My First Quilted Fabric Bowl

Hiiieeeeeeeeee! Sorry I haven't been active for awhile. Things have just been a little cray cray. Unfortunately it has totally affected how much time I could spend sewing as of late. Davey no sew, then Davey gots nothing to blog about. Before all the craziness set in I started a cool project in attempt to try new techniques and improve my sewing basics. This Quilted Fabric Bowl Tutorial by Geta Grama is amazing!!!! I remember when I saw this tutorial I was super impressed and thought it was so clever. I chose to do it now because I have desperately been dying to experiment with free motion quilting. I tried to do free motion quilting if you remember, but was unsuccessful because I didn't know how to properly set my sewing machine up to do it. Anyways that new technique combined with doing satin stitching (which I have been super interested in for some time as well) plus it has utility!! So big win win win win win all around. Anyways, like I said the tutorial is amazing and this was fun to do!

So I am trying to learn from my mistakes and one of those things I've learn is what I call the first pancake. Chefs’ use this term to describe how the first pancake is always a throwaway more of a way to test to see how hot the pan is. I'm using the term to say that I am going to try, from now on, to always do test run always. Until I’m a superhero level seamster man, I’m gonna try and never do a project unless I do a test run and experiment first. Like the stuffed animals I did recently, I would have done a much better stuffed fishies if I had done a one or two beforehand

Anyways that's a long way of saying because I knew this was gonna be a test run SO I choose to use this particular fabric and thread combination (Black with some white). I think the fabric is really beautiful - this green bamboo print. I had a lot of it I don't remember where I got it from, I think a leftover bin at Hancock. I always intended to use it for lining in a purse or handbag but because it had some stability and the only stabilizer I had was a medium I thought this would be good combo. I did all the quilting in black thread, but then had to switch to white and black only in the bobbin. Interesting effect none the less...

I don't remember……. because I started this project but only a month and a half ago……. I think I just looked at her pattern and just made my own by hand. I do not recommend you doing this. It was kind of problematic but it was kind of fun for me as a math guy to work through angles and such. Seriously though her pattern looks perfect and I'm going to use it next time. So here you can see my pattern, the stack of cut out pieces and the stack of stabilizer pieces. I don't remember what my reasoning was for not ironing the stabilizer on to the fabric first and then cutting it out... But that's what I’m gonna do next time. It turned out okay in the end.

Here is a picture of what it looks like to do it that way and for you Type A's you probably don't want to see this picture. Nothing is perfectly aligned and all perfect, but this is how I roll people. I gots to be me!

Now comes the free motion quilting of the pieces together back to back. I saved one of the pieces to do some preliminary free motion quilting. I tried this lotus style and a few others (like the hearts and the ivy and the circles) but I'm not very good at it. But now that I'm looking at it again my lotus it's pretty good, hmmm.....

Anyways, because I couldn't imagine doing that much quilting on a practice run I kind of came up with my own idea. NOW I'm not saying I invented this, I'm just saying this is what I thought up. If you know what this is called let me know, I'm just calling it spider webbing. I just go back and forth various angles and distance from other stitches. It's fine if it's easy. I didn't like it when I did all them and I wasn't sure if it looks good at this point.

Before I could start satin stitching the sides of all the pieces I really need to clean up and all the edges. So what I did is I took my template and cut in a half inch on each side. And then traced it on each of the pieces and cut them out. I don't know if you can do this for every free motion quilting pattern but it works for this one because the lines continue to intersect regardless of where you started them at.

After that, I followed the rest of her instructions and I stitch them together the way she told me to and bingo bango! It’s a Quilted Fabric Bowl!!! Now because I didn't follow her pattern mine looks different than hers (of course) she has one additional side piece and hers are not as tall as mine. You can kind of see when you start to play with this overtime how the centerpiece determines how high of an angle the side pieces are raised up by

Anyways, because mine is a little too floppy and my stabilizer wasn't super heavy duty, I decided to just try and continue to stitch together each of the side pieces. My thinking was that I can always take out the seam if it did not work out. So you can kindof see what I mean in the pictures of how I stitched up the two angles together all around the bowl

And what an amazing idea because look what it gave me!!!! I love it!!!!! It looks like a tulip. And the top naturally curls so I just ironed them a little bit to enhance their curl and it worked out perfectly. In fact I think it's very architectural in a way.


And now I finally really like the freestyle free motion quilting (Just to be fair I know I shouldn’t be calling this free motion quilting cuz I just sewed in a line back and forth but come on!). When you look at it from the top it looks cool too!


What I will forever remember from the Quilted Fabric Bowl Tutorial:

• Uhmm…. I’m gonna make a million, in a gazillion different sizes! You watch.
• Perfect project to continue practicing free style quilting! ;)
• This takes A LOT of thread!!!!
• Seriously try this out sometime and see what you can do. I can’t wait to make more patterns and see what I can do!!
• A tighter, more dense, freestyle quilting pattern would improve stability.
• Satin stitching is great. I wish I could make my sewing machine make it so that their wider.
• And they make a great hat.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy Fishy

I hit the sewing machine this week to make gifts for a certain set of twins who turned one years old recently. I follow a blogger called Lauri, she has a free tutorial how to make fish soft toy. I was definitely inspired by her example. The tutorial has great and easy instructions. The only deviation I planned on having from her instructions is replicating the fish scales on each side – verses just one side like her instructions.

At first I thought I’d use lots and lots of different fabrics, but then I dialed it back. Most of the fabrics came from remnants of their baby quilts. I did decide to flip the fabrics for either side of the fish toy. You can see it better than I am explaining

Things were going great - I wasn’t rushing the project, I wasn’t being overtly sloppy. Hell I even cleaned my sewing machine first – LOOK! Ewww, that’s a dirty-dirty little sewing machine!

BUT I did forget to closely inspect my work and I ended made some mistakes. Oi vey…. Well luckily I only made them on one of the fish, I learned my lesson and double checked my work on the second fishy.

I finished the fishes with minimal heart ache and blood loss. It’s such an easy project I can’t recommend it enough for newbies. So I like it but then again I don’t…. Do you think they look weird?



I think the main problem I have with it was that I put too much batting into the scales. Yea, maybe that was it. Now I just need to ask myself, are they good enough or should I redo them?


Things I learned:

• Always try new things, it’s how you learned.
• Make a tester when starting a new project, it will help mitigate errors.
• Watch those rounded edges. I may need to learn a thing or two about that.

The Tote Bag That Took Me Down

It’s been a rough week.  I've been grouchy and snappy. There’s been a lack of sleep and when I do sleep it’s been laced by horrific, scary nightmares which has resulted in me having a super negative attitude. On Wednesday evening I thought “Maybe I should do some sewing, it might just make me feel better.” Oh boy, was I ever wrong and if I knew how wrong I was I would have just gone and did the dishes instead. I went to my Pinterest page and looked around for inspiration. I saw this tote bag that I've wanted to do for a while now. I thought it was the perfect project; it had new techniques that I thought were only slightly challenging. Oi….

This may be the only tip I have to give back: I don’t bother printing patterns, I trace them off the screen. I set my adobe reader to full screen view at 100%. Then just trace it on some notebook paper. I just think it easier, but I guess the biggest motivator for this methodology is became I don’t have a home printer. ;) So that was the first step, tracing, cutting and taping it together.  I'm sure someone already figured this out already, but did you?

After that I picked this strange fabric I got from somewhere… (from its horrible condition, maybe the dumpster?). I have never been sure what do with it cause it is full of stains, splatters, and tears. Seriously why has this yard of fabric been so torn up? Was it used in a garage somewhere? Anyways, I cut it out and was thinking I’d try a couple of things. You know how they always say clip rounded corners my quick solution is to use my pinking shears to do that. Is that wrong? I was hoping to find out

Alright, things are going good. Got the pattern made, cut it out, now step #2…. darts …. Whatever those are…. I guess I am quasi familiar with what they are. I mean hello, I watch project runway – I've heard that term before, but uhm… how do it you do them. The instructions were just, put in darts. So I had to go the internet and find someone who could teach me. Well here’s the thing I hate, you’d think that places like Crafty.com would be the place to find easy instructions but there has never been a time that Crafty has been able to communicate to me. I love bloggers because I can relate. I found this page called Coletterie. Whoever wrote the blog post about darts was great, they made it easy to understand for me. NOW here is once again I flex my maverick muscle and just can’t follow instructions. They talked about leaving some of the thread and tying a knot with it. Why? Just back stitch right? I don’t get it and I will not put that much work (unless I get good at hand sewing soon) into something simple unless it’s absolutely necessary. So darts were one of the first things that took me down – I kept sewing them reversed and my seam ripper got a workout that night.

Well, I won’t get too into it, but as the project progressed, things got worst. I think there was a combination of being tired and headstrong that resulted in error followed by error. I wasn't paying attention to the instructions and instead choose to just bully my way through it. Sewing is about patience something I have lost and maybe I’m looking to get it back. But this wasn't the time for a lesson in patience … or was it? Anyways, I guess I got upset because all my meticulous prep work was lost when I sewed the pieces together wrong, I couldn't pull them apart because of the flimsy nature of this fabric. Instead of pulling apart it just ripped. Dumb Dumb – should have paid attention. Le sigh…. I guess I was so disappointed because I lined up my strips so nicely I really wanted this to work out. And now… this will probably become rag (Which is probably what it was to begin with).

Day 2. I decided to not let the previous failures get me down and try again. I was going to pay more attention to the instructions. Work smarter and not harder this time. I went to cut the same fabric but… this pattern uses more fabric than I thought. I only had enough for “one more piece.” So back to the crap bag of fabric and I remember I only got a little bit of this drapery-crap fabric left so that’s perfect. Things definitely went better this time… except… I forgot or missed turning the interior fabric RST before sewing together. So other than the fact that my interior fabric is reversed it turned out okay. I looked at the fabric and thought that the fabric could handle a stronger top stitch. I think it’s cute-ish in a way. Sometimes I look at it and see prom dress top.

	So one last try today - Get it right, behave and conform. This time was for real-real, I decided to use fabrics that I love. Alright I love it, finally. This time I used the scraps from the interior curve to make four pockets, two of each prints. Like the green bag, I used different top stitch, I’m not sure I love it but its okay. There are things I like about this. I lined up my pockets with the prints expertly. The final decision on the top stitch pattern I’m on the fence about. I wanted something architectural and have some structure to match the print.

Things I learned after getting knocked down:

• Darts are an interesting creature. They require precision. Sloppy Darts = Extra and unexpected darts.
• Don’t be sad Davey, sometimes life is hard but you managed to get through this self-imposed obstacle.
• I swear, this pattern is needless complex. I’m pretty sure that that you could sew up the straps and just pull everything out an opening in the bottom of the bag. Right? Right? Does anyone know? Seriously, should I try it?
• Patterns, textures, and color – you never know what will work so just try it.

Getting Some Closures

I’m one of those dudes who has what I call, the final step problem. You know what I mean? Do I put away my clean laundry or just pick out of the laundry basket all week? Do I put away the dishes or just pull the clean ones from the dishwasher. So it should be no surprise that there were sewing projects also waiting for final touches. Those missing final touches being that I needed to be added were closures.
But I there was no more time to procrastinate! Some of these bags had new homes to go to so I couldn't put it off any longer.

You remember my Daycare Bag right? I really struggled to think about what type of closure would be best for its function. I don’t think a bigger clasp would have been beneficial for a mom or dad on the go shoving last minutes items into the bag. So I just decided to be unoriginal and just do some snaps. I figured if they actually needed to close it that these would be sufficient.

I was a little apprehensive putting these on. I've done grommets before, which I didn't realize are very similar to these. The instructions on the back of the package were so tiny and vague. So I reached out to the internet thinking, “no big deal – there’s probably a youtube video showing how to do this”… yea, no (or at least I couldn't find one). I was lucky enough to find this blog called Sid's In Stitches – this Sid lady is my new hero cause without her showing me the steps I might have blown threw more snaps than I had on hand. Anyways, this is why I created this blog – to say thanks, so thanks Sid!

The last bag that needed a closure before it got sent out was my Hippy Dippy Bag. This one could handle a bigger and badder closure, so I found this leather toggle cutie to use. I figured big deal – I just need to sew this down…. Well, you know how I’m complaining that I don’t have proper needle usage down? Yea I think I’m still having that problem because when I tried to sew this down I got some for real eyelashing problems. But maybe the tension was wrong…. So I had to think about what I could do. I decided to change it up and use a.... a... back-and-forth stich? a... a... tight zig-zag stich? Man I just really need to educate myself soon on these terms. I of course I did a quick google to see how others were sewing on their leather toggles. I found a blog by a lady named Maris called Sew Maris. She’s amazing and a talent. How she put on her leather toggles on was inspired and the coat she made was perfection.

Maybe I learned something, maybe I just need to re-read my old posts:

• Maybe as I get further along I really need to take a class or read a book.  It's fun discovering on my own, but I think a little training could go a looooonnng way.
• When all else fails do it your way and love it.
• I love finding new sewing idols and learning from them.  <3 <3 <3

My Heavenly Headbands

See, I told you I could find something else to sew other than tote bags!  I decided to make headbands simply because I saw them pinterest and they looked like a great gift to make for friends.  I made some car seat covers for some lady friends of my mine who had kids recently.  Well, unfortunately, one of the girls is moving away.  I know this will be sad for them both to leave each other, so I wanted to make something for them to remind them of their friendship.  I made them these fabric headbands out of the remaining fabric from their car seat covers.  Awh, I love them both so much and I hope these remind them of all their good times.

I choose the pattern and tutorial at Me and My DYI for Reversible Headbands.  One of the main factors for why I choose this one is because she used the kind of elastic I had (non-roll).  Originally I was thinking of making the Craft Snob’s DIY Headband because it involved fewer steps, but it uses fold over elastic – I’m not familiar with that and don't have any.  I probably could have used non-roll elastic, but… whatevs.  ANYWAYS, I like ones I made better anyways, they are cuter.

So the first one I made I followed Debbie’s instructions at Me and My DYI exactly. I love her instructions and details, but oi, she used one of those turn-inside-out-tools, and I haven’t had luck using my mom’s and I don’t have one so….. I felt that anxiety bubble up because I hate turning pieces inside out, but actually it wasn't that hard. I created my own concoction to pull the elastic through the strap. It worked out just fine. You can follow her instructions and I’m sure they’ll turn out as perfect as her. That being said, I (of course) ended up altering her pattern. After sewing the first one I felt like it could use a bit of tweaking.

Okay, so below is what I had an issue with, the bands almost seemed too big. The top of the band like lifted off the head a little. You can see that I wanted it to have a pleat in it, so that it folded over. So I altered the pattern a smidgen.

As it turns out my elastic was ¾” and Debbie’s was a ½” so I need to change the pattern a bit anyways. Below you can see her original pattern below (folded in half) and my altered pattern above showing how I was accommodating the larger elastic size. The first one I made it was hard to pull the elastic through and because it was such a tight fit it kind of twisted around a bit.  BUT as you can see in the bottom picture, the fold over came out amaz.

Anyways, they turned out so great. I did a couple where I did reversed for the two ladies to each have a fabric from each other’s car seat covers. That being said, I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra work to make them reversible…. Cute, but, meh.

If you are reading this now I am probably at my sewing machine furiously making as many as I can for all the girls in my life. I hope these inspire you to make your own. Oh, here are some silly pics of me demo-ing these headbands for my friends.

What I learned before all the blood got stuck in my head from an overly tight headband:

• Check yourself before sew yoself.  A couple of times I sewed the strap on the back twisted.  It’s hard for me to devote my attention 100% to sewing.  I either have the TV on in the background or chicken on the grill or something else dragging me away from the sewing machine.
• A couple of times I just used my rotary cutter free-hand and the cuts which came out weird which meant that the final sewing came out weird too.  My mom always hounds on me to cut things out straight and correctly.  But my thing is that I have been able to convince myself that I can correct wonky cutouts by sewing them together straight…. I’m not sure I’m convinced anymore.
• Can boys wear headbands, cause I look hawt. Jk, I’m not wearing them.  Maybe I’ll keep one for when I am washing my face. :)
• GREAT project to get rid of your remnants and scraps.