Stitchin' in My Kitchen

I’m rarely one to raise my hand for pattern testing – I don’t like to sew something if I don’t know that it’s “me”, I’d prefer not to waste time on something until the kinks have been ironed out, and there’s usually a really tight turnaround time that I can’t meet. Oh, and I like to be honest. Having said that, when I saw Thread Theory put out a call for menswear testers, I volunteered. I sew a lot for my husband and we have our TNT patterns, but I’m always looking for something new and interesting. The pattern is the Quadra jeans, designed to be similar to a Levis 502 low-rise style.   I used a sturdy non-stretch denim I had in my stash that was originally from Mood Fabrics.   According to the size chart, his 32” waist and 39” hip put him squarely in a size 32, which is what I cut and sewed for testing's sake. I also sewed it following the original instructions, also in the name of pattern testing. It came together pretty quickly as I’ve made many a pair of je...

I recently sewed up the Seamly Moto Sweatshirt, which I had bought back in the spring and have been waiting for a hint of fall to move it to the front of my sewing queue.  I sew a lot with color and prints, so I went with a basic black so I could throw it on with almost anything.  I spent some time trying to find the right fabric for this pattern, and even though it looks basic it features a really fantastic sweatshirting. It came from The Rain Shed (or from www.therainshed.com ) which is a small specialty fabric store in Albany OR that I discovered during our brief stay in Corvallis.  It has some really amazing outdoor fabrics that I haven't seen anywhere else. This isn't a sponsored post, I've paid for all of my fabrics, I just happen to think it has some great stuff and is a great resource for sewists! My Seamly moto is made up of their Performance Sweatshirt Fleece .  It's a 17 oz. poly/lycra with nice 4-way stretch and some nice body to it. ...