More: sunshine assembly line

Just as they've "popped off" (I wish!) the sewing machine.

Basking in the sunshine of an assembly line of zippered bags

I finished 6 tote/shopping bags with this fabric last weekend. Today I'm making zippered cosmetic bags with the same materials. It's been raining for days here in Central Texas, but I've been spending my day basking in the sunshine of this fabric.

Today's color palette: sunshine with a chance of tangerine and lime

Hot Patterns: Style is fab, directions aren't

I almost always gift everything I make to someone else. Making an item with my own hands is something I can do for my family and friends that others don't (or can't). It sounds sappy, but I do use sewing skills to show my love.

I made myself something. This *very rarely* happens, especially when it comes to apparel. I almost never sew clothing for myself. It came down to simple need. I am taking water aerobics classes. When I leave the pool, I want to be able to just throw something on over the suit and go home. But I haven't found any swimsuit coverups that I like (not to mention, there are none in the stores around here at this time of year).

As I was browsing patterns online recently, I saw the Wong-Singh-Jones collection at Hot Patterns and fell in love with the style. I ordered pattern #1086.

The pattern came in the mail in a huge, fat, heavy envelope that barely fit into my mailbox. The pattern envelope itself is bigger than the standard manufacturers' (Simplicity or McCalls, for example). The pattern is printed on very heavy paper stock. I traced off the pieces I needed onto tissue paper.

I found the pattern confusing, but I'm used to the conventional Simplicity/McCalls/Vogue type of patterns. Some pattern pieces had to be pieced together -- halves of the paper pattern pieces were printed in two spots and had to be joined to make the pattern piece. None of the pattern pieces were lettered or numbered for reference.

The pattern doesn't provide finished measurements of the garment, which turned fitting into a shot in the dark. The pattern also doesn't specify what width the fabric should be. Their suggested layout would not have worked on 45" wide material.

I wanted to make the tunic, but 5" longer, so I used 5 yards of 45" fabric. I had less than 1/2 yard left (but note that I did not make my trim from the fabric). Again, it's good that I got plenty of material, because apparently their layouts and fabric yardages are not based on 45" fabric.

My first challenge was figuring out the directions for the sleeve pleats. There are very simplistic drawings that don't make it clear how the 28 pleat insert pieces fit with the 26 lower pleat underlay pieces. I finally just made a guess and started sewing. Once the pleated piece was complete, it had no relation to the length of the sleeve. I just hacked off the end to match up. I know, it sounds... so... wrong... all those pretty pleats made from all those damn pieces and I just hacked off the few at the end!

My first real screwup was attaching the front/back neckband to the top. The pattern directions simply have simplistic line drawings of pieces with a "+" (plus) sign between them. Figure it out for yourself, bub. So I put it on incorrectly (like a facing), cursing the whole time because it didn't really match well. I even trimmed and finished the seams before I realized my mistake. So I ripped all that out - not just the seams but also the seam finish (I use a three-point zig zag to finish seams and you do not want to rip that out if you can help it, believe me!).

From that point on, things went more smoothly, except when I put on the trim, I should have paid more attention to the diagram (my bad). I sewed the trim on incorrectly. So I removed all the trim and put it on the right way. I'm glad I went to the trouble, because the horizontal line of the trim at the sleave (along the pleat insert) really is a good (flattering) line.

Even though I had problems with the Hot Patterns directions, I will probably try them again, because they have unique styles that I appreciate. I've got my eye on the #1008 kimono wrap dress for a possible future project.

It makes me happy just to look at them

What little girl wouldn't want to help a parent (or grandparent) in the kitchen when she can wear one of these?

Just finished several of these cute flowery aprons in various girls sizes. It makes me happy just to look at them.

Here is a great cookie recipe my granddaughter I used to make cookies last Christmas. Have fun spending quality time with your little one!

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

By the way, I made all the bias tape by hand. I had forgotten how long that process takes, but I like the results.

My podcast is featured on the home page of iTunes U today!

I had to get a screen shot to save for posterity.

The podcast is part of my job at Baylor. It is produced by our local NPR-affiliated radio station, KWBU.

Peaceful waves in a theme of blue: with and without zips

As usual, click on photos for enlarged view.

I love this fabric. Just finished these big oversized tote/shopping bags and several makeup bags (or pouches) with zippers. More inventory for the craft fair and my soon-to-be-opened Etsy shop.

Your friendly bag lady

As always, click on the photos to enlarge. I just finished these today. I want to keep them all for myself, but they are part of the inventory I'm making for a campus craft fair in a couple of months.

I even made a little lunch tote with a pocket.

All bags bear the xbohica brand, embroidered on the inside lining.

Storm photos from my 'hood

Click to enlarge - it's difficult to see what's there otherwise.

(The last photo is from our back door. The others are from the 'hood across Old Temple from us.)

I was tweeting during this crazy little storm that went through my neighborhood. Here's the tweets, peeps.

---- Crazy storm cell... Downdraft winds in excess of 60mph. At least 2 big sections of our fence flew!

---- S WACO/HEWITT Trampoline from 1 neighbor's backyard flew... and maybe sticking out of the windshield of another neighbor's car!

---- Our subdiv: one house struck by litning and roof has huge hole. A man had heart attack during storm. TV crews in the 'hood.

---- So... worse things that the trampoline in the car windshield across the street!

---- S WACO/HEWITT Plus, live wire down and sparking. Another house on fire. Older houses across Old Temple lost roofs.

---- My husband is the dramatic type. He was flapping his wings: "The sky is falling!" I was: "Oh poo." He was kinda right.

TUTORIAL: The art of assembly line sewing

I meant to post an item about this when I was working on the newest coffee sleeves, but I forgot.

When making several similar items all at the same time, use some simple strategies to maximize your time and effort.

Even though I'm not a cottage industry seamstress, I have experience in constructing multiples of many things. My granddaughter (Caille, aka "C2"), my mom and I make new Christmas stockings for everyone in the family each year on an assembly line system. I have been making cloth shopping bags by the dozen to give away to my friends and use myself. I make matching shirts for my grandsons.

When my Mom is visiting we have more than one machine out at a time. But assembly line sewing can be done by an individual, too.

Your system should start in the fabric store (or your personal stash). Buy/choose enough materials to make several copies of your project. The more complimentary/similar hues, the faster the assembly process with be in the end.

Wash and dry all fabrics (don't mix light/dark colors, of course). If you skip the wash/dry, you'll end up with a finished item (whatever you're making) that looks amateurish. New fabrics have sizing on them. Most of what I use is cotton and it shrinks. Always wash/dry the fabric first.

Now, cut all the fabrics at once. If you are using a pattern, make some tracing copies of the pieces if necessary. If using a rotary cutter and mat, cutting everything at once helps me keep my thoughts organized. I make fewer silly mistakes. (We all make silly mistakes!)

After I cut all of the fabrics, I cut any required notches and make all of the markings I need for darts, trims, etc. Again, doing all the marking at once keeps my head in the game and I make fewer mistakes.

Figure out what thread color you'll use on each. It sounds trivial, but the fewer times you have to change the thread on your machine, the more efficient you're going to be. Arrange your fabric in order -- a stack that will allow you to go from one item to the next with the fewest thread changes.

While sewing, I do a set of actions on each set of materials, then move on to the next set. For instance, sew the side seams on all of them, then take them all to the ironing board to press at once, then sew all the shoulder seams, then take them all to the ironing board at once. Sew all the straps at the same time, do all the embroidery at the same time, etc. Take the time to give it some up-front thought. You want to maximize the assembly line actions, while minimizing thread changes and minimizing the number of times you have to change any machine attachments (like an embroidery bed) or feet.

Sometimes my mind tells me "it's taking so long to get a bag done." If I make things one at a time, I get more immediate satisfaction with *a* finished item. But really, I'm doing it so much faster. And when it's done, there are *lots* of them done.

Happy sewing!

The jasmine isn't blooming yet

The jasmine isn't blooming yet. I planted it a few months ago. It's starting to climb the trellis nicely.

(Seals and Crofts: Summer Breeze)

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Coffee doesn't have arms, but here are more sleeves

Working on building (sewing) an inventory of my creations to sell at a craft fair before Christmas. Here are the latest 10 (um, correction: 11) coffee sleeves.

Yes, you do see Elvis. And the Miami Dolphin. And several Hawaiian prints left over from our trip to Hilo a year and a half ago.

Again, these are all made from fabric scraps. Time, plus batting, velcro and thread are my outlay.