Category: sewing

I sewed with LEATHER for the first time and it wasn’t that hard! Even six years later, I’m still impressed by what my Bernina 740 can do. I just put in a leather needle, selected the “leather” setting, and went to town. 

 

I used the Noodlehead “Petal Pouch” pattern I already owned (the small size is great for holding knitting notions) and a soft leather scrap from my trip to the creative re-use store. For the lining, I had the perfect size Liberty scrap leftover from a 2017 shirt. Blammo! A luxe, shiny little pouch made from, essentially, garbage.

I haven’t gotten into a big project since that travel backpack in January. It’s not that I don’t have sewjo, it’s more that I don’t have focus (due to work, the world at large, riding the Old Kitty Roller Coaster). But that’s OK, because there’s no shortage of smaller projects I can do, like gym stuff.

This is a Greentstyle Sky Tank in the shortest length with added powernet, auditioning to be a sports bra-top combo. This is fabric I bought vs. stash fabric but I only got a half yard (from Harmony, now sold out online).

Why is it auditioning? Because I wanted to try the clean finish construction method, even though I’ve made this before, and because I wanted to see if I liked the idea of a longline bra-top before I cut into … the Liberty activewear deadstock prints I just got from England (whoops).

Once we knew Toby was going to be ok on Saturday morning, there was a chunk of six or so hours when we could stop worrying but before we could bring him home. What do you do while you wait? Sew, of course.

This is another “in between top” (last seen in the fall), when you don’t need a full sweatshirt but could use long sleeves. Like before, I used the Named Patterns Sloane Sweatshirt, but I added about an inch total to the center front and back for a boxier shape. I also left off the bottom band–was it because I like the cropped look or because I forgot to add width to it to match what I did to the body? Who can say.

And that fabric! I just got rid of a lot of fabric I didn’t LOVE, so it was time to start using the good stuff. This is from a print run from Doops Designs, who usually does ready-made clothing but will offer some yardage periodically.  Obviously  I didn’t hesitate to get it shipped from Australia last year.

Using fabric I already have to make a pattern I’ve already made, twice in a row, was not thrilling sewing. But I needed gym bras and I was on a tear to sort and use all my sewing detritus, so the timing was right.

This is my trusted Greenstyle Embrace pattern with a layer of powernet between the front and the lining. The powernet was leftover from the bottle pocket on my travel backpack (!) and the scraps have been sitting in my “big athletic scraps” box for 3-5 years (!!).

I couldn’t be bothered to change the thread in my cover stitch machine so I just did a honeycomb stitch around the neck binding, but I immediately regretted it because the cover stitch looks so much more professional. Oh well! They’re finished and I already wore one to the gym yesterday. Plus I can check something off the “sewing intentions” list.

I started needing glasses for screens or sewing a couple years ago and got by with readers. Last year I got real prescription glasses but only wore them at home. But this year’s prescription is stronger and I need them for pretty much anything close now, so I have to carry them with me. Hence: Glasses cases! (I made one for my sunglasses while I was at it.)

I’d been looking at the Baggu puffy cases and trying to find some cool past season prints when I realized that I have everything I need to MAKE some, including fabric with cool prints (fat quarters from Harmony).

I did buy a pattern; I could have engineered this pretty easily but I wanted some mindless instructions to follow instead. I’m pretty sure the seller DID engineer the pattern with Baggu in mind–leave off the pocket and lanyard and it’s pretty much identical.

That seller even has a Kindle case pattern to mimic the Baggu one–maybe I need a matched set of puffy cases?

I sewed up the souvenir fabric I (finally) found at Stonemountain right away–mostly because I’m, uh, out of fabric storage space but also because I wanted a lighter layer as we inch towards spring.

This is the Marlo Sweater from True Bias, last made in 2021 (and modeled in the hallway mirror back then, too):

The fabric was a find in the Stonemountain sale attic, an organic cotton deadstock from Amour Vert. It’s beautiful quality but there was a running flaw about 2/3 across the width, so I got an extra half yard and cut around it.

I know the green and white could read “Christmas elf” to a lot of people but to me, it’s giving “Bermuda tennis club awning.” If only we had weather to match that vibe.

Finally, a project post for the travel backpack that consumed my life for a month. I posted about my self-induced struggles with it when it was done, but now I’ve taken it on a trip so I can give a full report.

We’ve seen this shot before but I wanted to show off the stripe webbing and accent zips again:

 

And here she is packed within an inch of her life. When I installed the recommended #10 zipper for the main compartment, I thought it was overkill–but I’m glad I listened to the instructions in this case, because I’m not sure a #5 zip would have made it:

 

The pattern suggested a way to make the backpack straps detachable so you could stow them behind the back panel; I didn’t use the silk clips as suggested because I had G-hooks in my stash. They worked pretty well (no accidental detaching so far):

And here they are stashed. The pattern left the back panel design pretty open to interpretation–it gave construction info but no pattern pieces, just inspiration photos. I ended up drafting a piece with curved sides that could also be a sleeve for a rolling luggage handle. (You can see how the whole thing sits crooked in this angle; yes that’s going to bother me forever.)

 

Other than being bothered by my construction mistakes, was it functional? Yes, overall! I had a moment where I thought a 32L would be TOO big, so I sized the pattern down 10% when I printed it and ended up with a 29-ishL size. Honestly, I could have used that extra 10% and I think it still would have fit under the airline seat.

The pockets were everything I wanted, though, and the fact they didn’t share volume with the main compartment really helped with packing. The front panel pocket fit the carry-on toiletries and the back laptop pocket fit my tech stuff and knitting. I ended up padding the laptop pocket with 2mm EVA foam  (on the back panel) and some Soft and Stable (on the inside panel).

 

I added interior pockets, too, but I didn’t really use them. You can barely see the inside lid mesh pocket in this picture but that was fun to add. (You can also see the hinge about an inch off-center in this interior shot.)

 

Am I proud of this, despite my errors? Yes. I was at a Cotopaxi store after I finished this and looked at their bags–and while they weren’t sewn crooked, the stitch quality and fabric weights just weren’t as nice as mine. My bag fit a weekend’s worth of clothes and in-flight entertainment and was comfortable to wear through airports, which were exactly my goals.

The details:

• Pattern: Prickly Gorse/MYOG Tutorials “TRVL 32L: Travel Backpack“
• Outer canvas: 600 Denier Magnatuff Plus Polyester from The Rain Shed
• Inner lining: Nylon Taffeta from The Rain Shed
• Mesh for inside lid pocket: KoolKnit Mesh from The Rain Shed
• Stretch mesh for side pocket: Brown Power Net from The Rain Shed
• #10 zippers for main compartment: The Zipper Lady
• #5 zippers for pockets: Wawak
• Gucci stripe webbing: Sewtopia (the link is to 1.5″ but they had 1″ in store, which is what I used)
• Back panel spacer mesh: in stash, originally from Salt Lake Sewciety
• 2mm EVA foam for straps and back panel: in stash, originally from Amazon
• Grosgrain binding in stash, originally from Wawak (huge rolls!)
• Assorted foldover elastics and hardware from stash

 

After I finished my backpack, I ended up making one more thing for my extremely short trip –a “tech pouch” to hold my Kindle and glasses and charging cords.

I had leftover stripe webbing and red zippers from the backpack, so I used snakeskin print denim scraps (from a pair of jeans I never posted) and went for a “MYOGucci” look:

I had everything in my stash–ripstop lining, interior zipper, grosgrain binding, and even the wide elastic for a pen loop.

After the struggles with my backpack, this went together really quickly, even if I broke my own rule and used another pattern from the Learn MYOG guy (something I said I’d never do after the fiasco with his other pack pattern). This “Tech Pouch” pattern is a new one from him and it’s definitely better (real marking points on the pattern, actual illustrations, and only $10 vs. $30).

This was pretty handy to have on the plane and I can even see using it instead of a purse for errands, since I’m quickly approaching the point I need my glasses for reading anything, not just screens.