Sew Busy

A journal of my sewing projects.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Pants


First are Isaac's jeans. These turned out okay, but they are pretty big on him. Good thing they have belt loops. There is a hidden fly on them, and pleated side pockets. I haven't hemmed them yet. They cost between 5 and 7 dollars to make. Not too bad for jeans.

Next is my sweat pants. I really like how these turned out. They are a little big, but thats fine. The great thing about making pants for myself, is that I can actually make them the right length. I shortened the pattern, and still had to cut off about 1.5 inches of material at the bottom! This material has been sitting in my bin for about...oh 8 years! Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 28, 2006

Finally!!


The hoodie is finally done!! I started this last winter. I lost the insructions, bought new instructions, lost those instructions...I ended up finishing it by figuring it out. It has a zipper and front pockets (which are hard to see in the picture). I am so glad to have this done. Everytime I started something new, I would see this sitting there unfinished and feel bad. Posted by Picasa

Projects Galore...

I have a ton of sewing projects to keep me busy in the near future. The only thing better than actually sewing, is making a list of what i'm going to sew right?

  1. Finish my hoodie that I started last winter. I lost the instructions, at first I thought I could figure it out, but ended up buying the pattern again to get the instructions. (Done! Note: when I went to start working on this I realized I lost the second set of instructions too! So I had to figure it out.)
  2. Isaac's jeans. I'm going to post the entire process when I make these. I saw that on another sewing blog and thought it looked interesting. Done
  3. My mom's, my dad's, my MIL's Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, there will be no pics posted until after Christmas.
  4. A crib sheet. I read some easy instructions on making one and want to try. If it turns out, I may make some matching nursery stuff. Done
  5. Sweat Pants. Maybe a matching hoodie if I have enough material. Done
  6. Baby dress. I found some cute material on sale. Done
I think I will be doing 1 and 2 in that order, but otherwise I will be working on these in no particular order.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Doll Clothes


This is clothes for an 18 inch doll (such as American Girl). The courdroy pants I actually made a long time ago, even before I got my new sewing machine. I should of used a more "girly" fabric for the shirt I think.
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Skirt


I made this skirt without a pattern, and I am really happy with how it came out. I'm still struggling with too much material in the waist/hip area that creates a bulky look. I'm actually counting on this to shrink a bit so it will fit better. The second picture shows the colors a bit better (thats just a stray piece of string on it) Posted by Picasa

Shirt


I had to do lots of extra work to make this a shirt that I would wear. By accident, I cut out the wrong pattern view. It had way to high of a neck. Combined with the solid color, it was just to severe. I altered the shirt to have a much more flattering neckline, and added the white trim to break up the solid color. It's hard to see, but there is some really pretty subtle embroidery on it. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

My first quilt!


I am very pleased with how my very first quilt came out. I used all scrap material. I looked at patterns for quilt blocks, but in the end decided to do a very simple patch quilt. I quilted the material using the "in the ditch" technique which means you sew thru all three layers of fabric (front, back and batting) along the seams. I made the binding myself, and thats the only thing that I had a rough time with. This quilt is a crib size quilt. The back is a panel I bought a long time ago. Posted by Picasa

Two more backpacks.


Of course, Isaac didn't let me rest until I finished his backpack. After I finished Elijah's, I had all kinds of ideas on improving it, but in the end I made it exactly the same (anybody with two children will understand).

Sammy's backpack is made from a panel of canvas materiel that was supposed to be a reward chart. I have had it for years and never actually made the chart. I think it makes a very cute backpack.
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Friday, August 11, 2006

Backpack for Elijah


Today at the store, Elijah really wanted a backpack. I saw no reason he couldn't have one, but I knew if he had one, his brothers would need one (and didn't feel like shelling out $$ for three backpacks. I figured I could whip something up. This is really just a simple drawstring bag with shoulder straps. This is material that I bought several years ago but never used. I didn't use a pattern. Elijah loves it. Now I have to make two more.
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Spiderman Pillow for Isaac


This time Wal-Mart had the Spiderman panel on clearance! Isaac has been waiting for his Spiderman pillow. He got to stuff the pillow.
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Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Superman Pillow for Sam


I debated whether or not to post this, because really all I did was sew four seams and stuff the pillow. However, I figured it may provide inspiration for beginner sewers as something they can start with.

The material was on sale at Wal-Mart, so I couldn't pass it up. Posted by Picasa

Two Shirts


I made both these shirts using Simplicity 4589. I made a lot of adjustements on the blue sleevless shirt to make it fit right. I love the material, and the square neckline. However, Isaac took one look and said it looks like a swimsuit top! I realized he is right, it does!

The love the color of the paisley material on the bottom shirt. In fact, I used that material to make a maternity shirt last year, but gave it to a friend because it didn't fit right. I like the scoop neckline on this pattern. The best part is that I washed the fabric before I made it, so it wouldn't shrink like the last paisley blouse I made. Posted by Picasa