Gift Making, 3

My sister was born 28 years ago Tuesday.

I also owe her a "Pay It Forward" handmade object (for those of you unfamiliar, I agreed to make five people something by hand within this year).


So, for her birthday, I've made her these yoga pants based off of Burda's Corinne yoga pant pattern.

By the way, finding decent yoga pants patterns and sports bra patterns for a reasonable price is not nearly as easy to find as I would have hoped. I was able to find some "draft-your-own from a pair you have" tutorials as well as "make some from a t-shirt" tutorials, but the official patterns were a little too pricey for my preference. Sewing Cafe does offer a nice, though perhaps too advanced option for me, tutorial on drafting one's own yoga patterns.

Sports bra patterns are even harder to find than yoga pants. But I digress.

I also made her a wrap cardigan based off of Megan Nielson's pattern, as I thought it'd be a little lame to only give my sister a gift that I'd already told her I'd give her. I had to cut down the measurements, as the fabric I'd used was not sufficient enough to do the measurements as given. And I added an extra insert of fabric on the sleeves, as I thought they were too tight for my arms, much less anyone else's. I'm not sure how well it'll fit, as I don't know her measurements. That's the one thing about sewing clothes for folks as gifts. I feel like I need to develop a measurements database for those I love, so I can just make clothes whenever I feel like it. They just have to stay the same size, and we're set!

Another cool thing about both of these pieces is that I made them from thrifted jersey sheets. Though a twin size fitted mattress may not be ideal for making a wrap cardigan according to pattern specfications, it is still a good $2 well spent.  And two UFOs off of my list for the week. I actually got a third one completed too, but I may add to it, and it's also a present that has yet to be given, so I don't want to spill the beans quite yet.

Here's to conquering the UFO mountain!

My UFO Abduction, or How I Won't Become a Hoarder

I come from a long line of pack-rats. Pack-rats who like to make things. And though I love the significant creativity and the willingness to explore that comes from such a heritage, I also dread the possible results. Specifically too much stuff. And too many unfinished projects.

The Sew Weekly's challenge last week was to make a UFO: Unfinished Object. Though I still haven't finished any projects for this past week, I appreciate the challenge. It really is important to finish what you start, whenever possible. I actually think it's a bit of a foible of mine; I feel that people should do what they say they're going to do, yet I have mountains of unfinished projects. Just look:

That, my friends, is the top shelf to my newly "organized" craft room. And that top shelf does not have just random stuff thrown on it. It has unfinished projects thrown on top of it. And that's not even including my fabric stash, for which I have projects in mind for almost every single piece. That stash is a whole other shelf-full. This, my friends, is not only sad. For a child of packrat culture, it's dangerous. Have you seen my parents' house? (No offense, and much love, Mom and Dad!)

Tilly and the Buttons recently made a post about finding sewing time. (If anything, just go to the post to see her fun "line" graph.) She's asking for folks to monitor their sewing time and just how to find more (or if they need more). I am thinking I may participate with her for the next week or so. Just because I have so much time. ;P

Actually, what I really think I'd like to do is set up a goal of sorts: one or two UFOs a week, and work on one "new" project. I have a deadline in mind for the Crepe sew-along, so I really need to get started on that. I figure, that will be my "new" project. I'll try to post my progress on the UFOs, too.