Tag: Sewing

My proudest pandemic project – my first homemade quilt!  This project took ~7 months and during each step, I learned something new. 

I made a lot of mistakes.  So my advice for prospective quilters – slow and steady wins the race.  When you make a mistake, it's fine.  Just learn, undo, and redo (correctly), and you too can have a beautiful quilt through many hours of work.

All thanks for this amazing project go to Purl Soho's Learn How to Sew a Patchwork Quilt pattern.  The directions were fairly clear, and when they weren't, I was able to google advice to get by.  I was amazed that I could get through this project without a class or speaking to an instructor, and it was really due to this pattern and the tremendous quilting advice online.

A few notes for future projects – for some reason, I don't have or misplaced my 1/4 inch sewing foot but thankfully settings 37 and 38 on my Brother machine achieve the same measurements.  Always make sure you are sewing the wrong sides together unless otherwise directed.  Hand-stitching the back of the binding takes longer than expected but results in a beautiful finish. 

I used slightly smaller squares (4 inch v. 4.5) than called for in the pattern because I was using a Liberty of London fabric sampler I bought years ago in London, but the result was still great.  

My sewing progress continues, confirming that my new sewing category was not too hasty of a move. 

This latest project is also from the Sew Everything Workshop book, my go-to sewing instruction book.  And perhaps most exciting, this project features materials that I ordered from the Sew Everything Workshop author herself, via Diana Rupp's Make Workshop online store.

And the exciting outcome from this project – it organizes a critical sewing accessory, helping to cement me as a true sewist.  

As one can tell from the above picture, this simple project (which turned into projects after I made the first one) is a simple pincushion, stuffed with polyfill.  

I used some leftover cotton for the top of the pincushion and felt for the bottom.  The pincushion was then accessorized with some embroidery floss for a polished look.

This project only requires one use of the sewing machine, to sew three edges of the top fabric to the back.  The remaining edge is then hand-sewn using a slipstitch, which took me a few tries to understand and complete a clean-ish edge.

I am really pleased with how these pincushions turned out, and I can see myself making more in the future!

I've been slowly learning how to use a sewing machine since purchasing my first in 2014 (a Brother).  I was initially convinced that I would be self-taught through the internet, books, and online Craftsy classes, but as years past, I realized that a pure DIY approach wasn't going to work. 

So I signed up for my first sewing class at the New York Sewing Center in 2016, a skirt-making class at the Brooklyn Craft Company in 2017, and then an alterations workshop back at the New York Sewing Center in 2019.  In between, I made pillow covers, altered some clothes, and tried to experiment with similar small scale projects.

But remaining elusive was a full commercial sewing pattern.  The great New York Sewing Center team recommended I take a longer class with them that would cover commercial sewing patterns, but I couldn't find a date that worked with my schedule.  And so I recently turned back to my DIY attempts, this time successfully using Diana Rupp's fantastic Sew Everything Workshop book and accompanying online class I bought years ago on Craftsy (now Bluprint) to complete my first commercial pattern!

I will caveat that this wrap skirt pattern is from Rupp's book, so it had more guidance than a standard commercial pattern.  But I still had to cut out pattern pieces, figure out darts and other shaping, and put together multiple pieces of fabric.  Eek!  

The project took several days, especially because I watched and rewatched Rupp's videos to master each step.  The most laborious effort was figuring out how to cut the fabric and then transcribe the markings without dressmakers pins and a good sewing chalk.  By contrast, sewing, including my first darts (pictured below), was a breeze.

I couldn't be happier with the final result – with the adjustable tie, I can wear this skirt a few different ways.  I look forward to premiering it outside of my home mirror, and to taking on my next professional pattern!

I'll skip over the perfunctory introduction of my inspiration for this project, and just get to the topic – face masks.  I've started making them.  Lots of them.  On my sewing machine.  And I've declared sewing a permanent hobby, so I've created a new MadhuKnitsandCooks.com category – sewing (!).

My first face mask pattern was Bluprint's, which was linked in an email I received.  The pattern seemed easy enough, but you really needed bias tape or a bias tape maker.  I didn't have either and wasn't inclined to order either, so modified the pattern to use t-shirt cut ties instead.  

That worked fairly well because of the density of t-shift material, but the sides still felt weak and I didn't have confidence that this mask would survive multiple wears.  While I think that is largely a material issue – the t-shirt material is too dense and flexible (not rigid enough) – I think the pattern flaw is more fundamental.  The side ties not only secure the mask to your head, but they are also hold the pleats of the mask together, which I think is too much for these thin ties to do.  

Ok, so on to another pattern.  I am not sure how I found the Sarah Maker pleated face masks pattern, but I have really enjoyed it so far.  The construction of the mask is more complex than the Bluprint version, but it has far more reinforcements across the tension points of the mask.  You can also easily make the fabric ties from strips of fabric without a bias tape maker.  I haven't tried this pattern with elastic ties yet, but I have some elastic coming so will be giving that a try too.

The pattern also has a slit in the middle of the mask for putting in an additional filter, which adds to its versatility.

Masks are here for the near future so I look forward to making more and more of these over the coming months!