Monthly Archives: May 2012

Tale of Two T-Shirts: A Tee Refashion

I took two t-shirts I wasn’t wearing very often and made one shirt I like a lot!

I cut about two inches down from the armpit on my top light-grey shirt, and then one and one-half inches down from the armpit on my dark grey t-shirt.

Two shirts, both alike in cheapness.

From forth the fatal loins of these two shirts, we’ll make a gooder shirt and stuff

I met them at the seams – these shirts were almost exactly the same size, so, thanks to the stretch of jersey, I didn’t have to make any adjustments to width.   I put a pin at both side seams first and then worked the middles together.

shirts met at the side seams – right sides together, with the inside-out light grey shirt nested inside the darker grey.

I sewed a shallow zig-zag stitch with a 3/8inch seam allowance all the way around, using a walking foot and a stretch needle. Then I went around again, doing a wider zig zag stitch on the seam allowance.  I’m guessing a serger would come in handy here  : )

Definitely something I’ll wear more often than either of the two plain tees!

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NPR Quilt

I cranked out a simple strip quilt inspired by the NPR logo to test out my new machine.

I did another double binding, only this time I did red and blue as the secondary color. Love this technique’s framing effect!

Straight line quilting in an echoed X formation.

 

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Scallop Shorts Tutorial

On Pinterest (of course) I saw these adorable scalloped shorts from J.Crew.  But the price tag ($100?!)  and the pleated front made them unlikely to ever be purchased.  So I decided to alter a pair of shorts and make my own!

Find a pair of shorts or pants

Draw a scallop pattern.

You want to have a whole number of scallops – no half scallops – cover the bottom hem of your new shorts.  So take the circumference measurement of the leg from where you want the tip of the scallop to hit.  On mine it was 20 inches around – divided by 6 scallops gave me 3 1/3 inches.  It takes a little guessing.  I made my scallops be 2 1/4 inch long and sketched my curve.  Once it looked right, I folded the scallop in half and cut out the shape.

Trace the scallop shapes on a rectangle of lining fabric and pin it to the RIGHT side of the shorts fabric.

Start in the inside thigh seam of the shorts – that way if things don’t end up lining up perfectly, it’ll be in an inconspicuous place.

Sew **on** the trace line, using a very tight straight stitch.

When you’re done sewing, cut off the excess fabric leaving a very scant (less than 1/8″) seam allowance. Clip into the valleys between the scallops. Be careful not to clip the threads.

Flip the lining fabric into the shorts. The valleys between the scallops may look a little funky. Use your seam ripper to knock out a couple of these threads and things will lay flat.

After ripping out a couple of stitches in the valleys, things look great! If you are going to top-stitch your shorts, no worries here. If you are not planning on top-stitching, you will want to blind stitch the valley where you snipped the stitches so things don’t fall apart.

Top stitch the scallops for a finished look.  You can also blind stitch a folded over edge of the lining material to the inside of your shorts.  This will keep everything laying nice and smooth even after washing.

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More Stoles

A while ago I finished more Priest Stoles for our family friend. I wish I had better pictures, but c’est la vie!

Red for special celebrations!

Pastor Reggie in his Easter stole

Easter or Christmas stole (wrinkly, in shadows, being blown by wind)…

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