January sewing

Hello again! I am absolutely LOVING my new Viking. It is such a dream to sew on that I feel like a big portion of my past sewing struggles can be blamed on my old machine. I know, I know, a poor workman blames his tools. Still, it is much easier to get nice results when the tension doesn't suddenly give out halfway through a seam, you know?

My first project of 2013 was a fun one - a disco costume for a friend's themed birthday party.

The party was the weekend after New Years and sort of snuck up on me. After a bit of online research, I decided the quickest and easiest route was to make extreme bell-bottoms to go over my green skinny jeans. I headed over to a shopping plaza nearby that has a thrift store and a fabric store, and I figured between the two I could put something together. Lucky for me, everything was half off at the thrift store the day I went, so I got that shiny silver shirt for $2.50 and then walked over to Hancock, where I bought a yard of this spectacularly tacky snakeskin fabric for $4. Success!

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This kind of mystery lamé fabric would have been a nightmare to sew on my old machine, but the Viking took it like a champ. I didn't have a whole lot of time to make these up, so I cheated here and there. I didn't make a proper casing for the elastic, finish any seams, or hem them. I figured it just needed to hold up for one night!

Funny story: I shopped in Joann's Fabric wearing this costume. Seriously. There are no Joann's ITP (inside the perimeter), so I try and wait until I'm already heading out to the suburbs instead of making special trips. I needed buttons and stuffing pretty badly, so I decided to throw pride to the wind and stop in anyway. I did take off the snakeskin bell-bottoms, but I still looked plenty strange with my shiny shirt, headband and heavy lavender eye shadow. The side-eyes were totally worth it though: I got my supplies, my costume was a hit at the party and I had a really great time.

My second project this month was a set of draft snakes to help insulate the sunroom a little better. Between the three large windows and the sliding glass door, it's pretty drafty. I am a total wuss when it comes to the cold, and so I wanted to make the room a little more comfortable for sewing. Plus, I love any excuse to break out the rotary cutter.

I used one of my 25 cent remnants in my stash from my trip to Fabric World. It was all straight seams and took no time at all. Stuffing, on the other hand, took what felt like forever. Like, a movie and 3 episodes of Felicity on Netflix over the course of several days. Totally worth the drudgery though - the draft snakes have helped keep the room warmer, and I'm pretty happy with the snug fit, considering the height and depth measurements were mostly guesswork.

Next up is the Lisette Market Blouse (Simplicity 2211)! I'm taking my fear of sleeves head on.