It's been a while since I posted

Sometimes I just get way too busy and forget to put my projects in here.  I think I'll just post some pictures and explain what they are; that way I'll feel caught up.

This is a skort set I made for Alex for her birthday.

Here is a photo of the back of the top. I edged it with satin ribbon.

This is the skort. It was easier to make than I thought it would be.

I also made her this dress. This fabric had been sitting in my fabric closet for several years and it just hit me when I was looking for fabric to make her birthday dress.

I made these shorts to go under the dress. Anyone with a girl knows this is a good idea.

I made these booties for Annabelle one day last week. She had taken off her socks and her feet were cold.

I used gripping fabric on the bottom. She's trying to walk and this will help her keep from slipping.

The booties are a bit on the small size but they kept her feet warm. That's what I get for not checking the size against her feet.

Unfortunately, Alex's birthday outfits didn't fit, either. So....on to plan B.

This outfit is made for play. I had fun making this one. The yoke and midriff was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It is made in a much different way than one I made for myself a while back. I had really hated that pattern and was relieved to see this one was not as complicated to assemble. If the pants are too snug at the waist, Grandma Kathy can have her neighbor take the elastic out and put in a longer piece. The pants are large enough to do that. It's hard to know how big to make things from 1200 miles away.

I chose an Ottobre pattern for her next dress. It's a jumper and blouse made from the 5/06 issue specifically designed for larger sized girls.

Here is a side view of the sleeve. There is shirring on the sleeve made by wrapping elastic thread around the bobbin and then sewing to make the little gathers.

The wrist area of the sleeve is also shirred. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I had this idea of struggling with the stitching but, fortunately, I thought to practice on scrap fabric first. Now I know I can do it.

I wanted to pick up the eyelet flowers on the denim so I added an eyelet lace at the bottom of the jumper. Like the fabric from the other dress, this denim had been in my closet for several years. I believe I got it on Ebay in, oh, 2003 or so.

This is the first of two pair of boxer-style panties I made for Alex at her request. I guess she doesn't like elastic on her leg folds, so she had asked for undies like her brother's. These only had one layer; I added a full lining so that there wouldn't be raw seams against tender skin. I added the waistline elastic like piping. The legs are done like the legs on regular panties. This is an Ottobre pattern from the 4/04 issue.

This is the second style of boxer briefs. It is from the same Ottobre magazine. I took the boy's long johns pattern and modified it to be like the toddler boy's boxer briefs by shortening the leg piece. Again, not wanting raw seams against tender skin, I doubled the insets on the front and back, making these like I make the crotch/gusset on panties. They went together well. A person or two suggested I modify them more to take the center seam out of the front...I believe I'll wait and see which pair she likes best before I do that. If she wants more of these, I'll alter the pattern a little before I make her more. Otherwise, I won't have to.

Finally, here is a thread catcher I made. I was going to use it for the serger but the pocket is far too small, so I'll use it for my Janome QC4800. I'll modify this pattern to make the pocket for the threads and scraps bigger so I can have one for the serger as well.

Now I feel caught up.  Tired, but caught up.  Too bad I have two more things sitting on the table, cut out and ready to sew!!

God is good.  I sold 14 pads yesterday.  10 are headed for Australia and the other 4 are going to North Carolina.  I guess it's time to restock my Etsy store a bit. 

Bedtime....I see the psychiatrist in the morning.  Good night!

And more presents....

These are presents I made for Abby's boys as well as a pic of the boys themselves.

These are Christmas shirts.  They were made from a puppy and Christmas tree print.  The boys wore them to their school Christmas parties and the other kids loved them!  It's amazing how such a little thing can make them so happy.  I have to be careful though - the sleeves on the twins' shirts were too short.  I made a note so when I do their next shirts they will have long enough sleeves.

The requisite Christmas jammies, this time in Christmas Ooga Booga and bamboo velour.  The pants are way, way too long, and the boys have a blast schlepping around in them.  I wanted to hem them but Noooooo.... they like them too long.  Silly kids!!

 

They try to behave, really they do....this is grass giraffe and gray giraffe on cotton interlock, and Patrick has a knit with a teddy bear line on it.  I thought I had made him a giraffe onesie.  Apparently I was wrong.  I'm going to make him a shirt like his brothers have as soon as I get a second to breathe.  The layered look is an idea I tweaked to fit my own style.  I don't sew two sleeves, one over the other.  I do mine differently.

The hat/scarf/mitten combos....Patrick's is green, Kenny's is camo, and the twins have the royal blue.  One has gray on the mitten palms and a gray hat band; the other has black.  The scarf sets, except for Patricks, match their coats.  I didn't have red for Patrick.  I have some now and I just might make him a set.  Maybe.

I made these for Kenny.  He came over one day and had an accident.  The trouble is, I make them for him to wear and bring back....and he never does.  He tells his brothers I made them for him to keep.  What a stinker!

Another pair of Kenny undies.  He took these home too.  Same pattern as above, different style - no fly.

Now these I made for Stanley.  He spent the night and forgot his clean underwear.  They are from the Ottobre 4/2004 issue, pattern #37.  They whip up incredibly fast; I really like this pattern.  I'll be making more of them.  This is kinda what Alex's boxer briefs will look like when I make them for her.  I just need to kinda merge this pattern with the girls' undies pattern in the same issue.

I made this outfit as an extra in case a grandson came to visit or spend the night and needed clean clothes for whatever reason.  Kenny swiped these, too.  He took them home and I haven't seen them since.  He's a little stinker.  He knows I love them all to death and would do anything for them, and that's why he keeps swiping the stuff I make.

On to the next entry....

SWAP...sewing with a plan/purpose

I have been busy the last several days making some clothes for my grandchildren in Florida. I do a lot of sewing for the kids up here, and I felt like it was a good time to do some special things for Alex and Tobie. This is the first outfit I made for Alex. The top is made from Ooga Booga fabric and the pants are made from rib knit. I really like this look. I hope she does, too. I added the rose because, as usual, I messed up the V on the inset. I never can get those things right! However, I think the flower looks good on the top.

This outfit is made from Laurel Burch cat fabric and some midweight black broadcloth. I tied the two pieces together by making the upper ruffle on the top out of the black fabric and adding the cat appliques on the pants legs. It has been a while since I did an applique; fortunately, I remembered how to do it. I did have to clean the iron because one of the back pieces of the double fusible interfacing came off and it got the iron all gooey. I haven't done that in a while. The interfacing was old, though, and it tends to separate much easier when it gets older for some reason. The iron looks nice and clean now. I need to clean it more often; it would make things easier in the long run.

This dress is really kinda neat, though the directions for gathering the top part weren't very clear. There is elastic on the bottom gathered part; I thought when I bought it that it might be shirred, but instead it's just elastic inside a casing. The top gathered part is gathered and stitched. The directions merely say to pull it up to fit. I'm not sure I like that. It would have been a lot nicer to tell how wide to leave it. The lines also don't go quite far enough out on one side and the gathering ended up a little uneven. Of course, most people who look at it won't see those flaws...sewists are most critical of their own work.

The panties and cami in this picture were made with patterns in the Ottobre 4/04 issue. It took me 3 tries to get the piping on the panties right. Next time I will baste it in place before using the serger to sew the pieces together. I like the look of this pattern. Alex doesn't like her panties covering her tummy so this is a perfect design for her. It's also neat that this cami can double as a tank top.

This set was made from a Kwik Sew pattern that is now out of print. I don't know quite why they took their panties for girls and briefs for boys out of circulation. They could be making a lot of money if people could buy them somewhere besides Etsy, Ebay or other auction sites. I know the sewing group I moderate looks for these patterns and grabs them up as soon as they show up in a listing.

The cami in this set has lace across the top of it. I sewed it into place with two side by side lines of zigzag stitching and then used my embroidery scissors to trim the fabric that was underneath it, cutting close to the sewing. It was my second try at the lace, though I've done it before. Somehow I got the lace on the first top out of alignment and the point of the V ended up pointing to the left of the top instead of straight down. I must admit, though, that it looks nice and dressy. I really enjoyed making these sets.

This outfit was made for my youngest grand-daughter Anna Belle Rose. She's a precious little thing with a beautiful smile and she has her Oma wrapped right around her little finger. It's so good that she's close and I see her often; it helps ease the pain of having 3 grandchildren living on the property next to ours that I can't visit or call or talk to. I keep praying Becky will let go of the hate and bitterness she is holding on to so tightly, but at this point praying is all I can do. Anyhow, this is also made from an Ottobre pattern set. I made it a little on the large side but she will be able to wear it all winter long with no problem. Mom and Dad can even put socks and a onesie under it and it won't be too tight on her. It has plenty of room for her cloth diapers, too.




These are panties I made with the scraps from Alex's outfits. They are designated for a charity donation. Once I get Tobie's things done, I will add the extra boys' briefs I make to the girls' panties and send them to the lady I know who gives them to the spouse abuse shelter in her town. Our little area has way enough clothes for the moms and kids who need to find refuge in the shelter here. Not every shelter is so blessed. Not only that, but people often forget that clothing includes panties. Jeans and shirts and shorts and skirts and dresses are well and good, but you need undies, too....at least I do!


I have two of Tobie's shirts cut out. I need to cut out one more and then I'm going to make him a pair of jams, or board type big long shorts, but not the kind that he can house....I think that looks nasty and it makes the young men look like they don't have any respect for their own bodies. I'm also going to try to make him a pair of pants. It might be a bit tough because he's in that pre-adolescent pudgy stage and he's 1200 miles away so fitting is non-existent, but I'm gonna give it a good try. If nothing else, I'll make him some sweat-style pants out of a lighter fabric since it doesn't get all that cold in Florida.


Okay. I need to go do some dishes and eat and then get to sewing. I just wanted to put this in writing before I forgot.

Waistband elastic application for sensitive skin (Part 1)

Fold down the top half of the casing allowance on the pattern for the boxers and cut the pattern out that way. Proceed as usual with making them.

Cut the elastic the circumference of the waist minus approximately 4 inches (10cm). Sew together into a circle, using a zigzag stitch.

Quarter the elastic, using straight pins to mark the back seam, the opposite side, and then match them up and pin the other two quarters of the elastic.

Use the same technique to mark the quarters on the boxer waist part.

With the boxers turned inside out, apply the elastic to the outside of the waist area, with the right side of the elastic facing out.

Pin at the previously marked quarter sections on both the boxer fabric and the elastic.

This is what it should look like with the elastic pinned, right side out, to the boxers, right side in.
Make sure to check that your elastic is far enough down from the top of the boxer fabric that you can sew it to the fabric without catching in the edge of the elastic. This will make turning the elastic to the outside easier and look more professional.

On my machine, stitch number 6 is the lighning zigzag stitch. This is much similar to the zigzag stitch, except the stitches are broken into sections to allow for greater stretching. It is purported to be more sturdy when sewing elastic for waistbands and other applications requiring the elastic to have more give.

This is how my machine looks on the lightning zigzag stitch setting. Since it's an automatic and computerized machine (to an extent), it chooses and adjusts the settings again.

(Continued on next entry due to photo limitations)

waistband elastic application for sensitive skin (part 2)

Sew the elastic to the boxers, using the lightning zigzag stitch. Take a few stitches before starting to stretch the elastic to fit.

You will have to stretch the elastic quite a bit to get it to fit with the boxer fabric. Try to make the tension on the elastic as even as possible.

Check often to make sure that the elastic is staying where it's supposed to be by lifting the fabric and assuring that the elastic is being appropriately attached to the fabric. If there is a line on the elastic like mine has, make sure that line isn't rising above the place where it should be depending on where you pinned it.

When finished, the stitching should secure the elastic to the boxer fabric and it will gather nicely.

Using sharp, small scissors, trim the little threads that have unraveled while attaching the elastic to the boxer fabric.

Turn the boxers right side out. Fold the elastic so that it is on the outside as well. Even it out as much as possible.

Pin the quarters of the elastic once again to the quarters of the fabric so that when you sew the bottom of the elastic to the fabric it will be even and smooth at the top and the bottom.

Using the lightning zigzag stitch, apply the bottom of the elastic to the outside of the boxer fabric. Make sure to stretch as needed to match the quarters up as was done with the inside.

Check frequently while sewing to make sure you haven't gone past the bottom part of the elastic while attaching it to the boxer fabric.

Stretch as needed, a bit at a time, making sure you keep it all even. This takes a bit more time but is well worth it.

(Continued in next entry)