Giant Giants Pants

My five year wedding anniversary was a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to make a little gift for my husband.  He is a big New York Giants fan and I thought he could use some lounge pants to watch games in.  My husband is a pretty big guy (like 6'4") and he has an affinity for baggy clothing.  I've been trying to get him to wear jeans that actually fit hit him for years to no avail.  Don't even get me started on his need to wear white tube socks with shorts. . .  Anyway, this is my compromise, a huge pair of pants that he will only wear around the house.

So about the pants.  I actually used a pattern for a pair of scrubs and added about an inch to the sides and the length.  I used a really light weight jersey knit.  I don't know that I've ever sewed a kit before and it was less difficult that I expected.  Here is a pic:

Look how wide the legs are!

A little Giants patch I found on Amazon

I sewed it all with a double needle, it is supposed to be good for sewing on stretchy fabrics.  You can see the double line of stitches. 

It is still insanely hot in the deserts of southern California so the pants haven't gotten much wear yet.  My husband modeled them for me and I achieved the fit I was looking for, they are massive on him!  I'm sure they will get plenty of wear once fall weather comes around.

Birthday Dress for Miriam.

So my sisters birthday was a month ago and I just got around to finishing a dress I made for her . . .  I know, I'm working on it.  I used fabric that you might remember from a trip to textile fabrics and the red sash fabric was from my stash.

I hope it fits!  I'm mailing it to her tomorrow!

Front



Clear button with red thread

  It took me forever to pick out buttons.  I have like eleventy billion buttons so it seems ridiculous to go buy new ones.  I decided on these clear ones, you can't really see through the fuzz but they have a crystal look to them.


Dress back



Camo Back Pack

First I have to say I can't believe that I didn't post about my inaugural trip to the Los Angeles fabric district, my personal grimy paradise.  I will definitely remedy that later.  But that is not the point of this post, the point of this post is that my 11 year old nephew is into all things camouflage and was looking for a back pack in his signature print.  Oddly, no one could find a camouflage backpack for him.  Really?  Isn't that weird?  I don't have kids and therefore am not up on kids stuff but you think you would be able to find a camouflage back pack for an 11 year old.  I looked and always came up empty. . . So when I was in the fabric district I bought a yard of camo fabric for $3.50, it was wide, probably 60 inches.  The guy shorted me  because there were samples cut out of some of the fabric but again, that is not the point of this story.  This is about the back pack. 

I didn't really have a plan when I bought the fabric, but I figured I wouldn't need more than a yard of really wide fabric for a back pack.  I ended up borrowing my niece's Jansport to use as a pattern, it had lots of zippers and pockets and that looked exhausting so I simplified and just make the main 'compartment' and a couple of cargo pockets to go with the theme.  I hope you like looking at things sideways because I am having computer problems.

Anthony the back pack model

The back

 I used some foam I had from a too big mattress pad to pad the straps. I also put some batting between two layers of fabric to make the back.  I thought about quilting it but decided against it, its seems to be pretty sturdy.  I used three layers of fabric to reinforce the bottom.

Zipper!

 I was kind of proud of the zipper, just 'cause I always mess them up.  I had this one in my stash.  Probably form my grandma.

More back pack modeling.

So, Whadda ya think?

Kindle Cover

In my experience cheapness is the mother of invention, not whatever else is supposed to be.  Bryant got me Kindle for my birthday.  Yay!  Has anyone here shopped for Kindle covers?  They are unreasonably expensive.  I decided to take a stab at making my own.  My conclusion is that there is a reason they are so expensive.  I had to make, take apart, and remake this thing like 10 times.  And all the remaking made the finished product look like a mess, but it serves its purpose.



Front



Back

Inside- Black linen left over from this project

According to some people, if I had a super power, I would be Destructo girl.  So I need this thing to have a legitimate cover.   I wanted it to be hard enough to protect the Kindle if it were to say, fall off a building.  To address that problem we bought a $1clip board and cut it up into 2 Kindle sized pieces.  I also wanted it to have a zipper, so that I could put it in my purse and not have to worry about purse particles messing things up. 

I happened to have a zipper, foam and fabric at home.  So this thing cost me $1 (on a gift card, so technically no dollars), that is much better than the store alternatives. This is a first draft but it does the job.  I ended up hand stitching the cover on it because I got impatient with the sewing machine.  Check back later and I might take another stab at it.

Baby Booties with a Kick

I made these for my cousin for her baby shower.  Her husband is a big soccer fan so I made him baby soccer shoes.  I found this free pattern online and made them from felt.  It was all hand sewing which is kind of cool but takes forever.

Don't tell Adidas!

Bedding

A few month ago Bryant and I made a headboard.  The new headboard made me realize the need for new bedding etc. to match. 


I bought some nice grey fabric a few months ago but it took me a while to actually do something with it.

Here is what I did:

we keep glowing orbs next to our bed.

I made a Duvet, Bed skirt, and Euro shams.  Its simple but I think it goes better.  Now I just need the wall behind the bed to be some dramatic color.  Suggestions?

Purse

I've been carrying a super cute silver vintage handbag lately but the silver started flaking off so it was time for a new bag and time to finish a project that had been relegated to the back of the fabric pile.

I used fabric that can be seen here and here:

I used the scraps from those two projects to make this:


You can see that it is pieced together from scraps but in an awesome way, it looks great!

 I used vintage handles from my grandmother's stash.  I even lined it and put little pockets for my phone and wallet.

I like the way it turned out and it is nice when nothing goes to waste.

I feel like a slacker for not posting for so long.  It is not because I have not been busy!  Right now I am making a custom dress for a friend and working on turning a skirt my grandmother gave me into a dress.  I am thinking about doing something like this:

The skirt fabric is sheer but a similar print to the one above.  I just so happen to have some navy lining. . .  Maybe it was meant to be.

Baby Wipe/ Diaper Case

My cousin is having a baby boy.  I wanted to make her a few things that she might actually be able to use. I made her a wipe/diaper case, I got the pattern here.  The outside is an Anna Maria Horner velveteen and the lining is one of my grandfather's old handkerchiefs (I washed it, I promise).



Front Open



back



I am also making her a baby romper like the toddler romper I make for Niko and some baby booties.  I'll post those later.

Raggedy Andy

I made a Raggedy Andy for my nephews birthday. 

I will never make a Ragged Andy again in my life.  It took Forever!  I think I broke a tooth when, out of pathetic desperation, I started biting the needle to get the yarn through the canvas to make that red hair. 

I hope Niko likes it.  I made him a vintage fabric Raggedy Ann and Andy quilt when he was a baby. So this doll is a matching throw pillow.

Naked

I hope the doll doesn't scare my nephew, I didn't know it would be so big.

Memory Lane Day

I just parted with these old couches.  When Bryant and I first got married, we turned to Craigslist to solve our lack of furniture woes.  I don't have a picture of the couches in their original early 90's hideousness but lets just say they may or may not have seen better days, my guess is that they were even ugly in their youth.  My solution was to cover Everything.  The slip coveres were store bought, I had to alter the one on the smaller chair.  The pillows are all made by me,  I was able to recycle the stuffing and the zippers.  The brown ones are a chocolate microsuede.  The other big ones are grassclothish, mostly a tan color but have some green threads.  I also made some throw pillows, beacause I am obessed with patterns.  I can't say that I was terribly sad to part with these couches but I think my pillows and covers helped me to not throw up in my mouth everytime I entered my living room. 

My New (to me) Sewing Machine

I bought a sewing machine off craigslist recently and I had a hard time finding much information about it online so I thought I should contribute a resource.  The machine is a Morse 200 Deluxe.  I read somewhere that these machines were made by Toyota but I can't really vouch for it.  I was interested in the machine because it is older (Made in 1956) and its a beautiful blue color.  Sewing Machine/home decor all in one.  I knew that I wanted to buy it as soon as I plugged it in and pressed on the presser foot.  This thing has a really strong motor, its doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles but it sews fast! Almost like an industrial machines.  I hate when my sewing machine is the thing that is slowing my project down and I think this machine is a great solution to that problem.  I have resisted having it serviced because I want to figure out how to do that myself but I may have to buckle.  I think it needs a good tune up.  It sews fast but It doesn't feel like the foot goes all the way down so the fabric floats around and it leads to wobbly stitches.  I also think the stitch length is inconsistent.  I am confident that these things can be fixed with a little tune up though. Let me know if you you have any questions.

Here are some more pics:

Side

Other Side

Back

Full disclosure:  I think I am developing a bit of a sewing machine addiction.  I already have a Kenmore 158.???? and a Singer Fashionmate 248.  I think the Morse is going to be my favorite.

Batman Cape

I made my nephew a Batman cape for Christmas but I just got to take some pictures of him modeling it when I was in Texas.  My nephew Loves Batman, it is pretty much all he talks about.  I used some black lining fabric that I had laying around and some yellow lightweight cotton with iron on interfacing for the batman logo.

Repurposed Skirt

I bought this skirt at an estate sale for fifty cents.  I don't think I would or should ever wear it in its current state but I think the print is really fun so I decided to take it apart and give it new life in my wardrobe.  I basicaly took apart every seam I could find and then put it back together to make this:



Voila!



What do you think?  I'm pretty pleased with my little expiriment.  I bought another skirt for the same price at that sale.  I am working on recreating it as well.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Here it is in its current state:

Romper for Niko

I made this little romper thing for my nephews 2nd birthday.  I still need to add buttons.  You would think I would have some appropriate buttons in my huge button collection, but no.  I almost didn't make it because I had several votes that this fabric was not for little boys.  I couldn't disagree more, I think this fabric is adorable.  I probably should have taken the time to match the seams so there wouldn't be so many severed fish bodies.

Angela's Pillows

My friend Angela asked me to make her some throw pillows for her couch.  A few weeks ago we took a trip to Sirs to pick out the fabrics.  This was an interesting challenge for me because Angela's taste is much more conservative and traditional than mine, I was surprised that I really liked the fabric we picked out.  The problem came when we started looking for pillow forms.  Pillow forms are expensive!  If anyone knows where to buy reasonably priced, good quality pillow forms please let me know.  I know that I am revealing the depths of my cheapness but buying 4 pillow forms at $10-$20 a piece really kills my budget.  In my head I was thinking that Angela could go buy a store throw pillow  for $10 or even less so I want the cost of the pillows to be around $10 each.  I ended up buying 4 clearance pillows for $17 total, luckily they were all zippered so I just took the pillow forms out and used them, no demolition required. 

I made envelope pillows so that the covers could be washed.  I measured the pillow forms and cut the fabric one inch bigger than the measurement.  For the back side I added 8 inches to the pillow form measurement and then cut it in half. Here are the finished products.

Dining Room Curtains



At some point this year we intend to build an office out of what is now an unused living area, a side benefit of said renovation is that I will have a more official looking dining area instead of a table being awkwardly crowded out by a couch.  My soon to be dining room needs curtains on its one small window so I took this:



Jar o curtain parts





and this: 



Wrinkly Fabric

And made this:

 



Curtains!

I'll have to work on a better after picture.

How To:

• Buy fabric-  I needed about 5 yards to make an almost floor to ceiling curtain.  I have 8 foot ceilings and did not make a big hem or any kind of fancy top tab.
• Measure fabric.  I used my husbands measuring tape because the fabric was so long.  I think I cut about 8 feet for each panel.
• Cut fabric-  I tried to use my rotary cutter.  I think rotary cutters are an acquired taste, you have to get used to using them.  My rotary cutting skills need some work

 

Measure twice, Cut once



• Iron-  If you are new to sewing, you should know that you kind of have to develop a love for ironing, this goes against everything in my nature but it helps things to look much nicer.
•  Pin- some people are pinners and some aren't.  I don't like to pin, but if I'm honest with myself, I'm not good enough to forgo pinning.



someone should make pins with funner tops.



• Sew!  I don't usually worry too much about seam allowance,  I just sew where it looks right.  I also don't worry about matching my thread exactly.  The beautiful thing about sewing is that it can be very forgiving if everything isn't done perfectly.  Some of us can't cut a straight line, so what?  Either way you end up with new curtains in your 'dinning room.'

Houndstooth Sleeveless Cardigan/Sweaterdress Brainstorm

I bought this awsome fabric during a bit of a fabric shopping spree a few days ago.  I Love it.  I've been trying to decide what it wants to be.  I really don't want to use a pattern, I want to learn to make my own patterns.  A dress form would really help at this point.  I made a 'mockup'  the other night but it didn't come out like I wanted.  I think I'm going to continue to try to tweak the mockup until I have what I want.  Here are some pics from my brainstorming folder.   

The pics are not exactly what I'm going for but its something.  I only have one yard but the fabric is probably close to 60" wide, It should be because it was $30 something dollars a yard (except on sale).  Stay tuned for the finished product.