WIP Wednesday 10-23-13

Ever since posting my 4th quarter list of finishes for the 2013 Finish-A-Long I've been plugging away at items from my list.

Progress I've made so far:

Goal #2: I've labeled 1 quilt

Goal #3: I've narrowed my fabric selections down, but I've also realized I need more lavender prints so I'm waiting on those

But I do need some input: Which looks better, background #1 or background #2?

Goal #4: Paper pieces for EPP all cut and ready to go

Goal #11: Quilting completed, now just need to purchase and sew on binding

And then from my list of other goals (but not WIP goals) I've made a lot of progress on the Halloween costume for the Babe that will also double as an outfit for Oktoberfest. 

This is my hack of the Geranium dress by Made by Rae.  I still need to add snaps in the back, hem it, and add elastic to the sleeves to make them puffy sleeves... but I need to actually try these on Penny before I do all that.  I also need to sew an apron for it.

Over the weekend my husband and I took Penny out to Oak Grove, CA to go pumpkin picking.  It was a beautiful day, and we had a terrific time.

Let's Get Some Stuff Finished!

Let's Get Some Stuff Finished!

I've been busy burning the midnight oil staying up after putting the babe to sleep working on getting pouches made and up for sale in my Etsy shop (see details here), but now that they're up I need to get serious and finish up some of my WIPs.  While I'm working on finishing WIPs, I thought I'd join the final quarter of the 2013 Finish-A-Long with Leanne of She Can Quilt

So here's my 4th quarter list:

1.

Goal: Finish turning this pile of fabrics into pouches

Current status: Most of the fabric has been cut, just need to sew and add zippers

 2.

Goal: Put labels on all my quilts

Current status: The labels have arrived from Spoonflower, just need to cut and apply

3. 

Goal: Finish monster quilt for Sprout

Current status: Fabrics selected, need to get cutting!

 4.

Goal: EPP Pillow cover

Current status: Waiting for the fabric to arrive, need to cut out paper pieces

 5. 

Goal:"For Pleats Sake" Tote Bag

Current status: Fabrics selected, need to start cutting

6.

Goal: Finish 12 Days of Christmas Sampler Quilt

Current status: All blocks complete, just need to add sashing and/or border and quilt

7.

Goal:Finish Solstice Stars Quilt

Current status: 3 Blocks completed, 2 to go, then quilt.

8. 

Goal: Quilt these 2 Christmas table runners

Current status: Sandwiched, just need to quilt and bind

9.

Goal: Do something (anything!) with these Polaroid blocks

Current status: A huge pile of Polaroid blocks collecting dust

10. 

Goal: Surge these napkins

Current status: Napkins cut

11. 

Goal: Finish this mystery project

Current Status: Sandwiched and needs to be quilted and bound

12. 

Goal:Mystery goal (that I can't show a pic of or talk about because a certain person checks my blog)

Current status: 7 of 12 blocks completed

That's it for my list of WIPs.  Hopefully I'll get to a few of these before the mad rush to make Christmas presents sets in.  Luckily a few of them are destined to be Christmas presents so there's a good chance I'll at least get to those ones.

Other goals of mine for this quarter include:

-Halloween costume for the Babe

-Playmat quilt Christmas present for the Babe

-Photograph and start blogging about all the stuff I made this year that I haven't photographed or written about

What about you? Do you have any WIPs you're working on? Or is your list one like mine, a neverending one?

p.s.  Be sure to check out the deal I have going on in my Etsy shop.  Free matching wallet with each pouch purchased (but that deal ends today 10/15!)

New Open Wide Pouches Listed in my Etsy Shop

 

 

 My large-sized open wide pouch listings are live on my Etsy shop! 

 

To say "thank you" for helping me re-launch my shop I'm including a matching wallet with every pouch purchase today (10/14) and tomorrow (10/15) only! No codes needed, I'll automatically include it with every purchase made (a $10 value) https://www.etsy.com/shop/SewingByStephanie

 

Happy Shopping! 

A Zip Pocket Pouch

Last night after the baby was asleep I tried out one of my new patterns: the Zip Pocket Pouch from Michelle Patterns (which is still on sale for $5 until tomorrow).





It was super easy to pull together and I love it.  I think next time I might use Pellon thermolam as interlining instead of cotton batting, but other than that I wouldn't make any other alterations.

If you haven't checked out the sale at Michelle Patterns yet you definitely should, it's their last one of the year.

Last $5 Friday Sale at Michelle Patterns and it's HUGE!

Hey! Have you heard?  Michelle Patterns is discontinuing their $5 Friday sales, and to say "goodbye" to the sales they're having one last HUGE sale where everything is only $5

That's right, everything is only $5

This will also be the last sale of the year so if you want to use any of her patterns to make Christmas or holiday gifts you should hop over there and stock up before it's too late.

As for me, I'm grabbing the Strap Clutch and Zip Pocket Pouches patterns.

The sale ends this weekend so hop on over to MichellePatterns.com and treat yourself to some patterns!

I've Been Selfish

I've Been Selfish... #Selfish Sewing that is!

While I didn't get as much made during Selfish Sewing week as I wanted to, I'm very happy with what I did manage to accomplish.

First off was the open wide pouch I made on Monday:



Then there was this teapot cozy I made on Wednesday and then improved on Thursday:

The first version (above): The "spout" was a little too high, the top was a little too angled, and there was a centimeter gap at the bottom.  Plus I thought I'd like it in linen and I ended up thinking it was too boring.  The improved version (below) fixed all of these problems.





And finally there was the Miz Mozelle dress I started Thursday night and worked on on Friday (but still haven't quite finished yet):










My thoughts?

The open wide pouch was a lot of fun to make and I really like how easy it is to see everything inside of it.  I ordered a 50 pack of zippers from Zipit on Etsy so you can be sure that there will be MANY more of these in the future.

The teapot cozy was fun to make and I love that it looks like a teapot.  My first draft of the pattern was just a large half circle that covered the whole thing and it was just SO BORING.  This cute tailored cozy is much better, though to be honest it's probably much more difficult to get on the pot than the half circle would have been.

The Miz Mozelle dress pattern is AMAZING.  I was a size 18 based on my bust measurement and it fits me so well and is really comfortable.  The keyhole is a bit large and shows quite a bit of cleavage on me, but the hubs said it's his favorite part (go figure) and it makes it so that I can nurse the Little so I'm okay with it.  I used a heavier stabilizer in the collar than I should have and that's what I'm attributing my collar problems to.  I think I'm going to take the whole collar off and make a new one.  The pattern was easy to follow but it did have a few techniques I had never done before, but the instructions and images were clear enough that I had no problems figuring it out.  The fabric I used was a rayon jersey and it was great to work with.  My serger is currently out of commission until I get a new needle so I used a ballpoint needle on my regular sewing machine with a stretch stitch and it worked great.  All in all I think I'm going to make a few more of these dresses if I can find cute enough fabric.  I'd love to find a cream stretch lace to make a black and white version of this dress. 

And my thoughts on Selfish Sewing week in particular?  Do it.  Be selfish.  Just do it.  It's was great to take a little it of time to make something for myself.  I was so excited to get in the sewing room every day knowing that what I was making was just for me, just because I wanted to make it, and that I had no deadline to meet.  I  highly recommend being a little selfish to everyone.

Also, be sure to check out the Selfish Sewing Flickr group.  There are so many great projects on there that I now have about 10 new patterns that I'm dying to try.

And what about you?  How have you been selfish recently (either sewing related or just treating yourself well)?

P.S. You'll have to forgive the way I look in the pictures.  I had just managed to get the Little down for a few minutes and wanted the hubs to get a few shots of the dress in progress, so I had no time to do hair or makeup or anything.  I'm laughing in the second photo because the baby had already woken up again.  Figures.