Fabric Shopping

Cold winter evenings are a good time for me to do a bit of online fabric shopping.  My latest purchases are from www.fabricworm.com.  They have a large selection of cotton fabrics suitable for children's clothing with plenty of bright colors and fun prints.  I'm now ready to start planning and sketching out my ideas for each piece.  No fabric hording here.  I like to sew while I'm inspired!

Do you have a favorite fabric source?  

Michie'

A Bow Tie For The Boy

 Bow ties are a quick and easy project and suitable for whatever mood you are in!  Only a bit of fabric, ribbon, and Velcro are needed.  Grandda was more than willing to donate his old Christmas tie for the project and was quite proud of how well it looks on the boy.

Instructions for the bow tie are in the works!

Michie'

Quilts At The Library

I love visiting our local library in October for the annual quilt show.  Many of the quilts are new and several are very old, but they are all inspiring.  Whether it is the person who made them, hours of quiet stitching, or special fabrics, quilts hold special memories. 

I like my quilts to have special meaning whether it is the fabric I choose or a special design or color combination.  The quilt that I  cherish most was made years ago with scraps of fabrics from things that I made for my children.  Fabric from play clothes, nursery curtains, and a favorite Kindergarten dress are all included.  This quilt has a place of honor on the foot of my bed and every time a touch it I remember how much I loved being a mommy to little ones.

Michie'

Mickey and Minnie

I was excited to be involved with the grand children's Halloween costumes again this year!  The mommies chose Mickey and Minnie Mouse and we divided out the sewing and party planning.  Since football season gives me a bit more time to sew on Saturday afternoons, I took care of  Minnie's dress.  Pattern #131 worked great with the only adjustment being a couple of inches added to the length of the yoke.  Mickey's shorts are being made using pattern #139 out of red broadcloth. 

Since Grandda's birthday is on Halloween and "Minnie" will turn 4 years old  a week later, they decided to share a party this year.  I am more than happy to do the sewing and leave the party planning to others.  :)

Michie'

Nap Fabric

Nap fabrics have a definite surface texture and must be cut in one direction.  If the fabric is not cut correctly it will look like the garment has been made out of different color fabrics.  

Corduroys and velvets have a raised nap that you can feel by running your hand along the surface.  Rub your hand in one direction and it will feel like you are rubbing an animal's fur in the wrong direction.  Rub the fabric the other way and it will feel like you are stroking the animal in the right direction.  Just like stroking the animal from top to bottom, the fabric nap should run from the top of the garment down to the bottom.  Once the direction of the nap has been determined, the pattern pieces can then be laid out.  The example below shows the correct way to lay out pattern pieces with a nap.

Michie'

Fabric Organization

I like to give my studio space a bit of cleaning and organizing at the beginning of each season.  I have taken the time over the last few weeks to tackle the fabric storage problem.  I have kept fabric folded on shelves or baskets for years, but find that some good pieces can get lost in the stack.  

I have been wanting to try the hanging file method for quite some time and am thrilled with the results.  Not only is it neat and tidy, I even found some fabric that I had forgotten about!  

There was just enough twill frog fabric for a jumper for my granddaughter.  Frogs just happens to be the theme of her classroom this year!

What you need

*A hanging file box 
*Hanging file folders (I cut the folder part off of the metal support)
*Neatly press each piece of fabric.  Not necessary!  Fold the fabric to the size of a hanging file and drape over the metal support.

I now have four boxes of neatly displayed fabric sitting neatly on the shelves.

Michie'

Choosing Ribbon For A Dress

When choosing contrasting ribbon for a project, I like to lay out my options.  Each of the 4 colors match well, but I wanted something that stood out and didn't get lost with the busy print.  Because blue and green are not the main colors in the fabric they were the top picks.  I chose the green because it seemed to stand out more and I think it is a little unexpected.  

A pretty pink button for the center of the bow added some fun.

Michie'

Sewing In Snaches

A rainy day gave me a little time for a bit of sewing.  Since I mainly sew in snatches these days, I chose to finish up a few things.  A dress was hemmed, elastic was added to a little pair of plaid dress pants, and fabric was sorted for the next project.  Life is busy and constantly changing, so don't be discouraged by lack of time.  Just do the best you can to carve out time to be creative.

Michie'

Shopping For Fabric

If I don't have a particular pattern in mind while shopping for fabric, I make sure that I can envision using it in several different ways.  Blue corduroy and a companion print caught my eye right away.  Each being 60" wide, 1-1/2 yards should be enough for any of the projects I have in mind.  Making a final decision is the hard part!

Michie'

The Purpose Of Rick Rack

Rick rack is inexpensive and wonderful when used as a trim to add  detail to a garment.  But if you are a woman of a certain age, you might have grown up thinking that it's main purpose was for hiding the crease made by an old hem line.  Fabric is more color fast now and tends not to fade along a hem as it once did, but this particular fabric just didn't want to give up the crease that had been repeatedly ironed in.  Once again, rick rack to the rescue!

Michie'

Horitzontal Stripes.

When laying out a pattern, the grain of the fabric will have the stripes running up and down. While in an upscale boutique I spotted the stripes on the yoke running horizontal.  My first thought was, "That is wrong."  My second thought was, "That is different, and I like it!"  It just added a little interest to the garment and might come in handy when you are running short on fabric. 

Are you a rule breaker when you sew?

Michie'

A Scrappy Project

A new project for all those lovely scraps.  It's progressing slowly, but it's all about the journey not the destination on cold winter evenings.

Michie'

Simple Applique'

Before embroidery sewing machines were available, I enjoyed adding simple applique's to my children's outfits using a few basic tools.  A scrap of fabric, machine embroidery thread, "Heat n Bond", and a heart shaped cookie cutter were all that were needed for this simple heart.  I set the zigzag stitch at 3.5 width and .05 length and then followed the instructions on the "Heat n Bond."

Michie'  

A Bit Of Sewing

A 1979 Simplicity pattern from my collection, some pretty cotton fabric, a cool rainy day, and a 3 year old who needs a dress.  Does it get any better than that?

Michie' 

The Best Sewing Hint Ever!

One of the very best sewing hints that I can give you is to "Measure accurately!"  Don't guess, measure those seams!  Especially if you are sewing on a new machine you need to be 100% sure of what the guide lines on the throat plate are representing.  My little sewing gauge ruler is always close by and a sewing project is rarely completed without it's help.  Not only are they inexpensive, but they can be found wherever sewing notions are sold.

Michie'

Pins

One of the most overlooked, taken for granted, but terribly important item in our sewing baskets are good quality straight pins.  I am spoilt to my extra fine glass head pins.  The pins are great for fine fabric and I don't have to worry about a hot iron melting the head of the pin.

Michie'

Something Blue

Okay, guess what my favorite color is?  While gathering up new Spring dresses to take over to my special girl, I glanced back into the sewing room and I did it again.  Every dress is blue!  

Do you have a color theme going on?

Michie'

The Well Dressed Boy

The well dressed boy has a sense of style and knows that he looks good in a vest.  The well dressed boy also knows that his vest should be worn with pajamas.  Why take off something that looks that good?

This is what the well dressed boy is wearing for Easter.  Simplicity patterns from the early '80's that made many an outfit for his uncles, and fabric from thrift store shirts.  Yes, you read that right.  The pants, shirt, and vest were all made from men's extra large thrift store shirts, for a total cost of $9.oo!  

Michie'   

A Good Pair Of Scissors

Really good scissors are important, especially when working with the more delicate fabrics and laces. These are my favorite and happen to all be the Gingher brand.  The stork scissors are for cutting button holes.  The rounded ones do all my basic snipping and are perfect for cutting fabric close to lace.  The large pair are for all my basic cutting.  In the 15 years that they have lived in my sewing room, I have had the large pair sharpened twice.  Not bad considering the number of miles that they have on them.  When I still had children at home, each pair of scissors had a tiny red ribbon attached to them.  This reminded everyone that the scissors were only for fabric and thread.

Michie'

The Snap Tape Hint

It feels as if I have sew yards and yards of snap tape the past few weeks.  Wait!  With both kids liking the comfort of overalls, I actually have been.  :)

I hate the way the presser foot jumps as it approaches the snaps.  The best thing that I have come up with is to pin next to each and every snap and not take the pin out until the needle is extremely close to it.  Once I get to the end of the snap tape and head up the other side, I take time to pin once again. It makes a huge difference and saves a lot of frustration.

Here is a peek at my "Save those thrift store overalls" project.  We found them at the thrift store, cute as could be, only a couple of dollars, but after getting them home we discovered that they would not stay snapped.  Anna immediately rejected my idea of sewing up the legs, so I had to come up with something else.  I cut off the fabric where the snaps were attached and made a new binding out of contrasting fabric and stitched on snap tape.  Maybe not a new fashion statement, but I doubt the little guy will mind while pushing his cars around.  

Michie'