I sewed a shirt! And then another one!

The Tova shirt, in fact.

It was awesome.





It fits and everything!

This was my first garment sewing that I actually finished. I've started a skirt (six months ago), but it's not done yet.

The pattern was super easy to follow, and the whole thing only took four hours, including reading through the pattern a few times and assembling and tracing the pattern pieces (I bought the PDF version, only $10!).

I started when I got off work at 1:30 a.m. and finished at 5:30. I didn't plan on it going that way, but it was one of those snowball things, like:

"Oh, if I finish this hem, I might as well attach the back."

And then 30 minutes later: "Now it looks like a real shirt, so I might as well sew on the sleeves."

Then another half-hour passes.

"And since it's basically done, I might as well finish it ..."

And then it's 5:30 a.m.

But so worth it.

So worth it that I made a second one the very next day. I'd been eyeing this Lisette collection fabric at JoAnn for awhile. It's twill. And I sort of thought the extra-small would fit better than the small I made the first time (it does).

So, this happened!





I wore it to work today and got a complement on it, BEFORE I bragged about sewing it.

The second time around, I realized I over looked a step on the first shirt -- topstitching the inset. It makes it look so much nicer. It's funny what you catch the second time through.

:::

And on the quilting front, I'm ready to sew the binding on the HST baby quilt!



I basted and quilted the thing last night, all in like an hour. I probably spent longer deciding how to quilt it than the actual quilting took. I had all these grand plans for some straight-line quilting, but in the end I went with an all-over free-motion pattern. I think that will make a nicer drape and longer-lasting quilt, especially with a baby quilt that will get washed lots.

Picking the binding and backing was hard. Those colors aren't easy to match. I planned on using the binding fabric for the backing, but I didn't want to use a different thread in my bobbin, so I went with some lighter blue dots on a natural background.

:::

Here's hoping I finish it up soon. There are lots of distractions lately, with the warm weather and these two mutts (who escaped for SIX HOURS on Easter and ended up having a sleepover at the shelter. Super lame.)




One thing I've learned from this quilt (besides how awesome trimming is) is that it's hard to pick fabric for a project that doesn't fall in your normal color zone. I've got no instinct in what looks good.