Saturday 30 July 2011

In sewing news today...

Project Runway

I know from last season that no good can come from giving up sewing time to watch the program. But I felt that I was drawn to look at a car wreck when I should have been keeping my eye on the road.

No I didn't go looking for it on-line, I saw it in New York, The New York Times to be exact. I couldn't resist to take a peak at the article.

Bed Sheets


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The first challenge involved bedding? Okay, sewing with bed sheets isn't that "wacky". Sounds like a yawn for a season premiere. The idea has been around for decades.

And there is so much fabric at your disposal with a bed sheet. I think the real challenge for the designers came in the form of waking up and functioning at 05:00!

Back to bedding, I often check out the designer sheets when I'm shopping at Winners. Some of the fabrics are gorgeous and perfect for summer dresses. And lately there have been some sweet retro vibes found in Liz Claiborne bedding collection. Why not? Besides, there has been some pretty nice deals in the bedding section lately.

You can even find knit fabric bedding! It's like a little mini-fabric department minus all the quilt worshipping and polar fleece. Nothing against quilting or sewing fleece, but do stores really need to dedicate more than 1/2 of the floor space to these fabric types? But I digress...

Do you sew with sheets? If so, what have you made?

Back to the drawing board


Remember the housedress?  Yup, that housedress.

Well it ended up on my sewing table with a whole list of alteration requests. I knew it!

The old bias tape above and the new neckline with the new bias tape.
Of course, one of Mama R's requests was to adjust the neckline! So Sew, I've been busy trying to make it work for Mama R. How can I say no to Mama R? Impossible really, she's too cute and the best mom a gal could ask for. I'm lucky to have her in my life. So, back to work.

Since I had to reshape the neckline, I thought I would nix the store bought seam binding that I initially used. I cut and pressed new seam binding from left over fabric. I'm pleased with like the look of matching bias tape.

Then it was onto the hem, she wanted about an inch taken up. Can you believe that there was actually a fitting for the initial hemline? I guess Mama R just wanted to try it out.

The Baby Jumpsuits

The baby Jumpsuits are finished, finally.

They actually have been done to the point where no more machine stitching was needed, just some hand work.

I was saving the hand sewing of the snaps for my quality outdoor time. I have to say there is no better light to sew in than sunlight.

I should whip up a couple in blue (or a gender neutral colour) soon just in case the expectant babies turn out to be boys!

Domestic Armor  


I made some chicken stock the other day, a Jamie Oliver recipe that I found here, (and that I would recommend). And while I was straining the stock, I was thinking that I really could have used that apron that I was planning on making a few weeks back. (That was a long winded sentence, wasn't it?)

I was distracted with house dresses. But now that I have no more excuses I really should get to work on this project this weekend.

I'm going to change the fabric choice up a bit before I cut it out.

I'm still going to stick with the rooster print, who couldn't use a little good luck in the kitchen?

I decided on a light green and white polka-dot print fabric for the reverse side.



And that is all in sewing news today (in this corner of the world)... back to sewing!

5 comments:

  1. I haven't sewn with sheets but I have seen some really nice things that started out as a sheet. I love your rooster fabric - that will make a fun apron!

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  2. I once made some children's costumes out of donated hospital sheets that I dyed for a play that I was directing...I agree it is an inexpensive way to get a lot of yardage, unless we're talking Italian imports at $250 per flat sheet...I would think you would need to interface quite a bit. All I can picture is a lot of wrinkles and creases in the garment...I guess sleepwear might be okay

    I like your rooster fabric, but I like view C of the Simplicity pattern...it seems to have a little more design character...I look forward to seeing your finished apron

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  3. Hello Graca...just in case you have a change of mind and some unallocated time you can still see the new PR shows on yor PC at

    http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway/video/full-episodes

    This way you don't have to worry about seeing them on TV

    ReplyDelete
  4. I didn't think about it when I wrote the post but there is a charity organization that was featured in a recent Threads post that rallies sewists to turn pillowcases into dresses http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/19569/turning-pillowcases-into-dresses

    What a wonderful idea!

    Thank you William for the link to the PR episodes. I'm sure it will come in handy when I have a moment of weakness or need a Tim Gunn inspirational boost.

    ReplyDelete
  5. William, my moment of weakness occurred last night. I ventured over to mylifetime.com and clicked to watch the episode and it wouldn't work. There was a message stating that it was not available for viewing in Canada. Problem solved.

    ReplyDelete

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