Summer Sewing

I confess, I did buy new fabric for the shorts. I usually stick to dresses and tops for the girls, but this summer finding shorts of an appropriate length sent me scrambling to JoAnn's for bottom-weight fabric. I bought 4 yards of darling twills, and 1 yard of a baby corduroy.  The shorts featured are from Burda #9481, view C. These feature cargo pockets on the sides for all their summer treasures. 

I also attempted some cutesy embroidery on the back yolk, but the pattern I chose needed a double needle (added to supply list). Hopefully it just looks like funky top stitching. 

Getting Miss T.E. to hold still long enough to snap the picture was only resolved when I agreed she could wear them today!

I'm heading back to the cutting table to make more shorts!

Woeful Neglect

I had grandiose plans for this blog. I have several drafts still to publish, but have fallen off the wagon. This is my attempt to plow through some projects. 

We moved to South Carolina in the fall, and I've been confronted with the crazy amount of fabric I had stashed.  I've pulled out books & patterns, sorted fabrics & made a project list. I've limited myself to only buying the notions needed to finish said projects. 

So, a quick sneak peak at what I'm working on this Memorial Day. 

Shorts for my daughters. These are from a Burda pattern. Both girls are wearing the same size right now, making sewing fairly easy. 

Heading back to the machine, but will follow up in a few days with the wardrobe of shorts!

Lindsey Dress

Several months ago one of my favorite pattern designers on etsy put out a call for pattern testers. What's a pattern tester, you ask?  The designer sends you a copy of the pattern for you to sew & give feedback. The perk--you get a free pattern, the downside--if you're not quick on replying you miss out.  You also have to work quickly, turn-around is usually 2-4 days after receiving a pattern.

I said yes this time because I knew I had time & materials on hand. I planned to work on it Friday, but ended up sleeping all day because of an all-night birth.  I should remember that everytime I say yes, I end up at a birth!

Anyhow, this adorable little number is heading off to my darling niece in a few days.

Want to know where you can get this (and several other sweet patterns)?  Head over to Brynnberlee Designs!

Fabric stash used:  1.5 yards & 2 buttons.

Fabric Wreath

The first stash busting project I decided to work on was a fabric wreath.  I had seen several variations of them, but couldn't find a really great tutorial.  I decided I was smart enough to figure it out, so I did.  I even kept track of what I was doing (amazing) so that I could teach someone else to do it.  So, in honor of completing my first project, I'm even publishing my directions here.







Supplies:
16" wire wreath
1 Moda Jelly Roll (if you are stash busting, you'll need 1.5 yards of 2 fabrics or 1 1/3 yards of 3 fabrics)
Pinking blade for rotary cutter
Cutting mat
Acrylic ruler

Time committment:
Prep: an hour or so to cut the fabric
Tying:  4 hours +/-

I used 38 different fabrics from the Jelly Roll.  Be sure to check to see how many fabrics you have.  You'll need a grand total of 560 5"x1.25" strips of fabric.  If you buy a larger wreath, you'll need more fabric.

Step 1:
Lay out the strips and cut them into 5" sections.  You may want to do a practice strip so that you can see if you can tie the 5" pieces or if you need another half inch or so of fabric.

Step 2:
Cut Jelly Roll strips in half so they are 1.25" wide.  I used the pinking blade for my rotary cutter.  If you are doing the same, make sure you check to see how wide your blade is.  To accommodate mine I had to place my ruler at the 1 3/8" mark.

Step 3:

If you have small people in your house, have them sort the strips by color for you.  Here's where the planning comes in.  Do you want blocks of color or random groupings?  I went for the random, scrappy look, but if you are doing your favorite sport's teams colors, you may want blocks of color.  The wreath I used had 4 rows of wires, so you could easily stripe one.

Step 4:

Fold the strips in half lengthwise, right side out for maximum visibility.

Start tying with a double knot to reduce the chance of them coming undone!  My 8 year old, Taryn, is pictured below tying strips on.  The girls had far more fun sorting the fabrics than tying them on!

I found that it was easiest to tie a strip on each wire and work in sections vs. working on one wire all the way around.  With the 16" wreath I used 16 strips on inner 2 wires, 18 strips on 3rd wire, and 20 strips on outer wire PER SECTION.

And the finished product!

Goals for 2012

Taryn, my 8 year old daughter, loves American Girl dolls & books.  Her favorite stories are about Kit.  For those who don't know, Kit grew up during the Great Depression.  For some reason this has really made an impact on Taryn.  She will occasionally bring up something she learned in one of the books.  Lately she's been on a kick about "Waste not, want not."  We had a whole discussion about how it is better to look around and see what we have that we can use rather than making a trip to the store to buy it.

As I look around my very cluttered house, I realize I don't do a very good job of "waste not, want not."  I want new pillows for my living room, but can't find just exactly what will work.  But wait!  If I go digging around in one of the dozens of Rubbermaid totes in my very messy garage, I just might find what I want.

I'm determined to clear out the stash of fabric, yarn & scrapbooking supplies that I currently have, either by using them up, giving them away, or donating them to a charity who can use them.  If you love any of my hobbies, stay tuned for stash-clearing give-aways.  If you know of a charity who could use yarn or fabric, please post a comment with the info so that I can keep track of who might benefit from my extras!

I may even post a sew (or knit) along for projects I'm working on.  I have dozens of sewing, knitting & embroidery books I intend to use & will post what I'm working on as I go.