Sew Some Towels

Tom gave me a challenge a couple of weeks ago: get some new kitchen towels and embellish them to match our table linens.  I do believe in stealing ideas, so I went on-line to see what other people have done.  I found someone who bought plain white kitchen towels and sewed their own material to "personalize" them.  They sewed a five inch strip from one side to the other and then sewed a two-inch contrasting piece both above and below the larger strip.  It looked easy, was within my capabilities and was totally cute.  I decided to do the same.  I went to Target and bought some white kitchen towels.  When I got them home I looked at them more closely and noticed that the edges of the towels had a rather thick hem and I didn't think that it would work to sew pieces of material onto those hem.  It would be way too thick.  So I did what I normally do: I changed my plan.  Since I didn't want to sew anything onto the thick hem, I would sew material up to the hem.  It would look too funny to then have the white hem out on the edge so diamonds would be a good idea.  This meant that I was going to have to actually do a little math.  The towels were 14.5" from one hem to the other.  I wanted four diamonds sewed on.  I had to figure out how wide each diamond would have to be to fit without any overlapping.  After some calculating, I needed each diamond to be 3 7/8" across after the seam allowance.  I cut out the diamonds and pinned them onto all four towels before sewing any of them.  It took me quite awhile to do the pinning in order to get everything lined up right.  I discovered that during the sewing process, there was a little bit of shifting, but for the most part the diamonds ended up pretty up where they were supposed to. 

And I STILL have more of that material left!! 

Sew, So Cute

From the "Sew, So Cute" book

My own creation

I came across a Mary Engelbrite sewing book at the library called "Sew, So Cute."  There was a pattern in it for pot holders.  Since I still have material left from the placemats and table runner, I decided to make some new pot holders to match.  It went pretty well.  I only sewed the "wrong sides" together and had to rip it out once.  I knew how to sew on the binding from doing the placemats, but couldn't remember every little detail.   I was determined not to have to ask my sister-in-law for any help, so I just started with what I thought would work, did it wrong and had to do it over on the first pot holder.  As I was re-doing it, I had a couple of "Oh yeah!" moments and everything started to come back to me, which made the second one go so much better.  While I was at it, I made two other pot holders out of the same material but with a different pattern.  These went much quicker since there is no binding.  I really like making things for my kitchen!! 

Sew and Iron-On

The dining room remodel changed so many things and one of them was that the curtains in there didn't go anymore.  New curtains were in order.  I knew that I wanted to make them myself.  I love the idea that I have curtains in my house that NO ONE else anywhere has.  I started looking on-line for curtains that I could sew.  I found these tie-top curtains that I really liked.  I decided on an eyelet material because the window faces south, lets in lots of light and I really only wanted something that would frame the window.  I knew that the curtains would never be closed - we have window blinds there for privacy.  Tia and I found an off-white eyelet remnant at the fabric store on sale.  So, score one for me!  I had some of material left over from the table linens that I made and that would be what I used for the ties, but it wasn't quite enough.  Luckily, the fabric store still had that fabric.  Tia says that I am VERY lucky.  Most times when you want a little bit more of a material, when you go back to the store they don't have it anymore.  Score another one for me!!  I started by stitching around the sides and bottom.  Because the curtains are always going to be tied back, I did a curve around the inner corner so the curtain would fall right.  (Tia's suggestion.  I never would have thought of that.)  I then stitched across the top.  I used a scrap of material to test the right length and width of the ties so that they would look right and tie right.  I made twenty ties.  Two would be "paired up" and I thought five per curtain would be adequate.  I pinned them on to see how it looked and discovered that I really needed seven sets to hold each curtain just right.  But the material was floppy.  I consulted with Tia and she told me to use interfacing to stiffen the material.  I should try to get one-inch wide interfacing that I could iron on.  Interfacing?  I'd never heard of that.  I figured that I'd go to the fabric store and there would be a lovely display of interfacing, easily marked and simple to select.  When I got there, I saw no lovely display.  I saw no interfacing display at all.  I asked the clerk and was told that she was new, didn't really sew and wasn't at all sure what I was talking about.  At least she was honest.  But she did take me to some bolts of something that were not called interfacing but were probably what I wanted.  There were some that were thick and some that were thin.  Some had to be sewn on and some had to be ironed on.  What to do?  The clerk was no more help than that so I was on my own.  I decided that since my material was pretty thin, I should go with the thinner choice.  And I knew I wanted the iron-on option.  But this was on a bolt, not in a nice package that was one-inch wide.  So now I had to decide how much to get.  The new, non-sewing clerk did know that most people got a quarter of a yard.  Since I didn't want to take a chance at not having enough, I got half of a yard.  I took my "interfacing" home and cut it into one-inch yard strips, using about half of what I had bought.  I started ironing it on and discovered that there is a right side and a wrong side.  I found this out because the interfacing was sticking to the damp cloth that you use to protect the material, per the instructions.  Good thing I bought more than enough.  I sewed the ties on and hung my beautiful curtains.  But one curtain didn't look right at all.  In fact, it was a little shorter than the other.  Upon further investigation, I discovered that I had ironed on interfacing and sewn on ties to the SIDE of the curtain rather than the TOP of the curtain!!  Oh boy!!!  I ripped out the stitching on the ties and ironed-on more interfacing to the top.  Now it was REALLY a good thing I had bought more than enough.  I know myself really well.  I restitched the ties and, with some trepidation, hung the curtains again.  Perfect!!!  This project took considerably longer than I had thought it would,  but I'm very happy with the results.   

It Was Sew Easy

I had to take a break from sewing while the kitchen/dining room project was going on.  That project, though, has created new things to sew.  One of the things that I did as the dominoes were falling from the dining room down the hall was that I cleaned out the spare room in order to make it a real guest room and I moved all sewing/craft type projects into the den.  The den is now a den/project room.  While I was doing THAT, I decided to update things and wanted to make new curtains.  Up until now all of my sewing experiences have been done under the watchful guidance of my sister-in-law Tia.  But the days are busy for all of us and I was getting tired of waiting for her.  So last night I decided to just do it myself.  I had bought a basic sewing book and one of the chapters included how to make simple curtains.  I took a deep breath and started in.  I was nervous that I would make a wrong cut or an uneven stitch.  But in just two hours, I had finished!!!!!!   It was my very own, completely on my own sewing project!!  I'm so pleased.  I really can do it!!!   At one point as I was sitting at the sewing machine, humming along, Tom walked into the room and said "My wife.  Look at her sewing!!"  It made me smile.  And so do the new curtains. 

Countdown - Day 137

My plan was to lose twenty-five pounds.  All of the changes that I am making are changes for a lifetime.  I need to be smarter about my food choices and smarter about my exercising.  I feel that these changes have been positive.  I'm happy with them.  But I have been stalled out.  I haven't been able to get past the seventeen pound mark for some now.  So when a friend suggested that we take the Body Fit Challenge at California Family Fitness, I was jazzed.  It would provide that jump-start that I need.  Today was the first day.  There are five of us in our group.  We have a personal trainer working with us.  We'll be together for eight weeks.  We worked with the exercise ball.  We did lunges.  We did sit-ups and planks.  We worked with weights.  It felt good.  I'm excited that I'll be working out with people, being encouraged and encouraging others.  This is just what I needed. 

Sew, a Needle Pulling Thread

The material that I bought for my new tablecloth was fraying so Tia and I decided that we would not wash it before serging it.  A couple days afterward, I washed the tablecloth.  It shrunk.  It shrunk so much that it didn't fit the table any more.  We went back to the fabric store and found another piece of material that matched the color scheme even better.  I hope little monkey wrenches like this don't always happen when you're working on a sewing project, but I have a feeling they do. 

I love the colors!

 
On Thursday, Tia and I pieced together the table runner and started cutting out the strips of material for the placemats.  Using her serger, we made napkins and a new tablecloth.  If I had my own serger, I'd probably have a napkin of the week!!  I loved how fast and easy it was.  A tablecloth and eight napkins were made in an hour.  Tia did some quilting on the table runner for me and taught me how to hand stitich the sashing that would go around the entire piece.  Hand stitching?  Me?  Um, I've sewn on buttons. And poked my fingers with the needle whenever I did so.  But Tia is a patient teacher.  She showed me how to do the stitch so that the thread was hidden.  We had a trip to Ashland, Oregon coming up on the weekend. I would have 4 1/2 hours up and 4 1/2 hours back to do the stitching.  I was actually excited. I was hoping I would be as good a student as Tia is a teacher.  But the idea that I might go from idea to finished product was almost making me giddy.  I was making something that no one else anywhere would have. 
We left for Ashland on Saturday morning.  I started doing my hand stitching after we had been on the road for an hour.  I was taking it slow and carefully.  I can proudly say that I did not poke myself once.  It wasn't as hard as I was expecting it to be.  It was actually relaxing.  Who would have thought?  As we were pulling into Ashland, I was putting in the last stitch.  I had finished!!!!!!  The table runner is beautiful.  More beautiful than I had envisioned.  I love it. 





A closer look



Even closer







The back

You Have to Think to Sew

My fabric. The tablecloth is on the bottom.

My sister-in-law Tia and I now have a standing "sewing date" on Thursdays.  Since learning to sew is best done with a project to work toward, I decided that I wanted new table linens: tablecloth, placemats, napkins and a table runner.  I was looking ahead; all of those things required only straight lines.  We went to the fabric store to chose the fabric.  I knew the color scheme that I wanted.  We started pulling out bolts of cloth and leaning them together to see how they fit.  I felt like I was being creative.  I said "Hmm." and "Well, maybe..."  or "Wait, how about this one!"  We found what we thought we wanted and then I saw a piece of material that was perfect for the tablecloth.  The only problem was that it didn't go with ANY of the other material.  We pulled out more bolts and leaned them together with the new material as a backdrop.  Did creative people always change their minds?  Was I making Tia crazy by adding too many bolts to the mix?  Tia assured me that this was normal and part of the process.  Finally we found the right combination.  It had all the right colors and the right amount of large pattern vs. small pattern.  
Since the material that I choose for the tablecloth was exactly the right size for my table, all that had to be done to it was to serge the edge.  Tia had brought her serger over and off I went.  Nervous, but excited.  Nervous that I was going to be The One Who Broke the Serger.  But excited that this part would be quick and easy.  Instant gratification.  In just a few short minutes I had a tablecloth. 
Next was "creating" the pattern for the placemats.  I had four different fabrics and I knew that I wanted all four to be involved somehow.  We played around with how it would look.  We changed our minds.  I looked on the internet for some placemat ideas.  I finally found one that I liked and we adapted it.  Actually I use "we" but I mean "Tia."  Tia has been sewing for so long, she can quickly convert lengths and measures.  I was left in the dust when the placemat I wanted to copy was 14x20 and I wanted it to be 12x18.  I'm see that I'm going to have to get better at adding 2 1/4 inches to 5 3/8 inches in my head.  Maybe I should get some flashcards for that. 
At the end of our session, I had a tablecloth and knew what the placemats would look like.