Sew Grateful pattern giveaway

This is my second time participating in one of Debi's Sew Grateful Weeks. It is so fun and brings the community together. Many of you know my sewing beginnings. I learned to sew from amazing teachers at a now closed sewing lounge in Houston. The last night before the liquidation I was in a jeans making class. The owner, Sara, was nice enough to let us have first dibs on the inventory for half off. In my frenzied sense of loss over the store closing I bought just about one of every pattern they had. Including this one:

The Socialite Dress from Anna Maria Horner.

I never got around to making it, but I would love to send some of that Sew Crafty mojo forward. The store and amazing people in it actually changed my life and gave me a new creative outlet. This giveaway represents how grateful I am for the amazing seamsters that have been such a great influence in my life. Good luck and this giveaway will be open to anyone. To win, please leave me a comment about what you are grateful for. I will select a winner Friday, February 10th. 

French Roses quilt top completed

I am so pleased with how it turned out!

There is a weird mirror reflection on it, but it has turned out so darn cute. If you are interested in taking up quilting, this pattern is pretty foolproof. There is nothing exact about it other than cutting a few straight lines.

Here is a close up of my borders. The inner border is just my five flower fabrics in a repeating pattern. The pattern includes an ingenious way pf making them so it is quick and painless. The outer border  is just a long strip. All of my white fabric (and peony muslin) came from a really nice quality white sheet I thrifted. It has really held up well and has a nice weight to it.

It is winter in the quilt's new home, so I chose a flannel to back it. I plan on piecing the green flannel with a few scraps from the flower fabrics. I think I will bind it using the two red fabrics I have stacked on top there.

Isn't the green perfect and springy? It matched perfectly and was on sale for $2.50 a yard at Joann's. I love it! I am hoping to have it sandwiched this weekend, and maybe quilted. I plan to stitch in the ditch for quilting as the flowers will fray up when they are washed. I don't want to inhibit that by stitching over them. 

Basic T-shirt

I joined the Shirt A Month (SAM) group per Doobee, then realized I need to make a shirt now because I have three days left this month, and they are almost totally filled. I had New Look 6838 in my stash and a cut of camouflage knit I found on clearance at Joann's, so I thought 'what the heck.'

I really like this shirt! I made the whole thing in about an hour. I followed the measurements in the pattern and made an XL. I wound up taking it in an inch on both sides and the center back as well as the sleeves. Also, those sleeves are supposed to be 3/4 length. It was a bit huge. Now, take in consideration I don't work with knits a lot even though I would like to. I used my serger for everything except the neck and sleeve hems. I didn't hem the bottom. I'm tricky like that.

Here is my center back. It is wrinkly because I am holding up my hair. I almost cut it on the fold, but I had to take it in so much everywhere I am glad I didn't.

Here is a goofy picture of my neckline I used a very thin zig zag stitch. I didn't think Mr. Thinks He Can was shooting my face, so I am looking goofy. The neck was huge as well, but when I took in the center back that helped the neckline as well.

Overall it is a comfortable shirt. I always wear long sleeve T-shirts and I am proud to have made my first one. Next time I make it, I think I will go with a medium. I think I will even wear this one to work tomorrow.

Look at me, shirt a month challenge for January is in the bag! The quilt is looking awesome too. What a great weekend!

French Roses quilt update

I have discovered something about quilting. It doesn't make for fascinating blogging. It takes a while and in this case I am making the same thing 25 times before I move on to step two. Each of the 25 things takes about 10 minutes. In other words is a bit of a slow go. Here is my update though.

Here is how my flowers are shaping up. I have 15 (the ones on the left) fully together and the blocks all connected. I have a few spares that are put together. This quilt does feature an interesting way of putting the flowers together.

Here is a close up of one quilt block.  Remember, around the edges the fabric will fray, so the thread will be less obvious. It features two leaves and four flowers layers. You put the leaves on first and then the first layer. Then you cut the inside out. You can see what I am taking about on the back.

That way the most layers you are sewing in is two. That is much easier than sewing through five layers. I hope to have this top done by next weekend.

I am also joining a shirt a month challenge that Doobee brought to my attention. I need to get on that! I may do a Clover shirt or an old stand by since the quilt is taking up my time right now.

The start of a new quilt

I did it. I started a new quilt. This one is for a friend as a surprise that is really into shabby chic decor. I saw a version Little Miss Shabby did, and I knew I needed to make one.

This quilt is called French roses. I bought it off Etsy and had the pattern within three days. Love it! I have also been eyeing the Moda Bonnie and Camille Ruby line of fabric. I figured this was a match made in heaven.  I wound up mixing some Ruby with the past line called Bliss. My biggest concern is that it would look too juvenile.

I was concerned about cutting all the flower pieces, but it wasn't bad at all. I traced the outlines on my lightest fabric using my Frixion pen and then pinned it to the other four fabrics and cut them all out at once. It took about 45 minutes for the whole process. Why pin it?

My assistant likes to keep my fabrics warm whenever they are on the floor. This keeps me sane when she bunches up my projects. If you look closely you can see my pen markings.

Here is a sneak peek at how it should shape up. I haven't sewn anything yet, but I wanted to get a visual on how it would look. This quilt uses an applique technique that will allow the 1/4" seam allowance around each level of flower to fray. That will help set apart the colors some I think.

Here is a close up of one of the flowers. I am trying to think of binding. I want to see it all together, but I may use the aqua color that is used in some of the prints. That may help the kiddie-looking quilt situation. What do you think? Is it shabby chic?

Kitchen mat tutorial

I made a quilt that I just lost the love for. It was too bright and crazy to be a quilt. It sat as blocks for months until I had a sewing date with my friend Holly Saturday. She said to make it a kitchen or bathroom mat. Thanks, genius!

I googled 'kitchen mat tutorial' and came up with my own method based on what I found.

1. Place your fabric or top layer right sides together with an old beach towel. Wait, why a towel? I spill stuff sometimes and wipe it up with my rug. You know you do it too. It's about absorbency.

2. Sew around the edges, I went with a 3/4" seam allowance because my two fabrics didn't match up perfectly. Leave about a 6' opening to turn it right sides out.

3. Turn it right side out and iron it the way you would like it to lay. I also trimmed the corners because they got pretty thick. I then top stitched about an inch in which helped secure the 6" opening as well as making the fabric lay properly and not shift..

Before

After

I had a white clearance rug in there and it was filthy. My new one should hide dirt, absorb liquids and is totally washable. Love it! It's not perfect, but it was made to be spilled on. I may use my scraps and left over blocks to do some matching hand towels and pot holders.

Check out my new sewing table. It doesn't bounce like my plastic one, and it was cheap on Craig's list!

A very nice dress or two

The part of Mr. Thinks He Can will be played by Ryan Gosling.

True story. That also explains the glasses and general disorient going on with these shots. 

I really like how the Peony went together. It was a quick dress to make, and yielded nice results. I did make a muslin of the bodice, and that helped. Had I not I don't think it would have worked out at all. I let out the front waist darts a bit and took in and lengthened the top back darts quite a lot. I plan on making the cummerbund for this pattern in black fabric or maybe hot pink to match my zipper.

See the pull there at the top? I do mean it is hot pink! I also have my hands in my pockets for that picture.

I used some of the left over print from Brindy's quilt with squirrels running up trees. You can't see them, but I like knowing they are there.

Overall I am pleased with my new dress. It went together very quickly and I plan on making it again. I would like a V-neck version I think as well.

Check out the dress Holly made, and I mostly watched her make yesterday. She did a fantastic job on this Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity 2178 dress. It was a doozie because of the tie at the shoulder, but I believe we liked the results so much we both want to make another one. It should go faster this time. She also made the awesome curtains she is standing in front of as well. She is so accomplished like that.