Category: sewing

  • back in action

    I’m back! Indy was good, although I didn’t get the chance to check out that yarn store you were all on about! Next time.

    I cam back to the fabric I ordered from Cia’s Palette last week. Yay, fabric!

    fabric from Cia's Palette

    I think the sewing bug comes in waves, definitely stronger in the spring and summer when I can whip up some skirts and bags (well, mostly skirts really) to wear out and about. And I think my laptop sleeve experience spurred on the sewing thing, too.

    Not that I don’t already have a fabric stash. Cuz I do. I really must figure out what to make with it all! Anyway, I had trouble narrowing down the fabrics I wanted to something within reason, but I ended up with (left to right):

    – Alexander Henry fabric for a skirt, perhaps wrappy-type,
    – unknown “Homespun Simple Check”, probably for a dress,
    – some Amy Butler for a top
    – and the last two pieces are Chocolate Lollipop (which I love!), for a top and a skirt.

    The tops will definitely be of the Built by Wendy cap-sleeve persuasion, from the pattern at right. I’ve never made a top before, but since this one’s a raglan and supposedly very easy, I think I can do it! I might try the dress, too, if the top turns out well.

    chocolate lollipop fabric

    A closeup of the Galaxy print. I’m thinking a nice flowy circle skirt, my favourite for the summer. All the fabric’s in the process of being washed at the moment, and I think I might even give something (a top) a whirl tonight.

    In the meanwhile, I’m taking a chill day and watching some Buffy, and knitting my Manos silk sweater – it’s coming out great!

    manos silk cable

  • my computer’s new clothes

    Have I mentioned how much I love my new computer? Seriously, it’s awesome. And since there’s less and less bloggable knitting around here, I thought I’d write up a little info on the laptop sleeve I sewed.

    mostly-complete laptop sleeve

    It’s basically just a zippered pouch, with some extra padding. I have a 13″ Macbook and used pieces of fabric with the dimensions 14.5″ x 10.5″ – I cut out a piece of cardboard to use as a pattern.

    For the outside, I used a couple of Denyse Schmidt cottons, as well as a random scrap for the pocket. One side is solid with the pocket; the other side has two fabrics joined off-centre.

    I like this side the best.

    I really love that side! I just sewed the two pieces straight down, then trimmed to fit the cardboard cutout. I used a fairly light iron-on interfacing on the exterior layers (I couldn’t find my firmer interfacing, but it probably turned out better this way). The lining is an awesome pink silk dupioni.

    laptop, snug

    For the pocket, I sewed two pieces together along the long edge with RS together, so the pocket would be lined. Then I just began following the zippered pouch tutorial, there – believe me, I made a lot of mistakes! I had to rip out quite a few (like 4) seams, and that is not fun with a very fray-y silk lining. Oy.

    external pocket

    Anyway, I sewed the pocket inbetween the two exterior layers when they were joined, and then I just pinned the two layers of wool felt (cut to fit inside the seam allowances) to the wrong sides of both pieces of the exterior fabric (with the pin heads on the outside of the pouch!). Then I turned the whole thing right side out, sandwiching the felt between the exterior and lining. Then I sewed up the hole in the lining and also pushed in the corners of the zipper a bit.

    padded case

    The case is really quite padded – when empty, it’s about the same thickness as my computer! I haven’t sewn down the felt to anything, so it can sort of slide around a bit – not really ideal. But, I’m feeling kind of lazy about the whole thing now, so it’ll probably just stay the way it is. I had originally thought of sewing the felt in along the sides and bottom when attaching the exterior fabrics together, but that would make for super bulky seams (and didn’t fit in my sewing machine, anyway).

    The whole way along I kept thinking “this isn’t going to work, it’s going to be too small, blah blah” but it actually worked out just perfectly!

  • happiness in a white box

    Doorbell ringing Monday morning got me out of bed right quick.

    Ooooh!

    happiness in a box

    Only Apple would have styrofoam this awesome.

    only Apple...

    Hurray!

    my precious

    New and old.

    side-by-side

    I spent all yesterday evening playing with my new computer, moving stuff over from my old (G3, circa 2003) iBook, and futzing with settings. Two finger scroll? Awesome. One-touch right-click? Awesome. Seriously, I loved my old iBook, but I am in a whole lotta love with my new Macbook.

    And today?

    I made it some new clothes!

    mostly-complete laptop sleeve

    Details next post, or just click on through to my Flickr for the details!