Sew Spoiled

Playing around with fabrics I put together this fun number. It is a backpack with the pocket design from the Tailgate Teammate Tote . I think I will carry it with me while the girls are trick or treating this Thursday. We are always in need of tissues and I usually have to carry a costume prop that fell off or something one of the girls grew tired of carrying. Maybe I should make Treat or Treat Bags with this design, there is time right?? The top backpack straps are sewn to the bottom of the bag and the lining is the same as the outside pockets. The embroidery is one of my favorites from Meringue Designs . Overall I really like it! It is easy to wear and use. I love pockets, so the more the merrier. Happy Sewing!

Hi All, I hope you are enjoying fall as much as we are. This weekend we set to work on craving and painting our pumpkins. First opening the tops of the pumpkins and digging the seeds out. I am so glad that the weather has turned cooler because hot weather and pumpkins don't mix well. This is my sister, she is an awesome pumpkin craver! We are so blessed to have her help. She comes over every year to help with craving and decorating the pumpkins. Yucky seed mess. We were smart this year and started with newspaper on the table first before craving. Sometimes we even save the pumpkin seeds and roast them. All in all we had a great time craving, eating and sharing time together which is the most important part. So serious when we paint! Happy Halloween!

When the girls and I went through their winter clothes to see what we could still wear, we found a fleece pullover that was too small. It was my daughters favorite! She quickly looked through my fabric stash and found fleece fabric. So I set to work, looking for a size 6 bodice and trying to figure out this puzzle of a pullover. I looked for a pullover fleece pattern but I have not found one. If you have a fleece pattern recommendation please share! After drafting the front and back bodice, sleeves and hood. I put everything together quickly. I think the hoody could be deeper but over all I am happy.  If you are wondering about the steps, it was not to bad.  First, I finished the edges of the two chest bodice panels.  Second, I gathered the front bottom panel and sewed the two chest panels to the front bottom panel. Over lapping the two chest panels at the center of the bottom panel, topstitch across. Third, I sewed the front panel to the back panel at the top of the sh

I love my new jacket! The weather is just starting to get chilly. The NC state fair is also in town, so this jacket is perfect for a cool night at the fair. Navy twill was a good choice for the exterior because it goes with everything. The only changes I made were the side pockets, no gather sleeves and I lined the hood.  Here is a side view with the hood folded away. I like the wide collar and how much it covers your face to shield you from the cold weather. There is also a lot of room for a scarf.  This is my hood. By the way, I have already washed it twice. Once to get the tailor chalk lines off of it and once after spilling tea on it. The twill fabric holds it shape and washes very well.  The elastic around the middle is my favorite part of the design, it makes it look like a woman's coat.   The lining is a fun grey and blue blossom print. My Sew Spoiled label is tucked into the pocket and packet seam. I thought about embroidering the bottom of the coat with

The Minoru Jacket by Sewaholic is coming together nicely!! In this picture I am creating the outer shell.  I am sewing the side seam and sleeve together. The Sewaholic Sew Along site has each step in detail of how to complete it. I love pictures! The diagrams are nice but photographs are the best! I started to sew quickly and forgot to take pictures. I need to slow down! This is the end result after sewing the hood, collar and jacket base together. I slipped it on to see if the sizing was correct. Thankfully everything fit. I did not make a muslin because I couldn't wait to start. My size is 34" bust, 27.5" waist and 36" hips, incase you are about the same size, I cut out a size 8 but drafted the hip area down to a size 4. It is working perfectly. With the 2" wide elastic pulling in the middle of the jacket, I think I can adjust it even more to be suitable for my size. Here I have sewn the packets on and basted the metal zipper onto the packets on eit

Finding the supplies for the Sewaholic Minoru Jacket pattern was a bit difficult. Plus the cost is more than what the cost in the stores would be for a new jacket. This always makes me so mad.  I looked everywhere for the best prices. Fabric.com had the best price on poly/cotton twill at $5.93 per yard . Plus it was over 59" wide so I did not need as much as I bought. (It is still at this price and I highly recommend it.)  Zippers can be hard to find online too, I did buy a 24" zipper at first and then had to reorder a new 28" zipper because it was to short. I found zipper galore at ZipperShipper.com . They are located in Arlington, Virginia and they have every zipper  imaginable.  4 yards of Outer shell fabric= $23.72 3 yards of Lining= $18.97 2 Zippers= $8.00  1 yard of Elastic=  $3.00 Pattern= $16.70  (I understand the pattern cost. I will probably remade this so that cost will drop.) Total= $70.39 This did make me feel better. I found this

When I received this book, Perfect Party Dresses , I squealed with joy! This adorable book is filled with beautiful patterns from 2T to size 10/12 girl dresses.  I love these dress. Smocked dresses are usual in solid colors but I love the colorful print dresses. These would make adorable Easter dresses. Now is a great time to buy spring fabric on sale. I think I will buy cheap spring fabric prints now and make Easter dresses later. This would make an incredible Christmas Carol dress! The rich chocolate and bright green is divine.   There is a petticoat too that is made separate and fits under the dress to make it full. The  Perfect Party Dresses  book also comes with full size paper templates. No tissue!!! By the way, most of the smocking is made  separate from the dress and then cut to fit an area and sewn on the dress. That is great for beginners. You can try a few times, then cut and sew together. I have learned so much already just looking through it.  Best W

I recently bought the Minoru Jacket pattern from Sewaholic. I loved the look and with the season changing to fall the Minoru jacket looked perfect! I have never made a jacket from a pattern before I am hoping everything will work out. The Minoru Jacket also has two zippers to install, gathering and topstitching so it should be fun! Over the weekend, I went to JoAnn's to buy fabric for my jacket but when I got to the counter the bolt was one yard short of what I needed. Aaaahhh! So I left and bought some fabric from online. Fingers crossed it will be the right kind for the outer shell. In the meantime I am copying the pattern templates for size 8. Sewaholic patterns are for pear shaped women and I had to draft the size 8 down to a size 4 in the hips because it would have been too large in the hips. I can't wait for my zippers, fabric and elastic to get here so I can start to cut and sew. Sewaholic has already had a sew along for the Minor Jacket. I have been reading and dro

Thank you again to all of the testers who not only tested the Tailgate Teammate Tote sewing pattern but also sent in pictures. This is a collage of all of the testers totes we featured in September. Thank you again to all of our sponsors who sponsored all the supplies needed to make your own Tailgate Teammate Tote . Our readers appreciate your generosity. 1. ta dah!! , 2. nice, just don't look at the zipper too closely-1 , 3. 20130821_6756b , 4. 20130821_6765c , 5. 20130813_6546a , 6. 20130813_6534a , 7. 2013-08-08 14.45.21 , 8. 2013-08-08 14.46.22 , 9. IMG_4684 , 10. IMG_4687 , 11. IMG_4676 , 12. IMG_4674 , 13. 20130821_135406 , 14. morebag 009 , 15. bag 002 , 16. totebaginside3 Thank you!