Quarantine and me: Week 7

April 26, 2020 Sewtropolis1 Comment

Still here – and I even managed to sew this week! Before I get to that I want to do a little mom bragging. My son has been unemployed since before the quarantine (however he does start a new job on Monday – so yay). He has been trying to stay as productive as possible, signing up for free classes to learn new skills. One of the skills he learned was how to use Illustrator – and he picked up on it pretty quick! He’s been creating lots of art which you can check out on his Instagram page @DionPrints. To earn a little spending cash he’s been creating Renaissance pet portraits which I think are hilarious!

If you are interested in a Renaissance pet portrait he charges $25 for a high quality image which you can blow up to poster size, attach to canvas, create cards from or whatever your heart desires. You can contact him at: DionRoloff@protonmail.com – tell him his mom sent you!

All right – now for what I’ve been doing this week: These leggings are the Ursula Leggings and the bra is the Calista Curvy Bra – both from Stitch Upon a Time. The fabric is from the Styled Magnolia. Can I just say I FREAKING love this outfit!

The leggings actually stay up – even though I think I could have made them a size smaller. I had a moment of panic when I realized I cut out the pattern without making my standard “Full Butt Adjustment” and half expected them to ride down in the back when I sit. But I am pleasantly surprised. I even added a bit of elastic in the waistband as added assurance that they’ll stay up … which was not necessary. Yay!!

I’ve made the Calista Curvy Bra before – but this time I lengthened the straps a bit to make it more comfortable – and to make sure the girls don’t slip out the bottom. Like my white pants from my last post – I think I’ve lost a big of weight since the last time I made this bra because it’s just a tad to big… I could have easily gone down 1/2 a size. It will work for yoga – but there will be no running in this bra! Still – I’m so freaking happy with it and the leggings.

Stay Safe My Friends!

Projects · sewing

Quarantine and Me: Week 6

April 19, 2020 SewtropolisLeave a comment

Well, I made it through another week! The best part of my week is that I joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program… sort of. One of the Brew houses near me has organized a CSA to help support all the farmers who would normally be setting up stalls at the local Farmers markets.

I used the raspberries in the box to make a batch of jam this morning. I added it to the frozen blueberries I had, with the juice of one lemon! I can’t wait to dig in tomorrow morning! I love toast and jam like nobody’s business!

Before the lockdown I had plans to be in Tarpon Springs, FL this week. In preparation for that trip I was busy the first few month of the year sewing my vacation outfits. I actually tried to do it in a mindful way, starting with going through my closet and deciding what I needed! I browsed Pinterest for ideas on outfits I liked, went through my patterns that matched those items, came up with a color scheme so that I could mix/match easily, and then I fabric shopped! I used Trello to set up my projects, patterns, and fabrics, so that while I was shopping I knew exactly how much fabric to get – and not over/under guessing.

I don’t know if I was surprised or not… but I realized when I went through closet that I had like 3 t-shirts (other than workout t-shirts) and all of them I use as pajama tops. So first thing on my list: T-Shirts.

This was my first one! I freaking love the fabric – I picked it up at the Sewing Expo I went to in February. Even though it wasn’t exactly in my color scheme, it’s not completely out of it. (By the way – the pattern for all the t-shirts is KwikSew 2900 which is out of print).

This shirt I tried to make ‘flutter’ sleeves … What I got was not exactly what I was imagining, but it will do. I found the fabric at the “Vogue Fabrics” booth at the sewing expo. It was like $5 a yard so I bought like 5 yards. You’ll be seeing more of this fabric in the coming weeks.

Oh, I should mention that I made these pants using fabric that I picked up at JoAnn’s about 6 months ago. The pattern is Simplicity 1283 and these are the second pair I’ve made using the pattern. I learned a couple of things this time around: 1. I lost weight since the last time I used the pattern because these things are pretty big, and 2. I definitely need to figure out the wrinkling issue I have at the back of my legs.

The third T-shirt I made was a solid gray shirt made out of the softest bamboo blend from Sew, Sew English! Holy smokes I love this fabric. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it with nothing over it… so you also get to see my 2nd favorite item: a duster I made using SeamWorks Oslo Sweater pattern.

This is about the 3rd sweater I’ve made using this pattern, this time I lengthened it quite a bit… like by 12″. I wanted something that I could wear on cooler nights on the beach… or over a swimsuit. I found the fabric at Pacific Fabrics about 2 years ago… it was one of those ‘I love this fabric, but I don’t know what to make with it, so I’ll get 3 yards of it”. I barely had enough for this duster, I ended up piecing the collar piece from four sections instead of two. I still love it!

Adventures · Exercise · sewing

Quarantine and Me: Week 5

April 13, 2020April 19, 2020 SewtropolisLeave a comment

Here it is Monday night (way past my bedtime) and I am hoping to get this post up instead letting it slide one more day. I think we all know what happens when I do that… it will be months before you see or hear from me again.

I actually did some sewing last week… but of course I didn’t take any pictures. Here’s my excuse: I look like crap and I’m too lazy to put on make-up and do my hair so that I can take pictures. I know, I know… we are all beautiful… but seriously, I look tired without make-up and my hair has a mind of it’s own… (think Medusa).

So my hair has been in a constant pony-tail, (back of the head or top of the head – depending on if it’s a.m. or p.m.) I’ll eventually get around to taking pictures… after all this is a sewing blog.

I also started my Master’s program this week! I’ve been reading about 12 court cases a week, briefing them, answering questions, watching videos and having dialog with other students … I love it! But it’s a lot and hopefully this week I’ll get better at managing my time so I can get it all done.

This weekend I took the pups on a nice long walk around the neighborhood, and had to admire how blue the sky has been. There’s very few cars on the road so there’s no smog in the air (or not like it was), and that makes everything more vivid and clear!

Here is a picture of the snow capped Olympic Mountains I took while standing at the end of my block. (with my iPhone) I normally don’t get a view of these mountains… when I do, it is definitely not this clear! I haven’t been out of my neighborhood so I can’t see ‘THE” Mountain (Mt. Rainier), but I’ll bet it’s beautiful!

Olympic Mountains as viewed from Renton, WA

I’ve also been noticing all the Spring flowers popping up! I can stare at a perfect flower for hours! It’s like Nature is putting on a show – and letting us know how perfect she can be.

So despite how bad things have gotten, or how uncertain our future will be, I’m grateful that Mother Nature can (and has been) healing herself and able to put on a beautiful show at the same time.

Stay safe my friends!

quilting · sewing

Quarantine and me: Week 4

April 5, 2020 SewtropolisLeave a comment

What a week! It started off with me registering for Grad school. I am attending Washington University in St. Louis, Masters in Law program. All classes are online which meant that I needed to get logged into their system and store all my IDs and passwords – which I did. The next day, my computer crashed! It won’t even turn on!

I can’t say I am surprised. The computer is about 12 – 15 years old, and I have been waiting for it to crash… but a week before school starts?? Needless to say timing is not ideal and with the “Stay home, stay safe” order in effect it’s not like I can go out and pick up another computer! So I took a deep breath and ordered one from Apple.com and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives before classes start on Monday.

On the sewing front I finished a total of 100 masks; 50 were donated to the Seattle Indian Health Board, and 50 were given to my brother and his co-workers. When my brother came over to pick them up it was sad not to be able to give him a hug. But I had to laugh that we exchanged homemade chocolate chip cookies – unplanned! Yep, we’re related!

Once I was done with the masks I finished this beauty! Which was mostly long arm quilting and binding it.

Quilt, pillow shams, throw pillow front, and smaller panel (pillow).

I saw this at the Quilting and Sewing Expo at the end of February… before shit hit the fan on this pandemic! I saw it hanging there and stood for about 5 minutes just admiring it! It was so pretty and unlike any quilt I’ve seen before…… so of course I bought the kit!

Image of full quilt! Love at first sight

It was designed by Sarah Watts for Ruby Star Society, and the kit includes a queen sized panel, two pillow shams, 18” throw pillow, an small panel to make a baby quilt (or wall hanging), and a extra panel which I made into a small pillow! The fabric is a beautiful sateen that is super soft and makes all the colors bright and beautiful

I bought enough backing fabric to complete all the projects, including the binding, but after I finished quilting it I decided that the pink binding looked better, and added an extra pop of color.

If I were 13 I would put this on my bed and never take it off….. but as it is, now that I have admired it, pet it, and added my ‘artistic’ touch to it, I will list it on my Etsy site. My hope is that someone who admires unicorns, owls, flowers, full moons and pretty birds will find it and claim it as their own.

Stay safe my friends,