Happy Blogiversary to me - 10 years!

I can't believe my blog is ten years old. My first post was on February 18, 2004 (the actual first was on the 17th but it was just a "hello world.") In that first post I lamented about having "so many projects", and I proceeded to list them. So let's see what happened to those projects:

Projects from the Past

First up was Burda 2560:


I remember this one. I made the muslin out of a striped cotton fabric from fabric.com - probably paid $2.99 for it - and hated the result. The fabric was too stiff and the stripes didn't help the look. If it's not in a scrap bag somewhere, then it went into the recycling bin. After that wadder, I didn't try the pattern again, but looking at it now, 10 years later, I think it could be really nice in a drapey rayon, sueded silk or perhaps a polyester blend or a lighter weight cotton.

Next was a fake fur throw. It was already a UFO then, and it remained stuffed in my closet for probably another 8 or 9 years. Pairing a long-pile fake fur with a short-pile fake fur was a mistake. The throw was very heavy and reminded me of those lead aprons they put on you in the dentist office. Not good! So I gifted the two fabrics to my sewing friends. It was decent fake fur but sometimes when a project doesn't work, keeping the fabric is just a sad reminder of that failed idea.

Curtains for the family room. Completed! But this was just a hemming job on purchased curtains. Plus I'm embarrassed to tell you that the hems were safety-pinned for a long time before I finally sewed them.

Pillows for the family room. I never made them. I still have the fabric. I still want to make those pillows...someday.

First Quilt. Nope. Never finished. Guess I'm not really into quilting. But I can't explain why I have a lot of quilting fabric in my stash. Oh, yes I can...so many cute prints. Plus I like the idea of quilting, but cutting lots of squares and strips and precisely stitching them with quarter inch seam allowances...not so much.

Cream and pink knitted baby dress. This UFO is still in storage somewhere. It has sentimental attachment but I think it's time for it to go. I am not a hoarder. I am not a hoarder. I am not a hoarder...

Off white cotton sweater. In 2004 I hadn't yet gotten into knitting like I am now, meaning that I think I had this sweater and one other UFO (from the 80's!) and a few huge cones of yarn from a store closeout. My knitting stash fit in one drawer. I did finish that cotton sweater about a year later, and it was a disaster. I only had one sleeve left to do but my knitting had changed so much that the gauge was way off. No amount of pulling and tugging and blocking could get the sleeves to match. I didn't even like the darn thing at that point so I frogged it. I recycled some of the yarn as warp for some cotton placemats that I wove. Oh yeah, the placemats aren't 100% finished either. Good grief, only one of these projects was completed!

But I have made plenty of things in the 10 years since then. I won't go into all of them - I'm not even going to list my favorites because it'd take a long time to go back over everything I've made.

Why I blog:

I started blogging back when there weren't many garment sewing bloggers. There were a lot of blogs by knitters, and there were a lot of creative young women making "softies" and other such insanely adorable items and blogging about it. I liked seeing their projects and reading about them so I decided to start my own blog so I could share my creations with others...and my mom, who reads this blog faithfully (Hi Mom!)

The blog has proven itself as a great record of my sewing and knitting projects and of other events -  when I blog about them. I haven't been a very regular blogger. Looking at my archive, it seems I started strong for the first five years with an average of 68 posts per year, but then I dropped off because the next five years only had an average of 28 posts per year. Work interfered, life got busy, and other things that I couldn't post online interfered. We did a lot of remodeling of the house and although I sometimes wrote about it, I didn't want to turn the blog into a home remodeling blog. Same thing with travel. 

I actually started "blogging" wayyyyy back in 1997, but it wasn't called blogging then. I had a geocities site. Remember those? I was in the Yosemite neighborhood because we sometimes went kayaking and skiing. I used the site to post photos - digital cameras were brand new then - and I started a journal to keep my family and friends up to date on what was going on in our lives. This was before Facebook of course! The name of this blog comes from that geocities site. One of my sub-sites was our "monkeyroom" - it represented the idea of a room we would have if we had infinite space and money where we could just collect ridiculous monkey-themed stuff. Instead I collected pictures of the ridiculous monkey-themed stuff and arranged them on "shelves." Another of my sub-sites chronicled my early sewing and knitting projects.

I get visitors!

My most popular post by far is the pincushion tutorial. Oh my goodness, that post has had over 61,000 views! At a very distant second place is my post on how to fix a retractable measuring tape, with 5289 views. I occasionally hear from people that they used this info to successfully fix their tapes - woohoo! But that pincushion tutorial lives on in links all over the internet and the world, and it's on Pinterest too. I didn't blog about this (though I meant to), but a few years ago I submitted the pincushion tutorial to a request for ideas for this book...

...and it was accepted. But the submission request was only for the bonus patterns for the special edition book sold only by Barnes and Noble, so it's not in every book. I couldn't find the special edition on the Barnes and Noble site so I don't know that you can even get it anymore. After my tutorial was selected, I was sent fabric from which to make the sample pincushion, which they photographed for the book and included with all the other one-yard creations on the book tour.

I thought I took a picture of my pages from my copy of the book, but I can't find any. I don't know why I didn't blog about this when it all happened in 2011. But looking back, that was a busy year - busy at work, overseeing some major home remodeling, and we managed to squeeze some travel in too.

Speaking of travel, I've been very blessed to have the opportunities to travel like we have. Not just while we're living here, but over the last 10 years as well. I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my favorite photographs from these trips - at least the ones I've blogged about.

Future

I intend to keep blogging on this site and I hope you keep visiting. I know some people have switched over to Facebook or Instagram to showcase their creations, but I'm not interested. Facebook is great for short and quick posts, and that's where I usually post my travel photos first, but I only sometimes post pictures there of the things I've made. Besides, it's much easier to find my old posts here than on Facebook. I haven't explored Instagram but I don't think my brain can handle another site for sharing and organizing pieces of my life. Let's see, there's Facebook, Flickr, Ravelry, Patternreview, Twitter, LinkedIn...

But that reminds, me. I need to back this blog up. I wouldn't want this documentation of 10 years of my creative life to vanish!

Hopefully I'll get to some sewing tomorrow. I have a jacket for my nephew almost complete, and I have fabric washed and ready to cut out to make myself a robe.





A shark and a penguin

Last year when we went skiing with our friends and their two boys, we saw a skier wearing a helmet cover that was an animal of some sort (I can't remember what it was). Anyway, my friends know I sew, and they casually asked if I could make such a thing. "Of course!" I said, not really knowing what I was getting myself into. "What animals do you want?" The younger boy wanted a penguin and the older boy wanted a shark. I do try to follow up on my promises.

 

The boys, aged 7 and 10, loved them, and they received comments galore on the slopes. Nearly every lift operator said something (or at least smiled in delight) as well as other skiers. We were skiing in France, and my French isn't very good so I didn't exclaim that I made them or anything like that. In addition to being a fun accessory for the boys, the unique covers made the boys very easy to spot on the slopes. For part of the day, the younger boy skied behind me, matching me turn for turn, proclaiming that "Penguin is ready!" when he was ready to ski again after a break.

I used the Green Pepper "Tuck Away Balaclava", pattern number 550 as a starting point for making the ski helmet covers. The fabric for the penguin is microfleece from Joann's with 2-way stretch. Joann's was out of the gray microfleece so I used some wickaway fabric with fleece on one side that I had in my stash. It's 4-way stretch, which was a good thing because the older boy's helmet was quite rounded and actually larger than my own helmet, which I used to help size the covers during construction.

The only difficulty with the covers is that they easily slide off of the slick helmets, especially when the goggles are moved up onto the helmet. I made two slits in the back of each cover so that the straps that help secure the goggles could go through the covers as well. No one wanted to lose these covers in a brisk wind! My husband came up with a great suggestion to add some elastic on the inside of the covers - I would use either clear elastic because it has some tackiness or the grippy elastic that I've used on the bottom edge of bicycle shorts I made for my husband years ago. So I might borrow the helmet covers back to make this modification. But all in all, I think they turned out great. My friends think I should go into business making them - easy to say but I'm not sure I want to turn my sewing hobby into a business. Besides, the helmet covers certainly aren't a novel idea. I searched for "helmet covers" online and found plenty of images to help me construct these.

Here are some more pictures and my full review:

 
 

 

Pattern Description: Tuck Away Balaclava - Hat with optional face mask that can be tucked up inside hat

Pattern Sizing: XS (20" head) through XL (24" head)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? A little, but I modified the hat part and made the balaclava part separate.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I used them initially for the hat to test it on the helmet and I found them very easy.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It gave me a good starting point for the helmet covers. I used the largest size because these fit over the helmets.

Fabric Used: Microfleece for the black and white, a microfleece wickaway for the gray (from my stash) and an IKEA fleece blanket for the little bit of orange. The IKEA fleece was stiff and not very useful for anything else, so I used the rest to make bags for the boys' helmets.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I sewed up the hat and after pin fitting it to the helmet, I reduced the size and rounded off the top of the hat considerably. I determined that the balaclava wouldn't work attached to the hat because it would also be too large and stand away from the face too much to be effective. So to make the balaclava separate, I extended the back of it so that it would meet behind the head. Not knowing the exact size to fit the boys, I made it attach with Velcro rather than be one continuous piece. This will make it much easier to put on and take off when their helmets are on. For the other parts (shark fin, teeth, beak, etc.), I made paper patterns first to get the size and shape I wanted. Fleece doesn't fray but it can get a little ragged at the cut edges, so for some pieces I cut two and seamed them and then straight stitched it on top or included it in a seam. For other pieces, like the eyes, I cut a single layer of fleece and zigzagged close to the edge. The shark fin is stuffed with some fleece scraps and then I had to do some hand sewing to make the base a little wider since just sewing it in the top seam of the hat made it flop too much.

 

I am Virgo, watch me organize using OneNote - Part 1

I have a lot of sewing patterns. Oh, you too? Then I probably don't have to tell you how or why I've accumulated so many. They reproduce in the drawers and boxes in the sewing room, right?

Most of my patterns are 6000 miles away from me at the moment, but I have a small stash here - as well as over a year of Burda magazines and a smattering of Ottobre, Knipmode, Diana Moden, La Mia Boutique...etc. I've been increasingly aware that I am actually unaware of the patterns I own. I do have the majority of envelope patterns entered in my pattern catalog on Patternreview, and while it's helped prevent me from buying duplicates,  I haven't found it all that helpful for browsing. Not all of the patterns in there have pictures - especially older patterns, I can't see the yardage requirements or other envelope information, and none of my pattern magazines are entered. For my Burda magazines, I have a notebook with copies of all the line drawings. This is helpful but I still have to look through the many, many pages,  there are no pictures, and I haven't included line drawings from my many other magazines.

Some people have been using a product called Evernote to catalog their patterns. I decided I'd rather use a program I already have on my computer - OneNote. Because OneNote connects in the cloud with OneDrive (free storage!), and I can view it on my Windows Phone, I also use it for grocery lists, info I need to jot down when I'm out and about, and basically any information I want to keep track of. If it seems that I'm very Windows-centric, you are correct. My husband works for Microsoft so I am encouraged to use their products, but honestly I would use them anyway because they are solid, dependable and play very well together.

It did take me quite a bit of time to enter all my pattern information, but only because I have a lot of patterns! And magazines. And I'm a crazy Virgo perfectionist. I created OneNote pages for each pattern, including ones I don't have with me, but I only put in magazines that I have on hand because I scanned some of the pages. For the patterns, I was able to get maybe 99.5% of the pictures and envelope info off the internet - I have a couple patterns that are so old that I will have to scan them when I can.

Here's what OneNote looks like using the OneNote App on my Surface Pro.

 

 

There's one library with sections for each pattern company (listed on the far left), although if I only had one or two patterns I put them in the section "Other." I can reorganize this list to be alphabetical or whatever I want. Each section is made up of pages, which are listed in the second column from the left. One pattern page is displayed in the large area with the white background.  I used the screen clipping tool to grab images from the website, and I added a link to reviews on Patternreview. I'll explain how to do all this in a later blog post.

 

Here's a screen shot of a Burda magazine page entry: 

 

 

 

I scanned the pages that showed small pictures of the garments and the pages that show the line drawings. You can see that not all of the page is visible, but I can just move it around to see everything by using a mouse on the desktop or my finger on a Surface. The page can be quite large and hold lots of information. I can add notes - handwritten or typed in, more pictures, etc. I can even draw on top of the existing images.

 

The interface is different on the desktop view and provides access to a lot more tools. I use the desktop for editing and the app for browsing.

 

 

 

Here's a shot of what the pattern page looks like on my phone. I scrolled over to show that you can view the contents. The drawback is that downloading the pictures over the cell network takes forever.

 

 



 



Now that (almost) everything is in OneNote, I can browse my collection quite easily and from my phone, Surface, desktop or any computer with internet access to SkyDrive. One huge benefit is that I can search for and find any words that appear on a page. For example, if I was interested in sewing something with velvet and wanted to find patterns that were suitable, I simply search on "velvet" and the term is found whether it's in a title or in a picture I added (as long as the picture is clear and the text legible). In the below example, the word "velvet" is on the back of the pattern envelope for Simplicity 6807.

 

 

 

It's not perfect, but I can improve the search results by adding text to the page to "tag" it with terms. And for magazines,  unless I scan every instruction page from my Burda magazines (not likely) I can't find Burda magazine patterns that recommend velvet, for example. But this is a great start.

 

I can tell you that this whole exercise has reminded me of the many great looking patterns I have. I've enjoyed looking at them again. Of course I want to sew all the ones I bought and many of the ones in the magazine, but that's like saying I'll sew up every scrap of fabric I have.

Istanbul

Click here: Istanbul, to see the whole set.

Pictures from our latest trip. Enjoy!

First day of a new year and a new finished object

Happy New Year to everyone!

The first of the year is a good time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the next. This was my first full year living in Germany and first full year not working. I'd like to think I took advantage of both of these situations.

I did just a little bit of traveling. Here are the countries I visited:

• Austria
• France
• Czech Republic
• Belgium
• Hungary
• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Denmark
• Finland
• Estonia
• Ireland
• Netherlands
• Greece
• Turkey
• USA

I did a bit of knitting. Here are the projects I finished in 2013:




A weaving project:

I finished this scarf but haven't taken a final picture of it!

I got my sewing mojo back. I didn't do much sewing, but here are the finished projects:





 

I also made a tree skirt for the Christmas tree:

 

 

And finally, the first finished object for 2014!

Red socks!



I started these socks in August of 2012 and worked on them a lot initially but then as I got near the end of the second sock they languished in my knitting basket. Either my attention was drawn to new projects or I passed them up as my "project for the plane or car ride" figuring that I'd finish them and then not have a project to work on. Well, I finally finished them and I'm glad I did because they are comfortable and nice on my feet!

Here's the project link on Ravelry and the basic info:

Yarn: Austermann Step
Needle: Size 1 (2.25 mm) double points
Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks

So what's in store for next year? More travel. More sewing. More knitting. More weaving. More fun!

Easy robe. Not so easy fabric.

Ever since our trip to Japan four years ago, I've been meaning to make a Yukata-type robe for my husband. A Yukata is a thin, cotton robe for summer or travel. I finally made him one as a Christmas gift this year.

 

I used an old pattern, Stretch & Sew 2000 "Classic Robes". I made view "B" with the banded collar.

 

The fabric is a lightweight cotton that I got from a get together of my sewing friends (thanks Neefer!). I knew I was taking on the challenge of working with a plaid, but unfortunately I had an additional challenge because I didn't realize the fabric had quite a few flaws in it. I spent way too long matching plaid, creatively arranging pattern pieces, and fixing a hole. Some of the flaws were minor and ok to leave since this is a robe, and it doesn't have to be perfect. Otherwise, the fabric was perfect for this project since it was very soft. I only wish I had a few more yards so I could have made sleep pants to go with the robe.

Here's my review:

Pattern Description: Shawl collar and banded unisex robes with dropped shoulder, 3/4 length sleeves, chest pocket and two lower patch pockets, belt and belt loops. Three lengths to choose from: mid-thigh, mid-calf, and full length.

Pattern Sizing: Small (chest/bust size 30-34 inches) Medium (chest/bust size 36-40 inches) Large (chest/bust size 42-46 inches) I traced off a size between the medium and large since I felt large would be too big but medium might be too small, and I couldn't measure him without ruining the surprise.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, although I made the sleeves longer.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Fairly easy instructions. The steps are numbered and very clear. They do reuse steps that are the same for both styles so you need to make sure you're on the right one. I sewed the seams on the sewing machine and then used my serger to finish the seam allowances. For the pockets I serged the raw edges first before stitching them to the front pieces.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It's a basic robe with sizes to fit men and women. I liked the banded version since that is like the Yukata robes. I will use the shawl collar version for myself in the future.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I made the sleeves longer. I used the sleeve length for the shawl collar version and hemmed them with smaller cuffs than called for in the instructions. I cut out the band on the diagonal and since it was on the bias I interfaced it to make sure it wouldn't stretch out of shape. I was going to put the pockets on the diagonal too but decided that may make the robe look too busy. I looked online at pictures of robes and didn't see any plaid ones with pockets on the diagonal, so that confirmed that decision. I didn't see many banded plaid robes and most of those didn't do the band on the diagonal, but I'd already cut out the band on the diagonal so I was committed. Now I sort of regret doing the band on the diagonal. Because the plaid wasn't balanced I think it looks a bit wonky. Live and learn!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'm definitely going to sew it again. I already have plans to make the shawl collar version out of fleece for myself. This is a great basic robe pattern.

Conclusion: The pattern itself is good, and it's very easy to sew. I made it more difficult by using plaid, but that made it a great project for practicing my plaid matching skills. I'm not quite there yet, so better to practice on a plaid robe than a plaid suit jacket! I realize now that I didn't pay attention to matching the shoulders when I cut it out, and I still have trouble getting the plaid on the sleeves to line up with the body. I'm not to happy with the final look of the diagonal plaid band but had I cut it out on the straight of grain that would have been another area of matching during the cutting process. I did get the plaid to match across the front and sides, and the pockets are almost invisible since I did a good job matching those. All in all I am happy with the robe, and I think my husband is too since he's been wearing it.

I am a bit obsessed.

I can be a bit obsessive about things, but apparently not about blogging. I realize my last post was over a month ago. A lot has happened since then but I haven't made time to post anything. Here's the last month in a nutshell:

• Thanksgiving trip to Athens
• Sick for a week
• Visited Christmas market in town
• Did some shopping
• Worked on a sewing gift (can't say more until it's done)
• Sewed a robe for my husband
• Did some knitting here and there but didn't finish anything
• Made a Christmas tree skirt
• Made a Christmas wreath
• Christmas trip to Istanbul
• Sick...again

So what am I a bit obsessive about? This:

Hole

No hole

This was fabric I used for my husband's robe. It's a very soft cotton that unfortunately had a lot of flaws in it. I thought I had successfully cut out all the pieces to avoid the worst areas but I didn't catch the hole. It was on one of the front pieces and I didn't have enough fabric to recut the piece. Fortunately it wasn't a complete hole - there were some threads remaining, in this case these are the weft threads, so I rewove the area with a needle and black thread. It isn't perfect but at least it's not a hole that will grow when the robe is washed. There is some fuzziness around it from the remaining warp threads, however it is a robe and not something worn out in public. It's the first time I'd ever made a repair like this, and I wanted to see if I could do it. It took a long time and I actually redid it twice, hence the obsession! It would have been easier with a super magnifying glass.