Love 2 Sew 4 Fun - Newbie at Sewing with My Singer Featherweight

Sewing up some Changing Table Mattress Pad Covers - Tutorial - Singer Featherweight Sewing Machine

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:38:00 +0000

Changing Table Mattress Pad Cover Tutorial.

So this is what I'm working on next.
Just writting down what I'm doing, so that I have instructions, next time I'm making these covers.

I'll add to this description, as I go along. I did a graphic snapshot of the instructions, and copied them as a jpeg on the blog. Photos to come.

All with my Singer Featherweight 221 Sewing Machine.

Using my Singer Featherweight 221 to make Sew Mama Sew Holiday Napkins

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Part IV of the Sew Mama Sew Holiday Sew Along. Here are the napkins that I actually did finish before Thanksgiving (and get to use...)

This turned out nicely. Very methodical in doing these napkins. This would be a great gift (not these....these are mine LOL) idea for someone for a house warming gift or holiday gift. Yeah!

My placemats from the Sew Mama Sew Holiday Sew Along!

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:08:00 +0000

Here is the original Holiday Sew Along post. http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2011/10/color-blocks-placemats-napkins-holiday-sew-along/

Here are my pieced placemats, I finally finished today. I made eight placemats. Using my Singer Featherweight 221 Sewing Machine.

I'm going to put the project away though, so I can start my next immediate project. Making changing table mattress covers, for my DD#2 upcoming baby. We are giving her my changing table that I used with Grace, and I need to make some new changing covers! Bought some fabric from Walmart yesterday, and need to treat the fabric (sew the ends, wash, that type of thing), before I can get started.

So this project will be put into some ziplocks with instructions, so that I can tackle the rest of this job later!

<3 Gaileee

Blackberry Pie Recipe - Love the Pie Party!

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:28:00 +0000

Been making cobblers and pies with PTA bake sale with the Thanksgiving dinners going on. Plus a test pie for home, and a huge cobbler for work. Yum Yum Yum! Took the recipe from Simply Recipes and did their blackberry pie recipe!

Blackberry Pie Recipe

Ingredients

1 pie dough recipe for top and bottom crust
5-6 cups blackberries, rinsed, picked clean, patted dry (if you use frozen berries, defrost and drain them)
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet your berries are)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 Tbsp quick cooking instant tapioca (can usually find in the baking aisle of your local supermarket)

Method

1 Place blackberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, almond extract, and quick cooking instant tapioca in a large bowl. Gently fold the berries until they are all well coated with sugar. Let sit for 30 minutes.

2 Preheat oven to 400°F. You should have two balls of pie dough, one for the bottom crust, one for the top crust. Roll out one of the balls of pie dough on a lightly floured surface to 12-inch diameter if you are using a 9-inch pie pan, or 13-inch diameter if you are using a 10-inch pan. Line the bottom of your pie pan with the dough. Chill in refrigerator while you roll out the bottom crust.

3 Roll out the second ball of pie dough for the top crust. If you would like to do a lattice top, weave the dough strips as described in How to Make a Lattice Top for a Pie Crust.

4 Spoon the berry mixture into the dough-lined pie dish. For a lattice top, weave strips of pie dough over the top of the fruit-filled pie dish. For a solid top, place the second rolled-out pie dough crust on top of the pie. Press ends of strips into the rim of the bottom crust. Use scissors to trim the edges to 1/2-inch from the outer edge of the pie pan. Fold the edges back over themselves and use your fingers to crimp to seal the edges. If you are using a solid top crust, score the top with a sharp knife to create air vents for the steam to escape.

5 Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven. Put a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any juices that might bubble out of the pie while it's cooking. Bake the pie in two stages. First bake it at 400°F for 30 minutes. Then place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pie to protect the edges and tops from getting too burnt. (A pie protector is quite useful here.) Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until crust has browned and filling is bubbly.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Cool completely before serving.

Yield: Makes 8 servings.

Sew Along with Sew Mama Sew!!!

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:24:00 +0000

I'm doing a delayed Sew Along with Sew Mama Sew.

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2011/09/no-excuses-holiday-sew-alongs-the-details/

But my fabrics are fall colors for Thanksgiving dinner instead.

Orange, yellows and the variations! Here's hoping I finish it in time for visitors!!

<3 Gaileee

Barbie Doll Dress Tutorial from..... Craftiness Is Not Optional Site

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:29:00 +0000

Barbie Doll Dress Tutorial!!!

Up on the Piano again Barbie.
What is up with your hair?
A bit of pink camo going on???

I found this Barbie Doll Dress tutorial over at http://sewspoiled.blogspot.com/2011/01/barbie-clothes.html blog, and then hopped on over to the actual tute at http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2010/08/barbie-dress-tutorial.html

I was searching in how to make a simple Barbie Doll dress for a Birthday gift for a 6 year old. Turns out, uh, well, Grace claimed the dress.

I used the above mentioned tutorial, but since I used my Singer Featherweight and not a serger for this project, I had to re-make the top portion of the dress, as I didn't have enough material! (The dress back would not close!)

In Jess's tutorial (see this following exerpt from her site): I had to change the smaller piece to be 7 inches by 2.5 inches. I was doing fold, then sew, so I used up some fabric, which would not have been done, if you use a serger.
"

fabric: 1 piece 6 " by 2.5" (7 inches by 2.5 inches)for the bodice, and 1 piece 5" by 12" for the skirt

ribbon: 2 pieces-2.5" long for straps if you want them

sew-on velcro: 4 inches long, and a little over 1/4" wide (i cut 3/4 inch velcro in half)

sewing stuff: thread, iron, scissors, sewing machine....yada yada

I'll post a photo later on, of the finished product!!

<3 gaileee

T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial -

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:24:00 +0000

And while we are on the subject of t-shirt, turn your t-shirt collection into a quilt! Above is a dance t-shirt quilt that I did for one of my daughters. I took her dance t-shirts, and basically cut the fronts/backs into same sized quilt blocks.

But before I cut the t-shirts into quilt blocks, I backed the shirts with fuseable interfacing, to have a bit more strength to them. Then used a plastic square for my guide, used my olfa cutter and mat and clear ruler, plastic square and cut out the blocks.

I used the techniques listed in Nancy Johnson-Srebro's book Rotary Magic book, for cutting out the strips that I put in between my quilt blocks.

I also used her techniques in binding the quilt (and my Mom's techniques too).

Here is a link to the craft stylish website, that allows you to put together a t-shirt quilt with non-square t-shirt logos. Be sure to take a good look at that site, if you have non-square t-shirt blocks to put together for a t-shirt quilt. Gail Pickens-Barger
http://www.craftstylish.com/item/45413/how-to-make-an-out-of-the-ordinary-t-shirt-quilt-part-one

and part two of the t-shirt quilt tutorial: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/45990/how-to-make-an-out-of-the-ordinary-t-shirt-quilt-part-two

p.s. The other quilt pictured here, was one I made for Stanley School in Victoria, Texas. Took old t-shirts for the quilt, donated by teachers and students. It was a remembrance quilt, in that the students were moving to Chandler elementary school. This was part of a fund raiser for the PTA/School. Made pillows also, with the t-shirt fronts that didn't fit into the quilt.

P.s.S. Getting ready to do another batch of T-shirt quilts. Here is a new website about it. An Aggie T-shirt
quilt. http://craftsbyabby.blogspot.com/2009/04/t-shirt-quilt-tutorial-planning.html

enjoy!!!

Zumba Cargos into Zumba Capris or Zumba Shorts - tutorial by Charise Richards

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:07:00 +0000

Charise Richards converted her Zumba Cargo pants into Zumba Capris (and into Zumba Shorts). Here are her photos and tutorial on how she did this process. Permission to post tutorial was given to me by Charise to share her conversion process and for the love of wearing a bit shorter Zumba pant! <3 <3 Gaileee

Final product.

Cut your pant leg length. Make it long enough though so that you can roll up a cuff.

Cut your other pant. Same length.

What the raw edges look like.

Measure and Fold to the inside your initial hem length. Remember you'll be cuffing and rolling the hem. Fold once, then fold again, that way when you sew, you only sew once. (You can optionally fold once, sew the raw edge, then fold again and sew for the top stitching.)

Left Leg with pins. Right Leg seeing it from the inside of the pant. Pinning close to the edge.

Both sides pinned, and even.

Sewing close to the edge with the pant turned inside/out.

Sewing in action. What kind of Singer Sewing Machine is this? A 500 Rocketeer?

Another nice close up of the sewing.

Wa La! Next is the turning of the cuff.

Cuff turned, but you have to make it secure!

Oh, how "tack"y of you! Tack down in four places.

See how your "tack"y work looks on the outside of the pant.

Finshed product! Great job Charise! Nice photos!!

Oh, one in white.....

And look, a pair of shorts, and a grey pair waiting to be done. Hmm, I may need to purchase some of these!

Lovely work Ms. Charise. Thank you for sharing! <3 Gaileee

Creative......hmmmm....

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 19:59:00 +0000

About the only creative thing I've done with my singer featherweight lately, has been to make an A&M themed gift bag (thanks for the fabric Fran!!) and make a A&M T-Shirt envelope pillow as my gift giveaway for the door prize. Photos to come a bit later!

Gaileee

Ottobre Magazine

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:16:00 +0000

Ah, yes, another Ottobre Magazine in the mail, and it is time to renew my subscription. Oh, what is nice is that they have a free pattern area.

Why not be inspired by sewing and print FREE patterns for yourself! You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the pattern. If you do not have it, LOAD IT by use of this link.Here is the link to the projects:
http://www.ottobredesign.com/en/print/index.html and I like the applique letters project!
at: http://www.ottobredesign.com/fi/kaavat/pdf/sulo_letters.pdf . I'm thinking maybe some appliqued Aggie Pillowcases, for some minature pillows....we'll see!

Not sewing...

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:08:00 +0000

But I wore my black Cardi Wrap that my friend Tammy made for me! Lovely! I wore it over my yoga gear. So I truely looked like this *awesome* yogi!

Bought some Chico's jeans yesterday for my birthday, and now I'll have to get the sewing machine in "Jeans" mode. Gotta do some hemming! Woo!

Dora the Explorer - Pillow cover

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:21:00 +0000

Had to make a mad dash to make a simple cover for a travel pillow for Grace. She needs a travel pillow for her mothers day out program that she goes to. I went to my stash, and found some "Dora" fabric along with some eyelet lace. Whipped up that puppy pronto! Sorry no photo, but sewing was to be heard in the house!

Yoga Giveaway on my Yoga with Gaileee blog

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:38:00 +0000

I'm doing a yoga giveaway on my yoga with gaileee blog. So if you are interested, go on over to my yoga blog and enter to win!

http://yogawithgaileee.blogspot.com/2010/09/yogafit-give-away-on-yoga-with-gaileee.html

Thanks for looking!

Sewing again!

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:13:00 +0000

My little featherweight that I recently purchased from a local, has been through the ringer.

I oiled and lubed the featherweight. It was bone dry!
I reconfigured the tension assembly, after acquiring an "e" washer. Still didn't tension correctly, so mom brought down a new tension assembly.
Mom tried to "time" the featherweight, look at the needle hook assembly, but she did all that she could do.
I took the featherweight to a local sewing machine repair place. On the first try, after adjusting the "timing", the "timing" slipped.
I then addressed these issues on Graham's Featherweight Yahoo group, and Graham had some suggestions, as well did other members of the forum, one being, take another featherweight to the sewing machine repair person, so that they could compare a working featherweight, with my little machine.
Took my "zippy" featherweight (looks bad, works great) and that is what Carmen did, she fixed it! The gear underneath that you use to time the machine had to be loosened, and everything else tightened, along with a location of a screw, repositioned. Wow, the stitch on this machine looks great.

So here is my recommendation. Sewing machine problems? Go to Carmen Hardy, owner of Sewing Machine Repair at 6110 39th Street, Groves, Texas 77619, 409-962-7483. She did a great job!

And now I have a nice little featherweight......this thing probably never worked good until now!

gaileee

Another batch of t-shirt pillows!

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:27:00 +0000

Here is another batch of t-shirt pillows! Doing this for a church fundraiser. If you want one, email me, and I'll get your vitals!

Sew here I go!

Fri, 14 May 2010 13:05:00 +0000

Sewed up some Flanged Envelope Pillows this past month.

The blue pillows are from XL and 2XL sized shirts. Then the Black one is from a Large shirt. The Eskimo Joes T-shirt, which by the way, was my son's but, he'd never wear it, as tie dye and pink didn't go with his personality. That's okay, since it was a size Adult M, it was a good ~~victim~~ prototype to test my pattern on......

Well as it turns out. Using a scant 1/4 inch topstitched seam and a 1 1/2 inch topstitched flange, was a bit *tight* with a 14 by 14 inch pillow form, for the Adult Size M (Eskimo Joe's) shirt. Notice how *tight* the pillow form seams to be by the pillow flange? I like a little looseness to my pillow!

Next time, I'll topstitch either 1 1/4 inch, or 1 inch flange, if I'm using a Medium Adult T. I barely had enough fabric chest width wise from the Adult M. Of course, JoAnn's doesn't have a 12 by 12 inch pillow form. Smallest one is 14 by 14. It will be some creative sewing for lesser shirt sizes. I also had to add some fabric panel on the top (as I had to do with the Bulldog t-shirts, as the design was really close to the neckline.), to make the Eskimo Joe design to come out centered. These shirts were for scholarship winners from the local PTA. I did 15 shirts for High School, then ended up last minute doing 6 1/2 shirts for one of the elementary schools.

Now I'm doing a fundraiser at church. Send me a at least Adult M t-shirt, and I'll convert it into a Flanged Envelope Pillow. You provide the 14 by 14 inch pillow form. Cost is $10 (plus a shipping charge). Shirt should be washed, as I don't want to deal with stinky shirts! email me at yogawithgaileee@gmail.com for more details. The money will go toward our church's children's playground equipment. Thought I'd use one of my "gifts" to help out the church! Thanks! gaileee

Sewing and Gardening

Sat, 08 May 2010 14:46:00 +0000

Will and Steve built my Rectangular Garden the other day. I finally got my soil in, and now have my little plants planted. Planted carrots, variations of lettuce, spinach, pepper plants, gourds. Used the Square Foot Garden Method for planting. My gourds are the first things that are coming up.

You can also see the fence that my husband, my son, my oldest daughter help to install. All three really know how to use tools.

Below are the Senior Scholarship T-Shirt Envelope Pillows. Yeah, they are finally done. Sure did take a while as, I didn't have much snipits of time. That is why I like to work on them early in the spring.

I'm thinking about making a t-shirt quilt here in the near future.

Flanged Enveloped Backed T-Shirt Pillows - Again!

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:14:00 +0000

The other day I timed myself on each step that it took, to make a flanged enveloped backed t-shirt pillow.

After washing the t-shirt and smoothing it out, and then cutting up the sides of the shirt....after all of that, it took over an hours time to put together the t-shirt pillow. What was amazing to me, was that the ironing part of constructing the pillow was the longest part of the process. I timed the construction process, so I could know how much time it took, and if I was ever asked to make these pillows for the PTA again, I could figure out how much to charge for my time.

Course, that is IF I could get one hours of time in one sitting. That never happens, and if you do this in one session, without getting up and stretching, you might be a little stiff! Sewing Yoga anyone?

This assumes too, that you have ALL the proper tools. Rotary cutter and cutting board, plastic square to go by, a cutting ruler. If you don't have that, it would take much more time to get an accurate square. Plus, I had to figure out, how to "center" the design. Basically had to add 3-4 inches to the top of the square, in order to have the Bulldog t-shirt design be centered on the final product.

Centering the clear plastic template and deciding how much to add to the top of the pillow.
Cutting out the initial square.

Adding a strip of material to the top of the pillow front.

Easy once you've figured it out, not so easy to start the first pillow though.

Gaileee

Look what came home with me!

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:32:00 +0000

Singer 66 or Singer 99?

Singer 99 or Singer 66?

Both handcranks. F5271388, and F2599030. Basically a 1912 and 1914 Singer Sewing Machine. Looked at the Singer 66 manual, that came with one of the machines, to make bobbin thread, and to thread the machines to make sure that they worked. They did. One of them is a bit rougher than the other machine, well, they've been used. That was this week's purchase. I'm still working on last week's Red "S" Featherweight, that I bought locally. Got my "e" washer, so that I can put the tension assembly back on.

It has been raining sewing machines!!

Singer Accessory Giveaway on my Singer Featherweight 221 Blog!

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:46:00 +0000

Giveaway time!!! Here we go! 5 Lucky U.S. Winners! In each Giveaway there are:

* Single slotted binder foot (fits on low shank Singer sewing machines, 221,221,66, 185, 99K, 201)
* Singer Featherweight Multi Slotted Binder - 160359 (fits on low shank Singer sewing machines, 221,221,66, 185, 99K, 201)
* Singer original needles
* A cotton Dustcover for your Featherweight

But you have to go on over to my Singer Featherweight 221 Blog to enter to win!!
Instructions on winning are over at that site. Good Luck!

http://tinyurl.com/yknzy6m

Wait, another toddler yoga pant DIY

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:37:00 +0000

Natasha over at Samster Mommy Blog
http://samstermommy.blogspot.com/2010/03/diy-baby-toddler-yoga-pants.html has a different toddler yoga pant DIY tutorial. Go check it out!

Here is her finished product. Cute!

How to Make Toddler Yoga Pants - Cool huh?

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:16:00 +0000

http://sewingdork.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-make-toddler-yoga-pants.html

Nice Tutorial on making Toddler Yoga Pants!

Gaileee

Giveaway coming up soon!

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Some type of giveaway coming up soon! Probably be some type of things for the Singer Featherweight 221 machines. Stay tuned! Will be announced on the http://singerfeatherweight221.blogspot.com/ and this site at http://love2sew4fun.blogspot.com/.

This is coming up soon! I got the example giveaway in the mail!!!

Make a pillow case - Make a difference....

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:59:00 +0000

Sew Baby has put a free download pattern of making a pillow case. A one hour project. Also the people at 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge have put pillow case patterns up on their site too!

We did something similar to this at MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) group. We decorated pillowcases, and then they were given to caseworkers in the local area. Often times when caseworkers have to take children out of home situations, the children have no suitcases, bags or anything to bring a few of their belongings with them. So, the pillow cases are used for the children to put in a toy or two, or clothing items, personal stuff, to bring with them. Help the children feel secure, in their un-secure situation. Check out the 1 Millon Pillowcase Challenge!

gaileee

Here are some pillowcases that I've made as gifts with appliqued on lettering. Used my Singer Featherweight to make the pillowcases, then used my old Pfaff machine to do the applique work.

Thinking about sewing....Dora Clothes....

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:39:00 +0000

So, I know I'll have to whip out the sewing machine cause in May, I have 12-15 envelope pillows to make for Senior Scholarship Winners.

But in the mean time....I'm looking for sewing patterns to dress up the 11-12 inch Dora doll, toddler Grace just got (on sale) from Kohls. Her other Dora doll doesn't have any clothes (excepted her painted on bathing suit), so I'm looking.

Any ideas for a skirt? Shirt? Pants? Dress?

Or maybe ideas, on how I make a pattern from the clothes that are pictured here? Thank sewing buddies!!

Love ya!

Gaileee