Cat harnesses

Our cat likes to go outside. I tried different types of cat harnesses that are on sale, but they don't seem to fit well or they slide right off the cat... 

So, I decided to tackle the harness issues myself. 

I thought the harness above looked good and worked well. However, the cat himself hated it with passion. Each time we tried to put it on him, he would get agitated and bite us. So, I had to make another one that is easier to put it on him, which is shown below...

This is easier to put it on him. However, it is not 100 %, either. He had escaped from it a few times, especially when he pounces on the frogs in the back yard... We read keeping our eye on him, but I don't think I will be making these harnesses for other people's cats just because I cannot be responsible for their cats escaping... If you want me to show you how to make them, I can, but you need to make it and use it at your own risk. (Maybe our cat is simply very troublesome, and your cats are all good boys and girls... Sigh.) 

Altering or sewing from scratch?

One of the reasons that I started sewing more of my own garments was because I had to alter a lot of what I bought at a store... My legs and arm are shorter than the average, and my shoulder is a little narrower. So, sometimes I had to basically re-sew what I purchased.

Just recently I was asked to alter a man's vest. It was not a difficult or complicated alteration, but it involves some steps which I'm going to explain below.

The first step is to have the vest on the person and to mark where the new seams need to be for a better fit. 

Then, the next step is the tedious seam ripping. Because I have to be very careful not to damage the fabric itself, I am very careful when I rip the seams. In fact, it takes quite a long time.

The third step is to pin the fabric together and mark where the new seams should be. I used a pink chalk pencil to mark where I need to sew below.

The fourth step is actually sewing the seams. The photo below shows the new seam that has been sewn. The actual sewing is very fast because I use a sewing machine. The steps to prepare for sewing is usually a longer process.

Since this vest had a lining, I had to open up the bottom of the lining in the back to get access to the seams. So, the last step is to sew up the seams I opened for access. Again, I had to pin the fabric so that the fabrics don't shift around when I sew. (The lining fabric is quite slippery.)

I think the time it took for me to finish altering the side seams would be enough to actually sew a new vest (provided that I had the fabrics already cut and ready to go, and I am not including the time for making button holes and sewing on the buttons by hand). This is one of the reasons I like to just make a garment myself that actually fit me to my preference.

In addition, store-bought clothes are often not well sewn... Imagine people who are under a lot of pressure to sew as much as possible in a factory setting. How can one expect the outcome to be of high quality from such environment? This means that if I sewed a piece of garment myself, I can make sure I sew it with care. Once I have sewing patterns I know that work well for me, I can keep on making the same pieces of garment with variety of different fabrics without worrying about the fit.

Please don't get me wrong. I am all for altering a piece of clothing so that you will get to wear it in confidence. It is so much better than not wearing it after having already bought it. If you have something that needs a better fit, feel free to contact me. Or, if you feel like having some custom-made clothing, I am sure I can help, too. (Please use the menu above for more information on custom sewing and alteration.)

A dress remade into an apron

This apron was made from a beautiful dress. My client asked me if I can make it into an apron, and I accepted the wonderful challenge! 

The original dress was a dress that my client had made in China while she worked there.

I had to carefully remove all the seams and retain the fabrics to make parts for the apron: front panel (top section and bottom section), shoulder strap, waist straps, and a pocket.

I used almost all parts of the dress to make the apron, but I only had enough fabric left to make one pocket. 

I love giving another life to an old item that may have been sleeping in the closet. Please contact me if you have a project like this for me.

Adding special touches

A client of mine had bought a wooden top. However, some things were not t his liking. He asked me to make it better! It was a fun project. 

First of all, the button was plastic, so he wanted me to replace them with wooden ones. They look much nicer with the wooden ones. 

He asked me to add a zipper pull. 

He asked me to add this detail to the cuffs, the hem, and another place. I liked the way he thinks! 

Also, he wanted patches on the elbows. 

This is what the whole top looks like. (Somehow the colours of the fabric look different in all those photos, but I don't know how to correct the colours in the photos.)

And yes, when I made the elbow patches, I had to make a pattern first. 

I love working on a creative project like this. If you have anything that you want changed or added to your existing clothing, please feel free to contact me. 

Linen drawstring pants

Draw string pants are always easy to wear. I love wearing them since I don't have to worry about whether the waist fits well or not. (I know there are opinions that we should wear well-fitted pants or skirts so that we are aware of weight gain, etc.) I am all for comfort... 

These pairs are made with, yes again, 100 % linen IKEA curtain fabric. They are not the softest linen fabric one can purchase, but they are affordable. (I hear that IKEA stopped selling fabrics now? I haven't been to their store for a long time, so I am not sure.)

The blue pair is a pair of full-length pants with seam pockets on both sides. 

The second one is shorter. I wanted to experiment with the cargo pockets, but after wearing them for a while, I have to admit that I like seam pockets better. When I have a set of keys, they make all the noises in the pockets in the cargo pockets. Cargo pockets are nice for some things, but not for the keys. I thought about adding seam pockets, but I haven't gotten around to doing so. 

 

Women's pant pockets

Have you noticed how ridiculously small women's pant pockets are? I had these two pairs of jeans that I rarely wore. I bought them years ago, but I just never really wore them much. 

One of the reasons is that the pockets are too small and impractical. They spend the time and effort to make the pocket structure, but they keep the inside so shallow. This is a view from inside. 

This needs to be remedied. We women do carry things, too, especially our phones. 

I decided on the size of the pocket and added an extension to each pocket. 

Now, the pockets are large enough to carry my phone, wallet, keys, etc. When I make my own pairs of pants, I always install full-sized pockets. 

Witch dress

Halloween is approaching! I made this witch dress a few years back. It's just a polyester satin dress with flared sleeves. 

I also made a cape with a cape to go over the dress as well. 

And of course, we need a pointy hat, too!

Cape's frontal view. 

It was hard to show off the sleeves on the arm-less dress form, so here is the sleeve view of the dress. 

If you need any help completing your child's Halloween costume, I can help you. Please feel free to contact me. 

 

Jacket

When it gets a little cooler, I want to wear som light jacket but I didn't have one. So, I made it. It's a simple jacket with a zippered closure in the front. 

I made it a bit longer so that it can cover a little more. It's perfect for a slightly cooler weather. The fabric is a 100 % cotton jersey. You may remember some hats I made with the same fabric. 

Wrist pocket pouch

A friend of mine sent me a link to a wrist pocket pouch that she saw somewhere on the internet. It sounded like she wanted it, so I made it from a sleeve I cut off from a merino-wool shirt. 

I made one that is tapered and one that is straight. In the colder months, you can just hide these under a sleeve of your shirt to carry only your essentials. 

 

Sashiko

A while back, I tried to do some Sashiko needle work. I mostly sew on sewing machines just because I love the speed and how precise the stitches are. But sometimes, it is nice to sit down and do some hand stitching. It is like a form of meditation. 

This cotton fabric from Japan came with the pre-printed stitch lines so that a complete beginner like me can follow the stitch lines to make it look decent. It was fun and relaxing. 

I used a thread that has multiple shades of indigo blue. Now that I look back at it, I feel as though I should have used a solid blue colour. 

Rabbit pattern pouches

I really enjoy making pouches, bags, and such. Here are some made with a fabric my friend bought in Japan for me. It's such a cute fabric. 

A zippered pouch with a triangle case: 

A flat zippered pouch:

A fanny pack: 

Circular knitting needle holder

I needed a way to organize my circular needles, too, so I made a little book-like organizer for them. 

I used Cricut to make iron-on numbers so that I can identify the sizes of the needles. 

In storage, I tie the strings to close the book. 

Knitting needle holder

I needed a way to organize my double-pointed needles for knitting. So, I decided to make a roll case for them. Just like the brush roll I made before. This is how it looks when it's all rolled up. 

This is what it looks like unrolled. All my double-pointed needles are neatly resting. 

I dyed this fabric using some avocado pits. I quite like the light pink colour. I only dipped it once in the dye. But I think you want the colour to be deeper, you can repeatedly dip it in the dye. 

Hats - yes more hats

I was requested to make more hats based on my friend's old hat. 

This time I was asked to put a little something in the front. So, here is a cat motif made with my Cricut Joy on an iron-on piece. 

Also, a motif of an anchor on a white hat. 

The wearer is enjoying these little playful iron-on decals. 

Summer dress

This is a summer dress I made for myself. I had a tight bodice on this because I had made the dress a while back when I was a little slimmer. But the bodice was a little too fitting and the sleeves felt too hot. So, I wasn't wearing the dress very much. 

I had to remedy the situation! I took off the darts that were above the waist and iron them flat, and I took off the back zipper and sewed the back shut. Then, I took off the sleeves to make it sleeveless. Then, I put a placket in the front so it becomes a pull-over dress. 

Sometimes little alterations can make a big difference. Now this is my go-to dress on a hot summer day. 

Inner pockets

Following the 18th century split-side skirt, I thought I'd make a set of inner pockets for it. Since the sides are split int he split-side skirt, it's easy to stick your hands inside and locate these pockets inside. They can be pretty big, so they do hold a lot! 

As this page shows, they used to make such pretty inner pockets! If you search for the historical pockets, you will be amazed at how pretty they were. But I just wanted to try making some for myself, and I do not really care how pretty they looked, I just whipped up a quick set like the ones above. Again, I didn't like the idea of a knot in front of my belly, so I added two buttons and button holes. Initially I had only one button and button hole, but having two makes the whole thing sit well around my waist especially when I carry heavier things like my phone, a bunch of keys, and wallet, etc. I can carry quite a lot of things in them, and they are like a little purse! I think I should be able to use them for travelling as well since no one would dare put their hands in between my skirt sides. 

After I made these and used them for a while, I found that I had to be careful to find the opening to the pockets with my hands. Sometimes I would put my stuff in the split of the skirt and drop them, and it would just fall by my foot. It took me a little while to get used to be careful. 

Split-side skirt

I saw all kinds of posts on social media of split-side skirts. They looked quite neat in that this idea goes back to the 18th century and that they are adjustable in terms of the waist circumference. I had a gathered skirt that I made a couple years ago, and I wanted to convert it to the side-split skirt. 

There's a lot of free online tutorials, but I also found this pattern (Cocquelicot Skirt)) by Wildflower Design, which is quite nice and explains the steps very clearly. 

This is the front view. 

The back view shows the tied bow. 

There's no zipper closure on this skirt. The back skirt fastens in the front like this - I chose a button and button hole closure in the front to reduce the bulk. Some other options are lace-up front with eyelets and string, or simply tie up the straps. I tried tying the straps, but I didn't like it because of the bulky knot being in front of my belly. 

With the front closure being a tie up closure, then it's easy to adjust the sizes. I figured if my waist size changed, then I can just move the button on the front. I in fact sewed on two buttons with an inch interval. Some days, I am a little larger in the waist and some days not. This has worked well for me. 

As you can see, I always change around things even though I buy a pattern. It's good to follow everything the pattern instructions tell you to do because we can all learn things that way. But once you have learned s a few things, you can start changing things around to fit what you like. 

Kitchen towels into placemats

Some of my places mats were getting old and worn. I had some kitchen towels, so I decided to cut them in half and hem them to make new places mats. 

This was such an easy remake, but it was fun.