Thanks for swinging by and sharing in our adventures in raising people, mess-making, and celebrations!
Today is National Candy Corn Day! What an awesome food to celebrate! This holiday is now on my list, right behind Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th). 
THE MATERIALS: less than a half a yard of flannel that let me down when I washed it so I couldn’t use it for the shop; a couple inches of velcro; a few inches of elastic, thread
TIME ELAPSED: About 45 minutes, with a three year old “helper"
For sewing the pants, we followed the directions pretty closely. The only difference I did was to serge the ends of the fabric before hemming them instead of doing a little roll. Since everyone doesn’t have a serger, most patterns instruct you to fold 1/4 inch or so and then the next 1/2 inch and hem. Its just more time consuming and with my three-year old Assistant, time is in short supply.
I really liked the pants directions. On people pants, most of the time the pattern directs you to sew the front and back seams, and then creating a pocket for the elastic at the top. Doll clothes are small and can be a little harder to work with. This pattern directed you to only sew the front seam then sew the elastic pocket, insert the elastic, and then sew the back seam. So easy! I even placed the elastic in the pocket, sewed, and then pulled the elastic to the desired length (about 5 inches of elastic, relaxed).
The PATERN: New Look #6574
The MATERIALS: 2 yards of heavy cotton, 2 yards of mediumweight fusible interfacing, thread, lots of pins
A new friend recently asked me to sew a purse for her and with minor apprehension, I agreed. We met for coffee and she handed over the goods- two yards of fabric and the pattern.
The pattern is adorable and also pretty simple to make. The most labor intensive part has been dicephering what the pattern maker meant by “mediumweight fusible” interfacing, since Joann’s doesn’t carry a product that exactly matches that description, followed only by making sure that the pattern and print on the fabric lined up properly so that when I sewed it together the print matches up properly. This last part may not be something you worry about, but I can be a little "detail oriented" and I hate when the pattern doesn't line up properly. I don't sew with many plaids for this reason.
Whenever I can, I roughly cut my patterns out with a rotary cutter, pin them to fabric, and then do a better job cutting both the fabric and pattern. I use rulers for straight edges because it makes the final product come out better.
With this post, I didn't start taking pictures at the very beginning. As I worked on this purse, I had a realization. I need these new challenges. I love making my blankets, but occassionally I need a new challenge and to test myself. So, I started taking pictures and decided to make a habit of trying more new things!
With all of the pattern pieces cut out, I headed to my "sewing room." First, I line
d up the fabric and the interfacing and ironed it. Then, began sewing.
The directions on this pattern were pretty good. I didn't have any major problems with them while sewing the top and side seams. Then came putting the bottom of the purse on. I was not looking forward to this part. "Dread" is actually the word that comes to mind. I read ahead through the directions to get an idea of what it wanted me to do. Then, I did a mental "argh." It calls for bias tape. I HATE bias tape.
Insert creativity.
I decided to do a French Seam instead of using bias tape. It is prettier and theoretically can be easier. So, from here out, I don't follow the pattern directions.
Resume affixing the bottom. The pattern has these little triangles on it which provide places to match up pieces later. These make putting things together very easy, but with the things I sew a lot of, I have stopped cutting out the triangles because it takes too long with the rotary cutter. I shouldn't have skipped this step with this pattern. I had to get the pieces back out and mark where they should have been. (In the picture you can see where I cut the triangles on the top pieces, but not on the bottom.) WIth pieces matched, I started pinning. I pinned it to death putting pins every inch or so. This helped.
To make a French seam, you start with wrong sides together (instead of right sides). With the pins in place, I made a 1/4 inch seam around the bottom. It wasn't the prettiest, since there is a lot of fabric at the corners, but this is going to be hidden in a minute, so its ok.
After sewing the first seam around the bottom, I trimmed off the excess and then turned the purse inside out. Then made another seam around the bottom which encloses the rough edges and hides them. The inside of the purse is black, so I couldn't get a good picture of the French Seam. (Here is a simple tutorial from Sew Mama Sew on seams)
Then all I had to do was turn it back to right-side out, and it was done! Finished product picture is above.
If I make more of these, I think I will redesign it a little to make the bottom a little easier. It wasn't that hard though to make it as the pattern designed. When I make another, I will take more pictures and document better to convey the steps to you.
Also, a little more about this fabric. We used thick cotton, from the Home Decor section. Danielle (the challenger) actually introduced me to this fabric about a year ago with her great clothing line called Pollyanna's. It is 100% cotton, and although most of it is labeled "Dry Clean Only" she started washing it. And with each wash it gets more character and charm. It also gets softer. Thank you, Danielle, for bringing this fabric to my life.
##
This concludes my first post of the "Sewing My Way Through the Fabric Store" extension of my blogging. I will continue to take on new sewing challenges. The number of patterns available is endless. At least once a month, depending on the availability of people who want me to try to make something for them, I will make a new pattern. Then, I will post about the experience and the product, offering tips on that pattern and potential hazards.
Several people have asked me for custom items and special orders since I shared that I can sew, and it is flattering. Then there is my little girl, who inspires new sewing adventures all the time. She usually starts with a problem and then says, "Mommy, puhleeeaze!" How can I say no? After all, she probably won't think that I hang the moon forever. These occassions have helped me to take a break from the normal, appreciate sewing, try new things, and challenge myself.
A few new products have even ended up in the shop this way, like the Classic bib (thanks, Heather) and the custom pillowcase (thanks, Michelle).
So, I am going to start sharing some of my sewing adventures in a series I am calling “Sewing my way through the fabric store.” It will mostly feature different patterns and my attempt to follow them. Generally, I view patterns like view recipes, they are guides for inspiration. I don’t know that I have ever followed every step to the letter, but between the guidelines is where creativity lives!
I hope to have at least a monthly challenge, where a friend picks out the pattern and fabric and asks me to create it. Inbetween, I will share patterns that I choose. Each pattern will include information on the pattern and materials required, my comments on the pattern directions (which sometimes can be greatly lacking in detail or overcomplicated), and pictures.
Like collecting fabric, I also like to collect patterns! So I have built up quite a stash. Whenever there is a sale on them, you can bet that I have at least stopped by and scoped out the available choices and added a few to my pattern library.
My first post is "Can you make me a purse?" It's coming up next
Do you ever have one of those moments where you wish you were being followed by a photographer?
Have you ever had one of those times when the moment turns out better than expected and you wish someone was following you to document it?
To backtrack, when I traded in my state government issued business cards for my full-time Mommy card, I had a very clear picture of what this new job would be like. It would be full of my two, sweet, loving, and always obedient children listening to me and following me around. Each day would be chock full of perfectly planned activities like fingerpainting, playdates with themed meals, pudding painting, singing songs, learning letters, lunches with girlfriends, and sitting around in living rooms sipping coffee and talking about our families. Yep, I was going to live the dream! Was I delusional?
Yes, totally.
In my defense, I went back to work full-time when baby girl was six months old. About a month later, we found out we were pregnant with baby boy. So I had ten months to develop this dream. Come to find out, there wasn’t this other organized building of mommies. No one was organizing these perfectly planned playdates and coffees. And you wouldn’t believe the mess you make in your house when you are actually in it 24 hours a day.
Occassionally, I know I am doing this Mommy thing right. There are some dream-like moments and when we are lucky enough, they carry us on through until naptime. These are the moments when I wish there was an outsider, a professional photographer, following me and my monkeys and perfectly documenting the sweet looks, the discoveries, and total fun we are having. Then, I could keep those moments for so much longer.
Friday was as close to the “dream” as I think I can get on any given normal day. I dropped our daughter off at school and then shoved off to meet some girls for coffee. We sat and chatted about normal things, our three cute blond-haired boys in tow, without any major obstructions. Nice. Then we checked out a new local boutique in town. Also, nice. We chatted a little more and then headed to our next errands. My morning was slightly interrupted by running into another Mommy who was so stylishly dressed, made up, and ready to meet the world. I was instantly reminded of my pulled back hair, lack of make up, shorts, t-shirt, and messy kid. Yes, I was envious, but I digress from the dream. I quickly pulled myself out of it, hit a few more little shops and then made my way back to school.
There was more fun to be had this afternoon. One of my daughter’s classmates had invited us to a picnic lunch. It was going to be at a “greenspace." A what? Yes, I was a total skeptic.
You mean, no slide, no swings, no fence? What will we do? One Mommy suggested we bring a soccerball. Ok, soccerball, great idea. I diligently packed lunches, a blanket, and the ball. After school, we headed out to this "greenspace." It was a huge, slightly overgrown field with a gorgeous patch of old oaks with picnic tables underneath. I started to feel some calm, a weird feeling these days.
Then the girls started off, running towards the trees, through the long grass, sometimes holding hands, sometimes racing. They kicked up little field bugs and frolicked. From the moment we got to that field, the rest of the afternoon was fairly picturesque. We played in the trees, engaged in hide and seek, ran back and forth for red light/green light, and a held a classic game of chase. Under the disguise of “leading the children,” I even ran around in the field, arms spread out like an airplane. So free. The afternoon was completed when one Mommy brought out scarfs and the kids danced, flew, and just soaked up the sun.
They were kids, simply playing, in a field.
I wished I had thought of it.
I wished there was a breeze so we could skip naps and stay out there all afternoon.
I wished I could capture all of the simple moments between Mommies and their little monkeys.
Aww, pure fun.
As we marched back to the parking lot, the kids all red in the face, sweaty, yet still taking in the day, I knew we had done this one right. The kids loved it, and the Mommies did too.
As one of the Mommies said, “We shall plan other picnics and random acts of fun.”
Perfect.
With that day, I learned a little more about simple, in a very good way.
Thank you ladies, for a great morning. There will be more "random acts of fun!"
