One step back and two steps forward

I'm not sure how it happened but the top piece of my iPad pocket and the bottom piece ended up not being the same width. I decided to re-cut the bottom piece since its far less complicated than than the top piece.

Trial and error kicked in when I was sewing in the label. I tried making a label using some transfer paper I had on hand. Took me a while to figure out how to mirror the text only to find out when I set the printer to transfer paper it automatically flips the text. Oh the time I could have saved it I had known that. Luckily I only printed a small test so the sheet wasn't wasted.

I highly recommend if you do go the transfer sheet method and are first starting out do print in small sections so that you don't waste an entire sheet. Its economical if done right, however its mistakes care rather costly.

Second thing I encounter was I do not like the texture the transfer paper leaves. I had lovely double satin ribbon and the laminated feeling is not a happy one.

Third issue was when i went to put in my label I realized not only did it need to be printed mirrored but also needed to be upside down. It's a small cosmetic glitch not big enough for me to go and print another label. the label points in what I'd consider the wrong direction. Being that you can still see and read it when the pocket is face up its close enough for me.

Cutting the iron on adhesive went smoothly. I used heat and bond ultra. Took a little bit to figure out how much to cut out of the middle, but I think I guesstimated right. I took apart a diaper box to make myself a iPad text dummy to make sure the fit would be snug but not tedious. Ironing went well. I highly recommend using a pressing sheet. Don't think the vinyl likes heat too much.

The adhesive should be strong enough to last awhile without fear of it coming off. However he's planing on a road trip up here this summer so I'll sew it down at that point. But I honestly think it should adhere just fine.

iPad Backseat Entertainment Pocket

My dad has asked me to make him a pocket for his Airstream West to be able to use the iPad as backseat entertainment. He is so helpful with the process that he even included a pattern for what he wanted.

The pattern he provided is the Sprocket Pocket by Maya Designs. There is even a how-to video on youtube how easy is that!?

Being that all the information was provided it was rather simple. Okay minus the whole not having 14x17 paper to print the paper. I ended up having to look up the dimensions of an iPad and recreating the whole pattern from "scratch" my numbers and their numbers are exactly the same. I think it's a difference in seam allowance and borders. But overall its the same thing.

I forgot to pick up the iron on adhesive so the project is on stand by. Also the sewing machine is in the master bedroom. MacMac doesn't mind sleeping with lights on sewing machine humming (he can sleep through anything). However SqueekMoo has been sleeping with us in the master bedroom since MacMac has an awful work schedule for the next month. So not much late night crafting has been happening.

Pretties we saw on May 1st

I saw a banner advertising that the local park was having a Civil War reenactment, so I took SqueekMoo. Unknown to me was that they were charging $10 a head to see it. So we did not go. Instead we went across the street to the historic fort and had a lovely time seeing things there.

We were drawn first to the cabin in the middle, because these lovely ladies were playing their instruments.

 

Inside the cabin they were doing a lecture on Civil War quilts. I wish I could have gotten to listen to all of it and gotten more pictures to share. Alas SqueekMoo does not share my interest in quilts. I did get two pictures before SqueekMoo decided it was time to leave the cabin. The first is of a quilt using the Ocean Waves pattern.

The next quilt is a crazy quilt. I didn't catch the date, but the presenter thinks it might possibly be on of the first crazy quilt to be made stateside.

 

Outside there were tents set up. The farthest one had the Revolutionary War re-enactors. I chatted with them the most. This is Phil: he is a delightful character, a kindred spirit, an all round really cool guy that we hope to see more of.

I know this gentleman told me his name, but I can't recall it. I'll shall dub him "man in the lovely jacket." He made the entire ensemble by himself, something I think is truly remarkable. I've been wanting to sew colonial period garments for quite some time, however either my skill level wasn't high enough or my waistline wasn't constant. But really I have not mastered button holes and do you see how many buttonholes are on that jacket!?

Now the Man in the Lovely Jacket is talented beyond just sewing. He got a hold of a firearm (sorry weapon terminology is wasted on me, they told me, but I forgot) but the stock was broken. He took it apart and made a new stock for it. The result is just stunning.

At some point, probably quarter till three two ladies in their Civil War dress stopped by. They were on their way to the paid event at the park. It does not help that the park and fort have the same name. I think a small handful made the mistake of going to the fort instead of the park. The two ladies chatted with Phil. Terry and the Man in the Lovely Jacket are standing off to the side. The drum the Man in the Lovely Jacket is also something he made. Okay so once again he didn't start from scratch, but rather a drum with a broken head.

And the last pictures is SqueekMoo have a ball filling up their wood box.

Completed Jacket and Kilt

Yesterday I worked diligently on the jacket and coat. I finished sewing in the pleats of the kilt.

I then sewed the waistband on. The edge furthest from the interfacing was sewn right-side together to the kilt.

I then marked where I wanted the button holes. And went to work on the jacket.

The jacket did not like me at all yesterday. I accidently cut the backside a little to wide of the main fabric, and fought it all day. In the end after Squeekmoo had gone to bed, I re-cut the plaid.

Everything then went smoothly from there. Especially once you remember the order to sew one's seams:

I sewed the sleeve cuffs, bottom edge and front edge/collar of the lining to its matching plaid (If you want a ribbon tie, don't forget to pin in place before you sew the front edge/collar). I then flipped the jacket inside out and top stitched the edges I just sewed. I then lining sides together sewed underarm seam, clip the curve, flipped inside out again. Now with right sides together I sewed the underarm seam again. And Voila the jacket is complete with lovely French seams.

We hit a time crunch. I went ahead and sewed the Velcro into place. Fuzzy side went on the front skirt apron, and hooks on the inner skirt apron. I didn't have time to put in the elastic, but since I plan to I did a very quick basting of the waistband so that I could undo it when I had more time and set the elastic. SqueekMoo liked his jacket, but was so unhappy when I put the kilt on him.

 Instead I let him wear his jeans with the coat and the kilt stayed at home.

Kilt and Jacket Progress

I undid all of last nights efforts. I forgot that I needed to work on the hem before I can pleat. I started by serging the bottom edge. I then folded the edge up by half an inch and ironed it in place.

I then made another fold three inches up. Pined and Ironed in place

I then sewed the hem in place. Using white thread I followed one of the white lines making sure I caught the smaller fold. One small glitch was that I sewed on the wrong side of the fabric, instead of the right side. Therefore my seam line is a bit more visible on the front than I would have hoped. But unless you stare right at it one would never know. I then measured up from the hem how long I wanted the kilt to be, and cut off the excess fabric.

I then started work on the waistband. Using the excess fabric I just cut I cut a strip 3 inches by length of fabric. I pressed each long edge up half an inch and also ironed down the middle. I then ironed a piece 1" wide fusible interfacing along one side:

Back to the kilt. I re-pined all my pleats.

Once pleated I folded the front skirts over to check how it laid. Perfect.

I then started sewing the pleats in place. Using black thread I sewed as close to the pleats edge as possible for about three inches and then reveres stitch for half and inch. I got about half way through with the pleats when I had to stop and tend to other things.

After I got SqueekMoo to bed I started drafting the pattern for the Jacket. I used the Kimono block from Winiefred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's Wear and Babywear along with the sacque pattern from A Day In 1862 as starting points. With the help of one of SqueekMoo jackets I think the pattern I created might fit him. We'll give it a test run tomorrow.

A Kilt for SqueekMoo

Today I began work on a kilt for SqueekMoo. I have been meaning to make him a kilt for quite some time, on the grounds that he is of Scottish decent. Hence the Mac part of our name.

I wrote a term paper on kilts , so to make use of my bit of knowledge I'll share some terminology. Tartan refers to the crisscross pattern of horizontal and vertical lines. To some this is known as plaid. In Scotland the original definition of plaid is blanket. The word kilt was originally a verb meaning to draw up around oneself. So a kilted tartan plain was a crisscrossed patterned blanket pulled around oneself. Confused? Good because I was when I was doing the research since everyone likes to interchange the words.

Now the biggest reason why I put off making Squeekmoo a kilt is that clan tartan is just so terribly expensive. A yard alone can easily go for more than a hundred dollars, since it is generally custom woven wool. I have run across 100% cotton tartan for about thirty dollars a yard. But toss in the fact the little guy is always growing, it's rather costly.

What sparked today's' endeavors? This weekend the local park is having a civil war enactment. MacMac has to work this weekend so it's just me and the little dude. I've decided that we are going and I’m dressing him up. I have the perfect little coat planned out in my head. And I decided that a matching kilt would look dashing.

Being that I have but two days to pull this off, I fully expect it wont get done in time. But I shall try my best.

I had it all planed out on how I was going to make his little kilt be adjustable so my efforts wont get outgrown as fast as a non-adjustable one. A generous hem will be necessary to accommodate change in height. Velcro in the front since buttons, hook and eyes, or snaps would limit horizontal growth. And buttonhole elastic in the back, though pleated I think to gather it up some while he is small will give the kilt a few more months of use than making the pleats fit his hind side perfectly now.

However after going to three different craft supply stores today, I learned that buttonhole elastic is no long sold in brick and mortar stores. One of my favorite on-line supplies stocks it, but I wouldn't be able to get it in time. So back to the drawing board.

The fabric is from my stock pile. Long ago, when I first got into sewing, I kid myself into think I could make a civil war gown. I didn't get further than assembling the materials since I realized just how in over my head I was. I had picked out a solid blue cotton for the gown, but for the lining I decided to have some fun and went with a tartan. The blue in the tartan matched the blue of the cotton so it was perfect. Now I'm using the tartan was the main fabric and the blue cotton as my lining.

The fabric went through the wash this morning. Once SqueekMoo was put to bed I went to work on pleating.

I cut a piece of fabric twenty five inches by width. The twenty five inches provided plenty of length. The width was a bit problematic. The back side of a kilt is normally pleated one of two ways. Pleat to line means that you pleat on the same line of every repeat. I personally prefer pleat to sett however it’s a newer notion and requires a great deal more fabric.

I tried pleating to sett first, but came up four inches short of what I wanted the finished pleated width to be. I played with various pleating to line. I think I tried four variations before I settles with the pleats I ended up with. One of the things I don't like about pleating to line is that a single color can dominate the pleats. I didn't want it to end up all black nor did I want it to end up all blue. The end result is the repeat is about 1 inch wide. Half an inch of the repeat is shown, the last half inch is tucked in a fold. I did the repeat so it starts halfway through the blue and ends halfway though the black, so I have half sized stripes of black and blue. See the picture below I'm sure it says more than I can describe.

All in all the pleating took about an hour. Tomorrow shall start off with ironing and we'll see how far we get.

What I've been working on

Friday is my postpartum visit. It means that its been more or less six weeks from when Matthew was born.

But I've been busy. The first few days were spent just as a family. If we didn't cherish SqueekMoo before all this, we honest to goodness adore him. He can get away with just about anything and hearts have a hard time disciplining him. (Oh we have discipline him, but there is always a hug and kiss afterwords.)

We then spent two weeks with family. MacMac and I were high school sweethearts and currently all our family is localized in a city very very far from here. The first few days of the trip were sober but after the memorial service things went back to "normal."

When we returned home I started feeding my mind. I taught myself to smock. Through the Smocking Guild (SAGA) website I found gowns for stillborns. It wasn't what I planned but I needed a new project to keep me sane and it did seem fitting. I used Marie Grace Designs' wonderful tutorial on how to pleat without a pleater. I'm nutty and could tolerate it, however if you plan to do a fair amount of pleating you should definitely invest in a pleater.

And so when I go in for my appointment I'll be giving my midwife a few items to take up to the labor and delivery floor for future mommies and daddies of stillborns to hopefully be comforted by.

I complete five gowns and thirteen blankets. For a reference in scale the hooded blanket is 12 inches square.