The Real Washi Dress

Here it is! The real Washi Dress, not from muslin this time. Though I do love the muslin one. This beautiful dress has the feel of a super casual dress but looks like a million bucks! This one will work for a wedding, interview, or just everyday. I loved this fabric when I walked into Bolt, it just lended itself to a dress and to be a true any occasion dress. The vertical vines just pull the eye down the dress

I spent a lot of time testing out the pattern on my "muslin" and was able to get the fit just right before chopping up my good fabric. I was so glad I spent all that time and waited for the tracing paper.

The fit of the original pattern Washi Dress from Made by Rae was very good. I just added in lower bust darts and moved the pleats out so it hung straighter down the front. I hope to try more of her patterns.

So glad it finally looks and feels like spring here in the Pacific Northwest. I've had enough of the grey rain for now.

Those sweet tiny sleeves and bit of shirring are the best details of the dress!

Kuma approved of those pockets in hopes I will fill them with her treats!

Such a cute little keyhole neck, I loved the simple ease of creating this detail and the yoke behind it so it will stay smooth and crisp.

I am now thinking this pattern would make a fabulous skirt with some altering. Well, now that I have successfully made my first clothing item from pattern after following every instruction, its only fitting that I would want to make it my own! Oh well. I loved the techniques this pattern forced me to learn. I stepped out of my comfort circle and I love it! Even if I make this exact dress again it will always be different fabrics and handmade by me!

Washi "Muslin"

 I decided recently I wanted to make a dress from a legit pattern. I was in Portland a few weekends ago, and found myself in Bolt fabric store on Alberta.

I flipped through patterns of all kinds. In my heart this is the pattern I've always wanted wanted to make. Simple dress with nice details that fits well. I sold formal dresses for years and know what looks good on my body. Empire waist. Lower neckline. Darted short bodice. Loose skirt, but not too full.

The Washi Dress Pattern is from Made by Rae. Before seeing it in Bolt, I had seen many originals and improvised Washi dresses in blog-land and knew that the pattern was well-made and had some options open to adding in my personal style. After being treated so warmly in Bolt, and getting beautiful black with vines fabric, I was giddy on my ride home. 

I read the pattern the next day. I have never made a quilt or clothing item from a pattern, as you know I am a "do-it-my-own-damn-self" kinda gal. I set out to cut out my size and then decided to read some reviews and tips. I set off starting with her website. Then, I ventured into the world of the internet. It is amazing to me how much crafty folks like to share their experiences.
One tip suggested not cutting the pattern, or any pattern ever, for that matter. Instead it instructed to use Swedish tracing paper so you have a sturdy pattern that can be altered. All the while, the original pattern stays intact for making different sizes later. Against my normal tendencies, I ordered the special tracing paper and decided to wait. Waiting is hard for me and has been the downfall creative nature of quite a few projects. I knew I wanted to make the pattern more than once. I wanted to do it right. Not just fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants like I normally do. 

I waited a whole week while bursting at the seam, no pun intended, wanting to slice up my fabric and pattern and get to the sewing already!

When the tracing paper came, I carefully measured myself and fell between two sizes.  So I traced the bigger size carefully and cut out my pattern from the waist line up only. Focusing on making a muslin of the parts where I needed it to fit the best in the bust area instead of the whole dress, is a must! Another great suggestion. Then, I traced again and made a "muslin" out of super sale blue scrap fabric in the bigger size. The muslin was way to big everywhere, even with my awesome push-up bra on, so I ripped out my basting stitches. I lined up my patterns again and then traced and cut my tracing paper down to the next size and re-sewed the muslin. Still a bit big but under the bust, so I decided to deviate a bit and add in darts in the waist up to the bust. Another rip apart, tracing of a pattern and trimming and re-sewing.

Again, I was glad I reviews suggesting darts under the bust apex. I put on the muslin again and it looked pretty good without the shirring, that would eventually make it fit well.
Then I grabbed the pretty flower vines on black and I cut all the pieces and went to bed. 

The next morning the blue muslin was put on the table when I cleaned up my sewing area. I realized I really really liked it, I only had bit of the blue cotton I got on super sale. So all of it was used to make the top "muslin" of the dress.  It worked well with my Kaffe stripes, this was this by far the best choice. I loved the pairing and knew this would be a great go-to casual tunic dress

Quickly, I found myself making two Washi Dresses.   I put the black one aside and decided to test out all the fittings on the "muslin". 

All in all. 

I love this pattern. I intend on making many more. It fits very well with out a need for major adjustments. Super glad I read the comments and reviews on her website. I hope to buy the expansion pack soon. Lesson of the day: It pays off to make a muslin and if you do it out of super sale fabric you get two dresses!

Woah watch out...its me who you never see!

I was initially daunted by even trying a pattern and then attempting shirring.

The shirring is an easy way to make an elastic area that doesn't need to be encased. It also enticed me to dream up many more items so that I can do more shirring. It makes it the dress comfortable and easy to get on without zippers or buttons. 

I chose to only do every other shirring line so it would be more loose on this casual tunic.

A little stripe binding on the sleeve to make it sleeveless and give it more detail.

Of course this pattern has pockets which was a major selling point. 

Stay tuned for the other one. It's a beauty. 

Works in Progress

Kaffe Scrappy Log Cabin Top

I've been fighting a nasty bug for a few days. I would have much rather been behind my sewing machine than on the couch.  I have have felt a bit bad passing this beauty hanging on the curtains. Today the sunshine came out and backlit my beautiful Kaffe top. I felt inspired to get up and get sewing. I first had hubby take it outside so I could get a proper photo.

He loves crazy socks and can't wait to play in his now super muddy garden.

It needed a bit of yellow. So border went on with mitered corners.

I think I need a bit more energy to tackle the batting, backing and binding. I am exhausted just thinking about it. Thanks for coming out sunshine, its been along while.

Snow Makes Me Want to Crochet

Over the last 4 days the PNW got about 6-9 inches of snow and  1-3 inches of ice, all depending on where you live, of course. I love the snow, however, I HATE ice. I have been seriously injured in the ice. Therefore, I choose not to leave the house when there is even a threat of ice. For two days I didn't leave the house and instead choose to be crafty.

Kuma, my precious one, loves the snow. She, like her non-furry mom, also hates ice. This is her on the second day of beautiful fluffiness. All she wants to do is play. She did not understand the picture taking. She just wanted me to find her bone for her that was buried in the snow and play with her. 

Snow doesn't really make me want to play anymore, maybe I am too old or jaded, instead it makes me want to pull out beautiful bright colors and be super crafty.

When the freezing rain started, I settled on the couch to make something pretty. Kuma followed suit, napping under my feet.

 I ve got a large bag of clothing donations next to the door and tub of yarn next to the couch, so the rug seemed natural. I have recently drooled over handmade t-shirt crochet rugs I have seen on Pintrest. I cut up a few t-shirts from the donations bag into long strips. Then started sorting through the HUGE stash of bamboo yarn I have hoarded for years. Most had been used for an awesome crochet granny square blanket. I have long since decided I don't want to make another crochet blanket and need to use up the left over yarn somehow.  So the crocheting began. I love the mindlessness of crocheting, especially the single stitch. I watched a movie and a few hours of Olympics and determined that the scrappy looking rug is exactly what my colorless dining room needed.

Obviously, Kuma thought otherwise.

I worked on this rug all morning and left it on the floor while I made lunch. I came back and Queen Kuma had claimed it as hers. Out of all the space in my huge house to lay on, she picked this rug, seemed very very intentional. I might have to give into that sweet face. The rug still has a long long way to go, but I love love it!

Kaffe Log Cabin

I have started a quilt. I have many unfinished quilts. I feel conflicted about starting a new one. I was totally inspired by the new Kaffe fabric I purchase and how it fit into my current stash of Kaffe. The colors are so consistent. I have been purchasing 1/2 yards for going on 5 years now. I have a nice collection. I really wanted to use up some of the scraps left over from the Kaffe Quilt and Scrappy Embroidered pouches.

I started with the mulberry shot cotton scrap. I cut 24 random smaller squares in varying sizes anywhere from 2''-4 inches.

Then I spent the majority of my time organizing my scraps. I wanted 4 color sets, so I could create a stair step pattern. I ended up with orange/burgandy, blue/green , then lights and darks.

Kaffes colors makes this process easy. After sorting my scraps into colors, I then sorted them into sizes: tiny, medium and large. I was looking for strips over 1 inch wide. I knew I could always cut the bigger pieces down as needed. I ended up surveying my scrap selection and then cutting strips off my 1/2 yard stash to fill up my piles. I have a nice selection of patterns; large florals, stripes, small organic patterns and other geometrics. I didn't get too caught up in cutting certain sizes since I really wanted a scrappy look. Setting up the scraps made the piecing part rather mindless. I just tried not to put the same fabrics next together.

I set up the stacks of scraps by size to work through to build the block. This quilt is a scrap buster and I wanted to have all the small pieces available to use when starting the block so. I didn't want to cut off the big long scraps to start off.

I also wanted to make this quilt to come together quickly. I utilized my chain piecing skills, I lined up my blocks to sew at one sitting. 

Everytime I chained pieced I would cut them off the sewing line and keep them sorted by color. Since, of course I wasn't using a pattern per usual, I had to keep myself organized in someway.

The orange/burgandy and green/blues got paired in blocks and then the darks and lights. I don't use pins when sewing much. I just paid a lot of attention to the colors, and laid all my blocks the same direction to make sure I was sewing the correct sides together.

Here's a nice stack of 10" squares. I am trying to decide if I want them bigger than this.

Stay tuned to find out.

Sewing Bag Set

I finally got out my embroidered patches and put them to good use. I have wanted bags to transport my craft projects in. This is what I dreamed up. Again, no pattern here. I just have used the awesome embroidered patches as my basis for inspiration. I wanted a little bag for all the the embroidery thread and then a bigger bag for the pieces that I am working on. So when it is time for a ride in the car everything will be together.

In the small bag I added a piece of red ribbon and added a pin cushion and tie for my ginhger snippers.

Yes, that is me, giggling at my hubby's face when he takes photos. The front of the big bag has a huge pocket for carrying rulers and large hoops.

My Bag

After quilting the Kaffe zig-zags, I pulled out my stash of vinyl that I purchased from a scrap bin at an upholstery shop. This huge piece of mulberry soft backed vinyl  was a whopping $3.00.  I knew it was destined for a bag, rather " My Bag". I want to make more projects for me. This bag I had no pattern for, of course. I basically did what I normally do, I used an existing bag I own as a pattern and alter it for what I really want. I decided to use the quilted Kaffe piece as a "flap" for the top of the bag.  I wanted the vinyl  to be on the bottom since I knew it would hold up best.

I have decided year 2014 is dedicated to perfecting zipper installations. I have not used many zippers in my sewing, mostly because I make quilts. I am trying to branch out in my sewing. I bought about 10 zippers to try with different projects. I always start my zippers by closing the ends up with tabs, as seen below.

Then, I flank the zipper and press and top stitch, as seen below in my lining pieces. I chose light grey lining, so that it would be easier to see way into the bottom of the bag. I ended up machine sewing the bottom and sides of the lining and then hand sewing it in the bag, by tacking in the bottom corners and stitching into the zipper edge along the top.  I debated over this approach to the liner, but ultimately I loved that it looked great!

Most of the time took in this project was determining what I wanted to ultimately get out of it. I spent a lot of time with the lining making sure that I would get the pockets I need for the things I carry. I want to use this bag everyday. I think the vinyl looks nice and sturdy while the Kaffe fabric panel helps make it trendy and adds the detail a signature bag really needs. My beast of a Bernina powered through this project with ease. I really love that it handled the topstitching with such precision. 

Boxing out the bottom corners helps the bag stand up and gives it a better bottom to hold my goodies.

Here this the almost finished bag, sans strap. I made zipper extend a few inches down the side to maximize access to the deep bag. I live in a town that banned plastic shopping bags and taxes paper ones. So I often find myself with out a good bag at the store and shoving groceries into my purse. This bag is perfect, because I can lift up the flap and fill it full. 

The strap was a difficult task. There was blood spilled, cuss words flying and backups brought in. All in all, it was a team effort. Basically, I made the vinyl tube too small and it kept sticking to itself and kind of stalled in the middle, as we tried to turn it. Yes, I say we, it took 3 of us. Lesson learned. Honestly, I learn something every time I set out to make something with out a pattern, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Peace Crochet Wreath

I made this quick wreath from a wire coat hanger, floral wire and left over yarn.

I currently live in a home with huge front bay window. The door is on the side of the house so I wanted a re-useable wreath I could hang in the front window. This is what created. I think the peace part is a bit thin. I intend on adding another color of green, but this is all I got done to it for this holiday season.

Wrapping up All the Elf Duties

I made these hearts from a T-Shirt of my husband's grandfather. He passed over a year ago, and I felt like I could finally bring myself to cut it up and it would be appreciated.

Here are the super cute snowmen  I made. I love the faces, I am so glad I found the carrot noses.

Everyone on my gift list will be getting some form of these super cute fabric baskets. I am not entirely sure what folks will use them for, I guess I envision bread or crackers or wrapped candy.

Here are my awesome cards, I love how they turned out. I enjoy writing cards, especially to the family I don't talk to normally. I also take so much pride in the process of coming up with an idea and then the creativity that comes after that. In this case I was able to carve stamps and get my hands dirty mixing inks which is always a blast for me!

I also whipped up a few more of these super duper cute and re-usable gift bags. I know you can re-use the paper ones but, I intend on using these for many years!

So for this year my elf duties are all wrapped up. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

This Elf is Tired

Hosting Thanksgiving for 6 seems like a cake walk when I think of the size of other families. My In Laws and Grandmother and sister In Law is coming.  All I want to do always sneaks up on me the weekend before. I think Iam prepared and then, it hits me. I painted the chairs, set a table, hauled out all the serving dishes. Of course having the In Laws for Thanksgiving makes me feel like I need to do deep cleaning.  

Then I wanted to get my Christmas cards done.  Christmas shopping needed to be done, which usually includes me making gifts.  

Then there is all the baking that must be done.  

Now I understand why my grandma was so grumpy during the holidays.  I hope Iam not grumpy, I sure do know that this elf is tired!

Bernina Accessories

My striped green place mat was just not working with my new cover so I whipped up this awesome mini-quilt mat for my Bernina machine.

I as I dreamed up this mat I determined I wanted to make it small and just fit the foot print of the machine base. I don't need extra fabric in my way when I sew. I also decided that I need to make it slip proof. After spending a few minutes seeking the best option from the fabric closet. I noticed a bag of moving packaging junk. This drawer liner stuff in the top of the bag was perfect. Disclaimer: This is not the prettiest thing I have ever made. The bottom wont hardly ever be seen and I need this machine to budge. I have to push hard to get fabric to move through a machine sometimes, and no one wants a Bernina to hit the floor. 

I used a Quilt-as-You-Go method. The Missouri Quilt Company has a nice youtube tutorial. I have no experience with this simple quilting technique and wanted to start small. I cut the backing attached the non-slip drawer liner and batting the same size as backing then sewed strips on. The first strip is tacked to the left edge face up. Then the next is face down lining up the edges. I smoothed the backing and hand pressed the previous strip over. I also varied the sizes of the strips. I do recommend pinning and ironing if you are making anything larger.  This method would make great table runners or placemats.

Of course, that black and white safety pin fabric was too busy so it got chopped up and delegated to the binding.

It turned out lovely. I think I am getting a hang of this binding thing.

Oh and I whipped up a pin cushion that has steel wool inside and hair band and button closure. I might end up remaking it. For now I love the collection.