Project: Pattern Challenge

Yesterday on Facebook, Sew, Mama, Sew posted about the new pattern challenge project over at Come and See the Seitz. When I was developing my ideas for Project: Project, honestly, the thought to make stuff for myself never crossed my mind. Faced with the temptation of a new challenge, I decided to jump right in.

So the deal is that participants have to set some goals, put them in writing, and join a flickr! group. Done, done, and done! (And that last part was easy -- you know me and flickr!). Since this is a pattern challenge, I have to use someone else's patterns and challenge myself. Sarah's hopes for the project are that by the end, we'll have a huge archive of pattern reviews that will be useful to other people attempting to make those same designs.

I haven't made a garment for myself since I took Flat Pattern Design in college (1997 to date myself). I am starting to realize that I've never actually made anything for myself from someone else's pattern. I think this challenge is off to a great and challenging start. We're in the middle of some bizarre freezing rain, snow, and ice so I can't exactly drive to the fabric store (45 minutes in either direction). My meagre stash of sewing books will have to do for now. My first two challenges come from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing: the Go-Everywhere Shirt Dress and the Kimono Dress with an Obi Sash. When I have time, I'll find a vintage pattern to sew from and something from the fabric store.

My personal goals are to sew one item for myself each month for at least 4 months. If the Pattern Challenge is still in swing after that, I may just keep going.

For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Jane (part 2, first meeting)

Wow. The Jane Austen book club meeting that I wrote about earlier finally arrived. I didn't know what to expect but I was a little nervous.

What a pleasant experience, however! My sister-in-law and I went together and we walked into the sitting room at this huge hundred-year-old house to find a group of women of all ages. We weren't the youngest and we weren't the oldest. Everyone there absolutely loved Jane Austen and given the fitting setting, we dove right in to introductions combined with a discussion of our favorite scenes from the novel and our favorite characters. We even talked about the plot. We also spent a lot of time discussing what we knew of Jane Austen's life and how that related to the writing.

Very cool. It was really nice to get out of the house and think about something other than my job (which has sucked today). We met some interesting people (many of whom had moved to town recently) and tried to stage a coup to get the next meeting moved up. Unlike grad school where everyone who says something is just trying to sound smarter than the person who made the last comment, I completely enjoyed the discussion, hardly said a thing, and kept my ears open. There's a lot to be learned. A lot.

Project: Kimono

Always a sucker for a free pattern, I downloaded this amazing kimono tutorial from the Habitual blog. As soon as I saw this Lizzy House fabric in the Red Letter Day collection, I knew they would be perfect. And what's better, I think I made this whole thing from fat quarters (not sure about the back).


I knew it would be worn in the winter so I added some length to the sleeves. Instead of ties, I used a hidden snap closure for the outer layer and a button with an elastic loop for the inside. This was the project that got me addicted to bias tape. I hadn't even known before this that there was such a thing as a bias tape maker -- and now I'm considering buying some different sizes. Ironing is so good for my space cadet tendencies.

This one piece has gotten a LOT of wear (only a recent growth spurt made the sleeves too short but perfect for Spring). It's roomy enough for layering and super easy to put on. Just beware that your toddler will learn how the unsnap before the resnap.


For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Modern Handmade Child Feature

One of my onesies was featured in the Spring 2010 issue of the EtsyKids online magazine, modern handmade child. See pages 10 - 11, "Turquoise: the Color of 2010."

It is, by far, one of the worst photos I have ever taken of something I've made.

Project: Buttons or Snaps?

This weekend I was able to all but finish the Oliver + S playsuit I was working on. It's adorable. We put it on the poor kid even though our house was a bit chilly. Now when she sees it she says, "Cold." Yet another parent-of-the-year award...

It will be warm enough for her to wear this about the same time she turns 2. So what do you think: buttons or snaps? She is getting good and snapping and unsnapping but not so good with buttons yet. I like setting snaps (er, having my husband set them) and I've never made a buttonhole. Hmmmm....

For more on Project:Project, read this post.

Project: On the desk

I thought it would be interesting to show the world my current crafty/computer/sewing space. Check out my flickr page for a million notes.

I keep my Huskystar 224 on the desk at all times. To the right of it is a little plate/candle holder where I keep all my cut threads and dull needles to deal with later and a pile of mail to read. Shoved in next to the desk is the Ikea Lack table that we bought for Zadie to go with her chairs. My chair is something I got from salvage at work. It used to be in the library before the remodel and I love it. To the left is the printer and on top of it is a stack of quilt blocks from the Mod Sampler Quilt-along project. My bookshelf is a little messy so it's time for a purge or a relocation of something.

I love looking at people's spaces so just thought I'd share. My desk is actually pretty neat today. What's a mess is the wire basket rack just off to the right and a bin piled high next to that. Anyone wanna hem a bunch of pants and help me out with it?

For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Quilt Top Finished!

I finally pieced together the entire top to my Mod Sampler quilt from the Oh Fransson! Quilt-along. I didn't have any problems adding the sashing between the rows or along the sides. One of the reasons I may have been having problems with the freezer paper was that my pressure was set very low because I usually do a lot of applique. Instead of good control, I was slipping all over the place. You need straight lines for quilting so I moved it up a notch and got much better results.

The fabrics I was choosing from. I got rid of the teal waves and added a light solid in aqua.

After I finished the front, I measured out the larger cuts of fabric I had left over. I have a nice wide panel of the teal linen I used for the sashing, over a yard of the bird fabric (I can't find a link but it's in the "Sweet" collection from Moda), and that awesome embroidered bird that we bought during a trip to Mexico. I plan to map out the back using graph paper so it will have the right proportions. For the binding, I think I'm going to use the fabric with the little red stars. What do you think?

I'm going to take out the finished edges of the bird panel and piece it in to the teal. I'm not really sure how to do that to get the right dimensions so I'll have to do some research.

For more on Project: Project, read this post.