Dirty Laundry

Yup, gonna show ya my dirty laundry today! I know y'all are terrible excited about that! ;)

Haha, see, nothing to cringe about! Just the hampers :) I've been needing to do this for a loooong time, like 6 months. My older hamper tore at one corner and was no longer performing well as a hamper. It was also ugly. New extra large sorters, they are attached with snaps so they are much easier to get off to wash if they get icky from wet towels and gross field uniforms. Not sure how the snaps will hold up so I will just have to wait and see!

A patchy scarf for baby n; I've seen a couple of patchwork scarves for woman on etsy, and had a stack of charm squares that I thought would work well, the reverse is some textured fleece I had leftover from a hat and mitten set.


Completely impractical sewing for February, a lovely aqua blue knit dress. I love this fabric and had to have it when I saw it; I had two maternity tops in similar fabric and was very very sad when I could no longer wear them! The pattern is new look 6774, it's for wovens but it's the style I wanted so decided to make the smallest size and omitted the zip. It was still a bit big so I took in a bit (about 3" total) and it fits fairly well. I used interfacing (cause the pattern called for it) for knits and i really don't love the interfacing, it's very stiff and kinda itchy. If I use this pattern again I think I will omit the interfacing but keep the lining on the bodice.


Close up of bodice, i like that the top actually crosses in front and isn't a mock cross.

I have sewed some other items but they are secret fairy gifts so I can't share them here :)

Annmarie

New patterns, spring sewing!

Boy do I need to keep better track of the cord thingy to the camera! I have been snapping pics all week and keep meaning to upload them but kept getting distracted in my hunt for it...

First Project: Ava handbag

Lovely pattern, easy with a fun shape and reversible







Close up of the flowers are outlined in gold gild, so it's slightly shimmery



Reverse to organic avocado twill, love this fabric!

Next project is Stella Apron, also by grand revival.


I used park slope material, i think is nice and springy.



sorry the pics are funky i've been messing with the manual settings and need to work on it.

I really like this pattern and LOVE the apron! My only complaint is it calls for prepackaged bias tape and I wanted to make my own and wasn't sure how wide to make the bias tape so i just guessed.



trousers for baby n, these match the kimono jacket, the pair on the left are quite long so they get rolled up. and the pair on the right only have elastic in the back so the front looks nice and neat.



appliqued tee from target for valentine's day. as you can see baby n had already hit the frosted cookies.
Had to share this pic! little i got a toy sewing machine yesterday (which i broke straight out of the box opps) and played with it all night. He needed just two more minutes mama and I walked into the kitchen to see this!




I think I need multiple copies of this one to share with all future girlfriends!

Annmarie

Stash interview

Over on sewmamasew a stash interview was posted so I thought I would answer a few questions.

• What do you usually sew? all sorts of things, whatever strikes my fancy really. clothes for the boys and myself, handbags, stuff for the house.
  
• When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?) with no project in mind, 2 yards for knits, anywhere from 1/2 yard to a yard of wovens, but am rethinking prints for the boys, might need more as they are getting bigger.
  
• Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need? err both? i tend to look for something I need but get distracted by pretty fabric.
  
• Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it? YES! Everything gets prewashed the second it comes into the house. nothing worse than having a project ruined due to color running (turquoise based dyes take the longest to rinse out so turquoise and red are the worst offends here) or shrinkage. I didn't prewash stuff in college cause I was broke and ended up with items that didn't work out. Plus, I like folding fabric.
  
• Do you iron it? mheh sometimes. depends on my mood. and wrinkliness.
  
• How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.) color/intended project for quilters cotton. subject matter for knits (i am a geek I reorganized so all the land based animals and water based animals were all together.) by color for solids.
  
• Do you have any special folding techniques? yup just started ruler folding and it's so great! I can actually see what all of the prints are.
  
• How do you store your fabric? On shelves in the closet, 2 bookcases and 2 rubbermaids for the wool and velours. Drawers for scraps and fat quarters
  
• What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash? buy boring coordinates and don't worry about having a rainbow of color if there is a color you don't like (not much pink for me!)
  
• When do you say enough is enough? that's tough. when i spend more time picking fabric up off the floor cause the boys were 'sewing' than actually sewing
  
• What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects? lined pants for the boys. skirts for me.
  
• Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!

its from an oop line amy butler charm.

• What’s your definition of the perfect stash? when i have enough to sew but not too much that I can't move around!

quilter's cottons and a few solid knits

Knits for the boys

there is more in the closet but it is impossible to take a decent pic of!

Annmarie

Sew Much...

Sorry not feeling terribly creative with words. We all have head colds. Here's the sewing for the past couple days, I am participating in a 'Stash Game' on the sewingmamas.com forum and we get points for sewing (neg points for buying fabric) so I have loads of projects lined up.


A lovely linen spring dress for me. I lurve the style of this dress! It was big (think bag like big, not flowy big) in the torso, so I took it in by adding pleats to the side seams.

I have a cute knit (yeah that one I feel off the wagon and bought!) that would look great as a long sleeve tee under this dress. :)

Dog bed slipcover. Really it's just a pillow, but the dog sleeps on it ;) it's reversible the reverse in the same fabric as the apron I made myself a couple weeks ago.
Toy buckle carrier for baby n, he has been wanting to play with little i's and little i is usually using it, so it was not working out well. Super cute hedgehogs and numbers print.
Grey ruffle capris. This was white interlock that got accidentally stained in the prewash. Sigh. I had been looking for grey fabric and have charcoal dye so there ya go. :D The leg is slimmer than the previous pair I made.

Kimono jacket for baby n, such a fun print! It modish little birdies on flowers.

Reverse of kimono jacket.



Back.


Close up of sleeve/binding. I so enjoy this print!


Medium pressing mat, has 1 layer of insul-bright and a layer of bamboo batting (it's what i had on hand). Perfect size side by side with my cutting mat.


Annmarie

Birthday Presents

Finished these up last week and, of course, only just found the cord thingy for my camera. It was my friend M's birthday last week and her daughter's 1st birthday the week before that. I couldn't decide what to get them and procrastinated until the afternoon of M's birthday. opps. Bad friend! Anyway, decided to whip up an apron for M and a little sun dress for the baby girl :)

Tunic dress from Ottobre 1/2009, I think it's #14. I think it's very sweet, the gathered bodice was fun for something different.


Emmaline Apron, I cheated again and only used 1 yard for the straps. The print really isn't quite so florescent.

The reverse. This fabric is really thin (like voile weight) so I wasn't sure what I could do with it, works well in the reversible apron!

Better pic of the colors.

Finally finished a pair of knit longies!! After only a year of trying to knit a pair and having sizing and stitches problems, i finished a pair. This was how baby n decided to model them for action pics. The yarn is bulky weight from knitpicks, so they went pretty fast.


Wall-e tee shirt redo. This was a short sleeve tee and the neck was tiny, poor little i couldn't get his noggin to fit. It fit otherwise, so I redid the sleeves raglan and made the neck bigger. Went a head and did long sleeves so he can keep wearing it!

Lots of projects to come :)
Annmarie