Sewing « mama urchin

Archive for the 'Sewing' Category

Birthday Gifts

Published August 27, 2010 Fiber Crafts , Gifts , In the Mailbox , Sewing 4 Comments

Last weekend we celebrated my niece Gabrielle’s eighth birthday — eight! — and as in years before I made her some clothes. My sister is super-sweet and usually Gabrielle wears the outfit I make her for the first day of school. Talk about pressure! So, this year in discussing with my sister what to make we decided on something with blue, since that is Gabby’s favorite color, and something that has a skirt. My sister loves anything Asian — including her husband — and I remembered a kimono top from an old Ottobre and a plan was hatched.

The blue embroidered cotton was from my mother-in-law, I think she picked it up on a trip to Asia, and the brown is a batik from my local fabric store. The kimono top — #12 from Ottobbre 4/2008 — is fully lined and has a hidden ribbon closure — with butterfly beads — and flower buttons. The skirt is just gathered with a contrast yoke and pockets. I didn’t use a pattern just traced around Katie’s hand for the pocket shape/size.

And for the fun gift from the urchins Gabrielle received two new outfits for her American Girl doll. The dress coordinates with the kimono outfit and the other outfit is just a fun summer outfit. Both were based on a simplicity pattern I got sometime when patterns were a dollar. For doll clothes you just really need a basic pattern and you can change it to suit your needs. In this case the top for the shorts is the bodice of the dress and instead of a skirt I used a pre-gathered bit of eyelet lace. The shorts are literally shortened pants.

Un-Camping

Published July 27, 2010 Fiber Crafts , Sewing 3 Comments

Last Saturday we headed out with a new tent in the back of the car. We drove to our destination and puttered around the town, visiting the children’s museum, the toy store, and the yarn shop — all must sees on a urchin family trip. My mom called because she was at home worrying about us in the heat. It was hot but we were hanging out in the shade, in and out of AC, and drinking plenty of fluids. But at dinner Stefan and I started talking about whether we really should sleep in a tent when the overnight low was expected to be 87 degrees. He had a race in the morning.

So we started calling all the hotels in the area and got the same answer we’re completely booked. It was 7:00 in the evening and 104 degrees. Then Stefan started calling some B&Bs but we had the urchins with us and most don’t allow children. Luckily though, people at B&Bs are very nice and one such lady started calling everywhere she could think of. We got the last room at the Doubletree and sighed with relief.

So we went un-camping and all this is to tell you that we had the camping quilts ready but ended up not needing them in the end. You’ve seen the rainbow one before. It’s backed with a duvet cover from IKEA and bound in the same. I decided to use wool as a batting on all the camping quilts because not only is it warm, it also warm when it’s wet, which when camping is a real possibility. But one thing about wool is that it shrinks up a lot when laundered so if the quilting doesn’t go all the way to the edge or isn’t dense enough you will lose a lot of area. Think your favorite puckery quilt and get even puckery-er. It was quilted with a fireworks pattern in variegated thread that really looks great on both sides.

The brown and pink quilt was made with pink scrap log cabins sashed in a brown Denyse Schmidt fabric that I had a bunch of — it has a small pink dot in it. It is backed and bound in the brown too. The quilting on this one is a daisy pattern in a pink thread. There’s a name for setting the log cabins like this but I can’t think of it, they look kind of wonky in the photo but they are straight, just the sashing width varies between blocks.

So, two camping quilts down and one more to go — or maybe two? Thanks for all your help with that. Our next scheduled camping trip isn’t until later in the Autumn although Stefan thinks we need to do one more this summer. Hopefully next time we’ll actually end up in the tent and putting these quilts to good use.

Brown, Black, and Grey

Published July 15, 2010 Fiber Crafts , In the Mailbox , Sewing , Swaps 7 Comments

I’ve been making good progress on our camping quilts recently. The rainbow one is quilted and next in line to be bound. Another one — made from pink log cabin blocks and sashed in brown — is at the quilter now and should be back in my hands next week. Theoretically, the rainbow quilt is for Papa and I and the pink/brown one is for Katie. That just leaves Tristan without a camping quilt. I have this great train ticket fabric that we used as a tablecloth for Tristan’s second birthday — look how little he is! — that I want to use as a back. I’m planning on using brown and black/grey log cabins for the front but here’s the problem. My stash is not burgeoning with brown and black/grey fabrics. Is yours? So, I’m looking for scraps. The smallest size I can use is 2″x3″. I have many scraps of other colors I can share, even selvedges for those who collect them. Anybody up for a trade?

A Quilt for a Little Bird

Published June 30, 2010 Fiber Crafts , Gifts , In the Mailbox , Sewing 6 Comments

Back in March my friend Molly gave birth to a sweet little girl and she named her Birdy. And being the fourth little girl in her house I knew that she’d be seeing a lot of hand-me-downs in her lifetime — I mean, how could she not? — so I wanted to make her something that would be just for her. I considered knitting her something but her early months are during the summer and as Molly will tell you, they have no central AC. I’ve been to their house in the summertime, woolens are not necessary.

Then I remembered I had a half yard of Joel Dewberry’s aviary print in my fabric stash. Orange and brown. I love it in this colorway but it doesn’t scream baby girl so I hemmed and hawed over it for a little while. Then I decided to just go with it. I made four log cabin blocks with the aviary print fussy-cut for the center squares. I limited the logs to 6 other fabrics and did two rounds of logs. The squares were then sewn together and sashed with an orange and brown homespun that was really perfect and a lucky find. It’s backed with the same homespun and quilted with a pattern of oak leaves and acorns. After a wash it was nice and crinkly and soft, just right for a baby to call her very own.

Kids Clothes Week Begins

Published May 10, 2010 Fiber Crafts , Sewing 3 Comments

Hello Kids Clothes Week! I fully intended to be all prepared with patterns organized and fabrics selected and… But no, here we are on day one and I haven’t even decided for sure what to make. I do know that Tristan desperately needs pajama pants for summer. We’ve tried to convince him to just sleep in his little boxer shorts — admittedly he has such cute little legs I am probably pitching the idea for my own mama reasons — but he says he has to have pajama pants. He has one pair right now — made of linen — otherwise he’s sleeping in too warm and too short — made in 2007 — winter flannel pants (pictured above). So, I think summer PJs might need to be first on the list. I’ll check in tomorrow with progress.

Looking Back

Published January 3, 2010 Cooking , Fiber Crafts , In the Kitchen , Knitting , Sewing , This & That 11 Comments

So 2009 is out the window and I am so glad. It was just a crummy year in the urchin household and from what I gather, a lot of other households too. So, rather than dwell on the yuck, let’s take a look at the good stuff I got accomplished while in the mire. First up, the knitting:

To be honest, I’m not too pleased about the knitting. I intended to knit through EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac and did not get very far. In fact the February Baby Sweater is the only completed project from the book. I’m hoping to change that in 2010. I think there was a lot of starting in 2009, not so much finishing, I’m hoping to improve in 2010. Dare I say that going into 2011 I’d like to have no WIPs in my knitting basket?

The sewing however, required two mosaics so that’s something. Katie alone got about a dozen new outfits made by her mama. That is something that makes me exceedingly happy. I also finished four quilts in 2009. I have a whole bunch of quilt tops ready too so just like the knitting, I need to finish what I start. This may be a theme. I made a lot more of the gifts the urchins give their friends so I would like to continue that trend in 2010. In fact, I’d like to try to get a stash together so I’m not always sewing at the last minute.

And then there’s the food. We ate mostly locally at almost every meal this summer and at many of our meals in the other seasons too. I canned so much — so so much — and looking at those jars makes me so happy. I remember one week in August where I canned something every day. We found a dehydrator on craigslist and expanded our repetoire to include dried food as well as canned and frozen. I canned jam and salsa, whole fruits and sauces, sweet and savory. We had to figure out a new system for storing it all. We’ll be eating well all winter I’m sure. In fact, on one of those stressful days before Christmas I realized I had gumbo in the freezer that I made back in the summer and it was so good.

But 2010, I have big plans for you. Plans that include expanding the garden and the pantry. Plans that include covering all the members of my house in their own quilt. But more on that later, for now I think I’ll just look at what was good in 2009.

A Dress to Sing About

Published December 16, 2009 Fiber Crafts , Sewing 10 Comments

Katie needed a dress for her choir performance at church last Sunday. At about 4:00 I was able to sneak into my sewing room for about an hour to make her one. This is not a method that I advocate but if you are in a rush and need a dress I highly recommend going the raglan sleeve/peasant top route. I have a whole bunch of this tablecloth print that I bought for about $1 a yard at Joann’s sometime after Christmas last year that I knew would be a dress, someday. If you’ve never used a tablecloth print before it’s printed on the fabric to be made into a tablecloth. So in this case, there is a brown band and a winter scene along each selvedge edge. I wanted to use that edge as the bottom of Katie’s dress and the cuff of her sleeves so I had to cut my pattern pieces sideways. The bodice and sleeves were based on pattern #18 from Ottobre 03/07. I shortened the dress length to be a bodice length, then I added a gathered skirt. For the sleeves I increased the length of the pattern piece to be long sleeved and gathered them at the cuff. We added the ribbon sash to make it a little more Christmas-y. Next time I think I’ll try to start earlier but it’s good to know in a pinch my girl can look pretty cute in a jiffy.

Santa Lucia

Published December 14, 2009 Crafting With the Urchins , Fiber Crafts , Sewing 5 Comments

When Katie was three or four years old we read a book about Saint Lucia day and Katie was wide-eyed. When she was four years old we made a set of Saint Lucia clothespin dolls. Last year we decided Katie was big enough to bring buns to us in bed — I get up and help her get ready then go back to bed — and this year we added a crown.

I first saw the idea in Living Crafts magazine — love this magazine by the way — and considered seeing if someone could make us one but never got my act together. So this one was made by me at the last minute but was so worth it when Katie realized she would be wearing a crown this year. The crown is made of wool felt with machine appliqued embellishments with a cotton strap in the back. We’re not Scandinavian, Italian, or Catholic so celebrating Saint Lucy is not part of our cultural or religious tradition. However, the darkness of these days as we near the solstice is something we want to recognize and the idea of a child reminding us of the coming light of Christmas is magical. So, our tradition has evolved to this, a little girl with candles and a crown helping us remember what this season is all about.

Addicted to Aprons

Published December 7, 2009 Cooking , Fiber Crafts , In the Kitchen , Sewing 4 Comments

It seems I’ve been on a bit of an apron bender. It started with making an apron and mitt set — fabrics are Alexander Henry sweet treats and petiti fours– for Tristan’s friend Mallory’s birthday to go with a baking set — I now buy the rolling pin etc. in a set from IKEA. Before her birthday we asked her what she wanted and she said cake! so a baking set seemed like a good idea. She made Tristan cookies to say thank you, aren’t four-year-olds so cute. He told Mallory that she’s a really good cooker.

Then I decided to make aprons for the urchins and their cousins for our annual family Christmas cookie bake-a-thon. Tristan picked out this Thomas the Train Christmas print sometime in the early Autumn. I’ll admit it was bribe to get him in and out of the fabric store with minimal fussing. I had no idea what I was going to do with it until I started making the aprons. So both boys got Thomas aprons using the same pattern as Mallory’s. For my nephew — who is only eighteen months — I sized it down a bit by reducing the length and the width but keeping the overall shape. For the girls I started with a top shape from a Simplicity pattern — 3949 — and then did my own thing for the waistband and skirt. The Simplicity pattern just had way too many pieces for me. I also changed the neck and waist ties to be more like the toddler apron with an elastic neck and velcro closure on the waist. I’m all about the urchins dressing themselves without frustration.

When Tristan’s best friend decided he wanted to have a chef party I knew he would be getting an apron and baking set too. I decided though that instead of an oven mitt Sam should get a chef hat. After a bit of figuring I made the chef’s hat with a coordinating stripe. The band is adjustable with velcro so it should fit a variety of head sizes. I think it made a pretty cute set.

I think before the end of the holiday season I may just have another apron or two up my sleeve. We’ll see though, I still have a lot to do in the next 18 days.

Wrap It Up

Published December 1, 2009 Crafted by Friends , Fiber Crafts , Gifts , In the Mailbox , Sewing 3 Comments

24 days, huh? That’s not a lot of time for making and oh do I have a lot of making to do. I started a list today and it’s a little bit long. One thing I did get done on time — actually early — was this wrap for my sister-in-law’s birthday tomorrow. We gave it to her last week with the easiest chocolate cake ever and she seemed pleased.

The pattern is free from Martha and very easy. I made this one from some really gorgeous boiled wool jersey. I think the color will look great with brown or black, grey and jewel tones, and keep my sister-in-law warm in a drafty office. I also think this would be really beautiful made of a silk jersey for the warmer months. The edges are unfinished so it makes a very quick gift and at this time of year that’s something we could all use.