More Sewing Ideas

I have made some more sewing progress.  I actually made 3 small bags which I have had cut out and ready to sew for probably 2 years now.  Do you have projects like that?  I have so many sewing projects that I would have to live to be 400 in order to get them all done.  These are cute as can be and very nice for traveling or organizing small items that you use every day.  I can see them being used for little girl hair clips and accessories, ipod, iphone and all the accessories for them, just various small things.  When traveling you could use them for jewelry also.  I made them with a home dec fabric that I had on hand and quilted and lined them with a matching cotton fabric.  I also added yo yo's on the front which I love to make and that got me to thinking about another project  so I am off and running on that idea.  I ordered cardboard cones last night and when they arrrive I will get started on that project.  You can make yo yo's while watching tv and movies and that won't eat into my sewing hours.  I like to have something to do while sitting and resting at night.  Have a look at these bags and the pattern is from Make It Easy Sewing and Crafts and these are called Humbug bags.  You could line them with various things, i.e.; anti-tarnish cloth and carry jewely in them, moisture proof fabric and use for swim cap and goggles, also carry makeup.  There are so many ways you could use these cute bags and children would love them to carry marbles, pebbles, shells and any other small treasures they carry around.  Oh I love to sew!!!

Sewing Update or Lack There of

I am not doing so great at the blogging or the sewing.  I have been busy doing other things but life is like that sometimes.  I did finish my NC State Wolfpack Lap Quilt and want to share that.  I also posted it on my ETSY page in case someone would like to purchase one or else have me make another size.  I think I do this to find out if others like my items that I make.  I think it is a beautiful quilt.  You judge. 

I have some fresh ideas on others things I want to make.  I went to one of my favorites fabric stores today and they were demonstrating items to make with charm packs and I am excited about some of those.  I ordered some of the supplies to get started on making Christmas items.  I do love to sew and am hoping to make some things to sell on my ETSY page.  I will keep you posted. 

BTW, one of my favorite sewing stores is Wish Upon a Quilt and they do have a mail order business and here is link:

Wish Upon A Quilt

Let me know what you think.  I hope to Blog every day this week and also a little sewing to go along with that. 

Other Sewing Blogs I Like Follow

http://sewchic.blogspot.com/
http://maverydesigns-fashionlab.blogspot.com/

My Etsy Page

I have created an ETSY store and need to finish putting items to sell on my ETSY page.  SewManyHours ETSY Store

I am hoping to sell handmade items such as hair bows, tote bags, purses, quilt kits, fat quarters, some yardage. 

A No Sew Day

Well I sure don't like the days when I can sew or be creative but we do have those from time to time. I did make some pictures of other items that I made a few months ago. Here is a quilt that I made from Quilt Magazine Aug/Sept 2011.  This is a bright cherry lap quilt and you think of sherbert when you see it.  My youngest Granddaughter loves this one so it is her quilt when she is at my house watching movies, etc. This was easy to cut out, 3 1/2, 7 1/2 and 1 1/2 inch strips and there was not a lot of matching intersections so very fast quilt to make.  I love Quilt Magazine, almost always there is at least one quilt I want to make as soon as I get the magazine.  I believe it is my favorite quilting magazine.  I also get Fons and Porter - For the Love Of Quilting and I like it for the techniques that are in the magazine but the quilts are a little more complicated than the quilts that are in Quilt Magazine.  Don't get it confused with other magazine with similar names the one I am talking about is just plain QUILT.  One day I will have to Blog on just my magazine subscriptions.  I only get the 2 quilting ones.  I get Threads and have every issue since the beginning.  I do love to read that magazine and I read those over and over.  Very useful and informative and also makes you wish you had more sewing time. 

My Sewing Room

My sewing room is a room mostly dedicated to my sewing and crafting.  I have 3 sewing machines that I use all of the time.  One is a Bernina  730 Embrodoery machine, I have a 221 featherweight and an Activa Berina plus I have an Elna 925 Serger.  I have other machines but I haven't used them for awhile and they need to be serviced.  I would like to teach some sewing classes but haven't found the time to do it.  I have helped a couple of friends with sewing and also my Sister.

Back to the sewing room, I have to clean up about once a week and if I don't it seems to ruin my creativity and progress.  I do better when the place is organized.  I will post some pictures of the room.  I read a lot of books on organizing and change things from time to time, however all of that takes away from my sewing time.  I have a fabric stash but I don't think an over the top one.  I feel I have a reasonable amount of fabric for a long term sewer.  I have all my fabrics folded to same size and pit together in groups of color.  Any ideas anyone would like to share I would love to hear about them.  Sometime you have to store your stuff I the same area that you are using that particular items. 

I have an accuQuilt Go and the dies take up a lot of room.  I like it for some things and for others I do not care for it. It it does help to save time.  You have to be careful that your fabric is pressed and straight before you cut and then it works out most of the time.  It is better if you watch the video on YouTube before you start working with it as they have some good tips. 

Here are some views of my sewing room:

Too Many Things - Too Little Time

Well I am certainly having problems blogging every day.  I can't figure out how the time fly by and why there are so many things to do.  I just know that my sewing room is lonely and my mind wants to be designing thinking and planing another project to start.  I did manage to fit in an hour or so last night reading and threading my Elna 945 Serger which I have had for about 6 years and haven't fully mastered; however that is my plan.  I bought an instructional DVD and watched that and am actually using the 5 different color threads to correspond to the threading guides and testing each stitch and assembling a workbook that I can refer to when tackling new projects.  The day I made my Granddaughter a skirt I spent an hour threading it and decided to learn to use it.  I have had a Serger before but it was a manual 3/4 thread and I knew everything about it.   I have let this machine overwhelm me  but No More!!!! If only I could figure out how to go with only a few hours sleep maybe I could master all my projects.  If anyone has any ideas on how to make time go further I would love to hear about it.  This serger has automatic tensions etc so it is actually much easier to use once you under the threading guides etc.  my next project on the serger is learning to do a cover stitch hem.  I have some knit fabric for a tie shrug that I want to make and finish on the serger.  I will post that also once I get it finished so stayed tuned for the results. 

I also made another 6 squares for my selvage quilt.  I guess each little bit of sewing does add up in the end.  I am hoping to finish all of those by the weekend and then I can start putting them together.  I have the quilt I hope to make drawn on graph paper for that quilt and it is actually very simple so should go together fast. 

See I told you all, I just have an endless supply of ideas and projects that I want to make and can't get them made fast enough.  I love to sew and work with fabrics.  I also love to read, knit and cook some so I just need a 48 hour day instead of the 24 hour days.  But I had to do a little cooking , laundry, ironing and even managed a swim meet and worked at my part time job for 11 hours this week.  I am hoping to spend more sewing time as the week heads toward it finish.  I have most of my house chores done for the week. 

I am also looking for a fast quilt pattern for a twin bed for my Sister to make a quilt for her Grandson and I have several in mind so must do some research for that. 

Must go to bed and get ready for a new day of hopefully some sewing. 

 

Sewing Dilemmas and ETSY

Too busy to write yesterday as I spend my whole day doing what I love to do and that is sewing.  I did make the skirt for my Granddaughter and she must have loved it as she wore it to school today.  It was really cute on her. 

This was made from a PinkFig Pattern and it is very easy to make and cute as can be.  It takes about 2 hours from start to finish.  I used a serger to serger all seams so it is as pretty on the inside as the outside.  I still need to make matching fabric hair bows or pinwheel bows.  I will let her decide.  I always made the quilt backing for my late Mother-in-Laws quilt and I will take that off to the quilter next week.  I also made another skirt and trimmed an already purchased Tshirt with machine applique from the fabric.  I will have to post that picture as I didn't get a picture taken before my granddaughter took the clothes. 

Haven't sewn today as I have been working toward getting my ETSY opened and that took some time.  I would like to start selling items on ETSY so don't know how successful I can be but I am doing it more for the fun and sharing what I do than how much I can sell.  Though it would be nice to see if my items are appreciated or thought to be worthy of purchase.  I know everyone thinks they are cute but a different story when it comes to purchasing. 

I have some bags to get ready and finish to put on ETSY so have tons of things to do to get it going with items.  Wish me luck!!!

Kindergarden Fashion And Completing Projects

Today my sewing menu looks like this:

• Make a skirt for a 5 year old that she will think is adorable (I will post finished results) and also the comments from my Granddaughter.  If she doesn't like then I can add to my ETSY shop and see if there are any other 5 years olds that might like my skirt.  You never know with girls especially the fashion conscious ones like Zoe.
• Keep working on my selvage quilt blocks, I only have 21 more to make and then design time.  Image all the possibilities with all those scraps I have saved over the years.  I can see these making a nice books cover or journal cover.  The quilt will be very sturdy and a good one for picnics, etc. 

• Quilt backing for a twin quilt my late Mother-In-Law started years ago.  I think it is so pretty and so much like the quilts that I slept under when I was growing up.  I just had to finish it and I will give it to one of her Granddaughters.  I have a quilt date for this next week.  She would not be happy if she knew I was having this machine quilted but I don't have the time to hand quilt as I would never get my projects completed.  It is all I can do now to get in cooking and cleaning time plus all of these project that I want to complete. 

Oh the woes of a sewer/crafter/quilter never ends.  How do you squeeze all of these things into your day and still do the things that you have to do  like eat, clean, cook and even get dressed.  If anyone has the answer to that I would love to hear about it.  I must quit babbling and get to work if I want to accomplish anything.  I will post my results at the end of the day and hopefully I will have a skirt for a little girl.

SewManyHours First Blog

This is my first post as a blogger.  I love reading others sewing blogs so decided to start my own blog and to share what I do each day with my talents and skills in the sewing world.  I have a dedicated room which I use for sewing and crafting.  I try to sew at least 30 minutes each day and if I am lucky I get to dedicate several hours each day doing what I love best.  I started sewing and crafting as a child and have continued this throughout my life time.  I will start posting pictures soon of my projects.  Today, I continuted to work on my blocks which I started several months ago using the selvages from fabrics which I have been saving for quite some time.  I need 107 6 1/2 inch blocks to make a lap size quilt and I have finished all but 21 of these.  I also did a little clean up in the sewing room which has to be done once and awhile.  I always have multiple projects going at one time.  It is not unusual for me to have as many as 6 or 7 projects in the making and I always have at least a dozen ideas in my head as to what to start next. Sometimes I think I have sewing bunnies living in my head as these ideas just keep multiplying so fast and I can never get them done fast enough.  The main thing is that I enjoy all of these things especially the dreaming up of projects.