iSew

A quick handmade gift. I got some a square piece of fleece (about 56" square--fleece is wider per yard than average cotton). Then I appliqued the hearts and snowflake on it. And fringed the edges. A nice throw for C's aunt.

My boys love to snuggle in blankets--even Marlowe, the Not Snuggly One (he takes after me). The caterpillar around the house in their comforters, and it totally drives me crazy! I don't know what it is about blanket/pillow mess. But I love their snuggling.

So somewhere between hating comforters and loving snuggling, I decided that they needed Christmas blankies. And since I'm toning down Handmade Holidays this year, there is, apparently, a crafting void. The need for Christmas blankies come upon me so strongly, that I actually took both of my boys to a fabric shop at 4.30 pm, which, if you've ever taken your child into any store--least of all a fabric store--at that hour, you will know is the first step on the road to Crazy.

Honestly my vision was simple: a couple strips of festive for the top, and fleece on the bottom. But then I ended up being super cheap about it, and only buying 2 yards of top fabric (4 half yards, which yielded 4 fat quarters per quilt). This is was not nearly enough for snuggling. So then I had to dig around in my stash, which is so extensive that I really have no business being in a fabric store ever again. I had some white fleece, which served as a border. And I had gotten a half yard of some festive Merry Christmas fabric on sale from Sew, Mama, Sew. In my stash, I luckily found the Jay MacCarroll Winter Wonderland, of which I think I had a whole yard! and some other Christmasy fabric that came from my mom's. So the total size ended up being 2 x 3 fat quarters with four inch borders. You do the math. But it's a perfect size for little boys. Since I used fleece as the back, I didn't bother with batting. And I sewed the top and bottom right sides together, turned it right side out through the little hole I left, and then stitched around the border (like you would for a bag). So SUPER simple. Not even bound. I did a little "machine quilting" that wasn't very successful. I'll probably hand quilt a little design on a couple squares one of these evenings I find myself watching a favorite holiday movie.

It only took me a few evenings to make both little quilts. They went together quickly. I love them. And the boys love them. And they are very snuggly. I have visions of pulling out the Christmas blankies every year. (And plans for spring blankies and summer blankies....oh will someone just shoot me?)

I know I've already shared on Facebook the magnum opus that is the Halloween costumes that I made, but I need to plunk it down here for blog posterity.

when it came time to deciding on costumes, I wasn't sure how I was going to top the utter cuteness of last year's Man with the Yellow Hat and Curious George. Then one day Ellis decided that he wanted to dress up as the Cat in the Hat, so that was the decider, I would make a costume for him for Halloween. The obvious accompaniment to a Cat in the Hat costume is Thing 1/Thing 2. So Marlowe was going to be that. To be honest, though. I wasn't feeling it. Too obvious, too uninspired. So then, I thought, well, what about The Goldfish in the Cat in the Hat? Could I do a Goldfish costume?

Thus began the great quest to figure how to make a convincing fish. I scoured the internet for some design inspiration and came across this simple octopus costume idea on Martha Stewart. So that was my springboard.

The fish costume is in two parts: the body suit and the hood/cape thingy.
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The bodysuit was pretty straightforward. I used his jammies as a guideline. And velcro up the back. I incorporated fins onto the sleeve. The hood/cape has a lining so that i could stuff it a little and make casings in the fins for some pipe cleaner. The gave the fins some stiffness and bending capabilities for a fun Suess-y flip. I made a couple of pockets on the neckline of the bodysuit to thread the ties of the hood cape through to make it more comfy and secure for wearing.

The whole thing is made out of nice, comfy soft fleece.

The Cat in the Hat costume was much simpler. Again using fleece, i made a black body suit with velcro up the back for ease. Using his jammies as a template. then the white belly and sewed on red, felt bow. I made a casing and put some elastic at the neckline so that it would fit snugly, but comfortably. The tail is from a set of stripey tights from Target, stuffed with polyfil and a pipe cleaners. I added some strips of wide elastic at the foot, so that the leg would cover his shoes. Got some white gloves at Target, and made some whiskers from pipe cleaner. The Hat was donated by a friend who just had happened to find one at the thrift store. This made my job a LOT easier. I was not looking forward to that millinary foray.

The Sew, Mama, Sew blog is definitely one of the best sewing blogs/forum/fabric shops out there. I love this site!

Well, it's back-to-school month, and they are offer a real motherlode of a giveaway: a brand new Husqvarna Viking serger machine.

And even though the chances of my winning are about as slim as both my kids sleeping all night all by themselves in their own beds, I may as well try. Because isn't hope part of the human experience?

This year I'm facing a peculiar sewing challenge. Over the past year I've just sewed less, faced with a busy life of toddler and preschooler and a sewing/fabric setup that is a little frustrating since our move. Last year I got a bunch of pants/jeans for my growing like a weed 4yo (now 5yo). I got them a little on the large side hoping we could bring them out for the fall, too. Well, they didn't make it. Hardly three months later, the knees of these pants systematically shredded. I was kind of frustrated because between his grandma and me, we had gotten him good, new jeans with the expectation that they would last. I've patched and patched all his holey knees, but even that's not going to last long before he starts looking like a quilt. So I'm bracing for a big sewing challenge of creating the sturdiest boy pants ever. A serger would make this go a lot faster.

Also, I would love to be able to create more unique, fun Tshirts for my boys. Because we all know that there is so much more out there for girls. I'm scared to sew with knits without a serger. Yea, yea, I know it can be done. But it could be done more easily with a serger.

So this is why I would love to win the serger: to sew clothes for my boys more easily.

I was hanging out with a friend yesterday, and remarked that I hadn't sewn anything since February. Crazy! I just haven't.

Ellis and Daddy went camping last night, leaving M and I at home. I was catching up on blogs and got totally inspired by Made by Rae's Spring Top Challenge. I promptly set about trying to come up with a top of my own. I don't know how I got the upcycle bug in my head, too. I googled around and found this tutorial for converting a men's shirt into a girly top. I have a couple of old shirts of hubby's that have been needing some new life. I actually set about to do this tutorial twice, but as I got into it both times, the shirt said something different to me. (I haven't decided yet if I'll post about the first one. Still not sure about it.)

I'm really happy with how this one came out. Yes, it was hubby's shirt--but from Retro Days in high school. It recently surfaced at his parents' house, and I got a huge kick out of it. It was kind of cool, but also kind of only 70's Day worthy. (sorry the pics are so bad--my phone cam)

I cut off the top, cutting from underarm to underarm of the sleeves, so buttoned it's just a tube, essentially. Then hemmed across the top. Four rows of elastic thread shirring.

I turned it around so the buttons were in the back, then added straps.

I love how it turned out. And it's super comfy. And I think it's gone from Retro Day to Vintage-y

My mom came today to hang out and to bring their portable dishwasher to me to have, since ours died. I took advantage of her being here to finish this skirt to wear to a wedding of a church friend this afternoon. I didn't pay a cent for this skirt. The turquoise wool was in my stash that came with a lot of other awesome wool from my great-grandma's attic. And the lace that I sewed on top of it was from a curtain. Like mom said, "You don't need money; you just need clever." I felt really clever, too. The perfect midwinter skirt.

Because it's great blog fodder, too.

Sew, Mama, Sew is one of my favorite crafty blogs. I've been reading them forever. They always have great ideas, tutorials, and, my favorite, handmade holidays!! This month is sewing machine month, and there's a SWEET giveaway of a sewing machine this month.

Anyway, they're hosting a sewing machine meme, so I thought it sounded like a good idea, and needed something to post about since you already know that we went to Ikea for dinner and that Ellis got a new sleeping bag if you're following me on Facebook. meh.

What brand and model do you have?
Janome Sewist 509

How long have you had it?
2 yrs

How much does that machine cost (approximately)?
$200

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?
All of the above. Everything. clothes, bags, curtains. I sew with heavier weight home dec fabrics, and have even sewn knits on it.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?
I go in seasons. Sometimes almost daily, others about monthly.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?
It's very smooth. I can sew a ton of layers of heavy material, and it just tromps over them like butter. So it's a real workhorse for me. I did not name it. I think of it as "the Sewist" which sounds sort of academic to me.

What features does your machine have that work well for you?
Well, this is a basic, basic, basic machine. I can do zigzag, buttonholes, and straight stitches. And they all work well.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?
nope.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!
I turned in my master's thesis, and the next week bought a sewing machine. :)

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?
Yes. This is a very good basic machine. It is reliable, extremely easy to use. The perfect first sewing machine. I had major sewing fear before I got this. And the ease of the machine made it easy for me to fall in love with sewing.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?
I wanted to just get a basic machine when I was looking for this, my first machine. I wanted to know myself more as a sewer before I looked for my features. I think I'd be interested in some interesting stitch pattern options, and a programmable buttonhole. For me, though, I don't need much.

Do you have a dream machine?
I'd like something that could do anything. Could quilt, could serge, could embroider and be very good at the "basics" too.

(read more entries on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog)

This is crossposted on Philly Makes!, a group blog I joined for artists, crafters, designers, and makers of all sorts who live in Philadelphia. The point is to make and post about one thing a week. I thought it would stretch myself creatively a little.

I haven't posted much in the last couple of weeks, because the main thing I had to make was room on my hard drive for more pics. Now my computer is sufficiently backed up, and I can post again!

I could write about the total failure jacket I made out of old Tshirts. The concept was cool and a little a propos for Earth Day--reduce, reuse, recycle and all that. But the jacket turned out really, really dumb looking. So I'm going to post about a little idea I had for my almost 4yo son's room.

We basically have a one bedroom apartment, since we are caretakers for a historic house. The room off the kitchen (commonly known as the dining room) is my son's room. I've done a lot towards making a kid's paradise in the very limited amount of space I have. The door between the kitchen and the room has windows on it, so we've always thrown a blanket over it to block the light from the kitchen at bedtime. But that's a little unsightly. So I FINALLY made a curtain (I hate making curtains) from some navy blue canvas I had lying around.

We can't waste any space, so I put a couple of large pockets on the bottom for storage. But the major addition was a felt board. I had a pile of acrylic felt (from back before I knew you could get/make wool felt, if you can believe it!) lying around that needed using up. I tried pinning and sewing first, but it was a little unwieldy, so I fused the edges down and then zigzagged the finish.

Ellis immediately loved it. He had me cutting stuff out as fast as I could (hence the stars and houses that are a little unshapely as I freehanded them). There's pockets right underneath the felt for easy storage of the felt pieces. I positioned the felt board just high enough that he really has to stand on a stool right now, but he never has to worry about his one-year-old brother messing it up.

Today I turn 31.

I made a new shirt to commemorate the occasion, using the same Summer Blouse pattern from weekend sewing, but I changed the neckline. The necklace that I made a few years ago goes perfectly! I'm so glad, because I've always liked the necklace, but never had anything that was quite right with it.

Chris has the car today and it's raining, so it's kind of a subdued day. But E will be home early to start his spring break, and that will be fun.

I have a no-cooking policy on my birthday, so I got frozen waffles for hubby to make breakfast. We'll see about later.

The other new book I got was Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross, projects you can do in a weekend. I made the Summer Blouse from the book. It was very simple and came together with no trouble at all. I haven't sewn many clothes for me successfully, so I was really happy with this. It was so easy to follow the directions. The patterns (included in the book) are also basic enough that they lend themselves to variation, which I love.

I used Ikea fabric with some red linen scraps as trim. The linen isn't that great for this use, though, because it frays, but it's so nice and soft. I also did 3/4 length sleeves.