Tag: 2018

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Suki Robe

Over the summer I bought the Suki Robe pattern by Helen’s Closet, printed and assembled, cut two versions, and sewed them up in about a month. (ETA Helen has removed this pattern from the Helen’s Closet roster, so I can’t link you to it. Helen suggests the Lahja Dressing Gown from Named Clothing as an alternative.)

It’s one of the only things I actually finished on my Summer Sewing list.

As I mentioned, I made two. One that’s actually a dressing robe and one that’s more pretty and decorative.

Both were made from stash fabrics, though the dressing gown has sleeves made from rayon leftover from a dress that I cut out at the same time. The decorative one is made out of a delicate silk (I think, at least), and the dressing gown was produced from a polyester that has just a bit of grip to it.

Cutting them out went smoothly, except for not having quite enough fabric for either one. Darn stash fabric. So the dressing robe got contrasting sleeves, and the decorative robe got a slimmed down front panel that just has the neckband, and not the corner detail, like it mentioned in this hack post.

The dressing robe was sewn on a machine with French seams in about 4 hours, and it was awesome. Quick, everything lined up, etc. I did have trouble with the inset corner dealio, but the steps were well laid out, I just got a little cocky. And didn’t follow them well.

After finishing it, I put it on for pretty much the rest of the day, and it was fun swooshing around the apartment. And up until winter hit, I wore it most mornings…

The second one, the decorative one, was slower. The fabric was so delicate that I wanted to sew it by hand. Each seam was sewn with a backstitch, then I roll “hemmed” the seam allowance down to finish the seam. The neckband was only slightly difficult, as I had to match the rolling a couple times that didn’t quite match up. Every edge that was not a seam was rolled as well, except for the hem where I used the selvedge.

So that was the summer. And these robes are great!

But then it got cold… So I bought some fuzzy fleece and some minky (Yay 50% off at Joann’s!) and got to work. (You know… About a month after actually buying the fleece.)

I cut out the full pattern as designed this time, but didn’t look up the instructions because I was honestly too cold to waste the time… I keep my apartment cool in the winter to save energy and money, but it does mean that I’m wearing a blanket while doing pretty much anything… Let’s not talk about how I got powdered sugar on my blanket wrap on Thanksgiving… So I needed this robe asap! I also didn’t press any seams, mostly because I was lazy, but also I gave myself the excuse that I didn’t know if I’d melt anything or lose the pile on the minky.

And I’ve almost never taken off the robe since… Okay. I’ve gone to work. But once I get home, the robe is first step… Maybe second after slippers.

Now let me find my vacuum so I can get rid of all the minky fuzz…

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Gifts to Make for Non-Crafty People

You’ve met people who learn that you have crafty skills, and immediately say, “I love that, but I could never do that thing!” (Or you are one of those people, in which case, hi there!)

So what to get for this person if you want to gift something with just a bit of a crafty edge? Or rather, what can you make?

How about homemade cookie mix? That way the receiver just has to dump the mix in a bowl with wet ingredients, just like a regular store-bought mix, but with a more personal and handmade touch! Here’s a website with a wide variety of mixes, and here’s another! They are still making something, just with a little facilitation, and maybe they’ll ask you for the mix recipe afterward!

What do you think of a homemade kit? Say you’re a fan of embroidery, and a friend seems like they’re dying to try it. Why not make a kit for them, with a handdrawn or traced design, embroidery thread you’ve hand picked, one or two of your favorite embroidery needles, a hoop that you know works well, and some perfect fabric! The same idea can work for quilting, or garments, etc!

Make something for their home! If there’s a spot of wall they keep complaining about, or you really need to make them a quilt because they’re always chilly, the home is one of the categories where you don’t necessarily need extensive measurements or reconnaissance, but can still make something super useful for them!

How about something for their pets? I have a friend who would flip out if I made something for their (incredibly adorable and dorky) dog. He wore a bow tie for Halloween, and looked so miserable, so I’m holding off for his sake, but I know my friend would love it!

Make them something for themselves! This one is the ultimate, especially if the item has been requested before, but if you’re superstitious think hard about the boyfriend sweater conundrum… I don’t knit anything for a S.O. I guess I was rather superstitious for a scientist…

So that wraps up my gift guide series!

I didn’t quite expect them to get so philosophical, so I hope you enjoyed them!

As with every post this week, let me know if there’s anything else I should add in the comments below!

Monday – Gifts for a New Sewist

Tuesday – Gifts for an Established Sewist

Wednesday – Gifts for a Yarn Crafter (ie Knitter or Crocheter)

Thursday – Gifts for Makers

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Gifts for Makers

Maker is such a general term, but that is on purpose, because it means anyone who lives to make stuff. From textile based people (like me!) to 3D printing gurus, to wood workers, etc.

And in my experience, most of us are somewhat generalists. A lot of sewists also do yarnstuffs. A lot of people who laser cut also do woodwork. A lot of scrapbookers also do vinyl work, etc.

Like the term, this list is also somewhat vague, since I can’t guess what all makers might want to do or try out, but it will hopefully give you a jumping off point.

Sound good?

Gifts of Time

Offer to shop for material with them with no judgements allowed unless asked. Dream killers need not apply.

If the craft is something they typically do alone, offer to accompany them, whether that’s bringing your own project in the room to simply be a physical presence and an idea springboard, or if you ask for lessons/suggestions.

Gifts to Buy

Buy them some hardware or tools that could level up their skills with practice. For sewists that could be a serger or coverstitch, for woodworkers that could be a hand planar, etc. Asking them about their dream tools could lead to the perfect gifts!

Get them a kit for a new type of craft. I’ve personally tried basket weaving (underwater was not mandatory) and dyeing fabric, and growing plants. I made some awesome stuff, picked up one new hobby, and gained an appreciation for craftsmen who do it well.

Get them a spot in a local workshop. If they love quilting, but have never done a workshop, buy them a spot for the upcoming quilted tablerunner tutorial, etc. They can meet fellow makers, and hopefully learn something!

Anything you’d like to add? Let me know in the comments below!

Monday – Gifts for a New Sewist

Tuesday – Gifts for an Established Sewist

Wednesday – Gifts for a Yarn Crafter (ie Knitter or Crocheter)

Friday – Gifts to Make for Non-Crafty People (there’s always a few)

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Gifts for a Yarn Crafter

Alright, next up in the gift guide lineup for the day is gifts to give yarncrafters! Anyone who knits or crochets, or generally lives covered in small amounts of alpaca fluff?

Gifts of time:

Accompany them to a local yarn store (LYS) without complaining or dream killing! Only use this at your own risk (if you’re anything like my brother who lives to kill dreams).

Gifts to make:

embroidery bag

Project bag. Your yarn loving friend is going to need somewhere to put their project while they take a break to eat chocolate! (See Monday’s post here, or you can buy the one pictured above here).

Gifts to buy:

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Yarn! Chances are your yarn lover’s stash is already chock full, so any yarn could do, but think about what they like to make and buy accordingly. However if they only knit sweaters, consider a gift certificate to a LYS.

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Fun yarn toy/tool! This mushroom cord tool was a gift from my aunt that I got as a child (before easy internet searching was a thing) and it was just a cute decoration for about a year before my mom and I figured out how to use it, and now it’s both adorable and functional!

knittingstuff

Replacements for some of the small yarn related things that are easily lost. For me it’s needle caps, yarn needles, and stitch holders. The only reason I had these to photograph is because of a really recent organization.

Cute or topical stitch markers. I don’t tend to use them, since I’m either hyper organized or winging it, but some of my friends love them!

yarnwinder.jpg

A yarn winder is amazing to have, if your crafter bought a lot of yarn before discovering the magic of caking them…

Anything else to add? Let me know in the comments!

Monday – Gifts for a New Sewist

Tuesday – Gifts for an Established Sewist

Thursday – Gifts for a Maker (people who like to make or craft or build)

Friday – Gifts to Make for Non-Crafty People (there’s always a few)

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Hand Embroidery on My Daily Garments

I was going to use this post to just tell you about my two black rayon Onyx tops, but realistically they’re only slightly altered from the pattern and boring on their own… What’s more cool is all the embroidery I did on them, a skill that I’ve been working on for the past few years.skirt.jpg

Maybe we should start waaaaaay back, with this shot of embroidery from my Merida inspired skirt. This was a linen skirt that I embroidered a motif from Brave’s concept art on. Each motif took between 4 to 6 hours, depending on my mood, brainpower, and willingness to have rather big stitches.

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Then we get to the first of my Onyx tees, the one with stems, leaves, and flowers. I embroidered this while on a road trip between Asheville NC, Nashville TN, and New Orleans LA.

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Next after that came some new to the blog embroidery: my Ariel blouse! I embroidered small waves around the neckline and did some chain stitch around the sleeve hem. I was really trying to drive home the Little Mermaid vibe.

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A couple months later (for instance, after I finished my defense and my paper for my Master’s thesis) I found myself embroidering another Onyx tee, with coppers and aqua. Don’t tell the other ones but this one is my favorite! I affectionately call it the Orange Peel. I guess because it looks like an orange with seeds in it if you squint and then close your eyes and imagine.

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Then around last Christmas I made my first Ogden cami, and after I made the small adjustments I needed to make it wearable, I embroidered the armscye to keep the facing down. Not a lot of embroidery, but it make it special.

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In July I made an Ogden dress (that was featured in my upcoming post about my Ogdens) and embroidered an abstract selection of french knots on the front, and a large running stitch V on the back.

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My favorite pair of jeans had an unfortunate turn of events… The left pocket bag started rotting out (and the other one has started too…), so I did a subtle little bit of visible mending to put in new pocket bag fabric, instead of taking the entire pair of jeans apart to do the same thing.

As for making these pieces of embroidery, I have been mostly just using the fabric plus interfacing required by the patterns to keep it steady. No extra interfacing, at least. I do use a hoop when I can though.

Laundering it is not much extra. When I used household machines I barely even worried, but now that I have to use industrial laundry room machines, I make sure that all of the hooks and closures on my clothing are closed before I put them into the wash, so there’s less chance of catching.

And that winds down my embroidery post!

I do have some embroidery I’d like to do before the month is out (sew frosting anyone?) so I’m hoping to get some shots explaining how I go about it… So look out for that in the next couple weeks.

I know that I’ll continue to embroider on the things I make, because it makes me happy, but it’s been trickling in a bit slower this year. As with my sewing, my embroidering has slowed down now that I kind of make for a living, but I am trying to make it more intentional. So we’ll see what’s next, right?

Cool.

Also, I might be making embroidery patterns for sale soon… Any requests?

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Gift Ideas for an Established Sewist

So yesterday’s gift guide was for new sewists, but what about the sewist that’s been practicing for a few years? Someone who has all the beginner materials, and really doesn’t need another pair of scissors?

Who am I kidding? I own at least 8 pairs of scissors. Bring another pair on!

But seriously, what kind of stuff should you give to the established sewist in your life?

Gifts of time:

Clean their sewing space (under their supervision). There’s nothing I dislike more than vacuuming threads off the floor, or organizing fabric scraps and ironing fabric that fell off my bookshelf full of fabric.

Clean out their sewing machine(s). Have you seen how much dust and lint is in there? If it has been awhile since the last cleaning, that’s even better!

Ask for a beginner project and tutorial (if you’re interested in learning a bit). I love sharing my skills with people who ask and are truly interested! Word of warning: only ask if you’re willing to put in the time…

Gifts to make:

A project. This one’s a bit abstract, but if you know their likes and dislikes you can put together all the parts needed to make a thing, and give your sewist a ready made project that they’ll love. (For instance, gift some fabric, and a pattern, along with some elastic, etc!

pattern weights.jpg

Some pattern weights. My favorite ones are kinda janky looking, but they’re nothing more than washi tape and washers from the hardware store! I’ve seen cool looking ones made with ribbon in the same way!

A funky/cool sign. Does the sewist in question love sewing more than coffee? Or threaten murder over improper use of fabric scissors? Make them a cool sign/art piece to show them that you were paying attention and will never use fabric scissors to cut paper again.

DO NOT cut out your sign from paper using fabric scissors.

Gifts to Buy:

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A pair of scissors! I jest, I jest…

(Here’s one link and another one) 

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Vintage notions that are in good shape. I love bias tape and vintage lace. The former I use, and the latter I hoard. If your established sewist likes notions, consider going to a thrift shop or resale store to pick up cool looking notions, like bias tape, seam binding, or cool looking zippers!

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A cool tool that’s unusual or new to them. Last year I got these cool tools that have been so neat to have around. The hummingbird is a needle threader, and the gauge has been so helpful with hems! This is the time to look for that thing they lingered on in a fabric store!

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Magnetic wand! So helpful for picking up pins. Telescoping ones are great so you don’t have to aim as well! While we’re on the subject, a magnetic pincushion is pretty cool too.

embroidery kit

Small project in a new “field.” If they’ve always wanted to try embroidery, why not give them a kit? Or if they’ve wanted to try the coloring craze for awhile, pick up a coloring book, or download and print some pages, and some markers!

Anything that you sewists out there want to add to your wishlist? Let me know in the comments!

Gift Guide Lineup

Monday – Gifts for a New Sewist

Wednesday -Gifts for a Yarn Crafter (ie Knitter or Crocheter)

Thursday – Gifts for a Maker (people who like to make or craft or build)

Friday – Gifts to Make for Non-Crafty People (there’s always a few)

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Gift Ideas for a New Sewist

It’s almost the holiday season, and it’s the time for thinking about gifts (unless you’re one of those organized people who already has all the presents wrapped… I envy you)!

So I’m taking this week (with an extra post on Wednesday in addition to the regularly scheduled programming) to share some gift ideas for new makers, starting today with new sewists (or sewers or seamstresses or non gendered sewing people) in your life.

Many of you (from what I can tell) are sewists yourselves, so this is geared as a mentoring type of list, and please leave any suggestions in the comments! As part of my job at a makerspace, I’m surrounded by people who are learning to make, so I’m trying to channel that into what I’d give to a friend getting started.

**Other than the links to my own shop, I’m not affiliated with any of these companies. I just like or like the look of the product.**

Gifts of time:

Spend a few hours showing them the ropes. There’s nothing more rewarding for both you and the new sewist than sharing your experiences and helping them through a first project.

Spend some time in a fabric store, helping with choices. I know that my friends who I’ve shared fabric shopping with have been both overwhelmed with all the options, and then underwhelmed with the options for the project they had their heart set on, so having someone experienced can help with both the first and the second problems. I know that if I had someone experienced in garment sewing with me for my first garment fabric trip I would’ve had a much better luck in making it up (I chose very woodgy fabric so cutting it was a nightmare, and then the entire top was too small for my bust, but I didn’t have enough fabric to fix it. Cut to 3 years later before I sewed another garment).

Spend some time shopping through your own stash with them, so they can get some experience with fabrics that you know and have experience with. Plus you get to destash too! (Hide the stuff you can’t bear to part with first though…)

Gifts to Make:

embroidery bag.jpg

Project bag/box. There’s always a project that needs to be stored, right?

Pincushion. There’s nothing more fun than an awesome and/or cute pincushion for beginners.

  • Here’s a tutorial for a pincushion on the top of a mason jar!
  • Check out some to buy in the next section…

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A design or pattern all to themselves, or a copy of your favorite entry level pattern. Sharing something you like to make, or one of your favorite easy patterns is a great way to support someone starting out!

 

Gifts to Buy:

scissors

Pair of sharp new scissors. I like the normal scissors option, like these, but some people swear by more expensive brands, like these. Bonus points if you decorate them in some way so that the non-sewists don’t use them for silly things like paper! I like to wrap the handle with yarn.

sharpener

Scissors sharpeners. Optional, but good if the new sewist already has some good scissors that just need to be a little sharper. I bought this one from Lowe’s one day, but here’s a good option that’s similar.

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Book of needles – Handsewing and/or machine. depending on if the new sewist has a sewing machine of their own. I personally think both are good to have in a sewist’s arsenal, but it’s up to you!

seam ripper

Good quality seam ripper. I have both a new one and a vintage one, but I definitely prefer the long handled ones because they feel better in my hand when I settle down for a long, frustrating unpicking session. This one here is pretty close to what I’m used to.

pincushion

Cute pincushion. If your aspiring sewist is a young girl, or generally likes cutesy things, an adorable pincushion is the most awesome gift. My first pincushion was a purple and yellow flower that was gifted to me by some early quilting mentors of mine, and I kept it for 10 years. This one that looks like tomato is my favorite, and it came as a topper to a small storage box, and I can’t imagine another one on my sewing table.

Fabric (or both). Fabric is a tricky gift in my mind. I’m particular about my fabric choices, so it’s rare when gifted fabric actually gets made into something. But if your aspiring sewist is less picky, its a good option.

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And chocolate. Chocolate is always good. Or insert other candy of choice here. Or cookies… Today was a cookie day for me.

If there’s anything you want to add to the list, put it in the comments! I’m sure there are things other sewists would put in a beginner sewing kit!

So the remaining lineup:

Tuesday – Gifts for an Established Sewist

Wednesday -Gifts for a Yarn Crafter (ie Knitter or Crocheter)

Thursday – Gifts for a Maker (people who like to make or craft or build)

Friday – Gifts to Make for Non-Crafty People (there’s always a few)

Hope you enjoy this series!

 

 

 

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Year 3 with Ariel

cuteariel

Well guys, it’s my 3rd year of making costumes and actually wearing them (as opposed to year 8 of making long term costumes and not wearing them maybe ever… Because that does still happen… This one’s cheerier), and it’s also my 3rd round of updates to my Ariel costume.

Year 1 was my Ariel with a deep blue rayon skirt, matching bow, and hair extensions.

Year 2 was the Ariel with a pair of light blue rayon lawn culottes, along with Year 1’s bow and hair extensions.

Year 3, or this year, is the year that I made linen-cotton culottes and ditched the hair extenions. I kept the bow though!

New version (quite wrinkled)
Old version

Last year’s culottes were awesome! Except, well, except for the hole in the butt. So this round, I decided to keep with the culottes idea, and ditch the way too lightweight rayon. Plus I wanted them to be wearable in real life.

Again, like last year, I dyed the fabric myself. This year it’s this linen/cotton blend as the substrate, though. I dyed it with the same royal blue fiber reactive procion dye, in my trusty five gallon bucket. I’m not sure how much fabric is actually was in there, but it was waaaaaay too much for that bucket.

culottes

I think it was about 4 yards of fabric, though. Those legs are wide…

The fabric is reasonably stiff with almost no drape, which does mean that these culottes come with their own volume. But, since I didn’t bring an iron with me, only a steamer, I didn’t get a sharp front crease at the pleat, so some illusion was lost.

back

It also made problems in the back. See, I wanted to avoid the zipper and corset problem I found last year, and installed an elastic back… But I was a bit willy nilly in the altering, and didn’t think about the large quantity of fabric that’d be gathered on the back, so I trudged through. (I used this tutorial, if you’re interested.)

This was right after Megan Nielsen released pockets as an add on/update to the pattern, so I was lucky to get the huge pockets that I so love about her patterns. They’re fantastic!

Sewing up went quick, and I installed the elastic and tried it on. In hemming I probably cut off at least two inches, and the hem is about an inch and a half deep. But then I discovered that the elastic (two rows of elastic, mind) was not strong enough to keep the skirt up.

So I took off the elastic, cut it down, and then reattached it, and it worked fine enough.

side

When I walk, sometimes the extra fabric “walks” awkwardly in front of me, but I did raise the inseam by about two inches after I noticed that, so fingers crossed that fixed it.

I’m considering unpicking the back and making “artistic darts” to reduce that waistband bulk, but that month is not this month. Maybe next month.

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My hair was super long this year (comparatively), so I nixed the hair extensions on the day. They always get stuck on stuff and drag my scalp with them, and then I take them off midday anyway.

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But the bow and necklace have held strong! This year, I did stick on some fake earrings, meaning pearly cabochans with eyelash glue. They were cute, and did last all day!

So that’s year 3 of Ariel! I dunno if she’ll make it another year… I had to do some repairs to the corset this year, due to the really cheap “coutil” that I used, but I hope that next year it’ll be around!

 

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Army of Ogden Camis

black rayon ogden

Okay… Bandwagon jumper here. The Ogden Cami by True Bias is fantastic.

black crepe ogden

And it uses almost no fabric. Okay. It uses more than I’ve tried to throw at it, but still, very little.

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So far in my army I’ve made 9 (but only have 8):

  1. Black rayon with embroidery around the armscye
  2. Black crepe (probably polyester)
  3. Paisley cotton, previously Kaylee Dress
  4. Blue rayon lawn, previously Ariel Culottes
  5. Suiting fabric, possibly a wool blend
  6. Heavy cotton with no drape, previously Uganda Dress
  7. Red Iron Man inspired, did not make it long enough for pictures
  8. Blue cotton, also seen in my first Archer shirt
  9. Black rayon dress!!! Bodice lined with embroidery on the front and back

The pictures in this post are in order, in case you’re curious.

blue rayon ogden

I’ve determined that there’s nothing I can do with that blue rayon. Even v2 didn’t work out well.

suiting ogden

I did notice that the first was very, very low cut on me. When I take up the straps about an inch, then it has a much more comfortable neckline. I think I probably need to do a FBA, but at this point, its cute, comfortable, and probably a big part of my summer and fall and spring (and maybe winter?) uniform. And I’ve been feeling lazy…

uganda ogden

Though, I will definitely emphasize that marking which side is back and which side is front is important… For the first three I did that by using a lining fabric as the back facing, but I forgot for the blue rayon, and I don’t ever know whether I’m wearing the front or the back of the thing…

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In the future (because I’ve already got 2 more planned) I want to steer clear of fabric with little drape. This definitely looks better with fabric that falls well. That’s why the Iron Man one didn’t last… It might have been medium weight twill, or at least it didn’t drape like a medium weight twill will.

And the dress. So this has a fully lined bodice, and a skirt that I really should’ve serged before I wore it. Basically I took the pattern, lopped off a couple of inches, pretended I was extending it on a new piece of paper, drafted a really simple skirt, drafted some (mediocre) pockets, and cut it out. It ended up being slightly dropped waist, and an excellent summery dress that is just soooooooo comfy. Oh, and I used some trim for the straps. To give it some flair. And I embroidered it. More on that to come.

styled ogden

And this is what it looks like (typically) when I’m wearing it at work: sweater or shawl or both!

Such a great stash/scrap buster, and flattering and comfy too!

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Mustard Knit Wrap Sweater

front

I’ve been wanting a “ballet sweater” for awhile… I’m not a ballet dancer, nor do babydoll styles seem to flatter me (meaning they don’t tend to make me feel great about my appearance), but I love the idea of a wrap sweater.

The idea was on my back burner for a long while.

2017 January saw me in Seattle for a conference, and I picked up two skeins of this lovely Royal Alpaca from Aslan Trends in a mustard gold color on sale. It’s supposed to be worsted, but it felt like a bit more than that as I knitted it up.

sleeve

I scoured Ravelry and discovered that none of the patterns fit my specifications (I guess I’m super picky?). So I knitted up a small swatch to get an approximate gauge, and then calculated out some general plans, then kind of threw them out the window and did it as I wanted. I know that I made the edging on purpose, and I made the i-cord edging first or concurrently to the making, and I went with kimono sleeves since they’re easy, and basically knit pretty much until I ran out of yarn.

back

The yarn did shed on me so much (and everyone was so nice to not point out that it was shedding all over my black shirts…), and it still does to a (marginally) lesser degree, which I’ve seen from my google searches happens a lot.

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What I do know is that this sweater is warm! For a very open weave it is very cozy, so it’s going to make an excellent sweater in cool weather, which **fingers crossed** its going to stay now. I was getting cross with the 85*F October days.

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This is my “why are my downstairs neighbors so loud” face…