A Halloween Patchwork Tiered Skirt

 I made another Halloween Patchwork Project!  And it's another tiered patchwork skirt! 

 

 There's really not much more to say about it!

...which won't keep me from saying more, of course... 

Well. Don't like it.

The bodice is Simplicity 9153, which I've used many times (I'm wearing a dress made with it now), and I like the individual fabrics, and I like the way they combine when next to each other, but, overall...no. It's incredibly Not Me.

 

 

Cat Patch for Halloween...Gift...in March

 This is for a friend who likes Halloween

 

 

Olive & Aubergine Patchwork

Once again, I opened a fabric storage drawer and said to myself, "This is very crowded, maybe I should use up all of a certain kind of fabric here in a patchwork project."

This time, it was bits of rayon, especially after I noticed they all circled around the same greens and purples...plus one black and white print.  At first, I wasn't going to include the B&W, but I thought it made a nice, unexpected contrast, so I went with it, which helped when it came to finding additional fabrics to mix in.

In addition to the rayons (most of which are challis, but one is faille), there's a vintage linen???, smooth plain weave cottons, homespuns, a flannelette, and a slubby silk cotton blend.

Patchwork Cat Jacket

About eight years ago, I made a patchwork blanket based on a quilt block idea I had about ten years ago.  I based the block on 4½" fabric squares.  Early last month, I wondered if I could figure out a version of the block based on the square die sizes I have for my die cutter.

I did a little sketching and math and arrived at cutting the squares at 35mm, the squares that would be cut into half square triangles at 40mm, and the squares that would be cut into quarter square triangles at 45mm.  Because I am not 100% committed to Perfect, I cut those squares into halves and quarters with scissors, so things were...variable...but workable.

The day I posted the previous project (still not happy with that), I cut enough squares and triangles to do a test, and made this 

Success!

Then the tedium started, eventually getting to this

 

 Eventually.

Renovating an Old Work

I didn't photograph it when I made it, but photo evidence points to this bedspread having been made around 2014.  This photo was taken in 2019, when I was preparing to make a replacement because one of the fabrics--visible just behind Chip--was falling apart.

 

I then put the blanket and matching pillowcases in the linen closet, to be ignored.

I had the thought the other day that I could cut up the intact parts of the blanket to use to make another pullover dress...but...that didn't quite feel right.

So!

I ended up picking apart the damaged squares (a second one had started falling apart while in storage), removing the borders, and re-assembling everything into a new configuration.

It might go back into the linen closet, but at least it'll go in in better shape than it came out.

Incorrect Haphazard

So, a few months ago, I stumbled upon the random remnant patchwork creations of Get Crooked, and took special note of the patchwork bomber jacket.  Now, you know I like a patchwork bomber, but this kind, with a mix of textures, is something I hadn't done before--I had cut out a lot of knit squares with the intention of making one that would have had a little bit of texture variation, years ago, but I never did, and eventually donated the bag full of little squares.

I'm also not a particular fan of synthetic fleeces and fake furs and similar, but the use of those is a big part of the charm of the Get Crooked patchwork jackets, so I was determined to include at least a few of them, especially after acquiring the blanket that would provide fabric for the controller cardigan.  That's also why I thrifted some cheap (both in price-I-paid and construction) sweaters, parts of which I used for the recent quick hats.  I thought maybe mixing some nice textured sweater knits in with the synthetic fleeces, plus of course adding sequins, and making the color range more coordinated, might make for something in line with my general aesthetic.

It did not.  

 

 I'm not saying it's bad, just that it's bad for me.

Hasty Irregular Patchwork Bomber

I'm working on a slightly more involved irregular, multi-texture patchwork bomber jacket, and not feeling the most enthusiastic about it.  On Sunday, I decided that I wanted to use some large knit remnants--that I'd already decided would work together well for something--to make a quicker irregular patchwork bomber jacket for a friend I'd be seeing on Tuesday.

I finished it Monday night! 

 

It is cheerful and silly and meant to wear like a layer of blanket.  And it used a nice little amount of bulky fabric bits!

Doll-themed Patchwork

(but not doll-size patchwork)

When I was cutting the patches for the tiered patchwork skirt I made in early August, I had started with a slightly different set of fabrics.  The more I cut, though, the more I realized that there were two distinct themes and color schemes developing, so I went ahead and cut enough for two skirts.

The original fabric selection for everything was centered around the doll print and coordinating madras that I used for a button up shirt.  I obviously went in a different direction for the first tiered patchwork skirt I made, and this one uses the assortment of prints and plaids more centered on the doll print. 

 

There's an odd assortment of "coordinating but not" colors in the doll print, and they're reflected pretty well in the additional print assortment.  

Even if it looks disjointed.

A More Traditional Kind of Patchwork Skirt

If there is a quintessential example of my approach to patchwork--heavier fabrics, relatively structured--it would probably be the long A-line skirt I made last summer.

I decided I would put aside my propensity for structured patchwork and try a more "normal" approach of sewing strips of squares and gathering them into tiers for a skirt.

It worked out nicely.

And then: So Many Doll Clothes

Someone very kindly sent me a box of really good dolls, so I wanted to make something to send back as thanks.  Of course, I wanted it to be die-cut patchwork, so I started digging through my scrap bin, looking for a relatively masculine assortment, with the idea being to make a jacket in Ken size.

And then I also found some other assortments of scraps to use for doll dresses, so I cut those into squares...and had so much fun cutting those squares that I decided to get into some of the bags of scraps I'd already sorted out, and cut those, too.  And, as long as I was making scrap bag dresses, why not make a few more dresses from handkerchiefs?  Ooh, and from some of the very distinctly vintage fabrics a different doll friend had sent...and some dresses made from the last bits of some cottons...and some dresses that just seemed like suitable ideas at the time...

And eventually ended up with these 

 

 and these! 

The items in the top photo will be going to other people, eventually.  The items in the lower photo are all mine, and many of the dolls modeling were sent in the package that inspired the whole project.  Thanks thanks!

More Patchwork! More Halloween Patchwork!

A friend's birthday is approaching.  Time for more patchwork!  More Halloween patchwork!

 

This friend is just as much of a Halloween All year person as I am--more so, actually.  That's one of the reasons we're friends.

All of these fabrics were from my stash.  Most of the prints are actual Halloween prints, even those that don't have specific Halloween imagery, but I did end up calling in a few non-Halloween prints (two of which also showed up in the recent not-exactly-Halloween patchwork vest.)  I only repeated one of the prints, and I took the graphics from markedly different parts of the design, so they don't appear to be the same print, and I still consider this to functionally not repeat any print.

There are eight of each of the solid colors, and 16 of the black.  My plans for this project evolved as I started (die) cutting things, taking into account how many squares I had versus how many would make geometric sense.

I used the 60mm die, and the finished squares are about 50mm, or just under 2".  The finished size is about 11" x 15", or about 28cm x 38cm.

Inside, between lining and outer layers, is more of the striped fabric used in the apple patchwork messenger bag and inside the camo foil bucket bag. I also interfaced the patchwork sides.

I actually got this zipper, I believe, from the friend for whom I made this bag--they had gone to the craft thrift store when it was about to close for renovations, and the entire store was basically 'pay what you want,' so the friend grabbed a bunch of zippers for me.  This one was just the right color and length for this project.

 

A project like this doesn't make much of a dent in the stash, but it's still fun to see what's in there that'll work.

Citrus-esque Vest

Continuing the patchwork adventures with the die cutter and the scrap bins, this time with the goal of making a vest front.

I've made two versions of New Look 6514 using woven cotton patches made from 2" squares that I cut by hand, choosing to cut the squares at 2" because I have a ruler that width.  I later made Simplicity 9630 from heavier fabric patches, cut at a larger size.  Now that I have the die cutter, I wanted to try...smaller.

I chose the 35mm square die, with the idea that the finished squares would be around 1".  Roughly.

I had spent time (happily) poking through the scrap bins and sorting out groups of coordinating fabrics.  This one was built around some Very 1970s green and orange prints, contrasted with black and white.  I originally assumed I would use it for doll clothes, but this project required more fabric.  A lot more.

I pulled some from other scrap assortments, the small yardage stash, and a little bit from the large yardage, too.  I don't generally have a lot of orange or yellow, so that need, plus a variety of black and white, meant I called in a few Halloween prints.  There are no pumpkins, so the Halloween touches may be subtle.  It's fine either way.

Apple Print Patchwork Bag

So. I had gotten to the point where most of the remaining apple print was in the form of unavoidable odd scraps left from all of the other things I'd made.

What do you I do with odd scraps? ...well, normally, my answer is "squirrel them away for later," but my small piece knit fabric drawer was very very full, so I decided to grab other pinks and greens from there and make something from patchwork.

Now, while I do very much like the patchwork cardigan I made from knit fabrics last year, I felt like the fact that I have already made a cardigan (two, if you count the not-so-successful first attempt), a motorcycle jacket, and a vest from the apple print meant I had plenty of apple print options for the upper body, and the two skirts were literally good coverage for the lower, so it wasn't time for another patchwork skirt.

I eventually remembered the Very 1990s bag pattern I'd gotten from the craft thrift store, McCall's 8705

 

The messenger bag in view C was the whole reason I'd picked this pattern--yes, I can and have figured out how to make messenger bags without anything but my own imagination, but sometimes it's nice not to have to think so much.

Especially when I was going to add the over-complication of patchwork to the project. 

And that's when I discovered that whoever had owned this pattern before had not put the pieces for view A back in the envelope, nor had they returned the first page of the instructions, which is where the yardage requirements are (the back of the envelope has full color photos of the bags in different fabrics than the front views.) (There were also pieces from a completely different bag pattern in there.)  The missing yardage requirements (or anything relating to view A) weren't a problem for this project, because the whole thing about making patchwork specifically to make other things is that you only need to assemble as much as you need to cover the pattern pieces.

I did later find a listing for the pattern with a picture of the yardage requirements, and noted them for the messenger bag, which is, honestly, the only one of these I'll probably ever make.  Beyond the added labor of the patchwork (and issues caused by the bulk of medium weight knit patchwork), this was a fairly easy thing to make.

 

...so...I got a die cutter...

The big kind, usually used for leather, with the lever and the springs and the individual metal dies.  There is a learning curve to using it, and I have a lot of other projects I want to sew besides patchwork.

Still, I took some time today to try proof-of-concept with the 30mm square die to cut patchwork for doll scale

The act of cutting was fun, as was figuring out how to fold and stack the fabric to get a lot cut at once.  I do still need to work on getting things aligned with the grain.

 

I didn't use a stitch length short enough to cut through (without it unraveling), so it became a skirt on a doll dress.

 

That's a custom-made 4½" square die in the upper left corner of the first photo.  I have some technical issues to work out with that (because I got what I now realize is a somewhat under-size die press--I can make it work, but I will again refer back to that learning curve) before I can go wild cutting large patchwork squares for more clothes.  The 60mm die works nicely as things are, though.  I can work with that...just...not at the moment.  I made a list of things I want to make, and I made that list before I convinced myself to order the die press and associated supplies.  I'll get to it.

Animal Crossed Patchwork Bomber

I have recently started playing Animal Crossing Wild World for the first time, and I have read enough to know that I'll need to interact with someone else who has the game to be able to get the final version of the Nook store.  I have a local friend who had been thinking of starting Wild World for the first time, too, and we'll help each other with that store interaction.  

To thank the friend, I made this

 

 which contains a smattering of licensed Animal Crossing fabric

Halloween Patchwork Shirt

 Finally finished!  I took the first photo of this project

on October 7.  I finished it on October 27.  That's nearly three weeks.  The lined patchwork blazer I made last year, using a pattern that was entirely new to me, took five days total.  And the first Halloween patchwork project I did was acknowledged as a distraction tactic (and also took five days.)  This year's project did not distract from...potential upcoming events...and in fact that uncertainty is probably what dragged this project out for so long.

But it's done!  And it's cute!

 

 

Patchwork...Cardigan!

This is the last of the planned patchwork projects, meant to use up scraps and free up storage space.  This one is a departure from the others, because this one uses knits.

I always worry about popping seams on pull-over knit shirts--and I still don't trust my serger to make a full quarter inch two needle seam without breaking the left needle, plus I wanted the ability to press the seam allowances open--so I decided to make a cardigan instead, using Simplicity 8951 (mostly.)

I cut 182 3"/76mm squares, and I used all of them, plus an uncounted number of partial squares to fill in edges and corners.

Almost every one of these knits has appeared on this blog in a previous project (the one that hasn't is from a project that predates the blog.)  That's a lot of projects, and I don't feel like digging up the links right now.  They're back there, somewhere.

And here's how they came together

 

Is it more doll clothes? No! It's more patchwork!

I had more fabric picked out for more patchwork, and I decided to finally get back to that.  It was over a week ago, though!  I had to drag myself through this project--not because it was any harder (or more tedious) than the previous patchwork projects, but because I had picked these fabrics out first, after I finished several projects last year and thought their scraps coordinated nicely.

Purple flannel herringbone set

Green plaid A-line skirt

Floral motorcycle jacket

Cotton flannel plaid skirt

Corduroy zipper skirt

Wool snap skirt

 

but the problem is that the more time it takes me to get to a project, the more mental weight the project gathers, and it gets harder to approach it in a light, carefree manner like I do with the more spontaneous stuff I make.  The recent "just make something from these fabric scraps that are taking up too much room" projects were a breeze, because they happened almost as fast as the ideas for them formed.  The idea for this, however, had been around since November, giving my brain time to form expectations for it.  Progress gets held back by thoughts of "What if this doesn't end up as nice/fun/cool as I thought it would?"

Still, I kept at it and slowly--eight days!--got it finished

 

 

This is when I hear people say "Eight days? It would have  taken me a month to sew all those patches together!" and I respond that, yes, I understand that this kind of thing can take a while, and I really should be comfortable taking all the time I need for it.  But.  I got the longer, but more spontaneous, patchwork skirt done in five days, so my brain is back there saying I should have been able to finish this one faster.  Brains can be unreasonable.

Random Patchwork Skirt. A Different One.

A bit over a year ago, I picked up a bit of printed velveteen from the craft thrift store free table.  I rolled it up and tucked it into the side of the fancy small yardage drawer, so it was in view when I started pulling fabric from that drawer to make room so the sides of the drawer would stop creaking whenever I put anything away.  I figured I would never make doll clothes, or the hypothetical upper collar, from it like I'd thought, so into the potential patchwork pile it went.  It was quickly joined by a blue soft brocade remnant, which I'd gotten in a destash from a local doll person, that had a tag declaring it to be Pendleton Wool, and on steep reduction in price.  Pieces of the blue left over from the bed cover I made at the end of 2019 matched well, too.  Some olive green fine wale corduroy also came out of the small yardage drawer, although I hadn't initially thought of using any of the "doll pants" fabric.  I don't think I had ever used it for doll pants, either, so, might as well use it in this.

That still didn't seem like quite enough fabric, so I got into the larger yardage, and came out with the rest of the black brocade of unknown fiber content used for a bustier and waist cincher a few years ago.  I had a vague idea this would all go into a shorter A-line skirt, and adding the brocade made it all seem like an appropriate quantity of fabric.

I folded one corner of the velveteen remnant to determine the patch size (measure? me?), getting two full squares plus a bit extra from it.  I ended up with about 36 full size squares, plus all the odd pieces left over, and it was plenty to make view A from New Look 6843 (with the waistband borrowed from Simplicity 9851, like the previous patchwork A-line skirt.)

(I did omit belt loops, because this skirt wasn't going to be anywhere near as heavy as the last one.)