Busy Day Cake

Dog Bed

Yesterday, while the icy rain fell, I had time to finish Pepper's dog bed cover that I started a few weeks ago.  There is something fun about making something not so important.  I guess I feel more freedom to experiment and not plan everything out beforehand. 

I just started making four identical squares, quilted them individually, then had to figure out how to make them fit an old pillow.  I'm quite satisfied with how it ended up, but perhaps its a bit too nice for a dog bed? 

The colors make me happy and I'm feeling more confident in my machine-quilting abilities.  Thanks for the sewing opp Pepper.  Maybe I am up for a whole quilt next.

Sewing in 2010

In looking back at 2010, I think I sewed more than I have in the last ten years combined.  I've been so busy squeezing in sewing machine time that I've neglected photo-taking and blogging. I'll try to catch up on some of the documenting, if only for myself.

Over the break, I managed to complete a pennant banner for MB's room.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out - crisp, colorful, dense feeling. 

And, because we keep our thermostat pretty low, each of us now has our own heating pad to sleep with.  I made up this heating bag cover for MB's.

Sew in her zone

It just happened.  No planning. 

MB asked to sew on my machine while I prepped a sewing project.  She has sewn a bit WITH me but not alone.  She also sewed a pillow more recently at her school's extended day with wonderful Donna. 

I showed her again how the machine worked and what to do.  She took off.  No kidding.  Really took off.  She got the idea to make a small bag for each of the two girls that were coming over for supper tonight.

Eager to work on my own project, I just let her go.  She learned through trial and error (and no tears) about putting right sides together when sewing, how to take stitches out (with help) and she that you need to finish the edges before sewing seams.  All in one short morning of discovery.

The best part was seeing her so absorbed, so in her own zone.  When the stitching didn't turn out the way she wanted it to, she just cut another piece of fabric.  And when we broke for lunch, she begged to return downstairs for more. 

Makes me reconsider the Sew-Mini Janome machine we have been planning to give her (already in my closet).  Maybe it should be something that will take her farther, longer.  I'll have to think about it more.  But, its clear we need another machine since her zone time meant no zone time for moi.

At bedtime tonight, MB was very clear about wanting to sew after school tomorrow.  It could be a sewing-filled winter for us.  I can't think of a better plan.

Snow White

In our town there is a tradition of having three trick or treating nights.  While I think it's a bit of candy overkill, I have come to appreciate the community aspect of it and the flexibility it offers in scheduling.

In addition to Halloween night, some of the dorms on campus participate and on the Thursday night before Halloween, the uptown merchants have trick or treating the same night that one of the local service clubs sponsors a "parade" of all the costumed children.  We gave Mary Beth the choice of which night to trick or treat and she chose the uptown option.

The parade is a mass of children and parents getting to walk down our main street, loosely clumped into age groups, and over to the music pavilion where they get "judged" and photographed.  This was the first year that I remember the high school band leading the way.  It definitely added to the excitement.

Personally, I had a great time seeing friends I hadn't seen in a long time and seeing other children from Mary Beth's school.  We met friends for trick or treating and dinner, sent two cold spouses home, and I and the other dad kept the kids and enjoyed the parade.

At some point in the parade, in between curtsying to the crowds, Mary Beth had a philosophical realization about Halloween being a time when everyone could pretend to be whoever they wanted.

Fabric & pattern:  $40

Accessories:  $ 6

Chiropractic visits:  2 (so far)

Sewing time:  12 hours

Sewing experience used:  36 years

Seeing Mary Beth's expression when she held up the pieces of her costume in a mirror for the first time: worth every penny, chiropractic adjustment and minute.

Old (fabric) meets new (skirt)

To say that MB is selective about her clothing is an understatement.  It is partly a matter of taste and partly her skin sensitivity issues.  Every new season is a big struggle for me to find acceptable, practical and affordable options. 

Not only did I successfully COMPLETE a new tiered skirt for Mary Beth, she also LIKES it.  This is not insignificant.

I am also happy to report that I successfully figured out how to use my cool new ruffler presser foot to make the skirt.  For a few months I have been irregularly ruminating over how to do this (i.e. how to avoid hand gathering and how to rationalize my new presser foot purchase). 

For the sewers who might be interested, here's a quick description of how I did this... if you're not interested, skip the next two paragraphs.  If you sew and you have a better way, do pass along your tips.

METHOD I TRIED:  The reason this is hard is that you can't set the ruffler foot for "turn 1.5 inches of fabric into 1.0 inch".  While you could experiment with settings that would do this, I haven't been able to get a consistent gather so it would still be a bit loosey goosey.  I started by cutting the top tier which would end up with elastic in it (I cut this about 1.5 times as wide as MB's waist).  I then made long ruffled strips and sewed them to the tier above, leaving me with extra gathered fabric.  I essentially made the skirt around the ruffled strips. 

I had hoped to have just one seam in the back but the bottom tier would have had to be pieced to be long enough.  So I cut the skirt into a front and back and it worked out pretty easily in the end.  The skirt is a bit more gathered than I would want for future ones but SHE WORE IT happily to school the next day (and without any rick rack or ribbon adornments even.  Go figure.). 

The gathers give it a lot of twirl power, a plus in MB's book.  Another bonus is that the chambray is from a few bolts that I bought over 15 years ago (yes, boltS).   I love chambray, especially this dark kind woven out of navy and white.  So classic. 

The plan is to make a few more skirts like this one, probably a bit longer, that she can wear through the fall.  I'd love to see if she'll tolerate some baby wale corduroy.  I might go back and add some rick rack to the chambray skirt like I did for the tiered skirts I made last summer.  For now I'm buoyed that she was happy about it the way it is... and I'll try not to be too devastated if the tides turn. 

And then there's the fact that we're down to two tops that she'll wear...

New Fabric

I guess I should make "new fabric" an official category.  I'm sure its the first of many related postings.

Last weekend I cleaned out an old box and rediscovered a doll quilt that had been mine.  It was something my mother bought at a craft fair and I like its 70's simplicity and funkiness.  Some of the fabrics are even polyester which makes it clunkier/funkier.  A blue nylon quilted square in the bottom row reminds me of a quilted robe I had as a child. 

I was inspired to make a simple doll quilt like this and stopped at a fabric store today... found these pinks and greens and feeling especially pleased with them. They are awaiting ironing later today...

No minor accomplishment

Nothing pumps me up more than tackling a long planned project and finishing it all the way.  For over two years I have been saving a matelesse bedspread that was worn out in a large patch in the middle.  My plan was to turn the beautiful dense border fabric into a bedskirt for our bed (that has had its lovely metal frame and underbelly, aka storage, woefully exposed for several years).

I've done this once before with a thrift shop matelesse spread.  This time the project had an extra layer of complexity... I wanted to dye it first.  I used the recipe for "bone" at the RIT dye site.  It seemed a bit too dark so I put it through a wash load with some bleach.  The color turned out exactly the way I wanted, a creamy ivory that goes with my favorite organic jersey sheets.  Even after the dye-job, the whole project takes quite a chunk of time.  It requires taking the mattress off the bed and camping out by the boxspring for the afternoon while I fit, pin, and baste and then troop down to the sewing machine.   I can see why I put it off for so long but it sure is nice to have a bit more visual serenity in the bedroom.

While I was working on this, I pondered where my attraction to matelesse came from.  And then it hit me.  My mother had them.  How many things are we deeply drawn to because of our childhood exposure?  It reminds me of what I read in a Montessori or Waldorf book recently about having beautiful things for your children to play with... to develop their sense of and attraction to beauty.  Time to toss a few more plastic toys.