Sewing with Fire

Okay, not exactly sewing. But sort of...

I am making a blouse that has sort-of cape sleeves* with sheer crinkle material that coordinates with the main fabric. The 3/8" hem that the sleeves call for would be a real bear to do with this material, so I thought I would try singeing the fabric to stop it from fraying instead, and then leaving the edge unhemmed.

I snipped off a small piece of the fabric, because it was from my stash and purchased long ago, long enough that I don't recall the fabric content. In order to determine whether or not this technique will work, I stood over the sink (for fire safety) and used a lighter to burn an edge of the fabric. If the fabric melted and beaded up, I'd be good to go; if it flared up and burned, I'd be hemming after all. Fortunately, it melted! (Here's a very useful list of how various fibers burn. Great for identifying fabric, especially if you shop vintage! https://www.fabricmartfabrics.com/Burn-Test-Chart.html.)

Having already cut out my sleeves, all I had to do was singe the edges that were not going to be sewn. Because this fabric has a crinkle texture, I wanted to be sure to hold the edge taut and flat in the candle flame to get the cleanest edge and to prevent flare-ups. Also, as the melted edge cooled, it left me with a lettuce-like edge that I really love and didn't anticipate.

Here you can see that the singed edge is darker from the melted, beaded edge
and has become a little curly because I was stretching the crinkle out as it cooled.

A finished sleeve. The top edge is where it will be sewn onto the blouse, and is
not singed. You can see it doesn't have the same curly edge as the other 3 sides have.

Notes about working with fire and fabric:

1.  ALWAYS, always, always test your fabric first. It doesn't take a big piece, but do it. Snip off a scrap and test it. Over the sink, please, just in case it catches fire. (That's also why you want a small piece; it will consume itself quickly if it does catch fire.)
2. Petroleum-based fabrics give off toxic fumes when they burn. Polyester, the best material for this sort of thing, is petroleum-based. You shouldn't breathe the small amounts of smoke that it gives off. However, working outside makes it really hard to control candle flame, and potentially ruining your project. Work in a large room, with good ventilation. Don't work on large projects for long periods of time. If there's an exhaust fan available, use it.
3. I find the best part of the flame is about the middle. Not above (the flame dances around plus heat rises and makes it too hard to control what I'm trying to singe), and not close to the wick (too hot and too close to the melted wax, that I do not want on my fabric)
4. Practice on scraps. If you're not sure how it will work, even after you've determined that the fabric will melt and not flame up, practice your technique on scrap pieces of the same fabric. What works for me (see #3) might work differently for you, especially if you're using a different kind of candle (soy burns differently than beeswax burns differently than petroleum) than I do. 
5. Be prepared to make another one of whatever you're working on, in case air currents suddenly shift and there's now a big hole burned in that piece in your hand. It happens. Plan accordingly.

I'll update with the finished blouse soon!

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* They're not fully cape sleeves, in that they don't connect as a cape over the shoulders, but they don't enclose the arm, either. I tried to find the proper term for what these are, and failed. Will investigate further when I have more time...

Trying (AGAIN!) to Get Organized

It's impossible to work on projects when you can't find anything. When all the components are somewhere in this mess but you can't find them anywhere. When you know you have that thing but damned if you can figure out where it's gotten to. Lately I've really been missing sewing, and it's hard since my patterns were really disorganized and my fabric stash was a mess. The last few days I've been working on getting that better organized. Hancock Fabrics had pattern boxes on clearance (interestingly, they more or less match the hat boxes I bought from them on clearance a couple years ago), so I bought a bunch of them to organize my pattern library. It's not huge by any definition, but I left myself room to expand as my ability increases. So now I can lay hands on patterns quickly and easily, and ok, fine, but that still meant my fabric stash was a horrid mess. I didn't even know what all I had, since some of it was given to me by Mom, and some of it I'd had for ages.

I decided the most sensible thing was to sort out the things I knew I had projects for first. This fabric is to be made with this pattern (with a slip of paper with the pattern number and intended view), etc. etc... I have a bin-full of skirts and hats and a bag (with a matching hat). I'm not even sure how many; I didn't count, and honestly, I'm a little afraid to. The bag on top is material for a skirt for my daughter. Not in the bin are bags with fabric to make a skirt for a friend of mine, and two more for me. I have to remeasure her, and myself, since we've both lost weight, and I want to make sure they fit properly!

In addition to all of that well-intentioned and organized insanity, I also went through the bins of fabric under the basement stairs, so I could get a better handle on what I had, so I knew what I could play with once I finished the projects in the bin. [insert hysterical laughter here] I decided to sort by color, and grabbed a bunch of empty milk crates (they were handy) and lined them up on the floor and started sorting things into them. I quickly realized I had way more purple than would fit into a crate, so I dumped out a large bin and put the purple fabric in that, and pink soon followed. (I was astounded at the volume of pink fabric I had, truly!) Once I got the colors sorted, I started sorting within the color by fabric type, into gallon-sized zip-top bags, e.g.: sheer fabrics, satins, lining fabrics, velveteen, velour/stretch velvet, cotton, etc. So if I want purple velveteen, I can find purple velveteen. I only managed to finish this with the purple, not yet with the pink. I ran out of good storage options for the other colors, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do next, other than watch the sale ads and see who wants to sell me exactly what I want the cheapest. I did managed to separate out a bunch of small-patterned and juvenile cotton prints to use for doll clothes, and put those in a a drawer neatly labeled "Fabric for Doll Clothes."

* * *

I can't remember writing a specific post about my sketchbook, and looking back through old posts, don't find one now... Anyway, a while back, I had the idea that if I used a sketchbook and sort of "downloaded" my brain onto those pages, I'd sleep better, because the ideas would be out of my head and on paper. It only sort of worked. Putting down an idea that's nagging me leaves room for new ones, so some nights I still don't sleep well. I've had to get out of bed to find paper, prompting my husband to suggest leaving a sketchpad by the bed.  I had to draw a hat idea on a paper napkin in the car because I couldn't find paper and I had to sketch it right now, which led to us going on a quest to find a small sketchpad I can carry on my person at all times.

Also? I hate sketching with a pen.

With my reawakened millinery passion, I thought it might make more sense if I kept a separate sketchbook with hat stuff in there. That way I could also include images that inspire me, so that when I'm not in front of my computer (it happens, occasionally), I still have those visuals. I also included a little pocket with images of all the hat patterns I have so that I can reference those easily when I'm sketching or looking for design ideas.

I have transferred the hat ideas from my "main" sketchbook to the hats sketchbook, and have started adding new ideas. I haven't added the napkin sketch; I'm pretty sure I can do a better job with pencil and a decent reference photo.

The good news is, that even if I complete all my projects in that bin (yeeeaaahhhh... that's gonna happen soon), I have plenty of fabric and ideas to keep me busy for the foreseeable future. All my husband has to do is throw some food down in the basement once in a while, and I'll be fine.

That Time of Year Again...

End of the year, time to reflect and plan on the coming year, right? (Not to mention look back at everything you didn't get done in the current year.) I don't do resolutions. I never keep them. All I can do is try to get concrete things accomplished, and promise not to beat myself up too badly when I don't manage it.

So far, I'm making a preemptive strike on organizing my daughter's room. She has collections that need a little curating, and a whole lot of clothing that needs someplace to go. I think I have come up with a way to reorganize her closet and make better use of the space. Today has been all about laundry, weeding out things that don't fit and getting gifts washed and folded. Tonight maybe I'll go get the shelves I want to put in her closet, and then I can work on getting her better organized.

The basement is a huge mess. I managed to undo so much of the work I did last year, that I will practically be starting all over again. I really want to get that done this year, so I can get that wall painted.

And speaking of painting... I still have to finish stripping and sanding a bookcase I plan to use for cookbooks. (They're currently on a baker's rack that is starting to show a little stress from the weight.) I want to paint it to look like the pattern on my grandmother's recipe box. I want to paint the kitchen cabinets too, but that's going to be an enormous job, and I don't know when that will happen. I'm making new everyday kitchen curtains, but that will only take me a day, max. (Huzzah for quick projects!)

There's dozens of little projects, but if I can get those three big things done (her room, the bookcase, and the basement) then I think my life will be greatly improved for the other things.

From Dr. Thad to Groovy Girls

So I finished Dr. Thad and the Medications, and decided to leave the other 9 dolls for another time. It felt pretty good not to have to rush and panic! Then, in a surprising twist, she starts asking about Groovy Girls dolls again...

I had sent Mom a list of what I thought was the last updated inventory of the dolls she had, and then discovered that it was not an updated list, and that there were duplications. Hubby and I did a new inventory, and I pulled out all the duplicate dolls that were also in identical outfits. (I had already gotten new outfits for other duplications years before.*) We had stopped at one of the few stores in our area that carry the dolls, and I got three new outfits. When they left to go to the mall on their weekly pilgrimage, I undressed the duplicates and started messing with mixing and matching and giving them new hairstyles. When I finished, I still had one doll who needed a new outfit, and the clothes I had didn't suit. Chrissy Christmas wears green elf shoes and peppermint striped tights. She was going to need something seasonal for her outfit.

I tried looking for clothes online, but there doesn't seem to be any holiday clothing sets (odd, huh?), so I started looking for sewing patterns, and found an A-line skirt pattern/tutorial, but precious little else. So I winged it, like I usually do.

I crocheted a tube with a little flare at one end (looks a bit like a peplum), and added a ribbon at the center front to tie around her neck as a halter. For the skirt, I used material from something else that my mother had given me, because I needed a small-scale print. The skirt is basically just 2 rectangles sewn together in a tube, with elastic sewn into a casing at the top.

The green top doesn't match, but I don't think she'll care.

The ribbon is just looped through in a half-hitch.

I didn't have any narrower elastic than 1/2" -- I'll need to get something smaller.

Please note, I eyeballed and estimated everything. I didn't count my stitches, or use a pattern. I just held things up to her as I was going and decided if it looked right. (I have an unfortunate habit of cooking the same way, so lots of things never quite taste the same way twice.)

I had fun making it, did it in an evening, and now my daughter has a "new" doll! I ordered a handful of "naked" dolls on ebay, and will give them all new names and new outfits and hairstyles, and give them to her for Valentine's Day.

I'd like to make a doll wearing a bowling shirt like she wears for the Special Olympics bowling team, and she's been asking about a cheerleader doll (naturally, the only one on ebay right now is part of a lot), so I thought I'd make a cheerleader uniform in her school colors. Maybe make an iron-on (miniaturized) of the school mascot...

MORE PATTERNS
There seems to be precious little in the way of patterns for these wonderful dolls. If you've got an American Girl or Barbie or Cabbage Patch Kid, you're set, but not so much for the sweet and fun Groovy Girls. (If I end up making any of my own, I'll share them here.)

Strappy top from Anne E. Weaver (who also did the A-line skirt)
Wrap skirt and Halter dress from Hobo Mama
No-Sew Doll Fashions from old socks, from TLC 

Beach Baby Dolls has patterns for sale that will fit Groovy Girls.

Simplicity had patterns called "Dizzie Dolls" by Carla Reiss (from 2002?) that included a pattern for a 14" soft doll, one for clothes, and another for pets for those dolls. They appear to be out of print, but available on ebay. Look for Simplicity #5742, 5745, 5682.

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* Why not just remove the duplicates and give them away or sell them? Because she knows when dolls have been removed from the collection, and that upsets her. It's ok if they get new clothes, but taking them out of her collection completely is Bad. She got home from school before we finished the inventory. I took the duplicates in our bedroom and hid them. She went upstairs, and immediately noticed. I had to get Marc to hustle her out of the house so I could finish the inventory and recostume them. When they got back, she went upstairs first thing and then brought me one of them, saying "she looks fancy." (One of the new outfits was an evening/party dress.) I told her that she had a new outfit, and she was fine with that. So long as no one is missing, it's all ok.

"Apron" Curtains

I love vintage aprons. I don't want to use them as a window valance, because the afternoon sun would destroy them. I have a small wire frame "mannequin" that I use to display them one at a time in my dining room.

Mom gave me the idea to use the basic shape of an apron as a valance, but made with new fabric. I decided to try it, and even found some vintage-look Christmas prints at Joann's. I made a pattern piece for a gently-curved half apron, sized to fit my window. Each of the "aprons" is 20 inches wide at the top, 25 inches wide at the bottom, and 15 inches long, not including the rod pocket, which adds about 1.5 inches to the length.

Basically, I hemmed the sides and the bottom, sewed the contrasting rod pocket to the top, added a matching decorative pocket to the left front, and sewed on rick rack. I did it in a single morning.

Yes, Virginia, that is a Kitchen Witch. I didn't set out for it to, but the new valance coordinates with her.

Note that they are not as full as more traditional curtains would be. Usually, you want your fabric to be about double the width of your window, but I wanted the apron shapes to be apparent. My window is 72 inches wide, the width (at the top) of my valance is 100 inches. It has a little fullness, but isn't bulky.

I also didn't sew all of the pieces together; each of those "aprons" is a separate piece, that can be rearranged and maybe more importantly, can be washed separately. I did prewash the material, but with all those colors with the off-white fabric...

I went with three solids and two print (that were the same background color) so that it wouldn't be too busy. Each apron has a coordinating rod pocket and front pocket; for the five aprons, there are eight different fabrics. (In part because I couldn't decide between some of the prints, so I found a way to use most of them.) They overlap on the corners, showing off the decorative pocket. If I was feeling really ambitious, I suppose I could put something lightweight in the pockets, like little artificial flowers, or something, but I like they way it looks as is.

I'm so pleased with the way this turned out, I'm going to make more for year-round use, using more retro prints.

nighttime

October's Hat: Pumpkin Beret

A quickie, made in a few hours. This is the same beret pattern I always use (McCall's 2629, out of print), but the top of the beret is pieced to look like the lobes (ribs?) of a pumpkin. Once I got it all sewn together, I ran a stitch up the bottom of the hat to connect with the pieced top. Yes, there is a seam that runs through the middle of my "pumpkin," but I didn't want to spend the day figuring out how to do it without the seam.

To get the stem, I cut a piece of felt on slight angle and rolled it up. I stitched that together at the bottom, and secured the loose end, then stitched it to the center of my beret. I found a pattern for pumpkin leaves, and used a crocheted corkscrew to look like vine, using a YouTube tutorial. (Yes, it's true: I didn't know how to make one of those things until today.) I was lucky enough to have yarn that matched the felt on hand. In fact, all of this was from my stash.

You can see the vertical stitch here.

Honestly, I don't think this could have been any simpler. And now I have something to wear when I meet Jill Thompson later this month!

The Skirt of Evil!

Cross-posted to Plastic Heroines. This is going to be really brief, because I didn't get nearly enough sleep. Then I think I might have to take a nap before dinner... I'll post more about the overskirt I made later.

I finally got the Skirt of Evil cut out and sewn up. I finished the skirt at midnight, and got up this morning to make an overskirt. (It's the same simple pattern as the Skirt of Awesome, but this time I sewed the seams down.)

I saw the fabric at Joann's, but it was pricey, then they had an internet-only 24-hour sale, and I caved. Unfortunately, one of the styles (the dark grey in the top row) sold out, but I was able to buy some in the store (not on super-sale).

Purchased at Joann's. If you love it, go get it; they're sold out online.

I need 13 wedges to make my skirt. To figure out how I wanted to use the fabric, I used a triskaidecagon* with the wedges marked out, and the Photoshop "define pattern" and "fill" tools, and played with it until I got this:

Top of the image is the front of the skirt.

That enabled me to play with the colors and patterns until I got the look I wanted. Then I knew how many wedges of each color I needed, and could cut them out. Pinning it together took nearly as long as sewing. Then I turned in all the exposed edges, stiched them down, turned the waistband and added bias tape to the hem. There are no exposed edges, none.

Comfortable, floaty... and evil!

The overskirt is shimmer tulle petals attached to an elastic band using half hitch knots. It's longer in the back.

Sparkly!

The overskirt isn't supposed to look like a tutu, or a petticoat (worn on top); it's supposed to look like a cloud of malevolence, stalking toward you. Mwahahahahaaaaaaa!

More craziness: e.l.f. makeup featuring palettes for four Disney villains, found at Walgreens. Bought 'em. Had to. All four of those ladies (Evil Queen, Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula) are all on my skirt! 



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* triskaidecagon = 13-sided polygon

Geeky Creations

I'm attending Geek Girl Con next month, and nothing is ever simple. Not when you're me, anyway... So I have all these projects in my head of things I want to do/make/wear, and (as usual) things aren't going as smoothly as I would prefer.

My first project was inspired by a friend commenting that I needed a little top hat to go with the Skirt of Awesome. And dammit, he was right. I used the Fleece Fun pattern and made one with fabric left over from the skirt, and have been playing with it since, trying to get the materials exactly right.

The decorative element at the band is a button. I originally
had a brooch, but it was too big and heavy. I still have to
attach this to a headband, and sew things on.

Then I was apparently experiencing an alien possession, because I decided that I needed a petticoat to go under the Skirt of Awesome. The petticoat is equally awesome, and matches the bias tape perfectly... and is inches too short. :( So, I bought a half-slip, removed the elastic from the petticoat, and will tack it onto the half-slip to lower the level of floof so it hits the hem of the skirt.

Currently safety-pinned on, I have to sew it yet.

I decided that for the Friday night kickoff party before the convention, I wanted to go kinda butch. I found a vest (that needed new buttons, natch), a sportcoat that I found on ebay that I'm still not 100% certain of, and a purple silk tie that I am going to embellish. Plus two purple fedoras (one is a trilby) that needed feathers. I need a plain white dress shirt, that I can wear with the tie. That's proving to be the biggest problem. With all of that, I also finally decided how I wanted to finish the spray painted jeans, so I have to finish that, too.

New hats! The purple/black houndstooth came with tan and red feathers -- ew.

I want to make a charm bracelet or two, using Shrinky-Dink plastic for inkjet printers, and a couple of necklaces. I've got my images ready to print out, but otherwise haven't started on that yet.

While I was at Joann's trying to find bits and pieces for the things I'm making, I stupidly glanced at the licensed fabric (just in case they had the Girl Power stuff or any related things). And I found some moody-colored stuff with the Disney villains on it. Then I looked at it online just after midnight, and saw that it was 40% online (web-exclusive sale) and only 25% off in-store. I couldn't resist. I started planning the skirt and an overskirt to wear with it. And then I checked online this afternoon... and saw that 2 of the 5 fabrics I ordered are already "unavailable" and I had to go get them in the store. At the higher price. (grrr...)

Won't that make an awesome skirt???

In the process of writing this post, the purple fabric has become "unavailable" and my order is still "processing." OMG... /headdesk (UPDATE: As of Thursday morning, 4/5 of them are "unavailable" and searching for "villain" - how they came up before - yields no results.)

I think it's time to break out the vodka.

April's Hat: More Flowers!

Spring, at last! My flower garden is showing signs of life again, and I am so happy the snow is gone.

To make this hat, I used the Folkwear Metropolitan Hat pattern. Other than the gathered detail of the crown, which kind of eluded me, I found it straightforward and easy to make. I used fleece for the exterior, and for the lining some tie-dyed cotton blend that I had from my stash.

Years ago, when I was trying to make the awful drafty windows in our old house less so, I covered them with panels of fleece as makeshift insulation. For my daughter's room I used cream and stitched bright fleece flowers (from a remnant) randomly all over them. The fleece for my hat came from those "curtains."

Sewn together, with one of the fleece flowers stitched on. Sewing on all those little flowers took forever.

It's a comfy, slouchy hat, cheery and bright and fun. And it's probably too warm to wear it now, but it can also be a great hat to wear in the cold and snow, bringing a little sunshine to a winter's day.

I will almost certainly make this hat again, but I think I will eliminate the gathered crown. Or maybe I just need to play with it some more to figure out exactly what the instructions are telling me to do...

Pattern Review: Sashay Skirt

Last August, I got a pattern and some material, and planned to make a skirt from some DC Superheroine fabric. This past weekend I finally made it, and a beret to match (naturally). The Indygo Junction pattern for the Sashay Skirt could not be easier unless it sewed itself.

There is a single pattern piece, it's sized by adding panels to the trumpet skirt, and has an elastic waistband. The directions call for serging the seams, leaving them exposed, with the option of sewing them to the inside. I don't have a serger, and I don't care for the look of all those exposed seams, so I sewed them to the inside. Honestly, it took way more time to pin all those panels than it did to sew them together.

The hem is curved and I quickly discarded a rolled hem as being a huge pain in the butt. I ended up using bias tape to do an enclosed hem instead. The coordinating quarter inch tape stiffened the hem a little, making it tend to stand out a bit; it's an effect that looks quite nice. It was time consuming; my hem was nearly 6 yards around because of the number of panels I used. For all the pinning and seams that had to be sewn, I still got it done in a day.

It's a really cute skirt, hitting me just below the knee. The flared hem is flattering and the elastic waist comfortable. It moves nicely, swirling with my steps, and twirling in it flares it out without being immodest since it's straighter at the hips. The way its pieced lends itself to many different combinations of color and pattern. Make it all one fabric, or make every one different -- it's up to you and your own sense of design. I used 4 different patterned materials from a single design line from Camelot Fabrics, but this won't be the last time I make the Sashay Skirt. And because you custom size it by the number of panels, I can easily make a skirt for my daughter using that same single pattern piece, unlike with most patterns where you have to cut into a multiple-sized pattern pieces, making them useless to make another size.

NOTE: If you have a directional pattern on the material, you're going to need more fabric than the instructions call for unless you don't care if some of your panels are upside down. (One of my blue panels is -- oops!)

You can see here that the light blue panel on the left of the photo is upside down.

Lots of nice flare at the bottom.

Showing how the bias tape gave a little body to the hemline.

The bottom of the beret is of a sparkly pink material that doesn't quite match the
bias tape, but coordinates nicely with the pinks in the material.

I chose to add a little bling to my skirt with hot-fix crystals, and used the assorted color pack of 300 from Tulip. Cost-wise, they were 300/$15 for 12 colors (at Joann's) vs. the Swarovski Elements 90/$10 (for two coordinating colors). Since I wanted to add them to the skirt and to the beret, and since I had a lot of colors to choose from, Tulip was the way to go, even if they're not as nice as the Swarovskis. I have added 3 to each panel of the skirt, and then finished the beret so I knew I would have enough for both, and plan to add more to the skirt.

These are not as sparkly as the
Swarovski Elements iron-on crystals,
but they're about half the cost.

I consider myself a novice seamstress. I haven't done a lot of garment sewing. I've never sewn in a zipper, and I've never done buttonholes. Pattern directions often confound me because they don't make a lot of sense, so I tend to wing it. This pattern was a piece of cake. I'm so happy that I bought it, and I'm thrilled with my results. I highly recommend it.

Shoe-Inspired Jeans

I have been lusting after a pair of shoes for months. I had a coupon, and it was available to use today, finally.

[Cue angel choir]

Rock & Candy "Jackrabbit" in black

They come with cotton lace shoelaces... which are adorable... and fragile... so I replaced them. 

Woven laces tutorial here: http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/angledcheckerlacing.htm

I've been wanting to do a pair of embellished jeans for a while, and this pair of shoes has inspired me. After I bought my shoes (and the new shoelaces), I headed to the nearest Goodwill. There I found a pair of black jeans that fit well and were in good condition, and also found a floral print knit shirt that has a pattern than nearly matches the floral pattern on the shoes. From there, I went to Joann's, and bought some fabric spray paint, dimensional paint, heat-set rhinestones, paisley-print felt, ribbon roses and lace trims. After I got home, I laced up the shoes (tricky, but it sure looks nifty), then went down to my stash of fabric to gather anything purple that looked like it might work. I also grabbed a couple of sequin appliqués that I really want to use somewhere. Gathered all together, this is what I have:

Now I'm not sure how I'm going to use all of that stuff, IF I will use it all, but this way I can play with the pieces together and see how they might work. I'm kind of kicking around the idea of making my own paisley appliqués. One thing I know I want to do is to lay the jeans flat and cover them with an old lace curtain, then use the spray paint to paint through the lace. I thought I'd freehand paisleys with the metallic black paint writer... but now I'm not sure I want to do something so simple. If I make my own appliqués, I can sew them on the machine, maybe do some embroidery and beading.

Brainstorming on paper: The sketch on the left shows the side seam of the leg opened up and a
lace insert added, with the sequin appliqué at the top of the split.

So many options!

In addition to the jeans, I want to make a Metropolitan Hat (from Folkwear patterns) to match. It's a very similar style to a velvet hat I had years ago that I loved, then donated to Goodwill because I never wore it. The Folkwear hat has a wider brim than the one I had, but that's an easy thing to alter.



And maybe if this goes well, I can make another pair of jeans to go with these...

"Jackrabbit" in mint green (looks aqua to me)

Fits & Starts

HATS

I haven't forgotten about my February Hat! I've been working on it -- "them" actually -- but I've run into a few issues here and there that have impeded progress. I hope to have them finished today or tomorrow. They need to be done in time for Valentine's Day.

ALTERATIONS

In other news, I've decided to alter some clothes my mother made for me years ago. The jumpers that I so loved at the time are too young a style for me, and no longer fit. I'm removing the bodice to remake them as skirts. The next part is a bit trickier. I could roll the new waistband and sew in elastic, or I could make and sew on a waistband that. Easier by far to roll it, but I don't know if that's going to put too much bulk around the waist when it's gathered. The other issue with making a new waistband is that I'll have to cut material off the hem to make the casing, and I'm not sure if that will make the skirt too short. The best way (for me, YMMV) is to do one with the rolled waist and see if it works. If it does, I'm good to go on the others; if not, I'll need to look at my options. I'm also toying with dyeing one and embellishing others. I think I'll take the berets with me when I go to the store so I'll have the material with me in case I need to check colors.

MORE HATS

Two of the berets I made recently were made without a headband. For whatever reason, Mom and I decided that they didn't need them when she made the for me (to match the jumpers), so that was how I made the once I made. On a whim the other day, I cut out the band piece and sewed it on the rose beret, and what do you know, it does look better. So, I think I need to do the same for the other berets, including the ones Mom made. I can use the material from the bodices to get the band, with some creative placing of the pattern piece.

I'm planning a couple more hats, but not sure where they're going to fit into the monthly lineup. They may be bonus hats, because I'm crazy that way. I bought the material for one this morning, and in my obsessive plunder of the remnants, found some pleather... and I'm dying to dig into it. Remnants seriously rock. Not only are they discounted from what you'd pay off the bolt, but they're usually just the right amount for making a hat. A beret only takes about a half-yard, and the other hats I've made -- the toque and pillboxes -- use even less. Anyway, I didn't find much that tickled my fancy as far as embellishing the remade skirts, but it's not like I have a deadline, and I can double-check my stash.

Making Simple Things More Difficult

Here's Matilda modeling the poncho, and Agatha modeling the beret.
So nice to see the girls cooperating.

What can I say, it's a gift.

I decided that I needed a beret to go with my poncho. There was a large enough piece of the border material to make a circle, but then my beret would have had stripes, and that wasn't the look I wanted. So, I folded the pattern piece into quarters, scanned and printed it out. I wasn't sure I could do what I wanted, so I printed out three more so I could place the pattern pieces on the material -- and learned I didn't have enough material to do it that way. Folding the piece into eighths made it possible to use the largest amount of the bordered material, and use only two wedges that used very little of it.

I added a half-inch seam allowance to my pattern wedges.
Also, printing on "draft" uses a whole lot less ink.

Wedges cut out and arranged before pinning.

At the top, there's a bit I need to hand-sew, because I wasn't able to get the sewing machine to get all the way down, once I had several wedges sewn together.

I can stick my finger through the hole in the center. Easily fixed.

I think I need to sew in a basic lining, because the inside is kinda ugly.

I did stitch down the edges at the base of the crown, and considered doing that to the wedges,
but didn't want to stiffen the softness of the upper crown, or make it look too tailored.
A lining may be in order.

All in all, I am enormously pleased that my idea worked as well as it did, since I was pretty much winging it. I think this is a pretty sweet use of the bordered material I love so much.

So that was my Sunday evening.

On Saturday, I made this:

The pattern came from Fleece Fun, and is super-easy. Unfortunately, I learned that I have good reason to hate and fear buttonholes. Because I suck at them. I ended up sewing a tight zigzag instead, and it worked pretty well.

I'm happy with how the hat turned out, but I think I should have gone with a medium instead of small, as it's a bit snug (even with the ribbon untied). For reference, my head measures 22". Unfortunately, as cute as it is, I don't think I like the style on me. It's basically a cloche, and not my preference. I hemmed the edge with a zigzag stitch, but I think it would be really cute if it was hemmed with a short straight stitch, stretching as you sew, making a lettuce edge.

Anywho, if you haven't yet visited Fleece Fun, go. She has so much there -- for free! -- that you're crazy not to check it out. Her satin hair flowers are going to end up on my thrift store hat redo, as soon as I get some more satin.

UPDATE:

I lined the beret and it looks much better. I was concerned that it might change the way the hat lies on my head, but it doesn't appear to have done so.

I also ripped out the zigzag hem of the leopard hat, and restitched it with a straight stitch, pulling the fabric as I went to ruffle it slightly. It's cute. :)

From the Basic Hat with Ribbon pattern available at FleeceFun.com