12 in 2011

I have bagged up 12 yarny projects in hopes of getting them done this year. I especially want to get 2 cardigans for myself finished. One out of tan and navy cotton that I just traded some Noro Kureyon for. The other will be out of my Dunkle Kirsch Wollmeise. I have some beautiful vintage buttons for the Dunkle Kirsch cardi, I'll figure out buttons later on the cotton cardi later (maybe red ones). It looks like 6 pairs of socks. Colorwork, mosaic, and a Wizard of Oz themed pattern! A couple baby things for charity. Mittens, and a couple small shawls. Fun stuff! I know this is VERY ambitious. Only 3-4 are very important to me at the moment, and some of the patterns may change. The challenge is to use what you have on hand. Last year I failed in the regard and ended up getting very little done at all in comparison to years before. Maybe I should shouldn't plan at all.

Sewing wise I have 2 quilt tops that need finishing cut out, and another cut. Of course they all need sewn as well. A little girl dress needs a zipper and hemming. A wool coat needs finished. I need to finish a summer dress even though Summer's over LOL. Make 2 pair of jeans, and several blouses for myself. For some reason I always put those needs aside. And its starting to show in the closet!

So I am going to try and get 12 sewing projects done this year as well!

I guess this makes a kind of New Years resolution....
I hate those haha

Sew What Trim?

I am making a little jumper dress for a friends little girl. Size 4t. It's almost finished. Hand sewing the neck and arms down, putting in the back zipper, and putting on the ribbons and buttons. But which ribbon!!

It's Quilting Time!

I haven't done a quilt since we moved back to the states in high school. It was a pin wheel wall quilt that mom and my sister and I did together.

I am going to do the Joseph's Coat Quilt in scrappy greens. I'm thinking a beige cream for the background. Phillip wants brown or tan, but I am thinking that may be too dark. We'll see... I am still collecting greens. I think I am up to 1.5 yards or so of the 4.5 yards needed.

I've cut my 1st template ever. I think I bought the wrong kind. It was the thicker one. I think for this project the thinner template plastic would have been a better choice.

I also have 2 dresses cut out and ready to sew up for the summer. Can't wait!

Boxbag Tutorial

This tutorial is for my friend Elaine and anyone else having a hard time learning how to make one of these bags. Have fun!

I will say right now this is SUPER picture heavy. I may have to split into two posts. We'll see :D

This tutorial is being done without a zipper foot. Not everyone has one. I do, but I thought I would do it this way. Sometimes it's a pain to keep switching them out.

First off you will need two fabrics, interfacing, a long zipper, tape measure, and some pins.
Cut your materials 16x12, 17x13 somewhere close. Or bigger! Your zipper needs to be 2-3 inches longer than the short side.

Next we place the zipper on the main fabric upside down with the fabric right side up.

Then we line the interior fabric wrong side up, and pin them all together, making sure everything is lined up straight at the top.

This sewing foot has three lines and a clear viewing area. My needle is set for the center line. The fabric is filling the entire viewing area. The metal bar of the foot is against the zipper. You can feel the zipper with your fingers as you guide the materials along. This should help keep you a straight line, not always though.

We made to the end! So far everything looks great.
Now, turn your fabrics so that the zipper is on one side like this and finger press. Then start sewing. You want about an eighth inch seam on the fabric side.


Now back to square one. Main fabric facing up with interfacing underneath. Zipper then the interior fabric facing down.
It will look like this when you hold it up in the air.

Here is where you repeat everything you did on the first side of the zipper. Now it time to put your hand into the main fabric tube and pull it out.
It will look like this. One side has the finished edge the other does not.
It is now time to fix that. Unzip the bag . Finger press again and sew. Pick the side that is most comfortable for you. Zipper on the left or right. I don't know why this picture flipped. But if you look close the metal bar on the presser foot is "in the ditch". This is a good thing. I moved my needle to the the left notch position. This is a guaranteed straight line :)
Here we are at the end of the zipper. It's not that bad. Just make sure to keep the rest of the bag material out of the way and to turn the zipper straight :)

Now we need to bring in the measuring tape and pins. You are looking for the center. Always measure. And do it for both ends. Pin it to keep the zipper from sliding. ETA open the zipper halfway so you can open the bag at the end!
Now I actually forgot about the handle and tab. But found these in my scrap pile. Whew! They were already finished and measure 12 inches by 1 inches-ish. They were probably the same width of the short end of the fabric by 3-4 inches. Then double folded and sewn down both edges. I just cut the other one short so it could be a tab. ;)


Here is the placement of them. Zipper end gets the tab, and zipper head gets the handle. Rough edges to rough edges. Curve to the inside.
Find the spot you want for your seam on the sides. It isn't always going to be 5/8's or 1/2 inch. I left the selvage on the brown fabric so this time I thought it would be quite a bit. I was wrong... I have had to cut off an inch or more on one side and only a little on the other. It evens out sometime LOL Always backstitch a few time on the zippers/handles, they get a real workout.
This is really important. PLEASE be careful when you are trimming the extra off! That bunch right there in the middle can be thick depending on the fabric you choose, and if your scissors slip or twist you could really get hurt.... Oh and those dots... I poked my self with a pin. :(
Here we are all trim and no cutting accidents :) Did I forget to mention to make sure the zipper was open half way before sewing ends shut... I am so sorry if you made it this far. Let me edit that right now!
This is the magic spot on my machine for making corners. Anywhere else and they come out wonky.
It's time to make the corners.... I know its the scary part. Here is a front and back picture of the first corner before sewing.
I line up the corner with that magic spot. Pull back and start sewing.
This is an aerial view of a corner with the handle end. You don't want it in the way.
Here I am making sure the triangles are the same size before I start sewing again.
Here we are. All the corners are done! Almost home free. :)
Clip the corners off leaving about a quarter inch. If you have pinking shears, even better.
Tada!! All done. You should feel super! You did a great job finishing this. Hopefully it was easy for you. I had the hardest time figuring out how to do one of these things on my own :D

Notes*
Finger pressing - using your fingers to even out the fabric and flatten it before sewing.
Pinking shears - larger heavy scissors that cut zig zaggy triangle edges on your fabric to prevent fraying/unraveling.

Feeling Tropical

Congratulations #200!!!

Mrs Claus Sewing Room won as the 200th person to favorite the store. :D
She won a sewn bag similar to one in the pictures below, a braid of roving, and discount coupon on her next purchase at HuggyBearKnits.etsy.com !

I made a purse!

Yes I did.
It's full of chickens!

6 outside pockets
Fully lined
Handles
Zipper

I am really happy with it. :D

Sewing Sewing

I was making a frog bag last night following a picture tutorial. I missed something HUGE because mine looks NOTHING like a "box bag". It's more like a large fancy pencil bag haha. Oh well. I haven't really been sewing for such a long time! I figure 6 years ago was when my Husqevarna quit on me. I'm not doing a bad job. I'm just rusty ;-) Luckily I have enough fabric to make another one. Here is what I ended up with!

A little zip

My fabrics from the Repro Depo are coming along. I'm really enjoying my new sewing machine. I have 2 bags cut out, and a few zippy bags. The zippy bags are the perfect size for notions or pencils or what ever littles that get lost. Here is a picture of my first one. It's a japanese print of little squirrels. VERY cute! As you can see, I still need to finish hand sewing the liner in :)


The hot pink kitties are at a stand still for now. I need a lining similar to quilt batting, so that means going shopping in a couple days. :D

I haven't decided what to do with the chicken fabric. Someone pointed me to a really nice tutorial. So I may do that.

Goodies in the Mail

A package from Oklahoma full neat stuff. A mitten kit. some lady bug cuteness, origami paper, a notepad, a soap sample, a couple a cards, and some starbucks VIA coffee.



Here is the fabrics I ordered from Retro Depot! I love them!. The baby blue one with the stuffed animals on it is for the baby quit top I found. The squirrels is a heavy almost canvas. The chickens and cats are not reproductions they are actually limited older prints. I didn't get much of them. I hope to get a couple project bags or lunch bags out of them for the shop. It will be fun :)

My Roll is Done!

Yes my knitting neede roll is finished finally. It's the one I started a while back and got sidetracked. I started off with a so called "pattern" and ended ip doing my own thing. It was one of those word patterns. I couldn't understand what they were saying and kept leaving things out because none of made sense to me LOL. But it's really cute. Another mistake I made in the beginning was cutting out double the pieces. So I cut out more in the opposite materials. In a few days I will have another one in paisley :D


There are 15 pockets for circular needles. It looks great I think :)

Sewing Day!

I sat down to sew this afternoon.
Step 1 cut fabric
Step 2 cut interfacing
Step 3 run around like a maniac... no interfacing!


So I ended up rummaging around the closet and finding a box from Grandma B, FULL of wonderful fabric. In I found a quilt top of what looks like vintage piecework. And I wonder if her mom made it? It's full of pinks and baby blues. I would like to finish it. How do I do that and make it look right? I don't think modern fabrics will work.


Step 4 is washing in the machine right now. A scrap piece of like weight of material. I'll "pretend" it's sew-in interfacing, and move on.