Tuesday, May 26, 2009

I have a diaper! Jalie 2907



Well, I have ONE fitted diaper! One! I'm on a roll now! This pattern is really fast to make and you can assembly line them. Right now I have about 6 diapers cut and ready to go, and I have the soaker pads serged. Now I just have to finish the assembly.

This particular pattern calls for velcro, but honestly, I don't really like velcro, so I used snaps (applied with my new pliers, more on that below). I am under the impression though that snaps on fitted diapers aren't the best idea. Although I see plenly of them out there.

Here is one happy Elmo with a new diaper...


Now for the snaps. As I said in a previous post, I have 3 snap tools from Dritz. Pliers, a 'quick attatcher' thing and the little knob thing that you hit with a hammer. They all suck as far as i'm concerned. So, I needed something to add my snaps to my diapers.

I ended up buying a pair for pliers from KAMsnaps.com. The pliers feel a bit flimsly, but so far i'm pretty impressed. The pliers with a bunch of snaps were about half the price of just a press. A press is what I really wanted, but I just couldn't justify the cost. If I use the pliers a lot, i'll get a press eventually, i'm sure.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My Mad Diaper Makin' Skillz...

...Or not! lol















Well, here is my first attempt at Jalie 2907. These are view C, the covers made from PUL fabric. My snap panels don't match up. And my snap setting sucks. I think I lost half my snaps in the washer. Oops!

Snap panels: Looking at the pattern piece, the front and back match -- they're the same size. However, on my sample, the back is way bigger. I'm thinking that I may have streched a bit to much trying to sew on the elastic. I'm going to have to come up with a better technique.

The snaps. I have three different Dritz tools that attatches snaps. As far as I can tell, all three suck. I had the best luck with my dritz pliers, but they are still a pain.

I considered buying a snap press, but at over $100, I decided against it. Although, I may kick myself later because as far as I can tell, the resale value is really high. So proably could have sold it if I decided I didn't need it.

What I did settle on was another pair of pliers. But I hear these are a bit better than the Dritz pliers. They are pliers for the plastic (resin) snaps. They come with an actual die set, so we'll see how that goes. Apparently people like these pliers, so, if they don't work for me i'll sell them off on eBay at a small loss and then just break down and get a press.

I'm going to attempt another pair of covers probably tomorrow. And hopfully my terry from fabic.com will be here tomorrow too, so I can make the insert! YAY. Now all I need is some 1 1/2 loop tape (velcro). Wonder if JoAnns carries velcro that's that wide? I'll have to stop and check tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Cupcake Hat Awwww! and Jalie 2907




If anyone is paying attention, I would like one of these for the new baby! How can you go wrong with a cupcake hat on a little baby? lol

Here is a link to the shop of the lady who makes these. NinisHandmades Shop on Etsy Check it out. She has a lot of really cute stuff.

*************

JALIE 2907

I have the diapers all traced, and I think i'm going to get cutting tonight. I'm putting a little thought into this project for once, and I think I may have traced the wrong sizes. I traced newborn and 1 month sizes.

The newborn size fits 6-9 pounds
The one month size fits 7-11 pounds.
The three month size fits 9-15 pounds.

I'm wondering if I should skip the 1 month size and just do Newborn and 3 month since that will cover me from 6 to 15 pounds. Or do I really need the one month size? It seems like i'm wasting time with that size. One, because it seems like that is just overlapping with the 3 month and secondly, the kid is probably going to be in the 1 month size for only 3 weeks before he grows out of them anyway. I guess I can start with the newborn size, considering that i'm probably going to start with a newborn anyway. lol

I have the PUL fabric waiting to go. I can start with the covers. I ordered terry from fabric.com. It's should be here in a few days. Has anyone ever tried using plain muslin for soaker pads or prefolds? The directions I have found say use twill, but you need a yard each, so I bet it can get expensive fast.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Vintage patterns, Jalie 2907 diapers and other ramblings.

I got some of my newly vintage patterns up on Etsy this weekend. These are patterns I KNOW i'll never use. So, instead of hording them, might as well find homes from them. I got a few 70's ones that I really am dying to sew, along with some of the 50's mail order patterns I got. I'm just waiting until the baby comes so I can see where my waist is going to end up. ;)

Visit my Etsy shop!

I would also like to take a quick second to apologize to anyone who has landed on my blog buy doing a Google search for Simplicity 2587. Yes, I see my stats. I know how you get here, just to find no useful information. Sorry!

Now for Jalie 2907:






















(How cute are these?!) I'm going to try my hand at making a few cloth diapers. I bought two yards of PUL fabric (from a company who shall remain nameless until they have been given a chance to correct their shitty customer service issues) and I have 6 yards of terry coming from fabric.com.

I'm going to make the fitted diaper and the diaper cover. I was going to go with the All-In-Ones, but I have been reading that they take forever to dry. I have the pattern traced, and I might start on the covers tomorrow -- as they require the PUL fabric. If anyone is interested Jalie.com has a video of their diapers being made. I haven't used it yet, but it could be a good resource if you need it.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

New Vintage Patterns

I got my lot of vintage patterns from eBay a few days ago. I am so happy with what I got.



I never thought to take the picture while I had all the patterns out of the box! Duh! I can't believe some of the stuff that was in this lot. There are a few recent kids patterns, but most are 1975 and older. Here are the older ones. I haven't counted them all, but there are quite a few. And they are all mostly in got shape. A lot are still factory folded. And if that isn't good enough, most are in a size I can use! They are either 34 or 36 bust. I can't believe how I lucked out with this lot.







Here is a picture of the oldest ones.
They are mail order patterns that you ordered through the mail. They are not dated, and most don't even have an actual pattern company. But I do know that they are early 50's, and one is post marked 1952. I am thinking that the others are earlier because they don't have a dated post mark.

























Here is a picture of my fav from the 70's! Simplicity 6925. I was looking at something really similar in the Victoria Secret catalogue. I couldn't find anything current really. But here it is, in my vintage lot! I can't wait to make this up. I'm going to change it to a dress though. I have the perfect purple gauze for it. Of course, I have to not be pregnant anymore, but I only have about 11 more weeks to go.

One question if anyone can answer. I want to sell some of these on eBay, or etsy or whatever. They smell really old. Is that common? Or can I air them out somehow? I don't want to put smelly patterns on eBay, but they are 60 year old patterns. Anyone know anything about this?

Monday, May 11, 2009

Kwik Sew 3327 and the modification of Simplicity 2587

Well, I finally got around to making me some jammies! Weee! I don't think I have ever had a night gown in my adult life, but for some reason, I want them now.

The pattern I used was Kwik Sew 3327 For the most part, I like the pattern. It does have one big issue though. The fact that the nursing openings go down to your knees!



I hate to say this because it's just a night gown, but you will probably need to make a muslin just to find out where to place your nursing openings. I can't imagine that these fit anyone -- unless you are sagging to your knees. Sheesh!

After I made the nursing gown, I decided that I just really wanted a few more non-nursing gowns. So, I hunted through my pattern stash and came up with NOTHING! How do I not have a simple night gown pattern in my stash? Then it dawned on me, I can just modify the kwik sew pattern. It was actually really easy to do. You just fold the front right down the center front line. Voila! No more nursing gown, but you do have something that will fit a pregnant lady. These gowns are also so easy to put together. Hour, at most, start to finish. On piece of advice though, use your pre-pregnancy measurements.






























Now that I have a few night gowns, I think i'm going to try something a little more ambitious.



Simplicity 2587. Except I have to modify it to fit my pregnant body. I already slashed the front skirt piece, we will see how it goes. I plan on starting on that tomorrow. There are a million and one pieces though, and i'm not in any hurry to get a wadder out of this. Wish me luck!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Fun With Vintage!

Yes, I know there are other blogs that go over this. And I know they are better at it, but this was just too good for me to pass up!

I was looking through the vintage patterns on Etsy.com the other day, and I just happened to come accross a few gems! The were so good infact, even DH thought they were funny.



Really, are these cartoon pattern cover chicks so ugly that we can't even see their faces? Was the illistrator new and unsure of how to draw faces? Wonder if the sexy bonnet (wonder how many google hits I get because I said 'sexy bonnet') is part of the pattern. I never checked.


























IT'S FRANKENLADY!! I think the rose necklace is holding her head on -- or hiding the scars. Has to be. There is no other logical explianation!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Can I just bitch for a minute?

You ever notice how if one thing doesn't go rigth, nothing goes right?

Right now i'm really agitated with online retailers, USPS and shipping issues.

So, I buy patterns from PR a week or so ago. I get an email from Deepika telling me my patterns have been shipped. Great, I should have them in 2 or 3 days, right? WRONG! Apparently, USPS shipped my patterns to Washington state. So, my patterns Started in Mass. went to Wash. only to (hopefully) be back on their way to Michigan. My patterns are better traveled than I am! Just so we're clear. This is not a reflection on PR, the turn around was fast. This is a gripe about USPS. Which is my employer, BTW. How nice is that?

The day after I ordered the patterns from PR, I ordered some PUL fabric from whamsupply.com. Well, they say they have a turn around time of 4 days on orders. Well, I ordered early on the 30th, and it's now late on the 7th. Their website still says my order is processing, and they haven't answered my email.

Arg! eBay. I won some vintage patterns of of eBay the other day. I had a brief conversation with the seller, and she said she would ship yesterday. Well, I haven't get a tracking number in my email, so I assume i'll probably be waiting on those too.

Last but not least, grill parts. I ordered some new grill grates for DHs BBQ grill yesterday. Now I have no reason to worry that the grill grates won't ship in a reasonable amount of time, but it seems as if I am having no luck with shippers right now. Grr!

Thanks for listening to me vent. I needed to get that off my chest.

Monday, May 4, 2009

The Studio Kat Boho Bag is Finished!




The bag, it is finished! I can't beleive how easy this pattern came together. After all the pissing and moaning I did about all the pieces, it just came together.



Pic of the lining. If you like this design, definetly try this bag. It comes together so easy and they results are great!

Seriously, what have I done part 2...

I have been on my own little shopping spree for the last few weeks. I don't know what's gotten into me. But I think I better find a way to control it or we're going to end up living in a box eating Ramen noodles every night.

I have been trying to stay away from buying vintage patterns for some time now. Mostly because I have plenty of other crap I horde. But the bug finally got to me last night. Ready for this, I bought a lot of 120 patterns off of eBay. Auction YAY me! Now, if I could only find a place to store them.

Actually, I do have a plan. I saw a few in the picture that I actually do like. I am going to save those, and then probably try and sell the rest. We'll see when we get here, as I have no idea even what kind of shape these are in.

A week or so ago I posted that I had bought a few patterns from PR. Well, one of those patterns was for baby diapers. Well, I don't have any PUL fabic, so naturally, I had to buy some of that. I ordered 2 yards of white PUL from WAHM supply.com. I have neever heard of them, but they were by far the best price. I also bought two sling rings, because I want to make a baby sling.

As for today, I have to go to Michaels because I have to get beads to finish the Boho bag. I have a zillion beads in my stash, just nothing that matches or that will fit the cording. So off I go, hopefully to end my shoping spree! lol

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Boho Baugette bag in progress.

Whoo-Hoo! Progress! This is probably one of the more involved projects i've ever done, but the directions are so well written that things seem to be moving along without any problems so far. Good thing Melody from FashionistaFabrics lives down the street from me, and she was able to supply me with the D rings, or that would have been a trip to JoAnns. Which would have hindered my progress. Not good!

First up is a picture of the bottom. I have to say, I am not used to using so many pins. I'm more of a one-two pin kind of girl, but I want to do this right.



Next is attaching the top lining...



Last but not least is where i'm going to finish for the night. I have the straps and D rings and snaps on, and i'm putting on the casing for the drawstrings.



So far, this has been a fairly easy project. Keep in mind that I have been taking careful steps to make sure that I have all my pattern markings and pieces handy (which I don't usually do a very good job of that) I'm meeting with my sewing group tomorrow, so hopefully i'll be able to get more done. At this rate, I might be done by the end of the weekend!

I started a Purse sew along on patternreview, if you're interested.
Purse sew along thread.