Help! I am so confused about these quilt instructions …
July 26, 2007 at 5:54 pm | Posted in questions, quilting, quilts | 4 CommentsI purchased the Charm School Lesson 6 pattern from Quilted Quickes (actually got it from Fat Quarter Shop – it looked easy enough!). I have been reading and reading the instructions and I am SO confused! If you can help me or have any ideas, please let me know!
First, I am to cut 8 of the 5″ squares in half to give me 16 2 1/2″x5″ pieces. That I can handle ;) … but the next instructions are throwing me for a loop. They say:
Cut 2 2 1/2″ strips from the fabric designated for the checker squares.
Now, all I know is that I am to have 1 1/8 yard of fabric for the checker squares, outer border and game bags. so I’m wondering… 2 1/2″x what??? Then it says:
Place checker square fabric strip (again, I am unsure of the dimensions of said fabric strip) facing up and place a 2 1/2″x5″ strip (cut from the charms in step above) right side down on top of the checker square strip. Take a 1/4″ seam (does that mean “sew” a 1/4 inch seam?), then place another 2 1/2″x5″ strip about 1/8″ down from the first 2 1/2″x5″ strip and take another 1/4″ seam (again, does “take” mean sew?). Continue this chain piecing technique until you are our of 2 1/2″x5″ pieces (see illustration 1) — which BTW makes NO sense to me, but the illustration looks like this:
Then cut apart sewn units into 2 1/2″ strips (see illustration 2 — which is below). This yields 32 units after cutting occurs. The dotted lines below are cutting lines, not seam lines (according to the instructions) …
This may not be my last question about this as the instructions seem somewhat ambiguous … can you help me???!!!
This is the 2nd time I have picked up these instructions to try and figure them out … what am I doing/seeing/reading wrong?
Completed! Button Shirt Recon …
July 25, 2007 at 9:49 am | Posted in sewing, tutorials | 8 CommentsHere is the front:
And the back:
And my little one modeling it for me:
Please forget you saw the messy room ;-)
I added jumbo rick-rack to the top front and the hem and I had to curve the armholes, but they’re still snug. Also the straps are just perfect, which means that soon they will need to be let out, so I kept all the scraps from the shirt to make any changes as she grows.
What do you think? I love it …. thanks Dad for the old shirt – it worked perfectly. Now I’m off to make one for the big girl :-)
Oh, and just in case you want/need it again, here is the link to the Button Shirt to Toddler Dress Recon tutorial that I used to make this cute dress. And again, it’s super easy!
~Heather
Dreaming of Sewing …
July 25, 2007 at 3:34 am | Posted in sewing, tutorials | Leave a comment
And I do mean that literally! For the last 3 nights my dreams have all been about sewing! What’s up with that?
I am currently working on Button Shirt to Toddler Dress Recon with a shirt that is my Dad’s (how sweet is that? My baby will be wearing her Grandad’s shirt). I need to curve the armholes and hem it up and it’s done, but now my oldest (she’s 7) wants one. My Dad did give me another shirt and it looks like it might work, so we’ll try it. BTW these dresses are super easy and cute … give them a try!
~Heather
Inspiration
July 23, 2007 at 3:26 pm | Posted in finds, sewing, tutorials | 1 CommentLast week we went on a trip to the N. GA mountains with some friends. I have not been sewing in about a week and I am currently looking for inspiration. I did sandwich my latest quilt this morning and began quilting it, but I am outline quilting it and, well, it’s sort of a pain, so I am only working on it a little here, a little there.
So I need some more inspiration … and I found the following:
Button Shirt to Toddler Dress Recon — this is too cute! I’ll have to visit the thrift store and see what I can find!
Bias Toward the Pretty – What can I say? I am a big bias tape fan. I saw these ideas last month in Martha Stewart Living mag and thought they were great ideas. Two of my faves are the shoe laces (page 2) and the table runner (page 3)
:)
A New Purse and a New Tip … Cleaning Interfacing Glue Off Iron
July 17, 2007 at 8:44 am | Posted in fabric, sewing, tips, tutorials | 14 CommentsI have been wanting to try this tutorial for a new shoulder bag. I found fabric that I liked at JoAnn’s last week and so I made it today … what do you think?
The picture is not so great for some reason, but I wanted to share it. I love the fabric and i made the lining out of a rich blue. I really, really like it and it was super-easy to make! Why don’t pattern makers (i.e. Simplicity, McCalls, etc.) make patterns so simple???
It only took me a couple of hours and a couple of mistakes. One mistake I made was that in fusing the interfacing I accidentally ironed the wrong side once … EEK! I proceeded to get glue all over my NEW iron! What to do? I searched and found to make a paste with baking soda and scrub the plate with a washcloth until it’s off. Took a lot of elbow grease, but I did it. Then I had to make sure the steam vents weren’t clogged with baking soda, which they were. So I filled the water reservoir and put the iron on high steam and steamed away until they were clean.
The purse would have only taken me about an your and a half had it not been for that little mishap. I do like it … I’m off to fill it up now :)
~Heather
Sewing Fiend
July 12, 2007 at 9:52 am | Posted in sewing, tutorials | 5 CommentsAccording to dictionary.com, a fiend, among other things, is some one who is addicted to something or who is completely absorbed in or obsessed with a given job or pastime. That would be me right now. I am taking a day off from sewing today to visit with friends, but I wanted to share what I did yesterday with you …
First, I made a tote purse to match my new diaper bag (did I mention yet that I love it?!) and a changing pad for the baby. You can see the diaper bag and the fabric here. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon making …
… twirly skirts for my girls yesterday and they turned out great. They are a bit more bulky than they should be because I used a denim fabric that my oldest daughter loves, but they are still so cute! I used an adorable fabric that I picked up a few weeks ago at a flea market for the hem, waistband and tie. I also made my oldest a headband a la Heather Bailey that you can see hanging on the hanger with her skirt. I decided not to even try to make one for the baby as it would be off in 2 seconds.
Both of those tutorials above (twirly skirts and headbands) are SUPER-EASY and cute! Try them … you’ll like them!
And I had to throw in a picture of the cutie-pie in front of the skirts …
~Heather
What’s That???!!!
July 9, 2007 at 7:56 pm | Posted in sewing | 7 CommentsGuess what my dear sweet husband brought home to me tonight…
It’s a new Janome DC2007LE!!!! I still can’t believe he came home with it … I cried … ‘nuf said …
:)
Fisnished Diaper Bag and Musings on Sewing …
July 8, 2007 at 12:41 pm | Posted in fabric, quilting, quilts, sewing | 1 CommentAs promised, here is the completed diaper bag:
I LOVE IT! There is a pocket on the end with baby’s milk cup and that white “stripe” on the side is the edge of an outside pocket trimmed with twill tape. The handles are folded over to the other side, but they match the bag and it’s tied with twill tape as well. I absolutely love it, like I said. The design is great – came from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. It’s the All-day Tote.
So, my machine is in the shop and I’m going crazy waiting to get it back. I am really wanting to sew these twirly skirts for the girls with this cute denim fabric that I picked up on clearance Friday:
I’ll probably also make purses and hair bands to go with … my daughter loved this fabric.
Also, I bought these prints to make my first quilt pattern from the Modern Quilt Workshop book … Outside the Box it’s called.
I guess I can begin cutting out the pieces and piecing the top together, since I like to do that be hand.
*sigh* … missing my machine already …..
Sewing Machines, Repairs and a ~FIND~ (Quilt Shop)
July 7, 2007 at 9:33 pm | Posted in fabric, finds, sewing | Leave a commentYes, we had to take my machine to the shop today. Last night as I was finishing up my new diaper bag (which is AWESOME by the way!) it was giving me fits and I was just praying it would let me finish the stitching with no problems.
Okay, Okay, so I didn’t get it serviced last year. But to be honest I had a new baby and just wasn’t thinking about sewing much. But now that I’ve been sewing a lot it’s not so happy. I tried doing the little things that I could here yesterday (cleaning out the lint, oiling, etc.) but no luck.
So we ventured to the A-1 Sewing Machine Shop today. That’s where my dear husband bought my machine for me … all by himself! Have I mentioned that I have the best husband yet? Let me tell you what he did today … First, he held the baby while I looked around at new sewing machines and checked them out. I *might* trade up for a new one … my birthday is coming up :). And he was encouraging me to look! The funny thing was how these sweet little old ladies were really hard-nosed saleswomen! They immediately took me to the Janome Memory Craft 9500 … which was $2899! They kept asking me “Don’t you want to take one home today?” Of course I want to, but that’s not really the question, now is it?
So I have narrowed it down to 2 machines that I think I would like to trade up on: the Janome 6260 QC or the Janome DC2007 Limited Edition. The latter is less expensive. I want 3 things in particular … needle up/down, drop-in bobbin and speed control.
Then we had lunch at one of our favorite places – Everybody’s Pizza. If you live in Atlanta and haven’t been there you are missing out. And if you come to Atlanta for a visit you won’t be disappointed in their food — it’s the best! So anyway, after that the second thing that my dear husband did today was this:
~FIND~ I wanted to see if I could find a quilt shop – Intown Quilters – that I had heard about but had not been to. I saw that they were featured in BH&G’s Quilt Sampler magazine as one of 10 featured shops in the country. If you pick up a copy and look for the section on Intown Quilters you’ll see what a fun and funky and fabulous shop it is! I just wanted to find it so I could go back on a later date, but he told me to go in and he would stay in the car with the baby. So I did and the place was amazing! Definitely my kind of place with bright and bold fabrics, and lots of Free Spirit designs, among many, many others, and a good clearance section too! I bought some PRISM fat quarters for $1 each!
We came home and napped … a good day all in all :)
~Tutorial~ Find!
July 5, 2007 at 4:51 pm | Posted in finds, sewing, tutorials | Leave a commentI remade the tote bag from the other day — made it sturdier with lining and a bigger pocket. But I didn’t have a wallet to match (a girl’s gotta have matching a wallet and bag, ya know?!). So I searched and found an E~A~S~Y wallet to make – check out this tutorial for a Super Cool Wallet. I made it to match and voila! Handmade, unique ensemble that I like and looks good, if I do say so myself ;)
I’ll post pix later … gotta run!
~Heather
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