What I Did When I Wasn't Blogging - Part 2

It's Mother's Day as I'm writing this, and I wish you all a happy one!  I had the good fortune of spending the day yesterday with my daughter and her boyfriend, and we had a wonderful time on a sunny and warm spring day!

Okay, so catching up on a few other things I did while I took a break from blogging in March and April.  I made a couple of kennel quilts for the veterinary surgery clinic where my daughter works.  This was again sparked by the sewing room declutter challenge earlier in the year, where I found I needed to thin out the pile of old scrubs and miscellaneous animal-themed fabric scraps I'd set aside for these quilts.  

I have a general idea of the size they like to use at the clinic.  With that in mind, I cut my squares so as to get the most bang for the buck out of the odd sizes of scraps available.

The scrubs I used were all darker solid colors.  The scrub pants had extra seams down the front, so instead of a wider pants front to work with, I had narrower strips.  I decided to use these for one of the quilt backings.  It was fun to puzzle it out on the living room floor.  

The other backing was made with miscellaneous chunks from the tops and pants.  

I like the way both backs turned out.  The scrubs fabric is a blend that feels so soft, too.

These crazy pirate cats made me smile.  I found that fabric, along with the fire station dogs, while thrifting last year.  

In that same thrift haul, I bought a bag of polyester batting scraps for $2, which is what I used in these two kennel quilts.

* * * * *

We had a wedding to go to in early April, our first big (unmasked) event since the pandemic started.  I was really looking forward to it, but—that age-old dilemma—I had nothing to wear.  For most women, you just go shopping and find something cute, right?  Well, when you're 6'2" with very long arms and legs, that's not so easy.  And what looks good on a 20-something model doesn't necessarily jive with the aesthetics of a middle-aged woman who is usually cold (no bare arms for me, plus it was still between seasons here and could just as likely be 50 degrees or snow).

I ordered a tall size dress online with moderately high hopes.  Suffice it to say, it didn't work out and I had to send it back.  At that point, I resolved to wear pants and a nice top instead.  In shopping for tops, sometimes I have luck with stores like Lane Bryant or Torrid because the cut is more generous, hence the sleeves and body a bit longer.  So my daughter and I set a date to go shopping, and with her help I found a nice top and a long-sleeved cardigan to go with it.  Yay!

Now for the real dilemma: Pants.  All of my pre-pandemic dress pants were too tight.  I'd gone through my closet last year and gave my sister a stack of the ones that no longer fit.  At my request, she brought them back and I tried them on again.  I had lost a few pounds in the interim, but most were still unwearable.  There was one gray pair, however, that I thought might do in a pinch if I could let out any of the seams.  If not, maybe I could use them to draft a pattern and make a new pair that fit well.  Which is, long story short, what I attempted to do, but (-spoiler alert-) did not entirely succeed.  

It turned out to be less straightforward than it would seem.  I had some navy trouser fabric on hand that I decided to use to make a (hopefully wearable) muslin.  The idea was that after I'd drafted the pattern and done any necessary tweaking, I'd make myself a pair of pants that fit like a dream.  Right?  Not exactly.

Over the course of the next week, I sewed, adjusted, and ripped every seam in that trial pair at least three times (except the fly front; I made a stellar fly front in one go!).  I watched YouTube after YouTube on proper pants fitting.  I enlisted my husband in taking countless photos of my rear view to help me determine what was going on back there.

Ultimately, I got the pants to fit everywhere but the in the back legs below the butt, where there was just all this extra fabric.  Below you can see where the hubs has pinched it with a couple of clips.  Unfortunately, I couldn't just cut and sew a seam where it is clipped.  I'd have to make an adjustment on the pattern and recut the back.  Basically, start over.

With the event date fast approaching, I did the best I could but eventually had to give up on making a pair of pants.  I went back to my old, too-tight, charcoal gray pants to see what, if anything, could be done to salvage them.  I was able to remove the back waistband and let out the two back darts and eke out a scant 1/4 inch from the center back seam.  Then I cut a new back waistband from some other fabric in my stash.  It worked well enough, and that's the pair of pants I wore to the wedding.

What I learned from all of that is that I need to take a pants fitting class and figure out, once and for all, how to make myself a pair of pants that truly fit well.  My online shopping options, for dress pants especially, are severely limited.  Long Tall Sally sells out of my size in a heartbeat. JCPenney no longer has women's pants in ultra-tall, which had been my mainstay for years back when I had to have work wear.

If you're wondering, I did finish the pants muslin with a waistband and hem.  Though the back leg does not look great, it's better than the first picture above and they'd probably be okay to wear in a pinch.  Preferably at night or to a dark theater.

* * * * *

Finally, to put a positive cap on this post, I finished this scrappy rail fence quilt.  

This is the top I worked on last summer after I had finger surgery.  Having cut all the pieces beforehand, it was something easy enough to sew together while my left hand was in a splint and rehabbing.  

It was made with many of the scraps left over from making masks, so it's kind of a memory quilt in a way.  Not that I want to remember wearing and making masks, specifically, but rather the creative and supportive efforts to make ourselves and others safer during that time.

Finishing this quilt was a good way to bounce back from the pants making fiasco.  It was a nice feeling of accomplishment.

~Paulette

Scrappy Rail Fence is a Flimsy

The scrappy simple rail fence quilt is now a flimsy.  I actually thought it was done a week or so ago, but after laying it out on the living room floor, it looked like it need some additional length if I was going to use it as a throw.  So I added two more rows and that brought it to around 54 x 72, which seems just about right.

There is quite the eclectic mix of fabrics in this thing, which isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I quite like it!

This was my "easy enough to sew one-handed" project while my left hand was in the splint after surgery.  I got my stitches out last Monday and now only have to use the splint at night for another month or so.  The two rows that I added were good therapy for my newly-freed left hand, and I was able to gently use my ruler again to cut a few more bricks.

I still have a pretty scabby area in the crease of the finger joint, so I'm  bandaging it until that heals up a little more.  The pinky is straight, though—woo hoo!  When I change the bandage, I gently massage some Vaseline on it to keep things soft, and then I run through my hand exercises.  Things are coming along.  I have one more therapy appointment on Wednesday.

My sister-in-law came over with her chainsaw yesterday and helped my husband remove an overgrown shrub (tree?) that was obscuring one of our front windows.  It was probably planted at least 25 years ago and had grown to about 8 feet high and 6 feet across.  Now that it's gone, let there be light!  My living room is brighter and already the houseplants seem to be standing a little taller.

For all her hard work (it was such a hot day, and to further complicate things they ran into a metal spike in the center of the trunk!), I had her pick out a quilt from a few I thought she might like.  She chose this one.

I made this several years ago, but had never used it.  I'm glad it now has a new home where it can be enjoyed.  She says it looks great on the back of her sofa in her living room.  That makes me happy to hear, and it's so much better than languishing on a shelf in my quilt closet.

* * * * *

I've had some luck at the thrift store the few times that I've been there this summer.  The other day, I bought this bag of fabric.  It was sealed so I couldn't look through it in the store, but it seemed totally worth a shot for two bucks.  

Look at these sweet scraps!  A pretty watercolor batik, modern and reproduction fabrics.

Firehouse dogs!  Pirate cats!  Hee-hee!  Those will go into kennel quilts.  There were a couple half- and quarter-yard pieces, but most were fat quarter size or less.  All totally usable stuff.

Several weeks back, at the same store, I had another good haul, including a brand new t-shirt for yours truly with the tags still on it. I don't usually use poly batting, but I will use this for kennel quilts. 

I seem to have the best luck on fabric and sewing notions at that particular store.

This large zipper pouch was in brand new condition for $2.  Check out those super cute llamas!  It has a waterproof lining and can carry anything from makeup to lunch to sewing notions.

* * * * *

I'd like to start a quilt for a nephew, my sister-in-law's adult son.  I've made his sisters and their babies all quilts, but would like to make one for him, too.  He has his own place, which is decorated mostly in neutrals (tan, gray, etc.) and his mom says he'd probably like something along those lines, nothing too wild.  If you have any ideas for that kind of a quilt, feel free to share them in the comments.  I'd still like to make it scrappy, but in neutral or natural tones.

 

Sewing Therapy

I watched my 20-something occupational therapist, Kylie, make my splint yesterday. She traced my hand and then cut and molded the plastic in what looked like a steam table and with a heat gun. The way she custom tailored it with such ease, I asked if she sewed. She did! Said she learned to make baby quilts during 2020 when she had downtime due to the pandemic. 

We had a nice conversation. Then we went over my home exercises, which look a lot like the chicken dance.  :)

There was some bleeding when she removed the bandage to redress the finger, so I have to keep it elevated a few more days and basically walk around like I'm hailing a cab.  

[I don't know why my font size is smaller in some places and not others in this post, but I haven't the bandwidth to figure it out today. My apologies.]

One-handed sewing continues.  I sewed some more light/dark pairs together.  I ran out of 3.5-inch strips that I'd cut before surgery, but I found some my friend Marei had sent in a goody box of scraps a couple years ago.  I'm freehand cutting some of those into 6.5-inch long bricks.

Here's what's on the design wall so far.  

This is meant to be a utilitarian quilt, and it is not exactly pretty.  That's okay.  The point was to use up what I had cut into 6x9 pieces for mask making this past year and other scraps.  Secondarily, it's something I can sew easily one-handed while the other heals, and keep my mind occupied.  Sewing therapy, truly. 

Many of the novelty fabrics were given to me to make masks with, so there's quite the eclectic mix, including sugar skulls, tattooed ladies, Disney characters, red pickup trucks, peace signs, cupcakes, and Star Wars.  As a result, it will be a  memory quilt of sorts, and I'm actually kind of digging the crazy mishmash.  

Working close up with all these different prints, I was concerned about having enough light/dark contrast.  I ended up having to set aside a bunch of medium value strips because of that.  

Looking at this photo in black and white, I can see a block or two on the right side that I'll have to swap out.  Otherwise it seems to be going okay so far.