Sewing Sunsets

I guess I got really lucky yesterday because Angel was a very good doggy and let me sew!   Of course, that didn’t last long, but at least I did get to spend some quality time in the sewing room. Today, I think I’m going to have to give her a large yummy bone to occupy her time so that I can sew.  It’s raining again and this morning, her attention span seems to be about 30 seconds or less. 

While in the sewing room yesterday, I did make some progress in the little girl’s dress that I’m working on.  I have never made this pattern before the some of the directions are kind of confusing.  The front facings are not separate facings, but included on the front pattern piece.  This little dress has a yoke and is high waisted with the main skirt/dress part being gathered and sewn to the yoke.  The back was fairly simple to figure out, but the front is a little more confusing.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

For the most part, I am following pattern instructions, but because the self facing is considered an interfacing of sorts, the pattern instructions didn’t include applying any type of interfacing.  I just didn’t think that the buttonhole area would be stable enough without interfacing so I chose to use some interfacing scraps and apply that to the front of the dress–both the yoke and the  main skirt.  I like to use fusible interfacing (www.sewseamless.com/Page4.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page15.html ) , and in this case, I didn’t measure or worry about being too accurate when cutting the interfacing.  I used left over pieces of interfacing.

In the above photos, I hadn’t fused the interfacing yet.  The bottom picture is a side view of the interfacing down the front of the dress.  I am ready to sew the front dress pieces to the yoke, but this pattern is a little different than other patterns I’ve worked with before, so it’s going to require some thinking on my part.

I think I’ll actually get to sew because I took the dog on a long walk and gave her a yummy bone which should keep her busy for several hours (I hope!).

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

My husband and youngest daughter are going on a bit of sight seeing today so Angel and I will be here by ourselves for a while.  Of course, I would like to spend lots and lots of quality time sewing, but Angel would prefer to go on very long walks and play and play and play.  Maybe if I take her on a short walk this morning and play with her a little, she will let me have several hours of uninterrupted sewing time.  Well……I can always dream (and hope) can’t I?!

Sew, today, I’m hoping for lots of sewing time.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I finally figured out how to get some sewing done!   The answer seems to be putting my doggy on a leash and making her stay right with me until it’s time to play, or go outside to take care of business.  The silly thing still seems to think that the sewing place is where she needs to take care of her number two business!   I also need to get it across to her that it’s ok to “go” in our own yard and that we don’t always need to walk a mile down the trail in order to answer nature’s call.  Can you see why I really, really, really need some sewing therapy??!!!

Although I managed to get a little bit accomplished on the little girl’s dress that I am trying to sew, I don’t have any pictures to show yet.  I am hoping that next week things will settle down and be a little more back to normal around here and I can sew again.  Until then, I’ll continue talking about sewing a neck pillow.

I like sewing neck pillows because they’re quick and easy to sew. Sometimes I want a challenging sewing project (like the dress I’m working on now) and other times, I just want to sew something quick and easy. 

 When I sew neck pillows, I use a 1/2 inch seam allowance, making sure that the wrong sides of the fabric are together, and also making sure that I leave a space for turning the neck pillow to the right side.  After I have sewn the seams on the neck pillow, I have to clip them because they are curved seams.  The inner curved seams are clipped to, not through the stitching.  (I also like to trim my seams slightly before clipping them).  The outward curved seams should be notched and the way I like to do this is to trim these seams with the pinking shears and then clip to the stitching. Then I press the stitching flat as stiched. After trimming and clipping the seams,  I turn the neck pillow right side out.

I also press well after the pillow has been turned right side out, shown in the picture above.  Once the neck pillow has been turned right side out, I fill it with fiberfill and hand sew the opening closed.

More information and pictures on sewing a neck pillow can be found at www.sewseamless.com/Page52.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page53.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page54.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page55.html , and www.sewseamless.com/Page56.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

The sun has finally returned, along with warmer weather today!  At least the predicted high is going to be somewhere in the 70’s, which is much better than the so called highs of the past week.  Of course, unless it’s over 75 I’m chilly so I’m still hoping for 80 degree weather to return soon.  At least it is dry and I can take the dog on a much needed walk this morning.  Maybe if I take her on a nice long walk, she’ll let me sew. Of course, I have to wonder if the sunshine will last more than a day, and if I get to do any sewing, will that last longer than 30 seconds?!

Since I haven’t been sewing, I have decided to at least talk about sewing here and yesterday I mentioned sewing neck pillows.  These are easy and quick to sew and make good gifts.   After I cut out the pattern and pin them together, I’m ready to sew.

When I pin the neck pattern pieces together, I make sure that the wrong sides are together and that I have left a space for turning right side out after the seams have been sewn.  I like to use a 1/2 inch seam allowance when I sew neck pillows.

My way of making sure that I’ve left a space for turning the neck pillow to the right side is to place pins a few inches apart (as shown in the picture above) and start sewing at one of the pins, sew around the pillow, and then stop when I reach the other pin.  When neck pillow has been sewn, I press and clip the seams, then turn it right side out, fill with fiberfill, and hand sew the neck pillow closed.  (www.sewseamless.com/Page53.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page54.html )

I have made several neck pillows recently and they are all destined to be headed to Gulfport, Mississippi soon.  These neck pillows will be donated to Odyssey Healthcare (www.odsyhealth.com ), which is a hospice in Gulfport.  I am doing some volunteer sewing for them and if my new doggy will ever settle down and behave herself, I will soon have a box of small sewing projects ready to be mailed.

The sun is still shining and now that I have my doggy tethered to me with her leash, she is behaving so maybe there is hope for some sewing time today. 

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Our weather here lately has been more winter than spring and I find that I do not do well when it is cold, rainy, and windy when it should be hot, dry, and sunny.  I like heat and sunshine, but if there are more than a couple of cold rainy days, I find that it affects me in a negative way.  Most of the time, I would simpy go into my sewing room and sew the hours away until the weather cleared, but lately that hasn’t been so easy.  Our new doggy is taking lots more time than I anticipated.  I guess I didn’t realize that I had gotten used to our older doggy who had mellowed quite a bit in her later years.  Also, it could be that we adopted our new doggy from a rescue group so as a shelter dog, she may have some different issues than a puppy that we might have gotten instead.  She’s a really great dog, but she seems to need tons of exercise (which makes her a great weight loss plan! ) and we don’t have a fenced in back yard, which we desparately need!  Of course, I have to say that this dog does seem to be a socially responsible dog because she simply will not do her messier business in our yard.  Oh, no!  She has to walk down the trail to where the bags are.  This is fine on a nice, warm sunny day, but during the pouring rain and bitterly cold weather, that is another matter!  Also,  Hubby and I don’t like our house and have been hoping to sell and move to a house that fits our needs better, but the housing market has slowed us down in reaching that goal.

This past week has just been stressful once again in so many ways.  I think I’m feeling more stress because I haven’t gotten to sew at all, and sewing always relieves my stress better than anything else. I really, really, really NEED some sewing therapy, but my family, including my new doggy will have to cooperate.  And in this case, the weather has to cooperate, too!  It is May, for goodness’ sake, and our highs haven’t been high enough to suit me!  I like it about 80-85 degrees and we have barely gotten out of the 50’s for highs.  That is winter weather and it is supposed to be spring!!!  Sheesh!!!

Since I haven’t been able to sew very much lately, I’ll have to talk about sewing–it’s better than nothing.  I recently updated my main website, www.sewseamless.com by adding a tutorial about how to sew neck pillows.  Neck pillows will be included in the items that I will soon be sending to the hospice in Mississippi, Odyssey Healthcare (www.odsyhealth.com ) soon (if I ever get to sew again, that is!

Neck pillows are really easy to sew and take very little time.  The pattern can either be placed on the fold or not placed on the fold. (www.sewseamless.com/Page52.html ) It is probably easier and less time consuming to create a pattern that is not placed on the fold of the fabric because that way, you only have to cut out the pattern one time. Sewing neck pillows is a great way to use up fabric scraps or a fabric stash.  It probably take about 1/2 yard of fabric to sew one neck pillow.

After I have cut out the neck pillow pattern pieces, I press both of them very carefully and then pin the pieces wrong sides together and make sure to leave a space for turning the neck pillow right side out after sewing. 

I’ll continue the neck pillow tutorial in another post.  For now, I have to go tend to my doggy.  This morning, I had to put her in her crate for a short doggy “time out”.  I may have to use that crate when I need to sew because if this doggy mommy doesn’t get some sewing time soon, she (I) may go crazy!

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Angel wasn’t quite so much of an angel yesterday.  She has a sweet temperament, but she is also rather sneaky and stubborn.  I thought she was acting odd when she went to the sewing room door (which I always keep closed so she can’t get in when I’m not there) and then I saw her open the door (hubby isn’t so good at closing the door properly) and come right back out with a big doggy grin on her face.  Later in the day, I discovered why–she had decided to take care of “business number two” in the sewing room!! She had an accident in there the other day and I guess she decided that will be her new place to “go”.  I don’t think so–even if she did dig out an old issue of Sew News magazine (www.sewnews.com ) to distract me. 

Even though Angel is doing her best to prevent me from sewing, I have made a little progress on the little girl’s dress, and when I say a little progress, I mean a little progress!   I have corrected my mistake and cut out the front of the dress, plus I have pressed the front and back yokes, so I’m almost ready to sew—whenever that will be, of course.

What confused me about this pattern is that I didn’t realize that the facing is included on the pattern piece so I didn’t allow enough fabric for that on the main skirt of the dress front.   This particular pattern piece needed to be placed on the crosswise fold. The pattern piece is not placed on the fold, but the fabric is folded differently than it is when it comes off of the bolt.  

It’s a little hard to see, but the fold lines are indicated on the front yoke pattern piece seen above.

This is the fabric as it looks on the crosswise fold.  The fold is at the top of the picture instead of at the side, as the fabric comes off of the bolt.  It’s easy to tell the straight of grain by simply pulling the fabric a bit; it will stretch if it is off grain.  Folding the fabric this way solved my problem and allowed me to have enough fabric for the front of the pattern.

The above picture shows the pattern piece pinned to the fabric that is folded on the cross grain.

This is as much progress as I’ve made on this sewing project.  I will have to see if Angel allows me to return to my sewing any time soon.

Happy Mother’s Day!  My wish for all of you is lots of uninterrupted sewing time today and/or a nice trip to the fabric store.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I thought I would show the Angel that has been preventing me from sewing lately.

The bottom picture shows Angel when she really is being an angel because she is staying busy.

One of these days soon, I’m going to get back to my regularly scheduled sewing and I’ll be able to share more sewing pictures with you here as well.

I’ll even share my sewing oops and goofs, too.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I have been so busy lately that I’ve barely noticed the date!  Yesterday, I realized that Sunday is Mother’s Day!  Oh, my! In our family, we also have two birthdays in May so this is a busy month for us.  Birthdays and “holidays” like Mother’s Day always mean gifts.  I like to make my own gifts, but this year I don’t think that’s going to happen.   However, I still have some ideas for some quick Mother’s Day gifts for those folks who have the luxury of sewing.

I think pillows make a nice gift.  They’re quick and easy to sew, and pillows can be simple or elaborate.  They can be embellished with machine embroidery, applique, or beading, or they can be a patchwork quilt and quilted.  Pillows can be used simply for decoration or the less elaborate pillows can be used as throw pillows and be great to use for those cool, rainy days when it’s nice to curl up with a good book.  

Pillows can also be any shape or size that you wish; they can be round (www.sewseamless.com/Page22.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page23.html ) or square (www.sewseamless.com/Page24.html ), or any shape that you like.  For Mother’s Day, it might be nice to sew a pillow in a heart shape for Mom. 

Blankets also make a nice gift any time of the year.  Sewing fleece blankets is easy because all you really have to do is purchase a couple of yards of fleece and either serge finish the edges or trim off the edges for an instant blanket.  If you want a more decorative edge, trim the edges with pinking shears.  This is one of the quickest and easiest gifts to make, and fleece comes in a nice variety of solid colors and prints.

Pillowcases are also fun, quick, and easy to sew.  They can also be embellished with machine embroidery or applique or they can be plain.  Sewing a little lace around the edge of a pillowcase is also a nice touch.  I like to use about one yard of cotton fabric when I sew pillowcases.  Cotton sateen might also be nice if you’re making pillowcases for a Mother’s Day gift.  Pillowcase sewing tutorial and pictures can be found at www.sewseamless.com/Page41.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page42.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page43.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page44.html

My friend, Donna, of This Year’s Dozen (www.thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com ) has been sewing small pockets that can be hung on belts or purses.  These also make nice gifts and are easy to sew.  It’s a great way to use up those fabric scraps, too.   Donna has also recently sewn some small purses that are quick and easy to sew (only one pattern piece!) .  Donna chose some novelty cotton fabric for these purses, and they were cute, but if you wanted a dressier purse, you could use velvet or satin as well. 

I recently sewed some small tissue holders from left over cotton fabric.  The technique can be found in the posts “Sew Simple Sewing” and “More Simple Sewing” ;both posts are found in the April archives.  These tissue holders are also quick and easy to sew and might be part of a nice gift for Mom.

As I said earlier, I have lots of ideas for home sewn gifts for Mom, but ask me if I’m sewing gifts for my mom this year. I think my doggy may have other plans for me, so we’ll stick with a nice card,  a special dinner, and a different type of gift.

Happy Mother’s Day everybody!

And Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

As my mother would say, I shouldn’t wish my life away, but this week has been frustrating for a lot of reasons and I think I’ll be glad when it’s over.

Yesterday was the day that I go see my mom and usually, unless she has a doctor’s appointment, those days are spent just chatting with each other over lunch, or we might choose to go to a fabric store or shopping at a nearby department store.  This week, my college aged daughter is here, so she went with me.  We all had a nice time, and then my daughter and I headed to the doctor because of a little cyst that had been bothering her. 

My biggest concern wasn’t the doctor’s visit, but how long my doggy was being kept in her crate.  She is still learning the ropes around here and I try to make crate time no longer than four hours when I’m away, but yesterday, it turned out to be longer than that and we all paid for it.  The doctor was extremely busy and the wait was long, and then she removed the cyst, and while the actual procedure didn’t take that long, there was still a lot of waiting around.   By the time we got home, the poor doggy needed to go outside and take care of business, plus she was quite rested and bored, and really needed to run off some energy. I needed to start supper and try to manage the dog at the same time, which wasn’t easy.  It was just a stressful evening period!

After supper, the dog was still restless so I took her outside and she caught the scent of a pesky (but cute!) rabbit in our front yard and I nearly lost the dog as she pulled at the leash and tried to chase the rabbit.  I started yelling for someone to come help me, but my family couldn’t hear me, nor were they paying too much attention to what was going on right outside the front window.  Finally, my husband took the doggy on a very long walk, and even that didn’t tire this dog out!  She played tug of war and fetch the ball with me for at least two hours and after that, she played with a toy that has food hidden in it for at least another hour and a half.  I was worn out just watching this dog!

Needless to say, I am in desparate need of some sewing therapy right now! For lots of reasons, I’m not a huge fan of Mother’s Day, but the best present my family could give me this year would be several hours of uninterrupted sewing time!

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever have time to sew again.   When my kids were small, I thought that when I was in the empty nest phase of life that I would have lots and lots of time on my hands and that I would fill that time with sewing and crafting.  That has not proven to be the case.  There are days when I feel I have less time to sew and craft than I did when my girls were small.  I can’t really complain too much because both of my adult girls call quite often, and even though this takes away from my sewing time, their phone calls are always welcomed.

It really is odd that since moving to our new area a couple of years ago, hubby and I find that we almost have to “fight” to find time to exercise, and in my case, sew.  This is a slower paced area in many ways, and really should be more conducive to lots of exercise and sewing time, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.  Perhaps it’s because it takes longer to travel to destinations such as the grocery store, church, and other assorted necessary destinations. 

Even though I haven’t had time to actually sew this week, I did manage to get the extra fabric (the fabric I needed to correct my sewing oops) washed.  It still needs pressing before I can start cutting out the extra front pieces for the little dress I want to start sewing soon.   Hmm…… I wonder if exercising my sewing skills would also count as physical exercise?

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com