Hobo Fat Quarter Bag

Love this Bag!

Well as if making a set of Ravens Winter Accessories last night wasn't enough, I sewed up this Hobo Fat Quarter Bag as well.  My Inspiration was: This Tutorial.  I printed it out, and read it, went to JA picked up 6 Fat Quarters, and put them aside to start later.

So I started and putting 3 fat Quarters together across was 63 inches and looked HUGE so I began to deviate from anything that any pattern said and my bag took on a life of it's own.  Since I kept going with no idea what was coming next really, I didn't end up taking pictures, although I wish I had - it would have been fun to watch how this developed.  Anyway, I kept the basic idea of the bag, but I made this without looking at any directions...Which I'm proud of.  The bag is BIG... can fit a lot into it... but the stuff better be light! I love the look of it tho.

 

The Pieces....

 

Side One

 

Side Two...

 

Close up of the "Handle Channels" There are 3 on each side of the back.  There is elastic sewn in the top of the center panel.

 

A shot to help show proportion...

 

The other side

 

Just "Plopped" on the floor

 

I think this will be a fun bag!

 

Ciao!

Ravens Winter Accessories

Stay Warm!

Well,  It was Saturday and I was stuck all day...Didn't want to start a big project yet, so fumbled around all day looking at tutorials, reading the forum, straightening the sewing room, looking over my project list... Finally around 6 pm got motivated to make my Ravens Accessory Set....Hat, Gloves and scarf. Had to make a run to JA for the Ravens Purple yarn to make my new favorite Ruffly Yarn Scarf I learned from This Tutorial.  I already had some left overs to make an easy as pie Pom-Pom Fleece Hat I found at AllFreeSewing.com Made by Emi Harrington: "How to sew a Fleece Hat"  (Tutorial Video Here)  And the Gloves, well I'm making those up as I go along.

I started with the hat. Had a scrap big enough to use, cut an 11 x 21 3/4 piece. The "Ravans" couldn't be centered becuase of the way the scrap was cut and needing the 11 inches, so the back seam when I'm done will be a little off center... I can live with that.

 

I chose to use overlock stitch to sew the seam closed to make the tube (right sides together)

 

Turned right side out, and turned up bottom cuff twice.  The tute had a larger roll, and didn't sew it, but I had a shallow roll since I needed the word "Ravens" to show.  Since is was a shorter rollup, I decided to topstictch the roll, so it would stay in place amnd the wording would always be visible.

 

To make the Pom-Pom, Cut in on the top one inch in deep.  When you are at the and, cut out the seam piece of the fringe, so it is not bulky when you gather up the pom-pom.  Sew an elongated stitch (gathering stich but real wide) all the way around right underneath the fringe, with strong thread. you will gather the fringe up to make the pom-pom and wrap the thread around the bottom of the pom-pom the give it a solid bottom, and tie it off.

 

Be sure to pull the pieces out as you gather and tie up the fringe, and "fluff it out" and it will look like this

 

All done with the hat!

 

Next - The Gloves...

 

OK, admittedly I don't know what I'm doing and I don't want to do all those gussets because i tried that once and put it away after trying to sew the first seam.... So we are doing just plain seams, and turning.  So let's try one. 

 

Pattern of my Hand.  Lay it over the spot lined up to where I want the top of the hand to end up. I needed to sew about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch all around the hand and fingers and also to sew about let's say a good inch above the fingertips of the pattern.  This I only learned after completing the second glove, which was better than the first, but which still needed improving.  So I didn't take pictures, but basically figured out that I should cut it out like a mitten (not all in between the fingers and what not) and just for the sewing in between the fingers, and then trim the seam allowance when done.  I also realized with fleece I need to make the palms pleather.

 

 

 

 

This are still not prefect the way i want them, but they are wearable, although a little sweaty maybe?  I will keep practicing the seams between the fingers... I think I will need to make a template with more space between the fingers for seams... I know cutting corners doesn't yield the right results, but I just can't do all those gussets yet...  One day I will try that again...

 

 

 

 

 

The Scarf....

 

So My Favortie new scarf tutorial was put to use again with a ball of 109 yards of chunky purple yarn to make a 45 inch ruffly yarn scarf.

 

 

Basically you are "Zig-Zagging" the yarn bit by bit, bunching it together, and sewing it down the middle...

 

I'm showing here the bunching, but I had to use one hand to hold the camera, so this is not the best picture... The more bunched you make it the sttronger your scarf will be.  (the shorter, too, so if you want long, you may need two balls of yarn)  Once you are done, go back and run another stitch down the middle over the first one (close to it is good enough here) to add  the strength...

 

Okay - now I have a set of Ravens Accessories... Yaye!

I wore them this morning to the store and the cashier remarked that I "Must be a Raven's Fan"  :-)

 

Here's the set...

 

 

 

Check This Out...

 

The Funny thing is... Now when I ride in my Jeep, I am even more of a matching set, because I made Seat Covers out of this fleece, so I match my Seat covers!  Who can say that????

 

 

 

 

 

Sewn Ruffly Yarn Scarf

You Don't Need to Know How to Knit for One of These!

I came across this tutorial a few weeks ago on BurdaStyle, Sew a Ruffled Scarf and thought it would be great!  So I chose some yarn yesterday at JA and decided to try it.  It went along just as the tute said.  You will definitely need to sew a second strong stitch along the middle because i found just the one to be weak and it "ripped apart" I guess because it's hard to make sure your stitch is really grabbing the yarn enough to hold on.  I'm thinking if I bunched the yarn up more as i stitched down the middle, it might help hold the stitch better...it seemed I was not meticulous when it came to keeping that consistent going all the way down the scarf.  I bought 2 skeins - the other a Black & White, so I will try this again. Once I re-sewed those two places that had came apart, we were in good shape, and it's been good now. I had made sure i bunched them up good.  You will need to choose a Bulky yarn - or you might not get the fullness or ruffly effect.  The Yarn I chose was oh so soft and is real toasty around my neck.  It was 68 yds, and yielded a scarf of 1 1/4 yards, with me making the width about 5 inches.  It was rated 80g / 2.8 oz. (not that I really know what that means, but you might).  The total project was about 40 minutes....

 

It's funny, but when the yarn was rolled as it is when it's being sold, it sure didn't look like tarantula's legs...

 

The Next Day.... (today)

Well it's rainy out this morning and I have enough food for football snacks, so, I'm off to make my second scarf, of the black & white, so let's see if my new notes make a difference...

 

The beginning...

 

You criss-cross like this, so get a good handful of "rows"

 

Bunch them up together, and sew them up.. I used two hands to guide it through the feed, but needed one hand to take this picture....

 

So far so good...

 

The end... I was more conscious of "bunching" the strands up throughout the scarf this time, and with the 68 yds, I came out with a 43" scarf.  And BTW that second row of stitch to make it stronger--> don't sweat the fact that you will not find the exact middle seam that you made the first time around! the curly yarn will prevent that, where strands will lie on mis-strewn sides of one side or the other, but you will make a close path, and it will still be the strengthener.

 

 

All done!  It's so cozy!!!!!

 

This one took 30 Minutes....

 

Great to have a scarf made out of yarn even though I do not know how to knit!

 

Ciao!

Muslin Prep # 1 for SWAP 2013

In preparation for SWAP 2013,

I need to do a few muslin's for my motorcycle outfit.  Jacket, pants and cap.  The cap isn't part of SWAP, but it is part of the outfit.  I've been missing motivation to do the muslin's, because I am a 'go for it' kind of gal and making a whole garment that was 'just for practice' was hard for me to get motivated for.  I like to have a piece at the end of my work.  So i remembered a thread from SG a while ago by DatCat where she did a "wearable muslin".  I didn't comprehend what that was at the time, because I still didn't know what a muslin was, let alone the difference between a wearable or other type...  So, since then I learned what a muslin was so when I recalled DatCat's post, it made sense, and it was something I could get into. I had a stash of red corduroy from a while ago, so let's try that... I wanted to try the pants.  So let's see.. Had to cut out the pattern.  It was a download from BurdaStyle site, and I had already printed it out, pieced it together, and cut it out.  Let the clock start us off....

  

 

Well I jumped right in.  Started with getting the pockets settled, the pattern called for a lot more basting than I'm used to, but I really did more pin basting than any stitch basting.

 

 

Had to install the back pockets - They came out so cute.

 

 

 

 

Little more work and the front legs to the back legs, Press those seams!

 

Gotta wind more bobbin....

 

Now the Princess Seams yokes... 

 

Boy do I need a break!!!!! been going  and going!

 

 

Nothing energizes like a Brownie!  Can I afford it though? I've been so bad lately...

 

Okay... about an hour later, quick run to JA for matching buttons - I'm so pruod of myself  - i went to JA for buttons and got JUST the buttons!!!!! and then back to it....

So, I finshed off the legs, and the button holes, now to sew on the buttons...

 

 

Somewhere I read about this trick to put a toothpick in between the button and the fabric when sewing a button on, so figured I'd try it out.  It seemed to work out well.

 

Okay, we'll hem later (I always seem to do that (put off the hemming)

 

 

OK, 9 1/2 Hours, minus the break of about an hour.  Did I mention that I am driven on certain things?  I push myself.  DH always tells me i wear myself out... :)  I get involved and just get to going and the time just goes by....

 

So Anyway...

So, I really disliked the button fly.  It didn't sit right on the front.  A zipper closure would be much more flattering....  Well that's it for now, my game is on at 4 pm, and I never got to make those hors'd'oevres for DH (Buffalo Wings).  It really felt good to pop into my recliner and kick my feet up for a few hours! But me being me, I had to try something before bed....So now, how do I do this zipper? Well it took me two tries of pulling stuff apart, and trying, to yield no good results.  Face it I was exhausted, and disappointed. Had to get some sleep.

 

December 3rd

 

Well woke up with an idea of how to install the zipper for it to work.  And it did.  then a slight alteration to reign it all in, and I now had a wearable muslin.  I am going to reinstall the buttons over the "now fake" button holes (the top one is functional) just so I don't have empty button holes hanging out there, looking empty... But I now have a good prototype for my SWAP outfits. AND  I can wear these.

 

 

Ahh the joy of success!

 

I will be making this outfit out of Faux Brown Leather and Wine Distressed Denim.

 

Now to figure out which fabric I will use to make my wearable muslin of the jacket. :)

 

Ciao!