My sewing adventures for October.

I can't believe October is already over. Wow, that went fast. Well I only got half of what I planned sewed this month, but I still got a lot done. Sad thing is every time I finish a project I find 5 more I want to do. This month in our sewing group we focused on Halloween and the cold. Sadly I didn't have time to get any new dipes done for daycare, so despite what our group is sewing in November that's what I HAVE to get done. Part of the reason for not getting as much done this month is I've been having machine issues. The machine I've been using was skipping stitches and sewing funky so we took it in to be serviced. And I just wasn't motivated enough to use my little brother machine because it's pretty worthless, and I REALLY wasn't motivated enough to break out my old pfaff (it is all old gunmetal insides and sews with a knee pedal instead of a foot pedal). They cleaned and timed it and fixed a broken pin and said it was all good to go. Well I got it home and it sewed fine, until I tried to do a diaper. The minute I put 4 layers of microfiber in there it went back to its old self. So last night we went to Joannes to get fabric. While I was in the cut line Justen wandered over to the viking dealer inside. By the time I was done getting my felt cut, he came over to let me know he'd picked out my new machine. It was shiny and I was drooling. So the lady demoed it for me, but any one who knows me knows I can't spend money without a good long "thinking about it" period. So I asked the lady if it would sew through 4 layers of microfiber and she told me it would no problem but since microfiber is one of the hardest things to sew I would probably need a sharp denim needle. So as I was wandering the store contemplating it dawned on me, the Pfaff I'd been sewing on had a Jersey ball point needle in it from sewing the waterproof fabrics. ALL THIS TROUBLE OVER A STUPID NEEDLE! So I called Loraine and she talked me through all the needles and what I needed. I may still end up with the very shiny Viking someday, but not today. So without further ado, here's what I've been up to.

We started our month with mittens. From now on I will be buying these at the store. Sewing them was not worth it.


Then I added some doublers and trimmed up some prefolds to get a better fit and more absorbancy. It turns out I still don't like prefolds as diapers no matter how much I keep wanting to.


Then I made Garrison a trick or treat bag.



Next we did carseat strap covers, so those pesky straps don't bother Garrison's neck.


Then we did Fleece diaper covers. I did two styles, one serged with side snaps, and one sewn with front velcro. They turned out pretty good.


Then came the scary project. Zippered pouches!!! Yikes, zippers scare me. Especially because I don't have a zipper foot. Actually, I may have one but I have no clue what it looks like or how to do it. So after going through five or six online tutorials on how to put in zippers I finally tried it. Not to bad for my first try. I did a wet bag. They are water proof pouches that you can use for swim wear or wet or dirty clothes, but in our case we use lots of them for dirty diapers. We send Garrison's clean diapers to daycare in one and then they send the dirties home in one everyday, and we keep them all over they are so handy. This is the first one I've made by myself.


And finally of course, Garrison's Halloween costume. It has a few major problems, like because I was using a scrap I had to cut it out the wrong direction to fit all the pieces so the stretch went the wrong way. It was also my first time working with ribbing so that is a little special. But all in all it's not to bad.


So there's my projects for the month. I've also been spinning some new yarn this month. While the sewing machine was being serviced, I decided to get back to my wheel. I have 8 oz. of Blue Faced Lester worsted weight yarn almost done. But then the sewing machine came back so it's been sitting on the bobbin again. Mabey that's what I'll work on this afternoon.....