Friday 26 February 2016

What to Make Next

"Thing 3" brought the coxsackie virus home from school. Let me tell you, this is a virus to avoid. So, do that. Avoid it. We're sick, that's all there is to it. Too sick to sew... or do anything else, like breathe. We're on day 6 of this bug. Yesterday I took a shower and got dressed. Then I was so tired I needed a nap but I was dressed. I had the nap anyway. Today, I was wiser. Today I skipped the shower. I changed from my pyjamas into clothes. It wiped me out. Then before we went to see the doctor, I realized my leggings were covered in fluff from my flannelette sheets. They were the same leggings I was wearing while I napped yesterday. I had to change into a fresh pair. Whew! I need another nap. See... it's a nasty virus.

What do you do when you're that sick? I can't sew. Even if I have a couple of hours of awake time, I can't sew... my sewing machine is downstairs. I'd never make it back up the stairs again. And sewing with a fever is probably as stupid as sewing after that second glass of shiraz. I spent a whole day (which may only have been an hour of awake time, who knows?) deciding what to make next.

Sunday 21 February 2016

Pink Pyjama Top

Do you ever sew with knits? Or do you avoid them because you think they're too tricky to sew with? For years I have avoided sewing knits. Why? My past sewing machines, I guess. I had a hard time keeping the seams from puckering, my stitches never seemed to be formed properly, I felt incompetent. Then Pinterest came along. That didn't help things. I kept reading people's pins on how to sew knits. Even they made it seem like a losing battle. But they were WRONG!

I love knits. I mean I love wearing knits. I have more than one piece of fabric in my stash that has been bought with a beautiful knit wrap dress or a floral tee in mind. But once I got the fabric home, my fear stopped me from following through with my plan. That's part of the reason that I decided to take on the challenge of sewing 52 projects in 52 weeks. I hope to learn new skills, become more confident in my skills, and use up some of my fabric stash.

So after the last project's pyjama pants, I thought I'd ease into sewing knits with a pyjama top. I chose McCall's 6658, and I chose View C. It's a very easy pattern, it only has four pieces... bodice front, bodice back, sleeve, and neckband. I chose View C because the envelope artwork shows a crew neck. I was disappointed to find that in reality it's a scoop neck. But I digress. Back to the sewing...

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Houndstooth Pyjama Pants

It's winter in Canada and our heat pump isn't working properly (Lennox is working on it). We're not in danger of freezing. We have a wood stove and tons of wood, and our heat pump has a backup electric coil that does work. But the reason we had the heat pump installed was to save money.  Electricity is expensive here, so we don't want to use the electricity unless it is absolutely necessary. Our wood stove is great at heating the basement, but the heat that it generates doesn't get circulated around the rest of the house very well. What does all of this have to do with anything, you ask. Well, it means that the main floor of our bungalow is cold. And most of the time, I'm on the main floor. So I need to dress warm, especially in the evenings.  I like to sit down and watch Downton Abbey or Agent Carter in the evenings. And if I get chilled, I find it extremely hard to warm up and I can't sleep. So, I decided to use that houndstooth flannelette that I used in the Valentine's Day Dress and make myself a pair of pyjama pants.

Once again, I called on Simplicity 3696, the same pattern envelope that I used for the Reindeer Robe a couple of weeks ago. Through trial and error, I've learned that even though my waist and hip measurements fall into Simplicity's XL category, I prefer to wear a smaller size. This time I made up the pants in a size L, but I extended the rise to the height of the size XL, because I don't want to hear my kids singing, "I see London. I see France. I see Momma's underpants!" and it's easy to take away extra fabric if need be.

So anyway, I made up my pyjama pants in a size L, praying the whole time that they would be large enough to go around me. I sewed the inseams, I sewed the crotch seam and I sewed the outer seams. The  moment of truth had arrived... were they big enough to go around me? 

Wednesday 10 February 2016

Valentine's Dress

My five year old asked me to make her a new dress.  It was to have long sleeves and it should be pink. It sounded like a reasonable request, so I agreed.

I headed to my pattern stash and found the ONLY pattern that I own for a long sleeved, little girl's dress. New Look 6309. Does it bother anyone else that pattern designers and clothing manufacturers don't seem to get that girls need functional clothing as much as boys? I mean, really, just because they like to look pretty doesn't mean they need to freeze.

New Look 6309
New Look 6309 circa 2003