Christmas 2021 & The New Year

Happy New Year! I'm sure that's about the 5,000th time you've heard or read that by now, but the sentiments are still the same. 🎊 Not surprisingly, my Christmas and New Year festivities went by in an absolute whirlwind of glittery wrapping paper, a toothache's amount of sweets, and catching up with people! Lots of fun, but still exhausting. During that holiday blur, I did make two large Christmas gifts -- a Hawaiian shirt for my brother using McCall's 2149 (View B) and Wardrobe By Me's Amelia Bomber Jacket for my sister. 

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Let's take a look at the Hawaiian shirt first. Overall, a pretty easy make using M2149. I finished the front and collar facing differently than the McCall's directions. My fabric was too delicate to zigzag as a way to finish the seams, so I either used French seams for connecting seams or added an extra seam to seal things off, like on the outer edges of the front facing. I couldn't quite understand some of their steps about the collar, so I just finished it in a way that sealed everything up tidily. 

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    For the bomber jacket, I used the Amelia Bomber jacket pattern from Wardrobe by Me. It was an experience, and I wouldn't have made it through if I had not followed the tutorial video every step of the way. It's not that it was super hard -- there were just so many pieces and steps! That said, it was a well-made pattern and tutorial. After doing some pattern changes to fit my sister in particular, it fit great. The topstitching around the collar and zipper really gives it a more polished look and made me feel better about stability. Also, the pattern was originally made for a woven fabric, but I decided to take a risk and make it with a knit fabric, but not wanting to push my luck too much, I made sure the athletic knit I chose was only a 2-way stretch still on the less-stretchy end of things.

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Well, that's it for now.

Happy Sewing!😊

Cushion Cover Makeover

    Out with the old and in with the new, so they say. This was a little project commissioned by a friend to replace the covers of some old floor cushions with something new and fresh and removable (for easy washing). The original cushions (denim) were sewn shut and stuffed with poly-fill, so she also provided some pillows for the new covers. 

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    The fabric chosen for the new was a nice black and cream windowpane plaid duck fabric. We used heavy duty jacket zippers (the only available ones that coordinated with the fabric) for the closure. The process was fairly simple -- I cut 27x27 in squares for the front panels and then a 10.5 x 27 and a 17.5 x 27 piece for the back -- the zipper going between those two. After installing the zippers and therefore completing the back panels, I sewed the back and front right-sides together with a 5/8 in SA and then sealed those rough edges inside and created the edge on the outside by sewing down a seam with a 1/2 in SA. I also made little zipper terminals so the fabric would all lay flat after sewn together.

    An extra little happy at the end: my fabric estimation for the project was spot on (4 yards) and I had less than a foot of fabric left after it was all said and done -- showcased in the last photo😆
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