Sharing some FO's

It's been a long while again... Moving really takes a toll on your time, eh? Well, that, and lack of internet at home for the first couple months...

I don't have a lot of time for explanation, but here are some FO's for you to love. Most of these are cel phone pictures, since we moved & I still haven't found my digicam...

Remember my batwing tuorial? http://craftyconcoction.blogspot.ca/2011/09/basic-childrens-bat-wing-tutorial.html

Well, we painted those wings, and I made a gargoyle costume for DS for halloween!

It was a huge success!! The belt & axe were purchased; the tail was made by me, detachable, the horns were made from air dry modeling clay (the really lightweight kids stuff) & the gray jumpsuit was made by using a shirt & pants of his to make a pattern, then stitched together. It has a couple buttons in the back.

A couch-arm organizer for my step-dad who lost both of his legs to diabetes & vascular disease. He is getting around in his wheelchair better now, but he was confined to a hospital bed in the living room for quite some time, and this made it much easier for him to keep his remote, the phone, a drink, his meds, etc close at hand. Both sides have two large pockets (big enough for magazines) and three smaller, elasticated pockets for phones, remotes, drinks, etc. It is backed in fleece, which creates a nice no-slip effect on my mom's couch fabric.

These shirts were made for a friend's daughters, who are 5 & 6. I have one that I made for the onesie swap, which Shaun now wears. The girls loved them, and refused to take them off for about 4 days, until their Mom said they had to take them off to wash them!

Hubby & I got a puppy, then another puppy about a month after. The first puppy is huge & fluffy, the second not so much. She was forever cold, so I used an old hoodie that I no longer wear & made her a sweater. Sadly, she was not a good fit for our family (she was biting DS & jumping) so a friend of ours is raising her in a child-free home, but she still has her sweater!

I have an adjustable dress form, whom I have named Dolly. I scored an awesome deal on her ($2 at a garage sale!) She is a little smaller than me maxed out (about 2" smaller in the waist, and we won't mention the bust difference) but I make do with a layer of padding and a bra. Well, a friend of mine is downsizing and getting ready to spend some time finding herself (maybe travelling?)

She was selling her dressform, which is the old cage style that is fully adjustable to ANY size!

I snapped that up! When I brought it home, I named her Jane, and then got DS to climb inside the cage, and made it to his size. Jane is usually to mid-hip on most women, but that was enough to make some legs...

Here she is as a creepy replica of my son with a foam head & some of his clothes:

Now Jane has a different outfit on - she is wearing DS's birthday suit for this weekend!

And last, but not least; DS turns 4 this weekend! He wanted a "Superhero" party, where all of his friends dress up as their favorit superheroes. For nearly 2 months he has requested to be Spiderman. Last Thursday I told him I didn't have time to make a Spiderman costume, and couldn't find one for sale anywhere. I asked him to wear his Spiderman jammies instead.

Well, he assured me that he never wanted to be Spiderman, and wanted to be Batman instead. Same dillema....

Until! I found a plastic batman mask for $5. I then re-used the jumper from his gargoyle costume that I made for halloween. I sewed & topstitched a quick belt out of an old t-shirt, and made a felt & jersey pin-on batman logo. A quick black jersey no-sew cape, and I have a cery happy little birthday boy! He was skeptical of everything I did, but loved the outcome of the old-school batman costume :)

Now, I have so much more to accomplish for his party this weekend, as I have tried to DIY a LOT of it. Plus, two swaps on the go over on Craftster, which I need to focus on. And studying for my MCQ in two weeks? Ugh!

Basic Children's Bat Wing Tutorial

Remember the wings I made for DS's halloween costume?

Well, I promised a tutorial. Here it is, in all it's picture-y glory, including my terrible MS Paint skills applied.

Materials:

• 2 wire coat hangers
• wire cutters
• pliers (2 pairs makes some things easier)
• electrical tape
• fabric of your choice (I chose a navy upholstery suede that I had lying around & no use for)
• coordinating thread
• tailor's chalk
• scissors
• straight pins
• sewing machine
• Elastic

Instructions:

1. Grab your wire cutters, and cut the hanging portion off your hangers at the bend. One of your hangers then needs to be cut into 4 (fairly) equal lengths. Here's an MS Paint mock-up:

2. Bend your hangers. For the first hanger, bend in half on the long (bottom) piece, then extend the angles until it resembles a wide "W" For the second hanger, try to straighten out any bends that are left behind. Another MS Paint diagram, with fancy arrows:

3. Wrap the ends of all your cut hanger pieces in electrical tape to cover any sharp ends & prevent them from poking your little one or coming out of the channels we will make later.

4. Place your fabric, right sides together on a flat surface (like my thread & lint-covered floor). Lie your "W" out upside down, and place your short pieces inside the points like boning in a bat's wing, like so:

5. Trace a wing shape around your wires , remove the wires, pin & cut out. Leave a 1/4" - 1/2" seam allowance.

6. With right sides still together, sew along the top of the wings. Clip the curves, trim any excess & turn right side out. Place the "W" inside the new seam, and pin in place securely. With the wire on the right of your machine, move your needle to the right. Sew a straight line along the length of the "W", creating a channel. Remember to close the ends of the channels so the wire doesn't pop/fall out.

7. Place your straight pieces, pin & sew channels, moving your needle from left to right as necessary, keeping it on the side closest to the wires. Remember to close the channels & encase the wire. Do this for all 4 pieces.

8. Measure the child's arms over the shoulder, & cut 2 pieces of elastic. Sew into loops & attach to the center back.

9. Put them on, wear them, love them, but remember to make scary faces!

If you find them a little floppy, you can throw a couple more stitches in the elastic at the top of the wings.

There are a few more steps to finish this set off to make it flow with his costume, but this should be easily altered & elaborated upon to suit your needs :)

Happy Halloween!

Worth it's own Post

I'm not big on the link-love posts. Generally, I try to post either WIPs or FOs that have links to patterns or tutorials that I used or inspired me.

HOWEVER, today, the wonderful ladies over at Prudent Baby posted what is one of the most useful tips I have ever seen in my life. A concise, comprehensive, easy-to-understand tutorial specifically for sewing knits (without a serger)! I have sewn with knits many times, both with & without a serger, but there were some things I didn't know or hadn't tried.

Please, please PLEASE if you feel intimidated by sewing knits, go read this post! You won't regret it.

Halloween is Coming!

know I have a lot of projects on the go, and a lot of things that I need to complete, but in case you didn't know, Halloween is right around the corner! A month and a half until all the awesome costumes & an excuse to go a little crazy!

DS & I have sat down & discussed costume ideas for this year, and he wants to be scary. A scary monster.

We had written down all of the components that his costume must have, and drawn a little sketch. When he added one more element, I had an "AHA!" moment & showed him some pictures from Google. He loved them! So, costume decision for him is finalized.

Today, he & I sat down to start the first piece - the wings!

A tutorial will follow, but for now, here is a couple cute shots:

There are some things left to do, of course. First, we need to figure out something to stop them from flopping around so much, and changing the colours to something more suiting & authentic.

On Another Note...

I neglected to mention my other projects.

I have put more time into my Rainbow Patchwork Skirt, bringing the grand total up to 65.5hrs and nearly completed. I am not at all happy with the waistband, so I will be re doing that, I think.

Rainbow Patchwork Skirt

Using 4"x4" squares, construct a 10-tier skirt with 1.5x increases, using the following colour scheme:

Colour # Squares Progress

• White 13 squares cut, sewn together, serged, attached
• White 20 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Orange 30 squares cut, sewn together, serged, rufffled, attached
• Yellow 45 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Green 68 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Teal 102 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Blue 153 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Purple 230 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Red 345 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Pink 690 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached, rolled hem completed
• Waistband cut, sewn, attached, serged, elastic inserted

*Total sewing time: ~8.5hrs*
*Total serging time: ~3.5hrs*
**Total time invested: ~65.5hrs**

I have also been working on the custom starghan for Rebekah, my good friend, & winner of the "In Loving Memory of Scarlette Adora" auction that was held a while back. I have one row to complete, then finish the trim & I can ship it out. Hopefully next week.

And it looks like my project list isn't going to get any shorter any time soon. A couple pre-orders in for Halloween already, a Christmas afghan to make, a couple little girls dresses to be sewn. I also have to conjure up some gifts for friends & family for Christmas.

Get your orders in soon for winter, or I simply won't have time to make them all!

Another Swap Angel Package Sent!

I have been pretty busy with work & a kid & life in general, but I do try to fit in as much crafting time as I can without letting everything else fall to pieces.

I offered to angel for another awesome swap on Craftster. I angelled for Hollistercob

abe, who has an awesome boyfriend, a beautiful baby boy, 2 dogs, and a bit of a thing for videogames.

The swap was "Decorate my Room" & sadly her partner flaked on her. It was considered a 5-point swap, with a large item being worth 5 points. The room she chose was her bedroom. When I searched her wists & pinterest, stalked her every way I knew how, I finally came to a decision on what to make her. It took me less than a day to finalize, and then the planning began.

What did I get myself into? I planned to make a queen-sized quilt for her bed, with a Mass Effect theme... I've never even made a baby quilt before! Just crocheted afghans. I guess I figured it would be easier, since I didn't have to sit down & work out all of the motifs...

Well, I had a pretty good idea, just not a fully executable plan. I bought my fabric & other supplies. Then, with the help of my bff (who has made some really awesome quilts) I started to work.

Here's what we managed to come up with:

The Paragon & Renegades logos in white & red on a navy background. Trimmed with black satin binding & backed with a super-plush black blanket. Of course, there is a quilt batting in there too! As neither of us has the capability of machine quilting something this large, I hand-quilted it. In a heat wave. I can't imagine sitting under this thing for longer than I did with the temperatures we experienced this summer, so I kind of feel like I cheated with my quilting. I didn't think a tie-quilt would look right, so I made little X's with black thread wherever a tie would be, hand-sewn.

I really hope she likes it! It will definitely be warm this winter! (Only after I had it 90% complete, did I think to ask where she lived...which is in the southern US - d'oh!)

I < 3 the Dollar Store!!!

So I know I jumped the gun a bit posting the tutorial for the HESTA knock-offs, but I have been told that my partner Leeska received her package, and I'd like to share the rest of what I made to send her.

Firstly, the sandals, which you can see in the previously linked post.

She had on her wists a magnetic pin tray. So I made her one out of a teacup and saucer:

She also has a love of sunburst mirrors, which are super easy to make for cheap:

She had linked to a dollar-store version of Anthropolgie's Catch & Release scarf, so I whipped one up out of 3 dollar store scaves and a whole lot of ruffles:

She also had a beautifully simple piece of artwork for her kids, which was quite possibly the cheapest to make. Dollarama had a canvas with acrylic paints & a brush for $2. The gold marker was in a gold/silver pack for $1, so a whopping $2.50 to make this beauty, which I apparently forgot to take a picture of...

She had a toddler sewing basket on her wists as well, which is just genious, IMO. I set to work making one for her son, and will follow up with one for my own soon.

Here's some pics of what I made, with the help of DS:

And lastly, I wanted to make something for her DD as well, but given that she is quite young, the toys might not have been the best option for her. So, I bought a set of beautiful pillowcases from Dollarama, and made a pillowcase dress:

These are the pictures that I took, so I hope to see some in-action shots from her on the swap board soon.

Also, not everything is actually from the dollar store. I spent less money at FabricLand on the fabric for the shoes, and less money at goodwill on the teacup & saucer than I did on glassware at Dollarama...and a lot of stash-busting, of course....

I plan on using the matching pillowcase as well, to make a dress for my co-worker's younger daughter. I need to get some more bias tape first.

Something...

So, that vintage Viking was such a find! I am eternally grateful to BFF for telling me about it.

I just popped on to post pics of my test piece that I threw together. I started a new job today, and wore it to work.

DS took this pic of mommy on her first day

Happy face :)

Neck-line & tie front detail

Close-up of fabric

Shirring detail over shoulder

Morning coffee! :D

The dress was basically just two rectangles that I shirred, pinned, gathered, stitched, re-stitched, re-pinned, stitched some more....

It was made entirely without a pattern, just a vague idea in mind of what I wanted. I started with a little over 2m of this stuff that was gifted to me (there are small pieces of this in my rainbow patchwork skirt, as well). It is a nice cotton - a little higher thread count than quilter's cotton, & softer, but still light & a little flowy.

I put 3 rows of machine-shirring at the top of the skirt, and 1 row on the back half of the top.
The top is a cross-over with ties made of the same fabric. Deep V-neck. I guessed with the armholes & made them too small, so I guessed again & made them too big. Some shirring on the top of the shoulder helped fix that one up!
There are pockets as well, with big cream/beige/brown buttons & loops made from the same fabric.

I used the selvage of the fabric for the bottom, so no hemming!

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. I now have one sundress that is work-appropriate :)
I also got some compliments :)
BFF asked where I got it, as did my Mom. Step-Dad knew I made it.

Here's his thumb's up:

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Or rather, something special. I got my hands on a vintage Viking 564 in working condition! My birthday present from my Nana & Grandad. They always give me money, so I buy whatever it is that I want - I've always been asked to use gift money for gifts, not necessities, so I wanted a sewing machine that worked. And I found one for a steal...
I will eventually take pictures, but I wanted to test drive it ASAP since I only have 7 days to return it if it doesn't work. Before I take on any major projects with it, I will take it in for a service & cleaning just to ensure everything is in tip-top shape, of course.
So instead of sleeping last night, after I put DS to bed, I tested. And tested. And tested some more until the next thing I knew the sun was rising.

I have to put some buttons on by hand, but I know how to use every function of that machine, including the decorative cams now. And I got to practice shirring (which I have wanted to do, but was unable with wonky equipment)

I will take some pictures later, but if all goes well, I will be showcasing this beauty tomorrow at my new job! Of course, I don't know yet if it's my job yet, but I have faith in me. In the meantime, here's a link to the only place I could find any information or pictures about this relic.

DIY Sewing Machine Repair

I have a 'de Signer' school edition 101. I know now that when my Mom & I bought it, we got scammed. 
Nonetheless, I am stuck with it. The Omega that was given to me as a Christmas gift is even more useless. I have spent over $150 in repairs on that one.

The 'de Signer' was one of those one-day only scams. It's SUPPOSED to be a Singer school model  

I am trying to repair it myself since there is no way to actually return it on the supposed 25 year warranty. 


OK, so, It sews fine if I turn the hand wheel manually but I can't operate it with the pedal. I have opened it up, and the motor, drive belt, and everything look to be in great shape. I can get the motor to turn the belt and I can get the belt to turn the hand wheel. If I remove the hand wheel, I can get the part it attaches to to move the drive shaft & in turn sew.
When sewing, everything else works fine. But to get the machine to operate via the pedal, I have to crank the hand wheel forwards while turning the stop motion wheel backwards. It makes a couple stitches, then starts making a "whirring" noise and won't go any further. 
Do I need to try to find a new hand wheel? Or is there something I'm missing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated since I currently have 2 useless machines and quite a few projects to complete.

Nothing to Report, Sir!

I haven't put any more work into the patchwork skirt since I last posted.
We managed to snap one of the pins off the plate when a needle bent & none of the repair or supply stores in the area have replacement plates, so we have to wait for one to come in.
I just wanted to show a quick couple pics, just so everyone can see what this beautiful monstrosity looks like so far!
My favorite purple, before I gave up taking individual pictures:

The whole skirt, laid out on the floor:

Hanging up, folded in half twice. For scale also, the TV is armpit height on me, so the stand it is hanging on sits at mid-thigh.

In Progress #6

I have opted to serge the hem before attaching the pink tier to the skirt, because this thing is just getting so heavy and cumbersome. BFF's friend actually asked if we were going for a record for world's heaviest skirt. Another 5 hours were put into it by us last night/early this morning, after a long deserved break (2.5hrs each). Then we called it a night. Well, we also managed to kill her serger :(
I was working on serging all of her seams from piecing the pink and got to a point where I couldn't do anymore of that, but didn't want to start pinning the red to the purple and ruffling. I pulled the tail of the pink and started to serge the bottom for the hem. The needle bent and caused a big mess, including breaking one of the pins on the base plate of the serger. It's currently unusable.
We finished piecing the pink, then packed it in and called it a night.
This morning, I decided to sit and start reinforcing the parts of the skirt that are already attached to one another. I did 3 rounds of this (white-white, white-yellow, yellow-orange) and got pretty fed up. I think this is getting put away for a couple days at least.
More later, but focus on something else now.

Rainbow Patchwork Skirt

Using 4"x4" squares, construct a 10-tier skirt with 1.5x increases, using the following colour scheme:

             Colour                      # Squares           Progress

• White                           13 squares             cut, sewn together, serged, attached
• White                           20 squares             cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Orange                         30 squares             cut, sewn together, serged, rufffled, attached
• Yellow                         45 squares              cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Green                           68 squares             cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Teal                              102 squares           cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Blue                              153 squares           cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Purple                           230 squares           cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Red                              345 squares            cut, sewn together, serged
• Pink                             690 squares            cut, sewn, serge in progress, hem in progress

*Total sewing time: ~2.5hrs x2 labourers*
                                 ~0.5hrs*
**Total time invested: ~53.5 hrs**

In Progress #5, or A Study in Pornography

Yesterday was a 3.5 hour extravaganza at BFF's house. She began piecing together the red tier, while I began serging all of the previously pieced tiers. Unfortunately, it is necessary to do the straight stitch on a sewing machine, because the 4th thread on her serger always breaks. I don't know enough about sergers to try to fix it, and she has tried and tried. I am going to go to a class to learn how to use it properly, and then teach her, since we apparently have joint custody of the orgasmic Janome 660D.

We worked from 11pm until 2:30am. That's a total of 7 man-hours.

Today, we worked a LOT more. Since DS has gone to his grandmother's house for the weekend, I am kid-free. Her eldest is at his Dad's for the weekend, and her twins were the only ones around. We dragged both machines downstairs to the kitchen, where we could work & supervise the little monsters.

We worked from 11am until 8:30 this evening. I managed to finish serging the first 9 tiers. She is got as far as partially piecing the final tier. I have also serged some of that one. In the meantime, I gathered the tiers, pinned & serged them together. Tiers 1-8 are entirely together, and awaiting a final run of the sewing machine for the missing 4th thread. We have finally both agreed that we are crazy and packed it in so we could have supper. It has been a long, but very productive 2 days.

Oh, and have I mentioned that I love this woman with all my heart? If you have ever found your soul-mate, then you will understand what it is like to find the other half of yourself. We have been BFF's since 9th grade - 15 years! And never once have we had a fight, or argument. We can go long periods of time without seeing each other or even speaking because of the distance between us, and when we see each other, it's like nothing at all has changed. The fact that she is completely willing to sit through the insanity of this project with me just furthers that bond.

Rainbow Patchwork Skirt

Using 4"x4" squares, construct a 10-tier skirt with 1.5x increases, using the following colour scheme:

             Colour                      # Squares           Progress

• White                           13 squares             cut, sewn together, serged, attached
• White                           20 squares             cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Orange                         30 squares             cut, sewn together, serged, rufffled, attached
• Yellow                         45 squares              cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Green                           68 squares             cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Teal                              102 squares           cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Blue                              153 squares           cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Purple                           230 squares           cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Red                              345 squares            cut, sewn together, serged
• Pink                             690 squares            cut, sewing in progress

*Total sewing time: ~3.5hrs x2 labourers Friday*
                             ~9.5hrs x2 labourers Saturday*
                                   2-day total: ~27hrs

**Total time invested: ~48 hrs**


Oh, and we have come up with some names for this monstrosity: "A Study in Pornography" partially because of the sheer variety of fabulous fabrics, and partially because of my love affair with her serger; "Candice's Amazing Technicolour Dream Skirt" a la Andrew Lloyd Weber; "The Skirt from Hell" is self-explanatory; "Hem of Doom" is also self-explanatory.

In Progress #4

Only two more to go!

BFF is experiencing car troubles, so couldn't make it today. Will have to either pick up her serger or go visit & get some serging done. Sooner, rather than later, by the looks of it.

It's now taking me 2.5 hours to sew together a tier - the blue & the purple both took about that long.

I think I will tackle the last tier next. Not because I love pink (which I do!), but just to get that one out of the way. I was thinking of tackling the hem, but I can't do that until I serge it all...

Also, I'm pretty sure my machine came with a gathering foot...I might give that a try, instead of hand-gathering each tier. I wish I had a ruffler foot :(

Rainbow Patchwork Skirt

Using 4"x4" squares, construct a 10-tier skirt with 1.5x increases, using the following colour scheme:

             Colour                      # Squares           Width of Row (appx)         Progress

• White                           13 squares             50"                                    cut, sewn together
• White                           20 squares             75"                                    cut, sewn together
• Orange                         30 squares             113"                                  cut, sewn together
• Yellow                         45 squares              170"                                  cut, sewn together
• Green                           68 squares             255"                                  cut, sewn together
• Teal                              102 squares           383"                                  cut, sewn together
• Blue                              153 squares           575"                                  cut, sewn together
• Purple                           230 squares          863"                                   cut, sewn together
• Red                              345 squares           1295"                                cut
• Pink                             690 squares           2590"                                 cut

*Total sewing time: ~2.5 hrs* (plus 2.5 previously mentioned)

**Total time invested: ~21 hrs**

In Progress #3

I have been dutifully sewing away, and trudging through it all. My machines have been less than cooperative in the past, but with the help of Google search, I am becoming an expert sewing machine repair person (only the one - the other is a "Singer" that isn't a Singer, so I can't find any info on it - don't ask)

I have the tiers that are complete pinned up and stacked beside my stacks of squares to be sewn. God, they fray a lot! 

I really hope BFF's car gets better soon, so we can tag-team this beast! If nothing else, I need to borrow her serger, but it would be ideal if she could serge the edges while I ruffle each tier. Then I can stitch them together, and she can serge those edges. Then, maybe focus on the hem from hell (I thought the Whirl Away Dress was bad!)

I'm taking a break from the tedium of sewing to do some dishes and take out the trash...EXCITING!

Rainbow Patchwork Skirt

Using 4"x4" squares, construct a 10-tier skirt with 1.5x increases, using the following colour scheme:

             Colour                      # Squares           Width of Row (appx)         Progress

• White                           13 squares             50"                                    cut, sewn together
• White                           20 squares             75"                                    cut, sewn together
• Orange                         30 squares             113"                                  cut, sewn together
• Yellow                         45 squares              170"                                  cut, sewn together
• Green                           68 squares             255"                                  cut, sewn together
• Teal                              102 squares           383"                                  cut, sewn together
• Blue                              153 squares           575"                                  cut, 
• Purple                           230 squares          863"                                   cut
• Red                              345 squares           1295"                                cut
• Pink                             690 squares           2590"                                 cut

Some favorites:

From the greens

 

 Also from the greens. Yes, I know it's Christmas fabric, but it's still pretty!

From the teals

Also from the teals - this isn't actually as royal blue as it looks, but more a deep aquamarine.

*Total sewing time: ~2 hrs*

**Total time invested: ~16 hrs**
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EDIT:
I have finished my housework. Dishes done, garbage taken out, laundry sorted, I even managed to get a shower in there! So, since DS went for a picnic at the park with his father, I decided to do some more sewing!
It took me 2.5 hrs to get through the next tier (blue)!!!
I plan on doing more tonight, but now my labour total is 18.5 hrs and I'm still not done sewing the patches together!

This is really the only one from the blues. I wasn't really over-fond of the patterns that I had, but they work...