Bibliosophy: Art, Craft, and Home

A little sewing, a little knitting

 
Last Saturday I prayed fervently my kids would nap a full two hours, and sat down at my sewing machine to attempt a little dress.  Earlier in the morning I hit a great sale at Joann's, and got a few $15 vintage patterns for $1 each.  This dress is from Simplicity 2629, and it came together so sweetly.
It's a simple dress, with tucks on the front and back, and a little lace edging at the neck.  It was made to match my newest knitting pattern, the Heartwarmer, which will be available soon.
And my little model did not disappoint!
Here's a view of the Heartwarmer sans baby so you can see how the ends attach to the back of the shawl to keep it secure during play:
The pattern is coming soon, in a baby and toddler size; just as soon as it's finished being test knit!

Quickest, Easiest Project Ever

 
A sewing machine cover!  While re-working my sewing area, I realized the need for a cover to keep my machine clean, dust-free, and in tip top form.  I knew it couldn't be a complicated project, or take more than 15 minutes really, because my goal was to complete it with both little ones awake!  Ambitious, yes, and kind of crazy.

 
But, thanks to some ready-made materials, it cut my finishing time down, and I emerged from the (messier) sewing room 15 minutes later with a completed project.  Here's what I did:

Gather your materials.  I used a dish towel from Target, which measured 18" x 28."  Add to this a pack of double-fold bias binding in a coordinating color and you're set.
Now, simply cut four ties from the bias binding.  I made mine about 15" long, because I like to tie big bows:)  Fold under each edge of the tie to enclose the raw edge, and edge stitch the open edges of the tie closed.

Fold your dishtowel in half, short edges together, and decide where you want your ties placed on each side.  Mark this area with a pin on each side.  Carefully pin a tie to the marked area on your towel sides, placing the end of the tie on the wrong side of the towel, overlapping about 1/2."      

This is how it should look when the dishtowel is folded...
 
And here's a view of the ties with the towel unfolded.
 
Sew the ties down securely, and repeat for the other side.

Done!  Now you can either leave it plain, or embellish to your heart's content.  Put it on your machine and enjoy!

 

A Month of Little Things

   

 
I do hope you will join me today and share what little creations you have been working on lately.  I've had some fun projects in the works and finished, and as a result, my shelf is getting stocked!  Today, I have a new free tutorial and pattern for you, for a quick, easy, and cute gift: a Cuppa for One Cosy (you can also find it in the sidebar).  About two years ago, right before the little guy was born, I was gifted such a cosy, but nevery fully appreciated it until recently.  They are the perfect thing for mothers, or any busy, constantly interrupted-type person!  Now, I slip my cosy over my coffee in the morning (or put it over your steeping tea), and am rewarded with hot coffee whenever I am able to give it my full attention.  Pair one of these with a box of tea or coffee, and a pretty mug or cup, and I think it would be a sweet gift for a new mom.
Mine is made from a vintage embroidered tea towel with a coodinating backing, and it was the perfect way to use a small-ish valuable scrap of pretty.

Enjoy the pattern, and do leave a link here to let us see what you have been creating lately!

 

Sewing Bee -- a skirt

    I had some more fun with cotton voile this week, and made this skirt.  To my delight, it even fits around my 25 week pregnant body.  Depending on how far it stretches, this may be my Easter outfit. 
The little pink dots in the skirt print and the lining perfectly match this sweater that was redesigned last year.  I love serendipitous wardrobe moments!  The skirt came together so quickly and easily, and ordering the kit was really the way to go for me; plus, who can resist a bubblegum pink skirt lining?
 
The best part is, I can wear it this spring, and this summer, sans baby belly!

Over the weekend

 
 
 

...some sewing....

....some cooking....

.....some thrifting....

Sewing Bee - Another One

 
Here again with my sewing essentials....some pretty Anna Maria Horner voile this time, water, and an empty bag of peanut M&M's.... 

I'm a little late to the cotton voile party, and boy is it gorgeous.  Beautiful to work with, fantastic drape, and it will be so cool when the hot weather comes.  I was trying to illustrate in the above picture how perfectly it gathers too, without any interference.  I just set my stitch length to the longest setting, basted, and voila: perfect gathers.
This was the same maternity top I made last time, from the Japanese craft book Lovely Maternity Dresses.  I like it even more this time with the same fabric on the yoke and the rest of the body.  The dark colors of the voile made a lining unnecessary, and I can't wait to wear it come spring!
 
Please come Spring!

Bright Spots

 
   A little look into how our week was.  Hard.  Illness in my children throws me completely off balance, especially the spiked-fever, croupy-sounding attack at 1:30 a.m. variety.  Back to back days of doctor's visits, and some antibiotics later, we're (very) slowly recovering.  Hats off to you veteran mothers who are used to the winter scourge and take it in stride.  I am learning!  The Kleenex box was (and is) my constant companion (and my knitting too, when curious little hands will allow...)

  So, I'm looking forward, and trying to focus on the bright spots of the week: like baby artwork (brainstorming ways to preserve it too...)
 ....a most generous Christmas gift, arrived to make our living room look more habited....
 
....and, the little girl's first flowers, from Daddy, a sweet, pink primrose....

Moving on!  A little list of things to create in the coming weeks and months:

• These sweet duckies, to grace a couple of Easter baskets...
• These gorgeous skirts, for post-partum summer dressing...
• and possibly, one of these, inspired by this handspun-looking version.

What is on your "to make" list today?

 

 

It's all Japanese to me

  In my desperation to find some cute maternity patterns, I turned to a sewing book in Japanese.  Eek!  It was risky, but I've seen some beautiful garments created from these sewing patterns.  You can see some great examples on this site.  With my pattern book, Lovely Maternity Dresses in hand, I read up on how exactly to succeed with these instructions.  Two useful websites came up in the search, The Purl Bee's tutorial, and Label-Free's tutorial.  If you've used American pattern books before where the pieces are all printed on one page, it's an easy jump to using these patterns.  You still trace all your pieces onto tracing paper in your chosen size from the master sheet, except with Japanese patterns, you have to add your seam allowances.  This is very important of course to achieve a garment that actually fits.  Thank goodness I did read all this before I started, as I have a tendency to jump in first, check later.
There are some very sweet patterns in this book, and the diagrams are fantastic.  All you really need are the schematics and measurements, and, if you've sewn before, it's pretty easy to figure out what to do.  I almost like it better than regular patterns, as the schematics are all on one page, it's perfect for glancing down quickly in the middle of sewing.  I've always hated wrestling those extra-wide, folded pattern instructions.
Some sewing essentials: pins, needles, and peanut M & M's....
And a finished spring maternity top!  The fit is wonderful, with plenty of room for a growing belly, and I'm looking forward to making more, next time in a voile.  The fabric used here is quilting weight cotton, which is a tad heavy for a flowy shirt like this.  The fabric used in the book design looks like a voile or lawn, or perhaps even a knit jersey?:
  In any case, though my choice of fabrics could improve, I'm extremely pleased that the pattern fit and works, and all that hard work of tracing the pieces and deciphering (guessing) at the Japanese paid off.  Can't wait to make more...

*If you want to see what others are sewing, visit Adirondack Mama's Sewing Bee...

**Special thanks to The Prairie Girl for sending me her copy of Ottobre Magazine with maternity patterns!**

From the Market

 

Yogurt, made from our milk share...

 

And, my exciting find of the weekend: pincushions in the form of a mini sewing kit.  How clever!  Each pincushion is surrounded by little colorful spools of thread, with a thimble, sewing needles and pins attached.  They are handmade and they were $2.50 each!  Wouldn't this make the cutest present for a budding seamstress?

 

What are your favorite finds from the farmer's market or thrift store?

Around the workroom

 
 
 
 

 
"Workroom" has become a loose term around here, as I lost my very own space in our move.  There are now at least 4 different areas housing art and craft supplies strewn around the house.  It works much better this way though, as I can easily access a work-in-progress in whatever part of the house I'm in at the time!  Our bedroom has a lovely sunny corner that houses my sewing table, just awaiting a three-prong outlet so I can set up my machine (we'll see when that happens!).  Until then, I'm knitting furiously, and quickly pull out my sewing machine during naptimes.  Some baby kimonos are in process, a *secret* project, and that big pile of fabric destined for maternity and post-partum wear.  Very exciting!

Does anyone have experience sewing maternity clothes?  I purchased a Japanese dress book (which I hope to share soon) with maternity wear, and it has some great patterns.  The Joann Fabrics-type stores have about one maternity pattern per book, so I'm out of luck there.  Any other good resources you have to share?