Christmas!

LI finished brother-in-law's fleece hoodie. Sorry for the lack of makeup and foundation garments and poor lighting; I was in my pajamas. I graded up from a large to a 2XL. 

Grandma loves her blanket. Minky is a slippery devil! 

I'm working on sister-in-law's fleece blanket now.

I got early Christmas presents: two new sewing buddies! 

Their names were sweetpea (the Siamese boy) and his sister Tiger (tabby). I renamed them Rick and Coral.

Yes, after "The Walking Dead" joke names. They are sweet as pie and cute as buttons. 

Sigh.

I'm using unisex Mccall's pattern 5991 to make Doctor Who fleece jacket for brother-in-law, leaving off the hood. The front is a princess seam and the center front is split upper and lower. I already graded the pattern from L to 2XL and put together the split halves to make one solid center front. I'm thinking about redrawing the side and center fronts to make one front since he's a boy and boys don't want princess seams, plus it would break up the fabric print if I left it as two parts. 

On a good note I finished husband's grandma's lap blanket last night. 

Still working on Christmas presents

We took a short family vacation to Disneyland. We already have annual passes and now my in-laws have theirs. We all stayed in their timeshare for two nights then we stayed in our cab-over camper for a night or so. 

Needless to say I did not get any sewing or crafting done for the time I was off work.

I am trying to decide how wide to make Grandma's lap blanket. The flannel is 45" wide, the Minky 58". I am using the edges of the Minky, pulling the selvages and cut ends around to the top of the flannel to self bind. I need to cut it and get it sewed. It won't take long, I just need to stop procrastinating. I even have the machine threaded and ready to go.

I have the pattern for the Doctor Who fleece jacket traced out and I graded up from a large to a 2XL. (I greatly need a cutting table since I cut on my floor and that kills my back.) The sewing on that should go fairly quickly.

I work today and until then, I'm watching my Craftsy class on sewing knits. She's a pleasant enough teacher, quite knowledgable, but says "um" a lot and constantly clicks and smacks her lips and tongue. It's a little distracting but she does give some good tips. 

She's here!

L

My new machine is finally in my possession! Woohoo! 

She's a Pfaff Smarter Creative Pro C1100. Her name is schatze. 

I used her to sew the last fleece blanket for my local customer:

She is quiet, stitches beautifully, and I hope to get a lot of mileage out of her.

The next things are Doctor Who fleece jacket for brother-in-law, a grandma lap blanket for Rob's grandma, sister-in-law's fleece blanket, and my son's 11th Doctor costume. 

Impatient me

I'm waiting on my new machine, a Pfaff this time. It's been at my in-law's house for a few weeks, waiting for us to give my mother-in-law the money since she used her card to buy it when it was on sale for 80% off. 

She bought one for my sister-in-law on my recommendation.

It's fifteen minutes away. So close and yet so far. 

Christmas presents

I got an order for three fleece blankets. A local lady, a friend of mine, wants blankets for her kiddos. Good thing I can sew!
I only charged her for the fabric plus a little extra; that helped cover the Doctor Who fleece that I'm using to make my brother-in-law's jacket for Christmas.

The first blanket is a cheerleader fleece from F&M Fabrics in Bakersfield (a family owned fabric store):

I chose a light blue fleece as the backing. Her favorites are black and blue and this blue matches nicely.

The second is a camouflage fleece with a deep brown fleece backing.

The third is a giraffe skin print that will also have the same deep brown fleece backing.

It took me an hour or so to draft, cut, and sew a sewing machine caddy for my mother-in-law's new Brother Dream Machine.  I used bias tape on the pockets and KamSnaps to attach a removable thread catcher.

Trashed. *sigh*

I had to ditch Simplicity 1777; there was just no way to salvage this thing.
I made my necessary FBA, narrow sloping shoulder, short bodice adjustments. I made sure that the pattern measurements matched my own plus the ease.
But y'all, when I basted the fabric together and tried it, the waist seam was at my hips. That's 9" below my actual waist.

So I groaned, ripped out the seams, shortened the center bodice and the side bodices.
It still didn't fit. Here you can see how much it bunches:

It didn't matter how much I hacked off, it just wouldn't go. I finally decided to check S1777. I'll use the fabric for more tap pants rather than just chucking it in the trash and wasting fabric. 

'

Sew-along time!

My friend Kristine and I are hosting a sew-along for Simplicity 1777. It's a 1940's reprint with a center front bodice. I like the V-shaped neckline and shorter sleeves of view B so that's what I'll be doing!

I traced my pattern in a size 22 and graded up two sixes. I like to trace off my patterns so that I have the original intact in case I need to make changes or a smaller size someday (one can hope, right?).

I used the instructions from a class I purchased on craftsy (Joi Mahon's class) and compared the measurements on the pattern to my own. I had to do my standard full bust, sloping shoulders, and short waist adjustments. 

I added four inches to the butt, waist (wasn't necessary) and hips, ten inches to the bust (I have a 12" difference between my chest and bust measurements as well as 12" between my hips and waist). I removed two inches off the shoulder length. 6", Simplicity? Do you think I'm a linebacker? I'm a curvy hourglass, not a miniature 5'1" football player. 

I digress. I then used my tracing paper that I bought from Richard the Thread and used that to trace the pattern and markings directly onto my fabric. 

I was going to use a blue flower print rayon but it turns out I only had 2 3/8 yards and I needed 2 7/8 yards. I received it as a gift so I'm not complaining! I'm now using the lavendar rayon. It has darker lilac circles and little red and green flowers or perhaps berries. Sure is slippery stuff! It has a lovely drape though and will be perfect to wear. 

Tomorrow I'll finish cutting the sleeves, center bodice, and bodice back. 

Blog reading

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I just have to say, I'm enjoying a blog I found. She makes some gorgeous 40's clothes.

http://star-spangledheart.blogspot.com

Sewing Machine Reviews

Sewing machine reviews

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Why can't I find a machine review from someone who has actually used the dang thing for more than a week?! I don't care that it looks pretty out of the box...how well does it work? What did you make? What features do you like and what do you not use? Have you had issues? How is the tension? Are pressed feet easy to find and affordable?

Review it when you've had it for six months, a year, or longer. Please for the love of sewing, stop giving five star reviews when you haven't even taken it out of the ever-loving box. 

Wow, quite a bit of a break there. 

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It's not like anybody actually reads this; just little old me and the hectic squirrels that pass for my brains nowadays. 

We went camping a few miles from home. Primitive campsite but it was a break! Very quiet, up in the mountains.

I need to finish cleaning my house so I can get back to sewing. I have a lot of projects to do, including a swimsuit for my friend. I also sold one of my shirts! Hooray! 

We went to Disneyland and we wore the shirts and the dress I made.  

     

My Singer Quantum 9960

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My Singer Quantum 9960 quit working. Sixteen months old. It would turn on but the needle would stick, it would jam, it would make awful death throe noises. 

I checked the timing three times...not it. I made sure it was clean and oiled: yup. New needle and properly threaded upper thread and bobbin? Check. Bobbin case good? Well...maybe not so much; it seemed very loose to me but I still didn't know if that was the issue. A sewing buddy in Virginia suggested feed dogs. My husband suggested the motor.

Singer and Brother are two that I know of that have gone almost completely plastic. Even the bobbin case is plastic! I checked with Singer. Would the warranty cover it? Nope! I'm on the dole for repairs. It would cost more to repair than I paid for the machine! 

Because I purchased it at Costco they let me return it and gave me a cash card. Since I started sewing I've gone through two brothers and two singers. No more of those brands! I will say my vintage 60's Singer works fine. My singer serger works fine.

I'm looking at Janomes now. Please, Janome, be a good brand. 

WARNING Bras

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i made my first bra, the pattern and kits I purchased came from bravo bella.

Here's how it looked once on.  

   

This is it: 

  
I had to make adjustments on the fit (that'd why you see darts and marker) but so far, so good! 

 The second was a 36K tester. The band fits well enough but the cups are too small.  

 We'll get it figured out yet! 

Now my Singer Quantum 9960 is acting up...she's jamming and stuttering at me. I've tried everything I can think of. Next step is calling Singer hellhole  customer service. Last experience was not so pleasant. 

Fabrics and wires and hooks, oh my!

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I finally finished my friend's Bikini. She a curvy gal and couldn't find a swimsuit that she liked. So she picked out her fabric (her choice surprised me!) and I picked up the lining and elasticity. 

After a bit of finagling I got it cut out and sewed up. It was a bear trying to mess with elastic so but I muddled though and came out, nonetheworse for wear. 
 

My next projects will be some bras for me and I need to get working on my projects. 

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Simplicity 1392

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Total wadder. I don't know if it's my garage sale fabric, my FBA, my grading, or what, but this is not a keeper. I'm not sure I'm even going to keep it for knocking around the house like some of my other projects (two skirts and a dress). I'm even wearing a dress under this!

The waist is too big, the hip line a bit too snug. The tucks are just...meh. The bust is way too big and blousy. This is going in the trash. Oh well. Can't win them all!

  

I was tracing out Simplicity 1392 so I could grade up and do my FBA. Found a pretty good error! Fortunately I figured it out. It took a few minutes of head-scratching.  

I was tracing out Simplicity 1392 so I could grade up and do my FBA. Found a pretty good error!

Fortunately I figured it out. It took a few minutes of head-scratching.  

  

I had traced the pieces and graded up like I usually do and noticed that the facing curve wasn't matching the back neck curve. 

On the pattern paper itself, they marked the two pattern pieces #18 as back facing. They have another two pieces (#16) also marked as back facing. 

They misprinted multiple pieces on this but fortunately I was able to figure out #18 is not the back facing but the front facing.

 

  

 

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Making cloth pull-ups

My youngest son T is five. He's mostly potty-trained but still wears pull-ups at night and sometimes when we are out for the day. He's also refusing to poop in the toilet. 

I was at Costco today and had a box of them in my hand. I sighed. $30 for this. I called my husband and said "I hate buying these things. You know what? I'm going to make some instead."   

When I got home I grabbed an old knit turtleneck, an old remnant of PUL, and some old towels. I used a pair of shorts and traced a pattern on freezer paper. I cut out the shorts, grabbed a slice of PUL, the Terry, and headed to my office/sewing space. I happened to glance over in the trash and see my sister-in-law's flannel PJs that I had used as a template for her new PJs. Ah ha...flannel is absorbent! 

I cut a few layers of flannel instead of terry, added it to the PUL, used my serger to stitch the shorts, and voila: training shorts! They're long and snug like T likes. He hates regular underwear. He's a weirdo.

Update: he's finally potty-trained. He refused to wear the training shorts I made. We just decided to not buy anymore pull-ups. 

Irons. Gah.

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I had a Shark Professional iron, paid $70 for it a year ago. I noticed the water seemed to be draining awfully fast even without steam. In the middle of making a customer's shirt it stops! Just pft and no more hot plate special. I tested it in four different electrical outlets and sure enough the darn thing pooped out on me!

I had to borrow hubby's grandpa's old iron. It worked but took awhile to heat up and press the seams enough to stay open. 

Since I bought it a year ago I tried to see if Shark would replace it or repair it. Would they? Nope. I could pay almost as much money as I bought it for and wait 6-8 weeks for the iron. Sorry, that's a negative, ghost rider. I decided to return it and buy a new one. I did so much research and learned some things about iron features I'd never considered. 

I decided to buy a Rowenta. I found one at Walmart, listed online only, as a refurb for $60. This model is usually $150! I purchased it, paid for faster shipping, and my new Rowenta iron will be here Wednesday. Meanwhile I'll cut out R's (the husband) new long-sleeved clerical shirt. 

Pocket matching and not enough fabric.

Pocket matching. It took two tries to get this to match precisely. I'm working on a shirt for someone. I had to grade up from a men's XL to a 3X. Here's a hint...buy more fabric than you think you need! I didn't had enough. I had to piece together the under collar and use plain white cotton for the facings. 

Glitter everywhere. Ev-ery-where.

It looks like the glitter fairy farted in my office/sewing room: the ironing board, the floor, desk chair, sewing machine, serger...

I'm making my sister-in-law's pajama pants with the glitter butterfly flannel she picked out. Never ever again. 

Finally! Yay! It really didn't take that long. 

It's 100% cotton. A circle skirt on the bottom, custom fitted bodice and straps, I even made a waist-stay.

Another shirt sold

Another shirt

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Looks like I have to pick up more fabric because I have a sale! Hooray! I have to grade up my men's Aloha shirt pattern to a 3X. The largest I have is an XL. I can do it, it'll just take some slash and spread. 

I've cut out the dress I'm making for me out of the same fabric that I used to make Rob's shirt. The skirt is a full circle skirt and is hanging for 24 hours to let the bias settle. I don't mich care for hemming circle skirts, tell you what.                                                                                                                                                                                           The princess seamed bodice I graded up from a size 20, adding 2" of width and 2" of height to the front bodice when I muslined. I added the same to the side front bodice pieces and the back bodice pieces. I cut a size 14 in the straps though as I'm short and small in bone structure. It would be nice if that wasn't hidden by a bunch of fat! 

I have about a 1/4 yard of the fabric left and I'll use that up, make my seven year old some shorts. I can't get my two year old to wear them. Half the time I can't get these boys to wear pants. 

More shirts!

I started on hubby's (his name is Robert, in case you were wondering) Mickey Mouse shirt. You can blame him for the fabric choice. Or in the case of you think it's super awesome, blame me. 

I used my wax tracing paper I bought from Richard the Thread in L.A. What a timesaver! No more tracing to pattern tracing material, then pin the pattern, then try to get the fabric not to move...now I trace directly on my fabric! This stuff is awesome. I wish I'd bought it a year ago but I waited until I went south. I'll be buying more for sure.

I cut out the Mickey Mouse fabric for my hubby's shirt. Yes...Mickey Mouse. We're big Disney nuts. I'm making myself a dress out of the same fabric. You'd think we're five years old instead of adults!

The boys wore the shirts I made them to Disneyland as well. They love them which makes ME happy. I know I did a good job because these boys are so picky when it comes to clothes.  

I matched the fabric pattern on the front so the lines all match, and the pocket is matched so you can't tell it's there unless I point it out. I'm quite proud of them!  

New blog!

I'll be moving my posts over from Wordpress shortly. Hooray!