This week's scrap busting is aimed at those fleece scraps. If you like sewing fleece, I have no do that there are scraps available. You will need between 1/4 yard and 1/2 yard total of fabric. Gloves are a little more challenging to make than some of the other scrap busting projects but very rewarding.
The link to the tutorial is here. Hope you are inspired to use up those left bits and pieces of fleece.
Happy Stitching!
Itch to Stitch has done it again. Produced a quick and easy pattern that would make a great gift. The latest pattern is the Koersel Cape pfd pattern. Here is the line drawing:
This pdf pattern will be on sale until December 11, 2024. All the volume discounts still apply. Just in case there is a pattern or two you have been eyeing.
Please note, I am an Itch to Stitch affiliate and if you use any of my links above to purchase, I will get a small commission. Thank you!
Happy Stitching!
Today's scrapbuster project is a Twisted Turban Knit Headband. This would be require scrap pieces of a lightweight knit. What type of scrap? Narrow and long. The tutorial for this headband is here.
Hope you are inspired to use up those bits and pieces that you just can not bring yourself to toss.
Happy Stitching!
Today's scrapbuster project is a knit headband. If you have long pieces of leftover knit that is at least 4" wide, this project is for you.
This headband is knotted on top. So if you want a different type of knot, you might need more length. The tutorial for the knit headband is here.
Hope you are inspired to use up those bits and pieces you can not toss.
Happy Stitching!
My last two projects have been shirts. I am actually tired of making shirts so I decided to move on the Itch to Stitch Taroko Skirt pattern. Here is the line drawings of the skirt:
Here is another scrapbusting project. It is similar to the last scarf stash buster but a little different size. This project is for smaller scraps pieces. Think fat quarter size. This is a tutorial for a neckerchief scarf. This scarf also requires a light weight, drapey fabric. Here is the link to the neckerchief scarf - here.
Happy Stitching!
This is the third item from my September plan. I decided to go for it even if I was not super happy about the fabric. Here is the fabric:
Let's do some scrap busting. I know when I purchase fabric online I almost always purchase more fabric than needed. Why? Because the fabric is usually cut in 1 yard increments. Sad but true. So if you have a large piece of left over fabric like 30-inches by 30-inches, you can make a neck scarf. This will need to be something lightweight and drapey.
Here is the link for the tutorial on making a square neck scarf - here.
Now, remember not all scarfs are square. Some are oblong. Watch for additional tutorials in the future.
Happy Stitching!
This shirt feels like spring to me but I do love the colors.
This shirt is a little different than most of the shirts that I show. This one has princess seams. You can see them if you zoom in. The blouse also has a back yoke. Here is my solution:
In looking around a little more, I found this Vogue shirt pattern:
Hope you are inspired to create something wonderful.
Happy Stitching!
Here is a pattern that could be used for gifts. Everyone likes a nice snuggly robe. Here are the line drawings:
This is the Itch to Stitch Roseto Robe pdf pattern. Here are the features:
Do we really need a fabric stash? I have a stash that has accumulated over the last 20 years. There is also a pattern stash that has been accumulated for an even longer time than that. Folks, there is always more fabric and more patterns. So, why do we fill the need to buy more fabric or patterns?
After reading this article which mainly applies to quilters but can easily apply to garment makers as well, I really wonder about stash building. I kinda encourage new sewers not to get caught in building a stash because the excitement is in getting the new fabric and new pattern not in the stash. Am I the only one that does not get excited about the stash anymore? New fabric will always be more attractive to me.
If internet fabric sales (ie, fabric.com) had not happened, would we still have local fabric stores? That is really some food for thought. Internet sales can be helpful to a local store in this time period. Should the local garment stores (if you are lucky enough to have one) offer more classes? Learn to sew classes would most likely be of interest. Beginner home dec stuff, quilting classes, etc.
Maybe I will a build a page for quick and easy projects that could possibly help with stash reduction of garment fabrics. It will most likely just be inspiration type photos or links.
Thoughts?
Happy Stitching!
Do you have go to patterns that seem to always be in rotation? I seem to have collected a few. Here are my favorites:
1. Liesl & Co Classic Shirt pattern. The hard part was fitting this pattern. Once the fitting was accomplished, I have made a couple of long shirted shirts and a popover dress. I need to make a couple of shirts for warm weather.
2. Fabrics-store.com Phoebe Tank. This is a freebie for registered people. Once the fitting is finished, you have a great warm weather top. I have made at least seven of this tanks. It really is time to mix up a little bit by making some minor changes. Every time I make new tanks, I evaluate the fit and make tweaks.
3. Pamela's Patterns The Magic Pencil Skirt. Oh, this one is a quickie. Need a skirt in a flash? This one is it as long as it is a stretch fabric. I have at least four versions of this and one is hand sewn in the Alabama Chanin style.
4. Love Notions Allegro Bottoms. This is another quickie once it is fitted. I've made at least four pairs of pants and one skirt. No doubt, there will be more in the future.
5. Merchant & Mills Camber Set. I purchased this pattern to make the top but have yet to do it. However, the dress is wonderful. I have three versions and love them all but the linen one is my favorite. Maybe next year the top will get made.
I am still looking for a good t-shirt pattern, a blazer jacket pattern, trousers, woven tops that are different from the classic shirt and the tank.
What are your favorite patterns? Are they quick items to make or are they a classic pattern for you?
Happy Stitching!
Sometimes you find things that make you say "Wow". That is how I feel about this top.
I love, love, love the look of this top and sincerely hope I can locate a pattern that I can duplicate it. This is such a beautiful play with stripes. You really need to check the Neiman Marcus site so you can see the whole outfit because it is matchy, matchy.
I started looking for a kinda similar pattern because perfect matches are hard to find. I did find a pattern that might work. Here is the line drawing:
I will continue to look around for other alteratives. As much as I like the Seamwork community, the top patterns are a real struggle for me to fit as I am much shorter in the upper chest. Sometimes, the struggle of fitting is not worth the amount of time that it takes to accomplish for one garment.
Hope you are inspired to create something wonderful.
Happy Stitching!
I have found an interesting button down shirt. It is just a little bit different. Here is a glimpse:
Here is a glimpse at the back:
The back pleat would be so easy to duplicate. Just add the needed amount at the fold and mark it. Note that this is stitched all the way to the hem and then pressed flat. It is a small detail but so easy to change the look of the shirt.
The other detail that is a bit different on the shirt is the collar stand. If you look closely, you can see that there are two buttons instead of the normal one button. I am not sure about how to duplicate that. I am fairly certain that there is more to it than just sewing an extra buttonhole/button. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I have been known to sit and play with this type of item.
As for the pattern, my standard go to button down shirt:
Hope you are inspired to create something wonderful.
Happy Stitching!
The fitted pattern for my Liesl & Co Classic Shirt had gone missing and it took a couple of weeks to locate it. The first shirt for this season, I am using a stash fabric:
The dreaded flaw marker. Thankfully, the flaw is fairly close to the edge. Unfortunately, I was not informed that this was a fabric with a flaw. I did carefully iron this to make sure that was the only one. This is the only obvious flaw. There is a second marker shown in the picture but I could not locate another flaw. I will try to cut around this section of the fabric.
The actual cutting out of this shirt was a real adventure due to my kittens. I chose to cut out in a single layer and the kittens seemed to find pins interesting. They were taking them out almost as fast I was pinning. It was only certain pins that they found interesting. The first night was very frustrating but the second day I was able to finish the cutting out.
The adventures continued as the sewing. Kittens stitching their head through the machine harp. They continued pulling out every pin that looked interested. Then, they sewing machine needle. There was more than once that I thought one of them was going to get a paw under the needle but I was able to thwart every attempt.
The very last thing that happened to this project is I ran out of thread. I did start with a new spool of thread but obviously a small spool is not big enough for a button down shirt with lots of topstitching. Thankful, the local JoAnn Fabrics had the matching thread. Since I was at JoAnn's, I went ahead and looked at buttons. It was truly a pitiful selection. Obviously, the closest store to me is not looking for garment sewers. There is another nearby store. It is only a little further away. Maybe it is time that I investigated it.
Running out of thread kinda put my sewjo off for a few days but I finally finished it. Here is the result:
I am really happy with the shirt and hope that it will be worn a lot. There are ton of mistakes but that happens with almost everything that I make anymore.
On to the next project.
Happy Stitching!
Oh, Itch To Stitch has a new cardigan pattern and it is kinda jacket like in styling. Here is the line drawings:
Sometimes, a simply skirt is all you need. Here is a good example:
I am not going to recommend a pattern for this. This type of skirt has dozens of available patterns or it would be easy to draft one. I think the important piece here is the fabric. Personal, I do not think I would use a featherweight jersey but maybe it would affect the drape with a heavier fabric. It would just need experienting. Normally, Alabama Chanin has raw edges at the hem but this skirt looks hemmed to me.
Now, the big question is fabric and where do you find it. Alabam Chanin does sell the light weight and mid-weight jersey. So, that could be a starting point.
1. FabricMaster.Net has some really great prices on 100% mid-weight organic cotton jersey. If you like their colors, you have found a true bargain.
2. fabricwholesaledirect.com has a 4 ounce cotton/lyra jersey that might work for this skirt. There are 27 colors.
There is a start. There is lots of fabric out there with lots of decision to make. I really hesitate to link to some of the fabric that I found as it was too lightweight. Just over an ounce per yard is really thin and most likely really see through which would make a nice skirt unless it was several layers.
As for the elastic, I would use a 1 to 1 1/4" wide elastic. Sometimes, you can find various colors but the Alabama Chanin looked like they were using black. Most likely you can find this at a local store. Just make sure that it is an elastic you do not mind showing.
Hope you are inspired to create something beautiful.
Happy Stitching!
Itch to Stitch is having a birthday sale! They have been in business for 10 years. Kennis is celebrating by offering discounts on the pdfs as follows:
I rarely mention shoes in my inspiration posts but they are very much part of an outfit. Just like other accessories. I tend to fail when it comes to a lot of accessories. Earrings are about it. However, this shoe has caught my eye:
Today's inspiration is a simple, little top that is a basic. This is great little layering piece as well.
Such a simple little top for such a big price. The big pattern companies do not seem to be putting out good basic patterns anymore because this type of top pattern should be everywhere and it is nowhere. Is this a failure to pick up on what the designers are planning? As far as fabric goes, Mood has lots of silks from $15/yard to $50/yard. Even at those prices, you could fill your closet with tops for the price of the silk blouse pictured above. Personally, I would/will go for a easier care fabric.
So, did I find any patterns? Yes, a couple:
Happy Stitching!
This is going back to another inspiration post. This is more of a complete outfit from that post:
Itch to Stitch has released a new shirtdress pattern and it is a little bit different. Here are the line drawings:
I am an affiliate of Itch to Stitch. If you purchase anything through my links, I will receive a small commision. Thank you.
Sometimes, it is all about the fabric. This dress is one of times:
This is the Bateau-neck Camel Hair Midi Dress by Lafayette 148 New York. Price tag: $1798.00. Details: Felted camel hair, pick stitch detailing, approximately 41-inches long from shoulder to hem, bateaux neckline with pick stitch detailing, long sleeves, on seam pockets, hem falls below knee, shift silhouette, invisible zipper, animal hair/polyester/spandex, lining is spandex/polyester, dry clean.
This dress is a wonderfully simple silhouette which really showcases the fabric. I did find some camel hair by the yard at B Black & Sons. Although the fabric is expensive, it is a small percentage of the cost of the dress. The lining fabric needs to be considered as well. Is a pattern available for the particular silhouette?
I do not find a pattern similar to this silhouette with the exception of patterns from the 50s and 60s. So, my suggestion is to take an existing shift dress pattern with a similar silhouette and use this tutorial to change the neckline to a bateau neckline.
Hope you are inspired to create something beautiful.
Happy Stitching!
Here is a cute every-day type of skirt:
This skirt reminds me a lot of the Sawyer Skirt pdf pattern from Seamwork. Differences are mostly the pocket type and you would need to add the belt loops. Here is the line drawing:
Happy Stitching!
It seems the best way to get the sewjo sewing is to purchase new fabric and that is exactly what I did. Here is the new fabric that will hopefully not become stash:
This is 100% polyester, 58-inches wide. I plan a Pussy Bow Blouse by Sew Over It. I purchased 2 yards. Care: Gentle wash.
As large as my stash is, sometimes you can not find the needed item in it. I am really aiming for more blouses this winter. Hopefully, these will slide right into the wardrobe without too much effort.
Happy Stitching!
This denim jacket is a step above. Mix classic French jacket with a bit of trim and denim and you got this:
Here is the perfect pattern for this look:
Personally, the trim on this jacket is absolutely what makes it. The trim would be easy to duplicate. It might take a little bit of experimentation but I think it would be worth it in the end.
I really like the idea of this shirt. It is a little more fitting than previous inspiration shirts:
This is the Kennedy Striped Cotton Shirt by Lafayette 148 New York. Price tag: $598.00. Details: approximately 25-inches from shoulder to hem, long sleeves, button cuffs, back yoke, shirttail hem, relaxed fit, cotton, unlined, handwash. Details not mentioned: bust darts and back vertical darts.
I really like the idea of this shirt but I do not really like the green/beige stripes. I think a blue/gray stripe would be much better. Do you think I could find a fabric like that? This shirt is the Classic Shirt by Liesl & Co. The back darts would be just a fitting detail or they could just look like a fitting detail. That type of dart does not need to be very wide/deep. The front dart could/should be draped should you need it. Here is the Classic Shirt:
I will be watching a fabric that is a two-toned stripe that will work in my wardrobe colors. Can you have too many shirts? Hope you are inspired to create something wonderful.
Happy Stitching!
Itch to Stitch has a new pdf pattern and it is spot on for fall trends. It is the vest. Here is the line drawings:
Be sure to check out the tester's versions of this vest. They are wonderful.
This pdf pattern is on sale with 20% off through September 2024. All volumne discounts still apply.
I am an affiliate of Itch to Stitch. If you purchase anything through my links, I will receive a small commision. Thank you.
Hope you are inspired to create something wonderful and join in a fun trend. I can see this being a fabulous summer top.
Happy Stitching!
