I’ve been slowly working through my sewing to-do list. I don’t typically have WIP’s – I will often have fabric set aside for a certain project, but usually once I cut something out I will finish it before moving on, so I like to have big chunks of time to really get into sewing. I finally had a couple days (one day last week and yesterday) where I could just sew, so I just started down the list one thing after another. Of course, when I went to take photos of everything this morning – this was the weather I got:
No sun is not so great for photos. Anyone know of a cheap lighting solution? Cause I need one, like, yesterday.
Anyway, I figured these pics are for documentation, not glamour shots, so I just threw them in photoshop to lighten them up. I did the best I could. Hope they are OK!
First, I had made my friend Lisa an apron back in May and I finally made the matching potholders.
Then she picked out some fat quarters to make into bandanas for her dog, Dino. We’ve made these before for Dino and usually Lisa cuts them in half diagonally (you can’t cut a FQ in a perfect triangle, so it’s a little “wonky” but once you tie it around his neck you can’t tell) and does a satin stitch on the edge. I decided to try folding them under 1/4″ and then using a wide zig-zag over the raw edge. It worked fine, didn’t waste as much fabric as folding it under 1/4″ twice would have, and they will still go through the wash a couple times. After that, we’ll just make new ones!
I FINALLY found some fabric to make Dino a zippered dog bed. The holdup has been trying to find some decent home dec fabric. Lisa likes green, but all of the green home dec fabric I found was really drab and boring or floral and not very boy dog at all. A lot of it is also dry clean only, which is not very practical for a dog bed! I thought about denim or corduroy, but again everything was really boring. So, I will use this cotton print and quilt it just like I did with the twill one to give it some more durability. It’s one of the “premium” lines from Jo-Ann (they were having a big sale). Tutorial soon! Dino is staying with us in a few weeks, so it will get made, I promise!
Then I made a baby blanket that I need to send off tomorrow to Ken’s cousins who just had a baby boy. I used Melanie @ Above All Fabric‘s Magic Blanket tutorial, with a big piece of Minky and some brown Riley Blake cotton. I think I used a yard of the cotton and 45″ of the Minky – it’s a rectangle not a square. I forgot how much Minky slips around. Even with a big seam allowance and a walking foot and lots of pins, it still slipped all over. But nothing is softer than Minky, so it’s worth it. And it’s adorable!
THEN…
I made two skirts for my friend Donna’s adorable little kid. She loves playing with my fabric. I ordered some knits from Above All Fabric and I really wanted to learn how to sew them with just my sewing machine (no serger). I am going to write a longer post about these and what stitches I used, but here are the finished skirts! I will have her model tomorrow!
She also picked this out at Jo-Ann so I’m going to try to make one without the yoga-style waistband and elastic instead:
So this week I need to make a bunch of Two-Zip Hipsters (and post some possible modification ideas). The fabric on the left will have a flipped pocket, the black and grey dots will be matched up with a hidden purple lining and the Freebird is already cut out and ready to sew. Now I have to pick some fabric to make one for me! I’ve been carrying a prototype but I need one with some different fabric for fall!
More Minky – why do I do this to myself? I got some Terrain and purple Minky to make a little quilt for Sammy (If you know of a great charm square quilt pattern, please post it for me!) She loves Loki’s quilt and needs her own for Fall! The corduroy is hopefully for bags and the rest is just for fun!
My latest order from Above All Fabric!
I think I added more to the list than I crossed off, but seeing it all in one post makes it look like I accomplished a lot! :)
I can’t wait to read how you handled the seams on the skirts without a serger! I usually avoid clothes because the perfectionist in me has a hard time with ugly seams and I don’t own a serger… but that said, I just finished making a pair of boxer shorts for my son and I used a zig zag stitch along the cut edge of the seam and it looks pretty good… I’m happy with it!
I love the baby blanket you made! I have been wanting to try sewing on minky again, now that I own a walking foot! Minky has always made me mad… so I’m hoping that with the walking foot it won’t move so much… but you say it still shifts? Do you use the Sulky adhesive that Melanie @ Above all Fabric talked about on her blog?
The walking foot helps so much. I didn’t use adhesive because I was sewing them right sides together. When I make Sammy’s quilt I will definitely use the spray adhesive. I use it when I make quilts so I can cheat and not use as many pins. I hate pinning and I’m sure I didn’t use enough pins to keep it from shifting – it wasn’t bad, like 1/4″ in either direction, but annoying because the mitered corner needs it to be accurate. I only had to rip out a small portion. It was OK :)
How about a disappearing 9 patch? That would be a simple and fun quilt. Cluck Cluck Sew has a tutorial for it on her blog.
Love all your projects! You’ve been busy. Love that new order color scheme, can’t wait til I see what you do with it.