Sartorial Stitchery
I’ve been a sewing hobbyist for most of my life—it started with Barbie clothes, and I think I constructed my first skirt in primary school. Admittedly, I’ve gone through phases; various life events have interevened with my sewing adventures i.e. College. However, it is something I am very driven to begin again. So, long story short, I am sewing again, and this is my way of keeping myself accountable to that desire and the investment involved.
Books and Plans
This week has been full of great arrivals. Sunday, we were at our local Barnes and Noble, which normally doesn’t have any fashion books at all, and not only did I get a chance to flip through 100 Dresses (henceforth filed under “nice to have, but won’t spend my own money on it”), I found … Continue reading … Continue reading I Wish I’d Known About Waxing
…thread, that is. See, most of my life, I’ve despised sewing by hand. The thread tangles up into a ball of uselessness, it knots itself and pretty soon I just want to scream and run away. Not to mention my hand cramps up, I poke myself accidentally and I start getting needle indentations on the … Continue reading … Continue reading Piecing the Backing
Now that the front of the bargello quilt is complete with borders, it is time to think about the back. Quilt backs can be simple—small ones can even be just a width of fabric—or complex. The most common form of backing is simply taking yardage and using it as-is (if wide enough) or sewing widths … Continue reading … Continue reading Squaring and Bordering the Bargello
Now that the main section of the quilt is complete, it’s time to square it and add borders. This is the center of the quilt before borders. You can see how uneven the bottom is. Squaring My quilt top was badly out of square. It’s kind of demoralizing it’s so badly out of square. Make … Continue reading … Continue reading Sewing Whatsits—The Tomato Berry
When I was a kid rifling through my grandmother’s sewing supplies, I always got a kick out of the little berry thing that hangs off of the traditional tomato pin cushion. I never understood what it was for, I just thought it was cute and silly. Ok, no past-tense about it. I still think it’s … Continue reading … Continue reading The Curve is Apparent!
So, back in November, I left you hanging about the progress of the bargello quilt. We didn’t have class in December, and I’m woefully behind because my machine was acting up and in the shop. But I have it back now, and it is time to get to work! Class this week focused on measuring … Continue reading … Continue reading Rattle Giraffe
Once again, I’ve gone back to Simplicity 2613 to whip up a baby gift, this time for one of Carl’s coworkers. Rather than sew the elephant for a third time, I chose to make view B, the giraffe. To be entirely truthful, I constructed this a while back, but never finished stitching the felt eyes … Continue reading … Continue reading Stash, stash, stash
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Mine consisted of an 11-day trek to Missouri to visit my family, then Carl and I drove down to Biloxi, MS/New Orleans, LA for two days, then back home. My machine is still in the shop, and we’ve been gone for essentially two … Continue reading … Continue reading Small Treat Totes for Christmas Wrapping
My sewing machine has been limping along, so my projects are all on hold while it gets serviced. I did manage to whip up one last thing before the machine went to the shop: a few gift bags for Christmas using allpeoplequilt.com’s Small Treat Totes pattern. With a finished size of 4″x4″x2″, they’re about perfect … Continue reading … Continue reading I’m not dead yet… but I may need service
Despite reports to the contrary, I’m not dead yet. (Sorry, had to let my inner dramatic writer out for a sec.) What I am, however is unmotivated because my sewing machine is starting to act strange. It still works, but for some reason will only sew with a specific lot of needles. I keep telling myself that I’ll take it in for service after I finish the bargello quilt, but then I don’t work on the quilt, because it annoys me that my machine isn’t working at 100%. … Continue reading
