Re-Open Etsy Shop

Back around 2009 after I returned to sewing, I decided to try my hand at an Etsy Shop.  Working full time and trying to prepare enough items to get the shop going did not work.  I put this on hold and Mid-March this year I decided to give it a go.  Originally I was going to concentrate on just toddler clothing.  Now, it will be whatever I want to make from clothing to home-dec.

These are the type items that I have started with.  2 versions of gym shorts for children sizes 2-14.

 

I have found a pattern for Surfer Shorts for little boys and will be getting some of those made this week.  Went shopping for fabrics earlier this week.  The bright prints will be for the shorts.....

 

 

I have also purchased some fabrics to make shirts and shorts for little boys and have a sample on the site.

 

 

 

I am also trying to perfect making the "skort" idea.  Lola loves skirts but always wears the "budi" shorts under them.....I am trying to create me a pattern for those and attach them to the skirt.  Hope to have this ready for her to take home tomorrow.

 

 

 

 





 



Happy Mother's Day!!

Of all the rights of women.

The greatest is to be a Mother

 

 

I hope that all of you enjoy a wonderful day with your children.



 

Lost Spring......

Have not posted in soooo long.
I have been very busy, but not social.

Excuse me as I whine for just a moment and then I will move on to brighter things.

Feb 6. we had to make the choice to let our pal Belle breathe her last breadth.  14 years of her constant companionship and love has been very hard to deal with and move on.  I am more than the ordinary dog lover.  They become my children and she came into out lives just as out last child left home.  She had prevented for these 14 years the empty nest syndrome for both myself and my husband.

Hubby and I have both had several sicknesses....(him)upper respiratory infections,(me) strep throat, pneumonia.

Hopefully we are on the road to recovery of life in general.

As for Sewing....brighter things!!!

heavy in pictures
Spring sewing has been somewhat successful.

Early Spring outfits for Nora Ruth, Allie, and
Thomas.

The girls spring dresses are made by a pattern that I have posted earlier(here).  The pattern is easy to make and very cute on.  For Nora, the first was a Green/Orange print...with lime leggings.....cut/made size 10.  Tooo large.  Hung that in the closed and use the Lavender/Lime Chevron and the same leggings....cut/made size 7.  Great fit.

I cut the pattern down to size 5 for Alli's.  Very cute Grey/Pink Elephant print and Chevron leggings.  Perfect.

These would get the Florida girls ready for Spring.

Thomas is my Ninja Turtle Man.  Some happy clothes for him.

Lola for Easter. A cute Simplicity Pattern from the Madison Collection.

Lola is 9 but this was made by a size 6.  She is very tiny but a very girly girl....ruffles and lace.

added a few photos to show up the trim on top and ruffle.

 

 

One for Me!!

This is not a stashbuster.....all materials purchased last fall with these patterns intended.

I have used the blouse pattern last summer as a sleeveless, size 8, and loved the wear.  The sleeved is just as comfortable.  I love the tiny tucking details.

 

The Vogue pattern was a new try, size 10.  Love the pattern.  Way.....to long for short people.  I measured, shortened 3 inches before cutting, 6 inches after made.  This cut a lot of the fullness out of the bias pieces in the front. But, all in all.....I still like the fit and amount of design that shows.  I had read the PR's on the bias in the pattern....I followed the pattern instructions....but not sure that it was worth the recuts required.....simple time hanging would probably handle the same issues you face with bias. 

 

 

 

Stashbuster Project

I started this back in early January posted (here).  Color coordinated cloth baskets to help organize scraps.   Project has continued using only scraps on hand.

 

 

Quilt of Valor.

This is a project that has been on my project wish list for sometime.  The top is pieced and all the materials gathered for quilting.

 



 

 

There are more updates to come......
As I have said......very busy.....not social

I have buried myself at home....for several reasons....but have also felt very productive.

Gardening is going along....even though I have not been physically able to do a lot......
Great dinner yesterday with the first cuttings of fresh broccoli.
And, a wagon load of fresh mustard greens.

 

Glad to be back.

 



 

 



Skirt from Stash

One of my goals for  2015 is to make 20 clothing garments from the stash.
#1 is complete

I have had this navy glen plaid in the stash for at least 10 years.  It was purchased in a small cloth shop, Mary's, in Philadelphia, MS.  I purchased enough to make pants and a vest.  But, I decided to change that plan and a skirt was more appropriate at this time.

Pattern:  Simplicity 2451. 
Size:  12, following the measurements on the envelope and comparing to the ease measurements on the pattern.....sad to say that this was the correct size.  There is soooo much difference between RTW sizing and pattern sizing.
View:  B

 

 

I did not make a muslin.  I had enough material so that if this was a failure that I could not fit, I could always recut.  I worked very carefully to match the plaids at each seam.  Very time consuming but well worth the effort.

 

I did baste completely to fit.  Surprisingly it fit! I opened up necessary seams and finished them with the serger as I put it back together.  I lined the skirt with polyester lining. The zipper was very easy to set and match the yoke seam using the double sided wash-away tape.

 

Back

Love the flare. 

 

 

Side View

 Hard to see the side pockets, but they are there.

Front



The rounded yoke was very easy to work with and is very flattering.

 

I wore this to church on Sunday and it definitely will become a TNT. 

 

 I also like view "C".....will be giving it a try real soon.

 

A Success!!what a way to start 2015.

 

 

 

Cloth Basket

Soooo many scraps and what to do with them and how to find what you need!!!!
Do all of you have that same issue?

I decided to find a pattern and make a cloth basket.  The idea is to have a basket(or two) for each color.  Yea for internet!  There are many patterns and tutorials for free.  I of course was looking for quick and easy and found one @ birchfabrics

I followed the tutorial and here is my #1 stashbuster  scrappy project using less that 1 yard.

 

 

I really do not think that it is as large as I will need, but I think that with the current pattern I can change the dimensions and make what I need.  And, it took less than and hour to cut and sew.  Just the kind of item I was looking for.

2015 Sewing Goals

I joined the RTW(ready-to-wear) Fast in 2014.  I did well and really did not purchase but 2 t-shirts, could not pass them up for $5.

I have now formally joined the RTW Fast in 2015 with the intent to continue my goal of learning the 'fitting' process and enhancing my wardrobe with garments that are more 'ME'.  You can follow the fasters here:



I also joined the 2015 Stashbusting Sewalong. I like that you establish your goal's on how to use your stash.  The Sewalong goal is "Not to guilt or shame anyone but to encourage each other to use our stashes first. These are resources we already own and we want to use these investments wisely. "



Here is my personal commitment.

 

I Karon, commit to using 20 pieces of stash fabric in 2015 for garment sewing. Additionally, I commit to making 5 projects out of 'stash scraps' that are currently less than 1 yd.

I am keeping a sewing diary this year because as 2014 came to a close, I could not tell you many of my sewing accomplishments.  I did blog about some of the projects but not everything.  If I participate in these 2 online communities, setting goals and linking my completed projects, maybe I will know at the end of the year what I did.

Keep me encouraged.
 

Lola's Creative Adventure

Back in October, I took my granddaughter on a fabric shopping trip.  Lola is 8 years old and very artistic.  She loves clothes, color and design.

I chose the pattern, McCalls 6737 and a legging pattern Sew Sew B6005. 

The pattern was chosen because it would require 3 fabrics.  Lola was given the challenge to break out of her normal pattern and choose a completely different color.  I suggested that she look for a darker fall color.  Not her usual pink and lime green.  I also encouraged her to not choose companion fabrics.  I wanted her to hit her creative stride.  Needless to say she was in heaven.  This selection took several hours.  She would find a fabric she liked but not be able to find additional pieces to complete the pattern.  She never seemed to get bored. It was a great outing.

Now, I have finally gotten past Christmas sewing and jumped into her project.  I sewed this by a size 7 which is the smallest size in this pattern.  I hope that it will fit and she will wear a white turtleneck T under it.  The leggings are a size 4.  I had used the legging pattern before and knew that it was large.

She has not seen it and probably has temporarily forgotten about it.  Lola should be by here on Monday to pick it up.  I think that she will be very pleased with her new outfit.  She did end up with lime leggings but only because we only had a choice of orange and lime green knit to match. We both agreed that we did not want orange.

I think that she did an excellent job for her first creative adventure.

 

 

The outfit below is also for Lola.  It was made from the same See Sew.  I had this almost finished in October when I packed everything away to hit the Christmas list. This is just a knit print that was in the stash and I purchased the chocolate brown for the leggings. 

 

 

This is a good start for 2015.