Corduroy backs
Big snaps and Mama's labels
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Big boy bibs
I can't put the super pastel baby bibs on my big guy anymore. Not when he whips off the velcro bibs in one second flat. Nor when it is so much fun sewing him new ones. The pattern for these bibs came from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing.
Sewing Lessons
This month I had three private sewing lessons to learn how to sew knit fabric and to sew apparel. I've tried making clothes before, but they never fit right. The biggest thing I learned was to make the first version in a fabric that you don't care about. If it turns out, great. If not, adjust the pattern and make it your own before making version two.
Here are the first shorts I made for Henry. The pattern was from the 70's and had super wide legs, so I took them in (roughly) but they still work for jammies.
Lastly, here is a t-shirt for Henry made from one of Ben's old shirts. This one turned out well the first time! You can bet I'll be making more when my quilting bees are a little more caught up.
Here are the first shorts I made for Henry. The pattern was from the 70's and had super wide legs, so I took them in (roughly) but they still work for jammies.
Here is the second version of my own pants pattern. The first version I made with crummy flannel and this last pair was out of junked t-shirt of Ben's.
I like how these cover and stay up over the bulky cloth diaper.
Lastly, here is a t-shirt for Henry made from one of Ben's old shirts. This one turned out well the first time! You can bet I'll be making more when my quilting bees are a little more caught up.
Unexpected Finished Object
I have to start with an admission.... I am a terrible housekeeper. I like to start a lot of projects, but I'm not good at finishing things and, to top it off, I'm awfully forgetful. So, that results in my house covered in lots of little piles of things that I mean to finish. But, I move to the beat of my motivation (not the best priority-setter), and I'm usually inspired to start something shiny and new.
So, this week I decided to tackle the piles around my house and thin a few. I didn't get far uncovering the dining room table, but I did sort some lovely fabric bits in my craft room in the basement. Henry was "helping" by tearing up the shelves and banging on my project on the loom. My table loom sits on the floor now that the sewing machine and a million projects live on the craft table. Remember my scarf from this post?
It was woven only 36" long (not just the 6" in the picture) and still was on the loom five months later. While I sorted fabric, Henry was yanking on the scarf and futzing with the parts of the loom and then he toppled over. That's a good sign for nap time, so I came back to the loom during my free time.
The first step was to examine the project and figure out why I put it down in the first place. In this instance, the grey alpaca yarn that I chose for the warp and the weft is truly, truly lovely, but it is so overwound that the lines of weft couldn't be beaten snugly. This resulted in a scarf with lots of holes and a stiff fabric. That doesn't seem cozy to me.
So, I took a deep breath and then started the tedious job of unweaving 36" of work line by tangly line. That took most of a three hour nap on Tuesday. The next day (and next nap time), I auditioned eight different yarns, chose a new weft and wove 16".
On Thursday I wove another 32" during nap and some more after Henry's bedtime. I also took the loom outside for some pics in the outdoor light (the basement lighting is atrocious).
On Friday I wove another 2", tied the tassels, wove in the ends, washed and blocked it. And there you have it. The scarf is dry and soft and gorgeous and finished.
I guess it isn't really unexpected that I finished it since it took four days, but it still is delightful. Doesn't a finished object make your week a little brighter?
Now I just have to hold myself back from starting another loom project just to let it languish on the floor for baby fingers to play with. Nope, I must must try to find my dining room table.
I cannot let the siren call of fabrics and yarns distract me.
:: plugging my ears and humming to myself ::
Really. I know there is a table here somewhere....
So, this week I decided to tackle the piles around my house and thin a few. I didn't get far uncovering the dining room table, but I did sort some lovely fabric bits in my craft room in the basement. Henry was "helping" by tearing up the shelves and banging on my project on the loom. My table loom sits on the floor now that the sewing machine and a million projects live on the craft table. Remember my scarf from this post?
It was woven only 36" long (not just the 6" in the picture) and still was on the loom five months later. While I sorted fabric, Henry was yanking on the scarf and futzing with the parts of the loom and then he toppled over. That's a good sign for nap time, so I came back to the loom during my free time.
The first step was to examine the project and figure out why I put it down in the first place. In this instance, the grey alpaca yarn that I chose for the warp and the weft is truly, truly lovely, but it is so overwound that the lines of weft couldn't be beaten snugly. This resulted in a scarf with lots of holes and a stiff fabric. That doesn't seem cozy to me.
So, I took a deep breath and then started the tedious job of unweaving 36" of work line by tangly line. That took most of a three hour nap on Tuesday. The next day (and next nap time), I auditioned eight different yarns, chose a new weft and wove 16".
On Thursday I wove another 32" during nap and some more after Henry's bedtime. I also took the loom outside for some pics in the outdoor light (the basement lighting is atrocious).
On Friday I wove another 2", tied the tassels, wove in the ends, washed and blocked it. And there you have it. The scarf is dry and soft and gorgeous and finished.
(doesn't the overwound yarn make the most perfect twisty tassels? i love them!)
I guess it isn't really unexpected that I finished it since it took four days, but it still is delightful. Doesn't a finished object make your week a little brighter?
Now I just have to hold myself back from starting another loom project just to let it languish on the floor for baby fingers to play with. Nope, I must must try to find my dining room table.
I cannot let the siren call of fabrics and yarns distract me.
:: plugging my ears and humming to myself ::
Really. I know there is a table here somewhere....
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