Category: Tuesday Project Roundup

I finally made some matching machine covers for the Luxury Sewing Lair so now the decorating is all done.

Look at all those matching machines! I used the Closet Core free patterns  for this but adjusted them for my machines: I cut the serger/coverstitch one down about an inch in width and two inches in height based on the last time I made it since it’s a little big for a Juki. And I had to add quite a bit of width/length for the sewing machine cover, since my 740 is about twice the size of a regular machine.

The fabric is from Spoonflower. I just guessed quantities and got a yard of their heavier sateen wideback. At 108″ I was just able to fit all three covers on there, but I didn’t have enough to make a table pocket for the back of the machine cover.

That 6.5 oz sateen is a nice substrate, though. Part of me wants to get more printed so I can have a pillow on the couch that matches the machine covers, but that might be getting a little TOO matchy-matchy.

Did you know? When you sew two shirts at a time, you end up with two shirts! I don’t usually batch sew things so this feels kind of like magic–I know intellectually that it took twice as long to make two of them, but it feels like I got a bonus one for no extra sewing time.

First there’s a Robert Kaufman woven stripe, which I think is intended as quilting cotton but looks like a washed oxford. It’s soft but substantial; I flat-felled all the seams and added a pocket and a contrast inside yoke (and a fancy label).

The second one is Liberty from deep in the stash, which I’m calling my “Easter dress.” This one got French seams and a contrast inside yoke not to be fancy, but because I didn’t have enough main fabric. (That contrast is also Liberty and it’s from even deeper in the stash–maybe 16 years old?) I can’t get the phone camera to capture that neon coral background and neon pink leaves situation very well, but trust me that it’s BRIGHT.

The pattern for both of these was the Jenna Shirt from Closet Core, which I’ve made three times before (only two made it to the blog). It’s my current ideal button-up shirt pattern, mostly because it’s oversized which means I won’t Hulk out of it after a year.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.)

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!

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.

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).

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

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.)

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.

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.

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).