I didn’t realize how much work those winter coats were going to be last month. My daughter’s study abroad deadline forced me to finish the coat from Sew Serendipity and I thought I might share the finishing touches.
Buttons went on after the cuffs and hems and topstitching. I love the buttons and experimented with beads in the X of the thread but the beads were too big.
I wanted to sew small buttons to the back side to make the orange thread neater. Anybody know what that small button is called? I didn’t. It’s a backer button. I was worried that the smaller holes wouldn’t match up with the holes of the bigger buttons but it went very smoothly. I also wanted to make a bit of a shank to allow for the thick fabric. I’ve done that before-put a crochet hook between the fabric and button and sew, then take out the hook and wrap thread…but it never seems to be enough to make a shank. But then I consulted with Debbie and she straightened me out-put the crochet hook (or toothpick, etc.) on TOP of the button and sew it on. Oohhhhh! And just in case, I looked it up in Vogue and it was the same as Debbie’s advice. Wonder where my idea came from….
And then there was this pucker at the top corner of each center. At least it was symmetrical. With a buttonhole right next to it there wasn’t much I could do so I pressed it as well as I could and left it there! Can you tell I was getting to the end of my patience for this project?
But the fact that the jacket made the final suitcase cut for Wales was worth it all. I hope she gets lots of wear out of it. And I am in search of a similar pattern as I won’t be using that one again.
January Club Pictures
Another month of weather that wasn’t on our side but thanks to all of you who braved the weather to see this month’s offering plus all the great show and tell.
If you don’t have the Club sheets, click on “Club Sheets” in the top bar.
Don’t forget the arty t-shirt challenge for February. Check out Marcy and Katherine Tilton websites for inspiration-shopping is also great for picking up ideas. We’ll have a few new presenters in February as some of us have other time commitments.
Infinity Scarf Directions
We’ve had so many requests for the infinity scarf directions so I spent some time looking for a link and here it is:
Infinity Scarf. This is the original article that we made ours from in the Sew Stylish magazine. Awfully nice of them to put it on the web. Have fun whipping up a few.
An Ren Jackets
As promised, here are pictures of other An Ren jackets. Dugo carries the one you saw at Fashion Sewing Club. I’ve also seen them at Macy’s and Von Maur. Wearing them can make cold weather a little more fun.
Fashion Sewing Club Notes
We’ve had two meetings-Make It Sew and Treadle-so much great Show and Tell and people shared info right away so I thought I would too. We still have Club meetings Thursday and Saturday at Hancock. Hope to see the rest of you.
1. Becky’s dress pattern was Vogue 8666. Everybody loved it and it’s an Easy Vogue-click on the pattern number to see it.
2. Donella’s microwave bowl or plate hotpad instructions-sorry I didn’t get a pic 😦
Microwave Hotpad
Supplies:
Two squares coordinating fabrics 11 ½”X 11 ½”
Two squares warm and natural 11 ½” X 11 ½” (Do not use polyester batting. It could melt in the microwave.)
Thread- cotton if possible. (I was told the polyester would melt also. But I’ve not had a problem.)
Lay one fabric on one batting. Quilt together. I sewed an X across the square.
Sew 3/8” darts -2 ½” long in the center of each side of the square. Shorter would make it more of a bowl. You can experiment with this.
Repeat with other square of fabric and batting.
Put quilted and darted squares right sides together. Sew all the way around leaving an opening. Turn right side out. Topstitch close to edge all the way around closing up the opening.
Lay in the microwave. Put dish on top. Microwave. Use like pot holder as you take the dish out and use on table as a hot pad, too.
One can make it in several sizes. The one I copied was 6 ½” square.
3. This is a great wrap for showing off a beautiful piece of fabric. In the picture is a velvet burnout from Treadle. We all thought it would be the perfect travel piece too!
Simply take a 23″ length of fabric-this one is 54″ wide-and roll hem serge all edges. Fold in half so selvedges would be together (yes, they’ve been serged off-or not if they are decorative). Stitch one of the two identical sides leaving a 14″ opening at folded edge for your head to fit through.
And then a few pictures of Show and Tell! We get so inspired by what you do!! It seems like most Show and Tell is crafty or for kids but those are the easiest to photograph-I’ll work on getting more garment pictures that look good.
Watch for the Club garment pictures after Saturday.
Make It Sew is Open
A new fabric and sewing store to check out in the western suburbs! Cathy Guy and her team have done a great job of setting up the new space. Half the store is fabric and a large classroom space and the other half houses the Bernina portion of the store. New fabric coming in every day.
Make It Sew, 600 Market St., Suite 110, Chanhassen-near the movie theatre.
Everything is 20% off through this Saturday to tempt you!
It even smells new!
The Last of Christmas Sewing
I think this may be a banner year for me-no unmade Christmas gifts given! OK, so I still didn’t get last year’s pajamas made for my husband, but I did alter three pair of pants for him-in the middle of Christmas sewing. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.
I really did intend to make good on the post-Club Christmas sewing contest but then I realized that most people on Facebook are “friends” with their children and would most likely have done Christmas sewing for them and not want to reveal the gift before the opening! So any good ideas for giving away those Gingher scissors? And here’s Zach in his smoking jacket-
One of our most faithful beginning sewists at Hancock is really taking off. Here is her Christmas skirt. It was a challenge but the finished project looks great. She also made a Santa outfit for her dog. It’s fun to watch people branch out and try new skills.
Our Hancock kids’ class had several girls like that. They just wanted to sew the ideas in their heads and we were there to help make them happen. We did finish the fur vest projects, too. The girls were surprised at how quickly they went together and we were surprised at how little fur mess there was.
Kids’ Break Classes
Know any kids that want to do some sewing during break? We have one more day of classes-Wednesday, Dec. 29, at 10 am or 2 pm.
Morning class project will be a sewing notions pouch (pic below) and afternoon class will make a faux fur vest (pic in class listing).
Click on Classes in top bar, then Classes at Hancock/Bernina to register.
Kids’ Sewing for Christmas
A busy group of girls sewed Infinity Scarves using the
soft, silky voile prints from Anna Maria Horner. The Linden Tree
back room was the workshop for the class that met during the
holiday break.
Pictures with RT Rybak
Material Girl Sewing 