My Sewing Journey, Part I

Recently, I've taken-up sewing.  I've always been a crafty person (crocheting, canning, and general DIY stuff), but sewing has always been a challenge for me.  I knew how to operate a machine.  Both my father and my middle school Home Economics teacher made sure of that.  However, sewing a straight line often eluded me (most likely due to lack of patience) and I'd never properly learned to read and follow a pattern.

However, that's all changed.  I've been making an effort to learn all the little techniques, terminology, and tools required and I'm quite happy with how my all of my projects have turned out.   I started with something simple--a set of "Cat Pads" for the cats to sit on (instead of directly on the couch) and set a first milestone of, "making a garment."

Here are the cat pads.  As you can see, they're just simple squares of fleece--like flat pillows, padded lightly with some polyester batting.



Nebby approves (she had just had surgery, so that's why she has a cone on).

 

My next project was an overcoat for my daughter's 18-inch doll, Alicia.  Alicia turned out to be a great help as I learned about garment construction and seam finishing and adding snaps and buttons.  You'll see her below with her new fleece coat, rain coat, and a backpack (she has "stuff" to carry).



Then, came the first garment for a human.  I made my daughter a simple dress.  This one was a challenge, as it involved putting in my first zipper (which had to be torn out at least 3 times and put back in, so really it was more like my first, second, and third zipper).  It also involved bodice construction with an iron-on interfacing.



Of course, Alicia wanted one too, so that happened.



Next, came a pair of sleep shorts for my wife with leftover fabric.



And lest you think I'm perfect and don't spend my fair share of time with a seam ripper, this is what happens when you don't understand garment construction terminology and mistake "crotch" for "center seam" or "fly".


(Talk about a thigh gap)

I'll show you a few more in the next post, but for now, I'll leave you with some links to the patterns shown above:

• The blue children's dress is Burda 9544
• Both doll coats are variations of Doll Softshell Coat from FleeceFun.com
• Alicia's blue dress is the Drawstring Dress from Heritage Doll Fashions
• The Women's PJ Shorts are from LifeSewSavory.
• Alicia's Backpack is this one from Many Small Friends
• The cat pads are not from a pattern, but are simple enough to make