Hat making season!

I'M BACK!  Although it is going to be 80 degrees here tomorrow, the brief moment of fall weather provided enough inspiration for me to get back to sewing...yay!  Sewing hats specifically...lots of different styles of hats.  Felted wool sweaters, fleece and thread in hand- I went to town.  Dinosaur hats, hello kitty hats, animal hats etc.  Wow.  Now, what to do with these hats?  Take them to the playground for an impromptu modeling session (not a very cooperative one).  I really need a better way to photograph these for my shop.  Yikes.  Enjoy the cuties I did get though!  My absolute favorite is obviously the recycled sweater hat with the pink fleece ears- so sweet!  I am so excited about it that I have already started on a fox version...will post soon!

My First Tutorial! Simple Jersey ruched scarf

Ok, I am all about the scarf these days.  With the weather turning colder I am always looking for ways to snuggle up and get warm...the scarf is the socially acceptable way to feel like you are curled up on your couch with a warm blanket when you are really sitting at your desk at work.  And it can be quite inexpensive and fashionable! 

For this I took a simple yard of jersey fabric, combined it with elastic thread and within an hour I had a new scarf!  Total cost probably 12 bucks...and this is because I splurged and went to Joanns without a coupon and bought the nicest feeling jersey I could find (in the most luscious eggplant color I might add).  Alternatively you could go the less cheapo way and buy 1 1/2 yards or 2 yards of fabric and skip right to the elastic step. Ok, Let's break it down.  I can't say that without thinking of Yo Gabba Gabba (lets do it, break it down)...what is wrong with me?

Supplies:
1 yard of any stretchy, jersey, knit fabric of your choice.  Avoid anything with no stretch or with ribs or heavyweight.
Elastic thread.  I used black to blend in with my fabric color...choose appropriately
Regular thread- again to match your fabric. 
That is it! 

Directions:
Start by folding your fabric lengthwise and cutting in half.  I chose to fold mine in half and pin with straight pins along the edge, so I could cut along the fold line and ensure an accurate cut.  I could've also taken the time to clean off my work surface and use my rotary cutter, but the amount of clutter on there now is insane and I found this faster.  hmm.

pinned to cut lengthwise

When you have two long strips of your fabric, place them on top of each other and sew one short end- to sew them together into one long strip (using regular thread).  You could do a straight stitch, but I chose to do a french seam on mine to enclose the edge, but it isn't really necessary with knits- I just prefer it.  You can find a great tutorial on french seams here: http://www.oliverands.com/blog/2010/04/french-seams.html

elastic thread

Now that you have one long strip you can get to work setting up your elastic thread.  Now, I find it completely impossible to use elastic thread in my computerized drop in bobbin sewing machine.  So, I always pull out my old manual machine to do my elastic thread.  This is one case where it is worth hanging on to things!  I simply hand wind my elastic thread around the bobbin.

I wind up two bobbins, you will need both for this project.  Don't make the same mistake I did here and wind one bobbin from each of my machines- or else you will be sweating and swearing at your machine wondering why the thread is jamming up your machine!  Use the right bobbin for your machine- ugh.  Anyways...

elastic bobbins

machine settings

Ok, now you have a long strip of fabric, and two beautifully wound elastic bobbins.  Thread your machine as usual, this time with the elastic thread bobbin.  I simply line up my fabric so that one edge is along side the left edge of my machine- the other edge rests up against the right.  And sew.  Sew (with a backstitch at beginning and end) all the way to the end of your strip.  Turn your strip so that the other side is now lined up on the left (and your elastic thread is still on bottom) and sew to the other end.  Again, be sure to backstitch.  You will probably have to replace your bobbin somewhere in this second row of stitches.

starting second row

That's it folks!  Clip your threads and your are done.  If your elastic thread isn't ruching up that great you can always take a steam iron to it and watch those threads shrink like magic.

And Voila!  So chic.  So cheap.
*Please ignore my crazy pose- I had a friend take this really quickly today so that I could post this...but I was distracted by my daughter in this pic, not the most flattering pose but you get the idea!

Welcome to the jungle...

Ok, I am going to preface this post with "It isn't always like this, it really isn't my fault, I do clean it, it is my kid's fault!".  I know this isn't all entirely true.  My sewing/craft area is a disaster.  Not all the time, I do get the chance occasionally to spiffy it all up, organize it into color coordinated bins, cubbies...with fabric folded and neatly placed inside.  This doesn't last very long.   I do most of my sewing when my daughters are awake, and "playing".  My sewing area is tucked away on my second floor landing.  I have good lighting, a beautiful pair of stained glass windows to look at, adequate storage and table space.  Unfortunately it also sits right outside of my girls playroom and I attempt to get my sewing done while they are in there- which more often than not means that the playing spills out to my feet...princess costumes, dress up shoes, and all too often they end up crafting right along side me...oh, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Just don't judge the mess!  I will clean it (eventually)...but first I have this dress to sew and show you! 

I have been collecting vintage children's clothing patterns for a little while now, and have just started sewing with them.  My oldest just started preschool this past week and I was inspired by this Simplicity pattern from 1969.  I love the clean lines, and that it can be made with either short or longs sleeves.  Something about it just seems so modern to me, and I thought it would be great in a summery print, or even corduroy for fall. 

So this is what I've done- rather than try (and fail) at my first attempt at a structured garment (zipper and all!) and ruin my good fabric  I made the dress using a vintage sheet from my collection an I actually love how it turned out!  The sheet pattern is almost right on time with the pattern time period- so cool. 

Now that I have one dress under my belt I am making another one using the same pattern.  This time I am using a cute corduroy print and doing longer sleeves for the upcoming cooler weather.  This is on pause now, while I deal with this first...