Another Milestone: Sewing Garments

Was anyone else out there totally inspired and motivated by Kids' Clothes Week

a few weeks ago?

I certainly was, and if you follow me on Pinterest or Instagram,

you've probably noticed that I've been somewhat addicted to finding some simple garments to sew

in order to boost my confidence in the pattern department.

For some reason kids' clothes seem so much less intimidating.

Luckily, I found these bubble shorts by Elegance and Elephants.

Not much needs to be said.

They are beyond cute and also beyond easy.

(!!!)

Which means they were perfect for my first try at sewing a real garment.

The pattern also comes with a variation for sailor style button front, which is so incredibly adorable, I can hardly stand it. That may be next on my list.

I don't have any female offspring, so I've been churning these shorts out for my nieces and Ben's little lady friend, Lucy.

I also found a free pattern for this toddler swing tank.

I added the peter pan collar with some extra fabric I had left over from the shorts.

For the shorts, I opted for a linen blend which gave me the look of linen, but more ease of care,

and the shirt is a quilting weight cotton print (both from Joann).

Super cute, right?

This endeavor went so well, I'm actually considering sewing something boy-friendly for my own child! haha.

I'll keep you posted.

Downton Abbey Knit Along {and Pattern Review}

I saw the teaser for Luv In the Mommyhood's

Downton Abbey Knit Along

a couple of weeks ago, and I wasn't going to do it.

I really wasn't.

Too much going on....

But then on TOP of the teaser,

Shannon posted (via a Pinterest board) many a Downton inspired knit and crocheted projects,

and I saw this:

photo credit and pattern

I die.

Here's my finished product

Soooooo..... I'm in.

Put Meg down for one crocheted cowl, please.

because, yes, I need another cowl.

I have to be competely honest with you all, though...

We're only one episode in, and in my excitement...

I already finished.

In my defense, it was a 2 hour ep... sooo....

I know, I know. Less of a "knit along" and more of an "I just knit that".

Oh well. What are you gonna do?

The good news is

I. Love. This.

Love the yarn.

Love the pattern.

Very very simple and quick thanks to all of the negative space that makes this cowl look lacey.

It's a less than one skein project (hooray!)

The one con I can think of:

not exactly practical for Pittsburgh winter... but Spring Still Winter is just around the corner, right?

I believe that the yarn in the pattern is an acrylic.
I chose a natural wool because I don't always like how some acrylics are "slippery" when you're working with them.
You'll see right off the bat that there are some pros to working with an acrylic yarn for this pattern.
Because it's smoother, it lays a little more nicely (see pattern pic above).
You can also see the stitches more clearly, giving the pattern a more gentile, lacey look.

And here's some pics from the unintentionally
patriotic photo shoot

The wool is stiffer, which I don't mind at all.
It also has a rougher feel, which I also don't mind.
While I love the look of the pattern's pic, I don't know that I'll be wearing mine with a tank, so the wool will not really be against my skin.

To get this crochet pattern, click here.

Highly recommend.

To check in to the knit along and see what everyone else is up to, click this there button below.


Success

So I did it.

I sewed something from an actual pattern.

To hear more about my pattern-sewing woes, click here.

But to cut to the chase,

here is what I made.
(It's a scrub top)

I guess I should clarify again that I am not a Broncos fan.

but as the fates would have it,

I have a substantial  amount of people in my life that call Colorado home.

One of those people is my sister-in-law.

She is crazy.

As in, crazy smart, crazy motivated, and crazy impressive.

To give you more information without giving you too many unsolicited details about my (her) personal life,

she has three kids (a four year, a 2.5 year old, and a 1 year old).

In the period of the last year,

she has cared for those 3 kids (one of them being a newborn),

and started (and just recently completed) a rigorous program to get her nursing degree.

Not enough for you?

She also did the "Insanity" workout in that time.

(for some reason, that's what tips it over the crazy scale for me)

You're impressed, aren't you?

I know I am.

I wanted to get her something for making it through that year,

and mostly for graduating from nursing school.

I found this pattern for scrubs at the fabric store on sale for a buck before Christmas, and snatched it up.

Well, it's finished.

The pattern wasn't as confusing as I thought it would be,

but I have to admit that I was a little uncomfortable at times with the order in which things were sewn, how the seams were sewn, etc.

Therefore, I couldn't resist making some changes.

I CAN NOT STAND any form of raw edge on projects that need to stand up to time and/or some wear and tear.

so I added some zigzags here, some topstitching there...

until I was pleased with the overall result.

My other main gripe with the pattern was the sizing.

I'm most certain that this will be a little big for her

(especially after doing Insanity!),

but it was the "small" size.

The good news is that it's a scrub top.

Even though I'm not a nurse, I can imagine that you need something comfortable with plenty of room to move around in.

I would say that I'm about 90% pleased with the project.
But mostly I'm just happy that I completed something using a pattern without ripping all of my hair out.


And, look! She even sent me a picture! :)

Success.

Noteworthy Events from the Weekend

because, obviously, you were wondering...

Here are the highlights:

I went to going away party for my best friend, Sarah, who is moving across the country.

Depressing? Yes.

But it was a great party.

I went to my pottery class and make a garlic keeper.

Ha. I know, but I was so proud of myself.

I found myself swimming in fabric and yarn to keep up with the orders from my Etsy shop.

Lot and LOTS of bunny ears.

Continued gardening and prepping of seedlings for the Spring 2012 garden.

I ate a whole (large) bag of peanut M&Ms.

Made continued progress on my Sidekick Suitcase for Ben.

Watched The Descendents which was not what I was expecting, but no George Clooney movie ever is, so why was I even surprised???
This clearly says more about my expectations than it does about George Clooney, yes?

I made zucchini chips.

Delicious,

but absolutely NO substitute for potato chips, in case you were wondering.

And, last but not least, I received a gift card for my birthday which I will most likely be using to (don't hate me) purchase theeeeese.

Things I DID NOT do:
Go to the gym.

It's amazing what you can accomplish in a weekend when you aren't wasting your days and nights away anticipating a new episode Downton Abbey.



Shark Wrap Tutorial

Alrighty... I finally got around to putting the pictures together for the shark wrap tutorial.

First off, for more of an introduction to the wrap, go here.

But if you're not interested in all my blabbering... here's a picture of the finished product:

And here is how you make it:

What you'll need:

A bath towel- nothing fancy needed, you can go crazy with color, pattern, plush-ness, etc. I got a plain ol' blue towel (measuring about 30"x50" , also I did invest in the "color stay" variety since ours will have a chlorine-related use)

Iron On Fabric Adhesive like Heat-N-Bond (you probably want to opt for the ultra hold here)

A scrap of black terry or other washable fabric for the pupils

A scrap of white terry or other washable fabric for the eyes

matching thread

heavy duty needle for your sewing mating (you'll be going through a lot of layers a couple of times, and there is little that annoys me more than breaking a needle)

all your normal sewing implements

*optional- I used a lighter blue terry for my binding as an accent, but you can also use pieces left over from your towel. I had plenty.

 

Step One:

Cut your towel in half so your short edges meet (hamburger, not hot dog)

One half will be the body of your wrap, the other half will be everything else. Complicated, I know...

Step Two:

Take your "everything else half" and cut a rectangle for your hood. It should measure 10"x14".

Step Three: Sew a binding for your two sides so you won't have any raw edges on your finished product.

Cut two rectangles measuring 2"x10" from your towel or accent terry.

Now lay one of them along one of the 10" sides of your hood piece and pin in place.

Sew the two together using a little less than 1/2" seam allowance.

Now, unpin and iron your binding piece out. Then iron about 1/2" of the outer edge of the binding piece in.

Then fold that in half to close in all of your raw edges.

Topstitch over all of your layers to keep your binding in place. Again, make sure you're using a heavy duty needle and take your time. Otherwise, your needle will break.

Now repeat for the other side.

If you bring your top corner together, you'll see the hood taking shape. See? Of course you do.

Step Four: Making the Eyes

Cut your eyes and pupils from the white and black fabric, respectively. You'll need two, obv.

You'll also need to cut two pieces of your iron-on adhesive for the pupils and two for the eyes.

First, iron the heat-n-bond to the pupil, peel off the backing and then iron your pupil to the eye piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using matching thread, zig zag stitch around your pupil to keep it in place.

Then, iron your eye piece of heat-n-bond to the back of the eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before you peel off the backing, you'll want to mark where on the hood you'll like your eye to be on the hood.

 

Once you know for sure  (don't waffle :), peel off your backing and iron on to your hood. Then, using matching thread, zig zag around the eye to keep in place.

Now repeat that process for your second eye.

Not bad... and we continue...

Step Five: Sewing the Hood

 

With the eyes on the inside (wrong sides out), fold  your hood piece in half. You're going to sew along the top to bring the front the "head" together. See picture.

 

Pin in place and sew along this edge using a 1/2" seam allowance.

Then serge or zig zag your raw edge to prevent fraying. If you're zig zaggin' like me (I dream of you, Serger...) then you might want to hit it twice for good measure. I'm paranoid about fraying.

Alright! Pop that thing right side out, and your hood is almost finished!

Step Six: Teeth

 

Using white terry, cut two pieces of 3"x11" rectangles.

Sandwich them together and mark your teeth. I used hot pink so you can see, but I would suggest a normal fabric marker. ha.

Pin your two pieces together and sew along your teeth marking. Then cut off the excess including the tip of the fabric so you can turn it and make as close to a point as possible.

 

 

Turn it right side out, using a pair of scissors or what have you to make the teeth pointy. Iron them flat and topstitch around the seam.

Zig Zag or serge the top of the teeth, too, to prevent fraying.

Now with your hood piece inside-out, place your teeth where you want them (probably centered) and pin in place. Now just sew them on!











Done.

 

Step Seven (optional): Nostrils

I used black thread and an old-fashioned needle to make nostrils on my shark. Because a shark doesn't really have a 'nosey' nose, I think this helps to make it look like a shark and not a blue blob of ambiguous monster/animal... but then again, that might be in my head.

Step Eight: Fin

 

This will also help differentiate your wrap creature as a shark...

From the pieces of towel that you have left over, cut about a 10"x24" rectangle with one of the 24" sides on the edge of the towel so that side is already a finished edge. If you're not able to make that cut in what you have left, you'll just want to make a finished edge on that side by folding it over about 1/2" and then topstitching along the fold.

Then fold that piece in half so your 10" sides meet (hamburger, not hot dog).

Mark a 'fin shape' (see picture), and cut it out leaving the fin attached at the top (also see picture).

You'll now have a  piece that looks like this.

Now sew an edge on the bottom of your fin. Fold the rounded edge at the bottom of the fin over about half an inch (you can iron and/or pin this fold in place). Then top stitch it so you have a nice finished edge.

 

Now fold your fin back in half with all your sides meeting ( wrong side out) and pin the top of the fin together (see picture).

Sew along this edge, and then zig zag or serge your raw edge.

When you flip it black over, your fin piece should be done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step Nine: Putting It All Together

Center your fin piece on the body of your wrap, with the edges that meed the wrap making an upside-down "v" shape (see picture)

 

Pin in place and sew along the edge to secure your fin to the wrap. Done.

Now place your hood piece upside down on your wrap (see picture). Make sure it's centered and pin it in place.

Now sew along the edges to secure your hood to the wrap. Done.

Now you're just going to put a binding on your last raw edge.

Cut a 3" strip of towel or accent terry that is a couple inches longer than the width of your towel (Mine was 30", so I cut a 32" strip).

 

Now sandwich the strips and the wrap together at the raw edge, making sure that the strip is slightly folded up at the beginning (see picture), and sew them together using about 1/2" seam allowance.

You're going to sew all the way along the edge, through the wrap and the hood and everything.

Be careful that once you get to the other edge, you also fold that edge up so the ends meet (you might have to cut off some excess).

Now fold your binding piece out and iron a finished edge onto the unseen side (about 1").

Fold that over, and topstitch your binding in place.

Done and done.

Hope that was clear.
Can you tell I'm just getting the hang of editing pictures with photoshop?
It's really helped to add text and arrows and whatnot to my pictures for tutorials.
I really am hoping that it adds much needed clarity to my directions.

Enjoy!