{ mail }

Lots of opening boxes this week! My new serger arrived. After much research and debate, I ordered the Brother 1034D. Originally, I wanted a combination serger and coverstitch machine. But, the most reasonable one I found was $600. Since I haven’t sewn in nearly 2 years, my thinking is to start on an affordable machine…

{ planning }

I found this amazing Simplicity 5933 pattern (published in 1983) at Austin Creative Reuse and was super excited about making the short sleeve top, view 1. The striped knit might be tricky, but I thought it’d be perfect. Measuring myself today though, the right size for this pattern would be a 14. And looking closely,…

{ fresh starts }

The office / guest room / craft room has finally been cleaned up so there’s space to stand in the room next to the bed. And, I’m feeling more rested than I have in nearly two years. So where did I leave off…. This pattern has been sitting in my closet gathering dust. Vogue V9004…

{ summer sweats }

Summer has arrived. And summer in Texas is HOT. Which means folks crank up the AC. Which means I’m always freezing indoors. My favorite summer outfits for errands are shorts and (breathable) long sleeve shirts, which is another reason why I love this Linden sweatshirt pattern. The same store where I learned to make this…

{ shortcuts }

My current project is a sleeveless blouse, Vogue 9004. Given that I don’t have much time to sew, and I have a large stash of fabric, I thought, “I don’t need a muslin. I’ll just make a shirt using real fabric.” And off I went! I recently read a blog that gave two rules for…

{ hiding zippers }

Searching through my stash for additional knits to make into sweatshirts (no luck!), I found one of my zipper experiments. I stitched the green star and the zipper to the felt. Then lined the pouch with an additional layer of felt. I’m delighted to have found this. These are fun, useful, and easy to make!

{ cloth pocket }

it’s a new year, with new goals and time to accomplish them. i haven’t pulled out the sewing machine in a while so i signed up for a class with Dixie DIY at The Cloth Pocket. we’ll be making sweatshirts with knits so i pulled out the fabric purchased from mood ages ago. you might…

{ yarn stash }

recently, a friend cleaned out her yarn stash and gifted me some beautiful wools. i really didn’t want them to go straight from her stash to mine so I started a quick cowl pattern. this was my first fair isle color work, and it turned out quite nicely. however, i didn’t have quite enough yarn…

{ sewcializing }

Whomp whomp…  I did not win any of the prizes from the Fabric Hop. But, I still consider myself a winner as I’m now on the Stitch Lab’s mailing list and get to hear about all sorts of amazing events and classes. Last weekend, they hosted a Sip and Sewcialize event to share info about…

{ a fabric shop hop }

Friday afternoon browsing the local paper, I spotted the Austin Fabric Shop Hop. It was a scavenger hunt type event that lead you to four local fabric stores to enter a drawing. Fingers crossed! My favorite fabrics were at The Cloth Pocket. Their current cotton prints are beautiful and trendy. I can’t wait for an excuse…