Sewing set-up

There has been no blogging in a while, but there has been a flurry of crafting. After I finished the cowls, I finished the baby blanket that had sat unfinished for years. Sewed up  4 pajama pants and a drawstring backpack for my nephew, fit a skirt sloper and then altered it to make a full skirt as well, and made muslins of both. Also made a tailor's ham and a roll for pressing. Then started a new crochet basket.While I feel like I like the "making of stuff" is something I can do well enough, the sharing and showing side is not as strong, so I slack off instead of "practicing". I also forgot to take pictures of the pajamas before shipping them which was exactly what I wanted to avoid when making this blog... I wanted to have a record of my crafty products, and by not blogging, I forgot about making one for them!

I still have these two pictures of the making-of PJ's: First, using an existing pair of PJ's to create a simple pattern.

Then pinning and tracing the pattern on the new fabric. Sewing them up, adding elastic and pressing all the seams. BOOM! Done. And well received, by the way, although I have no further picture evidence.

The tailor's ham and roll

For clothes-making, it seems that ironing every seam improves results. I don't have an ironing board, but these will help to press curved seams on any old surface.

I don't have a dedicated craft area. Mostly I sit on my couch to knit or crochet in front of the TV, but for sewing, I need a larger surface. Hence, my dining room table. It makes for a mess that is always sitting there. I would love to have storage for my fabric, machine and notions that made it easy to clean up. But in a one room apartment, this is as much space as I'll have, so I make do, and clean things up as necessary.

I took some pattern drafting classes many many years ago, but I don't remember much of what I learned, and it didn't cover how to modify commercial patterns, so I am trying to re-teach myself from books and internet.