Happy Halloween!

Wow! Today is Halloween and I have nothing to wear. Okay I do but not without making some huge alterations. Lets just say me and my weight are at war and currently i'm retreating to gather more strength for another frontal assault, so I guess that means my weight is currently winning the Battle of the Bulge. I shall not admit defeat, i'm just biding my time for the moment cause I need a really good strategy.

I'm a little disappointed with Halloween this year. I love Halloween even though I no longer have a little one for trick or treating or go to Halloween parties or events. I would love to dress up and go out, I just don't like how I look. Me and costumes haven't gotten along for numerous years now. It seems like every few years you get a big rush for Halloween stuff in all the stores and then it trickles down to practically nothingness a few years later, up and down up and down. I know we have the Halloween stores that pop up a month prior but they are overpriced on a vast majority of their stuff. Heck even the goodwill thrift store jacks up the prices for their decent stuff and crap that should have made it into the garbage. Example: Goodwill- bagged halloween outfit, used, some parts missing, $5 less than same item brand new unopened and all parts in package. Okay so goodwill is the only thrift store that I know of that jacks up their prices especially at Halloween. I was going to do a pirate costume this year to go with my mini pirate hat. I was going to make myself a poet/peasant shirt and a waist cincher with a peplum and some knee high spats to make my boots look more piraty. It didn't happen, maybe next year.

I've been meaning to post for the past few weeks but just never got around to it, okay, I avoided it. I haven't been happy with myself, well my sewing skills. I'm always unhappy with myself. Anyways, I finished the shirt I was all excited about. I don't like it. I'm not sure if it's the print that doesn't work or just the cut of the pattern itself. I used Simplicity- Sew Simple 1969 pattern. 1st, I cut the largest size in the envelope, fit but pretty tight across the chest area. No, I didn't do any alterations to the pattern, should have. I don't think i'm going to attempt to make this shirt again. Honestly, it needed more than just a chest alteration to the pattern. Sigh, for once i'd really like to sew something other than a circle skirt with drawstring or elatic waist, that fits without some fiddlin.

front:
back:

It really bums me out that my sewing skills suck. I think part of it is my machine, it needs some professional TLC. I want to get a serger, that's what I told the hubby I wanted for christmas or my birthday. I want a serger mostly for knit fabrics because my sewing machine refuses to sew correctly on knit no matter how much I fiddle with all the different dials, needles and so forth. I know, I just need to practice more. I'm trying but i'm really getting discouraged with making clothes. I think I'll try some very simple quilting next. I only have to sew straight lines for a simple block quilt, I can do that.

I really am feeling discouraged, so fat far, 3 shirts i've made, simple, simple, simple and they all bombed by my standards. No, my standards aren't that high, truly. If I didn't like this last shirt, i'd wear it to work, it's still subpar standard wise but doable. The other 2 shirts both knit material so that might explain it, oh and I thought I double checked which direction the stretch was going before cutting and some how I still managed to get the stretch going in the wrong direction. (smacks forhead)

My next project, underbust waist cincher (w/peplum-maybe) and a kitty bed. I also need to work on my kids quilt, I have the batting now. I think I'll start all 3 within the week.

Knit = Machine enemy

Last night while I was sitting at my sewing machine contemplating why it hates Knit material sew much, I thought I should start logging the music I listen to. Yes, that was one of those thoughts that came out of the blue. I don't pick music to sew to, I pick music to fit my moods. Last nights playlist
Pentaphobe- Sawdust
Queen of the Damned Soundtrack I'm not sure if I have the explicit version or what. I bought the soundtrack like within months of the movie coming out.
12 Tales-Various Artists



It never fails, my machine just can not stand anything that has more than a slight stretch to it, especially knits. It's okay with some of the cotton fabrics that have a bit of give to it. I thought I was humming along nicely but low and behold, nope. I don't know how many times i've ripped thread out because of the HUGE gap of missed stitches. I pulled out the manual and read over it several times. I took all the suggestions, make sure using correct needle size for material, change needle to new and sharp, adjust top tension thread, adjust pressure foot, adjust bottom tension, check stitch width and so on. I've done all of those things and still skipping some serious stitches. I wanted to wear the shirt in public, like to work, but nope, not gonna happen. UGH! I should know all this, everytime, never fails, knit + my machine= knit fail. I think I might pull out the other machine and give it a go with knit and see how it reacts as well as making sure it works. I have yet to plug in the other machine and test it. Maybe it's not just my machine, maybe it's all the Sears Kenmores. I'm not going to do anything more with this shirt. It was a good practice run and I made a few more adjustments to my pattern, like lowering the neck about 1/2 inch and I need to lower the arm holes by a 1/4 to 1/2 inch as well, for just a smidge more room. I also need to widden the shoulder some, about 1/4 inch. I added a strip of gathered knit material to the front like a flounce, it'a about 4 inches wide. Next time I decide to do a shirt like this, which I will because I have several other knits I wanted to use, I will try to use my alien ruffler foot attachment.





How come it seems I use more material(i do) to make a copy of a shirt than the actual shirt? The other shirt fits me fine and it's not even a knit material, it's some kind of blend material cotton/polyester I think.




I've finished all the little pattern weights that I made. I can't wait to use them on my next project. I found a couple of my floral sew on embellishments and glued them to the top to give them a little more interest. They are very plain right now. 1 of those PW's has 6 ball bearings from a vehicle, well cleaned of course. The bearings I believed are called hub bearings, they are part of what keeps the wheels turning. Ask my hubby he's more technical when it comes to car talk. I know it, just not all the correct lingo, I just know what it does and where to find it, most of the time.




Here is a quick shot of how I reinforced the top edge of the tapestry that we have hanging on the wall. It's actually one of those printed throws, we decided to hang it up instead. I took it down to wash it and noticed that small holes were forming where it was tacked at. It's a relatively heavy piece to be hanging by a few tacks and i'm suprised that the holes weren't bigger because of it's own weight or the cats trying to climb it. I wished I had black felt but I didn't and I really didn't feel like trying to dye the felt so I left it as is, besides, it's on the back side. I cut the felt in 1 and half (1.5") inch strips and then sewed the strips end to end till I had a long enough piece to reach from one side to the other. I zigzagged stiched the top of the felt and the straight stitched the bottom of the felt. I have yet to hang it, i'm short. I need to pull the couch out and stand on the back of it or get the step chair which is taller and use that. I just don't want to pull the couch out but I probably should to do the cat toy round up.





I love Halloween. I have Halloween decorations that never get put up. I have skulls hanging around all over. LOL! I think Skelanimals are to darned cute! I saw this in the Halloween fabric section and just had to have a piece. I think i'm going to make a bag and a shirt using a hand drawn picture and applique techinque for Halloween. I also think I want some more of this fabric, as well as this totally awesome skull fabric that was there in the same section.

Done with Muslin shirt

I'm done, woot woot, i'm done! Deciding that I didn't want to take the shirt apart to make it my pattern and deciding to do another one with the other markings. I have 2 sets of markings on my shirt 1st draft copy, original lines and my thought I needed to make adjustment lines. The back is still a bit big around the neck area and I know how to fix that, a pleat instead of a dart. I used to have a shirt that had a pleat at the center of the back neck area. I added more pintucks as well as extended a few pintucks I already had to the front and then attempted a half arse dying in dark green, except I didn't use a lot of green or prepped the material before dying. Opps! so here is the shirt. Despite it's flaws, i'm okay with it, and I could even wear it in public and not feel to bad about it.







I cut out another of this same pattern but this time in a lovely lavendar jersey knit. This material is soft and airy, I think I wanna make the rest into a dress or nightgown. I have a pattern that I bought to make a shirt from but now I can't seem to find it. UGH!



I can't believe it, i've reached 100 posts. WOOHOO!

Update on Muslin mock up

I'm almost finished with the mock up muslin shirt. I didn't do to bad, boy do I need to practice my sewing skills though. It's a perfect knock around shirt for cleaning though. I guess it's not all that bad, just not something I'd wear to work. I only have to hem the bottom, clip some threads and fix/add a few more pintucks. I want to make the shirt out of some lovely material I have but I need to get this pattern right.





1. I need to grade the pattern better. I guess that is the term to use.
2. Learn the terms and how to use them correctly. :)
3. Learn to copy a premade garment better
4. Practice pintucks. I think these are going to be a favorite little detail to add to some shirts to give them new life.
5. Get a tuneup on sewing machine
6. Learn to draft patterns
7. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
8. Learn to love my duct tape dummy dress form (I really hate that form)
9. More PRACTICE
10. Get better aquainted with my sewing machine and all of it's functions and attachments. The ruffler foot looks like some kind of alien probing device.


My machine is not a fancy schmancy machine, she's an old Kenmore 50-55+yrs old, give or take a few years. I love this machine and I even have a mate to match her. I also add an adorable pic of my kitty Guinness inspecting my sewing machine. He's almost a year old now, in fact he will be a year old on the 17th of this month. I've had him since he was hours old. As you can see both of my machines are Kenmores, marketed through Sears, way back in the day. The year i'm not exactly sure but it ranges somewhere between 50-60yrs old, both of them. I think I averaged them out to be about 54yrs old. This are true work horses, I don't think there are an plastic parts, just a few rubber parts and the only plastic is the stitch dials you load on the top to do decorative stitches with. One of my Kenmores is in a table top case and the other is in a carrying case which unfortunately for the case got damaged when it was shipped and only one thing got damaged on the machine. The damaged piece on the machine is a like a $3 fix, it's the metal rod that holds the spool of thread. No biggie. I have yet to use the second machine for sewing. I mostly got it as a just in case one breaks I have another or a parts machine. I've only come across one other Kenmore like mine and that was a few years back. I'd be lucky if I see another one of these for sale, I'd probably buy it.

National Sewing Month

I didn't know that September was National Sewing Month . It seems that it is.

So far this month, I've started sewing on the mock up shirt pattern. So far I have several things to change back and luckily I didn't cut those when I made a few alterations. So far I need to work on the arm holes, I have gapping in the front, a dart should easily fix that problem, but I don't really want a dart. I want the shirt to be just like the one I have and it doesn't have darts. Second I cut the neck hole just a wee bit bigger than I needed so I have a bit of gapping there and shirt sliding off shoulder. I haven't finished the shirt yet, I still have the other arm hole to finish up and the hemming and the opposite side dart. I did get a bit creative with the front to make it a bit smaller, pin tucks. I like the way they look. I had an idea to take some buttonhole thread and do a slip stitch around the tuck from top to bottom. Since this is a shirt to play around with and figure out where I need to make the proper adjustments, I can play. I still have enough muslin to make another mock up if I need to. I'm actually thinking of finishing this shirt and maybe dying it, like a fade from light to dark in say burgandy or bermuda blue.

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.