What to make?

[Elaina]

It's raining here, I'm bored stiff, and I can't for the life of me think what to sew.

Not on a vinage kick, for reasons I'm not naming, I don't want to make any. Any suggestions out here?

 

[katiemakeup]

Make some Fudge!!!

 

[Elaina]

LOL, no. I don't like chocolate. Which I'm told puts a ton of people off of me, because who doesn't like chocolate?

 

[katiemakeup]

I'm not put off!! You should spread all of your patterns around then pick one blindly!

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Well, I'm in the market for a pair of pants that hits just below the ankle - you can wear them with flats but they're not capris. Great for the summer! Make some of those in white with a tortoiseshell button.

 

[Elaina]

Good ideas. My son decided he wanted to help, so I wound up sewing a hat (for me). I'll probably make my mom a cell phone bag, then get on the pants (but not in white. I have a big bum.)

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Heeheehee! Well, I like white pants a lot but the fabric usually is thin and requires butt-covering undies underneath.

 

[Elaina]

lol yes, well, we don't discuss undies. I think I have 3 or 4 pairs somewhere.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

lol yes, well, we don't discuss undies. I think I have 3 or 4 pairs somewhere.

Oh yes! I remember that little factoid about you...what about Spanx? Are those undies too, technically?lol

 

[Elaina]

Really, I don't know. I wear a corset, and that's about enough of that to be honest (it goes fairly low, so [huh])

If I need anything else, it's with dresses and why I love tap pants from the 20s.

 

[Kimberly]

Good ideas. My son decided he wanted to help, so I wound up sewing a hat (for me). I'll probably make my mom a cell phone bag, then get on the pants (but not in white. I have a big bum.)

Wait, you sewed a hat in less than one day. That would have taken me three months!! lol

 

[Elaina]

It really wasn't a huge deal. It's a cloche inspired style that consists of a circle, a band and a brim. I used leftover brocade and interfacing and used a rotary cutter and cut all the pieces at once (used weights and that took about 20 minutes). Sewed it together (I guided the material, kid pedaled the treadle), added the ribbon bottom by machine, trimmed the seam and passed it off to the boy to hand tack the ribbon/sweat band in place. Then I made a ribbon rose while he was working on it (I hate hand sewing and he's good at it), added a safety pin (I am not the fabric flower type, but kid thinks I need to be more girly today), and went on. I think it took us about an hour and a half of my actual involvement, and another 45 minutes or so for him to finish the the hand tacking of the band and hand tacking the brim in an angle he wanted it to be in, and 15 minutes of having the Elvis bust model it before he was satisfied (and for the record, no Elvis does not look good in a purple women's hat.)

This style of hat is very forgiving, and very easy. I did the sew-in interfacing (that worries the kid still, and I sew faster then he does) then all it requires is one seam each for the back center on two pieces of less then 6 inches each (2 small straight lines), one for the crown to sides (a circle), one from the sides to brim (another larger circle), and then the same for the lining. Sidewalk chalk makes uber quick marks to match the hat up, I've got a travel iron and a board set where I turn in my chair and do a quick press while constructing (makes that job fast: sew, press, go back to sewing) then a sewing ham I've got for my hats makes the final pressing lightning quick, and a little boy did all the power for stitching at a slow speed (he's scared he's going to sew my fingers) to make the sewing easy to get precision down fine, an adjustable seam guide and ba-da-bing...quick hat. I'm pretty sure anyone could make this hat in couple of hours, provided they can follow directions and a seam guide and go only as fast as needed to make sure the seams are perfectly done and make small enough stitches to anchor the grosgrain ribbon into place.

 

[Viviene]

Try some peanut butter fudge.

 

[Elaina]

LOL, I don't like sweets, but my kid'll probably thank you for the suggestion.