Zipper successes!

My Friday Finish today [which I am celebrating with crazy mom quilts, as per usual!] is also a sewing milestone yay!

My 1st zipper experience.

And now I feel like I need to go sleep for days. Seriously, I feel mentally exhausted.

So my parents asked me to make 2 pillow covers for them so they could use some autumn throw pillows into the winter without having to buy new pillows. Since I can't really justify making more pillows for myself at this point, I was totally game.

Their house is decorated Americana style, and so I knew that they wouldn't go for anything that screamed modern. I drew out some designs and they picked 2 they liked. And then I totally deviated from those designs :) Artistic license, right?

I have lots of extra little pieces of Countdown to Christmas from the various projects I've used it in. Gosh, I love this line! I was originally going to do multiple strips of pieces in a single color, from multiple fabric lines. But hey, I started cutting, and this is what happened. Sometimes I can't help it. And then I found some white ric rac, and it got thrown into the mix too!

 

A zipper happened when I didn't have enough of the fabric I wanted to make an envelope closure. I had picked up a few zippers to make some pouches/clutches for my little sister [they have dinosaurs on them!]. I put my computer next to me at the table and pulled up the invisible zipper tutorials over at Sew Katie Did and Stitched in Color. I find that 2 tutorials is much better than one, in case one person wasn't as clear on an item.

Um, and then I tried to install a zipper. Like 9 times. Near the end I was getting very testy, and thinking it was not fun in the slightest. Very sad, as I think sewing is very fun and relaxing. NO. This was not.

I have no idea what my problem was tonight. I am usually very quick with instructions, and I'm fortunate enough to be very good at most things on my first try. Zippers do not go in that category. I even thought about pouring a glass of wine haha.

Here is my pearl of wisdom for the day: Sewing, and all things associated with it, teach you patience. There is really no fast way to get to many of the things you sew/quilt. Yes, there are techniques that make it a little quicker, but I still wouldn't call it fast.

I didn't press this, so it looks wrinkly and crooked

The back....just as cute!

So. I was reminded to be patient today. If it took me 9 tries, so what. Every time I see that pillow at my parents' house I'll be reminded that I taught myself how to do something and didn't give up. No it's not perfect this first time, but that's what those dinosaur pouches are for :)

I start new projects before I finish old ones.

Interwebz, please meet my new projects.

New projects, please meet the interwebz.

The top will go into a quilt [and also, my gray marker died, so that's why the left corner is not finished].

The bottom will be a table runner that someone commissioned for their mother.

None of these colors are accurate representations of the actual colors that will be used.

Because I'm sneaky like that.

Happy Holiday Hostess!

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday today to bring you an important public service announcement: Everyone needs some last-minute gifts on hand at the holidays.

When I was younger we had a huge box of stuff in a spare closet that we could reach into if we needed a gift. My mom would just pick things up through the year that would make good gifts for anyone. There were things like soap sets and jellybean machines and picture frame sets.

I decided I needed to do the same thing this year, but of course I'd use it as an excuse to sew some stuff!

Enter hostess gifts:

I wish I knew why it was upside down?

So that consists of a hot pad and apron and is tied up with some bakers twine and a star cookie cutter!

I just love that Caleb Gray print, but I have to say that I am neither a red nor a pink person, so its weird that I have it. But I like the looks of these colors together better than the other colorway of the print. This is a block from my Farmer's Wife book, and I thought it was nice and simple!

To make the apron I cut a fat quarter of the Caleb Gray print [the back is a solid red FQ that I had on hand] and rounded the corners by tracing a bowl. I made myself an apron that has square corners and I don't like the silhouette as much.

I stitched the 2 fabrics together, right side together, leaving the top open. Turn right-side out, and press. Then top stitch. You can sew it at the top this time, but it doesn't really matter, since you're covering that part anyways.

I then cut the Hullabaloo fabric for the top. I think the waistband ended up being 3 inches, which means you will want to cut a piece that is 7 inches wide, and the length of your apron body. This apron waistband actually extends about a quarter of an inch past the body of the apron, which I personally tend to like, as I find it allows the apron to lie flatter on the body.

Press the waistband piece in top, and then press in 1/2 inch on each side. Pin onto the top of the apron body, making sure that the top is flush with the top inside part of the waistband. Pin lots so it doesn't move while you do the next steps!

Why is this one upside down too?!!

At this time you can add any sort of trim you want. Or none. I chose to add pom-poms, because I had a piece that happened to be the exact side of the apron. I can't argue with fate. 

Sew across the bottom of the waistband with your needle in the position as far right as it can go. I can't program my needle, mine just moves, but I'd say its 1/8 inch from the edge. I then stitched another line for a little more stiffness in the waistband, but this is not necessary.

To make ties, cut 2 inch by 44-45 inch strips. You will need 2. This length allows for ladies of all sizes to wear the apron, and gives plenty of length for a pretty bow in the back :)

Make the ties just like bias tape. Press in half, and then press each half in half again so you don't have any raw edges. Fold in the one end and press. Sew along each tie, also with your needle to the right-hand position.

Take each of your ties and place the non-folded end inside the waistband. Make sure it goes in at least 1 inch for stability, and make sure that your ties are even and flush with the top of the waistband. Sew down the sides of the waistband with your needle still in the right-hand position.

At this time you're technically done [yay!] but you can go back and add more stitching on the waistband if you want it to have more structure.

You can add pockets or decorative touches too! And don't forget that these are totally reversible, so don't be afraid to use TWO cute FQs and then just make sure your waistband fabric coordinates with both!

Now I just need a party to go to where I can bring this :)

Christmas baking, Part 1

Today's post is all about the holiday baking. Or partly about it. Because there will be much more baking!

A few days ago I made a cheesecake. I love cheesecake. I'm not a big cake fan [with a few exceptions], but I will go for cheesecake all the time. That being said, I like cheesecakes that are richer in flavor, and not just sweet. Bakerella's Plain Jane cheesecake recipe is excellent. Just fantastic. I highly recommend it, especially if you've never made cheesecake before!

Now, sometimes I make my own crust, as the recipe calls for, but I wanted an Oreo crust this time, and just didn't feel like making it. So if you use store-bought crusts then you actually get multiple cheesecakes out of the recipe. At least 2 if you're using typically-sized store graham cracker crusts.

I like to divide this recipe in half anyways because then I can make 2 different kinds of cheesecake! Flavors I've made: raspberry, Kona coffee, and now...Butterfinger! My boyfriend loves Butterfingers, so I bought a whole bunch of them, crushed them with a hammer, and then folded them into the batter at the very end. I also slightly increased the amount of lemon juice in the recipe to counter any extra sweetness by adding the candy, but you of course don't have to do that.

I didn't have a 2nd crust, so I just poured the leftover batter into a springform pan and it bakes just fine. And a couple days after I made it [cheesecake tastes better the longer you wait to eat it, by the way. something with the flavors aging and combining], Stephen and I got spoons out and just dug at it in the pan. 

It was a true 'Friends' moment. Watch and enjoy, and then go make yourself some cheesecake! You'll totally thank me :)

Love.

Love., a photo by Sew Festive on Flickr.

It just doesn't get better than decorating a Christmas tree on a Saturday afternoon with the person you love more than anything else in the world. Even if he doesn't hang ornaments properly :)

A legit Friday finish, just in time!

Untitled, a photo by Sew Festive on Flickr.

Whew, I sewed all day so that I can get my package out to my Savvy Seasons partner tomorrow. I'll show the rest of the package another day, but this is the main event.

It started as a drawing with my favorite [right now, at least] Farmer's Wife block, #18, Century of Progress. It then progressed to over 200 pieces that were traced out and cut out with scissors.

I chain pieced my heart out.

I went back and forth on how to press my seams. From past experience with this block [where I pressed my seams open, as I typically do] I had so much bulk in the center. So I started pressing to one side. But that wasn't working either. You can see the differences in pressing really well from the back. 

I had some piecing issues, so some of the blocks in this pillow were sewn 3 times. My template-tracing and scissor-cutting were not precise, and precision is key when you have 200+ pieces. I ended up having to pin the heck out of the triangles when sewing together, and as you can see, my points are still not perfect where the diamonds meet. Next time!

When it came to the quilting, I would have liked some time to mull over what to do, but time was not a luxury I had, and so I decided on some tiny stippling in the white sections. I don't know about you guys but I found that when I was doing tiny stippling I also ended up making my stitches tiny. It was impossible for me to lengthen my stitches while still keeping my loops small. Funny how the brain works, huh?

Oh, and then this happened:

Yeah, I have no clue what happened. All of a sudden I had a bent needle. Thank goodness I had just bought a package of needles.And thank goodness it just bent, and didn't break off!

So here we have it! A completed 18" pillow.

I love it in all its imperfections. I love that I would have never made this for myself, but am always pushed to do complex things for other people in swaps. And I love that I finished at 730 pm, in the dark, and had to take a picture in my bathroom in front of my shower because it gets the best nighttime light in that room.

Go check out all the other Friday finishes! I think those are the best kind of finishes, because it means sewing time during the week, and I always need some "me" time during the mad rush of the week.

***Does anyone know how to keep photos from publishing on Blogger if I upload them from Flickr to Blogger on my phone? Is there any way to upload them to a post that's a draft? And to upload them all to the same post? See, the Internet isn't easy for us young folks either!

If I had money to spare...

...I'd be in fabric-buying heaven...

Do you like to "window shop" online? I do it for hours at a time at my favorite fabric haunts. I try really hard not to ever do this on Etsy, because it's too easy to purchase with a linked Paypal account. On websites, like the Fat Quarter Shop shown here and the Pink Chalk Fabrics that I have on another tab, I at least have to type in all my information. 

Ooohh I want to buy all these fabrics so bad! I'm trying to be a good girl and wait to see if I get any of the gift certificates I asked for from family for Christmas. It's so hard, especially when there's sales happening!

If I make a gift from some of the fabric, does that mean I can buy it? :)

Ok, off to go sew! Finishing a pillow today to show off tomorrow!