Christmas Project #10

This is a bag for storing presents.

Husband and I found, long ago, that we needed a system for keeping track of which presents go to whom, so we bought fabric in different Christmas patterns and made a bag that's about a yard long and 22 inches wide. Each one has the intended recipient's name embroidered on the handles. This one is hard to read, but says "Stache," of course. The mustaches on the Santas are lovely.

Catching up with the Christmas Projects... #9

I finished this on "Friday," by which I mean I could have finished it on Friday but actually did it on Saturday.

It's a fleece quilt for the youngest. The pattern blocks are the Frozen princesses, and the alternating solid blocks have tiaras or snowflakes.

Christmas Project #5

Infinity scarf from the third fabic I have.

Christmas Project #4

The latest in Stachewear:

Christmas Project #3

Here's an infinity scarf made from the second kind of fabric.

No Machine Sunday

Keeping the machines off for one day allows me time to sort some things out and prepare for the next day's sewing. On this particular Sunday, I started pinning the first quilt/blanket I'm making for Christmas and I cut out the second one. Neither has all it's pieces yet. I decided to make them a little bigger than originally planned, and then I made a mistake while cutting out the blocks.

The third project I planned to cut out on Sunday didn't happen because I need more fabric for that one as well. I suspect there are similar problems with various other projects, and hopefully I will discover them before we go to Bigtown on Wednesday. Monday I will do another infinity scarf while doing prep work on a third quilt. Meanwhile, the fourth project I looked at on Sunday has all its pieces here, but I needed to trace the pattern. It's ready to cut out, but since I know it's in good shape, I'm working on the other things first.

Christmas Projects #2

I got a little something done on Saturday.

 

This is the infinity scarf I was working on.

Christmas Project #1

Christmas approaches. I have a bunch of presents to make as well as some other projects that just need to be done. Last year I was able to get approximately one per day finished, and I'm hoping to do the same this year.

Here's the first project done.

 My mother in law has been collecting the Hallmark Mary's Angels since they started making them. At this point, they have their own Christmas tree, which sits on a round table. So I made a tablecloth/tree skirt for their tree.

Twenty-Seven Days

For the five year old. She had Sleeping Beauty last year, too, but this is a different design.

Twenty-eight days to go

This one is for Stache. It's a 2XL shirt that will be cut up and sewn together like a tiny tee from The Children's Place. (One piece tee shirt/shorts.)

Since it's not actually a completed project, I also worked on something else. Last time we were at Disney, we got resort mugs that we could refill whenever we liked at the hotel counter service restaurant. The 14yo complained last time that her older brother kept drinking out of hers. So I made tags to put on everyone's mug:

I found a spool of this ribbon at the fabric store the other day. I machine-embroidered all the names on them and put a plastic snap at the end. Assuming this year's mugs are essentially the same as last years, they should work out well.

Twenty nine days to go

This one is for the 9 year old.

Catching up

I've actually been sewing every day, although I haven't been posting.

Day 31 (previous entry) was the design for husband's shirt. I had to resew it a couple of days later on the correct size.

Day 30 is mother-in-law's shirt:

A countdown of sorts

31 Days to go:

Car seat cover

When I bought the mustache fabric, I got quite a bit so that there would be plenty to make different things with.

Stache has a car seat purchased for him that stays in mommy's car, but he rides a lot with Gran and Grandpa's family in the big van, too. So we dug out the car seat purchased for the youngest Auntie, who just turned five and used this car seat since she was about 1 year old. We checked the expiration date and discovered that there's a little over a year left on this seat, so we cleaned it up a bit.

No one wanted Stache to have to use a pink seat, though, so I used a little of the mustache fabric to make a seat cover. Yes, you can still see some of the pink around the edges, but mommy says it's ok.

I still have some of the fabric that's been laminated, in both black background and aqua. I'm pondering making one of those over-the-back-of-the-seat caddies that holds various useful items.

Short Break

I haven't been doing much, lately. Mostly I've done some repair work.

I finally got a picture of a project I did before Stache was born:

He's not allowed to be on the internet, but since his face isn't visible, it's ok.

This week I worked on a knitting project, too:

It's Elizabeth Zimmerman's Best Baby Sweater, from Vogue Knitting of Fall 1990. It knits up in a flash, and I've probably made a couple of dozen of them for coworkers and friends. This one is for a co-worker of Stache's grandpa. Oddly enough, not a single one of our kids has gotten one of these sweaters, and so far, neither has Stache. Stache's great-grammie knits, too, and I wanted them all to have her sweaters.

Moving On

With the quilt done, and my self-tutorial accomplished, it's time to work on various projects, most of which are ultimately going to be used for the Disney trip this fall.

Yesterday, I finished some nightclothes. A nightie for me, and boxer shorts for Stache's grandpa and uncle.

Everything has little Disney themed embroideries on it. In the case of the boxer shorts, it's to differentiate between husband and son's. On the nightie, it's just because I felt like it.

Twenty-Four Years

The quilt is done, but my sewing machines are not sitting idle. Well, yesterday they did. I was feeling horribly ill and didn't do much besides sleep. Actually, Saturday they did, too. We drove the workhorse machine up to the shop for some spa time. After a few years of sewing 4-6 days per week, it deserves it.

So today's picture is of a blast from the past. As of August 4, 1990, this was the most ambitious project I had done:

It's still in the top two or three, but I think there might be some things that rank higher. I really made the dress in self defense. It was the era of all wedding dresses having rows and rows of tiny organza ruffles that made a girl look not so much like a bride as a piece of popcorn.

It was also cotton sateen instead of taffeta or satin made out of some manufactured fiber. When one gets married in Texas in August, one wants a fabric that breathes.

Today I'm still not feeling 100%, but work is continuing on some night clothes for the Disney trip. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary to Stache's Grandpa! Can't wait until we're celebrating #25 next year!

All Done!

The quilt is finished!

There are some issues that I think would have come out better if I had more experience in quilting, including a couple of what I think are absolutely rookie mistakes, but overall, I'm pleased with it. It will make an interesting wall hanging or lap quilt.

Quilted

Just before trimming off the excess batting.

There's a pretty bad wrinkle on the back, but I discovered it after I'd stitched it in place three or four times, so I think it's going to stay there as a testament to my quilting inexperience.

The quilt top is done!

Piecing Continues

All the little triangles have been added to the corners of my blocks, and the wedges have been sewn together, vertically. All but two of the wedges have been pinned to the sashing that will connect them to each other, so here are the two that haven't been pinned yet.

So the top will probably be done today or tonight. The back will need one quick seam, and that means I need the batting. There's the fabric store in biggish town half an hour a way, but maybe the quilt shop in town has what I want for less than it would cost me to drive to the other place.

I've also been slowly starting on a couple of things for the Disney trip: boxer shorts for the two men and a nightie for me. Patterns are ready to cut out the fabric that's in the dryer at this exact minute. Pondering Disney/hidden Mickey designs for them. Husband prefers Donald Duck... I may have a silhouette design...

Slower Going

Piecing is progressing, but slowly, on the quilt. So far I've only put little triangles in most of the corners of the blocks.

Meanwhile, I made a small makeup bag for oldest daughter.

It matches the diaper bag I made for Stache last winter.

No Machine Sunday

Today I deliberately kept all the machines turned off. I did some hand work on a comforter I've been working on, I cut out a couple of projects I plan to sew up tomorrow, and I trimmed some seams I sewed on the fan quilt yesterday. I also worked on a long-term knitting project that's been on my needles far too long.

I think it was a good thing.

All the Embroidery is done!

Row 4 went pretty quickly, once I got into the groove of it:

Here's the entire quilt, laid out:

Piecing and sewing has commenced, but Sunday is going to be a machine-free day. I'm going to work on some knitting and other hand-done projects.

Gorgeous Design

I did the first block of row 4.

Row 3, Finished

It went pretty quickly, once I got into the pattern of hooping and rehooping the same piece to line up the hash marks. None of my joins are perfect, but a couple come darn close, and the quilt is really looking nice.

I've also been working on holiday dresses for the dollies, but I keep thinking I have things it turns out I don't have, so not much progress, there.

Intermission Day

I worked on a couple of projects for our upcoming Disney trip:

Last year I decorated basic beach towels to take to the water park and made luggage tags for everyone. They all had one character who was put on these items plus their tee shirts.  This year, my MIL and grandbaby are coming, so they are getting theirs now.

Stache's towel is a bath towel that I cut and made up as a hooded towel. His mother's stuff has Tinkerbell on it.

At some point, I will be doing two sets of tee shirts for this trip, one with every person's character on it and another with a design that's mostly the same for everyone. We've bought one set of short sleeved shirts and we're pondering the advisability of long sleeve tees for the other set. It's going to be October, and evenings might be cool. Or they might not.

Dead in the water

The third row of the quilt is pretty awesome. There's a quilt section function, plus a nifty hash mark that gets added in, where you line up the needle with the pattern on the computer screen, and the machine lines it all up. It does take a little skill. I have some gaps on the first join, but the second and third joins are pretty decent.

I think next time I'll put a basting stitch in instead of using chalk for lining up the arrows on the hoop.  I ran out of stabilizer (stuff I put underneath the fabric that holds it steady during embroidery, so I can't work on the quilt today except for cutting squares or that sort of thing. I'm working on other projects instead, getting ready for the fall Disney trip.

Here's a picture of the quilt as laid out so far:

It bears a passing resemblance to the picture on the internet, so I'm content.

Row Two

I finished the second row of blocks on Sunday.

I also made a doll raincoat.

The fabric for the coat was something I ordered along with polylaminate diaper fabric when I first started making diapers. It's more of a nylon canvas that's been rubberized on the back. Excellent for a raincoat, but difficult to work with in terms of shaping. I'm not sure if I'll make another coat using this combination of pattern and fabric again. I plan to use the rest of it to make a sling bag for our Disney trip this fall. It will be at least very water resistant, and I can add a pocket to the outside with some embroidery in a different fabric to tone down the yellow. Eh... depending on how much fabric the bag leaves, I may make one more coat and hat out of it.

Quilt Day 5

Not much happened to the quilt on Saturday. After a late breakfast where daughter #1 works, I had a maintenance class for my new machine up in Bigcity. This machine totally rocks. Maybe everyone there has a slightly newer and better machine than I do, but this machine has way cool stuff from top to bottom and I can't wait to learn everything.

After I got home, there was stuff to do, and then we went to dinner. After we got home, fairly late, I got one block done.

Or rather, I should say I got one block embroidered. I didn't even cut it out that night.

Only one quilt square today.

Today's project was to make a couple of outfits for my 9yo and 5yo out of the pile of fabric that's as big as the steamer trunk it's sitting upon. That's by no means my entire fabric stash, but it's a place to start.

For the 9yo, I had a piece of a knit print that had somehow worked its way from my mom's stash to mine. When we outfitted an 18" doll for this child for her birthday, I had made some jeans and a tee shirt using this knit. For the 5yo, I had a piece of gauze left over from the 12yo's Easter dress. I've made at least two or three outfits for dolls out of this fabric, and there's still gracious plenty left.

I selected a smock-sort of top to make, but there really wasn't enough of the knit, and the pattern is intended for stretch knits only. The solution to both problems involved a bit of piecing. Before I cut out the gauze, I made a panel with a zipper in it to put in the top of the back. On the knit, I added in a piece of a pique knit I think I got from my mom's stash, too.

The finished outfits are cute. I got rid of that knit fabric and reduced the amount of hot pink and denim I have, but that gauze is going to have to go into the stash for another day. I'm just tired of it. When I made the jeans for the doll, I used a decorative stitch around the hem to tie the top and bottom together. I did the same thing with 9yo's capri's, here, except my new machine has what are called maxi stitches, which give her a wider band of stitching on the bottom, keeping things more in proportion.

One quilt block today. That was my goal, so I guess I'm doing good. I finally came to terms with the bobbin low indicator, but in the process there are one or two places that came out a little rough. It's fine, though. It's the first wedge of the second row. When I get this whole row done, I'll lay both rows out together. I got a piece of felt to do that on, sort of like those jigsaw puzzle protectors.

This block combines three patterns into one. What's fascinating about the three patterns is that they're identical shapes of leaves and tulips. The difference is in how close the leaves are to each other compared to how the tulips nestle in. Plus the colors are reversed in the top tulips.

Quilt Day 3

The first row of pieces is done:

I added the coral and lilac pieces. The coral piece that's on the left has a variegated thread in primary colors, which doesn't really go with the scheme. I wasn't expecting it to come out quite that way until I stitched it out. The colors will be most excellent in something I make for the kids or grandbaby, though.

Most of the colors in the quilt are more muted. However, if it's the worst thing that happens to this project, I won't have a reason to complain. I also cut out some of the black strips and squares that will go in between as I sew it together.

The slacks are done, too, and I was a bit too lazy to do much else. Tomorrow row two starts, and I need to find something else to keep me off the mean streets of my small country town. There are always more doll clothes to make, and several outfits for the kids I should put together from what's lying around.

Getting Started on the Quilt

I'm not sure if my machine had some files deleted by the original owner, because the tutorial didn't quite match up with the directions. I figured something out, though, and it looks enough like what I can see in the picture that I'll take it.

Today's step was to create some files using "normal" sewing stitches and making a simple straight line down the center of some small pieces near the center. I used the biggest hoop for that, which is a bit of a tight fit in the hallway where this machine lives, but actually worked out fine. I have a nice workstation that we had purchased this past winter, and it rolls in and out of its tight space when I need it to do so.

Here's the fabric after I embroidered it. I'm not sure why it's so pale in this picture:

The lines of embroidery are toward the right, with blank pieces to be cut out from the left, as is shown below:

It wasn't just the quilt today. I also worked on the slacks for oldest. She didn't like the cut, so I spent the rest of the day trying to find a daughter to fit them on. Child 4 worked out. I still have to do a lot of finishing on them, but at least someone will at least get the use of this, and my fabric stash is shrinking ever so slightly. They're a nice pair of slacks. I may make some for myself, while looking for a pattern oldest will want to wear. She's pretty short, so she really likes a dropped waist. I had thought this pattern did that, but I was mistaken.

Finally, I took on a project that's been sitting around waiting for a clue for a few months. My mother in law crochets tops for kitchen towels and sells them at craft sales. She found some really nice Christmas ones, except the top half is just this really elegant script, of which you can maybe pick out one word per line. She figured I would find something to do with them, and today the clue brick hit me.

Having an awesome embroidery machine, I decided to do some experimenting.

 

The tree and diamond are machine-included files, but the flourish of stars is actually from Amazing Designs Opulent Angels disk. I assembled that from two smaller designs, which is something that took a little manipulation on the edit screen. I have to admit I'm more proud of that than I really need to be, given how easy it ends up being. The towels were a little on the short side of things, so I added some pregathered lace I had lying around, and sometime I'll give the towels back to my mother in law. She usually tends to stay away from this sort of towel because people want to be able to dry their hands, but a few here and there that are primarily ornamental might not be a bad thing.

Learning New Tricks with a New Machine

I'm not new to sewing. Having started around the age of ten, it's thirty-five years since I started. My war cry was to make clothes that fit me but didn't look home made. Sometimes I have accomplished that goal, while other times I've fallen far short.

In recent years I've started to acquire some new skills in machine embroidery. I have also discovered a love of Pfaff machines. You're not supposed to do this, but I bought a Pfaff Select 4.0 brand new from ebay several years ago. The machine hummed beautifully, which was a delight, but where they had me is the zipper foot.  All my life I've been somewhat zipper-challenged, but the Pfaff foot changed my life and made me a Pfaff customer from then on.

A year or two after the mechanical Select 4.0, I made friends with the most local shop to me (an hour's drive away) and my next purchase. The Smarter C1100 is a tough electronic machine that has a lot of fun stitch functions. We've run the smack out of that machine and it keeps begging for more. A year or so later I deemed it time to upgrade my overlock machine to a Coverlock 3.0. I love that thing.

The opportunity came in the last week to upgrade from my Janome embroidery machine to something with a bit more power and scope. The shop had a very gently used Creative Select for a price I couldn't refuse. They aren't making this machine any more. They came out with a new top-of-the-line machine about six months after this one (which lead to the previous owner deciding to upgrade), and then retooled this model to fit in with an adjustment to the product line.

This machine is way beyond me. Today.

The company website has a free pattern for a quilt made using the machine, which includes what are basically tutorials in using the file, design, and programming functions. So I'm going to make the quilt. The pattern is here: http://pfaff150anniversary.com/media/pdf/quilt/1/quilt_en.pdf  I've done embroidery and quilt-like functions, but never actually made a quilt before, so it's a new experience all around. We'll see how it goes.

The pattern calls for silk, but I bought some basic broadcloth for mine. Hancock Fabrics had 10 of the 13 colors I wanted, and a local quilt shop had the other three colors, plus a nifty batik I'm going to use as the backing. I'm going to do one section of the instructions each day as I go. Today's step was to obtain the fabric, pre-shrink it, and iron it. Here are all my pieces, ready for action:

If I do the directions exactly in order, I'll spend tomorrow cutting, but I don't think it's going to happen that way. I suspect I'll be cutting and embroidering as I go. Some of the pieces of fabric are a little suspicious to me, too, and I may decide to replace them. I think I've got some poly/cotton mixed into my otherwise all-cotton arrangement.

Meanwhile, we have a doll-dressing enterprise going on with my mother-in-law.

 I'm also making some dress slacks for the oldest daughter that will hopefully be acceptable to wear to work.