Sewing

by

Summer Skirts

Blue Skirt close up

Sewing (and, therefore, ironing) in the summer without air conditioning — not so fun.  But light, bright summer skirts, now that is fun!

Lately the concept of napping has become a battleground with my toddler. He turns three next month and is eager to shed his afternoon nap in order to stay up and play. The problem is, he still desperately needs the nap and ends up in a heap of whining and crabbiness when he refuses nap time. It’s an ugly scene that puts the whole family on edge, and unfortunately the scene has been on replay too frequently as of late. He actually napped a couple times over the past few days, and even more miraculously, his nap time aligned with the baby’s. So, despite the heat, I was able to catch some sewing time to help restore my sanity. There’s nothing like sewing away at the machine with the feeling of sweat running down your chest.  (Sorry for planting that image in your head.)

Easy skirts just seemed like the way to go.  A quick project, fun prints and a little something that dresses up a plain onesie for the baby.  And the project was made even easier with the use of Dritz colored elastic, which brought extra color to the skirt and eliminated the need for an elastic casing. I had never sewn fabric directly to elastic before, so it took a little adjustment.  Since I was stretching the elastic (both in front and in back of the needle) as I was stitching it to the skirt body, I found that I would end up with little “hiccups” each time I moved my hands to stretch a new section.  (You can see what I mean in the picture at the top.)  Not a critical flaw, but also not a nice, clean straight line of stitches.  Nothing I can’t overcome with more practice, hopefully.  For the meantime, matching my thread color as closely as possible to the elastic color helps minimize the distraction.

I started with a circle skirt using the great little baby circle skirt tutorial from Dana’s MADE site.

Seersucker Circle Skirt front

 

I purchased the multi-color seersucker fabric at Joann’s last summer, when I was pregnant, in anticipation of making something summery and girly for the baby this year. It worked especially well for the circle skirt since it was so light. It seems to give the skirt even more bounce.

Seersucker Circle Skirt Close I simply serged the bottom of the skirt but didn’t bother to hem it.  The casual look fit the fabric.

Seersucker Circle Skirt side

 

 

Just like Dana warns, this project is easy and fun, and you’ll find you want to keep making more and more circle skirts after you try it.

 

For that, it is steamed and dried to get the popular street names (“Foxy” and “Nexus”, respectively). cialis get viagra Whether it’s a new job, getting a divorce, having a baby or retiring, changes super generic cialis cute-n-tiny.com can cause stress. Women, like men, have their own problems when it comes to matters of sexual levitra online sales cute-n-tiny.com arousal and interest. Once if you viagra brand 100mg access the link of esouthindia.com the applicants will get all the information subsequent to the posts which are subjected in the official notice. Seriously.

 

 

 

See what I mean? I forced myself to stop at two — for now. I drew from my stash of Amy Butler fabric for this one.

Orange Circle Skirt

For the second circle skirt, I took the extra step of hemming the skirt after serging, for a cleaner, finished look. I think this will be the perfect skirt for the baby to wear to a family get-together this weekend to meet my cousin’s new baby boy!

I was clearly in a yellow-orange mood when making the circle skirts! Does that happen to you? Sometimes I go shopping for fabric or clothes and don’t realize until the end of the trip that most of my purchases are in the same color family.

I indulged in one more skirt. And another Amy Butler print.

Blue Skirt on Blanket

This one is a simple gathered waist skirt, using two rectangles to form the front and back. Stitch up the sides, gather the waist, sew the waist to the elastic, stitch the hem, done.

Blue Skirt Above

Slap one of these skirts on over a onesie and baby looks colorfully cute while staying cool in the summer heat.

 

by

Learn, Create, Share, Breathe

Just about a year ago I enrolled in a sewing class.  It was a one-day, basic sewing skills class taught locally.  I had no idea what to expect but was willing to give it a try.  So, I dragged my (generally not very craft-inclined) self to the studio on a hot Saturday morning and hoped for the best.  It was wonderful.  What was supposed to be a five hour class, rolled on into very late afternoon as the other two students and I struggled to finish our projects and the instructor kindly guided us and encouraged us without once mentioning the time. By day’s end, I simultaneously felt weary from the effort of trying to execute new skills, and worn by the heat thrown from the iron in a weakly air conditioned room, but energized from the experience and inspired.

It’s hard to narrow down what made it so wonderful:  The challenge of learning a new skill.  The thrill of creating something – a tote bag, which certainly bore the signs of newly acquired and not yet honed skills. The camaraderie of the small classroom, as three women with no prior sewing skills spent the day earnestly trying to learn from a gracious and patient designer, sharing stories over lunch, and laughing at our mistakes (at least among the students) and cheering each other on.  And I’ll admit, walking out of the studio that evening, I was damn proud of that tote bag, mistakes and all.

I learned so much that day, and found a new pursuit.  And I’ve stuck with it and continue to learn with each new project. And the more I sew, the more I realize how very much more there is to learn still. And yet despite all the useful, technical skills the instructor imparted that day, the lesson I come back to most frequently was about breathing.
wholesale viagra If you are looking for cheapest as well as effect treating alternatives then it is erection-enhancing medicines. Men should not buy Gel Capsules for recreational purpose, the risks are many, which can take a toll to the process of normal erectile function and man has to experience erection breakdown. viagra overnight delivery However Kamagra.be site as you will enjoy top-notch services. cheap viagra mastercard Through this way, they can gain complete cost of levitra transformation with the proper consumption of supplements.
The conversation had wandered over lunch and the instructor was actually talking about knitting at the time, and described how she felt one’s personality was so often directly reflected in her knitting.  She relayed how her anxious friend holds her needles so tightly, body tensed, and makes close, tight, little stitches, and her laid back, gregarious friend makes large, loopy stitches, and so on.  And she reminded us to breathe when we’re at the sewing machine.  Breathe, relax your shoulders; after all, this is supposed to be fun. Good advice for sewing, and life.

My 'learn to sew' tote bag, now a scrap holder