Sister Suzy has some new tops

Sister Suzy has a couple of new tops. Anybody recognize this old Simplicity pattern? Sister Suzy wanted some tank tops to mow the lawn in. I dug through my pattern stash and found this one. Made a copy of the pattern onto butcher paper with a few alterations to the pattern and sized it up for her.



This is the first experiment. I had her find some fabric amongst the quilt fabric she could live with and whipped one up. I had to put darts in the armholes to get rid of the gap. I wish pattern makers would draw in darts in the armholes for people with larger cup sizes than a "B". I also had to shorten the under-bust darts because the pattern was for a 'teen' or 'junior' size.



She likes the fit so I proceeded with the fabric she had picked out at Wally-World. (Rant-on! By the way Wally-World, when the fabric is gone from the El Dorado, Ks store the money you made with the purchase of this fabric will be spent elsewhere because we couldn't find a garment she would wear. Just telling you Wally World you are shooting yourself in the foot cause there are other places to shop! Rant-off!)



So I will be making some more tops but will be changing up the neckline a bit. I think a couple of V-necks and a couple of one-button henley style necklines would look nice too.

The laundry is calling my name.

Have a good day!

Judy

a quilt for Belle's baby

We interrupt the interruption for a baby quilt.

Belle and Sister Suzy were attached at the hip from third through sixth grade. We moved Sister Suzy to a new district in seventh but they have remained close over the years. So after I got over the shock of the baby shower announcement in the mail and gave it some thought, I decided to make a quilt.



This is an image from EQ6. I decided to try-out a construction method for flying geese I saw in a you-tube video while I was fooling around on the net one day. Ricky Tims showed Alex Anderson how to do a one seam flying geese block. This is such a cool idea.

One thing that is not discussed in the video is how to make different size flying geese blocks. So I made a sample one based on the dimensions they gave in the video and using my great intuitive powers and discernment skills that says whatever size you wanted the unfinished block to be was the size of the rectangle. (Okay, I had to make a couple to get it right. LOL) So to translate this into English. I wanted a 2" x 4" block finished size. Add 1/2" for seam allowances, so the unfinished block is 2 1/2" x 4 1/2".



I cut two 2 1/2" squares of blue (sky [duh!]) and a 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" print for the goose.



Lay the squares out side by side with right sides up. Fold the print in half with wrong-sides together. I pressed my prints because it all sandwiched together neater. Lay the print on the left-hand square, folded side pointing up and raw edges together at the bottom. This is essential!! I made 40 of these things backwards before I realized I had messed up! Then lay the top square on right side facing down. Pin the right-hand edge.



When you put the block in the machine to sew be sure and have the fold of the goose pointing away from you and sew a scant 1/4" seam.



Open and press seams to one side.



Open the fold and pin the fold line to the seam line. You don't have to pin but burning your fingers while pressing is up to you!



Press. Set the blocks together however you like.



This is the quilt finished. The dimensions are 43" x 55". I used Warm & White by The Warm Company for the batting. It is a needle-punched cotton batting that was very nice to work with and didn't give off a bunch of loose fibers as you worked with it. In other words, it was easy on the lungs!



This is the backing. It is a print called bubbles and I really like it for children's quilts.



This is a close-up of a corner. I originally was going to use just a two-inch yellow border but it didn't do much for me. Then I decided I would 'color-wheel' out the orange, yellow and red. Nope that didn't look right either! Changed the placement of the orange and yellow and liked the border a lot better.



I got some labels the other day so I added one!

Have a good day!

Judy

customizing Sister Suzy's shorts

We took Sister Suzy short shopping the other day. She didn't find any she liked; the choices were short shorts or cropped pants. The kid is modest and she wants something right below the kneecap about pedal pusher length. She also is not fond of the low cut either. She wants her waistband at her belly button. So I told her we could buy fabric and I could take her favorite shorts apart for a pattern. We went fabric shopping and I still have to make them. I also told her we could add a strip down each leg of her cut-off blue jean shorts. She was cautiously agreeable to that. So I have remodeled four pair of her blue jean shorts and she loves them.

This is how I did it.



Take a pair of cut-off blue jeans and one cat:>)



Get out your seam ripper and starting with the belt loops take the pants apart. Two of the pairs I only had to take off the center back loop and loosen up the side belt loops because they were not right on the side seams. I also had to take the center back label off. The waistband was next and I ripped from about two inches before the side seams on the front and across the back. If you break the waistband seam right and pick from the right direction the seam is a chain stitch and will pull out fast and clean. Open up the hem about two inches either side of the side seam. On these blue jeans the side seams are not flat-felted so find the correct direction of the chain stitch and zip them out like you did the waistband. Unfortunately the threads for the surging on the edge of the seam allowance just has to be cut and all the tiny threads picked out.



Cut the waistband in two at center back and pick back the top stitching of the waistband a couple of inches. Press the side seam allowances flat.



Cut four strips the length from the waist to the bottom of the hem. Decide how wide you would like the strip down the side. Add 1/2-inch seam allowances. In this case I cut the strips 30 inches long and three inches wide. If you are wondering why four strips, the fabric I used was not the same weight as the denim so I doubled the fabric for wear purposes. Notice that the print is cut smaller at one end than the bottom piece. I will trim the white piece to match the print. Sister Suzy has a very small waist in relation to her hips and she liked the extra room in the thighs and hips.



I cut a four inch square piece of denim to insert in the waistband and pressed a fold line.



Pin right sides together and sew the seams



I used the zigzag on the edges to finish the seams. Trim all the loose threads to clean it up. Obviously a surger with a knife would be handy here.



Put your hem back in.



Pin the insert in the waistband and sew together using a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Be sure your waist band pieces are not twisted! Picking out mistakes is a pain! Press seams open to reduce bulk then reattach the waistband to the pants. Reattach belt loops and labels.



And there you have it Hippie-fied jean shorts!

Have a good day!

Judy

that was interesting

Well that was interesting! I found the minute tapioca I was looking for, along with 65 half-pint jars of raspberry jam I have canned over the last several years. But I have no toilet paper! Now I am the only one who eats jams and jellies for the most part and I don't eat but maybe two or three jars a year. So just maybe I need to find something else to do with the raspberries! I did find a recipe for jelly filled cookies that I am going to try and I will let you know if the recipe is any good. (I have to let the butter thaw before I get to try the recipe.)

I also found some older veggies I had canned while I was cleaning the pantry. After giving it some thought about why I hadn't used them up earlier it dawned on me that because I had to dig for them I wasn't using up my stuff in a timely manner. So I brought in two old steel shelving units from the junk pile that Hubby had set up to store his VHS tapes on back in the dark ages before DVDs. Broke the shelving units down and gave them a good scrubbing in the bathtub. Then reassembled them into three units with some shelves left over and placed pantry items on them. One unit sets by the door of the pantry so the older fruit jars are handy to use. The goal is to use at least a jar a day and get that food rotated out of the pantry. We'll see how long that lasts!

Working on Sister Suzy some shorts and tops for this summer so quilting is on hold until I get some other sewing done.

Have a good day!

Judy