Project: Someone else's project

I just had to take a minute to write about what just came in the mail -- this awesome Retro Ruffler from Raegun. I consider Marissa an online friend. We have emailed and sent convos and left comments on each other's flickrs and blogs and whatnot but we've never met and we probably never will. But I still feel like she's in my circle, you know. Etsy is like that.

So when I saw this little goodie -- and then I saw that one of my friends had gotten one too, I decided just to buy it. (Even though it was the middle of Winter and it would not get worn for months). I love it. There's a lot of detail. It's a cute vintagey design that got me right away. I like the color in this picture but I went with a blue floral one with dark blue ric rack because I think Zadie will look super cute in it. I wish she would let me put it on her but she has been in a mood for over a week and I haven't been able to get a thing on her except fleece. Sometimes I think she is not my child.

EDIT: I finally wrangled said toddler into this thing and wow. It is so cute. Even cuter than the kids in the listing photos (ahem). It's also a great fit. I ordered a 3 because my kid is really tall (considering her elfin parents) and I was worried about the rise. Awesome. It's a perfect fit now and I'm sure we'll get two summers out of it. It's not tight around the thighs, is roomy around the cloth diaper, and had super long straps that can be tied differently to adjust fit. Yay!

Project: Loot.

Although there is a quilt shop and a weird upholstery fabric store in town, we don't have a true sewing shop with different types of fabrics and notions and patterns and all that deliciousness we love and hoard. So when I go to the sewing store, I stock up because it's a 45-minute drive. Last weekend I went to visit my parents so that my mom could watch the kid and I could have as much uninterrupted time with my list as I needed. Success. I bought these fabrics for projects for me. The teal faux silky stuff is for this top (see note) that I wrote about before. I should be able to wear it to work if it ever warms up. The cotton dots print is for this dress. I'm going to make the Maya version because I want something cool and lovely for Summer. I had to buy zippers too. I have never sewn a zipper before. Ever. Someone has always done it for me.

This dotted swiss is for this dress (see note) for Zadie. I thought I would make it very much like the pattern and add trim in two different colors. I love dotted swiss. I would use it for every project if it made sense. I just love the vintage feel to it.

Finally, this is the haul for the second Oliver + S pattern that I'm going to attempt, the Playdate dress. I didn't mean to buy fabric so like the example on the package but after seeing the nursery rhyme toile, I had to go for it. And chartreuse with deep blue and red is so underrated. I think it will add a perfect punch.

I love shopping for supplies. So much of making good projects is in finding the right materials, making a good list and checking it more than twice, and living with the patterns and fabric until it feels right.

Project: Vote for the Yeti Dreaming of Soup!

I am a finalist in the Lil Blue Boo & Dharma Trading Design Challenge! How exciting. Go vote for me here. There are 15 other entries and they are pretty good so I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Remember I did a reverse applique using an image on the bottom piece of fabric. That's not easy! Plus I embroidered that soup freehand to make it all dreamy. No stencils, no tracing, no nothing.

Go give the yeti and shout out.

Project: Do you really need to cut bias tape on the bias?

not on the bias

I did some experimenting and my answer is, Yes. And . . . No.

see how it's all bunchy?

As you can see in these first two pictures, I did not cut the fabric on the bias because I didn't have enough of the solid. I thought I would make do with the little that I had. It didn't work and I ended up ripping off the trim stitch by stitch.

So when adding bias tape to any type of curve, you really do need to cut the fabric on the bias. I ended up buying some fabric and using the diagonal line of my cutting mat to make that perfect 45 degree angle.

on the bias

It turned out much better.

But I had to buy a 1/2 yard of fabric to get nice long strips (I don't like lots of seams on my bias tape). I needed about 3 strips for this project and had two bizarre triangle shaped pieces of fabric left over. What a waste. If you're like me and you rarely use bias tape around a curve, I recommend that you just buy a pack of bias tape in a color that's close enough. You'll get about 3 yards for less than $3. That's much less than the cost of 1/2 yard of nice quilt-weight cotton and you won't have fabric left over -- just extra tape to keep on hand for future projects.

If you're using the bias tape for a hem (even a sleeve cuff), not cutting on the bias is going to work out just fine and it won't waste so much fabric.

Edit: One of my friends just asked me what bias tape is. I forgot that not everyone who reads this sews! My plan wasn't to make Project: Project all about sewing but the weather has had other ideas and I've done little else since January.

Anyway, bias tape is that orange stuff in the pictures. It is basically 2" strips of fabric with three folds that create a clean little way to cover up the unsightly edges of a project. It is usually used for binding the edges of quilts. Quilt bindings need to be cut on the bias so that one single thread of a piece of fabric isn't the one getting all the wear. If the fabric is cut on the bias, or the diagonal, then many threads make up the edge, prolonging the life of the binding. Quilt binding does not need to be cut on a true bias (the 45 degree angle); it just shouldn't be cut on the square (or parallel with either direction of the weave of the fibers).

For clothing purposes, I cut my bias for the experiment on the true bias so that it would have the maximum give and stretch. But like I learned, if you're just adding some trim to a cuff or a hem, any way you cut it is going to work.

Hope this helps!

Project: And the winner is...

Naomi!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered to win the dress. All the fabulous comments really made my day (and week and month).

Project: Sewing machine mishap

Why does this happen? And it happens a lot. Right when I start to sew, the machine gobbles up the thread (it's the top thread pictured there on the bottom side). Sometimes it's so bad it gets all wound up in the bobbin case and I have to open that up and pull it out. It does not matter what thread I'm using, what type of needle I'm using, or the fabric. In this case I was sewing two pieces of knit cotton together with the appropriate needle. I also had my machine serviced recently. If I start with the needle up, needle down, new needle, old needle, in the fabric a bit, at the edge of the fabric, it's all the same and it's driving me nuts.

Is there a Car Talk for sewing machines?

Project: Another cape

Yeah, I know. I've gone cape crazy over here. But this one was for a gift. Our friends are like way cooler than us and they're really into bikes (um, almost as much as Mr. Lemon and his entourage). I knew I wanted to make their kid a cape using recycled (upcycled?) t-shirts but I had NO IDEA I would find this awesome t-shirt with bikes all over it. Somehow there was another t-shirt at the thrift store in the same color (to do this, you'll need two shirts).

I used red Hello Kitty ribbon that I bought at Target in those fabulous dollar bins (actually this took the entire spool but there were 4 spools in the pack). Zadie is currently enchanted by this kitty -- so much so that she is finally letting us brush her teeth because we are using a Hello Kitty toothbrush so you know it's a big deal.

The inside is that same organic cotton fleece that I bought for the cloth diapers that I never sewed but used for that bird jacket instead. Perfect for slightly chilly Spring days but not too hot. The pattern, once again, is from the awesome Grosgrain blog. I used it to make this and will definitely be using it again. I'm going to do some math and alter the pattern to make a 3 for next year. Such an easy pattern and such clear directions! Like last time, I reinforced the armholes with a little tacking stitch but this time I did that last. I do like to learn from my mistakes (see earlier post).

And you thought I was going to talk about supplies all week...