Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Sewing for Christmas ... Hat & Mittens

So I've given up on sewing the last couple of months because I've been crazy busy with moving, and classes, and everything else. But I have a bunch of things I really want to make for the kids for Christmas so I've decided to try to make one thing every day, even if it is only a pair of mittens. This set is for A's stocking. The hat I actually made back in September, I'm not entirely sure it is going to fit A, but it fits B but is too long and A's head is longer so I'm hopeful. The hat was made using Molly from The Creative Maven's visor beanie tutorial. The mittens were super easy and I made using Christine from From An Igloo's pattern and tutorial. Her hats are super cute too, so I might be making one of those in the near future. That's all for now, B has been repeatedly singing "Five Little Monkeys" to herself for the last half hour while I desperately asked her to entertain herself and give me a 30 minute break.



Monday, October 4, 2010

Double Sleeve Shirt for A

So I wanted to make this a tutorial, but a friend borrowed my camera this weekend, and I forgot and went crazy looking for it. Moral of the story: I need to get more sleep... I hear it improves memory. I tried taking pictures on my phone but they didn't come out so well. But, I did have fun making this double sleeve shirt. I made my own pattern by tracing a shirt A already had. I used two of my old stretch shirts that have been sitting in a drawer unworn for several years. Then I freezer paper stenciled using this awesome and free download from Aly & Ash. Overall I thought the shirt came out pretty good, the neckline could have been better, but that has never been my strong point.

Double Sleeve Rock Star Shirt
This is the first of what will probably be many double sleeve shirts I plan on making in the coming weeks. I'm hoping to get one made for D this week, and since I have my camera again I plan on making my first tutorial. This shirt is a size 4T and D is a size 7/8, I'm thinking of drafting a pattern to share for free so if anyone would be interested let me know!

I'm linking to:
Weekend Wrap Up at Tatertots and Jello
The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming 
Making the World Cuter Mondays 
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple
Made by You Mondays at Skip to my Lou
What Are Little Boys Made Of at Seven Thirty Three






Sunday, October 3, 2010

Coming Up and Old Stuff

I have a few nearly finished projects right now...and by nearly finished I mean I'm frustrated and hopefully I'll get the motivation to pull myself together. The Go To Dress I started during kids clothes week challenge is done, but I messed up the neckline, aka I forgot to gather it so it is just all wrong. I'm not really in the mood to un-stitch and re-stitch, so it's probably going to sit around for a while. I have a "finished" visor beanie but it is too small circumference wise for D and I have yet to try it on A to see how much I need to take off the height, easy task I just need to get around to it. Today I started a double sleeve shirt for A which I made my own pattern for. With the exception of the neckline it is completed sewn and freezer paper stenciled, but again I do not like necklines. I made this shirt using old shirts and didn't buy any rib knit for the neckline, thus I tried to use the neckline of one of the shirts and it didn't work so well. I'm hoping to get this done tomorrow since it is really cute and I can't wait to share it!

I'm hoping to finish these three projects before I start anything new, but I have several other projects I'm planning to start as soon as I get some fusible interfacing. I have a yellow long-sleeved shirt in mind for B with this super cute fabric from Joann Fabrics that has butterflies on it. I'm also planning on making B a fleece button up sweater and a winter hat and maybe some mittens with a black with colorful butterflies print also from Joann Fabrics. I also want to attempt to make another double sleeve shirt, and once again make my own pattern, but for D, I feel bad I haven't made him anything yet, though the visor beanie was originally meant for him. I'm thinking about doing a tutorial for the double sleeve shirt and possibly drafting a pattern to share since I'm going to be making it in multiple sizes... A is a 4/5 and D is a 7/8, if I made one for B too she's a 3/4. If anyone would be interested in a free pattern/tutorial let me know, it would give me a reason to do it!

On a side note, I was rummaging through old pictures and came across these. These are a few of the many figure skating dresses I made over the years, but the only ones I can seem to find pictures for.

This dress was for a show number to music from Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights:


 This dress was for a Christmas show:


This dress was for a Tribute to 9/11 show:





Saturday, October 2, 2010

Hair Wrap for B

So Kid's Clothes Week Challenge and the Sew 5 Challenge didn't really happen for me. Between the power outage then getting sick I just couldn't pull it off. But last night I whipped up a Spa Hair Drying Wrap using Molly from The Creative Maven's pattern and tutorial. B tried it on this morning and not only does it fit, but she loves it!

B in her hair wrap!
On a side note, I've been thinking and processing reversible clothing over and over lately, and it hasn't seemed to make any sense. This hair wrap finally made it click, so thank you Molly!

 I'm linking to:
Weekend Wrap Up at Tatertots and Jello
Sew Crafty Saturday at Sew Chic and Unique
The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming 






Friday, September 24, 2010

KCWC Day 3-4

So we had a heat power outage and haven't had electricity since early Wednesday morning. Therefore, I got no sewing accomplished Wednesday through Thursday. I'm going to try to do two hours of sewing tonight and tomorrow night to make up for it, we'll see how well that works out. I'm hoping to finish the Go to Dress for B and make some matching leggings for her tonight. Maybe I'll finish the visor beanie for A to, but I haven't been to Joann Fabrics to pick up silver fabric paint yet so that probably won't happen. We'll see.


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

KCWC Day 2

Today was Day 2 of Kids Clothes Week Challenge at Elsie Marley. I finished the black guitars using freezer paper stencils on the visor beanie I started yesterday. I decided I want to outline them using silver fabric paint since they are on blue fleece and blend in a little, so I need to make another trip to Joann Fabrics tomorrow. I also need to shorten the height of the hat by about an inch, since it will be for A instead of D.

I started working on a Go To Dress today. She gave fair warning in the instructions to be careful on the assembling of the sleeve, but of course I messed it up. I got the second sleeve right, but just spent forever un-stitching the first sleeve. Goal for tomorrow: actually finish something properly, and try to make B some yellow leggings to match the Go To Dress.

The first sleeve. Yes, I did somehow make a layer of the sleeve become another ruffle.
The second sleeve, actually done right!



Monday, September 20, 2010

KCWC Day 1

So today was Kids Clothes Week Challenge Day 1 over at Elsie Marley. I wanted to sew early this morning but I fought with my machine for about an hour instead trying to figure out why it was jamming. The problems: first I threaded the machine wrong (wow I am ashamed to say that), I'm going to blame it on lack of sleep rather than too many years away from sewing, and second I was using the wrong kind of stitch for stretchy fabric. Genius, I know.

Anyways, I finally got my hour of sewing in tonight, with B sitting practically on top of me trying to figure out what I was doing. I took a stab at the Creative Maven's Child's Visor Beanie tutorial using some blue fleece fabric I found in the closet. First mistake: I sewed two whole triangles together, like I was making a mitten instead of a hat. After I un-stitched that, I accidentally basted the visor too high on the hat, I had the points touching the bottom, then tried to sew the two inch strip on, needless to say that didn't work so well. I finally got it fixed and applied the first layer of fabric paint. I'm putting a guitar on each side of the hat. It was meant for D but I might have to give it to A instead since I think I somehow lost some of the diameter and I have a feeling it is going to be too small. I'll get a picture tomorrow once both sides of the freezer paper stenciling have dried. After my disaster of a sewing adventure today I'm still deciding what to try tomorrow. I don't know how I used to sew figure skating dresses without any problems when I couldn't even make a simple hat today.