Project: Teeny-Tiny, Toy-Person Tracksuit

In the extremely large pile of unfinished projects, more commonly known as my office, I found pattern pieces for this couture 18" doll sweatsuit. 
The material was all cut out and the pants were mostly finished, just the jacket was left.  Should be super simple right? Wrong.
After spending my Sunday afternoon and evening wrestling with this high fashion failure, I'm reminded of why I kept putting it off.  
But my niece was in town and I'd been sitting on some unfinished items for awhile.  Last Christmas, 2011, I gave her a trousseau of dreamy dolly duds, but there were still many more in the works.  They were supposed to be Auntie Joy's Spring 2012 Line, but alas, that never came to be.  So Spring 2013 it is.

These items were made from Simplicity pattern 7083. 
The biggest complication with this sweatshirt is of course the zipper.  In the notions list it calls for a 5" separating zipper.  When I first began the project my local Joann's Fabrics only had this 5" zipper...it doesn't separate.  I figured, what the heck, it's not like the doll is going to be put out about having it go over her head.  But of course, it irks me that's it's not done exactly right.
I've just googled "5 inch zipper" and now, within just the last month, there exists a place to find these speciality items, Zipper That Doll. They even come in colors other than black and white...well, at least I know for next time.

Here's a picture breakdown of the steps.  The pattern instructions skip a bit.

This little presser foot is made specifically for zippers.

See how close the needle gets to the zipper?!  Fabulous.

Below is a pictorial of how I pinned and sewed the pattern.

I like Fray Check, a lot!  Especially on doll clothes.  The seam allowance is only 1/2 and inch instead of the standard 5/8 inch generally used on life size clothes.

When pinning, I find the center first, then pin out.  Just a little something I learned while completely that 4-H sewing unit as a child.

For the hood I added a small, hidden stitch at the very tip top, where the two seams meet.  I think this will help hold it's form.

Finally, the facing.  I do wish I wouldn't have clipped the zipper ends.  Instead, I think it would have been more clean to fold the ends under and stitch.

 

And Voila! Six hours later, this little masterpiece is complete...I do need to thank the second season of Downton Abbey for helping me get through this.

January 20, 2013

Project: Card Table Tablecloth

This weekend we are hosting a work party. This isn't unusual for us. We love to get people together! But this time the party is at someone else's house, a friend of hubby's. Here's the kicker, I'VE never been there. So I'm having to make preparations based on pictures and his descriptions. As a result there are lots of things being done at the 11th hour.

I've just found out we need to bring 3 of our card tables for different "stations" throughout their enormous home. Small problem, I don't really have proper tablecloths for these little guys. I figured, no problem, I'll just buy some. I can add them to my arsenal.

Do you know how hard it is to find card table tablecloths?! No wonder I haven't gotten any before now. 

Which leads us to where we are now, sewing some up from scratch.

Now the thing about sewing is it's super easy, and can be cost saving if you purchase your fabric at a discount but it's also time consuming.
I went to the local home decorating warehouse for fabric. Luckily, I found a roll of 5.5 yards of fabric for $21, less than it would cost for me to buy a single tablecloth. 

Just like with painting, a successful sewing project is all about the preparation. Measuring and cutting took about 15 minutes. The fabric is 56" wide, so I cut 56" long as well. My tables are 34" x 34". Super simple.

Now for the time consuming part, ironing. Instead of pinning the edges, I find ironing to give a much nicer edge. It took me about an hour and a half to iron all 4 sides of the 3 tablecloths into 1/2" hems. Since my fabric has a lined pattern it went very quickly.

All my prep made sewing up the hems a breeze. It only took 30 minutes to sew everything.

So voila, I have 3 matching card table tablecloths. All for under $25, including the spool of thread I had at home. 

However, that was a THREE hour project. What's the billable hourly rate for something like this?

January 10, 2013

Instagram photo April 1, 2012 Day 1 Reflection

Well, I'm back to the blog!

It's been nearly two years since I've actually posted...but I miss it...and have thought of returning SO many times. 
I've decided to dive right in with this very revealing Instagram photo in the hopes that it will motivate me to get crackin!

view full image

"#photoadayapril Day 1 Reflection: in my hovel of an office...so many unfinished projects "

Sheesh, what a mess!  I'm now just a teensy bit embarrassed, but today's title was reflection and this pretty much sums it up.

Disney on Ice

Disney on Ice at the Honda Center.

When the boys heard Delaney would be wearing her Cinderella costume they wanted to be princes.

Good thing I had some red velvet laying around.  I stitched these together last night.

They worked well as blankets too. It was a bit nippy inside the stadium. Great show and lot's of fun.

December 26, 2009

Cozies

Rett kept saying he wanted more "cozies"; Those are fuzzy pajama bottoms that he uses as lounge pants. 

Instead of buying more sets of PJ's with tops he would never wear, I figured I would just make him some, cause I can sew, right? 

Look very closely at this picture. These cozies were doomed before a single stitch was even set. Can I just say, in my defense, I was very distracted while cutting them out?

 November 3, 2009