Quickie Update

I was able to get the Chalk & Notch Fringe dress pattern put together and cut out on Friday and over the weekend. I even started sewing it yesterday.

So far, so good. But I think I hate the fabric and if I continue to hate it, this will be a muslin/toile. The fabric is more lightweight than I was expecting, which I could work with, but it also seems kind of low quality. By that I mean that it just seems like it will fade and show wear fairly quickly. Just a hunch. Hopefully, I'm wrong.

The pattern, on the other hand, seems good. Everything is going together nicely so far. I do have a few opinions (surprised?) which I'll detail whenever I make a final post about this dress. Nothing really bad at all — just my own preferences on some things. 

So now that the sewjo is back, I'm seeing all sorts of things I want to make and there's not enough time in my days. One thing on the short list is this Double Vision glasses case for toting two pairs of glasses in one case. I'm always juggling between my prescription sunglasses and regular glasses and it would be nice to have a pretty single case instead of two ugly boxy ones. The boxy ones are good for protection but I'm not actually going anywhere where I'm slamming down my purse, so an interfaced fabric case should be fine to protect my eyewear from lens scratches while inside my purse. I'm not sure exactly how I ran across this pattern, probably from looking at the designer's sewing room tour on YouTube. But the pattern is only $2.95 and the video tutorial looks like it will be a fast and easy project. Also, good Christmas gift for my sister. I'm not affiliated or anything — just sharing. Wawak has all the interfacings/notions needed, which I ordered (and which brought the cost of the $2.95 pattern up substantially. Haha.). I'm sure I have plenty of quilting cottons in the stash that will work fine for this so at least I'm "saving money" on that part. 

Parting shot: My table in the midst of a project. I need to figure out a second surface for this room so I'm not constantly moving things on/off the cutting table. Maybe a bookcase to the left with a couple of empty shelves for in-progress stuff. I've already filled up the shelves below the table. 

Slow Start

I have been sewing, just not as fast and constant as I want. I'm blaming Christmas dinner hangover. Ugh. I feel like I've gained 20 lbs this month. I haven't, but I haven't been very good either. I *know* what my New Year's resolution will be, and I don't even usually make resolutions. But I want to fit into ALL of my clothes again and now that I'm settled into my job, the pity party (read: food medication) is over.

Wednesday night, Alex was whining (not really) that his purchased key lanyard had met its demise. I'm not sure exactly when he started wearing his keys around his neck, but whenever it was (probably at least as long as he's been driving), he's been doing it ever since. Having to put his keys in his pocket Thursday morning threw off his entire workday zen/balance. Overly dramatic much? Hahaha.

So, sewing mom and stash to the rescue of course! Grosgrain ribbon? Check. Key fob hardware? Check. (Yes, really ... and I even have more.) Tag to disguise a mom-sewn item? Check.

My choices for wide-ish grosgrain ribbon in the stash were limited. I needed one I could fold in half (for strength) and which was not entirely too girlie. This brown/aqua stripe fit the bill best. The unpressed ribbon is on the right below. Cutting the length of ribbon, pressing in half, and then stitching the halves together and over/through the hardware took all of about 10 minutes. 15 tops.

A thread change and then sewing on the label cut from some old pair of jeans years ago took another 2-3 minutes.

And that was the extent of my Thursday sewing. But all was right in Alex's world again as he left for work Friday morning. And he even likes this hardware better than the lame clip of the purchased version. So I call that a sewing win, even if it was only 20 minutes.

Yesterday, having had success with the SBCC Tonic tee, I bought and downloaded the SBCC Mimosa top and muslined it. Both for fit and for construction testing.

The 16 PDF pages for this top were also to be butted together when taped, instead of overlapping, but the "missing bits" of the pattern lines were easy enough to fill in where needed. Even though I did pay for this pattern vs. the free Tonic, I still didn't really mind filling in the lines since the butting up/taping is easier than trimming 2 sides and then overlapping sheets. In other words, this method was a lot faster and I think even more accurate in the long run. For the Mimosa, the separate pages/tiles of the PDF print-out were also numbered so there was no guessing as to what page went where if the printed pages happened to spit out of the printer out of order. Which they did with the Tonic. Ahem. My fault on that.

Before I get into the fit of the muslin, I want to mention a few observations. First, if you look at the coral Mimosa from the SBCC website above, you should notice a back neck facing. It doesn't exist in the final pattern. Instead, there is a pattern piece for bias binding. I think this is better. But don't expect instructions for attaching it. As I mentioned with the Tonic, these are not learn-to-sew patterns. In fact, there's not even a cutting layout given. Which I actually like since I never follow suggested layouts anyway and it saves on printing output too. Grain and fold lines are marked as you'd expect, which is all that's really needed.

The instructions are fine (with one semi-mistake, noted below) but they are in bitmap format instead of a vector PDF. If you don't know the difference, in layman's terms ... a bitmap is like a digital photograph where resolution (file size and pixels) counts, and if resolution is too low, you won't be able to print a clear (unpixelated) rendition. This is the case here. I hope the pattern designer is reading, because I want to suggest that she keep the instructions in the infinitely scaleable vector format and save as PDF, like the Tonic instructions, because the print-out as-is is only so-so. Readable, but blurry. And so easy to make perfect if staying with vectors.

Onto the muslin.

Overall, pretty darn good for a first muslin and the top looks like I expected from the SBCC website. I cut the same sizing as for the Tonic ... which was a straight XL for all of the front and back shoulders/neck/arms, then blending to XL+1/2" for the back bodice starting below the armpits. I did not do an FBA and there is plenty of bust width/length for me. But the bust dart is pointing about 1-1/2" too high for these non-perky girls. That's an easy fix and I've already box-cut around the dart and moved it down on the pattern to be ready for the real fabric today. I also cut the pattern the full length of the biggest size because the hem allowance is only 3/4". I think I might want another 1" and will cut the next one with that additional length to see. I anticipate that most of that will be used as hem allowance, since I prefer a deeper hem.

While my bra straps are technically covered, the neck opening still feels a little wide over my shoulders. I added about 3/8" to the width at each shoulder for the next make, and will show the altered pattern piece when I show the final fabric top. Lastly, as far as fit, the dart in the raglan sleeve poofed on me, because I didn't make a square shoulder alteration for the muslin. I've now done that for the next make (same pattern piece to be shown next time).

The semi-mistake in the pattern that I mentioned above is the mark for where to place the ties. It's just not in the right place to allow for the seam allowance to attach the facing. (The sleeve notches don't match up to the bodice either, but that may be as designed ... IOW for identification only ... since you're never instructed to actually align the marks.) As long as you remember to ignore that mark for the ties and just place them lower with the seam allowance in mind, you'll be fine.

Finally, I also think I may change up the sewing order and attach the front neck facing before I've attached the back bias but after joining the front raglan seams (did you follow that?), because as you can see in the 2 photos above, my joins are not exactly even. :-) I'm still thinking on this and probably won't make up my mind until I'm actually at the sewing machine with the real one.

Which is where I'm headed now ...

Prototype

My wallet is on its last legs. It's being held together by duct tape. I hate spending money to buy a wallet because then you have no money left to put in it. ;-) I think my wallet preferences are fairly common — I like it to be short (vs. the longer clutch styles), have an outside pocket for change so I don't have to open it up fully just to get or put a quarter, and I want plenty of interior pockets and slots for cards and receipts. So, with all of that in mind, I set out this weekend to make up my own. Of course, in USMC MARPAT (the cammie fabric) style.

I'm happy to report that I think I've hit on a final pattern. Unfortunately, the pics below are not it. I need to make it again with some changes. This one, I suppose, is my "muslin." Sheesh, can't get away from muslins even in crafty projects.I need to get Zen about muslins and just embrace them.

That's a passport sticking out on the left side, to give you an idea of scale

The main problem with this "muslin" is that the left side card pockets are too shallow and the cards can (and will) easily flop out. Not a good feature in a wallet. I also want to make some interfacing changes/additions.

I'm really ticked this is a muslin because I'm just about out of the prints I used on the interior and I like them. I have a lot of patriotic fat quarters from my UFO Stars & Stripes sampler quilt. I may use some of those for the next — and hopefully final — edition.

The "Semper Fi" name tape is just temporarily stuck to the outside. It's really a key ring, in case you were wondering what that metal ring is. Once I had decided this muslin wasn't going to work, I didn't bother making a custom name tape. But I will for the final.

Where the bills are sticking out above is where I'd actually put loose change. But loose change is harder to photograph "in action." I wonder how that magnetized snap will affect my credit/debit cards, but it looks so much nicer than Velcro.

I think actual sewing time is about an hour, but experimenting took 2 days. The first one was even worse than this one.

I'm also thinking of making this a pattern for sale. What do you think? And if I do, are there any volunteers for pattern/instruction testing?

Bread Buddy Tutorial

I know you've all long forgotten been waiting impatiently for the tutorial. It's finally up at Moda Bake Shop, here.



I never realized the scorn I'd receive about some of the bread that comes into this house, and it looks like the comments (OK, only one so far) followed me to Moda Bake Shop too. The shame!! lol

I was supposed to have Fat Quarters from Moda to offer as a giveaway in conjunction with the MBS posting, but they seem to have been lost in the mail. I've been assured that at some point I will have them and I will offer them up to my readers at that time … and again open myself up to more bread flames. ;-)

Enjoy. (Or not.)

I'm Baking

Just a little heads up that the Bread Buddy tutorial will be delayed until October 5, 2010 because it will be the featured tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop that day. How cool is that?

I tried to schedule it earlier because I know you are waiting, but October 5 was the first available slot. But to make the wait worth it, I'll also have a little giveaway from Moda that day too. Stay tuned!

No More Squooshed Bread

(Cue Billy Mays voice)
Does your white bread often look like this after you've gotten it home from the grocery store?

Mine too. And it has ticked me off forEVER. Ask my sons, *every* time I'm in the store I wonder aloud why bread manufacturers don't use something more sturdy to package bread. Drives me nuts.

Well, no more — I have solved my problem (and maybe yours too?).

Presenting, the Bread Safe:



Inexpensive, sturdy, lightweight and re-usable.

But strong enough to protect that bread from shopping cart and drive-home mishaps.



But wait! There's more! It can also be folded up compact and portable so it's easy to stick in your purse on your way to the store on grocery day. And it's washable.



Now all I need to do is make another because we always buy at least 2 loaves at a time. And I'm thinking these will also make unique but useful Christmas presents.

Anyone interested in the directions to make one for yourself? Stay tuned!

* * * * *

It's been a slow sewing week here. I was sick with a stomach flu mid-week (ugh!).

And then with the day-after-day rain we've been having, trees have been soaking up all the water and dropping branches left and right. About 3 AM Friday night/Saturday morning, one of our neighbor's trees fell on our power lines, creating a loud electrical explosion and then pitch darkness immediately after. And we have water on a well so our pump was dead without power too.

It took until 2 PM Saturday for the electric company to get here and fix it. And then "all" they did was string new cable. The old power lines the tree landed on are still holding up the tree and are about 6 feet off the ground, and I'm *assuming* not live anymore. I hope the job isn't quite finished and the power company is just waiting until they don't have to pay doubletime to a weekend crew. I'll be calling tomorrow to be sure.

But we stayed out of the fridge and freezer and the food was fine. And the rainy weather meant the house stayed cool too, without sun beating down on it. So, the only thing I lost was sewing time. It could've been worse.

Tutorial: IKEA Expedit DIY Bins

Pattern: Download HERE You will need Adobe Reader/Acrobat to open the PDF. Assembly instructions and the supply list are on the last page of the pattern.

Supplies:

Per Bin:

8 Fat Quarters or Equivalent (2 yds)
Only 2 FQ will be visible so the remainder of the fabric can be scrap yardage, old/new sheets, muslin, etc.

Corrugated cardboard cut into five (5) 12.75" squares
Must be w/o creases or folds. I bought the Expedit shelves above and had enough cardboard from the packing boxes for all 8 bins.

15" Steam-A-Seam or other fusible web strip

1 Freezer baggie or 1 small piece of clear plastic/vinyl - cut to approximately 2" x 2.5".

1 Piece of scrap paper for label

Tape to hold baggie/plastic in place while sewing

Other sewing/cutting supplies:
Thread, scissors/rotary cutter & mat, ruler, sewing machine, iron & ironing board/mat

Note: If you are planning on these covers to be washable, you will need to pre-wash your fabrics before cutting, and then finish the seam allowances during construction so they don't fray in the laundry. I recommend pinking shears. You can use a serger/overlocker, but read through the instructions and visualize the entire process first so you'll know when/where to overlock.

1. Assemble pattern and lay out on fabric.

In the photo below, the green fabric on top is an actual Fat Quarter (18"x22"), the print underneath is a generous FQ and the plaid is just scrap yardage folded into 2 layers. 4 layers of fabric total. Each of these layers will be one side of the outside of the bin.

2. Cut the fabric. Be sure to save those strips as shown below to use for the cuff and the handle.

3. You'll have other scraps left and if you're a quilter, I'm sure you can find a use for them.

4. Using the same "house" pattern piece, cut out 4 lining pieces. I was doing assembly-line sewing for 4 bins, so I've got 12 lining pieces here from an unloved king-sized sheet, with plenty of leftover.

5. Next up is cutting out the cuff pieces (below left). The pattern is divided into 2 sections. If you're doing this on the cheap like me, you will use the shorter section for the "public" side of the bin and the longer piece for the sides that don't show, joining them up to form a 51" x 4.5" band.

If you're spendy :-), don't divide the cuff pattern and use it whole.

From my sheet used above for the lining pieces, I just cut random length 4.5" strips, joined the "public" cuff piece and trimmed them to 52" (52" includes 2 half-inch seam allowances. The finished tube will be 51" as noted above.)

6. Next up are the handles. From the strips used to cut the "public" cuff, you should have enough left to squeak out a 7"-7.5" x 2.5" strip. (See photo above.)

7. Fold the long edges toward the center, using the pattern markings as a guide. Apply Steam-A-Seam to each long raw edge and seal your handle closed.

8. Edgestitch along the long edges of the strip. Press the short raw ends under about 3/4"-1". If you're making more than one bin, note your finished handle length and use the same length for all handles if you want them all to match.

9. Pin your handle 5" - 5.5" inches down from the top edge of the front piece, leaving about 1" of "give" in the length so the handle is not flush against the front (see photo below). Stitch folded-under ends down in a square pattern to attach the handle to the front.

10. Using Scotch tape or whatever tape is handy, tape the baggie/plastic centered about 1/2" below the handle. Edgestitch the bottom and sides, as shown below, stitching through the tape. When finished, remove the tape.

Note: You will have to be careful when pressing once this plastic is in place so you may want to save this step for right before you insert the cardboard sides.

11. Press under the top edge of your cuff tube 1/2" and topstitch 3/8" down from the fold to create a finished hem. The short piece is my "public" cuff. The plaid is scrap. Remember, I was assembly-line sewing - the king sheet strips you saw in the above photos were used on other bins.

Set cuff aside for the moment.

12. As per the pattern, mark dots as shown below on the wrong sides of your 4 cover and 4 lining pieces.

13. Sew 2 of the 4 cover pieces right sides together, as shown. Pivot at the side dot and be sure to stop 1/2" from the bottom point on the dot mark. Be careful to not sew over any of the other pieces' points/seam allowances when you are at the point. You can feel them through the fabric, so just move them out of the path of the needle if necessary. It's OK to stop a little short of the point — it won't show. ;-) Also, remember that the points are on the bias and take care not to stretch the bias edges.

14. Repeat so that all 4 cover pieces are joined right sides together. You will end up with a cover that looks like this on the bottom, where the 4 points come together to form an X.

15. Repeat steps 13 & 14 for the 4 lining pieces.

16. Clip up to but NOT INTO the stitching at all corners on both cover and lining. See photo and drawing below. Do not clip the bottom point.

17. Press all seams open. Press the intersections at the point as flat as possible.

18. On the cover only, press the top raw edge under 1/2". Topstitch 3/8" in from the top to close the hem.

19. Back to the cuff tube you set aside earlier. Match the raw edge of the cuff tube to the top raw edge of the lining, right sides together. Center the "public" cuff section, if you have one, across one of the lining panels. You are trying to avoid a seam-to-seam match up at the corners for less bulk when assembling the bin later.

20. Press the joined cuff and lining flat, with the seam allowance pressed toward the lining.

21. This next part is tricky to describe and almost impossible to show intelligible photos through all the steps so follow along carefully and exactly.

a. Turn the cover right side out.

b. Turn the lining wrong side out.

c. Place lining inside the cover so that wrong sides face each other and each piece's side seam allowances are roughly matched up across from each other. (The cuff will extend at the top.)

Be sure to match your "public" cuff lining section with the "public" front face fabric of the cover.

d. Reach in between the cover and lining pieces and pick one pair of seam allowances (1 from the cover, 1 from the lining) and pin them together from the snip at the corner to the hem at the top of the cover. Sew the seam allowances together outside the existing seam in the existing seam allowance. Your new stitching should be 1/16" to 1/8" outside of the previous sideseam stitching.

In the photo below, the blue line is the existing stitching and the red line is the stitching you are doing in this step. Stitch starting about 3/4" below the cover's hem and stitch to the snips in the corner, keeping the seam allowance raw edges aligned and flat.

e. DO NOT pin more than one pair of seam allowances together at a time or you will end up with a twisted bunch of fabric you can't turn. Trust me. It is a lot easier to rearrange the cover and lining between each step of joining them together. So, when you have finished joining one pair of seam allowances, start from step 21(a) above for the next pair. Continue until all four seam allowances are joined and turn everything so the right sides are out on both cover and lining.

22. At this point, your bin cover should resemble this:

23. If you haven't cut your cardboard squares, do that now. I use my 60 mm rotary cutter and it's a breeze! Plus my sons think it sounds pretty cool, and I haven't noticed the cardboard dulling the blade at all.

(Add your plastic label holder now if you deferred this step from above.)

Slide 1 cardboard square into each of the 4 pockets between cover and lining you created in step 21. Go slow — the pockets will be snug and if you force the cardboard, you'll bend it.

24. With 4 cardboard panels in place, your bin is starting to take shape and will resemble this:

25. Fold the cuff over the cardboard edge and cover, to resemble this:

26. Almost there!

Right now, the bottom of your bin is still floppy fabric, like this:

27. If you're industrious and care about unseen details, you can cover the last cardboard square with some fabric and stitching or even glue, but I know no one will ever see the bottom of these bins but me, so I just …

28. … pushed the uncovered square inside as-is.

Start with the square on edge against one side of the bin and then lower it like a drawbridge until it's flat across the bottom.

Ta Dah!

This is the back view of the above bin. You can see how easily they can be turnable-reversible with a different print on each cover panel. These fabrics may not look like scraps, but trust me — they've all been used a lot and are definitely leftovers.

These bins use more "traditional" scraps and old sheets. Really bad cutting on that plaid - no way that side will ever see the light of day again. ;-)

If you use this tutorial to make your own bins, I'd love to see a photo!