As I view these pictures I realized that it's a good thing Mr. Maricucu is confident in his manhood because I do believe I picked some of the biggest, boldest florals for our (mine?) collection of reusable grocery bags. What can I say except that I like bold prints and it was very hard to cut into these for bags vs. a whole closet full of skirts for me. Ahh the sacrifices I make.
All folded up and snapped tight. Here I've included the two versions I posted in the tutorial.
Not pictured above is this version I've sewn up tonight. I do believe I'm done sewing bags for a while.
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7 comments:
Where do you get your fabric Marielle?
Are there any good local fabric stores?
I haven't sewn much in the last 20 years (man am I old!), but I made skirts for the girls recently, and now I've got the urge to sew more.
Lowell how awesome that you made some clothes for the girls. I need to tackle some skirts for N. soon and have thought about doing these first:
http://www.oliverands.com/blog/2008/08/lazy-days-skirt-free-pattern.html
I haven't ventured much into local fabric stores other than Joann's or Hancocks and always when I have a coupon or there is a sale. But most of these prints I bought on deep clearance at these two stores:
http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/
http://www.fabric.com/
I find if I stalk their clearance/sale sections then I easily find $4-5ish/yard quilting cottons. I'm still in sticker shock when I see some of those $9 a yard fabrics. At this point it's just too much for me. The ones for the grocery bags were some designer ones from Joel Dewberry, Amy Butler, Robert Kaufman and Heather Bailey.
Oh and just remembered something local. Every now and then you can find some great deals here:
http://www.milloutletvillage.com/
I don't frequent the home decor fabric side but on the other side they sell overruns of garment fabrics, trim, quilting cottons and even sheets by the pound. Pretty awesome place to waste a couple of hours LOL.
That's the skirt I made for the girls! It was super easy, and If they're still wearing skirts (Delaney takes things in phases and for a while wouldn't put on a skirt or dress) in the spring I'll probably make them each a couple. I'm not sure it would be a great pattern for a heavier fall fabric.
I don't know how big N has gotten since I last saw her, but Harps is about 20 lbs, and it's almost too much skirt for her. If I shortened it much more it would be wider than it was long and there's quite a bit of fabric cinched into the waistband-if that makes sense. I'm sure you could modify that though. The one I made should fit her for quite a while.
I'd like to try this one next.
http://jchandmade.typepad.com/jc_handmade/2009/09/field-day.html
Thanks for the link to that blog by the way. :)
I'll try some of the links you've given-thanks for those!
I've been to Thimble Pleasures in Carrboro. I liked the store, and all the fabrics and colors. I honestly can't remember what the prices were like though. I bought several small pieces and it wasn't too much.
I LOVE your bags! They are so pretty. I would really enjoy grocery shopping if I had something that pretty to cart around. Almost makes me want to sew some up.....
OOOh thanks Lowell for that tip. I hadn't tried it but I will definitely adjust that for N. Although the thought of your little one with a full poofy skirt makes this little girl at heart think, "awesome twirly skirt!" LOL I need to grow up.
I love the jchandmade blog and you'll definitely need to let me know how the field day skirt comes out (I've never tried pleats before). I'll keep that local store in mind too. I don't mind paying a bit more if I get to pet the fabric in person. ;-)
Marin, thank you! Although I'm thinking I need to break in the bags with a messy, dirty shopping trip so I can get over my initial fear mucking them up.
I should have said this before, I think Thimble Pleasures is mostly a quilting fabric store. I don't think they had anything other than woven cotton prints-arranged by color which I loved. They had a beautiful section of batiks if you like those. They don't have a full range of notions and all that though.
Not to beat this to death, but the Lazy Days pattens isn't exactly a good twirling skirt. It makes a bit of a poof under the waistband, but I think then because it's straight down it doesn't exactly twirl out. It looks fuller when they twirl, but doesn't flare out. If any of that makes any sense. I liked it for other reasons-mainly because it was so easy, but also because I think you could make a lot of really cute combinations between the fabric and ribbon. The twirl factor is why I thought the field days skirt looked good.
I did a lot of sewing in high school. I had two full years of home ec with a great teacher. So I've sewn pleats before, and theoretically it should be okay-at least that's what I'm going with.
I'm going to tackle mermaid costumes for the girls next though. I'm thinking the costume fabric might be a bit of a challenge.
It's definitely not beating anything to death - I love the exchange of information. I love amassing tips and tricks that save me from ruin LOL. I think you're right though, definitely the pleated skirt or possibly a circle skirt would have more twirl factor. Good to know about Thimble Pleasures although quilting fabric has definitely become an addiction lately.
It's neat to hear of someone with a positive home ec sewing experience. Most times I hear of some not so great moments. Good luck with the mermaid costumes. I'm sure you'll do great!
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