I finished half of the kitchen cafe curtains … no pictures to upload yet, but maybe later tonight.  If I can manage to take some good photos, I may write up a quick tutorial for them, if anyone is interested.  Or hey, maybe even without photos I’ll write up a tutorial.  They aren’t that hard … We’ll see.

I’m putting the finishing touches on my fabric design to print with Spoonflower.  Nothing too fancy … my tastes are usually more simple.  Plus, Illustrator is a little intimidating.

I finally broke down and ordered some fabric from fabric.com.

These are Amy Butler fabrics from the Midwest Modern collection.

I think the main part of the bag will be the one on the left (circles and lines), the middle fabric will be the straps and inner pocket, and the floral will be the lining.  I may switch things up though, once I get the fabric. Two of the fabrics are out of stock and being reordered, so I may have to wait a little bit.

Ok Beth - if you are reading, turn away now. Sorry.

Last warning …

I finished the baby blanket and some burp cloths for the baby shower 2 weeks from now. They don’t know the gender yet, and their nursery has a primarily black and white theme. So here’s what I came up with …

The blanket is flannel on one side, and a soft “faux chenille” on the other. I’m not sure what to call it. It’s that really soft, plush fabric that is common in baby blankets.

You may recognize the burp cloth fabric from my bedding. I had some leftover scraps, and I thought it would add a nice touch to some solid burp cloths.

I took a trip out to SE Home Center in Timonium this weekend. It’s a fabric store, sewing machine store and home appliance store, all in one. What I love is that the people running the store really know so much about all things sewing-related. I asked about the problem I had hemming my t-shirt, and Emily (one of the owners) was very helpful, suggesting a Schmetz Stretch needle, size 75-11. Of course, my machine might not be the best for sewing knits, so it’s a possibility it might not work. But I am willing to try it - I really want to make the dress in Butterick pattern B5206, and I don’t want to buy 5 yards of really nice matte jersey and ruin it. More on my knit trials later ..

While there, I was trying to find fabric for my Liesl and Co bag, but I wasn’t inspired. I did find this great fish fabric! I bought a yard, and I’m sure I’ll think of something to make with it.

I also found this home decorator plaid - and a solid red. I need to make curtains for our kitchen, and I thought this would work well. I’m going with cafe curtains, and I have a design idea in mind.

Yep, I did it. Not so scary. It didn’t turn out perfectly, but I’m really happy with my first attempt:

There I am, acting goofy, posing in front of our great, bright bedroom curtains.

I wasn’t sure how much I was supposed to stretch the neck ribbing while I sewed, so it is a little loose in the front, but tighter in the back. Now that I know how this process should feel, it should be easier the next time around.

The t-shirt is a medium, but it’s really roomy. But then, I didn’t pre-wash, so who knows - it might be a perfect fit after a turn in the dryer. That’s why I didn’t try to fit it better.

The only problem? The hem using a traditional sewing machine. I just can’t get it to work right. I get this pull - not a nice, smooth hem. That’s why I left the bottom edge serged. I didn’t want to get all the way to the end and mess the whole shirt up.

The hem of the sleeves is a little odd, but not too bad. The parts I sewed with the overlock machine - that was SO EASY. I can’t believe I was afraid of sewing with knits.

I’d like to research a little more - maybe I need a different needle. Maybe there are certain standard machine settings that work best. I might play around with my remnants to see how it works.

I feel like I’m almost ready to make a nice knit summer dress or something … maybe a couple more basic t-shirts first. I’d really like to try the raglan tee in the Sew U Home Stretch book, or one with a hood. That could be fun.

Finally - I need to make something for myself! I’ve had this Sew U Home Stretch book for so long … and I’m finally going to sew a t-shirt.

I’ve never worked with knits - even though I’ve owned an overlock machine for many, many years (probably 10 or so). I have no good excuse.

Here is the fabric I chose - just a simple blue cotton knit jersey, and a blue ribbing for the neck:

I’m breaking the cardinal rule of fabric, and I’m not pre-washing. I know I should. I know better. But we don’t have a washer and dryer, and I don’t want to wait until the weekend to sew this up. It’s a test run anyway. If it turns out that I like the shirt, I’ll just be careful to keep it out of the dryer.

See, I’m destined to make the perfect t-shirt this way … and then I’ll accidently throw it in the dryer after a month or so.

I cut out the pieces tonight, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to sew it up tomorrow night. But don’t hold me to that. Those of you reading this (hmm, the 2 of you or so?), know that I have the most non-sleepingest (is that a word?) child in the world. He inherited my poor sleep skills. So who knows what I can get accomplished in a night …