The bag!

I finished the bag today, the one I started Tuesday in class. I was a little frustrated at the end of that class because I was having such a hard time understanding the directions. They are dense. More than one step is shown with just one illustration and sometimes I couldn't figure out what step one was. Finally, though, I worked my way through each one, using as much common sense as anything else.

The bag laying flat (with something in it). It can be worn this way.

Or it can be worn folded, like above.

And inside, lining!

I learned two things in particular in making this bag:

* It is important for this type project to be especially careful about cutting and sewing seams accurately. The parts need to match up and be straight.

* Burda patterns are seriously condensed. I chose a pattern that was labeled "easy" but I was reminded that this designation means easy for an experienced tailor. It isn't that it was really terribly difficult for me but it was a real challenge just interpreting the directions and getting things straight. As it happens, I didn't get everything straight. I could never sell that at a crafts fair.

It is a success to me if I learn from it, and I really did. I also believe I will use this bag. It's a good size for a wallet, cell phone, and camera, so that will be especially handy when I don't have pockets.

Well, I'm committed...or I should be.

This is my sewing machine with some of the stuff I had in my sewing class today, in various stages of assembly. This is after class, back home, on the floor.

I decided to sign up for the intermediate sewing class this fall so I could keep the momentum going. Having a specific time and place to sew, separate from home, seemed like a good idea. The class started last week, Tuesday, but I had to miss that class because I have been traveling and just returned yesterday afternoon. I did not have a specific project to work on today. So later yesterday I went to a fabric store and finally chose a folding clutch purse that looks pretty nice, and I bought the notions and fabric for it. So I was ready.

While I was cutting out the pieces (I have never had so many in one pattern!) I talked with others and learned that many of the others in that class would also be going to the one in the afternoon. But there was a chance the afternoon class would not reach the minimum attendance and would be canceled. The adult ed management recently imposed a minimum of fifteen students per class, which is really asking rather a lot. The afternoon class, also two hours, is a "sewing for baby" class. I had not signed up for it because I can't think of any babies I can sew for right now.

But I learned that I could just continue working on my regular projects if I like. Two more hours of help, large cutting tables, and more...I thought about it and signed up. So now I am committed to Tuesdays, from ten to three every week, for the next several weeks. I need to remember to bring lunch next week, but fortunately this week one of the other class members brought naan and hummus and a bruschetta mix. And Linda, the teacher, brought marinated tomatoes, tomatoes she grew. So I was fine.

Today I learned a few more tidbits:

* How to sew a rolled edge, similar to a serger, with a zigzag stitch

* That I could buy a suitcase-like case designed for sewing machines and notions - that will allow me to drag my machine behind me like a suitcase - and for a bargain price.

* That Burda patterns tend to use a shortcut language - it is hard to grasp all of what is to be done, in some cases.

* That those tomato-like pincushions can be more than pin cushions. First, the strawberry attached to the tomato has some kind of sand in it that will sharpen needles or pins when you put them in there. The package mentions this but it's easy to miss, so I was glad Linda mentioned it. Second, you can use the divisions of the tomato to separate different sizes of sewing machine needles. Like so:

See? Universal needles, size 9

Further, I learned that this class gets coffee or tea. I learned a few things about quilting, mainly because I was curious. I don't plan on doing any quilting any time soon. There is one other person in the morning class who seems similar to me in experience. The rest are way out there in advance land, and are all generous with their knowledge, I am happy to say.

So...Tuesday is sewing day.

A laptop sleeve

I browsed though the T-shirt book again (see this post about Generation T) a few days ago and decided to make a laptop sleeve. From two T-shirts. I hunted through my T-shirts and chose two I thought would be good for it and proceeded to cut.

One thing about this book: just about everything in it is sewn by hand. It isn't necessary to sew by hand (and in fact the book even offers additional tricky ways to connect pieces that involve no sewing at all) and initially I intended to sew this sleeve by machine. But there is a difference in how it looks when the stitches are visible and so ultimately I decided to go ahead and sew it by hand myself. I rather like how it looks, even though I can already see how I could have done better:

The front:

The back:

:

In case you're wondering, what it says on the front is "Pismo Beach: delightfully tacky since 1946". Too true, too true! And also my birth year. Made for me.

You can see that the edges are ragged, something I could have avoided if I had cut more carefully, used a rotary cutter, used a cardboard pattern, for example. I could also have sewn it so that the seams were inside but this look has a certain charm.

Making it fit

Of late, I have been doing quickie projects out of T-shirts and other cast-offs. I made three more cat rice-catnip pillows from used pillow cases, to go to a shelter, and another reusable shopping bag from a T-shirt. I had been eyeing one of my cat beds. A visiting doggie had eaten the soft pillow that lined the bed so I decided to make another one from a T-shirt.

My thinking on the size: T-shirts stretch so if I make it approximately the size of the space it should stretch and flatten out and fill the space reasonably well. I wasn't counting on how the stuffing material would affect this outcome, however.

I recently picked up a partial bag of "polyfil" - aka "premium polyester fiberfill" at a thrift store outlet. Cost me 25 cents. So I figured this would do the job and I might throw in some T-shirt scraps as well.

In the past - deep, dark past - I had used kapok for stuffing stuff. This polyfil is a whole new thing. It's bouncy, it's washable, it keeps a shape. And it doesn't flatten down.

Thus this fit. Or lack of fit. That baby isn't flattening out to fit the shape.


However, the proof is in the pudding. The cat likes it. That's all I really wanted. But in the future I will make allowances for the amount of "loft" or whatever it's called, so my pillows fit the space better.

Fun with T-shirts

Following directions in my Generation T book, I made this reusable bag from a T-shirt. I hand-sewed it just because I wanted to, and it looks cool.



Here it is, filled. With...dare I say it?? ...bargain fabrics. I fear I am becoming hopelessly addicted. And yet I think it's good. It's a good kind of addiction.

Watch me grow

Bags o' Fabric

Sewing equipment

The above two pix show the whole of my sewing equipment and materials, except for a smallish pile of patterns. I have yet to figure out a classy way to store these things that is out of the way yet easily usable. But when I do come up with a way I need to allow for expansion. I need room for more fabric, probably in clear boxes, perhaps for larger cutting boards, even, eventually, another sewing machine? I think it will be a while before I am looking for that, fortunately, but I am thinking about the serious sew-people I know (I don't like the term "seamstresses", which implies they are all women). Well, what is everything up there?

* A folding table. Six feet long, about 2-1/2 feet wide.
* Sewing machine
* Portable notions carrier (the purple thing) that has two plastic trays with thread and notions in them, plus pockets for scissors and other miscellaneous stuff
* Plastic boxes of fabric and additional notions
* Green cutting mat and clear straight-edge cutting edge
* Two soft bags of fabric

The investment is growing. So also is my enjoyment. I doubt I will save money in this enterprise but I'll be able to make what I want.

The fleece finish

Once I had the pattern pieces cut out I charged forward, anxious to get the fleece jacket done. And I did it. In spurts throughout the day and into the night last Friday I got it done. I made some mistakes and I hope I learned from them.

* The zipper placement isn't perfect. The instructions called for basting both front and back, through the zipper, which should have made it possible to get it right. The difficulty was that I had not ironed the fleece first, but rather finger-pressed it. This because what I have read about fleece scared me away from ironing it. It melts easily and pressing is not recommended. But if one must press it it can be done using a presser cloth or steaming from above. I could have done it for this and I should have.

* Similarly the bottom hem is not even. It would have been if I had used a damp press cloth and pressed it first.

* The pocket isn't square. There just isn't a good reason for this...I can't make a good even seam? I think it too may be a victim of my non-pressing.

It looks good overall, though, and it feels toasty warm and it's big enough for me to settle into comfortably. I am pleased with this step on the road to sewing expertise.