I finished Josh’s shirt (Burda 7767) late last night (By the way, does anyone else love staying up really, really late and sewing after the world is asleep?) and am 110% thrilled with the result. It’s so incredibly fashionable-looking that it could be mistaken for something from the “Rail” section of Nordstrom. And I’m not [...]
As promised, here’s the step-by-step for making over your very own crummy plastic Adirondack chairs into something fun and unique. We had some of the classic “computer monitor beige” chairs that were leftover from our past lives in Santa Fe where you just get used to everything being brown. Somehow, all brown stuff just doesn’t [...]
Now that it’s (finally) sunny here in Portland, we’ve been furiously spiffing up our backyard so that we can enjoy hanging out outside. Our old crappy “computer monitor beige” plastic Adirondack chairs (that were our living room chairs when we spent a year living in a converted Santa Fe blacksmith shop—but that’s a story for [...]
Josh’s latest handmade shoe creation. This version is high-tops made using old Vans soles and Joel Dewberry’s new sateen canvas fabric line, Ginseng, from FreeSpirit.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
addthis_url = \’http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sewer-sewist.com%2F2008%2F06%2F14%2Fshoeberries%2F\’;
addthis_title = \’Shoeberries\’;
addthis_pub = \’sewersewist\’;
This weekend I went to a party for an old friend of mine (like, we went to preschool together, old friend) in celebration her graduation from medical school. I actually got to see a bunch of people that I hadn’t seen in ages—including a friend of my who (thanks to Facebook) I recently found out [...]
It has taken me ten days, but I think I am finally able to discuss the shoes. The combination of frustration, old shoe funk and the massive loss of brain cells from working with Shoe Goo had rendered me unable to rationally explain why and how I made these things and their deeper meaning (not [...]
Josh made his very own custom shoes. Check out the process! Amazingly, this is just his rough draft…
addthis_url = \’http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sewer-sewist.com%2F2008%2F05%2F18%2Frough-draft%2F\’;
addthis_title = \’Rough+Draft\’;
addthis_pub = \’sewersewist\’;
My fabulous Amy Butler Sophia Bag—the one that made my fingers bleed—has gotten kinda of dirty. Between taking it on the MAX, leaving it sitting on the floor of my cubicle at work and accidentally kicking it and the general wet grossness of the weather here, it’s looking pretty funky. Now, I’m faced with a [...]
This may come as a shock to everyone, but I actually finished something for once.
It’s been ages, and it’s not for lack of trying. I have had this pinstriped denim that I got at Bolt quite awhile ago (this fall, maybe?), but had grown way too attached to, and thus was reluctant to cut. It’s [...]
This is it, the first jacket that I have successfully made, well not made, as in made on my own, because this was truly a Sewer-Sewist co-production. I did most of the framing and Sarah did most of the finishing, to borrow from the construction vernacular. As you may have read Sarah has had [...]
Sarah made me a lovely Burda raglan sleeve knit T-shirt (8827) for the Christmas Day Blazers vs. Super Sonics game, where the crowd was encouraged to wear red. I didn’t have anything red to wear, so she whipped this one up for me (it literally took her like an hour). Let me say that [...]
I used to knit a lot. I taught myself when I was still in college and really, really enjoyed it for a long time. However, about this time last year, I started having pain in my right index finger and wound up with tendinitis. Really, really painful tendinitis. This was shortly after I started my [...]
After finishing my baseball caps I started working on another “idea hat” for Sarah.
This was much easier after going through the fit problems of the earlier models (it involved only sizing the main panel which wraps around the head). Taking inspiration (those are the pictures at the top of this post) from my winter [...]
As you may know, I love baseball and I especially love old school baseball uniforms and hats (oh yeah and jackets and sweaters and stir-ups, oh my). While I am happy for spring training to have started, I do feel a little distant from my favorite game. Another bad year for my Reds is definitely [...]
You may remember that we’ve mentioned a few times that we really like hats. You may also have noticed that we’re slightly obsessed with looking for weird, quirky things to make together. Our latest project really scored on both accounts.
Recently, we have taken to going to Uwajimaya and the Japanese language bookstore contained within, Kinokuniya. [...]
It’s pretty bad when I’ve written about a project when it’s in progress, but totally forget to show y’all the finished garment—oops! I guess my foray into (Simplicity’s) Project Runway (patterns) wasn’t that memorable. Anyway, I think the photos were, though.
So, I think this sign is hilarious. I keep replacing the “Safety is an Attitude” [...]
Burda, Burda, Burda. Such nice looking in the pattern books, and so damn difficult to actually finish. This sweatshirt is my first attempt at sewing in a little while. I have been so frustrated trying to finish (or to be more accurate “move forward”) on my Burda jacket I have been having a hard time [...]
When Josh, my mom and I went on our little adventure to beautiful Washougal, Washington last month, I picked up some lovely dusty blue wool from the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store up there. For a whoppin’ $1.99 a yard. Pendleton makes some incredibly soft wools, almost silky, and if you can tolerate wool, you don’t [...]
Or, sometimes sewing projects just don’t work out for a reason…
If you remember, this fall I participated in the Great Trench Coat Sew-Along on Pattern Review, and I mentioned that I had e-mailed the pattern company, Indygo Junction, and let them know that there were a few (minor) issues with the pattern that I had [...]
Because my Sophia Bag looks so awesome!
Even though it resulted in a serious pin graveyard and some bleeding fingers…
It was totally worth it.
I covered a lot of my changes in my first entry about this bag. You remember, the post where I whined a lot. But here’s the quick recap: I added some handbag feet. [...]
So, we sew together, right? We thought we’d let you know how this whole thing got started. This is the first in (hopefully, no promises) in ways you and your sweetie (or best bud/mom/brother/unrequited crush) can get started working on sewing projects together.
When we first started this little adventure Josh really wanted to make something [...]
As you may know, it rains a lot here in Portland. The dog really needs a walk regardless of the weather. Last month, as a another storm was barreling down on us here (incidentally, we have just been hit with another one, with two more on the way) I decided to use some of [...]
I absolutely love my Burda World of Fashion subscription, and generally go through the routine of getting really excited about seven or so things in the magazine, then get promptly overwhelmed and let it sit and “cure” for awhile so I can get my head around what I want to make. Eventually I make some [...]
from sarah the sewist
As we’ve mentioned a time or two, we’re continuing to work on holiday gifts for everyone, and we’re finally starting to feel like we’re making some progress. I just finished the gift for Josh’s stepmother. It’s the Amy Butler Downtown Purse. This pattern came in the mail yesterday—thank you Lisa Lam over [...]
from sarah the sewist
People who know me, usually know at least this one thing about me—I am a tried and true, dyed-in-the-wool, unwavering Portland Trail Blazers basketball fan. It’s a bit embarrassing, because I think that I’m a fairly interesting person with a variety of things that I do and am interested in, but I [...]
from sarah the sewist
Sometimes things go wrong and you just want to give up. Generally, in sewing, given that it’s not really a life and death sort of thing, that’s the path I choose. In fact, I have been known to give my husband a pep talk or two about how it’s okay [...]
We’ve mentioned before that we’re trying to make most—if not all—of our Christmas gifts for family and friends this year. We’ve coined it the “Great Making Everyone’s Christmas Gifts Odyssey.” It’s just so much less expensive and seems more thoughtful. Plus, it’s a great excuse for Josh to get more practice sewing and build his [...]
from josh the sewer
Yes indeed, I have made some velveteen jeans. I am pretty damn excited about them (can you tell?), but will have to wait until the winter air blows through these here parts. As you can imagine they are a little bit on the warm side. A while back the [...]
from sarah the sewist
We’ve been pretty lazy with our blogging lately… I guess the annoying combination of our digital camera going a bit wonky and the shift key on the laptop not functioning has taken its toll. Nevertheless, sewing has continued. In addition to the Christmas sewing we’ve been doing, Josh and I both finished [...]
from sarah the sewist
And I were an astronaut stuck in that lunar rainstorm, I’d have just the thing to wear.
You may remember a few months ago that Josh and I scored a serious haul of fabric from Rose City Textiles that was rather eclectic. Basically, it was a bunch of random, slightly sporty stuff that [...]
from sarah the sewist
My Indygo Junction Trench Topper that I was sewing as part of the Great Trench Coat Sew-a-long on Pattern Review is finished and I broke it in by wearing it to work today. I was a little uncomfortable with it just because it’s a lot louder than most of my wardrobe, but [...]
from sarah the sewist
Between my Burda World of Fashion magazine subscription and my Sew What! Skirts book, I will never, ever have to purchase a skirt pattern again. This is a good thing, ’cause I’m cheap and skirt patterns always seem like a waste of money, since I’m probably not going to make a bunch [...]
We don’t have a cat. In fact, both of us are horribly allergic, and our dog thinks that cats are extremely suspect. So, no cats for us. However, we’ve got a lot of kitties in our extended family. Since we’re beginning to embark on our Great Making Everyone’s Christmas Gifts Odyssey, we decided that Josh’s [...]
from josh the sewer
Pictured here is the Sewist’s birthday gift. My Dad likes to say “Vinyl is Final” when explaining his choice of house siding; this phrase stuck with me as making this. Being somewhat limited in my sewing skills, my choice of projects are small. The Sewist loves bags so I decided to [...]
The ottoman for the Best Intern Ever (we wrote about this project on Labor Day) is done. She said she wanted something black, gray and brown, and this Nigella slate imperial fans fit the bill perfectly. This is the fourth Amy Butler Gum Drop Pillow that we’ve made, so it came together in no time, [...]
from sarah the sewist
(This is one of those projects that is so not my style. But I know the recipient will love it. The shape of this bag is fabulous, but the fabric… It’s just so green. I hate green. And the frogs. For some reason, I have no problem with banana seat bikes, garden [...]
We’re both sick—nothing like a late summer cold to make you feel stupid. In order to alleviate the boredom, we decided to work together and make the GIANT, Amy Butler Gum Drop Pillows. The fabric is Joel Dewberry’s Manzanita Basket - Red Mix. Originally Josh wanted to use this fabric to make [...]
from sarah the sewist
I finished the Hot Patterns Plain & Simple Princess Shirt this evening. I can honestly say, I have never, ever been so happy with a blouse pattern. I can really see myself making this one over and over again. I had some issues that I talked about here. But, they were really [...]
from josh the sewer
Last week was my week of shirts. My first project was this pictured short sleeve “chillin’ shirt” that I made using the Kwik Sew 3422, my first attempt at making a men’s shirt using a pattern, as opposed to an old cut-up shirt (which worked well enough). For the fabric I choose [...]
from sarah the sewist
Since Josh is working on a pretty complicated, involved project at the moment (more on that when he’s done), I decided to start (and finish) a simple project… You know, to create some balance in the sewer-sewist sewing world. During the Fabric Depot 30% off sale (which seems to have been running [...]
from josh the sewer
My first attempt at making pants is Simplicity 3891. As you can see, I decided that all of the accouterments were kind of goofy, plus I already own a pair of Costco cargo pants and I really need pants with fewer pockets. I went with a blue canvas from Bolt and blue [...]
from sarah the sewist
Saturday morning I finished (after having started Friday night) what I call my “Organic Yoga Skirt,” but what Josh calls “Two-Buck (Not Chuck) Skirt.” Which is, of course, way funnier than anything I could name an article of clothing.
The fabric is from our Sport Fabric Haul at Rose City Textiles, the smoky [...]
from sarah the sewist
A few months back, I had tendonitis in my right index finger and basically couldn’t do a whole lot involving my hands—including sewing, knitting, opening doors, that sort of thing. Around that time, to compensate for the fact
that I was totally and completely bored, I went on a book-buying binge. One of [...]
from sarah the sewist
I’ve been on a mild bag-making spree, and Josh is proving to be a very valuable adviser in creating extremely cool messenger bags, one for me and one for my mom for her birthday.
First, my Will the Wolf Survive? messenger bag:
Now maybe the fabric designer wasn’t inspired by the Los Lobos song, [...]
