Kimono Tee

I recently ran across a free pattern for a simple Kimono Tee and it's quickly becoming my favorite. I rarely come across a pattern that is simple, free and I absolutely love, and it's the type of clothing item that I actually get a lot of use out of , in that I wear tee's almost every day.  I like this pattern so much, I made  three tee's.  I am contemplating making another one using color block, just to differentiate from the other three, but I still have to find colors that look good together.  I made this tee, with a stripe front and solid back, I was thinking of adding a solid pocket to the front to kind of tie in the colors, but couldn't decide out how big to make the pocket and the placement of it.  It was way too many decisions, so I decided, I would simplify the matter go without a pocket.  Some of the stripes are black so I figured that was enough.

Do these things only happen to me?

This post doesn't have anything to do with sewing, recycling or refashioning, but it does have to do with bitching!  I promised I would to that every once in while.  It all started with a recipe for Instant oatmeal mixture that I found on http://frugallysustainable.com.  First of all I have to tell you, this recipe is amazing, I will never buy individual flavored packages of oatmeal again. I have made it before, but this is one batch I had mixed for my daughter and hadn't given it to her.  I ran out of mine, so I thought I would eat one 1 bowl of hers (she would never notice).  At first it taste, I noticed something different, so I took a second bite.  This time it burned my mouth.  I knew instantly what went wrong.

Does this sort of thing happen to anyone else but me?!  I had the containers facing the wrong way in my cupboard, and I can see how I could easily have grabbed the wrong one.

I ruined the whole batch of instant oatmeal I'd made for my daughter, but I'm so glad I didn't give it to her and let her find out my mistake.  

So instead of this, I had this

It wasn't all bad, I got to try out my new cast iron skillet, and I must say I love it!

Blanket throw

I haven't been doing much sewing, I haven't had anything to inspire or motivate me until this last weekend.  I 

stopped by Hancock fabrics to buy a zipper for a dress I'll be sewing for a wedding I will be attending later this month, and low and behold I saw this fleece I couldn't leave the store without, you see, I just spent the weekend helping my daughter move into her new apartment, she is a transfer student at U of  M.  I know she is looking forward to attending football games and she'll need something to keep her warm during those cold winter days.  I opted not to do the usual no-sew/tie knots, as I thought this would interfere with the print, so I  did a blanket stitch, mind you, I've never done a blanket stitch, never even heard of one, but I figured, how hard could it be.  Turns out it was harder than I thought, for some reason it took me awhile to figure it out and even then it took all day to do, but I thought it was well worth it.  I hope she likes it.

          

Fit to be tied

 I know I've been MIA for the last few weeks, I wish I could say I lost my mojo, but thats not true, it's summer time and I always seem to have something better to do.   Actually my husband and I bought a new trike and we  seem to be on the go every day.  The only reason I actually got something done this week is because I needed something to keep my hair out of my face and I remembered I saw a pattern for making a headband in SEWNEWS free sewing guides.  It was really cute and  so easy to make, took no time at all.
The trick here, is a piece of elastic sewn in for a perfect fit, easily adjusted to fit any head size , the ties are really just for looks.

80's Romper?

Have you ever looked at a pattern and thought how cute this would look on you?  Me, too!  That's exactly what I thought when I saw this pattern, McCall's stitch 'n save M6533.  I just finished this up last night and took pictures this morning, OMG!  The 80's are calling and they want their romper back!  I feel like Alexis from Dynasty,  all I need is shoulder pads!! Don't get me wrong, it is comfy to wear, but don't be in a hurry going to the bathroom, it's a  b**** to take off in a hurry!    Although I like the concept of a romper,  aside from the gathered shoulders that gives it that dated look,  I don't like the bodice,   it gaps right in the center and leaves you exposing more than you want to expose.  I do intend to make this again, but I am going to attempt to do something I've never done before, I am going to change the bodice.  I haven't totally decided what I'm going to do with it, I was thinking, maybe a more fitted bodice with a zipper in the back.  I don't know if this would be any easier to take off, but I don't like the idea of buttons, I don't know, maybe once I get started I'll change my mind.  Does anyone have any experience/ideas regarding this dilemma, I'd appreciate hearing from you

Post Mark Dress

Does it seems like I've got a theme going here? First, there was the Lost letters dress, now the Post Mark Dress, what next?  Well I promise, no more theme dresses!  Not for awhile anyway.
 I just love this fabric, I couldn't tell you why, it's 100% cotton, I tend to go with the cotton, I think it's more of a casual look.  Anyway, I always thought, yellow wasn't my color, I still think that, but I made an exception, this pattern comes with a unlined short sleeved jacket I could always do a different color, there are so many colors in this dress I am having trouble deciding what color to make the jacket, got any suggestions?
 I used See&Sew B5699, it was fairly easy, my only complain is that I had trouble when it came time to attach the skirt to the bodice, for some reason the sides stuck out, I had to take it in more so they wouldn't come to a point.

How to hem up jeans

Do you have trouble finding jeans that fit?  When you do find a pair that fits, they're usually too long and the ones that are the right length, don't fit around the hips.  Well, you can still buy that perfect pair that fits and hem them up and no one will ever know they were hemmed up. First, you 'll have to try on the jeans and fold up one pant leg, the  length you want it, pin it up, (you might want to use a zipper foot for the next step), sew along the original hem, as close as you can get, a zipper foot will get close to the hem.  A jean-a -ma-jig will work wonders on the bulky seams, but its not necessary to have.  Cut the excess fabric and iron the pant leg. Simple as that!