Necessary Clutch Wallets

These are my #2-4 Necessary Clutch Wallets (NCW) by Emmaline Bags.  I've already blogged about my first one. That one turned out ok, the stitching is wonky and it was uneven on the inside. I've never used it, I use it as a reference piece. 

#2 and #3 were gifts, and #4 is for me. I like making these wallets. They still take me forever to make, but because I understand the steps it's kind of relaxing. I heard if you make a bunch at a time (assembly line style) you can knock them out pretty fast.  I really want to make more bags and I have several patterns in my "To Be Purchased" list but bags require a lot of hardware. And all that hardware has to be imported in to me. But the Bag of the Month Club has a pretty cool January bag, so I need to do some shopping. 

#2  I ordered this fabric from an Etsy store in Mexico. The colors are vibrant but I wasn't expecting the fabric type. I was expecting a really thick cotton, but it was very thin (sheer) and shifted while I was sewing. It also frayed really bad. It was a pain to work with. My stitching is a little better on this one. The front flap under the twist lock is not curved symmetrically and my sides on the inside are not even. I opted to use a 71F Peltex throughout the entire body of the wallet to give it a more structured shape.

Those uneven lines drive me crazy.
I wander if starch would have helped.

For #3 I used fabric by Joel Dewberry from the Aviary 1 and 2 collection. I love fabric with animals on it. I did a little fussy cutting to get as many birds as possible on it. I even had enough fabric to cut out a second wallet (for me at a later date). Three 1/2 yard pieces of fabric is enough for two wallets. I also used 71F throughout the body. I love the stiffness the 71F adds, but after it was done I wondered if it would be too stiff. Would the recipient be able to put stuff inside the wallet and close it? It didn't even occur to me to try putting stuff in it to see if it would close. Duh! My stitching is much better on this one. I added a security tab in the middle, so when you open the wallet your stuff in the middle section won't fall out. The tab was an after thought and the underside of it was pretty awful. I'm also not sure the button I used won't ripe out. I added a piece of 71F to make the fabric stronger, but I'm not sure how long the button will last.

Finally #4. I scored this Anna Maria Horner fabric at the beginning of the year. She had it on sale on her website, which for me means after shipping and VAT taxes I paid the normal cost. Which is still exciting for me. Instead of using 71F throughout the body of the purse, I used a double layer of SF101. It's less stiff, but adding all your credit cards really stiffens it up. There are a lot of areas to put things but I found that I could only fit my CCs, my iphone, some money and some chapstick in it and still be able to close it. But I still love it.

Sadly below is my attempt at pattern matching so the flap aligns perfectly with the rest of the body. Oops it didn't quite work out.

The only thing I hate are my fabric choices. I love the outside and inside flap (again by Anna Maria Horner) separately but they don't match. I have no idea why I thought they did. I had already changed my card slot fabric choice (after I had cut and interfaced). So by the time I realized the two main fabrics didn't look good together I just didn't feel like finding a new fabric and recutting another inside flap fabric.

The back. The fabric is a little crocked.

I used velcro instead of a button for the security tab. I like it but I reused old velcro and it's not very sticky. :) Note to self...buy some velcro.

I was pretty happy with the top stitching on my card slots

I've seen verses with 2 zipper pockets on the inside, a zipper pocket on the back, and a plastic card slot for your driver's license. And there's lots of variations that can be done on the front flap (different shaped flaps, using 2 fabrics, piping, lace, different shaped purse locks). I need to put on my creative hat.

I have to make #5 soon, but first I need to order more hardware.

Sidenote....It may sound like I'm hard on myself with all my criticism but I find it helpful for me. It makes me more mindful on my next project if I know the areas I need to work one. I'd like to look back on these posts in a few years and see all the improvements I've made.

Things I learned: nothing new, but my topstitching is improving
Things I need improvement on: picking matching fabrics, and pattern matching
Do I love it? Yes! They are pretty fun to make. It's cool to see a bunch of fabric become a purse.
Purse #: 2-4

Hudson Pants

My most exciting make to date are my Hudson Pants by TrueBias. They are so comfy I wear them almost everyday. It wasn't love at first sight when I saw the pattern. I already have lots of lounge pants. And at first glance I thought the ankle bands had elastic in them...which is a no in my book. I defiantly didn't care to make sweatpants. But I was already buying the Sutton Blouse pattern, so I decided to add the Hudson Pants too. Oh online shopping...you make things too easy. 

Then I started looking at other people's Hudson Pants, and I quickly feel in love. People are so creative. Some of my favorites are here, here and here. These are not boring unflattering sweatpants, these are the new yoga pants of 2014. They are lounge pants that you can throw on and still look chic. 

These were labeled as "advanced beginner". Because of the word "advanced" and  I'm a big scaredy cat I worked my up to these pants. I sewed pajama pants first, then leggings and finally these. They ended up being a super easy sew. I didn't use my seam ripper once!! That is unheard of, my normal routine is sew, rip, sew, rip, sew. I don't consider myself an advanced beginner, but I followed along easily so maybe I'm moving up on the sewing level spectrum. 

There are detailed instructions and a sewalong to guide you through the steps. I found I liked the written instructions better, the drawings made it really easy to tell where I was sewing.  But I really liked the blog posts on fabric choices and sewing with knits (days 1 and 2). I used a two sided knit from Joann's that my MIL sent me for the accent pieces (the other side has polka dots). I know I bought the main fabric from Minerva Crafts, but I can't remember the exact fabric I got. Yep, I tossed the receipt, deleted my confirmation email and because I had two Minerva accounts deleted my account. My best guess is that it was this Ponte Roma Jersey.

Thankfully, a walking foot wasn't required. Mine broke, it jumps around and makes for a crazy all over the place stitch. You just need a ball point needle and a stretch stitch. And you'll need a button hole foot to make the holes for the drawstring. Yay my first button hole! 

I think from start to finish it took about 5 hours. Please keep in mind I'm the worlds slowest pdf pattern taper and sewer.

I shorted the length by 2 inches. The only thing I'll do next time is take in the ankle bands by about an inch. After sewing these and leggings I have come to realize I have skinny ankles. 

I've worn these around the house almost everyday. The day after I made them it was warm so I got to wear these outside. I really love them. I've only sewn 7 garments, but I've found that the two I made from True Bias had the easiest to understand instructions for us newbies.

Things I learned: how to make a button hole
Things I need improvement on: nothing :)
Do I love it? Yes!
Garment item #: 7

Side note...while I was running the other day I saw a lady walking two long haired goats. I couldn't get a picture without being too obvious, but they looked like these. I told Mr. Twilleager that I want a goat to walk. So cute and so random.

Another side note: I finally finished the book Gone Girl. It was very.....detailed. There was a lot of backstory....so much backstory. It was the first time I saw a movie  and then read the book. I had absolutely no idea what the movie was about (I hadn't even seen a trailer), so I liked the movie. It was long but I enjoyed the twist. Because I knew what to expect in the book, I was just waiting for it to get going. I'm sure I would have liked it more if I hadn't seen the movie first.

And my last side note:  The snow is back. You can't tell in the picture, but the snow is falling. Snow makes me really wish we had a fireplace. My hot coffee will have to do.

Auf Wiedersehen aus der Schwiez!

Recycled Curtains

Mike and I spent the night in Zurich in early December. We went to Brocki, which is a giant thrift store inside a parking garage. 

While it wasn't as big as I expected, I found 3 different curtain panels that I was excited about. The fabrics were in good shape and would make excellent skirts/dresses. Is that gross? I'm wearing someone's old discarded curtains.

Curtain hooks

This did not photograph well, but it's a beautiful red with a design

The second I saw that first fabric I knew I would make a short, gathered christmas skirt with it. I followed this tutorial on how to gather skirts. I did the "proper" method.

I tried to line it, but I unknowingly sewed the bottom of the lining into the waistband. It got in the way and I wasn't checking to make sure it was out of the way. It was also cheap crappy lining. I ended up cutting it out. I was on a time crunch and didn't have time to redo it. Plus I don't think that fabric would have handled a seam ripping.

I also tried to do an invisible zipper. I installed the zipper but it's not invisible. I need a little more practice.

It was a quick sew that I did the night before a Christmas dinner with friends. Sadly it was cold outside and my coat covered the skirt most of the time.

Below is my attempt to change up my poses.

Things I learned: how to gather
Things I need improvement on: adding a lining and invisible zipper
Do I love it? Yes, but I'm not sure how often I would actually wear it.
Garment item #: 6

Pop Pilates

While training for my last marathon I wanted to do yoga or pilates twice a week. I have a couple of videos but for the most part I was relying on youtube. I looked at a LOT of videos...too long, too short, too hard, too easy. One video didn't even have sound. You were supposed to watch the instructor, but when you are laying on the ground that's hard to do.  I gave up on yoga/pilates after 11 weeks. I like a variety and searching youtube for a new video (that was at the level and time I wanted) twice a week was taking too long.

But while looking at all the youtube videos I found Pop Pilates by Cassey Ho. Her videos are very short (most are like 10 minutes), so I only watched a couple of her longer ones that were 30 minutes before I quit trying to do pilates twice a week. After my marathon was over I went back to her youtube channel and to her website. She posts a monthly calendar of videos for you to follow.  Her youtube site has a playlist that has that day's videos listed. It's incredibly convenient.

Each day focuses on a different body part or cardio, and is made up of 5 to 6 short videos. All of the videos for the day combined add up to about 50 - 60 minutes, but if you cut out her talking it is about 45 minutes of exercise. You get 1 rest day a week. From reading comments on her videos, I would say most people doing these videos are between 16-22. I'm pretty sure I'm the oldest person doing them. I've even seen comments from 11 year-olds.

My goal was to follow the December Pop Pilates calendar and run 4 times a week (just 3 or 4 miles each time).The good news is I completed the Pop Pilates calendar. The bad news is I didn't run and I ate a lot of sweets this month. So I didn't notice any changes in my body or weight. I do feel a tad more flexible and stronger.

I'm really excited that I finished the whole calendar. I have a tendency to quit things when I get close to finishing them. I did skip days and double up on other days. But I did all the videos (except the one where she wanted me to dance, I switched that out for another cardio video).

Completed work out calendar!

Pros: I love being told exactly what to do;  I love that Cassey does all the moves with you; I think she sends a good message to young girls; there's so many different videos you don't repeat the same ones over and over; I love that the videos are short...it's easy to make time for a 10 minute video; some of her videos are really challenging; she shows you advanced and beginner options for a lot of the moves; her videos are free

Cons: She is geared towards younger people, so sometimes I find her overly peppy; sometimes she screams and if my volume is turned up it's really loud; if you don't like Pop music these may not be the videos for you; some of the videos are really challenging

Overall I like Pop Pilates and will continue doing them. I'd like to keep doing the strength workouts, and replace the cardio days with running. 4 days of Pop Pilates and 5 days of running would be great.

24 Hour Fitness is going to start offering Pop Pilates classes. Though I think I'll always prefer Body Pump, I would go to these classes as well. Well unless they are filled with teeny boppers. Following the youtube videos are worth a go if you need to do an at home workout. They are free, so you have nothing to loose.

Tucker working on his downward dog

2015 Resolutions

I thought I'd list a few things I want to accomplish for 2015. I already did a similar post back in October in my 6th month check in, but I wanted to list them again.

Obviously I want to continue to improve my sewing. I have a lot of patterns that I want to sew, but the 2 that I'm most excited about are the Emery dress and the Archer shirt. I want successfully make both of these.

I want to improve my knitting. I won't be able to complete this sweater. But I'd like to learn the techniques to one day attempt the Amanda sweater.

I want to learn how to knit in the round. With double pointed needles and a circular needle. And make socks.

I want to watch all my Craftsy videos that I've downloaded. I have a lot.

I want to reach my fitness goals. I've had a body goal that I've wanted to reach for the last 7 years. We plan to start a family in 2016 so I'd like to achieve my best body possible during 2015.

I want to complete 2 marathons in 2015.

I'd like to run a 1,000 miles in 2015. If I complete the above goal, then this should be pretty easy.

I want to improve my German. I'd like to be able to hold a conversation by the end of 2015. I also need to increase my weekly dedicated study time.

I say this every year, but I want to drink more water. I hate water so I always give up. 3 bottles of water a day.

Lastly, I want to tell my husband every day that I love him. Something very simple, but I tend to forget.

That's about it. Here's to a wonderful 2015!