Strings and Yarn

It took me a lot longer to get back with this than I thought! First, I got the spring crud, then I got behind in work because I spent a week just trying to survive. Plus, I’ve entered the end of the school year, which means more work planning and events to put together. Whew! The important thing is that I didn’t forget, it’s just later than I though.

First the weights that will be sent out to the winner.

The winner is. (Drum roll please…..)

Penny! I’ll be emailing you to get your snail mail so I can send these and a few other goodies your way.

I recently wanted to try out using some sewing weights instead of pins for cutting out patterns, but wanted to make something cute. At first I was going to make some with pennies inside, but a friend suggested using fishing weights and I’m very pleased with the results. I’ve put together a little tutorial so you can make your own. Not interested in making your own? Scroll down for details on a set I’ll be giving away.

First you’ll want to gather your supplies.

• Fabric Scraps (get out the scrap bin!)
• Pinking Shears
• Compass or circle to trace (about 2″ diameter)
• Fishing Weights – size 7 – 2 packages (10 per weight)

First press your fabric scrap since it was last crammed into your scrap bin.

Trace your circle on the back side of your fabric. If you’re making a lot of these, it’ll be easier to make a template.

Cut out your circle with your pinking shears and flip the fabric so wrong sides are facing each other. Now we’re going to sew!

Find a coordinating thread color and sew a 1/4 inch around the outside of your circle. Make sure to leave a small hole (about 1/2 inch) so that you can put your weights in. Put 10 fishing weights in your fabric pouch. Finish by sewing over the hole and make sure to overlap with previous seam.

Repeat until you have desired number of sewing weights. I made a set of six and have found that to be sufficient so far. Ten would be more than enough. You could also make them any shape, I just happen to like circles.

I’ve made another set of six to giveaway to a lucky blog reader! Just leave a comment before midnight on Thursday April 28th to win your own set. Winner will be chosen by random number generator.

I recently bought several vintage patterns from What I Found. (Watch out, that website is a trap. Fair warning.) I blame these bloggers (here and here too) for my new found love of vintage patterns. All the inspiring sewing out their has me sewing up a storm!

Since resizing, tracing and using an older/used pattern were all new things for me, I decided my first one should be the easiest out of the bunch I purchased. This wrap seemed right up my alley. I have been in need of a new robe (mine was a lavender store bought one that had definitely seen better days) and decided this looked like just the comfy thing to wrap around me on weekends and in the morning.

I could definitely see making one for the beach too… Especially the sleeveless version. The normal version I could make into a top to wear any time!

Well, I’m not a 32 inch bust, so I used this tutorial on how to size up patterns. It was incredibly helpful. First I traced the pattern pieces. Then I slashed them and retraced them in the larger size onto my Swedish tracing paper.

After all that, it was time for some fabric. I didn’t want it to be light pink terry or that weird fuzzy stuff that’s just a little too soft. If it was terry, I wanted an interesting color, and since JoAnn’s didn’t really have anything of interest, I defaulted to the cotton prints. Since the cotton wasn’t really the weight I was going for, I underlined it with white flannel.

I also picked out some fun cotton for the bias trim, interfacing, fabric covered buttons and the pocket lining.

This was also my first time using fabric covered buttons and I love them. I will be using more of these for sure. Of course, we need a modeled shot.

I am really happy with how it turned out. The flannel gives it a great weight, and makes it super cuddly. The only disappointment was in the bias edge trim. I just couldn’t seem to get it on where it would inclose both the flannel and the cotton in all spots. Then I also used the wrong thread when stitching it to the backside. The bias tape on the pockets was also not very well applied. Before I wash it, I will have to make sure and re-do it so it doesn’t fall apart in the wash.

I did however do my first continues cutting of bias trim. It finally made sense to me when I saw this tutorial from Collette Patterns.

Just a side note for Eugene spinners, knitters and weavers : ETC has a 15% off sale for blog readers. Check it out here.

A whole month has gone by like that! March is a very busy time for a musician that plays Irish music. Just sayin’.

That doesn’t mean I have been creating up a storm. For me, spring is the time of the sewing machine. I know this because for the past three years I’ve bought three issues of Stitch, all of them the spring issue. Last spring, I also got a new sewing machine. This spring I’m getting a more organized sewing space, but more on that later.

Last week I whipped up a quick baby shower gift for some parents to be. I’ve been having a mad love affair with polka dots, so I’ll take any excuse to use some polka dot fabric.

I made the one year size because I strongly believe in gifting larger sizes to parents. They get so many newborn things, and the babies grow out of them so quickly.

The pattern is it’s so easy it’s simplicity 2672. I chose not to put buttons on, partially because I didn’t really have anything on hand that would look good, and partially to avoid any choking hazard.

The back has a nice little elastic section. The casing was just the right size for the elastic and it made the elastic very snug and professional looking. That was actually one of my favorite parts of putting this little dress together.

Even though it looks very dark, the polka dots and rick rack are actually dark blue. Not only was I excited to have a chance to use polka dots, but rick rack also! I haven’t had an excuse to use very much rick rack. Then I saw these napkins and was jonesing to use some rick rack in a project. Both the rick rack and the fabric were thrifted making this a super low cost project. I made sure to trace the pattern pieces because I could see this being made over and over again.

Finally, the happy parents being showered with gifts.