Author Archives: Lindsay

The Friday Five: 5 reasons to check out PatternReview.com

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1. The most obvious reason to visit PatternReview.com is to read… duh… pattern reviews! As a new sewer, it’s really nice to read about which patterns have mistakes printed in them, which beginner patterns are actually suitable for beginners, which steps in the pattern are tricky, etc.

2. See photos of other people’s completed projects. The pictures opened my eyes to how different each finished project can be. Even if everyone uses the same pattern, it’s amazing how various fabrics and notions, plus minor alterations, can change the final look.

3. Search and shop patterns from lots of different brands all in one place. Dropdown menus make it easy to browse general categories so you don’t have to visit lots of separate web sites.

4. Message boards! Post questions and reach a huge audience of sewers for a variety of answers.

5. RESOURCES GALORE. Not only does the site actually offer online sewing classes, but it is exploding with helpful articles, tips and techniques, glossaries, podcasts, classifieds… you name it! If it can be posted to the internet and is related to sewing, it’s probably there.

Happy Friday!

 

Magical sewing skills!

Posted in Disney, Uncategorized by


Disney’s newest heroine, Rapunzel, from the phenomenal film Tangled knows how to sew!

Okay, so sewing wasn’t a huge focus in the movie or anything, but I was humored to see it represented at all. Not to mention, the screenshot above is simultaneously hilarious and adorable.

My favorite Disney character, Wendy Darling, also had mad sewing skills. She actually succeeded at the seemingly impossible task of sewing a shadow back onto Peter Pan:

Giselle from Enchanted took her sewing skills to a Frauline Maria level when she magically created her whimsical blue dress out of curtains:

Apparently Cinderella had some sewing know-how, as she was seen reading a dress pattern. However, it seems that the birds and mice really did most of the work, so Cinderella’s actual skills are debatable.

Hmm, any others that I missed?

The Friday… One?

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No Friday Five this week, but instead, just one reason why I’ve been terribly absent lately:

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THE FLU. I battled the worst of it last weekend, so I still managed to show up to my office job as well as my nights-and-weekends just-for-fun job at a local store this week. But needless to say, sewing projects and sewing blogs were the last things on my mind when I finally got a few quiet moments at home to rest. I’m almost better, but have completely lost my voice which is no bueno since I’m scheduled to sing in a choir on Sunday night. Tea with honey, anyone?

Hoping for a happy return sometime soon!

The Friday Five: 5 essential tools for new sewers

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1) First and foremost, the seam ripper. To err is human, to rip seams is… the story of my life. I have a love/hate relationship with the seam ripper. Much like calling an ex-boyfriend for help moving heavy furniture, using the seam ripper is sometimes unavoidable but leaves you with a sense of pouty, annoyed defeat. Plus, it’s sort of creepy looking.

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2)  An iron! I didn’t even own an iron before I started sewing. And middle-school-sewer Lindsay was usually too lazy to press seams which is probably why my sewing projects never looked very nice back then. I realized that when I’m told to press the seams, I should actually press the seams. So I bought an iron. Now my seams are happy!

3) A good vacuum. Tons of little thread clippings and fabric shavings tend to float around the entire house when there’s a big sewing project in the works. Right now I am not practicing what I preach – my vacuum is lousy and my carpet is full of clippings from past projects. I dream of getting one of those robot vacuums at some point in my life:

4) Tester fabric – like muslin, or fabric leftover from other projects. Don’t use the good stuff the first time around! You’ll end up teary-eyed when you have a pile of seam-ripped scraps that once was a beautiful, freshly folded square of carefully-chosen fabric. Make mistakes on the boring fabric first!

5) Rotary cutter and mat. I received mine as a gift from my mom when I bought my sewing machine. At first I thought it was a luxury item. It’s not… it’s a must-have. I shall never cut a clean, straight line on fabric without a rotary cutter again!

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Happy Friday!

The Friday Five: 5 reasons you should start sewing

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1. The most reasonable excuse to start sewing is that you can fix or alter your own clothes. I’m 5’0″. Try finding a new pair of pants that doesn’t drag on the ground. Enter sewing machine. Amen.

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2. My friend Krissy often stated in her phenomenal wedding blog something along the lines of… “If you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, or for the price that you want, MAKE IT!” And that wonderful sentiment not only applies to table centerpieces and wedding invitations, but sewing projects as well. Don’t be a slave to what’s on the shelves. Make it your way!

3. Custom gifts for family and friends. What do you get for the person who has everything? A personalized, handmade item a la you!

4. Finally, an excuse to venture over to the other half of the craft store. Now you can browse through all of those fun fabrics… with purpose!

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5. Because all the cool people are doing it. Haven’t you ever watched Project Runway?

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Craft for a Cause

Posted in Holidays, Uncategorized by

It’s no secret that I dislike the holidays. The rampant commercialism and focus on all things selfish are enough to drive me bonkers year after year. On the flip side, my passionate dislike of the most-wonderful-time-of-the-year is enough to drive my holiday-loving friends equally bonkers, so I do my best to keep my opinions at bay and find ways to channel my feelings somewhere useful. This is usually where distracting crafts come into play.

I recently heard about an organization called Project Linus through a JoAnn Fabrics Facebook post about “Craft for a Cause,” a campaign that draws attention to charities that benefit from – you guessed it – crafts! What a cool concept to stumble upon just when the holiday craziness is about to take over my life.

Being a huge fan of my own blankie, I was immediately captivated by the Project Linus mission statement: “To provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer ‘blanketeers.'”

The organization accepts all sorts of donations and even devotes a section of their site to patterns and resources for sewers, knitters, crocheters and non-sewers (no-sew fleece blankets, anyone?).

I started thinking about sewing for charities. After a little research, here’s a small sampling of many inspirational organizations seeking crafters:

  • ConKerr Cancer – A Case for Smiles: Follow a simple pattern to create fun pillowcases for children’s hospital rooms. Fun and cheery fabrics unite!
  • The Preemie Project: Create handmade items for premature babies in hospitals who are too small for standard size clothing. Most notable on the site are the fleece “blanket sleepers,” which are  sent home with preemie parents in an effort to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
  • Drawstring bags for troops: Create simple drawstring bags for soldiers to carry their toiletries and small personal belongings, or share with children.

Pretty amazing! I can’t wait to try some of the projects listed above.

What other crafty, charitable opportunities are out there?

Inspirations and modifications

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I get the most brilliant ideas in the most inopportune places. Having a lightbulb-over-my-head moment is so inconvenient when I’m pushing through the last few minutes of an evening run, driving 70mph on the highway or rinsing conditioner out of my hair. I have to wonder how many wonderful ideas float out of my head, never to return again simply because I don’t have a means of writing them down when they come into my life.

But it’s understandable that ideas would come to me during these times. Let’s face it – running, driving and showering are boring. What else is there to do other than think? (and sing to the RENT soundtrack… which is usually blasting in all of the above scenarios)

Luckily, one shower-sewing-inspiration a few months back was so promising that I started mapping out a plan in my head before my hair was even dry. My dear friend’s birthday was approaching and I wanted to make her something memorable. Because we share a special understanding about the magic of Disney, I used Minnie Mouse for inspiration and made a Friendship Bag using the same modified measurements I wrote about a few posts back.

A variety of black calico prints + a red/white polka dot fabric + a magical, inspirational mouse = One successful sewing project!

For an extra magical touch, I added a mouse-head applique using a really amazing product called Heat’n Bond Iron-On Adhesive. It’s available near the ironing supplies in the fabric store for around $10/roll and comes in a variety of adhesive strengths to turn any fabric into an iron-on piece. Since I planned on stitching around the border, I only needed to use the lightest strength to iron my applique in place. Non-sewers would appreciate Heat’n Bond Ultra Hold adhesive – no sewing required!

And last, I created a little coin pouch – my first experience with a zipper. I had to mix and match a few different online tutorials to create the exact quilted zipper coin pouch I had in mind, but overall it wasn’t very difficult. Zippers look more intimidating than they really are!

What I learned from this project:

  • Inspiration can strike anywhere!
  • Heat’n Bond is an amazing product for creating appliques, and may even be useful for non-sewers.
  • Zippers are not scary!

Am I the only one who gets inspired in strange places?

Pixie dusted panels

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This past weekend, I traveled across the country for a friend’s wedding and stayed with my parents. Not only did I get to raid my mom’s fabric collection (consisting of scraps dating back to Halloween costumes of the 80’s past) but I also got to visit Hancock Fabrics, a fabric store that I do not have in my area back home. Being a huge fan of the movie Peter Pan, and especially anything involving my favorite character Wendy Darling, I was immediately overcome with joy when I saw this 48″ x 60″ fleece panel:

Not only was the fleece panel amazing and magical, but it was ON SALE. So, although my fellow airplane passengers didn’t realize it, the return flight was sprinkled with a little pixie dust as Peter Pan, Wendy, John, Michael and Tinker Bell rode along inside my suitcase.

So now, the big question: what will become of the magical fleece panel? I imagine it will end up as a blanket, but simply sewing a solid fleece panel to the back seems…. boring.

Any suggestions for a creative touch?

A monster of a project

Posted in Disney, Holidays, Sewing, Tutorial / Pattern Reviews by

I think it’s a given that anyone who sews will eventually make a Halloween costume. It was only a matter of time after I bought my sewing machine in July that I started racking my brain for Halloween costume ideas.

Since I planned to attend Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party with a friend at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park, we really wanted to come up with a fun Disney pair that was slightly outside-the-box. A prince-and-princess just seemed too cliche for our creative personalities. After coming up with a lot of ideas, we finally decided that Mike Wazowski and Boo from the Disney-Pixar film Monsters, Inc. was the winning duo.

I started with Simplicity 7415,  a vintage pumpkin / tennis ball / baseball / ice cream scoop / pincushion / Humpty Dumpty pattern from the early 90’s. (Side note: I’m happy to report that this is the first official pattern I’ve mastered thus far. Woohoo!)


I followed the instructions for the tennis ball costume, primarily using lime green broadcloth for the body, and lined the inside with felt to add a little shape. I used white, black and kelly green broadcloth to create the eye, which is glued on and lightly handstitched around the edges. We stuffed the costume with crumpled newspapers contained in trash bags, and elastic at the neckline and the bottom of the costume kept the innerds from falling out during our trek around the Magic Kingdom.

In a dream world, I would have sewn a shirt and pants for Mike Wazowski using the same lime green broadcloth as the body – but in the end, it was just more practical to wear a pair of mint green scrubs that he already owned. My entire Boo ensemble consisted of lucky finds at Walmart – no sewing involved.

Mike Wazowski and Boo costumes

Can you believe I was lucky enough to attend the Halloween party with Nick Lachey?

Although only die-hard Disney fans recognized me as Boo, the Mike Wazowski costume was a HUGE HIT. I couldn’t believe how many “Mike Wazowski!!!” shouts we heard from afar. Little Monsters Inc. fans in strollers gazed up at Mike Wazowski with wide eyes. My friend was quick to brag about my skills to strangers, telling them that I had sewed the costume, but I was secretly glad it was dark outside so that nobody could see my imperfect stitches up close!

What I learned from this project:

  • To fulfill a creative vision, it’s sometimes necessary to shop for out-of-print patterns on the internet.
  • I used bias tape for the first time. I still can’t say I completely understand the purpose of fabric “cut on the bias,” but for the purpose of this project, it was incredibly useful to have long strips of pre-cut, folded fabric.
  • This costume was the biggest and most cumbersome project I have made to date. It was also the most time consuming, and let’s face it, a lot of the steps were repetitive and not very exciting (sew lots of solid colored panels together… zzzzzzzz). Feeling burnt out from a specific, monotonous project is probably normal. But it sure helped my sewing soul to take some days off to work on other projects, like cutting fabric for new Friendship Bags, before returning to the Halloween costume.

All in all, I love how the Mike Wazowski costume turned out, although it is a little strange to have a monster hanging in my closet!

What are you dressing up as for Halloween this year?

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The Friendship Bag

Posted in Sewing, Tutorial / Pattern Reviews by

In my first few weeks of sewing machine bliss, I was lucky enough to stumble across p.s. i quilt, an inspiring blog with lots of incredible tutorials. I was immediately drawn to the Friendship Bag tutorial. Not only was the bag adorable, but I read the instructions ahead of time and understood each and every step thanks to the wonderful photos included throughout the tutorial. Plus all of the fabric pieces were rectangles that I could easily measure and cut myself without having to print a pattern.

I eagerly chose a variety of “fat quarters” at the fabric store. I have since learned that “fat quarters” are a quarter of a yard of fabric… duh, makes sense. But that means they are not always the best deal at $1.99 apiece, as that would be about $8/yard on the bolt! A little pricey for a beginning sewer, prone to disaster, who is just experimenting with a new project. But alas, the fabrics I chose complimented each other perfectly, were very “Lindsay-ish” with their cutesy blend of browns and pastels, and therefore worth every penny.
I made the bag and was shocked at how tiny it was. But my euphoria about making a successful bag outweighed the fact that I hadn’t really paid attention to the measurements, which clearly indicated how small the bag would be. Since I had plenty of fabric left, I later recalculated the measurements and made a larger bag.
What I learned from this project:
  • There are lots of awesome, free tutorials available on the internet, thanks to savvy sewers on the web. Wahoo!
  • Pay attention to measurements in order to get an idea of how large or small the final product will be. Don’t assume!
  • “Fat Quarters” may look like a wee little economical choice in the store, but that is not necessarily the case. That doesn’t mean I’d ever pass up an adorable Fat Quarter, but I’ll never pass up an adorable fabric on the bolt out of convenience, either.

And now, I will leave you with the measurements for the larger bag. Follow steps in the p.s. i quilt tutorial, with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

  • 16 strips, 9.5″ x 2.5″
  • 1 bottom panel, 17.5″ x 9.5″
  • 1 lining, 16.75″ x 25″
  • 2 straps, 24″ x 4″

Happy sewing!

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