Making time for sewing...Office Hours!

2012 was marked by an abysmal lack of sewing. We could blame it on a lack of pressing or interesting projects, or say that higher priority tasks and world travel edged out my sewing time, but it wouldn't be true. I simply didn't make sewing a priority. After the banner year of 2011 where I more-or-less completed a project each month, 2012 reeks of failure and smirks at me most unattractively. Stop it.

In spite of constantly proclaiming each January that I'm not a resolution-type person, I want to fill 2013 with the racket of my sewing machine and decided a resolution was the way to do it. My 2013 sewing resolution is to dedicate two hours* a week to sewing--I'm calling it my sewing office hours. Hopefully by giving the resolution/time commitment a pseudo-responsible title, I will not blow off my two hours a week or postpone indefinitely, or end up doubling up or tripling up my time commitment and invariably return to my infrequent sewing binge schedule. 

My first set of office hours was tonight since I had the flu last week (I actually did sew two hours worth last week, but that's another story). What can you accomplish in two hours of sewing? Well, not a whole heck of a lot. 

1. Seam rip, cover, and reattach two straps for my lamb bag (they were starting to fray, stuff was getting real)
2. Cut, embellish, and stitch two rice bags
3. Sketch, do the maths, and start cutting fabric for my forthcoming fabric cover for my new planner

There it is. I suspect that in future weeks I will make it through some larger projects, or at least through parts of some larger projects. But here is to a good start!
*Two hours a week is a minimum target, not a weekly prescribed exact amount.

VICTORIA SMASH!

Apparently I hulked out at work last week.

You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Dang, I've had that shirt since high school! I wore it in my senior class photo. And though the tear is right along the seam, the fabric is in no condition to be made into a new, narrower seam. I think it is simply time to say goodbye to this shirt.

Late summer cherry Sorbetto

Boy, is that title misleading! It has been long time since I last posted, long enough that I appreciate the fact that you forgot this pattern is called the Sorbetto. The cherry part comes in because...well, the fabric is red. Did I really have to explain that part? Probably not.

Disneyland in Frontierland--our home away from home.

Michelle bought this fabric for me last summer to make her a summer top LAST summer. As in, 2011. Oops. Anyhow, I finally pulled it together to make her the top in August. 2012 has been a less-than-productive sewing year, as this top was the first thing I have made since all of my KDVS fundraiser crafts in April. It had been such a long time that I forgot many of my previous lessons-learned from other versions of the Sorbetto. Blinking determinedly and mouth grimacing through a bouquet of straight pins, I tried my darnedest to affix the sleeves (unwittingly cut sans seam allowance) onto the bodice. I don't care which algebra book you operate from, it wasn't gonna happen. Luckily there was more fabric to cut new sleeves as I muttered to myself about...well, let's just say it was a semi-violent muttering session.

Disneyland on the Mark Twain Riverboat--great for parties!

Aside from the sleeve complications/mental lapse, the shirt was straightforward and simple to construct. I'm still using bits of bias tape that people have given me instead of buying any new tape for projects, which is good and bad. While it is awesome to have all of that stock on hand (and for free), I'm quickly running out of desirable colors. Next up, shirts edged in puce!

I think this proves that there is still a place for Sorbetto in October! Or at least that's what I'm telling myself as I scrape through the watermelon lavender sorbet I made last weekend. It is OCTOBER, how are we still getting watermelon in our CSA box?! I hope to have an update next week on this adorable black and white dress I also made in August. Spoiler alert: history repeats itself.

Update coming soon!

You're right, I left you hanging.

I won't do it again. A serious update is in the works, see you before the end of next week!

KDVS Fundraiser Crafts, final products

I didn't finish as much as I was hoping to in time for my fundraiser show last night (went well, thanks for asking!), but I think the crafts I did finish turned out super well. There was the KDVS Record bag with red appliqued letters and allllll dem bloomers. 

So the thing about bags is that they're so incredibly easy to make, but I have so many free bags (grocery shows, ag fairs, life in general) that I have absolutely no cause to make one for myself. Even though you know and I know that I would so much happier if my grocery bags were made of something other than stained canvas. You might recognize these fabrics from past outfits I've made (even the red applique).  

Any second now, Mario is going to shoot out and I'm finally going to catch him!

If I take note of anything about this bag, it should be the perfect length of the handles (17.5 inches/44 cm). I could pull the bag up on my shoulder or carry it by my side (arm extended) without it dragging on the ground. Awesome! However, I don't think I could wear it like a backpack (with one strap over each shoulder), which is what I need to do with all my grocery bags. That makes it a walking bag.

Mr. Lion says, "Put some damn pants on!"

The bloomers turned out well. As predicted, the yellow with the blue polkadots is summery and sweet, and Michelle's stitching does wonders with the theme "Your Beacon in a Sea of Sound". There is still one pair left in size XS for if you're feeling extra slender today. Come on, give it a shot!

KDVS Fundraiser continues until Sunday, April 29th at midnight, so be sure to pledge! If you're nice, maybe you can sweet-talk me into making you the most awesome bag you've ever owned. 

KDVS fundraiser crafts teaser

Hey there! KDVS fundraiser bloomers are in fact in the queue for "things to make before Monday the 23rd". I bought the fabric yesterday at Joann's, washed it last night, and cut all the pieces tonight. Lessons learned? 4 yards is exactly enough fabric to cut the pieces for five bloomers, one in each size XS-XL. It was unnervingly close and could have very easily been not enough, but we made it! Anyhow, I wanted to give a preview of the fabric that will turn into bloomers within the next week.

Isn't that great? I'm beyond enthused about how cute these will look when they're done.

Cute, no? So, the blue ribbon will be for the leg draws and I'm thinking of a similar blue for stitching the KDVS (usually on the left hip) with a little anchor beside it to play into the fundraiser theme "Your Beacon in a Sea of Sound". Yeah, I probably should put an actual beacon but I think a broader nautical thing is far more appealing.

One of last year's bloomers. I just found out that there is one pair left over (someone didn't pay their pledge?) that will be offered up this year again.

The game plan is to also make some bike straps (which I haven't done in YEARS!) and a record bag or two. Get stoked! Also, get healthy. I'm sick right now and it is terrible.

Easter dresses, part 2

I've been meaning to make Brycear a dress for quite some time (I think I decided that around Christmas?), but I'd been procrastinating because of the alterations I would need to make. I assumed I would need to make a full-bust adjustment on any dress I made for her and had been psyching myself out for quite some time. However, the FBA doesn't seem like something you could perform without the intended recipient being there for every step of the process. With that in mind, I figured that if the pattern was basic I could do most of those measurements and alterations in one day. I started out with Burda Style 108 from March 2011, which is the same pattern I used for my black, tan, and red party dress (which has the most wonderful and amazing border print known to mankind). 

Here's the front bodice panel. Two darts and you're done. Timber could make this dress.

The only wildcard was that the dress pattern only came in a small handful of sizes and to get the right size, I would need to perform some pattern grading. I used an article from Threads as my guide and gave it my best shot. Here is a picture of my efforts to be a legit seamstress who measures things in advance.

DON'T BREATHE! This was right before I taped all the pieces down to trace the modified bodice.

By grading the pattern instead of just trying to add some fabric at the seams, I was able to spread the added size throughout the whole pattern instead of just at the sides. The darts serve their purpose better when you have that kind of foresight, I'll tell you that much. 

I was expecting to have to make a FBA after that fitting, but Bryce was pretty happy with the fit of her swimtop muslin (which was light yellow with a hot pink zipper), so I just went ahead and made the dress from there. Of course, more adjustments had to be made sometime after midnight at the ranch, but she still had a dress to wear for Easter. A dress made in a day, yeah!

gettin' ready to catch stuff, Huck Finn style.

The fabric I used was one that Esch "donated" to my stash last year after she officially determined she wasn't going to learn how to sew. I think she got it at Bolt in Portland, and it is a cerulean x sky blue with white shamrocks. Very cute. I keep hoping she'll forget about some of the other fabrics she donated since her fabric trip yielded some smarter purchases than mine did. However, she brought up a certain fabric I've been going Gollum for on Sunday so I think I'm out of luck.

She looks happy because she got a lot of Easter candy.

I've finally graded a pattern! It is not my favorite thing to do, but I feel like it opens a lot of doors to patterns that aren't exactly "my size". You know what I'm sayin'.