Wedding is soon....

Time has been flying by and my wedding is only 2 weeks away now! Meaning... I likely won't be posting on here for awhile, lots of details to confirm and work on for the big day :) I have still been working on making the dolls mentioned in my last post, since those are easy to start and stop. But, not too much other than that. (classes start up again in 1 week... hard to believe)

awesome website

I recently stumbled upon this really neat blog. It's about sewing little dolls that will then be sent to children living in an orphanage in Haiti. The site has tutorials for making these simple dolls out of fabric scraps. They have a drive to collect completed dolls, which are then all packaged together to make the trip to Haiti.

So far, I've got 4 dollies done, it's hard to stop making them! So, I'll be working on those for awhile :) I actually cut up the weird looking brown t-shirt I recently made into a tank since I needed some brown fabric to make the dolls.




No pictures for awhile... my cameras battery charger is already at my new place (but my camera is here with dead batteries) and I left my all but broken camera (that I've been using in the mean time) in hubby-to-be's car.

temporarily instead of cutting fabric

I've previously expressed my lack of interest in the stage of cutting fabric before sewing. Well, I may have a greater appreciation for it after this project...

My hubby-to-be and I are having an outdoor wedding at the end of this month, so we've been making programs. Because the weather may be crazy hot, we loved the idea of a panel fan program. (I also liked the cootie catcher programs which show up when you search google, but we couldn't fit enough information on them)

I found this great website with downloadable templates for fan panels: http://www.wedding-paper-products.com/Fan-Programs.php We're using the smaller template which fits 3 panels per page. And, with the "light" lines.

Each of our programs contains 6 panels, so we have about 1200 to cut!

wedding program fan panels

This picture shows just shy of 100 panels (turned upside down)... we made a big dent in the pile to be cut this weekend, and have about 650 panels done.

I don't think I'll mind cutting fabric anymore.

scrap fabric

I had a pile of blue scrap fabric and lining laying around from the coat I'm working on. So, I decided to make use of some of it while taking a break from sewing. I found an old chunk of cardboard, and my trusty hot glue gun, and decided to make a picture frame.

I cut the center rectangle out of the cardboard leaving about a 1.5" boarder of cardboard for the frame.



Then, using the lining fabric, I hot glued it across the front of the frame and made sure to fold the fabric over the edges of the frame and glue it to the back for a more finished look. The glue definitely does not make the fabric lay smoothly, but that doesn't matter because it will be mostly covered on the next step.



Finally, I cut long, narrow strips of the other navy fabric, and just began bunching, folding, and gluing it down to the lining.



Sometimes I cut a transparency sheet to size and use it in place of glass to protect the picture. I also usually add a cardboard post so the frame stands up on its own.

Refashioned t-shirt (added trim, keyhole back)

I'm moving in a few weeks. So, thinking it was a good idea at the time... I moved most of my things to the new place over the last few months. But, unfortunately that included almost ALL of my clothes! (I'm not sure how that happened) That's kind of why I've been on a large sewing spree lately, (and because I'm in between semesters).

Hopefully soon I will have some better clothing options, since my wardrobe currently consists of an old t-shirt, or an old t-shirt.

first step of tee transformation

I had some crazy brown fabric with dots on it laying around, which I've not found a use for in the 3 years I've had it. So, I cut about 1" strips of it and sewed the raw strips with a zig-zag stitch around the newly cut neck and arm holes.

tee neck closeup

The raw edges kept curling so you couldn't see the brown edging, just the wrong side of the fabric. So, I made perpendicular stitches on the neckline every 1.25 inches or so. The neck has two rows of the edging. The other areas only have one.

front of transformed tee

back of transformed tee

This picture makes the back look off center, but I'm pretty sure it's just a funny angle.

Here's a link to another t-shirt transformation from awhile back.

Update: this ugly shirt was made into something much better... dolls!

coat lining in

The coat lining is sewn in now, except the bottom hem. I really like this pattern so far (McCalls M5525). It's very easy to follow (minus my dumb moment on the vent) and goes together well.

McCalls M5525 coat lining

Here it is on the dress form:

McCalls M5525 coat front

McCalls M5525 coat back


But, I have a temporary set back: I ran out of thread. To the fabric store I go!

blue fabric chunks are everywhere!

The fabric I'm using to make McCalls M5525 coat pattern loves to fray. I feel like little blue fabric chunks are taking over my house!

back of coat

I had a little trouble figuring out the vent... so it looks pretty rough in this picture. After struggling with it for awhile, I figured it best to set the project down and look at it later. When I picked it up again, I changed it. It lays a little nicer now, but I won't claim that I "fixed" it. Any tips on making this the right way would be great :) Also... if there's any advice on making button holes I'm all for it. That will be coming up soon, but I'm pretty freaked out that I'll mess it up after all the other work of the coat has been done!

First stitches on coat

So far so good, I think, with making the McCalls M5525 pattern. Currently the coat is much further along than this post. I just haven't uploaded the pictures yet. (I believe I still have to hem the bottom of the coat fabric and lining, and put in the dreaded buttons... all 11 of them)

first stages of sewing coat
This is the wrongside of two front pannels. They are not sewn together... I just layed them out that way.

The pockets were being sewn in at this point. If I ever make another joacket/coat in this pattern, or any other for that matter, I will definately make deeper pockets. These are kind of little for my liking.

Here are some links to my other posts on this topic:
picking the pattern
cutting the fabric

Déjà vu?

I had my second go at McCalls pattern M5388. Here's a link to the first McCalls M5388 top I made. The shirt is a very simple and quick sew and doesn't take too much fabric, which I love. Last time the top ended up larger than I would have liked, so this one is slightly smaller. I was originally hoping to make one of the other tops included in this pattern... but somehow I lost the other pieces.

red top McCalls pattern M5388

I have been working on the coat mentioned in a couple previous posts. So far I think it's going alright. Pictures to come.