We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming....

To unashamedly bring you a Sale Announcement! Growing up we watched a lot of PBS. On one hand their fundraisers were great but on the other the "Fundraising" part was always long and annoying. Hopefully this won't be too painful to you.

As you know I am part of an amazing Etsy team called Pattern Patter. We decided to put on a huge sale for all you vintage pattern lovers out there! Here's all the juicy details:

When: Black Friday through Cyber Monday The 23rd through the 26th

Where: Here's a thread where we will be posting all our blitz listings www.etsy.com/teams/9565/pattern-patter/discuss/11193969/  


You can also search Etsy for this coupon code some will be offering: BFBLITZ

Who: Tomorrow there will be a list of all the shops and the discounts they are offering posted by Katherine at http://wesewretro.com/ 

I am offering all my patterns and fabric at 20% off. You can see them all at this link: http://www.etsyonsale.com/shop/EmSewCrazy

What: Lots of amazing patterns, fabric and sewing notions. Both from the present and the past.

Why: We are sick of being called hoarders by our family members and want to clear up some of the clutter before Christmas! :)

I think that's it! I hope to see you all there! My goal is to sell 100 patterns! Am I too optimistic? I don't know. It's my first holiday season on Etsy and I am full of wide eyed wonder waiting to see how it goes.

I'll catch you all later this week with a timely sewing Thanksgiving post.

Refashioned Birthday Gifts

I'm copping out on the more serious posts I had planned to give you this quick project I whipped up for one of my Not-Nieces. She turned 3 today! Her favorite colors are green and yellow.
And just a disclaimer before we begin the show and tell. Yes, this is probably a bit too big. Yes, snow and general winter temperatures have arrived. BUT She has tall genes and I intentionally made it big so she can layer it now and wear it this summer.

TaDa! A cute jumper dress.

 This started its life with me as an unfinished skirt. No waistband, zipper, hem. Even the embroidered panels were not finished.

I removed the three un-embroidered panels and sewed up the zipper opening. I folded it where I wanted the center front and center back to lay. After playing around with some pattern pieces I ended up with this:

It took some fiddling since the "front and back" swung out instead of a straight line. I finally just lined it up and winged it. I figured since it was supposed to be looser fitting I wouldn't sweat it.

I added binding to the armholes. Then sewed up the shoulder seams so the seam would be caught when I flipped the binding over and topstitched. I added the neckline binding and flipped it all to the inside. I decided the cleaner looking finish let the embroidery shine.

It was a pretty wide skirt so I stitched a ribbon to the front. Quick Tip: 100% Polyester ribbon will melt and seal the ends to prevent fraying if you hold it to a flame. Be careful not to blacken the edges or burn your fingers. This will work on blends, not as well, and they can actually catch on fire so kids, please don't try this at home.

Isn't the embroidery pretty. I really like the tone on tone effect.

For the "buttons" I took apart an old cufflink. One has more wear than the other but I think it adds character. I hemmed it with a blind hem.

Super cute.

There it is! My super quick refashion! Do you have any great ideas for refashioning skirts?

More, More, More!!

 Here I am back with more STASHBUSTING! More Remaking and Replacing RTW! More Foundation Garments!!

Don't they look AWEsome with my sweat pants! :P

Is it a peppermint? A circus tent? Or the Cat In The Hat's hat? I went from liking this fabric to total bleh after playing around with the stripes. I decided to test my Built By Wendy raglan sleeve pattern on it. Raglan screams casual wear to me and I figured I could use it as a pajama shirt if it didn't work out. It was too short so I added cuffs and a bottom band. Then I wore it...

I'm in love with long sleeves!

The strangest thing happened when I wore the shirt so I washed it and wore it again. This shirt wins the prize for invoking happy, peppy feelings. It wins the Alter My Mood Prize. I happen to love it in spite of its brightness, simplicity and the peppermint jokes it brings me.

While it was a total stash busting project I must admit the next one isn't totally. After assessing my stash and online fabric shopping while I was depressed since my blood sugar was high AGAIN making some carefully thought out shopping decisions I bought this lovely dot fabric that I knew would match perfectly with the purple in my stash.

Beautiful dots! Now all I need is some teal to go with it.

Huzzah for long sleeves!

Neckline binding could be a bit tighter, or wider to give a turtleneck effect.

So there you have it! Two tops that decreased my stash and replaced my boring RTW. I had this great idea to have side by side photos of RTW next to my creations but I already chopped up my RTW shirts into little girl skirts.

Cut off the offending parts, draw a picture, sew neckband as waistband. Presto skirt.

Cut off arms and taper down. Sew up holes in side. Presto skirt. 

I'm almost embarrassed at how easy and how terrible these look in photos. They were made quickly for little girls to be comfy and wear around the house. Since they didn't want to take them off I consider it a win even if it isn't my best handiwork.

How about you? Anyone else taking the Foundation Garment Challenge? Do you have any great stash busting ideas?

Sewing Builds Friendships

I didn't get a post up yesterday because I was busy having fun at our once a month Sewing Day. What is Sewing Day? Well it is what it sounds like. A day when women from all over the community get together and sew for the whole day! (our official hours are 9 to 5) Some of us don't even sew, we have a card maker and a cross stitcher who come as well.
It is super low key. There is no membership and we decide the day we have it on from month to month. Our original plan was to meet in each other's homes but we decided to meet in the basement of a church since it is a central location with good light and lots of room to spread out.

I do a lot of spreading.

Lots of room for lots of projects!

We even have snacks!

Everyone brings something for the potluck lunch/dinner and we always have gobs of food leftover. Mothers with small children come, so sometimes we have lots of little kids running around. Once, we even had a baby sleeping in a pile of fabric on the floor! 

We have girls as young as 8 sewing, up to women in their 80's. Sewing is the glue that holds us all together! We always have a great time and the first thing you do when you get there is go see what everyone else is sewing! It's one big sew and tell with lots of encouragement and advice flowing freely!

Who loves Winnie the Pooh?

Lots of quilt making going on.

My Christmas Presents Projects

It went from a table runner to a quilt!

This was a special day for me because my Mom came down and joined us, not just doing the dishes but actually SEWING! This was her first sewing project as an adult. She used my rotary cutter and sewing machine all by herself. She made an apron. We were all so excited and proud of her!

Trimming the last of the threads.

October was our 2nd Anniversary of "Tubs Anonymous" Our group name was discovered one day as we were chatting while ironing. 

Lady, "There's Alcoholic's Anonymous, Shopping Anonymous, and all those other anonymous groups we should have one too!"

"Yeah," I said

"Like Fabric Keepers or Tubs Anonymous." she replied.

We immediately started giggling. Tubs Anonymous had a nice ring and the double innuendo we were looking for. The clincher was when the ten year old spoke up, "I even have tubs of fabric too!" 

We all collapsed in laughter and our name was chosen. 

I think this print says it best. I am so thankful for our group and all the friendships that have grown and begun from it. I hope this encourages you to get together with some local sewers and inspire each other! 

You Be the Judge!

What do you think? Am I totally off my rocker or is this a cute little dress? Here's the story

Sleeve opened. I cut the bodice from them.

Shirt front. I used as the skirt front.

Shirt pattern sewn together

Pajamas maybe?

Several years ago I wore whatever I had regardless of fit. Now that I can sew I want things that fit me well. No more swimming in my clothes. This bright blue knit is medium to heavy weight. I could have cut it down and made a shirt but the sleeves would have been too short so I considered other options. Why not a fun little dress? I could wear it over a long sleeved tee in the winter and alone in the summer.  The blue alone was boring so why not add some equally bright red lace? (Maybe this is color saturation?) 

It's big, Bold, and beautiful!

I added the velvet bow because I needed something to give me a waistline and hide the seam from the piece I added to lengthen the dress so it wouldn't be too short.

See the seam I am trying to hide.

A cute Dior bow with an amazing vintage button.

The bodice was just too much big blue space so I added the double pointy collar since I had triangle pieces left over when I evened up the skirt sides.

Closeup of cool double collar

Aren't these the neatest buttons!

Now my Father thinks the lace is ugly and at a glance looks like Grandma's slip has slipped. My Mother thinks the lace is too bright, it makes you go WOW. Now I just want to say, I asked for their polite, honest feedback, as I am asking you. 

I think the lace is what takes the dress from just a dress to A FUN DRESS. I am not a wall flower why should my clothes be. I cannot point to any trend this is following other than the general add lace trend but it doesn't seem so abnormally different from a lot of dresses out there right now. Am I wrong? 

Out here on the prairie this is what we usually see,

Jeans and a button up shirt

Jeans

Nothing is wrong with wearing jeans and shirt but that is pretty much the entire wardrobe of the ranchers. It perfectly fits their lifestyles. They cannot wear a dress out riding or working cows. Wearing a dress can be dangerous with all the wind we have. Then there is me, the local seamstress that spends most of her time making stuff in her basement. So does this dress seem weird because it is so different from what we usually see or is it just different because I spend all my time in my basement breathing fabric fumes?
I eagerly await your feedback and hope everyone has a lovely day!

Foundation Garments: PANTS!

Being taller than average yet not as tall as the tall brands leaves one struggling to find pants the right length. Add to this the chafing of your insulin pump's infusion sets from a waistband that won't stay up and you will wonder why I didn't overcome my fear of sewing pants much sooner.

I took advantage of a sale and bought Simplicity 2562.  I liked all the adjustable features and the beginner directions.
When I got it home and measured myself I realized I had bought the wrong size. Thankfully it had 1 inch seam allowances built in for adjustments, which meant sewing at a 5/8ths seam allowance they fit just fine. 

I did a muslin just as I was told to do. I made my adjustments and went to work on the pants. I added height to the waistband since I wanted a higher waisted look. I also wanted them high enough they wouldn't be catching on my infusion sets.

I like the second set of button!

Pros: 

The gorgeous brown.

The perfect length!

The waistband fits the correct spot perfectly!

The cute high waisted look.

Cons:

100% Polyester (It leaves you feeling rather moist for no good reason.)

Static cling

Pattern had me put the fly front in opposite to women's US pants.
Not sure about the center front placement of the buttons and fly.

Too baggy in legs?

For my first pair of wearable pants I am very pleased with them. I learned how to make pants and they are very wearable. I picked up a brown corduroy and a "sparkle" dark wash denim to make some flared leg jeans with next. As soon as I finish this shirt craze I am on.

StashBustin' Ladybugs!

My Darling Not-Niece chose a white and pink polka dot knit as her favorite when we played the "Ugly or Nice Fabric Game". She immediately christened it the "Ladybug fabric" and wanted to drag it around the house. Why I am bringing home fabric from their mother's stash when I have a pile of my own at home, I don't know.
My Darling Not-Niece has Spinal Muscular Atrophy which means she cannot walk and spends the bulk of her time in a wheel chair or scooting along the floor. She also wears braces to help her stand with assistance. After chatting with her Mom about her wardrobe needs I decided to make a long winter skirt that could be worn over the braces. It couldn't be too full or have any seams center back as she sits a lot, and who really wants to sit on a pile of bunched up fabric or a hard seam? It needed to be large enough for her to move around on the floor though. After some serious thought I remembered CIRCLE SKIRTS!!!
Lex of What the Craft won the google search of the best math on making a circle skirt. I love circle skirts for little girls because you can do the WHOLE circle since it is so small.

I couldn't do just a regular skirt so I added suspenders. I made the waistband looser than tight since I didn't want it to press against her G-tube and the suspenders are insurance that it won't fall down! I also added the cutest little buttons.

Isn't she the cutest!

When I made the skirt I cut a full circle and realized that would be too much fabric for her so I ended up doing a half circle skirt. This left me with enough fabric to do another outfit. I decided a full dress was in order.

I cut a basic tee shirt pattern a bit short in the body and attached the skirt. I gathered scrap strips and topstitched them down with turquoise thread. 

The favorite part for her and I was the cute velvet bow I made out of craft ribbon. We'll see how that holds up in the wash.

Her mom and I were both worried it would be too big but the little stinker is growing up on us! It fits her perfectly! She was pleased, I was pleased, and so was her Mom. A win all the way around. (PS. I didn't hem either skirt since it is wonderful knit that doesn't fray!!) I also used almost all of it up! Way to stash bust!

I enjoyed thinking through this project and making something that would work for her. Have you ever sewn for children with disabilities?