Zebra Stripes for Santa Baby

     I haven’t sewn in over a month and how do I start back? I sew a Christmas stocking for the baby of the house. I got tired of looking for something different only to find the same old unexcited basic flat - just let me get to the point - ugly - Christmas stockings! So, what’s a sewist to do? What she should have done in the first instance. Sew It! So, I did. And this is what turned out.

I love it! And as Zyan gets older, I am sure she will too.

I simply traced one of the other kids stockings, added seam allowance, and sew. Quick and easy. Only 15 minutes to sew up. Even longer to clean the mess because (lesson learned) I didn’t mark and sew from the back of this furry animal. Just a little of the mess?

Here it is before it was stuffed with goodies for Christmas.

That is all. I want to squeeze some sew time in. Before the laid back days are all to gone and then back to the 9 to 5. Hopefully I’ll churn something out before the 31st.

Until later. Smooches and smoothies for all!

~~~Scheryka

Every Baby NEEDS Baby Bibs

What is a need?

A need is something that one can not do without. For a baby that would include diapers, milk (of some kind), blankets, etc…, and bibs. Bibs are for dribs. And every baby dribble and slob, and spit up. It sometimes get to projectile shooting. That’s when you throw all the bibs out the window and just grab a garbage bag. Just kidding.

I was browsing the net and found some really cute bib patterns. I refuse to buy a pattern since I have some that were not given away or donated. I could use those as templates and make my own design. Right? Right. That’s called frugality. My definition? The reality of being frugal.

I happened upon more than a few sites that had some really cute (and some not so cute) bib ideas. Here are some of the bibs that caught my eye.

From Nested

From the PaperSeed

How cute are these? Very cute. I love Paisley and Butterflies! Taken from Creativekismet by Regina Lord.

Taken from Goingsewcrazy.

Looking through these websites and others, I remembered I have TONS of scraps from previous projects. But, in particular, the blocked bib three photos up (the one with the strawberries and dot), made me remember about some fabric I had bought a WHILE back from a store on Etsy. I said fabric but when I got them, I saw scraps! They are actually leftover saree fabrics. And when I say left over, I mean the sewist made a saree, used the leftover for a sleeve cuff or two, then made some fabric necklaces, wiped his (I say ‘his’ because it was a man that I’d them bought them from.) behind, and then sold me what was left! Or I bought what was left…

Don’t misunderstand me, the fabric (read: scraps) are beautiful pieces. I just wish there were more (much more) to them. But, I figured I could sew the scraps together and make a blocked bib or two. Here are the fabric scraps.

front

                               back

I don’t know how many I will be able to get out of them. Probably one front and back or 2 if I make the back out of terry or something.

In the mean time, here are some that I had made while procrastinating on the scrap-blocked bib(s).

I used a bib that I had saved for one of older girls as a template.

I traced it onto the fabric at first

because I wasn’t thinking to just tape two sheets of paper together to get a bigger size. Duh.

But once I came to my senses and done so, I cut a few different fabrics that was in the stash.

I played around with bias.

After I got a little feel of what I was doing, I finished each one just a bit different. The main difference is either the bias trim or sew and turn. Here are the finished bibs.

Just a little closer:

and

Until the next project before my mojo get up and go without me.

~~Scheryka.

Jean Contest - J. Stern 0037 AKA Operation: Owl Eyes

I have entered another contest despite the fact that life tries to throw curve balls. This one is the Jean Contest. After making a few pairs of pants out of the box, I wanted to make a pair that are ‘me’. I mean, after all, is not that the reason why we sew? I didn’t want another “I look just the other one” pair of jeans.

This is my second time making the J. Stern jeans. Here’s the first go at it.

The description taken from J. Stern’s website: Fitted jeans featuring classic 5-pocket styling
w/ optional back flap pockets, easy front fly zipper, boot leg hem and topstitching. Finished inseam 34”. Also, the waistline can be adjusted to sit at your natural waist. The boot cut leg can also be modified to the flare of your liking.

The pattern comes in sizes 6 to 16. I used the size 8 line. This corresponds to a 31 1/2 low waist and 38 1/2 full hip.

My final product does not look like the pattern photos because I made some very custom modifications to fit the bill of what I saw in my head. Had I made them right out of the box, they would have. Even though I have made them only once they are a TNT because they fit so well.

I didn’t use the instructions because I have made jeans before. I did however want to see if I could understand J. Stern’s fly and zip instructions again. I thought I would have understood them this time. Not so. I am pretty sure it’s my brain working on s-l-o-w. Other than that, the instructions are great.

What I like most is everything. The shaping, pieces, instructions, and the coin pocket. I also like how the pockets go all the way to the zipper. I learned that this is called ‘tummy control’ because the pockets are made from a woven and does not allow for any stretching of the pooch area. What I disliked is that the back rise is short for those of use with a little meat on the backside. I wrote on the pack that I needed to lengthen that area from the previous version but I forgot to do that. But that does not justify me to not like the pattern. I love it.

I used the same fabric from the last pair. I must like it because I ordered more from Fabric.com soon after I made the last pair. It is a black stretch denim that looks a little pre-faded. For the pocket bags I used some trash remnants from another project. It is a cotton shirting. I also used some embossed vinyl for the ‘leather’ parts.

There were tons of alterations and design changes. Where do I start?

1. I modified the front pockets to dip lower. That meant I had to change all three pieces. I made the pocket bag a tad bigger, too. Not that I use my pockets much but when I do, (like walking in the park) I want to be able to fit my license, cell phone, and a set of keys in there.

                                               

2. As I did on the last pair, I finished the pocket bags with bias binding. This gives such a neat finish. It’s not bulky either.

 

3. I changed the back pocket because I did not want a normal shape. I wanted something else.

4. I changed the flap. I made the point off-centered. To me, it’s to give contour detail to the rearview.

5. I did try and put in the zipper per instructions but once again I had bad results. In fact, I don’t know what kind of results I got this time. So, not wanting to deal with the pain and to get over that hill I decided to use the Jalie 2908 method. But by now I had already cut off the extra piece on the right side fly that’s instructed. I had to redraft it snd give it seam allowances and sew it right back on. I put the zipper tape to the line and not the zipper teeth. This hid the zipper well under the flap. Although it works, there is something that is just not quite right.

6. I used the waistband from Simplicity 9825. I love how it sits on my body and there is no problem with it gapping back there.

I didn’t want the normal thin band that are found on regular jeans. I wanted a wide band. This remedied the low back rise, too. 

At first I was going to make the waistband in the same vinyl embossed ‘leather’ but that meant a few big fat seams because it is kind of thick. I should have used it to make a covered headboard instead. I would have went ahead and tried it but I cut the pieces without seam allowances by mistake and they were too small. I took them apart and tried to sew them lapped, but they were still too short.

                                  

So, I ultimately decided not waste anymore pleather and cut the band in the denim and lined it with a blue cotton with butterfly designs I had originally supposed to use for my daughter’s sundress.

7. Last, I tapered the wide flare to more of a straight look. Well, they are not totally straight. At the hem, there was a total of 2 inches on each side taken off. So, front and back leg both sides is a total of 8 inches. I was going for the skinny at first but changed my mind right before I’d cut them. This was the easiest change in the whole process.

Oh, 8. I forgot about this one. I had sewn the center seam off to the right about (eyeballed)halfway of 5/8. When I topstitched, I topstitched to the left. I did this so that my topstitching could be on the center and not off to whatever side my topstitching ended on.

                                      

I have seen (in fact, I own a pair) jeans off-centered like this and it irks me. And 8a. I put my back pockets on last because I wanted to make sure they were centered and properly placed. Not too far up, down, close, apart. Angled correctly… Then I sewed the inseam. That made it easier to sew the back pockets.

                                                

and 9. I cut off 2 1/2 inches from the hem and hemmed them 1 inch. It was a double turn, 1/2 each.  

Of course, I would sew it again and of course, I recommend! Why wouldn’t I when I get such great results?

I had to make a quick dash and get a right now photo:  

 

Here are more photos that I could not figure out to place them in the blog.

Almost forgot to change the shape.

Glue became a friend because the pockets kept moving.

Do I want the pocket flaps this way….

Or this way?

This?

This?

With or with out a tab?

I guess it’s without the tab.

With or without the yoke and wide band?

Placement here?

Or here? Many decisions.

Trimming to seam allowance.

Ready for the flaps.

I was supposed to wear this top with my jeans but that did not happen.

This is how I wore my new jeans.

      

The top is McCall’s 56651 Last seen here.

       

Me and my husband, Chad. I don’t like this photo. Let’s take another one…

Ok, it’s better but not the best. I think it’s the sun. (Boy, does my head stand out! LOL)

No gaposis. And the buttons aren’t functional. I couldn’t get the buttonhole to work so I put a snap just under the tip to keep the flaps down.

       

Operation: Owl Eyes was adopted because my youngest son said my back pockets look like owl eyes.

Conclusion Great, great, great!!!

Be encouraged and keep sewing, Scheryka