All posts tagged sewing

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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Sewing Sunday: March Edition – Domestic Bliss

Finished Apron

For about a year now, I’ve been wanting to sew myself an apron.  I’ve been increasingly interested in the idea of the apron as a metaphor for domesticity, as well as what appears to be changing attitudes about what domestic life means to women.  I feel like so many professional, well-educated women I know (myself included) are also really embracing the trappings of homemaking, choosing to spend time cooking, sewing, baking, decorating and generally making their homes these inviting, beautiful places–all the while finding enjoyment in these domestic tasks while maintaining professional careers.  These same women also seem to frequently have an apron they love to wear and talk about as if they are extensions of themselves.  While watching Mad Men last winter, I was thinking a lot about the apron metaphor (as Betty Draper so frequently wears an apron at home), and it really made me want to have my own apron.

So yesterday I finished March’s Sewing Sunday project–an apron.  Yes, I know it wasn’t Sunday, but in my defense, I had planned to sew last Sunday, but then my body was under assault from some mighty nasty allergies.  So instead, I spent last Sunday sleeping and watching season 3 of Breaking Bad on Netflix.  Since we had plans to see my grandfather today for Easter, yesterday had to be the day to sew if I was going to get the project done by the end of March.

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Sewing Sunday: February Edition – A new wallet!

Open Wallet

I’m excited to tell you that I have managed to successfully complete my second Sewing Sunday project.  For those of you who missed my announcement last month, this year I’ve decided to challenge myself to complete one sewing project a month, and I’m trying to set aside one Sunday each month to do it, with the understanding that some projects may take longer than one day to complete and sometimes I may have to sew on a different day than Sunday.

This month I decided to sew myself a new wallet.  Admittedly, I may have been a little more ambitious than necessary in my second month of this sewing experiment, but I desperately needed a new wallet, and I really wasn’t diggin’ the ones I could find online.  I have some specific requirements when it comes to wallets.  (I suppose some would say that I’m picky, but I’m gonna go with “discerning.”)  I don’t particularly like the clutch-type wallets that fit a checkbook because they’re so big, and I generally favor the trifold kind that have an easily accessible change purse on the back side of the closed wallet.  Unfortunately, the pickin’s are slim when it comes to trifold wallets for women, and men’s wallets work just fine if the most exciting style you’re interested in is dark brown (and possibly snakeskin).  So I decided to make my own.

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