Finally Finished!: Fox and Friends Quilt

 

It's not the prettiest quilt ever. Even though in theory the heavier quilting cotton should have held up just fine, there was a lot of easing going on and the hand quilting meant that it got stretched in placed. I really do not like the recommended fabric for the binding (Binding Architextures Cross Hatch in Black.) It jars with that solids and natural theme of the animals. I think a less industrial fabric would be better - there was a camping themed collection last year that might have something that could fit. 

Olive's Howl-o-ween: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

We went really nostalgic for this year's Howl-oween. While technically DH and I are the same millennial generation, we're enough apart in age that most of my childhood memories aren't his, with the exception of a a few shows like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? I credit this to the long run it had and the fact it was pretty ageless (we watched a few episodes on youtube and thoroughly enjoyed it, partly for the cheese factor.) I wanted something iconic (do you know how many CS costumes there are out there?) and pretty comfortable for Olive. Carmen's red fedora and trench and her yellow* turtleneck fit the bill.
Fun Fact: Season 1 of the game show was not entered into syndication, even though seasons 2 through 5 were. Why? Geography changed too much between Season 1 and 2... the Soviet Block collapsed.

This was a somewhat lazy costume compared to her BUGWB uniform. Lazy in that I used a commercial pattern as a base for the jacket and legwarmers for the turtleneck dickey. The hat was not lazy but I now have a go to for canine fedoras should I ever need it (because everyone needs one of those, right?) The jacket pattern needs more tweaking, you'll notice the fit issues in the profile shots.

Fox & Friends Quilt

This spring I wanted some sort of sewing project but since I wasn't at my goal fitness (right around where I am now) I didn't want to sew anything since my size was changing and I was mourning the loss of several pieces to being too big to even bother altering. My cousin has an obsession with foxes and really, I wanted a fun light project, so this seemed like a good pattern to try out.

Fox and Friends Pattern by Sew Fresh Quilts, purchased as a kit through Mad About Patchwork

I haven't bound this quilt yet for whatever reason but I can at least comment on the pattern.

Stuffed Monsters

My cousin's angel of a daughter turns one in September. Seriously, this child is perfect. We went on vacation with them and her fussy is a normal child's good day. This is the who my mom and I made this quilt for last year (part one, part two.) So when my cousin asked if I would be willing to sew a couple of stuffed monsters for a Pink Monster themed birthday party, I was happy to. It helped that I was waiting for fabric for a quilt to arrive and I had nothing better to do with my time.

She asked for bright versions of yellow, purple, blue, and pink. She had a couple of requests in terms of what some looked like but otherwise I had artistic freedom. The dog-earred monsters were closely based off a commercial brand but the others are looser. My favorite is the cyclops and the sort of adipose-like ones. My cousin seems really pleased.

An End to the Radio Silence

On Monday I had my 9 month follow up with my PCP and realized I've left this space vacant for pretty much that entire span. I didn't mean for 9-ish months to go by without posting anything new. Oops...
First things first, I finished my master's program this spring!

It would be nice if graduation robes had more defined sizing other than "<250lbs"

The last nine months saw weight loss in both DH and I (he's been averaging about a pound a week for the last year and a half- meaning his ideal weight is less than a year away!), severe drop in my cholesterol (125 points off my total, 85 off my triglycerides, and 105 off my LDL), an increase in fitness (the last time I was this in shape was when I was training as starting midfield- over a decade ago), and... an increase in Olive's weight. Her allergies got so bad that she was put on prednisone based pill so she puffed right up to a very unreasonable weight which refuses to go away with diet and exercise changes.

Still as scruffy as ever

Also because of the combination of new diet and exercise, none of my me-made clothes fit. In fact, I've replaced 95% of my wardrobe since the beginning of the year. It was jump started by AA losing my luggage over Christmas and doing some emergency shopping to not wear the same shirt and jeans for a week and a half (luggage eventually showed up.) Some of my patterns have a restricted size range so I need to replace those as I find time (first was my Smooth Sailing pattern, I miss those trousers a lot.) Part of this process of replacing my wardrobe is really looking at my career goals and how I want to be perceived. I mostly replaced my clothes with second hand clothes since:
A. I have no idea what kind of museum I will be in - or in what level of position (I've applied to everything from local farm museums to federal museums to private art collections)
B.  I have no idea what the climate with be like where we are living (applied to all four corners of the continental US)
C. A & B throws out most of my expectations a year ago.
D. My body is still changing and I'm getting used to a new shape (proportions changed a little.)
E. I'm still wrestling between how to blend my ideal with my reality (vintage and practical don't always got hand in hand, especially when reality is moldy books, grave wax, and chain grease.)
Because these will change as time goes on and I find out where I'll be working, garment sewing has been put on the back-burner. Instead, I've worked on more quilting and some small sewing projects, . Also, DH and my dad built me a fantastic sewing table. Pictures have to wait for that as they built it at my parents' house.

You'll meet these guys in a little bit

I promise I have some posts written already so there should be less radio silence, at least for a little while. At worst I can ramble about my decorating plans for our new house (we are getting a house, I'm very much done with our condo HOA, sharing walls, and multi-unit fire protection systems*) and review Olive's training gear (yes, she has gear.) Expect a good number of colorful meals, that are low cholesterol, low processed carb, and very filling (even meat-lover DH is okay with most of them.)

*There were quite a few 3-5am fire alarms this summer, some went on for hours. The fire department won't even come for the first 45 minutes, they're so done with it all.

So things got a little busy....

So here's what happened-
I have yet to finish Olive's Sherlock costume, the fabric for Carment Sandiego is still on the roll, and Olive rewore her BUGWB uni for trick or treating (no dedicated contests this year)
I registered for my last semester of grad school, I have 2 days left in my last internship, and I'm finalizing the edits on my writing requirement (my program's version of a thesis)
I had some less than stellar news from my physical that further constricts my diet, but knowing family history it really shouldn't have been a surprise
Olive competed in two Herding Instinct Tests and Q'd on Saturday. While I think she did better on Sunday, it wasn't enough for a second Q and we may just leave that title unfinished; the trials are kind of far away (out past my barn) and she's not going to competitive at herding. Upside is the first judge called her "The Pretty One!"

This is her "I want that cookie your promised" face

I now have a sewing list of fabric and patterns I already have on hand:
1. Mom's flannel nightgown
2. DH's plaid negroni (sort of regreting my choice of fabrics but we'll see how it goes)
3. Altering a knit skirt and breeches
4. Olive and my Sherlock Holmes pieces
5. Spring 1930s blouse for me (using a Miss Depew pattern)
6. Olive's Carmen Sandiego costume

I also have a couple of recipe reviews to post, too

Baby Dungarees

I haven't been doing anything with Project: Professional lately. I'm about 200 hours into my last(!) internship and I go in jeans, sneakers, and if I'm feeling dressy (and not dealing with cobwebs, mold, or archeological materials) I'll wear a casual cardigan instead of a simple v-neck. So no need to for professional clothes there. But I have been sewing for Cousin K.

Baby Quilt for K: Part Two

Now that Baby H is born, I asked K if she wanted a monogram or named embroidered on the back of the quilt. She asked for the first and middle name, which I thought was great. I think she and her DH chose a great name- unique and a nod to her heritage without going "too cultural" (...I was rooting for her to use Sigrid... DH hates the name, if we get another female dog in the future she's likely going to be Anya or Sigrid. Olive was almost Anya, I just couldn't explain to Grandma that we named our dog after a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer*)

Anyway, it's been years since I've done any embroidery. We learned a little embroidery and cross stitch in Pioneer Girls but that was 15 years ago. So some quick google searches had me running over to the craft store (that's a little too indie for my tastes, not plain fabric in sight, all hand-dyed batiks) to pick up embroidery floss and DH to Micheal's for a smaller hoop.

Baby Quilt for K

I come from a family quilters so when my cousin, KU, announced she and her husband were expecting a daughter this fall, my mom and I started planning a quilt. My quilting experience is pretty much the T-shirt quilt for DH and mom hasn't pieced a quilt in a while. So it was a learning experience. We ended cutting 1.5 times the pieces because she used a different seam allowance for her first half and I made those blocks into a mini quilt so we had something for the baby shower (no pictures that I'm aware of).

Olive's Second Halloween: Planning

Originally, I planned to make Olive a little Iverness cape and Deerstalker cap out of herringbone stash fabric for Halloween- obviously she was going to be Sherlock Holmes. I even planned to have a red buttonhole. But then a bug hit and I started shopping for red suiting and yellow fabric. Why? Olive is going to be classic Carmen Sandiego. I loved 'Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?' and had the Where in Time computer game which I completely wore out.

Everyone loved this idea and so I have started another costume.
So here are the parts for her costume:

The Trench - I already drafted an un-tested Iverness so I need to omit the cape and draft sleeves (uuuugh, hate sleeves) and figure out the lapel situation. I know shades vary but I think a bright red would be good to be more eye-catching, but I don't want it to get too McDonalds-y.

 I'm thinking a Red Gab, it'll be lightweight enough to not bother Olive but enough structure for the trench.

The Shirt- I'll throw together a yellow dickie so Olive's not wearing too many layers. Maybe make a cowl neck or something

I'll go cheap and use lemon broadcloth. I could make a slinkie/sleazy-type-thing out a knit but I'm not sure I want to do that or not.

The Hat- I'm not how dramatic to make it. Olive's great about hats, as along as she can see, she's good. If I had my way it'd be HUUUGE- let red hat society huge.

I'm not sure which is the best method for Olive's hat- make my own felt hat (with an itty bitty crown) or piece a fabric one together. I'm thinking piecing might be better for my own sanity but felting would look cooler. DH wants a big hat too - but his contribution to sewing is ironing so there's that. I'm not sure if I should use ribbon or fabric band.

I made a quick sketch of what I was thinking but it just looked like puppy as a farmer, I hope that's not an indication of how this is going to go.

Extended Pavlova

I really, really liked DDAtelier's wrap top- but there were things I would tweak - I wanted it in patterns, and I wanted it with shorter sleeves, etc. And then I ordered this fabric when ordering fabric for DH's Negroni (still pending.)

That's the sleeve-binding laid over the neck-binding so you can see the variations in pattern

(theoretically) Quick Storage Bag

 

The horse I was riding up until last week* threw me and then I caught the nasty bug that's been going around (it's since turned into a sinus infection and I can't hear 100% out of one ear) so all last weekend I moped around. The problem is I get a bit manic when sick and decided I needed to replace the plastic bag that's been housing random stuff.

Half Way There

I'm almost half way through my summer class and already have a backlog of projects to finish (vintage Vogue reprint hack, Negroni for DH, knit peplum, trousers to hem, taking in a skirt) but believe it or not, I *have* been sewing. Just nothing I can show here (should have taken pictures for my log though). We are testing out the best/cheapest method to store silver so I spent a couple hours sewing pacific silver cloth bags and box liners. I was not particularly proud of the sloppy lines (that cloth eats needles and I get sloppy early in the morning as evidenced by the random patches some of the larger pieces have when I forgot to account for all dimensions when cutting) but I got compliments from some of the non-sewers in the office so that was nice.

Chevron Skirt

Food and sewing posts are going to be lacking for the next two months or so. My internship is an hour-twenty at least each way (three days a week), my class is forty minutes away (twice a week), volunteering is twenty (once a week), and lessons are an hour-ten in the opposite direction (once a week). So it's going to be quick dinners, and very limited sewing.

A couple of months ago (had to have been early summer) I found a cute skirt tutorial for a chevron pleated skirt and decided that would be a good way to replace some of the printed skirts DH doesn't like.

The front two have been shelved for a couple months now. The parasol one reminds me of Kaylee and the dot one is just fun.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Nautical Knit Top (Fringe Festival Scarf T)

I've been getting frustrated that there are so many cute dresses out there that could fit me, or I like the pattern for, but dresses are just so impractical. I have a decent walk each way to and from the metro this summer and while there is a shuttle from the HOA office to the metro, there is definitely not one to my internship (hoping I can get clearance to drive my car, I don't care if it's in DC traffic, it cuts my commute down by almost an hour). So this is sort of sewing therapy, a patterned top that could be practical.
I know I said no nautical but I saw the announcement of the fabric and had to get it. DH says it could be work appropriate with khakis or something but I'm not convinced- thoughts?

 I talk with my hands, this is what happens when I ask DH to take the pictures

Summer Print Peplum Top (Salme's Peplum Top)

I'm trying something a little different with my formatting, hopefully it will be easier to read.
Also, it's been too cold to wear this top, thus the delay in pictures. Techinically, it's still too cold, I threw a cardigan over this for church today.  Anyway, it applies to Project: Professional.

I promise I looked more put together at church- the wind was gusting all morning and I gave up.
 (Also, that boot top is part of our latest home improvement project I still need to get pictures of)

Introducing Project: Professional

The other day we (DH and I) started to analyze our closet contents. I should have done this awhile ago, it could have dictated my sewing/purchasing priorities a bit more. Maybe my sewing more than purchasing (see: Olive joins BUGWB) but still useful. And this got me thinking more about what I need to consider when planning my wardrobe for my early professional years, especially tops.

• There's a bit of a dichotomy in my preferred position - we need to go from rooting (carefully) around storage areas, that range in condition from immaculate to grubby, back to the office setting for committee meetings and sometimes speaking with the public.
• I need a balance between a suit (too much) and jeans and a tee (makes me look like I belong in a freshman seminar class).
• I really need to consider the cleavage-y factor, especially since not only am I short but my shoulder to full bust measurement is shorter than most RTW tops and most patterns account for. As easy as it is to ask DH to check in the morning, I'm getting up at 5-6 in the mornings for my next internship and he is not a morning person. So, I need to think about this ahead of time.
• I own way too many cardigans (lazy way out) and college tee shirts (unprofessional), and too few go-between tops that I can dress up or down.
• I have very few professional prints and that's a nice place to add interest (the lack of "interest" is DH's pet peeve with my outfits). I'm not a big floral or animal print person so it's a matter of finding non-kitschy, more geometric patterns.
• I really don't care for "trendy" or "in" styles so much as flattering, comfortable, and professional. If it's seen as fashionable, yay, but not necessary.
• As much as I like the idea of sewing more of my own things, I need to be cognizant of the actual  costs. So I should probably go RTW if a decent quality version* can be bought for significantly less than it would cost me in time, fabric, and extra materials (different interfacing, presser feet, etc).

I've found a couple of options for patterns for the next few months**

Sewaholic's Renfrew. People seem to have great results with the pattern and it allows for some go-between knit tops. Already have the walking foot and biased interfacing tape. Good place to use professional prints. 

Burda's Flared Godet Skirt. I don't really need many skirts but I need something between my suit skirt and the fun prints that DH hates that are good for dancing. I'm thinking a blue twill or grey tweed. I already have a couple yards of grey bottom weight suiting I could piece together for it.

Colette's Ceylon. I have some major fit issues with it when I made a muslin last year and shelved it for awhile. Has potential as a top but it might be too unique to be a TNT pattern. I do want one in Baylor green.

Sewaholic's Alma. There are enough neckline and sleeve variations that it could become a TNT. I really like the neckline from view A. Another place to use prints

Salme's Peplum Top. Actually working on a summer version in a geometric print. The measurements (except for the distance from shoulder to full bust) were spot on. Like the Ceylon may be too distinctive, and maybe too trendy. Are peplums even "in" anymore?

Not Pictured:

Colette's Taffy Blouse from The Colette Sewing Handbook. Not in a sheer fabric like they suggest but I like the idea of the sleeves. I want the book anyway. The Licorice Dress is a possibility too, but the lack of a waist scares me a bit.

Vera Venus' 30's PJ Top. She drafted it into a dress as well so it's not distinctively PJ-like, and I had a top similar that we got rid of when I decided I was not going to settle for subpar fit. Will probably need a FBA to fit perfectly but the starting measurements aren't too far off.

Folkwear's Armistace Blouse. Blousey but I think could be nice for muggy summers- I'm thinking a pretty swiss dot with some of the lace we picked off my mom's wedding dress the other summer.

* I don't mean thin knits that tear and pill quickly, I mean quality fabrics, good construction, etc.

**Or the roughly 436 days until I get my hood, provided I pass my comps. Not that I'm counting or anything.

Olive's Costume/Sewing List

My machine is off to the shop (the bobbin case is catching the top thread on something and I can't quite figure it out) so there's going to be very few sewing posts until I get it back. In the mean time, I thought I would work on a sewing list for Olive, it's only fair.

Costumes:
- Joan of Arc (enough of her being called 'him')
- K-9 (there's an adorable corgi dressed as K-9 floating around pinterest)
- Sherlock Holmes (I really just want to make her the iverness coat in a tweed or houndstooth)
- Serenity (the ship)
- Disney-canon Maid Marion (she already has the foxy Sheltie face, despite her raccoon markings)
- Pony (mostly to make up for my mistakes 13? years ago that I subjected on poor Niki)

Other Sewing Projects:
- Something for the Scottish Walk (probably using DH's clan's* tartan, or else the Stuart tartan since it's similar and cheaper). Do women wear kilts? Can you even make a puppy kilt without it looking like it belongs on a "Kilt Girl"? Shame only boys are supposed to wear TOS, I think they're adorable (and one of the reasons I would consider going the PhD route, since it really doesn't have professional value outside of teaching and just no.)
- Recovering some of her old toys using stash fabric

*Don't ask me which one it is, I know Sean Connery is in it and it's HQed on the Isle of Man. If I had taken the program opening in the UK we would have gone to the annual meeting this year.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Shirt (Blank Canvas Tee)

I had the bright idea that I wanted to make a dress for a friend's wedding (think I mentioned this in a previous post, possibly the Katniss shirt). But the shirt I had in mind was knit, and I had next to no experience with knits so I thought I should get some experience before digging into the more expensive and very slinky bamboo rayon knit I bought (once again, I show I have terrible taste in fabrics). There was a sale going on for micro pique knit, bought two yards and ended up with two shirts and a couple of tug toys.

I thought the Blank Canvas Tee was a good starting point. Never mind I had the inclination that I didn't like kimono sleeves. Instead of doing the logical thing and doing the pattern as is, I had to hack right away to the Sailor Sweetheart Hack.* If you are ... ehem... a bit east-west up top, the directions of how wide to make the neckline are way off. So I cut I a new front and it's still off. At this point I decide it looks weird in grape purple and moved on to do the basic pattern.

In this time I made the first of several tugs for Ms Fluffy Pants.**

Look at those nice clean teeth

Anyway, the only alteration I made to the pattern was changing the neckline from a crew to a swooping V, and therefore changed the method of neckline binding attachment. Instead of a smooth insertion, I overlapped the ends at the point of the V. There's some weird pucker going on but oh well.

 
 There's also something messy going on with the sleeve bindings. I cut a 35 since the 40 I cut for my first version was way too big. However, because my full bust is between 37.25 and 38 depending on the foundation there is a bit of strumming going on. Also, the waist is loose so not the most flattering. Since the shirt is meant for riding I'm not too concerned about fit issues as far as function goes.

Compare the fit of the RTW DriFit top (large) to the basically unaltered Blank Canvas (35). Meh.
But look at the pretty puppy!

Thoughts:
- I *need* a walking foot before I take on another knit project. I can't seem to adjust foot pressure, only tension so there's too much stretching
- I definitely am not a fan of kimono sleeves, it just feels weird
- The pattern isn't bad if you are willing to alter it (which seems like the whole point of it anyway).
- If you are between sizes, seriously consider if you want looser (size up) or snugger across your fullest part (size down)
- There's not much shaping through the waist so if you prefer it (next time I want to do something with it) you'll need to tailor
- I may make a few more in a real athletic knit for riding this summer/ internship (found out this week where I will be interning this summer and the summers are notoriously muggy)
- I am terrible at top stitching

* That's how this shirt got it's name... sailor... purple... grape... veggitales... Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! This is how my brain works.
**Those who follow me on twitter (@TheDelebear) you've already seen this picture but oh well. I like it.

T-Shirt Quilt: How To (more or less)

I probably should have posted  before Christmas but oh well, too late.

DH was in a service fraternity (not 'Animal House' type, this was full of pre-meds and their crush events were service type things like painting fences and washing fire engines). Part of being in a fraternity (or any organization at our alma mater) is that you get a LOT of T-shirts. I think this used ~56 and he still had several left over (he was active for the three and a half years of undergrad* plus around a year as grad adviser).