Productive weekend

Wow, I think I'm on a role here. I finished 1 of the pillowcases that I have planned. I think it's a little long and my hubby said it was flashback to late 70's early 80's. LOL! I'll let you judge for yourself. hehe




I think it's a wee bit to long but that's okay. The fabric was a clearance fabric and I felt like having some fun with it. It's not like i'm really going to be looking at it all that much, I'll be asleep. Once again another fabric that I would normally stay far away from. I think the fabric is kinda kitchy. I'm so proud of myself over such a simple project. I have to say my favorite part of the pillowcase is the lovely rust colored band. I was going to put a line of piping between the main pillow case and the band but scrapped that idea for this pillowcase, I may try it on another one. I'm out of the rust colored satin, but have some black satin so i'll need a division line so to speak. My husband think's i'm nuts.

I was so excited to finish that pillowcase that I was itching to make something else, something quick cause it was really late in the evening. I think I was excited that my pillowcase came out so neat and pretty, I was going to get to sleep on it that night that I needed to sew something else for that instant gratification high. In comes the fat quarter, hello baby! I bought this FQ (fat quarter) because it had musical notes all over it and my daughter is a musician. I was going to make a throw pillow but she already has one of those and I still have the fuzzy green/orange monster fabric from hell to make a pillow for her from. That stuff is going to be a nightmare when I finally cut into it. I had fuzzies for days after bringing it home. I think I need to be just alot insane when I get to that material. LOL! Back to the music fabric. It was sitting there telling me it didn't want to be a pillow, honestly. The more I looked at it the more it said make me into something else, PLEASE! I love freezer paper. This stuff is becoming a sewing staple. Here's the stuffed musical note.







First, I pulled a sheet of freezer paper that was big enough to cover my FQ and ironed it on there so it wouldn't move and then traced the edges of the fabric. After that was done I peeled away the freezer paper and started drawing directly into my square a musical note that I could easily turn and stuff. When I was happy with my design I cut it out and then placed it on the fabric, ironed it in place and used that as my stitching guide. After I got done stitching I just pulled the freezer paper off and still have a pattern for use later. Whenever the freezer paper stops sticking, I can just transfer the design to another piece. So it's not really a pillow, it's more like a stuffed doll without a face. OH CRAP! Now I have an idea for a beaded doll. Like I need more freaking ideas. Hold on, need to make some notes real quick like before this idea completely escapes.. COME BACK HERE!

Ok, it's been captured and documented, idea down. I'm happily stitching away thinking that my daughter is going to be so excited and I wanted to get it done before she went to bed, not realizing that the light I see under her door is actually the fish aquarium light. DOH! Luckily by the time I got done, she'd only just laid down and was not yet asleep. She was like all teenager and unsure kind of Thanks and then called me a dork. I guess I am. I even have enough musical not fabric left over to make a small pouch that she can put some of her personals in. I think I'll do simple and just line it with some left over muslin I have from my shirt drafting project.

I have this favorite sleeveless shirt that has seen better days. I wanted to capture that shirt and style and continue wearing it cause it looks decent on me. I had already traced the shirt but couldn't find any of my pre washed muslin. I know I have several yards of that stuff somewhere. I found the heavier muslin but not the lighter and semi-stretchy muslin I know I have. Why is it that when you need something for a project you can never find it? You know it's in there and you dig and you dig and still don't find it, yet you find it when your not looking for it. Lucky for me I had some that hadn't been washed yet that I got a steal on- 4 1/2 yards almost 5yds for about 3 bucks less than if i'd bought it at the fabric store. I washed it on sunday along with some other fabric I'd purchased. I think my husband is gonna kill me when he realizes that this month i've spent close to $150 or so on fabric. Maybe that's why i'm in the make stuff frenzy. Okay so it's not a frenzy to you but for me it is. My creative slump is so bad that making a few things is a frenzy.

I got the washing done, then vaccumed so i'd have atleast a clean floor to look at while standing over the ironin board. I did not iron all that yardage, just the couple I needed for the shirt. I really don't iron anything unless it's fabric to be made into something or I desperately need something to not look like it just came out of the basket. The muslin is unbleached and I like the way it looks and thinking if I didn't butcher this mock up to bad, I might play tye-dye with it and have another new shirt. Got it all ironed, temp pattern all pinned and sewing lines marked for cutting. It was pretty late when I got done with all of that. Cleaning and sewing they both take time. While I was ironing, cleaning, pinning, and marking it crossed my mind how tedious sewing can be. I might save that thought for further exploration as I continue to progress with my sewing and learning. I consider myself an Intermediate beginner.

I FINISHED!

Over the weekend, I finished the sewing machine cover and I made a pattern from a shirt I have and I'm tweeking it for other ideas. I bought more fabric over the weekend to make shirts from my new pattern. I picked up this silky animal print material that I'm going to make pillow cases with a wide satin band. My daughter wants me to make her some pillow cases that have the overlapped back cause she says the regular pillow cases just slide off. I might make her a couple of those overlapped back pillow cases but I think I'll just grab some needle and thread and sew on a few snaps and she can snap the pillowcases closed or I could do a velcro closure.

Here is the finished cover.



Here is a little fabric art card with sequins glued on.


I loooooooooove this fabric and today I need to buy the 3yds I have on hold for me. Guess that means I need to stop by the bank and add some money in there.


I'm so happy that I have another project done and out of the way. Now I just need to get to the other gazillion in the process projects and the other bazillion that bombard me on any given day. Tonight however, i'm making pillowcases. I might even think about laying out the pattern I made from my favorite shirt and do it in muslin to check the fitting and make sure the arm holes are correct. I did a half arse pinning of the pattern and the arm holes seemed a bit tight. I have 5 different fabrics, mostly cotton and a few knits to make from my new pattern. From the basic pattern I have 3 different variation idea's dancing around in my head. I'm going to go basic first so I can make sure I have the right ease in the shoulders and stuff. I hope it works out, it seems it will with just a few slight adjustments.

Happiness is FABRIC!

Okay in my previous post I wrote about the sewing machine cover i'm working on with this fabric.



The fabric is 2009 Brother Sister Studio Design from Hobby Lobby. I found the fabric remnant in the clearance bin and fell in love. This is so not fabric that I would normally buy. I just can't seem to explain why I love this fabric or what it is that appeals to me sew much. hehe So the hunt began to find more of this fabric and I found it here Maddiebeesewingroom. She seems to be the only person that has any of this fabric left and i wish I had the money to buy all that she has but I don't and I only really need like 2yds to be happy with. I plan to finish up with a few accessories to go with my sewing machine cover like a chair cover for my chair and other little things. I even plan on doing a picture frame of this fabric to hang over my sewing area.

Topping this off, my local WAL-MART brought back their fabric section, yes, you heard me they brought it back. I actually had to stop some floor manager and ask the guy if I was seeing things, nope, said they heard the customers loud and clear and brought it back,WOOHOO! ! ! ! ! SEW HAPPY! It's still hard to believe and I found this out just a couple days ago and kept forgetting to tell anyone. I guess I wanted to keep it secret, NAH, I got used to it not being there is the problem. I picked up some fabric and a shirt and a pants pattern while I was there. yeah!

Making progress- Finishing projects

I'M DONE! Yes, I finished the apron, completely. I gave it a wash and dry and noticed that the flannel fabric enlarged itself. How does it get bigger instead of smaller? Oh well, I'm not going to fuss over it. I know my sewing skills stink but my defense is lack of consistent sewing over the years. I've had my sewing machine for about 15yrs and I've probably used it the equivalent of 1yr or less of consistant sewing. Shame on me, letting my sewing machine sit and be neglected which is probably why it doesn't want to sew a straight line. I really need to take my lovely in and have a tuneup.

So I finished the apron and here it is. close up of adjustable neck strap and the pockets in place. WOO! 1 project down a gazillion to go.







I started sewing on my sewing machine cover last night. I already had the pieces somewhat cut out. I made the rough pattern on graph paper then cut the pattern out from freezer paper. I then ironed the freezer paper to one side of my fabric sandwich and used it as a sewing guidline. I used a quilted fabric and a 2009 Brother Sister design studio fabric called Swirly floral or something like that. I probably should have used a stiff stabilizer to have it stand up better but I don't care, I like it just the way it is though I thought about sewing in a few cuts of lightweight boning to help it stand better. The floral fabric was a clearance fabric and I only found one person that had it when searching for some more of it. I love this fabric and I am by no means a very "FLORAL OR RETRO" person. I look at this fabric and it makes me happy, just like my sewing machine. I expect to have this finished tonight or no later than thursday. After I finish this project i'm gonna start on the kitty bed for my brood.

WIP/Sewing machine cover






I also played around, well i'm still dabbling with it, making a fabric embellished ATC (artist traiding card) with some of the scraps from the floral fabric. I want to make a bigger wall hanging of it for my sewing area but I only have a little bit left, maybe a 1/2 yard give or take some inches. I didn't get a picture of the card, not done yet.

Slow Progress

Not sure what to write other than I HATE MY DEPRESSION! I hate the stress that occurs daily in my life and spend hours daydreaming about a vacation away from my husband and teenage daughter and sometimes the cats are also included in that daydream. Honestly, I prefer my kitties to my family right now.

I have not finished that apron. I had planned on finishing this 2 weekends ago, well it didn't happen and last weekend, same thing. I had plenty of time, just no mojo. Sigh, I think what has made it bad is that something just wasn't feeling right and made things just seem so off. I did get the pockets finished and they are ready to be sewn on. I also finished the straps and attached them as well as the ruffle. When I got ready to put the pockets on, that's when it really hit me that something just wasn't right. Somehow, and this probably happened because at the time I cut this out, freehand, I was using the carpeted floor as my table. I did not cut identical sides, one of the sides was about 3/4 inches off. I found this out when I finally folded it, after all that work too. I was just gonna forget about it and not bother to try and fix it but the more I looked at the more it said FIX ME! So I ripped out the edging in the area that need to be cut down and trimmed to match the other side, marked the new sewing line and that's as far as I've gotten. I think I may sit down tonight and get this done, might take me a whole 30 min to an hour to make the change sew it, reattach the edging and maybe change the strap so that's adjustable instead of one size fits all. Crossing fingers.

I was going to post a picture of the pockets by themself but it seems I haven't downloaded them and they are not on my camera, I must have accidentally deleted them, crap. I do have a couple of pics that kinda show the pockets.

This is my kitty Guinness, he loves getting up on my sewing table and hanging out when I get up to get something. Here he is holding down the apron when I was attaching the ruffle.


This is him holding down my handmade seem presser and in this pic you can see one of the pockets are done minus the strawberry button.


Here's his close up. He's spoiled rotten.


This photo shows the apron all sewn up except for the pockets. The pockets have their strawberry buttons attached and I was trying to place them. I'm sure you can see what I mean by the "OFFness" I was talking about in this pic.



Here is a little throw pillow that i've been meaning to make for a sometime now. I've had the pillow and the material but just didn't get around to it until about 2 weeks ago, just before all my mojo ran out the door and left me hanging with unfinished work. I've had this material for years, probably since the late 90's. It's a heavy knit and I still have probably about 4yds of it left, I think I bought like 5yds of it when I got it and it's 60 inches wide.
Front:

Back:


So this has been the extent of my creativity the last few weeks. I hang my head in shame because the ideas don't stop just my mojo. I have noticed that when I do manage to blog and complain that I haven't finished something it helps just a bit to tweek me some to get something done as long as it's not to complex. Complexity lately melts my brain into mush.