Miss You Sew Much

Am I the only one who was up until all hours sewing a Halloween costume? Please tell me I'm not.

First thing out of Spud's mouth this morning when he woke up wasn't, "Good morning, Mom!" it was, "Did you finish my costume?" *sigh* I do kind of feel bad that he didn't have the costume sitting there staring at him for days before Halloween, and he didn't get the chance to BEG me to try it on just ONE MORE TIME and such...but he was pretty psyched about it when he did try it on this morning.

I DID, in fact, finish! And it came out great, if I do say so myself. He wanted to be a flashy ninja (bottom right, black and silver), and it was my first time really working with this weird woven silver fabric. It wasn't as hard to use as I'd expected, but it does ravel quite a bit.

And I confess, I wasn't extremely careful with it, so it's not my proudest project. But when he tried it on this morning, it looked great! I forgot to put the gusset part in the hood (WHOOPS) but it still fits. For some reason, I didn't have NEARLY enough silver fabric, so he got no boot covers (he didn't mind), and the elastic on the mask is too long (easy to shorten, though).

Another Halloween costume down, with MINIMAL DRAMA! Hooray!

Posted by Kerri at 09:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, isn't that funny? I opened an Etsy shop, and people bought stuff! Not only that, I've gotten a wholesale order, and so I'm cranking out twelve bags, three each of four designs. YIPES that's a lot of work!

Just before the order, though, I bought a knitting pattern! It said it was for beginners, and said if I could yarn over, knit two together, and do a stockinette stitch, I could make this pattern. Well, I can do all those things! So I spent six bucks on this fabulous slipper pattern, without having the opportunity to read through it (it was an e-pattern PDF). Well, wouldn't you know? I got the pattern, and it made NO SENSE. I mean none. I couldn't even tell which yarn was the MC (main color), or which yarn to start with. I wrote back to the pattern creator, and while sympathetic, she wasn't particularly helpful.

So I gave the pattern to my mother. Which made me feel a lot better -- because she said it was a terribly poorly written pattern. It was not my fault. WHEW. She even had trouble following it, and she's the most amazing knitter I've ever met. (Not just because she's my mom -- but because she's just really good.) The good news is, she's going to make me a pair of slippers from the pattern. In fact, she's got one almost done. (Then I distracted her with a SuperMarioBros scarf pattern from Craftster -- I guess my son's scarf is now more important than my chilly toes.) ;-)

So, when will people who write patterns stop writing them in such a way that it's like a CONTEST to see if you can actually figure it out? I mean, it's a PATTERN, people. Not a PUZZLE.

Posted by Kerri at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So, I saw a video on YouTube from Make: and Etsy about how to make 'fabric' out of old plastic grocery bags. It's really cool...sandwich eight or ten layers of grocery bag together, iron between pieces of waxed paper, and there you have it, fabric! I decided to give it a whirl. Our grocery store has pretty fruit printed on their bags, and I had another that said THANK YOU on it...so I decided to design it using those as decoration.

The 'fabric' comes out feeling a lot like Tyvek, you know, house wrap, or those really sturdy plastic-like envelopes that the Post Office has. I bet it would come out even stronger if you sandwiched some cheesecloth or something inside.

So, I gave it a go, and in less than an hour, I had a new purse! Can't turn the iron too hot, or the plastic will melt (I had to patch it in one spot), but it stitches like a dream. I think maybe I'll make a wallet, next!

Posted by Kerri at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This neat project from Evil Mad Scientist shows you how to create a bag/pouch/holder/container thingie for your digital camera. It uses the camera's own strap, but wraps around the camera to keep it safe from bumps, and clean. I think it's an awesome idea, and all the better that she's using/reusing found materials (e.g. the leg from an old pair of jeans!). I'd probably add a bit of high-density foam inside, because I'm prone to whanging my camera against everything when I carry it around. But that's just me.

Posted by Kerri at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It had to be said. Don't you wish your girlfriend could sew like me? DON'T YOU?

I have been on vacation -- my sweetie and I went to Banff for a few days of Canadian Rocky fun. There was one sewing store in town (that we saw), but sadly, a) it was closed, 2) it looked like it was mostly for alterations and custom drapes (although, who in that town needed custom drapes is a good question, as there's not much of an affluent residential area nearby -- I guess maybe the people in the time-share condos?), and iii) it wasn't a FABRIC store. She had a few fat quarters, but then there were, like, kids' toys and things. Meh. Didn't miss much.

When I got back, I got a call from Vanessa at Etsy, who wanted to do a little interview with me for their new blog. I sounded like an idiot, blathering away, running at the mouth, but then, any of you who've listened to our podcast will be familiar with that state of affairs. She was interviewing me because I was one of three winners of the Etsy/Instructables Sew Useful contest!

I heard about the contest on the Material Mama podcast, and thought, HEY! I can make something useful! But the deadline was just around the corner, and I didn't have time. Until they extended the deadline! (Shout out to Nutmeg over at Material Mama -- thanks so much for mentioning the contest! I wouldn't have known about it without you!)

I created a tutorial to make a waterproof, airtight hearing aid dryer. To my amazement, people LIKED the idea, LIKED the tutorial, and someone even BOUGHT it from my Etsy shop! I was less amazed that it actually worked -- my son took his bag to camp every day this summer, and it was a safe, dry place for him to keep his hearing aids while they were swimming at the beach. It worked out great! (His was a Batman fabric, of course, and not the boring blue wave fabric.)

I love Etsy, and I love Instructables, and I love making stuff, so I was totally humbled to take home any mention at all, much less a fancy new sewing machine. Now that our vacation is over, school is back in session, and I've got more thread than I know what to do with, I should probably sit back down at a machine -- it's been more than a week since I've sewn ANYTHING! Gah!

Posted by Kerri at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My latest project was one of those things that hits you -- there's inspiration so strong, you just have to drop everything and do it. So last night, when I got home, I just STARTED! So, dinner was a little late, so what? Now I have my own reusable grocery bag!

It went up amazingly fast. Cut two pieces of duck cloth about 20" x 16". Two half-inch pleats in the top of each side. Two strips, 18" x 4" (if I'm remembering correctly -- could be 18" x 3"). I did a lot of ironing here so I wouldn't have to double-stitch the finished hems, so I attached the top strip to the inside of the bag, then folded it over the top lip, and topstitched the bottom edge of it to the front, as I'd already ironed it up a quarter inch or so.

Then I made a faux gusset in the bottom...also called 'boxed corners'. That's where you sew the whole thing together, and then you turn the bottom corners out as points. Gosh, I wish I could explain this better... HELP!

Anyway, it's a really fun, lightweight (less than five ounces, including the handles!) tote, perfect for bringing to the farmer's market! It's made of a light cotton duck, so it's strong, but not bulky. (Although sewing seven layers of it together where the handles attach does create a bit of a lump, it was no problem at all for my 1929 Singer 101!)

Maybe the next one I make, I'll do a tutorial, if anyone's interested.

Posted by Kerri at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Oh, how cool is this? On the 15th of every month, Michael Swaine sets up shop with his treadle sewing machine, and mends stuff for people, right there on the street, in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. If he keeps one person from buying one piece of commercially manufactured ready-to-wear clothing, or helps someone continue to use something they'd otherwise not be able to afford to replace, I think he's done something awesome. :-)

Some local TV coverage.

Posted by Kerri at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I blogged before about this great little sewing store that I found just a few miles from my house -- it's small, and she doesn't have too many bolts of fabric, but the ones she does have are just beautiful. I stopped down there last weekend to get a wing needle to do some hemstitching (more about that soon), and saw this amazingly fun print. She was holding the bolt for someone, but when I batted my eyelashes at her and said I only needed about half a yard, she said it was no problem! I was looking for something fun to do with the print, so I made one of my little signature zipper pouches that I seem to make almost constantly.

I figured I'd do a tutorial on the pouches at the same time, so I brought the camera down to the sewing machine, and here are the results! Feel free to comment here (or on Flickr) if you have any questions on how to make it work.

UPDATE: Add a URL or link below to a picture of a bag you made using this tutorial, or email the picture to me, to be entered into the fabric contest!

Posted by Kerri at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Remember the Etsy / Instructables contest I mentioned a couple of weeks ago? I finally got an entry in! I am shamelessly seeking votes, so if you think it's a good Instructable, and you have or are willing to get an Instructables login, please vote for me! :-)

Posted by Kerri at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's something that I wasn't going to bother posting about, because I just found out about it a week ago, and figured no one would have time to do it.

Instructables/Etsy contest

Make something useful. Anything. Doesn't have to be sewn. Does have to be useful...although there's a broad definition of useful.

"In general, we take "useful" to mean something that makes life easier for humans. This could be a tool, a modification of some existing object, or an item that has some practical function. It could be helpful to a person who has a specific disability or could be generally functional for anyone."

I have an idea -- it's something I was going to make anyway, but now I have an excuse to document the process! Not telling yet, though.

Posted by Kerri at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Carrie is here for a few days, and we've been trying to connect -- but with Mother's Day and so many people and so much to do, we haven't actually seen one another yet! Hard to imagine. But true. Boo.

This morning I was listening to the Material Mama podcast, which reminded me that I had the Sew Forth Now Podcast on my iPod, and that I'd started listening to this great interview with a gal who owns a fabric shop -- a shop that specializes in knit fabrics! Knits are always more of a challenge to sew with than wovens, and it was excellent to listen to her tips and tricks. (Did you know that you can tell which side is the FACE of a knit by looking at the holes punched in the selvages? The side that the needle went in is the back, and the side that the needle came out is the face. Cool, huh?)

I did pick up something from the "DUH" department. Of course, when you get new fabric, before you use it, you have to launder it. I usually zigzag over each cut edge of the fabric so that it doesn't unravel in the washing process. Well, DUH, I could just zigzag the cut edges TOGETHER, and cut my time and thread use in half. It's such an obvious thing...no wonder I never thought of it. :-)

Posted by Kerri at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, we've been gone a while. I am just back to health after a bout with pneumonia, and Carrie's kitty has been requiring a great deal of medical care. So much for excuses.

Today was pretty exciting. Remember back when Muffy and I made potholders? Well, that day, she brought down her Featherweight, an old Singer sewing machine that was built like a WORKHORSE. They go for a great deal of money on eBay...and they are mechanical marvels. Just straight stitches. That's all it does. It's white. And it's heavy as a son of a gun.

She brought it down to see what was wrong with it...it wasn't sewing properly. Clearly there was more wrong with it than I could figure out. However, there is that new sewing place near my house, and the woman who runs the store also fixes (or can have fixed) sewing machines -- even oldies like this one. My darling husband, of his own accord, toted it down to the store one day to have it fixed. That was a couple of weeks ago. They called a few days ago and told us it was ready. New belt, fix a spring -- $66 later and the thing is good as new. So of course I had to give it a go.

Ahhhh. What a connected experience. Don't get me wrong. I love my computerized sewing machine. Its ease of use is fantastic, and it is so precise. But using this machine was like driving a 66 Mustang. You can feel every bump in the road, it's very responsive, and you really feel like YOU are doing the sewing, not that the machine is doing it for you. It really is something. Now I get to call Muffy and surprise her with the fact that her machine is fixed! (In the meantime, she's bought herself a nice simple Brother machine, and she's making great use of it...but still. Featherweight. I'm only giving it back if she promises to let me borrow it from time to time.) :-)

Posted by Kerri at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes, you find a pattern that's the convergence of a lot of greatness -- good paper (instead of thin brown wrinkled tissue), good instructions, and a good outcome. TimberLane Press' First Choice Boxers #404 are all those things, and they're FUN to make. They're *real* boxers -- not like the Kwik Sew ones that have a seam up the middle of the butt. And they only take about a yard of fabric and some elastic.

Four cuts -- two fronts, two sides, one back, and one fly flap. The cutting does take a while, but the rest of the pattern makes up for it. The seams are all flat-felled -- a seam I hadn't used much, but now I am in love with. You basically sew with WRONG sides together, then cut one side of the seam allowance in half, and then roll the wider side over the side you just cut. Voila! They look so professional, and they're really sturdy.

It took me about two hours to do the actual construction on each pair (I made two), but I trust I'll get a little quicker as time goes on. In both cases, I got a little gap at the bottom of the fly, and I'm still not sure why, but I did a quick little bar tack over that, and they're just fine.

Most importantly, Spud loves 'em. This pattern gets a huge thumbs up from me, especially since I got it for TWO DOLLARS at my local sewing shop!

Posted by Kerri at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you are, you'll <3 the crunky video podcast from ThreadBanger. It's short (around five minutes) and fun, with lots of energy, and some neat ideas. As crazy as it sounds, I never thought of going to a thrift store to buy something and recycle it for its fabric or its printed design. Duh. (OMG, did I really just say 'crunky'?) *dies*

Posted by Kerri at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I need a thread stand. I have an embroidery machine, and I have more cones of thread than should be legal, not to mention the spools I also have. The spools are OK...I can mount them on the machine properly. But the large cones are hard to deal with. I've seen thread stands before, but I've never gotten around to getting one. Well, we finally have a piece of wire in the house that is perfect for it, and I'm going to make one out of it. BUT. If I didn't have that piece of wire? Here is what I would do.

by dispril

This gal made a thread stand out of a CD spindle and a wire clotheshanger. Sheer brilliance.

Posted by Kerri at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just back from a little vacation in Chicago -- we'd never been, and it was a lot of fun! Sadly, I didn't get to the garment district. (OK, I am making this up, as I don't even know if Chicago HAS a garment district.) And Carrie's away for a bit, as well.

But now that I'm back and surfing the web, I found this great picture tutorial on how to get a rolled hem working.

http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/hemming.html

I cannot for the life of me get a decent rolled hem, even with my magical sewing machine and its magical rolled hem foot. This tutorial has made me want to give it another try, and maybe just practice one every time I sit down at the machine, on a scrap. At least it couldn't hurt, right?

Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions at all on how to successfully do a rolled hem.

Posted by Kerri at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey Fishy! Muffy came over this weekend. In addition to the fun hangingoutness, she also had some sewing needs. First, we looked at her Singer Featherweight, which is in need of professional repair. :-( So she couldn't fix the zipper in her coat, or make potholders, which she really needed.

Off to Jo-Ann we went to get some potholder fabric. And they had little White sewing machines on clearance!! It would have cost more than $80 to get the Featherweight fixed, and that's how much the machine was, so she got it! It does all the basic stitches, including a four step buttonhole.

We also got some Insul-Brite, which is this soft inside batting that also has a metalic layer, perfect for use in potholders and ironing board covers and such. So, after $80 for the new sewing machine, and about $5 of fabric and materials -- BEHOLD!! The $85 set of potholders! We had expected to spend about $5 and do them on my machine. Instead, we spent $85, and used the potholder project to sort of get acquainted with her machine. WHAT FUN!

Posted by Kerri at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So, I mentioned my new dress/jacket, which I made for Pittsburgh.

I needed a dress to wear...something winter, not too showy (it's HER day), but comfortable. Yes, I could have pulled something out of the back of the closet (I haven't had the need to dress up much lately, so dresses are pretty tucked away), or I could have gone to the store and endured mid-February clothes shopping (try finding something that's not SPRINGY), but really, it's so much better to make something. Not only do you wind up with just the garment you want, but you also are honoring the person for whom the event is planned -- I made this special just for this event! It just does feel more...ok, special.

The other thing is, when your bust measurement is almost five inches smaller than your hip measurement, well, dresses off the rack never fit right. Separates are ok because you can buy them in different sizes, but not dresses. I've gotten pretty good at taking in tops and flaring out bottoms as necessary in commercial patterns.

I love the style of this dress...

The three-piece front is a flattering style for any shape, but especially for less-than-large-busted women such as myself, and the scalloped hem is flouncy and pretty. I chose a green sort of twilly sort of peachskin (pictures to come) that has a bit of a stretch. It was very easy to work with. I decided not to line it though, and I had to adjust the neckline quite a bit, as the darts and the waist were too low. I also had to take in the armholes a bit. But those mods were no big whoop (I did have to cut a custom facing for the neck, though, since it was now a completely different shape.) The neck seam puckered a little bit at one corner, but I don't care, because it's sleeveless, so I'll have a jacket over it. Also, since I didn't line it, I had to figure out what to do with the armholes (no facings, no lining) -- and for the same reason, I just overcasted the edges and then rolled them in, and topstitched. They got a little bit puckery, too...grar. But again. Jacket. So I didn't bother ripping it out and redoing it. I'll do that for the next time I wear it.

The jacket was a horse of a different color. I used a heavy brown moleskin that was embroidered with simple green-gold-red shapes. In a dress, it would have made me look like a chair. But for just the jacket, I think it actually looks pretty nice. Since the jacket goes *over* the dress, you'd think that it'd be cut a bit bigger than it is. Even adding some flare at the bottom wasn't quite enough, and I decided to not even add a button/buttonhole, mainly because I ran out of time. The shoulders fit just fine, but the waist and hips really could have used another inch or so (I like a loose fit -- but a FIT, not a potato sack.) Also, the neck of the jacket was pretty confusing to put together -- there's a long front underfacing piece (well, two pieces that you put together), and then a back facing that I finally figured out goes inside...but it all goes together in a weird way, and it did make a tiny bit of a pucker that I just couldn't get out in time. The back facing piece I would have done in a lighter lining fabric had I figured out sooner how the thing goes together. I struggled with this for quite a while before I figured out how it was supposed to go together -- and I still wasn't able to machine stitch it exactly the way it needed to be. But close enough.

That said, I REALLY like how the jacket came out. I think it helps that the fabric has a bit of weight to it, and I used plenty of interfacing. But the collar is a really interesting feature (I have a small wrinkle in mine on the inner left neck, but I'm sure I can figure that out), and it lays nicely.

I will definitely make both of these pieces again. The neck facing on the dress is a bit tricky, but I think next time I'll put the facing in first, and THEN do the alterations. And I'd probably tape the armholes or maybe even actually line the dress. I could make my own facings, but if I'm going to do that, I might as well line it anyway. The fit is just excellent, and with my minor alteration (taking it in at the shoulder seams), the waist hits exactly the right spot, and the bottom is just a *little* bit flouncy, as it should be.

Posted by Kerri at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OK, I'm at work, so I only have a second, but I just had this idea. If you have a boy, and he likes those T-shirts that are short sleeved shirts with extra long sleeves sticking out underneath the short sleeves, you can make them by saving old outgrown or stained long-sleeve T-shirts. Cut off the arms, and sew them into a short-sleeved shirt.

I am so doing this.

Posted by Kerri at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you ever wondered exactly how the mechanics of a sewing machine work, and you happen to like nerds, check out this 8-minute video. (Also, don't miss the bloopers at the end, especially at 8:10.)

Posted by Kerri at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Carrietta? Mom? Someone? I know a guy who might LOVE one of these...civil bitch has a free pattern for a Captain Underpants doll!

Which brings me to a dilemma. Sewing for boys. OK. I can make buttondown shirts. I can make cargo pants (but they never look as cool as the ones from the Gap -- I think they don't prewash the pockets or something). But what else?? I'm going to embroider the name of Spud's school on a T-shirt, that'll be cool. And bookmarks with his favorite characters, those are always handy.

But what else?

And lastly, I found this HILARIOUS pattern this morning that I'm totally going to use, from SuperNaturale. Make underpants out of old T-shirts. Yes. Indeed.

Posted by Kerri at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

There's this guy on eBay who sells zippers. This is the second time I've ordered from him, and MANG, lemmee tell ya. These are some zippers! YKK Talon polyester coil zippers, these are 7"-8" long, cost me less than $15, including shipping. A hundred of them!

Had I bought Coats and Clark zippers at my nearby store where such things are sold, they would have run me more than a buck apiece.

SQUEE!

Posted by Kerri at 03:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's something that I posted to Craftster.org a while back -- a pattern for booties/peds/slippers/whatever you want to call them. There is a link in that post to a PDF of the pattern that I made. The booties are made with a cotton/lycra stretchy material, the kind of stuff that leggings are made of. Not stockings or tights, but the thick cottonyish ones. The fabric was a bit hard to find, actually -- I happened to have some in my stash, so I used that, but I wasn't able to find anything in the fabric store...until just this past week. I found some at JoAnn when I happened to be in there picking up some thread. They only had one or two colors, and they were solids, but they were just perfect. It was with the dancewear and swimwear fabric. Just remember too use a zig-zag stitch -- I would say use an overlock, as I did with the first pair I made, but the zig-zag doesn't create as aggressive a seam inside, if your feet are sensitive to that sort of thing.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these little slippery things. You can put dots on the bottom with puffy fabric paint or silicone caulk or whatever you have handy to make them more grippy if you want to walk around in them on hard floors. I use them at night when I put lotion on my feet, to protect the sheets and keep the stuff from rubbing off.

Posted by Kerri at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I don't know what's gotten into me, but I really want to give book binding a try. I love journals, I love paper, I love good pencils and writing stuff down. And I notice that there are lots of folks on Etsy who make journals and such -- but I want exactly what I want. :-) Plus, fabric-clad hardback books? What better way to use up some of my stash?

So I've ordered a complete book-binding kit. When I get to it, I'll take pictures and let you know how it goes.

And as for the weekend? With a minor glitch here and there, it was fabulous, and while I still think my dress hem was a little weird, the jacket looked great. I'll have to see if anyone actually took pictures of it.

Posted by Kerri at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Carrie mentioned in the last podcast that she really wanted to learn to sew clothing. (I know you can do it!) So I figured I'd cobble together some advice that I've learned over the years when it comes to making clothing with commercial patterns.

Anyone who's ever bought a sewing pattern off the shelf knows that they're not particularly good for LEARNING to sew. They do outline basic techniques, but really, you can't learn to sew just from a pattern. I learned at the knee of my grandmother, who always amazed me with the fact that she could make clothes. I mean, clothes come from the store, don't they? The first thing I remember her making were the costumes that my sister and I wore for our baton-twirling group, the Wickfordettes. I was SO proud of the doubleknit polyester dress with gold braid (which really WAS sewn on straight, even though it doesn't look like it)...I thought I was some sort of PRINCESS wearing that thing, and Gram had made it.

So anyway. Learning to sew from Gram -- note that she worked full time all of her adult life, including as the owner of several restaurants, for which she baked pies every morning at oh-my-God-o'clock. So she was a busy gal. But she always took the time to do things right. She put as much focus into winding a bobbin as she did easing a sleeve at the shoulder. (I *hate* easing sleeves at the shoulders, by the way...) Here's what my grandmother did when she made garments from patterns.

You buy the pattern, and the first night, you read the instructions. Don't even unfold the tissue sheets, just pull out the instructions and read the pattern from start to finish. Several times.

The second night, cut out the pattern tissue. (If you're going to make a muslin mockup, this whole schedule goes to pot, so let's assume you're not. I'll do a post about muslin mockups soon! If I remember!) If the tissue is really wrinkly, you can touch it with a warm (not hot) iron.

The third night, cut out the fabric (and any associated interfacing). THIS IS USUALLY THE HARDEST PART of making a garment from a commercial pattern. Take your time. One tip that Gram didn't have -- spray the back of the pattern with temporary fabric adhesive spray, such as Sulky KK2000 temporary spray adhesive. (I have been looking for a less expensive similar product, so please comment here if you know of one!)

The fourth night, do the FIRST STEP of the pattern. Just the first step.

Each subsequent night, do one step.

Most patterns are a dozen steps or fewer...so within two weeks, you'll have a finished garment, and you won't have rushed it. You can really take your time fusing the interfacing to your lining if it's the only thing you're doing that night. If you're new to sewing, this is really a good way to boost your confidence, and come out the other end with a really nice handmade thing!

Posted by Kerri at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Listen to the podcast!

Show notes/links/stuffs...
Carrie's sock

Side view of sock

Second sock

More sock

Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Jacob's yoga mat bag

Jacob's baby pants (OK, baby pants MADE BY Jacob)

Jacob's hand warmers (man style)

Paper Piecing Primer

Dog block for Kerri's sister

Video of knitting machine socks

Socks aftermath

Posted by Kerri at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I left work early yesterday to get home and meet Spud's bus. It arrived at 4, and at about 4:30 he informed me that his costume for the 'wax museum' at school had to be brought in early. How early? "Tomorrow!" Uh. OK. I'd planned on a nice relaxing evening.

Instead, we had to figure out what Thomas Edison usually wore (vests and bowties, turns out), and then run to the store, get a pattern, fabric, yadda yadda yadda.

Finding a vest pattern in a boy's size 12/14 ain't easy, come to find out. There was a nice one that also came with a bowtie pattern (7030), and it had boy sizes and man sizes -- but that chasm in between was where Spud fit. Meh, no sweat, I'll just fudge the pattern and add a few inches. They also had a nice black woven cotton/poly blend that was almost like a micro-faille, and this cute plaidish lining that was on clearance for a dollar a yard. Whew.

Back home, I let everyone know to leave me alone...I had to WORK! The good news is, things went off without a hitch. The vest and bowtie are made. The vest actually looks FABULOUS. The tie is a little bit hacked together in the back, but no one will see that. It called for TWO layers of tie, each one with batting inside it. That sounded rather foppish, frankly, so I went with ONE layer of tie, and interfacing instead of batting. Nice and small and cute. Basically, for the tie, you cut out a rectangle, baste batting to it, then fold the edges into the center...so you're folding it in half, but the seam is in the center back. Stitch closed, and turn. I did that, and it looked like he was going to be wearing a black maxi-pad under his chin, so I put the kibosh on that. :-)

Then you just pinch the 'tie' in the center, wrap around it a little tube that you make (which is the 'knot'), and then you're supposed to slip-stitch the 'knot' closed. Yeah, I just zig zagged it...it's the back surface of the tie, and it's against his neck, so no one will see it. :-) Then, instead of hardware and junk in the back? Yeah, Velcro. And it's even WHITE Velcro, because I didn't have the wherewithall to dig out the black. It was midnight by this point. But you know? It came out pretty nice! (And even though the photo, which was taken in low light -- it was MIDNIGHT! -- makes the vest and tie look brown, I assure you they are actually black, and not wrinkled.)

Posted by Kerri at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)