Grandma's Sewing Cabinet

Ret the Monkey testing it for Alice

My original plan was to take lots of photos during my Pattern Drafting by Draping class and upload them at night and tell you about all of the wonderful things I’ve been learning.  Obviously, that is not happening!  I’m loving the class and have a lot to share with you but the class is also very intense and I have several hours’ worth of homework almost every night.

But, my attention has also been seriously diverted by Baby Alice.  Alice is now 3 pounds, 11 ounces and the medical staff is very pleased with her progress….So much so, in fact, that she might be going home with her parents sometime next week!  That is ahead of schedule.  Apparently this little peanut is always going to be early *smile*

My sister asked me to make some swaddling blankets for Alice.  Being the geek that I am, I, of course, had to do some research.  There are several resources to buy a swaddling pattern but the design I liked the best was available from the Embroidery Library.  I wasn’t too keen on the instructions, though, so I used  the pattern and pretty much relied on my own sewing expertise for the rest.

Details for 2 Swaddlers:

1 yard flannel*

1 yard coordinating flannel*

1/2 yard of flannel for the inner pouch

1 package of soft sew-in hook & loop tape

Pattern (printed or photocopied four times)

A 13 1/2″ x 13 1/2″ square pattern cut from pattern paper, kraft paper, photocopy paper,  or drawn onto fabric

*You will be able to get two ovals laid lengthwise on 45″ inch flannel.  If the design is crosswise, you will need to get about 1/4 yard more fabric.  Just remember that all woven fabric is slightly stretchy on the crossgrain because of how it is woven, so it is not quite as stable as it is on the lengthwise grain.

Steps:

• Prewash and dry the flannel using a baby-friendly soap.

• Cut out the pattern and tape the pieces together.  Then tape them all together to create the oval.

• Make a 13 1/2″ by 13 1/2″ pattern for the inner pouch (if you haven’t done so already).

• Fold fabric lengthwise making sure to align selvages.  “Budget friendly” fabric is notorious for having some twist after washing.  If you try to straighten it by stretching, it will simply relax back into its twist after the next wash.  For our purposes, having a slight twist in the fabric won’t be a problem as long as we make accommodations  for it before cutting into the fabric.

• Lay the pattern on the fabric lengthwise.  You can use the center line made from taping the pieces together as your grainline.  Cut out the pieces.

• Repeat process using coordinating fabric.

• Pin pouch pattern to folded fabric and cut out squares.

• Finish the top and left sides of the each pouch by folding 1/4″ along the top and left sides, pressing, and then folding another 1/4″ and pressing.  Use a mitered corner, if possible.

• Make a  3/4″ pleat on the bottom edge 1/2″  from the finished edge.  Do this by marking 1/2″ from the edge and then making another mark 3/4″ away from the first mark.  Bring the marks together to form the pleat.

• Make another 3/4″ pleat along the bottom edge, only making this pleat 1″ away from the unfinished edge (instead of 1/2″)

• Baste the pleats closed.
• Fold one of the coordinating ovals in half and then in half again and then lightly press along the folds.  When you open it up, you should see two middle sections and the two “wings” that will wrap around the baby.
• Right sides together, lay the unfinished edge of the pouch along the fold furthest to the right.

• .Sew side seam 1/2″ from edge.  Press and then fold pouch to center of oval.  Press seam “open.”  Top stitch pouch 1/4″ from seam.

• Pin bottom of the pouch along bottom of the oval.  Stitch pouch to oval using a 1/4″ seam allowance (it will be stitched again in a moment).

• Pin outside oval to the coordinating/inner oval RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER, enclosing the pouch within the oval pancake.  Stitch, using a 1/2″ seam allowance and leaving an opening large enough for your hand to fit through (I made the opening right next to the pouch).

• Grade and clip the wing ends of the oval.

• Reach into the “baby burrito” and turn it right side out.  Reach back in and make sure that the entire seam is pressed out and smooth.  Press.
• Fold the opening in by 1/2″ and pin it closed.  Top stitch around the edge of the swaddler.

There are no pictures for the applying the hook and loop tape because I was frantically trying to sew it on before Alice’s shower!

• Add a three-inch vertical strip of the loop part of the hook and loop tape to the far left end of the oval (as you are looking at it).
• Turn the swaddling over.  Add two five-inch horizontal strips of the hook part of the hook and loop tape to the left side of the oval, about 6 inches from the edge and about 1″ apart (should look like a giant equal sign: = ).

Placing the strips of hook and loop tape this way allows for adjustment and baby growth.

To use: Place baby in the pouch.  Tuck any extra pouch fabric behind her.  Wrap the wings around the baby–folding down the wings as needed–and secure with the hook and loop tape.

Well, I guess I’ll be heading down to the garment district today (after I run some other errands, including the office supply store).  I received my draping class supply list this morning.  It’s really just a few things…

Notes, Tools & Supplies:

• ALWAYS PUT YOUR NAME ON ALL OF YOUR TOOLS AND SUPPLIES
• ACCESS TO A SEWING MACHINE OUTSIDE OF CLASS TIME IS REQUIRED
• Notetaking supplies: Students will need to take detailed notes.

·       3 ring binder

·       Notepaper

·       Optional: digital cameras, video and or audio to record demonstrations and lectures

• Sewing supplies: Most of the sewing supplies, books and tools required for FASH1A, will also be required.

·       Thread, bobbins and bobbin cases

·       Machine and hand-sewing needles

·       Tailors chalk

·       Thread snips

·       Seam ripper

·       Sewing reference book

• Draping/Patternmaking tools:

·       Paper Shears

·       Fabric Shears

·       Rulers

o    18″ transparent, plastic “C-thru” ruler

o    L-square

o    #17 French curve

o    Metal hip curve

o    Tape Measure

·       Tracing wheel

·       Notcher

·       Push pins

·       Steel pins

·       Pin cushion

·       Dark drafting pencil (#314 Berol)

·       Eraser

·       Pencil Sharpener

·       Black, Green, Red and Blue fine point sharpie markers

·       Scotch tape

·       Standard (or larger) stapler

·       Staples

·       Pattern hooks

·       Masking Tape

·       Pattern Cards (can be photocopied from book, created in excel, etc.)

·       9”x12” envelopes (clasp, not adhesive closure)

·       Clear sheet protector

• Draping/Patternmaking supplies  (bring a few yards of each to each class):

·       10 yards of dot pattern paper (approximately)

·       10 yards of brown paper (approximately)

·       5 yards of manila paper (approximately)

·       15 yards of muslin (approximately)

• Major Project supplies: dependant on the projects chosen

·       WOVEN Fashion fabrics suitable for day-wear, approximately 2-5 yards for each dress

·       Lining and interfacing

·       Buttons, zippers, and other closures

·       Various trims and notions including matching thread

·       Similar cheaper test fabric (often muslin) will be required to drape and to sew a fit sample.

·       2 yards of silky fabric, like charmeuse  (approximately)

I’m a little behind on my Christmas sewing–I still have to make my mother’s pajamas (she knows) and my Mother-in-law’s gift (she doesn’t know, yet).  And, I’m determined to finish my blouse from last summer and my high school reunion dress (that I obviously didn’t wear) that was kind of a disappointment.

I need to clear the decks ASAP, though, because I have been asked to make Alice’s dress for her dedication in March (when my minister sister will be out here in California).  Although my sister’s church doesn’t christen their babies, Jill still wanted something of the same heirloom quality as a christening gown.  Jill also gave me “free reign” to choose the dress.  I knew immediately the pattern I would use…it was just a matter of finding it in my stash: A Jessica McClintock pattern made by Simplicity in 1989.  I had bought it when we found out that my sister, Jan, was pregnant 18 years ago.  When I found out she was having twin boys, I opted for a Plan B (they looked adorable in the overalls I made for them, I might add).

We are guessing that Alice will weigh about six pounds by the time she is blessed and dedicated.  The smallest size starts at seven pounds but I plan on making the gown about 8-12″ shorter and use lace that is a little smaller in proportion so that Alice doesn’t look like she is drowning in all of that lace and fabric.

I bought that pattern a lonnnnnnnnng time ago and have purged my stash numerous times.  But I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of this pattern.  Now I know why.

I just bought the Draping for Apparel Design textbook that I will be using in my Draping class this winter.  As I was clicking the “buy” button, I was reflecting on how the one “little” decision to go back to school to study fashion has completely changed my life:

• For the longest time, I’ve considered myself an advanced intermediate seamstress.  It has been frustrating being stuck there but I couldn’t seem to move beyond that level.  Starting over at the beginning sewing lessons has  enabled me to fill in knowledge gaps that I didn’t even know existed!  Because of the coursework, I will be able to become a master custom clothier.
• I had forgotten how fun it is to be a student learning new things.  Yes, sometimes it gets weird straddling both sides of the podium but all of that schooling I had and all of those years being a professor and, of course, my expertise in how people learn, has enabled me to learn the material at a depth my young classmates aren’t able to achieve.  They often turn to me for guidance and help, which leads to…
• In helping my classmates, I get to practice my own teaching and sharing of something I am so passionate about.  That is not to say that my professors aren’t good in their own right!  But, everyone has their own teaching style and since my goal is to teach what I learn to home sewers instead of people going into the fashion industry, there are some differences in how I would go about teaching the material.
• I feel inspired and feel like my life has been given back to me.  So many listeners of my podcast have written to me and told me that they can hear the joy in my voice again.  And they are right!  As long-time readers and listeners know, I was feeling pretty beaten up.  My confidence had been destroyed by a sexual assault in the early part of this decade and then to be laid off, twice, and not have any prospects for full-time employment at other universities and struggling to earn a living as a life coach in an economy spiraling down had pretty much left me feeling demoralized and “non-essential” (yes, that is the term used by both universities when I was laid off).  Taking these classes has shown me that I still have passion and that others also value that passion.  (By the way, I want to thank those of you who stuck by me during those times when I felt so helpless and hopeless).
• Finally, every day I am discovering ways to combine my educational psychology expertise with my passion for sewing.  Most notably, of course, is the Tailored Curriculum program. But as I sit in class, I get excited about what I’m learning and am eager to share with you all what I’ve learned.  Much of it can be shared in the blog and podcast but I’m also starting to percolate ideas for workshops and retreats and can’t wait until we can start gathering together sharing in our common passion for sewing.

As I mentioned in my Modern Retro Woman blog today, a year ago I was a mess.  But, thanks to that one “little” decision to go back to school, I am eager to greet the future as we welcome in 2010.

I hope your Christmas was filled with great joy.  I will be taking a few days off to spend time with family and to celebrate our 23rd anniversary.

This is my brother-in-law singing to Baby Alice.  I think she tried to join in with him for a split second…

I saw photos of Baby Alice today and started crying.  She is such a peanut although she is bigger than I thought she’d be.  And, biologically, she may not be a “Mears Girl,” she is already showing the same sort of spunk that people claim make my sisters and me different than most families of sisters. My sister is a dancer and one of the photos of Alice shows her doing a major arm flourish.  She’s already her mother’s daughter!

Needless to say, the family is filled with extreme joy while being overwhelmed at the same time.  We thought we’d have plenty of time to prepare for the arrival of a baby….you know…do the baby showers…help my sister set up the nursery…make lots and lots of adorable looking baby clothes.  But Alice and G*d had other ideas, so here we are.

I must confess that I feel a little helpless in knowing what to do to comfort my sister as she and her husband go through all of the legalities and deal with the well-meaning people who are telling her what she HAS to do (but she can’t do because of the legal and medical issues involved).  My sister is heart broken that she hasn’t even been allowed to visit with Alice because she is recovering from the flu and not allowed into NICU (and she understands the danger she poses to all of those medically fragile babies…but that doesn’t make the hurting go away).  As I write this, I am waiting for news that the court has granted them guardianship today–the first step in the adoption process.

And so I turn to the one activity that spans the generations for comfort–sewing with grandma’s sewing cabinet.  How I wish she were here!  She’d know just what to say and do.

But she isn’t here so I rely on the community of women (and a few men) who share the common bond of sewing with me….the women who have encouraged me and celebrated with me over the years.

I want to thank you all, so much, for your words of encouragement and the ideas and the resources you sent my way…both in the comments and via email.  By far, the most recommended website via email was this one:

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/mcshelpsite/sewingstuff/freepatterns.html/#preemie

I was grateful for this link because it helped me expand my understanding of what Alice will need.  I am now waiting for the go ahead to make a “snuggler” or “burrito wrap,” a positioning “snake,” and an isolette cover.

Thank you again, for your immediate response.  I KNEW I could count on you!

PS: Now I have an excuse to subscribe to Martha Pullen’s Sew Beautiful!

There is much joy and celebration in my family–my youngest sister and her husband have become “Insta-Parents.”  Little Alice Kennay’s birth mother only found out last week that she was pregnant and thought she was only a couple of months along.  Lo and behold, Alice, who will obviously fit in quite well in our family because she obviously already has a mind of her own, was born on Thursday, about 2 months early.

She is a little peanut of 2 pounds, 7 ounces but she is breathing on her own and when she gets up to about 4 pounds, she will get to go home.  This has been a very long road, filled with disappointments, for my “baby” sister and her husband and I am pretty sure that Alice is the one that chose them to be her parents.

Now, I need your help!  Could you direct me to sewing patterns and such for premature babies?  Even the “xxxs” patterns at Simplicity were for up to 7 pounds.

Advice and suggestions on how this doting aunt can sew for Alice would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and please keep little Alice and her birth mother who is recovering from emergency c-section in your thoughts and prayers.

Juki, My Assigned Industrial Machine

For the past 16 weeks, I have spent my Mondays in a class that was designed to provide me with an…

Introduction to fashion, career concepts, research and clothing construction. Orientation to fashion careers, aptitude to fashion, life skills, time management, and education planning. Industrial sewing equipment, tools, and materials will be used to produce samples of elementary level garment construction as foundation to the understanding of pattern construction, fashion design, manufacturing and production.

The first half of the semester focused on introductory level sewing and the second half focused on draping and “designing” a basic skirt with a hem detail of our choice.

Even though this course is the “intro to sewing” class, and people often asked me why I was in the class with my 35+ years of sewing experience, I learned an enormous amount of stuff.  Yes, I went into the class with a level of sewing confidence that many (most?) of my classmates didn’t have but I was amazed at how many of my knowledge gaps were filled with the back-stories of why we do some of the things we do in sewing, not just the how-to-do-its that people have generously shown me over the years.

Classmates Thy Ahn Tri and Lele Luong working on their skirt slopers

My professor commented once, appreciatively, that my reactions to her demonstrations are over-the-top with enthusiasm. Compared to classmates who stood there stoically, I stuck out like a sore thumb.  I think what she didn’t realize is that I could practically hear the connections in my head locking into place with every “a-HA!” moment I had.  I could feel some of my creative frustrations melting away and the excitement within me grow as I began to realize that my visions were within my grasp.

This class also helped me tap into a long-dormant part of myself.  I am chomping at the bit to figure out more and more ways to share what I’ve learned with home-sewers so that they can discover all of the amazing things I’ve learned so far and will learn in future classes.   I’d love to teach sewing at the college level but my heart is really yearning to help women learn “the feminine art of sewing” once again.

During the winter term, I will be taking a draping class where I will really learn how to design clothing using Joan (as compared to the introduction and making the skirt that I did in this class).  I can hardly wait to share with you what I learn in that class!

****

I’m thinking about facilitating workshops, sewing camps, and online stuff.  What topics would you be interested in me teaching/you want to learn?

Let’s face it.  Money is still tight for most of us.  In the past, you may have picked up a gift card (or a mug) for your child’s teacher, coach, dance teacher, etc.  This year, though, it just isn’t in the budget.  So what can you do?  Together, you can make sachets filled with potpourri.  The video I found shows how to make a no-sew sachet but I think that a sachet is a perfect project to help teach your child some very basic sewing techniques.  Raid your fabric and trim stash together and let your imaginations run wild.  Believe me, your child’s teacher will appreciate a home-made gift from the heart much more than yet another mug (even if it is filled with chocolate).  Of course, my sister, who is also a teacher, will joke that the students who give her Starbucks gift cards always earn the highest grades in her class…

Suggestions:

• Teach your child how to do the backstitch if the sachet will be sewn right sides together and then turned right side out
• Teach your child how to do a more decorative stitch–such as a blanket stitch–if the sachet will be sewn wrong sides together.
• If the stitches will be seen, use cotton yarn or perle’ (heavy embroidery thread)
• The video shows square sachets but you can teach your child about patterns by creating heart, circle, or whatever shape you want sachets.  Just make the pattern on heavy paper and then cut it out.

Watch the video and then let your imagination run wild! (Beth, the creator of the video, doesn’t allow embedding).

Article on About.com on how to sew a sachet.

My friend, Dr. Meggin McIntosh, used to intimidate the heck out of me.  She is one of these women who does about a bazillion things at once and does them well.  But that isn’t surprising.  After all, she is the “Ph.D. of Productivity.”

Since I’m still having trouble with talking without coughing, I asked Meggin to join me on the podcast to share her strategies for finding time.  You’ll want to listen to her ideas on how to find “pockets of time to sew.”

Meggin’s Top 10 Productivity Tips

Meggin’s “Putting Pockets in Your Life”

Click here to listen to podcast via direct download

Click here to listen via iTunes

RSS to subscribe using your favorite podcast player:  http://grandmassewingcabinet.libsyn.com/rss

True to her word, Meggin sent photos of Gene and Greta to me.  These guys are absolutely adorable!

Gene and Greta With Furby

Gene and Greta Reclining on the Couch

Hanging Out with Other Family Members

Riding with Meggin's Husband, Larry

Have you made things that have also taken on lives of their own?  If so, please share!

“O’ Christmas Tree” is courtesy of Incompetech.com
“Deck the Halls” is sung by Dan Blocker on the Christmas on the Ponderosa cd (You have to be a hard core Bonanza fan, like The Mister, to want this album)