Fabric Samples!

Last Friday I decided to look up websites where I could get fabric samples. I was hoping to get free ones, but didn’t really find any sites out there that I thought were secure – so if anyone knows of any, please share!

Anyway, I went to fabric.com and was able to get some samples for $1.75/each. But with a valid coupon I found on retailmenot.com, I ended up getting each for about $1.50 instead. I wanted to get fabric samples to feel the types of fabrics (not to choose a print for a pattern).

I’m still really new to sewing and fabric choices and it seems I always end up getting some type of cotton (usually the keepsake calico) from JoAnn’s. Sometimes they turn out to be a bit too stiff. But I figured ordering some samples will be able to help me choose fabrics better if I know what they feel like, how heavy they are, how sheer, etc. Maybe I’ll feel more confident going to a different section in the store or buying fabric online… we’ll see.

Here’s the list of fabrics I got, matching the image starting at the top left (going clockwise):
1. Designer Cotton Lawn Abstract Stripes and Dots Orange/Yellow
2. Bloom Stretch Cotton Sateen Specs Red
3. Cotton Lawn Paisley Motif Brown/White
4. Tina Givens Havens Edge Cotton Voile Walls Violet
5. Satin Charmeuse Cow Light Pink/Mocha
6. Boutique Crepe de Chine Penguins Mustard (I didn’t even realize these were penguins when I ordered it. Apparently, I didn’t read the name!)
7. Valori Wells Novella Rayon Challis Rain Gypsy
8. Blossom Chiffon Abstract Stripe Blue
9. Stretch Panne Velvet Orange
10. Hi Multi Chiffon Lacey Paisley Black/Purple
11. Cotton Twill Lime

I ordered two other samples, but one was no longer available and the other is on back order. (The back-order one is Salt Water Laminated Cotton Sea Stripes Coral)

What are your experiences with fabric? Do you buy on-line? Why or why not?

Sewlution Complete!

Well, it took a while, but I did it: I made my first dress! (and thereby fulfilled my sewlution for 2013 — thanks Karen, for setting the Sewlutions up!).

I purchased the pattern at the beginning of January and then bought the fabric and notions a little over a week later.  I washed the fabrics (the main and the lining), and then used some stash fabric to make a mock of the bust:

I put it on to test the fit (I closed the back without a zipper just to get an idea – you can see in the pic above), and was pleasantly surprised with the decent fit!  (I’ve since seen many posts about Sewaholic patterns that praise Tasia for such spot-on measurements).

Then, I waited until the end of March to actually do anything else.  Why, you ask? Laziness, being too busy or too tired and nervous to actually cut up the material to begin!  It took longer than I thought to cut everything out once I started, but I’m glad I did it all in one go. (My back was killing me after though, so that was all I did for the day — not to mention the hockey game was coming on…)

         

I finally began construction the day after I cut everything out and slowly but surely I made my way through it–but not without my share of mistakes/mishaps…

The gathering was going along smoothly, but when I tried to even some of it out, the thread snapped in the middle!! UGH!  I had to remove all the thread and then do it all over again…  (Does anyone know of any tricks for when the thread breaks in the middle of gathering??)

I battled with the idea of a lining for the skirt since it was so full already, and finally opted not to do the skirt part but still did a lining for the bodice.  I think part of the reason I struggled was due to the lining fabric I chose: extra slippery stuff (think a slip that you would wear under your dress or skirt) and that was the first time I ever worked with it.  I bought it because it was actually called lining fabric – I didn’t consider using a different kind of fabric (see? I’m still getting the hang of this whole sewing thing…)

I struggled a little with the sleeves too; I had to shorten them a bit (but instead of cutting the material, I just folded them at the edge).  The first time I sewed them on, they were too tight, so I had to use the seam ripper and re-do them.  (Luckily, that only happened once!)

Those were really my three biggest problems, so all in all, not too bad.  Sometimes it’s better to make the mistakes to learn and be better for next time!

And now…drum, roll please….

TA DA!

At one of the fittings, fiancé said “You look like Lucy”. haha!

I had to take the pics myself using my little tripod for my camera.  I had the camera sitting on a stack of books (probably about 8 or 9 of them) on my bed, and no matter how hard I tried, the pictures with my head in them looked goofy (the camera was tilted up so it was very unflattering and the lighting looked funny…I think if I stacked anymore books the tower would have fallen over).  I probably took at least 12-15 pictures trying to get it just right. So I just accepted the fact that I’m not a self-picture-taker and just decided to post the pictures without my head! (and I’ll make sure someone is around to help with future photo shoots…) (also, please excuse the ugly closet door – it was like that when we moved in…)

I decided that I would cut back on the amount of fabric for the skirt if I were to do view B again – I feel like it might accentuate my hips a little too much.  Too much gathering, so I would cut out less fabric, I think.

The online tutorials from Tasia were super helpful when it came time to attach the lining and the sleeves.  However, they were much easier for me to understand when I was following along with my material than just reading them while sitting on the couch.

I ended up using stitch witchery for the hem at the bottom of the dress.  I haven’t had much experience hand-sewing and wasn’t sure how to approach it.  Also, the thread that I used for the dress would have showed on the outside of the dress and I didn’t want that. I’m not sure how well stitch-witchery will hold up against multiple washings (I’ve only used it on one other project that I haven’t had to wash yet – a table runner).  Anyone know?

There are a few things I wasn’t too happy about (operator errors), but all in all I’m proud of what I accomplished!  And I plan to make view A – I think in a solid color – plum perhaps.

Monthly Wrap Up: April 2013

Number of books read: 7
Favorite book of the month: The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruis Zafon

Reading challenge progress (% complete)
Personal TBR: CANCELLED
What’s In a Name 6: 100%
Historical Fiction: 60%
2013 Reading Goal: 36%

Number of reading challenges completed: 1
I FINISHED A READING CHALLENGE!!!!! Wooooo!! I still need to post my last book review as well as a wrap-up post, but I’ll get to it – I’m just amazed I finished one.

Number of sewing projects completed: 1
Favorite sewing project of the month: I completed my first dress!  I wish there were a few things different (stuff I did, nothing to do with the pattern), but I’m still happy and proud of what I accomplished.  That post will be up eventually… just need to take some pictures

Monthly Wrap Up: March 2013

Number of books read: 6
Favorite book of the month: The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
(I decided I’m not going to track portions of books like I did in February; I’ll only add books that are completed during the month)
Reviews for The Art of Racing in the Rain and Pants on Fire will be posted within the next week or so.

Reading challenge progress (% complete)
Personal TBR: 27%
What’s In a Name 6: 83%
Historical Fiction:  50%
2013 Reading Goal: 25%

Number of reading challenges completed: 0
So close, though!  Only one more book left for the What’s In a Name Challenge!

Number of sewing projects completed: 1
Favorite sewing project of the month: N/A
But I did a lot of work on the dress!  I’m hoping it’ll be completed by the end of April.

Changing Pad & Diaper Pouch – Deja Vu?

I made another of the diaper pouch/changing pad combos from the craftbuds tutorial.  My sister asked if I would make one since a co-workers is expecting a baby boy.  So we went to Joann’s and she picked everything out and purchased it and then I took it home and worked on it. (I actually did it a little over a week ago).

She picked out some really cute PUL material, and, like last time, I used two different prints to have a fun “reversible” changing pad.  I used home decor weight fabric this time (as the tutorial suggested), and because I didn’t have to double up fabric, or use interfacing, it took much less time.  But I’m still not very good with the bias tape…

How cute are the little owls and monkeys?

                         

I know the changing pad doesn’t match the diaper pouch, but I don’t think that really matters, do you?

Hopefully the mom-to-be likes it and finds it useful!  (My two cousins that I made the first two combos for love them!)

I was going to make another one for one of my sister’s friends who is also expecting (but a baby girl) and I even bought all the materials when we went to Joann’s, but I decided I want to do something else.  But I’d like to be able to use the materials I already have, if possible.  So if anyone has any ideas for cute baby gifts that use the PUL material, please share!

Monthly Wrap Up: February 2013

Number of books read: 6.5
Favorite book of the month: I’m not really sure about a most favorite from the books I’ve read this month.  Some were very good, but don’t stick out as “OMG I loved this book!!”  But I suppose the book I liked the most was Insurgent, by Veronica Roth.

Reading challenge progress
Personal TBR: 20% complete
What’s In a Name 6: 50%
Historical Fiction: 50%
2013 Reading Goal: 16%

Number of sewing projects completed: 2
Favorite sewing project of the month: Sewing Machine Cover
Though I love the pet bed cover I made for Sonny, it was simple enough, since I learned to make pillow covers a few different ways during my sewing class, so the sewing machine cover is my favorite because it was a new pattern for me to try.

Sewing Machine Cover

I absolutely love The Sew Everything Workshop book!  There’s so much good information and some fun patterns to do.  I finally did my first project from that book: the sewing machine cover.

The machine I have did not come with a cover, and instead of buying a boring plastic one I was happy when I found this fairly easy pattern (altogether, it took me about 2 hours to do).  I used the striped canvas material I found at the Garment District a while back.  I figured it might be sturdy enough as a cover. (The images look a bit more faded than the colors really are.)

Voila!

I’m happy with the way it turned out, though I definitely need some more practice with the bias tape…

And I’m most proud of how well my stripes match up:

Matched stripes, huzzah!

This was the first time I was working with stripes, so I was a little nervous they weren’t going to line up well (one corner is slightly off, I will admit).  And when I first cut the material, I wasn’t thinking and had cut the two side panels so that the stripes would have gone vertically.  I debated on whether I should (a) keep it that way and have 2 sides go horizontal and 2 sides go vertical (a.k.a. be lazy), or (b) re-cut.  As you can see, I chose option b.

REVIEW: Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp

Sew Everything Workshop
Diana Rupp
Hardcover spiral edition

This a great book for beginning sewers – of which I am one.  The book is broken down into sections:  the tools of the trade; fabrics and notions; what patterns are, how they’re written, how to follow them. The book also includes a number of projects to complete: clothes, accessories, and home decor. I’m very excited to get started on some of these projects.

I thought Rupp did a great job of explaining the process and it was very clear and concise, with a bit of humor.  The first project I plan to do from this book is the sewing machine cover.

One thing that stands out to me about Rupp: I emailed her (using an email address I found on her website) with a question about the material recommended to make the sewing machine cover and she responded within a short time.  I was so surprised and pleased!

I know I’ll definitely be referring back to this book for a long time.  In fact, I’ve already done so while I’ve been working on my Cambie dress.  Rupp’s explanations are so clear and easy for me to follow, and I really appreciate that she took out so much time to help new sewers like me!

Definitely recommend this to anyone who is new to sewing, or would like a refresher.

Pet Bed Cover

We’ve had the same pet bed cover for quite a while now on Sonny’s nighttime bed (he has a second bed in our living room in the window sill) so during our travels yesterday, I stopped at Joann’s to grab some fabric and a zipper to make a new cover.

We had seen a cute pawprint fabric the last time we were at Joann’s, so I decided to use that.  I was a little nervous to work with it since it was fleece and I know knit materials can be tricky for sewing newbies (and I definitely still consider myself one!)  But I tried it anyway.  (Worst case scenario, the pillow case doesn’t work, but the material could be used  as a blanket, right?)

I used a nylon plastic zipper instead of the polyester zipper I’ve used a couple of times before (recommended by one of the employees in Joann’s) so it was bigger than I’m used to using, and I ended up breaking one of my machine needles (yikes!), so I just hand stitched one end of the zipper.  Altogether, the zipper came out a little wonky, but it is definitely functional, so I’ll let it go.

I followed the zippered pillow instructions from my sewing class last year, which were helpful. It took me a couple of hours to do, from measuring and cutting to stuffing the pillow in.  The size is slightly smaller than the one that came with the pillow, but that’s better because it made the bed a bit more fluffed up (it was getting a bit flat).  I’m pleased with the overall outcome (and I think Sonny likes it, too!).

Monthly Wrap Up: January 2013

I’ve decided to do my monthly wrap up a little differently than I did last year.  Very basic, so it won’t take up as much time to write.  My goal is to post it the last day of every month.

Number of books read: 6
Favorite book of the month: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrow

Number of reading challenges completed: 0
(To be expected since it’s only January!)

Number of sewing projects completed: 2
Favorite sewing project of the month: Colette Sorbetto Tank Top

Colette Sorbetto Tank Top

I saw the Colette Sorbetto Tank Top pattern over at beautifully sewn a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was cute and when I saw it was free, I went ahead and printed it out.  When I went to Joann’s to buy the fabric for my dress a couple of weeks ago, I also bought some fun fabric for this tank:

Keepsake Calico

I thought doing this before diving into the more complicated dress would be a good idea.  Get some practice with darts and whatnot.

My measurements spread over a few different sizes based on the Colette sizing charts so I chose the middle size. Last weekend, I started by making a mock first, using leftover fabric from my small (but growing) stash.  Because I had to put both pieces of the pattern on the fold, I ended up having to use two different colors, so don’t mind that funny bit. When I put it on, I noticed that one dart was about 1/2″ longer than the other, so I made a note and planned to be extra careful when making the real thing.  The mock-up fit well, just seemed a bit short, so I added the line for three sizes up on the bottom back to the pattern (since that one was more appropriate for my hip size anyway!)

Then this weekend, I finally dove into the real thing with the real fabric.  I worked slowly to make sure that I didn’t screw anything up. This probably took me about 6-7 hours to complete over 2 days.  The first day I did all the pattern cutting, and went all the way up to attaching the front and back together.  The next day I did the bias tape at the neck and arm holes and then the hemming.

I feel like this one looks more yellow than it really is (maybe it’s because the walls in the room are yellow? Or maybe there are more yellow dots than grey ones).

Ta da!

So here’s a shot against a white door. A bit less yellow, but I feel like the image isn’t all that clear.  I’ll figure out better ways to take pictures….

I ended up re-doing one of the darts 4 times because the first time I went completely off the line, the second time the dart was too long, the third time the thread got all bunched, but the fourth time worked!

This was the second time I worked with bias tape.  I followed the directions on how to attach and I must say, though it was more time-consuming, it was definitely better than when I did it on the changing pads.

My edgestiching needs some practice, but overall I’m pretty happy with the turnout. The material still seems a little stiff (it’s 100% cotton).  But the pajama pants I made in my sewing class last summer were made of the same type of fabric and after a few washings they softened up, so I’m hoping it’s the same for this shirt.

By the way: I LOVE MY ROTARY CUTTER!  Mark got me one for Christmas and I absolutely love it. It works so well.  It takes less time to cut the fabric and the edges are straighter and there’s less fraying (at least first…)

Anywho, hooray for me for finishing my first top without an instructor!  I feel more confident in my abilities but I understand that I have a long way to go. I still have TONS to learn, especially about fabrics, but I know I’ll get there

And Sew Begins the Dress…

In a recent post I told you all about the dress pattern that I wanted to use.  Well, today I did step 2 of the process (and what some people consider one of the more difficult steps): I picked out and purchased my fabric! (and of course, I bought the rest of the things I needed too!)

a fun summery dress print
Keepsake Calico – Jovial Azure

I’m very excited and a bit nervous to start.  I think I’m going to start by practicing darts on some scrap fabric to make sure I do it right.  And I’m going to make a mock-up of the bust first using some plain white cotton I have as well (thanks to everyone who posted suggestions in my other post).

I washed the fabric this afternoon, so I’ll be good to go.   I have one question though, for anyone who has worked with a liner (or even with just this particular pattern):  do you have to wash the liner too?  I know we wash the fabric first just in case of shrinkage, but does that happen to the liner too?

It’s here!

The other day I purchased my first dress pattern, which is my sewlution for this year.  The pattern arrived in the mail today.  Hooray!

pretty dress!

I’m excited to start, but super intimidated.  I’ll just have to take this one slowly, and you can be sure I’ll be posting questions!  And here’s my first one: do you do “mock ups” using muslin first? (Are they called mock-ups?)

I’m thinking of making View A and in a solid color, maybe navy or a dark purple?

Doggie Bow Tie

While perusing tons of free sewing patterns and tutorials online, I came across Tilly and The Buttons tutorial on a bowtie belt.  I thought this would be a cute way to make a bow tie for my dog.  I made a few modifications to accommodate his neck instead of my waist, and here is the result:

Handsome, isn’t he?

Okay, I sat. Can I have my treat now, please?

Here are a few close up shots of the tie:

It was pretty easy to make.  I had to readjust the collar though. Originally I made it with Tilly’s direction, and it was too wide, so I fixed it.  There was more hand sewing than I anticipated which takes me longer than it probably should, so a more seasoned sewer would have finished this faster than I did.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope everyone has a safe, happy and healthy 2013!

~

Today I came across a fantastic blog post from Karen over at Did You Make That?, a sewing/knitting/crafting blog I’ve been following for some time now.  She has created the Sewlutions jar, where we can be held accountable for our sewing/crafting resolutions for this year!  Check out the post to learn more and join in on the Sewlutions for 2013!

Have a great day everyone!

(Back to work tomorrow…I don’t even remember what the office looks like anymore, I haven’t been in since before Christmas!  Hooray for vacation time!)