Broken Zipper, Oh No!

May 6th, 2010 | Posted by Michelle in Sewing | Tips | Wearables - (Comments Off on Broken Zipper, Oh No!)

This was not the thing I wanted to have happen one cold and wet morning. The loud clang bang I kept hearing from the dryer was making me rather nervous. Usually when I put the coat in the dryer it would make a bang and clang because of the zipper but this time it just sounded different.

Different in a bad way.

Broken Zipper Pull

I was really not happy to find my zipper pull detached from my coat, especially since I didn’t have another warm AND water-proof one.

Keep in mind this coat was a couple years old, pissed me off, and was only around $10. It pissed me off because the zipper would get caught in the little flaps it had to cover the zipper. It had a invisible zipper thing going on, and had more flaps on the inside to keep the zipper off the skin. But those flaps just kept getting stuck!

I had to fix it.

Why fix something you hate though? Well there is that thing called money that you need to buy a new one… Yeah a little short on that front. Plus this was the first coat I found when we first moved here to the Pacific North West that would fit and keep me warm from the snow.

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Green Quilt

May 3rd, 2010 | Posted by Michelle in Quilts | Sewing - (Comments Off on Green Quilt)

It felt like it took me forever to finish my green quilt. It turned out the way most of my other quilts turn out. I started making it because I felt the need to make the quilt and it slowly evolved into Grandma’s Christmas present.

A lot of my projects I’m going to be posting soon are older ones from Christmas and maybe a little before. It was a rough end of last year and even rougher beginning of this year, so trying to recover from life explosions take time.

And sewing.

Green Quilt

All of the green fabrics for the quilt top were leftovers from another quilt I had made for my sister several years ago. I’m on a kick of getting rid of my stash of stuff, and finding ways to use all the bits from other quilts while making sure they don’t look the same.

Green Quilt Back

The greatest thing about this quilt is how much Grandma loved it. She’s getting older and not really wanting to collect a lot of things that she really doesn’t need, so I figured the quilt would be a great way for her to have a nice gift and have it also be useful. It was nice seeing her use the quilt one of the other nights we were staying with her, being cozy while watching TV.

I love quilts as gifts.

Pins And Needles

April 30th, 2010 | Posted by Michelle in Quilts | Sewing - (Comments Off on Pins And Needles)

Sometimes when I look at a quilt or something else I’m working on that is just filled with needles or something else sharp, my inner toddler starts chanting “I’m just on pins and needles with excitement!”

Pinned Quilt

Yes I have an inner toddler, I can’t help it.

I also decided that the next quilt I made would be green. More on that later.

New Quilt Needed

November 2nd, 2009 | Posted by Michelle in Quilts | Sewing - (Comments Off on New Quilt Needed)

I need to start on a new quilt. Its weird since I have the bug to quilt and sew when I usually only get that bug when there’s a person or a reason to quilt. Right now the bug is “I WANT QUILT!”

My inner 2 year old is getting restless I guess.

Color Groups

So I separated some of my pretty fabrics out by color type and kind of “grouped” them into a tentative quilt. I have this thing lately with doing all similar color groups.

Most of these are scraps from quilts I made previously, so it’ll be like a stash busting type of thing. Now I just have to pick a color and a design.

Pretty Pink Tutu

October 25th, 2009 | Posted by Michelle in Sewing | Wearables - (Comments Off on Pretty Pink Tutu)

I got a call from my friend the other night from the fabric store, wanting to know how much tulle to make a tutu and how to make it. Given that its close to Halloween, it really wasn’t that unusual but still hilarious.

We got 2 main types of tulle, and more of an accent of sparkly pink tulle. The only reason the sparkly was an accent was because it was $6 a yard, vs. the $1.50 of the other type. Needless to say we only got 1 yard of the sparkle stuff.

Cut Tulle

I cut the plain tulle in half in length and then in to 4″ strips, the sparkle was cut into 2″ strips. I do have to say, cutting tulle is a real pain in the butt.

Overall the tutu turned out really good, we used the tutorial here, which is a pretty common method I’ve seen around. It was easy and the only difficult part was dealing with cutting all that tulle!

I think next time I would go with the rolls of tulle, and just cut the lengths, it might be easier.

Finishing Tutu

This was incredibly easy to make. But I have to admit the funniest part was telling my friend, who I was making it for, to go look in the mirror to see our handiwork (well my handiwork). There was a large amount of squealing, bouncing, and excitedness. Yep, my friend is a princess.

Modern Princess

Well, a modern princess with an addiction to text messaging. Wait, princesses don’t wear tutus…do they? Ah, well.

Tutu Poof

We used 9 yards of tulle, but I really think for an even better adult tutu a few more yards would have been better. Next time I think I would get 12 yards. If your making a tutu, you want it to be as fluffy as possible! That’s just how it is.

Another difficult part about the tutu was getting her to stop flouncing around the backyard long enough to get a picture of it.

Crazy Tutu

I do have to say I love the sparkly tulle in the sunlight, it really made the difference and added a little something extra to the fun-ness of the tutu.

Sparkles

I think someone needs to have a little girl for me to make one for. I need another tutu in my life. Even if one of my friends throws a boy, they’ll get a tutu. I’ll scar them for life. Muahaha.