The Flames make it sew faster!

I finally did it!

Mission: Fathers Day Army Sweatshirt re-con

As a last minute Fathers Day Gift, my Mother-in-law asked me to repair or remake my Father-in-laws very worn  Army sweatshirt. She had been searching for a similar shirt for a long time with no luck so we decided to make an applique from the logo and put it on a new shirt. 

First, cut out the front panel of the shirt. Next  pin a piece of fuse-able interfacing right sides together and trace a 1/2 inch (or more) around the design with a washable marker.

 Machine stitch along the outline all the way around. Trim closely to seams. Then carefully cut a slit across the interfacing. Trim corners and turn right sides out.

Use a pencil or chopstick to pop out the corners.

Pin in to place on the new sweatshirt

Iron at the cotton setting to fuse the applique to the shirt (cover the decal with a pillow case or light cotton to keep the iron from sticking)

Top stitch with a decorative zig zag along the edges of the applique.

Done! 

Happy Fathers Day Marty!

Monster t-shirt to toddler dress!

I found this great tutorial on instructables
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-toddler-dress-from-a-t-shirt/

It was very easy and looks great.
This was one of my favorite T shirts. I bought it from threadless.com when I found out we were having our daughter so I decided she should have it.

To see more process shots please visit my flickr album

Custom Printer Dust Covers

I just finished a quick project for my wife who is a very talented photographer with a variety of printers. I just threw together these dust covers. The fabric is from IKEA (which I've had for a few years) and both cover took about 3 hours to make. They came out a little snug but they work.

What does it mean to Sew Manly?

What does it mean to Sew Manly?
A little background first, Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of the year and my family always put lot of effort into our costumes. We had the parade trophies to prove it.
In high school I made a complete ninja uniform as the first costume I created completely on my own. I traced my Taekwondo gi  to make the basic pattern and rendered it in some black fabric my mother had left over. I made a hood, sash and leg wraps based on some pictures from a Martial Arts magazine. I also carved a Sword from a scrap of wood quarter-round molding and hand stitched a leather scabbard and handle wrap. It may not have been historically accurate but it was fun. It was the first of many over the top costume projects that were definitely "Manly" in a geeky sort of way(monsters, superheroes and such). One of the best costume I made was a copy of "Sub Zero"(see above left) from the "Mortal Kombat" Film. I worked with 2 college friends who went as "Scorpion" and "Reptile." We started working on these 5 months before Halloween that year.

So, what does it mean to Sew Manly? For me, it means dealing with some stereotypes. First, there is the "really? You, Know how to sew?" factor, My wife likes to point this out in many a conversation. It also comes up when we are shopping for fabrics, the clerks will look at my wife first and ask her if she needs help and she says "don't look at me, he's the one that sews." and they reply dully with "Oh, O.K."

Obviously, most fabric stores and the industry on the whole, are
geared toward women so there is a lot of pink and flowery items in these stores.   To counter this, I carry my sewing supplies in a black tool box and instead the traditional Tomato pin-cushion, I made one that looks like a skull and I am going to make one that looks like Pin-Head from Hellraiser. I currently have an overwhelming desire to paint a flame job on my sewing machine (I'll post photos if I do). Also, I like to watch action movies while I work on projects. This is especially juxtaposed if I'm working on a frilly fairy dress up costume for my daughter!

Sewing Machines are power tools!

New blog, etsy shop relaunch, Sold!

I grew up in a very creative home. My Dad taught me how to use power tools and my Mom taught me how to sew. I designed this T-shirt to integrate those aspects of my personality!
It was my first sale since I relaunched my shop.
Available at my etsy shop www.deerinheadlights.etsy.com