Welcome to the New Sewing Center!

Looks crazy right! Well we FINALLY moved out of my parents place into our own lovely apartment again. At my parents house I could spread my sewing madness across the whole house but here it can't get too far. We have a spare bedroom but we are still moving things around to try and make it our work room.

As you see there is a drying rack. I have found this very helpful to hold strips and folds of fabric while I sew instead of having the pieces folded up and waiting. They don't get very wrinkly when hanging so it lessens my ironing (YES!).  :D

On the table is a clear cutting mat my mother in-law is letting me borrow. It's bigger than my dining room table so I eventually just put it on the floor for the bigger measurements. On the right is my ironing center.

I got the ironing board for 5 bucks at the thrift store! Woohoo! :D A lot of the time when I am doing repetitive work i.e. ironing, hemming, or troubleshooting I will watch TV off my lap top on the wall edge in front of all my stuff.

Since we moved we have a lot to catch up on. I have sewn curtains twice, pillows, a skirt, and working on another skirt at the moment.

Curtains!

Our bedroom has blinds but they only work so well. I had some black out curtains I got from my parents and some maroon fabric to sew together for curtains. Our bedroom colors is beige and maroon.

So I ironed everything, measured, cut, pinned, and sewed the pieces together. And tada!

Oh wait, what is that? That's right, it's a stain. WHAT IN BLAZES! I remembered looking at the fabric while at Joann's and noticed some discoloration but thought it was weird light and she was too fast for me to look while she was cutting then I became distracted.

So I bought stained fabric. I know it wasn't my washer like many reading this are probably thinking. I know my washer and it has not failed me in any way.

Has this happened to any of you before? I hung it in the bathroom to show the stain because it wasn't showing as well against the window. Ignoring the stain you also notice some serious wrinkles.

Wrinkles? Those are things that you are only supposed to be what you get when you start to get old not in your fabric!

Needless to say I did everything but burn the curtains. I was . .  . . . possessed. Yes, that seems most fitting. I noticed the wrinkles and I tried in vain to get rid of them by repeatedly ripping out seams, crying, throwing objects, lots of ironing, tantrum throwing, stabbing my pearl pins into the couch.

You think thats scary? Bwahahahaha. I was so mad I was standing while sewing and saw the wrinkles form while I was sewing and just started proclaiming loudly into the air how much I loved wrinkles and screaming the word 'yes'. My neighbors were probably mortified. But I don't care.

Why not? Because it's my stained wrinkled curtains not theirs so I could do whatever I wanted. People don't believe me when I tell them I turn into a demon when I sew but I do.

I become cranky, high irritable, throw tantrums, and sometimes screaming. Why? Because I want it to be flawless. And that has caused many of you to laugh right now. But sewing and baking are the two things I am a perfectionist about.

Anyways, I remade the curtains. I bought real blackout and new maroon fabric and redid them. There are still a few wrinkles but not to the terrible degree like this. My poor husband hates working from home when I am sewing. He hides as much as he can because I turn into a demon. Who knew? :D

I will post a picture of the new curtains in my next post.


                                                Mrs. Feisty

Star Wars Bathrobe

I know it shouldn't have taken so long but I learned a great amount of things from doing a simple robe. I also wanted to see what would happen if we stuck to the pattern sizes without personalizing them.

As a result the shoulder's droop off Justin's shoulders which is not flattering if he's trying to strike a pose and it is not long enough for his size. These might be considered nit picky things but its the small things that could make a difference. I also accidentally put the belt loops too low on it. It basically ties around his high thigh. Lol.

I am very grateful to have it finished and he loves it so far. He wore it only for a bit. It is spring here in Western Washington and he got hot very quickly because of the fleece fabric. Which means it will be the perfect adornment during our winter stay in North Dakota this upcoming winter. :D

And it has good and bad guys on it so his allegiance is ambiguous. We are on different sides of the alliance. Duhn. Duhn. Duhn!

-Mrs. Feisty

Do it Twice to Assure its Nice

I cannot tell you how close the seam ripper and I have become. It's like we spend so much time together. Oh wait we do! I'm getting better at reading patterns or I'm reading easier ones to understand. Not sure which one, but either way I am having an easier time.

V-Neck Shirt Update

Still not done. I have ripped out the sleeves multiple times then re-stretching and mashing the fabric back together. Its a knit so it happily resumes it's previous state. I have yet again another ripping session this weekend. But I can't give up! I just can't stand defeat. I'm a sore loser and it's making me blood thirsty. But I can't make my sewing machine bleed because I'm the one pushing the pedal (Operator Error).

Skirt

We are moving on! Vogue is owned by McCalls who knew? I was reading the pattern pieces (kudos points right there) and it says, "Vogue copyright of McCalls Pattern Making". Ann's had a sale on Vogue patterns and I couldn't resist the 4.99 a piece price. Especially because I adore Vogue's styles. Not like I wear evening dresses everywhere (I would have fun doing that though).

I got the skirt pattern and Mastermind offered some fabric that didn't have a purpose yet. It is a delicate apricot color. I wear too much black and wish to wear colors so I am using it as an excuse for a new skirt. Plus, Mastermind wants to teach me to put in a zipper and do a hem.

So far we just have the pieces cut and I did the pleats. They were simple pleats so I was grateful for that. I'm excited to show you how it will turn out. :D

So you just match up the pieces and pin it in the middle of the circle then flip the top fabric piece backward. 

Once you have it flipped backward you mark it with tailors chalk so that you know where to have them match up.


Until next time. Oh and I rediscovered my sewing mojo. :)


-Mrs. Feisty

Heart Blanket

I love this knitted blanket a lot. But it had a hole and I didn't know what to do so time passed and then the hole was big enough for my calf to fit through. I got some remnant fabric from JoAnn's and cut it into a heart big enough to cover the hole. I then applied the same lesson for pleats of making identical marks and then lining them up.

Once I had both sides pinned I started sewing and tried different kinds of stitches and thread colors. I like it a lot. And I am very grateful that I can keep the blanket for longer. :D


-Mrs. Feisty

Terrible Behavior!

I had class today and I was a rotten child. I am still ashamed but I credit it to my lost sewing mojo. The sewing machine tried to tell me I was doing it wrong but really my mojo was gone. 

As a result I was snarky, tried to pass my sewing onto Mastermind and was rough with her. Ugh, I'm an utter Witch sometimes. It's like asking a goat to fart blueberries when she asks me to sew and it just isn't flowing no matter what I do. 

Is the shirt done? Nope. I didn't do my homework either so that set us back. I have even more homework as a result of my procrastination skills seeping past the deadlines. You would think I would learn after college and all but I'm dense. lol. 

I can't even look at my sewing machine right now without scowling with disdain and when nobody is looking I stick my tongue out at it like a child. 

Besides my dreadful actions we did accomplish a lot of figuring out our next project which is a skirt. :D It's a pretty apricot color. I can't wait to introduce you to it next week. So forgive me for my foul attitude I've lost my sewing mojo and I will return to lucidity when I find it. ;D 

You are welcome to rebel and curse me in the comments below in sympathy for Mastermind's suffering today. :D

               -Mrs. Feisty

A New Source!

Projects are still in the making so don't panic. My procrastination has caused us all grief. However in my last session with Mastermind she presented me with a book she found at the thrift store.

Don't you feel fancy? It's Vogue; totally posh! Just kidding snooty nose is done now. :) I can't believe she gave it to me. I would have kept it for myself. When I buy books for others that I like I normally buy myself one if I don't already have a copy. SELFISH! (Though I still feel no regret. I'm doomed.)

So the styles are outdated but the techniques are still the same and they put so many pictures in here! Its awesome! I remember when I first began trying to read sewing stuff and I didn't really understand what things were. Now that I pawed through it I understand more after all the sewing I have done. Imagine if in like 5 years I could probably read a book like this and understand exactly what they were saying! :D

I also adore books. This one will be dearly loved and used more often. I have a McCalls one but it doesn't have as many visuals and not as thick. Between the two hopefully I will better tame the sewing beast. :)

Happy mothers day everyone! :D

              Mrs. Feisty

V-Neck Shirt

I will upload pics when I get home. However, I have everything done except the hem and sleeves.

I had misunderstood Mastermind's instructions and ended up getting lost.

I wasn't lost technically but you see I had this idea. What I imagined she said was that I had to sew the collar from front to back and it worked fine in one direction but not the other. So I tried sewing backwards. :D That is right; I sewed in reverse. :D




It did not go well as you can see (will upload later). But I was also curious if I could do it. It is not my super power but I am sure there is someone out there with it. :D

The shirt has a v-neck and Mastermind normally does round neck and so we were unsure if there is a right or wrong way to do it and it turned out fine. If you have any information if there is a right or highly effective way to do a v-neck please comment. :D
                                       -Mrs. Feisty