I realized I could use the powers of the grommet press to add spring snaps to strips of leather to make wrist cuffs. Consider these Proof of Concept.
Yes, most of these pieces of leather are left over from the purse I made a few years ago, plus one strip from a pack of leather scraps. I may further embellish these in the future, whether I make more or not.
...although...I suppose I could try making some from vinyl too...
Last October, I made a vest from a whole bunch of 2" squares of Halloween print fabric sewn together. I really like how it turned out, and, while I do enjoy the idea of Halloween all year, I'm ambivalent about orange outside the Halloween Season Proper.
So, I had a vague plan to make another 2" square patchwork vest, and earlier this year I was struck by some red and pink fabrics in my small yardage stash. I gathered similar and coordinated fabrics, then acknowledged, and proceeded to ignore, the distinct Valentine's Day feeling of everything together.
Last weekend I started cutting the squares. It helped a lot to reference the finished Halloween vest, so I could count how many patches were needed. I still managed to cut too many, which is always better than not enough, of course. I used the Halloween vest as a guide for what patches should go where to make panels big enough for the pattern pieces, and I also learned from the Halloween vest to pay attention to the front opening overlap on the other side, to avoid the same print ending up near itself (it's the second row from the edge on the lower side that the opening edge on the upper side lands next to.)
I started sewing squares together in the evening, then finished the next day
Then I procrastinated and dawdled for most of the rest of the week and finally finished today.
A friend helped with some things this week--I had already baked something as Thanks, but, yesterday, I decided I wanted to make something more. And I wanted to use the grommet press to install some spring snaps. Because that's not something that just anyone has the equipment to do.
Initially I thought it would be a simple bag, so I looked through my fabric for something that seemed suitable for this friend, and this caught my eye
This friend likes bright colors (I made this jacket as thanks for them for something else), roller skating (which...close...), reptiles, and tackiness. Someone sent me this fabric a few years ago, and I've been hanging onto it because...well. Look at it.
What isn't apparent in this photo is that it's essentially a border print, with the print radiating from a packed geometric stripe at the center fold to the selvedges...and that's why I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so great for a bag after all, because there is a slight natural crosswise stretch of the woven cotton due to the weft yarns being weaker than the warp yarns, and that would also mean the weaker direction of the fabric would be the load-bearing direction in a bag.
At that point, though, I really wanted to use this fabric for this Friend Thanks project (I had considered, for years, using it for something for the kiddo, but his Ironic Humor Standards change so often that even if he liked it when I made it, he might not care about it a week later just because it's no longer the right kind of funny.) As the title of this post indicates, I decided to make a bomber jacket.
There was just enough fabric.
So a few weeks ago, I made a slip jumper from bias cut subtly plaid wool. It fit very strangely.
I realized it was because the facing was not cut on the bias, and that led to...ah...unflattering compression at the bust.
So I decided I had nothing to lose by cutting the facing very short, cutting the top of the lining to match the contour of this new facing edge, then sewing them back together
This way, the facing is still there cut on-grain for stability, but doesn't extend over body parts that need the kinds of contours that on-grain fabric doesn't offer so easily.
The lining got a lot shorter, so I picked out the lining's hem, which regained a lot of length, and just serged it.
It's not beautiful, but it just might actually get worn.
After my last go-round with trying to make a slip dress jumper from McCall's 6696, I wanted to try it again, but this time not over-complicate it
well
not over-complicate it as much
because apparently I've turned into one of those middle-aged-lady sewing types who puts appliqués on everything.
Well, not a big renovation--I used the grommet press to add spring snaps to the patchwork and appliqué house purse I made in February.
Since these were added after the purse was finished, there's no extra interfacing or other reinforcement inside where the snaps are, but there is some, since I interfaced everything for general body and to withstand the appliqué process.
I really like these snaps, and I am resisting acquiring ALL THE DIES for the grommet press. I have plenty of things I can make with what I already have.
I finished this dress over a week ago--I have already worn and washed it, and am only now getting around to recording it here.
It's another hacked Simplicity 9153, made with fabric printed in Côte d'Ivoire, according to the selvedge. This is not an actual wax print--it's a fancy fabric print (it says on the selvedge that it's screen printed.) I got it from the friend who brought their relative's destash fabric a few years ago--many thanks!
