Sewing at a Standstill

The last few weeks have been pretty wild around here. Between my husband's birthday, Father's Day, last week of school for the kids, and a quick trip to Cooperstown, there has not been a lot of sewing going on.

But I did manage to eek out this pillowcase for my son...I got this great PacMan fabric on eBay. My son loves anything to do with video games, and his favorite color is lime green.




I also signed up for Fat Quarter Shop's mystery designer Block of the Month. I got the first block last week and made it right away. I fell in love with the colors scheme and I like getting "surprises" in the mail.



The only drawback for me is that I LOVE doing the blocks and then REALLY struggle with doing the borders and quilting. AKA...finishing.

What type of projects do you like to start, but have trouble finishing??

McCall's 5431 Skirt - Epic Fail

Dear Lord. How could I not have thought of all of this BEFORE I started cutting into my beautiful Denyse Schmidt 80's retro pink and grey plaid??

I should back up. I love wearing skirts in the summer. I wear A-line skirts the way lots of women wear khaki shorts. They are my every day staple. Of course, as a sewist, I love the idea of making skirts for myself with precious pieces from my stash. I buy TONS of skirt patterns...alas, I have not yet found the right pattern for me. Here's why.

I'm 5'4". I CANNOT carry a lot of fabric. That means flowy-ness OR length. I bought this McCall's pattern #5431 for $1 at Joann, so at least THAT didn't kill me. I was going to make version C, the shortest one, with no pockets. Looks to hit a hair below the knee....Perfect. 5'4" also means NO pockets for me. Too much fabric. I liked the fact that it said "quick". I liked that there was a zipper, this tends to mean the skirt will fit better. I should have known when I couldn't cut the front of the skirt without turning the fabric sideways that it would be TOO MUCH SKIRT.

But I neglected to look at the drawing closely...all of the versions are flowy. All of the women have stupid long legs. Unlike me. So I dove in, and took my precious 90 minutes of sewing time and made this...

Sweet Baby Jesus, where do I begin??? First of all, I ALWAYS get screwed up by the sizing. I made it a full size and half too big (yes, that's even MORE fabric). But it's a plaid, going crosswise, too. I put on the skirt, and I looked like the broad side of a barn. Much cursing and foot stomping ensued.

There is one saving grace to this mishap. The skirt has SO much fabric, I will easily be able to cut it up and use it in a quilt. That is only a little bit of solace. I am seriously, like 0-4 on my last few garment projects. What's a girl to do???

Would one of you be kind enough to recommend a good A-line skirt pattern for me??? This trial and error stinks.

On a cheerier note...my daughter walked with her Brownie troop last Monday in our local town's Memorial Day parade.

She is pretty tiny compared with a the other girls. They put her in the middle to even out the height on either side. But she makes up for it in spirit.

I may not be grateful for my sewing epic fail today, but I am most certainly grateful for my wonderful family, and yet another gorgeous New England weekend.

Sweet Upcycled Girl's Purse Pattern/Tutorial

I have made tons of these small purses. It's made from a felted sweater, some vintage trim, and a little fabric (I used new) for the interior. I've sold them in my Etsy shop, I've made tons to give away. Now you can make them too!

Here is the link to a PDF of the pattern:

Girl's Purse Pattern

This is what the first page should look like:

Please feel free to use the pattern as many times as you like. You can even share it with friends! If you'd like to use it to make bags to sell, that's fine too! My only requirement is that you don't sell the pattern itself to make a profit.

Enjoy!

Color Me Rad - Hartford Style

What a day I had yesterday! I ran my third 5k, in a race called Color Me Rad. It's a race they set up in lots of cities all around the country. In each city they choose a local charity to raise money for. In Hartford, it was for the Greater Hartford YMCA. But that's not the fun part...

Everyone dresses in white, and at 5 stations along the course, they have volunteers throw colored corn starch at the runners, so when you're done, you look like a giant tye-died person. They give everyone a packet of color at the start to throw around too.

So, here's what I looked like at the start of the race

There were multiple "waves" of start times, and this is what the start looked like from the registration line.

This is what I looked like when I was done.

It was tons of fun. I have no idea what my race time was, but I ran for the first time without music. It was so much fun to see all of the other runners. There had to be at least 10,000 people. It was a wild day.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

My grandmother used to tell me that all the time. Don't worry about how fast you're getting something done, just keep working. Which is what I did this week. I didn't get a lot of sewing done, but I did manage to finish up all of my Off The Rail blocks, and they're ready to put into rows. I chose a few of my favorites...the colors of this line really speak to me. I can't wait to see the top all put together.

I really love this honeycomb pattern, it's so much more fun than a plain polka dot.

I'm finishing up my second tutorial this week! I can't wait to share it with you all. It's upcycled project, and uses an old sweater to make a little girl's purse. Come back next week and take a look!

Thankful to be a Mom

When I see them like this, sometimes I think to myself "Am I really their mother?? Did I manage to care for them and love them bring them to this point?" I am so blessed with such healthy, happy, fun, kind children.

So for Mother's Day, I made THEM gifts. Matching PJs from the great Scientific Seamstress pattern for Easy Fit Pants. The fabric was from *gasp* Joann, and was not designer per se. But it reminded me so much of them. It says "Did you kiss your dog today?". They both love our dogs to death.

The long and short of it is I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I am so fortunate to have these amazing little creatures in my life.

Car Garbage Bag - One Yard Wonders Pleases Again

The reason I can post these pictures is because my mother-in-law doesn't have internet access. Or a smart phone. But she does have a car. So for Mother's Day I made her this super handy, super cute garbage bag for her car. And it won't ruin the surprise because she won't see it early!

This is the page from One Yard Wonders showing the pattern. Gotta love the dog in the background.

Overall, it was blissfully easy to complete. A total of one hour of sewing, 10 minutes of cutting, and a $2.29 buckle from JoAnn later...I had this!!

The main bag is Jennifer Paganelli (a.k.a. SisBoom) Honey Child, and the trim is Sandi Henderson Farmer's Market. Both from my stash, which pleases me to no end. (Read: Excuse to go buy something to replace them!) This is a close up of the box stitching to hold the handles in securely. Not that she'll be putting rocks in here or anything, but sturdy is good.

The back lays nice and smooth, to hang against the back of the passenger seat.

Now for the drama!! When I was sewing the straps, I was leaning in close to be sure I was making a nice straight line. And SNAP!! The needle broke into 3 pieces and one hit my forehead. DOH! I was actually pretty shaken, it was WAY too close to my eyes for comfort. Note to self...when setting the needle into many layers for the first stitch...look away or at least lean back!

Have you had any sewing injuries??? Yikes!