Making Something New out of Something Old

Perhaps this has happened to you.

Your mom gives you some clothes and tells you to use them or give them away or whatever you want.

In the pile are a pair of Bill Blass peach colored jeans. And while they are tight around the waist, they are loose in the legs. I am not sure if this how all Bill Blass clothes fit.

There is a part of me thinking there is no way I am going to wear these pants while another part is thinking this color is really in style and I need a new skirt or two.

So I make plans to convert it from pants to a skirt which will be easier now that I have a new Husquverna-Viking sewing machine. After watching a wiki video, I feel ready to try it but I really need a practice run.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Denim-Skirt-From-Recycled-Jeans

That is when I discover a pair of jeans that my daughter has stretched beyond repair in the rear seam area. Perfect.

First things first, I cut off the lower 12 inches of pant leg.

Then with my favorite tool, the seam ripper, I open up the inside pant seams and seams leading up to the zipper and back yoke. This is the longest task of the project.

Next up is pinning the back seam and sewing it down. The trick here is to make a straight seam out of extra fabric. If I had to do this part again, I would have laid the pieces flat and drawn a straight line to sew on.

After getting the front seam done, I cut off the extra fabric and use one of my serge stitches on the outside ends before ironing the seam to one side.

Now I make one final mark for the desired length of the hem. My daughter wants this to be above her knees and I want it below the thighs. We find a good compromise so a quick roll through with my rotary cutter gets the right length.

I stitch to a different serger stitch on the hem to prevent future unraveling, turn up the hem and sew it down.

Ba-Bam! The girl has a new skirt and we do not have to throw away her favorite jeans.

Now all I need is peach-colored thread.

What are you sewing this summer?

 

 

Stumbles in the Year of Completion

This has been a crazy year for me.

I had hoped to have so much more finished by now. But calamity and rotten luck has gotten in the way.

Image by melodi2

All of my plans to get sewing projects underway went south when my stitch length dial stayed stuck on ‘0.’ I discovered this when some fragile fabric was eaten by the machine.

Of course, I thought it was the fabric. So I tried again. Then I tried using paper as a backing. When that tactic did not work, I checked everything and realized the truth.

The dial regulating stitch length was turning but not adjusting. Somewhere a spring must be stuck.

Getting it fixed requires money. Money I do not have. It has been a summer and fall of stretching the budget to extremes. Bills are getting paid but it has been tough and tight.

While I have spent some time whining about what I cannot do, I have totally forgotten what I can get done.

I have a quilt that needs to be tied. It was a project started by a girlfriends daughter. Because it has already has a binding, there is no way machine quilting will work neatly. But hand-tieing will not stretch out the fabric.

Suddenly, the year of completion feels as if it might get back on track. While there is no way to get six quilts done by the end of the year, I can work on one.

Another thing I am still working on is the novel. My plan was to try to get 500 words written a day. I took the idea of NANO which does 1600+ words a day and broke it down to manageable bits.

Image by Mantamagorical

Some days I write more, other days I write less. But I have five chapters completed that need sprucing up. While I have ten chapters to go, I have a direction. They are barebones that are waiting for the layers of descriptions and personality flaw to clothe them and dress it up.

I just hope that the rest of the book is done by the end of the year.

How are you working on those goals set last January?

 

Another Step Towards Completion

Here it is – April.

All of those New Year’s resolutions are a memory. Well, for some of us.

My big resolution was to start completing things. And I have started doing that.

I fixed my couch with big pillows and small pillows, giving up on those pillow-backs that never stayed in place.

A long worked on needle craft project has been finished.

We finally bought a pretty day-bed frame for my daughter’s room.

The first chapter of my novel was critiqued by my writer’s group.

Starting this month we are back on a budget.

I have started work on the front flower garden the shape it better with the plants that are already there.

My latest accomplishment is making two new skirts to broaden my wardrobe options. The one not pictured has a black background with dark sage green flowers with red centers. The one pictured here has a white background with brightly colored swooshes.

Both can be worn with a black sweater and tank top. The other day I wore the brighter skirt with a red tank top and it looked spiffy.

What I need is a medium hot pink tank top to wear under the cardy. I could use some new shoes but that can wait.

For now, I am happy to get a few more things completed. Next up – a new dress for my daughter.

What are you completing so far this year?

One Step Closer to Completion

I said that this would be the year of completion for me. This would be the year that I would get long-worked-on or long-planned projects completed.

It is an auspicious goal, it is ambitious and over-reaching. And I have completed the first project.

The Needlecraft Project is Done!

 

Why does something like this take so long? I have only been working on it since my oldest son was a baby. I would do a little here and there, bring it out when he was sleeping and then put it away for a year or five.

 

I found it last year and decided to get it finished. Fill in that pitcher, complete the outline stitching and revel in a project completed.

 

Where I Started From This January.

 

I am so glad this project is done. Now on to the antique quilt!