Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Fitting woes draining my sewing mojo!

So the cardigan Simon and I are sewing for me is way too wide in the shoulders (New Look 6164) and the Buzz Shirt for Sam is too small, it won't fit over his head.


 I really wanted to make this cardigan for a long time. Simon found some fabric he fell in love with and promised he would make it. I should have measured and corrected the shoulders but I didn't.

I woke up in the middle of the night dreaming of the correction. Simon said he knew what to do. I need this finished today to restore my sewing mojo.
I decided to clear one difficult or challenging road block that lay on my to do pile. The V neck I mastered. To what end? Now I have to rip it apart, take it apart and redo the neck opening so that it will fit him. Le Sigh!

I need to do this today to restore my sewing mojo balance.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

To Infinity and Beyond!



We bought some cotton fabric from Tonitex. Simon chose this Buzz Lightyear to make a top and bottom. I used Jalie 2918 for the top in a V neck and my Singer Couture pattern that I used for his Elmo pants for the bottom. I used a size 2 for both patterns. 







It had been a while (1 year) since I made a V neck and I was hesitant making the collar. I put it aside and I was waiting for Simon to help, as he is the expert in V necks. This afternoon I decided to stop putting projects aside when they get hard. And what’s the worst that could happen? It looks bad and my 3 year old refuses the wear it? Doubtful he would care!






 

I am impressed with my results! I am glad that I forged ahead and finished this project. That means I can start another project.



Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Elmo pants

 I was given an old pattern a few years ago. I decided that I would give it a try. The pattern dates 1995 and it was a free pattern when you bought Singer 39 L'Atelier de Couture Singer. The instructions in the packaging are pages from a book. High gloss and FULL of details, you just have to know how to speak French!







For Tyler I used size 6, which is a medium, and Sam has a size 2 which is a TP(very small). I did not sew any pockets. These are PJ's and Sam does not need pockets to hide toys in.







We had bought some fleece fabric last year from Tonitex but never got around to using it. It has little Elmo heads and a big Elmo on the other half. The pattern was either messed up or is intended for a shirt with an opening down the middle as it is duplicated. We got it a discount at any rate. We looked all through the store and this was the only favric that had Elmo on it. I have A LOT left!


I chose the Elmo faces for the front of the pants







The Elmo goes in the back on one leg and the "Play with me" is in the back on the other leg. The words are hidden right now.





There are some Elmo faces left over and I plan to put some backing on them and sew them as appliques on the new sweat pants I made. 

Monday, December 22, 2014

I got my sewing mojo back, and a new sewing table!

 So I have the most amazing husband ever! Yes, I do! Take a look at what he made us. I say us because he sews with me. He is as much invested in this as I am. This table cost us $35 for the wheels. We just need to add a small magnet to keep the bottom drawer closed as it is not leveled 100% due to the wheels. This replaces the old table we used with the risers. This looks much more professional, organized and clean. If we were to buy a table for organizing and sewing it would cost a fortune. This was FREE!


 Simon got from his work some old cabinets. He screwed the 3 cabinets together and put wheels on them. They are the perfect height for working on patterns or material! NO bending over. Seeing as this room serves multiple functions I wanted to be able to move it out of the way temporarily. We used swivel wheels so it is easy to move anywhere.







The bottom 3 drawers are file folder drawers. I am using the middle one for all my patterns. They are so deep the one drawer holds all my patterns, including the Jalie patters which are huge. I need to organize a little more, but with 2 active kids bouncing around us, this is the best we can get for this weekend!


 The left storage and the right storage bin has to be organized better. I need to roll my fabric or something. I am Googling ways to store fabric to find the best one for us. Here's a thought, sew up everything and stop buying more fabric. DUH!







 The middle cubicle we put our 2 storage organizers that holds all our scissors, elastics, etc...

The drawer on top of this holds my utensils, pencils, tracing paper, etc...
So I got my sewing mojo back. I modified the PJ pattern and lengthened the pants for Tyler. He now has a new pair of sweat pants. I will probably make him another pair today. And I told Simon that I want another Christmas dress from the sparkly fabric we bought last year. We have the pattern already made, so it is a matter of cutting it up and doing it! 

Simon finished the Lego star wars pants for Tyler. We used the Medium when he was still a small, but with length added. He reduced and reduced and reduced.

It feels really good to get back into it! Happy sewing! Let me know what types of creative ways you have used to create your own sewing spaces!

**Update **
I have a great way to roll up my fabric and keep it in place. I roll up the fabric and store them in transparent bins. I can see the fabric in the bin, and I can open it up and see more. I have 3 of these, but the 3rd one is too wide to fit beside the 2 other ones. Not bad for 1 day and 0$ investments.

I have since made 2 3 pairs of sweat pants for the boys, woo hoo! And I used a new pattern as well! It is not quite new, it is from the 80's. A pattern that was given to me. A singer couture pattern.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Snow Pants - Jalie 2109







Seeing as we took and completed the Winter Ski Jacket, we decided to make the ski pants that go along with it. My pants are for playing in the snow with the kids and not going skiing, but that does not matter!

Have you seen the price of snow pants for adults? CRAZY, I tell you! And the quality is poor, they are cold and you get wet very quickly.

This course is given over 3 weeks, and that is plenty of time. Dorothee Barnes gives the class at Club Tissus. She used to give this course in 2 weeks, but 3 weeks allows for more breathing time, and more chit-chat! The per-requisit for this class is the Winter Ski Jacket. After you complete the jacket, this is easy-peasey!

We used Downtech fpr the exterior, 100g Thinsulate, Polar fleece, Tonto, and 100% nylon for the lining.
 This is a fun project, but there are a lot of details that takes time. I wanted to make sure everything was sewn straight, so the big carpenter's square ruler had to come out. I traced my lines and we sewed the thinsulate on. Remember to start in the middle and work your way out.




You can iron Tonto and Downtech on a medium low setting. This material is very rigid and we needed to fold it evenly and properly to get the best results. We used our blind hem "G" foot as a guide when using the double needle for the topstiching. This was the perfect foot to give us perfect, even stitches.






 Simon used the stretch setting, #5, with a width of 7 and a length of 4. When I stitched many layers of Tonto and Downtech together I had to go VERY SLOWLY, as the double jeans needle was borderline. Maybe next time, if I remember, I will get a stronger double needle.
















After the second class I came down with the gastro.Sam had been sick with it all week, and I started feeling REALLY BAD during my second class. The next morning I was death. This lasted for 1 week solid.  So we were a bit behind in our work. There was one day I was home with Simon before the class and I was so weak that I did not get much done before the last class. But I do not have the kids this weekend. My mother is giving us a Valentine's day weekend one week in advance. So we were able to complete some sewing! Here is what was done last night and today:


 The lining is sewn on the Thinsulate. I sewed polar fleece on the knees and the butt. Cozy warm!








We sewed Tonto on the exterior butt. This is to keep me dry when I fall down. 









As you can see the knees also have the Tonto on them. Tonto is more waterproof than Cordura and more supple. But it is the same. 
 


And we did one pocket, lined on both sides with polar fleece inside. with a zipper shield integrated. 



Here you can see the zipper shield installed on top of the zipper.





Here is proof that you can iron Downtech. We used our iron on the lowest heat settings. It did not affect the material at all. A lady in our sewing class told us she did it with no trouble at all. This sure beats using the wooded tool to fold down our seams.









As you can see we have perfectly flat seams. This is very important when making pockets.







As well as wonder tape. Gotta love the stuff!





















The back of the pockets are done and voila! We decided to line both sides of the pocket with polar fleece. I am spoiled!











Monday, March 31, 2014

LAVAZZA DRIP COFFEE BZZ Agent

So I received a great opportunity from BZZ agent to try a new product. I am selective about the products I test, as I only accept products that I do use in my daily life, and not just a as a means to get a free product to try. Their newest product for testing was Lavazza Drip coffee. Who doesn't LOVE coffee? I am always on the lookout for new coffee to try! I was not aware of the company before, and I certainly did not know they were the 6th largest roaster in the world!

We were given 2 types of coffee to try. They are both pre-ground coffees, one is Dark roast and the other is a chocolate flavor. The first thing you notice is that when you open the package there is an amazing aroma. It is like fresh baked bread and the most amazing smell of fresh toast filling the air. It is a nice fragrance. The coffee brews very well, and the taste and color is very nice. I prefer a dark roast coffee and I am not a fan of flavored coffee. I LOVE the taste of coffee and I do not to mask it or change it. But I do have to say that the chocolate flavor was not overpowering and did not take away from the taste of the coffee/ But with that being said, I do prefer he dark roast.

Simon has asked that we purchase this (dark roast) on our next grocery run. You should pick up this coffee and try it for yourself! I know you will not be disappointed!

Friday, February 14, 2014

an apron and oven mitts for Nana

My mom has had an apron for 45 years that she absolutelypattern  loves. It is getting really old, worn and a bit stained. it is not a normal apron, it zips up in the front and it has no arms. I have not been able to find pattern for it nor an apron like it in store.


Simon decided to copy her apron in secret and make her one for Valentine's day. He made a test one first then with his pattern perfected the one he made her.










My mom has roosters as her decor and Simon found the perfect fabric to match. He choose a nice accent bias tape. I find the fabric and colors he chose really works well together.


He put a lot of detail into it and he chose a really nice tops stitching design.





















He also made 2 insulated oven mitts. He used my mccalls pattern for the mitts.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Sewing classes 2014

When I started taking sewing classes back in 2012, I was new to sewing with patterns. I did not know what I would and would not need to learn. Now that I am more experienced, I am a better judge of what makes a good sewing class, and a great sewing instructor.

I wanted to take sewing classes in English, in my area, the West Island. That did not work out so well. The Fabricville classes got me interested in sewing and I gained confidence in many areas. But I was lacking in proper knowledge and I won’t go into the details of the quality and value for the money spent on the Fabricville classes. That is the past.

I had heard of sewing classes given at Club Tissus in Laval. After all, that is where we bought all our machines. It is a store that we trust and their customer service is AMAZING! The staff really knows their stuff there, not like at Fabricville. But LAVAL?? A bridge to cross? 2 bridges from my house? Do I really want to go that far? As it turns out, it is about 10 minutes from my office in VSL. If I leave when I finish work I get there nice and early, miss the traffic, and I have PLENTY of time to go eat dinner and even do some shopping before the class.

I started off with the bathing suit class (Finished bathing suit). I took this one on my own. I then took the Tissus Extensible with Simon. This class was AMAZING! I was unsure if I would learn anything new, as I knew how to sew shirts and yoga pants. What we learned was incredible! Just look over my blog to see all the great creations we did. You learn so many tricks and techniques. We learned numerous collars, etc.
Simon and I then took the winter jacket course and then the snow pants class. The winter jacket is by far the most ambitious project we have ever attempted. The jacket took 40 solid hours to complete, but well worth it.
All of our classes were given by Dorothee Barnes at ClubTissus. She is an excellent teacher, patient and extremely knowledgeable. Her forte is stretch fabrics. With her sewing classes you will learn how to adjust any pattern to fit your dimensions. You will be able to customize anything to your tastes and measurements. You will no longer make something that does not fit you. Even if you think you know all you need to, she will teach you many things that will help bring your projects to the next level. There is a wide range of classes given throughout the year. I have 2014 all planned out, my mother booked to babysit and I penned them in my calendar. We will take the Polo 1 & 2, Chemisier, Pantalon sur mesure. I will take the bra course by myself, Soutien-gorge 1. I have seen people’s work from this class and it looks better than anything I have seen in the stores!

All in all the classes are fun, informative, excellent value for your money and well worth the trek out to Laval. I would recommend any of her courses. Take a look at her brochure and I hope you find a course that suits your needs!





Saturday, January 25, 2014

Simon's long johns

Simon works outside and he needs some help keeping warm. I'm not always around to keep his feet warm,  you know! During our Stretch fabrics class at Club Tissus we made yoga pants. Simon was supposed to make stretchy pants for himself but we never got around to it, with all our pending projects. We had purchased Peach Skin fabric from Stretch Text on St-Laurent.

Our sewing instructor was having a fashio show and all her students were invited to show off their creations. Simon really wanted to have another item from the "tissus extensibles" class, so he made the 2 items in 1 day! 

Simon used 2 patterns to create his long johns: Jalie's 2327 and 2918


















He extended the boxers to make his legs, accounting for the width of his thighs, knees and ankles. His shirt he made a -5 to make it tighter and he made a mock turtleneck.The length is a bit longer so that when he moves around the shirt does not lift past the pants. I think he will be nice and warm in these. Coupled with the sweater he made from the same pattern and the winter jacket he made, he is good to -40 Celsius!