FullOfStitches.com blog.A good laugh leaves me in stitches!

Monday, I started coming down with what I thought was just another headcold. It turns out that it’s a doozy. Yesterday (Th), everything hurt. I napped at least 3 times by lunch.

The children have been helpful and understanding through this. I’m thankful the older two can do basic food prep, though, as I was not up to being in the kitchen.

I was, though, blog reading. I came across ikatbag which has some tutorials and was taken by a cute skirt shown as an example in a pocket tutorial. So, combining the round-top pocket, instead of the triangle she has on the cute skirt, and the instructions for adding a hem band, I came up with this:

I had bought the floral fabric, maybe as a remnant (?), a couple years ago. But it is SO busy! I couldn’t find a coordinating fabric that might tame it.. Until yesterday.

On Wed, the girls inherited a dresser that now is their craft cabinet and they were to sort through the scraps and put them away. Moving almost everything in the sewing area, I came across the brown and set it aside. Then when I felt up to sitting up long enough to sew, it was just waiting for me!

MissA loves it! MissB took it and upset MissA last night. So, it looks like I’m going to have to come up with another shortly.

Little Guy’s third Christmas is approaching and I have yet to make him a stocking. Friday (aka 2 days) before Christmas I went to the fabric store and found the brocades on sale – yay!

To make a fancy looking lined stocking, I cut out the 2 stocking (sock) shapes from the pretty material and the lining fabric – I only needed a fat quarter of each fabric (1/2 yard length) for the size stocking I made. I also had a pretty tassel to hang it with and matching decorator fabric for the cuff at top – about twice the width of the stocking body (the cuff has only one seam, the exact measurement will be twice the stocking width including only one seam allowance, but if it’s a thick fabric having a little wiggle room may be helpful). Also, I used a bit of decorator trim around the cuff.

My seams are sewn at 1/4″ and the basting or underlining at 1/8″

If the cuff fabric is thin making it hard to work with, line it with a scrap of fabric (the one I used here is thin and moves around easily, so I used a scrap of fabric that lined the top of it).

If using a dangly trim:
1. Fold cuff in half and mark the center. Unfold:

2. Pin the trim so it rests on this line, then baste/sew in place.

For lace or other trims that will be continuous, skip those first 2 steps and start here:
3. Fold cuff in half so the side seam meets (right sides together) and sew the side seam.

4. Fold cuff to enclose the raw seam, matching top edges, baste together. (If using a continuous trim, like lace, match the pattern to the folded bottom edge of the cuff now and see in place) Turn outside in, so trim is inside.

5. For the body of the stocking, pin the front and back of the stocking pieces right sides together and sew around, leaving the top open. Repeat with the lining pieces. (note: if you make a fancy-toe, trim the lining so it won’t end up wadded up in the toe)


6. Turn the lining right side out and insert the outer stocking piece inside it so the toes are on the same side, match seams, baste top together.

7. Place the hanging tassel or ribbon and pin or baste in place. (this photo isn’t the best way to pin the hanging ribbon: pin the knot at the basting line, then open the ribbon and pin, so when you sew the cuff to the stocking, the hanging ribbon is slightly open and is easier to hang, especially for children)

8. Slide stocking into cuff (right side of cuff to lining, with the main fabric to inside), baste/sew in place. Finish edge, if desired: I used a 3-step zigzag to reduce the fraying of the brocade.

9. If a line of stitching will show on the cuff: Turn cuff up, with the seam allowance toward the lining, sew through the lining and seam allowance (1/8″ from seam)

For a cuff that a line of stitching won’t be obvious, turn the cuff right side out and turn the stocking right side out inside it. Then sew about 1/4″ from top edge with a medium length stitch (on my machine: 2 is normal stitch length, 4 or 5 is basting length, so I used a 3 length stitch on this other stocking)

10. Turn the stocking right side out (if you haven’t yet) and admire! Hang it up for Christmas.

Another example, my daughter’s stocking:

This has been a major sewing week for me. Before they left for Thanksgiving vacation, I made 3 sets of pajamas from Simplicity 5382 & 3 jumpers from Simplicity 2156. By the time they returned, I had the other 6 jumpers and a nightgown sewn. The weekend ended with pillow cases, one for each child.

Back in March I’d tried my hand at the Steadfast Steed quilt. It started as a disaster, but I took the time and worked out what the directions should have been (1-16 was correct; 17-25; 26-33 -ends the square)

By the end of the week, I did not have a quilt top for my step-MIL. I did, however, have one pony square. I set that headache aside and moved on to other projects.

This week I picked it up and used some leftover fabric from my green Crepe dress for the backing.

One horse-themed doll quilt:

Last summer, I made a dress that I was hoping to wear to work as a jumper over my tshirt. I lined it completely and was happy with the style and look, but the “waistband” that goes around the ribs was a smidge too tight. I came across the dress just now (as I still have to attach the pockets, it was in my sewing WIPs) and tried it on.

Beyond the tight rib, the dress still fits pretty well at 19 weeks pregnant. I may just have to make a couple maternity versions..

If I remember correctly, I had less than 2 yards of fabric, maybe 1 3/4 yards. It was the end of a bolt and I just loved the pattern! I was just able to cut out the dress in bodice size 4, rest of it size 6. Looks like I’ll need to check if the waistband was a 4 or 6 and go up a size!

Matching blue and white striped shirts. I think the fabric was on sale for $2 a yard, and I only had about 3-4 yards. So $8 for three shirts. The smile Ben gave me for being all matchy-matchy with his boys? Priceless.

I’ve got girls’ dresses yet to sew up.. Later. Time now to enjoy BBQ’d burgers and homemade potato salad.

Patterns:
Colette Negroni (#1014) size Med: adapted the pattern so the facing was part of the shirt front. Used size Large neckline for his comfort.
McCall’s M6226 size 14: is he really that big already?
New Look 6880 size 3: wow, same question!

Happy Independence Day!!

Darts used to drive me crazy until I stumbled into how I sew them now..

First, as I cut the patterns, I mark the pieces by stabbing pins through the pattern piece then gently hold up the edge of the pattern and carefully put a pin through from the wrong side into the pattern piece exactly where the first pin marked (I’ll try to get pics or video of this up)

The darts are marked by pins at the dart point and about 1/4″ from the edge ON each dart leg.

Now, I position the fabric so the dart legs away from me on the ironing board and I can use the left pin to replace the right pin (so the left pin goes down through the wrong side of fabric on the left dart leg, then up through the right dart leg from the right side).

Next, I stab that pin into the ironing board (doesn’t my friend have the coolest burn mark on her ironing board cover?). The dart point had been marked by another pin: keep it in place and work the folded edge of the fabric to make a straight, even fold from the pin to the edge of the fabric.

Now, carefully iron the fabric to make a crisp fold without melting the heads of the plastic pins and permanently adhering them to your fabric.. (’cause that would be bad..)

Take a straight edge and something to mark the dart: pencil, disappearing ink..line up the straight edge, draw a line between the two pins.

See how lovely?

Use the pins to pin the dart in place to maintain the edge and keep the fabric from moving whole sewing (a third pin in the middle helps).

Either, sew by hand with small stitches. Or, by machine:

At the normal stitch length, begin by sewing a few stitches backward, and then stitch, stopping about 1/4″ from the edge of the fabric.

Change to a smaller stitch length..

..and sew off the edge of the dart. (With practice, you’ll be able to change the stitch length at the appropriate place without stopping.)

Leave threads long and tie them in a square knot (really, shortening the stitch takes care of this, and I just snip the threads, leaving ~1/4″ ends). Tada!:

Press dart in direction suggested by pattern, and you’re good to go!

Crafting overtook the game table set up in the corner of the living room. Then fabric filled some of the laundry baskets and were piled onto the coffee table. I considered building cabinets along the wall. I prayed for a cabinet to organize this chaos.

Last Friday, I was visiting a friend whose children have nearly all been potty-trained. She asked if I knew anyone who is expecting and needs a changing table. I drew a blank. Is anyone I know in the area expecting right now? She showed me the unit and my corner of piled baskets of fabric came to mind.. If she didn’t find anyone in need, may I have it? Apparently, she’d had it on offer for a couple weeks without takers and was more than happy to give it to me!

My cutting mat fits on the lower side of the table, where the changing pad belongs. This disturbs Ben a little.. Now, the bottom drawer has scraps and fabric the children have requested, the middle drawer has my projects, and I’m working on organizing the top drawer.

LX fits in the cabinet, so I’ll move in there more slowly. Otherwise, he dumps out what I put in there, or claims it as his own.

Last month, I cut out a couple dresses. Late at night. And managed to have the pattern pieces upside down. The green fabric has words across it: birds, flowers, fruit, vegetables.

I think it’s cute. This is view 1, with the scoop neck. MissB took these pictures for me.