Computer bags

Wow!  I just noticed that it has been months since I shared some of my projects.   I have made quite a few things for Ava, but trying to get to hold her to photograph is often impossible, so I decided to show something that doesn't try to  run away or roll their eyes when they have to pose.

I have small lap top at work that unfortunately I have not been given a bag for.  I had small bag from a previous home lap top, but the bag was small enough that I could barely zip it shut and getting the cord in was nearly impossible.   I spotted this pattern for a messenger bag that I would work for computer.   It is from the Oliver and S "Little Things to Sew".    As can see the initial bag was really small- too small in fact.   The picture in the book had a child holding it, so I think I was thrown off with the size.

The little blue bag was my first attempt.  It turned out really cute but ended up smaller than my lap top bag I already had.  Ava loves it and has already filled it with school stuff.

This last weekend I decided to try the "large" size pattern and it worked out perfect.  It holds my lap top, cord, and other work stuff just perfect.  I am really pleased how it turned out.  Ava is now requesting a large bag as well.

Both bags are made from heavy decorating fabric both inside and out.  The outer hem has bias tape for a clean finish.   On the larger bag I ended up lining with heavy interfacing between the outside and the inside fabric to give it more structure.   I think this really helps and prevents the bag from collapsing.

Summer dresses

About a month ago I decided I was getting a little burned out from work and needed an extra week in addition to the planned vacation we had already made in August.   My office is under going a lot of changes and despite my attempt to be open minded and I was very stressed and needed to time regroup.   In addition to taking the kids on outings I did get some sewing in.

My first dress I made is from Mod kid- it is called the Haily dress and I made it in a woven blue with mint dots.  The fabric might look familiar as I used the left overs and made Ava shorts that I showed on a previous posting.

This is my next version of the Mod Kid Haily Girls  pattern.  I made this dress in a knit.  Ava absolutely loves this dress and attempted to wear it all weekend.

Summer Sewing

Now that summer has seemed to have come to Seattle (with the exception of today since it rained), I realized the kids do not have much summer clothes and needed shorts.  Oliver + S patterns has published a nice little shorts pattern on their website for free.  http://oliverands.com/   The pattern is their sunny days shorts and it is perfect for making a quick set of shorts.  I was able to make one in about 30 minutes.  http://oliverands.com/free-patterns/sunny-day-shorts/

The first pair I made for Johnny, but he was not very happy since they did not have pockets.   So I basically gave them to Ava and she was happy and wore them to school the day next day.   I did make another pair for Johnny and made a quick pocket, however Wes claims they look like "mom jeans".  He wore them and was happy, although they are a little big.  They will probably shrink in the wash a bit since I was really lazy and didn't want to wash the fabric prior to making the shorts.  I also challenged myself and have tried to make as many shorts as I could with left over fabric I already have.   I have a ton of left over fabric- and it is kind taking over my closet- so the majority of the short I made were from remmants.

The first pair are in a really soft linen like fabric- plae blue with mint dots,  The 2nd pair are in knit- I tried to rolled hem function on my new serger for the first time this weekend.  I did a "lettuce hem" by increasing the differential feed.

The blue shorts are the "mom jeans" and kakhi are the pair that Johnny was upset didn't have pockets.

I have also made Ava a couple of dresses lately as well- you will notice the striped knit shorts was left over from the dress.

Ah!  Bad lighting doesn't do this dress justice.   It is in a very soft japanese double guaze and Ava absolutely loves it.  She told me she feels like she is wearing pajamas all day long.

You can see the true color here and see that the fabric is reversible.  I used the opposite side as the lining for the bodice.   I love this fabric.

This dress is another pattern from the japanese sewing book.   There are some mistakes, but I think it didn't turn out too and considering the directions are entirely in japanese with illustrations.

Here is my latest project that I have sewn for Ava.   It is a sun dress that would have really come in handy last week in Seattle due to the great weather.  This week not much since it prerty much rained all weekend. This pattern comes from a japanese sewing book.  Yes- the entire book is in japanese, but they have really great illustrations and I have a little cheat sheet that the sewing terms are translated.  I love the japanese sewing books, the clothes are so simple and cute.   This is my second project from one of the books.

So I course I had a "did I sew that wrong moment?".   Japanese patterns do not have seam allowances.  I swear I added the seam allowances to everything, but as I made Ava try the bodice I noticed it did not fit and I had a moment of panic.     I tried to be creative and you can see I added an extra panel to back side to make it fit.   Oh well, Ava likes it and wants to wear it.  So I guess that is all I can ask for.   Now if it just would warm up again so she can wear it.   I have another japanese pattern cut out, so as soon as I finish I will post the pictures.  

Here is the dress- it made out a grey striped linen I found at Joannes.  I had a hard time finding a good location to take a picture without a car showing up.

  

You can see I added a panel for the buttons due to not adding a seam allowance here.   They are the shape of roses.

My first posting

Today is my first post in my sewing blog.   I decided to start this blog to journal my sewing projects since the number is large and I am losing track.   I have been sewing seriously for about four years, ever since Ava asked me to sew her doll clothes and I cursed the entire project because I thought it was so hard.    Luckily I stuck with it and started sewing her clothes.    I even have tried a couple of pieces for myself.   Sewing for myself is a lot harder.  Much easier to sew for a little stick figure.  This blog will feature my successes and my failures (there have been a lot).   I hope you enjoy.

Since it is my new blog, I will also show you my new baby.     About two years ago one of my co-workers sold me here really nice serger/coverstitch machine.  I was really excited because when she bought it it was top of the line and had all the bells and whistles.   I bought it for $200 which was really a bargain since it probably cost her several thousand or more.    About a three weeks ago I was serging along and bam!   My needle broke in half.   The whole piece that made the needle go up and down broke.   I had a pretty bad feeling because I found about a a year ago they stopped making the model and there were no new parts.   Sure enough I walked into a local repair shop and was told that there was nothing they could do to fix it.   I was heart broken.   Of course the sales lady was really quick to show me a great new machine for only $3500!!!!   I thanked her and left- I believe that machine was worth more than my old car.    I decided to take the machine to another repair shop that did only repairs and no sales.  I figured I wouldn't not get the pressure to buy something.  Unfortunately they too could not fix my machine.  It died a quick death.

So here is my new baby- I found it on line and I love it.    I can't wait to try new projects with it.  It is a serger and coverstich in one.   I have to admit it is probably better than the old one.  It took a degree to thread and I never converted it to a coverstich since it was so many steps and never looked right.

Both my kids are obsessed with the rainbow loom right now which means they have their stuff all over the house and quite a few bands have been sucked up in the vacuum.    A couple of months ago I sew a pattern on line for carrying case and bought it.     It sat around in a box for a while and I decided to finally tackle this weekend.    Unfortunately the pattern tackled me and it was really hard.   I finally gave up and made a hybrid of the pattern and another pattern I have.   The was definately a lot "Did I sew that wrong" making it.  But they turned about pretty cute and kids were happy.  Infact when I picked Ava up from school today I received requests from her friends.   Both kids were about to choose their fabric.  

Here is Ava's- it has  a pocket for both her loom and case of bands, plus a zipper pocket for extra. 

Instead of handles like the pattern called for, which for the life of me could not figure out I put a tie instead.  I got the idea for the mod kid pattern jewerly role.     Like I said the kids are not picky and it holds their stuff.