still have a seam at CF of the top tier and CB of the bottom one. They don't really show up in the pictures, bu...

Lately I find myself in a bit of a philosophical quandary regarding my daughters and their clothing. Who should decide what they wear - me or them? If it's them, should anything they choose be okay (within the bounds of modesty, safety, etc)? Do they need to be taught some guidelines about matching or should they go with whatever they think is beautiful? If they need guidelines, how do I teach that without squashing their own style? And how do I know if my guidelines are the best for them? My definitions of matching or coordinating are different from others. Maybe they resonate with someone else's personal style much more than mine. It seems pointless to try to instill "rules" about what to wear based on social norms now and then try to encourage dressing for self without regard for what others think later in life. Hmmm. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, clothing choice isn't a huge issue, but all these questions were on my mind while making these East...

For the last year or so, all of my quilting cotton fabric has been spread out on our ping pong table in the basement. Prior to that, it was all in a big box and I would dump it out when I needed something and then scoop it all back up into the box. Leaving it all spread out was much nicer, but also messier. And, it didn't make it easy to find what I needed. I would have to paw through all the fabric and often pieces would get buried and forgotten. It was time for a change. This post from Anina of The Twiddletails Blog was just the inspiration I needed to get the mess organized. Several weeks ago, I sorted the fabric into color groups and got the right size containers. Since then, I've been gradually ironing and folding it all one group at a time in between other projects. When I finished my coat, I gave my sewing space a thorough cleaning and then felt like it was time to move the organized fabric in. There used to be a rocking chair in the corner where the fabric is now....

I knit this sweater for my daughter more than three years ago. It was just a wee bit big for her at the time. Finally, it fits. Mostly. Overall, it is not a great fit - too wide everywhere. But, if I wait until the width is right, the length will be far too short. That's the story for everything I make this girl - start with a small size and add a whole lot of length. I'm not adept at altering knitting patterns yet (and was really clueless three years ago). So why have her wear it if it isn't a great fit? Because I can't let a hand-knit sweater just go without wearing! Maybe that's crazy. But that's me. I actually think it looks better on her than it does in the picture, but still not great. To make it wearable, my daughter needed some coordinating clothes. She initially requested a jumper to wear with it, but I didn't find any fabric that I liked for a jumper. Instead, we went with a peasant-style skirt and surplice top. The skirt is the Can-Can Ski...

After making the changes that I mentioned here , I made another apron. This one was a belated birthday gift for my mom. I didn’t get any pictures of it on, so it is hard to compare to the first one, but I like it better. The reverse is a blue/green/yellow stripe. Similar to what I did for this project , I made some other kitchen goodies to go along with it. For the potholder, I used the wonky log cabin tutorial from Quilt Dad . This was a first for me. I’m pretty sure I over-wonked it because the center square should still be in the center, but mine isn’t. I’m pretty sure a large (12.5”) square quilting ruler (which I don’t have) would prevent that sort of thing. The apron fabrics and the yellow flower print in the pot holder and tea towel were purchased at a new quilt shop in town. I’ve been there a couple of times now and I think it holds a lot of promise – a good selection of traditional and modern prints. My Christmas stocking held a gift certificate from The Preacher s...

An art sale patron specially ordered two crayon rolls from me. She wanted them in time for Christmas to give to her grandchildren. Her only specification: one for a boy and one for a girl. It was a pretty simple order to complete.

These zippered pouches are the last things I sewed for the art sale. I made three others awhile ago that I'm going to include also. Not terribly exciting, but I thought it would be good to have some simple things at a lower price point. The sale starts tomorrow (and ends on Sunday) and other than setting up my table, I'm ready to go. So excited!

It's been a few weeks since I made this dress. Like my last Oliver + S experience , I have only good things to say about the Jumprope Dress pattern. The style is as cute as can be, the drafting and sizing is great and the instructions are fantastic. But, I don't think I made a good match of pattern and fabric. The details on the dress are what makes it so cute, but with the print I used, they are really hard to pick out. So hard that I didn't even bother to try photographing them. We chose the fabric to go along with the sweater that my daughter already had and that really limited our options. The dress is still cute enough and I'm not unhappy with it, but it isn't everything I was hoping it would be. Using a solid pink for some of the details would have been ideal, but of course I didn't have the right color in my stash and I wasn't able to work in a trip to the fabric store before the dress needed to be finished. The fact that my local Fabricland is 45...

A few months ago, I purchased the Gathered Clutch pattern from Anna of Noodlehead . Similar to the Buttercup Bag pattern I used here , the purchase of the pattern includes a limited commercial license to sell what you make with it. This is great for people like me who have good sewing skills, but aren't great designers. Someone else thinks up something cute and I can make it and sell it. I'm adding these three to my art sale inventory . The pattern was really easy to follow. The only thing I thought was strange was that she has you sew that front band as a tube (RST and then turn), press it flat and then sew it on the gathered front. I didn't see why that was necessary. I pressed the long edges under and sewed it on that way. The inside of the clutch has a divider and two credit card pockets. The overall size is about 8.5" x 5". As far as a handbag goes, the clutch has never appealed to me. I wear a cross-body bag because I need to have my hands free. A ...