Friday, August 18, 2017

Tenor Ukulele Gig Bag and Summer Nightwear...

Finished up the ukulele gig bag for the tenor last week. Now the little uke family has some cool accessories, eh?  It turned out somewhat large but the extra padding is a good thing because I do carry this bag a bit. Strap is a handy addition. My two soprano bags have no straps! Why? I can't remember, but they are smaller and easier to carry anyway.
This is at the quilted stage. I used two layers of batting and then quilted each side with its lining. That was good practice with the AcuFlex foot, and it went swimmingly!

My zipper was the metal one, so I sewed it in wrong, and had to take it out.  Since that happened I decided to go buy a yellow poly zipper anyway. It really looks nicer than the metal one did. Could be longer, but 22" was the longest pale yellow zipper they had at Joann's.

Then I made a double batted strap and attached that to the outside, and applied the pocket. The Elna 720 sewed through all those layers like butter.   I think there must have been 10 layers or so by the time I turned the edges under on the strap and then sewing it on, and the pocket too had many layers to sew through.  It is great having a machine that will do this effortlessly.  This was a self-drafted pattern, and the next bag will be made a bit smaller. I need to make another tenor gig bag for my son't ukulele next.  Off to JA's to get fabric for that today.

Meanwhile, the tenor bag and I went to our little uke group happily the last two times, and the yellow fabric surely perks things up!

Made a cotton nightie out of the lovely Buttercream fabric from JA's that has French stamps and the Eiffel Tower on it.  Self-binding on the armholes and neckline, and made from a pattern I drafted from a nightie I made several years ago from a Butterick pattern which since has been given away.  Simple pattern for a jumper, but it made a terrific little nightie in the first place, so the one I just made, I made long. It is really comfy.  Probably might make another, and even in flannel for winter!   If I fall across this pattern again I will buy it, but really only need the jumper part. And I drafted it, so there ya go.  The fit in the shoulders is really good - that looks simple, but unless drafted well by the company in the first place it won't fit correctly.   The picture isn't art quality here, but I will post it anyway. This is my new favorite nightwear.

Adding the pattern picture in case anyone should have it - give it a try! Butterick 5058 from 1997.

4 comments:

glorm said...

Is your playing as perky as that yellow fabric?

Like that nightie. :)

catspec said...

glorm! Thanks! Well, I cannot play as well as I should be able to, but it is one fun instrument! ;) Get one! :) Nightie was easy and it is so comfy to wear light cotton.

SewLibra said...

Did you make all three of those bags? I like them all! It's so nice when you have a machine that won't bog down on heavy layers like that. Your Elna was a champ at it. I usually pull out my Bernina tank for home dec stuff, but in reality my Brother can handle those layers pretty well too. Hey, I'm getting an education on ukulele types here. Haha!

Love your pretty nightie!

catspec said...

SewLIbra - yes I did make those bags. :) The soprano uke bags were made on the Janome MC6300P and the Tenor bag on my Elna 720. Both machines on the same chassis and they ROCK!! If you find yourself wandering through a Janome dealer, take a look at the new Janome MC6700P!!!