Only my own skirt left!

11 pm update:

OK, finished all the kids' clothes. Only my own skirt left. Corduroy, unlined, invisible zipper, A-line. Easy as pie, right? Then why am I so darned nervous about cutting into the fabric (which was like $2, thanks to lovely coupon)? Answer: It's been yonks since I drafted a skirt for me. Forgot everything, like where exactly to put the darts- are they halfway between midline and side seam? Or are they 7.5" apart (magic number that is lodged in my brain from Homec days)? And how long are they? 4"? 3.5"? And also cannot reconcile that my waist is almost as large as my hips. What happened? Could 3 children really have wreaked such damage? The skirt block is basically a rectangle!

Also I want top-stitching (by hand) along the pocket and waistband. Why? Why? And with what sort of thread? I only have skinny polyester machine thread. I will end up using embroidery floss, I can FEEL it!

Years ago, after my Sec 1 (7th grade equivalent) exams, my best friend and I went out to celebrate. Had nothing to wear, so I drafted and sewed my first garment - a white twill miniskirt (also found some random blouse to go with it, of course). Just like that. And where is that old grasp-the-bull-by-the-horns, that whoo-hoo-let's-wing-it daring now? It is gone. I sewed 16 garments this week, including overalls for Kate that I drafted on some scrap butcher paper with a ball-point pen and a 12-inch ruler (because I misplaced my measuring tape) and I am weak-kneed at the thought of cutting out an A-line skirt.

Incidentally, I did not spend all night sewing. After the kids were in bed, we painted our bathroom! Green! So crazy. But actually much more exciting than sewing.

Manic Sewing Update

Done:
5 skirts
2 skorts
2 dresses
1 pair shorts
1 pair overalls
1 backpack

Total = 12

Not done:
4 pairs shorts
1 dress
1 skirt (mine! mine! mine!)

Total = 6

% competed = 66.666667%

Whoo!

But I know you all don't like statistics as much as pictures, so here is Jenna's backpack.
Same pattern as Emily's pink one here except I was daft enough this time to try a new front pocket, which required thinking, which was against my motto* for the week.




Although I have no business taking photos when I should be finishing up that last 33.333333% by tomorrow night (after which yes, I will take some photos of all those clothes)!

*"Sew; don't think."

Award Thanks and Miscellany

Some thanks past due.

Last month, two readers nominated me for this award - thank you, Skip and Bobbie!
and last week, Les Petits Anglais sent this my way:Thank you, ladies, for making my day(s)!

There are several rules involved in this award thing, but while I am thrilled and grateful, I am also very poor at following rules. So I shall do something completely unrelated and and answer some FAQs from you instead!

Q1: What is this ikatbag? And how do you pronounce it?

A: "Ee- kutt". Not "eye-cat". Ikat is a woven fabric, like these. The word "ikat" means "to tie" or "to bind" in the Indonesian language. See here for a better explanation. I find it funny in a tragic way that I have no actual bags made of ikat to show you.

Q2: Is LiEr your real name?

A:LiEr is my middle name. People also call me Lorraine. However, when I am signing my name, like on cards, I prefer LiEr because it has only half as many letters. And I am very, very lazy. Especially when I have to sign many cards.

Q3: How do you "get so much done" with three young children?

A: Um, am not sure what "get so much done" means. I don't take naps. I don't fold the laundry. Everyone gets a basket that's theirs and their clean laundry goes into it. I don't wash the dishes - the dishwasher does that for me. Some days I don't sew at all, and go shopping at Costco instead. Mmmmm. Some days we order in pizza. Some days I let the kids watch a video while I make dinner so they're not under my feet driving me nuts while there are hot pots on the stove. I don't homeschool my kids. I've given up trying to make Kate take naps. And three children play together quite nicely most days.

Q4: How do you find time to sew?

I never start and finish a project in the same day. Often not even in the same week. Anything that requires concentration (like drafting or cutting pieces out) gets done at night after the kids are in bed. Anything that requires hand-stitching or stuffing also gets done after the kids are in bed. The actual sewing is somewhat mindless so it gets done in the day whenever there is a spare moment. Like if I'm carrying a load of laundry downstairs and pass the sewing room, I'll think, "I've got two minutes before I need to start lunch, so I'll run off a few seams now." The kids like to climb on me when I'm sewing so I have removed my sewing chair to the opposite side of the room. Standing and sewing (the table is counter height for that purpose - less backache when cutting, too) means they cannot climb up to the sewing table and pull my hair, mess up my bobbins, poke their fingers on the needle, or change the stitch length on my machine when I'm not looking. However, they can (and have) press the machine pedal so now I turn the machine off if I have to leave the table, even for just a moment.

Q5: What's your favorite thing that you've made?

A: Anything that took me a long time to complete. My kids, for instance - they each took about 9 months.

Q6: What program do you use for your patterns?

A: Pages on the Mac. The husband installed it for me for a birthday gift because I'd been struggling through Text Edit (like Wordpad - primitive beyond description; no fonts!) ever since we swopped our PCs for Macs. At least now I have fonts. Ah.... Anyway, it also has templates for things like flyers, newsletters, brochures etc that you can alter to your liking. My pattern cover pages are all made from a newsletter template that I modified so that they look nothing at all like the original.

Q7: Why do you have nutella in an IV drip when you sew?

A: So it's not on my fingers, messing up my fabric, duh.

Finally got started on the girls' summer dresses/shorts/skorts/skirts earlier this week. Cut out about 10 garments (and counting), which are now in various stages of progress. I give myself just this week to finish whatever, after which the sewing machines get put away so we can pack. And just decided last night that maybe Jenna needs a backpack for the plane. And maybe our little videocamera needs a pouch. And maybe Kate needs some overalls. And maybe I need a skirt. Corduroy, with top-stitching. That would make um.... 14 projects in 7 days. Sounds manic, but I don't have the time to be rational this week. As of tonight, have finished 9 garments and halfway through the backpack. Whoo. My motto for the next three days is, "Don't think; sew".

Silhouette Bags Giveaway Winner!

Thank you everyone for participating in the giveaway!

I am pleased to announce the winner:

Commentor #201, Meredith!


Meredith,
please email me
(i) Your name
(ii) Your postal address

within the next 24 hours and I will get the bag in the post. Congratulations!

Some readers asked in the comments how I did the silhouettes - I didn't want to reply in the comments (and enter my own giveaway- daft!) so I waited till now to answer.

First, I did NOT make the silhouettes myself.

The silhouettes are printed fabric panels by Michael Miller, which I bought at fabric.com last Christmas. It's a soft quilting cotton, perfect for quilts and utterly useless for bags (at least the way I like them), so I reinforced the panel with craft fuse and duckcloth before sewing them as a patch pocket onto the bags.

I did consider making silhouettes of the girls - both their traditional profile views and full-body action poses - but I decided not to do that for the giveaway. Better to give away a generic child's silhouette than my own! But I would have done it with freezer paper stenciling (if I were to make just one) or silkscreen printing (if I were mass-producing for every grandparent in the family). There are plenty of tutorials for either method - just google the phrases to find some! What would we do without the internet?

Finally, the other two boy-silhouette bags are in the shop.

We're only halfway through February, so there is plenty more happening at Rae's and Dana's Celebrate the Boy funstravaganza!

Silhouette Bags

If you've come over from Made By Rae, welcome!

Did I ever mention how much I love black? I have an entire
bolt of black twill, another of black muslin-type fabric
and another of nylon-backed packcloth in my stash.
It is the color in which I have the most types of fabric and
yardage. I used to sew with a lot of batik and no other
color sets them off like black. Very cool.

Anyway, for the same reason, I like silhouettes.
Found these printed silhouettes on fabric just before
Christmas last year and turned them
into silhouette tote bags:



The silhouette thingy is a patch pocket.
So its black AND functional.

These bags reverse to a normal-looking blue side,
with a patchwork gingham pocket.


So two bags in one

made of rugged canvas and duckcloth and interfacing -
see those crazy straps stand up all by themselves!

Two of these bags are going into the shop next week.

But here's something exciting: I'm giving one away on
Rae's blog today! If you want a chance to win the
boy-on-a-stick-horse bag above,
please read the following information:

The giveaway is now closed. Thank you for entering!

• Leave a comment on this post. That's it.
• Make sure you have an email address we can contact you at. Or a link to a public address blog WITH an email address on it.
• Anyone in the world can enter, as long as your postal address can be written in English.
• Comments close Sunday Feb 14th, 10:30 pm CST (11:30 pm EST) - short deadline, so it's exciting-er!
  

Incidentally, these are boy versions because I made
them for Rae's and Dana's Celebrate The Boy month.


But I have girl silhouettes as well, as well as more
boy ones - so if you see something you like in the
montage below, email or convo me and let's talk.
I can make a girl bag (or another boy one) for you and
do a reserve listing in the shop. The bags are
9.5" (H) x 14.5" (W) without the straps.
With the straps, they are about 20" high.

That little girl in the middle pushing a pram?
She's all my girls.
Gotta love childhood - so fleeting and
worth celebrating every moment of.

The Owie Doll Pattern is Here!

Here it is:

If you notice, I changed the cover page a bit to
reduce the size of the file. It's a big file, so
please be patient with the download.

There are 6 pages of templates containing 34 pattern
pieces and 14 pages of instructions. If you make the
whole set, you could be assembling as many as
83 pieces (including the various notions). The sewing itself,
however, is easy. There are photos and explanations and
symbols. There are different materials to gather to make
the whole set, so I've included a master materials list.
But I know there are also folks who want to make only
selected items from this set, so there is an individual
materials list for each item. You can buy almost all
the materials from any fabric store.

Let's talk a bit about the owie doll fabric now.

First, let me explain that this is not an exclusive fabric.
There are probably many, many fabrics that have this
stickability feature. Today, for instance, the velcro of
my winter jacket sleeve caught on the fabric of Jenna's car
seat - so I know that if I ever want to make a greyish-
skinned owie doll, I can rip her car seat apart.

I went back to the store where I got my fabric (Mill End
Textiles) and narrowed its name down to Robe Velour.
Again, there are many kinds of robe velours, some of
which have absolutely no effect on velcro.

Thanks to a couple of readers who emailed me with a
lead on an online source, I excitedly went to scout out
another fabric called Craft Velour. I checked out
two stores: joggles.com and clothdollsupply.com.
I emailed them and requested samples. Clothdollsupply
provided excellent, excellent customer service - they
replied immediately, said they were happy to send samples,
and actually sent the samples a couple days later in the mail,
in different colors and added in other fabric samples as well.
Joggles replied after some time, said they were looking
for a particular shade and eventually neither replied later
nor sent me anything in the post. Hmmm. All that said,
I am pretty sure that both stores stock the same fabric,
based on the descriptions and names of the various shades.
Or you could google "craft velour" and see what turns up.

Verdict:
Clothdollsupply.com knows how to treat potential customers!
(And no, I wasn't paid to say this!)

However, craft velour is NOT the fabric I am using and that
I went on my crazy velcro quest to find. The robe velour I am
using feels like flannel, is thick, is not overly sticky to
the velcro and not stretchy. It clearly has a higher cotton-to-
polyester content. Craft velour is thinner, stretchy like a
thick pantyhose, slightly shiny and the velcro sticks
much more to it.

I made dolls from both fabrics just to compare them.
The dolls I made from craft velour are substantially
softer (translation: cuddlier!) and, since the material is
stretchy like knit, has smoother seams overall. I personally
prefer the more cottony feel of the original robe velour,
but I know it's hard to find online. And craft velour does
work with velcro, so it's definitely a great alternative!

So here are my suggestions:

• If you can get to a fabric store, head to the velour section, whip out that little velcro piece stashed in your purse, and test away. You might get lucky.
• If you don't mind a slightly softer, stickier doll, head to either of those online sites I mentioned and try them out. Ask them for samples (they're free) and test them out with velcro at home before you buy them.

Good luck and enjoy making!

Click here to add the pattern to your cart:

There is also a link in the sidebar to the pattern.

P.S. Yes, those are braids! They are my new favorite Owie Doll hairdo!

Housekeeping

Hello all!

This is just a quick reminder - two things:

First, please do NOT use photos from this blog that have my kids' faces in them. I don't usually post pictures of my kids wearing stuff I've sewn for them, just to decrease the chances of those photos ending up on other sites. Sadly, they still end up on other sites. I know some people use a photo or two without asking first, which I really don't mind, especially if they write or comment and tell me later. But when these photos have my kids' faces in them, I have had to go tell them to remove them, which is awkward for everyone.

Second, please do not copy all the photos from my tutorials (and my printable patterns!) and reconstruct them as tutorials on other sites. That's what linking back is for. Some lovely folks have written to ask if they may post my translated tutorial on their non-English sites for their readers and I've been happy to say yes. Sadly, I've also had to go tell other people to remove my content (i.e. entire tutorials reconstructed with photos and patterns) from their sites. Again, awkward for everyone.

This is probably a non-issue to the majority of readers who all practise lovely blog etiquette so I'm sorry I've had to bring this up for the handful that need this gentle reminder. If in doubt, please write me and ask. I'm usually very nice, even when I am running low on nutella.