Jalie 2806 for Me!

Despite having a generous supply of adult patterns (I seem to have a large stash of pretty much everything sewing-related), I rarely actually get around to sewing anything for myself.  I've had this print earmarked for a Jalie 2806 top for several months, so when I saw that the Sewing Mamas January Challenge was sewing for yourself, I knew just what to make.  Of course, I still waited until the last day of January.

Like the other Jalies I've sewn, the shirt went together quickly and the sizing was spot-on.

I'm not sure I'm crazy about the style on me, though.  This is especially silly, because it looks just like the pattern picture.  I know I look better in shirts that are more fitted through the middle, so why did I choose this one?  I still like it, but I'll remember for next time that it's more suited to E.  She's such a skinny thing that she can use some extra fabric.  (Did you know Jalie patterns start with a toddler size 2 and go up to women's plus sizes?  All in one pattern!  Awesome.)

Sewing Déjà Vu

Are you thinking, "Gee, Sarah, I think I've seen those patterns and fabrics before"?  I've finally accepted that my fabric stash is out of control, so I've vowed to only buy fabric if it's absolutely necessary for a project I'm going to sew immediately.  Otherwise, it's stash and stash alone! We'll see how long I can last...


One of my recently finished projects was an outfit for a first birthday boy.  I'm sure you're shocked to see another Patrick Curved Raglan.  For gifts, I tend to go with tried and true patterns, and that certainly is one for me!  The matching pants are from Ottobre 5/2006.  The pattern includes knee patches, which I was going to make from the robot print, but fortunately it occurred to me in time that using a white-based fabric on the knees of a toddler's pants wouldn't be the smartest move.

The second was also a birthday gift, this time for a three-year-old.  I knew I wanted to make a red knit dress, and decided on the Farbenmix Olivia.  I've made a couple of these for E, but haven't done the hood or pocket before.  I didn't have enough of the cherry fabric to make the full length hood, but I think it's still cute with only one knot.  The cherry rib is sooo stretchy that it was looking a  little wonky there for a while -- especially the sleeves, which had gotten pretty distorted when I hemmed them, but they bounced back into shape after a quick wash and dry.  Whew.

 

Next up is hopefully going to be a Jalie top for me for the Sewing Mamas January Challenge.  I also need to make a final decision about E's birthday dress.  I *think* I've settled on a pattern, but still need to choose fabric.

Liebster Blog Award & Yarn Heart Wreath

A big thank you to my friend Leigh of Sleepytime Sewing, who tagged me with the Liebster Blog Award.  The Liebster is intended to recognize smaller blogs (with fewer than 300 followers) and get the word out about blogs you otherwise may never have heard of, but are worth checking out.  Part of the award is getting to nominate 3-5 other blogs.  Hopefully they don't all need to be crafty, because mine are:


A pie a week...  Follow the adventures of Simple Simon, an unnamed member of my family, in his quest to to bake 52 different pies.  He's nearing the end, with 47 pies to date.


My awesome Auntie M's Photo Journal of a Woman of Age.  Her tagline is "Random Acts of Photography & Musing", which sums it up well.


and


The Fishsticks & Fries blog.  I'm sure you've all noticed my obsession with Bonnie's Patrick Curved Raglan pattern, and the Emmy follows close behind.


Google tells me that liebster is the German word for dearest or sweetheart, which is a nice segue (which, btw, I totally thought was spelled segueway!  I had no idea that's how it was pronounced) into my project for this post, a yarn-wrapped heart wreath.


Our front door was looking a little sad after taking down the Christmas wreath, so I started scouring blogland for Valentine's Day wreath ideas.  I saw a lot I liked, but none that I had all the materials for on hand.  And really, I don't *need* a V-Day wreath and I have a basement full of craft supplies.  Then I stumbled across this and knew I'd found the one if I made it on a bigger scale.  I found a big box and two shades of burgundy acrylic yarn that were from my pre-yarn-snob days.  Cut out a giant heart and started wrapping with the darker burgundy as we watched our family movie on Saturday night.  I nearly finished, but ran into problems getting the yarn to stay put on the pointier part of the heart -- you can see in the original link that theirs has a shallower point on the top of the heart.  I put it aside for a couple of days, trying to figure out how to salvage it, when I realized that glue guns solve all crafting problems.  Once again, hot glue saved the day! 

That door knocker needs to go.

I like how using two colors of yarn add some dimension to an otherwise simple wreath.  I don't love it, but it gets the job done.  :)


In other news,  I finally sewed again this week, after being a bit burnt out from Christmas.  It's a gift, so I'll post pictures once it reaches its intended recipient.