The tale of the ugly pants!!

I found this pattern the other day while I was shopping and was terribly excited thinking these would be the pants I could wear everywhere.

(Note skinny chick is modeling the pants.. they DO NOT look like that on my chunky bottom!!)

I had some donated material that seemed to have the texture I was looking for.  lol texture!! Anyways.. I was looking for the "hang" factor and this material was somewhat stretchy and heavy.. ish

no matter.. It took a while to iron it all and then it took even longer to figure out the proper placement of the pattern.

I cut it all the pieces out and went about making these pants. The pattern was pretty straight forward, It had some gathers and waistbands.

I totally managed to sew the wrong sides together which I didn't realize until Prey asked how they were coming and then it dawned on me. She helped me take them apart.. just one seam. I think I am going to start sewing these practice garbs with a longer stitch to make removal easier.

I got to practice gathering and installing a hunk of elastic in the back.

In the end the pants came out like they looked on the cover but the style was not what I had anticipated and I now know it will not be one that I will wear outside my hallway!! lol.

Either way.. ugly pants for the WIN!!  lol  I believe I will deconstruct them and make em into a few pillowcases!!

Saved by the Book!!

I was looking for a recipe book the other day (I didn't find it!) and sitting on the shelf waiting patiently for me to rediscover it was this... 

Preys Oma was a seamstress who had her own Dress shop for many years. She has relocated in the last year to a smaller condo and in the process we were given some sewing things.

 At the time our friend Beaner was doing some sewing for us and we were taking books and things for her to look through. We kept this back because it had everything in it and tucked it away in the bookshelf with the cookbooks.

I am THRILLED to say the least. This book has EVERYTHING in it. 

I love the way the universe gives us what we need and if we pay attention we are able to utilize these gifts to their up most potential.

This is one of those gifts that will be a game changer for me as it will assist me in so many different ways. It has already brought me joy and a weird sense of security.

Thank you Oma... I am proud to be the guardian of this treasure!

Cute Summer Burlap Bag Dress!

The day this project began looked like this

We ended up getting what feels like 2 feet of snow in a 24 hour period. In fact most fell between 7am and 5pm.  Some kind of crazy day which was a perfect setting for the beginning of the...

Cute Summer Burlap Bag Dress !

The pattern was purchased on one of our first outings to Fabric Land after I got my machine for xmas. 

Prey picked it out as she figured it out cuz it was A: VERY EASY lol and B: cute as heck!!

She likes style A so that is what I set out to create out of the muslin. 

It was not long after starting to read the pages that I discovered that we had gotten the wrong size. I was sad at first then thought it was better as it would use less fabric to create my sample (trial) dress. 

Again I spend a good amount of time reading through and working to understand the steps involved in this recipe.

I referenced some terms on the You Tube which has become my very favorite tool these days. I learned a bunch of stuff watching but it really can be distracting when you get going so I am trying to keep my viewing honed into the project needs at the time.

The pattern instructions were pretty straight forward. I did make a few mistakes when I was putting it together.  I tend to put to much fabric as a fold under hem which made the space to small for the tie. 

I also seem to have a bit of difficulty with the cutting of the interfacing as every time I have used it I have cut one piece backwards.  I have also learned while ironing the interfacing on I need to have a top ad bottom protective piece of fabric. It is sticky stuff.. and when put on wrong.. well.. lol

I also tend to get a bit confused with my left and rights. I am guessing their left is as I look at the item but guessing has gotten me in trouble. 

Saying that means I spent a bit of time ripping out seams as I readjusted to what was actually required of me. 

Those two lines of thread at the bottom are the start of gatherings. This process makes the cute little puckers in the fabric. In theory this should be simple to accomplish and in the top aspect of the dress I was able to pull it off like butter. 

THEN...

I had to do it again for the skirt part. the first side of the skirt puckered like a baby eating lemons. Sadly that was all I was allowed to enjoy.

I started to work the second side and knew immediately that things were going south. 

The threads kept sticking. I am not sure if they were getting stuck in the fabric. As it was kinda knarley or if it was just a moment of sucky thread luck.

 Either way it broke.. then the bottom thread broke.. then I resewed the baste line and tried again. It worked for a moment bringing my spirits up and then it broke as well.

In the end I gathered and pinned the damn thing myself and attached it to the top. 

It took a little figuring things out to wrap my head around this waistband but once I understood what they were telling me it was easy. This was one of those moments that I got the interfacing right. Although I had forgotten to cut it out with the pattern so it was a realization and recovery that made me grin!!

 After the top was created the rest was really easy. Now I didn't finish it entirely. I did not stitch the waistband to the dress in the inside. It required hand sewing and I was lazy! I also didn't finish my seams or add in the zipper. 

Not because I am lazy but more so because this dress wont be worn so I don't want to put materials into it I don't need to. 

I will be doing this again in the right size with some fabric I was given. I will finish it as maybe someone will want to wear it. It will be one more practice so I use it to fit prey properly and create her pattern. 

I will post those pictures once it is done to show the differences!

Ball Bags

HA HA HA 

We have a little poi/flow art inspired business www.fyretoys.com FyreToys!

We sell poi and fire toys as well as other fun things that are associated with what is refered to as "flow arts" or "Poi" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_(performance_art)

We use some fabric socks and flags and up until now we have either purchased them for our site from our supplier or had our wonderful friend Beaner create some for us from material we rescued from fabric land. 

Last week Prey and I sat down to draft up a design to make some of the new style fabric poi that are referred to as "Cone" poi.  They are made from cotton and seemingly easy to create. 

With my new magic machine I was able to recreate what we feel will be an awesome addition to our site. 

These new poi are easier to learn wraps and loops as they don't have the same bounce as the socks do. 

Now I have used them and nothing takes away from the bounce that good socks provide. I believe in the end both styles will be something people want in their toy bags.

We found some AMAZING material for socks when we were in the city and I have the pattern ready for them. I have not cut any out yet but will work on that a bit over the next week. 

We made two pair of cone poi to take with us when we went to hang with the drummers on Tuesday  They worked awesome!! The ones for me are a bit to long so I will have to remove the stitching I put in them and redo them. I will also need to add Velcro to the hole where you put the ball .. and perhaps adjust where that hole is. 

We are very happy about our progress with these projects and are looking forward to spring and letting everyone see their options for more fun things!

She wears short shorts!

Muslin

This material is kinda cool.. I got a bunch when we were in the city the other day. Its cheap and easy to work with. It can also be dyed so really if I like what I make then I may be able to use it as more then a practice run.

I have a sewing mission. We are going away to Mexico in May and my mission is to make some of the clothes we will wear while away.

This means shorts and nice shirts as well as cute summer dresses for my lovely.

We have gone out and gotten a few patterns that are of the easy variety. Shorts, skirts and dresses

I decided my first muslin project would be to make some shorts and see how hard it was going to be. 

Its such a process doing this sewing gig. Cutting the patterns.. washing/ironing the fabric, laying it out and pinning it. I got new pins from Toronto but I don't think they are anything special and make me add pins to my next fabricland shopping list.

So after I finally get the pattern laid out. I have chosen to do the biggest size. It seems I didn't read the recipe fully before purchasing it and the largest size is still gonna be a smidge to small for me. BUT it will be close and I will still learn as I build the damn things. 

Pattern laid.. pattern cut. Games begin.

 I have decided to use black thread so I can see how wonky my lines are!  :O)  ~~~~~  wow!

In preparing my pockets I ironed in the edges so they look all pretty but when I sewed them on I did not catch that fold so either I need to fold in a bit more or sew closer to the edge. I have not decided which way is right!

I need better transfer paper stuff or to redraw the lines with the pencil crayon before I start shuffling the material around. Said shuffling seems to erase the marks and well.. 

When the marks are missing things go south super fast!

We have a surger and I am going to have to learn to use it. I have been finishing seams with the overcast stitch meaning I am doing double stitching on all my important seams. This is a pain in the HuMMpz. I will continue to do this for now until I feel comfortable enough with my seam creations!

This was pretty straight forward. There were a few spots where I need to work on. Making my seams go fully from one side to the other is important! Straight is important! Using the right seam allowance is also important. 

In the end... lol  The shorts didn't fit!

I was able to get into them...ish

I believe I know where I can alter the pattern to make more room!
BUT
I will most likely look for another pattern perhaps for pants that are already the right size and make both pants and shorts from it.

I had fun making these and look forward to wearing shorts from the "CaVe CreaTions" when we go away in May! 

The Hunt

We went on a day trip last week to the fashion district in Toronto.

 see those rolls of fabric??  

These stores are not made for the pudgy CaMel to roam. 

In fact I am not sure how anyone knows what the heck is in their space!  To say I was out of my league is a understatement! 

We learned some very important lessons that day. You need to have more then a general idea of what you are looking for.  I must have projects in mind with their recipes so I can know how much and what type of material I need. 

There are no patterns in these stores and there is such a selection of buttons, ribbons and thread that your mind reeeeeeeeels.

There are sections of these stores you can not get to if you are of larger status! The floors creak with the weight of 100000 of rolls of material. I am unsure how these old buildings hold it all. I sure as hell hope that the owners have been reinforcing the floor joists to help support these heavy loads! 

We did come out triumphant 

We got material for shorts and a skirt and some poi socks. Add in a wack of muslin that I can use to do mock ups of everything I sew.  This will help me not waste our money and awesome material while I perfect the patterns, sizes etc. 

Once I was tucked back in the caves all hell broke loose!! 

It was time to make the scrub shirt to go with the blue scrub pants I had created after the orange ones

I read and re read the pattern and admit I was a bit daunted at first by the neckline and in the end it was the one area that didn't look as I would have liked it to. 

After the pattern sizes being actually what they said and bigger then what i expected I made the scrub shirt in the XL size. Hoping it would be suitable for Prey. It, like both pairs of pants, is to big. lol

We will be using the scrub pants as a template for the next pair I am to make. 

I am going to try to adjust the pattern in the areas that Prey requires and hope I end up with a pair she can wear to work! 

THAT would be GOAL 1 complete. 

Needless to say the awesome scrub shirt went to live with my brother and the orange pants!! 

I will be getting a picture with him in them so I can add it here!!