Sunday, February 26, 2012

Quilt, Questions and Next Installment Wardrobe Sewalong

First lest me answer a couple of questions from my quilt for Erin and Chris

Sheila asked:


Pretty quilt and may I ask how long did it take to complete it?

Well, Sheila, I cut it out one evening.  Did some sewing at two Wednesday night quilt sewing group (3 hours each night) and finished it up one evening at home



Elaray asked

Question: Do you send your quilts to a longarmer?

I do send my quilts to a longarm quilter and she is fantastic and local.

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Next, let's talk about the Wardrobe Basic Sewalong - Lynne has a fantastic post on Jackets , head over to check it out.  This would be a great alternative for a puffy vest or fur vest.

I am liking the striped Tory Burch blazer or the yellow Old Navy jacket.  I have cut out a red ponted Hot Patterns jacket for myself.


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Lastly,  I went to Paige and Jesse's this weekend.  It was chemo for Jesse and he has to do that in the hosptial all weekend long.  I head up to keep Paige company in the evenings and work on this big project, a t-shirt quilt for Jesse.  All the t-shirts are from his college days and one side will be Greek life, the other college life (he ran track), so there are LOTS of tshirts.

Here is the stack of cut up tshirts, took me three hours to get this stack.








Friday, February 24, 2012

Quilt for Erin and Chris


Well, it started with this book:


Book available at Amazon


Then the Pattern Modern Maze

Then some fabric from the Heirloom by Joel Dewberry collection

this one:

Tile Flourish in Amber






 and this one:

Blockprint Blossom in Amber

 More of the collection here

Then I added a few blue Moda prints another orange  and worked on it Wednesday nights with my friends.... and a quilt for Erin and her fiance, Chris.  The colors are Erin's favorite, Chris not so much his taste but on the back I put an argyle print with brown, orange and blue (a bit more manly).


close-up of blocks

quilting pattern


Thursday, February 23, 2012

Kwik Sew 2948

Well, change of plan, I decided to use the Kwik Sew pattern for my tie-waisted sweater

Description: Pattern Description: Misses v-neck cardigan in two lengths, and two shell tops. One top features a boat neck, the other is a turtleneck.



Sizes: XS to XL - I had this traced from several years ago in a Medium - I should have retraced a Small but I will next time

Instructions:  Kwik Sew always does a great job with their instructions.  The order is nice and concise and the results are fabulous.

Changes:  I ran short of fabric, due to my own fault.  I started cutting my original plan La Mia Boutique  magazine sweater but as cutting and looking at the sweater, I didn't want all that collar and ruffled edges.  With all this cutting I was short on the fabric for my sleeves, to rectify I added cuffs from the ribbing and it works perfectly for my sweater.  One other change, I made corded buttonholes for to help stabilize the buttonholes on the knit.

Please see this corded buttonhole tutorial I put up earlier.

I took a bit of the sweater up in the upper arms and armsyce.  I still need to take it up a bit in the waist, feels a bit boxy.

Fabric:  Sweater knit with coordinating ribbing from Gorgeous Fabrics

Likes/Dislikes: The look - stylish, chic, and great results are all fantastic likes.

Conclusion:  Great looking  sweater, a bit big but I can make the adjustments to help that.








Corded Buttonhole Tutorial





I first learned how to do this after purchasing my  sewing machine.  The store gave you lessons and this is one of the things I learned during these very informative lessons.


Monday, February 20, 2012

Wardrobe Sewalong Link Party #2



So two weeks has passed by since our first Link Party, let's see what everyone has been busy sewing for their wardrobe basics.  Are they great additions to you wardrobe or something that you aren't sure about or something that you know isn't you?  My link will be the later, a fur vest that was a miss for me but I am not discouraged, the tie-waist sweater is so me and I am thrilled out it is turning out.

Don't forget I have set up a Flickr group for the SAL if you need to post pictures there.


Quilt for a Cause

Every March, for the past few years, Paige and Jesse have attended a cancer fundraiser, hosted by a friend's family.  This year the fundraiser has special meaning.  Part of the fundraiser is a dinner and another part auction.  I decided to make a quilt to donate for the auction and just finished binding it today. 

I used a pattern from Oh, Fransson and a fat quarter pack from my friend's quilt shop.

Here is my quilt, my only change from the pattern was to add a border, wanted to make it a bit bigger.
wanted a flat view but didn't want to lay the quilt on the ground

back - using some leftover quilt blocks and polka dot fabric.

a better view of the quilt
You will be seeing a few more quilts on the blog, on Wednesday evenings I have a sewing night at my friend's quilt shop.  There is 3 to 8 of us each night (depending on schedules and weather) and we sew, chat, shop and eat.  It is quite fun, so Wednesday nights is my quilting night.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Scrapbooking Table

For her birthday, Erin wanted anything related to scrapbooking.  In junior high and early high school, Erin was a big scrapbooker but school got harder, college was demanding and the start of her teaching career was full.  Then things settled down and she had extra time, scrapbooking called her name.  So for her birthday she received gadgets, papers, adhesives, stickers, albums and all sorts of goodies.  In addition, she asked her dad to build her a scrapbooking table.  Paige told her to go to Ana White and check out plans, then one weekend Paige was here and the two of them found the one that would work the best for Erin.

The chose the Modern Craft Table and Mike went to work

Here is her finished table:



I am working on new liners for the baskets but ran out of fabric, it is the blue geometric fabric.  I think my husband did amazing job and Erin is so pleased with her birthday present.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Pillow Swap # 7

There is a group on Flickr that I stumbled upon back in October 2010 and it was a quilted pillow swap, the call itThe Pillow Talk Swap.  I have been so lucky to participate in this swap four times now

Here is the first one
the second one
the third one

and now the fourth one, completed today and has to be mailed by March 12th.

I did some sketching and looked at my partner's mosiac.  My thoughts and sketch incorporated a Dresden Plate block and I went in search of a good block tutorial for this pattern, I found Oh, Fransson's tutorial on Sew Mama Sew.  Let me tell you, that is the best tutorial, my block came out perfectly and was so easy to construct.

Here is the front of the pillow

Close-up of quilting, decorative stitching and rick-rack

I try to do something on the back, so the pillow can be turned aournd, this time just some straight patchwork and buttons to hold it closed.
I hope my partner likes it.

Baby It's Cold Outside Pattern - Fur Vest



 Time for the next garment in my Wardrobe Basic SAL, I oredered fur from Fabric.com for my vest and I was so happy when the put up Baby It's Cold Outside Vest  download from Hot Patterns.  I printed off my pattern, taped it together and I was ready to go.

 From the picture, it looked like the perfect pattern.


Description: No need to feel any of those pesky Winter chills in this snuggly-stylish and super-wearable vest, designed for real or faux shearling, suede, heavy double knit, stable sweater knits, sweat-shirting or even fleece.


Relaxed-fit Vest has cut-on sleeves with a deep armhole and a shaped center back seam. Vest features patch pockets and and edge-to-edge front closure, with a high 'V' neck and gently curved front hem. Neckline, center fronts, sleeve edges, hemline and pocket openings are all finished with a contrast woven bias trim.

This chic little number will be a perfect addition to your cold-weather wardrobe; try it over your favorite dressy jeans and a skinny sweater for simple chic, or layer it over a chunky knit and some cool corduroy pants for the ultimate in cozy dressing.

Sizing: 6 to 26, I made a 10 and it is big, so check the sizing

Instructions:  I used them to tape the pattern together and after that, I didn't refer to them.

Changes:  I used some leftover black lycra scraps for the binding.  I had these in a drawer leftover from polar fleece pullover making days.  These strips worked perfectly to bind.   Also, I was a bit short on fabric, so I shortened the vest by 2" and omitted the pockets.

Conclusion:  My fur was stiff, so this pattern with the short sleeves might not have been the best choice but in the right fabric I think this pattern is a winner.

Also, all 3 of my girls at home voted I could not leave the house in this vest, too big, too furry, too not me!  Paige would agree with him, heck I agree with them.

I have 2 sweater knits in my stash, so I am going to make another sweater and substitute it in my SAL for the fur vest.



Since I won't be wearing this vest, I am offering it as a give-away, first one to email me will get this vest.  So send an email to me and the vest will be on the way to you.

Joen is the new owner of the fur vest.  It will be heading your way.





Thursday, February 16, 2012

Wardrobe Basic Sewalong - Tie Waist Sweater

Time for another inspiration for our sewalong. 

Let's recap first:
1.  The White Blouse
2. The Fur Vest
3. The Ponte Pant


Now let's look at the Tie Waist Sweater and inspiration from RTW

the following are from Nordstrom

buttons and a tie
bit longer, looser, collar and no buttons
Long, dramatic sweater.


Next from Net-a-Porter
add your own belt and pair with skinny jeans or your ponte pants





Moschino sweater with stripes and a tie belt

From JCP



add a casing and make it a higher tie sweater




Land's End Canvas






Now to patterns.

Kwik Sew 2948 - I have made this before, lenghtened it longer - great pattern


Abby Cardi from Style Arc





Forgot to add this one - thanks Angie

Terry Tie Cardi from Style Arc




Jalie 2919



Butterick 5498







Fabric Time!!!






My plan is this sweater from the La Mia Boutique  magazine, you can check out Melissa's post on her cardigan and use a cool button instead of the tie for my sweater.  I have red sweter knit at home waiting for this garment.

Here is a link for these magazines

Let me know what your plans are for the Tie Waist sweater


NOTE - Next Monday another linky party to show what we have been sewing!

Once again, this is not a complete list of all patterns, fabric and inspiration, just a gathering of ideas for the purpose of inspiration and fun for the sewalong!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

What I Wore

Here is the ponte pants with a new Vogue  1197, this is what I wore to work on Monday.  Wanted an outside picture, but it was snowing big, wet flakes and my photographer didn't want to go outside!





The top is a Sandra Betzina pattern, reviewed here and blogged here

The fabric is from Needle Nook and for this version I used the larger cowl pattern.  I made the C size and ended up tapering the bust to the hips in about 1" on each side.  It was a bit shapeless, fine if I wanted to belt it.  I didn't want to belt this version with all the stripes of the fabric. 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Simplicity 2054




 Pattern Description: Simple strait knit dress pattern with no darts. The are options for arm slits and a cowel.


Sizing: 6 to 22, I made a 10 for Kaitlyn

Likes/Dislikes:  I liked the look of the dress, thought Kaitlyn would like the look of the dress.  That is not what she thought of the dress, so that would be a dislike. 

Instructions:  Great instructions, easy pattern to construct.  I like how they have you construct the arm slits.


Fabric:  A knit from Hancock's.  This might be part of the problem with the dress, the fabric has that "worn-out look"

Changes:  Lengthened the bottom arm section.


Conclusion:  I think the dress is fabulous and can see many possibilities for the dress (jacket, sweater, scarves, jewelry) but Kaitlyn wasn't thrilled at all. Then I offered it to Meredith and Erin, who both declined.  Now I am offering it to any of you.  It is a size 10 and has not been hemmed (dress and sleeves).  First one to email me saying you want the dress, I will mail it to you, along with the pattern. UPDATE - dress is spoken for, in the mail this morning to Monika





Friday, February 10, 2012

Simplicity 1919 - Ponte Skirt

I had just enough ponte left from Ponte pants and the serger had black thread, I thought Iwould make the skirt from this pattern.  Afterall, the pants were a great fit, so the skirt should be, too.  It was a great fit and an easy sew.  Especially when you eliminate the zipper and use the no show elastic waistband

Somethings to point out, check the length on this pattern, with the flounce on the back, it would be hard to shorten. I think you would have to shorten from the waist and then you would change the length of the darts.

Here is the back of the skirt

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On a side note, we are going to see Paige and Jesse tomorrow, I am taking them these cute brownie bites.

picture from a pumpkin and a princess