The busyness of this month has sort of cut into my blogging time, but hopefully I have a chance for a day or two to catch up. Today and tomorrow we have carpet installers in the house installing new carpet upstairs and down our steps. The main motivation for this has been our 12 year old Golden Retriever who was having difficulty going down the bare hardwood steps. And just in case you think that we are going overboard carpeting for the dog, the steps were at a point where we needed to either refinish them or cover them and Seamus just made the decision easier. Although, honestly, I WOULD carpet the steps just for the dog.
Anyway, I want to start my catch up by telling you about a project that caught my attention: Skirting the Issue. This group makes skirts and other items for donation to foster children and other groups. For the month of July there is a drive going that you can read about here. Each week is dedicated to a particular type of item to make for donation. You can either donate to a local group near you or you can mail your items to the organizers and they will do the donating. There are suggestions on the web site for places that will take each type of item. There is a flicker group here to upload photos of items you make and as an added incentive there are prizes that you can read about here including a new Singer sewing machine and fabric from several online stores.
So, the first week was skirts for young girls. I haven't done any garment sewing in years, but this idea really appealed to me. I found a great basic skirt pattern here. And the results were:
It was fun to be doing something a bit different from my usual. I also discovered the overcast stitch and foot on my new machine and I just love it. It will really come in handy when I make curtains for son #1. I was able to use some decorative stitching on the polka dot skirt and some elastic stitches for the waistband.
Week #2 was pillowcases. They're a simple and satisfying little project that I've made before. I used the "burrito" pattern. There are a lot of tutorials on this pattern online and one can be found here. I like this pattern because it hides all the seams and it's pretty easy to add some special trim or stitching. I thought I'd make a "boy" pillowcase and a "girl" pillowcase.
Anyway, I want to start my catch up by telling you about a project that caught my attention: Skirting the Issue. This group makes skirts and other items for donation to foster children and other groups. For the month of July there is a drive going that you can read about here. Each week is dedicated to a particular type of item to make for donation. You can either donate to a local group near you or you can mail your items to the organizers and they will do the donating. There are suggestions on the web site for places that will take each type of item. There is a flicker group here to upload photos of items you make and as an added incentive there are prizes that you can read about here including a new Singer sewing machine and fabric from several online stores.
So, the first week was skirts for young girls. I haven't done any garment sewing in years, but this idea really appealed to me. I found a great basic skirt pattern here. And the results were:
Week #2 was pillowcases. They're a simple and satisfying little project that I've made before. I used the "burrito" pattern. There are a lot of tutorials on this pattern online and one can be found here. I like this pattern because it hides all the seams and it's pretty easy to add some special trim or stitching. I thought I'd make a "boy" pillowcase and a "girl" pillowcase.
This week is blankets and once I read the particulars on that one I'll decide what my contribution will be. I think the month finishes out with crayon holders and bereavement gowns. I'm not sure what those are particularly for (well, besides bereaving), but the site in the link above promises to provide tutorials each week to help with construction.
What a good idea, and your skirts will be much loved I'm sure. I've really got back into dressmaking over the last few weeks, though I've been making for myself, the impetus being a holiday we're taking in September.
ReplyDeleteI love making pillow cases too! They are so fun and easy, and I try to make about 3 at a time for QOV's.
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