Miscellaneous Design Studio

Category: Shoddy Seamstress Adventures

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: Mini Zip Pouches and a Crazy Quilt

    I spent my morning at the sewing machine today. Which is sometimes exactly what I want to do. Some of my projects are fun. Others are functional. Today’s projects were both. And inspired by ice cream. Last week, my kids wanted me to send money to buy ice cream at lunch. Being a pushover, I…

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: Oh Look. More Masks.

    We are back to school in our county! We are about a week into the new school year, and all seems well-ish. COVID is still an issue, particularly with those who are unvaccinated, so this means: masks! I made my kids some new ones and pencil pouches recently, so these recent onces are destined for…

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: Face Cloths

    I’m always looking for ways to economize and make my skin routine work best for me. I tend to use a lot of liquid make-up removers, toners, and micellular waters in my quest for not-too-awful-looking-for-40 skin. Using all those items uses a LOT of single use cotton pads; 2-4 per day, an average of 20…

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: Hemming

    I’ve had the same heavy velvet curtains in my bedroom since we moved in (so like 9 years). And this WHOLE time, they’ve been too long. At first, I let them pool at the floor. This was sloppy looking and collected all the dust. Then a few years ago (2018-ish) I decided I was going…

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: So Much Sewing

    Sometimes I get the itch to SEW. And SEW I did this week. I had initially intended on making PJ pants for the kids. Yeah… Haven’t done that yet. But I’ve made a bunch of other stuff. So far I’ve made 2 zipped pencil pouches, 1 zipped pouch, 1 bag, 1 weird basket thing, and…

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: Project Pouch

    Even if I’m not blogging about it, I’m always working on SOMETHING creative. A new spin on a recipe, a weird eyeshadow color combination, some kind of knit/crochet/sewing endeavor. My kids were in school yesterday, and I got the desire to SEW. I have my own laundry to wash/dry/put away, kids clothes to put away…

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: Placemats Part 3.2

    Other stuff too. I mentioned in my last post that I found 6 placemats that I started a long time ago. I used quilting cotton on both sides and iron interface batting in the center. I “quilted” the fabric a little bit to keep everything flat. Two of the placemats were already bound, TERRIBLY. I…

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: Placemats Part 3

    Phew! What an adventure! This morning, I finished up my new placemats. Instead of freehand sewing the interior rectangles today, I measured 2 inches from the side and then again from that first line, then made a pencil line rectangle as a guide. I measured yesterday’s prototype and most of my lines were at about…

  • Soddy Seamstress Adventures: Placemats Part 2

    I didn’t get the project finished today (didn’t think I would). I took the kids on a playdate to an outdoor park/playground with a friend. We picked up sandwiches up and had a lunchtime picnic in the empty pavilion. It was a windy day. I got to run to intercept friend’s toddler from the parking…

  • Shoddy Seamstress Adventures: Placemats Part 1

    When we move into the house back in 2012, we purchased a new dining room table. The top is really pretty, and I didn’t want to cover it up with a tablecloth. I found some cloth placemats at Home Goods, and purchased all they had. Without counting, I think I have 12. Even from the…