November Make A Garment A Month Challenge Project Determined and a Bonus Project Completed!!

This month's theme is "November nights".  To me - November nights means something warm and cozy and comfy.  So, continuing on my stashbusting quest, I found this polka dot polar fleece in the closet.

I originally wanted to make some pajama bottoms, but I only have a little over a yard so that wouldn't work.  So instead, I'm going to make Vogue 8854 - view A - the sleeveless vest pictured on the pattern envelope below.  I also found some matching turquoise spandex in the stash that I'll use to trim the armholes and possibly the hemline too.  And, that darn turquoise soutache braid that I tried to incorporate into my last project (but didn't work) just happens to match this one too!  I'll see where I can fit it in.

The pattern calls for 4 snaps too and I found some in my stash already covered in black - Score!  The snaps were probably leftover from something I donated to charity, but decided to remove them first (I tend to do that alot!).

Bonus Project!

Here's my bonus project - just completed tonight.  This month as part of our sewing guild's charity commitment, we are making pillowcases to be donated to CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates.  The pillowcase features a drawstring around the end so it can double as a bag.  The idea is that kids can use the pillowcase for it's intended purpose and also, it can be used as a bag to carry out clothes or other personal belongings when a family situation arises and they need to leave their home.

I tried to find some kid related fabric in my stash and found this cute goldfish print I bought a few years ago.  I have no idea what I originally purchased it for, but it seemed to fit this purpose perfectly.  I did purchase the coordinating blue and orange polka dot fabric to match.  The ribbon in the casing is finished with buttons so it doesn't slip thru the buttonholes.  

Here's a close-up of the goldfish.  I just love how they all have their own names!  Hopefully the children who receive these pillowcases will enjoy the fish and come up with their own names too.

Since this bonus project is complete and it was from the stash - I can now add it to my stashbustin' total.  I made 3 of these pillowcases for a total of 2.25 yards sewn, bringing my balance up to 41.75 yards total since July.  I am jammin!

However, we are going on vacation soon and I fear my tendency to buy fabric on vacation will set me back a bit on my quest.  I will try hard though - to only buy things that coordinate with something I already have in the stash.  But, if I do sway from my goal, please don't scold me!

Until next time - Happy Sewing!

Vogue 1331 - It's Finished!

I have been working on this coat for over a month and it's finally done!  It's taken a long time to complete, but I am very happy with the results.  There are a few things I would change, but like they say - if you can't see it from a galloping horse - then don't worry about it!  If you would like to see the entire process from start until completion - I've included quick links to each post at the bottom.

Here are the final pics:

Yeah!  It's all done!

Side view - still yeah!  It's all done!!

Front - with all of the embellished circles, buttons, collar, etc.

Close-up of the collar

Closer close-up of the collar

Back of the collar.  The collar is meant to be shorter than the collar stand - that's why you can see the collar stand peeking out underneath.

Back view.  It reminds me of a butterfly.  Maybe I'll call this my Butterfly Coat?

Close-up of one embellished circle.  The couched yarn will continue to get fluffier
with each wear as the fibers work themselves loose from the zig zag stitches.

Side view

The sleeve hem needed a little extra love so I added some of the yarn here too.

Close-up of one button

Lining front

Lining back

Here's the total yardage breakdown for this project:

Tweed overlay - 3 yards
Green base wool - 3 yards
Purple wool for sleeves - 1 yard
Tie dye lining - 2 yards
Off white lining - 1.5 yards
Grand total = 10.5 yards in this coat alone!!

I have no idea how many yards of the yarn I used for the embellishment or how many bobbins I filled to do the couching.

This brings my stash bustin' total to 39.5 yards so far since July.  This coat has made quite a dent but I still have a long way to go.  I am very happy this project is finally done.  Now it's onto a few easy projects before the next big one.

Below are links to the entire sewing process.

The beginning
The muslin
Additional overlay concept
Fit test
Thread play
Sleeves
The lining
Cutting, sewing and embellishing the circles
The buttons

Until next time - Happy Sewing!

Vogue 1331 - The Buttons

I knew it would be impossible to find buttons to match this coat so I decided to try something new. Having been recently disappointed with the new Dritz covered buttons kits I decided to try my own version.  FYI - the teeth on the new kits just aren't long enough to hold them together and they fall apart - I wrote the company, but of course never heard a reply from them.

Starting with a scrap piece of the green wool, I couched the yarn in lots of different directions.  I have a bunch of these black ball buttons in my stash and thought I would try covering them.

Next, cut out a circle larger than the button and sew a running stitch about 1/4 inch from the outside edge.

Put button inside and cinch up the thread around the button shank.

Keep cinching and sew back and forth on the back of the button until it feels secure.

Here's the front of the button - much more fitting for my coat!

And here's the back of the button.  There is just enough of the shank showing (although it's hard to see in the pic below) to be able to sew it onto the jacket.

One step closer!

That's it for today.  Until next time - Happy Sewing!

Vogue 1331 - Sewing, cutting and embellishing the circles

Moving right along with Vogue 1331 - the next step in the process is to sew, cut and embellish all of those circles. First, remove the basting stitches at the shoulder seam so the jacket will lay flat.

Using the template I previously created, cut out some additional circles to match the various circle shapes.  Lay the template over the jacket front piece lining up all edges.

Slide one of the cut out circles underneath the larger template so it lines up with the existing circle.

Holding smaller circle, fold the larger template back out of the way and trace around the circle using a wheeled chalk marker.

Remove smaller circle and voila - you have a chalk traced circle line to sew.

Repeat this same process for all of the circles on the coat.

Once every circle is traced, sew around the chalked lines and cut out the overlay fabric, being sure not to cut the green layer underneath.

Then, it's time to start embellishing with the variegated yarn.  Here's a sneak peak of the back....

That's it for this post.  This jacket is very, very time consuming and I'm hoping to finish it by the end of this week so I can move onto something else.  So far, I'm happy with how it's turning out, thank goodness!

Until next time - Happy Sewing!