...just...just sew *something*...

The truth is, I'm constantly sewing, especially on the weekends.  It's doll clothes, though, and I'm never sure if I want to post about that here, or if this is my non-doll sewing place.  The doll stuff does go on Flickr and Instagram (although not everything they wear was made by me--I try to mention it in the captions when it is me-made.)  This last weekend was...kinda weird (resulting in a new washing machine that's supposed to be delivered today), but not weird enough to eliminate all the sewing, and I sewed something not-doll size!

I'd decided I wanted to make a skirt, and to make a skirt that fits my actual waist right now, and I wanted to use a pattern instead of making the usual free-form "rectangles gathered to an elastic casing" skirt.  I'd also decided I wanted to start using the bits of wax print I've thrifted over the years (ignoring the wax prints I cut for a tunic mumble mumble months ago that're still patiently waiting to be sewn together.)  But, since I hadn't used most of the skirt patterns before (and I have very few in the correct size, as most of my patterns are bought for the shirt pieces), I had the odd-for-me idea that I should make a test first (I feel like the term "wearable muslin" is too fancy for the way I make stuff.)  But I still wanted to use the wax prints.  Just...not the really nice wax prints.

No matter how I angled things, I couldn't get the skirt pattern I wanted to try first to fit on the not-so-nice wax prints.

So.

I gave up and made this

It's two rectangles gathered to an elastic casing.

But!

It has pockets!

(pockets borrowed from another pattern I was thinking of using, but that skirt is cut on the bias, and...wax prints aren't meant for being cut on the bias.)

 And not a bit has been ironed.  My lack of ironing has been encouraged by the fact that my stereo receiver, which is on constantly, is very old and probably needs a new transformer and stops playing sounds and instead starts physically buzzing loudly whenever there's a bit of a voltage drop, which...the iron causes more than a bit of a voltage drop whenever the element is heating.  So that's my current excuse for not ironing things.

As rumpled as the skirt is overall, I did get the hem fairly crisp, thanks--as always--to copious amounts of top stitching.

There's a strip of the same cloth, folded in half and stitched to the right side of the skirt before being flipped to the inside and top stitched near the edge, with the second line of stitching near the folded edge of the facing strip.  This cloth is really lightweight, so this finish adds some body without adding much bulk.  Using the strips of cloth this way also allowed me to use all but scraps (from around the curves of the pockets) of this cloth, which is a good thing.  Actually using my cloth is a good thing.  I should try to do that more often.  (And I should try not to buy more grab bags of cloth from the thrift store, especially on half-off day when I can easily convince myself to go ahead and buy three bed-in-a-bag-size bags of random cloth.  I really should stop doing that.  But there was a lot of great cloth in those bags!  That maybe I'll use someday!  For more than just doll clothes!)

I am happy that I finally used this print

It makes me think of books, viewed from the ends.  It's aggressively cheerful--I was a bit miffed that none of my pink threads were this pink, but the red outlines allowed me to use the brand-new spool of red Saba tex 40 I somewhat randomly added to my last order from Wawak.

Things work out.

Meows Revisited

Finally got a backing on the cat patch test quilt top!  There's no batting, just a layer of double knit cream (which I didn't even realize could be a considered a pun--cream? cats?  yeah--until typing this) polyester on the back now, courtesy the thrift grab bag cloth I'm trying to sew away. (There's still about a yard of the cream double knit left...)

It's been cold and windy so I wasn't sure when would be a good time to get photos...then I walked past the kiddo's room, with the blanket on the bed and The Floof on the blanket...

Great pictures of the blanket?  Nah.  Great pictures of the cat?  Yep.

A few pictures show the backing, and where I did do some super simple quilting to the upper layer, but I know you're looking at the cat.  That's completely understandable.

Just two small holes

They were small, but still big enough to keep me from wearing this skirt for a very long time.  Yesterday, I decided I'd do something about those two tiny holes.

 I might've gone a little overboard.

 I was surprised to find that I didn't have as many spoooooky black and white (or...close to black and white) Halloween prints as I thought I would.  (The range of blacks and whites just means this will match a range of black t-shirts, right?)

 They're not all specifically Halloween prints

 and some were cut out to highlight the print details, while others were just cut as freehand shapes.

Everything was zigzagged around with a short narrow stitch.  No reinforcing interfacing or stabilizer--that would've required planning.  Pfft.  I'm not even sure if I'm done adding appliqués to this...

Repantsenating

So I made a probably misguided (and probably, eventually, desperate) decision to sew through the pile of cloth from those last two thrift store fabric grab bags.  This is the source of the cloth for the border of the cat face quilt (and very likely will provide the back), the outside and inside of the Roblox bag, the dubiously tasteful flocked leopard cloth for the patch jacket, and this pair of pants I made for the kiddo yesterday

I've accepted the fact that pats are hard to photograph (and there's a Very Lovey Chippykitty on the desk right now, so typing is extra challenging--forgive any typos I don't catch.)  It's Kwik Sew 2544 again

with the same combination of most of view B with the faux fly of view A.  I tried making the legs a bit narrower, too.  I haven't yet convinced him to try the freshly-made pants on yet, though.

Even if they fit, I'm not sure if he'll accept them, because they're...double knit polyester.  With a fake twill texture to boot.

 (and lots of cat hair.)

I didn't even think of ironing this--my experience with pressing double knit polyester is that it's either scaldingly damp but otherwise unchanged, or it melts.  The lack of pressing was nothing that copious amounts of topstitching couldn't rectify.  Most of the topstitching was even called for in the pattern directions.

I did decide not to topstitch around the upper edge of the waistband (which, along with the pocket flaps, was interfaced with the tropical print used for the Roblox bag and seen in the background.)

I did order this thread specifically for this project--weird for me, yeah, but it's probably better that I have some dark-blue-no-it's-not-navy thread, anyway.  I wasn't so persnickety about the completely unnecessary (but aesthetically gratifying) serging inside

(hey.  cat hair.)

The part that suffered most from the refusal to iron was definitely the cargo pockets

(oh look more cat hair)  I probably should have sewn the center, below the fold, completely closed--I know my kid, there's never going to be anything in these pockets, they could be completely flat, there would be no problems.  Now, omitting them wasn't an option, because these already look dangerously close to school uniform pants I like the visual detail they add.

Instead of making button holes or hook and loop  tape closures, I just stitched down the edges of the flaps

Which worked out better than I thought it would.

Now, to see if he'll actually wear them...and...if so, there's a length of dark red double knit that could be empantsenated, too...

Patchy

A recent visit to a local salvage store resulted in an increase to my embroidered appliqué stash--enough of an increase to push things into "oh wow I really should do something with these" territory.

Hmm.  Well..."patches on jackets" is one of those perpetually punk/currently trendy things, I could do that.  Need to make the jacket, though.

I'd wanted to make something from Simplicity 5253 for a while

and that big pile of thrift grab bag cloth included a dark gray synthetic-heavy twill with flocked leopard spots that I really wanted to do something with, because, c'mon.  Flocked leopard spots.

The envelope requirements said I didn't have enough cloth.  I ended up with a solid 14"x16" piece leftover, plus random large-enough-to-use-for-doll clothes scraps.  I think I even paid attention to the nap.  (Maybe.)

I constructed everything to the point where the sleeves were attached flat (and topstitched!) and the next step would be the sleeve/side seams, but at that point I put it on a hanger and started pinning on patches.  I tried not to be too fussy with what went where--still, left it that way overnight and changed a few things the next morning.

Then the zigzagging began. 

I had reasonably well-matched thread for almost everything.  Had no dark-but-not-navy blue, so used the coolest dark purple I had where that was needed (that would be to sew on the letter I got in high school.  If you're blinking at what sport I might've performed well enough in--or even participated in at all--to earn a letter, don't worry.  I earned that letter for academic performance.  I also ordered some dark blue thread this morning.)

Once all 35 patches were attached, I sewed up the sleeves/sides, finished the sleeves, and hemmed the bottom.  The main deviation I did in this pattern is (say it with me) extra topstitching--partly for the looks, partly because I...kinda...didn't iron anything.  Well, OK, I started by ironing the seam allowance in the under collar, melted all of the flocking, and learned my lesson. (And I had to fight myself not to line it--the idea that lining might interfere with any future patch attaching was what convinced me.  Everything's serged.)

I thought I would be super indecisive about buttons, but I actually just used the first set of four black buttons in the right size I found.  And the fact that I used a broadcloth--from the thrift grab bag assortment--as interfacing worked out just fine.

So...the finished mess jacket...

Roblagx

The kiddo has accumulated a lot of Roblox action figures.  He's also losing interest in Roblox, so those figures had been accumulating a lot of dust.  In retrospect, we could have found a nice box for all of them, but precedent had been set by the Terraria bag, so a Roblox bag was decreed.

The main difference is that I actually like Terraria, so put a modicum of effort into that project.  This one, though...pfft, just get it done.  Don't measure anything.  Don't double check the angle of the iconic square O logo.  Get it all wrong, whatever, just get it done.

And I did!

As mentioned, I tilted the square O in the wrong direction, but it's still recognizably Roblox.  We might even be able to call this the non-copyright-infringing homage version.

As with the Terraria bag, there's a big zippered pocket on the back, using the same "Mom got a good deal on a good deal of zippers in 1980" yellow zippers.

The lining on this bag isn't as exciting as the lining used in the Terraria bag.  The choices of fabric for the outside and the lining were both made from the big pile of cloth beside my desk that came from thrifted fabric grab bags.  (I have a weakness, OK?)  I have a vague plan to use up a lot of that cloth in random projects like this, especially in stuff for the kiddo.  (I just ordered some thread to that end.  Sometimes you do indeed have to spend money to be able to use the stuff you got for a great price, right?)

I took extra time to make sure the lining cloth was as out of the way as possible when I topstitched around the zippers.  I have a history of fighting with lining that likes to jump into zipper pulls.

The cloth for the square/tilting-the-wrong-way O came from my doll cloth stash.  Yes, it's the wrong color.  Yes, it's a bit large and the corners were lost in the seam allowance.  Yes, there's a bit of raw edge threads peeking out of the inner corners.

I'm still really happy with how the actual appliqué process went, especially considering there's no stabilizer of any kinds (and hooboy do I not lack for stabilizer, thanks to a different thrift store sewing supply grab bag find.)    I get a perverse satisfaction from zigzagging--tiny zigzagging--within in the bounds of my straight stitch foot.  Having a pretty good thread match helps.

Inside is a single simple pocket, intended to hold the package background cards and fold-out catalog leaflets.

Everything fit inside the bag with ease.  Now to see what fills in that empty shelf space over his computer...

Fallout--Now For Kids!

Of course I understand that the Fallout series is most definitely 100% not for kids.  Of course.

That said, the kiddo has watched his Dad play the game, as well as some relatively kid-friendly YouTubers (yes really) and we've discussed some of the Issues™ brought up by the game (although 'subversion of the capitalist ideal' is still a bit beyond him--we're good on 'violence isn't always the best or only answer.')  So the nine-year old isn't directly playing the game, but he does load mods for vault dwellers into any game he can. (After he's loaded mods for characters from Pokémon and Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex.  Yes, we've discussed the Issues™ of that series with him, too.)

Husband had bought a Fallout t-shirt that he didn't like the way it fit; a recent trawl through Kohl's clearance racks found a replacement with the same graphic and better fit.  I immediately--as in, while we were still in the store and hadn't purchased the shirt yet--decided I'd re-fashion the ill-fitting shirt into a shirt for the kiddo.

And I did.

I left the collar and shoulder seams in place, cut off the sleeves and cut the body open at the sides (where seams would be if it'd had side seams) before folding it in half and cutting it with the t-shirt pattern I'd amalgamated from a few patterns.

As usual, I cut the sleeves to retain the original shirt's coverstitching, so all I had to do was set the sleeves, sew the side/underarm seams, and hem the bottom.

I ma keenly aware that the print is slightly skewed--the original shirt was sewn incredibly off-grain, and I attempted to true that up least a little.  In the end, nothing was true, and that may also be a bit of a lesson to learn from the game, too.