May challenge for those Lazy Bums

My challenge this month was to make a T shirt, from fabric which has been lurking for over a year. What excuses can I make?

Pure idleness!
So the challenge was issued, just as I had got the fabric out and the pattern ready anyway! Lucky lucky!

I think this may be a Liberty print jersey- it is certainly William Morris inspired, with a dark blue background, and those lovely colours in the print, slightly muted, but singing to me. 

 Top-stitching round curves is not as easy as it might be...  but helps stop the facing escaping.

The facing was interfaced with iron on stretch interfacing, which is different from my last stretch interfacing, more stretchy? I think it may be better for this project. It is very light weight!

I do like a slightly longer T shirt than is currently available in the shops, so making it oneself is the sensible option. I also like the bell sleeve, which I redrafted from a straight sleeve, for a previous T shirt A little cooler than the straighter version.

And I overlocked all the seams, just hemming and topstitching with the standard machine. It went together super quick, and is very comfortable.

The hem is done with a twin needle, designed for stretch fabric. Not a ball point twin, but a stretch twin. It makes all the difference!

Woopsie!

Oh dear, I seem to have been awol! I have done stuff, Honest!


We had a weekend in London, as two of our children now live there. this trip included a trip to Goldhawk Road.

If any of you do not know about Goldhawk Road, and live remotely near West London, and make clothing- GO THERE! It is the home of a whole heap of fabric shops all in one place. We missed out about three or four of them, but still went into more than a dozen!

I wanted more pretty fabric for a few T-shirts. I have hunted for pretty T-shirting that is not babyish, and failed to find it locally. But in Goldhawk Road, I scored! Whoo-hoo!
Two rather William Morris-y prints, and a more amorphous print.
This last one has already transformed into a top, as you can see, below, and I am chuffed to bits, as they say!

and then a couple of wovens, the green to turn into culottes, when I get there, and the other.... well, shall we just say, it declined to be abandoned in the shop?/


 I am very happy with my buys!

There is another T-shirt fabric, in rich greens and purples... It will also happen in due course.

 I also made the bee blocks for March. made rather more promptly than posted... Clever blocks asked for by lovely Jo, who plans a Siblings Together quilt, I believe.

The blocks all together look great!











And then there is a swap... That Tote bag swap.... I have it almost together now, Black and white and One colour!




A zippy pocket,  and some slippy pockets,







Putting it together somehow those slip pockets in the lining decided to go in upside down...

 that seam ripper is facing the gap left at the bottom of the bag, for turning right sides out at the end...

Do you think it is a fashion that may catch on, given time?









and here is the bag all sewn together!I do hope my partner likes it! Do you think she will?

Today's offering is...

 This new T shirt.
The fabric was left over from that dress I made last spring. I did not have sufficient border to put the border all round the hem line, nor to use for the sleeves, so, it is just on the front. But then, it is effectively a completely free T shirt, isn't it?  So, who could possibly complain?


Oh but it gave me hassle!

It is a soft knit fabric. Knit fabrics need ballpoint needles, right??

But my ball point needle kept shredding the thread, and I would suddenly realise that I had only managed the first couple of inches of my seam, when I thought I had got to the other end and done my wee reverse...

So, in the end, I gave up and put in a sharp, and it worked perfectly.

 Then, I wanted to use a twin needle round the neck.

Good in theory, and again, recommended practice...

except when your machine decides, all by itself, and with no help of any kind from the operator... to only sew with the right hand twin needle, and to ignore completely the left hand needle!


I know- this never happens to you...

and then, it decides, all by its self, and with no help from anyone, perhaps it will use both needles again...  producing this result...

no, I know, it never happens to you..

I gave up with the twin needle for the hem, and just did a blind hem. I reckoned that would be ok, as it is a sort of stretchy stitch in it's own right... Isn't it?


And in the end,. I have a nice fitting, eminently wearable T shirt, from my leftovers. I call that a win, what do you think?

Fresh sewing day...

It has been a while since I catalogued makes for the month.. but having managed, if not a wide variety, at least a lot of finishes.... 

last on the list was this collection of square in a square blues... with red. A bee block for October.. 

And I did manage a first for me- turning a scribbled drawing into a foundation paper pieced block, and then getting it drawn up on the computer, and even translating it into a pdf, which has been printed out by someone elsewhere and used! so we know it works!

But the major event was these tutus! all 32 of them... getting things done folks! though they were started in September.


and I plan to link up with Lily's quilts!

Dressed

You remember that fabric?

This was found at the Cloth shop, in Culcheth, if you are anywhere near it is well worth a poke around- she does all sorts of haberdashery and trims, as well as other craft supplies..

 well, it progressed, to this,












 and then to this...

and my daughter was kind enough to take a few photos.

Yes, the head is cut off deliberately...  it is the DRESS you are looking at, not me!







Oh, all right then- I will admit to being me!

and just for good measure, the next couple of shots are what goes on after midnight, when your self timer on the camera is maximum 10 seconds!

The invisible woman struck again!

















For the record, I cut most of the fabric out, all bar the black sections, on Friday night, and worked on Saturday 'morning', so after I had had lunch, I started sewing. There is an invisible zip in there, but I do not have an invisible zip foot, so I checked out the Burda tutorial for fitting one with the wrong foot- hey, it worked!!! and that took some time, I took a break for supper of about two hours-ish, and I finished sewing about ten past midnight. I reckon I took 6 1/2 hours to complete it, down to hems and everything.

I used my walking foot for a lot of the seams, and also my overlocker,  ( serger for the American element) so most seams are sewn twice.

On that showing, I reckon GBSB is safe from me, don't you? 

but the walking foot was a dream for sewing the jersey fabric. and I would definitely use it again!

Burda pattern 124 from magazine 9-2012