So I’m working on a hex quilt pillow.  And I’m like, I’m sure there are a million printable templates on the interwebs, I’ll go find one!

And there are a million,  but none of them really suited me.  I think its kind of tedious to cut so many out, especially when you’re only going to have to cut them out again in fabric and none of them had connected hexagons.  My template’s are all connected, allowing me, or you, to make the fewest cuts possible to get the job done.

You can use them for English paper piecing if that’s your thing.  My plan is to print them onto freezer paper, then cut them, and then iron them onto my fabric! That way while I’m tracing the outline with pencil, I won’t have to worry about the pencil pulling my fabric to and fro under my pattern.  Go me!

So since I went to all the trouble of making them for myself, I thought, “Well heck! You should share the wealth! Help a sister out who doesn’t have the computer skills to whip one up for herself! Put ‘em on the blog!”

Here is the link to download the pdf from google documents!

Filed under: Tutorial, sewing
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Tags: free, hex, hex printable, hex quilt, hexagon, hexagon printable template

After much stewing and being angry, this shirt finally got finished.  Its a mixed bag.

Pros:

• Everyone always compliments it.
• The pin tucks look nice and allow for a blousy effect.

• The shoulders and body of the shirt fit really well and are very comfortable.

Cons:

• I made the elastic in the cuffs too small, so its not really very comfortable to wear with the sleeves scrunched up.

• I had to hem it twice to get the length right and I’m not sure I love the length yet.
• The collar.. . URGH!  It is completely not right.  Since I had messed with the width of the neck, I didn’t want to just cut the collar stand straight from the pattern.  In my infinite wisdom, I thought, “Eh, I’ll just make it using bias tape.”  Its super wonky and lays all wrong, and I really really should have just laid the neck out and drafted a new collar stand.  I didn’t know how to do that at the time.  I learned how to later and haven’t had the patience to rip it out and re do it. But that is exactly what needs done.
• The placket: I didn’t sew it very well so part of the raw edge sticks out on the front near the hem.  I just zig zagged over it with a short stitch in black thread.  I’m sure no one else would ever notice it.

• I added a lot of width to the sleeves to make them flowy and blousy, and that turned out alright, but I should have added a good 3-4 inches in length.

Most of everything that I don’t like about it was my fault, stemming from inexperience.  I finished this months ago, so thankfully I have moved on and learned from my mistakes.

Filed under: sewing
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Tags: black, McCalls M5976, Pin tuck shirt

All reviews on PR for this dress!

sewn Aug 2011

Pattern Description: “MISSES’ AND WOMEN’S DRESSES IN FOUR LENGTHS: Empire waist dresses A, B, C, D have hemmed, scoop necklines, side seam pockets and elastic casing at waist; dresses A, C and D have hemmed armholes; dress A has contrast bodice and hem band; dress B has sleeves gathered to sleeve band.” I made D with the sleeves from B

Pattern Sizing:18 – 24 W

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? It absolutely does!

Were the instructions easy to follow? Don’t know, its really basic construction, so I just winged it.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Its a nice summer maxi dress.

Fabric Used: Rayon Ikat jersey from fabric.com, summer 2011

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I did view D, but added the sleeves included for B. But I didn’t gather them at the bottom. Just did a narrow hem. I also had to make my usual grading changes to the pattern to fit me.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I would sew it again. The problem for me, as a person without a serger, is that it MAY have taken someone 2 hours to sew with a serger, but it took considerably longer for me. The hem, sleeve hem, neckline, and shoulders all needed some special treatment that may have been negated with a serger. Also, I’m silly and cut it PLENTY long, and had washed the fabric once, but it shrank up a good 2-3 inches. So beware.

Conclusion: I like it! Its breezy and easy to wear. Simple to construct. I think next time I’ll line the bodice with a sturdier knit because the weight of the skirt on it is a lot. It could use a little more stability.

Pattern Review (Its the same thing as you just read. But if you’re a PR’er you might care!)

Filed under: sewing
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Tags: 5893, ikat, M5893, McCalls 5893, PR, rayon jersey

I find them completely fascinating. They always remind me of some strange post-apocalyptic landscape, and I love it. There’s a gigantic wind farm near my home and these were taken there earlier this fall.

I also think that its very “typical” Indiana in the fall weather in these pieces. Yes, we have beautiful leaves and foliage, but the sky is very grey from October until March.

More photography and sewing coming soon, stay tuned friends and neighbors.

Filed under: Photography
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Tags: wind farm, windmills

Hey pal. Long time no see.

Sorry to abandon the blog for so long, the last two months have been full of changes. We’ve moved to the house I grew up in, tried to buy two houses, bought one, painted inside the new house, and moved again.

Check out the lovely (sarcasm) butterflies in my new sewing studio! Fortunately they’re just heavy duty paper stickers & came right off.

Here are the colors in the kitchen before we steamed off the wallpaper and painted it all.

Here’s what it looks like now. We love love love it!

And a gratuitous shot of the family room. I am SO in love with this color. Its called Himilayan Poppy. Looooove it.

Since these pictures, we’ve actually put furniture and stuff in the house, so it looks a lot different. But you get the idea

How about a me made June wrap up?

It was great! I’m so glad I did it. There were two or three days I didn’t wear anything me made, but all the other days I did. Also didn’t take pictures everyday, and clearly didn’t blog about it.

So I have to call my Me Made June a success, but as a blog thing, not so much. And that’s ok!

Side note, you can follow us on Twitter at BlueHippoArts and on Facebook

We’ve been revamping the website. Really, its more than a revamp, I’d say its a complete overhaul.

We’ll see how soon that gets done! I’m not highly motivated to do my part of it at the moment.

More to come soon!

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Tags: house, kitchen, Me Made June 11, moving, paint, twitter

We have “settled into” our temporary housing. It has certain perks.

These are now decorating my sewing table and the tv area.

I hope I’m not the only person in the world who has put flowers in a Nalgene instead of a vase…

Here’s a peak of my new sewing space before I made a mess of it.

It really isn’t very fun condensing all your sewing goodies that will be required for the next month into one grocery bag. Very sad. At least we’re moving on to bigger and better things.

And here’s one after I settled in to alter the pattern…

I couldn’t bring myself to show you how messy it is now, in full on sewing mess mode.

I started sewing this Cynthia Rowley top on Monday night, in foolish hopes that I’d be able to get it done by lunch on Tuesday. Of course, that didn’t happen.

Original Inspiration: This version by LindsayT

She did these two other ones that I really liked, and here’s one by Miss Muslin, and one from Amanda at Adventures in Dressmaking

It looked good judging from PR, so I jumped right in.

I used Carolyn’s method to alter it, and was very careful with my alterations.

I’m glad I’m using an old sheet from Goodwill to do a muslin, the first go round didn’t go too well. It looks alright standing in these pictures, but it did not FEEL comfortable at all. Too tight and too big in all the wrong places.

Now its back to the drawing board again, or to the dining room table as the case may be.

Going to try a Full Bust Adjustment for the first time.

Looks manageable right?

Before I begin the slashing, I’m going to go enjoy the lovely life around me for a bit and hopefully go back refreshed.

(I planted the begonias myself, and I am so proud! Let’s see how long they survive!)

Filed under: clothes, sewing
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Tags: alteration, Cynthia Rowley, Muslin, quick, Simplicity 2584, Simplicity 3700, Tunic, yellow