Next Up: A Runaround Bag or Two from Lazy Girl Designs

My sewing mojo is coming back…slowly. I have decided to take a break from sewing shorts/pants. I have lost some weight the last two weeks and now I have more issues with the wrinkles in my lower behind. I will save that for another future post.

For a nice break, I have decided to sew two bags. I picked out this pattern, well, because it’s real easy to sew. It’s Lazy Girl Design’s Runaround Bag. I have a friend who is celebrating her 60th birthday in mid-August and I am making her one. But why am I making two bags? Well, I am making one for myself as well. I am finally getting one…in black! Lol!

I managed to cut out the fabrics for the two bags. I am using a combination of black floral and burgundy floral home decorating fabrics. Here's a picture of one of the fabrics I will be using.

I have made this Runaround bag before, several of them to be exact. I posted a review on PR at the end of last year. Joan Hawley, owner of LGD, kindly featured me in her LGD blog earlier this year.

This is a great bag to make in a weekend day. The bag design is simple. There’s a zippered pocket in the front and a pocket in the back. The long strap can be knotted on top to make the bag shorter.

So, this is what I have lined up and ready to go for the upcoming weekend.

In the meantime, I’m looking for some special fabric for a simple jacket I plan on wearing to a special event in September. And do you think I have any special fabric in my stash? Of course not! Stay tuned.

The New & Improved Kwik Sew Patterns

Sometime last week, Kwik Sew came out with their new Fall patterns. There was only one or two patterns that caught my eye. I saw this pants pattern and thought it would be worth a try. For you Kwik Sew pattern lovers, you’re going to love the improvements KS made recently to their new patterns.

I purchased the new KS3625 pants pattern yesterday. I noticed the front envelope had a new look. When I turned the envelope over, I was surprised to see a different look and color on the back envelope. The sizes now have a blue highlight bar. There is red text that highlights the features of the pattern. The overall information presented looks less cluttered, easier to read, and finding information is fast.

Inside, the pattern itself is pretty much the same. When you think about that, how could it get any better?


I instantly noticed a change to the instruction sheet format. KS has added a light pink to the pattern color to differentiate the pattern from fabric (layout section).

In the procedures and instruction area, the stitching lines are now marked in red. Also, the seam allowance text is red as well. Can’t miss that anymore.

I love the improvements made to the instruction sheet. The red stitching lines make it easier to follow the instructions. No more guessing or re-reading 3x what needs to be stitched next.

These are big improvements for KS. I personally think some of their patterns are worth the money especially when I don't have to tinker too much with the alterations. Their pattern paper is wonderful and lines are clearly marked.

When you have limited amount of time to sew, I think Kwik Sew is the way to go. And for some patterns, you have to "think outside the box" to make the garment a little bit better than the basic look.

A Busy Week, Lots of Pictures, and Other Things

I'm still here. I had a busy week. No sewing done, but I did think about it. Does that count? Last week, I went into work early (7am), rushed home, ate dinner, and then off to church to take pictures. It was Vacation Bible School (VBS) week at my church.

I took lots of pictures...roughly 300 shots. I had a blast snapping pictures of the kids taking part in different activities. I also enjoy taking pictures of the adults who helped out and also parents who stuck around for the 2 hours each night. Some of the adults were shy about getting their pictures taken, but I did manage to take one...even if it meant sneaking up on them to get a surprise shot. lol!

So each night I came home, I downloaded my pictures and turned out the lights. This went on for five days last week.

I did receive my American Sewing Guild (ASG) Notions magazine and read what I could before turning in for the night.

Yesterday, I did manage to peruse through the Home Sewing Expo PDF file I received and picked out some sewing classes. There are 5 classes that peaked my interest and all of them have to do with sewing pants (fitting & alterations). Seems appropriate and perfect timing.

And today? I hope to find my Lazy Girl Runaround bag pattern. I plan on sewing a bag with home dec fabrics. This will be a gift for a friend of mine who is celebrating her b-day next month.

I think I've lost my sewing mojo. I hope it's just a temporary thing.

And what happened to my pink shorts? They're still sitting on top of my sewing machine. I still have to topstitch the waistband, hem the legs and add the hooks and bars. Maybe tonight...maybe tomorrow night they'll get done.

Now, I'm off to church to help take down the VBS decorations (temporary cinder block wall paper, hundreds of push pins, etc).

My Serger Maintenance

Nice picture, huh?

I have a Babylock Imagine serger. It’s a fabulous serger with the infamous “swooshing” sound of the jet air threader. My local dealer (10 minutes away) has told me to use a can of air to blow out the lint, fabric particles, & dust out of my serger. And it’s safe to do. Well, that works great, but I don’t care to breathe in all the swirling debris that comes out of my serger. And I definitely don’t need the debris to migrate over to my sewing machine area.

So what do I use? I use a small makeup brush. I found a little makeup brush kit at Sephora. The bristles are soft. The brushes are well made as it doesn’t leave behind any bristles that might get stuck in the serger parts.

I carefully remove any lint or debris that I can see. I usually start with the stitching area and then work my way down and into machine. Again, it’s the areas I can see.

How do I remove the lint on my brush? Easy. I keep a small stack of fabric pieces/discards from my sewing projects. I take my brush and sweep it across my fabric piece. The lint likes to cling to the fabric more than the brush.

Could I use the included brush that came with my serger? Sure, but after the first use, the bristles got bent and would get stuck in the serger. Pretty lame accessory for such a wonderful machine.

How often do I clean my serger? Usually it’s after every two sewing projects. Sometimes it is more often, especially if there’s a buildup around my cutting blade. That’s usually a good sign that it's time to clean.

I love a clean machine. My simple maintenance routine has become a good habit.

A Better Pair of Shorts

I thought it was time for me to start talking about sewing again and what I am working on. Also, to show a picture of my work in progress.

I have been working on this new Kwik Sew 3614 shorts pattern. I am making View A, the city/walking shorts. I have omitted the pockets and belt loops. I mentioned before, that I was not going to do any alterations to the pattern or make any changes while I was sewing. I stuck with the 5/8 inch seam allowances. So far, the results have been really good.


For this pair, I am using a light rose colored cotton/lycra twill fabric from Hancock's. This color is more towards the brown hue and finding thread to match wasn't easy. I have an eye for color and can match thread to fabric on my first try. This time, this fabric color stumped me. I ended up going with a lighter thread color.

As you can see from the picture, I have finished installing the waistband and I also sewed up the crotch area and the back seam. I tried the shorts on and they fit. I have less wrinkles and issues in the back crotch area compared to the other KS pattern I have been using. For now, I am quite happy with the results. I hope to finish the shorts on Sunday and then post a review with me modeling the finished garment.

Stay tuned....

Flowers and other things

Here's a picture of the floral bouquet that DH gave me earlier this week via FTD. Unfortunately, I wasn't home to receive them or enjoy them as I had to go into the office for a few days this week. Right now, I have the vase next to my computer so I can look at the flowers all day long and enjoy them (finally).

I love flowers. I am glad I married a horticulturist. Our gardens are always in bloom at different stages throughout the year (except Winter). He planned it that way. He's into perennials and I prefer annuals. Over the years, the perennials have taken over much of the gardens (and I'm sure he planned that too). This is the first year, I haven't planted any annuals. That means no impatiens (my favorites) are growing. I guess that translates to hardly any gardening time and more sewing time for me. lol! After living here for over 10 years, you can imagine how much our gardens have matured. Our neighbor's kids think of our yard as the fairy princess garden.


I treated myself to a special sewing gift. This came in the mail from EmmaOneSock. Yes, they are black and cream colored knit fabrics. I couldn't resist. I just love EOS! I typically receive her package within the next day or two after she ships. Love the service. I have to add that the fabrics I purchase from EOS are lovely. I have never been disappointed in the quality.

Now, I am off to see what you folks are up to on your sewing blogs....

Special Day

I celebrated my special day today. Unfortunately, sewing was not on the agenda this evening. I did get a beautiful bouquet from DH. Will post a picture later. My pastor called and left a voice mail on my BB...singing a Happy Birthday tune. A nice surprise! I really need to figure out how to save that message to MP3. Adrienne...do you have any clues? lol!

Just got back from having a wonderful Italian dinner with special friends from our church. Now, it's back to the work grind.

I'll be back soon to catch-up on your sewing blogs....

My New Brown Pants

Finally! My new brown pants are completed. I love them. I love the color. It's a medium brown cotton twill fabric that I found at Hancock's. I got the fabric for half off. I used about 1-1/2 yards, but purchased extra for pre-washing and shrinking. The cost for making this pair was under $8 including the cost of the fabric, thread, weft interfacing, and two hooks & bars. Not bad.

I used my Kwik Sew 2840 pattern to make these pants. The picture on the envlope shows a cropped version with an inseam length of 25-1/2inches. I made no length alterations to the pattern and I think it's a perfect regular pants length for me.

The only pattern adjustment I made was increasing the crotch point (back pattern) by 1/2 inch. While I was sewing the back seam, I decided to take in the back waist.

Here's a picture of the slit hem of my pants. I love the detail and finish. It's a nice added touch to a plain pair of pants.

I have posted my review at Pattern Review. You can see the review listed on the right side of my blog.

Now on to my next sewing project....

New This Week...

So, what's new this week? My first copy (subscription-wise) of BWOF arrived in my mailbox today. It's their July issue and let me tell you, there are some really cute summery/warm weather outfits in this issue. Can you tell? I'm not ready to think about sewing Fall clothes...the heavy fabrics and long sleeves, etc. As long as it's still hot and humid in my neck of the woods, I'm still sewing summer clothes.

Also, new this week is the Vogue Patterns Fall collection. Adrienne kindly mentioned in her blog that Vogue has posted their patterns online. Here are my favorites so far. V8513...knit dress:


I love the style of this V8522 jacket:



And new for this week and for my next project...KwikSew 3614. Yes, I know it's another shorts pattern. And yes, I know I have been working on KS2840 and isn't that enough? Well, no. I compared KS2840 front and back pieces against the newer KS3614 pattern pieces. There's enough difference between the two patterns...that warrants me to give it a try. KS3614 is cut lower in the front piece and the back piece already incorporates the 1/2 crotch point that I added to the previous pattern. Also, the length of the longest shorts is 9" which will hit right above my knee. I may not have to do any alterations. We'll see. What prompted me to look at this pattern was the PR reviews by cabinbaby and Karen6790 and the good results they received.

I have a lot of sewing and BWOF pattern ogling already planned for the upcoming weekend.

What's next on your sewing list?

Crayolas and Soil Separator - Sewing Cloth

Ahhh...did my title catch your attention?

I've been busy looking for some type of media to use when I trace out my patterns on my new sewing cloth. So far, the winner is...Crayola Pencils! There's got to be a good reason why they are preferred by teachers. Let me tell you, I first tried my reliable Ultra Fine Sharpie. Well doggone if that didn't bleed right through the cloth. I know, I've been warned. But I had to try it. Good thing I had paper protecting my cutting table underneath.

I am finding that regular pencils leave behind smears and can get all over my hands. I know, I did recommended it along with my tracing paper in a previous post. As you can see in the pictures...the pencil dust/smears gets everywhere and my pattern weights are turning a dingy color from my grungy fingers.

So far, I have found that the Crayola Pencils works really well with the sewing cloth and my tracing/sketch paper.

Here, you can see I've traced out a sample using one of the Crayola pencils. I did have to trace over the lines twice. That probably had more to do with my eyes getting bad (that's another story).

After I finished tracing, there was hardly any trace of the Crayola pencil markings on the KS pattern sheet underneath.

This will be interesting to see what I can do with 12 colored pencils when I start using this cloth. Good thing I didn't get the 24 pack of colors. lol!

Again, I will keep you posted as I start using this cloth more and more.

I'm Just a Gadget Type of Gal...

I love my gadgets. I am always carrying around some type of gadget with me. It could be my green iPod Nano (3rd gen), my Blackberry, or my PDA (Dell Axim).

When I am sewing, I usually will dock my iPod in my speaker system and listen to my tunes. I mostly listen to Amy Grant. Other days, it's John Tesh, Sheryl Crow or the Beatles.

I also have a portable DVD player. I love watching movies while I am sewing. Okay, how can I be watching and sewing at the same time? I really don't. I just listen and will stop to watch if something catches my attention.

I also carry tunes on my Blackberry. I'm still trying to figure out how to import a movie onto this gadget. I know, the screen is too small to watch anything. I sure could have used it when I was at the hospital last week for 5 hours.

Oh, DH bought me a new camera as a very, very early B-Day (coming up soon) present. For those of you who know me...I did the research for him. lol! I ended up with the Nikon D40. I love this camera. It's a joy to use. I have been using this camera since the middle of June and you can see my samples from my previous posts from mid-June to now. I'm still learning how to use this camera and the features. I also purchased a wireless remote, so I can take great pictures for my PR reviews. No need to run from my tripod anymore to get a good picture. And now you know why I smile so much in those pictures.

This new camera replaces my old Nikon 5700 that I've had for almost 6 years (and rolled over 9999 pictures). You want to hear something funny? The 5700 was the 2nd digital camera that I've rolled over 9999 pictures. So, yes...I've taken over 20k pictures! And you can be sure that it won't take me long to roll over the new D40!

So, I've shared with you my world of gadgets. Now, it's time to share yours. What are your favorite gadgets?

Where Does the Time Go?

I'm still here and still sewing, somewhat slowly. Where has this long weekend gone to?

Would you believe I came down with something on Friday and Saturday? Not sure if it was something I ate (which DH reminds me it could be anything as I eat everything in sight). We ate out a lot last week or atleast I did and had a lot of rich food. It started with taking my mother out after her colonoscopy (Tuesday). She was famished as well as I. I was at the hospital with her for 5 hours. After her procedure, we raced over to Olive Garden. On Wednesday evening, DH and I went out for a Mexican dinner and then to the movies. On Thursday, I grabbed something to eat while running errands. I usually limit my eating out to once a week. Whew! What a way to spend most of my long weekend...feeling ill.

When I started to feel better, I did manage to finish my seafoam green city shorts. I have also traced and cut out a pair of brown cotton twill pants from the same pattern. What happened to my capri or cropped version? Ahhh...you've been keeping up with my postings. As some of you know, I'm only 5 feet tall. Well, I traced out a size small cropped version...which ends up being regular length pants on me. lol!!! I wanted to see what this will look like on me. I promise the next version will be cropped by an unknown amount...TBD.

So, I have managed to sew one of two garments slated for this weekend. I think the top will be postponed until next weekend...something quick to sew. I'm in the sewing pants mode and I'll get that started after I'm done with this post.

I feel like I have lost a lot of sewing time this weekend.

What have you sewn this weekend?

My Favorite Threads

It's that time again to chat about my favorite notions. In this post, I will be talking about my favorite threads.

My favorite sewing machine threads are the ones made by Mettler (pictured). I use both the polyester and their silk covered cotton threads. If I’m sewing a cotton garment, I will use the cotton thread. All other types of fabric, I will use the polyester thread.

When I bought my first Viking sewing machine, my dealer recommended Mettler. That’s where it all started.

I haven’t had problems with thread shredding or breaking. No skipped stitches.

My favorite local place to find Mettler threads is G-Street Fabrics. G carries a lot of different colors. If I don’t find a color I need (which is rare), I will use Gutermann’s. My local Hancock’s carries Mettler polyester threads, but in limited colors.

So, now you know my second favorite sewing machine thread is Gutermann’s. I will buy this thread if I can’t find Mettler available. I can find Gutermann’s at Joann Fabrics and at G.


My favorite serger thread is Maxilock. Only because it’s locally available (Joann's, Hancock's & G) and when it goes on sale…I buy a lot. I usually buy my serger thread colors in pairs. I can usually pair my colors together to create a blended serge stitch color. Like for a black, gray, or dark blue fabric, I would use a combination of black and graphite. For beige, taupe, and tan color fabrics, I would use off-white and beige. For a light pink fabric, I might use off-white and light pink. I think you get the picture. No need to buy 4 of the same colors.


My favorite embroidery thread is Isacord (pictured here). I love these large spools of threads. I can get these locally at G. As a result, I have ended up with a rainbow of colors. I haven’t had any thread breakage while using my embroidery machine.

My next favorite embroidery threads are Madeira, Sulky and Robison-Anton. I love the colors they carry, but they are not readily available to me. So, I tend to order these via the Internet. I use these threads to fill in for the missing Isacord colors I do not have on hand.

I have also used these embroidery threads in my sewing machine (top thread) when I have the need to use one of my decorative stitches on my garment.

Do you have any favorite threads you'd like to share with me?

Happy July!

First of all I wanted to wish everyone a happy July! I also wanted to add that I hope you all keep your sewing mojo alive. I know this is a busy month for vacations, keeping kids entertained, and even the weather can have an effect on what we feel like doing or not.

Remember....ladies...to take time for yourself and do something fun.

Happy July!