Here’s a cute little needlekeep that goes with all the tomato pin cushions I made. Sharon at Liberty Rose strikes again with another fun class! This is hand-stitched out of wool, and only took a couple hours. I added the small tomato pin cushion on the end – I always like to add my own thing to a project :). This is small enough to throw in your purse, along with a few skeins of floss and an embroidery project.
I decided to try something different. I was at Jo-Ann Fabrics last week and saw their Hawaiian print fabric on sale for 50% off. In a fit of inspiration (or insanity) I thought it would be a great idea to make matching Hawaiian shirts for my son and husband. I’ve haven’t done much garment sewing and was second guessing this decision after I got home with all the fabric and the pattern. I started with my son’s shirt – I figured since it was much smaller that if I made mistakes it wouldn’t be as big a deal to fix them. The shirt was finished over the course of two days and I am very pleased with the results!
I used a Simplicity pattern and followed the directions exactly, even when I didn’t quite understand what I was doing. I had some issues with the collar, but when I just followed the directions instead of trying to overthink it, it turned out exactly as it should. The buttonholes were a snap since my machine has an automatic buttonhole maker. The great thing is, you can input a buttonhole size and it will then create as many buttonholes as needed that exact same size. Now I just have to make my husband’s!
The internet is a great place to find tons of fun projects and BOMs – all for free! I have been following a few websites and wanted to share them with you as well. This is just the tip of the iceberg, once you start doing google searches on free patterns and free BOMs, you will find some many things to make that it would actually use up your fabric stash! Here are some of my favorites that I browse on a regular basis. I have yet to commit to any of these, but they are on my list:
Enjoy! If you know of other good sites, please share in the comments.
After I finished making the sea creatures for my son, I saw this cute little Dolphin pattern by Melly and Me. I ordered it online (but it is also featured in a recent issue of the Australian Homespun magazine (issue #79)). I was able to get it cut out and sewn together in less than 2 hours.
I used some left over Fourth of July fabric since my son’s favorite color is blue and his favorite shape is stars. I introduced this as Dee Dee Dolphin, but my son re-named her “Big Mama Whale” since she takes care of his other sea creatures. Too cute!
My son helped me design these stuffed toys – he picked the sea creatures and fabric, and also helped me stuff them. We had a lot of fun making these together! I used batik fabrics for all the toys and the bag (doesn’t it look like kelp?) to give them that underwater look. I hope you enjoy them!
It’s been too busy for me to finish up a new project or the March Pattern (it’s coming, I promise) so it’s time for another book review! This review is for “Sew and Stow” by Betty Oppenheimer (Storey Publishing, 2008).
This book features 31 projects to “carry, hold, organize your stuff, your home, and yourself” including a grocery tote, shoe hideway, cleaning caddy, and gardening apron. The projects themselves are geared towards confident beginners and intermediate sewers and most can be completed in the same day.
The author takes a very technical approach to sewing and the first two chapters go in depth on how to select the correct equipment, fabric, and tools, and then discusses techniques for cutting, sewing and finishing. She gives details on the different elements to consider when selecting fabric including water resistance, durability, hand, and weave. There are also tables that organize fabrics by weight and weave which are very useful when selecting the perfect fabric for your project.
In the techniques chapter she provides some specific ways to transfer patterns, layout the pattern pieces (you want to make sure the nap is going the correct way), and different stitching types. Information is also presented on other techniques such as making casings, making gathers, forming pleats, creating bias binding tape, mitering corners, and so on. Everything is clearly explained with detailed directions and diagrams. You can learn a lot about sewing from reading these first two chapters alone.
The projects are all very useful and she has some great ideas for how to customize them. Sidebars offer more hints and tips so your projects turn out right the first time (for example, positioning a zipper pull on a continuous zipper so it functions correctly in both directions). The projects are also clearly explained with directions and diagrams, and each one has a color photo.
The last chapter of the book is my favorite, called “Stow it Your Way,” because it discusses how to design your own pieces. In this section she walks you through the process of creating a customized sewing caddy, file box, and some other projects. These projects don’t include formal patterns, but the author provides enough design information for a confident sewer create some quality customized projects. As someone interested in creating patterns, I found the techniques discussed in this section to be very valuable.
I think the main shortcoming of the book is that some of the projects featured on the cover (the sewing caddy) don’t actually have a pattern in the book. Instead, they are discussed in the last chapter and the reader has to design this – including calculating the cutting dimensions for each pattern piece, figuring out how many pockets to include, and in what order to sew the pieces. This is actually pretty easy to do if you read the first two chapters and the design chapters (and reading through some of the other projects that have patterns won’t hurt either), and it gives you more freedom to create the project exactly as you want. However, some people might be disappointed when they realize that the sewing caddy, dog bed, bedroll, and file box don’t include a full pattern.
Overall, this is one book I am happy to have in my library. The technical information and diagrams are well worth it to me and I enjoy the challenge of designing my own projects.
Winter is almost over and I am looking forward to spring. On my last snow day, I made this pencil roll to hold my colored pencils. I used some nice spring fabrics that coordinated nicely with the pencil colors. You can also use this to hold crochet hooks, make-up brushes, or even knitting needles!
If you are feeling especially crafty (or have the time), you can embroider your name on the flap or on the outside.
The January Sewing Club pattern is finally ready! I was trying to think of something fun to kick off the new year and figured that any sewer can always use another pincushion. This one is nice because you have a place to store your thimble, thread and snips. I was inspired by something similar I saw at an antique store. Enjoy!
Click here to download a .pdf of the pattern. (1.6 MB)
Happy New Year! I had a great holiday and enjoyed my time off. I was able to get my sewing room set up and organized, which is a huge help. Now I have a place to spread out my projects and I don’t have to clean up after myself each time I stop working. I can already see my productivity increasing.
Here is one of the first projects I made in the new sewing room:
I actually had some help from my son on this one. He wanted a heart pillow and picked out this green fleece from the scrap bag. He liked it because it was “fluffy”. He helped me draw the heart and I sewed it up. He did all the stuffing himself (which he was quite proud of), and carries this everywhere. The next project on his agenda is a blue star pillow. I’m glad to see he has the crafting gene.
Announcing Keep It Thimble’s first giveaway! Put your name in the hat for a chance to win this Christmas stocking I made. The pattern is free from the McCall’s website. You will need to enter your email in order to get it – and so far I haven’t been spammed by them.
To enter, just leave a comment on this post. Be sure to provide a valid email address. The winner will be chosen at random on December 18th. You will be contacted for your mailing address if you are the winner!
Keep it Thimble 