Thursday, March 16, 2017

Dumplings

We had another snowstorm last Sunday. Yuck. (I'll spare you the ugly photos. If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know what snowdrifts look like, right?) After the fake-spring teases we'd been having, with temps even getting up to around 60°, it was rather hard to take, especially when it dumped 8" or so of new snow on us. Blech.

So what to do on a snowy day to avoid looking out the window? I made dumplings! Not the kind you eat, but rather very colorful spring-like dumplings. Here they are.


The fabrics are from Jessica Jones's Spring Quartet line of babywale corduroy for Cloud9 Fabrics, which are scheduled to be released... um... not this spring, but in July. :)

The dumplings are very little. See the seam ripper for comparison!


They're very fun to make! I used a free tutorial by Michelle Patterns, which you can find here. Little as they are, they're still completely finished on the inside.


I found binding those seams a little challenging, but then I'm not too crazy about putting binding on anything. So I devised a fairly simple way of doing it. I took a strip of seam tape, folded it in half, sewed the other short edge and one long edge shut, turned it right side out and slipped it over the seam like this.


Wonder Clips and/or pins helped hold it in place until I got it sewed. Nothing fancy, but for the inside of those little pouches where no one is likely to pay any attention, it was quite sufficient.

The linings are colorful Cirrus Solids from Cloud9 Fabrics. Aren't they pretty?


This one's my favorite. Which do you like best?


I could make a bazillion more of these, because they're so quick and easy. However, I have other projects in the works, so I'd better do those first. Never enough time for my ever-expanding to-sew list... but always something to look forward to!

13 comments:

Jessica Jones said...

Oh, man, the clouds. So adorable! Love how the curved edge matches the design.

annie dee said...

HA! Adorable is right! Love these! Are the two on the left smaller (she calls that the Harder one)? Thanks for including the link to the pattern too.

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Jess! My designer did great, didn't she? It's like she designed the fabric just for this dumpling! ��

Thank you, Annie Dee! And you're welcome. �� Yes, the two left ones are the "harder" ones. Really, though, there's not much difference in sewing them. In fact, I did what I thought was the easier one first, but it turned out I goofed and it was actually the smaller one. In size, there's about an inch difference in length and a half inch in height.

Gayle said...

Gorgeous, and I love the one with the clouds. Thank you for sharing the pattern , I am sure it will be very popular.

Grandma G said...

Thank you, Gayle! And you're welcome! 😊

Geneviève said...

Aww! I don't get tired of looking at them, they are lovely. Nice work!

The cloud dumpling is super cute, but I have to admit that I felt in love with the peach fabric the second I saw it. <3

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Gen! I don't get tired of looking at them, either - I rather love them myself! 😊

Maybe you'll just have to get some of that peach fabric someday! 😉

Unknown said...

So adorable! I love your work.

Grandma G said...

Thank you, Sharon!

Pam @Threading My Way said...

Thanks for the tip on binding the seams. I have Michelle's pattern, plus fabric, cut out ready to use. Your dumplings are adorable.

Grandma G said...

Thank you, Pam! Have fun making dumplings!

MargretaQuilts said...

For binding and other small fiddly stuff, I have become a fan of Dritz' washaway basting tape.

Grandma G said...

Thanks for the tip, Margreta.