I'm Back!

Hard to believe my last blog post was nearly 10 years ago!  It feels like yesterday...  I'm not sure what exactly prompted me to want to start posting again, but here goes.   

That little girl that inspired my blog and business name graduated high school and is studying Marketing.  My son is a Junior in high school and starting the college search process.  Crazy that in a few short years, the house will be a little quieter.

My lab research position came to end in 2019 and after bouncing around a bit I've landed back in the Higher Ed world using my science background to support facility renovations.  It's been a great learning experience and I really enjoy being back on a college campus.  I also decided I wanted to go back to school and enrolled in a Master's in Business Analytics program.  

In 2020, like many people, we added a fur baby to our family and she has been my new inspiration.  From doggy toys to Halloween costumes, much of my sewing in recent years has been for her.  So much so that when she hears my sewing machine, she comes running hoping for a new toy.  

That's the update for now.  I have some ideas for posts and hopefully will keep up some level of momentum.  I really enjoy blogging even if nobody is listening.  It's my own personal journal. 

XO Ruby

Baby Swimsuit

I'm no stranger to sewing swimwear.  In the past I've drafted my own pattern from store bought suits.  Recently I came across Patsy Aiken Designs and fell in love with this adorable swim set.  I have a little baby niece and let's face it, sewing for babies is so much fun! 

 Though I've sewn quite a few suits for my daughter you can see HERE and HERE, I can never leave well enough alone.  I feel pretty comfortable using my coverstitch machine for most things, but have not had success with swimwear. 

 So like the crazy lady I am, I spent all weekend conquering my machine and all this spandex.  After much trial and error, I finally got it to work, though I'm not positive I could do it again.  The striped suit came out great, but my first one was a bit of a disaster.

 This flower print fabric is heavier than the stripes, and I used a thicker elastic.  Not sure if that was the problem, but my machine did not like it.  I kept getting skipped and uneven stitches.  It looks cute if you don't look too close.

 Ultimately I put in new stretch needles, went with a thinner clear elastic, a lighter fabric and it worked much better.

This pattern is very cute, but be forewarned, the instructions are all words, hardly any pictures.  If you've never sewn swimwear before, you'll need to have your computer closeby for help.

Can't wait to see this suit on my little baby niece!

EASY Rounded Zip Pouch TUTORIAL

 With the holidays kind of right around the corner, I started sewing up some little zip pouches with extra fabric in my stash.  These pouches come together really quick, are great for using up larger fabric scraps AND make a great gift.  Who doesn't love a zip pouch?

Here's what I did.  First, get the pattern HERE.

You'll need 2 exterior pieces, 2 interior pieces and a 9 inch zipper.  I added a fusible interfacing to my exterior fabric, but this is totally optional.

 Clip or pin your zipper to one exterior piece, right sides together, with zipper pull hanging off one end (zipper tape lined up to the other end).  

Pin the INTERIOR fabric on top of the zipper, right side facing down (not sure how I missed this picture, sorry!).  Sew through all 3 layers with a zipper foot and a 3/8 inch seam allowance. 
When you fold back the layers, it should look like this.  You can see the pink INTERIOR fabric in back, with wrong side of interior and exterior together.

Repeat with the other exterior and interior pieces.  

So, you'll pin the exterior piece to the zipper with right sides together (as shown).  Then place the INTERIOR piece on the other side of the zipper, right side facing the wrong side of the zipper.  Sew across the top with a zipper foot and 3/8 inch seam allowance.

 Here's what is looks like when all the pieces are sewn to the zipper and pressed down.  You can topstitch next to the zipper if you like.

 With the zipper opened all the way, match the lining and exterior pieces.  Starting at the lining piece, sew all the way around, leaving about a 3 inch opening in the bottom of the lining.  Cut off the zipper end and turn right side out.

Either by hand or by machine, stitch the opening in the lining closed.

Done!  I sew fairly quickly and each one took me about 20 minutes start to finish!  How great is that?