Wednesday, January 23, 2013

These lessons wear Orange Pants..

It finally happened.

After a few days, ok maybe a few weeks, of procrastinating the beginning of the scrub project I finally faced my fears and pulled out everything I thought I needed to accomplish my mission.

It had been a few days of opening the pattern and trying to read it.  Having a little freak out inside as I got lost in all the marks, arrows dotted lines and overwhelming fragile nature of the paper.



 It might have taken a few tries to get the pattern to unfold straight.

 It might have taken me a few moments to thoroughly look at all the pictures on all four pieces of paper and clearly identify the parts that belonged to "D" pants.

It might have taken me a bit of time to unfold and refold my material.
** I chose to not iron it before I did this and I won't make that choice again! Why, cuz i ran into areas after the fact that were all folded and didn't cut or sit properly**


It might have taken me a little while to pin all the pieces to the material.
** Dollar store straight pins have burs on them and are hard to force through the material**

I might have chose not to do one piece as Prey wasn't interested in pockets.
This is going to bite me in the butt a few steps from this moment but I was blissfully unaware as I pinned away.

and that's how it started..

From that moment it was full steam ahead.

I read through the directions trying to ensure I understood them before removing the pattern from the material and beginning the process.



It Might have gone on like this through out the entire process of creating these scrubs.

I did it tho.. with a few screw ups that I am about to go fix now.

They are not perfect but they are perfect! They are way to big for us in the caves which isn't a bad thing.





I am going to give them to my very gay brother.  He will rock the orange!

I will rock another pair a size smaller and a little darker!

Then I think I  might try to make the shirt!

That feeling of pride I had when I was a kid..

I got it now !!

YAY

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Well here it is.. the end of another interesting session in sewing. Lesson 2 is a corded pillow.

We went out and got the material for said pillows. I thought of my friend Nyx and got pink material and black cord. I made sure to get enough for two pillows. I had to make my own pattern and cut out the material .. then I did the hems like they said and started to put it together.

It seems I don't read properly and had the wrong foot on my machine. I realized it after 20 mins of frustrating sewing and ripping out. I put the foot they told me to put on and started the process again. It was still not working out so I decided to you tube it.
It was then i realized that they were talking about a hand made cord and not anything like what I was using.. I also learned that there is a actual pipe foot you can get that has a section that goes over the piping making it easier to stitch right against the cord.

I hammered my way through the cord and then tried my had at putting the entire thing together..

I SUCKED.. lol





Its a shitty job and if there is anything I have learned about myself. If the reason I cant get something right is because of not having the right materials I will continue to be frustrated.
With that in mind I promptly folded the remaining material for the second pillow and put a end to lesson #2. :O)

I decided I still wanted to sew. I did a bit of mending for prey and then went off to measure our little pillows again as I had an idea and wanted to see if it would work.

I measured and cut and started to sew.  It wasnt long before I had two cute little pillow cases. This time they actually covered the little pillows and they look rather awesome if I say so myself!



And there it is, that feeling of pride from doing something that worked!

This will fuel me.

UPDATE!!!!
HAIR STICKS TO THIS MATERIAL LIKE CRAZY. 
THE CASE I MADE FOR MY PILLOW MAKES IT FEEL LIKE A SAUSAGE AND I HAVE TO MAKE A NEW ONE!!


Monday, January 14, 2013

Mending

I got to play on my machine for a few moments today. It's been hectic around here so I have not been able to begin my new project.

I have tho been able to tackle a little bit of mending we had hanging around the house.

My machine helped me to reattach a bra strap.

Fix a ripped crotch in yoga pants.

Fix two ripped pairs of scrubs.

Not much I know but enough to allow me to practice two different styles of stitches and play a little bit with some stretchy material.

I also got to put more thread on the bobbin and re-thread her a few times before the end of my mission.

I went to the unemployment today and learned I was not qualified to have retraining. Sadly I can't have my course covered. I am going to have to really work hard at finding the right information to teach myself with.

I am not discouraged tho, I know if something is meant to be it will be. I have to say this is the first thing in a long time that I have been willing to put such an effort into.

That speaks volumes to me.

I was flipping through the tv today and out of the blue I come across a show where the woman is sewing. It was the tail end of her lesson but I was lucky as there was another lesson about sewing a curved sleeve.

It was a little beyond my skill set but it was interesting to watch her work and realize once again that my new best friend will be my iron!

I went to their website and discovered a plethora of shows to watch on many different projects.
http://www.itsseweasytv.com

Good thing I like to learn!! I certainly have my work cut out for me!!


Sunday, January 13, 2013


When I was a kid my father signed me up for a sewing class. I remember going fabric shopping with him to a neat little store in the small town we lived in. I picked out a white terrycloth, some thread and some elastic for the bottom. 
I vaguely remember the class itself but I certainly remember the feeling of pride I had with the creation of my new shirt. It had short sleeves and a collar and elastic in the bottom. 
I couldn't wear it tho as I had made the elastic far to tight in the bottom and it cut off my circulation! I could not fix it because I didn't have a machine at home and the class was done! 

Over the years I have often thought about getting a machine and making another shirt but have never really given into the craving.  
This year I got a new sewing machine from my beautiful Prey. 
I am now on a mission to teach myself how to sew using the various sites online. I hope to be able to hone my skills so I can eventually offer a variety of items for sale. I believe I wish to cater to the plus size person and those in wheel chairs. 
I am ambitious and positive.  Heading to the store this afternoon to fetch cord for my third project!

I had the machine for over two weeks, only taking it out of the box to briefly go over the  different parts it came with. I put it back away when it came time to learn how to thread the bobbin as it was close to xmas and I didn't want to get in the middle of anything and then have to put it away. I went through the entire holiday with it still in the box and only after new years eve did I finally break it free and start to learn more about her. 
I spent a evening threading her and learning her different stitches and only got stuck with the automatic button hole maker!

Once those tasks were accomplished I set forth to create my very first project.  We were attending a gathering where the theme was "Animals". My prey needed ears and a tail and it was my mission to create those for her. 
I must say using fur for my first outing with my new machine was lofty! 
It was then that the fur started to fly!!
I cut and glued the ears and then folded the tail to make the two straight lines required.
It all happened so fast and effortlessly that I felt slightly cheated until I turned the tail right side out and stuffed it. Then I felt that same feeling of pride I did when I held up my gut busting white terrycloth shirt so many years ago.

The ears could have been way better if I wrapped them differently but we only bought a  2" strip of fur that wasn't to long so I improvised to make sure I had lots of fur left for her tail. 




I have signed up for an online sewing class.. http://sewing.about.com/library/lessons/bllessonindex.htm
the first actual project is the envelope pillowcase. 
I went and got material needed and decided I wasn't gonna use the pillow form and sizes they recommended yet make pillowcases for our small sleeping pillows as they live in cases that are 10x to big for them.
After reading through the first lesson I learned it was wise to wash your new fabric before using it to avoid shrinkage. 
I know from experience most types of shrinkage is a bad deal  so into the cleaner my material went and out of the dryer it came in a tight little ball.  
I also learned from reading and hearing my buddy tell me that this sewing gig requires a shit ton of ironing, I had already got myself a top notch ironing board to go with the awesome iron we already have so I set it up to begin the process of deballing my material.

Three meters is a lot when you are trying to iron it. 
I "Thought" I could make my own pattern and did exactly that. Cut out the material for both pillowcases thinking I would be a smarty pants and get them both done at once. 

So.. off I went following all the steps towards creating a successful pillowcase and once I was done I ran into the bedroom to see about stuffing them. Once there I realized my  pillowcases were to small for their intended pillows. So the one for preys pillow fits my little pillow and the one for my pillow will have its own brand new pillow created for it! 

Now after discovering this  I did come back to my handy dandy table and promptly took out the seams of the bigger case which took a while cuz they were both double stitched. Then I redid the seams in hopes that the alterations would help the pillow fit better but alas I was mistaken yet again and in the end neither of the damn cases fit but both are done correctly and look not so bad!



My second project!






Now I have spent a few days away from sewing but did go to the store and pick up the material and a few patterns for the next big project.. pillow with cable. I need to go get two 16" forms cuz I will be giving these beauties away as the material was bought with a friend in mind.. its horrid pink! lol

After that it is a robe to try to teach me about different fabrics but I am holding out as I have put out a call for any sewing stuff people may wish to donate .. fabric is expensive and if i can gather  some resources then the learning curve wont cost so much. 

I will be going to the unemployment office on monday to see if I can get them to cover the online course I wish to take .. it is certified dressmaker/design course that is designed to teach me everything.. That is what I would like to know.. everything and I know from my tattooing that if I take a class and learn properly that I can then hone my skills knowing I have the right information. That information in combination with the wise advice of my sewing friends will assist me to be awesome at this so my eventual mission can be accomplished. 
Goals are important.. I have a few!!