Some raglan shirts

I was itching to make myself some new tops for the fall, and I did! I wanted some fun and colourful shirts, and here they are. (The pattern used for this shirt is a modified one based on Simplicity 5799.)

There are some foxes, porcupines, acorns, mushrooms, and leaves. I like it. 

The next one is a carrot print. 

Here's the closeup of the carrots that are scattered all over. This reminds me that I should arrest some carrots in a pot before it gets too cold. 

My friend gave me those fabrics, and I am very grateful for the generous length of each fabrics she gave me. They were both at least 2 metres in length. 

If you're thinking of gifting some fabrics to friends who sew clothes, at least 2 meters is a very good length. With 0.5 metre or 1 metre, one cannot really make much. Of course, one can make small items and accessories, like pouches, bags and scrunchies, but not too many clothing items. If you are going to surprise your sewing friend, a minimum of 2 metres is often needed to make something that is wearable. For example, with 1 metre, maybe a sleeveless top for a medium sized-person can be made. But 3 to 4 metres of fabric can be made into a pajama set or a dress. This also depends on the width of the fabric. Sometimes, 1.5 metres of a wide fabric can be enough to make a shirt with long sleeves. It also depends on what the clothe size is, too. 

Red pouches

I was asked to make a gift set, and here they are I had enough fabrics to make a pouch (a pen case? cosmetic case?), a triangle case, and a cable holder with a lobster clip. 

Making these are fun, and it takes about 1.5 hours altogether because I already have the patterns. from cutting the fabrics and sewing them all up. Just to give you an idea. 

If you are looking for perfect gift that's one of a kind for someone special, please feel free to contact me. 

No-waste pants

I made a pair of Jones Trousers using the pattern by Goldfinch Textile Studio, using poly-cotton twill fabric. 

This is what it looks like. I made a few changes including the directions of the front tucks, the pant lengths, and elimination of the pant leg band, in order to fit my preference and my leg length. 

It's a wonderful pair of pants. It has huge pockets, and it's very comfortable. 

What I was really excited about this sewing pattern is the fact the pattern pieces are designed to be no waste or minimal waste. As you can see below, there's almost no remnants after cutting all the pieces. 

Below is the view after the pieces were cut. 

So, if you don't want to leave any wasted fabric, this is wonderful. It does what it promised. 

However, after wearing it several times, I found the pants a little too baggy for my preference, and this time I did not make any adjustment for that. I just wear them baggy. Also, when I shortened my pants, the gusset pieces made it a bit bulky at the ankles, and I know there has to be a better way to shortening the pants, but I did not try to make it better in my first try. 

I look at other patterns by the Goldfinch Textile Studio and other ones in the cyber space, I wonder if the issues for me are the fit. I you like roomy, comfortable garments, maybe it's all right. But I am not sure if I like shirts without nicely fitted set-in sleeves right at the shoulders, for example. The pants with gussets, rather than curves for the crotch area, have a couple of spots of tension points where it starts to rip. 

Although I love the idea of leaving no or minimum waste, I'll have to think hard about what I will do with the fit issues and length adjusting with this pants before I make another pair using this pattern. 

Fleece mittens

It is getting a little cooler these days, and I wonder when I have to take my mittens out. 

These are made of some leftover fleece fabric I had on hand. The fleece fabric isn't very thick, so this pair of mittens make very good liners to wear under knitted mittens for a cold day, or I wear them alone on not so cold days. 

It was fun adding this little detail with chain stitches. 

Snippers

Sometimes we have to be careful in our sewing room...

I know I am a little clumsy, and I am known to drop things. I dropped a thread snipper by accident, and it landed on my floor like this.

I was quite happy that the snipper didn't fall right onto my foot. I wear a pair of sandals in the house, but this could have ended up on the top side of my foot. Since then, I am extra careful with my snippers or awl or any other pointy tools I use when I sew. 

Crochet hook roll

I received a request to make a crochet hook roll a while ago. 

It has a band of elastic on the top to hold the hooks in and there are little pockets at the bottom. I've also made a little pockets to hold some other small tools. I can customize this kind of roll to fit any number or sizes of your craft tools. Please feel free to contact me for a quote. 

Knot bags

Those are knot bags. One side of the handle is longer and the other shorter. When you insert the longer handle into the shorter one, the bag is closed. It's a nice idea, so I wanted to make some for last year's craft sale. 

They are reversible, so it's like having two bags in one. 

This year, I am not going to participate in a craft sale because of various reasons, but if you want this kind of bag, please feel free to contact me. 

Pen cases

Pen cases are fun to make as well. I made some of those before, and they are to fit around your notebook so you can keep the notebook and pens always together. 

I can also make pen cases without the band that goes over the notebook. I almost collect pens and writing utensils, so I have several favourite pen cases myself. 

Eye masks

I find it's much easier for me to sleep when it's dark. I installed blackout curtains in my bedroom, but sometimes in the morning when I want to sleep in, I need more darkness. When I take a nap, I need to have my eyes covered to have a good nap. 

I had made eye masks before, and one happened to be plain navy blue (on the top). So, I decided to add eyes to it with Cricut, using an iron-on vinyl. It turned out pretty funny, and I like it. I think the black one was given to me on an airplane before, and I decided to add a sentence "I need my beauty sleep" just for fun, again using Cricut. 

I love using Cricut to add interesting designs onto fabric. The only thing I don't like is that the iron-on sheet is made of vinyl. After many washes they come off in places like corners, etc, and I have to iron it back on. I haven't bought any new vinyl sheets and I don't think I will any more, but I still have some left, so I will use what I already have on hand.  

Mending merino wool shirts

Merino wool shirts are very nice! You may already own some or have seen advertisements on them. So, my husband and I are a big fan of merino wool. 

A downside is that some of them are rather thin and easily ripped... So, I mend the holes. 

Mending is done by hand with a blunt needle (or also called ball-point needle). I decided to use 100% cotton thread rather than polyester thread just because merino wool seem to be a little fragile than polyester fabric. 

This hole was rather jagged on its edges, so I cut it into a shape that was easier to sew. 

Let's see how long the mend will last... 

You can also see a tiny hole I filled without a backing, too. 

Baby bibs

When there's a happy occasion of arrival of a new family member for my friends, I love making things for them. Here are some bibs I made. They are made of cotton, so they are soft on the baby's skin. 

I chose cute fabrics for this occasion and used different shapes. It was so fun to make those. Anyone having babies? 

Bench seat cover

We decided to put this wooden bench int he basement. I thought it could use a little cushion on the seat, so here it is. Luckily, friends of mine gave me some remnant upholstery fabrics, so I was able to use them. 

Because the remnants came in different sizes, I pieced them together on one side (above), and one side I was able to just use a large piece. 

Some shirts

I like making shirts, too. The best thing about sewing my own clothes is that I can pick the fabric I like, and no one else has the same exact clothes that I make! (What's the possibility of another person who bought the same fabric as I did having chosen the same pattern for a piece of clothes?) 

Also, since I have short arms, if I make my own shirt, I don't have to deal with having to shorten my sleeves to fit me. I make that adjustment at the pattern stage, so everything I make with that pattern turns out well. 

This one was a funky blue and green patterned shirt. 

Below is a mock-turtle neck shirt made with a floral print knit fabric. I wore it out already, but it was good while it lasted. I like wearing a turtle neck or mock-turtle neck under my wool sweater so my skin does not get irritated. 

The orange/red top was a nice summer sleeveless top made with a light, cotton fabric. 

Below is a shirt I made for my husband. It's made with a rayon fabric and is comfortable on a hot day. 

If you would like me to make you a shirt, please check out this page. If you'd like to learn how to make an entire shirt or one step of the making (learn how to sew in the sleeves, etc.), you can take a sewing lesson from me. 

Crazy quilt

Yesterday's post was using the remnant pieces that were too small to make much. Today's post is about using good-sized remnant pieces. 

Yes, I made a crazy quilt. I have always been intimidated by the thoughts of making a quilt. The quilts I have seen are all so beautifully calculated to orchestrate the colours and shapes into a cohesive useable art piece for home. The stitches are perfect, and the pieces line up just so beautifully. So, I never even attempted making one. However, at some point, my friend mentioned the existence of crazy quilts. 

I searched crazy quilts online, and I found out it is a free form of quilting. I had to try it out with all the remnants I had accumulated up to that point that were large enough. I didn't even think about what the final picture will be - I just put the pieces together until it was large enough to be a blanket. I learned a lot of things along the way, and it was fun. 

See how crazy it looks? 

A pouf foot stool

During the COVID in 2020 I made around 700 fabric masks while people could not buy any boxed disposable masks at stores. That resulted in a lot of remnants that were too small for much else. 

I decided to make a foot stool, also known as a pouf. My friends gave me some upholstery fabric remnants, so it was time to try it. 

At first, it was not very full, but as time went on, it got fuller and fuller. Now it's actually quite a solid pouf. 

Tie dye shirts

These are shirts I sewed and dyed on one sunny afternoon some years ago. 

The open collared shirt was folded into a small triangle shape first, then it was dyed with two pieces of triangle-shaped wood sandwiching the shied and tied with a string around the whole thing to secure the bundle. It produced an interesting patterns, and I liked it! (This shirt is made with Butterick B5261 pattern designed by Connie Crawford.) 

The sleeveless pull over shirt was dyed without any tying. However, it still had nice random patterns. 

I should have tried some more dyeing this summer! Now it feels a little too cold to be working with water outside. 

Bag remake

A couple of good friends of mine gave me this bag with an art work by Laurel Burch for a celebratory reason in 2009. I used it for a long time, and I made adjustments to fit my preferences: I made the handles shorter, and I also added rings on either side so that I can attach a shoulder strap. 

As you can see, spot cleaning didn't do much any longer. Also the canvas was getting worn on the bottom, making almost a couple of holes. But I hated the idea of retiring it or throwing it away, and I decided to remake it!

I cut off the main part of the artwork, and used it as a large front pocket. I used the original zipper for that, and I added a reflective tape piping as well so that I can be seen in the dark. (It gets dark around 4pm around here in winter...) 

The inner lining was made when I altered the bag before - I put all those little pockets where I keep my essentials. (I know exactly where everything is in this bag.) You can see that I reused a zipper that was salvaged from an old back pack (sadly beyond repair) from MEC, too.

I could not stand the thought of not having this bag any more, and now I can use this bag for many more years  because this black fabric is supposed to be very strong even outdoors.

If you have a bag that needs a repair or remake, or if you want me to alter your bag with the inner lining that fits your lifestyle, please feel free to contact me. I love this kind of project!

Boxy pouches

I enjoy making boxy pouches. They are good as pen cases, cable cases, and so on. 

The tiger pattern fabric was a remnant from upholstery industry, and the navy brown one is a Kasuri fabric from Japan. 

If you'd like me to make you some out of your favourite fabric, please feel free to contact me.  

Sleeve length adjustment

I made some adjustment to the rain jacket sleeves so that I don't walk around with the sleeves hanging down so low. 

The rain jacket I used for more than a decade was getting really not very good any more (there were leaks that I could not fix, a layer inside was peeling off in places, etc.). So, I went to a store to look for a new rain jacket. I found a really nice fuchsia-coloured rain jacket, but it was $470! That's too much for me to cough up for a jacket.

So, I found one that was on a clearance sale for $99. But the size was an issue. The size that fits me perfectly had a length that was too short in my opinion. So, I decided on a size larger; however the issue was the sleeves. They were too long.

The solution was simple: I had to shorten the sleeves. This was a good thing because I am not fond of the Velcro closure for the sleeve because they can be scratchy sometimes when my hand touches it, so I was happy to cut them right off. I made elastic casings and inserted elastics so the wind and rain won't come up my sleeves.

If you need any changes like this made, contact me and we can discuss options.

Industrial sewing

When I do industrial sewing, I not only need an industrial sewing machine but also other tools. 

This is a 7 feet (182 cm) ruler. Before I found this ruler online, I was using a 4 feet ruler. The width of the fabric is about 60 inches, so a 4 feet ruler was not enough to go across the width of the fabric. I had to be creative when I drew a straight line to cut the fabric then. But with the 7 feet ruler, which goes right over the width of the fabric, it makes it a breeze to mark the fabric for cutting. It was such a good tool to buy: I use it all the time for a large job. 

Also, a pair of very sharp scissors is a must as well. I have a sharpening machine to keep the scissors very sharp. 

Mocassin

I decided that my current pair of sandals I wear around the house have seen better days, so I decided I want to make myself a pair of moccasins. I looked for moccasins, and I saw a kit for making the pair myself by a brand named Realeather. 

It didn't look particularly hard, because the leather pieces were already cut and everything I needed to make them was in the package with written instructions. The price was not much. If I were to buy ready-made moccasins, they may be higher in price. So, why not make a pair? 

Here they are. 

I chose size Small, and they are perfect for my feet. The strings that are holding the pieces together were like shoe laces, and I just sewed the pieces up using the laces. It was fun to make them, and it was simpler than I thought. If you sew and know how to ease in the set-in sleeve, the gathering around the front part makes sense. 

I inserted 3/4 insoles for my comfort because the insoles that were included were a little too flat for what I am used to. I am still wearing my old sandals, but when the weather gets a little cooler, I will start wearing those moccasins inside the house. 

Pocket repair

My husband told me that his pocket had a hole. So, I repaired it. 

First, I cut off the damaged area. 

 Then, I added a new bag for the pocket. 

That's it. Since the home was quite large and the other areas of the pocket were worn and very thin, I decided to replace the bottom part of the pocket this way. However, if you notice the hole when it is small, then a repair can be just a simple sewing up the hole or patching it. In this case, this drastic measure was needed.  

Mending

Here are some mending I've done. 

This one was a V-shaped rip in one of my clients' favourite shirts. Since it's his favourite, he really wanted me to mend it. I am glad he can keep on wearing his shirt. 

Also, some patches. The larger patch was what I had done earlier, and the smaller one had to be added because the area below the old patch was getting ripped. 

The pajama pant hems were getting worn, and they were rather on the long side, so I could just cut off the worn parts and hem them again. 

A different pajama pants had worn sections on the waist area. I added a waist elastic casing at the waist so that the pants can be worn again. 

The lives of pieces of clothing can be extended by repairing them. I am glad they are being loved by their owners.