life+running » sewing

I need your help!

chimes — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

I need your help with something very important. But first, a quickie recap of Easter weekend.

I hung out at home by myself on Sunday because I couldn’t find anybody to watch Barney, and he’s not a very friendly dog, so I can’t just take him everywhere with me. However, it turned out that I was in need of some serious ME time, so I couldn’t have asked for a better Easter. Not to mention, I didn’t have all that candy and junk in front of me all day (which in itself was totally worth it).

I spent the day watching old Doctor Who and working on some stuff for an upcoming craft show at Iowa State. Since nobody else was home, I moved my craft stuff into the kitchen / living room area for better lighting and so I could watch TV on Mark’s awesome TV.

I made about 12 zipper bags. I need to take “official” photos of them so I have them for my records. Since I make these from scraps, every bag I make is different and I like to see all the different ones I’ve made.

I used the improv block that I made during my patchwork class for one of these bags. And it was by far my favorite bag of the day.

I also used up the last chunk of this paisley fabric that my friend Adria gave me a long time ago. It’s not really my style. But she was sick of it after making her mom a quilt with it, so she gave it to me. And now I’m really sick of it. I made what is quite possibly the ugliest bag I’ve ever made. Not my taste. But somebody will like it.

And I made cookies for this month’s installment of the cookie of the month club. I used Martha Stewart’s recipe for flourless peanut butter cookies and omitted the chocolate and nuts (yes — I did GF because I knew I’d eat some, and I’d be less miserable if they were GF) and put Rolos in the middle. They turned out highly addictive, so I packed them up and took the extras to work today (sorry Mark).

I used the rest of my “me” Easter day to pamper and go to the gym. There was a bubble bath and pedicure involved. Obviously no photos of the bubble bath.

I didn’t even think about the possibility of the gym not being open because it was Easter until I posted a photo on Instagram and Janetha commented about me being lucky to have an open gym. Instead of panicking, I took the chance and biked there anyway. It WAS open. I go to the gym at Iowa State and they aren’t closed unless the university itself is closed. If they closed on Easter, they’d have to close for every other religious holiday (it’s a public school), so they don’t close on Easter. The only reason they close on Christmas is because nobody is on campus during that time.

Note: biking to the gym + leg day is not advised.

And now for the serious business.

So I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it or not, but I’m going to this little shindig — the BLEND Retreat — next month.

Did I mention that? I thought I might have.

I’ve got my bed and breakfast booked for the drive there and drive back. The drive there might just be my old roommate, Nick’s, new place in Omaha, but the drive back stay includes a whirlpool.

But here’s where I need your help.

I’m shopping for a dress for first night there. Everybody’s doing it, so I thought I’d join. I don’t NEED another dress, buuuuut I want one. I’m hoping to get some opinions before they sell out on sizes that could potentially fit me.

I found this lovely site called Nasty Gal. Yeah. That’s the name.

And I have my choices narrowed down to these finalists.

Right angled sequin dress — $16 on sale

This one I’m kind of worried about belly pooch and the fact that my top isn’t that busty. I might get it and if it doesn’t work gift it to my friend Steph, who is a little smaller and a lot less poochy than me. It’s $16.

But then there’s this one that’s got the same issues as the first one, but it only comes in a small. And it’s also only $20.

Metal Mania Dress — $20.40

I like this one for obvious reasons. It also seems a little less structured than the one above it. I’m just worried that small is NOT going to fit.

But this next one is only $24. And I don’t see any issues with it. Other than the fact that I don’t typically wear white.

Georgia Lace Dress — $24

Hrm. Out of these three I like the second one the BEST but I’m really worried about the size. I should be asking Steph which one she likes the best. Ha.

And there’s this one. It’s Calee pink. And it is going to show off my back that I’ve worked super hard on the last few months. So I’m pretty sure I’m going to get this one. But I want to know which other sale dress I should grab. Or if you hate this one. Because if that’s the case, I’m getting two of the sale dresses.

Racerback Wrap Dress — $48

I need all the help I can get. Comments are appreciated! Thank you.

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Ay Matees, I gots me some treasure.

chimes — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

I mentioned that my mom told me that she found a box full of of treasures the other day in one of Gram’s closets..

Boy, did she.

First, there was a little box full of embroidery thread and instructions for different stitches. I remember getting this out sometime when I was a kid, so I’m not sure if this is Gram’s or Granny’s, but it smells a little like Granny (she died of emphysema … figure that one out).

I already sorted and bagged the floss. I seriously JUST started to make a dent in the other bag that I’d already sorted from several years ago. Maybe I should make friendship bracelets. I could make one for everybody attending BLEND. That would be fun … a summer camp trinket! But that would be a long month of friendship bracelet making.

In case you didn’t see it in the picture above, this book cost TWENTY NINE CENTS. I wish I knew what year it was from, but judging from the photography on the inside, I’m guessing the early 60s.

I remember this book. It teaches embroidery, crochet, knitting and tatting. Tatting? What the hell is that? I took this book home the first time I wanted to learn how to crochet. And I brought it back after several failed attempts.

Along with the box of embroidery stuff, I got a MASSIVE box of vintage fabric scraps and unfinished hand-pieced quilt blocks.

These were most definitely Granny’s. Gram did not do patchwork. And I know some of the fabric in here was from clothes that Granny used to wear. Look at that cool olive green fabric with the Las Vegas-style stars! I would say there’s about a yard’s worth of scraps here.

But there is about a full or queen-sized bed’s worth of quilt blocks. Maybe more.

They’re all this 6-point star pattern. And I’m not sure what to do to finish them. I’m going to take them to the Des Moines Quilt Guild meeting in April and see if they can help me. I know I have to put fabric between the points, but I’m not sure how to go about doing that because it just doesn’t work like that (this won’t make sense to those of you that don’t sew, but trust me, you can’t just sew a triangle in that shape in that void). And then if I don’t make these puppies square, I’m going to have to figure out how to sew a bunch of six-sided polygons together.

This is going to be a task.

But, she spent all the time cutting these out and sewing them by hand, so I want to finish this the way that she intended it to be done.

Also, I kind of want to bitch at her for the seams after learning how to actually press seams. She’d probably just pinch me and go get a bowl of Trix (that woman LIVED on Trix. It wasn’t for kids. It’s for grannys is what she used to tell me).

Otherwise I’d just applique them onto the big bed sheet that I got with all this stuff (true story. my grandpa thought that I could use a bedsheet that had a tear in it — which I can, but I don’t need more thrifted / gifted supplies) and finish the quilt really fast. But I hate applique quilts with a passion. There’s no skill involved (okay, some skill but it’s not as badass as piecing) and I hate how the edges turn out … and they always look ultra-cheesy. Yuck.

But seriously.

GIANT BOX OF BLOCKS.

Thanks in advance to my friend Doris for most likely helping me trouble shoot this. She’s an awesome quilter. And she’s probably geeking out over this treasure find.

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Patchwork + Hot wings

chimes — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The patchwork class I taught Saturday and Sunday was a success. I even learned something. Two of the ladies in the class were hardcore quilters, but needed help figuring out how to pick fabrics and wanted a fresh look at things, which is why they took my class. I kept getting guff for not pressing my seams correctly, so finally one of the ladies showed me how to press and set my seams. You press to the dark side. Tee. Hee.

We made a hugetastic mess.

I brought my improv piece to use as an example for class and ended up finishing it. WELL, not completely finishing it. I want to do some embroidery on it. Then it will be finished. Mini quilt? Pillow? Wall hanging? Who knows.

We had a giant table and an ironing board area set up and we needed every inch of that space. The Workspace had two huge tubs of fabric, and everybody brought some of their own. There were some really interesting finds in the bins. I picked out some spiffy 80sesque fabrics for my first project. And went a little crazy with the quilting.

Seriously? I’m pretty sure this was somebody’s screenprinting project. But I cut it up and used it for the back of my potholder.

On Saturday I taught everybody how to make a wonky log cabin block. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take the class to complete a block and turn it into a potholder, but it ended up taking up about one 3-hour class period. So on Sunday I had everybody throw caution to the wind and make an improv block — no planning, just creativity flowing. I gave everybody a piece of my fabric that they had to use in their improv block — just to spice things up and make it harder for those who were already well out of their comfort zones.

Letitia, The Workspace coordinator, took my class. Which kind of made me nervous because this class could have gone horribly wrong if super-hardcore quilters showed up and weren’t wanting to learn new ways to do things or break the rules. But it didn’t go badly [ other than the crazy amount of people working in the woodshop behind us being really loud ], and she had a good time too. Here she is stitching away.

I was really proud of her improv block potholder. The fabrics she chose were really great. And just look at that stitching! She should probably get a long-arm sewing machine and have people pay her to quilt.

And thanks to my new knowledge I learned from a master quilter, my seams are so much better in my second block that I made in class [ on the left ] than in my first block [ which I turned into a potholder ]. I’m so glad somebody finally showed me that pressing my seams properly makes a difference. I pressed the seam together to set it, then pressed to the dark side [ to the darker fabric ] so the seam doesn’t show through. I didn’t press to the dark side on seams that had a bunch of different seams within them — got too bulky and the newest seam wouldn’t stay put. But seriously? This little tidbit of knowledge is going to make all my pieces so much nicer.

Look how straight the seams on the left block are. Then look at how crooked and frankensteiny the seams on the right one are. I’m somewhat amazed at the difference that a little extra ironing made. And it really didn’t take any extra time.

Beautiful.

Gross.

In addition, I learned little tidbits about canning, sewing circles, and how NOT to pack your carryon when traveling — and to always put the things you actually can’t live without in your carryon. There’s so much we can learn from our elders!

Here’s one of the blocks done by one of the other ladies in the class.

She initially had some traditional pink floral instead of my bright pink and another brown / khaki instead of the teal. I pulled out the bright pink and she loved it, so I gave it to her, and we decided to add the teal to complement the teal in the bright pink fabric. I think she learned a little bit more about pairing fabrics and picking colors.

On a different note, about 2 hours into class I got a text from Mark that said: “Just butchered about 10 hot wings. I’m awesome.”

Huh?

I leave him home alone and he makes incredible food from scratch — usually not using a recipe. Bread on Saturday. Hot wings Sunday. Once I left for 3 days to go to my cousin’s wedding in Fairfield, and he perfected Chicago-style pizza.

About an hour later I got this photo. He’s been wanting to try to make hot wings from scratch for a long time. Now he’s succeeded.

He didn’t make about half of the wings he bought so I could do a run-through with photos for the blog [ see, he's getting better! ]. I will have step by step instructions because these are multitudes better for you than the flash-fried version. If they weren’t so salty and if there wasn’t butter in them, I’d give them a green light. I might have to see what I can do to lighten them up after the first go-round.

This was a pretty eventful Sunday for me. I usually try to sit around and do as much nothing as possible on the weekends. What about you? Do you try to cram a bunch of fun stuff in on the weekend? Or do you sit at home and relax?

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FQS Giveaway!

chimes — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I love giveways, especially ones that involve fabulous fabric.

Quokka Quilts is hosting a blogger’s choice giveaway for 12 print fat quarters and 3 solids (holy cow!) of your choice from Fat Quarter Shop.

Since I mostly make bags, I picked a bunch of patterns conducive to bag-making. I also mocked up a couple of bag patterns.

First, these are the fabrics I chose. I went through and picked my favorite fabrics without thinking about putting them together. I didn’t read the rules all the way through … they are PICKING the best ones. I doubt I will get picked, but putting random fabric patterns together and making them look pretty is kind of what I do, so …

And now? How about a couple of ideas for what I might do with them. Stack them (wonkily and not straight of course):

Wow that’s a lot of fabrics. Okay, now for the bags I could create using a bit of ALL of these fabrics.

Probably with an orange zipper on that one.

And a turquoise zipper on this one. Obviously the patterns would translate into bigger than what they’re shown here, but you get the picture.

Anyway, here is the part where I say … pick me! Please.

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Tu-tu-tu-Tuesday: Asymmetrical Snap Scarf

chimes — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I’ve been asked by a few people to provide a tutorial for this lovely scarf I made as a commission by Mark for his mom for Christmas. Which, by the way, I might have to make a few more of because they are really cute. You can snap all 3 snaps, leave some open, mismatch snaps … so many combos and ways to wrap!

Also, I severely need to take better photos. I’ll take photos with me and a cute outfit for the next one I make. I wanted to have pictures of this so I could remember how I did this next time I did it. But now I have a tutorial put together for you all.

Here’s a PDF tutorial. Enjoy!

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Giveaway Day!

chimes — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

It’s SewMamaSew’s giveaway day today.

Check out all the super sweet giveaways (in addition to mine) on her blog today.

So what am I giving away? I’m giving away one of my little zippy pouches. My Classy Lady Lacey zippy pouch to be exact.

How do you win? I’ll make it simple this time because I’m sure I’ll get many more comments than usual.

How do you win? Just because I like reading interesting material, you’re going to have to answer a question instead of just commenting below. Also include your e-mail address so I can follow up with you when you win (FYI you don’t have to type it in the comment section … just in the part where it says “e-mail” in the form).

The question? Who/what is your favorite fictional character and why? Your answer can be a character from from literature, movies, TV, music, comics, etc.

My answer to that question? I guess I’ll go with the obvious and say Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Why? Because she is badass and I love the fact that she’s witty and always goes for the bad boys.

Good luck! I’ll be picking a winner on Friday the 16th — just in time to get the zip bag in the mail in case you want to give it as a gift. I’ll post the winner on the 18th and will ship ASAP so you have before Christmas.

PS I’ll ship internationally!

Want to enter more giveaways? Check out the full list of giveaway day giveaways

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Tu-tu-tu-Tuesday: Quilted Greeting Cards

chimes — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Hello! I have another lovely tutorial for you. This one requires hardly any skill at all. Just a glue stick, some cardstock and a bit of fabric.

Okay, and maybe very MINIMAL sewing skills. However, I think you could pull these off with a stronger glue and no sewing.

I found the original tutorial in a book I borrowed (and still need to return …) from a friend. I found this fabulous step-by-step tutorial online.

I make these when I end up with scraps too small to make my zippy bags with. They’re fun and easy. You can make a huge variety of cards too.

Just make sure not to use the same needle on these as you do on other sewing projects. I mark the needle I use for these and keep it separate. It gets really dull after sewing cards.

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Craft Saturday! Be there or be square.

chimes — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:30:00 +0000

The Craft Saturday Holiday 2011 show is THIS SATURDAY from noon-6 at the Fourth Street Theatre in Des Moines.

I will be there. And so will my new wallets. And all my old stuff will be on SALE. Major sale. Clearance. I want to get rid of it to make way for new stuff. So that means awesomely cheap holiday gifts for you!

[new wallets for $30 each — $35 on etsy]

Besides that, there are going to be a TON of awesome vendors there. Check out the vendor preview page. I know I am planning on getting some things from these fabulous vendors. Bean and the Sprout will be there, so will JuneCraft and Florence Oliver.

I hope to see you there!

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FO Friday: New Wallets!

chimes — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

A while back I talked a bit ’bout making new wallets. The first one was cute, but not what I wanted.

Well, I sketched and sketched and put together another few before I finally got these down. And I had two days this week between jobs (I’m unemployed for 2 whole days! whoopeee!) so I got to sewing.

Introducing my new and improved wallets!

PS the one in the middle is MINE.

How are they improved from the old version of my wallets? Well, for starters, they are sewn better — all thanks to my NEW sewing machine that I got on Wednesday. This Janome DC1050 solved all my problems of skipped stitches and weird tension happening with my old machine. AND there is a stop/start button, so I can use that instead of the foot pedal. This feature comes in handy when sewing a lot of the same thing in a row. Hit start, feed everything through the machine, then hit stop.

Also, there is one additional feature that my old wallets didn’t have — a divider with card organizing slots. And the closure? It’s not a button anymore. It’s a magnetic purse snap. It’s like my wallets went and got all grownup on me!

[one of my old wallets for reference]

I’m thrilled to have all these wallets ready for Craft Saturday next weekend. I also made a bunch of revamped teeny-tiny wallets. They’re a bit bigger to accommodate cards (which was the ORIGINAL idea … but my math skills got in the way) and they’re more nicely put together. Again, thanks to Ms. Janome. All of my old inventory will be on MAJOR SALE next weekend to make way for the new stuff.

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Tu-tu-tu-Tuesday: Quilt as you go [and more!]

chimes — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I went to my first Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild meeting last Thursday evening. My friend Doris has been bugging me to go since she is one of the co-founding members. I missed out on their Habitat challenge and their ugly fabric swap, but came last week. They have a guest speaker every meeting and a show and tell where members show things they’re working on (quilts or related sewing).

I introduced myself by showing all my embarrassing works in progress: My coin stack baby quilt, Hello Betty quilt and my Thea’s puzzle quilt — just to name a few (there are WAY more).

And member Eva Marie was kind enough to fill in for a speaker that was unable to attend. She taught us the quilt as you go method. Here are some great tutorials.

Whilst she was showing us the methods I shared above, my brain was spinning on all sorts of ideas. I’d seen this method before and thought it was a great way to make things on my machine because it doesn’t quilt large objects well. I could use this method to make blocks for a larger quilt, make larger bags, pillows, all sorts of things …

… But then I remembered that my machine doesn’t do well with quilt sandwiches — no matter what the size. It even has a hard time with stitch length equality with my little zippy pouches.

I love my sewing machine. It’s a fabulous hand-me-down from my great aunt Willi — so I knew it was a good machine. I got it and it was pretty much brand new, though it was at least 30 years old. It’s done me well and I’m keeping it for threadbanging crafty projects (like quilted greeting cards, mini portfolios, sketchbooks, etc). I got DC1050 from Amazon (because they are the Wal-Mart of the internet of course) — so it should be here in the next week. I cannot WAIT for: Start stop button instead of pressure foot, 50 awesome stitches (perfect for my wallets and bags), computerized (EVEN) stitching and a self-threading needle.

I’m beside myself with excitement! If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I’ve never had a NICE new machine. I’ve had a new machine (from Wal-Mart) and I’ve had some nice machines (that are 30 or more years old), but not a nice and NEW one — with a 25-year warranty, might I add.

You will see an update sometime soon with a metric butt-ton of new wallet 2.0s, new and improved teeny tiny wallets and little zippy pouches.

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