June 2018 in Review

June was yet another good month for practical sewing. I made three In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bags, two pairs of Seamwork Kaye shorts, and an Odacier Runaway Bag. 

When I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I made a Lined Drawstring Bag to carry around all of my blood sugar testing equipment in. I used a narwhal fabric from my stash, as it made me happy. For Father’s Day gift wrapping, I made two Lined Drawstring Bags out of the Cotton + Steel Cleats Blue fabric by Melody Miller from her Kicks line. 

The Seamwork Kaye Shorts pattern uses very little fabric, so I pulled out my knit scraps and whipped up two more, one with my hacked maternity panel and one without. I wore them all summer long under maternity dresses. The one with the maternity panel was more comfortable, but the normal one worked well enough and I can still wear it postpartum.  

I saw the Runaway Bag pattern on Instagram and made one to hold my knitting in. The gusset construction is very clever and I want to make more to use as gift wrapping. 

May 2018 in Review

May was another good month for sewing garments. I participated in Me-Made-May and made four pieces of clothes: another pair of maternity Seamwork Shelly Leggings, some maternity Seamwork Kaye Shorts, a Deer and Doe Givre Maternity Tee and a Seamwork Julia Tank. I also made four In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bags to wrap Mother’s Day gifts in. 

I liked my gray pair of maternity hacked Shelly Leggings so well that I made another pair, this time out of Robert Kaufman Laguna Jersey in Heather Navy. They were an essential piece in my maternity and "fourth trimester" wardrobe. 

After making the Shelly Leggings, I had enough fabric left to try my hand at the Seamwork Kaye Shorts pattern. I drafted a new waistband piece and cut two to make a maternity panel like I had done with the Shelly Leggings. The resulting shorts were perfect for wearing under maternity dresses. I’m planning on making more regular Kaye shorts in the future since they’re the perfect pattern from using up scraps leftover from bigger projects. 

The only actual maternity pattern that I tried during my pregnancy was the Givre Maternity Tee by Deer and Doe. I made the Version B top in the third trimester size and made two disastrous mistakes. First, I messed up the PDF printing. I printed it at Staples since our home printer broke, and used the complimentary ruler to measure the test square. It was only a couple millimeters off, and rather than trying to fiddle with the Staples printer, I decided that was good enough. It wasn’t. I also let too much time pass between when I took my measurements and when I made the tank top. During pregnancy, it’s not just your bump that grows! I ended up with a shirt that bunched weirdly in the shoulders (due to the printing error), and was a little too small in the bust (due to the measuring error). I was so frustrated with the end result that I threw away the pattern pieces and washed my hands of the whole pattern. Ironically enough, this was one of the few shirts that still fit my bump at the end of my pregnancy, so I ended up wearing it a lot, even though it wasn’t perfect. 

After my failed Givre Maternity Tank, I grabbed a Seamwork Julia Tank that I had cut out the previous summer, before I was pregnant. Even though I knew it wouldn’t fit, sewing it up was soothing. Who knows, maybe it will fit by next summer. Even if it doesn’t, it was nice getting it out of my WIP pile. I’d like to give it another try sometime, because it’s a nice basic, and I enjoyed sewing it. 

At the last Seattle Modern Quilt Guild retreat I attended, I won a bundle of Karen Lewis fabric. I broke into it to make a few Lined Drawstring Bags for wrapping Mother’s Day presents in. The pattern is by Jeni Baker of In Color Order.

April 2018 in Review

This year, April was all about making maternity friendly garments. I finished two hacked Shelly Leggings and one Ebony Dress. 

When the Shelly Leggings came out in the January 2018 issue of Seamwork, I thought they looked super comfy. After I found out I was pregnant, I decided to try to hack the pattern. I used a ready-to-wear pair of maternity leggings to draft a new waistband piece. For my black Shelly Leggings, I cut one waistband piece and hemmed it, like my ready-to-wear leggings. The result was okay, but not as comfy as I was looking for. Also, I cropped the leggings too much, and the bagged weirdly around the knees. I used Robert Kaufman Laguna Jersey in Onyx, and I think a different fabric may have worked better at that length. It was a good first try, but needed improvement. 

For my second pair of Shelly Leggings, I used Robert Kaufman Laguna Jersey in Onyx in Heather Grey, which was a little bit thicker than the non-heather Onyx color. I cut two waistband pieces so that the waistband was doubled, and cropped the leggings around mid-calf. The result was just what I was looking for! I lived in these leggings throughout pregnancy, and even into the “fourth trimester.” I even made a pair in Heather Navy the following month. Someday I’d like to make more Shelly Leggings, this time with no alterations. 

While not specifically a maternity pattern, the Ebony Dress by Closet Case Patterns is very bump friendly. I sewed version A and customized it by shortening the sleeves considerably. It was very swingy and fun to wear, but the lack of pockets bothered me. A few weeks after finishing this dress, I went back and added patch pockets, using the pattern piece from the Seamwork Sadie Sweatshirt (not pictured). I wore this dress often throughout my pregnancy, and it’s something I can wear next Spring as a non-maternity dress.

February 2018 in Review

February was a productive month. I finished two garments, two gifts for my QuiltCon roomies and two gift bags. 

After making a practice Seamwork Sadie Sweatshirt in January, I immediately turned around and made another one in February. I used sweatshirt fabric for the first time and it turned out great! This is definitely a go-to pattern for when I want to make something cozy and warm for the fall and winter months. 

The next garment I made was a Driftless Cardigan from Grainline Studio. The fabric is Robert Kaufman Laguna Jersey in Onyx. I was a little intimidated by all the pieces, but once they were cut out, the cardigan came together easily enough. I absolutely love the pockets and this is definitely on my "to make again" list. 

For QuiltCon this year, I shared a hotel room with two other people and I decided to make them each a small gift. I've also wanted to make mini composition book covers ever since I make a full sized one back in 2015. I’m really happy with how they turned about and would make them again. 

The orange bag was made from the tried-and-true Lined Drawstring Bag pattern by Jeni Baker. Since I’ve made a ton of them already, for the next gift bag, I branched out a bit and made a Pillowcase Pouch from the book Ruby Star Wrapping, by Melody Miller and Allison Tannery. I added a button and buttonhole to secure it, which was fun.

January 2018 in Review

This past January didn't contain many finishes, due to first trimester fatigue. However, I was really happy with the two things I did manage to finish! 

The Sadie Sweatshirt pattern is from the November 2017 issue of Seamwork. I purchased some French Terry fabric from Mood Fabrics as my "wearable muslin" fabric and it was really easy to work with and is quite warm and cozy. The pattern was easy to follow and I had no fit issues. I really enjoyed wearing this shirt this winter, especially since it had pockets! I made a second version in February and hope to make at least one more this coming Fall/Winter. 

My husband and I attend the Penny Arcade Expo every year, and since I've learned to knit, I like to take along an easy, mindless knitting project to work on while we wait in lines (and there are a lot of lines to wait in). In August 2017, I started a Boom Shawl with DK yarn from House of a la Mode. The pattern is by Playing with Fibre, and was sufficiently easy and mindless. The speckled yarn was fun to knit and I was pleased with the end result, despite the fact that the edge finishing wasn't my favorite. I ended up giving this shawl to my grandma for her birthday. 

Related Posts 

January, February and March 2017 in Review 

January 2016 in Review 

June 2017 in Review

Onyx and Heather Gray Mini Virginia Leggings 

Ages ago, I decided to use some of my knit fabric scraps to make some leggings for my daughter. I used the Mini Virginia Leggings pattern by Megan Nielsen, which I had received when I tested a different pattern for her. My favorite thing about the pattern is that it's only one pattern piece, so it's super quick to cut out. With my new serger, the seams were sewn in a flash. Sadly, it took a while for me to convince my daughter to try them on so I could cut the elastic to the correct length and hem them.  

For the first pair, I used the Heather Gray ponte knit leftover from my Mabel Skirt, and followed the directions exactly. The instructions call for sewing the elastic to the leggings with a zigzag stitch, and then folding it over to close it. Maybe I shouldn't have used ponte, but it seemed that the elastic stayed stretch out, and didn't spring back like I was used to. Even though I had chosen the size based on my daughter's measurements, and cut the elastic based on her feedback when she tried them on, she declared that they were too big and refused to wear them. (She likes a lot of negative ease in her leggings.) Hopefully they will fit correctly next summer. 

For the second pair, I used Onyx Laguna Jersey leftover from who knows which project. These leggings started out full-length, but when my daughter tried them on, she said they were too long, so I shortened them to capri length. Instead of sewing the elastic to the waistband, I sewed a casing for it, which seemed to work much better. Even so, my daughter turned up her nose at them and they have been languishing in her drawer. After sewing rejected two garments, I decided to hold off on making clothes for her for a while. Oh well. More time to sew things for me!  

Green Stripe Bento Bags   

For Father's Day, I needed a fabric gift bag. Two yards of bright green striped fabric were hanging out in my stash, begging to be used. I managed to cut out three rectangles, enough for two large bento bags and one medium one. I finished two of the bags in June and added the other one to my WIP pile.  

Marled Magic Mystery KAL shawl  

Oh, how I love West Knits Mystery Knitalongs! It's so much fun to get a new piece of the pattern every week, and the community on Ravelry is so vibrant. Since each clue usually comes with its own YouTube video, the "hard" parts become easy and I learn a ton. The Marled Magic Mystery KAL is the second one I participated in and is my favorite so far. The yarn used is sock yarn held double, which is the equivalent of DK yarn. I enjoyed using bigger needles because it felt so much faster, even if it still took me three months to finish. I also loved the pattern itself: the modular structure meant there were no super long rows to slog through, and the variety of stitches was super fun. Now that I've made a modular shawl, I feel prepared to make a Vertices Unite Shawl, which I've wanted to do for ages. The marled fading was delightful as well, and the end result is super snuggly.