It's Costume Time Again

Working on costumes again for the upcoming production of The Lamb-A Passover Perspective of the Last Supper.  Our church performs this production every year--now the third year.  It really is an educational, as well as spiritual performance to see.  Hopefully, I will be able to get a link afterward for you to view the performance.  I have 2 costumes to make--each totally different.  One is the overcoat worn by 'Jesus' and the other is a more dressy costume for one of the daughters of the Host Family--the main focus aside from the disciples and Jesus in the 'Upper Room'.

Aside from all this, I have started taking lessons to learn how to knit.  I tried several years ago--got discouraged and packed it all away.  Recently, a friend introduced me to loom knitting which is pretty cool.  But it also got me thinking that maybe I should try again--with one-on-one lessons to learn how to knit.  I always viewed it as an unattainable craft to learn, as I once did for sewing.  But when it came to finally taking lessons to sew about 4 years ago--I jumped in whole-heartedly.  So, I plan to do the same with knitting.  I am still working on what I learned in the first lesson which is casting on and the knit stitch.  Of course, I make lots of mistakes and don't know how to correct them, but just keep on plodding along just to get more comfortable holding the needles and making the stitches without looking like a stiff robot!  Here's the place where I am taking lessons, in case you want to check it out yourself-It is called True Blewe Yarns & More.  If you have any knitting tips for a beginner, I would be happy to learn them!

Christmas Napkin Time Again!

I am sure if you're a sewer, you have probably been pretty busy finishing up Christmas gifts.  I decided to make Christmas napkins again this year, but a bigger size and more to give to each person.  If you read a previous post, I was given a large gift of fabric and patterns from a lady who works with my mother.  The fabric and patterns had been in her attic for about 7 years and had belonged to her mother-in-law.  And she really liked novelty prints, especially Christmas novelty.  So, this year, I didn't need to buy any Christmas fabric thanks to her.

I created a template of 17" x 17" and cut 8 napkins per person (4 in all) and serged the edges.  It is really easy and fast and makes a quick gift in a time crunch.  The first pic below shows the napkin selection, but each person had a variety.  This set is going to my niece who has 2 young daughters of her own.  So I mixed a few fun prints in it.  The bag came from Dollar Tree-2 for 1 pack.

On my serger, I used a red thread and red upper looper and green lower looper so you see two different colors from top to underneath.  This is a close-up of those edges which turned out really nice.  This was a 3-thread overlock-wide stitch.  If you don't have a serger, look into it--maybe for Christmas.  it really creates nice professional looking edges and seams.

Next year, I would like to make something more challenging to give as gifts--maybe a make-up bag for each family member....hmmmmmm.  Merry Christmas everyone!  And remember, JESUS is the reason for the season :-)))

New Bag Resources I Found

I like to sew bags and found a Yahoo group that I recently joined.  It's called sewing tote bags and purses.  One of the blogs I found there through the posts is called Passion et Couture.  The blog author has some great pics of bags she has made, especially her most recent bag called The Exchange Bag.  Also on her site, she had a link to  Pinterest where you can see all sorts of bags with links to where to find the patterns for some.

Here are some other bag resource links I have found:
Chris W Designs
Christopher Nejman
Nicole Mallalieu-You Sew Girl!
Purse Patterns
By Annie.com-Soft and Stable stabilizer for bags
Scrap-Bags
Sew It All TV-Episode 406
Squidoo-How to Make Purses, Wallets, Pouches, Cases
How About Orange-How to Sew 9 Different Bags and Purses
Innovative Bags and Totes-Part 1-Sewing with Nancy video
Innovative Bags and Totes-Part 2-Sewing with Nancy video
U-Handbag

If you know of any other resources for bags and purses, please add them in your comments.

PR Handbag Contest Entry

I finally decided to take the plunge and enter a PatternReview.com contest when I saw the announcement for the 2012 Handbag Contest.  I absolutely LOVE handbags and had been planning to make a messenger bag version for my DH.  So, I thought, why not enter that one, even though it's adapted for a man?!  He had wanted me to make one that reflected his military experience (15 years active and reserves) and the patriotism he has for his country.  Check out this bag on PatternReview.com for a comprehensive review of it.

I made the same messenger bag pattern I made before for my daughter (see older post). 

Below are completed photos of the bag:

Working on Several Items at Once!

July has been busy and looks like August will be the same--but that's a good thing, right?  I started a sleeveless top for my daughter, Sarah using pattern Simplicity 2892:

The envelope says "6 Made Easy", but I have not seen where view D is so easy.  I have never worked with so many gathers in all my born days!  I guess it was about time to do so, though.  I have not completed it yet because my daughter requested many alterations to show off her curves a bit better.  It was too full, I must say and would not be flattering as is.

Here are some previews of the unfinished top---not too exciting and rather hard to see due to the pattern of the fabric.

This shows the wrong side of the front with the collar lining showing.  I've never worked with any kind of lining before either.  So next comes a pic of some darts I need to add in to the back piece to make the top more slender.

You can barely see the two basting safety pins on the right side of the fabric in the back.  I don't have much experience either with darts, but I'm feelin' the challenge and will rise to it.  I plan to add bust darts to the front, although I'm not too sure how that will look next to the collar seam.  Otherwise, it gapes open too much at the arm holes.

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So, next up is a project I am pretty stoked about--a military-themed messenger bag for my husband.  I received some great fabric for free from a lady who's mother-in-law had passed away a while back--see my last post.  I got some camo fabric and a small piece that had eagles on it.  So, needless to say, my  husband, Bill was excited.  I am using the same pattern I used for my daughter's bag (Sew What! Bags-City Satchel), but am beefing it up quite a bit to be more sturdy and not so slumpy.  I'll be using some heavy duty interfacing to hopefully achieve that.   And.............get ready............I have entered the PatternReview.com 2012 Handbag Contest.  This is the first time I have ever entered a contest on PR which is my FAVORITE sewing site which I KNOW I have mentioned before.  I look at it everyday!  You should seriously consider joining if you haven't already.  I am looking forward to just the experience of participating.  Of course, I would be delighted if I won--the prizes are awesome!

I expect this bag to go together pretty quickly this time since I've made it before.  Here are pics of the pieces which I cut out.  I have to get the interfacing in order to begin.  SIDE NOTE:  Our Jo-Ann's store had a water main break inside their store almost a month ago which flooded the whole thing and everything was likely ruined.  So, the store has been closed a while which is a major bummer for someone like me who needs their Jo-Ann fix to continue living.  And SO, I have to travel to Jefferson City, MO--about 30 minutes away which isn't bad at all--to go to their store which is a super store.  I honestly think the store here has more square footage than that store.  BUT the exciting news is that our Jo-Ann store is opening south of town--far away for me, but in a nicer building location.  And, get this, it's going to be a SUPER STORE!  But that won't open until January :-(

Back to bag piece pics:

overall bag pieces

lining pieces

eagle to be appliqued on front flap of bag

The biggest challenge for me on this bag will be appliqueing the eagle fabric onto the front flap which is a navy canvas fabric.  I am taking a class to learn this on 8/7 and know I'll have to practice quite a bit before sewing the real piece on.  That will make me nervous.

The whole outside bag is navy canvas with camo cotton as the accent for the side pockets and lining.  I'll be using button pockets that I have removed from some of my husband's old Army coats and pants.  He was in the Army for a total of 15 years which includes 4 active and the other in the Army Reserves.  He is very patriotic and proud of his military experience and loves anything to do with military--like watching military inspired movies, etc.  He has also given me various patches to sew onto the under flap of the bag, as well as pins that he also received.  It will be a very sentimental and meaningful bag for him--which I'm excited about making for him.
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The last item I resurrected from over a year ago is a shirt from McCall's 6159.  It's a girl's pattern and is too small for my daughter now.  But, I am attempting to salvage the cut pieces--the front and back pieces of the shirt to make a simple vest.  She still likes the fabric so I hated to see it all go to waste.  I'll have to insert some darts in this, as well for a more fitted style.

With ALL THAT going on--it'll keep me busy for a while.  But that's a good thing, right?

A Huge Gift of Fabric

I received a huge gift of fabric that belonged to a lady's mother-in-law who has passed away 7 years ago.  All this fabric was in the attic and most had never been washed or used.  So, I have been washing up a storm for weeks now and hoping I can find a place to put it all!  She liked novelty prints which I also love.  Now, my husband says I don't need to go to Jo-Ann's for 14 years (but you know that won't happen!).

Here is how it all looked when we unloaded it the evening I went to get it.  Then, afterward the long process of picking through it all to decide what to keep, throw away or maybe sell.

Included were approximately 200 patterns from the 80's and 90's.  So, my daughter helped me sort through those as well.

As you can imagine, I have not sewn anything since receiving this gift as I've been trying to get it cleaned, sorted and put away so I can start my sewing life again.

Many thanks to the mother-in-law who must have had a passion for fabric more than me.