On The Run

I love to sew and I love to run.  In my newest project I combined both.  When heading out on a long run the question always is....where do I put my stuff?  My key, license and money (in case I run by a donut shop) have to go somewhere so it might as well be pretty....right?

I used 30's inspired quilting prints, fully lined each pouch and made a contrasting strap with velcro all the way around so my key doesn't fall out.  Plus....it makes me giggle to look down at my shoe while I'm running and see this happy holder.

I figured someone else must be having the same problem finding a cute and safe pouch so I loaded a few on Etsy.  You can check them out here.  

Sweatshirt With No Sweat

I'm looking over my projects for the year so far and see that I've made quite a few tops!  I must be living in jeans because the new tops keep coming.  And here's yet another.  When I go in my closet I always want something cozy like a sweatshirt but don't want to wear a hoodie.  I decided it was time to make a sweatshirt pattern of my own.

This is round one of a new pattern I drafted and I like it because it's soft like a sweatshirt but doesn't look sloppy (or have to be dry cleaned like a sweater).  It has a scoop neck, dolman sleeve, and bands at the neck, sleeve and waist.  I used a reversible knit from Joann using the dot side for the body and stripe side for the bands.  I've since made it in hot pink ponte knit and did twin needle top stitching in white and made the neckline a little smaller.  I'm working on a purple jersey knit now and maybe that will be the final draft (but certainly not the final one....I want to do some color blocking).

These pictures were taken on my son's 14th birthday when we went down to the Beachcomber restaurant (you need to go if you're ever in So Cal) for beignets on the beach.  He was a very happy boy young man!

"Aubrey and Me" Top

I've been honored to be a contributor to the FabricMart Fabrics blog.  We all know how much I enjoy embroidery so I'm happy to share a new post for the FabricMart blog on embroidery and my "Aubrey and Me" top.

I know I've said this before, but, if you're a piece of fabric in my sewing room and you hang around too long you're bound to get embroidered.  I am and always will be in love with fabrics but more and more embroidery seems to be taking up residence in the creative side of my brain.  Fabrics can now be canvases since "Aubrey", my embroidery machine, moved in (yes...I named my machine…don't judge).

This blouse inspired my "Aubrey and Me" Top.  The combination of the embroidery, lace and silhouette makes a top that's feminine without being fussy.

Because a simple pattern lends itself to embroidery, I chose Salme's Kimono Style Angel Sleeve Top for my blouse. It's a two piece pattern plus facings (it doesn't get simpler than that) with a soft flutter sleeve.  I lowered the neckline 3/4" because it's more flattering on me and left everything else the same.  I chose this dreamy blue/gray J. Crew voile from Fabricmart Fabrics (the color is out of stock but this color would be lovely!) and a cotton crochet trim for the neckline and hem.

The Mendhika Medallion machine embroidery pattern from Urban Threads is stitched three times at the neckline.  The middle medallion is sized to 3" in diameter and the two outer are 2 1/2" in diameter.  The medallion comes as a three color design but I changed it to two colors, dark ecru and ecru, and stitched it out in 40 weight rayon embroidery thread.

In constructing this blouse, and for almost all of my embroidery projects, I have "Aubrey" do the embroidery before I actually cut out the pattern piece.  This makes hooping and placement easier. This voile is very lightweight so after a couple of test runs I found wash away stabilizer the best choice for stabilization during embroidery.  My final step before actually sewing the blouse together was adding 17 rows of twin needle stitching in ecru thread.  I know 17 rows sounds like a lot but none are more that 2" long and the result is a design that looks pulled together.

I'm looking forward to wearing this blouse all spring and summer with jeans and skirts.  Thanks "Aubrey"!

Here are my reviews on Kollabora and Pattern Review.

Lacey Dolman

I'm continuing to power through my lovely box of fabrics from FabricMart Fabrics.  Ooooo, and this one was really fun to make.  This antique white wavy pucker lace knit was described as "springy" and that's exactly what it is.  It's very exciting to get fabric in the mail but it's even more exciting when it ends up being what you expected!

The new spring Simplicity patterns just came out and I brought home a fashionable few and 1463 was among them.  I rarely buy fabric with an exact pattern in mind but I knew with this knit I wanted to make some sort of top and this was pretty and looked like a "quick sew"....and it was!  It was about 2 hours total cut and sew time.  Yay!

I didn't make any changes to the pattern and it sewed up like a dream.  I used a twin needle to finish the hem and to topstitch the neckline.  I'll be making it again....this time in a stripe.

Here are my reviews on PatternReview and Kollabora.

Scarfidy Do Dah

If you hang around my sewing room too long you're going to get embroidered.  There's just no way around it.  This flannel fabric has been hanging around my sewing room for quite some time (so I had to embroider it)....it was too bright for a shirt and there wasn't enough fabric for PJ pants and I saw this outfit on pinterest and the scarf idea was born.

It's difficult at times to find simple, modern embroidery designs but after some surfing I found Modern Embroidery Geek on Etsy and this beautiful Modern Thailand Flower design.  Isn't she pretty? 

I cut two pieces of flannel 12" by 64" and embroidered on one end of one of the panels.  The flower design came in two sizes, I embroidered the larger twice and resized it to 80% and stitched it out twice again using different combinations of hot pink, coral and turquoise embroidery thread.  When I was finished with the embroidery I stitched the remaining panel to the embroidered panel (right sides together) all the way around, leaving an opening to turn.  Viola!  She is done!

Dreamy Voile Blouse

I bought this fabric last spring on a trip to New York and I finally sewed it up.  It's a Ralph Lauren embroidered voile I bought at Mood and I've always loved it.  I used New Look 6187, the same pattern I used for the Fabric Mixer blouse, but I made View A instead.

This pattern is so great because it offers a lot of ways to change the look up.  I shortened the sleeve 4", added elastic to the arm, added lace to the bottom of the yoke and a vintage button.  The buttons are always my favorite part!

I've already worn this blouse several times and I made it 3 weeks ago!

Don't you want my necklace?

Here's my review on Pattern Review and here's my post on Kollabora.

Valentine Sewing

I made candy bar pockets for my friends for Valentine's Day because everyone needs a candy bar pocket!