DeborahFillmer.com

Camp Cornerstone 2013 – The Preparation

deborahfillmer — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:20:31 +0000

Camp Cornerstone (CC) is our church’s name for the traditional Vacation Bible School that most churches put together every Summer. This year the CC theme is Kingdom Rock. I was happy about this because it gave me an opportunity to participate in the preparations. I love sewing things that have to do with the 15th and 16th century. This year I made flags for the seating organization, banners for the hallway decoration, a complete jester costume (including hat), and hemmed a Lady’s gown. After 2 weeks of sewing, ripping, measuring and sewing again, I got it all done. It was a lot of work, but fun too! I am happy to be able to work on some more personal things now.

Jester Costume in progress.

The finished hat on a willing, but unexcited model.

Catching Up

deborahfillmer — Thu, 30 May 2013 19:40:38 +0000

Birthday Present from Scott :-)

" data-medium-file="http://deborahfillmer.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/img_0548.jpg?w=224" data-large-file="http://deborahfillmer.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/img_0548.jpg?w=560" width="112" height="150" src="http://deborahfillmer.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/img_0548.jpg?w=112&h=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Phone case that can be cross stitched in any design you like. Scott gave it to me for my birthday. I did the stitching, of course :-)" />

Haven’t posted in quite a while. Been busy as usual. See above for just a few of the things I have been up to.

Busy, Busy, Busy…

deborahfillmer — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 22:28:54 +0000

First, let me just share a video of what we experienced this last week. See those white dots? Those are Hail Softballs!! This storm totaled at least one of our cars, took out both front windshields and completely obliterated the sunroof on Scott’s car. If you watch it, stick around for the end…it gets worse.

I have been quiet lately, but not because I have nothing to share. On the contrary, I have been busy organizing my clothing patterns (fodder for a future post), sewing and baking. I was able to finish the second UFO I posted about last time. The dress is really cute and will go on the Etsy shop soon.

A few weeks ago, I made my (made for me) first “period” specific clothing item. It is not much in the realm of costuming, but I actually love it and am ready to move on into something more challenging for myself. The pattern is an Edwardian era apron and is a free download from the internet. Taping the pieces together went perfectly, however, the instructions left something to be desired. You can’t beat the price though, so I gave it a go with some calico fabric that had been in my stash for years. Here is the end result:

Yes, I am sure there were no microwaves, refrigerators, or flip flops in the Edwardian era, but I wanted an apron that I could use today and this one was just right.

Speaking of updating, you know the “maxi-dress” that has been so popular for the last several years? I have bought several (second hand, of course) and really like the light and comfortable feel of the dresses. The problem is that they are essentially made for 20 year old ladies (read: college girls) who have something up top to show off and the ability to do just that. I am beyond that stage, so I would end up wearing a sweater or something over the top of the dress, or not wearing them at all. So…I decided to fix this and up-cycle the dresses into skirts that I will actually wear. I cut off the tops, straight across, with a rotary cutter and then attached elastic to the top edge. Folded this over and sewed again, and that was all there was to it. This was soooooo easy and fast to do, and now I have three new long skirts to wear this summer. Whoot!!

So, wearing my new apron, I set about baking some cookies. Now, those of you who know me, know that I don’t cook. However, I came across a free Kindle book on cookies that explained more about why and how to mix the different ingredients together. I have always just thrown everything in, mixed in the stand mixer for whatever I thought was long enough and then baked the cookies in the oven (more often forgetting about them after I put them in than not) and hoped for the best. Well, I took this book’s information and attempted to make some cookies the proper way. They lasted one day. I think I did good

Notice Anything Odd?

deborahfillmer — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:17:36 +0000

Last Wednesday, we went to Birmingham (UAB’s Kirkland Clinic) for my 6 month MRI and doctor visit. We have been going every 6 months since my first hospitalization in 2010. They have done CT scans, MRIs, and even a liver biopsy. Since diagnosed with Caroli’s Disease, in 2010, the visits have all been focused on making sure that the spots they were seeing on my liver were not cancer. This visit, the doctor was comfortable enough with the “non-change” of the spots that he has now moved my MRI appointments to once a year. Yay, no cancer and less time at the doctor. It was a good day.

While we were in Birmingham, we dropped off 6 quilts to be quilted by Scott’s aunt, Barbara. Five of these I have already shown you, but here is the one I finished the day before we left as a present for a friend. I hope to have it back in June to give to my friend as a housewarming present. I am calling it Bubbles. There is a post upcoming about it’s construction…stay tuned for that.

Today, I was assembling another UFO started by someone else and could not understand why the pattern pieces were not quite fitting together properly.

There is a front yoke, back yokes, Peter Pan collar and facings…all the usual suspects were there. They just weren’t clicking together quite like they should. So, I decided to take a closer look at the pattern pieces. Lo and behold, I found the problem. Can you spot it?

Problem now solved and pattern pieces altered, the dress should be complete in the next day or two. Photos coming soon…

I’ve Been Published, Well, sort of…

deborahfillmer — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 01:41:25 +0000

Remember the Christmas dresses that I made for my repeat customer Martha? Martha’s family was featured in an online magazine and they even made the cover. The shots they used for the story and the cover were of the family dressed in their finest. Ya, that is right, the Christmas dresses I made. Whoot! The article photos look so great. They were taken by my nephew. He is quite the budding photographer. Have a look.

Other People’s Unfinished Projects (UFO’s)

deborahfillmer — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:55:47 +0000

Just a quick note to say that, apparently, I am a magnet for unfinished projects. I don’t mind, though. Let me tell you why. My mother-in-law is in a Bible study with a woman who was “de-stashing” patterns recently, and I am the very grateful recipient of about 15 children’s clothing patterns from the 1960′s to the 1980′s. Three of these patterns even came with fabrics that had been cut out, but never assembled. There is something about delving into a half finished project done by someone else and figuring out where they were in the process, what they were trying to do, and why. It is so interesting to see how someone else does something so simple as, say, cutting out the pattern (this lady used pinking shears). She was random about the notches she cut, leaving some sticking out, and cutting v’s for others (I cut a single snip in my notches for reference). Anyway, there is a sense of accomplishment one gets from completing one’s own project, but the feeling is even more gratifying (at least to me) when I am able to do the detective work and finish a project that I did not start. I have finished one of the three dresses and here are the results of my (and her) efforts.

Before:

After:

Oh, and here is the latest preemie gown. So sad that this is a burial gown, but happy to know that it will give a nice vision to the parents of their only moment with their baby girl.

Fen’s Sherlock Coat and Hat

deborahfillmer — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 01:20:38 +0000

I made this coat and hat for my grand-dog Fen about a month ago. He lives in Colorado and is a big shivering baby Great Dane. Anyway, I sent the coat and hat to Fen and it never arrived. Then about a week ago, we received it back in the mail. So, now I feel kind of bad that I griped about the Post Office losing my package, when I actually put the wrong address on the package. Oh well, after paying twice to get it to the right place, Fen now has a new reversible fleece Sherlock Holmes coat and hat.

On one side of the coat I put applique letters spelling his name and the other side is plain hounds-tooth. The hat came from an adult costume pattern. I shortened the sides of the hat, since his head is as big around as a human’s but is much more shallow. The only thing I did not like about the coat is that the neck opening is too large for him. I will fix that the next time I can get a hold of the coat.

Aunt Barbara Is Going To Be Busy

deborahfillmer — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 03:35:23 +0000

Just a quick post to show what I have been up to the past week or so. Still working on things that have been in the works and in the attic for years. Scott’s Aunt Barbara has been doing the machine quilting on the tops that I have been finishing. Well, now that I have her and one other source for the quilting part of the process, I now feel free to complete the tops that I have been dreading quilting. Here are a few that are ready to be quilted.

I have an MRI coming up in March and we will be delivering these to her in Birmingham. Aunt Barbara, I hope you are ready to be busy

Dress Completion

deborahfillmer — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:02:10 +0000

In the last post, I completed the skirt portion of the dress. In this one we look at the bodice, bonnet and shoes. Details make all the difference in sewing children’s clothing, especially little dresses and heirloom clothing. I prefer to make my own bias binding and piping for my dresses, so, as you can see around the neckline, I used the skirt fabric to create piping edge.

To create the piping, cut 1″ fabric strips on a 45 degree bias. Using a thick cotton crochet thread, fold the fabric strip lengthwise over the thread and sew a 3/8″ seam down the length of the strip, encasing the thread. Perhaps I should do a tutorial on this next time…

Following the directions, I attached the skirt to the bodice and then made the button holes.

I just happened to have two flower buttons in my stash that worked perfectly for this dress.

See, aren’t they pretty?

The bonnet directions state that you should leave an opening at the back edge and, after turning right side out, you should slip stitch the opening closed. This seemed counter-intuitive to me, since there was a scalloped lace edging that could easily be slip-stitched shut after turning the bonnet right side out. The way the pattern shows the finished bonnet, there are raw edges exposed where the scalloped edges are, inside the bonnet. It seems to me that this would not only be unsightly, but would not feel very good to the baby either. See the photos below to see the directions and to see how I did it instead.

My method: I basted the edge of the lining along the scallop, clipped and pressed the edges. Then I removed the basting and turned the bonnet right side out. After that it was easy to line up the pressed edge with the scalloped edge and slip-stitch it shut again.

Right side out, lining side:

Outside of bonnet:

Completed outfit:

The shoes I will cover in a post sometime down the road. This dress ensemble will be going on the Etsy shop as a custom order, so if you know anyone who would like this outfit for their child or as a gift, please send them my way

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the progress through the assembly of this outfit. Let me know what you would like to see next. I would love to use this blog as a way to demonstrate techniques, if I know them. Just give me a shout.

Finally, here is a quilt that I have pulled out of the past projects pile. It is going together quite nicely. I can’t wait to have this one under my belt and on to the recipient.

Moving on with the Dress Construction

deborahfillmer — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 01:55:18 +0000

In this post we tackle the skirt assembly. Sewing the lace or any other edging, like piping, onto a garment is easier if you draw the pattern outline on the fabric and pin the edging along the line, rather than a raw edge.

Here are the two together for comparison. The one on the bottom is way easier to pin and to stitch than the top one.

Below you can see how, by using a 1/4″ foot on the machine, I am able to stitch with the seam guide right on top of the drawn line. This ensures that the lace is applied uniformly and that the fabric is not pulled out of shape.

When I assemble my dresses, I prefer to use a french seam whenever I can, especially on the long side seams. This type of seam allows you to hide all the raw edges along the seam and makes a more professional looking garment.

To make a french seam (on a 5/8″ seam allowance), sew a 1/4″ seam with wrong sides together. Clean up the edge, removing any stray threads and turn the garment with right sides together and press the seam. Go back to the machine and stitch the seam again using a scant 3/8″ seam allowance. See two photos below.

Remember in the last post that I was confused about the hem band and that I thought there might be an error in the pattern? Well, like I said at the time, I could be wrong and I usually am about those things. The problem, after lots of rereading the pattern directions was not the number of hem bands to cut (2 vs. 4), but rather the poorly written directions for assembly. The drawings are fine, but the directions are for several different dresses and they skip back and forth frequently, which really makes the whole process more frustrating than it should be. This finally led me to break out the sticky notes and cover up the portions of the pattern that did not pertain to the dress I was working on. After that, the dress went together quite quickly and smoothly.

Here was the precise issue. In all the time I have been making girl’s dresses, I have always done hem bands with facings, meaning that I would need to cut 4 pieces (2 bands and 2 facings). On this pattern, the hem band is sewn in such a way as to use the skirt as the facing for the hem band, so the pattern was correct in stating “cut two.” In the photo below, photo 28 and 29 are NOT the dress I am working on. However, they are right below the photo (27) of the dress I am working on, so EVERY time you look at the pattern for reference, you get confused as to how it should look. Photo 27 and 28 are NOT the same dress…

In the photos below, the hem band is sewn with the right side facing the wrong side of the skirt. Then the hem band is flipped around to the front of the skirt and top-stitched in place. Adding to my confusion, the hem band on this dress has scallops that face upwards when finished, rather than down (see photo confusion above).

Finally, we have to have a placket in the back of the skirt. This is the opening just below the buttons on the back of yoke (or top). The directions in most patterns are pretty clear about how to do this, so I will leave you with a photo of mine for reference. Note how the split edge of the skirt is not lined up with the edge of the placket facing, but drops down to the edge of the seam allowance and then back out again.