Tag: Simplicity 2830

Simplicity 2830 #5: And there you have it

Well, that was easy enough… sort of. Although this was my very first project, I think it came together nicely. There were some problems I had with the pattern instructions – the lack of clarity made it hard sometimes to figure out how to do something. For example, I must have spent 24-hours thinking about how I was going to sew the zippered top section into my bag… I think I even lost sleep about it. I find that unlike my knitting, my sewing takes a different set of skills. I have to visualize, visualize, visualize everything when it comes to sewing. With my knitting, I just do a lot of counting, and then eventyally the piece looks like what it’s supposed to look like.

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

I tried to make all the seams look ok.
My seams need work... they aren't very straight.
Getting the top on was tricky, but I figured it out...

Simplicity 2830 #2

I didn’t get to work on the pattern last night.  We stopped by Wal-mart to pick up some plain white thread.  I hadn’t gotten more than the red color that I’m going to use for the project, so when the direction calls for me to baste two pieces together before seeming them together, I was caught without a contrasting color.  So I figured white would be good since it’s one of those all-purpose colors that I’ll be able to use later.  They didn’t have any black though and I was going to pick up a spool of that too. 

I’m getting a little discouraged though.  The pattern instructions are really vague, and the pictures/diagrams that are included are less than helpful.  I’m having issues when it tells me to “press under seam allowance”.  What the heck does that mean?  I think I’ve decided that I’m going to take a deep breath and just jump in.  I’m pretty sure I cut out my fabric wrong to begin with, so I’m glad that it was cheep. 

I’ve read a few reviews of the pattern on Pattern Review.com and they all seem to say the say the same thing… the directions suck and that the bag needs a lining… I’m not that advanced yet, so I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it on a different project.

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Simplicity 2830 #1

Well, this project is my official foray into the sewing world.  I picked this project for a couple of reasons. First it is supposed to be easy. Second, it looked like it would give me the opportunity to learn a few things, and not just practice sewing a seam or two.  This project has a ZIPPER!!! (I know… but it’s the little things in life that make it worth wild, right?)  While cutting out the fabric and reading the pattern instructions I got a little nervous, but just like my knitting, since I don’t know how hard things really are, I use that ignorance to my advantage and just jump head first into things.

My intention is to keep an online journal of each of my projects.  I haven’t been as committed to this endeavor in my knitting, but I think it’s a good habit to get into. For each project I will detail the pattern I use, the fabric, and special skills I plan on learning to complete the project and various notes along the way.

So this was where I was last night when I packed it in:

  1. Purchased pattern, fabric and notions;
  2. Put together project board;
  3. Cut out pattern and fabric;
  4. Wound the bobbin and threaded my machine;

Tonight I think I might actually start working on putting it together.