Relearning old skills: Sewing

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Sewing update:

I received a LOT of fabric at the summer sale at the fabric/sewing store that I go to. Unbelievable amount at very little cost.
I decided to make the pj's for the entire family of my sil and bil -- that is 6 men, 5 women, 2 older teen boys, 2 younger boys, 3 6 yr old girls, and 3 yr old girls! a total of 21 pjs. Call me crazy.

Plus I wanted to continue my exploration in knits.

I have made:
  1. all the younger one's pj's: 6 nighties and 2 lounge pants
  2. a nightie for my oldest granddaughter
  3. little gift bags for all the pj's above
  4. a nightie for my sister
  5. a knit dress for the 2yr old granddaughter that fits the 4 yr old
  6. two more pairs of biker shorts (adjusted pattern to make them longer in butt)
  7. finished the little stuffie for my oldest granddaughter
  8. robe out of waffle cloth that I am reasonably ok with -- waffle cloth is an interesting cloth to sew with
  9. have lounge pants started for the adults...just got tired of that sewing for a bit.
I also picked up a few items, and learned some new skills.
  1. twin needle -- who knew! i surely didn't and wow, love them. (note the lack of knowledge is not due to the teacher who had mentioned them n the learn to sew, but rather, my not recognizing how they worked, and I could use them with my machine)
  2. pattern cutting -- getting better at knowing when to trace and when to just go for it
  3. pinning -- getting better at knowing when to pin, and when i can sew
  4. working with knits -- the latest knit sewing projects were much better
  5. bought a thread holder made from wood -- didn't like...wouldn't hold bobbins, fell over, returned it
  6. had bought a bobbin holder made from silicon - may have mentioned that previously - love it.
  7. bought a thread holder -- it was extravagant, but so tired of messy threads. seems good
Organization
  1. Bought a few bins to hold projects that I am working on, to avoid the problem of lost pattern pieces.
  2. New to me stacking bins -- I found some bins that matched the others that i had
  3. Moved fabric from non-standard, wide bins to the stacking bins -- got rid of non-standard bins
  4. Moved notions to the smaller stacking bins, and got rid of cardboard boxes they were in!
  5. Got rid of upholstery fabric that had come with my auction find that i just did not want, thereby having one large bin to hold my fleece.
  6. Almost completed moving all of fabric & bins out of the guest room into one corner in my son's massive bedroom. (Planning a shuffle of bedroom furniture once our youngest granddaughter is out of crib. getting the fabric out is a "first step".
 

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I have a list of projects that I am planning to do in addition to the nighties above and some that I am considering.

  1. Want to whip up another nightie for my sister -- doesn't take long. and will make her happy
  2. I have a whack of Christmas fabric that I really want to decrease in size. Pondering options. We do use gift bags, and they could use refreshing, so some will go to that -- easy to do at night, can cut out a bunch at once. Will likely make them as market bags though, rather than tie bags.
  3. probably also make some Christmas placemats(from auction & yard sale).
  4. I have a wonderful Hallowe'en panel that I am going to make my first panel / art for the wall out of. Trying to decide how much i want to do with it
  5. I have plans for two pillows for my granddaughters (the pillows are big flowers with petals) which will use some of the auction find fabric
  6. I have fabric for a fun knit dress from Burda for my oldest granddaughter for Christmas
  7. I was given some quility books, and i like the idea of a scrappy quilt. I was also give a ton of fat quarters of fabric with asian themes. thinking i may try with that fabric to make one. -- good winter project.

i currently have my sewing machine & serger setup in the living room on a long table. I can watch tv whilst sewing, and also be social. Not sure where I am going to move it long term, but, this works.
 
Wow - lots happening in your sewing world Jayne! Good for you! I love that your fabrics come from auctions etc - such a great idea. Re Xmas fabrics - aprons are good too in seasonal fabric :) Actually I'm still (in August) wearing the Xmas one I got for my husband a few years ago - the fabric is more lightweight than my 'regular' aprons - so cooler for summer!
 
oooh, forgot one other project that i have in my list....a beer caddy.
Figure it will make a good secret santa gift for the one crazy group, plus will be good for my niece & nephew. I generally give each of them some Canadian beers at Christmas. This will be a fun way to give them.

The caddy can also be used for things like ketchup, mustard, relish, and so on.
www.robertkaufman.com

Robert Kaufman Fabrics: Quality wholesale fabrics and textiles for quilting, fashion and manufacturing since 1942

Robert Kaufman Fabrics is a wholesale converter of quilting fabrics and textiles for manufacturers as well as a supplier to the retail, quilting, home decor, bridal, uniform, and apparel industries. Established in 1942.
www.robertkaufman.com
 
JayneWonders said:
twin needle -- who knew! i surely didn't and wow, love them. (note the lack of knowledge is not due to the teacher who had mentioned them n the learn to sew, but rather, my not recognizing how they worked, and I could use them wit
Click to expand...

What do you use a twin needle for?

If you are doing beer caddies and the like, check out byAnnie patterns. She has some great organizational items that are fun to make. I've yet to try a Sallie Tomato pattern. It's on my interest list.

I'm making this next

Screenshot_20220809-135227_Samsung Internet.jpg


I'm using this fabric

20220811_140648.jpg
 
Twin needles is used for sewing on knits or doing hems or top stitches

For the bike shorts, I sewed the seams and first part of elastic casing with serger. Then did the legs and final part of casing with twin needles

You sew from the right side of the fabric. It has two top threads joining with single bobbin. Gives great stretch. Looks good.
 
I'm busy with Christmas sewing.

I decided to make the 4 yr old and 2 yr old girls a pillow pattern that I had picked up that has a spider toy.

They are quite adorable but i should pay more attention to size when planning.

Also hadn't considered impact of spider having 8 Legs. Lots of little pieces when you are making 5 sets.

On the plus side lots of fabric from my auction find were consumed by this project.



Will attach images when done
 
I look forward to seeing your creations Jayne.

I looked back and saw I did not share my finished bag. I'm really happy with it.

20220914_174346 (1).jpg

I decided to knit socks for three special ladies this Christmas. Then I decided to make little Clam Up bags to put the socks in. I included some chocolate coins.

20221214_132832.jpg

20221214_133035.jpg

20221215_093057.jpg
 
My one little contribution: We had the different teams in the company do "Christmas pictures" for a slide deck at the company's holiday town hall. One branch had receiving knit socks from a very happy patient and so they wore them in their picture. So cool.
 
Totally mind blown

Was confused about stabilizer so took a project "in the hoop" to the sewing store

The wonderful owner answered my question, but then said "but Jayne it is upside down"

I looked at her clearly not understanding.

She tried to explain, then took from my hands and reassembled my hoop.

Lightbulb!!!!!

We laughed. I laughed. She said " how did it even work"??

We told people and had a great laugh.

Why was it upside down? I hand embroidered for years. I knew how to put fabric on a hoop. NOT!

Anyhow explains so much

Going to make new stockings!!
 
Laughing with you - not at you!

Sewing is a source of frustration for me as I haven't found a good way to render the topic 'seeable'. I can kinda handle something very simple - but only because my machine is self threading. I'd really like to do some twin needle stuff - but my machine won't thread two needles at once or one after the other.
 
KayTheCurler said:
Laughing with you - not at you!

Sewing is a source of frustration for me as I haven't found a good way to render the topic 'seeable'. I can kinda handle something very simple - but only because my machine is self threading. I'd really like to do some twin needle stuff - but my machine won't thread two needles at once or one after the other.
Click to expand...
Kay!

I thought the same.
It is a special needle that has one post, with two needles sticking out.

You have two spools of thread, one in normal and one in side post, or separate post, and you thread them identically, through the tension etc, just one goes in one needle hole , and one goes in the other.

I love it.

I was like, how don't I know about this??
 
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