Fabric giveaway at the Farm Chicks.

Remember when I used to make things? That seems like so many lifetimes ago. A fulltime-plus job, a daily commute, and a herniated disc in my neck all seem to have gotten in the way of things.

But I’ve been thinking a lot about sewing again, mostly because I absolutely cannot stand the majority of clothes I find in the stores that I can afford these days, but also because I really want to free myself a bit from my slavery to the big-box stores. A recent search for a washable cotton comforter, for instance, led me to several of the big boxes and lots of disappointment. I want to do it myself! So my mind has been full of thoughts of fabrics, and patterns, and trying to figure out how to set up a sewing space when I live in 300 square feet.

Coincidentally, there’s a nice little fabric giveaway over at the Farm Chicks blog for two yards of Pixie Dust Decor fabric. I’ve been out of the crafty loop for so darn long that I hadn’t even heard of Pixie Dust Decor, but a comforter made of Lime Pagoda would suit me just fine, thank you. As would that lovely stack of tuffets above.

 

The Farm Chicks.

Built-in

Originally uploaded by The Farm Chicks.

Have you heard of the Farm Chicks? I have to admit that I had not, until I saw this fantastic “before and after” on Design Sponge yesterday. I thought that my weekend makeover with Ikea Expedit shelves was pretty slick (photos forthcoming), but in an ideal world in which I get everything I want, floor to ceiling built-ins like these would be my dream.

So one thing led to another. Who are these Farm Chicks, anyway? Turns out they have a website, and a blog, and a Flickr stream, and a boatload of features on the Country Living website. Oh, and a book coming out! Their website has tons of great photos, projects, articles about vintage, and recipes. It’s a great place to get lost in for a couple hours. Or days.

 

Friday Fabric Love.

Via Made by Tess, I just learned of Wish Upon a Quilt, yet another new-to-me source for fabric via the web. Not only do they offer some excellent sale prices on fabric, but I was able to find a bit of that Heather Ross gnome fabric, on sale, that I’ve been coveting for so long!

Generally when I’m sewing I try not to use fabrics that are so recognizable. While many of the well-known, high-profile fabrics out there are oh-so-gorgeous, to me it’s kind of like designer clothing – you’re paying for the name. Plus, it seems that everybody has it. I’d prefer to use all vintage, all the time, but that’s not realistic. The Lightning Bugs and West Hill collections are exceptions that I’m willing to make (along with anything by Denyse Schmidt). I mean, Matryoshka fabric!

 

Next up might be some of that bike fabric that I’ve procrastinated on getting for too long…

 

 

Weekend O’ Skirts.

Three
Originally uploaded by chez shoes.

Ugh, Monday already, but my Monday will be a little less glum because I’ll be wearing one of the three new skirts I made over the weekend! And what a weekend – sewing, listening to recently-downloaded western swing, eating carne asada, and going for a night hike. No wonder Mondays are such a bummer.

The fabric is all from the Jo-Ann clearance rack, which had some real finds. If I hadn’t had a very thin wallet that day, much more would have come home with me. The pattern for all three is Favorite Things Cute Skirts.

I’ve made a total of six of these skirts now. One of them sadly didn’t turn out quite right, and nothing I could do would fix it – I think I cut two of the panels a bit too off of the grainline or something. So the fabric for that one went into the scrap bin, but the other two I made last summer get worn weekly, and I’m sure these three will too.

I am by no means a skilled seamstress. I make tons of mistakes, some of which I can live with, some not so much. But I’ve found that each time I make this skirt, I see my skills improving in little ways.

Things that still need some work, though:

• Cutting a straight line. This is something I’ve never been able to do, be it fabric or paper. For paper, I use an X-Acto when it really matters. Maybe getting a rotary cutter would help with this?
• Hemming. But I’m definitely getting better.
• Figuring out my sewing machine’s quirks. Why, for instance, did I break two needles while making this skirt? And why does the bobbin thread get all tangled up sometimes? I think the latter may have to do with the cheapy plastic bobbins that my machine came with, but the needle thing is a mystery. And yes, I start each project with a new needle, something I learned from Amy’s book!

Up next will likely be the Favorite Things Hip Skirts pattern, and more bargain-priced Jo-Ann fabric. (I’m eyeing a bandana print that has skulls in the design right now!) Hip Skirts is another easy skirt sans zipper, which is important since I don’t have a zipper foot. And really, I’m still intimidated by zippers. Baby steps, you know.

 

Inspired.

While catching up on my blog reading yesterday, I saw Amy’s post about the tablecloth she made, and instantly I knew what I wanted to do with that Heather Ross fabric I bought a while back. I had intended to make a skirt, but since my weight has been so unpredictable as of late, I’ve kind of sworn off any clothing investments that require either considerable time or money (hello, thrift shop clothing!!). Meanwhile, that lovely fabric has been languishing in the closet – but no more.

I was a little hesitant about an orange tablecloth in a black, white and red kitchen, but I think it’s fine. The more color, the better!

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I’m also madly inspired by Miss Periwinkle’s Vintage Velvet scarf. I want to knit this right now! It’s from Scarf Style, and I think hers is so much lovelier than the one in the book. The only problem is, have you seen the pricetag on that yarn? Ouch. $15 per ball x 5 = pretty much more than I’ve spent on any garment, ever. But I may manage to convince myself that, like shoes, it’s a sound investment – since it will fit regardless of my weight I’ll be haunting Ebay in the near future, trying to find some for a bit less.

* * *

Not that I need another knitting project. There are babies, babies everywhere these days – seems like I’m cranking out one Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Umbilical Cord Hat after another. I’m currently in the midst of one in ruby red Classic Elite Lush, for a little girl named Ruby who is scheduled to arrive this Thursday.

* * *

And then there’s crochet. When I was a little girl, I crocheted all the time. Of course, now that I’m old and feeble I can’t remember a gosh-darned thing about it, so I’ve decided to remedy that and get myself a copy of The Happy Hooker and get down to business. Those striped crocheted blankets going around the Blogosphere look like fun.

 

Craftovirus.

Thanks, all, for the well-wishes – I’m much better and am attempting to go to work today. We’ll see about that.

While at home, though, despite the ugh, there has been a bit of crafting. First, a new tablecloth:

And a use for some of those yo-yos I made – tablecloth weights!!

And, I’m one down, two-thirds left to go on a new pair of wristwarmers:

Yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas sport weight; pattern is, of course, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I just can’t get enough of these – it’s the only wristwarmer pattern I’ve found that actually fits my freakishly small (5" around!) wrists. Not that the rest of me is freakishly small; just my hands, wrists, and feet.

Along with the crafting, there has been much sleeping and DVD watching. Season 2 of Six Feet Under; Season 1 of Project Runway, and 5 out of 6 Thin Man movies. All in all, if it wasn’t for the ugh part,  it would have been a perfect weekend.

 

Yo? Yo!!

Have you seen all the fantastic creations in the Ga-Ga for Garlands pool on Flickr? If not, go look. Right now!!!

Obviously I’ve been inspired, and thanks to Heather Bailey’s excellent tutorial, I’ve been making little yo-yos to turn into a garland to hang in my kitchen. Mine isn’t going to be holiday-specific – I think it will be a perfect year-round decoration. Here’s my teeny little start:

The fabric is, of course, Michael Miller Fifties Kitchen. I’m also planning to make a tablecloth out of the same fabric. Um, after I get a table, of course – do you know how hard it is to find a teeny tiny dining table? So far, the only acceptable option is the Ingo from Ikea, which I’ll probably be picking up this weekend. Which kills me, because I had that same table about ten years ago, and sold it when I moved to a teeny studio with no kitchen. Bah!

 

Oh, yeah.

Okay, everybody, stop thinking about things like school and get on over to Superbuzzy, the fabulous new collaborative venture between Super Eggplant and Buzzville.

Fabric, notions, embroidery patterns – from Japan! – in other words, it’s all sorts of awesome.

 

Will somebody please tell me…

…how I am supposed to keep my mind on my summer class, while the Internets are full of inspiration such as this fabulous dress over at All Buttoned Up?! I mean – how can I not want to make one? Of course, making one would mean finally facing the challenge of installing a zipper, and that would take time, and… Yeah. That’s a problem.

I’m down to 3.5 weeks of summer semester remaining, three projects to go, and besides that dress, I want to make more skirts. And I want to knit baby hats – like this one, which, yes, I’ve already started – for my coworker, who is expecting a Valentine’s Day baby.

It’s like Pea said. After months of crafting ennui, now the urge is strong. I’m resisting it, too. Except I might make myself another skirt, since there’s some lovely fabric calling my name, and it looks like this:

Oh, temptation. I am weak, I’m telling you. Weak!!

 

Randomness.

Even though the weather has become downright "cold" by SoCal standards, I’m still not motivated to fondle wool. All day yesterday at work, the smalltalk was "It’s so COLD today!" – this, on a day when it was around 66-70 degrees. Not. Even. Close!!!

So because idle hands blah blah blah and all that, here’s what I’ve been occupying myself with:

Look at that, there’s chain stitch! And stem stitch! And lazy daisy stitch! And, ooh la la, the French knot!

Also, y’all may recall some months ago I was going to attempt to learn to sew with a basic Simplicity sewing machine. I got frustrated; there were too many knobbies and settings and dials and stuff. So back it went to Tar-zhay… I don’t *need* thirty-gajillion different stitches; I just need *a few*. So – laugh if you will, but here’s what I finally came up with, after months of research:

Yes, it’s a Hello Kitty sewing machine by Janome. It’s little and it’s plastic, but so far, from what I can tell, it’s the real deal – just not very powerful. But that’s okay for someone like me, who can barely sew a straight line – since it’s not very fast, I actually have pretty good control with it. It has your basic straight stitch, and your basic zigzag stitch, and that’s it. Perfectly sufficient for one who plans to use it for nothing other than sewing simple A-line skirts and hemming pants. So this weekend, time permitting, it’s off to the fabric district downtown in search of something to make! Preferably in a lightweight cotton, because, you know, 70 degrees isn’t cold

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And yes, Mischa is getting better. His fever seems to be completely gone, he’s taking his antibiotics like a good boy, and he’s even getting up annd about a little, rather than sleeping all day. Only problem is that our other kitty, Mollie, who used to be his best friend (well, besides me, of course) has decided she no longer likes him! She hisses at him every time he gets near. What a meanie! Or maybe it’s her way of saying "Stay away, I don’t want to catch your cold" – who knows.

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And, oh happy happiness, I got a 10 out of 10 on my first database assignment, which included having to draw a crow’s foot entity relationship diagram (ERD). Perhaps I do have geek potential after all.