“We need more pillows!”

Much like this video, I decided we needed more throw pillows in all the rooms. I got two done over the long weekend and have two more cut out.

This one is for the basement and has a nice IKEA feather-and-down insert so it gets that good “chop.” Fabric is from the local Design Company, a weird place that has some really nice stuff if you dig.
A leopard print oblong pillow on a navy blue couch

This one is for the old couch in my new office and uses a pillow form I had and some stash Kaffe Fassett quilting cotton. I mis-cut the fabric so the cover’s a little snug but it works, even if it’s giving off hot dog vibes.
A long narrow pillow in aqua japanese print on an orange couch

I don’t think sewing saves one a ton of money EXCEPT in the case of home decor. Nothing like getting two pillows with removable zip covers for about $30.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Yeehaw!

I’m moving all the sewing stuff this week so I had to finish a shirt I started after Christmas. This is a flannel bandanna print from Suppose, the fabric store on the way to the hot springs in Idaho, that I bought in November.

A cropped button up shirt in a white-on-black bandanna print hanging against a white closet door.

I made the cropped version of the Closet Core Jenna Shirt because I bought the end of the bolt and didn’t have enough yardage for the regular view. The cropped view looks kind of weird on the hanger but it works pretty well with high-waisted pants… perhaps even my Yosemite Sam pants for a full cowboy fit?

Tuesday Project Roundup: Little Gifts

After Christmas I sewed up a couple zip cases for coworkers who’d sent me little presents in the fall. I used stash fabrics and bias but ended up ordering the zippers with a Wawak shipment (because I wanted metal teeth and only had plastic/nylon ones). I thought the pattern might be fiddly but with 1/8″ basting tape, it wasn’t that bad.

Two round small cases on top of each other, in bright colors.

The two cases open. One has pink mushroom print lining and one has black and blue check lining.

These are little–just four inches across and about an inch high–so I’m not sure what they’ll actually be used FOR, but they were easy to stick in a mailer and ship. (Also, do we all know about Pirate Ship? Cheapest shipping possible and a better interface than USPS.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Christmas Sewing Saga

I didn’t have too much gift sewing this year, although one thing didn’t get started until December: I got Doc’s brother in their family gift exchange that they do in January and he said he wanted a custom shirt. I promptly forgot about that until I asked Doc’s sister at the end of November what Brother might want and she said, “I really think he’s expecting a shirt.” Shit!
A mens shirt hanging in front of a white closet. It is black with red, yellow, and blue vintage muscle cars on it.

 

Brother is a car guy with a vintage Cougar, so much searching later, I found the last yardage in existence of the old Alexander Henry muscle car print (from a shop in Wyoming that still hasn’t checked their email, but shipped promptly). Brother was a size 4X, according to Sister, so after googling to see what chest measurement that corresponded to, I bought the Helen’s Closet Tofino Top pattern because that went up to 60 inches.

That’s the size I made and it was a delightful pattern to put together. But does it fit? READER, HE HASN’T EVEN TRIED IT ON YET. 😑 At least it was an easy sew?

 

Moving on, Doc got another stretch woven print shirt, this time in a Hawaii volcanoes print (from Sew Dynamic Fabrics, same place as his desert print). This fits and he wore it the day of Christmas, because he is a wise man. A men's shirt hanging in front of a white closet. It is black with turquoise and orange leis and volcanoes on it.

 

He also got new underwear, because it was time and he’s hard to shop for. But he’s always grateful (again, A WISE MAN) and these are quick to make (the Greenstyle Walbrook Boxer Briefs).Four pairs of men's underwear laid out on a bed. One is black, one is striped in gray and black, one has hedgehogs and mushrooms on a black background, and one has brown rabbits on a white background.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Contractor Gifts

Final walkthrough on the basement is scheduled for the 29th and I have the gifts I planned for the contractors done:

Two pouches on a sewing table. The one in front is made of orange, pink, and blue tweed. The one in back is made of tan technical fabric.

The two pouches opened up and showing their interiors with pockets and a pen loop.

The tan one went together with no issues at all. The tweed one fought me every step of the way, and part of that was poor construction choices on my part–I added Soft and Stable interfacing to all the parts and it was just too thick along with the fabric. Making matters worse, the turquoise lining fabric I had in my stash turned out to be bulletproof, and my machine just refused to sew through more than three layers of it (a first). So I ended up HAND SEWING all the binding down, an exercise in frustration.

But they’re done and they look pretty clean, so they’re wrapped up and ready with a thank-you note for next week. (Assuming we get the toilet put in and we can find different light fixtures and the floor guys can fix the gouges the plumber’s drill left when falling down the stairs… it’s kind of been “two steps forward, one step back” for a week.)

Wednesday Project Roundup: The Annual Birthday Shirt

Doc got a rare non-cat print shirt for his birthday this year. He has eleven years of cat shirts and only wears them on “Feline Fridays,” so I decided he needed something for the other days of the week.

I found this excellent scenic desert print at Sew Dynamic Fabrics. It’s a recycled poly stretch woven and I used a wicking fabric for the inside yoke, so hopefully it will feel like his REI-brand performance shirts.

A man's shirt in a scenic desert print in shades of orange and green

The pattern is, of course, McCalls 6044, for easily the 30th time. At this point I should probably trace it off onto something sturdier before the tissue disintegrates, but I generally am rushing to make these, heh.

Tuesday Potential Projects: What If We Got A Dog For The Fashion?

Things are lonely at home without my orange boy. I don’t think I’m ready for another creature yet, but I also think another cat would remind me too much of all the ways it’s not Toby So maybe a dog someday? I don’t know. A dog sounds hard (not as hard as a senior cat, but still…).

HOWEVER. I could SEW things for a dog. We could MATCH! (That last pattern envelope is sending me.) Pattern cover with a line illustration for the Green Pepper Patterns "Warm & Dry Dog Coat"

Pattern cover with a line illustration for the Green Pepper Patterns "Spot's Hoodie"

Image with two dogs in coats. Text says Closet Core Patterns - Make a dog coat! - Free PDF download

Pattern envelope for Simplicity 9663. There is a line drawing of a woman in a turtleneck and her little dog in a coat with a matching turtleneck.

 

Tuesday Project Roundup: Gift Bags

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. Nine fabric gift bags piled on a carpeted floor. They are bright prints of christmas ornaments and wreaths in red, pink, and turqupise.

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).

Tuesday Project Roundup: Baby’s First Barrel Legs

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?
A pair of sienna brown barrel leg trousers hanging on a white closet door

 

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:
Still from a Looney Tunes cartoon showing Yosemite Sam wearing barrel leg pants in a saloon

 

I might just be too old for this style? I saw this the other day about Pant Fashion and it’s extremely accurate: screenshot of a tweet that says, "Whatever style pants look like shit to you are the pants you're supposed to wear, and as soon as they start to look normal to you, those are not the right pants anymore. You should always be wearing pants you think look stupid."

Tuesday Project Planning: Gifts For Contractors

I think I’ve mentioned that the general contractor on the basement project is a woman. I love her: She wears heels and swishy coats and Chanel earrings and is organized and formidable. Meanwhile her husband, who works with her (she is clearly the boss, though), is an outdoor guy–he drives a tan Toyota with a lot of gear strapped to it and was eyeing all the camping stuff on our basement shelves.

So guess which fabric is going to be a tech pouch for each person as a thank-you gift when this project wraps up around Christmas? Tan outdoor fabric and black trim on the left; orange and pink tweed fabricand satin lining on the right.

Once again, I had everything in the stash except for black trim. Eagle-eyed readers may remember that tweed from the coat I made in 2021–this is why you always save the scraps from the good stuff!

I”m going to use the LearnMYOG Tech Pouch pattern again. In the outdoor fabric, it’ll look like a cool way to organize chargers and pencils and things. In the tweed, it might look more like a Chanel clutch but will still hold her double phones and notebook. (And if they don’t like them, their kids can use them for art supplies and Legos.)

Something to fill the time! Hooray!