jane's apron

dishtowel totes

There's a saying that goes something like "If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it".  I know that's true for me...if I get really busy, a lot of other things also get done.  I could also make a saying that goes something like "While the sewing machine is out and has thread in the bobbin, finish your sewing projects".  

I saw this tutorial from Anna Maria Horner earlier this summer and didn't hesitate to order the dishtowels.   This really was a fun and quick project and Ellen and I have our own tote bags.  

folded needle case

When I was sewing my daughter's communion dress this spring, I had to run to my mom's house for help with the zipper.  She gave me one of her quilting needles to hem the dress and told me not to lose it.  Not lose it? Apparently there are needles that are more special than others...I had no idea. 

My parents are Great Depression children and learned to keep and to take care of stuff...to the extreme. My mom seriously has a paint brush that she has been using continuously since before I was born.   Borrowing stuff from them makes me nervous.  So I stuck the needle in the hem of the dress and hoped for the best.  

When Barbara at Oodles and Oodles posted a tutorial for a pretty needle case, I knew what I wanted to make my mom for her birthday.  I put this together on the morning of her birthday using an embroidered dresser scarf that I bought for 0.50 and vintage bias tape and snaps.  I didn't have any felt so I ironed interfacing to the back of a scrap of ticking to hold the needles. 

I need to make a needle case for myself now...so I can take care of my needles, know where they are, and keep them around a little longer.   

everyday sewing

School started today for my two youngest kids.  While I was ahead of the game on most things, I still had to make an alteration to my daughter's uniform jumper...late yesterday (some things about me will never change).   

While working on the jumper, I remembered this post from a couple of years ago.  I've come so far that now I am removing the bib from the jumper, pinning it back to the skirt to fit Ellen right at her waist, switching out the thread and bobbin with navy thread, sewing the front to match the plaids, and even sewing the back to the elastic waist.  

I know this is a simple thing but the whole time I was thinking that this was exactly the type of sewing that I always wanted to be able to do...everyday sewing...making me really happy today.  

vintage sheet fat quarters - free to good home

I sewed a pair of wide-leg lounge pants for my daughter last weekend.  She is a little too big now to use a single pillowcase so I used a pattern (McCall's M5491) to get the size right and made the pants with a vintage top sheet.  I still used the top of the sheet as the hem of the pants (this is a really easy way to have an automatic hem on the pants...just be sure to line the bottoms up before you sew them together). 

Are you thinking "eew...vintage sheets"?  Let me assure you that I am the pickiest shopper of vintage items.  With sheets, they have to be perfect, bright, clean, fresh...like new but vintage. And most important?...they have to be super soft.  

I had a few scraps from the sheet and decided to make them into fat quarters.  I've seen vintage sheet fat quarters on etsy and thought it might be fun to put a few sets together for my esty shop.  I was wrong.  It was not fun at all.  And no amount of money would make it worth it for me.   I did, however, get really good at using my rotary cutter. 

I put together 3 sets of fat quarters; a pink set, a blue/gold set, and a bright blue/red set (my favorite). Each set has 2 fat quarters of 2 designs....for a total of 12.   I'd love to send the stack to a blog friend...just leave a comment before Friday, Aug. 7 (sorry to drag it on a little too long but we'll be away next week and I'm taking a small blog break).  

Have a good week!

ummm...the fact that this giveaway had 98 takers is wacky...wacky in a totally happy, worthy of a whole separate blog post way.  But to get right to the point, the winner is Sarah (#65) from A Flower for You who said:

    Oh please, oh please, oh please pick me. I'm in the 

    process of adding to my vintage sheet collection. It's 

    slowly, but surely growing and it will be even better 

    with these fat quarters! :)

Thanks everyone for taking the time to leave a comment...a few more days off here but I'll be back on Monday.

zipper idiot

Zipper foot?  Not a problem.  Sewing the zipper?  Got it. Deciding to trim the end of the zipper after it was sewn into the pouch?  Oops...guess I was supposed to sew that end of the zipper before cutting it off.  So much for sewing without cussing.   

And that briefly explains why there was a delay getting the placemat zipper pouch done (thanks to Julie for the tutorial).  I'll be making more of these now that I understand the workings of zippers.  If you try it, I'd suggest using a 16 in. zipper because it's a little easier to get around the zipper pull.

I wanted to give the pouch to a reader and then decided an empty pouch is not that fun...so I filled it with a collage and a few vintage sewing goodies including about a yard of some vintage brown embroidered gingham.   Just leave a comment and I'll pick a winner on Friday (June 12)...any comment will do but how about sharing a big sewing/crafting "oops"?

Thanks everybody for the great sewing stories...so, so glad it's not just me.  The winner of the giveaway is Belinda at bea's blabber who shared this...

I once sewed a performance dress for a friends daughter. The fabric was thin, stretchy stuff. Horrible to work with but got the dress done. Then realized that I had done the entire dress with the wrong side of the fabric on the out side. OyVey!

twirly

I may have set a new record for time between purchase and use of fabric.  I just bought these two weeks ago and turned them into a twirly skirt for my daughter.  There's a serious amount of gathering in this skirt and it twirls like a champ.  My instinct is to keep the skirt for "nice" occasions but I think I'll let Ellen wear this anytime she wants all summer.  

I'm sorry for the color overload on the picture of the skirt. My Target had all the Orla Kiely stuff 50% off and I brought a few things home.  When I put the finished skirt in the dining room, I couldn't believe the color match it had with tablecloth.   I also bought some place mats that I plan to turn into zipper pouches (and learn to use the zipper foot on my machine).  If it turns out OK, I'll give one away here this week (or next).  

So school's out for everybody here.  Lots of planned stuff but lots of time for unplanned stuff too...just like here on the blog...we'll see where the summer takes us.  

possibility

Now that I'm getting better at sewing, I treated myself to some fancier fabric.  The brown and blue fabric will be made into a skirt for my daughter...going to learn how to add a simple elastic waistband. 

I'm not sure why but I never like things that match...like matched outfits, or matching shoes and purse, or coordinated bedding sets...something about it makes me uncomfortable.   I'm kind of the same way with coordinating fabrics.  I know why they are designed that way but I really enjoy making my own mix.  One of my favorite things at Sew Mamma Sew is their "Guest FQ Pack Designer".  Did you see the one from Alicia Paulson?  I could mix-n-match fabric swatches all day long.  

I don't think it matters what your plans are for a stack of fabric...it's more about the possibility it brings.  Like all those stacks of scrapbook paper, I have no idea what I'll use it for but know it will be there when an idea comes to me.    

simplicity 5704

Simplicity 5704 View E...but with the square neck and without the bows on the sleeve...in a pretty polished cotton with satin ribbon.   And a little prettier when it's on the model...

If sewing is about confidence, then I think I've finally developed a bit of it.  Ready to take on some more...probably not another dress but definitely some skirts, some tops, some fun stuff. 

dressmaking

I started sewing my daughter's dress on Sunday.  I cut the pieces, read the directions a few times...didn't really understand all of it but knew I could figure it out.  I had the most trouble with gathering the skirt...and I worked at it for a long time.   I forced myself to stop and went to bed feeling a little discouraged.   This was supposed to be an easy pattern...was it really worth it to sew a dress that I could so easily buy (or borrow from an extra nice school mom that offered me her daughter's dress)? 

I woke up yesterday with the same questions and then...

I read a great post from one of my favorite bloggers. There are some blogs I read, some I skim, and some I just look at the pictures.   Barbara's blog is one that I LOVE to read with the added bonus of  great pictures.  She recently had a post about going to the department store for fabric and remembering the thump-thump of taking the fabric off the bolt.  I watched my daughter see and hear the same thing when we bought the fabric for her dress (that she picked out herself).  When I read In Praise of Alice and Edna yesterday morning, I was ready to finish the dress...it was worth it to take this time and effort.   By the end of the afternoon, I had attached the gathered skirt and sewn the cutest gathered sleeves...far from perfect but starting to look like a dress.   And Ellen loves it.   

softies only a mother could love

I received a copy of Softies Only a Mother Could Love and my kids are excited about it...especially Ross.  He's always got big plans for using my sewing machine and he seems to have a natural talent for hand-stitching.  He made this little monster for me in art class last year and was proud that the teacher liked the careful stitching around the eyes.   The book is cute and full of things I think I could handle...but maybe not as good as Ross.  

I occasionally share stuff my kids have made but really feel the need to explain...put an asterisk on all of these kinds of posts.  I never want to give the impression that we bake and craft constantly around here in perfect harmony.  Most of the time it's just a bunch of me yelling "Who did this?", "How long have you known about this project?", "I have no idea where you shoes are." and "Put that damn dog outside.".  Just so we're clear.