Category: sewing

sewing

Challenge Check-In

 

No, I haven’t been slacking on my personal sewing for Caitlyn challenge. And I hope to have more to show soon! In the meantime, a nightgown. I bought this pattern (McCall’s 5510) several years ago in a fit of frustration. Caitlyn needed summer weight jammies and everything I found at the various department stores I checked out (ok, maybe it was only one) was branded with characters I didn’t want in the house. I think Caitlyn was perhaps three at the time and there was no way I was going to buy something with Miley Cyrus or High School Musical …

Caitlyn, sewing

Snip, Snip, Sew, Sew

You may have seen this dress before. I made it for Caitlyn when she was in preschool and it’s been one of her favorites. See it in the back yard, at the Ren Faire, on the first day of kindergarten, with a shark, and with a hat. It’s had a long and much loved run. And it’d become too short. We’d recently read I Had a Favorite Dress, in which a girl outgrows her favorite dress and her (rather amazing) mother turns it into a whole series of things (a shirt, a skirt, a scarf, a hair clip, etc). Inspired …

Caitlyn, Seasons, sewing

Keeping Caitlyn Clothed

 

One day last week, Caitlyn picked out an outfit for school but then changed her skirt choice by the time she was ready to have Mama do her hair for the day. When I asked her why the change, she told me that when she had put on the original skirt and made sure the waistband wasn’t below her hips, she realized the skirt was too short. At this rate, we’re not going to make it until April 23-30 for Elsie Marley’s Kids Clothes Week Challenge. I’ve already dropped all the hems I can drop. If it’s too short now, …

sewing, Wardrobe Improvement Project

Picking through The 100

 

Since I’m thinking about wardrobe improvement these days, I checked out The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own. Coletterie had recently posted about this book, asking about what 100 pieces would be in readers’ personal essential collections. First off, what’s with the word “stylish”? Every person has a “style” – maybe it’s trendy or sloppy instead of classy or elegant, but it’s still a style. How did “stylish” come to mean “style worth copying”? Why is “stylish” associated with looking as though you have nothing better to do than drink cocktails and inspire people …

sewing

Not for me

 

This one is Ian’s. And it’s not black! This is a shirt of firsts. It’s my first plaid. I’m absurdly pleased with myself for how closely I got the stripes to line up. The hardest part was more the fault of the fabric than the plaid. This is a rather loosely woven flannel, with a tendency to wobble. So the stripes may line up, but they aren’t totally straight. It’s the first time I did anything more to finish off an edge beyond zig-zagging it. I flat-felled just about everything, making it the first time I paid as much attention …

quilts, sewing

My notes from the Sewing Expo

 

I’d heard about the Sewing and Stitchery Expo before, but this was the first year I went to check it out (thanks, Kelly!). This is a very long post that I’m writing mostly for me, so that I can remember all the cool stuff I saw! The Sewing Expo is huge, two buildings at the fairgrounds with fashion shows, classes, demos, and a floor full of booths selling fabric, patterns, tools, books, sewing machines and more. If I don’t get this stuff down, it’ll end up in the pile of Things I’ve Forgotten. You can read it if you’re into …