My Sewing Space

Hooray for busting some fabric out of deep stash! This sweater knit has been with me for a few years. It survived a couple of purges, but I always had a hard time deciding what exactly it should be. At some point, I bought a piece of matching Ultrasuede. I assume I had a plan in mind then, but it never happened. When I saw McCall's 6603 , this fabric came to mind. When I actually got around to making this top, I struggled to remember what I was actually thinking when I ordered this pattern. After a quick-and-dirty muslin, I ended up combining views A and D and significantly shortening the length. I used the Ultrasuede for a hem band and the sleeve bands. Getting the corner mitered appropriately was done without any precision or calculating - just guessing and testing. I did have to do a wee bit of trimming after the stitching was done to get the edge sharp. The pattern for the hem band in View D is a separate piece added on to the bottom. I didn't wan...

These baby shoes are a gift for my soon-to-be-born nephew. I used the Make Them Yourself pattern from Misty Marquardt. This is the only pattern of hers that I have, but I would really like to try the soft sole boots and Mary Janes – especially after going to the Robeez site and seeing their new spring shoes ! The pattern is written for use with real leather. I used Ultrasuede. The top of the shoe is lined with fabric and the sole is made with two layers of Ultrasuede. These are the third and fourth pairs of shoes that I have made and I had more trouble with these than the first two pairs. The appliqués were a little more involved on these than the first two, so that may be the issue. Even with a new Microtex Sharp needle I did get a few skipped stitches. I found the elephant via a Google Image search. I should have scaled it down a little more. I also should have added a tail! Elephants have tails! Somehow I missed that detail until the shoes were all done. I guess these are mutant ele...