Switching Gears: Sewing Clothes

Quiltmaking has come to a stand-still. As I've said several times through this pandemic, I'm slowing down my frantic pace of making quilts. With UFOs basically caught up - several long-term quilt tops are still in progress - I've intentionally turned my attention to other creative endeavors. This past week was mostly spent sewing clothes.

A shorts and knit top outfit - Simplicity 1370 short pattern to which I added pockets. The top pattern is a freebie called "Laundry Day Tee."

Three dresses - The green cotton dress on the left was started in 2015, but when it came out too large, I took it apart... and left it that way! I couldn't find the pattern, so I worked out finishing it by basting pieces together, trying it on, and sewing. 

The denim dress with the embroidered edge is the Sienna Shift Dress pattern (a download). Fabric was on clearance at Joann's. 

The lemon print knit dress is also the Laundry Day Tee pattern with my addition of side pockets. Fabric was on clearance at Joann's too. 

@SewOver50 is an Instagram account I follow, and during the month of September they're challenging sewists to show "flat lay" pictures of their makes. #so50flatlay2020

For the denim dress, I turned up the hem to show the lining, which was needed behind the openwork embroidery!

I cut up to a slip to make the lining which is sewed to the bodice seam. 

Yay for not needing to buy lining fabric, and having a pretty lace finish at the hem!

A skirt - Also made from Simplicity 1370 with my addition of pockets, and a lengthened hemline. I am so happy to have used this embroidered black denim purchased in the United Arab Emirates when we visited in 2006! 

The shorts and top came together in quickly, and I made the skirt in one afternoon/evening. There's always satisfaction with the way garments come together quickly, versus weeks and months spent making a quilt. 

After my friend, Debbie @aquilterstable posted blog pictures of her recent hand-embroidery, I purchased the same book for myself: Stitch and Sew: Beautifully Embroider 31 Projects by Aneela Hoey which I bought as an ebook. In addition to not adding to my physical book shelf, it was half-price through Google Books. To transfer designs onto fabric, Aneela uses Wash Away Stitch Stabilizer by C&T Publishing which I had never tried.

It comes in 8½" X 11" sheets (10 to a package) to run through a printer. This way, you can print a design directly onto the stabilizer, peel off the paper backing and stick it to fabric - in this case, linen. The stabilizer is fantastic for being able to see where to stitch a design, but the adhesive that makes it stick to the fabric gums up my embroidery needle. Periodically, I need to run the needle through a pin cushion of crushed walnut shells. When the design is finished, drop the piece in water; the stabilizer dissolves.

I used two strands of Cosmo embroidery floss for stitching; in the future I'll use all six strands.

I turned the piece into a zipper pouch - with a fuchsia zipper!

With my Bernina set on stitch #429, I embroidered the back piece too, with thread that matches the fabric because I wanted a design that didn't distract from the hand-stitched front. 

Extra fabric from the cut off zipper came in handy to make the tab pull, which I hand-sewed onto the zipper tab. This pouch has been added to a chest of drawers I'm filling with handmade gifts. 

On the home front, we're still doing just that... remaining mostly at home. Power-walking, doc appointments, and the Saturday Farmer's Market get me out of the house, but seeing friends is virtual: Big Cypress Quilters, and upcoming get-togethers with South Florida MQG, Central Florida MQG, and a two-day online workshop! 

Next Saturday and Sunday, through the Vermont Quilt Festival, I'm excited about spending six-hours learning improv with Maria Shell @talesofastitcher. The workshop is Linear Blocks: Line into Shape. Learning to piece solids like this is so intriguing to me.

Maria Shell's example

Dan is still cooking, and his pizza keeps getting better and better! He has perfected a scratch crust so it's crusty, and thick enough to not collapse in your hand. He used some of our fresh-grown basil on this one. This is the pizza at the ready-to-bake stage. 

After-baking: It was SO good!

Book Recommendation

Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica had me so enthralled that I listened nearly non-stop from the moment the book began with Quinn awaking in bed, after a night of partying, sensing that something wasn't right. When she finds her roommate, Esther's, window standing wide open - it's November - and Esther isn't there, she begins making excuses for why Esther may out. Perhaps she's picking up coffee and bagels after church. After searching Esther's room, finding a "love note," and still no Esther, Quinn reports to the police that she's missing. And still nothing happens. The story flips back and forth between Quinn in Chicago, and 18 year-old Alex in Michigan, working as a restaurant dishwasher and living a dead-end life with his alcoholic dad. Two unrelated narratives... or are they? I'd like to believe I caught on quickly, but probably not. Suffice it to say, this is a very captivating book! Linda's score: 4.4/5.0

Linda