Simple Sewing Saturdays: Volume Seven: Completely Easy Towel/Bib

Purging my kitchen with extraneous items last week, I stumbled across something that I had not seen nor thought about for some time.  It was a handy little towel bib that I made eons ago for Eldest/Admin, who is now 31 years young.  It's survived the many Tempera Painting Events that happened regularly around our house. The little terry bib was perfect for covering everything and it was handily handed down to each of her siblings.  Little Visitors to my home enjoyed the fact that Mrs. Cory was not afraid to use real paint, not the poor excuse for paint in those little Child Box of Paints that people are so fond of, the ones with the pitiful brushes. No indeed.  I would place the paint on a ceramic paint in great appealing globs, demonstrating for my own selfish enjoyment, the unbridled joy of mixing colors and the brilliance of adding white to change the tone.  And I made sure that we had decent brushes, for crying out loud.  Have YOU ever tried to paint with those things?  Impossible.  Get good tools so that your children feel successful, not blighted with poor equipment.  Anyway.  I digress.  Again.

For those children that need a little protected cover for the times when really good clothes need to be covered, this little gem is it.  Made of a towel, it washes well, absorbs too and slips easily over pony tails. So let us continue on.  You might need a quick gift this afternoon, and this just might be it!

Use a towel from  your closet.  Okay.  You can actually buy one, but isn't it more convenient to use what you have on hand?  Of course it is. And used towels are softer and more pliable. Use a hand towel, good size for a toddler/young child.  Fold down a third way down, as in the photo. Right in the center of the fold, mark a spot two inches down from folded edge.  On four inches on either side of this mark, place a pin.  You will be making a semi circle to make the neckline.  Using a pencil or fabric marker, mark the dot two inches down and join the curved line on either side to make a nice curved neck.  There is a nice little way with string and a compass to do this, but this is just a short walk; you can do it free hand.

Cut out the neck on the line formed by this curve.

We will edge the neck with good ol' bias tape. We shall not even unfold the tape for this go around, it is that simple.  Just sew the folded edge of the bias tape to the raw edge of the neck line, right sides together, leaving a bit of a tail. Now just roll over the bias tape to the other side of the bib and top stitch close to the folded edge, folding under the extra tail and stitching right on top of it.  Finished neckline, quick, quick!

With right side of the bib up, measure six inches from the shoulder.  Mark with a pin close to the bib edge.  Stitch horizontally about 2 1/2 inches, toward the center.  This makes the 'arm holes'.

Never to leave something alone, I make a little pocket to go on front.  You could make an initial, simply zig zagging around a cut out letter you did free hand with some fabric and your scissors.  As you can see, I think that I can do it without a template.  It turned out a bit wonky, but doesn't everything I make have a bit wonkiness to it?  Perfection is not my strong suit.  No comment.

I sewed two hearts together, sewed them wrong sides together and stitched around, leaving 2 inches open to be able to turn it.  See how you trim around curves?  Outer curve; clip and open V shape; inside curve; clip.

And here we are, less than an hour later with a fine little gift or a handy little cover up for your budding artist!  Now wasn't that fun?  The options are only limited by your towels in your linen closet!  Just remember if you do actually buy a towel, to make sure you have good paint supplies available and shun the pitiful offerings of paint kits that they make for children.  Give them good stuff; they have their cover up all ready!  Happy Sewing!

Everything Old is New Again Again...

Time to look around us and see what we don't need around our abode and how it can transmogrify into something else.
A crafty kind of hide and seek.
You know how you clean a closet.
You sort into Will Wear Again, Will Never in a Thousand Years And What Was I Thinking, and Donate and Throw Away.
Mighten I suggest that you have another pile.
The "How Great is This Fabric and What Could It Be Because I Don't Really Want To Part With It" pile.
Let me show you some ideas:
Sunshiny Sally (she always greets me so warmly) from my Garden Exchange, showed up on a cooler Garden Exchange evening with this jacket. I kept looking at it, quietly inspecting the little details. During our Refreshment part of the evening (is there any point to going to any gathering without refreshments? I think not.), I approached SS and asked her about it. I told her that I was admiring it from afar.
It was then that Sunshiny (a wise woman of the generation above me) stated proudly, that her well made jacket was a Repurposed Project!
She told me that she had attended a class on this very subject and the attendees were to bring an used article, prepared to make it into something else.
Sunshiny Sally brought in three pair of jeans.
Adding some nice knit ribbing around the neck, bottom edge and cuffs (I might inject that SS is quite an accomplished seamstress and maker/designer of quilts) and some very fine applique and voila! A very, very unique jacket to wear on the cooler Garden Exchange Club Nights.
I was impressed. And where did this clever little apron come from?

Once upon time, long, long ago in the late nineties, a dapper little straight skirt came to me via a second hand store far away.

To be honest, I didn't think it fit me very well but I just loved the fabric (key!)...

I wore it and wore it until it starting looking very much like I had landed in a 90's closet freeze.

I put it away with off season clothes and each season as it rotated up in the storage bin, I would sigh, put it in the giveaway pile then at the last minute, I would pull it out, thinking someday.....

Then a Customer that shall remain nameless because the apron is a gift, asked me to make a birthday gift, an apron and could it please be on the budget side?

Bingo!

Knew from the very beginning what fabric I would use!

The feminine floral was on the heavy durable side and could stand up to a lot of laundering.

Got out an Easy Shemeasy Pattern from the 70's (They really made patterns easy then; wish they still did the step by sub step by assuming nothing type of patterns for sewing neophytes)

Added a bit o' flourish, lining pocket with some of Paulina's Gingham and making the adjustable straps with another gingham, and it was done. I even used the original hem, thus aiding in the speed of it's completion.

What have we learned here?

Before we toss anything, be it a towel, blanket, clothing, sheets, check it over carefully. How wonderful is this fabric? Durable? Could it be pockets or applique on something new? Is there enough in it to make something for Baby? Reflect carefully and repurpose it happily.

Or give it to me.......

Evelyn Rose loved to sew.
Evelyn was known for her talent making aprons and pinafores for her friend's children.
She would dawdle in the fabric section of the Kresge and the Five and Dime three blocks from her home.
She knew that the gingham went on sale for .59 per yard the week before Mother's Day and she prepared her budget for the event.
Evelyn made plans to cut out several aprons for that week, knowing those in her church would inevitably ask her to make something special for their mothers at the last minute.
She had a way of knowing people that way.
She knew that most people don't plan that well for Mother's Day. That is the nature of mamas. They are used to taking back seats to others. That is how they are wired. This year, it was going to be different for Evelyn.
She had been saving and the pin money in the little ceramic sugar bowl in her kitchen cupboard was growing and Evelyn nearly had enough.
Last year, she found this pattern. It was .50 full price, but as luck would have it, that day it was featured in the Kresge as a Summer Sewing Special and Evelyn had the amount for the discounted pattern.
Evelyn had wistfully viewed a lovely summer shorty nighty set at the downtown Neumode store, but with a price of $7.50, she knew it was just wishful thinking to ever own such an extravagant item.
But then the pattern opportunity appeared and Evelyn placed it away for the chance that some day she would obtain the fabric to sew it.

Evelyn did indeed have apron orders. Three from unexpected sources. One kindly woman purchased the needed fabric for Evelyn for her special order. And after completing the very festive apron for the customer's mother, using the provided material with some of her own rick rack and her own embroidered embellishment, Evelyn wrapped it up in tissue and presented it to the kindly customer. Since the customer was unaware with sewing amounts, she had overbought by quite a bit, but Evelyn folded the extra material neatly with the crafted gift apron.
Kindly Customer was well pleased with the detail and workmanship. In her delight, she paid Evelyn the amount she required and as she started out the door, she handed Evelyn the extra fabric in the tissue, smilingly stated that Evelyn certainly could use it for something, couldn't she?

One cannot properly understand the glee with which Evelyn felt. Knowing that she could create her longed for Summer Shorty Nighty with a minimum of inconvenience to the budget, filled her with a sense of independence and competence. And quite a bit of happiness.

Setting aside a time after the children were in bed and hubby was busy with a book, she entered her sewing area in the basement with a determination and pride.

Her knotty pine sewing area, off the laundry room was quiet and small. Surrounding her, was the tools of her trade; her mother's old Singer sewing machine, her baskets of trims and tapes and her rows of colorful threads. All these things inspired Evelyn and she set to her task with a bit more energy than usual, given the time of the day.

Evelyn prepared the fabric and unwrapped a package of wide bias tape to finish off the scallop of the top of the shorty top.

It was there that, for the first time, she read the Wright's Guarantee included on the wrap around package:

' This material is fast color and perfect in workmanship. Should it be faulty in any way, we will reimburse you for the reasonable cost of your labor and all materials used in making the article on which it is applied.'

Evelyn put down her scissors and sat back in her chair.

What if the Wright's tape did not perform as expected time and time again?

What if her longed for creation did not meet expectations due to faulty trim?

Would she have to cash in the guarantee to be compensated for the damaged goods?

Surely, an opportunity to make something so special for herself would not pass this way again.

God Forbid, the tape should fail her, she would have to take advantage of the most generous guarantee provided by the Wright's Tape Company. She would have to.

Therein lie the problem.

Evelyn could not for the life of her, figure out just how much her work was worth.

She knew how to figure for fabric and notions and patterns, but when it came to charging her customers, she was totally lost.

This thought plagued her and she needs your help.

Just how much is our crafting worth monetarily?

When a creation is made and some of our soul and spirit is put into it, just how do we figure a price?

Let us help Evelyn figure out how much her work is worth......

Leave a comment with your insights and formula.....

Evelyn Rose Thanks You.....