The Biggest Thing I've Ever Sewn

I've been graced with a large, covered back porch, but it was seriously in need of some color to give it life. All the rugs I've seen over the years were either too expensive or too blah, so the porch remained plain vanilla.

Then it hit me as I was eyeing some outdoor canvas I found on sale: Make a Rug. The top layer is two widths of outdoor canvas, the bottom layer is a heavy cotton canvas I had in my stash. It was too bulky to sew with my machine on a counter or table, so down to the floor I went. A few hours and a small backache later...  ta da!

Decisions, Decisions

I couldn't decide which project to start next, I wanted something to wear for spring. So I laid out all my choices on the cutting table and stared at them for awhile. Maybe this pattern in this fabric, maybe I could use this fabric to create this... then I put it all away and got out some scraps to make a tote bag. My brain can be so scattered...

Thinking of Mom

Yesterday I picked up the latest copy of Sew Simple magazine. This issue they've included a contest to design a Barbie outfit "inspired by your favorite fashion icon." This morning, while taxiing my daughter to school and my husband to the train, I was thinking of who I would consider my favorite fashion icon. Then it hit me. My mom.

I grew up in rural, Southern Illinois, and spent most of my young childhood being my mother's shadow. I didn't know much about Twiggy, or Jacqueline Kennedy, but I yearned to be grown up enough to wear a simple shift dress like my mom's. Maybe even one made out of green patterned double knit polyester. And I thought we were high society when my mom hosted a Sara Coventry jewelry party. When Mom had her friends over for an afternoon of card playing, I'd peek through the doorway as often as I dared to take in the spectacle of colorful dresses and the beautiful glint of costume jewels. But Mom was always the prettiest.

Now Mom sits every day quietly in her chair at the nursing home. She can no longer dress herself, and even her memories have escaped into a part of her mind she can no longer reach because of the brutality of Alzheimer's. I sit next to her, and relive her memories for her, telling her of all the fun things she did with her family. Then I shed a few tears for her. It's been hard to watch her recognition of life slip away like water over rocks, but it makes me smile to think of some of the rote memories that stayed with her the longest. Along with the Lord's Prayer, there was a familiar saying from childhood that would come drifting back over her lips. As I get up to leave her to the dreamy world she now occupies, I kiss her gently on the forehead and whisper, "See you later, alligator," and she struggles to whisper back, "After while, crocodile."

Heather Ross Yard-Sale Wrap Skirt

When I picked up a copy of Heather Ross's book Weekend Sewing, I was thrilled to see all the fresh and simple projects. She has them neatly categorized into projects for around the house, for travel, for dressing women and for dressing kids. Patterns are included with the book, and they're meant to be easy projects that will teach beginning sewers new skills. (Maybe when/if it stops snowing in Colorado, I can get a better picture of this skirt!)

I've got several of her projects on my to-do list, but I started off with the Yard-Sale Wrap Skirt in a simple calico cotton. I thought it would make a good beginning project for my sewing students because fitting is minimal, it teaches some nice finishing techniques, and sewing it is quick and fun. Heather's instructions are simple, but brief, so I'd like to detail here the directions I will use to teach my students. Another note, a few mistakes have been noted in this first edition of Weekend Sewing, including the sizing of this skirt. For a complete list of corrections, click here.

I'm using 5/8" seam allowances with this pattern.

First is fitting the pattern to the person. Because this is a pretty full skirt, you usually won't have to worry about the hip measurement, but you do need an accurate waist measurement. In the list of corrections to the book that are posted on Heather's website, she suggests adding skirt panels if you have a larger waist than the pattern allows for. Instead, I'd like to adjust the pattern piece to fit and just use the six skirt panels she calls for in the original directions. This method will use less fabric yardage. To determine how much to adjust the skirt panel, divide your waist measurement by four (because four panels should make it all the way around your waist, with the last two panels used as overlap), add 1.25" to that measurement to account for seam allowances, then compare that measurement to the measurement of the top edge of the skirt panel pattern piece. The difference between the two, we'll call Measurement A. If you need the pattern piece to be larger, cut the pattern piece in half lengthwise and spread the two pieces by the same amount as measurement A. Fill in the gap with tissue paper and tape. If you need the pattern piece smaller, cut and overlap the pattern piece by the amount of measurement A. Then lengthen or shorten each waistband piece by Measurement A. Hold the pattern piece up to your waist to judge the length, then shorten or lengthen according to your preference.

Next is laying out and cutting the pattern. Here's a rough sketch of my cutting layout. I'm using 44" fabric that is NOT a one-way design, which would require more fabric. This took 3.25 yards. If you want to lengthen the skirt, add three times the amount you're lengthening by to the yardage.

Let the fun begin! It's time to start sewing. Stitch the skirt panel side seams together with french seams using the instructions in the book, as well as finishing the final side edges with a narrow hem.  

Also, join the waistband and ties together, turn the bottom of the waistband 3/8" to the wrong side and press, and sew the waistband and facing together, all as is instructed in steps 4 and 5 of the book. If you get confused as to which piece is the front of the waistband and which is the waistband facing (the part that will sit next to your skin) hold the piece up to your waist, right side away from you, bottom edge down. If the longer tie is to your left, you're holding up the waistband. The other piece will be the facing. 

When I stitched the waistband to its facing, I stitched not only to the end of each tie as she suggests in the book, but I also stitched around the end of the tie and about 6" back the other way, flattening the pressed over edge as I went. I thought it was then easier to turn the end and get a nice point.

Next, stitch the bottom edge of the waistband facing to the waist edge of the skirt, wrong sides of each piece facing up. 

Turn, press, pin the bottom folded edge of the waistband in place (the edge will sit about 1/8" below the waist seam to hide it), and edge stitch all around the waistband edges. Experiment with your presser feet to find one that will give you a nice even edge stitch. I use my blind hem foot. 

Now all that's left is to finish the hem with a rolled edge! If you have a rolled edge presser foot, or want to try one, Threads magazine website has a great 3-part post on using this special foot here.

If you want to hand stitch a rolled hem, here's my favorite way to get a smooth, easy finish. I'll demonstrate the technique using contrasting thread on a scrap of fabric, but you'd of course use matching thread.

First, trim the bottom edge if needed so you have a nice, even line. Then choose a presser foot that will help you make a consistent stitch 1/8" away from the edge. 

Press the fabric to the wrong side, so that the line of stitching is just showing on the wrong side. Putting in that line of stitching really helps keep the folded amount of fabric even, which is important. A rolled hem can easily look wonky if the folded amounts aren't consistent. 

Bring your threaded needle up through the fold of the fabric.

Then pick up just one or two threads of the fabric about 1/8" beyond the raw edge of the hem, right below where your thread is coming through the fold.

Go back to the fabric fold and stitch through just the fold of the fabric about 1/8".

Continue stitching back and forth from the fabric fold to picking up fabric threads a few times.

Then start to tighten the thread so the hem rolls up and hides the raw edge, keeping just the last few stitches loose so it's easier to see where to stitch next. Keep going!

Please let me know if you found this tutorial helpful!

Pantry Privacy

At the bottom of my basement steps are some shelves I use as a panty to store extra food stuffs. It's rather unsightly and I wanted a quick, cheap way to hide it. Adding wooden doors would block part of the hallway and be too much work for me. So, I took the opportunity to experiment with using a painter's drop cloth. I bought a 6' by 9' cloth for $10 at Lowes, where I also picked up a package of cafe curtain clips,  some picture hanging wire, and a couple chair brace brackets (to hang the curtain from the ceiling). Two hours later, I was done! I love quick projects!

I love using drop cloths for home projects. They're a great way to get lots of heavy cotton fabric cheap, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. The size they list on the package is approximate. Mine was probably 6' by 9' before the seams and hems were sewn, but were a few inches shorter when I measured them.

2. Don't think you're getting a single large sheet of fabric. My cloth had a seam running the 9' length, but they can put a seam

 anywhere they want - it's just a drop cloth, after all! If I want yardage that I'm going to cut and re-shape, I buy the 4' by 15' size. Every package I've bought of that has been a single sheet of 48" wide fabric. After washing, it's been about 47" wide by 13 feet long.

3. Beware of ironing the cloth before you wash it. There could be some really gunky sizing on the fabric that comes off on your iron. This is the voice of experience speaking here. Luckily, it washed

 right off the iron after it cooled, but still....

4. Of course, the hems around the edges won't necessarily be straight. You may have to cut and re-hem. I did on the top and bottom of my curtain, but the sides were straight enough for me as is.

A Plethora of Pillows

OK, there's not really enough pillows to call it a plethora, but I like the word, can you blame me? Now that our old couch and chairs have been reupholstered, I was motivated to accessorize them with some funky pillows the kids could cuddle up with during movie watching and wii playing.

The triangular and the ball-shaped pillows came from the book Simple Sewing with a French Twist by Celine Dupuy. The triangular one is especially easy, made from two squares of fabric,

 and is quite nice to lean against. The large patterned round one gets used a lot as an ottoman. It has piping around the top and bottom edges and measures 24" in diameter by 12" tall. 

The square ones on the couch are filled with down inserts, and the floor pillows are stuffed with polyester fiberfill and shredded foam. The shredded foam is, of course, a mess to use, so work with it outside on a calm day to maintain your sanity! But the end result is really comfortable.

Knitting for Our School Auction

I belong to a needlework ministry at our church, Wrapped in Prayer, and we recently filled a gift basket with hand knits and other cozy items as an entry in our church's school auction. In my spare time, I knit up a hat using this pattern called Foliage from Knitty.com, created by Emilee Mooney. Of course, as so often happens to me, I gave it away before I took a photo! The best I could do was a get a shot of the whole basket, and a closeup of the hat through the cellophane gift wrapping. You'll just have to go to the link to see the pattern. It was a great pattern to work with - very clear instructions and easy to do. I love knitting hats - one skein of yarn, low committment, done!