My Stash to Bust

I took some quick pictures of the condition of my cloth stash storage, which I keep intentionally (kinda) small.

In the closet is a bookcase...well, actually, it's an abandoned retail display case, so it's sturdy enough to hold the cloth on its commercial-grade shelves.

And...yeah, it's pretty packed.  (Above is the bin of scraps, next to the  suitcase full of lace and trim and bias tape.)  This shelf is for pieces that are a yard and larger (with a pair of rolls of fabric leaning beside it.)

Smaller lengths of cloth go into the dresser

Almost everything in here was acquired with doll clothes in mind, top two drawers for broadcloth, bottom drawer for knits, other drawer for random whatever else.  The top two drawers used to be much fuller, until I decided the density was annoying and started pulling out coordinated sets of prints, some of which got combined with pieces from the shelves to form this pile

There are eight different groups of cloth here, most of which may be enough to use for blanket tops?  I'll find out eventually...

Brown Bag

When confronting the fact that my fabric stash was straining the spaces designated to store it (spaces which are intentionally much smaller than they used to be), I had fun a month or so ago shuffling through the dresser (home of roughly quarter yard cuts, mostly bought for doll clothes) and matching various prints by coordinating color schemes, which I then put in a pile with no solid ideas of what to make from the new sets of fabrics.

(Was that sentence convoluted enough?)

Saturday morning, I decided to challenge myself to using one of the smaller sets, which I knew wouldn't make anything big enough to turn into a skirt or blanket.  With no real goal in mind, I started patching it together, in a very loose approximation of a Log Cabin pattern, only with random colors and widths.  Sure, why not.

I didn't measure anything at any point in this project, so I have no idea how large it was before I ran out of strips long enough to sew to the next edge.  It looked like it might be big enough to cut a vest front from, though, maybe...?  But...as there was an abundance of browns and oranges in the prints, I knew I'd never wear a vest made from it.  And when it come to the question of Randomly Making Random Things for Random Other People, the answer is always Bag!

It would be too large to make a comfortable bag if I used the pieced, um, piece for just the front, so I played around with folding it in half for a while before I had the idea to fold the corners on the diagonal, which was the key to figuring out, finally, exactly (well, more or less exactly) what I wanted to do with this project...

Pastel Dots & Neutral Bats

Spring and Fall, Together

A quick fix

I am not good at applying iron-on decals.  I know this.  The last one I tried to apply re-affirmed this, and the shirt was stuffed into the edge of the cloth stash until I could figure out what to do about the remains of the badly-applied decal.  Today, I made myself figure out what to do about it, and ended up covering it up, like so:

Why, yes, I do remember the late 1980s.

I dunno if the kiddo will ever want to wear this, but at least it's in a state where it can be worn again, and a Thing was cleared out of the cloth stash area, which is  good.

And then I started working on a shirt for me, mixing these prints

Print Mixing: If you sew 'em together, they go together.  I should be able to finish it tonight or tomorrow.  (That doesn't mean I will finish it tonight or tomorrow, of course.)

Brilliant

As in "ooh shiny," not as in "ooh great idea," because, even though it's finished, I'm still not really sure if it was a good idea to put these together

Patterns are only Guidelines

The kiddo's (relatively) heavy winter coat is a few years old--it doesn't tend to get cold enough around here to use it a lot, so it's in good shape, and fits him fine in the torso, but his arms...they have grown long.  So, in my current fit of "I really should start using all this fabulous cloth I've accumulated," I decided I would make a heavy jacket for him to wear this winter.

I started with ideas of using the various wool/wool blends I have in relatively small yardages, then also dug out a length of bright green medium weight knit, and threw in the red and black flannel that had been used to underline the eye jacket.  I couldn't decide, so I let him.  He...couldn't really decide, either, but as he talked about what he liked about each fabric, I remembered something that I thought he'd like--as soon as I said "purple and green" he started bouncing around (more than usual) and agreed to that before he even saw it.

It's a dark cool purple and pea green cotton plaid flannel, thrifted, and about 1¼ yard of 60".  With that as the inspiration, I poked around online to see what kinda of things kids these days are wearing in the realm of 'flannel winter jacket,' and it looked like I could probably do view A of Burda 9672 again with no problem

...but...we know I wouldn't really do that, don't we...

Oh, sure, I started with view A, then decided to add the hood from view B, as well as view B's un-ribbing-ed sleeves...and eliminate the ribbing from the waist, too.  And put the pockets in the side seams.  And line it, which would require improvising a facing piece.  And close it with buttons, which would require extending the center front pieces and interfacing that improvised facing piece.  But I did start with this pattern

It's underlined with a medium weight black knit that probably contains at least a little cotton, and lined with a lightweight knit that probably contains even less cotton.  It's brighter than the green in the flannel, but, not a bad match considering these were definitely not bought as intentional coordinates (or from the same store...or in the same state...or in the same year decade century.)

My thread assortment wasn't as accommodating, so I went with a pale khaki that ended up looking white against the dark purple (which could be described as royal blue in some lights, and likewise the pea green shifts to khaki...just...not the same khaki as the thread...)  But it's pretty well established that I will always choose to top stitch, so we'll say it's a design element.

I didn't look through my buttons until it was time to make the button holes, and I expected I would end up with mottled brown buttons (which are my default buttons), but, hey, whadddaya know, the fact that my button stash was established in the late 1990s means I had some perfectly pea green (and slightly lustrous) buttons in the large size I'd envisioned.  The buttonholer attachment and button-holding presser foot made finishing the jacket go very quickly, and the kiddo danced around when he tried it on, so, as slapdash as it is, it's still a success.

For the love of jars

I sewed a (relatively) quick thing today!

Yes, it's a Halloween print 20 days before Christmas.  La la.

I used vintage Simplicity 3263 again, and paid attention to the grain of the fabric more than to the print, which I only notice is a bit of a problem now that I'm looking at the photo while making this post.  Eh, I don't think it'll be a distraction when it's worn, especially if cardigans are involved.

Just used a solid black thin cotton (plus medium weight fusible interfacing) for the facings, which were cut from the main pattern pieces, instead of following the directions for separate facings for neckline and arm holes, and I once again did things Very Wrongly to get the facings attached (only I sewed the armholes before the neckline this time--no idea if it makes any real difference to the ease of this approach, but he brain tries to say so.)  Edge stitched around the neckline and armholes, lapped zipper on the left side.

Nothin' fancy, but somethin' finished, so yay.

Action Child!

I wanted pictures of him wearing the eye jacket and the gray pants, and he was happy to pose...and pose...and pose...

(Yep, I made the kitty, years ago, using the NunoDoll Ragdoll Kitten pattern/instructions, enlarged to 150%--this pattern works amazingly with knit faux fur...not so much with woven cottons...  The kiddo doesn't see any problems with it.)

Pants!

...for the kiddo

Thrifted pattern, smallest size is still too big, but, hey, it's a pattern for boys kids that isn't designed like an afterthought.  It's also from 1997, and, I'll be honest: I can't really tell if it's a truly timeless design, or if the fact that I remember fashion in 1997 is interfering with my ability to judge how out of date this might be.  (I would make a comment about Zubaz, but no-one would've been caught dead wearing loud patterns or eye-searing colors in 1997, pfft.) ((So  also won't make a comment about how it's entirely possible the Big 3 pattern companies may have been offering Zubaz-approximate patterns in 1997.  Nope.  Not gonna make that comment.))

Whoever had owned this before had used it, but...as a base for adult-size pants?  The pieces that were cut were cut beyond the largest size lines, with notebook paper extensions.  I trimmed the pieces down to the largest size, and cut the fabric in smallest.

I also combined views, using the false fly of view A with the cargo pockets of view B--not because I have any problems with zippers, or because I lacked appropriate zippers, but because the kiddo never uses the zippers in the jeans he has, instead choosing to shimmy in and out of them while they're completely closed.

Also, the pants legs really are the same length.  Really.

My curves need work, although the topstitching isn't as dire as I expected.  (...do..do I have a topstitching addiction?  I...might.)  I happened to have a perfect match thread (gifted) for this cloth (thrifted), but not a lot of it left, so I used black thread in the bobbin for the topstitching and black thread in both for the plain seams.  I didn't run out of the gray, so that was good! (Will probably use the rest for gray and black doll clothes.)

Decided to use Velcro instead of buttons on the pockets because I had the idea that it wouldn't use as much thread as button holes.  Not sure, in retrospect, if that's true, but I also didn't have any buttons that seemed appropriate for this, so I stand by this decision.

Since he's smaller than the pattern, I increased the sizes of a few seam allowances (which...it's KwikSew, so the seam allowances are only ¼" anyway), and used a smaller length of elastic in the back. The kiddo hasn't tried these on yet, because it's Saturday and it takes a lot to get him out of his pajamas on a Saturday.  We'll find out eventually if these fit...

The Eyes Jacket

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who had a beloved hoodie.  This hoodie was a Target Halloween product, printed with black stripes on gray sweatshirt fleece, with staring green eyeballs scattered throughout.  The little boy wore this Eye Jacket until it was threadbare all around.  The jacket was then disassembled and a good piece of it used to make a pillow (because the little boy also loved pillows.  So. many. pillows.)  The little boy's mother had carefully picked apart the stitches holding the separating zipper, and then used it on another jacket--made of black, white, and red thread dyed plaid--just for the little boy.  The little boy also loved this jacket, but, as most little boys do, he grew and grew until it was no longer comfortable to wear.  And, so, when an all-over eyeball print was acquired from JoAnn this year, quickly followed by a copy of a Burda pattern for children's JOGGINGANZUG sweatsuit (the mother thinks she likes the German word better), well...things came together, and that zipper from the original Eyeball Jacket found its way into another Eyeball Jacket, and the little boy was happy.

Well, I wasn't expecting that

Knew I wanted to spend time today sewing, expected I'd start a jacket for the kiddo, made this instead.

And before that...

When I was procrastinating sewing the pirate costume, I sewed this

I remember this place...

Soooo...yeah.

The kiddo had decided to be a pirate for Halloween, so I grabbed good ol' McCall's 8701 and asked him what colors, and he eventually declared that he wanted it to be Mo Willems Pigeon colors.  It didn't take long looking through my stash to find appropriate fabric.  It took longer to motivate myself to actually sew the stuff--although my speed and willingness did increase when I realized that, no, really, I didn't need to create a lining for the coat.  Everything went together quickly, once started.

Then not only did it rain all of Halloween (and the night after that), but the kiddo was also sick.

So.

He says he'll wear it next year, and it will probably still fit, but, for now, here's a picture of everything on the floor

Yes, that's vinyl.  Outer Space Pirate had come up in conversation at some point, and I have lots of this periwinkley pleather, so, enh, why not.  The shirt is a variation on McCall's 5675 (which I always forget how easy it is to make until I make it, then I think "Ooh, I should make a million more of these!" and never do.)

The only other real note (besides Hooray for leather and vinyl sewing machine needles) is Hooray for presser feet that hold buttons so they can be machine sewn.  Hooray.

Angry Bag

I made the Angry Birds storage bag today--not as involved as the Terraria bag, and also conveniently emblazoned with an Angry Birds print, so no inclination to improvisational appliqué.

That didn't keep me from doing it entirely simply, of course.

Square bag for a square game

Well, Terraria isn't as overwhelmingly square as Minecraft, but...um...

Yeah.

I made another bag.

I can hear the music now (I mean, not just because it's playing on a computer in the next room.)

There are sewing bloggers who make beautiful purses. I am not one of them.

I didn't even realize I was going to make a purse this weekend.  I just stumbled across a set of prints I'd forgotten about wanting to combine and decided I would Do Something with them right away.

The first impulse was to sew a skirt--of course it was.  It always is.  Which means I have...several...mixed print skirts.  So maybe not a skirt this time.

"Y'know," said that voice of ill-conceived impulses, "You haven't made any purses for a while..."  And I hadn't--checking file dates on photos, it was 2011, and it was this one

made during my PIPING I CAN DO PIPING phase.  Also before the whole "Hmm, I might very well be goth, huh" thing.

As with the few purses I'd made before, there had been a lot of planning and measuring and consideration for exactly what things I would be carrying in this purse.

The purse I just finished...not so much.

Vingt serviettes rayées

Once upon a time, I read a list of money saving tips that mostly made me roll my eyes--except for the suggestion of using...nay...making cloth napkins.  So I cut a bunch of 9 inch-ish squares from some weird calicoes I'd bought and regretted, serged the edges, and happily used those for a few years before thrifting nearly a dozen much prettier "real" cloth napkins (that had obviously never been used--I'll thrift a lotta things, but...not used napkins...)  After five and a half years, those napkins aren't so pretty any more. (Holes.  They have holes, lots of holes, and frayed edges.  I'm not being needlessly picky about light wear.)  So I decided to make new napkins.

I'd thrifted some yarn-dyed red striped twill that was trying to pretend it was ticking.  The red had already bled a bit by the time I got it, so I laundered it again in hot water and things didn't seem to get worse, so I...eventually...started snipping and ripping into squares.  Well...almost-squares.  The finished size is 11½" x 12½", because I don't like big flappy napkins, and because I was trying to get as many as possible from the yardage I had.  I ended up with 20.

I looked at the various methods for making mitered corners--lovely as they are, I really didn't want to fold--press--fold again--press again--unfold--trim diagonally--fold again--stitch--flip--press x 80.  The 'fake' mitered corner method seemed to have almost as many steps, and Nancy Zieman's super-cheaty method turned out not to be at all suitable for the cloth I was using.

So I just folded and folded again.  Here's a random corner of a random napkin, and it's not too atrocious

Well OK yes the stripes don't line up.  I didn't take the time to straighten the grain of these, because I wanted the project to be done more than I wanted it to be beautiful.

That happens.

That happens a lot.

But now I have 20 new napkins that actually fit the vague color scheme* I have for the kitchen and made from cloth I paid 99¢ for and the project is done so things're good.

Here's to going another five years before needing to think about napkins again.

*It's red-green-blue.  I said it was vague.

Vintage Creepy Toy Skirt

Remember that disturbing vintage toy print I thrifted on my birthday? I used it!  After having it in my stash for less than a month!  (...barely...)

(Whoo, flashback to my early childhood in the late 1970s.  How did people think pupil-less eyes with what appear to be black sclera was an endearing look?)

No patterns involved, just a bunch of rectangles.  The bottom hem is formed by sewing on the solid piece, pressing up the edge, then folding the whole thing up inside and stitching it in the ditch where it meets the print, so no cut edges are visible.

And the salmony solid of similar texture that had been in the stash for untold years worked out well enough as a match for the print's pink, considering that it's another thrift find.  And I was able to finagle things so that the print placement on the front is exactly the same as the print placement on the back.  So...uh..."front" and "back" here are moot (in all senses of the word.)

The skirt is softly pleated to the waistband, and the lining (also thrifted--pretty sure it was a sheet from which I once scavenged some nice wide eyelet) is gathered to fit the waistband.

It's a bit above knee-length, and I can't imagine wearing it with anything but a black shirt and black tights and black shoes and perhaps a black cardigan, weather permitting. (Oh, please, cardigan weather, please come back.)

...plotting the world's demise...

Between the Lines

Finished this today, listed it on Etsy.

There're bloomers under everything--right now, I like making doll bloomers more than doll petticoats, but that could change.  I've been using bits from the long-saved-for-no-clear-reason interfacing scrap stash for the brims and crowns on these little witch hats--the crown could be folded over/crumpled, if so desired (leaving that choice up to the buyers.)

Next thing sewn will either be a dress for my own dolls or a skirt for me.  Maybe.  Something else could seem like a better idea before then.

Applying myself

While I'm getting the hang of the process of satin stitching densely around the edges of things, I'm still not very good at it, and I'm even less good, apparently, at choosing the correct backings to stabilize the things involved in the applique.  Lesson learned:  medium weight interfacing won't do, won't do at all.

A square watermelon pillow with a cute face was the kiddo's idea, and he's happy with the result, and that's what's important.

Hat Hat Hat

I made these for Etsy today

I used a sort of...space-dyed stripey seersuckerish fabric for a contrast under the brim of the squash print hat

and I'm entirely in love with the combination of those fabrics--going to try to figure out what non-doll thing to make with the rest of those two fat quarters...

Teal Thread in the Bobbin

I initially loaded the bobbin with teal thread because I decided I had no more excuses for not sewing incredibly belated birthday doll clothes for a friend (who ls Australian, so who knows how belated the stuff will end up being after whenever it is that I get everything finished once mailing time is added.)  No pictures of those, because they're supposed to be surprises, but then I did sew this for Etsy with the same thread

(It's not a thing like what's for my friend, who prefers Mod style for dolls.)

Then I said to myself that it would be a good time to finally sew something for the kiddo from either the Angry Birds print or the Skylanders print, both of which had blue/teal grounds.  He's not really interested in either game right now--his heart belongs to Terraria at the moment, with Minecraft and Lego Worlds getting sporadically remembered--so I figured it wouldn't bother him if I chose the fabric and the project.  s.o.t.a.k. handmade has been posting a lot of drawstring bags lately, so that inspired me to try a drawstring pouch.  I'm not sure if I've ever made a drawstring pouch before, and my results are pretty much what you'd expect from jumping in with no pattern and a reasonable-but-not-positive idea of how it would be constructed.

Skylanders it is.

It's large enough to hold all the figures (I scored a bakers dozen of them in a thrift store earlier this year...)    I did use a middle layer of a heavy twill to give it body, with a vaguely-cloud print (sky) for the drawstring casing and a continent print (land) inside (get it get it?)  And then I made another one that's not as structured and is lined with the kinda-cloud print (because I didn't have enough of the continent print left) to hold The Portal of Power.

I think I'll use the Angry Birds print to make a pouch to hold all of his Angry Birds figures and Telepods, and I think I know how to add a divider inside, which seems like a useful thing...

Little Witchy

Still having fun making vaguely-lolita dresses and matching witch hats for dolls.  Forgot to post this one here before I put it on Etsy (it's on its way to Belgium right now)

 This one (which is admittedly not very loli) is on its way to an American destination

And this one is staying here for my own dolls

And I just got a bunch of doll-appropriate black lace--I hadn't realized how low I was until I made the cat eye print outfit and ended up using almost all of what I had left...  I mean, yeah, sure, I still had a suitcase full of other laces, but...black lace is important...

Well, I thought it would be a skirt skirt, but it ended up being a skirt.

Skirt on a dress instead of a skirt on its own, that is.

I sewed five 4" wide selvedge-to-selvedge pieces together and finished one edge of that with the rolled edge foot before attaching it to the bottom of the patchwork piece with the ruffler foot...which took two tries, because it was set to gather too much the first time.  The second time had some  of the ruffle cloth left over, but that was OK because precision there wasn't required.  Attaching the patchwork to the bottom edge of the upper tier of the skirt, though...actually, it only took three tries to get it the right width, so it wasn't too tedious.  ('Traditional" gathering of ruffles is something I do find too tedious...)  I serged the seam allowances where the tiers came together, then topstitched close to those edges and then started to think...hmm...maybe it wouldn't be too misguided to make it a dress instead of a skirt...

I used the simple bodice I cobbled together from disparate patterns, opting to put the zipper in the back (instead of the side) because the skirt pieces were made with a back seam in mind.  Everything went together with no problems, and I finished by topstitching close to the edges of the arm openings and neckline.  Taadaa.  (Now I need to get back to my last-year weight to fit comfortably into it...)

Always and never ready for Halloween

I put together roughly 10½" by 116" of bright Halloween print patchwork today

Plan to turn it into one tier of a ruffled skirt...maybe tomorrow, maybe not...

Back to the Etsy

I'm slowly getting back to sewing doll clothes for Etsy again, trying slightly different approaches and design ideas, because what I had been making had been losing popularity, it seemed, on top of the severely lessened desire to sew that I've had since late last year.

I listed this early today and it sold almost immediately

 which is certainly a big boost to wanting to sew for Etsy...