Adventures in Sewing

E wants to learn how to sew, and so does mommy. I've done lots of quilting, and cross stitch, and dabbled in other crafty needle crafts, but have never made anything to WEAR since grade 7 home economics class when I learned to sew straight lines on paper, thread the machine and, made my reversible apron, and boxer shorts.

Before I start to teach her how to make anything with the machine, I decided that I needed to get a few projects under my belt first, so I started with some pajamas for the girls. I figure this is a good thing to start with because then they can wear them in the dark where people can't get a good look at all the mistakes I made while learning how to sew :-)

I used this pattern, and this is how they turned out. Pretty cute... but the elastic is too tight on E's, and the toddler's isn't finished yet because I ran out of elastic.

Later on, the preschooler wanted something for himself too, so I made him this cute jacket out of an old pattern that I found in the basement. I used a tablecloth that I shrunk by accident, and a dress shirt of Sean's that got shrunk by accident too for fabric. I needed to go this route because I just can't get out of the house like most people to buy fabric... it's too hard to drag all the kiddies with me. (and NO, I didn't shrink his shirt on purpose to use the material!).

Here are some of the lessons that I have learned so far:

1. The cute country/handmade look (think crooked seams etc..) is great for quilts and handicrafts around the house, but not so cute on dresses and jackets.

2. The seam ripper is my best friend!

3. You need to be pretty exact when you are cutting out fabric from the pattern. Don't cut corners (literally), and work slowly, or things won't match up.

Stay tuned for more adventures. I want to try a tierd skirt from the tutorial I linked to in my google reader on the sidebar (right, under Blogs I"m reading today), and also some skirts for myself. I'd also like to make a new quilt for my bedroom, as well as some nice placemats and a table runner.. but I don't have time for all of them so we'll see what we get to.