Today we went live on Facebook and made up our Jalie socks; we had a great time! I was especially pleased that several people sewed their own socks along with me, and others gave feedback on the stream. This kind of participation really helps me create a helpful and coherent stream.
If you are just finding this post, but want to make the socks yourself, you can start at my materials list, and continue on.
Look, I get it.
The holidays are intense. For those of us who celebrate – or who are shoehorned into celebrations – it gets hectic. We are barely staying afloat – balancing family responsibilities, meal-planning, travel and party arrangements – while struggling with all the regular bill-paying, job-holding, schedule-wrangling stuff we are used to.
Many of us are celebrating Thanksgiving – or some form of communal meal – this month. My suggestion for this very quick sew-along is to carve a little space to sew something cozy. Whether you are making this for a friend or your own enjoyment – a holiday gift or something warm and snuggly for yourself – this is a relatively quick project but a satisfying one.
Thank you for joining us for our final post, in our Patterns for Pirates Slim Fit Raglan sew-along!
For each sew-along post, I like to recap what we’ve already accomplished. First, I posted a bit about the pattern and supplies last month. On the 15th of this month we got started: cutting and marking our fabrics. Then, we created our triangle patch and our elbow patches. On the 19th, our most recent post, we created our side seams and neckband. Today, we finish our shirt: with cuffs, waistband, and curved hem options.
And a reminder – Rachelle has been working away making up a few awesome pattern hacks. Today’s post features a kangaroo pocket for a men’s hoodie version. Make sure to visit her blog and give her some love!
Remember – if you have any questions, you can post them here, email me, or message me through Facebook (either my personal page, or my sewing page – The Vegan Tailor). Even if you are getting up to speed a little late (or a lot late!), please feel free to contact me for any help you need.
Ready?
Thank you for joining us for our Patterns for Pirates Slim Fit Raglan sew-along!
To recap: I posted a bit about the pattern and supplies a month ago. On the 15th, we cut and marked our fabrics. Then, we created our triangle patch and our elbow patches. Today we’re creating our side seams and neckband (page eight through ten in the pattern)!
Remember – if you have any questions, you can post them here, email me, or message me through Facebook (either my personal page, or my sewing page – The Vegan Tailor). I want to make sure to help everyone who is participating, to have great results.
And before we start, a reminder the sew-along posts and itinerary are as follows:
Save-the-date: supplies and pattern
March 15th: cutting and marking
March 17th: triangle patch & elbow patches
March 19th (today!): seams and neckline
March 21st: cuffs, waistband, and curved hem
Ready?
Thank you for joining us for our Patterns for Pirates Slim Fit Raglan sew-along!
To recap: I posted a bit about the pattern and supplies a month ago. On the 15th, we cut and marked our fabrics. Today, we are putting together our triangle patch, and our elbow patches (pages 5 through 7 on the pattern). Remember – if you have any questions, you can post them here, email me, or message me through Facebook (either my personal page, or my sewing page – The Vegan Tailor). I want to make sure to help everyone who is participating, to have great results.
And before we start, a reminder my itinerary is as follows:
March 15th: cutting and marking
March 17th (today!): triangle patch & elbow patches
March 19th: seams and neckline
March 21st: cuffs, waistband, and curved hem
Ready?
Today is the big day! We start our Patterns for Pirates Slim Fit Raglan sew-along! If you are getting here late, no worries. I posted a bit about the pattern and supplies a month ago. And if you have any questions, you can post them here, email me, or message me through Facebook (either my personal page, or my sewing page – The Vegan Tailor). I want to make sure to help everyone who is participating, to have great results.
A reminder: my sew-along partner, Rachelle Weiler, is also hosting several wonderful hacks for this pattern. She is making a wonderful lace sleeve with grommet-placket hack, a men’s hoodie, and a FST mashup dress with flared sleeves! Between the two of us, we are sure to cover a wonderful top that’s just your style!
Shown below, my oldest – modeling a bamboo jersey version with elbow patches, long sleeve cuffs, and waistband:
Before we start, a reminder my itinerary is as follows:
March 15th (today!): cutting and marking
March 17th: triangle patch & elbow patches
March 19th: seams and neckline
March 21st: cuffs, waistband, and curved hem
Ready?
It is amazing to me I am coming up on the final entry in my year’s project: one sew-along a month. It has been an incredible amount of work, and I still have little housekeeping bits and bobs to finish (I am also in the middle of an update on my Vegan Tailor site). But it has been a glorious journey and I have met and been inspired by many lovely stitchers!
Our sew-along itinerary is as follows:
March 15th: cutting and marking
March 17th: triangle patch & elbow patches
March 19th: seams and neckline
March 21st: cuffs, waistband, and curved hem
OK!
Many have heard of a weighted blanket; some even know their use by occupational therapists and other health professionals as a deep pressure methodology to assist patients with anxiety or sensory disorders, and those on the autism spectrum. You can find these online in both small boutiqes and big box shops, ranging from 2 pounds and 24″ square (at about a $100 price point) to a king-size version at about 30 pounts to up to $500. Last December a friend asked me to make one for her child; we selected two flannels the child liked, and purchased pellets, and she graciously let me hold onto the finished result long enough to write this tutorial up!
Making one of these blankets is slightly easier than a comforter. There were a handful of tutorials online but I thought I’d provide my own flavor, making it similar to a quilt with a bound edge (as opposed to a turned-and-sewn envelope-style comforter). Making your own will cost about 40% of what it would cost to purchase one; you can also buy the exact fabrics you like, and the method I’m showing here uses the prettiness and precision of traditional quilt binding, and very exact channels.
For a baby size blanket, roughly 36″ by 48″:
1 3/4 yards each of flannel (43″)
4 pounds pellets
1/4 yard quilting cotton (43″) for binding
For those who enjoy a summary, here it is:
We are going to mark all our channel lines first. Then we will affix the two layers wrong-sides together, and sewing along three edges with 1/4″ seam allowance, leaving one long edge open. We will then sew all our vertical channels, and fill each chamber one by one – sewing the next horizontal channel line after each row is filled. Then we’ll bind the quilt, and be done! Below is a diagram (click on it to enlarge):
Prewash all fabrics; cut your flannels to the exact size; in this case, 36″ by 48″. Keep in mind if you use a flannel like I did, it might shrink quite a bit. This is why although fabrics are 44″ wide, I have provided a conservatively-size quilt:
Mark the channel lines first; this will ensure a more accurate finished product. For this quilt, I used 6″ squares:
You can barely see the lines, but that’s okay! They only need to last, and be seen, for a short time. Obviously, don’t handle the quilt a lot or let your cat sleep on it, while you’re putting it together!
Time to pin, and stitch around three edges (missing one long edge), at 1/4″. Remember, you need a short stitch that will not allow any of your pellet’s to escape:
Pellet time! Already!
So, it is important each channel has the same amount of pellets. This is quite easy to accomplish, but depends on the total weight of your pellets. You can divide your pellets by weight, or in my case, by volume. At four pounds, it turned out this corresponded to 1/4 cup pellet per chamber.
But there’s a little more to it than that. It’s easy (especially when working by volumes) to use too little or two much per scoop. I found it advantageous to first separate the entitreity of the pellets into the eight vertical sections. As I worked with each, I would then split each one of these volumes into six, working with one vertical section at a time. This made sure I didn’t end up short, or with too much pelletude at the end of the project!
For each chamber volume, I used my pimento jar supply. I make a LOT of vegan nacho cheese so I have a billion of these pimento jars. Have I shared my nacho cheese recipe with y’all yet? Don’t worry. I will.
Okay! Time to sew up those vertical chamber lines. Use a walking foot if you have one. Flannel is lovely as it all holds together beautifully while you sew:
Once you have your vertical chambers, it is time to fill them! This is kind of a soothing process. Make sure when you pour the pellets into each section, to insert your arm and gently make sure each pellet settles into the lowest chamber. Flannel especially will try to “grab” pellets’. Don’t worry; this obviously gets easier as you move up the quilt.
After each row is finished, carefully stitch it closed! I say “carefully” as you want to make sure not to strike a pellet with your needle, as you sew.That would probably make a loud, unpleasant noise. I don’t know, because I was careful! By the time you get to the penultimate row, the pellets are close enough to the open edge they may try to spill out – so take care putting the quilt on the machine. After you’ve finished all the chambers, go ahead and stitch the quilt closed!
Binding time! I use the same exact methodology as this utorial, posted on Sewn Into The Fabric. I first cut my strips (2 1/4″), piece, and press them wrong-sides together:
I then pin at the edge in the middle of one of the sides, leaving a long tail free before stitching:
(Shown below: the first seam in the binding, atop the original 1/4″ seam:
Corners! Sew to that 1/4″ from the edge, and backstitch…
Fold the binding strip completely perpendicular to itself:
Fold back down – again, forming a right-angle:
And stitch, this time starting at the raw edge (shown below, underside):
After your binding is finished, you can sit and hand-apply the folded edge! (I favor a whip stitch:)
