Category: sewing

It got cold here and I needed a hiking layer. I just couldn’t get excited about the performance flannel options and already had two yards of this chartreuse Polartec and all the notions for it, so I sewed up a zip jacket:

I used the “Adult Plush Polar Jacket” pattern from Green Pepper, which is very similar to the pullover fleece pattern they have. The pockets on the Polar Jacket actually encompass the entire lower front; that seemed like it would get way too bulky for this fleece so I subbed in the pullover pockets  and made them out of supplex.

I also wanted to try binding the edge of the zipper in foldover elastic for a nicer finish, but I was rushing/treating this like a wearable muslin so it’s not the most professional. (It’s not the most professional in general; the fleece is soft and warm and light but was really hard to work with due to the lack of stability. Also it made a mess.)

But it’s good on the trail, warm but breathable, plus I’ve been wearing it at home a lot. Not bad for a project that was “free” [bought last year] and a couple sewing sessions.

We had a “pirate party” to attend and I uncharacteristically decided to go for it and sew us almost-matching costumes:

I traditionally don’t enjoy sewing or wearing costumes or single-use clothing, but this all turned out pretty fun. I prioritized being comfortable (no masks, wigs, or makeup); I made sure Doc’s pants could be easily altered into lounge pants; and doing the ruffles on my shirt delighted me. (Ruffles are always delightful.)

I used McCalls 8131 and muslin I had on hand for both shirts, and the free 5 Out Of 4 pajama pants pattern and some poly/cotton from Joann for Doc’s lounge pants. Doc’s pants are the capri length and I’ll take out the elastic and hem them up for summer lounge pants.

My pants are ready made and just tucked into boots I had, Doc’s headscarf was a bandana I had, and my headband and the sashes are literally just lengths of fabric. (The sword was part of our friend’s costume but I got to carry it for the night. Arr!)

All in all, not a bad use of time or resources. And now we’re equipped for any future piratical events!

 

Instagram has a whole hashtag of “quilts in the wild,” which is exactly what it sounds like: people showing off their finished quilt in a beautiful natural setting. So of course I dragged Doc up to the top of Millcreek after I finished hand sewing the binding on my little log cabin throw.

This is my first real quilt (not quilted coat) in over a decade and it was much more fun than I remember the last two being. I used 2.5″ strips to make log cabin blocks until I thought it was big enough and tried to not buy too much new fabric for it–I’d say it worked out to be 70% stash, 30% new. (I used leftover strips to piece the binding on the straight grain and an old sheet for the backing, too.)

This has been very thoroughly blogged so please enjoy more nearly-identical pictures of me holding up a quilt in the mountains (and Doc’s location sense):

OK bye! Until the next quilt!

I put on headphones and Beethoven piano concertos and spent about three hours Sunday machine quilting this (small!) throw:

I’m proud of how the diagonal lines are exactly lined up with the corners of the blocks on the front, even though I was pressing each block with steam and I only read later that that can distort the grain.

In the week or two it took to piece the top, the bottom sheet from a Target set ripped out at the corners when I was making the bed–so I made it the backing for this. It still feels weird to cut up brand-new fabric to sew into a quilt, but at least I could recycle a little.

Toby has already claimed this so if I can get it back from him, I just have to do the binding (by machine, I think, but we’ll see).

After playing with every possible arrangement for my rainbow log cabin blocks, I had a brainstorm to put a block of print in each corner and that was the winner:

Using all pieced blocks is probably more traditional but I’m just making this up as I go along, and I like how the rust helps the colors flow.

After all that thinking and rearranging, it only took about 30 minutes to sew the blocks together into a quilt top:

If I think too much about it, piecing a quilt still just seems odd (to this garment sewer, at least): you take small pieces of fabric and just sew them into ever-larger pieces? But it’s fun. At least, it’s fun until I try to wrestle 54″ of fabric under my machine to quilt it (the next step).

I finished all sixteen of my scrappy blocks over the weekend, still burning with Quilt Fever. Like I said last week, I gradually figured out “value” while making these–it’s not enough to contrast colors, like I was doing at first; you need to consider how dark or how light each color reads and contrast that.

But the thing about traditional quilt blocks is they’re traditional for a reason. Even with my less-than-ideally contrasting blocks, you can use the dark and light halves to make larger patterns and end up with a fairly cohesive quilt.

For example, did you want to make a giant sawtooth star out of your blocks? It kind of works!

Or you could try the traditional log cabin “sunshine and shadows” arrangement, where the lights and darks  make diamonds that blend into each other.

There are many, many more options for log cabin block layouts here. Will I try all of them before I decide? Probably. If you need me, I’ll be squinting at a wall covered in flannel in the sewing room.

I started buying fat quarters as fabric souvenirs over the last few years. In the last couple months, I found some cool quilters to follow on Instagram and started studying historical quilts. A couple weeks ago I got some Kaffe Fasset quilt books from the library. And now it’s full-on Quilt Fever over here.

I have flannel pinned to the wall for a “design board” and piles of my scraps everywhere and am just having a good time learning as I go. (You can see how I’ve gradually figured out I need more contrast between the light and dark “logs” in each block, for example.)

I don’t really have a plan; I’m just making blocks. I think I’ll get to 16 and see what I want to do–a throw? A wall hanging? I have enough scraps that I’m already thinking about using them in another quilt with slightly more complicated piecing (I’m fascinated by the name of the “Goose In The Pond” block)… or a sampler… or another quilt coat.

Who knows where Quilt Fever will take me! Wherever I end up, at least it will be warm.

I made a one-piece swimsuit for our day trip to Bear Lake–a couple months after I thought about it and in a different fabric (also from my stash). This was mostly to test the pattern (the Seabright Swimmer) in advance of making the long sleeve version for any winter hot tubs, but I was pleased with it overall.

The front feels very vintage!

 

And the back keeps the sun off!

My one regret? I used the inferior cotton swim elastic instead of the good rubber elastic…and when the cotton gets wet, it relaxes…and that plunging front needs a snug elastic to keep things decent. (I brought a bikini to the lake just in case and I ended up changing into it.)  That cotton swim elastic can shrink pretty dramatically, so I threw the suit in the dryer after this trip to try to fix it. But this might end up being a “poolside only” suit.

I also had to add two inches overall to the length of the pattern. My usual long torso adjustment is just one inch, but I gave myself wiggle room and used it all. (A short torso as drafted seems to be a common complaint with this pattern.)  Other than that it was an easy sew. I changed some construction to get finished seams in the top and that was simple too.

Will I make it again? Yes! But I’ll use the rubber elastic and put some sleeves on it.