iSew

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.

I made two new pairs of pants for Marlowe. I did a combination of an elastic waist/ drawstring. The details are Heather Ross fabric that I splurged on and just love, love, love. Aren't those fishies so fun? (and, yes, he is standing briefly without holding on) And the colors of the frogs and turtles make me think of summer. I'm still perfecting some things, but I'm liking the direction the pants are taking, and Marlowe is a (mostly) willing model.

On Monday I was in major declutter/organize mode. I started with my shelves in the wardrobe, but I didn't get very far, because I got distracted for the rest of the day by the kitchen pantry. But in the brief time in my wardrobe, I made of stack of Tshirts i hated and wanted to get rid of. Coincidently, Marlowe needs pants. This stripey Tshirt wasn't so bad. It just looked dowdy on me. But it makes for some cute, comfy stripey pants for Marlowe. I added pockets on the sides for extra cuteness.

Making kids pants is so incredibly easy. Here's a good tutorial if you want to make some!

posting just after midnight, but counting for Dec 4. Finally finished the living room curtains. I will not sew curtains again for a long time, because I hate it. But happy they are done.

The snow is still coming down. It's been off and on all night. Right now it's very on in big fluffiness! I'm very excited!! If we didn't have an IEP meeting later at school, I would've kept Ellis home. They're pretty die-hard outside players at school, though, so I think he'll get some fun outside. He has a good pair of mittens, but last time he wore them, he decided to make sculptures in the dirt, so into the wash they went. And, in the way of socks and mittens, only one came out, so we're on the lookout for the other. But it's snowing today!! So, awesome mom that I am, I whipped him up a new pair of fleecy mittens while he watched Sesame Street, before the bus came. This is a great mitten tutorial, by the way. So his little fingers will stay warm.

We're off to Lancaster today to celebrate Ellis's favorite Uncle Nick's birthday! Happy Birthday!!!

Today I made flannel pants for E for naptime at school. I finished an outfit for M. And, get this, I made a naptime quilt for Ellis to take to school.

I didn't do much else, but we all ate, and I did spend 2 hours outside with the boys.

Pics forthcoming.

*updated*

Orange cotton pants with cute stripey cuff. Pumpkin aplique with fusible applique stuff.

Ellis's nap apparati. Since Ellis has started going to school all day, he gets the joy of "naptime," except he usually just rests. His teachers told me he likes to take off his pants for rest time, which cracks me up. But they did envision how this could be a bit awkward in case of something like a fire drill. Obviously, nap pants were in order. And I had to make a matching quilt. Duh! After which, I reaffirmed my status as Not A Quilter. But it works for naptime. I rolled over the edge from the back, instead of doing a proper binding. It's very soft and comfy flannel.