SewBaby News

If you are like me, you love it when you can get double anything.  Double cash-back, double chocolate, double the fun!   Reversible clothes fit right into the double fun category.  This skirt is actually two skirts in one.  Side one is a beautiful silk chiffon tie-dye print.  Side two is a solid silk-cotton voile in a stunning royal blue.  Both fabrics are from Fabricmartfabrics.com The pattern is for a bias cut skirt, Kwik Sew 3087.  It's now out of print, but you can find similar bias cut skirt patterns from all of the major pattern brands.  Why choose bias?  Garments cut on the bias are supposed to drape more gracefully than straight cut garments.  They do take more fabric than a straight cut skirt, but I think it's worth it.  Check out this similarly cut designer skirt on Net-a-Porter for $585!  You can make it, even out of silk, for a whole lot less! The pattern is just one piece. To make it revers...

Happy Presidents' Day!  If you are in the middle of the snow/ice storms hitting the US today, please stay safe and warm.  Hopefully, you are inside sewing next to a cozy fireplace!  I've been following Maureen at Make More Laundry , and she's been making some gorgeous t-shirt tunics from Vogue 9057 that I absolutely loved.  You can check them out here , and here .  So, I picked up this pattern the last time it was on sale, not knowing what an addiction it would turn out to be. I've made 6 so far, and don't know if I can stop making more.  You see, there are just so many possibilities with this pattern!  This is my first one.  This is View A, the basic t-shirt.  You can see that it has a rounded neckline and a gentle flare at the bottom.  Here's the back- it has a nice shaped hem. You can see from the side view that the back is slightly longer than the front: The pattern gives several options for designer bindings....

Have you been watching Peggy Sagers'  PBS TV series- Stitch 2 Fit ?  I have, and I love it.  My husband thinks I'm crazy- "So, if you aren't sewing, you want to watch sewing on TV?"  But, I truly learn something from every episode, and I think Peggy is so accomplished and knowledgeable that I can't wait for the next week's episode, as soon as the current episode is over. So, on her last show, she said that what you should do before choosing what size to make is measure a similar piece in your closet to get an idea of how much ease you prefer.  She said that if she had 3 women with the same bust measurement, but they were age 20, 40, and 60, that they would all want a different amount of ease.  If you are new to sewing, ease is the difference between your body measurement and the finished garment measurements. You need a certain amount of ease for movement, but certain styles include more ease than others. A light bulb went off in my head....

I bought this awesome ironing board from Aldi a couple of years ago.  It's really tall, which is great for me, and it has a very wide board, much wider than the standard board sold in US stores. The only problem- the cover that they used wasn't made to withstand high heat.  The first time I used it, I left scorch marks on it.  That's probably why it ended up at Aldi, instead of a higher end home store.  (For those of you that don't have Aldi- it's a super low priced food store with an ever changing assortment of home goods as well). It's such an odd size, that I wasn't sure where to buy a replacement cover.  So, I knew that I wanted to recover it on my own at some point.  Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was at Hancock fabrics and spotted this cotton canvas with a dress form print on their clearance table.  It was destined to be my new ironing board cover. Never having made a cover before, I started by removing the old one and snipping...

Ann swiftly sews several spring silk scarves sitting at the serger as snow softly settles on the sidewalk.  Try saying that 3 times! One of my New Year's resolutions was to wear more neutrals, adding color with scarves.  So, this weekend, while the snow was falling beautifully from my window, I dreamed of Spring and sewed a few warm-weather silk scarves.  I had purchased all of these silk chiffons from FabricMart.  To say that I sewed them is really quite an exaggeration.  What I did was cut the fabric in half, and then serged around the edges using the "rolled edging" setting on my serger. To make a scarf like this, you have to have about 2 yards of fabric.  For me, the minimum is 1-3/4 yard, and the max is 2-1/4 yard.  I think that might differ according to your personal stature.  A more petite woman might prefer a little less.  I like silk chiffon the best.  It is so lightweight, that you don't feel that you are wearing...