Casey's Circle Skirt Sew-Along

I learned to sew as a pre-teen...under the guidance of my extremely patient Mother...and by the time I hit high school, I was a fairly proficient seamstress.  Home Economics classes (required, back then...in the 1970's) were a revelation to me.  I was astounded to learn that not every girl knew how to sew.  In fact, most of them didn't. 

In the years that followed, most of my peers steered clear of the so-called "womanly arts."  And I must admit, so did I...to some extent.  Sadly, I think that sewing and needlework were devalued for awhile...and anything created with your own hands was given that oh-so-subtle-put-down:  "home-made." 

Happily, this is changing.  The popularity of such television shows as "Project Runway"...and the booming site for handmades, Etsy...give witness to this.  And the WONDERFUL bloggers out there...most of them very YOUNG women...lead me to believe that the future of home sewing is in very capable hands.  They call themselves "sewists"...a term that I just love! 

Which leads me to the point of this post.  One such blogger is the adorable Casey Brown, of Casey's Elegant Musings.  When I stumbled upon Casey's blog earlier this year, she was in the middle of her Swing Dress Sew-Along.  I was fascinated...and I told myself that if she ever decided to conduct another, I would join in.  

Well, Casey has generously offered to head up a Circle Skirt Sew-Along...and I am happily following.  This is not my first circle skirt...I made one just last June...but, it's one of my favorite silhouettes...and I can always use another.  Truthfully, I'm MOST excited about sharing ideas and drawing inspiration from a diverse group of talented sewists.  I'm sure I'll learn something!

I've chosen to make a Winter skirt...with some brown herringbone tweed from my stash.  I'm thinking of something mid-calf-ish...long enough to wear with my favorite black boots.  At 5'10" I should be tall enough to carry this off...we shall see.  I'm planning to embellish the hemline with a vine-ing black cotton velveteen applique (also from my stash)...accented with some subtle beading.  And since I LOVE a pretty lining...brown and violet paisley silk crepe de chine...for the part no one sees!  

I found this fabric at my neighbor's yard sale last year...$6.00 for 4 yards of wool!  And since this...and the velveteen...are from my stash, I didn't feel TOO guilty about splurging on the silk lining! 

 
  



In a break from the Sew-Along, I'll be using this Simplicity pattern, an old favorite of mine.  Although it IS a circle skirt...it has a contoured waist that sits a bit lower on my hips...more comfortable and complimentary to my short-waisted-ness than a traditional waistband.









I'm probably going to do a bias hem facing.  I used this technique on my Summer skirt and was very pleased with the result.  And I'm entertaining the idea of adding horsehair braid to the hem.  Not too sure about this.  Hopefully, the weight of the wool will calm the braid down enough to give me a nicely shaped hemline...without coming off as too vintage-y.  Not that there's anything wrong with vintage.  It's just that we "women of a certain age" have to be careful.

Well, I'm off to begin cutting.  The Mailman has the entirety of next week off from work...so my sewing time will be limited, I'm afraid.  I have a feeling I'll be sewing like a madwoman the following week...trying to finish on time.  To be honest...I'm looking forward to it!

Sweet Straw Tote Redux

A few weeks ago, I became obsessed with straw totes.  Blame it on the super-heated weather.  In an effort to be frugal, I began searching the thrift stores...and I actually found TWO!  The first one was perfect...HUGE, with a short handle...exactly what I wanted.  The second was the little one you see here.  Now, you're probably asking yourself, "If the first tote was so perfect, why is she blogging about the second one?"  Well...let me give you some advice.  Don't ever let your husband's bull-in-a-china-shop friend touch your stuff...especially a thrifted straw tote of undetermined age with an evidently not-so-sturdy handle.  'Nuff said.

Anyway...the second tote was quite a bit smaller...but for $1.75 at Goodwill, I just couldn't pass it up.  So, it came home with me for a little facelift. 

Inside, the odd red and green print lining reminded me of Christmas...not exactly the beachy, tropical look I was after... 

...so I replaced it with violet and lavender polka dots.  And since this tote has no closure, I added a little zippered pocket for an additional bit of security. 

It needed some pizazz...and flower brooches are all the rage right now.  This one is my own design, and I love the way it looks against the raffia/straw.  It's on a pin-back...so it can be removed...but I have a feeling it's going to spend most of it's time right here.









All in all...a sweet little bag...for a couple of hours' work and very little deniro.  Not my first choice, but I still like it.  Oh...and TM's friend?  I forgave him...but not right away.  ;o)

Braided Handle Tote Bag

Last year, I accompanied a friend to St. Charles, Illinois to pick up an eBay purchase.  Of course, we HAD to shop while we were there.  In one very high-end boutique, I stopped to admire an interesting Tote Bag.  It had a curved top edge...and some amazing self-fabric handles...braided, they were.  Now, when I'm out and about, I'm always on the lookout for ideas I can swipe inspiration for my sewing projects.  And this bag intrigued me.  So...I made a quick little sketch...filed it away in my billfold...and promptly forgot about it.

Then, a few months later...I found these gorgeous fabrics on sale at one of my favorite local quilt shops.  They're from Amy Butler's LOVE collection...in my favorite color combo to wear...violet and green.  (The green is showing up quite minty here...but it's actually more of a Jade-ite color...my camera does NOT like green.)  I knew I wanted to make a bag, but I just couldn't come up with a design.  I've made hundreds of Tote Bags in my "career" and I'd grown tired of the same ol' same ol'.  Then, I remembered the Tote I had seen earlier...and decided I wanted to try to make one like it.

It took a little finagling to draft the pattern...several tries to get the curved top just right...and then there was the matter of how to attach the handles.  But once I got things figured out, it went together quite smoothly...and I'm pretty pleased with the result.

The handles are corded...and covered in bias fabric strips.  I haven't done much of this...and had to keep referring to my trusty Singer sewing book to make sure I did it right.  Even then, I had a few missteps along the way...like not cutting the cording long enough (it has to be TWICE the length of the finished handle, to allow for turning)...and sewing it to the wrong side of the fabric (twice).

I attached three cords to the bag on one side with three rows of stitching...braided them tightly around to the other side...stitched them down again...and repeated for the other handle.  Then, I made little tabs to cover the unfinished ends and edge-stitched those in place.  I tried to pattern-match as best I could...it's not spot-on...but it's close.


I machine-quilted the entire Tote with lime-green thread...for style and stability.

The closure is a recessed zipper.  This is my own design...but I don't use it often because I'm such a zipper-phobe!

And inside...a pretty paisley lining.  There are also three slip-in pockets and a hard plastic bottom insert to help the bag hold it's shape. 

Kinda looks like "Jaws" here, doesn't it.  I tell ya...it's HARD to photograph the inside of these things!






And there's my new Tote Bag!  I'll be off shopping now!

Summer Skirt

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that one of my favorite mail-order retailers was offering a gorgeous cotton lawn skirt...with a pretty "petticoat" ruffle peeking out at the hem.  Just my style...and of course, I fell in love...but I just couldn't justify plunking down The Mailman's hard-earned cash for something I could make myself.  Know what I mean?  So...I set about swiping being inspired by their idea.

Here is the inspiration skirt...

I wanted something a bit fuller...so I chose an old favorite pattern (Simplicity 4546, from 2005).  It's an almost-circle skirt...with a contoured waistband that sits a bit lower on the hips.  I'd used this pattern a couple of times...and other than a length adjustment (which is pretty much a given when you're 5'10" tall)...I knew I wouldn't have to worry about fit.

The pattern calls for a conventional side zipper closure...but I opted for an invisible zipper.  I prefer the look...and I find them easier to install.

The cotton lawn is pretty sheer...so I lined my skirt with a second layer of solid-colored lawn for modesty's sake.

And here's my petticoat hem!









Instead of a turned-up hem, I chose to do a bias hem-facing (cut from left-over lining fabric)...which worked like a dream!  I cut the ruffle 2 1/2 times the circumference of the skirt hem and 6 inches wide...for a 3-inch finished ruffle that would peek out about 2 inches below the hem.  Then I proceeded to hand-gather the ENTIRE ruffle...which provided me a with an excellent excuse to watch a marathon broadcast of "The Real Housewives of New York City."  I wanted a flat, pleated ruffle...as opposed to a full, foofy one...and so once I had it suitably gathered...I gave everything a good mash with the steam iron.  Then, I attached the ruffle with two lines of top-stitching.  


This was one of those dream projects that went together without a hitch...which for me, is a rarity.  It turned out pretty much as I had imagined...with the added bonus of the ruffle providing a bit of weight to bottom of the skirt...for a very nice drape. 


Now...you're probably wondering why I'm not modeling my creation for you.  It's because:

     A.  I'm not all that comfortable with posting pictures of myself on the internet.
     B.  I'm pretty hopeless at taking self-portraits, anyway.
     C.  The mosquitoes around here are the size of CATS...and I don't want to spend any more 
          time outside than absolutely necessary.
     D.  I have a gorgeous length of cocoa-brown linen (I'm thinking safari-type jacket) that would
          be FAB with this skirt...and I want to reveal the jacket and skirt together.
     E.  OK...it's really A.  

My Selfish Tote

Earlier this month, I was chatting with my friend, Kim...who works at our local quilt shop...and is also a "Bag Lady" (i.e. a lady who makes bags).  We were discussing the curious fact that neither one of us carries our own creations...a consequence, I suppose, of being so focused on sewing for "business" that we've forgotten how to sew for pleasure.  We both agreed that this situation should be remedied immediately...and since I've dubbed this "The Year of Sewing Selfishly,"  I decided that my first project would be a KatyDidStitches Tote Bag just for ME...and this is it! 

I began with this beautiful print by Jennifer Paganelli for Sis Boom.  I was thrilled to find it on clearance at one of my favorite fabric shops last year.  It has ALL my favorite colors...jadeite green, orchid, cornflower blue, pale lemon yellow...and I knew it would make a fabulous Tote.  Although I loved the design, I wanted to change it up a bit...

...and so I decided to do what I like to call "mosaic patchwork."  

Now, I'm sure this has been done many times before...by many other sewists more talented that I...so I certainly don't want to take credit for the idea.  It involves cutting up a large motif into fairly small squares (in this case 3"x3")...and piecing them back together in a random fashion.  I like the texture that the piecing and diagonal machine-quilted stitches create...and it's a great way to utilize fabric that may be the wrong size for a whole-cloth project.

I added a cute fabric daisy...my own design that I've used for several years.  When I make these to sell, I attach them to a pin-back so that they are removable...because not everyone appreciates a daisy on their Tote!  Personally, I LOVE this look...and so MY daisy is constructed as a dimensional applique.  The button center is from a HUGE jar of buttons that I bought at an auction a couple of years ago.  (As an "auction virgin," I was terrified...and made my friend bid for me!)

I also included an inside zippered pocket!  Since I suffer from "zipper phobia," this is a major TA-DA for me. 

There are also three slip-in pockets...a small one for a pen...another that's wide enough for a checkbook...and a third accommodates a cell phone...which I don't have...so I use it for sunglasses.



I must say, this Tote was an absolute JOY to make.  I worked on it all last week...sewing when I felt inspired to do so...and setting it aside when my interest waned or the garden or The Mailman needed my attention.  This was a welcomed break from the intense concentration and "time is money" speed that sewing for my business necessitates.  I like it...and I intend to do more!  

My Dress, My Jacket

I don't remember exactly when I made this dress or this jacket.  My best guess would be the late seventies or early eighties.  Certainly no later than 1982.  As a young twenty-something, this was my passion.  I would chose the most complicated pattern...the most difficult fabric...and attempt to make something beautiful.  Sometimes I failed...sometimes I succeeded.  These are two examples of success.

Why am I showing these to you?  I wanted you to see where I've been...and where I would like to be again.

I want to turn a crisp lapel...

...construct a smooth slot pocket...

...and a bound buttonhole.

I want the challenge of a delicate placket...

...a fine French seam...

...and chiffon ruffles.







I love these garments.  Do they still fit?  Yes.  Will I ever wear them again?  Probably not.  I left behind pale neutrals and over-sized silhouettes long ago.  Then, why do I keep them?  Because they inspire me. This is what I want to do...and I can't wait to get started again.