(Another) Work Apron

My work apron front panel is in tatters again. I wanted something springy feeling but  I wasn't feeling a design inspiration  (or is that divine intervention?) in my fabric stash.
I found this scrap of red from my great-nieces skirt and I thought I could do something  simple with a panel on top of the panel - maybe add some rickrack bling.

Simply sew down red panel over new denim panel - with elastic thread = wonky

Of course, I need to drive back to work in 30 minutes so I am totally rockin' the free-sewing -use what threads are in my machine thing. The serger still has a decorative crimson thread - check. The Riccar has a pinky-mauve thread- check. And I am sewing. 
After sewing down the panel onto the denim panel -it's a tad wonky. haha, there is still elastic thread in the bobbin of the Riccar.  Too funny.

This is last fall's panel design.

 

 

 

 

 

I haven't sewn down the panel as - let's face it- it's wonky. Tomorrow - got yoga tonight - I'll mess around with some rickrack to see it this panel will survive the cut.
I wear out these panels pretty fast. But the panel means I don't have to totally re-sew an apron so often. We'll see if rickrack can save this.

Dogs and Sunny Days

I got home from work today and IT WAS SUNSHINY SUNNY.
Of course, I had to wash my car so I pulled over to the side yard and let the dogs loose to keep me company or run off.   Hmmm... better give them a rawhide bone from their Christmas stash to keep them occupied. Rusty immediately laid down on the sunny grass and proceeded to eagerly demolish his meat-flavored rawhide. Rocket laid down and licked his bone, sucked  at it and next thing I know he had retreated to his plant cave near the arborvitae hedge to bury his bone where he stood guard as I washed a couple of months of winter filth off my car.

The dogs were on my side for once and stayed nearby. I moved the car around in front of the garage and started vacumning the interior which might have been done last - in September?  I work six days a week so sometimes it feels like I live out of my car and the car was protesting. The dogs had taken care of their distraction bones and Rusty found his tennis ball to throw at me in the hopes I would throw it for him to fetch. And Rusty learned A NEW GAME. He is deathly afraid of the vacumn and upon pain of death will not even get near a silent vacumn but you can only have so many balls get thrown at you - so I sucked it up with the shop vac. The ball is bigger than the nozzle so the ball stuck to the end as I rearranged the car rugs. And Rusty came and took the ball. I tried it again and if I held the hose out to him, he barked at the hose to give up the ball. If I laid the hose on the ground, he would approach and take his ball off the suction.  This dog is eight years old and he learned a new trick! This will not be the end of his personal vacumn torture but he loves his tennis balls more.

Now Rocket loves the vacumn. He thinks the vacumn gliding through his back coat, picking up loose hairs is his idea of a massage. He twists every which way to prolong the sublime vacumning. After I got done with the car and made a promise not to let it go so long in-between cleanings, Rocket wandered off. I went looking and he was back by his plant cave and next thing I know, he's dug up his bone. Now this makes Rusty a little jealous because now Rocket has a bone and Rusty does not. Rusty is now plotting to get the bone away from Rocket.

Spring Already! in Oregon

Winter Blooming Heather (Erika)

 Tulips and Iris's  pushing

Rain,Rain, go away, beam us some sunrays today.
It's important to celebrate sunbeams in the January grayness that typifies the Willamette Valley.
Even though I have been busy with medical stuff and work chaos, I still take time to revel in a rainbow or in small things bursting forth. The days are getting longer.

Blueberrys - red stems in winter. The green stuff is, unfortunately, weeds.

No Picture Wednesday

We put in wood floors last fall in our 20 year old house. They are gorgeous. A lot of accumulated wealth had to be stored elsewhere while we worked on this remodel.  And the rule has been, stuff cannot be lugged back in.  It has to have a place and a use.
This is the time to purge as the kids are finishing up degrees at college and starting to manage themselves. Its a good time to make easy decisions such as, "Do I really need these  (cool at the time) 750-piece puzzles,  Twister , or 80's craft books?"
The more difficult decisions will take me much of this next year. From going through my clothes closet (what fits?) to reorganizing how we store items. Attacking my growing sewing stash to making guest rooms fit for people to sleep in. We still need to redo the bedroom floors this June and these boxes and piles need to find their place.

One of the purged piles that took up an entire wall of my garage was for donating - either to the thrift store or as a garage sale - planned in the late Spring. This pile was stacked high and it had power. I could not make sorting decisions anymore because that wall was full and there was NO MORE ROOM. I was able to identify this 'threat' because I have some really smart friends who let me talk (and talkandtalkandtalk).

And when one friend said she would come over and load it into her truck, I was ready.

The pile was quickly divied up into 1. sell in her shop, 2. her use, & 3. the local thrift store.
And it has been dropped off. The entire van was filled with boxes of stuff.

I now have just my shipping supplies and one big empty box out there along the wall. I am ready to start making ruthless decisions again. The power to purge is back in my hands.

I'm Ready.

Anthropology Style Catch & Release Scarves

I just finished another Catch & Release Scarf. Sewing with elastic thread in the bobbin is so easy and makes for a stylin' scarf. The elastic allows you to twist it, knot it and basically style the scarf anyway you want. The drama of the shaping and the ease of sewing it are wonderful.

I used up some material in my stash to do these. I am so proud of myself.
Of course it is a gray January at 5pm in Oregon so the lighting leaves something to be desired.

 

***Added a few days later: What a difference outdoor light can do to help with colors - even with our gray, dismal January lighting.

Big Heart Challenge

I have friends who continually challenge me.
In a good way.

Pretty Pajama Pants

I finished a pair of pajama pants in just over an hour.
Thanks to my new serger and coverstitch machine.
And my muslin.

Once you get past size 10, you are guaranteed special fitting issues. Making a muslin, a.k.a. YOUR OWN PATTERN particularily makes sense when you are making a garment over and over - such as pajama pants.

My special fitting issue is my food allergy problems which will often bloat up my stomach several times a day. Thank god for stretch jeans but what do you do for the ultimate comfortable sleep pant? Sew your own.

Sleep pants are the perfect start to drafting your own muslins because there is so much ease in them and who's gonna see you anyway (pressure is off for perfect seaming). Since there are only two pattern pieces, they are pretty easy to fit yourself.

I originally took an older pair of knit sleep pants and placed them over my garage sale flannel. I didn't mind 'wasting' this garage sale fabric as it did not cost much to begin with. I folded the pants in half and roughly cut them out.
My stomach gets huge so I made the front much wider through the hips and waist here. Because of the bloating, I also allowed the front waist  to crotch measurement to be longer than on the backside.
I then took my flannel pieces and pinned them together with the pinned seams on the outside. I put them on and adjusted my pins until it looked like it fitted. I liked doing this muslin with flannel as it does not stretch as you are adjusting the pins.

I took them off carefully and cut the pieces with a half-inch seam allowance, trimming off any pinned excess. Then I laid these onto pattern paper and drew an outline around each piece.
I also mark my front pieces because they will try to confuse you later when you sew back to front.
This pattern paper is now my pattern for any future pajamas I will make.
I probably could have used the flannel pieces for my muslin but it looks so much more 'professional' on pattern paper.

I bought this thin knit here  last year with the intention of sewing pajama pants within a year - and hey! already a resolution finished!
My pajama pants I originally made a pattern from came with a knit waistband. This is a separate fabric from the main piece.  I have a stash of knit ribbing that is in the round with no seaming and this works like a charm.
I cut a five inch piece off one end and fold it in half lengthwise to make a 2 1/2" seamless waistband. This waistband will fit just about any size waist because of the stretch. I then cut a piece of one inch wide elastic and put it around my waist so it meets and cut off the excess.
My knit was about 60" wide and I think I bought just under 1 1/2 yds.

This is what you need:
Length of knit to be able to cut two leg lengths. With 60" wide knit, you can usually lay each piece beside each other or alternately, put one front waist pattern piece at one end and the other back waist at the opposite end and figure out if your legs can go side by side. Knit is pretty forgiving. You would need more yardage for flannel because of the nap and the narrower width.
Waist length of 1" wide elastic.
5" knit ribbing for waistband or other knit.
Serger
And the Coverstitch machine.

*Cut out your leg pieces.
*Serge one front to back at the inner leg seam. This is from the crotch point down to the hem line. Sew the other front to back inner leg seam.
*With your fronts on one side and the backs on the other, pin pieces together to serge the crotch seam - one big curve.
*Now - flip that open and match side seams to encase the leg. Serge these.
You now have something that resembles a pajama pant.
*Try them on. Do you need to adjust that side seam? This is when you do that.

 *Grab your waistband and your elastic. Serge your elastic into a round and insert it into the fold of the ribbing.
*Mark your waistband (with pins) into quarters as there are four seams on the pants to match.
*Pin the waistband to the pant so your seam will be inside. Add a little ribbon strip to mark the back and serge; stretch the waistband to fit the knit pant as you serge. (This is how you do it on a traditional sewing machine. Doing it this way on the serger creates a ripple effect - I am researching how to do this seam better - on the serger.)
*Now- take this pant over to your coverstitch machine and from the outside, topstitch over your seam that you are finger pressing downwards.

*Hems. I rolled up a leg until it looked right. Then I carefully took the pant off and laid them out straight on the floor and cut off the extra fabric leaving enough to fold up and hem.  I folded the pants so one leg was over the other in order to cut the same amount off each pant.  I folded my hem allowance twice and pinned it and then coverstitched this hem in  place.
Done!
Now take (embarrassing - I'll only say it once) photos.

***I believe the sledge hammer is in the photos in case the mirror needs to be shattered.