Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Weekly Plan
I want to start blogging every Sunday with a sewing plan for the week. I think it will keep me focused and motivated to see a checklist getting done and with people watching I'm more likely to finish.
I will update this post as I get things done.
1. Sew sweater dress for Eta for school. (Involves tracing new pattern and sewing)
UPDATES - Monday - Traced all pattern pieces and cut out the fabric, including lining for the skirt. Spent way to long trying to figure out the serger setting I need to sew this material. I'm still not there or the dress would be sewn :(
Tuesday - Late last night I finally got my serger settings right for this fabric. I sewed the skirt and lining. Today I serged the bodice and sleeves together to find that either I cut the bodice too large or the skirt too small, luckily the skirt fits Eta just the way I want it to and the top fits Esther great to make it into a cardigan for her which is what she asked for. So now I need to cut and sew a smaller bodice for Eta and make the skirt for esther, Esther's while matching will be a separate skirt and cardigan.
2. Finish two skirts that I'm in middle of making for the girls (They are almost done but I haven't worked on them for over a month!)
Thursday - Looked at the skirts, decided they need to be hemmed shorter. That's something right ;)
3. This is ambitious but it would be great if I can get it done. Cut a pattern in the "curtain fabric" I bought at Home Depot (See last post) Dye it and sew it up. Maybe a dress for Eta for school?
Thursday - Cut out the pattern pieces for the Insa modified skirt. Maybe picked out the color I want to dye it... haven't gotten around to doing that yet.
That's all I'll semi-commit to this week, maybe I'll do more but this is more then enough to get started with. School is starting in a month and I'm due in 6 weeks so I kinda feel the fire under my bottom to get school stuff done. Next week (maybe) I'll do Esther's uniform skirts.
I also have the High Holidays coming up and the festival of Sukkos. The girls already have matching dresses (just need to attach the sashes) I blogged about all the way at the beginning that I've been saving and those two skirts I'm going to finish this week are also for the holidays, I'll just need to buy them a nice brown cardigan to match. I'll be wanting to make at least 1 or 2 more things for the holidays probably two dresses apiece.
Wish me luck!
I will update this post as I get things done.
1. Sew sweater dress for Eta for school. (Involves tracing new pattern and sewing)
UPDATES - Monday - Traced all pattern pieces and cut out the fabric, including lining for the skirt. Spent way to long trying to figure out the serger setting I need to sew this material. I'm still not there or the dress would be sewn :(
Tuesday - Late last night I finally got my serger settings right for this fabric. I sewed the skirt and lining. Today I serged the bodice and sleeves together to find that either I cut the bodice too large or the skirt too small, luckily the skirt fits Eta just the way I want it to and the top fits Esther great to make it into a cardigan for her which is what she asked for. So now I need to cut and sew a smaller bodice for Eta and make the skirt for esther, Esther's while matching will be a separate skirt and cardigan.
2. Finish two skirts that I'm in middle of making for the girls (They are almost done but I haven't worked on them for over a month!)
Thursday - Looked at the skirts, decided they need to be hemmed shorter. That's something right ;)
3. This is ambitious but it would be great if I can get it done. Cut a pattern in the "curtain fabric" I bought at Home Depot (See last post) Dye it and sew it up. Maybe a dress for Eta for school?
Thursday - Cut out the pattern pieces for the Insa modified skirt. Maybe picked out the color I want to dye it... haven't gotten around to doing that yet.
That's all I'll semi-commit to this week, maybe I'll do more but this is more then enough to get started with. School is starting in a month and I'm due in 6 weeks so I kinda feel the fire under my bottom to get school stuff done. Next week (maybe) I'll do Esther's uniform skirts.
I also have the High Holidays coming up and the festival of Sukkos. The girls already have matching dresses (just need to attach the sashes) I blogged about all the way at the beginning that I've been saving and those two skirts I'm going to finish this week are also for the holidays, I'll just need to buy them a nice brown cardigan to match. I'll be wanting to make at least 1 or 2 more things for the holidays probably two dresses apiece.
Wish me luck!
Toilet paper and curtains.....
Ok not really...... but it looks like :)
On Friday I went into Home Depot to get some heavy metal washers to use as pattern weights. On my way out there was a big display box of "curtains in a box" on clearance for $5 each. I went to take a lookie as my kids rooms could use some curtains. They had these awful polyester polka dotted ones and then these 100% cotton white ones with either a black strip at the top or a purple one. I bought three sets and happily made my way out of the store very pleased with my purchases.
When I was putting them in my car I opened one up to see and feel the fabric because a funny idea was developing in my head. Each box had two curtains each 42"x84" long. Quick math showed me that each box would yield me nearly 5 yards of 100% cotton fabric most of which was white and most probably would dye really well. I went back for the rest of what they had..... This morning I separated the black and white fabric from one set and the white is in the washing machine right now. It feels like a really nice not too heavy bottomweight cotton.
I'm pretty sure it comes out the way I think and hope it will. I'll leave it white for now but when I have a project to make I'll first cut out the pattern pieces then dye them to whatever color I want and then sew it together. I probably should make a practice run, maybe this week? :)
If you are interested in dyeing or in some great white cotton for $1 a yard run to your home depot before they sell out! They are not getting them back in again and there's not much left. Oh you can buy them too if you just need some nice curtains LOL.
Also I trace all my patterns and have been using Kwik Sew/ Kwik Trace dotted pattern fabric. I love it. You can use it to drape, you can iron and wash it and it holds up so much better than pattern tissue paper. Well...... I'm almost out. I didn't really feel like spending 7.99 plus shipping on only 5 yards of it and besides I don't need the dots anyway so I started brainstorming for a cheaper option. The fabric is very much like light sew-in interfacing so I looked into buying some of that but it's pretty much the same price or more. Then I stumbled across this on eBay.
Two giant rolls of toilet paper!!!!....no just kidding ;)
Its sew in interfacing. I emailed the seller to ask her if she thinks this is stable enough to use as pattern fabric and she emailed me that she's used it for that as well as stabilizer for appliques and embroidery. The roll is 6.25"x125 yards. I bought both rolls she had and it worked out to an equivalent of 40 yards of the one I've been using. and the price including shipping was 20 and change making it about 50 cents a yard as opposed to almost 2 dollars a yard for the other stuff.!
This is especially perfect for making the kids patterns as they are not huge pieces to begin with. I can just cut a few pieces in the length I need and sew them one on top of each other to make a sheet the size I need. It will also cut out a lot of waste.
Happy sewing!
On Friday I went into Home Depot to get some heavy metal washers to use as pattern weights. On my way out there was a big display box of "curtains in a box" on clearance for $5 each. I went to take a lookie as my kids rooms could use some curtains. They had these awful polyester polka dotted ones and then these 100% cotton white ones with either a black strip at the top or a purple one. I bought three sets and happily made my way out of the store very pleased with my purchases.
When I was putting them in my car I opened one up to see and feel the fabric because a funny idea was developing in my head. Each box had two curtains each 42"x84" long. Quick math showed me that each box would yield me nearly 5 yards of 100% cotton fabric most of which was white and most probably would dye really well. I went back for the rest of what they had..... This morning I separated the black and white fabric from one set and the white is in the washing machine right now. It feels like a really nice not too heavy bottomweight cotton.
I'm pretty sure it comes out the way I think and hope it will. I'll leave it white for now but when I have a project to make I'll first cut out the pattern pieces then dye them to whatever color I want and then sew it together. I probably should make a practice run, maybe this week? :)If you are interested in dyeing or in some great white cotton for $1 a yard run to your home depot before they sell out! They are not getting them back in again and there's not much left. Oh you can buy them too if you just need some nice curtains LOL.
Also I trace all my patterns and have been using Kwik Sew/ Kwik Trace dotted pattern fabric. I love it. You can use it to drape, you can iron and wash it and it holds up so much better than pattern tissue paper. Well...... I'm almost out. I didn't really feel like spending 7.99 plus shipping on only 5 yards of it and besides I don't need the dots anyway so I started brainstorming for a cheaper option. The fabric is very much like light sew-in interfacing so I looked into buying some of that but it's pretty much the same price or more. Then I stumbled across this on eBay.
Two giant rolls of toilet paper!!!!....no just kidding ;)
Its sew in interfacing. I emailed the seller to ask her if she thinks this is stable enough to use as pattern fabric and she emailed me that she's used it for that as well as stabilizer for appliques and embroidery. The roll is 6.25"x125 yards. I bought both rolls she had and it worked out to an equivalent of 40 yards of the one I've been using. and the price including shipping was 20 and change making it about 50 cents a yard as opposed to almost 2 dollars a yard for the other stuff.!This is especially perfect for making the kids patterns as they are not huge pieces to begin with. I can just cut a few pieces in the length I need and sew them one on top of each other to make a sheet the size I need. It will also cut out a lot of waste.
Happy sewing!
Monday, August 2, 2010
My second project from "Sewing clothes kids love"
I just finished the INSA skirt from "Sewing clothes kids love" The main fabric is a purple 21 wale corduroy. The ruffles are the same purple fabric that I used in the Imke tee.
I made a couple of changes to the pattern. First off I had to make a size 86/92 for the waist since my three year old has a small waist. Since I wanted it pretty long I extended the length. Then for the overskirt which usually has 4 pannels, I made one regular panel for the back and made a new pattern piece with a curve for the 2 side panels and left out the front. I sewed ruffles into the front panel of the underskirt. I finished the hems with the rolled hem setting on my serger. I wish these pictures came out better but it's late and there's no sunlight to be had. I'll put up outside pictures with E wearing it...maybe tomorrow...... :) This skirt matches the IMKE hooded tee I made for her last week. One school outfit down, how many more to go?
Pinning the ruffles
I made a couple of changes to the pattern. First off I had to make a size 86/92 for the waist since my three year old has a small waist. Since I wanted it pretty long I extended the length. Then for the overskirt which usually has 4 pannels, I made one regular panel for the back and made a new pattern piece with a curve for the 2 side panels and left out the front. I sewed ruffles into the front panel of the underskirt. I finished the hems with the rolled hem setting on my serger. I wish these pictures came out better but it's late and there's no sunlight to be had. I'll put up outside pictures with E wearing it...maybe tomorrow...... :) This skirt matches the IMKE hooded tee I made for her last week. One school outfit down, how many more to go?
Pinning the ruffles
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