Fun at the Machine

I bought some basic thread (white, navy, and black) at Joann's on Friday so I could play around with my new serger. Saturday morning was a lot of instructional video watching, which taught me the different features of the machine as well as how to thread the machine. The threading took a couple of tries but in the end I learned and it's pretty easy! :) I'm super happy about my purchase and I was able to finish the cozy cardi! Here's the completed piece just hanging on a hanger. I'll have to take better pictures another day.



See my scrap bin on my machine. You can tell the machine got some good use this weekend.



I serged all the raw ends of my wool pieces to prep for pre-shrinking later this week based on this blog. It's so pretty and exciting! (I'm such a nerd!)



My hubby and I went to Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown on Saturday for a date! Here are some of my favorite pictures.



Not very good lighting inside the building, but it'll have to do. Can you tell we're Texas fans?! :) Hook'em Horns!

Silk

I washed the black silk charmeuse the other night in the bathtub with a little bit of shampoo and my bathtub was covered in black/purple dye! Hahaha.. later I found that silk doesn't hold color very well especially dark colors (particularly black) from a website... but I can't find the website anymore.

Here are some more tips in handling silk:
http://www.emmaonesock.com/guides/silkcharmeuse.asp
http://www.denverfabrics.com/pages/static/Silk/silk-fabric-care-sewing.htm

I just need to press it and then I will be ready to be cut into the beautiful black silk charmeuse! I wonder if my scissors are too dull to cut into the silk... I suppose I should test it on a corner first. I'll be turning this into a silk blouse using Simplicity 2601 and it will be the first piece in my fall SWAP.

This has definitely been a learning experience. Hopefully, I can summarize my whole experience from purchase of fabric through final product once I finish my project.

Silk & The Common Thread

I went all out and bought some silk charmeuse! It's so supple and lovely! I bought some black silk charmeuse to make Simplicity 2601A and a skinny tie for the hubby.



I'm not sure what I'm going to use the printed silk for. I was thinking I would use it for the lining of my jacket in the Fall SWAP, but I don't want to anymore because I don't think it'll match. Hmmm... I suppose I'll have to stash it and find out later. :)

I bought the silks from The Common Thread here in Austin. The shop is a new local apparel fabric shop, which I'm super excited about! You can find good quality apparel fabric... I know I'll definitely be shopping there more often as soon as I use up some of my fabric stash.

While searching for tips on sewing with silk, I came across a couple of different things on the internet. (I love the internet!) I think I'm still a little intimidated to sew with such luxurious fabric!

This one is a video with Sandra Betzina. I think it's helpful! Who knew silk could be washed with shampoo?!

This one is an article at CraftStylish.

Fall/Winter SWAP

I'm only halfway through with my summer SWAP, but I've already drawn and planned out my fall/winter SWAP. I need a wardrobe update as well as some clothes that fit... my existing clothes are getting big. :) Instead of using line drawings of the patterns from the internet, I thought I'd sketch them out. It was pretty fun to do it this way and scan them into Photoshop to do a little coloring. (My graphic design teacher from high school would not be proud of how I cleaned up my edges... oh well...)



I'm going to try to use my fabric and patterns from my stash... I have too many of both of these and need to start using them. :) No more fabric buying until I can use some out of my closet.



My main fabric for the SWAP is a black silk suiting, which is the black chunk on the bottom right corner. I love the texture on it and it will used to make a 4 piece suit... jacket, skirt, pants, and vest... if everything goes as planned and I have enough yardage. I bought last year from fabric.com.

Madison & Dresses & Gifts

This past summer was a lot of studying, (but it still was NOT enough!) which left me with not much sewing and crafty things and especially blogging. I did manage to make Amy Butler's Madison bag, a boatneck dress (Butterick 5210), a summer dress (Simplicity 2925), and some gifts... and there are a few WIPs. I cutout Amy Butler's Sophia bag in Ginger Blossom fabric, started an apron in Midwest Modern fabric, and bought more fabric for other gifts and projects. So much to do so little time...

::Madison Bag:: Amy Butler's Lotus Wallflowers in Cherry and ivory broadcloth



I love this purse! It's bigger than it looks and fits a lot of things. Some mods are adding a patch pocket and zippered pocket to the lining, which are awesome! The patch pocket is on the front lining and the zippered one is on the back lining.



For the zippered pocket, I used a tutorial from U-handbag here. The pattern review is found here.

::Boatneck dress (B5210):: Amy Butler's Belle Coriander in pink and ivory broadcloth. Overall, it was an easy dress to make. I absolutely love the pockets!



Click here for a review.

::Yellow Dress (S2925):: Pale yellow rayon challis and white rayon challis for the lining. This also was an easy dress to make but the fabric was little to difficult to work with because it was so fluid... just need more practice.



Click here for a review.

Here are some gifts I made for a co-worker. It was for her birthday, baby shower, and just because.
::Tile coasters made from ceramic tile, scrapbooking paper, and Mod Podge::


::Burp cloths and baby blanket::


::Potted Daisy from Anapaulaoli pattern::

Joel Dewberry Fabric

I bought my first set of Joel Dewberry fabric from quilthome.com.  It is beautiful!!  (The local quilt stores here didn't carry his line so I had to buy it online.)  

I will be making placemats and napkins for a co-worker out of these...

I was going to make some placemats out of the Aviary fabric, but it was too yellow for the person I was going to make it for. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now... I still love the fabric! Maybe I'll still make placemats and save them for someone else... too bad I can't work on any of these just yet. I have a test in less than a week I need to study for. =P


I can't wait for his new home dec line to come out!! It's so exciting. It can be previewed here. I especially like this one...

Feb Fabric Bazaar

Bought some BeAUTiFuL fabric at the First Samples fabric bazaar on 2/9/08. These are what I bought. ^__^ I was able to find some fabric from Amy Butler's Forest line...