I may have (ha!) mentioned it here and in some comments on your blogs, that I really, really want to get back to sewing. So much that I shipped my sewing machine all the way to Curaçao.

It arrived safely and I did take it out of its bag once, to do some mending (I ripped a curtain in our rental, so I had to repair that), but that was it. But I still was thinking about sewing.
But there were some things I needed to buy before I could actually start (and I’m determined to count three things to be able to link up with Carole’s Three on Thursday)

1. Fabric

Two weeks ago I found myself alone in Punda (city center), waiting for my husband, so I decided to pop into a fabric store I knew. I have been thinking about sewing myself some dresses because I have only a few that I can wear in this heat, so I asked for 100% cotton. They didn’t have much choice in that (“only African prints”, they love their polyester cloths here), but I found two options I liked.

Step one taken. But then the fabric just sat there, waiting patiently for me to actually do something with it.

2. Pattern
Last week I was in one of the bookstores (we sadly only have two on the island) and decided to see if they had any pattern magazines. Of course, I was late to the game: they only have Dutch magazines and those have fall and winter clothes now, but I did find myself a magazine with patterns that can be adapted to summer clothes.

This pattern looks a lot like one of the (store-bought) dresses I’m wearing a lot here. I just need to make it sleeveless and I would like something like a drawstring in my waist, to make it less baggy (that other dress has one).
Here it is again, different fabric, different model. (By the way, I do like that these girls have normal sizes, but I happen to be a lot thinner, so I’d love to see it on a skinny model too. The pattern is for all sizes, so why not show it on all sizes?)

I’m also thinking I could just make simple skirts. Not too hard to do if I get the measurements for the panels right. And then I would have enough fabric left to make bags or pouches or other fun stuff.

3. More stuff I need
So, a happy ending? Show and tell?

Not yet. I still can’t start sewing, since I don’t have pattern paper or anything that I could use for that. Didn’t bring that with me from the Netherlands. So now I hope that the little craft store I have found on Instagram has some. I am excited that I actually have a reason to pop in there, so I guess I’ll do that the next time I go grocery shopping (the supermarket is really close to that store). If they don’t have it, I’ll have to try the bigger fabric store, but that’s in a part of town we don’t visit often. If I go there I’d have to buy some more fabric and maybe even some yarn (they have a small collection) just to make the trip worth it. Just kidding. Sort of.
Also, I realized when I was writing this, that I don’t have an iron and I need to buy some interfacing. I did bring some zippers and buttons, but I’ll have to look if those are the right size and/or color too.

Need to go shopping. While I’m at it, I think I’ll try to find a nice knit to make this pattern too. I love this design (But why is this one shown on a skinny model only? Somehow these magazines still don’t get it).

To be continued…

It seems every time I post about sewing I want to write I  f i n a l l y  did some sewing. Well, that’s what it feels like. And I guess it’s the truth too.

The last time I sewed something was in June. And then I bought a lot of fabric (vintage pillowcases mostly) and planned to make some bags with them. Which I f i n a l l y did this weekend. 😉

Well, actually I made two of them a few weeks ago, but then perfectionism jumped into the game and I got stuck.
But this Friday I told myself I just needed some simple bags, nothing fancy. I wasn’t going to give them as presents, I wasn’t going to sell them, I just needed bags to hold stuff.

I guess I have to explain this. Since January it’s prohibited by law in our country to give out free plastic bags in shops. I am glad about that, because I already carried my own grocery bags and tried not to accept the plastic ones. But I often had to ask to take my goods out of the bag they already put it in before I could say I didn’t want it and sometimes I just didn’t and took the plastic bag. I also got plastic bags from my mother when we exchanged magazines and books, so they were always around. I guess I used them more often than I thought, because I did notice we were running out of them. And that’s why I wanted to sew some bags.

So I did. And once I let go of too high expectations, I was on a roll. I made 5 bags that Friday and then Sunday, when I knew exactly what I was doing, I made 14 more.
I reused the seams of the pillowcases and found a way to make two bags out of one pillowcase with hardly any scraps left. They’re just the size I want them, not full sized grocery bags, but big enough to hold a stack of magazines, or a knitting project, or anything else I used to grab a plastic bag for. Mission accomplished.

… are perfect for making.

I have no idea what these squares will be (there’s not enough of these fabrics left to make a quilt), but I really wanted to try the technique Amanda uses so very often. It’s fun! 

Of course there was knitting too (though I don’t reserve that to rainy days).
And yes, I was in leggings and a wool cardigan in June. It was cold this week!

But today, the sun is shining and it feels like summer. So I’m off to do some work in the garden.

So, last Monday I finally did some sewing. I can hardly remember how long it’s been since I simply sat down and actually made something like that.
Oh, there were some curtains to be shortened and I made some pillow covers, but that was it for a long, long time.
I have to admit I felt a bit nervous when I laid out the fabrics and tried to remember how exactly I used to wing making something as simple as a tea-cozy. But then I just started (ha! that’s the trick, you know) and everything clicked.
I made this cozy just like the one I made before, years ago (that one got burnt on the stove by one of the girls, ahem – no personal accidents, luckily), quilting cotton batting (an old molton) to all pieces and stitching a lined “bag” with it, that can be used both sides.

As simple as that. No more cold tea. This has been on my to do list for years and it was so simple…

Then I turned to another thing that had been on my mind for a while. I found myself looking at all kinds of little pouches to replace the very ugly ones I had in my purse, but I kept thinking I could easily make those myself. So I finally did.

The tiny one holds my medicines and some first aid stuff, the green one holds sanitary pads and the big one holds those and everything else on the picture (sometimes even more). Why? Because it’s so much easier to find stuff if you keep the small things together. And because I like an organized purse 😉

Well, I finally did some sewing. Months after promising one of the girls that I’d make her some pillows I actually did it. That’s the good part.
The not so good part: it took me hours to just sew some squares… Oh, and zippers, that too, but still. I definitely need to practice a bit more. Next on the list: a tea cozy (the last one had a little accident on the stove).

I try not to complain about the rain and between showers, I’m usually outside in the garden to enjoy the last bits of this (bad) summer. But sometimes there’s just too much rain.  Like Sunday.
So I finally did some sewing.

I’ve been collecting these ribcords scraps from the thrift shop. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but I kind of like ribcord. I guess it reminds me of my childhood. My father’s chair, my favorite reading spot when he wasn’t home, was upholstered with it.
So when I was looking for fabric to make covers for the big pillows I bought for the couch, these scraps seemed a good choice.

I like them.

No finished sewing to show again. But I am working on two very big project that I hope to finish soon now (I started these years ago).

Such a simple thing to make. I don’t know why it took me so long to start it.
Finally, no more cold tea 😉