8/19/2009

Toiling away.

Sorry it's been a while since my last crafty post! The new commute out to San Francisco has taken some getting used to, but I think I've got the hang of it now and I have been making more room in my schedule for some much-needed crafting and such. Today my roommate and I are having a girly day, sitting around listening to records and sewing little things. I keep catching the side of the back pocket on my jeans on an old door latch on the kitchen entry, and I have torn big holes in two of my favorite pairs, so I patched them with big squares of awesome fabric today. But mostly, I wanted to show off this sewing project that I am really proud of...


Take one super soft shirt that I got from my mom for my birthday. It fits great and has 3/4 length sleeves which I adore, but it is a little boring all on its own. Add to the equation a ton of inspiration from the girls at my weekly stitch n' bitch meetup and you get this:



One of the girls who comes every couple of weeks is a fabric sales rep and she is always sharing old samples with us. Last time she brought a lot of apparel-type fabrics for us and I took quite a few squares home. And then yesterday one of the new girls brought this amazing book to share and I fell in love with a skirt with little raincloud appliques. So all I did was cut out 3 little raincloud shapes from a few of the t-shirt type fabric samples and sewed them to the shirt. You don't need to worry about the edges fraying since jersey knit fabric doesn't unravel. The hardest part is adjusting the tension on your machine so it won't eat the fabric. Also, there will be a lot of lifting the presser foot to turn around those curves, since the fabric will stretch and won't turn well. But if you are patient, you can do this in any shape to any shirt. I added some lines of wide zigzag stitches as rain coming from the clouds, and for interest and balance I did three lines on the opposite shoulder too. I will be doing this to more of my t-shirts for sure.

Tomorrow I have a neat finished knitting project to share, and a free pattern that is great for beginners! See you tomorrow!

2 comments:

  1. That is so cute and really adds to the t-shirt! Can't wait to see the knitting project!

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  2. Super cute! I love those rain clouds.

    ReplyDelete