Laundry and sewing don't mix

I'm not a beader but a few years back when I was purchasing beads for a Girl Scout project I couldn't resist picking up a couple of boxes of beads in colors that I love. I've used most of them to make beaded bookmarks to give people a "little something" for Christmas. Last year at Christmas, after making a bookmark for a friend I got the great idea to make a long string of beads to hang my thread cutting scissors from since I'm always looking for my scissors when I need to cut threads. I love it and wear it almost all the time when I'm sewing and can be found wearing it as I wander around the house in between or after sewing sessions. Or, you can probably guess, as I was tossing a load of laundry into the wash machine today. When I bent down to pull clothes out of the bottom of the hamper either the scissors or the string of beads caught on the edge of the hamper and beads were flying everywhere. I just stood there and groaned for a second before I found the ends and pulled the strand off. The hemp cording that I had used to string the beads had pulled apart and broken. Now I have a partial strand of beads, broken cord, a big handful of loose beads and a scissors. I'm so bummed. I am busy trying to get my Christmas projects done and don't have time to sit down and figure out how to re-bead it. Maybe on Christmas day again while the kids are playing. I'm not an expert beader but I did have some symmetry to the design I made. Hope I found all the big beads as my last round of bookmarks has diminished my supply of these beads. The moral of this story? Don't do laundry while sewing of course. LOL.

New Look Cape 6451

I had M pose for pix with K's cape this afternoon when she came home from school. The fabric is a dark green moleskin, almost looks black, that I got from Joann's for 75% off. It stretched a bit while sewing so I had issues while sewing it; especially when putting the fur around the hood. Finally gave the fur a hair cut at the seam allowance and that made it much easier. The shoulders were shaped a bit more than K needed, it fits M through the shoulders great and she's a women's S in RTW. I made this in a kids size 8, which fit K's measurements. The panels turned out to be different lengths which was a pain to straighten so I ended up straightening them the best I could and then turning the moleskin up and hand sewing it to the lining. I caught the moleskin a lot too so you can see where the hem is. I decided it didn't matter as it was only a costume.

I also made the shirt and skirt M is wearing under the cape. You can't see the shirt but the shirt was made to be a poodle skirt for choir a couple years back. She took the poodle off so that it could double as a long skirt for Fezziwig today.

More Ottobre Shirts

I've given up on actually having models for these shirts when I also have batteries charged for my camera. You'll have to use your imagination.

First up is a tee from Ottobre Women 2/2006 #1 in size 34 for M in a V-neck. I made this from a white rib-knit from some coop. I used a honeycomb stitch for hemming it which she really likes. On the neckline I used a stitch that I've used for machine embroidery to try to vary the look of the neckline. I wasn't in the mood to get out my double needle so tried this. She likes the look. I started using Wonder Tape at the hems to keep them from stretching and this really helps. I pin and iron the hem up 1". Then I tape the Wonder Tape about 1/4" from the raw edge. Flip the hem back up and tape it all together. Even if my stitch doesn't hit the whole 1/4" of Wonder Tape it's enough to keep the fabric from stretching out while stitching. Only way I could use a honeycomb stitch on a knit. Just need to take care to not stretch the fabric while applying the tape.

This shirt is intended to be a close fitting tee but on M it has a loose fit. It is the smallest size in OW. Might be a while before I can sew her looser fitting shirts from OW. She needs to fatten up a bit for that. LOL.

Here's another tee using OW 2/2006 #1. M likes a shirt that I have with a square neckline so asked me to make her another tee but with the square neckline. So, what could I do but comply. :) Here I used a crinkly knit that I think I got from fabric.com. I used FOE on the neckline for a bit of a contrast. The green I got from Anne from Needlenook fabrics when she was here for a bra workshop. The blue I got from a coop; again I can't remember which one. I just ironed the green FOE in half and held the blue under it as I stitched it on in one pass. I thought I had stretched them quite a bit as I sewed but stitching them held them stretched out a bit, I guess. I've steamed them quite a bit but they are still just slightly stretched out. It looks ok on; especially after I mitered the corners a bit. Call it a learning experience. It looks great on M. Next time I won't make the sides quite so wide, it doesn't show her bra straps but would look better a little narrower, and maybe use a longer stitch length on the elastic. I honeycombed the hems again on this one.

Next up are shirts I made from Ottobre 4/2007 for K.

First is the Tunic top #31 in size 134 lengthened to 146 since K is so tall and thin. I thought I added length to the bodice too but don't see those notes on my pattern. Must be my failing memory or mis-memory. LOL. Since I didn't figure K would wear a turtleneck under the shirt I added a long sleeve (from#33) under the short sleeve. Because of this I had to sew the sleeves in the round instead of stitching side seams and sleeves all in one pass. I ran out of the striped fabric but thanks to someone from the Ottobre-english list I was able to make matching short sleeves. This is slightly big on K but should last the whole winter this way. I made a matching reversible belt, with the pink and blue fabric, but it seems to be a toy in it's own right and I can't find it now to post with the pictures. Again, I hemmed this with a honeycomb stitch. I think this is becoming a favorite hem stitch. LOL.

The other shirt for K is #33 Girls T-shirt size 134. K needed to wear all black for choir when she performed in the Nutcracker. This was an opportunity to try this pattern, which I thought would be dressier than a basic t-shirt. I found the fabric at S.R. Harris. I think it's cotton/lycra, heavy on the lycra. The color is different from the front and back. I wasn't actually sure which side was the front so chose the one which felt more cottony. The picture looks more brown but it is truly black. I accidentally added seam allowance to the neckline but it still fits well around the neck. I'm thinking of adding some sparkles to the yoke on the front. Haven't gotten up the nerve to do this yet. Haven't used my sparkly tool yet.

The fit of this shirt is so nice. It's the same size as the Tunic top but more close fitting. The fabric has lots of stretch so it's easy to get off and on. I might be inclined to make it a size bigger if I make it again if the fabric doesn't have as much stretch.

Again I used Wonder Tape, have I said I love that stuff? The fabric is so stretchy that I used Wonder Taper all over to do the topstitching; shoulders, sleeves, neckline, yoke, hems. Had to wash it before she wore it to get all the tape out. LOL. The topstitching sure looks nice though.

I also made K a cape to wear for the Nutcracker but it's getting double duty today. M is wearing it for Fezziwig at school today so I don't have it to take pictures. Only picture I got of it is N wearing it crouched down on the floor (which is cute too). Never did get a picture of K alone wearing the whole outfit for the Nutcracker. I fell down on actually remembering to bring the camera after re-charing the batteries. Will try to catch a picture of that on one of the kids and post that later.