Sweater Tee

This is probably the quickest 10 minute tutorial ever! Love it and it is using the last pieces of our sweater that we originally began to use back in October--- The Sleeves!


Ok so all you will need for this is is a T-shirt, your sweater sleeves, pins, scissors and a sewing machine or serger.




Start by turning your t-shirt inside out and cutting the sleeves off carefully at the seam.




Pin your sweater sleeves onto your shirt and sew using a zig-zag stitch or serge in place.




And as easy as that you have a new shirt that is comfy cozy for fall/winter 2010!

Goodbye from 30,000 Feet!

Ok, so not really- I'm about to take my very first plane trip to Vegas for my 6 year Anniversary with my boyfriend. Its 3 am and I am afraid that this song is the one that is sticking out in my head right now- the only song to have ever made me cry...




Well regardless, I'll see you all in about a week. Happy crafting!

How to Clean and Maintain your Sewing Machine

I thought I would do a quick How-To on cleaning and caring for your machine because it seems not everyone knows how to do this.

I had been sewing with knits the day I did this so you can very clearly see how dirty my machine is.



So the first and very important thing to do is to make sure your machine is unplugged before doing ANYTHING!



Next clean your feed dogs. My machine came with a little brush for this, but if yours didn't, you can use a clean dry toothbrush with the same result. It also might be a good time to wipe off any dust that has gotten around your needle.



Next you want to open your bobbin case and remove it's inner-workings.




Wipe these parts down with a soft cloth. Good use for old scrap material lying around.



Use an air duster to remove dust on the inside of your machine.



Wipe any left over dust off with your cloth.




If you haven't bought any yet, go to the store and buy machine oil! It's important stuff. You should always follow your machine's manuel when oiling your machine. If you don't have one I suggest two drops at the center of your bobbin caseing. You shouldn't need more than 2 drops.




Put all your parts back in order and you are done!



Remember to get your machine serviced every year and if you are a heavy sewer, then you should have your machine serviced once every six months. Happy sewing!

No Sew Blues

I used to hate sewing, because I had to do it. It wasn't fun for me it was just a chore. It wasnt until I was sick this past winter that I discovered youtube videos of t-shirt reconstructions and Threadbanger that I began to enjoy sewing. It really became a fun hobby for me. My whole family, who had never been supportive when I wanted to be a fashion designer before all of the sudden started voicing their desire for me to go back to school to study it. But I knew I'd hate it if I did that. Then all of my sisters (and I have a lot of them) started recruiting me to make their kids' halloween costumes which is fine, I've never made clothes for kids before but I was sure I could do it.

Then last week I got a phone call from a family friend who is an artist. She wanted to make a pact where we would start looking at our 'art' as a job and do something every day. And she also talked on and on about how she hated when everyone tried telling me what to do and she got very defensive about that but that she really thought "the universe" was telling me that this was my calling. I explained to her that I didn't want to look at sewing as a job because then I would hate it and not want to do it and she kept pressuring me to agree to this pact so I did.

Day 1 started yesterday and I didn't sew anything. We're supposed to take daily pictures of what we've done and I took a picture of a pair of almost-finished shorts I made a few weeks ago and posted that. Today I have no desire to do anything. I might be premature on this, but t\the joy in sewing really feels gone and I don't see me wanting to sew again any time soon.

I'm just really bummbed that I let people bully me into doing something I didn't want to do and now I don't enjoy something that for the first time in years I was having fun doing.

Rose Pillow

So in building my dowry I decided that when Josh (my boyfriend) and I move back in together we are going to have a bedroom that is worth looking at. And of course this has led me to buying pretty floor length curtains, bedside lamps and other little things.

For Christmas this year my parents bought each of us girls a comforter. Josh and I had the largest bed out of all of my sisters (a king size) and apparently the only king size comforter was a lilac color- not really a good color for a gothic bedroom. But I decided to work with it.

So in staying with the concept that we will probably be using a purple comforter I made this pain in my ass pillow out of a wonderfully soft old turtle neck that my mum gave me.

Shirred Rockabilly Rosie Shirt

Things you'll need:

1 Man's Large or XL button down
Elastic thread
Sewing machine
Scissors
Seam ripper
Sewers chalk

Start by cutting the sleeves off of your shirt.

Most men's shirts have a pocket on the side, remove that pocket using your seam ripper. Don't worry if it appears dirty or darker where the pocket was, (you'll wash your shirt before you wear it).

Measure around your bust and from the top of your shoulder to under your arm where the seams would go.

My measurement is 11 inches, I wouldn't go much further down than that because you will be adding sleeves later.

Measure half in inch in from where you cut off your sleeve and however many inches you measured down from your shoulder to your underarm. Next take your bust measurement, divide it by 2 and add 2 inches to that. Draw the shape of your shirt using this new measurement. Draw straight down from your bust measurement so that there is no definition between your bust and waist.

Cut out your pattern- do not worry about seam allowance, that extra 2 inches will give you plenty of room to work with. Draw a straight line below the last button and cut along that line.

Flip your shirt inside out and pin the seams together. Sew along the seam line using a 1/8th seam allowance.

Try your shirt on and mark under your bust.

Draw a straight line across where you marked as your under bust.

You'll draw this line across the front and the back. A good way to know where your line should be on the back is to turn your shirt over an inch continue to draw the line.

I don't have a photo of this next part. First decide how short you would like your shirt to be. I wanted mine to be a mid drift so I went one button down from my under bust line. Of course I didn't decide this until after I shirred my shirt so I had to attempt to cut and hem my shirt after it was shirred. Learn from my mistake and decide how short you want your shirt, cut with enough seam allowance to allow you to hem your shirt and hem it now.
To Shirr your shirt load your sewing machine with elastic thread in the bobbin casing and sew a straight line across beginning with your under bust line. You will not be sewing where the button casing is so I suggest unbuttoning your shirt and running it through your machine that way. If you are still confused on how to shirr, follow this instructional video.

Once you've finished shirring your shirt go back to your sleeves and using the bottom seam measure 8 1/2 inches in and mark a straight line across. Cut at that line.

sewing can be a learning experience- I learned measurements are important. My arm hole wasn't quite as big as my sleeves so I made a pleat on the top shoulder of my shirt. This worked for me because I am petite on the top but it might not work for you. Anyhow pin in your sleeves and sew.

This is how the pleat looked after. Hem your shirt sleeve. and wear.

Voila' Cést Fin

Salut!

I Aim To Be Creative

So my boyfriend has been traveling around the United States training for his new job. He was previously in Davenport, IA small town OOO-S-A. He would come back on the weekends as long as the weather permitted and the weekend before the week of Christmas he was in town. On his last day in town we went out to breakfast and then he took me to work. While he was driving me to work he brought up the subject of my getting a new job- I hated my job and wanted to look for a new one when he came back into town- he asked me why I didn't quit now and go travel with him while he's training. I was sort of blown away since it really wasn't something I had thought of before, I told him I'd think about and went into work.

After I got clocked into work I went up to one of my co-workers who wasn't really a co-worker because he was outsourced from another company to work with ours, totally besides the point. I started to talk to him about Josh's crazy plan and Joe said I was to smart to be working where I was and that I should go for it. Well I decided I would and went to my desk where I saw Josh had called me after dropping me off. I went out into the break room and called him back and he said, "I've been thinking about it and I think you should quit now and leave with me today," I was pretty floored but he talked about how we never did anything crazy and that we've never allowed ourselves to get caught up in the moment and we need to live our lives and it all sounded so wonderful that I marched right into my bosses office in the middle of a meeting with all of my bosses and told them I was quitting and leaving right away. Needless to say my bosses were all blown away.

So we cut to today-- currently Josh is in North Carolina, I opted to stay home because he'd only be there for 2 weeks and would only have 1 day off and in retrospect it was a good idea because they have him working really long hours. But the best thing is that ever since I left my job it completely cleared up my creative block. I'm writing and sewing and coloring and keeping myself so busy I don't know where to begin. I feel really inspired and for the first time I feel capable of doing whatever I want. My goal is to start on a small t-shirt line and with a bit of luck have a bunch of t-shirts to sell come craft show season at the local high schools.