Stash Busting for Charity

So it's been a while since I blogged. I didn't realize how long. I really have been sewing. A LOT!  I just haven't had time to stop and write about sewing. I have another excuse also. I decided to catch up on Downton Abbey by watching the first season online. I couldn't stop. I've now watched Season 1, Season 2, and all but one show of Season 3. I'll sure miss watching it when I'm all finished.

I always do a little stash busting in January. I've been gathering up remnants which were about 1/2 to 5/8 yard to make these easy little girls skirts. No pattern is necessary. I use the width of the fabric which is usually 45", seam up the back, hem with a border or regular hem, and add elastic to the top. I really like the "paper bag" waist treatment for little girls. Check out this blog for inspiration.

Excuse the poor quality pics. I couldn't get good pictures in the dark house and it was too cold to go outside!

 

  
I gave the skirts to my sister to distribute at the school where she teaches. She told me about 3 sisters who love to wear skirts to school even on cold days but really need new ones. I bought some tights at WalMart to match so that they can wear their skirts right away and stay warm!

Quick Knit Christmas Gift

Need a quick gift idea for someone on your list? These little dish cloths are so much fun to knit and so easy. They are made from Peaches and Cream cotton yarn that I purchased at WalMart.  I must warn you, however, that once you give these to someone, they will want more.

Ravelry link

There are several variations of this pattern. The one that I like can be found on Ravelry or here.  They also make a great bathtime gift if you add a pretty bar of soap or bath salts.

Community Service Blanket Project

Wow! It's getting to be that busy time of the year. My sewing machine misses me. I did get in a little sewing earlier this month for a very worthwhile cause. My American Sewing Guild group met to make blankets for Hotel, Inc, a local organization whose goal is to break the cycle of poverty. We made twin and full size blankets from fleece fabric. They were quick to hem either with the regular machine or a coverstitch machine.

Each year, the American Sewing Guild chooses a community service project for all the local chapters to participate in. This year, each guild was encouraged to donate the blankets locally.

With temperatures dropping, I hope our blankets help to keep someone warm this winter!

And the winner of the SA Curve ruler is......

I had a very scientific drawing by putting all the comments in a basket and asking my daughter to draw one out. Congratulations to Lisa Laree who made the following comment.

"Wow, I might actually start sewing from my 5 years accumulation of Burda Style. I've thought how useful such a thing would be; so glad someone had the resources to do it!"

Send me your address, Lisa Laree, and I'll get your SA Curve ruler in the mail to you so that you can have fun with all those Burda patterns!

 Thanks to Claire for designing this great ruler and making the giveaway possible!

Last Minute Halloween Costume

It's been a few years since I had a request for a Halloween costume. I got a very last minute request this year from my 21 year old for a Captain America costume, female version. She loves Marvel movies and especially Captain America. The Halloween Express tent that comes into town every year had a few poorly constructed, and very revealing costumes for $39.99 and up. We decided to challenge ourselves to come up with something more tasteful.

We found a royal blue dress at Forever 21 for $9.99, a shield in the toy department at WalMart for $9.99, and a mask for $2 at Target. I bought red sparkly lame type fabric at Hancock Fabrics from their costume selection for the belt and gauntlets. I used a heavy decor bond interfacing for both, lined them and fastened with Velcro. To add the stripes to the belt, I used a wide ribbon from my stash.

A little tip for sewing with the lame which ravels faster than you can sew it! I sprayed the heavy interfacing with my machine embroidery adhesive spray and then laid the red pieces on top. This lightly fused them together. I serged around the edges just to make sure there were no ravels when I stitched and turned the pieces.

 
My daughter really wanted a white star on the front bodice. I stitched out a star with my embroidery machine on the heavy decor bond interfacing, carefully trimmed around the edges, and hand sewed it to the front.  

With the black boots that she already had, it all came together and she had a great time at the party!

SA Curve Ruler Giveaway!

I've always wanted to host a giveaway and, thanks to Claire at SA Curve, it's happening this week! Claire designs these great rulers for adding seam allowances to patterns. They are perfect for tracing from multisized patterns and adding the seam allowance at the same time. Claire was kind enough to share a couple of her 5/8" rulers with me - one to keep and one to give away. Tracing from multisized, overlapping patterns is not my favorite part of sewing but this ruler should make the process so much easier! The ruler is also available in 3/8". Check out the video links on Claire's blog to learn more about how to use this seam allowance curved ruler.

The ruler is great for pattern drafting, tracing European patterns, making adjustments, adding seam allowances after altering patterns, pattern grading, etc. This is going to be one of those sewing notions that I wonder how I ever lived without! I've already traced a pattern from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross that I had been putting off because I thought it would take forever. It didn't with this ruler!

Leave a comment below and tell me how you would use this ruler to speed up your sewing!  I will draw a name randomly at midnight CST on Sunday, October 28. This giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only.

Sorbetto Top #5

Guess what I made! I just can't help myself. Every time I run across a "blousy" type fabric, I think, "Oh, that would make a nice Sorbetto". I'll be able to wear this woven poly top through the fall and winter with a sweater over it. I found the fabric at Hancock Fabrics and got a great deal on the end of the bolt. Hancock's has a policy that if you buy the remainder of the bolt (less than a yard, I think) you get it at 1/2 price. I ended up with a generous 1 5/8 yards for $6.50, enough to make a Sorbetto for myself and my daughter if I cut carefully.

My first three Sorbettos were cotton and linen fabrics with darts added to the back and button fronts. For the polyester type fabrics, I really like the front tuck. The top is actually pretty easy to slip over the head even without a front opening or back slit.

Sorbetto #1 - Poly/cotton remnant from an underwear company
Sorbetto #2 - Linen with Venetian hemstitch
Sorbetto #3 - Double cloth reversible fabric from Wal-Mart
Sorbetto #4 - Poly woven fabric
Sorbetto #5 - Poly woven fabric

I never put this favorite pattern away.  It's pinned to the bulletin board behind my sewing machine waiting for Sorbetto #6!