Creatively chugging

along..... Let's see.  I've made two pair of kid pants without a pattern.  It looks so easy, heck it kind of is easy, but I still managed to majorly screw up.  I don't know how I got the but/belly area so much smaller than needed, but I did.  Having made Rae's big butt baby pants in the past, I figured out a gusset for both the front and the back and saved the britches.  This would only work for a toddler who can't complain about the obvious weirdness, but who else would wear tinkerbell fabric in the daytime.  OK, probably there are grownups that would, probably not with the gusset.  Both cousins got a pair, one without the gusset after I paid more attention making the second pair.  Lined, trimmed in rick rack, and made on the 201 with the zigzag attachment to finish seams.

 

 

 

I also made a pair of chef pants for my adult son, and I whipped up two carry on bags for me and my friend. I learned fairly last minute that the airline had specifications for carry on that would cost me quite a bit to take the little wheeled case I already had.  So the day of departure I made two bags to exact specs they posted.  I don't have a picture of them, they aren't the prettiest, best made bags ever, but they did the job.  It whet my taste for bag making, and I've been musing about bags for some time now.  I'll have to try again soon.

 

The sewing that has been consistently engaging me is the sampler quilt I've been working on for maybe 3 months now.  It was a sew along a couple of years ago, I've been sewing it alone.  I'm surprised at how long its been taking me and that I've stuck with it.  I've only got 6 blocks done, if  you count the rejects I've done 9.  One was rejected because of obvious polyester that snuck in while the rest of the quilt is cotton.  One had funky points that will be square edged if it's ever sewed to anything else. I think the third came up just too small.  The rejects are in the top row.

 

The current block I'm working on is "Flying Geese, magic method".  I was kind of peeved with the magic method, which caused all my geese units to be a little bent or bowed.

 

It took me a couple units to figure out how to trim them correctly, so I don't know if this block will make the grade either.

 

Those diagonal markings are your friend.  I was trying to line up with the straight lines of length or width and that wasn't working.  The 45 degree angle made it right.

 

I found another vintage machine to work on.  This was in a local antique/pawn shop marked $50. and purchased for $20, with a box of attachments (alas for a slant needle, which this is not) thrown in.

 

 

 

Straight from the store it only hummed a little when plugged in, but the hand wheel turned freely and the needle went up and down.  Above it has had a minor cleaning and oiling and now runs pretty nicely.  I needed to screw the ancient light bulb back in and it's fine.  The bobbin is one of those freaky vibrating ones, looks like a screw and then gets dropped into a bullet looking thing.  My bullet thing is too rusty to try out yet and is sitting in a dish of PB Blast now.  Maybe I'll do a whole post on this machine later, maybe not.  Truth, I was thinking it might be a featherweight and I was getting a wonderful deal.  I don't know my vintage singers that well yet. This is a 3/4 size machine, but a whole different species of Singer.  I'm thinking puritans sewed with this moma.  This was manufactured in 1951 without a normal looking bobbin!!!!  There is no backstitch.  It clatters compared to my quiet 201.  I need to reserve final judgments until I see some stitches. 

Like the fish fabric in the background?  From the antique store a couple feet away.  I think my Momma had a church dress made out of this fabric in 1969.  Or maybe it was my dress.

fill the salt shaker

with salt.  Some great advice I picked up from somewhere regarding what to do if you are so depressed it's hard to do anything.  Picking a simple goal is likely to result in accomplishment and so provide stimulus to continue with greater goals and more energy.  I am applying it to creative endeavors these days, and when I can't bear to contemplate or work on a greater project, I try to get to work on some very simple ones.  The other day I made rice bags for hot or cold therapy from left over flannel in hopes of prodding myself into a bigger project.  It worked!  Nothing amazing, mind you, but I'm pleased enough.  I finished another pair of big butt baby pants (pattern by Rae, here) and made a little ruffle skirt for the younger cousin without a pattern.

 

These are from vintage printed denim from my stash.  I bought it when my kids were babies sometime in the early/mid 80's, but it looks 1970's to me.  When we tried them on the waist was too low, so I added the waist band out of necessity and the bottom ruffles and waist tie followed to tie in the contrast fabric. The flower is one laying around I just safety pinned on.  I'm pretty happy with the end result.

 

This rear gusset is what makes them "big butt".  They are so cute on little diapered bottoms!  I added piping to play up the feature. The pattern is $10. but is simple and unique at the same time.  She does have a free downloadable for baby pants without the gusset.

 

There are two tiny grands at my house, so if I sew for one I try to sew for the other.  This simple ruffle skirt is out of twill or a light weight denim from the stash and scrap lace. It broke up all those polka dots on the shirt and leggings.  I doubled the fabric width for the second tier, I'm thinking now maybe 1 and 1/2 would have been better for the weight and hand of this fabric.   I didn't use a pattern, but I was inspired by this picture and tutorial by Tanya Whelan at Grand Revival Designs.  She does multiple tiers and also a version of a skort ruffle shorts, lots of other great stuff as well.

 

Now I have to stuff all those trims back into the drawer.  Ah, well, it's a great way to take inventory. 

vintage fabric score (and more jamma's)

All fabric 50 cents! There was a big box at my local thrift store. 

It felt like looking into my mother's fabric stash, were she still alive and still keeping a stash.  I'm pretty sure I had a blouse made out of this in 1975.

 

This one really made my heart sing!  It looks to me like the old corelle casserole dishes, like a 1970's kitchen.  It puts old country and western songs playing in my head.

 

Here's another one that I'm sure I had a blouse made up of in the early early 70's.  Very sheer with those bars of almost entredeux like strips.



 

This looks home dec, but it is calico (quilt wieght) stuff, maybe with a bit of poly blend.   

 

An added bonus, not vintage but nice quality broadcloth yardage, $4 for about 7 yards of these two grays.

 

 

Of course, I feel guilty buying fabric at all, when I have a fairly large stash of stuff from the 80's all the way up to this winter, waiting to be made.  Including some cut out but not yet sewn pajama pants projects from christmas!  I have completed some, 6 of the requested 9.  After my shopping spree I got busy on the almost-last pair, and the only pair I was sewing from fleece.

 

The fleece was accidental. I bought all the flannel on line and of the two men's patterns, one turned out to be more feminine than I thought would be appreciated.  So I used the fleece, with some heavy cotton plaid from my stash for trim.

 

 

I quickly started to remember all those tips for working with fleece, like use a stretch stitch (plain zig zag is a good one) and stabilize for button holes.  That's what is happening above, any paper that is within reach I rip into size and use.  These button holes were not faced and the fleece is stretchy so I used paper above and below the fabric.  Works wonderfully, tears off easily.  You don't need an expensive tear away or wash away stabilizer unless you are working on your wedding dress or a baby's baptismal gown, any paper is fine.  Some other notions/gadgets I used were:

 

$1. thread snippers from the dollar store.  Performance beat the heck out of some I bought from a well known sewing company. Saves time for lots of pesky thread cutting over scissors.  The little bottle of fray check there is a favorite for button holes and many other sewing jobs.  I've used it for years, good stuff.

 

The quick turn fabric tube turner!  This was a first time for me, it is an inexpensive tool that I just never bought before because I have safety pins and know that trick, right?  And even if it was cheap, I can always spend those dollars somewhere else in a fabric store.  I've got those cute girl grands, and I figured I might be wanting to turn some spagetti straps.  There are a few different methods but I thought it was time to try this one, and I liked it. Invest if you promise 9 people drawstring jamma pants.  I did the other 8 pair without, no biggie but from now on, I've got my quick turn tube turner thing.



 

What's this? One of my longtime favorite notions, a soap sliver for marking fabric.  Preferably dried a day or two, then they last for months of marking.  Show up very well and duh, wash out.  This one was hard milled lavender, has the benefit of great fragrence everytime I pull it out.  I do have chalk markers and disappearing markers, but I love the soap best unless I'm working on very light fabric or need a precise fine line, like darts for a Barbie fine.  Otherwise, this works as good or better.

 

 

Only 2 more to go, and that Mom didn't want them until she moves into the house she's having built.  They might end up waiting until next year for sewing.  I'm ready for some other projects.