Sewing Buddy!

I am excited by the fact that I have a new sewing buddy. Her name is Pearl Young and she has ased me to help her learn how to sew.

Originally we were going to just exchange crafts. She made a lovely Christmas stocking for my daughter and I agreed to make her a skirt. Her skirt is almost done. Why is it taking me so long? Well I am not sure, it is just making me crazy. It is reversible and I managed to rip one side of it. And well lets just say I will finish it eventually. In the mean time Pearl asked me if I would help her make the Crepe dress from Colette Patterns. And I decided that she and I should do it together as sort of a mini sew-a-long.

So Pearl bought the pattern and we are going to share it. We are cutting drastically different sizes so we needed to trace out the pattern. Which I almost never do. Basically because I am lazy and want to get a move on to the fun parts. But it was necessary this time.

On Wednesday we went on a fabric buying field trip. And I should tell you that while Pearl and I are friends and have some things in common we are vastly different in many ways. She is much more demure than I. As you know I trend towards all that is bold and loud and well just sort of crazy.

I think I influenced Pearl a little and she ended up with some very lovely fabric that I think will make her a very classic and wearable dress. It will be appropriate for all most any occasion. 

The main part of her dress with be this nice pinkish red linen blend, and the floral will be the contrasting sash. The red fabric was a steal at $3.00 a yard! And the floral was $9.00 not too bad. Also fortunate for her she needs a lot less fabric than I do.

Me being me I went with a slightly bolder fabric choice. But it is still very pretty.

I am in love with navy these days and the body of my dress will be this lovely midnight floral silk with a chartreuse sash for contract.  It probably goes without saying that the supplies for my dress came in at well over twice as much as Pearl's. But I needed 2 yards more, it is silk and I do love it.

We got the first step, the tracing, under way. This is pearl tracing her pattern. Ages ago my Mother-in-law gave me a box of tracing paper and we managed to use up the last of it on Pearl's pattern pieces. We needed more but I was way too lazy to go out on a hunt for good tracing paper so I went and bought the cheapest white fabric I could find and at $1.49 a yard I got my pattern all traced out as well. So now I have plenty of tracing fabric.

We have plans to meet again next week and start cutting!

Hope you have a great weekend everyone!

Peace-Out - C

Me Made March!

I, Chrissy Weeks sign up as a participant of Me-Made-March '11. 

I endeavor to wear an item that has been somehow stitched by me each day for the duration of March 2011, this includes but is not limited to: self made garments, accessories, re-made items & embellished items. 

I have taken the pledge! You can too, my (online) pal Zoe over at 'So, Zo....What do you know?" has issued another challenge, Me Made March. I was way behind on my on-line blog reading and did some catching up and just found out about MMM. And I did adapt the pledge a little to fit my situation. Fortunately I have been planning my spring-summer-fall wardrobe for quite some time. 

Above are the fabrics I have gathered so far. I have one more TO DIE FOR!!! fabric coming in the mail soon I hope. It is a fabric I have had in the back of my mind for about a year and have not been able to find anywhere.

So? What do I have planned?

Dresses - 6
Skirts - 3 (may end up more) 
Shirts 
  - white - 2 (or 3) 
  - Peasant - 2 - finally cut some of my Liberty of London fabric ;)
  - pink at least 1 maybe 2
Shorts (knee length!)  1 (maybe 2) 

Ok so it is not a totally solid plan but it will get there. Living in Atlanta I really only have 2 wardrobe categories 1. Winter and 2. Spring-Summer-Fall. 

Most of my clothes can be worn about 8 months of the year. So I have plenty of time to get these items made while the weather is still warm. And even though it is sunny and 65 today I am sure we will have at least one more cold snap and we will see people running around in dresses and flip flops with winter coats over. Because as much as we all complain about the heat we really are more of a summer people. Clearly the Spring-Summer-Fall dress is my much preferred clothing item. 

Since my last post I have made a couple of super simple items for myself. Just to get the ball rolling. 

This is a simple black knit skirt. It has a fold-over waist band like a pair of yoga pants. And I made it entirely on the serger. 

And this fine fellow was added to a pull-over I bought on clearance. He will be my main item of attire for Spring Break this year. And hopefully he and his little drinkie-poo will help me set the tone for the vacation. But he counts as an embellishment and that is why I added that to my pledge. 

Now seriously I have got to go and get sewing! 


Peace Out - C

I am not sure quilting is my thing.

I spent the weekend with a poor sickly little girl, I did not get to enjoy the 70 degree weather at all, bummer. I will spare you the details, but she has school off today and we are still going to take it easy.

While she was sitting around being pitiful and watching the same episodes of her favorite shows over, and over, and over again, I did manage to get some sewing work done. I was excited to try out my new Megamat! It is a giant cutting mat that covers my entire sewing table! And I have to say it totally rocks! When I started back sewing a couple of years ago I was hesitant to invest in good supplies because I was just not sure I needed them. And while I did sew without them and do not "need" them, I have to admit that I love all the new tools I have bought recently and they have made my sewing life easier and more enjoyable.

I took this picture when the mat was fresh out of the box on Friday night, the ends have since laid down it was shipped rolled up.

Since my new big cutting mat got here I decided it was time to get some more work done on the baby quilt that I am working on. The mat was really helpful in me being able to do some cutting with the rotary cutter. I previously had a 24 inch mat and would have to scoot it down the fabric to do longer cuts and I usually ended up using scissors which is fine for the stuff I usually make but was a bear for trying to get into the exacting art of quilting.

So some of my efforts where successful and I did end up with some nearly perfect sections of the quilt top.

While other sections are not so nearly perfect.

But over all it looks pretty decent for my first real attempt at making a quilt.

I have moved on to some "easier" projects while I sort of marinate on how I am going to back it. I have a plan I just like to let these things stew and practice in my head before I actually attempt them. I have made the binding already and having a new longer ruler was super helpful in this effort.

This is my previous mat. Not as cool as the new MEGAMAT! And the big white handle is my new ruler handle which is super awesome as well.

So far the baby quilt has been fun as well as frustrating. However I think that this will be my last quilt for a while. Maybe I need to take a class or something. But quilting is hard work.

I like my sewing to be easy. And I know my idea of easy is well, not that easy. But you have to actually think about quilting. It is even more planning and cutting than making clothes. It is something new that I need to re-train my brain to be able to think about. And I am just not really feeling that right now. I have a new found respect for my mother in law and all the other great quilters out there who have come before me.

Lately I have been making tons of stuff for other people. With this nice weather I have spring dresses and flowy tops on my mind.  I feel s spurt of selfishly sewing for my self coming on!

Hope your week starts of great.

Peace Out - C

Easy snack bags!

Today I was working on another project and it ripped! I am SO frustrated that I had to switch to something else while I process the ripped project and figure out what to do with it. I was not sure what I wanted to move on to next so I decided to do a little digging through my fabric stash.

I found lots of semi-lost treasures and settled on what ended up being a very simple and satisfying project. Snack Bags!

Over a year ago I bought some polyurethane lined (aka PUL) fabric intending to make these little bags. Why am I only getting around to this now? Who knows? Life got in the way.

They are based on an old fashioned fold over sandwich bag, the only kind they had when I was a kid. Also when I was a kid (in the 80's the age of excess) recycling was not popular and I am sure I went through hundreds of plastic bags.

Now my own daughter is is need of sacks for her snacks and I have finally been guilted into making some re-usable ones.

I cannot take the credit for coming up with these. Though they make perfect sense and I should have. But here is the link to the tutorial where I got the idea:
Angry Chicken Makes Sandwich Bags
She went to the trouble of doing the tutorial and so you should check it out!

But if making these is not your cup of tea, well you can buy some from me! More colors avaiable just shoot me an email if you are interested.
Chrissy's Sandwich Bags on Etsy 

Have a great hump day!

Peace Out - C

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am one of those people that love this day of love. But then again I love ANY excuse for candy and gifts, particularly those that do not hide behind any guise of religion. Valentine's Day is fun for the sake of fun. And if you are "alone" this evening take it as a chance to love yourself. Make yourself a nice dinner, buy yourself something nice or just give yourself a gosh darn break! And if you are being a Grinch about it well, eat a piece of chocolate and calm the heck down! But I do feel you I am a bit of a Grinch about Christmas ;)

In the spirit of the the fun of the holiday we woke up and opened gifts this morning.  And yes I gave Eric another shirt. But it is a new pattern and he says he likes that I make him shirts and the man is impossible to shop for. The pattern is the Negroni - No. 1014 from Colette Patterns. It is a lovely pattern and the directions were great! So much more detail and thought than the big commercial pattern companies. You know what I mean :)

I told him to look less silly and more like a model and this is what we got.... I used red pinwale corduroy and antique buttons from my Nana's button box. I have to be careful they are running low! 

I also used some of my favorite fabric to line the collar, cuffs and back inside yoke of the shirt.

My (normally) sweet daughter was being a total pill this morning. I made her a matching little tunic top and she would not let me take a picture of her in it. She and I had a big Mama / Daughter clash this morning. I guess that is what happens when someone has the exact same personality as you. But she is at school and I have cooled off a bit so I can at least say she did look super cute in it.

Here is what the birdies on the front look like....

I got the pattern for the top and the birds as well as the concept for the legs from Meg McElwee and her fantastic! book Sew Liberated. She is very inspiring. The pattern in the book is for a short tunic top with elastic at the sleeves and back. I made the top 5 inches longer hoping it would be more like a dress and skipped the elastic. The birds are from a different project in the book and the concept of the button feet is from a third project. It is overall a great book.

Tomorrow is my deadline for getting started on the redecorating of my sewing room! I am actually looking forward to it rather than dreading it like I was.

Hope you have a nice Valentine's Day! Give yourself a treat, you deserve one!!

Peace out - C

How to hem jeans.

A few days ago I decided that I was feeling frumpy. Then I decided that the solution would be just a good old day of wearing jeans and a white shirt. Much to my dismay my only pair of decent jeans was dirty and I do not have a plain white shirt that fits.

So I went shopping. I tried on jeans at every store in the mall from $40.00 to $269.00 and none of them fit right. I also tried on white shirts in about the same prices range and none of them fit either. But me solving the white shirt problem is a whole other blog topic. 

On the way home from the nice fancy mall I was feeling a little sad and sorry for myself. I realized I had about an hour before I had to pick up my daughter so I stopped at Marshall's since there is a new one by my house I had not been to yet.

Now why do I have such trouble finding jeans that fit? Well don't most women? My main problem is that I have legs and hips that are much bigger than my waist. I could go over all the issues but it is much more exciting that I found some jeans that fit! And they were only $13.99. So I bought 2 pairs, one pair to leave long and wear with heels. The second pair to be hemmed to wear with flats.

When I got the jeans home I inspected them to figure out why they fit so well. I discovered that there is several little darts around the waist that make the waist much smaller than the hips. There are 3 darts above each back pocket and one dart on each side on the front. 

But as well as they fit they were too long. I am 5'4 so I am right between petite and regular and therefore I have to hem pretty much everything I buy. So how do I hem jeans? You will start working on them on the right side.

Step 1. Measure a pair of jeans that you have and love and use that number to measure and mark the inseam of your new jeans.

Step 2. Fold the jeans under and try them on to make sure that the length you have chosen is right. 

Step 3. Measure the base of your jeans up to the mark you have made. My new jeans needed to be 29" and there was an inch and a half that needed to be taken off. I measured 1.5" up and marked all the way around.

Step 4. Cut off the current hem. I know this can be scary especially if your jeans cost more than $13.99, so if you have never done this you may want to try on a cheap pair or a pair from you give away pile. 

Step 5. Fold jeans under at the mark line and press. I use lots and lots of steam on the hottest setting possible. 

Step 6. Turn your jeans inside out and fold your new hem in half and press the heck out of it.

Step 7. Get your machine ready. My new jeans have that heavy yellow thread so that is what I am using so they keep the same look. But since it is a heavy thread DO NOT USE IT AS YOUR TOP THREAD. Only use this thread as bobbin thread. Then I use dark denim colored thread as the top thread.

Step 8. Sew your hem. I set my machine with the needle as far left as it goes. And sew as close to the edge as possible.

Now go forth and wear you new jeans knowing that they are perfectly hemmed!

Hope this helps you save some money and wear some better fitting jeans!

Peace Out! - C 

Charlie Bags for the whole class!

My daughter goes to a fantastic preschool. And they are making an effort to be more "green". They have gone away from disposable plates and cutlery and such to re-usable, you know the "easy" things to do. Every Monday we bring in a sheet for her nap mat, a blankie and a sleep buddie. And at the end of the week all these items get put in a plastic bag and sent home to be washed. One day I asked the teachers, "Does it have to go in a plastic bag"? They said no, that is just what they have. So once again me being me I offered to make bags for the whole class.

I did not buy any new materials for this project. I used some denim I had in my stash and 2 King size sheets. We got the sheets as wedding gifts 6 years ago and never used them. We just don't like top sheets they end up all tangled at the foot of the bed. So when I was cleaning out the linen closet a few weeks ago I had put these sheets in the scrap pile in my sewing room.

Since the fabric was fairly thin I was able to just pile it up and cut out the bags with my rotary cutter. Also I used pattern weights rather than pinning to minimize distortion when cutting. And I am lazy and weights are easier. The pattern is available free online at: http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/charlie-reusable-grocery-bag--2  You have to be a member to download patterns so you may have to join if you are not yet a member.

Then I just serged them. Easy Peasy! A while ago I posted my Burda Style Next Sewing Star! audition video which is a tutorial on the Charlie Bag. But I think you could benefit from seeing the unedited version.

As you can see I had to do a LOT of cutting to get the video down to the 3 minutes that they wanted for the audition. This version explains more and might help you do a better job making the bag.

In all I made 16 Charlie bags for the class. And I am just not interested in finding something more to do with the little scraps it generated. There is being thrifty and recycling but going beyond that is beyond me.

They are not fancy and are really just designed to be useful. I took them into class today and the teachers were thrilled. They are hoping that the kids will be able to pack these bags up themselves. Which was not the case with the plastic bags.

I have big plans for all the sewing I want to get done this week. So I better get off the computer and on to the sewing table!

Peace Out - C

Breathing life and wearibilty into an old project.

This time last year was the first (and right now only) time I have ever traced a pattern out of Burda Style Magazine and used it.  For those of you who are not familiar with the magazine, the reason it intimidated me was this is what the pattern pages look like...

What you do is figure out what color the lines are for the pattern that you want to use. Then you trace those onto tracing paper and go on about making your project.

This is what your pattern pieces look like after they are traced and cut. And oh yeah... you need to add your own seam allowance. I made mine 1/2 an inch, much easier to add to the pattern piece than that standard 5/8.  And yes that is a little broken piece of ruler. It works well for small spaces so I have kept it.

This is what the dress looked like in the magazine.

This is what it looked like when I wore it on Tuesday night.

Why did I make it last year and only wear it once until now? Honestly it was hard to style because of the color. The first time I wore it with nude hose and brown heels and it was ok. This time I think the brown tights and cowboy boots were better. I just do not have thin legs and I need to accept that for now.  Also when I made it I messed up the hem and was super lazy about fixing it. It was in my mending pile for about 8 months before I grabbed it and fixes the hem which took me all of 8 minutes.

I am not sure that this is the best style of dress for me. I think that the top and waist are flattering but I think I need and a-line skirt to draw a little attention away from my chubby knees. One thing I would do differently is the zipper. I used a metal zipper and because of the way I put it in (yes I still suck at zippers, but getting better) there is no fabric behind it and that things gets COLD! Not a good plan.

I recently splurged and got a new subscription to Burda Style and I am super excited and cannot wait for it to get here! I really need to start planning my spring wardrobe.

Have a good weekend!

Peace Out - C

The dress was a hit!

My Mac is in the shop.  Therefore I decided I could not get by without a computer for the 5-7 days that they said it will take and I fired up the old desktop. The poor thing has been sitting in the bathtub of our office bathroom since we had all that water damage.  

The person I got the compliments about the dress from was my husband. He loved it! Maybe he is biased. Maybe all the other people there do not know how cruddy I have been looking on "regular" days lately. But it was nice to get dressed up and do something grown-up and fun. And have a reason to look pretty.

As you can see I did decide to go with fishnets, but I went with a large diamond pattern. The more traditional fishnets typically do not have a control top and these days I need all the control I can get! 

I also went with patent leather high heel mary-janes. They are an old pair of Naturalizers that I have gotten more wear out of than I imagined I would when I bought them. I decided that the shoes where a little more subtle and balanced out the hose.

Yesterday I did a little research on 1940s hair and realized I have the perfect hair for this look. Long and big soft curls where very in at the start of the 40s. Later in the decade it appears that up-dos and shorter styles became more practical when the gals were working and the men were away at war.


 I think that the exposed zipper on the back did a lot for making the dress a little more modern. Also the hose are a modern take on fishnets and while my hair is reminiscent of the 40s it is not elaborate and really is a simply classic hairstyle.

I learned a lot while sewing this dress. First I could have cut the pattern at least 1 size smaller and not run into any fit issues. Also I need to make sure I have someone with me when I am working on fitting a dress. My dress form is loads better than when I did not have even that but I did some guessing on the fit on the back of this that could have been easier if I had someone to pin for me. But all in all I think it turned out nice, and it was actually comfortable.

Marion came home from school while I was getting ready and was very fascinated by my hot rollers. I don't think she had ever seen them before. She liked my hair curly. And I think she is right I am going to bust them out more often. Maybe tonight! I am going to see Peter Pan with my number 1 CUZ! (Thanks for watching M last night!)

Marion took this picture. I also did a little research on 40s make-up. They focused on a bright lip and big lashes. So I thought that was a rather timeless look as well.

In my reading I found one source that said that back then women painted their nails to match their clothing. Including colors like navy and mustard. And we think we are so original! I wear navy polish all the time because I love it.

In case you love the hose and want a pair too here is what the package looks like. They are the Nordstrom brand and seemed to run pretty true to the sizing on the package. 

Marion decided that she needed to strike a model pose and get her picture taken too since that was what Mama was doing.

The actual event was lovely. It was the Emory Founders Dinner. And it is put on by the President's office and this secret society that operates within Emory. Apparently Robert Woodruff (the biggest donor ever) felt that getting credit for things is not why you should do them. He did not want anything at Emory to have his name on it. And he used to walk around handing out cards to people that said something like..."You can get a lot done if you don't care who gets the credit".  One of the former Emory Presidents gave a very moving speech about all the wonderful things that Emory does. And we got to eat individual little "birthday" cakes since it was Emory's 175th birthday.

Thanks for a great evening out honey!!