Tiny Little U of L Fan!

I've been waiting for a long time to show you this little project. One of the first projects I made for Baby Hayden was a pair of University of Louisville baby shoes resembling Toms. His parents are fans since the dad-to-be went to school there. However, with every little baby item I make, I think of several more pieces to go with it. So the project never ends. After finding a couple of free patterns on the internet, I ended up buying the shoe pattern from this Etsy shop. It includes sizes from newborn to 12 months.

 I had some U of L fabric left from an old project which I used to line the shoes. I still had U of L fabric scraps left so I went to Hancock Fabrics in search of red cotton knit to make a gown. No luck at Hancock's so I went next door to Rugged Wearhouse and bought an XL T-shirt from the men's department for $2.50. This provided plenty of fabric to make a gown, bib, and hat.

I cut the little logo squares from the fabric, turned under the edges and stitched to each little piece of the outfit. 

I used the coverstitch machine to finish the neck ribbing after stitching and turning it to the inside. I trimmed off the extra as seen often in R-T-W to avoid bulk.

The bib is doubled and the edges are bound with bias binding. I added a snap to the back. I don't use Velcro because it sometimes snags other items in the washing machine.

The gown is Kwik Sew 3090. The hat is Kwik Sew 2433. For the bib, I traced a bib that I already had. I guess I'll have to stop adding to this little set now. I plan to take it to a baby shower today!

Kwik Sew 3740 and Knit Tips

I'm still working on my one and only New Year's Resolution which is to reduce my fabric stash. This is my 12th sewing project this year. I don't blog all of them because some are actually a little boring to sew so I'm sure they would be even more boring for you to read about!

I decided to make a few long sleeved t-shirts since all of my RTW tees have shrunk nearly up to my belly button! I used my Kwik Sew 3740 and cut the neckline about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 higher at center front. I found this dark gray cotton blend knit in my stash which, at first, I thought was pretty ugly. Why did I buy that? I offered to make my daughter something out of it but she wasn't interested. Determined to use the piece, I cut out a long sleeve t-shirt. I had to add a center back seam since I only had 1 1/4 yards. I cut self-fabric neck "ribbing" about 1 1/2 inches wide and folded in half.

Patternreview link

Once I got past fighting with the curled edges and got the thing seamed up, I couldn't stop stitching on it. I used my coverstitch to topstitch the neckline and the sleeve seams.

I decided to add one of those little decorative V's in the center front just because I see them on all things casual and sporty.  I discovered that stitch 309 on my Bernina looks very similar to what I see in RTW. I drew a V with my chalk marker, added stabilizer underneath, and updated my plain, gray t-shirt.

I convinced hubby to help me with the pics. He is actually pretty good! This is the Plain Jan(e) version.

A little sporty with a touch of Burberry plaid.

Brightened up with a red fleece vest.

I showed my daughter my trendy V in the front and she replied, "Ooooooh".  I'll bet she wishes she had taken me up on the offer to make her one!

A few of my Sewing with Knits Tips. 

• Prewash the fabric in the manner that you plan to wash the finished garment, especially if it is cotton or a cotton blend.
• If you are sure of your sleeve length, hem the sleeve before sewing the sleeve seam, especially if hemming with a coverstitch.
• Sew one shoulder seam, add the neck ribbing, and then sew the remaining shoulder seam. Press the shoulder seam towards the back and stitch it in place at the ribbing/neck edge so that it lays flat.
• Sew the sleeve in before sewing the sleeve seam and the side seam which can then be sewn in one continuous seam.
• I usually hem the sleeve just a smidgen longer than I think I want it to be. It always works up a bit with wear and elbow bending.
• When hemming with a coverstitch from the right side, I sometimes draw a line on the right side with my Chakoner marker. If I press up 1 1/4" for a hem, I draw a line about 1 1/8" from the folded edge. I can then "straddle" the chalk line with the presser foot.
• If the knit is especially stretchy, I secure the hems with 3/8" double sided fusible before hemming with the coverstitch. This also prevents the hem from "tunneling" and the stitches from becoming buried in the fabric.

Copycat T-shirt

My daughter shops at a popular teen store at the mall where the clothing is trendy and not too expensive. I have to admit that I look around the store occasionally just to get ideas for sewing projects. I've noticed that all of their t-shirts are basically the same pattern with different neckline, sleeve, and hem treatments. I decided to trace the simple pattern for one of her favorite knits tops and use it as a basis for her summer top wardrobe.  I added a self fabric knit binding to the neckline and topstitched with my coverstitch machine. The sleeves have a narrow hem also stitched with the coverstitch and the bottom is finished with a band cut crosswise from the same fabric. I used Design Plus Ultra-Soft Double Sided Fusible from The Sewing Place to fuse the sleeve hem before stitching. With very lightweight knits such as this one, hems tend to tunnel even when stitched with the double-needle coverstitch. The fusible makes the hem very even and professional looking.

I decided that I really like the color of this knit and hated to throw away the small amount of leftover scraps. I cut a narrow scarf across the width of the fabric about 8 inches by 66 inches (the width of the fabric). I let the edges roll rather than finishing them.

I also had enough little scrappy pieces left to make a headband and a fabric flower. For the headband, I cut a strip 5 1/2 inches wide and 20 1/2 inches long. I folded the strip lengthwise, serged a 1/4 inch seam, turned the tube and stitched a seam in the back. I stitched on a fabric flower and it's done. Quick and easy. I had enough left to make another flower which I sewed to a felt circle and attached a clasp pin to the back.

I finally decided that there simply was not enough fabric left to make anything else and moved on to my next project. What are your ideas for using leftover fabrics from your sewing/craft projects?

Sewing Undies

Now this was a fun project! I have always wanted to try sewing underwear. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on patterns, fabric, and elastic only to end up with homemade, ill-fitting undies. I ran across this free pattern on indigorchid's wonderful blog. The idea is to recycle old t-shirts to make underwear.

I had rescued a few old t-shirts from my daughter's trash can a couple of weeks ago because I never really throw anything away which is remotely related to fabric, sewing, etc. She agreed to be my guinea pig for this experiment.

I already had underwear elastic in my stash which came from a local, well-known underwear company. Someone gave it to me because, as I said before, I stash all things related to sewing. The first pair I made with foldover elastic at the waist sewn on with my coverstitch machine. Since I was experimenting with size on this one, I got the legs just a bit tight so I finished them with a self-fabric binding sewn on with the coverstitich.

I ran across this lightweight piece of knit at the local fabric store for almost nothing and tried a different type of elastic. This is picot edge elastic which I stitched onto the edge of the legs and waist with the coverstitch machine.

Birgitte at indigorchid recommends Sew Sassy Fabrics in Huntsville, Alabama as a source for elastic. Their prices are great and I received an order very quickly. Now I'm on the lookout for more t-shirts in need of a recycle!

Once you determine the correct size and the length to cut the elastic, these are extremely quick and easy to sew up and cost less than $1.00 each!