sewing – Page 48 – the long thread

April 29, 2008April 29, 2008

Ottoman Schmottoman

I hate this ottoman. I am in a period of crafrustration where none of my projects come out right, which is one reason that I’ve not posted the past few days. For this project, I used a cheaper blend version of sari fabrics, as silk obviously would not work for a project like this and would be too expensive. Still, the fabric was slippery and had to be backed with fusible webbing. Here’s the before and after shot of the ottoman, so I suppose it’s an improvement:

But in a house with two small children this is not the best fabric choice and it came out a bit sloppy. You should see the matching chair that I energetically ripped apart but have now decided that I am not capable of recovering. Oops. At least I bought upholstery fabric for that project. Do you ever start to hate something in your house so much that you must change it right away? That’s how I felt about this chair and ottoman. And I’ll probably feel compelled to change this again soon. Persistence, right?

Enough of my complaining. I still think that sari fabric would make some lovely pillows, and I like these colors. I used the wrong side of the fabric as it had a little less sheen and more muted color tones.

April 14, 2008April 14, 2008

Super Simple Ruffled Skirt

There are lots of girl’s skirt patterns out there (like here and here), but I made these the other day and thought I’d post the pattern since they were super simple and quick. My girls love the ruffles, but one is really enough for me to gather and sew.

Our children are tiny, so it’s difficult for me to gauge sizes, but the instructions below are for a small size 3 (European size 90). I added about 2 inches to the ruffle for my five-year-old, making the skirt 1″ longer (shown in second photo). The pattern below makes a pretty short skirt (about 9 1/2″ from waist to hem), so you might want to measure your child and adjust accordingly.

Supplies:

About 1 yard of fabric or 1/2 yard each contrasting fabrics
3/4″ elastic (about 20″ or so, depending on child’s size)
matching thread

Step 1: Cut fabric

Cut 2 each: 9″ x 15″upper part of skirt, 6″ x 30″ ruffle. Turn on your iron.

Step 2: Make side seam and Waistband

Sew upper skirt pieces, right sides together to create one of the side seams. Finish inside raw edge of seam*. Sew overcasting stitch on bottom raw edge of fabric.

At the ironing board, fold down top edge 1/2″ towards the wrong side of fabric, press and fold again 1″ to create the opening for elastic, as pictured below.

Sew in place. Measure child’s waist and cut elastic accordingly. Use a safety pin to feed elastic through the waistband:

Then pin at both ends to hold elastic in place for the next step. Optional: If you want to ensure that the elastic will not get twisted, you may sew it in place. Sew in the center of the waistband, pulling the elastic taut from the front and back as you sew. Pictured below.

Step 3: Make Ruffle

Fold each ruffle piece in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) and iron or pin in place. Sew together with 1/4″ seam and finish raw edge. Then sew two ruffle pieces together to create one long 60″ strip of fabric. Use a basting stitch to create gathers, being sure to leave extra long bobbin threads on both ends. Pull bobbin thread gently from one end then the other to create gathers. Pin in place on the skirt, right sides together and upside down (as shown below), starting at the center seam and working your way out. Adjust the gathers as you go.

Step 4: Finish

Sew remaining side seam, right sides together from the bottom of the skirt to the bottom of the waistband. Then sew elastic together with a zigzag stitch. Fold fabric edges of opening under and topstitch in place. Finish inside seam.

Done!

*When my instructions say to “finish” a seam, I mean to finish the raw edge of the fabric with an overcasting stitch after sewing the seam to avoid fraying. I often use a heavy overcasting stitch to join my fabrics and finish the edges at the same time. If you have a serger, lucky you!

As always, patterns posted on the long thread are for your personal use only. See licensing information at the bottom of this page. Thanks!

Be sure to upload your photos to the Flickr Make it Monday group. I love to see what you create!

April 12, 2008April 12, 2008

Pants, Part II

Here’s another pair of pants, this time for my five-year-old. Linen/cotton with fabric trim from Reprodepot (looks like they’re out of the blue). I think the old-fashioned look of this fabric would make very pretty trim for a pillowcase. I also embroidered some tees with a flower to go with their new pants. The one below goes with the yellow pants.

April 11, 2008

Ribbon-Trimmed Pants

This was my first go at making pants. Some linen/cotton blend capri pants for my three-year-old trimmed with vintage ribbon. I started with a pattern but pretty much scrapped it altogether. My kids have trouble keeping their pants up and the back of the pants really doesn’t require any more room than the front! This made it easier as I just cut four pieces exactly alike. Other than sewing the legs together and running out of trim (thus narrowing the pant legs), I think it went pretty well. If my frilly girls will wear pants, then I will make some more.

April 7, 2008April 14, 2008

Patchwork Flower

Here’s a quick little patchwork flower that you could use in a kid’s room or on a windowsill. I think a series of three in terra cotta pots would be sweet (like these I posted about a while ago). My kids are using this one as a magic wand.

Does a picture say a thousand words? Try to decipher my photo instructions here. E-mail me if you have questions about how to make this and I’ll post more details.