sewing with zippers!

I sewed my first ever zipper today AND it was a success!

I followed this tutorial:

https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdheQW3e/

i made my husband a snuggie

A while back, I made my husband a pair of pajama pants out of some spare flannel I had… because I’m a fabric hoarder. These pants are HUGE btw… like JNCO jeans huge, which was unintentional, but he loves them, anyway. Recently, Josh asked for a top to go with it.

I don’t own the JNCO photo. Giant pj pants with pockets.

In pursuit of a top that would jive with the giant pants, I searched around on the internet but couldn’t find anything exactly like what I envisioned. So, I made it up.

I had a ton of spare fleece lying around and used my SCA background to make a plan. This would be similar to a basic t-tunic- think “viking” era shirt. T-Tunics were typically made with a natural fiber like linen. They were used by men and women, depending on length. They were layered with other garments and frequently had beautiful decorative trim or embroidery. (I am not an expert on the history of t-tunics. These details aren’t even the reader’s digest.)

Example photo from : http://www.etsy.com/shop/Tunics

photo from : https://houseofvalcore.tripod.com/tunics.html
they have a tutorial at this link that would be very helpful for interested parties.

A fleece tunic blanket is born!

The original plan was to make it an actual robe, open in the front. However, when Josh tried on the initial design, he wanted it left closed with a few modifications:

binding around the neckline
finished hem at arms
slits at bottom for ease of movement
pockets

I was originally planning on skpping most of these finishing items because it’s fleece which doesn’t typically frey. But adding those details did make a finished product. I have not installed pockets yet but the photo below is the current finished product. He’s in love!

I am NOT an expert sew-est. This was just a fun and silly product made without a pattern and using what I had lying around. An expert would easily look at this photo and see 1000 ways to improve.

I’ll also add a silly photo of me in my “walking taco” outfit as tax for my husband letting me post this photo of him. I turned a tortilla blanket into a poncho by cutting a slit in the middle and added my tortilla sweats. Perfect gaming outfit.

Have a great day!

Sewing and crafting tonight

Two pillows sewed. One pillow fleece tie. My first potholder!

Sewing afternoon

We relaxed after lunch this afternoon and then Josh played some video games and I sat down to a Star Wars prequel marathon and some sewing.

Humorously enough, I had Star Wars fabric… multiple in fact… Yet I didn’t think to use that.

I needed to make something that wasn’t a mask for a minute.

Not pictured is a pikachu bag and the beginning stages of my first potholder.

Also not pictured is about 100 masks cut out and ready to be sewed.

Thanksgiving & a Sewing Afternoon

Working on a few masks: heart beats, american flag, bipartisan material, vintage patriot america, and not pictured is some buffalo plaid.

I have three styles I make:

1. Bandana, 2. Form fitted/curved, and 3. Rectangular with pleats.

Originally I used ribbons for ties but I now have elastic and adjustable beads.

For interested parties I also add fog filters and nose support.

UPDATE: here’s what I’ve made in the past few hours

Four of these are for family. I’ll add some nose supports and fog filters as desired by the individual.

Sewing projects

I’ll keep this post updated with different sewing projects I try.

Bags

Monsters

I learned to make little monster pillows. I had to name them because they were just too cute!

Rocking chair upgrade & “The Green Room”plans

So we bought a rocking chair at The Original Treasure Mart in Kokomo, In. It was on their discount floor for about $50. The structure of the chair was amazing. The ONLY downfall was the weird orange cushions.

Rocking Chair before: This chair was down in my craft room for the longest time. Our dog Dexter made it his bed. Now it’s upstairs and cats make it their bed. We used blankets to cover the nasty orange look most days.

We decided to bring it home and research how to reupholster it.

I cannot tell you that this will be a DIY instructional because I am not certain i want you to copy my method. I kind of made things up as I went with the knowledge of some blogs and YouTube videos in the back of my head.

I ordered fabric through JoAnn’s. Real talk: This chair & this room is for a some-day baby. Nope, we aren’t pregnant right now… but that doesn’t mean I can’t plan and set up this room now. Right? So when I say I ordered fabric. I ORDERED A TON! Yep I got 10 yards of this fabric. This room is going to be full of this stuff!!!

Ignore my super dark & thick eyebrows…. I was experimenting with filling them in during COVID-19….
Side note: Did you know that some of their fabrics can be customized? I found a pattern that I loved but did not love the colors. I was able to customize the colors and choose the type of material. Then it was mailed to my home.

If you’ve read my About or paid any attention to my posts you may notice that we have a Great Dane named Freyja. Well… long story short she partially ripped up a king size mattress pad. Yeah, like a $200+ one. *Grumbles* the good news? I was able to cut that and use it as additional support of the nasty orange cushions.

Here’s a basic break down of what I did: (If you actually want instructions then check out this woman. She does this way prettier than me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2bxjaND1uE) Josh cut some plywood for me. I cut the foam. I stained the plywood. I laid out the roll of fabric, set the foam on it and made a plan for how much extra would be used to wrap the fabric around the cushion. I cut the fabric. I cut batting. I used spray adhesive to attach the batting to the fabric and then the batting to the foam. I stacked the orange cushion and plywood on top. I folded in the raw edges of fabric and stapled around the wood. Whooooo! It’s done.

Rocking Chair after. There’s the custom ordered fabric. If you were curious, the material originally looked like this: https://www.joann.com/summer-fantasy-forest/78027.html#icn=navigation&ici=customizable-fabric&prefn1=productGroup&prefv1=Product&q=forest&srule=Test-V2-Search-Rule&start=1

Yes, this chair has imperfections. But DAMN! I love this rocking chair even more now that it has more cushion and better fabric. I can’t wait to make curtains to match. I may make a contrasting throw pillow to go with it.

Want to know more about this room? We are obviously making it into a nursery. The theme? Storybook/Whimsical forest. Think Hundred Acre wood meets Narnia meets Fangorn Forest. (Shout out to Tree Beard!)

This green room will slowly become a beautiful forest.

Here’s a silly video I took right after the room was painted. This is what we started with. Yes, I’m coy about my plans in the video. I wasn’t ready to blatantly say “We’re trying!”

Honestly, I didn’t want a nursery that was clearly “boy” or “girl.” I wanted it to have enough flexibility that our hopeful kiddos could make this space their own. Do they like fairies and flowers? Do they like nights and dragons? Do they like sweet woodland creatures? So much can happen in the imagination when you start with a forest.

We gathered things that we had already on hand that would prepare our little one for an adventure. Swords, a wizards staff, etc. Then I planned out some art I wanted to make which would incorporate some of my favorite quotes from books.

I still have quite a few more of these to make!

We bought some art at ComicCon last year that are some prints from David Wenzel, who did some art for The Hobbit. One is of Smaug sleeping on his pile of gold with Bilbo blending into the background and the other is of the shire.

Most recent walk through.

Cool mirror we found at The Original Treasure Mart.

The room is continuing to develop and I can’t wait to show you more progress. But here’s where we are for now.

Masks, Masks, and More Masks

With the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for PPE increased, I took time to make masks. Thanks to generous donations of supplies and funds, I’ve been able to help many people. It started as just a plan to help essential workers and that expanded to any one needing masks.