One Yard Wonders Sew Along

The Sew Along I am participating in this year uses the One Yard Wonders book I have mentioned previously. For January the project was to make a cap. I really don;t like wearing hats so I pased on that one. The February Project was to make the Folklore Bag. It is a tote bag with a nice gusseted round shape and a top sleeve.

Here's how it looked in the book:

And here is how it came out for me:

At 13" wide, 11" tall with a 3" gusset, its more of a medium size purse rather than a tote bag to hold a day or two's worth of essentials. I used some old Christmas fabric with a great stripe for the exterior. I tried to match up the stripes on the gusset with the ones on the front and back but without much luck. The interior is a piece of pale yellow Kona Cotton that I bought recently primarily for the interiors of future tote bags and purses as a dark interior makes a bag virtually useless when looking for something in the bottom of the bag

I didn't think I would like this bag when I first read the instructions, Several things bothered me. Like...the pattern called for a magnetic catch. This can be expensive and seemed overkill for a bag thrown together from stash fabrics. I ended up using a button and a hair elastic for a closure.

In addition, the interior had a useless little pocket, was supposed to be made from the same fabric as the exterior (in this case way too dark for practical use) and the interior of the bag was to be made without the pleats of the exterior. It seemed crazy to me to make a bag with an interior tsignificantly smaller than the exterior so I used the same sized fabric pieces for both the interior and the exterior.

I did add a cell phone to the gusset of the interior. See...

Even though it is my intention that this bag will become the packaging for a Christmas gift, it will probably be used to hold my next knitting UFO until then.

This year's sew along has a cooking component to it. I am not participating in that portion. This month's recipe is for roasted spicy cauliflower with capers. Alhough I may love capers roasted cauliflower sounds just too slimy to me. Yuck!

CRAFT: along 2009

One of the Craft:along projects for September was a little carrier for plastic doggie poop bags. It's a cute little project and I made one for Alex and the Girls. In general, I don't need to scoop up their leavings as the Girls usually will only use the back yard and Alex will only use the woods. Once in a while, they will embarass me and all three will use someone's yard or the public paths so a plastic bag carrier is useful.

Here is the link to the pattern.

And here is what I came up with:

I do not attach it to anyone's collar as Alex and the Girls wear their collars all the time so I attached it to Kelis's leash. I also use a VERY large plastic bag as when all three of them decide to do their thing in the wrong place it seems they choose three seperate places so I need a bag I can tie off three times.

The other projects for the month include 'how to cover a canvas tote' and a'fruit buckle' recipe. The recipe sounds good but a little labor intensive for me. As to the other sewing project... I gave away all of my canvas promotional totes after Katrina (so people would have something to carry their meager belongings in) and have not picked up any since so this will be a pass fo me as well.

I wonder what October will bring?

CRAFT: along 2009

Finny and Donk of the 2007 'In Stitches' Stitch-along and the 2008 'Simple Gifts to Stitch' Stitch-along have created a new ~along for 2009. This year they are sponsoring an ~along based on the CRAFT magazine blog. Although the magazine is now defunct, the editors have promised to keep their blog going and Finny and Donk have decided that for each month in 2009 they will choose two projects from the previous month's blog to be completed. Each month there will be one sewing project and one 'other' project to be completed.

I have not participated earlier this year but this month's sewing project really spoke to me. The project was to create 'crooked coasters'. Essentially you create some simple coasters and quilt them crookedly. Hers is what I came up with:

Let me explain a little about my choices.

I need coasters for around my desk and sewing machine as I can make a mess with my beverages. In addition I have a dog that likes to drink anything I drink who is even messier than I am so you can see why coasters are needed around here.

If I make coasters they need to be able to disguise any stains that come from being messy thus the fabric choices.

Stitching crooked seemed like a no brainer. When I am trying to precisely stitch quarter inch seams for quilts it can sometimes take a couple of tries to get the seam correctly sewn thus the attraction of crooked coasters.

I did find that stitching crookedly over multiple coasters just too boring so I experiemented sewing a semi-precise reducing square, a representation of X and O, something that looks like space junk paths and one according to the instructions.

The other project for this month is '5 minute pizza dough' which is so mis-titled. It really takes hours as you need to let the dough rise for at least two hours. I long ago decided to never make yeast doughs again after many years of getting up early in the morning to punch down and form the Challah loaves every Friday morning. Not even for homemade pizza will I knead dough by hand again.

I wonder what April's sewing project will be? I might catch-up on the February and January projects just to see what I can concoct.

Finny & Donk's Sewing Adeventure Aug/Sept

The project for August and September from the 'simple gifts to stitch' book was the cover project of the Tri-pocket Ticking Tote. I had always wanted to make it because of the attractive cover photo. What I did not realise was how large it would be. At about 17" tall and 13" wide it is one big tote bag. The cover shot showed the bag made in lovely pink and brown mattress ticking. I happen to have the first laundry bag my mother made me in a red and white ticking when I left home in from sixth grade many, many years ago. I had always intended to use that fabric for this project but it was way too small. Instead, I used some of the fabulous fabric I purchased at Vogue Fabrics in Chicago when I was there in July.

Here's how the bag came out - three pockets on the front of the bag as shown in the instructions:

Here is the back of the bag with one pocket just because I wanted to see if I could match up the other part of the print:

The fabric is a home dec weight canvas and is slightly stretchy. I think I need to add at least one set of red lips but I just can't figure out which face to deface. In any case, it turns out to be the right size to carry around my supplies for my position on the Kingwood Area Quilt Guild Executive Committee so it will get a lot of use.

Finny and Donk's Sewing Adventure - May & June Part 2

You may remember this skirt from a month or so ago. I made it way too large but I'm going to cut it down so it is more wearable because I really like the pink and black combination.

My second attempt was still too large but I finally figured out that this skirt sits just below the waist so it is definitely salvagable. I intend to use buttons as a closure rather than the satin blanket binding I used in my first attempt. This fabric is really lovely... a mid-weight denim embroidered with faded thread used for jeans construction. I haven't found the right buttons yet but I know they are somewhere in my stash.

My third attempt is definitely a keeper. The fabric was bought last year for a light-weight coat but I like this application better. The base white fabric is slightly stretchy and the embroidery and raw edge cutouts are not. I don't think the difference in stretchiness makes any difference in this application but it might in something with sleeves or pockets than canbe pulled out of shape. This time I measured very, very carefully, added a couple of extra darts than the pattern called for and used a squiggley stitch pattern to attach the satin blanket binding. I think I could even make this someone else and have them end up happy.

This pattern has been a real learning experience for me as I created the skirt based on written directions rather than by enlarging a printed pattern. The skirt has nice drape and now that I know I can really do this pattern making business I think I can adjust it to a standard A-line skirt with a regular waistband and pockets without too much trouble.

Trust me to finish this up on the last day of the challenge!

Finny and Donk's Sewing Adventure - May & June

Well, the sewing adverture continues. The project we are working on next is a simple wrap skirt. Yup, that's right a skirt, without a pre-printed pattern. I gasped when I saw the choice but realized that after my guerilla sewing adventure with the Seams Possible challenge, I could do this. Things have gone from 'defnitely doable' to 'completely laughable' in a few short days.

My measurements are a tad different from the ones used to constrict the skirt in the book but there were no instructions on how to adjust the suggested size. Taking my pencil and tape measure I determined that I would need to make a skirt that with a waistband that would be my waist size plus four inches for ease. Starting from there I then drafted the pattern with the shape of the original design. Though the project looks pretty good it wraps around me significantly more than the original intent by about EIGHT INCHES. Only after I tried it on the first time did I discover that I should have added only about one to two inches to get the right waistband size. Measure twice and twice more and re-check the additional ease twice more again is a lesson I never seem to learn.

Fortunately the fabric I used was a black linen/cotton blend so the extra over lap is as noticeable as it would have been with a lighter weight/color fabric. I embroidered a bunch of flowers on it with a pink varigated thread and I think it looks pretty good from a distance. The waistband and ties, in the instrctions, called for three inch wide satin ribbon. I went to the fabric store and discovered that three inch wide ribbon is kinda pricey but that satin blanket binding, prepackaged from Wrights, is the perfect size, prefolded, inexpensive and comes in great colors to boot.

I will be re-drafting my 'pattern' to incorporate the lessons I have learned. Since I do like skirts, especially wrap skirts with a significant overlap, I forsee several in my closet once I get the fit right. Anyway, here's my first attempt at the wrap skirt project. Please don't chuckle too loudly!

Have a great weekend!

Finny & Donk's Sewing Adventure - April

The April project in the great sewing adventure is a bias cut seersucker apron. I really don't need another apron but I thought it would be a good exercise to work with a large piece of bias cut fabric. Working on the bias, which stretches like crazy, is really an exercise in restraint. I was surprised that the edges did not become all wobbly and such as I was sewing this with the recuperating Alex on my lap. Out of the scraps I created a coaster for my wine glass - a necessary accessory when I cook.. the wine that is, not the coaster!

I really enjoy working through the monthly projects. None require a ton of time or expense but each has focused on a diferent technique to accomplish usable results. It was also a great distraction yesterday when all I wanted to do was curl up with Alex while he snores his way to health. There is only so much a body can take of that so sewing was a good relief.

Alex and I need to visit the vet again tomorrow for new bandages and a check of his drains. After that I hope we can spend the afternoon in the yard enjoying what is expected to be spectacular weather.

Have a great weekend!

Finny & Donk's Sewing Adventure - March

I finally made peace with pintucks. I ended up going by the instructions in the book and the results were pretty good. I wanted to beef them up a little so I added cording to them after I sewed the pintucks. Here's what I came up with:

The project for this month was a pintucked table runner. I decided to make one for a table that I keep dumping things on. I figured if I made the table runner out of a fancy fabric I would be restrained in dumping things on it. I chose a lovely peachy dupioni silk. About half way through I realized that this fabic was not fancy enough. I went into my stash of completed embroideries and found, what I think is, the perfect complement to the silk. I added the embroidery, some simple borders and backing and voila! I am now thinking that it may be too pretty to sit on a table and I may make it into a wall hanging. For now, it will stay on the table top until I get my next inspiration.


Here is Alex giving his sniff of approval:

Note to self: Always smell sale fabric before purchasing it. This fabric was purchased from Leandro Fabrics when we had their fabrics here for the ASG Houston annual meeting last year. It was on sale in a sealed plastic bag. When I started cutting up the fabric the most horrid smell began to waft through the room. The whole piece (four yards of it!) smells of mold and mildew! Since I wanted the silk to stay crisp I waited until I was finished then sprayed it liberally wth anti-smell stuff. So next time, smell before I buy!

Finny and Donk's Sewing Adventure

Do you remember the 'Funeral Purse' ? The people who organized the In-Stitches sew-a-long have decided to continue sewing along in 2008 with a different book. The book for this year (or maybe less) is Simple Gifts to Sew by Jocelyn Worrall. Its a great little book with 30 simple but textural projects. The first project the group will be working on is a buttoned furry scarf and it is due by the end of February. Since I have the book I will probably play along but I just can't see me using a furry scarf. Maybe Alex and the girls would each like one? If you would like to see what others are doing or join in on the action see the Flickr pool at here. Finny and Donk are incredibly creative. Donk aka Kelli has a recent tutorial on her web site for making jewellry rolls that you might like to check out. Finny writes just like a friend of mine from Brooklyn sounds - if that makes sense to you.

BTW - did you see that I finally figured out how to embed links to other sites in my posts. Its taken me almost nine months to figure this out so I want hear lots of gasps of amazsement over my new found tech abilities. Can you see me doing a happy dance?