Reversible Tote

Outside

The Reversible Tote was the next project I tackled from Stitch by Stitch.  I put this one off for a while because it looked really intimidating!  Thankfully the directions were really clear and it came together pretty easily. 

The fabric is a linen-mix with embroidery.  I don't know if I'd choose it again for this project but I love linen and when I saw it at Joann Fabrics I couldn't resist (not to mention it was on sale!).

The straps were the hardest portion to make!  I decided to try the most advanced option: reversible straps.  They were sewn right sides together and then turned inside-out (well, it was actually outside-out).  Even using a tool specifically designed to make turning fabric tubes easier, it was pretty difficult.  If the tubes had been less narrow it would've been much easier.





Here are a couple more view of the bag for you:

Inside

Using the same idea of a reversible tote, I made a second bag.  I needed a functional bag that I could take with me when I went to the farm to ride my horse - something I could wash and that was big enough to hold a water bottle, wallet, keys, and phone.  I'd been using my other bags but since it's too dangerous for Greg to get in contact with anything horsey I needed a new option.

 I decided to use an old pair of khakis that Greg was getting rid of.  This worked out great because by using the upper thigh sections I could have pockets on my bag without learning how to make them!  I didn't measure the fabric for this bag - just used the sizes that I got when I seam-ripped the pants apart.  I also added a ribbon trim to the non-pocket side, just to make it a little feminine.  I only ever take the bag to the barn and maybe the post office or Trader Joe's on my way home, but I still wanted it to have a little color.

Pocket side out

Peeking inside

 I added a button to cover up a hole in the fabric.  It's odd.  Usually I use the bag pocket-side in so the button isn't obvious.  If I was making this bag again I would use some sort of patch instead.  The button didn't even cover the entire hole!

Ribbon side out

Nice long straps

 The final product was a messenger style bag with nice long, thick straps.  Totally functional and sturdy.  It's a bag that I like for what I made it for - not too fancy to bring to the barn and I can always throw it in the laundry to clean it up.  The best part was that I only had to refer to Stitch by Stitch once (assembling all the pieces of the bag) which showed me that I really am learning how to make things on my own!

Simple Fix

Early this summer Greg and I went to Pittsburgh to visit his family.  While we were there, Greg, his mom, and I went to an awesome Goodwill in Zelie (or maybe it's closer to Cranberry?).  It's a huge one that is really well organized.  I found a lot of great shirts while we were there.  Here's one of my favorites:

The only problem was that it had a band around the sleeve - just like the one at the neckline - that made it cinch my arm.  Not only did it feel tight and uncomfortable but it wasn't very flattering either!  So, I took out my seam ripper and got to work.

I simply took off the piece of fabric that went around the edge of the sleeve.  Then I made a simple straight stitch in matching thread with my machine to make the tiniest hem possible so that the sleeve would look finished.  I didn't iron the hem before sewing - just used the presser foot to keep the material flat as I stitched.

It was such a simple change but it made a huge difference!  I feel more comfortable and more confident now when I wear the shirt and it's neat to know that I can take clothing that has an element I don't like and fix it.

Slightly hemmed sleeve - so much more comfortable!

Never one to waste fabric, I used the strips of fabric from the sleeve to make cute polka dot trim on a onesie for my friend's baby.  Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture before sending it to her but it was super cute!

New Header

Look at my new header!!!

Greg spent HOURS working on it late last night - a true labor of love - and it looks amazing!  I was feeling pretty blue and he came up with the idea of making a new header as a way to cheer me up.  At first I was working on it but was way out of my league (though if you're looking for a great tutorial on how to design a header using Word, click here).  I desperately needed the design skills he learned while getting his advertising degree!

After trying to use Open Office and Word, he ended up having success in Paint (so old school!).  We saved over our earliest attempts (black background and brighter pink letters) but here's the one that was almost it:

All the little dots and color variations were done by Greg.  Every single dot.  Wow!  We decided to extend the flower on the right all the way down the header so that it now looks like this (the extended pink on the right side gets cut off so it doesn't show):

You might also notice the new "favicon" - the little design next to the blog title in your tab.  That took quite a few attempts to get right too.  Here's a closer look:

We went with the black background for the favicon thinking that it would show up more since it would be reduced to a really small size.  I think we made the right choice.

I love how unique the new design is and how much it blends in with the blog template.  My hubby has a real eye for this stuff!

Meet My Machine

Isn't she a beauty?  I haven't seen a lot of other people using Kenmore sewing machines but I love mine.  My parents gave her to me for my birthday this year and they got a great deal because Sears was getting rid of all of their sewing machines.

What makes her so great?  Well, she has enough features that I have every type of stitch and presser foot I could possibly need at this stage in my sewing ability but not too many that I'm overwhelmed.  I also love that she doesn't have a drop-in bobbin set up because I hear that it's hard to use elastic thread with a drop-in bobbin and I'm a big elastic thread fan.  And there's a great handle on top and hidden storage compartment on the bottom.  She also came with a great instruction manual that taught me a lot!  I was really intimidated when I first opened the box!

When not in use I keep her in this cabinet that Greg and I rescued from the side of the road a few years ago.  Our kitty Hope loves it when I take the machine out and leave the doors open.

See my iron and sewing machine peddle behind her?

Close-up:  Love that fluff!

 

Not-too-fancy Napkins

We've always been paper napkin people until recently.  Fabric napkins just seemed like something you only used at dinner parties - and we don't really host dinner parties.  However sewing a napkin was one of the first projects in Stitch by Stitch that I needed to complete before moving on to more complex projects.  I didn't really anticipate using the napkins I made but I was so proud to have made something functional that we used them for fun.  And that's when I realized - cloth napkins don't have to be fancy!  We don't have to worry about getting ketchup on them.  We can just use them like a normal napkin and then wash them and save some money.  Not exactly a world-altering idea but I was pretty excited.  So I started making more napkins out of fabric scraps - sometimes going through all the steps in Stitch by Stitch that ensure it is an even square and other times just sewing around the folded edges of an approximate square of cloth (these are non-fancy napkins after all!). 

Here's a few of them in a Longaberger basket from my Grandma:

The blue/brown fabric is from my circle skirt, the green plaid is from a set of napkins we had that were really big (which = fancy) so I just cut them in quarters and made normal-sized napkins out of them.  And the maroon is from an old t-shirt.  You can see in the picture that my stitching wasn't very straight but I was in a hurry and just wanted to whip up some napkins really fast so I didn't even iron or pin the edges down before sewing.  I made another set too from a really nice formal set of napkins from our wedding but the fabric wasn't very absorbent so they are stored in case we need them sometime (since we don't prefer them for every day use).  I really love saving some money and adding a fun splash of color to dinner time!

Gathered Jersey Skirt

Yup, I made another skirt.  It just seemed like the easiest article of clothing to make.  No legs or arms to attach, not a lot of shape or curves to consider - just a straight forward circle.  But after my last three skirts I was tired of elastic waist bands.

I did a lot of searching and finally came across this tutorial for a gathered jersey skirt.  It was really simple to make - a lot easier than the ruffled skirt for sure - and I loved working with jersey fabric.  The only problem I had was that my thread kept snapping and getting caught up in my sewing machine.  I learned a lot about taking my machine apart and putting it back together while sewing this skirt!  After switching threads from old who-knows-what-it's-made-from thread to new polyester thread and loosening the tension on the machine I was able to make some real progress.  I love how this skirt turned out.  It is definitely my most comfortable skirt and I wish I had it in 10 different colors.  I would wear it every day but the stripes are too recognizable!  The waist band does start to stretch out after wearing it for a little while but I think that if I had made it the height recommended in the tutorial I could just fold it over and solve that problem.

Knit Bracelets

I also made some super cute Jersey Knit Bracelets from V and Co using the strips of jersey that I cut off the skirt when adjusting the length.  Then I made one with some leftover linen from my simple skirt.  It doesn't look as nice as the jersey bracelets do but it does look better in person than in the picture.  Which is your favorite bracelet?  I think mine is the red one.  I like how chunky it is.

 One of the things I love about sewing is that every scrap of fabric can be used for something else.  I tried to get into cooking really nice (fancy) meals but when I would buy unique ingredients that recipes called for I'd often end up throwing away a portion of the ingredients because I had no use for them. What a waste of money!  But fabric never goes bad and there are so many fun things to do with scraps!  And a cute bracelet is much more exciting than 1/4 cup of egg substitute in my opinion.  Does that mean I consider egg substitute to be fancy?  Yup.

I love skirts!

So here are all of my skirts together.  My favorite is the Gathered Jersey Skirt, next is the Linen Circle Skirt, and then it's a toss up.  Though the vote probably goes to the Circle skirt since I've actually worn it.  And the scraps made cute napkins!

Skirts

I discovered last summer that I love skirts.  They are so much cooler to wear in the summer heat than capris (which I also love) and they keep me way more covered than the shorts I find in the stores.  So after my first skirt attempt went well I decided to try making some more.

Of course I turned to MADE for help.  This time I used her simple skirt tutorial.  Since all the pictures she has posted of the skirt have little girls wearing it I wasn't sure it would work out for me - but she promised it was simple to sew so I went for it.

Linen Circle Skirt

I picked up some faux-linen fabric and quickly realized I needed to make it double-layered since it was pretty sheer.  It didn't turn out as gathered as it was supposed to be but I love it.  Its really light and easy to wear - and since linen's wrinkly all the time it looks good that way.

I liked it so much I decided to make another one but with cotton fabric instead.  It didn't turn out so well.  It just looked really formal, and somehow when I washed and dried the fabric before sewing it it got some oil-looking spots on it (weird...) that were really obvious.


I was actually really discouraged by this.  It sounds over-dramatic now but at the time I felt like giving up sewing.  It took so long to make the skirt and it turned out so bad.

Ruffled Cotton Circle Skirt

Thankfully my hubby was full of encouragement and helped me realize all I needed was my trusty seam-ripper and I could start over.  I started by adding a ruffled layer of contrasting fabric... then another one.  But I looked like a mushroom -it was just weird.  So I decided the top layer needed to come off (it was making me look really bulky) and the only way I could figure out how to make the skirt work was to turn it into ruffles too.  I'd seen some cute ruffled skirts online so I thought it would be a good save.

Way too much time later (I should've used elastic thread to make the ruffles but I had run out of it so I used a basting stitch which took forever) the skirt was finally done.  The layers ended up uneven because I ran out of fabric but even so, I actually like the way it came out.

I haven't worn it yet.  It seems too fancy for every day use and I don't dress up very often.  And it's a little out of my comfort zone style wise - but I think it has potential.  What do you think?  Should I wear it?




 

The scarf that started it all

Here's the ruffled scarf that I mentioned in my previous post.  When I saw the tutorial for it on MADE I knew I had to try it!  It was actually the first thing I made with my machine and it really was as easy as the tutorial says it is!

Practice Scarf

This is a picture of my practice scarf.  It's too short to be much use but it was a good first step because the next two I made were mothers' day gifts.  This fabric was hard to work with (I don't know the name of it but it's very sheer and frays easily) but I love the look of it - especially the flowered fabric I used for my mother-in-law's scarf.  I used seersucker for my mom's scarf and it was much easier to sew though it didn't ruffle as much and it ended up being a little longer than I wanted it to be.  However she did get a compliment the first time she wore it so mission accomplished!

The tutorial has instructions for using elastic thread or regular thread and a basting stitch (sewing term that basically means you can make ruffles by pulling on one of the threads).  I went with the elastic thread and loved it.  I'd use it for every project if I could.  It's so easy to use and it's really fun to watch the fabric ruffle as you sew.

I definitely would recommend the ruffled scarf as a fun project for any beginner. 

My first skirt

Here's the picture of my first skirt attempt using MADE's Circle Skirt tutorial.  I actually really like it because it is super comfy and airy for the summer.  If I was going to redo this I would dye the elastic waist band first but I wasn't ready for that level of commitment when I made it!

And yes that is our DIY ping pong table underneath the skirt.  It's now collapsed under our bed so I can't take a picture to show you but it was a really easy thing to make and lots of fun this summer!

Back to the skirt:  After I made it I used the left over material to make some napkins for me and Greg.  We're trying to use less paper products so a lot of my fabric scraps are turned into napkins (one of the projects you learn in Stitch by Stitch).  Hopefully it'll save us some money over time.  And it's always fun to grab a napkin out of the basket and see what material it was made out of (wow was that a dorky thought!).

How I'm learning to sew

My pictures are still on the camera (and some aren't taken yet) so I thought I'd share a little big about how I started sewing. 

I learned to sew way back when I was a kid from my mom who made lots and lots of our clothes, and then I got another refresher in middle school home economics.  My crowning achievement was a locker keeper - woot.  And a pillow in the shape of a turtle.

But it was blogs that got me interested in sewing again.  I stumbled across MADE (dana-made-it.com) and saw all of these tutorials for projects that she promised were very simple to make, like a gorgeous ruffled summer scarf.  And I couldn't resist.

So for my birthday this year my parents bought me a sweet Kenmore brand sewing machine and my hubby helped me pick out fabric, thread, and other things I needed to get started as his birthday gift for me.  My in-laws also blessed me with sewing-related gift cards and magazines for my birthday so I was all set!

Picture taken from Amazon

The biggest help so far has been a book (another birthday gift from my hubby) called Stitch by Stitch : Learning to Sew One Project at a Time by Deborah Moebes.  It has a great section that teaches you all the basics you need to start sewing without overloading you with tons of extra information.  And by the time I had finished the first project I had already learned enough to make a skirt from MADE (picture to come).

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn to sew.  It's awesome.

Starting a blog

I thought I'd try this out for a while and see if it's fun to post the things I make.  I know at least my mom will be happy to finally see pictures of my sewing projects!