6 of my Favourite YouTube Sewing Channels

I get a lot of sewing inspiration and help re. on Youtube.  Here are just a few of my favourite channels.  They're all not only great sewists, but are great at teaching the rest of us:

1.  Tree

Tree is in England and I love her enthusiastic, no nonsense style.  Here is her apron video which I used to make a bunch of aprons for friends and also to sell on Etsy:

Here is my version of Tree's apron:

I omitted the pocket because I didn't want to block the recipes.

I put them on Etsy but, of course, not 1 has sold. Really difficult to get going on Etsy until you get a following.  My instinct was to say "unless" but thought "until" sounded more optimistic, LOL.

Here's my Etsy apron link:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/115859197/sexy-apron-with-cocktail-recipes-they

2.  Jenny

Jenny is a quilter who owns her own quilting shop.  I'm not a quilter (started it years ago and didn't have time for the time I know it would take up as it's obsessive ... one day) but love her videos as you can always get inspiration and advice from enthusiastic, creative people.  

3.  BeCraftsy

Not a person specifically, but a company that hires people to sell tutorials you buy on-line.  I just watch their videos as lots of short little tutorials on there that are helpful.

This one's great about how to get the perfect corner:

4.  Brian

This video of all the drafts of shirts he bought was boggling to me.  I simply don't have that type of patience, but sure admire it.  

5.  Niler

Love her videos as she's a great seamstress but is great at teaching us simpletons the trick of the trade.

6.  Vanessa

She's one of the instructors hired by Craftsy I believe, or one of those companies who sell tutorials.  Anyway, she must be a popular on-line sewist as seems to be given a lot of stuff to give away, etc.  She's one of my favourites, does excellent videos.

That's it for now, I really have to get back to work.  Sewing is just my hobby and I tend to waste too much time on it.

I'd love to hear about your favourite sewing Youtubers, Etsy Sellers, Bloggers, etc.

Lisa.

Baby Gift (blanket, ribbon chewy, bag)

Here's a gift set I made for my ex-husband's niece who just had a baby boy, I have it on Etsy also:

I hate to say this but I'm just not happy with it.  I was just getting back into sewing a few months ago when I made this and think the fabric, although soft, is kinda old fashioned.  I was just out of touch with what's going on out there in the baby world and thought this was cute.  I still think it's cute, but would make it out of very different fabric next time round.  I put it on Etsy but don't expect it to raise a lot of excitement :).

Anyway, funny what just a few weeks of obsessing over Etsy, Pinterest and other on-line sewing sites will do to your taste.  I'm now lurking around all the thrift stores with all the other Etsy sewists looking for that special find, you know, the vintage fabric.  Spotted a huge hunk of vintage fabric years ago and turned it into a bed spread which my daughter asked for when I was re-decorating her room over the Summer, so she's now got that beloved find.  Ohhhhh, all the things I could've made with that now that I'm back into sewing.  I keep asking if she still likes it and she goes on about how great it is ... blah blah blah ... whatever ...

It's not that I have a hard time finding fabric at thrift stores, tons of sewists are dropping fabric off there ... yippee!!!  It's just that I haven't found anything quite as special as that huge hunk of beautiful fabric just laying on her bed under a pile of clothes, college books, etc.  I'm not bitter ... really ... did that sound convincing?!

I'm going to do another blog about my latest thrift haul.  There was a 50% off sale at Value Village last week and I came home with 75+ yards of fabric for $75 ... unreal!!!  Some is special, other is just filler fabric, for linings, etc.  Anyway, will blog that one later.

Here's another picture of the baby set I made:

I guess it's kinda cute but I find it frustrating looking back on stuff I made knowing I'd have done it very differently only a few short months down the road.

Do you have any projects you'd like to change?  Something you've made and gifted and would like to get back and re-do?  If so, I'd love to hear about it as I can't be the only one :).

Lisa.

Owl Apron

This simple apron turned into a lot of work because of the owl:

It was a Xmas gift to my son who loves to cook and also loves owls.  He didn't seem that thrilled with it, but then, he's 23 and probably would've been happier with a video game, cash or beer.  This wasn't, of course, all he got, but he didn't jump up and down as I'd hoped (ha ha).

The owl is done with freestyle/free motion embroidery but I can't remember whether or not I used my old machine, or new sewing machine.  Doesn't matter, was just going to make the point that you don't need a special machine to do this with as my old machine is a cheap one I got at London Drugs about 7 years ago.  Only reason I upgraded was that I bent the shaft of the old one sewing dog beds for shelters.  Should've known those 20 layers were too much for any non-industrial machine.  Oh well, stupid and paid the price.

So, back to the owl.  This was my 1st attempt at free motion embroidery but I really liked the scribble type of artsy style which I figured was the most forgiving anyway, so worked out well.  Here's a close-up:

And another not-so-close-up:

I couldn't have been happier with the way it turned out considering I expected it to be in the trash.  By the way, I have a pile of sewing disasters I instantly rip apart and turn into scraps.  So this was a pleasant surprise.  I obviously didn't do it right on the apron for fear of wrecking the whole thing.  I like the applique look anyway.

What took the longest was finding the right picture to print out then transfer (used freezer paper) onto fabric. Most pictures are solid, not just outlines.  I learned that you should look up owl "cartoon" as cartoons are often just outlines so you don't need a whole printer ink cartridge to print it out with!

Your comments, advice and own project links are always welcome.

Lisa.

Hanging Kitchen Towels

Sunday night and nothing to do.  I know ... I'll sew 12 hanging kitchen towels.

The above was my attempt at being artistic, not my strong point.  Anyway, they were a ton of fun to make and only took me about 3 hours which I think is pretty good for 12 towels!!!  I get pretty fussy with the little details like cutting every single speck of thread that's protruding, etc. but if you just want to whip up a couple for yourself you could probably do that in 30 minutes.

I found the brand new tea towels, in original store package, at thrift store for around $3.  But, us "sewists" know it's not about the price of the materials, but rather about the time.

I'll put these on Etsy and see if they sell.  Can also embroider name on top if requested.  If not, they'll be great to have around the house as last minute gifts, hostess gifts, etc.  Or, just to hang on my own cupboards.  Actually, they'd be a great little throw-in gift for men living on their own as they never seem to have tea towels "hanging" around ... sorry about the pun.

Oh yeah, I've made the tea towels with the fold over button style but decided to do something different and these ones hand over a knob or on a hook instead.

I've never done a sewing tutorial before, but if you'd like the pattern for the fabric strip across the top, I could try to add that to this blog.

Happy Sewing!!!

Lisa.

Burlap Backpack

I made this burlap backpack for my daughter.  She used it for several months but then moved onto something larger since.



I thought the hardest part would be finding a coffee sack, which wasn't easy.  But the hardest part was dealing with real burlap.  I shook out the bag and coffee bean crumbs fell out.  Then I washed the bag twice.  The fibres messed up my lint trap big time as I didn't know I should've emptied it out several times during the process.

Anyway, it was all cleaned up and ready to go.  I didn't have a pattern so was quite the process figuring it all out.  Thankfully I had her old bag as a guide.  I don't know if you could sew burlap without a serger, but it's sure easier with one.  The burlap seemed to start coming apart as soon as it was cut so I finished off all the edges before I even cut out the bag pieces.  Then I re-serged them before sewing them together.  I padded and lined the bag  and ... well ... it took 6 hours as I was learning as I went along.

As much as I enjoyed the process, I won't be sewing with real burlap again.  The fibres got into everything, including my nostrils.  Was sneezing up a storm afterward.

I'd love to hear from you if you've made something from a real coffee bean sack.  How did you manage all the flying fibres?

Lisa