A Peak into my Sewing Kit!

 Hi Everyone!

When I first started my little blog here, I "thought" I would be posting much more about my little sewing and quilting projects.  Ummm, I was wrong.  While I LOVE quilting and other crafts, reality is that I can hardly find time to actually DO my hobbies, let alone take pictures and blog about them!

Well, even though I do not have a LOT of time to share quilting stuff, I do want to share when I can.  So with that in mind, I thought today I would share with you a peak into my sewing kit.

Specifically, this sewing kit is for one project only--not a general sewing kit.  It is made up for my English Paper Piecing project, which I will try and give you a glimpse of.  Someday.

Anyway, the whole reason I even STARTED an EPP project is that I learned how absolutely portable those projects can be.  And I realized that I had more "leisure time" while I sat at the swimming pool waiting for my daughter's Swim Club every week than I have when I am at home.  Swim Club is 1 1/2 hours, two times a week.  Think about it--that is THREE HOURS of potential play time!!!  When do I have THREE HOURS to play at home?  That's right--never!

So with that in mind, my sewing kit for the EPP project had to be portable as well.  So I looked around the house and found an almost empty pencil box which I nabbed.  Not quite trusting it to not open on me as it travels, and not wanting my things to spill all over the sidewalk, I also found a large rubber band to help keep it closed in the junk--ahem--I mean, the miscellaneous drawer in the kitchen.
                                                                                                                                                               

Into my sewing kit went tiny squares of fabric, scissors, plastic templates, a needle book, and thread in all sorts of colors to match the fabric squares.  Really, I was amazed at how much I really could stuff--I mean--fit in the box.

This photo shows my little thread box pulled out and opened. I found my thread box, at Hobby Lobby--of course THEY did not call it a thread box, but I recognized it for what it really was! ;)  I think it was around $2.00, and of COURSE you do not buy anything at Hobby Lobby without having a coupon.  I learned about winding bobbins with your different colors of thread, and then using those bobbins as your "spools" of thread.  They work great, and enable me to carry lots of thread colors with me!

Well, that's it for my little show-and-tell!  I hope you have enjoyed this look at my kit, and that it can help inspire you in your own sewing projects!  Sometime when I get a chance, I will show you more of my sewing project that goes along with this sewing kit!

~Susan

Tea Towel Apron

Hi Everyone!

Thought I would share a little project that some friends and I worked on over the weekend.  We each made a simple apron made out of a tea towel, and I am enjoying it so very much already.  We really did have a good "reason" to make these--this is a project that our local college is going to be doing over our soon coming alumni weekend, so whatever ladies (or gentlemen!) are interested, they can sign up and come to our location to have a little sewing project.  My good friend Judy is in charge of this project every year, and she is always on the look out for a nice, simple project--and it needs to be able to be completed in one day.

Anyway, the project she found for this year is a Tea Towel Apron, which I am at this point totally in love with.  Of course, I am an "apron person" anyway--probably because I am a messy person!  I can't say I got this from my mom--I have never seen my mom wear an apron in her life, though I suppose she may have at some point.  Maybe it's because she is a nurse and I am a teacher.  Maybe nurses are neat, and teachers are messy. . . not sure, but whatever the reason, I LOVE aprons and cannot hardly stand to do anything in my kitchen unless I am wearing one.  

So back to making one.  Since some of the ladies (and gentlemen) who come to the alumni Fiber Arts time have sometimes been completely new at any type of sewing, Judy had the good idea to run through the Tea Towel Apron-making with a couple of her local friends, on the condition that we would help her be "teachers" for the alumni who came for the Fiber Arts time.  SURE!  It sounded fun, I was planning on going to the alumni weekend anyway, and what are friends for?!

So here you have it--photos from my little apron making time, and the beautiful models showing off their new aprons at the end!

Tea Towel Apron

 You will need one large tea towel, and 1/2 yard of coordinating fabric.

Apron Instructions:
1.  Fold towel in half lengthwise, iron fold, and open.  If ironed crease is not easy to see, mark it by sticking a pin at the crease line.

2.  On both sides of the fold or pin, mark at 5 1/2 inches and at 4 inches from center.

3.  Now you are going to measure on the long sides of your tea towel.  Starting from the top corner, measure and mark at 5/1/2 and 8 1/2 inches.  Take a ruler and a chalk pencil, and draw a slanted line connecting your 5 1/2 inch mark on the side with the 5 1/2 inch mark on the top.  Do the same connecting your 8 1/2 inch mark with the 4 inch mark.  This is harder to put into words than it is to do!

4.  Fold and press on the inner most chalk line, and cut off the extra fabric corner by cutting on the outer most chalk line.  Then turn under the edge where you cut by 1/2 inch and press.  You are creating the casing where the apron ties will go.

5.  Top stitch edge, back stitching at both ends.  Repeat on the other corner.  The above picture shows the apron at this step.

6.  From the 1/2 yard of fabric cut 3 strips 3 inches by width of fabric.  Cut only 2 strips if you want shorter ties if you are a skinny minny--(ahem, I am NOT a skinny minny) or if you are making the apron for a child.  If you want to be able to cross the ties in the back and bring them around to the front to tie, you might want to add in one extra strip.  With the width of my fabric, I "can" tie it in front if I want, but some of the other fabrics made ties with a little extra for front-tying.

7.  Sew tie strips together, end to end.

8.  Fold in half lengthwise and press.

9.  Open and fold in half each long side to center crease, press and pin.

10.  Fold in each end, press, and pin.

11.  Top stitch along all four edges of the tie--above picture shows this point.

12.  Take your completed apron tie--this will be huge, because it is one complete tie that goes up to include the neck strap and then down the other side--and poke it through the apron casings, centering it evenly along both sides.  You might find putting a safety pin on the end helps to pull it through the casings.  Adjust the neck loop to sit how you like it.  Most of the ladies left it like this at this point.  I, personally, do not like it if the straps change on me, so I choose to sew a little spot on the casing, tacking the ties to that specific spot.  Other people like the flexibility of the apron being able to adjust to the person wearing it.  Just do whichever you prefer.  :)

Optional Pocket Instructions

1.  From the 1/2 yard fabric, cut 2 8x16 inch rectangles.

2.  With right sides of fabric facing, stitch all around rectangles leaving about 4 inches open for turning.

3.  Trim corners, turn, and press.

4.  Top stitch top edge of pocket--this is one of the long sides of your rectangle.

5.  Center pocket on apron or as desired, and pin in place.

6.  Top stitch sides and bottom of pocket, which will sew the pocket onto the apron at the same time as well as stitch closed the 4 inch spot you left open for turning.  Make sure you have that spot turned in and pressed before sewing, so your sewing will catch and close the turning spot.

7.  Stitch either a center line along the middle of the apron pocket, dividing the pocket into two pockets, or stitch two lines dividing your pocket into three smaller pockets, whichever you prefer.  My pocket was wider, so I stitched it into three pockets, while Judy's pocket was smaller so hers is stitched into two pockets.

Grab your apron and put it on, snagging a close by friend to take your picture.  Don't Judy and I look great?!  You can see her apron tied in the front, while I left mine tied in the back.

More beautiful models--Lorraine and Arlene.  What fun and laughter we had that day, over the silliest things while making these tea towel aprons!  Trust me--these ladies are a HOOT!  I just love spending time with them!
Hope you are inspired now to go make your own apron! :)

~Susan

Frugal Family--Saving on Skirts!

Hi Everyone!

Thought I would share a very simple method to save on making skirts.  Back in the olden days, I would have gone to the fabric store and picked out a pattern and fabric, thread, etc. and come home to sew a skirt "from scratch" so to speak.  Well, that was before patterns and fabric prices went so high.  So for a long time, I gave up on sewing clothes.  And I have never found a lot of clothes that fit me at thrift stores.  I guess that is what I get from being 5' 9 when the average American woman is 5'5.  

But I have now discovered something new--to me, anyway, and that is the option of looking at the thrift store as your fabric store.  

Last week I found this little beauty for .50 cents.  Not exactly my style, and definitely way too short for me.  It is hard to tell from the picture, but it was very much a "petite" in length, and I am very much a "long" in length! But I loved the fabric!  It just looked so summery and FUN!  Well, for .50 cents, you can't go very wrong, even it it ends up in the trash can--so I bought it and brought it home.

 First step, I chopped the skirt part off from the yoke of the dress.  I should have left the yoke in the picture for comparison, but I cut it off just barely below the yoke--trying to save as much of the length as possible.  Then pinned it together at the bottom hem since I was preserving the bottom pattern, and evened up my cutting edge up at the top.

 Next step was to turn it inside out, fold and sew the raw edge under 1/4th inch, then fold, press, and sew a casing for it.  Since the elastic I was using was 3/4th inch wide, I measured my casing fold to be 1 1/4th inch.  That way, by the time I took up 1/4th inch for sewing the casing edge, I would still be left with a good 1 inch space in my casing itself.  And don't forget to leave a couple inches open, so you can thread the elastic through!

 Here I am showing the little tool I have, but I am afraid I do not remember the actual name of it.  It is shaped similar to tweezers, but has a tiny ring that slips down and clamps it tight, so it grips your elastic (or whatever you are wanting to pull through).  If you do not have a tool like this one, you can just put a large safety pin through the elastic and pull it through that way.  Just for the record--I do recommend that you spend the little bit extra to buy the roll-free elastic for when you are doing a waist band.  Who wants to have your elastic fold over or roll once it is inside the casing and you start wearing it or washing it!  I had some elastic I had bought previously for making some jammies for Alison.  At the time, I "thought" I would never use up all that was in the package I had to buy, but today I was thrilled to find I had enough for this project!  I also do not usually have hot pink thread, as I do not usually quilt with any hot pink colored fabrics--but I had made a doll dress for Alison once, and bought the spool for that.  Yea!  Since the elastic and the thread were already bought and paid for with different projects, that makes them "free" in my book for this project!

 Once you get your elastic through, sew the two elastic ends together, then close up your opening in your casing.  Turn right side out, and there you have it--your new skirt! :)

 All it needs is a white blouse to match with it!  And one more thing. . .

Approval from the cat!  If the cat says it's a good outfit, it's GOOD!  Can't wait to wear it--hope this has helped give you all some ideas of using the thrift store as your fabric store.  This new skirt cost me just .50 cents!

~Susan