Underwear/Panty/Diaper Cover Update

It's been a long time since I posted here, though I think about it quite a bit.  I've still been busy with sewing and my girls.

Today I've updated the pattern for the child's underwear cover.  My bear cub has gotten taller and her legs have gotten longer and thicker, but her waist is about the same size.  I thought I would post how easy it is to update the pattern for thicker legs and also another pattern change that makes the cover fit better for an older child.

Here is the changed pattern.  The first change is that I dipped the front and raised the back.  I did each about 3/4 inch (I started with 1/2 inch, but it got bigger when I folded the pattern in half and evened it out, but it worked well in my sample).  The other change is to enlarge the leg openings about 2 inches in total circumference, which is about 1/2 inch around the sides.

The rest was made I showed in my previous posts.  I will say that the ease on this is less now than it was before since they are only used with the bear cub instead of having to fit multiple girls.  These have slightly less than 2 inches of ease and are snug over her night time diapers and pretty loose over the panties she wears during the day.  I have considered making two separate sets, but I haven't had the motivation to do it yet.

A Waste of Time Knitting

So I found this beautiful, yellow, fluffy, super soft yarn that has now been recalled:
http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2015/Spinrite-Recalls-Bernat-Tizzy-Yarn/

Before it was recalled though, I made a warm cover for Darth Monkey.

It wasn't even made long enough for more than a few pictures before the recall.  I've been trying to figure out how to salvage it because if any child is going to hurt herself with it, it will be my monkey.  I may quilt it onto a piece of knit with the quilting tight enough to capture all the yarn, but I'm not even sure it is possible to be salvaged.  Such a shame.

I basically made a rectangle twice the width of Darth Monkey's shoulders (top) and the length a little longer than her waist (side).  Then I zigzagged with the sewing machine on the top with the piece folded in half from the sides inwards, leaving enough room for her head.

I'll be making another one, but probably not until it cools again considering that we are already in the 80s everyday here now.

Cell Phone Arm Band

I finally upgraded from a dumb phone to a smart phone.  Those that know me know how long I resisted doing this.  I've had it less than a week and decided that I really needed to utilize the mobile music aspect of it.  So without any research as to what was available I decided to make myself an armband for running around with.

I have this pretty swimsuit material and decided to use it because my other sports types of fabric are in the garage and it is really cold outside today.

I measured my lower arm (a) and the height of my cell phone (b) and cut a rectangle a x 2.5b (so two and a half times the height of my phone by the width of my arm).  Next time I will make this slightly smaller.  I didn't this time because there is 2 1/2 inch difference between my upper arm and lower arm and I was afraid of cutting off the circulation of my arm.  I won't cut off much, maybe 1/2 inch because it looks like it is going to work as is pretty well.  I serged down the height of the fabric.

Then I used the coverstitch machine to hem both sides.  If you don't have a coverstitch machine, zigzag the hem up.

Next, I folded it over so that the inner front came up to the top of the cell phone and let the upper front fall where it landed.

Then I drew a line in white where the cell phone would fit.

I sewed in the ditch of the seam and again at that line.

I punched a hole in the top big enough for the ear piece to go in.  I did it at the half way point.  For the next one, I will place it over the actual hole which is nowhere near the middle.

When I was done, I decided to look up how much these things cost and they are inexpensive.  I'm going to try this one out and if it works well, I'll make some more, but I might buy one for comparison, but this one seems to be super comfortable.

Peacock Jacket

The nerdlet has always been a big fan of birds and anything else that flies.  Her current focus is on peacocks.

This isn't a project of mine, but of my mother-in-laws.  I noticed the cute little faux suede jackets at Costco and that the back panel was perfect for an embroidery and passed this information to my MIL.  She went out and bought some for the nerdlet and the drama princess.  This is the jacket that she made for the nerdlet.

I looked through my blog of the peacock dress that she is wearing, but I guess I didn't post about it when I made it.  She had gone through my fabric and found a stack of fabrics that were going to be a peacock quilt and decided that she needed a dress made from them.

It is McCall's 4817.  I plan on making more of this pattern, but it will change the pattern to cover the back up to the neck. The nerdlet refuses to wear this without a shirt underneath because she doesn't want anyone to see her naked back.

So now the nerdlet has a peacock dress, a peacock backpack, and a peacock jacket.  She is wanting me to make her a peacock fanny pack, but there is no telling how long it will take for me to get around to it.

Wordless Wednesday

McCall's 2149 Versions 6-9

McCall's 2149 Version 6

McCall's 2149 Version 7

McCall's 2149 Version 8

McCall's 2149 Version 9

Q loves these last two and wears them again as soon as they come out of the wash.  I've got 8 more of these shirts cut out on my counter waiting for me to sew them up so you may sew more versions in the near future.

A Step By Step Tutorial of the Collar McCall's 2149

I haven't really gone back and posted things that I missed posting about when I made something, but I am going to here since I took pictures of making McCall's 2149 step by step as a tutorial for beginners when making this mens shirt.  It is really a simple shirt esp. if you don't add pockets, which Q doesn't want anyway.  Pockets aren't that difficult to add, though, if you want to do so.

First is the collar.  I made this with 3 other shirts and in doing so I did two with the interfacing on the bottom piece and two with it on the upper piece.  I didn't really see a significant difference at the time.  I just ran upstairs to check on these shirts and now you cannot even tell which side is interfaced without pulling the collar apart.  So while I have read advice telling me both different ways, I wouldn't worry about it.  Pick the side you like.  Here I have the interfacing on the upper collar piece.  Sew around the sides and top of the collar and clip the corners off.

Then I use the rotary cutter to trim all around the sewn sides.

Then flip it around and press.

I use a pin to gently pull out the corners so they come to a point.

Then I pin the lower collar piece to the right side of the shirt, where the two front pieces have already been sewn to the back.  This is one of the few places that I actually use pins and I'm rather generous with them.

I pin the collar so that it meets right up to the edge of the collar.

Then I sew right to that edge.

 For the front facing pieces, I place the fusible side of the interfacing away from the right side of the facing piece.

Then I sew along the inside (the side that will be away from the button holes).

I then flip it around and press, fusing the interfacing to the facing.

I then sew this piece to the shirt front pieces.

I sew carefully when I get to the collar to capture the lower piece of the collar.

 I stop at the point of  meeting the collar so that I can enclose the facing in the collar.  Then like before I trim the facing and corner.

Then I flip it around and press, again using a pin to gently pull out the corner to a point.

 I iron the edge of the upper collar piece under to meet exactly with the lower piece.

I fold them back together and zigzag over the seam while meeting them up exactly.

The finished shirt.

Here you can see the topstitching of the shirt around the collar and also if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see the zigzag.  If I have chosen a contrasting thread for the topstitching, I will choose the best blending thread for the zigzag.

I'll follow this post with another post with pictures of the other 3 shirts I made in June.

Globetrotting - Another Pat Sloan BOM

So after completing my two versions of Pat Sloan's current BOM, I started contemplating her last BOM for 2014, the Globetrotting Quilt.  Being the person I am, I went ahead and put off sewing the stack of shirts for Q that I already cut out and completed the first BOM for the Globetrotting Quilt.

First I'd like to show you my stack of fabrics.

So I based these colors off of the blue fabric second from the top.  I made this into a dress a year and a half ago for my girls.  I love this fabric and likely I will take the dress apart and use the fabric in something else when it becomes too small for the bear cub.  Because I love it so much I tried to figure how it could be best used in the quilt with so little of left (without cutting up the dress).

So I decided to use it as the center of the center block.

I know that it is really, really loud, but I still like it.  I've put away all the extra fabric so that I will at least make one of the shirts I have planned for Q before I start working on more of the blocks.

Another Vacation Block

I belong to a facebook group by Pat Sloan, the quilter that is doing the block of the month that I just made in my last post.  One of the members, Melinda Pulling-Goodernote, made this beautiful block and posted it in the group last night.  I like it so much that I decided to make it myself.  I especially liked that it is open to paper piecing.

This is the paper pattern that I drew up immediately after seeing it.  I made one of the long middle piece, 2 of the flying geese combo, and 4 of the squares.

I had already started considering making another quilt using the BOM and had picked out these fabrics for it.

The center long piece

All the pieces.

The center and two sides.

And the completed 12.5" block.  I really love the way paper piecing gives you perfect corners.

Thank you so much, Melinda Pulling-Goodernote, for making and sharing this beautiful block.