All posts tagged Sewing Sunday

Sewing Sunday: June Edition — Namaste!

Finished yoga mat bag

Earlier this month, I received an e-mail from my friend, Rachel, asking me if I’d be willing to make a yoga mat bag for her.  Her timing was really serendipitous, as I had been thinking about making a yoga mat bag for myself.  After receiving her e-mail, it was clear to me that I had found June’s project!  After looking at a few online, it seemed simple enough, so I figured I could take a few measurements and freewheel without a pattern.

Rachel’s only requirement was that she be able to bike with it (which was actually a requirement of mine, too), so I decided that I should use a more durable fabric, which necessitated a trip to Fabric Row.  I picked out a cheerfully patterned indoor/outdoor fabric and got enough of it to make two bags–one for her and one for me.  I started by cutting out fabric for only one bag in case I had to make any adjustments to the size or design.  If that ended up being the case, I figured I’d keep the first bag and give Rachel the improved bag.

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Sewing Sunday: May Edition – Alteration Adventures

Shirt ruffle pattern

I have a confession to make.  I didn’t actually sew on a Sunday this month.  In fact, I just got May’s project done today under the wire.  (Phew.)  It’s been kind of a busy month, and I found myself without any free Sundays to sew.  Next month’s looking better.  The unfortunate byproduct of waiting until today to finish my project is that my second floor has just about reached inferno conditions due to the heat wave and the fact that I’m stubbornly not putting my air conditioners in until it’s at least June–not ideal for sewing and using a hot iron.  But I persevered, and now I’m happy to say that I have a new(ish) shirt.

Ann Taylor blouseThe reason I say new(ish) is that I decided to dive into the world of alterations this month.  I’ve had this shirt for eight years (shown at left) that I really like because of the pattern on the material–very organic and kind of art nouveau-y.  It came from Ann Taylor, and it’s a well-made silk shirt, but apparently it was no match for my under-arm perspiration.  (Seriously, what is in that stuff?  Pure acid?  And why does it turn some of my t-shirts’ armpits bright orange?  It’s gross, really.)  This winter I noticed that it had developed some holes in the armpits (in addition to, despite my best eco-friendly dry-cleaning efforts, some lovely discoloration).  Saddened by this development, I was trying to figure out a way to keep the shirt from the landfill since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to donate it with holes in the pits.  Then it dawned on me that perhaps I could turn it into a lovely summer blouse, since I have a shortage of those.  Problem solved.

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Sewing Sunday: April Edition – The Timeless Pencil Skirt

Zipper on skirt

I’m not sure if it’s because Mad Men has returned or if it’s something else, but I’ve really been wanting to make myself a pencil skirt.  They’re super versatile, and they’re form-flattering.  Since the weather’s getting warmer, and I only own about three summer weight skirts, I decided this was a good project for April.  Your basic pencil skirt really only consists of three pieces of fabric–front, back and waistband (okay, really it’s four if you count the two halves of the back)–so I figured it would be pretty easy to make.  Since I still consider myself at the beginner intermediate level when it comes to sewing, I figured this would be a fine project to tackle.  There would be some opportunities to try some slightly more advanced techniques, like altering the pattern to get the right fit, and I had never sewn an invisible zipper to a piece of clothing before, so that would be a first.

I debated making myself a pencil skirt pattern using my measurements, as there were a few tutorials online, and this one especially looked good.  In the end, though, I decided that it might be safer to find a pattern I liked and alter it.  (I also didn’t have paper that was large enough to cut out the pattern, so that was also a deterrent.)  As I mentioned last month, my mom has a whole bunch of patterns that she inherited when my grandmother passed away.  A lot of them are from the 60s, so I thought I might be able to find a pencil skirt pattern in her stash, but no luck.  I ended up purchasing a McCall’s pattern from Joann Fabrics (on sale for 99¢!).  It was pretty close to what I wanted, so I figured I could make just a few alterations and be good.

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