In-the-Hoop Fun: Owl Sewing Kit

I have two embroidery machines, a 6-needle and a single-needle. The 6-needle is great for production work. But the single-needle is not as efficient for repetitive embroidery. It is, however, excellent for making in-the-hoop projects. An in-the-hoop project is a project created on an embroidery machine which yields something other than fabric embellishments. For example, you can make small stuffed animals, luggage tags, small bags, door knob hangers, and many other things. My favorite resource for in-the-hoop projects is Embroidery Garden. Continue reading “In-the-Hoop Fun: Owl Sewing Kit”

lynnenewFebruary 28, 2014January 4, 20142 Comments

Finished Projects

Bag Refashions

Our environment is important to me – that’s one of the reasons I shop at thrift stores and recycle. Now that I live in Boulder, Colorado I’m trying to be even more environmentally conscious, especially since Boulder instituted a shopping bag fee. This small fee (10 cents per bag) has really helped me remember to bring my own bags when I grocery shop. (See – being thrifty helps the environment – hurrah!) Continue reading “Bag Refashions”

katboulderFebruary 26, 2014November 23, 201424 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

Cambie Dress | Sewaholic 1202

The Facts

Pattern:

Sewaholic 1202, Cambie, view A. Fitted, lined dress features a sweetheart neckline, darted bodice and extended cap sleeves with slim A-line or full gathered skirt.

Continue reading “Cambie Dress | Sewaholic 1202”

JaneFebruary 25, 2014February 24, 20149 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

F is for Felted

heartfelt tote, e-how mittens 011

The bag above is my 6th project for Sew All 26 160 , “F” is for Felted. Felting is the process of applying heat, moisture and friction to cause wool (and some other natural fibers) to bind tightly together to create a felted fabric. After felting the fibers are fused and will not ravel. Continue reading “F is for Felted”

katboulderFebruary 19, 2014February 18, 20144 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

New Look 6224

The Facts

Pattern:

New Look 6224, view D. Misses dress with sleeve options. A great wardrobe builder.

Continue reading “New Look 6224”

JaneFebruary 18, 2014February 23, 20144 Comments

Finished Projects

Clucky Chicken

My husband and I survived the September 2013 flooding in Colorado without any property damage, but suffered a water line break last night (Feb 8) in our storage unit as we went from freezing temperatures for two days to a relatively warm 40 degrees. Some of our boxes were wet and we brought them home to unpack and dry out. One of these boxes was labeled “Chickens” and lo I rediscovered this “Clucky Chicken” I made a few years ago. Continue reading “Clucky Chicken”

lynnenewFebruary 15, 2014February 9, 20143 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

Silhouettes Patterns – Laurie’s Pants

Ever since I saw my friend Jane parading down the runway at the Rocky Mountain Sewing Expo in a pair of “Laurie’s Pants” from Silhouette Patterns, I’ve been thinking about making a pair for myself. Jane said the pants were comfortable. And for me, they just looked fun. But I wasn’t sure that all that swishy fabric would look good on me. Curiosity overwhelmed and I finally bought the pattern. Continue reading “Silhouettes Patterns – Laurie’s Pants”

lynnenewFebruary 14, 2014December 31, 20132 Comments

Finished Projects

2013 Sewing Wrap Up (better late than never)

Top 5 Hits for 2013

Continue reading “2013 Sewing Wrap Up (better late than never)”

JaneFebruary 10, 2014February 9, 201412 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

Kwik Sew 3915 – Ruched Neck Tops

I have a RTW (ready-to-wear) top that I found at a thrift store that I have always loved – it is a V-neck ruched top that is snug fitting and comfy. It is the one on the left in the collage and the tag says “j.t.b. petite”. I have always wished I had more of these tops so I was pleased to find a similar pattern by Kwik Sew.
Continue reading “Kwik Sew 3915 – Ruched Neck Tops”

lynnenewFebruary 7, 2014February 1, 20144 Comments

Finished Projects

eHow Crafts “Smittens”

eHow Smittens

If you haven’t checked out eHow Crafts yet, you should! Continue reading “eHow Crafts “Smittens””

katboulderFebruary 5, 2014February 5, 20146 Comments

Finished Projects

Lattice Cutwork Plantain T-shirt

Over my sadly sewing-free Christmas vacation I had been window shopping (or whatever you call the on-line equivalent) for laser cut shirts. I don’t think the ability to laser cut fabric is that new, but for some reason I’ve been seeing a lot of really cool applications of the technology lately like lace patterns in leather. Of course I don’t have a laser, but with knits or other fabrics that don’t fray you could do the same with a scissors. I saw one shirt with a lattice / grid type pattern that I thought would be easy to duplicate. I was planning on just buying a RTW T-shirt and chopping it up, but then French indie pattern company Deer & Doe released a free knit T-shirt pattern, the Plantain T-shirt, that was exactly the swingy shape I was looking for. And then they announced a contest for said pattern and I figured, hey, why not kill two birds with one stone?
Continue reading “Lattice Cutwork Plantain T-shirt”

JamieDSCFebruary 3, 2014February 2, 201412 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

D is for Denim

denim skirt collage

For my fourth Sew All 26 160 project I made a denim skirt for the letter D. I have a favorite light blue, above the knee denim skirt which I bought at a thrift store many years ago. It’s looking tatty now though, so I thought I’d try to recreate it. Continue reading “D is for Denim”

katboulderFebruary 2, 2014September 10, 20144 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

Another Batty Top – McCalls 6704

After having made two Kwik Sew 3891 Batwing tops that I *love*, I remembered that I made this batwing-like top over the summer, hoping to look like the lovely lady on the pattern envelope, casually posing with her bicycle.

Continue reading “Another Batty Top – McCalls 6704”

lynnenewJanuary 31, 2014December 31, 20137 Comments

Finished Projects, Refashions

Getting Into A Stranger’s Boxers

PicMonkey Collage

Have you ever wanted to get into a stranger’s boxers? I have and I did (shhh, don’t tell my husband). And here are the photos to prove it! Continue reading “Getting Into A Stranger’s Boxers”

katboulderJanuary 29, 2014November 20, 20145 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

My Favorite Pattern-of-the-Week: A Batwing Top

Hancock Fabrics recently had one of their 99c pattern sales for at least one of the big 4 companies. They also had a sale on Kwik Sew patterns. I always give Kwik Sew patterns a look – they seem to have a lot of nice looking basic, functional patterns for wardrobe building. I was perusing the catalogs looking for a nice basic skirt pattern for my daughter, whose next cosplay outfit is going to be Jade Harley wearing God Tier. She’s from something called HomeStuck. Continue reading “My Favorite Pattern-of-the-Week: A Batwing Top”

lynnenewJanuary 24, 2014December 31, 20132 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

C is for Christine Jonson Patterns

az, christine jonson tie-back top 025

For my third project, the letter C, in my quest to Sew All 26 160 I chose a Christine Jonson Pattern. Recently Christine Jonson had a holiday sale and there was a 30% discount on sewing patterns. That was enough of a savings on a single pattern to cover the shipping cost. Since I can never pass up a bargain, the time was right for me to try the Christine Jonson pattern line! I immediately ordered pattern #107, the Tie-back Top. Continue reading “C is for Christine Jonson Patterns”

katboulderJanuary 19, 2014January 2, 20145 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

Seeking a Winter Dress – Kwik Sew 4026

I’ve been making dresses all summer long – mostly sleeveless ones from stretchy polyester fabrics. I love wearing dresses! They’re comfortable and cool. I think men are definitely missing out in the comfort department.

But it always seems to me that as soon as September rolls around, it starts getting cold mighty fast. Then I usually abandon my bright-colored floral dresses for darker colored pants. But my waistline seems to “improve” each year, making it harder and harder to fit into the small selection of pants that I purchased in 2007. Thankfully I’ve been slowly adding stretchy yoga-type pants to my wardrobe. Continue reading “Seeking a Winter Dress – Kwik Sew 4026”

lynnenewJanuary 17, 2014December 31, 20134 Comments

Finished Projects

Hot Patterns 1167: La Strada T-Shirt

The Pattern
The self-proclaimed “Fast & Fabulous” La Strada T-Shirt is a recent release from Hot Patterns. I received it in the mail a couple of weeks ago and sewed it up immediately since it did seem like a quick project. There are only four pieces to the pattern: front, back, yoke, and front facing. It took a little longer to put together than a regular t-shirt with all the gathers, but I think the extra effort was worth it.

Continue reading “Hot Patterns 1167: La Strada T-Shirt”

JamieDSCJanuary 13, 2014January 6, 20146 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

B is for Burda

For my second Sew All 26 project I chose a Burda pattern for the letter B. Burda 7739 is the first Burda pattern I’ve ever sewn. I made the dress in the center. Continue reading “B is for Burda”

katboulderJanuary 11, 2014January 2, 20145 Comments

Finished Projects, Junk Drawer, Reviews

“Attack on Titan” – A Cosplay Jacket and Shirt

My daughter attended Nan Desu Kan 2013 last September. 2012 was the first year she attended but this year she wanted to go in costume! One of her favorite anime shows is “Attack on Titan” and she wanted to attend as one of the soldiers:

I nearly had a heart attack! She would need a custom made shirt, jacket (with embroidered patches), strapping, and a “skirt”. Thankfully I knew I could buy the pants and the boots. And I would need to complete all of this in about a month. Continue reading ““Attack on Titan” – A Cosplay Jacket and Shirt”

lynnenewJanuary 10, 2014January 9, 201411 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

Sew All 26 – A is for Angel

Angel

I’ve joined in on an idea from no big dill to Sew All 26 160 . Sew all 26 is a pledge to sew an item for each letter of the alphabet, from A through Z. My A project is this sweet angel. Continue reading “Sew All 26 – A is for Angel”

katboulderJanuary 5, 2014January 2, 20141 Comment

Finished Projects

Tessuti Fave Top – The Ombre One

Great sewing friends will give you the shirt off their back… so you can test the fit, of course! I had seen the Tessuti Fave Top on other blogs before, but passed it over because I generally shy away from anything that is “one size fits most”. That is, until Jill wore her version to a Denver Sewing Collective meetup and let me try it on. I’m kind of amazed that the exact same top looked good on the both of us, so I decided to sew up my own version. Continue reading “Tessuti Fave Top – The Ombre One”

JamieDSCJanuary 4, 2014January 1, 20141 Comment

Finished Projects, Reviews

Tessuti Fave Top – The Stripey One

This freebie pattern from Tessuti Fabrics was highly praised by Jill, who made her own in a lovely grey/silver fabric. At our last meetup, we were discussing whether or not this particular top would look good on all of us. Jamie tried it on and though I missed actually seeing her in it, I heard that everyone said she looked great in it.

It took a little while for me to come around, but I finally decided to give it a go. The pattern is free, after all, and I did have some appropriate purple stripey fabric just waiting to be used. Continue reading “Tessuti Fave Top – The Stripey One”

lynnenewJanuary 3, 2014December 31, 20132 Comments

Finished Projects, Reviews

Tessuti Fave Top – Jill’s Favorite Free Sewing Pattern

I love the Tessuti top! It’s a free download from Tessuti Fabrics, a fabric store based in Australia. All levels of sewers will love this top. It sews up quick and provides lots of opportunities for customization. On mine I lengthened the sleeves about 3 inches and didn’t interface it or even do bias binding, I just folded over the edge and stitched. I wrote a bit more on this top HERE. All in all I love the top, belted or not, and it’s one of the tops that I reach for time and time again. What do you think? Love it or not so much? Continue reading “Tessuti Fave Top – Jill’s Favorite Free Sewing Pattern”