I have been working on my batiks that I bought while on my retreat. I love these fabrics. To think that they are hand dyed amazes me. Seems like so much work. I have sewn different sets of 4 strips together and now I am cutting them into 8 1/2 inch squares. I am not sure if I will do strips, squares or triangles for the quilt. I am making headway though! Progress is good.
The free pattern from Day 24 of Grosgrain's cool month of free patterns is a keeper. The Sorbetto blouse is super easy to print and assemble. Super easy to cut out-(2 whole pieces). Super easy to sew together. This is the third Colette pattern I have made and they all just work! They know what they are doing. I chose this cute print that I think is an Amy Butler for the shirt and used cream bias tape. I switched things a little. I used the bias tape at the neck and hem and not at the armholes. The top picture is Sarai of Colette patterns in one of her versions. The only problem I had was my machine. FROWN! It is not keeping consistent stitch length for some reason. I put a new bobbin in, a new needle in and even tried to adjust the tension manually, but none of it has worked. My hubby says it probably needs to be serviced because it has already been used so many hours. I feel like it should last longer than 5 or 6 months before needing servicing. Maybe not. I will have to figure it out because it is putting a kink in my sewing plans.
I finally switched everybody's sheets from flannel to cotton yesterday. It usually happens a little sooner, but the weather has been weird here. I washed and dried my baby quilt yesterday after finishing the satin binding. I figured if it all stayed together that it would be alright to give it away. I sat with my family last night talking about college and vacation and ended up making quite a few yoyos. Not sure what I am going to do with them yet. I have also been cutting strips of scraps to make a Gracie Jane Quilt. http://thegraciejaneproject.blogspot.com/p/graciejane-pattern.html I have MANY scraps that I would like to use up. This looks fairly simple. I might also make one of these belts. http://3punkmom.blogspot.com/2009/05/tutorial-calico-belt.html I also cut out a bathing suit top last night. I have never tried to sew swimsuit material but it does roll alot even when cutting. I have to get some tricot lining material before I can start it. It was a remnant piece, so it was cheap. That is the best way to practice I think. We have a graduation open house and a wedding to attend this weekend, so I doubt I will get much sewing in. Our air conditioner isn't working even though the repair man was here yesterday. He will be here again today. Thankfully it isn't hot, but it makes the house feel damp since it is so wet outside. I am rambling now so that means it is time to end this post. Have a lovely productive day!
I finally finished altering a friend's bridesmaid dress today. I had to take in the hips, shorten the straps and cut off the bottom and make a new hem. I just have to say that I love my serger!!! It just tackles every kind of material with ease. I serged the cut bottom and then did a simple machine hem. I also serged the slip and didn't have to hem it. This was the first time I have worked with this type of satin. It was not too bad. The scariest part was cutting into the dress. I then took a bit of a sewing break and weeded my blackberry and blueberry patch. It was horrible due to all of the rain. It looks much better and I have quite a few blueberries and several blackberries as well. They aren't ripe yet, but they look so good. I then proceeded to quilt the baby quilt for my sis-in-law. I did a simple grid (stitch in the ditch) on it,but it was still a little difficult due to the different fabrics in the quilt. It is a mixture of cottons, flannels, fleece, butter suede and chenille.I used the walking foot on my old Kenmore. I don't have a walking foot for my new machine yet. So I have finished that part and now I will add the baby blue satin binding later this week. I cleaned my fridge today which also makes me feel better! A little laundry and cooking rounded out a pretty productive day. I love having those every once in a while!
I was just talking to a friend of mine the other day about some beautiful batik fabrics I bought while on my retreat. This is a Bali Pop from Hoffman Fabrics. It is basically the same thing as a jelly roll. I have sewn my strips together in rows of 4. I graduated the colors from dark to light and then cut them in 8 1/2 squares. I am not quite finished yet, but once I have them all sewn and cut I will decide how I will put them together. Quiltjane at quiltjane.blogspot.com put together a beautiful (picture above)one out of the Spumoni bali pop. Mine is Berry Bliss. My mom bought the same one. I wonder what she will do. Batiks are just beautiful hand-dyed fabrics and I am looking forward to putting mine together.
I love this Holly Hill by Levin & Co polyester polka dot shirt that I found in a cute consignment store in Ohio last month. The consignment had several special sections just for "vintage" goods. This shirt was fairly cheap, but I discovered it needed some work. I wore it to church once and realized I spent most of the day looking like a stegosauras. The zipper was very bumpy in the back, so I was left with the dinosaur look. I have removed the zipper and plan on just sewing the back up. It has enough stretch as a vneck to not need the zip. It also has some seam issues in a few places that I am repairing. It will end up being a great top, it just needs a little TLC. Don't we all!