Yay for Yellow!

Okay, so it doesn't look very yellow in the pictures, but this weekend - in addition to canning oodles of strawberry jam and having a shopping spree at JC Penney's for basically free - I managed to finally finish my second clothing project ever: Butterick 6838! This is a huge accomplishment since I've been 'working' on this project since the fall, but I was terrified of the completing the yoke section so of course it sat and sat and sat.

We went to NJ for the weekend for my dad's 6-month memorial (coincidentally being held on Memorial Day weekend) and I was bound and determined to finish the nightgown for my mom. It's not my style, but it is definitely hers, so I knew she would appreciate it. Since I wasn't home, Bessie didn't take part in this weekend's work, though she had taken care of some of the basic early work (side seams, neck gathering). Instead, I used my sister's Brother CS-80, which she hasn't used much at all. I was spoiled! Her sewing machine was so QUIET, and clearly handled the lightweight batiste better than Bessie did. On the fun side, this sewing machine had decorative stitches, so I added some neck and sleeve embellishments. Unfortunately, white thread on light yellow fabric is hard to see in the photos below.

Overall, I was fairly frustrated with the Butterick pattern, even though I figured it out. I think I will always be frustrated by patterns though - all the ones I have looked at aren't exactly user friendly. I did have some snaffus while putting this together - at two points while working on adding the decorative stitches, the Brother machine tried to eat the material and the hubby had to help save the day for one of those times. Then, I accidentally cut the fabric while cleaning up the hem, and had to re-hem. But, it could have been so much worse.

So, without further ado, the finished product! Unfortunately, the pastel yellow doesn't show up well in most of the pictures!

Sew-a-thon 2010

Seriously, that is the best way to describe the past 32 hours! I've been a sewing fiend.

First off, for the Friday Night Sew-in yesterday, I managed to get a lot of work done on two bibs (pics are below) for a baby shower I am attending tomorrow (er.. make that today, since it is now after midnight!). I didn't fully complete the bibs on Friday night - I still needed to topstitch them and add the velcro and did that today.

Today, I finished up the two bibs I started on Friday, and also made ANOTHER bib. Maybe it is because I am Greek and we love to have everything done in threes, but apparently two just didn't seem like enough. But that isn't all. I went a bit nuts and decided I had to have burp cloths also. So I made three of those today! I was going to make a little taggie giraffe softie, but I messed up, and decided I wasn't in the mood to try and fix it!

I'm fairly happy with how it all turned out, though I do have some gripes. First, the terry cloth was a bit of a pain to work with... it shifted around a lot and I seem to have terry bits all over my apartment now. Secondly, it took a couple of tries to figure out how best to add the velcro so you couldn't see the stitches. You can see in some of the pictures I had varying levels of success with that. My topstitching was sort of all over the place, though overall, I am definitely getting better. I'm actually not thrilled with the brown topstitching on the brown/pink/mint bib. I think it looked better without it, but think taking it off might not look so good...

So here are the pictures!!

The 'Friday Night Sew-In' bibs... I don't love the brown topstitching.

The third bib! I love the material on this one!

All three together. First, the fronts...

...and now the backs! You could probably reverse them if you wanted. The back of the pink bib is super cute!

The burp cloths!

The two sides of the burp cloth - the terry side, and the pretty one!

Friday Night Sew-In!

I'm so excited to participate in tonight's Friday night sew in, hosted by Handmade by Heidi.

I'm especially pleased because since my husband is going to be out and I've got the place to myself. I needed something to motivate me to work on some sewing projects that need to be done by Sunday, and this is just the push I needed! Stay tuned to see what I manage to accomplish tonight once I clean off my table and make some room for the sewing machine again.

Getting back in the game...

I've been absent for the past couple of weeks, but I'll be back with a vengeance by the end of the week! First, we had a wedding in Seattle, so we were out of town, and then the following weekend my husband graduated with his Bachelors in Finance! This has been a very long time coming (he was on the 14 year plan) and so family came into town to help celebrate. Of course, that meant I was cleaning like a mad woman between that Seattle trip and my husband's graduation party! Phew!

But things have calmed down for a bit, and I have a list of sewing plans a mile long with actual deadlines for some of them, so I am hoping this keeps me honest! I've got a baby shower to address this weekend, and I'd like to make all (or most) of the gift. Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!

How many covers can a Kindle have?

Well, I guess the answer is more than one, at least in my family!

This weekend, in addition to working on the flats with a friend, I finished up putting together a second Kindle cover. This one was a different style than the last as it was a padded pouch with a velcro closure inspired by this tutorial by Junie Moon. I'd cut the pieces out last Sunday, but hadn't had time to finish working on it during the week. Since I was running off of a sewing high on Saturday after finishing the flats, I decided to just bite the bullet and finish up the project.

I had some trouble following the tutorial, but I figured it all out in the end, with minimal grumbling. Voila! A handy little pouch to protect our Kindle when it is in my bag.

Kindle in the closed pouch

Kindle in the pouch, with velcro closures

Kindle tucked into the outside accessory pocket, just to show the pocket off since it is tough to see otherwise!

Flats!

As mentioned in my previous entry, a good friend, R, is off on an around-the-world trip soon. In order to keep in touch with her niece and nephew while away, she wanted to employ a Flat Stanley or Flat Annie. Originally she was going to go the traditional paper route, but she discovered fabulous instructions at Moda Bake Shop on how to make a set of flats - out of fabric!

So of course, we had to spend all afternoon on Saturday whipping two of these adorable little flats using the Moda Bakeshop tutorial and whatever fabric we had on hand! This was a completely tandem effort - she was brave enough to start out sewing the boy, and I finally mustered the guts to tackle the girl. We did modify the plan to accommodate R's plans. We realized that having different clothes - while cute - wasn't as practical for her as she traveled. As such, we skipped the step of attaching velcro, and just sewed the clothing on permanently. We also got a bit more creative and whimsical on how the flats looked (hence the wonderful orange and purple hair!)

Adding on her clothes - she looked like a gingerbread girl without them!

What a fun afternoon! We both worked completely through lunch, taking turns with sewing (we were sharing one machine), cutting, and pressing. This is such a great idea. I'm looking forward to making a set of flats for someone, sometime - imagine how creative one can get with the doll clothing: ruffles, beads, buttons... the possibilities are endless!

Close up of the Flat Girl

Aren't they a cute couple?

Fabric fun!

This weekend, I seem to have hit the mother lode for fabric goodies and sewing-related fun!

First, The Thriftress and I went a-thrifting together on Friday. I've wanted to hit up a thrift shop for a while now to try and find woolen sweaters to felt (I've never done it before, but I wanted to try it). I also wanted to try and find some fun bedsheets to cannibalize for material. I was inspired to do this after checking out the gorgeous pictures of fat quarters gleaned from vintage bedsheets at My Tiny Robot Heart.  

A good time was had by all. While at the shop, we found two sewing cabinets with sewing machines still attached. I thought this gorgeous creature needed a home, but alas, my 744 square foot apartment is already bursting at the seams, so it won't be my home. Still, I could admire her and wish she could fit into my life!

I also snagged a couple of lovely used linens, though no woolens. Two of them are definitely NOT vintage, though the pink flowered sheets and yellow flower pillowcases might be. It doesn't matter - I just liked how they all look, and even more because they provided me with yards of fabric for only $14 bucks. I adore the pink one and think she is destined for to become an apron for me. The butterfly pattern will be great for some little girl dresses - now I just need some little girls to sew for!

In addition to the thrifting fun, my stash also grew this weekend when my good friend R, who is off on an around-the-world adventure for the next year (so jealous!) entrusted a huge variety of fabrics to my care and for my use while she is gone. Exciting!

The best treat was a mini-chest of barely-touched Madeira embroidery threads. I know nothing about using them, especially on my not-fancy machine, but the colors are so luscious, I could eat the spools. I might just spend the next year staring at their deliciousness.

All in all, a great fabric weekend!

I'm linking up to:

Southern Hospitality's Thrifty Treasures Party