Stretchy Remnant Possibilities

Spring is in the air! Excited to see soft and bright colors, in the landscape and in fabrics. It makes me think about sewing something.

Since I made a pair of shorts a few posts ago that I was not particularly proud of, I did a re-do of that project and added a contrasty/matchy leotard.

Jalie yoga shorts and Kwik-Sew leotard

I was happier about these shorts than the red pair in which I practiced using the double-needle. With this blue pair, I did much better with the double needle. Let me hasten to add, the process still wasn’t trouble-free. If I had a job doing this, I would have been so fired, by now.

My idea to make the girls a white shrug/sweater led me to this pattern, which also included a little dirndl-like skirt and a short-sleeve leotard.

Kwik Sew shrug/sweater

Everyone should have a white sweater in their closet, right? Except maybe Goth chicks. This little front-tying shrug can go with a lot of outfits. The fabric (not a remnant) is a white sweater-knit that is very easily snagged, so maybe it isn’t a good choice for kids’ clothes. Since there was a leotard included in the pattern, and it looked easy, I gave it a try. The Kwik-Sew leotard was easy and very basic, compared to the Jalie ones I’ve made before. And the sizing is different. This one is a size 8 or 10 girl, and I altered it some by adding 2 inches to the length of it, like I do with the Jalie ones. It looks huge. I may not have used all of the 5/8″ seam allowance, having been accustomed to the smaller allowance of the Jalie patterns. It’s a leopard leotard. The 1-yard leopard (they call it “Big Cat”) spandex fabric, and the turquoise (less than a yard) and silver (scrap) fabrics for the shorts, are remnants. The Big Cat fabric is normally $16.99 per yard, but half that price when sold as a remnant. From the yard, I had this much left over that I can possibly make a cute infinity scarf as part of the outfit shown on this pattern:

Big Cat remnant project with leftover fabric for another project

The pattern is Simplicity 1323, an American Sewing Guild Design. The retail price of the pattern is $18.95 but during JoAnn’s Simplicity sale it sold for $1.99. Thought I could give this one a try; it looks cute.

Holiday Gifting Damage Control

Are you like I am? Do you like to make things for people and give them as gifts for a holiday occasion? But do you sometimes fall short of your projected gift list goals?

When the holiday got really close, I narrowed my to-do list down to 2 basic things: shopping bags and dish towels. I still fell short…

Mostly because of this little number…which by the way, is a fabric remnant project. Another Kwik Sew shopping bag.

the diabolical Snow White bag

In retrospect, I can see where the red flags should have driven me back, but I was very distracted. A lot of things happened that I didn’t expect.

Red flag #1: the embroidery was too big for the pattern piece.
Red flag #2: the embroidery was too complicated for the design and function of the item.
Red flag #3: my available time was cut short when people dropped by and I was asked to do things I hadn’t planned, so I set the embroidery going and left it to go and do other things…

So that I ended up with a finished embroidery that is a poster child for what NOT to do.

the puckered and distorted embroidery

The complex, busy, heavy embroidery was no match for the thin cotton center panel of the shopping bag, even with a sturdy tear-away stabilizer underneath. When finished, the shopping bag fabric was considerably drawn-up and needed some adjustments if the pattern pieces were ever going to fit together. I had to add extra fabric and cobble it together with some stitching. The straps went on a little crooked and covered some of the thick embroidered flowers, but what else was there to do? Aargh, some of the fabric ended up not exactly on the straight of the grain. I was in a hurry and it shows. Sigh. But the recipient will still get it (in January!) and she can decide whether or not she thinks it is too shoddy to use! I think she can use it for something though, as she loves anything Snow White.

Here are some shots of other holiday things that (in retrospect) seem a bit weird or short of their mark:

Bad Santa, lying on the neighbor’s lawn sleeping

Grayzie, hiding from Psycho Granny Claus, who’s holding her candle upside-down

tiny crystal Nativity Scene overseen by a giant cardinal that is the wrong color

Madonna and Child with large turtle over a brass buddha

A little eccentric, perhaps, but I have room for all.

Gator Hat!

Just in time for tomorrow’s game, I finally got together my gator hat! True, it is not made from a fabric remnant, (collegiate fabric isn’t that cheap!) but it does have a cheap-o component in its construction….I used a package of bias tape, circa 1969 it says on the back of the package, that was in my sewing desk, either a left-over from my gran, or one I bought at a yard sale. Look, it cost 25cents!

 

Bias tape from 1969!

 

I’ve been loving this hat pattern ever since I saw an article in the June/July 2010 Sew News (page 72). I had to order the Kwik Sew pattern from Fabric.com, since the closest retailer for Kwik Sew patterns is in Winter Haven, and that shop was closed for renovations! Long time coming, but I’m loving this hat!