Two years in the making

I interrupt this long blog break to show a huge finished project!

I started this navy and white zig-zag quilt about two years ago. The cutting and piecing went very quickly, but I stalled out on the quilting. Life got really busy for a while, but luckily things have slowed down so I was able to concentrate on finishing this.

I'm so pleased with the end result!



The quilt is queen sized and composed of navy and white rectangles sewn together in a zig-zag pattern.



After failed attempts at free-motion machine quilting, and machine quilting in the ditch, I finally decided to hand quilt 3" circles in each square. I used matching thread on the front, so it alternates on the back.



The back is a very simple color block that I think could look pretty good on its own.



I originally wanted yellow binding, but this cheery blue caught my eye, and adds to the nautical look of the design.

I have to say, I was really intimidated by the idea of hand-quilting a queen sized quilt, especially since I had never hand-quilted anything. It did take quite a number of hours (and days and weeks) but I actually enjoyed it. It definitely adds something special and makes the quilt look handmade.

Baby things

I met my lil' nephew last month and brought a few handmade gifts: Sheldon the turtle (renamed Mervin by my sister), a bright blue baby placket neck pullover, and a small blanket.

Craft book projects #2

My second craft book from the library was Bag Bazaar: 25 Stylish Bags to Sew in an Afternoon. Overall this is a good book, with a variety of bag styles to choose from. I decided to make a laptop sleeve, which is loosely based on the "Ellen" pattern from this book, though I changed it up by adding a flap. I used a nice canvas print fabric I found in Thailand, and vibrant blue fleece for the lining. It came together easily, and didn't take a lot of time.

Craft book projects

I decided that if I'm going to check out craft books from the library, I'd better actually make an effort to do some projects from them. Up first: Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson.

I'm a bigger fan of this book than I expected--there are a lot of really nice, simple, and elegant projects--many of which you might have trouble giving away when you're finished. I chose three projects to complete. It helped that two of these were things I needed, and already had fabric for. The third will make an excellent gift.

Quilted coasters made with batik fabric my mom brought home from Indonesia. My poor coffee table will certainly thank me!

Kelly's pincushion in an assortment of fabrics from India, Africa, and home. I've never had a pincushion before, and already it has come in handy!

Lastly, the super quick + easy baby quilt. Oh man, I was absolutely loving this quilt when I sewed it up--it was effortless and so fast...

...then I realized that I had four threads to knot and tuck in for each of the cute little satin diamonds that quilt the piece together. It took me the better part of my evenings this week to finish that. But, hopefully the little guy will love his blankie. The fabric is from Joann--pretty cute!

Awesome weekend

It was my first free weekend at home in a month, and I got to do so much! My house is clean, I got to spend some time in the ceramics studio (bit by bit I'm regaining my old skills)...

I bought myself a ticket to see The National. They're not coming til October, but it should be well worth the wait. Check 'em out here, if you want.

Library loot! I got my library card--which never ceases to be exciting--and this is what I came away with for now. I've got a few holds on other sewing books. The Built by Wendy Dresses book has some fun ideas in it. Hopefully I'll have time to make something before I have to send the book back to the library. I'm hoping the Threads Fitting DVD Series will help me figure out how to get a better fit on this tricky vintage dress I started months ago. Bag Bazaar would be a good starter book for people interested in sewing bags. The patterns I'm interested in are fairly simple though, I could probably figure them out on my own.

There happened to be a street fair outside the library, so I stopped by and picked up some free Lara bar samples. Yum!

I also walked around the art museum for the first time, and snapped some pottery inspiration photos:

The handle and spout on this South American pot are so elegant.

And I love the simple yet striking designs on these pots.

Not exactly awesome, but I've decided, after all, to unpick the messy free-motion circles from my quilt. It's just too frustrating and slow to try to do this on a queen-sized quilt on my tiny sewing machine! I was pretty crazy to think this would be a successful idea for my second time quilting ever, but hey, I like to dream big. Once I finally unpick the edge I started, I'm going to machine quilt in a zig-zag pattern following the blocks. Hopefully that will be more instant gratification!

Living the dream

I often dream of the day where I will have enough time and energy to start my own small craft business. In the mean time, I love to live vicariously through some of the successful ladies who have turned their creative passion into a living. One of these successful entrepreneurs happens to be a friend of mine, has a blog, and a very ambitious project. Jennyvi Dizon has made a name for herself in Phoenix for designing and sewing custom bridal gowns. She recently started an Etsy shop, and has made it her goal to add one new item every day to her store--while at the same time posting tutorials on her blog about how she creates these items. I'm eagerly following along with her project to see what she comes up with. Good luck Jenny!

Photo by Nikolai De Vera
Courtesy of Jennyvi Dizon Couture.

Second quilt in progress

I took advantage of having a weekend at home to work a bit more on my second quilt. This one will be for myself, and should be queen-sized, if all goes as planned. I previously discussed my inspiration, and this weekend I decided that I'd like to try some free-motion quilting on this--most likely a large pebble pattern, or something to that effect.

Valentine's sewing

This year, I surprised my Valentine by sewing him a new pair of pajama pants. His favorite pair got ripped and were hanging out at my place waiting to be repaired--so I was able to determine the best size to cut based on the measurements of the old pants. This is the first time I've sewn a garment for someone other than myself. I took extra care by making machine-wash-friendly French seams, and tried to line up the plaid as best as I could. I used New Look 6321, which I chose for the pockets and the elastic waistband. It is a unisex pattern, so I cut a large--though he wears a men's medium in the real world. Overall, I was pretty happy as I ended up with a comfy, wearable garment. No modeled pictures this time ;)

Sewing book recommendations?

Hi there,

I've been working on resizing some vintage patterns for a better fit, but I feel that my instincts for doing so are fairly limited. Do any of you have a good book to recommend that would teach me how to properly adjust patterns for fit?

Thanks!
Meghan

Dinner party dress

I had a more successful sewing experience this weekend. I made up McCalls 5701 in a stretch sateen bottom weight cotton fabric that I picked up on sale at Joann fabric. It's a really lovely deep eggplant color.
This is a pullover dress that is purposely very boxy and voluminous. It certainly isn't figure-flattering, but I do think it has a nice contemporary feeling to it. I wouldn't wear this dress if I were trying to make a great first impression, but I would wear it to a dinner party with good friends. It would be really comfortable to hang out in for an evening, and has just enough attitude to make it a little special.

I love anything with pockets.
(click on any image to enlarge)

The pleats on the reverse give the dress even more volume. I still go back and forth as to whether or not I like this detail.

A bit of crafting

Although I don't have much to show for it on the blog lately, I actually have been spending a fair amount of time on creative projects. Perhaps not as much as I would like--between my return to the working world, and my frequent weekend trips out of town--but I'm still plugging away.

I've been knitting a placket neck pullover from a 1950s pattern, that just so happens to match my couch. Never mind putting away my knitting, I've now trained it to camouflage into its surroundings.


I've also been sewing. Having unpacked my fabric stash, I'm a bit unhappy with how large it has become--the same goes with my pattern stash. So I'm weeding things out, and have come up with a plan to sew through several things in the upcoming months. I tried out the following two patterns this week, but both ended up as failures-- for the time being.

I started to make this Cynthia Rowley top out of some gingham I bought for super cheap in Thailand. When I bought it, I was pretty sure it was 100% cotton, but now that I looked at it again, it was clearly a synthetic blend--probably like the poly/cotton gingham they sell at Joann. I'm terrible at working with synthetics at this point (and knits, too, for that matter). I just don't have the skill or patience to deal with things that unravel or change shape. So, this top didn't work out this time, but I still plan on making it again in a natural fiber.

I then finally broke out the famous 'walkaway' Butterick dress. I had 5+ yards of uninspiring quilting fabric that I bought for about a $1 at an estate sale. I remembered that I don't like Butterick since they don't print any of the finished garment measurements on the package. And, because of the unique construction of this dress, I found it difficult to determine exactly how I could cut/alter it to get the best fit. After making up most of the dress (which was super easy), I determined that I wasn't going to get a great fit without a lot of tinkering, and quickly decided that I wasn't excited enough about the dress or the fabric to continue.

While it might sound disappointing, this is all progress! I was able to say goodbye to two stash fabrics, and one pattern. On to the next!

Blue dress, again

I had enough of the blue cotton fabric to make a second dress. But this time I carefully followed along with an invisible zipper tutorial to make sure I was doing it right! The extra time and effort paid off, and I have a much more professional looking dress this time around. Next time I'm going to work on adding even more length to the bodice. The 5/8" extra I added this time was definitely not enough.

Old vintage, new vintage

I picked up a folding knitting basket a couple weeks ago at a thrift store for $3. The original fabric had a certain vintage charm to it, but it was torn and a bit overpowering with its orange and lime green theme. I took it apart, made a game plan for recovering it, and chose to use some of the lovely vintage fabrics I've picked up recently. For the outside, the "Harwood Steiger" linen I bought at a Tucson vintage mall. I just googled his name and learned that he hand screen printed fabric in his Tubac, Arizona studio in the 1970s. For some other examples of his work, click here, here, and here. For the lining, I used some cream colored linen I found at an estate sale.


I'm really happy with how it turned out. It was a little tricky, and did involve some hand stitching. I'm sure it would be easier if the frame were disassembled first!

The sewing machine was unpacked first.

I'm mostly settled into my new place, and true to form, the first item of furniture I bought was a cute little desk for my sewing machine. While I avoid writing papers and presentations for my professional life, I have jumped head first into several of the sewing projects I've been dreaming up for the past few months. Up first is this adorable dress from McCalls 5927. I chose to make view C with cap sleeves and attached fabric tabs around the neckline. I made fabric covered buttons for the first time, which was fun, easy, and adds a nice finished look to the outfit. I used a thick woven cotton that I got for cheap at a place that calls itself "fabric by the pound." I love the color, and also the thickness of the fabric--which I think helps give the pleats and other details some nice structure. The skirt features pockets at the hip, which I also love. The only thing I don't love about this dress is that, once again, I managed to butcher the back a bit as I installed the zipper. It seems that anytime I go a few months without installing a zipper, I completely forget everything I previously learned. Sigh. I think it's still wearable, and it does look super cute from the front. I'd definitely recommend this pattern to others!

A few odds and ends

Oi! It's been a busy couple weeks, and it's only getting busier. I wanted to share a few things that have been in the blog queue for a bit.

A new bag made of fine wale corduroy and Simplicity 2750

Grilled flatbread with za'atar. Mmmm...

Continuing on a theme: grilled pizza with tomato, balsamic, pesto and fresh mozzarella.

A good evening

I came home after work to find a surprise 6.5 inch zucchini growing in my garden! They had all been pretty tiny until this one. I promptly cut it off the plant, sauteed it up, and ate my first home-grown zucchini! It sure was good.

What a beaut!

Since I'm starting to think about packing my place up, I took a moment to look through my fabric stash and pick out fabric for my potential second quilt. It's an assortment that includes mostly clothing or scraps left over from making clothing. I've also thrown in two vintage pillow cases and several items of clothing I purchased in India. I'm not sold on including the darkest blue fabric (it's my favorite!) but over all I think this combination of blues, yellows and greens might be nice.

Any thoughts?

I'm currently thinking either of a whirlygig or string quilt. Though I'm open to any awesome pattern suggestions you've seen around lately.

Box bag

I completed my first box bag today. You can make your own by using the tutorial at Dragon[knit]fly, and the helpful suggestions at Twenty acres. It went pretty smoothly, though I managed to break two needles on the zipper (and nearly lost an eye in the process). I also got so caught up that I forgot to follow the directions and accidentally left out the handle. I made mine from a larger rectangle--16" x 20" with squares 2.5" on each side cut from the corners. I wanted to be able to fit my straight knitting needles inside. It's pretty large (11" x 5" x 5"), which would be great for a sweater-in-progress. I might need to make a smaller one for smaller projects too...

The fabric I used is vintage canvas that I found at an estate sale around Washington, DC a couple summers ago.

Minimalist giveaway #3

I've been Spring cleaning and found a few patterns I'm unlikely to use for one reason or another. The patterns should all be complete and are in the Small to Medium size range. There's a vintage Simplicity skirt suit and blouse set, a Betsy Ross hip blouse pattern (they are a small indie pattern company), and two recent McCall's patterns. Yours for free! I'll draw a winner from everyone who comments on this post one week from today. One entry per person, and you must leave me some way to contact you (email, blog, ravelry, etc.)

Ikat love

My good friend Sara emailed me this weekend to ask if I knew of any good sources for ikat fabric. Ikat seems to have gained a bit of a following lately. For those of you who aren't familiar, ikat is a type of resist-dyed weaving that originated in Indonesia. The warps and/or wefts are resist dyed with one or more colors prior to warping and weaving. It is quite an advanced weaving technique that can result in the most beautiful fabric.

I was lucky enough to see some ikat weavers in action two summers ago at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC. The picture below shows the resist dyed threads (not sure if these are warps or wefts, I'd guess warps?). I find it staggering to try to imagine how to create a particular pattern this way...


...let alone the skills it must take to get the design to actually line up properly while weaving:


I have no idea how she kept track of all those bobbins.

In my search this weekend I actually found quite a lot of fantastic ikat fabric. I'm sharing it with you so that I can hopefully inspire more of you to make something of ikat fabric, because I'm dying to see all of these in action.

From Batik Tambal, 100% cotton, made in India.

Mmm...madras ikat, from The Cotton Club.

Silk Shoi fabric from Uzbekistan, Uzbek Applied Arts

Cotton ikat, Uzbek Applied Arts (remarkably good price for 10 feet of fabric!)

More Silk Shoi fabric from Uzbekistan, Uzbek Applied Arts

First quilt

I am so thrilled to finally be able to share this project with you. I've been working on a surprise wedding gift quilt since January, and just this afternoon I got a call to say that it had been received! So here it is, my first quilt:

front

back

I have a lot of thoughts to share on this process, the decisions I made, and the lessons I learned--I'll spread that out in a few posts as I have the time and energy. For the time being, you should know that it is a twin sized quilt, 100% cotton, and it was machine pieced and quilted. It took me the better part of three months, and craft monogamist that I am, I offer this up as the main reason my finished craft posts have been a bit infrequent. There were many highs and lows experienced during this project, but now that it's finished I can honestly say that I'm very happy with it, and I'm very proud to have finally made a quilt! I'm also very happy to have it out of my house, and hope one day to sweep up every last little thread that has found its way into the darkest corners of my house. More to follow soon.