Category: sewing

Tuesday Project Roundup: Morbid Curiousity Edition

Karen2 Comments

So…Friday is my 10-year high school reunion. I’m going, because the curious part of me that “has hobbies and sees what happens” knows that if I don’t attend and see how bad it really is, I’m always going to wonder. (Also, I thought, “What if someone in a book I write needs to go to a high school reunion and I don’t know the exact feelings of displacement? I’d better go.”)

Of course I made a dress for it (pictures next week). But I also decided to make a clutch, which gives you something to do with your hands when you’re standing around talking at an alcohol-less event.

Obviously it still needs a lining, but it’s turning out well.

Most importantly, it’s nice and roomy, as Toby shows…

…because it needs to hold my flask. To quote the best high school reunion movie ever,
“Who needs hard alcohol?”
“I do!!”

Tuesday Project Roundup: The Lounging Before The Crafty Storm

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Presenting: Lounge pants! These are a vast improvement over my old John Deere green pair from J. Crew.
And lounge shorts! Mr. Isbell really doesn’t get any sewing done for him, so when he asked I had to make him something. (Of course, he originally asked for a suit, and couldn’t understand why I didn’t jump on that project.)
And after I finished these, I went crazy thinking about fall patterns and fabrics and sewing plans and knitting plans and how I could replicate this coat for less than $250. It’s like the crafty version of the ant getting ready for the winter, I guess.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Tinged With Nostalgia (Or Disney)

Karen

Here’s another gingham dress from a 1970’s pattern:

And here’s a better representation of the color:

The yellow and the vintage styling remind me of the look of the film The Virgin Suicides:

On the other hand, Mr. Isbell saw it during construction and blurted out, “That looks like what a Disney princess would wear before she knew she was a princess!”

He meant it as a compliment, of course, and maybe it’s the same thing–just give me a grassy field and a daisy to pick.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Cool

Karen2 Comments

I had enough vintage fabric to make a dress AND something to lounge around the house in (although I’m thinking pants will get more use than a robe), so over the weekend I made the dress:

Now I’ll get my matching shoes and handbag and go to a pool party, where I will drink a Tom Collins…Wait, no I won’t. The dress just makes me feel like I could.

(And because I don’t want to keep you in suspense about the sweater, I finished it and did not run out of yarn. I left it at work, though, so no picture. Just imagine something beige and a little lumpy-looking.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Back In The Saddle Again

Karen

I was wondering last week why I felt so thwarted (creatively speaking) and realized I haven’t finished any new sewing projects in a month. (The denim dress I was working on the last few weeks did not work. Goodbye, denim dress.) I also realized I hadn’t had a day off just to be home and sew in a month, so I took Friday off to pick up the bike and make a dress.This reminds me of cowboys, for no particular reason. Maybe it’s the topstitching, which is getting lost in the print but can be seen if you click on the picture below.

On a roll from the Friday/Saturday dressmaking (that worked! and was cute!) I made some placemats on Sunday from oilcloth:

They’re reversible, although my camera didn’t like taking pictures of all that blue and tried to make it pink:

So a good weekend. I can wear my cowboy dress and serve huevos rancheros on my placemats and sing Gene Autry songs.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Where’s My AARP Discount? Edition

Karen3 Comments

Projects are still continuing here at Chez Crafty; they’re just going a little more slowly now that I want to be outside, have to control the snail plague in my garden (more on that tomorrow), and need to learn how to ride a bike again (yeah).

I’m working on a denim dress that should be finished soon, but I’m much more excited about the next project in line: finding a use for some truly awesome vintage fabric my grandmother in Nebraska gave me.

Here’s the fabric:
(Approximate time from laying down of fabric to arrival of cat: 2.2 seconds)

And here’s what I’m considering making with it:
It’s a robe/housedress from what looks like the very early 70’s, to put on in the morning and putter around the house in. I could even make a matching headscarf! (Hey, I already wear muumuus; I might as well embrace my inner 80-year-old.)

My only reservation is that a robe wouldn’t get as much public wear time as a dress, and that’s a shame because the fabric is SO fabulous. So I’m still considering.

Wednesday Project Roundup: Dresses For The Prairie Edition

Karen2 Comments

I was able to finish the both dresses I wanted to make and wear to the family reunion this weekend–yay for days off prior to camping trips!

The plaid dress is for the airplane and has handy big pockets. (It was inspired by this version from A.P.C. for $120.)

And the beige linen check dress was inspired by meandering poetically through the pasture land, avoiding cow pies and thistles:
I used my new initial labels on it, too. Because it’s important to have a monogrammed linen muumuu in which to wander the prairie. Just ask the pioneers.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Dressing Like I’m Six

Karen

I think I had a top with sleeves like this when I was little, but I can’t remember. Something about the smock-y shape and those straight Jetson sleeves seem very familiar to me:

And I know I had a pair of these when I was a kid (in pink), but look: Saltwater Sandals come in adult sizes, too!

I’ll wear the top and the sandals together today and maybe play My Little Pony after work. Or maybe Charmkins.

(I’m actually telling myself the top looks more sophisticated than juvenile and the sandals are just retro. Here’s a detail of the yoke inset and the fabric, a really nice black tweed linen.)Nothing like dressing to feel young.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Beige Rectangle Edition

Karen2 Comments

I can’t say it was the most thrilling week of projects, but I did finally get a new bath mat made for the miniscule bathroom in the apartment:

To give you an idea of scale, the bathmat is made of two hand towels sewn together. Hand towels. I had to make my own, obviously, because standard-size bathmats were way too big for the floor space.
And here’s a scarf I made out of a long piece of linen, finishing the edges with my sister-in-law’s serger. Once again this is a blatant copy of–I mean it’s “inspired by”–something I saw online here.

(Also, see that stripey dress? I didn’t make that. It came from a store, ready to wear. I’d almost forgotten that feeling.)