Category: sewing

I know the me of 25 years ago, who worked in a stationery/gift store and treated Martha Stewart’s December issue like the Bible, would not recognize the me of today, who thinks, “Wrapping gifts just takes so much TIME. And there’s so much waste!”

But you know, change is how we grow…and reusable fabric gift bags are how we evolve.

I, uh, meant to make these two years ago when I bought the fabric but they kept getting pushed for December birthday/holiday gifts. So I banged them out Thanksgiving weekend in an afternoon and now Doc and I are set for gift “wrap” for each other’s presents for the rest of our lives.

I just used half yards and fat quarters and didn’t calculate any finished sizes. This tutorial was a good reminder on how to make a drawstring bag (the casing always trips me up if I try to do it from memory).

I made the brown twill barrel leg pants I was thinking about at the end of September, because what else am I doing with my time now that I don’t have a senior cat to take care of?

 

I used the Coe Trouser pattern from Daughter Judy and some Ventana Twill I’d had in my stash since before the pandemic.

I should have made a straight size 12 but graded to a 10 at the waist…and then had to let the seams out at the waist as much as I possibly could, so the onseam pockets are less integrated into the seam line than they’re meant to be.

But they weren’t hard to make and they fit, especially now that the twill has broken in. But how do I feel about them? Brown trousers, fitted at the waist but big in the hip, tapered at the ankle, hmmm where have I seen this before? OH WAIT:

 

I might just be too old for this style? I saw this the other day about Pant Fashion and it’s extremely accurate:

I’d been meaning to make cases for our traction spikes as part of the car organizing spree in September but I ran out of sewing steam a little. But after I knocked out Doc’s shirt, I sat down for a couple hours and got the spike cases done:

 

The case is just a big zipped rectangle with a slip pocket inside to hold thin foam to pad them against the spikes. For that inside slip pocket, I decided to use microfiber towels to absorb water, because we’re putting these away after snowy hikes and they’re wet.

I cut up an old stripey dusting towel for the inside of mine:

And Doc got an old car wash towel inside his:

 

I used the free tutorial from Stitchback DIY Trail Gear. I had to make Doc’s case a little taller (the pattern comes in one size) but that was just a matter of adding an inch to either end. Stitchback’s instructions for the zipper were fantastic–I’ve never gotten such nice corners before!

I had everything on hand (foam, Cordura fabric, grosgrain, old towels) except for a long enough zipper for Doc’s case, but a quick trip to Salt Lake Sewciety fixed that. (I miss Joann but they sure didn’t have zipper by the yard.)

I finally finished a shirt for Doc that had been languishing since I cut it out in August. Good thing he runs hot so he can wear short sleeves year-round:

Pattern is New Look 6197 again (like last year’s version) but I used the instructions from the Daughter Judy Genra Shirt for the facings (you sandwich them in for a clean finish–no hand sewing!)

I got this fabric when I got the longer cuts for me for that Pool Dress, back before the tariffs (cry). This is a screen print, not a block print, but the base is the same–light and soft.

Pool Summer is over but I still need to blog this block print dress I finished in August. It was the perfect thing to throw on if you needed to stop somewhere after the pool and look pulled together despite your stringy chlorine hair and general sun-baked vibe:

The pattern is the Daughter Judy Genra Shirt and Dress–my fifth time making the pattern (three shirts and now two dresses). It’s a good one! The fabric is from Etsy, where I discovered you could get 5 yard cuts for $30.

Emphasis on could–tariffs now are 50% on anything from India so I’m glad I got a few cuts in that one order I placed. I’ll be set for the next Pool Summer.

I took my car in for its 60,000 mile service last week and, inspired by how nice Doc’s new car is, decided it was time to clean some things up. Such as the situation in the back hatch:

 

I sewed the stuff sacks for our poles I was talking about and got some cargo nets (OEM for the rear seat one, generic for the sides) and just LOOK AT IT:

 

The stuff sacks took about 30 minutes each and the measurements in the pattern generator worked perfectly:

 

I even got a headlamp pouch sewn up and my center console (where it lives) organized, too. (Did you know they make organizing trays for the center console?! And silly little cup liner inserts with orange trim to match the stitching in your car?!)

I got my new suit finished just in time for the Crestwood pool to CLOSE for the season–but I got two wears in there and am going to try for another two this week at the Murray pool.

Did it turn out as sporty I wanted? Yes! Was the pattern kind of bad, like I thought it might be? Sadly, also yes.

To be fair, I’m not sure if one issue was one I created: I wasn’t making the bottoms reversible (because I didn’t have enough fabric), so I cut the swim lining a little smaller than the outside pieces, which is standard best practice so the lining kind of rolls to the inside and you don’t see it on the edges. However, I think that smaller swim lining is causing the outer fabric to bunch and not be smooth because the stretch percentages don’t quite match.

On the other hand, the instructions to attach the shoulder straps to the back strap on the top were flat-out bad and I re-engineered them entirely, so I guess we can split the blame.

But it turned out cute overall and it’s really comfortable! And look how the bottoms cover my entire ass! (Yes, I was trying to flex here to look swole.)

The details:

• Rae Top and Charlie Bottoms from Edgewater Avenue
• Palm breeze swim tricot from Surge Fabric Shop
• One-inch swim elastic from Tailor Made Shoppe
• Swim lining and narrow clear elastic from the stash