Blooms And Bugs

Monday, November 5, 2012

Woven and knit Raglan Tshirts

I did make a bunch of things during the KCWC Fall 2012, even though I never got around to showing them here. The shirts above are Raglan Tees made with City Streets collection of Jamie Wood for Clothworks.

I actually made three of these shirts. I used a knit fabric for the sleeves and neckband so it has the stretch of a tee, but I used woven fabric ( City Streets) for the body of the shirt to use the fun boy prints. The pattern is ready and I'm planning to write the tutorial sometime this week too.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

21 Day Self Discipline Challenge - day 3

So it was Karwa Chauth yesterday which meant fasting until moon-rise and then we were having company. So I didn't have any high hopes about completing my challenges.
My daily habit that I wanted to maintain was
1. Clean up after every meal.
And the big thing I wanted to achieve was - Clean home!
So the guests left at 3:00 am...I was thinking that I would be exhausted by the fasting during the day and by waking up until late. But I actually felt very energetic, so I got on with cleaning and I actually cleaned my closet. Only my section. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time.

Buoyed by the success of completing my assignment of the day, I moved on to the dining area and actually mopped the floor of our dining room. Then I turned on the dishwasher and went on to sleep like a baby.
Success!

How to Find the Best Sewing Patterns and Tutorials online

This articles is a collaborative effort of Pam Johnson and Anshu.

You've decided that you'd like to learn how to sew. Well, it's certainly an undertaking that will require a lot of skill and practice. One of the best ways to learn is to actually see someone sew in front of your eyes. Check out some web videos, and utilize the following strategies for finding the best ones.

Sewing Magazines Websites
Think of all the sewing magazines you like for their sewing related content. Threads Magazine, Ottobre are a couple of those. Now go to their official websites and see if they have any free patterns available for download. Here is the pattern page from Threads magazine where they have some free patterns. Here is the free patterns page from Ottobre.

Pattern Company Websites

Think about the pattern companies whose patterns you like a lot and have bought ( or wanted to buy ). Now go to their websites and see if they have any free patterns available for download. Here is a list of free patterns from Oliver+S. Also many fabric designers post sewing pattern freebies occasionally so its worth checking their websites too.Here are a number of freebies from Amy Butler.

Sewing Blogs
There are a lot of sewing blogs out there. Look for some key markers to see if the patterns they offer will work. Many of them have flickr pools where there readers post the items they have made from their patterns and tutorials. See what is getting posted over there. If a lot of people have successfully created the look, there is high likelihood that you will too. Also look at the number of followers of the blog, places they have been featured at to get a sense of how good they are. Soon, you will have a list of sewing bloggers you could count on. you could follow them to get updates every time they publish fresh content.
Some of my favorites are:

Not only these blogs provide new free patterns regularly, but they also offer a lot of fresh ideas and inspiration. Even if you prefer to buy the patterns, I highly recommend that you visit at least a couple of bloggers regularly to get new ideas and inspiration.
Sewing Forums Websites

A lot of sewing forums have sections where they let their members upload sewing tutorials and patterns. If you sign up for these forums, you could easily see which tutorials their members are using a lot and download those for your own use.
I highly recommend Sewing Mamas they have a huge database of free sewing patterns ( available only after you sign up for free). You can also see how many times each pattern has been downloaded which will give you some degree of confidence on how good a pattern is.
While you are there, also try to connect with other members of the group. You could learn a lot from them, like I did while sewing this Layer Cake Dress.

Look for Schools
When it comes to sewing tutorials, it's unlikely that you'll be able to strictly follow the .gov and .edu rules. However, you can try to look for videos that come from sewing schools or legitimate programs. When you do this, you'll have the benefit of knowing that the videos came from a trustworthy source.

Family and Friends
You may not know it, but your cousin or your next door neighbor might actually be a You Tube star! Ask around to see if you know of anyone who has put some sewing tutorials up on the Internet. The benefit of this is that, once again, you'll know for sure that the information is coming from a reputable source. However, what happens if you're watching a tutorial from a stranger and you have a question about something that the person did? You can't very well ask him or her, but you can when the person on the video is someone who you personally know.

Youtube videos on sewing
Let's say you're looking for a video on how to do a very basic stitch, and you come across one that is nearly 20 minutes long. This is probably not the best video to watch. It's likely full of confusing information or extra information that really has nothing to do with sewing at all. On the other hand, you want to be sure that the videos are long enough. Perhaps you're looking for a video that shows you how to put together an entire blanket by sewing. If that video is only a few minutes long, then you know that you'll need to keep looking for other ones.

Read the Comments
No matter how long a video/blog post is, it still has the chance to be confusing. Furthermore, the Internet is a place where basically anyone can pretend to be an expert. Just because someone has put a video up on You Tube does not mean that the individual knows exactly what he or she is doing. When you're looking up a video, see what the comments underneath say. You'll likely get a good sense of whether or not this video is really worth your time. If the video title is vague, you will also likely be able to tell what the specific topic of it is.

Learning how to sew is an exciting endeavor because you'll soon be able to craft some different items for your home. However, it's not something that you should expect to learn in the blink of an eye. It's going to take some time and patience, and the watching of some excellent videos, to get you to the point where you want to be.

Author Pam Johnson enjoys sewing and blogging. She is a contributing writer for termlifeinsurance.org

Friday, November 2, 2012

21 Day Self Discipline Challenge - day 2

Before

In-between

After

So how did I do on Day 1?
My mini project was to clean my cutting table. My cutting table also doubles up as ironing board, transit area for stuff that is coming from the first floor and general dumping ground for everything that can't be put back in its place. Needless to say it got cluttered, so much so that I had trouble sewing/cutting anything. The clock shows that it took me 1.5 hour to clean up everything, but I had to take an urgent call in between so it really took me an hour to clean up everything. Not bad, right?
For my big project I'm taking up cleaning the whole house. Since Diwali is coming, it makes a lot of sense to add this project to the challenge. For those who don't know about Diwali, its a Hindu Festival ( Holiday). It is a custom to clean the home thoroughly before the festival, because it is believed that Goddess Laxmi blesses clean homes with prosperity on Diwali.
And whats a challenge without a curve-ball - for me its coming today when I fast the whole day and host 4 families in the evening. Its Karwa Chauth today, when women fast for their husband's longevity. They eat or drink anything only after they see moon in the evening. So I will be fasting and then in the evening some friends are coming over for celebrating by having feast together. We will see how the challenges go during the time.

V Neck To Cowl Collar: Friday Feature

And I thought I wouldn't have anything to feature this Friday! Look at this amazing tutorial from Trash To Couture for making a gather cowl collar Top from a V neck. This is just so wow and would be just perfect in winter. I will have one in chocolate brown please.
And while you are there check out Laura's blog Trash To Couture for her other super-cool refashion tutorials. Since we are all working on Fall Wardrobe Revamp 2012, I have to mention her article on How to Thrift Shop for Refashion. Some very practical and useful tips for your next shopping trip.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

21 Day Self Discipline Challenge - day 1

I try to avoid talking about non-sewing stuff on Blooms And Bugs, but here is an event that I think is worth shouting off the rooftops.
I have been following Money Saving mom for about five years now. Initially I started checking it out because of the awesome deals she posts on her blog, but very soon I saw the voice of reason and kindness Crystal is. She is one of the most amazing bloggers I follow. Even though she keeps saying that she doesn't have it all together, I think she is doing a great job of juggling so many responsibilities that come with running a business while staying home with three little ones.
Starting today she is having the 21 day self-discipline challenge. I think we could all learn something from it and I'm going to participate in it. As a part of the challenge, I am going to publish a small report of my achievements of the day. If you don't like them, feel free to skip. To make it easier for you, I'm scheduling all those posts in the evening.
I hope you will also join in the challenge. Wish me luck!

Fall Wardrobe Revamp: Too Big Sweater to Pretty Top

We are kicking off Fall Wardrobe Revamp 2012 with this first refashion. Here are the other bloggers who will be joining in the fun:

Palak from Make It Handmade
Rikka from Ricochet and Away
Kassi and Kaylie from Truly Lovely

Every thursday in Novemeber, I'm going to post a refashion or accessory tutorial that will help you revamp your wardrobe for the fall. In addition, I'll also be doing roundups of refashions and accessories that are just perfect for the fall. This month's Friday Features will also feature winter accessories and clever refashions for fall and winter. Palak and Rikka will also post Wardrobe revamp tutorials on their respective blogs. So are you ready to add some fall magic to your wardrobe? Grab our button and rev up that sewing machine.

In all honesty, I never cared too much for orange growing up. It was just too flashy, too 'out there' for my taste. Then something changed last year and I started loving this particular shade of orange, the one that is between red and orange. I don't know if it was the leaves turning colors or the bloggers falling head over heels for orange. Whatever it was I just started loving orange and hoarding orange-y things like crazy. I bought this sweater during a sale at Old Navy. Even in clearance it was priced a bit higher for my liking, I almost put it back, but then the texture and the color called my name and it came home with me.

Now finally I made something out of it that I would like to share with you all. It is very similar to the Kaftan Top I made earlier but much simpler.

Supplies:

A too big sweater. It has to be really big. If you wear a size M, buy an XL for this refashion.

Ruffled lace or any other pretty trims ( pom-poms would also look good with this style)

Estimated time:

1 hour

Construction:

Cut out both the layers of the sweater.

Sew about an inch below the shoulders. This would fix the too low neckline and also remove an inch from the length.

Try the sweater on and mark how much you would like to take in. In this refashion, we are not taking in the sweater, instead we are keeping the excess out, hanging off the body of the sweater. So mark the silhouette you want with safety pins on both sides. Take out the sweater and sew a seam along the pins.

Now hack off the sides starting at the shoulders to give it a nice bat sleeve like silhouette. Basically you draw a slanted line starting just before the sleeve edge and ending at the hem of the sweater. I also made it a little curvy.

Now take a pretty trim, I used this pre-ruffled lace to finish the edges. Sew it such that it is sitting on the inside edge of the sweater, right sides together. Start at the bottom of the bat sleeves and go all the way to the other side.

Now fold the lace outwards and top-stitch. Repeat on the other side.

I realized that the center of the sweater was looking too plain and needed some pep, so I hand basted the lace in a U shape at the center and finished it by machine sewing. fold the end s of the lace on the inside.