Clip It

Working through the last few months of pregnancy gets a little more challenging as time goes on. I have a little less energy, a little less patience, and a little more stress every day. At least it feels that way sometimes!

While I’m on the road for work, I daydream about ambitious craft projects and what I’m going to work on when I get home. But oftentimes, all I’m up for when I finally get there is catching up on Modern Family and eating pumpkin whoopie pies (‘tis the season!).

I found myself in a little bit of a crafty funk recently – and the best medicine was a quick, gratifying sewing project. These pacifier clips did the trick in spades.

These were so easy to make that I breezed through ten in almost no time. And now we’ll never, ever lose a pacifier, right?

If you’re interested in making some clips of your own, the tutorial can be found at Sew Mama Sew, and I bought adorable clip hardware Cool2BeChicSupplies on Etsy.

I learned a few new things while working on this project. Number one, how to do a rolled hem on my serger, which I’ve never attempted before. Number two, how to irreparably break my 20 year old serger. *sigh* A metal piece in the internal mechanism snapped off, and now it won’t do a regular serge stitch. Oh, well… guess I have something to ask Santa for. Third, this was the first time I ever used Fray Check. Where has this stuff been all my life? It is perfect for taming the errant little threads that inevitably result from a serged/rolled edge.

All of the fabric was from my stash. From the top: forest friends, map of Manhattan, E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES, US states & capitals, bias stripes, and additional forest friends.

Rounded out with a blueprint fabric, gray with white flowers, a sushi print, and Christmas trees. Our little guy is due very early in January, but it never hurts to be prepared…

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A Different Kind of Block

From quilt blocks… to block prints!

Recently I’ve gotten very wrapped up in quilting. That’s not a bad thing, but I’ve gotten pretty far from my sewing roots: apparel. It’s literally been years since I made myself any clothes.

In the last few months I’ve lost some weight, so there’s no time like the present to jump into making some pieces for my summer wardrobe. I eased back in with a simple project: a summery linen skirt.

Pattern: Simplicity 2226
Fabric: Linen (or maybe linen blend) from JoAnn Fabrics

One of my favorite details — and the reason I chose this pattern — is that it has pockets. I can’t go anywhere without my Burt’s Bees lip balm, and I feel a little guilty treating my husband like a purse.

Overall, it was a quick and easy pattern. My one complaint would be that it runs quite large. I chose a size based on my actual measurements, and it was way too big. Fairly easy fix — I trimmed 2.5″ off of the waistband and adjusted the skirt gathers accordingly.

For the bias-cut sash, I used a subtle striped black linen. I had to chop 9″ off of the length to make it look like the picture on the pattern envelope. Without a trim, it hung to my knees. I think it was intended to be tied in a bow… ick.

No modeled shots today… we’re having a nice lazy Sunday, so my dressform will have to do as a stand in for now.

All in all, a great start back into the world of wearable sewing. Looking forward to sharing more clothes in the coming weeks!

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Merry Martingale

With a little help from yours truly, Santa brought our pup Leela some stylish accessories for Christmas: a new martingale collar and leash.

A quick primer on martingales: this kind of collar has no buckle – instead, it is comprised of two loops. One loop goes around the dog’s neck, while the other is used for clipping on a leash. Tension on the leash pulls the collar taut to prevent your dog from backing out of it. When adjusted properly, a martingale collar fits snugly – but not too tightly – at its smallest setting and provides a comfortable, loose fit in the “relaxed” setting.

While there are some cute options when you’re looking at regular collars, I’ve had trouble finding anything outside of plain vanilla in martingales, so I set out to sew one myself.

To make the collar, I took measurements from a commercially produced martingale that Leela was already wearing. I cut two pieces of 1” nylon webbing for the loops, leaving a long piece for the leash. As an added bonus, I got to use our fireplace lighter to melt the ends of the webbing. Any craft project that incorporates fire gets an A in my book!

I sewed some funky patterned ribbon onto the webbing along the edges, then simply mimicked the construction details of her current collar. I made sure to double and triple stitch at stress points, using an "X-box" (square with an X in the middle from corner to corner) stitching method to secure. I have a regular ‘ol cheapy Kenmore machine, but even so, sewing through multiple layers of webbing didn’t present a problem.

The leash was even simpler: a loop for my hand, and a metal snap secured at the other end.

Three yards of nylon webbing and all the metal hardware (loops, d-ring, slide, and snap) came in right around $7 from StrapWorks.com, and three yards of ribbon cost around $6 from SewSmart Fabrics in Doylestown, PA. Total: $13 for a custom, girly martingale collar and leash set for our little monster!

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Owl Galaxy Tab Cozy

After yearning for a tablet computer for months, I gave in and bought a brand spankin’ new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Much to my techie husband’s chagrin, my favorite Tab pastimes are checking my Google Reader, playing Robotek, and showing off the quick and easy case that I put together.

Crap I’ve Made has a great tutorial for a zippered laptop sleeve that was easy to adapt for the Tab. The front is a home dec weight owl print that I picked up in Portland, and I dipped into my Denyse Schmidt stash for the flower print.

Lined with a tiny stripe print…

… and a little more Denyse Schmidt for the back.

The fabric, interfacing, and zipper were all from my stash, so this was my favorite kind of project — free!

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Tufted Tweets Camera Strap

It’s been a scorcher here in PA on this fine holiday weekend, so I spent a little time in my nice air-conditioned craft room making a camera strap for my new(ish) Lumix camera.

Quite a bit nicer than the blah strap that came with the camera. Two layers of batting in the middle make it very comfortable to wear. I also made it a bit longer than a traditional strap — I like to wear my camera across my body when it’s not in use.

Mostly, I just fuddled around with 3 1/2″ wide fabric pieces until it looked good to me. For materials, I used some scraps I’d been hanging on to from the purple baby quilt I made earlier this spring, mixed with some stash pieces, and hardware from an old Canon camera strap. My favorite kind of project — quick and free!

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