I did have fun with my ironing board covers, though! I was sick of buying cheapo ones that died within a couple of sessions (ironed through 3 in the last 6 months! o_O and I'm not even that hardworking), and since I do iron a fair bit, decided to make myself some nice cushy ones. I used batting and some light Ikea canvas leftover from one of my dresses, and it turned out so well I made one for my mum too. It's quite a boring print, at least when made into an ironing board cover, which explains the lack of pictures. But I'm sure it'll take me a while to iron through that!
What I did manage to sew (and photograph) was a little something risque/tacky/cute for Valentines' - lingerie!
This!
Since neither of us will pose in these things, this is the only shot there'll be of them.
I picked up the fabric from the remnant bin at my local Spotlight - it's an extra-wide slumber satin and there was a generous metre of it. It was extra-cheap for being 'damaged', read: tiny white streaks where the printing went a little wonky. For $2, of course I could work around those!
For me, I chose the Bikini #108B pattern from the 06/2011 issue of Burda mag, which looked cute in the pics. The whole set came together in one evening, which is pretty quick for me!
The bottoms were exactly what I wanted - tiny and bloomer/court-jester-like, and so cuuute! Though I can't imagine wearing anything like that in public even in a different fabric, which is what the mag photographed their models doing.
The bra top was a different story. Either that, or my anatomy is completely wonky. Since this was a novelty-type project (ie. would likely not see many wears), I decided to use snaps for the back closure instead of fiddling about with hooks. Which turned out to be a good decision, because the fit was horrible. I cut a size 36 like I usually do, but the cups came out spaced so terribly far apart that I had trouble keeping the straps from falling off my shoulders. I used to swim semi-competitively until a few years ago, and look like an infantry tank in halter tops, so I know I do NOT have narrow shoulders! Needless to say my boobs came peeping out every few minutes, which is not what I want in a bikini, even if my husband begs to differ. FAIL!
Of course the thought crossed my mind that all this trouble might be attributed to the slipperiness of the fabric, and how it seems to repel skin in general. However, I will not be making this in cotton just to test the hypothesis any time soon, as my dainty busts require padded covers in public at all times.
For him, I traced off the boxers from an existing pair, and since boxers are pretty forgiving anyway these fitted pretty well. Interesting note: these fit me too! So I have a free lounge-around-the-house shorts pattern :)
What I'm pretty proud of is that I managed to try new techniques even with this quick little project.
Apart from this being my first time sewing with satin (this must have been a special sort of satin, because it wasn't slippery to handle at all despite its shininess), it was also my first time sewing in an elastic waistband. I know, I know, where have I been all this while, right? I've known theoretically how I should install one for yonks, only I've never had the need prior to this. That wasn't too difficult, only I didn't bother with changing the colour of my thread!.
And also, ta-dah! I finally tried out my new serger! Behold the beauty of the serged seam! It really works like a dream, and I agree with the Selfosh Seamstress, it almost feels like cheating to not have to French seam/Hong Kong seam/overlock/pink/etc, to manage those ravelly seams. The serger serges and cuts all together, and it's all done perfectly in a wink. I'm so pleased! So that's one thing I can tick off my New Year Resolution list. Or do I also have to learn to thread it before it's counted?
I'm also quite chuffed about the double-hems. I was worried, and had envisioned the satin stuff slipping about in my fingers and in my machine. Turned out it was for naught - not that I'm particularly skilled, but that this satin handles almost like cotton sateen, not silk!
After I was done with the sewing there was still a half metre of fabric left over. I haven't the foggiest idea what else I could do with lipstick-print black satin - any ideas?
And Mr Tropical's response to my painstakingly-sewn set?
'Hey, what's all this?' And he promptly took all of it off.
Grumph.
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