Sources for non-skid gripper fabric

My pattern for polar slippers came the other day from Sew Thankful.

I was looking at it and then wondering about sites where I might find the gripper fabric that goes on the foot of the slippers. Here's what I came up with:

• Slipper Grippers from Sew Thankful and shown here in purple. They come in a variety of colors and are supposed to be superior to Jiffy Grip. Now selling at Sew Thankful for $3.99 (regularly $4.50 each). Each package contains two 12" x 14" sheets.

• Jiffy Grip is a 14" wide fabric. You have to buy a 1 yard minimum for $4.99 (regularly $5.50). Again, Sew Thankful has it.

Nancy's Notions does not have either of these notions at the moment in their online store.

Clotilde's has Slipper Grippers in only two colors: Navy and white. They are selling theirs for $3.98, which seems to be their regular price.

At JoAnns, you can buy a package of 11" x 24" Jiffy Grip for $2.39 online only. They also have a product called Grip-Tight White, which is by the yard (minimum 1 yard) and is 15" wide, for $3.99/yard. This last is categorized under latch-hook rug making, so I'm not sure if its the same thing. They also have the Slipper Grippers available, apparently in all 6 colors?, for $3.99 each.

I'm sure there are lots more sources out there, but for now it appears there are several online sources, and probably my local JoAnn's where I can get these relatively inexpensively.

2009 Goals for Sewing

I listed my 2008 accomplishments earlier this month and really impressed myself! LOL! I did not have goals last year as I was just getting back into sewing and wasn't even sure what I could do. After seeing what I did do, I want to challenge myself this year and do a bit of planning.

I will now post my 2009 goals with some specifics in mind:

1) 40 garments or projects! Is it do-able? I'll try. Really, I just want to sew even more than last year.

2) Make a complete inventory of stash. I'll be happy to first get them indexed. After that comes making photos for Flickr and my more PatternKeeper form, which gives detailed information. It goes without saying that once its done, it needs to be kept up-t0-date!

3) Maintain my blog and learn to use it better. Already beginning to do that with this post.

4) Reduce stash! I'm especially concerned about the pre-2008 stash--some lovely stuff just dying to be sewn. Can I reduce it by 50 yards this year? 75 yds? Maintaining parity, i.e. don't buy more than I make and preferably less, would also be nice.

5) Enter any motivating contest available on PR. Includes UFO contest, stash contest, pattern stash contest, maybe several others, too.

6) Improve sewing skills by trying new techniques, reading, and taking more PR classes.

7) Can I be frugal? I'd like to think keeping to stash, including thread, zippers, and other notions, will mean I can be a bit more frugal this year than in 2008.

Sources for Microfleece

PR has a thread now that is discussing sources for microfleece. Microfleece is considered 100 weight and is good for sleepwear, but is thinner than what you would make an outdoor jacket with. Here are some links for good quality microfleece:

The Rain Shed
http://www.therainshed.com/

Mill Direct Textiles
http://www.milldirecttextiles.com/

Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics
http://www.owfinc.com/Fabrics/Fleece/fleece.htm

Peak Fabrics (in Canada)
http://www.peakfabrics.com/fleeces.php

BurdaStyle.com

BurdaStyle.com is a website for open source sewing. Its like "Freeware" in the computer software world. Here people can post the patterns, instructions--if any, and technical drawings of sewing projects they've designed. Moreover, sewers and seamstresses can post pictures of their creations using the patterns and place comments. Several BurdaStyle.com patterns have been reviewed on PR recently that have caught my eye, including:


Franzi 9302 --a vest that RusyBobn recently reviewed. She joined a sew-along to make this, and there was a podcast about it.

Leg-of-Mutton Knit Top --a knit top with an interesting bodice and strange-looking "leg-of-mutton" sleeves. NiceGirl on PR reviewed this. The jury is still out here. Not sure what I think of it from the pictures.

Danielle 9306 --this is a dress which a PR reviewer recently did. She left off the sleeves and turned it into a jumper that can double as a cocktail dress. Very classy with low scoop neckline I really like.

Retro Top --this is my favorite pattern I've seen. This top looks like it popped right out of the fifties or sixties and is very stylish and vintage-looking. I want a top like this!

The trick for these patterns is that you have to print everything out, including the pattern pieces--which you tape together. You may need to resize some of them to 100%.

If I can figure it out, I will be doing the retro top and may even enter it for my stash contest.

2008 Accomplishments -- A Sewing Success!

In getting ready to make my 2009 sewing New Year's resolutions I wanted to tally up what I'd done this year, in order to see where I need/want to go for next year; and, just because it makes me feel I've accomplished something after spending time tearing my hair out over some technique or step I am currently working on for a project.

I was pleasantly surprised at what I came up with:

1) I started sewing again! (after a 14 year hiatus)
2) I joined PR (on 20 Dec. '07, so I think I can count it)
3) I took 8 classes from PR and now feel so much more confident in my sewing.
4) I reviewed 3 sewing machines and 12 patterns (2 WIP reviews will be posted this weekend after I do the pictures) for PR.
5) I regularly read PR review postings (learned so much) for inspiration and always rated the reviews I read. I started using the message boards and learned how to post pix to PR/web using PR help.
6) I completed 18 sewing projects (counting the tablecloth and napkins and 3 witches costumes I made)!
7) I joined the UFO contest in January and won the oldest UFO category. Maybe not something to be s-o-o-o proud of, but what a wonderful introduction back into sewing!
8) I bravely ventured into sewing kids clothes for my son and some costumes for his school.
9) I inventoried my entire stash and found things I never new I had!
10) I attended the Sewing & Quilting Expo this year in Chantilly.
11) I read several books and took some workshops at the above Expo on fitting and am now venturing into pattern alteration, albeit not too bravely yet. But I am learning not to panic when my pattern is a size off from me, though.
12) I bought 2 new machines: a serger and an embroidery machine and am teaching myself to use them for even more sewing fun.
13) Started my own blog and picture site with Flickr which I learned how to use.
14) I learned SO VERY MUCH!!!!

OK, now I feel great and can start to think of some resolutions that will challenge me to new sewing heights this coming year.

------
Old Stash -- 131.56 yards
2008 Stash In -- 173.341 yards
Stash Given to me -- so far 33.97 yards (still counting)
Stash Sewn -- 7.75 yards
Current Stash -- 331.121 yards
Items Sewn - 18

"When the hurly-burly's done ...

When the battle's ... won!"



On May 7, 2008 I finished the 3rd and most challenging of 3 witches costumes I made on my serger for dear son's MacBeth play. I was both thrilled and exhausted. I giant weight also dropped from around my neck. I loved making the costumes, but wanted to do a good job and felt stressed out as a result.

Here are some of the thing's I'm happy about for this project:

1) Frugality: I listened carefully to what the teacher explained was her vision of how the dresses should look. Then I searched my pattern stash. I realized that a simple nightgown pattern included in my Kwik Sew Sewing for children's Master Pattern collection would fit what she wanted. Soooo.... save myself about $10.00 in buying a pattern.

2) Simplicity of project: As usual, Kwik Sew patterns are easy to make; and this one was no exception. I was also able to easily adapt the patterns to cut a slit in the back for the opening and add little spiky points to the ends of the sleeves and hem.

3) Speed of project: Using my serger, I was able to sew each gown in an afternoon. I adapted the pattern instructions for my serger, using a 3 thread overlock for seams and narrow hem for all hems/neckline. By the third one, I was so familiar with the project construction, I was doing it in just a few hours.

4) Nice thread: I went out and bought some metallic gold/black variegated Wooly Nylon thread to go with the fabric. The school provided me with a Gold Lame fabric with a black backing. They wanted me to use the black side for the right side of the fabric because the Gold Lame stuff made it look shimmery for the witches gowns. Using the Wooly Nylon thread turned out to be a real winner. I did narrow rolled edges for the neckline and opening, and hems. I put the Wooly Nylon in the upper looper of my serger and and black thread in the right needle and lower looper. Then from the right side of the fabric (black side), I serger the narrow hem. The black/gold Wooly Nylon was lovely on the outside of the gown!

Well, I don't know if the audience will be scared of our little witches in the play, but they will certainly adore them in their costumes. Kwik Sew has come through with another winner pattern for me!

Here's a link to DS wearing one of the witch's costumes.

Beginner Sewing Lab 102

In continuing my pledge to learn new things in sewing this year, I started a new online class through PatternReview on tax day. Its Shannon Gifford's Beginner Sewing Lab 102; and today was Lesson Three.

I took Lab 101 in February and loved it. Because I'd had experience sewing, I hemmed and hawed about taking it. In the end, the price ($36.00 for 10 lessons to PR members) won me over; and I figured that at $36 it wouldn't hurt to see if the classes were worth it.

Online classes are very convenient. You sign in on your schedule, not the teacher's or organization's. You may print the material or save the files to disk. Of course I'm doing both! There's also a message board where students can post questions about stuff they don't understand in the written material or ask about projects they're working on. Its very educational to read the problem and the teacher's answer. PLUS, you get the bonus of being permanently subscribed to the message board and can go back again and again. There's also a homework gallery where you can take photos of your projects and upload them to the gallery.

I actually DID learn quite a few things in Lab 101 and picked up a lot of information on how to organize one's sewing space, fabrics, and projects.

Soooo, I'm now in Lab 102 which is called Cut, Mark and Fuse; and loving it. I never knew you should preshrink your notions, such as zippers, bias tape and interfacing. Picking up lots of good stuff in 102 already! Will be taking 103 and 104 later in the year.

Workout Wear (including swimwear)

Not too long ago, I posted a query on the PatternReview.com message boards about workout wear and sources for Spandex. I want to make sure I remember some of the answers, so I'm posting to the blog:

Some sources for workout wear (including swimwear):
EmmaOneSock
Spandex House
Spandex World
Lucy's Fabrics

I also found this thread on the message boards. Some recommended fabrics for workout wear from the experts on PR include:

ottoman knit (examples: http://www.lucysfabrics.com/Bottom-Weight-Fabrics/Ottoman-Rib-4-way-stretch-BROWN/
http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/catalog_itemdetail.aspx?ItmID=A796)

doubleknit rayon (example: http://www.emmaonesock.com/fabrics/rayonblenddk.asp )

rayon blends (60% rayon, 30% nylon and 6% spandex)

Knits with cotton were discouraged as these tend to stretch out within an hour or two of wear.

I bought several fabrics from Spandex World last month. I'm in the process of making some workout pants from one of the fabrics. They're a blue cotton lycra that I got from Spandex World (90% cotton, 10% lycra) for $6.00/yd. (bought 1 yard) and have 4-way stretch. Loved sewing them, but the fabric is not as heavy as I would have liked and clings in areas where I'd like a little more padding. Next time, I may need to underline, if I use the same type of fabric. Will see if these stretch way out of shape after I begin using them.

Fabric Fast 2008

There is a very amusing thread on the PatternReview.com message boards that I stumbled across about a month ago. It is called "Fabric Fast: 2008, Can I last the whole year?". On April 2, 2008, I added it to my Topic Tracker and have been a lurker every since, reading all postings and thinking about the concept really hard. Joining this thread requires a commitment to buy no more fabric until such time as certain goals have been achieved!

Today, I made the big move. I posted to the site that I'd be joining. Its important to me to reduce my fabric stash because I have so many nice fabrics that I really had forgotten I had until I started inventorying my stash. I also won a lot of fabric from the 2008 Finish Your UFO Contest that I am committed to making for Elliott this year. So with joining, I've come up with some rules:

--inventory entire stash and keep strict inventory on what comes in and goes out thereafter
--sew all the garments from Sewzanne's that are intended for Elliott's summer wardrobe
--reduce stash by one-third in 2008
--continue to see each project as a learning new sewing techniques project, so I'll be faster at finishing projects

So far, I've inventoried about two-thirds of my stash. I think I have about 50 yards still needing inventorying.

I haven't bought fabric since March!

I've managed to reduce my stash by 2 yards since March. I know this is pathetic, but children's clothes don't require much fabric.

Here's all my statistics so far:

Old Stash: 48.875 yds
2008 Stash In: 33.25 yds
Total Fabric Out: 2.0 yds

Total Items Made: 2 (again since March)
Total Items in Progress: 3 (pullover, apron, boxers all for Elliott)

Total Items Planned: ?? Too many to know, but here's some initial plans:

shorts for Elliott: DONE (only 1 yard)
workout shorts (me): DONE (only 1 yard)
shirts for Elliott: 4
robe for Elliott: 1
sweatsuit for me: 1 (2 pieces accounting for 3 yds.)
swimsuits for me: 2
swimsuit coverup: 1
skirts for me: 2
sew. machine cover: 1
tops for me: 2

This ought to keep me busy at least through the summer!

New Class

Tomorrow my new class starts: Beginner's Sewing Lab 102. This is the second in a 4 class series taught by Shannon Gifford on PatternReview.com. I took 101 and liked it so, or should I say sew, I have decided to take the whole series.

In 101, I got ideas about how to organize one's stash and keep up with fiber content, pricing, whether it had been prewashed, what I wanted to do with it, and what notions I had for it or would need for it. Some of my fabrics are impulse buys, but surprisingly enough, I do buy some with a pattern and garment idea in mind. By the time I get to making it, I've often forgotten all this.

Other ideas I got were:
--doing an inventory of presser feet (as I accumulate more, this is more attractive),
--how to figure out how many inches to add to pattern pieces when altering was necessary,
to name a few.

AND, I not only printed all lessons, but saved all files to my flashdrive in case I need to reprint something some day. I am "sew" looking forward to 102 and with all I learned in 101, I can't afford not to take the other 2 classes afterwards!

The New Toy!

My new serger came on a Thursday, Valentine's Day--I was hopeful that it would be a harbinger of much love to come! And so far, I love it. I bought it online from Walmart. The make is a Brother 1034D and it has lay-in threading. I made my decision to buy it after reading a convincing review on PR. After it arrived, I set it up, looked it over a good bit, read the manual, and watched the two CDs the first week.

Then 2 weekends after it came, I actually used it a bit. I practiced on some cotton, a medium knit, and a heavy fleece knit for the 4-thread overlock stitch. Loved it. Then I changed the threads. I snipped the pre-threaded spools and tied the threads to my new ones. Then I pulled the threads through. I learned sufficiently how to thread the machine that next time I will just cut, remove, and thread from scratch. It seems pretty easy, so far.

I wanted to try it on a real piece. I started sewing a raspberry-black heather sweater knit in Burda 8028, view D length with collar of view A. I've done the shoulders so far and am delighted with the look of the seams. Here is a test view. It uses a 4-thread stitch. The stitching on top is using the pre-threaded spools that came on the machine. The stitching to the right side shows the thread I used to actually make the sweater.

I am now using it on the fabric that I got at SewZanne's as part of my contest winnings for the UFO contest. I bought a lot of fabric to make younger DS clothes for the summer mostly. As they're all pretty much knits, the serger is really coming in handy!

Wardrobe 2008: Would You Care for a Little Wine

I have come up with a name for my Wardrobe. It's "Would You Care for a Little Wine". I'm going to want a glass to celebrate when I get done!

My wardrobe will be in shades of burgundy and wine. I've begun to plan the outfits. More later.

Wardrobe Contest 2008 and SWAP

OK. I'm NOT going to do the Wardrobe Contest for 2008--at least not officially. In the first place, the dates are not good for me. Here's why:

--younger DS's fabric for a robe came in from FFC on Feb. 1st and I want to work on that
--still working on elder DS's skishirt
--younger DS wants another pair of pajamas and I'm working on that
--bought a serger this month, want to play with that and learn it!
--signed up for Shannon Gifford's Beginner Sewing Lab 101 on PR, which starts Feb. 15th--can't wait!
--may sign up for another class shortly
--just found out about SWAP and storyboards and want to learn how to do these before daring to officially enter anything.

So here's the unofficial:

I've divided my stash into 3 similar color combinations: wine/burgundy; purple/lavender; and magenta/pink. I'm going to concentrate on the wine/burgundy collection this year and will try to teach myself new techniques as follows:

--how to plan a SWAP/wardrobe
--how to make a storyboard (may start out low-tech and work up to Photoshop)
--how to alter patterns for fit (forward shoulder alteration, shortening arms, perhaps high back alteration, all using P/P Fit for Real People)
--developing a basic collection of TNT patterns, so when I DO enter a Wardrobe or SWAP contest next year, I won't have to worry about choosing so many untried patterns

I may consider the mini-wardrobe contest later and definitely the fabric and pattern stash contests upcoming later this spring and summer.

I will use the Wardrobe Contest 2008 rules as best as I can as far as garments go. That means:

--a jacket or dress
--1 accessory
--4 tops
--and 4 bottoms.

When do I start?
Well, I cut the fabric for one top last night, so I guess offically, I started Feb. 10th.

Will I keep to the deadline of May 9th (extended for when I officially started)??
I don't think I can make it, but I will see how many garments (including my sons' garments) I can get done during the time. I am tasking myself to try to do as many as possible without making a bunch of trash I won't wear, as I really, really want to do this next year.

Oh and by the way, SWAP is an acronym for "Sew with a plan." Its very similar to Wardrobe Contest and each year Timmel Fabrics holds a SWAP contest. Many thanks to Sherril on PR for educating me on yet another worthy concept.

2008 Wardrobe Contest on PR

I'm considering doing the 2008 wardrobe contest on Pattern Review which starts today. They've removed the restriction on being a member for 3 months before you start, which was my main reason for not being allowed before.

The contest on PR has basically the following rules (complete rules can be found here):
Make a wardrobe of 10 items :
- 4 bottoms
- 4 tops
- 1 jacket or dress
- 1 accessory

My problem is can I do it and:
- work full-time
- be full-time wife, cook, and mommy
- and keep my sanity!

I've never challenged myself to sew this much before AND I want to sew a couple of things for DS the younger and DS the elder during the contest--no exceptions. So I will wait a few days and keep sewing to see if I can do it.

My other problem is that in getting out my stash, I see that I buy a little more haphazardly than I thought. I wanted to restrict myself to stash only. I THINK I can do the 4 tops and bottoms plus a dress, but we'll just have to see. I've chosen fabrics in shades of purple. You can see the fabrics from my stash that I'm hoping to use for the contest here .

My sewing blog

This is my blog. I created this blog as a place for me to explain more information about my sewing projects in 2008 and beyond! As I try new techniques and learn more about sewing, I'll be posting information to help me remember and perhaps help others.