Friday, May 31, 2013

Participating in the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sewalong

Meredith won a poetry contest at school and the prize was a $25 gift card from Barnes and Noble.  She has been wanting a quilt book and ordered this Tula Pink book

To coincide with her book order, I found a sewalong for these blocks.  Just 3 blocks a week and the plans are to be complete in January.  I really liked all these blocks and with my serger in for repairs and won't be back until June 13th, I went ahead and joined this sewalong.

My self-imposed rule is to use my stash and scraps, this is very possible as each block is only 6-1/2".

Here are my first three blocks, I am trying to follow along the color illustrations in the book.  My thoughts are it will give my quilt a more cohesive look.





Three together



Sew Sweetness

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Floral Skirt with Denim

What did we do before Pinterest?  I saw this outfit





and here is my interpretation:





I went to look for a floral that would work for me.  I selected this Mood Fabric's cotton sateen

and used McCall's 6038
source  - Pattern Review






which I made once before.  The sewing is pretty straight forward and I used an invisible zipper.  Lining was not used  but this method for the facings, which gives a cleaner finished edge.




closer view of the skirt.







Yes, I can stand up too!


Then so you can see the skirt with no belt
which I don't like that look, I need some waist definition and the belt helps with that.

I ca see wearing this skirt with t-shirts, dressy knit tops and cardigans.  A fun addition to my wardrobe.

Now I am sewing a tailored coat or a quilt as my serger broke last night.  Off to the repair shop today, I am going to miss it so.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Contemporary Nine Patch

Here is another quilt made by Meredith.  She made this at the first of the year but I have been holding off posting it on the blog.  I wanted to show it off the same time my friend opened her online shop, which compliments her brick and mortar store.

Here is the quilt, once again a beauty by Meredith.
 Blocks:

and the back quilting

Now this pattern is an original design by my friend and she has self-published the patterns.

Take a look here at the pattern if you would like to order Contemporary Nine Patch pattern or any of her other patterns and fabric.  You will notice her name is Meredith, too.  My daughter was named after her, she is a very dear friend and was a great babysitter when the twins were little.

Tell her Lori sent you!

Monday, May 27, 2013

Pintuck Pillows

Erin wanted some new pillows for her family room, going with more of a burnt orange instead a bright in-your-face orange (her words not mine!).

I had some burnt orange linen leftover from maternity sewing and thought of just doing something with texture.  I found this great Pintuck pillow tutorial and decided that perfect for the fabric.

Each pillow took about an hour and the texture is so pretty





 A nice little wedding anniversary present, it has been one year.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Kwik Sew 3145

Time for some sewing for my grandson, he is getting so big and growing out of everything.  I used Kwik Sew 3145
source Kwiksew.com


I used this fabric from The Fabric Fairy  it is 100% poly microfiber recommended for board shorts, jackets, swim trunks and jacket linings.  I thought it would be great for a summer pair of bib overalls, nice a cool but some protection from the sun.



I used the 3-6 month size and the pattern went together so smoothly.

I use to make lots of bib overalls for the twins from the time they were 3 until about 7.  I knew the steps and was familiar with the construction but working with plaid was a new one.


I decided to cut out the main pattern pieces, matching the side seams.  I also remembered something from the Great British Sewing Bee, May stated how important it was to keep the pattern the same down the center front.  I tried to do this with the bib, the waistband and the pants


I have a marking pen which when ironed disappears, found it at my local  quilt shop, Material Girl Quilt Shop, this came in quite handy to help me with the plaid matching.  Once I was ready for a pocket piece, I placed that pocket pattern piece on the pants and marked the plaid pattern.

Then I take that pattern piece, move it over to my fabric, line up the markings and cut out the pocket.  After that, put the iron on the pattern piece and the lines disappear.

Here is the pocket during construction:

Next was following the pattern instructions, excellent, thank you Kwik Sew

Back view:


Back pockets, a bit hard to see, I omitted the plier pocket.

Now the front.  The label is 13 years old at least.  I was on this sewing list called Sew4Kids through quiltropolis and someone shared the link to this site in Australia, Lamington Labels.  I bought several of these cute labels.  Always thought it made the clothes look more RTW. I cannot find them online and wish I could.  Anyone know a source for something like this?

Pockets, side snaps



 The inside snaps, once again the KAM press is awesome!

 Had to put another label in these:



One thing make sure the straps measure 1-1/4" so the buckles will fit.  I had to do some unsewing as my straps were too wide for the buckles.

I did have to put some fabric behind the buttons for the buckles.  The fabric was just too thin and needed some thickness to support the buckles.

The little guy is growing like crazy, so I told Erin to put him in these quick, I want him to have a few wearings before they are too small.

Here is the little guy in the cars onsie - his mom said make the next size if you do more


Friday, May 24, 2013

Modern Alphabet Quilt

I have to show off this modern quilt Meredith completed recently, it is Tula Pink's Modern Alphabet

Meredith's quilt is brighter and I love the waves quilting the longarm quilter used



Here is a close-up of the quilting:


and a close-up of a few letters:

D through M

The fabric is Anna Maria Horner's Field Study and it is gorgeous.  Meredith's favorite one?  The leopard print followed by the feathers.

The main tip on this quilt we have is to use lots of plastic sandwich bags.  I cut it out for Meredith and put one letter per bag with the letter in marker on the outside of the bag.  I have to admit I did cut a couple letters out wrong and had to recut for her.  That is a lot of cutting!

Meredith did a beautiful job and I have been trying to encourage her to start a blog but she isn't too interested yet.  I do want to document her quilts and put them out there for people to see.  I think she does such a nice job and she is bitten by the quilting bug!

I do need to get her to bind them, that is my job right now and she is keeping me busy.





Thursday, May 23, 2013

Summer Time Calls for Knit Tops- Three New Ones for Me!

A staple of my summer wardrobe is knit tops but I try to change it up a bit with the knit tops.  If I am using a more common fabric, then I like to use a unusual knit top pattern but if the fabric is fabulous on its own then I try to use a more basic pattern to showcase the fabric.  It was hard to decide which knits to pick from Mood's Fabrics extensive online selection but don't worry, I was able to make three choices and add several more to my portfolio for future purchases.  Some criteria for my knit tops, they had to looks good with jeans, skirts, shorts and above all white jeans.





Let's start out with my fabric choice, the first is a Mood Fabric's Robin's Egg Blue/White Stripe Jersey Knit 

Next is Mood Fabric's Navy Silk Knit
and my third choice an Emerald rayon, which is sold out but you can find a wide selection of colors at Mood Fabric's Rayon Jersey section.

My first top is from the stripe knit and I wanted a stand-out type of pattern for this stripe knit.  It is a new McCall's pattern 6752, with several options in length, sleeve, neckline variations and a zipper insertion in the ruched band (my favorite).

Source McCall's patterns



The knit was beautiful to sew and the zipper insertion went together effortlessly.  The front of the band is the only ruching or gathering to the zipper.  I did use a longer zipper and just cut it to off after sewing on the band. Thanks to my Instagram friends, I went with the aqua zipper(majority choice)  instead of the red.  Thanks, friends, a much better look for this top.  Here is a close-up of the zipper and the gathering.

I did add an inch to the bodice to keep the top from being to short.  One thing I know for sure, another knit will be ordered to make the dress from this view, I love it!
You will see me in sunglasses, I just can't keep from squinting if there is any sunshine around


One thing you do need to watch on this pattern is the neckline is wide, more of a boat-neck shape.  Next time, I will sew those seams up just a bit more.
This top will be one of my favorites of the summer!

Let's move onto the Navy Silk jersey, a fabulous fabric which needs a simple pattern.  I ordered this navy silk jersey after seeing a navy 3/4 sleeve top with white jeans and accessories on Pinterest.  I thought what a classic, chic and timeless look with little effort and decision making.  My pattern for this fabric is an all-time favorite,  Simplicity 4076, I cannot even count the number of times I have made this pattern.

Source Simplicity patterns



I love the gathered neckline, the fit and all the views.  This silk jersey is perfect for the top and I love the feel of this fabric.  Navy is such a classic color and I have so many things to wear with this color.  The silk in combination with the knit makes this such a luscious fabric.




Here is the same picture with a closer-view


 Now check out the gathers at the neckline, I used my coverstitch machine to fasten the neckbinding down.  It does flatten the gathers but I am okay with that, I like the look of the coverstitch.


Last but not least is the emerald rayon (Pantone's color of the year) with that perfect drape and hand.  I wanted a pattern that would not cling but show the drape of this fabric.  I had a style in mind and found it closest in Hot Patterns Fast & Furious Fiesta Knit top but with many alterations.  In fact, several reviews at PR stated it doesn't look like the pattern envelope and the reviews are right.



Source Hot Patterns.




The top has so much extra room, large batwing style sleeves and too much fabric in the front - all this my opinion but many reviews state the same thing.  The one thing going for it was the initial style was what I wanted from the picture on the pattern and the Hot Patterns site.

I made the top as the pattern stated, tried it on and thought, "wow, this needs lots of work!"  I redrew the underarm sleeve to eliminate many inches from the sleeves and side seams.  Another change, was unsewing the band and removed the extra fabric from the front.  As you can see in the above picture, there is still a bit too much material.  The pattern has a curve in the front with the deepest part of the curve in the center front.  I feel this makes the top look maternity style and in the future I will make the front more of a straight line.

What do I think of this top?  Well, I love, love the fabric it has a wonderful feel and color is perfect.  The pattern needs work and I still might take off the band and cut off some more of the curve.  I do know I feel great wearing this top and I like my end results from the pattern.  Isn't that why we sew, to make things perfect for us?  I see more rayon jerseys heading to Missouri and a few more revisions on this pattern.


I have always enjoyed sewing knit tops, they are quick but have such satisfying results.

You can check out my post on these tops at the Mood Sewing Network and look at all the other beautiful garments from the other bloggers, too.