Author: Michelle

While in Germany

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

My hubby recently made a work trip to Germany. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go with him. My thoughts were, if I can’t go with him, he’s bringing me something back. I was ready to help him with that.

First I looked at Kantje Boord. I have dreamed of ordering from them since I first started thinking about bra-making and had started to follow Sigrid‘s blog.

Sigrid made one bra, and I loved it. Seriously. Loved it. I contacted her to find out where she got the material. It turned out to be Kantje Boord.

I found it. I found it way back when I’d asked her, and I found it again just last week. You can click on the photo to find it yourself.

pak00709

It was so pretty made up. I looked again to find the photo of Sigrid’s bra, but that I couldn’t find again.

My one problem with this is it’s lace and Lycra. I have a few lace and Lycra bras and bra kits; they just aren’t as supportive as a lace and duoplex bra for me. I decided I wasn’t going to buy it after all.

A few days went by, and I was still thinking about my hubby’s upcoming trip and how I could take advantage of it. Then I had another thought… Sewy! Sewy is right in Germany. I quickly made my way to their website.

I already have a few of their patterns, so didn’t look too closely at those. I did look at the bra kits, but just looked. As I was looking, I decided I wasn’t going to be tempted by anything with Lycra. So what else did Sewy have other than bra kits and patterns?

Well, they had one thing I’ve been trying to find for quite some time: Pareostoff.

Can you make that word out? According to Google Translate Pareostoff in German is… Wait for it… It’s Pareostoff in English. Well, that didn’t help. I was thinking the ‘stoff’ part of the word is close to our English ‘stuff’, so was good with my translation Pareo ‘stuff’. Stoff alone translates to ‘material’. Pareo material. Perfect!

PareoI love it! Don’t look for it though. Sewy only a little left. Once I’d made my purchase it was gone from the website. It even came in that adorable Sewy bag for storage.

So, I’d ordered some gorgeous material and was sending it to the hotel where my husband was staying. Then I received this in an email:

“Guten Tag, MRS Michelle,

wir haben soeben folgende Artikel versandt, viel Spaß beim Verarbeiten!

Die Sendung geht an:”

After that, it had the hotel address. The hotel address was all I could make out. Hmm. It was time for Google Translate again:

“Good day, MRS Michelle,

we have just sent the following products, a lot of fun while processing!

The show goes on:”

Isn’t that great? I’m glad they had a lot of fun. It’s been fun for me too.

I’ve been looking for black with polka dots for over a year now. I have a black and white polka dot bathing suit and wanted a cover up. I wanted polka dots.

bathing suit

The Pareostoff is perfect.

Bathing suit and PareoThere were no problems with my German order at all. Thank you, Sewy!

Remember a few weeks ago I was working on organizing my patterns? Once that job was done, I decided to make a similar catalog of my Craftsy classes. I was on a roll!

UntitledThese will go right behind my nicely organized patterns in my sewing binder. I also plan to work through all my classes. Some classes I devoured as soon as I bought them; others well, others have never even been opened. It’s time.

Happy creating!

A Really Small Slip and Pantaloons

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

Many years ago, my Mum bought me a Cabbage Patch Preemie. I was her preemie baby, so she thought it was fitting. However, my poor girl was neglected in my closet. It was time for me to do something for her.

It was time to give her a make-over. The first thing she needed was to have something done with her hair.

preemie with straight hair

As adorable as she is… well, she’s in a family with all curly heads.

It’s amazingly easy to curl doll hair. A little foil  (folded over the end of the hair); a straw (I didn’t have pipe cleaners); I used pin curl clips to hold everything in place; and boiling water. It only took four ‘curlers’ to curl her hair. You can read how to do it here.

curlsCurls!

I didn’t take a photo of her with hair in ‘curlers’ – I wasn’t sure I’d love the results. I still may re-do her ‘do. I’ve since bought pipe cleaners.

I also had some fun making her an outfit, because, as you could see, she had nothing on.

So out came some of my cotton Lycra, and a pattern from Madame Alexander 14″ Girl Victorian Doll Patterns:

ma doll patternsAlthough this outfit is good, I think the next one I’ll try will be an actual Preemie outfit.

I ordered a Cabbage Patch Kids Preemie pattern book a while back now, and when I ordered it, a second book was included – CPK Designer Clothes. Some of the patterns had been cut out in that second book, so it was included for free. I thought that was really nice. Here’s the pattern book I ordered:

cabbage patch patterns

Here’s the pattern book I received for free with my order:

book I have

I’m sure I’ll be able to find some patterns in there and adapt them for my Preemie.

Here’s my Preemie in her new slip and pantaloons. She’s looking so much better, and much more like a member of our family.

Whole outfit

I’m glad she’s not looking neglected anymore. She’s even come out of my closet and has a place on my bookshelf.

Here’s the slip. The pattern for the slip can be shortened to make a camisole, which was really cute too.

Sliip

Here are the pantaloons.

pantaloons

Now for some bigger sewing projects.

Happy creating!

Pedal to the Metal?

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I wanted to share another tip with you from my time at the sewing machine store.

How quickly do you sew? We’re not talking can you whip up a bra in an afternoon, or a purse in a day. No. This is about the speed at which you set your machine to sew. Do you see that lever?Machine front

Most machines now have a speed lever, or some way to control and choose how quickly your machine will sew. Mine has a tortoise and hare to help know which is slow and which is fast.

close up

Did you know our sewing machines have been designed to work their best when going mid-speed? That’s when they make the best stitches for us.

I prefer to sew right about that mid-speed setting. However, I’ve always wound my bobbin on high-speed, or when doing a three-step Zigzag. I found out that’s a no-no. Our bobbins will wind better at a mid-range speed, and all our stitches will be formed better at that mid-speed.

Happy creating!

Organizing My Patterns

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Have you heard of ClubBMV? It’s a great club where you buy a yearly membership, and then you can buy patterns from Butterick, McCall’s, Vogue and Kwik Sew – usually at a discount.

ClubBMV-logo

Just last weekend I received an email saying they were having an all-brand sale. Well, of course I had to go look.

There were a few patterns in my wish list I was considering. But as I was looking, I started to wonder which patterns I had already that were similar. I may have known I didn’t have that exact pattern, but did I really want to have two similar patterns. (I’m sure all pattern makers are dreading that thought process!)

It was time to organize my patterns in a way I could simply look and see what I had. My physical patterns are all arranged numerically, and by designer, but that didn’t answer my question quickly. I didn’t want to go through a stack of patterns to see what else I had.

I started with a simple list in Word.

Word list (2)

This is part of my list of Vogue patterns. I did keep this list as it will be easily referenced and updated.

Next, I took this list and opened it in a new Word document. Now it was time to make it more of a quick visual reference.

Sizing for images (2)

I looked up each pattern, copied the artwork for it so I could see it right away, and sized each photo around 3.5 cm. It did take a little time, but it is so worth-while!

patterns with number on page (2)

Here’s a sample of my pages. These are a sampling of my Butterick patterns. I can see quickly what each pattern I have looks like. I love it!

I have a sewing binder full of ideas, and this will now go at the very front of my binder.

Next, I plan to attack organize my PDF patterns…

Happy creating!

Ivory and Lavender

~ Michelle

I just finished reading Mrs. Weaver’s latest blog post. Oh my! That’s about sums it up.

two bras

Honestly, I thought Lavender and Lace was such a lovely bra. This new color combination and the lace simply push it over the top.

Mrs. Weaver has a new website coming and this kit can be ordered on there. Just look how pretty this is:

kit

Oh, that is so pretty! I want. It’s really simple.

Happy creating!

The Perfect T-Shirt Take Two

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I love my Perfect T-shirt.

on bench

The concept behind The Perfect T-Shirt is to make a working muslin and make any adjustments you need to that tee and the pattern at the same time. That’s a really great idea.

I did do that, but there were still a couple of changes I wanted to make before I had my absolutely perfect tee.

The neckline on my first tee fits me the same as any other RTW tee – it gapes a bit. Sizing down would be too small, so it was time to figure out what adjustment needed to be made.

I pulled out a favorite resource.

071349_1_1

The recommendation in this book for a gaping neckline is to adjust the shoulders. Perfect. You can download a sample from the book here.

It was time for my wonderful knit sloper to come out again and compare it to the pattern.* (see the note at the bottom of the post)

shoulder

Do you see how the shoulders aren’t the same? My sloper (on top of the pattern) really shows my shoulders are shorter at the neckline edge than the pattern’s. That difference on the front and back on each side adds up to 1″ more than I need around the neckline.

I also adjusted the hip area on the pattern. I had graded up to a Medium in the hips on my first tee and it gave it a bit of a peplum look. As well, the hips were a bit loose, but a Small wouldn’t give me enough room in the Hips. I was right in-between the two sizes, so I re-drew my cutting line right in-between those two size lines.

Sewing up my Perfect T-shirt was fine. I did do one thing differently than what is recommended in the pattern instructions. One thing they do recommend is to sew the sleeves in before sewing the sides up. I really like that flat constructions style of sewing garments. It makes it easier. Along that same way of thinking, I used knit interfacing on the shirt hem and the sleeve hem and added those to the garment while the pieces were flat too. The instructions say to do that after the garment is all sewn. I did that the first time and let me tell you, this is a lot easier. It might be different if I were using the same products Pamela recommends though.

interfaced hem

The only other little bump on the road to sewing this was I adjusted both shoulders to make the neckline fit better and forgot to adjust the neckline binding. So I had it all cut out and was pinning it, and couldn’t figure out why there was more. I went and checked the pattern again.Still didn’t clue in. Remember that inch I mentioned before? That was exactly how much extra I had. I rolled my eyes when I realized what I had done. It was a small bump. I adjusted the binding and wrote it in my pattern for next time.

note

I wasn’t the only one to write a note on my instructions. I went away for a weekend a while ago and I guess DS1 was bored. I have these little ‘hi’ notes all over. I smile when I find a new one. I just found this one this week.

Here’s my new Perfect T-shirt.

front

I also lengthened the sleeves a bit too. On my next one I plan to play with the sleeves some more.

Side

tee back

I’m loving these cotton/Lycra knits my local fabric store is carrying.

collor

Here’s a close up of the only part of my Perfect tee that really needed changing.

We’ll all have to wait until I have a photographer to see it on me.

Happy creating!

Sleep Masks

~ Michelle

I love to wear a sleep mask at night. I don’t want to see the light from the phone, or the alarm clock, or the smoke detector.

We were on holidays when I first realized how great a sleep mask was. The smoke detector was right over the bed and shining its evil green light in my eyes all night long. I went shopping the next day.

The one I’ve been wearing, well, it was old and falling apart. It was long past time for a new one. I looked around the web and found this pattern.

full_901_84191_AdultSleepEyeMask_3

This pattern (and the image) are both from PetitBebeCreatioNZ on Craftsy. The photo has a link in it, so you can just click on that and it will take you right to the pattern.

It’s a great pattern with wonderful instructions.

new vs old

What’s left of my old purchased one is shown at the top of the photo. It was literally falling apart – that’s just the inner piece. There was also the back and front that fell off it. Below it is the sleep mask I made using the free pattern. These are pretty much the same size.

However, it’s summer here and the sun is up early and down late. I don’t want any light at all. It was time to supersize my sleep mask. I found another free pattern on So Sew Easy. I found the instructions so thorough from the first pattern that I used them again and didn’t even glance at the other instructions, just the pattern.

Here you can see the new oversized one compared to the old fallen apart one. It’s definitely bigger.

Old vs Newest

Yes! Now we’re talking block out all the light.

For comparison’s sake, here are both of my new ones.

Newest vs new

That is seriously oversized! But I’m happy with it.

Another definite bonus of making my own sleep mask is I can measure how much elastic I need to fit me. The store-bought mask had Velcro to fasten it – and that Velcro caught in my hair all the time until I replaced it. This is good right from the start.

Happy creating!

Baubles & Backgrounds

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

Do you see my new blog format? I’ve been doing a little work on it in the past week. I’ll share more on that later in the post.

This week I was playing with beads again. It was time for a new Medical ID bracelet for me, and for a friend.

oldMy friend had purchased this bracelet, but as you can see, after wearing it for well over a year, she needed a new one. The coating on the Swarovski pearls had worn off. Now, she wears her bracelet all the time – in the shower, swimming – she doesn’t take it off.

I’ve used Swarovski crystals and pearls in the past and they haven’t done this, but I haven’t put them through all that hard wearing either. I take my bracelet off daily.

The new bracelet I made her is in the above photo as well, but here’s a better photo:

new over oldThe new bracelet is over the old one. It looks much better. Classic design and lines. It’s lovely. I just might need one too.

While I had all my jewelry-making supplies out, I decided to make myself a bracelet. I love turquoise in the summer but didn’t have a Medical ID bracelet in turquoise. I do now.

bracelet

The center three stone beads aren’t turquoise, but are the same stones I’d used in some earrings – dyed Imperial Jasper. The bracelet also has some lovely Sterling silver spacer and feature beads. I’ve been happily wearing it all week. My earrings, below, show you my matchy matchy. I made these last year.

blue earrings

Other than playing with beads, I mentioned I’ve been playing with my blog format. Do you like it? I love it too. It looks so clean and crisp.

Sadly it took more time than I would have liked. I’m not the most technical person, but I’m learning! Just to give you an example I took a full day to redirect the traffic from my old blog site to my new one. After spending time researching, trying something, it not working, more research and more tries… well, I found out I couldn’t do it myself. WordPress had to do that. It was so easy after I pushed a button and paid them a very small and very worthwhile fee! Done.

After redirecting, I spent some time taking photos for my background. I’d found a lovely lace background that I would have had to pay a terrible price to use – way more than real lace cost! Hmm, time to get some lace out.

Here are a few of my attempts before I found just what I wanted:

sparkle ivory over gold

This is a lovely lace, but I wanted more in my background than just lace. The lace background was my original inspiration, but now I wanted more of me in it.

horizontal black white and gold over goldThis is my kind of lace. This is so beautiful, but I found the black a bit distracting as a background when I was trying to read the text. As much as I loved it, I thought a little less just might be better for a background.

photocopyThis one was a lot closer to what I wanted and what I felt represented me. But It wasn’t quite perfect for me yet. For my final background, you can see I kept my pearls and added my thimble. Perfect!

Happy creating!

Did You Know This About Your Presser Foot? About Thread?

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

In this post I have a few tips for you.

I recently had some fun working in a sewing machine store. I felt like I’d found a dream job, but sadly an old injury made its presence known again and I couldn’t continue to work there.

While I was there I was learning so much though. Imagine a  job where you have to learn all the different sewing machines, what they do, and then practice. I told everyone I’d gotten a job in a toy store. The only thing that could possibly have been better would be to work somewhere like Bra-Makers Supply. Well, that or a jewelry store.

One of the first things I learned was about my own sewing machine. I’d even taken lessons for my new machine when I bought it and didn’t learn this:

Did you see my presser foot? One of my complaints with this sewing machine had been there’s just was not enough room under that presser foot. Well, no problem now that I’ve learned if I just continue to lift it up a bit more than it goes up on its own there’s lots of room. It won’t stay there on its own, but I’m very happy with this newly found information and have put it to use already.

Here’s something else I learned that is so interesting, and affects all of us who sew – thread can be wound onto the spools upside down! Did you know thread had a right way of unwinding and a wrong way? Me either.

So, what difference does that make? Take a look:

If you look at the beginning of the video, you’ll see I’m taking the thread off the spool with the name at the top, which we’d normally consider to be the top of the spool. As soon as I pull the thread out from the spool, it soon starts to twist. According to how the thread has been wound on the spool, the top of that spool is really the bottom. We need to test our threads (each spool we buy) before sewing so they won’t twist on us in our machines. Really, who knew?

It was suggested to me when I buy thread, bring it home and test it before sewing. Then once I know which way the thread won’t twist, take a marker and put a dot on the ‘real’ top of thread so as to know how to load it. Thread twisting in our machines is not something we want. That’s a great tip!

One last tip, but this one isn’t a video. This is from my recent Ivory Bomb.

In the past I always worked from the front when attaching my strap elastic. I just made sense to me.

strap frontHowever, on my ivory bomb, I decided to pin the elastic to the band from the inside.

strap elasticI loved how the power net was meeting the edge of the elastic. In the past, I would notice they didn’t always meet perfectly the way I wanted when I pinned from the front. Sometimes the pins would push the power net rather than go through it. I’ll be pinning my strap elastic this way from now on.

Happy creating!