Totes for Sure!

One of the great things about sewing is that if you are exhausted from working on a bodice muslin, you can set it aside and sew some quick and easy tote bags. It's even more of a win if you use fabric remnants from stash.

These four tote bags were all sewn up from stash.

These two (above) were sewn from home dec fabric remnants that I bought the very first time I met Oonaballoona. We were both in LA for work and got drunk on fabric at Mood LA.  Because I couldn't decide which fabrics were my favorites, I made the totes reversible. The pocket can be on the inside or outside.

Flip side! Reversible tote bags!

These other two are made from remnants of past projects and are not reversible.

I made a blue wax cloth tote.

It's lined with quilting cotton and has an internal pocket.

Inside the blue wax cloth bag

And the orange cotton canvas one is from remnants from Phin's diaper bag.

It is lined in wax cloth and has fun rainbow straps.

This one might be my favorite.

The only part of these totes that wasn't from stash are the webbing straps. I could have sewn straps, but since I was going for quick and easy, purchased webbing seemed like the path of least resistance. The blue ones are from Botani and the rainbow strapping was a find at Vardhman, a trimming store that I should go into more often.

As you can see, each of these totes is a different size and dimension. That's entirely based on the size and shape of the remnants that I had.  But if you want a tutorial for reference, you can always look at Purl Soho's Easy, Easier and Easiest Totes. For the most part, I made these totes like the Easy Tote - lined, with a pocket and a boxed bottom.

How do you like to use up remnants from projects past? What are your favorite easy sewing projects for times when you feel like sewing but don't feel like a challenge with fitting or fussing? 

Happy Bday Phin: Sewing for That Special Guy

Phin's birthday was on Saturday; happy birthday, my sweet!

Phineas on our Amsterdam Trip in May

I've been thinking about sewing for Phineas lately, but more broadly on sewing for one's significant other. It's something we all mean to do and want to do, but, um, rarely do. I'm no exception. It just seems like Phin and I can't get ourselves together when it comes to the details. I've offered shirts, but he can't seem to decide on fabric. I've asked about a messenger bag, but his fabric request was so specific (traffic cone orange ballistic nylon) that I haven't been able to find anything like it. In fact, it always seems to come down to a fabric impasse. I don't have this problem with other people in my life that I sew for.

That said, in the entire history of my sewing, the most worn garment that I've created is actually the pj bottoms that I made for Phin 4 years ago. No contest. They're worn, washed and then worn again. They replaced a pair of RTW pj's I had given him years before that. When the RTW ones started to get holes, I un-sewed them carefully and used the pieces to create a pattern, which I still have.

Phin's favorite pajama bottoms

I've noticed signs of wear and tear on these much worn pajama bottoms recently. So, for his birthday, I took all decision out of his hands and bought two different fabrics from Rosen & Chadick to make more for him. I'm sure that a box of fabric, thread and the pj pattern is one of the more unusual gifts Phin's ever received.

Fabric for Phin!

Rosen & Chadick is the place to go for spoiling the man in your life (read: real fabric splurge). These 100% imported cottons feel like silk. The blue is a heavier weight and will be winter pjs, and the green is summer weight with a lovely airy feel. Phineas seemed pretty thrilled for more custom pj's and has already asked for a few minor changes to the originals, like larger pocket openings. I can't wait to sew them up for him since everything I've ever made for him has become the most worn, most used things in his wardrobe. I think perhaps not giving him a choice in fabric was the way to go so that I could actually get going on the project.

Anyway, do you sew for the special person in your life? If not, what holds you back? Is it time or differences in opinion? A lack of agreement on fabric?  Purely selfish sewing? Or something else? I wonder if I have an easier time sewing for people that I don't live with because they have less input simply because of proximity. What do you think?

Dragon, Milkshake and Sriracha enjoying a nap

Later this week: My (late) Oonapalooza dress. Stay tuned!

Frenzy: WIPs and Plans Out the Wazoo

I think I'm developing a case of creative overload where I'm oscilating between OCD and AD/HD. After tidying the Craft Lounge to accommodate my new fabric and deciding on some summer sewing goals, I've been so enthusiastic about all my projects that I am having a difficult time picking just one to work on. Crazy, right?

I've drafted the schematic for my Future Dress and prepped the fabric. Now I have to make full size pattern pieces with seam allowances.

Let's hope my math skills still work!

This really is a fascinating dress. So, simple but I hope the results will wow.

Next, I cut my new wax cloth for a caftan for MomMuse:

Wax cloth - right fabric for Mom, middle for nephew

I'm using the fabric on the right and McCalls M6552.

Fashion Star M6552

I also found, bought, printed, taped a cut the pattern for the Charlie Tunic by Made by Rae to make into a wax cloth top for my littlest nephew.

Charlie Pullover Tunic

For myself, I finished a new V1314 Vogue Tracy Reese dress in a super soft black rayon jersey. I've used this pattern four times now, including the tomato red dress I sewed last summer and still wear a lot. Alas, I ran out of steam when it was time to take pictures when I wore it on Sunday. So, you'll just have to wait. 

I also have two knitting WIP's - more baby gifts. I have a nearly finished baby blanket and a cute little hat in the works.

Baby hat

And lastly, just to add to my creative frenzy, I have more new fabric.

4 of 5 new beauties! 

After years of swearing that I am the least likely person to ever SWAP (Sew with a Plan) because I get distracted by the next shiny pattern or fabric that comes along, I have been mulling over a wardrobe project. Adding fuel to my fire, one of the most amazing ladies of the sewing world sent me home with even more fabric from her stash and orders to use it as an opportunity to step outside my comfort zone. I shall!

Oh look!  I did find one picture of me in my new knit dress! Too bad you can't see the dress for all the fabric. ;-)

Anyway, I am sequestering myself on Sunday for a mini sewathon!

What do you have in the works? Just one thing or many things in many stages?

Fabric Stashing Crisis in The Craft Lounge

With summer coming in just two days and all my sewing plans changing from the cold weather projects I didn't quite get to, to summery fun projects that I plan to sew, there was a near crisis in the Craft Lounge this week. The fabric situation started to get out of control because of my recent acquisitions.

This is just some of the binge fabric: jersey prints

You see, after all the travel in the last 5 months, my glee to be back in the Craft Lounge with time to sew manifested itself in a bit of a fabric binge - 31 yards of fabric somehow came home with me in a two week span.

Rayon Challis for a summer dress

Boucle for a jacket/blazer to go with this lining

Plus, I still hadn't made room for the 12 or so yards of wax cloth my pop brought me from Ghana.

Wax Cloth

My stash has been in a happy equilibrium for some time. I buy a few yards and then sew a few yards, never outgrowing the chest of drawers and sweater box where my fabric lives.  But because I had purchased fabric for the winter projects that did not get sewn as planned, there was no more space in the stash.

Something had to be done.

So I sorted the fabrics that I have no immediate plans to sew, plus a number of winter weight fabrics that will not be sewn this summer into a few piles.

And Phin has found a place for them in the basement for me. I have to confess, I'm a little nervous about my fabric not being within arms reach in the Craft Lounge. But I'm glad to have a bit more room. Um, especially considering that I didn't buy fabric for a few of the projects that I will be sewing soon.

So, it looks like I will now have to do a seasonal changeover of fabrics.  Do you do any kind of seasonal rearranging of your fabric stash?

Oh, and speaking of seasonal, I rewarded myself for a job well done with strawberry sour cream ice cream, made from berries that Phin and I picked on Saturday... recipe here. 

NYLon 2014 - Quicky Wrap Up

So, I said goodbye to London, and Phin has joined me for a few days in Paris and Amsterdam.  But here are three reasons why sewing meetups - and NYLon 2014 in particular - are awesome.

1 - Because sewing friends - even those you just met for the first time in person - are the most generous people...

This is two metres of hot pink and orange mesh that Carmencita B brought me from France. I had  commented how awesome it was when she posted it on FB a few weeks ago.

2 - Because sewing friends get what makes you tick...
 

Jen of Workroom Social, one of my weekend flatmates, made me a name tag for the NYLon meetup that was totally my style and could not have gone with my outfit better!

3 - Because sewing friends challenge you to challenge yourself...

After 2 years of subtle lobbying, Devra has somehow gotten me thinking that I may sew a tweedy sort of jacket lined in Liberty tana, and Rachel is providing me with a pattern. I would not go as far as saying I will be sewing a French couture jacket any time soon, but, well, I am coming home with a few metres of this Liberty large scale peacock print.

A few others have done round ups with photos (Did You Make That? and The Overflowing Stash) and Twitter and Instagram (search for #NYLon2014) abound with NYLon 2014 awesomeness, so I'll simply say: how could a 70+ person meetup be anything other than epic? And with weekend flatmates like Devviepuu, Jennifer, Vicki and Rachel, how could it not have been one amazing weekend-long pajama party?

I can't wait until next time...Now, off in search of a croissant!

Sewing update: McQueen Jacket

A horrible cold seems to be hindering my mojo at the moment. Plus, I haven't really had a weekend in three weeks thanks to travel and an avalanche of work. But I am still thinking about and working on my Alexander McQueen Jacket, at least in my head.

Right now, my grey leopard print version - which is destined to be a wearable muslin because of my poor fabric choice - still needs sleeves and has tailors tacks all over. My detailed instructions are still only half written, but mapped out.  

If it sounds like I am losing enthusiasm about the project, don't be alarmed. That's my cold speaking. I just don't do UFO's. And to that end, I've already bought more appropriate fabric for my next version - one of the few sewing "tasks" I could get done while not actually at home.

It's a black and gold Nicole Miller brocade that is 67% Viscose, 20% Silk, 13% Lurex from Fabric Mart.  At times like these - when there is just no time to sew, but sewing is on my mind - I find that I am very susceptible to the lures of on-line fabric sales. And this fabric does have a much better hand - much more crisp - than the leopard print. Fingers crossed.

What about you? What do you do to stay connected with sewing when there is just no time or your mojo is taking a sick day?

PR Day Celebration: Little Black Awesomesauce!

Words to live by if you are a NY'er or Emmanuelle Alt

Pattern Review's Little Black Dress party at Elliott Berman Textiles was awesome! If you didn't attend, well, you missed out. Really.

The blogosphere glitterati were out in full force, looking immensely chic in their LBDs.

Carolyn, moi and Deepika

I even met the mythic Sharon. You know Sharon. TailorChick Sharon. Right! That Sharon. The one that taught Gertie. She's not a blogosphere myth, people! She's real and in about 8 seconds she analyzed my figure and fitting issues to a tee. Oh, and she asked if I had given any thought to corsets. I have. So, naturally, I woke up this morning thinking of corsets. Oy vay.  This is how an obsession begins.


Oh! And there were contests and prizes, courtesy of Elliott Berman!

Oh boy, oh boy! Silk for meeeee!!! 
(Edited to add that the far left and right are DKNY  97% silk 3% lycra Crepe de Chine)

Can you tell that a great time was had by all?  Happy Birthday, PR!!!

More pics on FB - Elliott Berman or Deepika or Pattern Review's pages

And now I am off to the Craft Lounge after a long morning of puttering, feeling much more inspired.  Happy sewing, peeps!

Fabric and Textile Shopping in Istanbul

After our Greek Island Odyssey, we finished our trip with a few days in Istanbul. Now that I am at home (sniff, sniff) and have had a few days to reflect, here are some thoughts on shopping in Istanbul.  Other sewing bloggers (Slapdash and Selfish) have blogged about the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul not really having much to offer in the way of fabric. I concur. Aside from Gülipek Tekstil which exclusively sells silk, most of the (very few) fabric stores' stock seems to be geared toward belly dance costumes.

Coincidence: Display of hand crank sewing machines in the lobby of our hotel.

However, Istanbul is not a bad place to fabric shop (more on this at the end). In addition, there are plenty of opportunities to buy textile products at the Grand Bazaar, where it seems like every other stall sells pashminas. I found that having sewist's fingers was immeasurably helpful.  In fact, aside from a few knick-knacks for my nephews, all of my purchases were fabric and textile oriented. Here's what we bought, interspersed with some completely unrelated pictures from the Istanbul leg of our trip.

L to R: Hers and His Peştemals

Peştemals - There are loads of places to buy the traditional Turkish towel/sarong used at a hamam (Turkish bath) in either cotton or bamboo. My sister, Calliope, and I bought cotton peştemal bathrobes for our parents for their 65th birthdays which just passed while they were on the Camino. The opening ask price for most that we saw at the Bazaar was $40 Turkish Lira (about $20USD), but they were thin and the fabric was kind of stiff. Most were one size. We kept hunting and found significantly better quality ones for $60TL - they were thicker, softer and a better/more dense weave. Also, they came in sizes that will fit our tall parents. We negotiated the shop owner down to $50TL each. Perhaps we could have gotten them for less outside of the Grand Bazaar, but definitely not in the US. Not for this quality.

Fabric close up

Carpets - One of the most fun things we did was shop for a teeny tiny hand knotted wool carpet for Calliope. She ended up buying from a shop owner who spent a lot of time with us explaining the differences between kilims (woven) and carpets (knotted), and hand vs machine made. It was easy to see. On the hand-knotted ones you could see the small imperfections on the back side. Again, sewists fingers helped. She's not going to let me do a burn test, but I am pretty sure that the carpet Calliope bought is, in fact, wool.

Phin outside Sultan Ahmet's Mosque (aka The Blue Mosque)

Ikat - My one fabric purchase was a meter + 10 cm of silk, hand-loomed ikat.  It is only a little over 15" wide and is meant for home dec applications. The price was non-negotiable ($60TL/meter), so I negotiated for an extra 10cm of fabric. The shop owner thought I was funny and gave in. I think this will become some kind of purse or other accessory. Suggestions?

1 meter+ of ikat

 Leather - There are loads of leather shops in the Grand Bazaar and at least one that sold fur, too. My final textile purchase was soft leather baby booties for my brand new nephew who was born while I was away. Obviously, being familiar with leather helped.

Where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea (Lunch in Asia)

Suzani Fabric - I didn't shop for any, but there were any number of shops selling Uzbeki suzani fabrics and textiles. These are very heavy weight and really only usable for home dec. Stunning, but not for me.

Other Fabric and Notions - So, what to do if you do want to shop for fabric while in Istanbul? Well, there were plenty of fabric and notions stores on the blocks between the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar, and from there up to Sulimanye Mosque. I didn't go inside, but there were stores specializing in trims, zippers, buttons galore and, at least from the street view, a normal array of fabric (ie: cottons, wools, knits, lace, etc and nary a belly dancer to be found).

If luxury is more your speed, there was a much more high end fabric shop with beautiful wool suitings and high end cottons in it's window right on İstiklâl Caddesi, the main shopping street in the older part of Istanbul. So, the sense that I get is there must be a vibrant sewing community in Istanbul. In fact, look at this funny piece of kitch that I bought from a vendor while walking across the Bosphorus Bridge.

Get yours here. At just $5TL ($2.50USD), I couldn't resist.

It's a stapler sewing machine. He he he.

OK, here's a few parting shots...

Topkapi Palace

Calliope and Phin at the Bosphorus Bridge

 

Phin outside Sulimanye Moque

Bosphorus Cruise: Vacation frame of mind

Frosting Ingredients (aka Wholy Hot Sauce Fabric Binging, Batman!)

First, there are still a few hours to enter the Layer Cake Giveaway! 

As I understand it, when you start a diet, it's helpful to fill your pantry and fridge with the ingredients that will help you stick to the plan. This sounds like good sense to me. So, for my frosting diet, I decided to make some fabric stash "enhancements" (ie: go on a fabric binge). 

Best. Diet. Ever.

It started like this: I had a $100 groupon to Paron Fabrics that was going to expire last week. Since I had no specific fabric needs, I walked on in and said to one of the helpful employees, "I'm here to buy fabulous fabrics."

This is the aftermath...

Silk Brocade

This silk brocade is just 30" but is absolutely gorgeous! It will be a pencil skirt. Maybe a high-waisted pencil skirt. I've never been a big fan of black and pink, but this changed my mind. I had to have it.

Since I've got couture sewing on my mind these days, this silk leopard print organza seemed like just the ticket. Won't it be the most fun underlining ever?

Tie died silk habutai also found it's way into my hands.

But the piece de resistance from my Paron haul: white Magaschoni silk jacquard.
 

 
Why, yes! The jacquard IS the Tabasco hot sauce label. This will line a jacket. An utterly fabulous and stupendous jacket. Sigh. I love fabric!

2014: Year of the "hot sauce" diet??? Tempting.

Once I got going, I did spend more than the Groupon amount. But I recommend that you try this "show me something fabulous" strategy at least once. With no agenda, I ended up with four to-die-for fabrics that I will be thrilled to sew up.

Then a few days later I decided I needed some knits for an upcoming project or two. 

L to R: from Spandex World and Spandex House

On the right is a knit that looks like gray marble. Sewing knits is not-the-norm for me, but I've been having fun with them lately. And the left is... is... well... there is just no easy way to say this. Less than a year after basically swearing off - and swearing at - faux leather, I've proven myself to be a hypocrite. It's black faux leather backed in spandex from Spandex World. It's really quite good looking - their picture is better than mine. In my defense, I've been wearing leggings a lot this winter. Plain, boring leggings. And, I've secretly desired leather pants for as long as I can remember.  So... yeah.

At the moment, I literally have four sewing projects going on plus two more that I'm working on in my brain, if you know what I mean. So, it feels like I've been sewing a lot, but have nothing to show for it. I also have 4 knitting projects on the needles. (Distracted much?) 

Not that long ago, I was an avowed one-project-at-a-time sewist. I'm not sure what happened. What about you, are you a one-at-a-time sewist or do you multitask?