Phat Chick Designs

A Simplicity "Sew Simple" pattern

2012-01-04T21:30:00.005-05:00

Last month I bought a cute jacket pattern I thought DD#1 might like at college. It's Simplicity 2024, a "Sew Simple" multi-size pattern (10-22).

On the pattern sheets there is a square that illustrates morphing between sizes for a perfect fit. Yeah, I do that. But there are at least two pattern pieces, maybe 3 because I can't remember for sure, that have the "old" 3 separate pattern pieces for (let's say) the collar/tie. As in "sizes 10 and 14 on piece X, sizes 12, 16, 18 on piece X, sizes 20 and 22 on piece X. I was VERY lucky! My morphing sizes are 10 and 14. I wouldn't have been too happy putting pattern pieces together and then morphing them. What a time hog. However, I thought it was kind of funny that the pattern is "Sew Simple", pattern morphing is illustrated for perfect sizing, then some of the pattern pieces are two or three sizes so the user has to pick/choose the appropriate one, then morph from two or three pieces on to a new one if they need to fine tune the fit.

If I was a newbie sewer, it would be very confusing in regard to the sizing aspect. And it does require a little thinking to morph properly on this pattern. So I thought it was kind of an oxymoron to call this pattern "Sew Simple". Yes, the sewing IS simple. Mostly thoughtless sewing, the kind experienced sewers could almost do with their eyes closed. However, the pattern pieces are not "sew simple" for a newbie sewer that might pick up this pattern and think it's easy based on that label. Especially if they want to morph it.

Really, it's just a minor vent. And I guess a newbie would probably sew the entire jacket in one size. Just thought it was weird because it actually does take some thinking in the pre-cutting/sewing stages. While it is simple to sew, it's more on the time-consuming side to fit. It's just one of those kind of patterns that surprised me in that regard.

Oh well, the pattern has been morphed. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be cutting the fabric and interfacing.

Quick Sewing Updates

2011-12-15T06:53:00.006-05:00

I really like making Q&E panties. Using my KS-2075 panty pattern, I've whipped up a few more pairs using knit fabric remnants in my stash. (Yes, if you look through my slide you'll see garments made from the same fabric lol!) Yes, a few alterations have been made to the pattern like fiddling with the crotch seams by moving the crotch piece forward (shortening the front piece/lengthening the back) and widening the lower back piece for my 40ish bum. The result? A great fitting pair of panties that provides good rear coverage, higher-cut leg openings, and a waistband that sits at the high hip as opposed to the waist. Here they are:

These Rita's Ice panties were made for DD#2 from her old work shirt that was stained. The t-shirt seaming made exact placement impossible, but I thought they were pretty cute. She has yet to wear them, but I told her they're going to be stolen away if she doesn't get use out of them.

I've been using black and white, plush/picot edge lingerie elastic from Sew Sassy -- http://www.sewsassy.com/ . Great stuff, easy to use.

I used my Babylock serger's elastic foot to apply the elastic. There is NO MEASURING/NO QUARTERING when using this foot. It is "Da Bomb"!!! One of the better inventions since the wheel. Simply adjust the screw on the foot to the desired stretch of elastic. It does take a few samples, but it works fabulous. Even if you can't adjust the screw at exactly the same place every time you make a pair, a minor change doesn't matter. I've experimented with different tension placed on the elastic via the screw for different pairs and they all fit great.

All cotton crotch linings are used from old 100% cotton t-shirts. Some are old ones in my drawers, or I look for the Hanes sales for mens' cotton tees in those 3-pack bags.

Movin' on. I'm working on a quick holiday dress using McCall's 2401. It's been sitting unused in my stash F O R E V E R. Did the alterations and am now stitching it up. It's about 2/3's done. I shopped my stash and was looking at the the 3 fabrics on the left for the dress:

The blue won out! Here it is from a few days ago as I was cutting out. More pics soon of the finished garment.
Hope you all have some time during the busy holiday season to accomplish some sewing!

Got Bit!

2011-12-12T18:04:00.004-05:00

It's like somebody gave me a sewing shot. Or I definitely got bit by the sewing bug on Saturday night. I've been having a case of the Christmas grumps, then on Saturday night perhaps I figured out why. How long has it been since I've whipped up a garment for myself? Far too long. Oodles of panties don't count.

I pulled out a basic McCall's sheath dress pattern yesterday and went to work with pattern alterations and whipped up a muslin. It's good to go. In a few minutes I'm going to shop the stash for fabric. There are definitely a few possibilities. All are fabrics from PR Weekends from a few years ago. Let's see what I come up with.

My guess is I'll whip up two quickie dresses. One might be a sexy, short black lace number with a nude stretch lining, and the other will be knee-length as shown on the pattern. Figure if I spent a few hours with pattern alterations, the pattern has to get used twice right away.

Let's see what I come up with in a few days. And it's cold here all right! Here is one of my cozy sidekicks that knows how to stay warm on a very cold, December morning. The same guy that sleeps in a cozy blanket near my head at night, and wakes me with warm breathing and kitten kisses to let me know he wants to snuggle under the covers in the morning!

Venting about a Personal Pet Peeve

2011-12-06T07:16:00.005-05:00

I know this post is US specific. Countries around the world do not handle some service jobs the way we do here. My personal pet peeve is really bothering me because of the holiday season.

It has to do with Holiday Tipping. On my FB post, I called it Holiday Tipping 101. For those of you not familiar with being a waiter or waitress in the United States, wait staff here earns a very low base wage of $2.85 (give or take a few pennies)/hour. This barely covers car expenses to get to and from work. Forget it if gas prices go up again which they eventually will do. Wait staff earn the bulk of their pay via customer tips.

Wait staff here earn most of their money via tips. The standard tipping chart (that I was taught) is:

10% Poor service
15% Good service
20% Excellent service

One thing is for sure! I NEVER leave 10% unless the service is awful. Rotten. Extremely terrible. It has to be an "I never want to come back to this restaurant" issue for me. That has only happened once in my life, and I didn't even get the chance to tip because the waitress let us sit in a booth for a half hour and never even got around to introducing herself to start our order. My mom and I ended up leaving and went to another restaurant to eat.

Another thing is for sure. I leave a minimum 20%. Always (unless the service is absolutely rotten, you know!). During the holiday season or near any holiday, I leave 25%, 30% or more. It is, after all, the holidays! Tis the season to give.

Anyway, this was my recent FB post:

"Holiday Tipping 101: Remember this season to be kind to service people, especially the wait staff and bartenders in restaurants. Wait staff earn a paltry hourly wage, something like $2.85/hour (which barely covers car expenses to and from work). During the holiday season, I like to be extra generous and leave 25-30%. Please remember they are working hard to give you a pleasurable dining experience, and tip them accordingly. If you stiff them, may karma bite you in the a$$. And unless you have truly rotten service, leaving 10% (or 10% + $1) is just incredibly rude. Really, if you can't afford the tip, just stay home.

Note: The tip is figured BEFORE using coupons too. Likewise, if you have a complaint about your meal and management gives it to you free, you still tip on what would have been the cost of the meal."

My daughter has been a waitress for the past 2+ years and has worked in the food industry for five years. She has told me stories. There are a small handful of people that say, "Oh, I left your tip on the table." Guess what. They stiffed her royally, and, no, her tips weren't stolen. Others who complain endlessly why the restaurant ran out of a particular food taking up 10 minutes, causing her to lose tables, only to get the minimum 10% tip which wasn't calculated by including the charge of the "free" meal they got from the manager. The wait staff doesn't have control of running out of a particular menu item. Occasionally, she's the target of reverse discrimination. Like the time a lady asked, "Where's that nice (person of a particular ethnic origin) boy who got my leftover box for me?" She wanted to give him most of the tip, leaving my daughter with virtually nothing for everything she did for them. Or how about the late arrivals. The people who arrive at 9:58 when the restaurant closes at 10 p.m. Don't these people know the wait staff has to stay at least an extra hour for them??? They're not making any money off other tables because everyone has left. So you arrive late, the menu item you want ran out, and you leave 10%...why? While the waiter or waitress gives you personal service so late at night, c'mon!

My daughter has stories. Weird stories. Like the one time a party came in and this one girl had to parade around the restaurant with what looked like no pants. She walked around 4X. I'm sure other patrons were rolling their eyes. Then she proceeds to tell (not my daughter) her waitress that they don't have to pay tax on the meal because they are an "indigenous people". My daughter asked, "Does she even know what the word means?" Because, my readers, last time I checked "white" people are not indigenous to our country. "Black" people are not indigenous to this country. American Indians? Yes, they ARE indigenous to our country. And do you know what? The manager took the tax off the meal!!! Unbelievable.

Or how about the patrons that come in on a usual basis to complain about their meal and get it for free. It happens more than you think. Or the parents that come in with kids in tow and the restaurant ends up being out of chicken nuggets or something. The parents carry on like it was the end of the world and state, "My child ONLY eats chicken nuggets!" Sometimes I want to shake my head and ask, "Is that why your child is at least 50 lbs overweight?" Believe me, if a kid is hungry enough, they'll eat. They're not going to starve. And BTW, why don't you just go down the street a 1/4 of a mile and get some chicken nuggets at McDonalds. Why hassle the waitress with your endless rant?

I don't know, everyone. But waiting tables is one of the hardest jobs ever. You deal with all types of people. Everyone should have to work in food service for at least three months. The world would be a better place for it. But please tip well this season, and every holiday season. These are good people doing a hard job. Not everyone can wait tables, not everyone has the right personality. But one thing is for sure. Wait staff see and deal with it all.

Hats off to them!

P.S. And don't forget to tip the bartender too!

Thanksgiving Traditions

2011-11-23T06:38:00.006-05:00

It's too bad it doesn't include sewing.

Yesterday I made pies all day.

3 Blueberry Pies (giving two to my mother)
1 Pumpkin Pie
1 Pumpkin Cheesecake
1 Caramel Apple Cheesecake
1 Chocolate Cream Pie

Also made the cake part of the pumpkin roll.

Today I'm making one more pie, an apple one, as well as the filling for the pumpkin roll and assembling it. Will also make apple crisp as a favor to my husband.

Tomorrow morning we celebrate our annual family tradition of eating Thanksgiving desserts at 10:30 a.m. while watching the NYC Macy's Day parade. I started this tradition about 11 years ago because we'd always be too full after the big dinner to enjoy our desserts, and now it's something my kids look forward to with gusto! You should see them lining up at the kitchen table at 10:15 in anticipation. They eagerly help out with table setup, plates, knives, and forks. And you know what the positive thing about this tradition is? Mid-morning desserts holds us over nicely until dinner around 2 or 3 p.m. Of course, we can always have seconds on desserts around 8 or 9 p.m. lol.

There is one tradition, however, I don't know if we'll be able to make during the Christmas season. Black Friday is the day we decorate our Christmas tree. In fact, I just brought the tree up last night and put it in our living room. Problem is, our kitten is still a kitten. 7 mos old to be exact and is highly active and highly curious. While big brother, Jake, loves to climb up the middle of the tree, little Riley gets great satisfaction out of playing with all things little like ponytail holders, security rings from milk jugs, running off with earrings, etc. This year I'm not sure if we're going to be able to put up any Christmas decorations. I worry about him having too much fun with the ornaments and playing with hooks. Forget the garland this year--it's out of the questions. We might just have to go with tree, lights, bows, and angel. And what if Jake teaches Riley bad habits of climbing up the middle of the tree??? Please, I'm not going there right now lol.

Here are very recent pics of our two boys sleeping together. I love how their arms are wrapped around each other :) . At the bottom is our little (but growing a lot) baby sitting on my youngest's lap.

Devon Rex and Sphynx cats are truly the dogs of the cat world. Our Sphynx even more so than our Devon though. They are truly wonderful, loving, curious animals, and I could blubber on about them all day long. Anyway...

Have a safe, wonderful, and happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

It was NOT "Operator Error!"

2011-11-16T17:00:00.004-05:00

Ever since I've taken my Babylock serger out of the box, I've had this feeling that I've been missing a guide or not threading it right. My stitches looked good, but I thought they could look better.

Today I had my "How-to-use-your-machine" serger class, and the instructor noted my samples were slightly different than everyone else's. She thought it was a tension issue. The owner was kind enough to test my machine and concluded it did have an issue. He took it right back to their top-notch service guy and...It was off by one whole turn! Which, according to the owner, is a lot. Boy am I ever glad I took the class today. My schedule is very busy, and I was thinking about waiting until December.

So, no. I'm not missing any thread guides. It wasn't "operator error." It was an issue with the adjustments done at the factory. Maybe tonight I can finish two more pairs of panties that are half done.

I have to edit this post. I will admit, rather embarrassingly, that I had an on/off problem with seams coming out differently. I'd sew a seam, and it was fine. Next seam would be all wonky. Today I figured out why. I was forgetting to put my presser foot down! Can you believe it? Rarely do I lift my presser foot up on the serger, but working with the different feet I was lifting the lever up and down a lot. The foot on the serger looks like it's all the way down, but it wasn't. It's not like a sewing machine where you can easily tell if the foot is up or down. On my Babylock, it looks like it's down all the time. So there you go. There WAS an operator error. I forgot about that. Probably because it's a silly, embarrassing mistake for an experienced sewer.

A Panty Party

2011-11-13T22:16:00.006-05:00

I was itching to make some panties yesterday because I HAD to use my serger elastic foot! I cut two out of some Jumbo Spandex I had in my stash, likely purchased from either Spandex House or Spandex World. Don't know where my stretch lace came from, but the plush elastic was from Sew Sassy. Here they are:

As for the cotton crotch lining, do you know what I do for that? I take an old, 100% cotton, white t-shirt, find some nice areas, and cut the crotch lining from it. It would be great to stock up on colorful, 100% cotton t-shirts from ACMoore, but my preference is a white crotch lining due to dyes. I know, I know, black would look so much better, but you just don't see that when they're on.

I love them! They're a great fit, although the green/black ones are more like Spanx lol. I cut the pattern pieces on the crosswise grain, not the lengthwise--operator error. I wasn't paying attention and was trying to watch Harry Potter while cutting out the two pairs. Also, Jumbo Spandex is not my preference for panty fabric. It runs on the thick side, but when there is so much in the stash and you want to whip up panties using an elastic foot, you just use it.

Speaking of which, the elastic foot is WONDERFUL!!! No more measuring for a 3/4 ratio of elastic length. The elastic is fed into the foot, insert the fabric underneath, and start stitching! It stretches the elastic for a snug fit. I used a flat construction method to avoid stitching in the round because I was using the serger. Panty construction takes about 1/3 the time than what it would with a conventional machine, and most of the time savings is due to that awesome elastic foot.

I can only imagine how wonderful it would be on a bra. I think the green/black panties need a matching bra, don't you think?

Cheap Friday Night Thrills

2011-11-11T22:48:00.005-05:00

How to make me happy? Give me some feet to play with it. 2 serger feet to be exact. Tonight was a cozy night in playing with my Elastic and Ruffler feet.

Let me tell you something about that Ruffler foot. What I would have given to have had this foot when my girls were toddlers! It would have made short work out of insanely cute, tiered skirts or simple ruffled layers on tops. It would have been wonderful to forget about gathering one layer, pin basting two fabric pieces, baste the seam on the machine to check things out, then do the final stitch. Really, just place the two pieces of fabric in/under the foot? How much easier can it get?!?! This foot is amazing. Here are my rough, unpressed samples:

If you have a BL Imagine and have little girls or grandaughters, this foot is a must.

On to my Elastic foot. I have a lot of swimsuit fabric from one I made last year. So this past spring I decided to use up some of that extra to make panties. The only thing that takes long to do on panties is stitching the elastic in, in the round on a conventional machine. That is why I was lusting after this foot. The Palmer/Pletsch book, Sewing with Sergers, has nice little examples of how to make quick work out of various apparel items using a serger. It includes step-by-step (common sense) instructions on panty construction order. I have a panty UFO sitting in my sewing cart begging for the elastic foot to be used so how perfect is that? Initially I was waiting to order some white picot-edge elastic to finish them, dawdled and kept putting off ordering the elastic; however, I just ordered some last night. Guess the Elastic foot sent me over the edge.

Anyway, I did numerous samples with swimsuit fabric and 1/2" elastic. Not exactly the recommended elastic width, but who cares. I wasn't about to waste the good stuff doing sample after sample. I use the 3/8" "good" stuff for the leg and waist opening. Here are my samples with the various screw adjustments for tightening the elastic fit.

So that's where I am with my serger feet. At approximately $22.50/foot, I'd say that is a cheap, Friday night thrill. I can't wait until my finishing elastic arrives so I can finish up my UFO panties. And no panties fit like my panties. It's a TNT pattern in a perfect fit. BTW, those panties are in the same blue/brown floral print shown above.

It's going to be wonderful to crank out 5-7 panties in a day with my new elastic foot. Bye bye quartering and stitching in the round. I'm NOT going to miss you!

Good Things Come in Small Packages!

2011-11-10T07:00:00.004-05:00

My feet arrived yesterday! A brand new set of Babylock Imagine serger feet. See, see, see!!!

Here's the bummer for today. DD#2 has to go on a college visit so there probably won't be any time to play with them. I'm so sad about that. To get my sewing "fix", I'll just have to settle for staring at the box.

Bye Bye, UFOs!

2011-11-10T06:27:00.009-05:00

I loathe unfinished sewing projects. They languish for months, sometimes years, just waiting to be finished. When there are so many more interesting things to do and sew, it just prolongs to project almost to neverending UFO status. However, I am happy to report that two UFOs have achieved finished status: a kitchen table cloth that was begging for a rolled edge (yes, at least I can honestly say I was waiting for my new serger and followed through with that one) and my niece's baby quilt that I started in November of 2010. She was born in October of 2010 so it really is an embarrassingly late gift. Here are pics of the front and back of the quilt. There are a couple of reasons why it was so late, the latter one blaming the Internet of which I'll explain below.
Two days ago I picked up my great niece's baby quilt. One that I started last November. We knew it was going to be a girl so I picked up some nice baby quilt fabric on sale at fabric.com. Hot pink cotton flannel and a super soft tie-dye Minky. When those arrived, I took a trip to my local quilting shop to look at their cottons and found a nice yellow one to match the two fabrics. Then I spent another 4 weeks mulling over designs at emblibrary.com. For a while my embroidery machine was smokin', I stitched the designs and quilting fabric together for the front of the quilt, then I stopped. Why? Because I read something on the Internet lol. (That really is the truth!) Maybe I was at PR, but talk turned to quilt backing and someone was thinking about using a knit. Of course, I was using a knit, too, as the backing for my quilt. A few quilters chimed in about how it was a bad idea to use knit fabric as a backing. So what happened? It kind of stopped me dead in my tracks. Doubts creeped in. Maybe using Minky wasn't such a good idea. After all, I'm no quilter. Truthfully, I don't like to quilt, have never really done quilting other than a few specialty projects, and don't sew traditional quilts with fat quarters or anything like that. So that's when the quilt began to languish in my sewing cart.

For many months I thought about the backing. Maybe I could do this, maybe do that, then two days ago I just got fed up. Perhaps I simply got mad that the quilt was taking up so much space in my cart, but I said to myself, "I don't care what people use for their backing. I don't care about quilting naysayers that say knit fabrics shouldn't be used for the backing. I'm going to do it my way, and it's going to turn out great!

""Internet Paralysis" be damned.

So I did it MY way. And you know what? It turned out perfect. The quilt front is made out of quilting cotton and flannel, the back is super soft Minky, and two layers of quilt batting are sandwiched between both. I was going to make my own binding but decided to buy Wrights binding instead to save me some time and finish the project.

This project is one of those kind of lessons for me. Think of what I would do pre-Internet. And that would be just about anything. No one to ever say, "You shouldn't do it that way...That is not recommended...(blah, blah, blah...)" So there you go! I put in my virtual ear plugs, did it my way, and it turned out great!

My 2 new feet X 3

2011-11-05T22:54:00.002-04:00

That would make 6!

After watching the Imagine DVD a few days ago, I decided the elastic and ruffler feet were must-have items. I went to an online sewing supply warehouse and put those two feet in my cart. Problem was there was a nice sale and all the feet were a good price. So I added 2 more. Then I decided to check out Ebay. Maybe I could get a better price for those four feet.

Funny what a search wil do. I found a very good price on all 6 for about what 3 would have cost me. My bid was submitted, and now I'm a proud owner of a set of 6 new, unused serger feet. Really, I only wanted two. Well, not really ;) . I can't wait to get them and start playing!

Happy and Bummed.

2011-11-03T20:20:00.005-04:00

It was a GREAT day! I was very happy to spend time making some winter hats for my oldest daughter's sorority Thanksgiving dinner. The service project component is a "Mitten Tree" with the families attending bringing a food item for the dinner and a winter accessory for the tree.

So far I made two hats and a scarf. I'm hoping to make a pair of mittens tomorrow because it is, after all, called a "Mitten Tree", right?

And do you know what I used??? Yes! My new Babylock Imagine!!! It made quick work out of the hats. Well, it would have been quicker if I remembered to leave a long serger strand down the braid portions of the braid hat. It was on my mind to do it to turn the tubes quickly but I forgot. And let me tell you, it takes forever to turn a fleece tube with my fingers. I have this one Dritz gadget for turning tubes but it never works well for me. Someday the Fastturn Tube Turner set will be mine! The fleece used was 100 weight from Wazoodle. I don't know who the manufacturer is, but I love that fleece. So soft, anti-pill, and it looks great wash after wash.

I had my three machines out too--My Janome sewing and coverstitch machines, in addition to the Imagine. What a trio. It would have been a nice touch to embroider the hats but they have to be generic.

It would have been great to make a new dress with my serger for the dinner, but there is simply no time. Looking forward to squeezing in some play time during the next week.

Ohhh...I'm getting so excited to play with the accessory feet soon. I've been watching the Imagine DVD and those extra feet are amazing. It's just so quick to do on the serger. More later, I'm out of time. That's the bummer to my post. There's never enough time to play. :(

Help Wanted! Flatlocking on BL Imagine.

2011-10-31T07:31:00.005-04:00

(I posted this on PR but am going to link back to my blog because of errors when trying to link from Photobucket to PR.)

I just got my new Babylock Imagine and have playing with it the past two days. All the stitches were beautiful except for the 2-thread Flatlock, both seaming and decorative. I'm using white serger thread in the needle and Decorator 6 and Wooly Nylon thread in the looper.

Although I will try the flatlock again with serger thread in both the needle and looper. If it looks good, then I'm thinking some adjusting might need to be done with the screw. I thought I ask for tips and tricks first, however, before doing that from Imagine owners.

Here are pics of what it looks like. The top is the purple wooly nylon, the bottom green is Decorator 6. The ladder stitches on the needle side are beautiful, but the opposite side is not. The needle thread is being pulled too much to the other side.

Any tips for using decorative thread in the BL Imagine serger would be greatly appreciated!

***ETA*** I will hang my head low in shame. I found out in my how-to-use-your-new-machine BL class that I was forgetting to put my foot down, no pun intended. This is a no-brainer, of course, but on my BL I couldn't tell that the foot was up like a sewing machine. The foot appears so close either way. I usually don't raise the foot on a serger, but was doing so a lot because of the thickness of my fabrics, then I was forgetting to put it down lol. How dumb is that?!?! Anyway...this has solved my stitch problem.

Another issue the instructor noticed that my stitches were "off". They weren't like everyone else's in the class. She had the super tech at the store check it out before I left and it was off by a whole turn which is quite a lot according to the owner. Yes, it was a brand new machine right from the box, so someone wasn't paying attention at the factory.

Everything is good now :) .

Imagine That!!!

2011-10-27T18:38:00.007-04:00

Yes! "Imagine" that!!!

It happened. My baby came home with me last night. It took 18 mos of payments, but she is now here. (Put a napkin under your chin right now...) She sure is droolworthy:

Told ya so :) . Finish wiping the drool off your chin and I'll tell you my little issue. I started taking her out of the box today and there doesn't appear to be a cover! Maybe it is under the machine??? I don't know. But if there is no cover, shame on BL. For a top-of-the-line home serger, it should include at least a cheapo plastic cover, don't you think? I know, I know. With my new baby I can whip one up fast but... Even my Janome Embroidery machine which cost almost as much came with a sturdy plastic cover. Ditto with my Janome Coverstitch. Oh well. I ended up putting it back in the box because leaving it out without a cover is an invitation to my 2 highly curious cats. Play with me not. I really wanted to take it out for 10 minutes to stare at it, then put a cover on it for playtime later.

Darn, I had to put it back in the box. I'd really like to work tomorrow, but I really don't want to work tomorrow if you KWIM. No work means time for my Imagine!

More updates later. I'm still staring at the Imagine box sitting under my kitchen table. Proud to be its owner :) . Proud to have it home! My "family" is pretty much complete: Janome Memory Craft sewing machine, Janome CP1000 Coverstitch, Janome 300E Embroidery, Babylock Imagine serger, and a vintage Kenmore 185 series mechanical sewing machine as my backup. What more could a girl want? Well, a professional, heavy-duty dedicated buttonhole machine might be nice!

Pictures for Ginger

2011-10-27T18:21:00.004-04:00

The nice thing about PR are the reviews and pics. The bad thing about PR is that lots of members (including myself) have broken links due to various things like changing service providers.

Note: Most of these tops are old. Now I wear my tees snug or close-fitting. It's simply a more flattering look. Each photo is a Pamela Tee or Pamela Tank. Some have undergone major design changes like the dress. I still wear those on hot summer days. The plain grey was a muslin I created in the former Shannon Gifford's Build a Better Tee class.

The New Blogger Interface

2011-10-27T18:15:00.001-04:00

Has anyone tried it yet? I hated it and switched back. 'Nuff said about it.

The One-Hour, "That's so cute" Top

2011-07-22T20:37:00.017-04:00

A one-shoulder top. I've been wanting one for about 14 mos. now. Last summer I bought Simplicity 2364 and was itching to make it. Problem was, I didn't. Then DD#1 comes home from school in May and says she wants a one-shoulder top with a flounce. I showed her S2364 and she didn't seem that impressed. Until last night. I whipped up this one in one-hour, never even reading the directions. It was immensely helpful to me that Simplicity included the 6-14 size range in one envelope for this pattern!

Here are two front views:

DD#1's response: "That's kind of cute." Translation: She likes it. She wants me to make her something like it. But she says it without much emotion because she knows if I see her excited about it, I'll ask her if she would like to sew one up for herself lol. What I would give to have at least one daughter interested in sewing!

Here is a back view. (I need a reminder to make some Jalie capris from my jeans pattern. I loathe back views with RTW bottoms!) :

The fabric...well I couldn't remember! I made another summer top from this fabric a couple of years ago and had to look up my PR review. The fabric was purchased from Metro Textiles in NYC during PR Weekend 2007.

I can't really comment on the directions for this pattern because the top is pretty straightforward, and I didn't read them at all. However, I did look at the pattern guidesheet pics so I'll tell you, actually show you, what I think is really bizarre about this pattern.

First, this is the normal part. You're looking at the basting stitches for gathering the front and back shoulder seams. You stitch the gathered shoulder seams with a stabilized strip of whatever, then the side seams. Okay. Fine and dandy.

Now here is the bizarre part! What the heck is a facing that long doing on a shirt like this!?!?

Yes, that is the facing! And look at the size of that facing!! I think that piece actually goes right to the full bust or at least quite close to it. Do you know what that means? Very likely you will get a tell-tale facing line. Not only that, that's a double layer of fabric that goes at least a third of the way down the shirt. So...three things I'm concerned about. One is facing "creep", Secondly, tell-tale facing line. And lastly, well, it's just so darn hot out now! Why do I even need a facing at all???

Suddenly, I got *that* kind of feeling. The smug feeling I sometimes get when thinking I know better than the pattern designer and instruction writer. Sometimes I end up being humbled at my lame-brained smugness, other times I feel like I showed them! This time, yes! I showed them.

I'm sure there was a reason for the facing, but it's just not necessary for the one-shoulder version in my ITY knit. It has good stretch and recovery. However, let's say my knit didn't have good stretch and recovery. I'd still make it without a facing and would place clear elastic along a portion of the front and back neckline when topstitching if it needed it. Yes, the neckline is on the bias, and it could stretch out a bit. Even if clear elastic wasn't inserted from the get-go, I could still add it later. Therefore, I maintain this top does not need a facing. IMO, it should be optional and noted as so. I just did the turn-under-and-top-stitch method. (Note: cut the armhole SA down to 3/8" before turning under and topstitching. The curve is too acute.)

Let's move on to sizing. Paula from PR mentioned doing a post about size morphing here are my pics explaining just that.

My neck, shoulders and high bust are a 10. From the high bust down I'm a 14. For my figure, morphing between the two is a breeze resulting in a pattern that needs minimal alterations. The problem is, many patterns are multi-sized up to a 12. The next size range starts at 14 on up. This beauty of this pattern is that it has the 6-14 size range. THANK YOU, Simplicity! You made my day when I bought this pattern. Actually, it probably was THE reason I bought it. Here is how I morphed the pattern blending from the size 14 at the side seams and lower armhole to the 10 from the notch up. Shown is the front piece only, but I did the same on the back as well.

Showing the armhole and shoulder area:

Here's the shoulder and angled front:

This morphing between sizing produces a great fit for me with minimal alteration effort. The only alteration I made to this pattern was to move the entire shoulder seam forward a 1/2". You might be thinking, "Well, what alterations would you being doing if you weren't using a multisize pattern?" Here's a list of some that are typical for me depending on the pattern:

1. Narrow shoulder.

2. Forward shoulder.

3. Removing neckline gape

4. FBA

5. Swayback

6. Broad upper back

7. Tweaking the side seams to fit

Among others...

Realistically, morphing a multi-size pattern may not work for everyone, but it works great for me. It's something to try and, depending on your figure, you might be very happy with the results.

Getting back to my assessment of this pattern. I really like it! The only thing I'm going to change on my second version (yes, I'm actually sewing this weekend because it's hot as you know what!) is to remove some width of the shoulder and drop the neckline on the front and back. My daughters concurred with my feelings on that. The area that is shaded in red lines is what is going to be removed from the pattern for my next version.

What's on tap for my next version? A royal blue, cotton knit top. DD#2 will try it on, critique it, then I'll modify the pattern to make a one-shoulder royal blue, cotton knit summer dress for her. Hopefully it will get made this weekend. The top, sans facing, takes about one hour to make. Piece-of-cake sewing! Off to do my review of this pattern at PR. This will be my 100th review! Well, there are actually many more things for me to review, it's just getting enough time to do them :) .

The Rectangle Dress

2011-07-14T07:07:00.010-04:00

Here is DD#1 in a self-drafted, draped rectangle dress made according to her specifications.

The story behind it...

DD#1 came home from college in May and showed me a cell phone pic of a dress she liked in a store. The price tag was $40, and not a price a poor college student was going to pay for a simple knit, summer dress. She said, "Mom! I want you to make me that dress!!" Easy peasy. No need to use a pattern :) . The dress is basically rectangles :) .

The problem was she wanted that dress in orange. I couldn't find an appropriate orange online and went to my local fabric store to see if orange knit was in stock. The owner said no, but she would order some for me. While there, I found a teal knit that was perfect for a test dress.

At first she didn't love the color but as the dress shaped up, she liked it. I created a double layer bodice with the fold of the fabric at the top edge. It was pin fitted on her to determine the CB seam and the front, vertical darts. I chalk marked a horizontal waistline seam. Okay. Done with the bodice.

For the skirt piece, I measured her hip and added 3". She doesn't need more ease than that because she's slim, muscular and toned. A CB seam was basted and gathering stitches added on the back and front. There is no gathering at the sides because IMO that would not produce a slimming profile at the waist when viewed from the front and back. DD#2 agreed with that call. I checked with her on the strap width and created 2 interfaced tubes for the strap with a finished measurement 1" wide.

I pinned the skirt portion to the bodice at the CB, CF, and pinned the straps into place. DD#1 tried on the dress, and I pulled the front and back gathers to fit the bodice, rechecked the waistline seam and darts, and fiddled with strap length and placement. Made the necessary adjustments, then permanently stitched all seams.

The end result? DD#1 really likes the dress. The one change we will make on her orange dress will be making the straps 1 1/2-2" wide. We both felt they were too narrow. My only other issue is with the darts. She says she was wearing the same bra for fittings but I don't think so (I distinctly remember her wearing a pretty VS pushup bra during one of the fittings!). A strapless bra produces more east/west action vs. an in/up push-up bra. They appeared to be in perfect position during the fittings, but not so much now. Not like she cares anyway. Just as long as the general look is there, she's happy. She's uninterested in bust dart issues like the general, non-sewing population. In addition, I think we will go with 4" of ease on the skirt next time, doing a little skirt dart and gathering on the back. Those curvy, muscular glutes are calling for about 1" (maybe 2") extra of ease. Sometimes the dress back seems to get hung up there.

As for that $40 RTW sundress? Mine ended up about $7 including thread and interfacing. No pattern needed too, just rectangles draped on her figure. Easy patternless sewing! BTW, she just sent back to college for a weekend and saw her cousin. Now her cousin wants me to make her a dress too :) ! Luckily I have a few extra fabric scraps and have started on some muslin tees for Riley too. I created a pattern and whipped up a muslin tee for him last night, and he looked SO cute running around in it. The hardest part was getting it on him. I forgot the neck measurement has to be begin enough to fit over his head lol! At least I discovered that before even attempting to put it on him though. The girls were laughing over this little Sphynx kitten running around in his teal t-shirt. He looked so cute.

No Time to Sew, But a Good Reason Why!

2011-07-12T08:32:00.006-04:00

There has been no time to sew the last 1 1/2 weeks. And the reason is below. Our precious little baby boy, Riley. He's a Sphynx, and Oh-So-Cute!!! That is, if you like the look of hairless cats lol. He's a little lavender boy with handsome green eyes. We got him from the same breeder as Jake, our Devon Rex.

Our cat boys are doing their best to get along. Jake loves this new little boy and trills like crazy. We have to keep them apart at night because they both love to play, however, Jake is a lot bigger than Riley and can play harder. Not always "fair play". Riley sleeps in the boys' room at night, and Jake sits outside the bedroom door trying to open it. In the morning, he meows like crazy for Riley to come out.

It is truly like having a newborn baby in the house with an older sibling. They have to constantly be watched. Yes, kittens are cute, but they take a LOT of work. Off to take my shower while the cat boys are napping...

Here are some pics of our little youngster:

My youngest son holding Riley at the breeder the day we picked him up.

Little Riley likes being between the couch cushion and back. I can't adjust my slipcovers because of him!

The boys together on Riley's second day home:

Even boys need their beauty sleep:

Zoning out in our noisy house:

Still zoning...

Jake and Riley trying to bond:

Those eyes! Same color as my sister's lol. Bright, light green!

More beauty sleep for a very active kitten!

What does he feel like? A hot water bottle! He has a slight downy feel, but very warm to the touch. I'm going to pull some knits out of my stash today and make him some clothes for cooler days. There's plenty of fleece in my stash for nice Fall/Winter/Early Spring attire as well. Nudey beauties like Riley need clothes for cooler weather ahead. Good thing his Momma sews!!!

When is denim not really denim?

2011-05-25T08:49:00.010-04:00

Life certainly has taken its toll on blogging. It's very hard to believe I haven't blogged about anything since February. Life in general has been very busy, in March I had a huge hat order, April brought some prom dress alterations, a couple of sports name tags, and sporadic work on my niece's baby quilt that was supposed to be done months ago (still not done!).

If you have read my two blog posts this year (oh what a paltry number of posts!), you know that I made a pair of Jalie jeans and loved, loved, loved them. A second pair was whipped up from the same denim with embroidered pockets and an improved waistband/yoke fit. On the second pair I lowered the crotch curve another half inch but removed it after making the second pair. I don't think it made much difference. The jeans are so close to perfect for my figure so I'm just doing some minor backside tweaking. Instead for my third pair, I decided to do a 1/2" fisheye dart just under the crotchline. It's exciting to see what this is going to do for my 3rd pair of jeans.

Which brings me to my next point. When is denim not really denim? I bought some periwinkle stretch denim (96/4) from Lura's Fabric Shop and was quite disappointed when my package arrived. I know part of it is a customer issue on my part. My monitor shows more of a royal blue-ish color. Requesting either a Pantone color chart number or ordering a swatch would have solved my issue. That wasn't my only beef though.

Here is the side-by-side "denim" color comparison (fabric.com denim on the left, Lura's denim on the right). Not exactly the "periwinkle" color that comes up on my monitor from the Lura's website either. I was hoping for a darker blue so in that respect, it was disappointing.

The fabric is advertised as, "Lady Wrangler's bull denim with stretch in a beautiful periwinkle color". Okay. So I don't buy Wrangler jeans. But I do buy jeans, and I'm quite familiar with denim fabric. Are Wrangler jeans made from a different type of denim that I usually use? It looked more like a denim twill. Is this typical of bull denim? Here are comparison pics to show you the fabric and color difference between my fabric.com 96/4 stretch denim purchased a couple of years ago and the Lura's 96/4 stretch denim purchased a few months ago.

Here's the denim from Lura's. When I think denim for jeans, this is not exactly what I think of as jeans denim. Someone correct me please. Is this a denim twill?

When I think of denim for jeans, it is supposed to look like the pic below. This was great stretch denim purchased from fabric.com a while back during a sale:

All is not lost, however. The color and fabric type certainly are not my favorite, but I'll get a good pair of around-the-house jeans. Maybe once they're made I'll actually like them. The important thing for me was to get the same 96/4 stretch for fitting purposes. That I did get.

So that is what is now occupying my time from a sewing standpoint--my 3rd pair of Jalie jeans. On the table. Ready for me to insert the fly-front zipper.

Happy Sewing!

Little Bit of This and That.

2011-02-20T22:02:00.003-05:00

I've been working on a little bit of this and that lately. Below are two fleece tops I made, the blue and grey last Fall, and the red/black last month. I used the Textile Studio Santa Monica Tee modified to include armhole princess seams in the front and back. My goal was to make a more fitted fleece top. I get a lot of wear out of these because I love the feel of fleece on ultra-cold winter days. 'Ol Man Winter has been brutal this year! I used fleece purchased from Wazoodle, really wonderful stuff. Wazoodle is my go-to source from lightweight, good quality fleece. The color selection is fantastic and the superior fleece holds up well with no pilling like the cheapo stuff.

I'll do a review on the top with more specifics at a later date.

Here are some fleece sports headbands I made for my daughter and her friends. Same Wazoodle fleece using my self-drafted headband pattern.

Next up is DD#2's scarf. Here's the story on this funky print. We went to Target one night and she wanted to buy a scarf because her Varsity jacket is scratchy on her neck. She picks out a $12 scarf which looked flimsy to me, not a great print, but she liked it enough. Her money, so I kept mum about it.

Then we head to Walmart for a few odds and ends and to look at the quilting cottons for my niece's baby quilt. She sees this funky pink/black print and asks if I can make a scarf for her and return the Target one. Done deal. And more economical for her as well.

Last but not least, I was commissioned by DD#1 to make a hat for her at college. She goes to school in Philly and it is darn windy! It's brutal when it's really cold. So I made a plain prototype hat and sent it to her for a size opinion. I made the changes and whipped up the hat with the requested embroidery. Then I asked her if she wanted a matching scarf. I needed to know right away or my Wazoodle fleece will get used up for something else. She said yes, so now she has a cute set which will be shipped to her this week.

The last thing I did was make Version 2 of my Jalie Jeans. Don't have a pic of those yet, but will try soon. I also ordered cotton denim from Lura's for Version 3 with a fabric content of 96 cotton/4 lycra, but the was very disappointed with the color. I thought it would be darker blue. It's a lightish periwinkle. Oh well. I'll make the jeans and it will be good to work through a few more minor alterations tweaking each pair as I go. There is enough fabric to make two more pairs of jeans.

But it leaves me with this question. Why oh why is 96/4 denim so hard to come by in a great color? Is that asking too much? Where is 96/4 indigo or black stretch denim? If only we had access to the same suppliers as some of these apparel companies! Here's to wishful thinking...

New Year, New Stuff, NEW JEANS!

2011-01-25T17:26:00.017-05:00

Yeah, you read right! New Jeans. Jalie Jeans to be exact.

It's hard to believe my last post was early/mid October! Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's came and went, and I didn't get as much sewing done as I would have liked but will show you what I have made.

I was busy sewing swimsuits in late September because it was hot, hot, hot! Then just as quickly it became cold, cold, cold. I pulled some fleece out of my stash and made two fleece tops in October. November produced a sparkly, purple Kwik Sew top, and did I make anything in December? No, I don't think so. Not even any Christmas gifts this year. It was that busy.

Then New Year's Day I started that Jalie jeans pattern. You know the one...2908! The one that so many PR members have been raving about. Do you think another review added to PR is going to matter on this pattern lol? I don't 'think so, but let me tell, I WILL rave about this pattern too. I finished those jeans on January 2, then moved on to sewing a third fleece top, then pulled out some UFO sports headbands and created two new ones for a persistent pre-teen and her teen sister who are family friends. In the middle of all of this, I started working on a baby quilt for my new great niece and my second pair of Jalie jeans are cut out and sitting on my kitchen table.

So let me start in reverse chronological order with my FAVORITE project (thus far) that I started and finished the first two days of this year. My Jalie Jeans! Let me say this, I don't know if I'll ever go back to buying RTW jeans. I loathe jeans shopping like some women loathe swimsuit shopping. The RTW bum always seems to be cut for a 20-something, the legs are usually too short, sometimes the crotch doesn't feel right, or the rise is too high, or if the rise is just low enough for my liking, it is low all the way around. Sorry, I'm not into the plumber's crack look.

I love these jeans. And I thank every PR member who wrote a review on these jeans! Especially helpful were the reviews of people who have a similar figure to mine. I was prepared going into this project that the thigh area would probably be too snug, the back waist band/yoke area would probably gap, the legs were flared which I don't like, and the legs were probably too short. When I was mulling over jeans pattern, I looked at both of these:

I kept coming back to the Jalie because of the pattern reviews. In fact, that is the reason why I purchased the pattern about 3 mos. ago.

The first area I tackled was the thigh area. How wide is the pattern in the front and back in that area? So I measured my favorite RTW jeans and made the comparison. It was close, but I knew that the RTW jeans were off in the thigh area. My front thigh is fairly muscular and the side seam on this particular pair has a pull to the front so I had to take this into consideration. At this point I didn't feel like simple measurements were enough so I duct taped my jeans. Say what? This is what I did. (Don't do this on fabric without testing the duct tape adhesive on a sample swatch!):

I taped the back from the top of the yoke to the mid thigh area, including the crotch curve. I taped the front (not shown) as well. Then I peeled off the duct tape and placed the "patterns" on freezer paper shown below in the photos:

I placed the duct tape pattern on top of my traced Jalie. Not that bad. Pretty close measurements in that thigh area, although I'll still need to add a little width. Remember, the duct tape does not have seam allowances. Here's the front. Remember I told you about that pulling/muscular thigh issue? The Jalie looks better with more width. So far so good.

What I have to tell you is about my traced pattern is that I made 1" side seams on the Jalie pattern--the orange line (I listened to those PR reviewers!). I also traced off a larger size for the waist. My hips are about 37", but my waist is around 29 or 30" depending on the day.

My next step was to examine the crotch curve. The Jalie crotch curve is definitely better than the typical Big 4 crotch curve, but it's still not low enough for me.

I *know* my bad-ass curve! So I dropped it to reflect my dropped rear lol. It's marked as the dotted line on my pattern.

I didn't touch the yoke or the waistband. I'd rather wait and see how much to remove. I don't mind darts into the yoke on my first pair because I'm a short-waisted gal. It's a rare day that I tuck in my shirt. I only did so in my pics to show you the Jalie jeans.

On to the legs. I knew they'd be too short so I lengthened them for a 33 1/2" inseam. I also narrowed the legs to the hemline circumference of my fave RTW jeans from the knee to hemline on both the side seam and inseam.

Now that the alterations were done, the fabric was cut, I worked on the pockets and back piece assembly. These jeans thus far were "Jake approved":

BTW, what fabric did I use? A couple of years ago I bought some great stretch denim from fabric.com. About 7 yards of 96% cotton, 4% lycra or thereabouts. It's pretty stretchy, and a great dark color. I had been waiting for this day to use this fabric.

Now on that front. When I got to the pocket facing and pocket yoke, I had issues. There were some reviewers that used a pretty lining fabric, and it looked great. However, my RTW jeans have a different pocket facing. About half of the facing is denim, the other half is thin cotton. The lining piece is cotton. I can't believe the facing was supposed to be made out of denim! Talk about a tell-tale pocket line on the outside of the jean. No thanks. So I split the pattern in half, added seam allowances, and made it like what I see in RTW jeans. The bottom half of the facing is thin cotton fabric, the top is denim. See below:

The pieces in fabric:

Here's a peek inside the pocket of the finished jeans. Just like RTW:
Sew, sew, sew. The jeans are done with the side seams basted. Too tight in the thigh. Remember my 1" seam allowances? You can see my narrowed seam allowance here to allow for a little more thigh room. I did have back waistband/yoke gaposis. Here two small darts were created on each side (4 total) on the yoke:

I pinched out the yoke to determine how much to take out on the flat pattern for Jalie Jeans version 2.0. Adjusted the side seams in the thigh area on the flat pattern. Some reviewers mentioned the waistband being just long enough. What I did was cut the waistband last, and made it longer than the pants so the extra could be cut off. In addition, I didn't cut it on the bias. Too many issues from PR Reviewers. I cut it on the lengthwise grain for no/minimal stretch with a double layer of lightweight interfacing. My only issue with the finished jeans was that amount added to the side seams for a bigger waist was too much. I shaved off a little on all the pocket and jeans pieces for my next pair. Just a smidge tighter would be good.

Many reviewers mentioned using Sandra Betzina's fly instructions instead of the pattern so that is what I did. Didn't even look at the pattern's instructions. My only problem with that was I forgot to do a fly shield. What was I thinking?!?! Every day I wear them I zing myself at least once when I pull up the zipper. Zippering skin is not a comfortable thing to do.

I didn't have a jeans button for this pair, but had an extra Walmart fancy brass button I bought a couple of years ago. I like the look of it on the jeans, a bit different than the standard jeans button. And as for rivets? Maybe I'll add them on a third or fourth pair. I want to get this pattern perfect and enter a pair of jeans in our local fair this summer. Nobody sees my rivets anyway because again, I'm not a top tucker-inner kind of girl. Here's my brass, Walmart button:

End result? I love my Jalie Jeans!!! They are better than any RTW jeans I've ever worn. A huge 100th, 200th, or is it a 300th+ thumbs up for this pattern. Like Patternreview needs another review of this pattern lol. It doesn't, but I'll do it anyway.

For version 2.0: There is still a smidge of excess under the butt, so I dropped the crotch curve another 1/2" to see if it helps. Some of the wrinkles need to be there for ease but there's a fine line between removing a smidge of excess and losing ease. So we'll see how dropping the crotch curve just a little more will work.

Here's an extra pic in the flat. In conclusion? Buy this pattern if you don't have it. It's a gem!

44!

2010-10-11T18:48:00.003-04:00

I'm 44 today. And I just celebrated my 24th wedding anniversary yesterday. A very nice weekend to boot.

I love my age. I love my husband. Life is good. Can't ask for anything more (except some time to sew)!

Happy Sewing...

Chunky Chick Designs

2010-10-09T09:31:00.004-04:00

Thank you, Mary, Melissa, and Uta!!! I appreciate your comments VERY much. As I checked my blog this morning and my husband saw my outfit from my last post, he said, "Get rid of that pic FAST! It makes you look fat." He's not being mean, he's being honest. He has dubbed the last pic, "Chunky Chick Designs". The outfit is NOT working. I'm miffed, but not at him. It's putting work into a project that doesn't work for me.. I've actually lost at least 4 lbs. from doing a lot of extra mileage and workouts the past three months but you'd never know it from that outfit.

Mary and Melissa, I will follow your advice. Wear the top with sleek pants or skirt and pair the skirt with a tailored blouse in a nice gold or brown. I wore the top with jeans yesterday, but I still don't think it is very flattering. Maybe it's something to do with side gathers. Or like you said, Mary--the variation in the nap and the gathering. Or what Melissa said, gathers going one way on the top and the other on the skirt. Too visually distracting. Add the "frosty" nap of the top and the print of the skirt, well yeah, it's just not working. From the moment I put it on, I was taken aback and thought, "This makes me look wide." Very different from when I tried on my swimsuits and thought they looked good and flattering.

Chalk this one up to a Q&E mediocre project. And again, thank you, for the comments. I want brutal honesty--so refreshing. If it's not working for me, I want to know from other fashion oriented women. Good fashion sense and what works for me has always been hit or miss so your help is most appreciated :) !

Maybe I'll just save this top to wear under fitted blazers. That would work.

TNT for Quick Gratification.

2010-10-07T07:02:00.006-04:00

I needed to sew something--FAST. A no thinking, no fuss kind of project. So I whipped up another CJ Wrap Top in a black, panne velvet fabric purchased from a PR Weekend a few years ago. I'll detail the construction in a future review, but here it is:

The skirt was a self-drafted one I whipped up in January. My feeling was that it needed a close-fitting top instead of the loose style black sweater knit top I was wearing with it. Also, after looking at the pics, perhaps the skirt could be a wee bit shorter. My Babylock serger is still on layaway, and my original hem was a rolled, serger hem. I'll continue to mull over the hemline length while paying off my machine.

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*ETA*, my husband doesn't like this outfit. He said it makes me look, well, "chunky". There is something that is off. I'm trying to follow fashion advice and not end the hemline at my widest point, just a little bit above. The problem is, I'm short waisted so there's not a lot of room to play around with above the hipline. Please do a critical analysis and let me know. Maybe the skirt should be shorter? That was my initial thought. Maybe the hemline of the top is simply too high. It appears my entire outfit is cut in half, but I'm not sure of the right fix for a good look. Opinions wanted, please.

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The top was supposed to be a dress, but I just didn't have enough fabric. It's just as well. I have a black velvet, Textile Studio Madison Avenue dress in my closet anyway that I forgot about.

On to my next projects...the skirt for my daughter which I temporarily shelved due to exasperation and a Simplicity pattern pulled out of my stash for alterations and sizing decisions.

Stay tuned on those and Happy Sewing!

A Good Mail Day.

2010-10-02T21:46:00.002-04:00

Hey! Guess what came in the mail today!!! Yes, the new PR book below.

I did exactly as Deepika recommended: picked my drink of choice and sat down for a good read. I'm old school. No Kindle for me since a book in hand is my preference for book reading much like a photo album and flipping through pages. I'm up to page 19 and the rest will wait for later.

Also, today was my Google Reader day. So glad I remembered to export my blog subscriptions to a file a few days ago. Now I just have to catch up on much-neglected blog reading.

Mulled over my next sewing project too. I was going to open up a "new" (old) pattern in my stash but decided to sew up another garment from my CJ Wrap Top pattern instead. My most recent version is my black/green ITY print dress on my sidebar PR widget. I'm going to make a fall/winter dress out of a panne velvet type of knit. Instant gratification from a TNT is needed so pulling out a yet-unused pattern and doing pattern alterations will have to wait.

On the home front, good news! DD#1 made the club tennis team at her college (can't remember if I mentioned that before), and DD#2 won both of her tournament softball team games at their tournament today. DS#1 got "Most Improved" Cross Country Runner this season by his coach two weeks ago too. As for my youngest? He's playing football. Neither loving nor hating it, but he started going to the gym with me at the beginning of the summer, and I'm proud of him for that. Start 'em young and hopefully it will be a lifelong committment to fitness.

Happy Sewing and Good Night :) !

The Swimsuit's Done!

2010-10-01T22:22:00.004-04:00

With Jake's "help", my floral swimsuit is done. I'm really liking this one, and it's thisclose to TNT. I lowered the front neckline a 1/4" on the pattern for the next version and will try B-cup sized swimsuit bra cups. I'm normally a C, but feel the C-cups could fit a little better. Very acceptable, but trying the B that's in my stash will provide me with a good comparison. When I ordered the cups, I just didn't know which size to get so I got both the B and the C.

Here is the swimsuit all done:

And here is a pic of a leg opening using my coverstitch machine:

I loved using the coverstitch machine because it will eliminate the tendency to "pop" because of the inherent stretch in the coverstitched hems. A conventional sewing machine is simply adequate for swimsuit contruction, but the coverstitch rules with topstitching.

I'll try to model it in a week or so.

Thank you, everyone, for the comments on Jake. I could blubber on about him all day but have to keep it under control :) . Kim, I always wanted a black cat too! My second choice was orange. We've had white, black and white bi-color, a seal point, and blue/grey Persians for many years until they all died of old age. This time it had to be black or orange.

Jake and the Coverstitch Machine

2010-09-30T22:33:00.004-04:00

It's late, but I had to post this. I know the post title should be, "Don't Let Your Cat Do this!" or "This is Dangerous for Cats!", but it was also cute when it happened. I have since put everything away. Nothing can happen to my little boy, Jake, because we all love him so. Cats and sewing don't always mix well but...

This just was so darned cute. I got out my Coverstitch machine to work on topstitching my swimsuit and guess who suddenly took an interest in my machine!?!? My little baby. Before I got him interested in something else, I snapped these pics of him:

He was batting the threads and rubbing the telescoping bar while I was trying to rethread:

Exploring the nooks and crannies...

Discovered his own use for the telescopic bar :( ...

As well as finding pleasure in the cone holders :( ...

He was redirected toward a nice, plush piece of fleece that he can burrow into. He LOVES to burrow, so he lost interest in my Coverstitch. But I loved that he at least took an interest in it.

Nighty night!

Maybe I Should Live in Florida

2010-09-29T21:20:00.003-04:00

Hot weather and humidity are the bane of my existence. Both do not agree with my skin, nor my hair. But...I sure love making swimsuits. So maybe if I ever did move to Florida, I could forget about making clothes and just make and wear swimsuits all the time :) .

All I have to do is topstitch the neckline, armholes, and leg openings on my current suit. Pulling out my Coverstitch tomorrow and setting it up in matching thread to do just that. Then I can model it and throw it in the drawer for next summer. A few matching pareos would be nice, too, and the perfect mesh is in my stash just for that purpose.

More later. Happy Sewing!

The Family Model

2010-09-29T08:20:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I mentioning what was keeping me busy, and it started with sending my daughter off to college. She was in the happy pic with her cousin who is also a Freshman and attending the same school. In the same post I was posting about making my swimsuit (which is almost finished BTW :) ), so it was quite ironic that a little while after I posted on my blog, I saw the picture below. It's my niece! Same girl next to my daughter in yesterday's blog post. She's been doing a bit of modeling the past couple of years, but here she is in a US company catalog for competitive swimwear. Congrats to her!

Busy Woman's Guide to Sewing and Blogging

2010-09-28T06:30:00.008-04:00

First off, thanks to all for your comments in my two previous blog posts. I have a low to zero tolerance for snooty people and that point came through loud and clear. It is nice to know there are others out there that have the same disdain for these types of people. When my love of sewing gets bogged down by "snoots", I feel the need to tell the snoots to buzz off. So if my posts accomplished that, all is good.

The title to today's post is the obvious: The Busy Woman's Guide to Sewing and Blogging. If you have the guide (I'm being facetious), please post it on your blog or be kind enough to email it to me. You see, life has been so busy, and not the sew busy that I'd like it to be. My husband has been handling the softball side for our daughter who has to juggle a schedule being on three teams, and I get the boys' schedules of Cross Country and Football. Throw in the activity of highest priority in my day which is going to the gym and three lengthy chiropractor appts every week dealing with car accident issues from last January. Add in the usual motherly responsibilities and it's hard to find quality sewing time.

One would think having one less child at home would mean being less busy, but my oldest still keeps me busy with having to send something to her at college on a regular basis. A little over a month ago we packed her up and shipped her off :) . Here she is with her cousin who is also a Freshman at the same college. Um...she's not short LOL. It's just that her cousin is SO tall.

She was busy unloading and getting her room organized last month, and then we were off.

She is currently a very happy and well adjusted college Freshman! She also made the college's Club Tennis Team and is playing weekend tournaments. On to sewing...

Unfortunately, lately I've been doing my sewing at night if I have any little chunks of time. Did you know I hate sewing at night? I'm tired and constantly make mistakes. For example, let me tell you about DD#2's skirt that she requested from me. She told me the style she wanted, I drafted the pattern for it. She tells me she wants the waist in the weirdest place on her body. I said, "You can't have it THAT low! It's just an inch or two above your hips!!! It's going to look bizarre." Anyway, I made it the way she wanted and she says, "Why is it so low???" I need the head shake emoticon. "Because YOU wanted it that way!" Then she proceeds to tell me that she doesn't like the back. Too much fabric at the hemline.

So...I tried to make the fixes, but there's only so much I can do with taking things in with a side zip on the skirt. The entire skirt had to be taken apart, and a new back was cut with modified side seams and two princess seamlines so I could mold the skirt to her backside. Everything was just about right when I sat down at the Ott light to handstitch a little part on the skirt and discovered my latest evening snafu. I CUT THE BACK PIECE FROM MY BLACK FABRIC AND NOT THE NAVY BLUE!!! (*@#(*@#$#$*(*&@# . I couldn't tell the difference under my kitchen light at all when cutting the fabric out. So I will seam rip the entire skirt again and cut the back from blue. It is terribly frustrating so I set the project aside, made some drapery tie backs, and am working on finishing up my swimsuit that was started two months ago. A break from the skirt-from-you-know-where project is in order.

Anyway, my tie backs came out nicely. I need to buy an L-hook and some rings and am hoping to do that today. Once I get the tie backs up, I will take a pic of them.

My swimsuit is looking good. All it needs right now is a fitting session, final stitching, and elastic application at all openings. I'm getting pretty good at stitching the bra cups in the swimsuit lining fabric. The key is to zigzag stitch on the cups through the cups and fabric. Don't let the zigzag stitch fall off the cup edge into the lining fabric. What I'm not good at yet is getting even zigzaging when attaching the elastic to the bottom of the bra lining. I like a snug fit and really need to stretch the lining to fit the elastic while maneuvering the machine and project effectively. Maybe my coverstitch machine would do a more effective job with this. Perfection is key because I'd like to enter a swimsuit or two in next year's local fair.

Here is the swimsuit front and back thus far:

Check out those swimsuit bra cups too! They're essential, IMO, for good lift and support in a swimsuit. I'll post the source when I do my swimsuit review because I can't remember where I purchased them as I type this post.

Last but not least, here I am in my Amy Butler Halter Top (converted to a dress) that I reviewed a month or two ago. I was supposed to be a maxi style length, but it didn't turn out that way. It's okay. It's still a comfortable dress, and I like it. Shown are the front and angled to show the side slit.

Today it's pouring like crazy, but it's a good thing here. Good for sewing and good for the drought-stricken Poconos. Maybe that swimsuit will be done today. I'm off to work on it.

Happy Sewing!

Clarification

2010-09-09T16:34:00.003-04:00

Thank you, my sewing friends, for your kind words regarding my previous post!

Just a clarification here. I guess some members are really "tight" and PM each other back and forth. At least one of them has a list of people she doesn't like along with a few other tidbits. It was not published as a post, but I got wind of it.

It's just plain rude. Not hurtful. Just rude...obnoxious and immature come to mind as well. I apologize for not making that clear.

Have a nice, and I do mean nice, day :) !

Btches and Wtches

2010-09-06T21:05:00.003-04:00

I was going to post about my past month of sewing related activities but that will have to wait for another day. Hard to believe it's been a month since I've last blogged about anything, but my home life has been very busy.

Anyway, I just wanted to rant about B*tches and W*tches. It seems a somewhat popular PR Member had a list a while back about people she didn't like. Why? I guess just because. And guess who's on it LOL??? I made her list. And she even called me a ******* ****** and commented on my clothing choices. This same member has griped about X, Y, and Z among others and their skill ratings. She even goes so far as to solicit for comments in her reviews.

Can you imagine??? A grown woman having a list like that. I'm not surprised, but thought most women would be too darn busy with life to every get back to Elementary School pranks. Personally, I find it amusing. I chalk it up to immaturity at her age (at least 15 years older than me too) if one can believe it, as well as insecurity.

And not to worry. I got a figure I work very hard for, and I plan on showing it off with clothes that accentuate my assets. So she better not be looking my way ;) !

Sorry, no hats off to B*tches and W*tches. But if you know one, kick 'em in the a$$ for me.

Swimsuits Rule!!!

2010-08-03T23:48:00.005-04:00

But they only rule when you make them :) . Bye bye, way overpriced, minimal yardage, RTW swimsuits. *MY* swimsuit looks and fits WAY better!

There's a big disadvantage to DD#1 waitressing for her college money: working until 12 midnight, 1 or 2 a.m. in the morning.

There's a big advantage to DD#1 waitressing for her college money: working until 12 midnight, 1 or 2 a.m. in the morning.

She doesn't have a license yet (she doesn't have the extra money to pay for her car insurance), so I drive and pick her up--a personal chauffeur. Yeah, I'm really tired and lose good sleep time, however, I gain a lot of sewing time late at night.

Therefore, I was able to work on my swimsuit last night and finish it tonight. Here it is:

It doesn't look like much, but all I wanted was a simply one-piece Baywatch style swimsuit and that is what I got. It looks good on, and fits very nicely. Getting ready to make swimsuit no. 2 out of a floral print. I'm behind on taking photos so maybe in the next week or so. Still need to get a pic of my Amy Butler Halter dress too.

Gotta go and pick her up...

Third Time's a Charm!

2010-08-01T21:10:00.003-04:00

For about an hour last night and an hour today, I've made much progress on my third try at my swimsuit. I tried it on tonight and really think third time's a charm! This one will be a wearable swimsuit. There's a pretty floral print in my stash so I'm going to make another one right after this one. Just minor tweaks from here on out like a little more lower bum coverage, tighter side seams from the waist up, and slightly deeper shoulder seams.

Good thing is, I'm right on track. Here are some pics of my progress last night and today. Now it just needs some permanent stitching in the basted areas and elastic at the armholes, neck, and leg openings.

Hand basted the front lining to the front:

Working on the bra lining and cups:

Front is finished with bra shelf and everything's in place for final stitching lines:

I used 1" non-roll elastic at the bra shelf bottom. I need something heavy duty and secure in this area, and the swimsuit elastic wasn't cutting it. I'll need to check some online sources for a better bra lining elastic that will hold up well.

Off to work on some permanent stitching and measuring elastic...

Painting Day 3 and 4

2010-07-23T22:07:00.003-04:00

Today we completed our goal of having 2/3's of the painting job done. It took every extra bit of our time, we still need another gallon of paint and the baseboard trim, but it should really look nice when it's all done. I think another week should do it.

Here are some pics of what DS#2 and I have accomplished over the past 4 days.

Near our front door. I have to keep a piece of cardboard on the bottom of the wall until we get new trim. The drywall doesn't extend right down to the floor, and Jake is WAY too much interested in that hole!

Looking down the hall. I still need trim for the walls and ceiling of the entryway to the hall where the chair rail ends. The hall needs another coat, then sponge painting with the glaze.

The other main wall. I couldn't put up my main pic collage on the wall because the glass broke. Darn it! It's always something.

I really like the changes. What you don't see yet is the window wall. The paint, sofa, and loveseat match the draperies nicely since they are a wine/green color scheme print.

Time to go. We're under a tornado watch and we're all beat.

Painting Day 2

2010-07-21T23:21:00.004-04:00

Every spare minute today was spent painting. Football camp ended early because of storms, I hurried at the gym to finish my workout, and the rest was with a paintbrush or roller in hand.

Here's the update...

DS#2 painting the chair rail.

Working ont the first wall:

Almost ready for sponge painting on the lighter part:

We almost finished the wall below but were too pooped to finish. I wanted to work with my sponge and glaze but know better than to do at at 11:30 pm. We're off to bed.

Tomorrow we will try to get baseboard trim at the lumberyard. We'll need to paint that, pry off the old, and nail in the new.

This is for Kim: Oh Kim...no one has ever complimented me on my home dec skills or lack thereof LOL. My sister inherited my gene in addition to hers and that's why she's worked in the Interior Decorating business for the past 15-20 years. All I know is, the color matches my living room carpet, it will be much different from what I've lived with the past 22 years, and I'll like it even if no one else does ;) . I remember the time my MIL told me she was painting her walls a peach color, and I was thinking, "Peach?!?!" But it looked great! She had a teal carpet and the color combo blended so well together. So much for my thoughts! All I know is I need some color in my house, and color I will get :) . I think tomorrow we'll have one wall finished with the glaze and chair rail so that will be a good preview of the overall look of the room.

Connie, I will be more than happy to send my son over. He would love to go on a Canadian vacation and might find farm life a lot of fun. He'll paint and do the manly stuff. He loves it. However, he needs to mow the lawn first ;) .

Thanks for the comments, everyone. It's keeping me going with my paint job until it's finished. I'm motivated to see it done!

Interruption of Regular Scheduled Programming

2010-07-20T23:23:00.005-04:00

For years I've been saying I need to paint my living room. The walls are horrible. The trim is just as horrible. Home dec has been sorely neglected since my kids took up so much of my time. So I was given a golden opportunity this week and said to DS#2, "Hey! How about we paint the walls this week???" He loved the idea since he loves working on home improvement stuff much like his Grandpa.

So, instead of working on my swimsuit, we went to Lowes today and picked out some paint. Then we went to the local lumber yard and picked out chair railing and new baseboard moulding at a fraction of the price Lowe's was chargin for it. My hardest worker is shown below working on our endeavor.

Tomorrow morning right after breakfast, he is applying the first coat of paint to the chair rails. I'll tape the chair rail line and paper below it while he's working on that so we can paint the upper portion of the walls when he's done. I spackled little divots and nail holes here and there during pre-painting prep, and tomorrow we'll pick up the moulding. Um...yes, I did wash the walls. The "dirty" area is from many years of little hands just above the couch line or when it was used as a play area for the kids. There's even an area near my front door that looks the same because of all four kids having used it as a timeout corner. I can super wash those areas and the darkness will never come out unless it's painted.

I'm using a lighter shade above the chair rail and will sponge the darker color on it. I hope it looks nice. Can't wait till DH and DD#2 see it! Here's to hoping it goes nicely with the new draperies I made and the slipcovers I purchased from Overstock.com. I was going to make the slipcovers but couldn't beat the price of the covers which were way cheaper than the material.

Painting this room has been on my New Year's Resolution list for the past 4 years! This is the year that it will actually happen, not just talk about it or wish it would happen all by itself.

The Swimsuit: Round 2

2010-07-19T22:07:00.004-04:00

Here's where I am on Round 2 of my swimsuit. Round 1 was last year when I did the muslin and halfway finished the "wearable" second try. Don't think I'll actually wear my second try, and it might be destined to become a second muslin. However, I'm learning much from my swimsuit attempts and will get it right. This is new territory for me, just like making bras and panties.

Here is the muslin I created in the Summer of 2009. It ended up being obscenely low cut in the front when worn. Totally NOT wearable. I made the appropriate alteration by raising the neckline. Black elastic would have been better too.

Below is the swimsuit I originally intended as wearable (no elastic inserted into the openings yet). I learned a few things along the way while making this second one. I drafted my own bra lining. Um, let's just say I alotted for length and width but no depth LOL. The lining was too short. I cut a second lining. Again, it could have been even longer because of the shape of the bra cups. Another thing about bra cups. The U-shaped ones that are inserted like an upside-down U into the lining are shapeless. Let's just say I was wondering where my C-cups went LOL. Luckily, I bought three pairs of nice, padded swimsuit bra cups along with the generic ones last summer. Guess which ones I will be using from now on.

Also, I bought swimsuit elastic for the openings and also used it at the bottom of the bra lining. This does NOT work for me. It's just too darn stretchy and narrow. Really, do I want what I've got to fall below the bra shelf elastic??? Yes, it's that flimsy for a bra lining. Fine for other areas of the garment though. Check out a quality swimsuit or a tank with a built in bra shelf and you'll know what I mean. The elastic is about 1" in width. Same with sports bra elastics that go around the torso--about 1". I'm just going to use good quality 1" elastic for the bra lining bottom edge. It's not like I'm going to be swimming all the time in my swimsuit 'cuz I don't love to swim. The swimsuit will see minimal water wear.

Also, I nixed the high cut legs. I took a really good look in the mirror today, a REALLY good one! It was a day of reckoning for me. Nix the high-cut legs! Once upon a time I could do high cut well. My figure is still good, but it's not *that* good. The moderate leg openings will look better. Also, I'm still tweaking the bum coverage.

So back to the drawing board so to speak. I made more alterations to my swimsuit pattern. Raised the neckline even higher to accommodate the shaped bra cups better, redrafted the lining yet again, and gave the leg openings a more modest look. Here's the pattern so far:

Last but not least, here's the KS pattern I'm using and a Threads mag as a reference. Very typical for me, the KS pattern ran HUGE when using the measurements closest to my own. I had to alter from the M down to a S or XS in certain places. I know some people love KS for fit, but not me. The KS patterns always run so darn big on me.

That's it for now. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something to show for my effort. The second "wearable" one will likely end up unwearable. I can't get past my mirror experience today with the high-cut leg openings 'cuz I'm not 23 anymore.

Swimsuit (UFO) Update

2010-07-18T23:02:00.004-04:00

Sorry, again no pics. But I pulled out my swimsuit UFO from last year. I did a muslin, then was working on the real deal. Tried it on today, but the bra lining wasn't long enough. Last year, I must have accounted for length and width when creating the bra lining piece, but the depth issue eluded me. I seam ripped out the basted bra lining, recut a new piece with the bra cups adding a bit more length, and will try it on once DD#2 gets out of my bathroom.

DD#2 needed a new swimsuit because she's going to beach for a softball tournament soon. Most clearance priced bathing suits were at least $40! What a ripoff. Isn't it wonderful we sew!!

Public Service Announcement: No More Acne!

2010-07-16T22:11:00.003-04:00

For the past 3 or 4 months, I've been looking in the mirror every morning very pleased with what I see. Or actually, what I DON'T see LOL.

Someone once asked me when I find the solution for adult acne to share my secret. I don't profess to know any sure solution, but what has worked for me has been nothing short of amazing. My adult acne has cleared up 95%.

Here's the story in brief:

Last Fall the personal trainer and I worked together to make slight tweaks in my exercise program. It was the yearly complimentary "birthday" session that my gym gives to its members. While going over my program, the trainer asked me about my eating plan which he was very pleased with, but not at all pleased with what I drink. About 2 cups of half-caff coffee a day, and about one diet soda/day. He wanted me to drink lots more water, get rid of the soda and coffee, but I thought I'd float away with tons of water and spend a lot of time in the ladies' room. I told him, "This is my once vice. I can't kick it." He commented that after 40, we start to dry up and shrivel up.

After my car accident in January I was plagued with post-concussion syndrome headaches also related to severe whiplash. In March, my chiro asked me if I was getting enough fluids. I said, "Sure!" and proceeded to tell her what I told the trainer. She issued me a challenge. Rid yourself of diet soda and the artificial sweeteners. At that point I had also lost all my taste for coffee due to the accident, along with artifically sweetened bottle waters, and bagels with cream cheese. Yeah, very weird.

I told her I didn't think I could do it--was a VERY tall order. She said to try it for a week. And here it is 4 months later and I've been diet soda, artificial sweetener, and caffeine free for that long. It's hard. Very hard. I still crave soda and think I always will. But now I drink tons of water. My taste for coffee has come back about 60% but I only drink decaf now. My sweetener of choice is Stevia. Not Splenda, not Nutrasweet.

No, I still have headaches that are minimal now. They didn't magically go away because of the challenge. But what DID happen is my skin has turned amazingly clear!!! Rarely is cystic acne a problem now, and it is a rare day that I have a zit. And they're not ugly ones either. My skin has cleared up 95%, and it's like nothing short of a miracle.

I'm still taking Retin-A. That's what my dermatologist prescribed to help reduce the acne, but it never worked as well as avoiding what's listed above. Still take Finacea for mild rosacea. But nothing has given me the beautiful, clear skin I currently have.

Just posting this because either caffeine, artificial sweeteners, or both appear to be the prime culprit(s) for my adult acne problem. Avoiding them has given me almost miraculously clear skin. For the first time since I was 12, I've had the longest time period of almost zit-free skin. If this can help someone else, it's worth posting.

Obviously, this won't solve the problem for everyone, but if it helps even just one person, then I'm happy. Excuse me while I take a swig of my water...

A New Summer Dress!

2010-07-16T07:30:00.003-04:00

I finished my halter dress and am fairly pleased with it. Pics maybe today or tomorrow. I cannot find my one-and-only halter bra and am cranky about it so that puts me in a little pickle. Can't wear the dress without that bra so I will need to go on a hunting expedition today.

My only issue is that it turned out to not be as long as I wanted it to be. In fact, I left this ITY type of knit unhemmed and the edge was cut with my rotary cutter so it's not going to matter. IF I had my new serger, I would have just done a rolled hem on the edge, but a clean-cut, unfinished edge is similar to some RTW hems I've seen as of late.

Today highs are in the low 90's. I think I'll get out my bathing suit UFO from last year. Of course, I'd like to make an LBD and enter it into this year's local fair. Maybe enter both? We'll see. My lingerie set is a fine piece of work, and I'd like to enter that too, but it might be a little "racy" for the judges? I don't know. We'll see...

Pics are coming in a couple of days...

Progress on the Halter Dress

2010-07-14T20:09:00.005-04:00

Progress is being made on my Amy Butler halter dress. These are pics from last night.

The front top and front skirt:

The back. No zipper as called for in the pattern because I'm using a very nice knit with good stretch. I did run clear elastic in a casing on the upper back edge to prevent "loose droop". I did this on my previous halter top from this pattern--a necessity IMO. Even with altering the back to fit, I think it still needs some elastic snugness to look and feel just right.

Here's a closeup of the edgestitching on the front. The knit won't hold a press well, so this stitching was a must.

I did get an hour's worth of time to work on it this afternoon. Right now I'm tweaking the side seams and may pull up more elastic on the upper back edge. It's pretty close to done, and I think I'm liking it. Don't know for sure because DD#2 backed up into my full length mirror and it cracked it several places. Gee...it was just months old! Not have a full-length mirror for sewing is the pits.

I'll leave you with pics of our sleeping beauty--Jake. He falls asleep in strange positions and has the neck thing going on in each one. Either falling off the edge or hanging down from his tube on his tree. His first birthday is quickly approaching, and we're planning a little party for him :) . Cake, special cat treats and cat toys.

Marriage of Pattern and Fabric

2010-07-08T20:27:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I posted about my lack of sewing due to not knowing what to make with the fabric in my stash. But with these horribly hot temps in the NE, I have decided I need a halter dress! I'm going to take my already-altered Amy Butler Cabo Halter top and convert into a dress. The fabric I've chosen is the purple/cream/brown paisley print knit purchased a few years ago from Metro Textiles during a PR NYC Weekend.

Yes, the halter is for a woven, but I altered this pattern to work with both fabrics. The dress will be long, but not maxi length, and lean with a side slit. At least that was my original thought. It is possible to go with an A-line, but still leaning toward the long, lean look with this. Most halter dress styles I see have fuller skirts, however, my brain is geared toward a different look with the halter style.

Any input would be appreciated!

What to do next???

2010-07-06T22:57:00.002-04:00

That question pretty much sums up my sewing the last month! I have a nice fabric stash and need to use some of it, but what to make??? That is the question.

Right as I typed this blog post title, I was hit with the notion of making a halter dress. It's probably because there was a lovely pic of Drew Barrymore in a summer frock with pretty heels in some newspaper, maybe a recent edition of one of the NY ones? So I've decided I want a nice summer dress. It's going to be a knit because I have a paisley print that's a possibility in my stash.

I'll try to run it by my Internet audience tomorrow. When I do, please tell me what you think about the style/fabric combo.

Of course, my bathing suit is currently a 14-month UFO! You'd think I'd want to work on that, especially when tomorrow might be the hottest day of the year with temps approaching 100 degrees!

HS Graduation and Mad Dash Sewing

2010-06-12T19:15:00.008-04:00

Last Monday I was catching up on blog reading and read a post by Debbie Cook. She had posted about making a graduation dress in the nick of time, and I thought, "Oh my gosh! I have nothing to wear for DD#1's graduation!" So the 'ol noodle got a hummin' about what's in the fabric stash.

Last year I bought a nice black/green/white ITY print from Spandex World for my maxi dress pattern but it never got made. So I pulled it out and thought about using it for a dress from my CJ Wrap Top pattern from last week. The top was such a nice fit and style that it seemed a natural for a dress.

Here is a full pic of my dress and a closeup:

This was truly mad dash sewing! I cut out the pattern on Thursday night by lengthening the pattern 15 inches and adding an inch at the front and back side seam from the hipline down. I created princess seams for a better back fit and a CB seam in case I needed a slit (not necessary). On Friday, I worked on it for about 45 minutes right after the boys got on the bus, but had to stop for Bring-Your-Pet-To-School day. (BTW, Jake was okay with it, but doesn't particularly care for dogs.) Then I picked up DD#1 at the high school, had a snack, took her to the mall for her last-minute-Susie activity of picking out a graduation dress and shoes. I got home at 12:30, ate lunch, and worked on my dress from about 1:30 - 3:30. Then I had to go out and pick up pizza and take her to CVS for mascara.

The total sewing time for the dress was about 2 1/2 hours. I lost time in the morning because my machine was fussy with skipped stitches. I switched needles, then switched to Mettler thread which worked like a charm. It was truly the fastest dress I've ever made, and yes, it was hurry, hurry, hurry! The neckline and armholes were turned under and coverstitched. That really saved heaps of time. I put in a temporary hem for the evening to make sure it was a suitable length. I pegged the hem on each side seam, but will probably peg it a little bit more. In the next few days, the permanent hem will be coverstitched.

Some people thrive on sewing on a deadline. I find it somewhat stressful. However, it was truly sewing like my sister. When I was a kid and she was in high school, I was truly in awe how she could wake up, know she wanted a specific garment, cut it out and sew it up to wear that evening by 6 p.m. My own sewing has never been like that. So it was really nice to know that I could pull off this mad dash sewing like my sister did many years ago.

This dress is really one of my faves. I love the style and print. The only thing about the print is that it hides the wrap and gathering detail. Do you know what my thoughts were on this? Maybe black piping down the princess seams would give it an edgy look. The seams and gathering detail get lost, but I don't think it detracts from the dress, but a contrast piping would enhance it, at least the princess seams that is. What do you think dear readers? I'll probably try that when using a print next time around.

On to DD#1, we have our first high school graduate! One down, three to go. It was a lovely graduation, perfect weather, and here are some pics from the event. We are so proud of her! She will be attending school in Philly as a Pre-Med Major. You can see in her pics she is wearing her National Honor Society cords, her Summa Cum Laude medal, and Student Government sash. She has a long road ahead of her in her preparation for her goal of becoming an Orthopedic Surgeon, but I know it will happen. It's an exciting time for her! It will be a long road, but I told her to savor every moment of the journey. It will have its highs and lows, but in the end it will be well worth all the hard work.

My only rants about the evening were:

1. You wait 18 years to hear your child's name announced when they receive their diploma. The microphone had issues for about 7 or 8 kids and mine was one of them--ugh! All the audience heard was her last name.

2. In the graduation booklet, they forgot to list National Honor Society next to her name. They also forgot to list her friend's scholarship. I'm sure there were errors for other people, but it's annoying when kids work so hard and there are little mistakes like this.

Here's a video link and pics for the last moments of graduation. The formed the traditional Blue and White Line at the end of the ceremony around the track. She was in the last group of 5 girls to exit the field near the center podium. It's sure to bring back memories of one's own high school graduation. She graduated on the same day and date as me, same time 26 years later. Even identical right down to the weather.

Here is a pic of her before leaving for the Graduation Ceremony

Here are the SGA group students, 2nd row of students to enter the field. DD#1 is second in from left. The valedictorian is on the right, salutatorian is second in from right.

DD#1's in her spot and looking!
Partial view of the graduates on a beautiful June evening:

Right after the ceremony and ready for pics:

Final seconds of graduation video:

To end this post, here's a few pics of our little boy Jake. Oh...how we love him so! So soft and cuddly. He's growing and sleeping more like an adult cat. His August birthday is fast approaching, and it's hard to believe little Jake is going to be 1. He's sleeping, but we really know he's begging for hugs and kisses. Or maybe a soft belly rub.

I. Did. It. :) :) :)

2010-06-07T12:08:00.003-04:00

Last week I took my 1992 Pfaff serger in for a tuneup. I've rarely been using the 'ol serger lately because fitting and serging do not always go hand in hand. My Janome Coverstitch, however, has been getting a nice workout!

My Pfaff Hobbylock is/was a wonderful machine. The stitches it produced were fantastic. The only problem? You know what it is, dear readers! Fiddling with tension to get just the right stitch can make a 5 minute job turn into 65 minutes. Every time I want to do a rolled hem, I change my threads, change the foot, set the tension, run a test stitch, reset the tension, again, again, and again. It's another reason why my serger doesn't get used as much as it should. Many times I have said to myself, "So much for a 5-minute hem!"

If the tuneup was going to be over $100, I was going to use that as a downpayment on...A BABYLOCK IMAGINE!!! It's on layaway at the dealer. I also used the serger as a trade-in. The time has come. My eyes aren't going to focus any better, my time is always at a premium, so what the heck.

Jet-air threading here I come. Tension headaches are a thing of the past. I can live without a serger for a while. Not fun, but do-able. I'm hoping I can get it paid off by Christmas/New Years. I'm SO looking forward to 2011. The last quarter of the year should be interesting anyway because then I'll know if surgery is a must from the car accident that keeps on "giving".

CJ Patterns Wrap Top Done!

2010-06-02T09:38:00.005-04:00

Here it is. I finished it over the weekend and even after recutting a side/back panel due to the drilled hole issue, there was still enough fabric for long sleeves.

Added to my Fall wardrobe...yes, I did say Fall. Review to follow in a few days. Don't look at the basement draperies! They've only been hanging there waiting to be finished for 3 years now.

Comments in Posts

2010-05-30T08:43:00.004-04:00

I like the language conversion feature on blogger and use it when I remember how LOL. But the one thing that bugs me this Sunday morning is when I get comments in Chinese. It's just like going into a nail salon, having the employees speak in a language you don't understand at all, and knowing they might be saying you're the dumbest a$$ in the world, a big cheapskate who doesn't tip well, etc. Or the comments are likely general spam comments. Who knows.

If I could translate my comments, that would be nice. But if I can't, it's delete, delete, delete. Sorry, I can interpret some Spanish, but that's about it.

Does this bother anyone else?

Also, I've discovered I would be a terrible Board moderator. There seems to be a whole lot of "flamin" talk over at PR. Since I'm not "delicate" and pretty much bull headed with a hard hat, much of the things that go on don't bother me. Not all, but most. I don't know how the Moderators do it, but you know that saying, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."??? Really, if one doesn't like the trend of a thread and feels insulted, why not just leave? Sometimes things just keep going and going and going. Why not just get off the bike? Cut one's losses.

See, I'd be a terrible Moderator. If I found a thread to be contentious, I'd just close it. I wouldn't feel a need to explain why either. A private board, volunteer work, paid membership is optional, so if you don't like the rules, just leave.

I'm not a dumb a$$, but maybe just an a$$ with my view on this in general ;) .

Photos to come of the Christine Jonson Wrap Top!!! I LOVE it!

Who Loves Leopard?

2010-05-23T22:13:00.008-04:00

I do. My cat does. DH did too, and so did the fireman collecting money at the coin drop.

The leopard I'm talking about is my Textile Studio Capris Jacket in leopard print fleece. When I originally purchased the fleece from Fabric Mart for a chemo hat for Stacey, I purchased extra because I wanted something "leopard" in my wardrobe in addition to my leopard print skirt made several months back. I finished this jacket a little over a month ago but haven't modeled it, nor have done a review yet. Hopefully I'll get a review done tomorrow or Tuesday.

Here is the jacket front:

Jacket front different angle:

And now the back:

The pattern style wasn't changed much from the pattern, but it does look different. The first time I made this jacket was for my lingerie ensemble for the Lingerie Contest. I used a black panne velvet with lots of drape. However the fleece gives the jacket an altogether different look. One of the things I don't like about fleece jackets are the facings. They tend to flop around if not tacked down, so I took a tip from Nancy Cornwall (auther of the Polarfleece books) to turn the facings to the outside. I think that really makes the jacket. I trimmed the edges of the fleece with black lycra in my stash. The sleeves are long, but I can turn them up to a cuff as shown in my photos or worn down to cover the top part of my hands when it's chilly outside.

DH gave it a nod and said he liked it. The fireman at the coin drop growled at me and asked me to show him my "claws". I must admit, it was the first time I've ever been embarrassed about my short, stumpy nails. He was disappointed that I didn't have ones to match the jacket LOL. Jake LOVES my jacket. When he sleeps, it looks like it was made just for him. And as for me? It was exactly the jacket I wanted. I was thinking it would just look okay, but I loved it when it was finished.

Next up, I'm working on my CJ Wrap top shown below
. It's been hanging out on my sewing center in my kitchen for a week since I've been busy with prom dress alterations. I have to cut the sleeves for it, but they will be 3/4 length because I'm short on fabric. This velour stretch knit from Spandex House in NYC has been in my stash for maybe 3 years? Possibly more. The only thing I don't like about it is that it "changes color" depending on the angle. The colors in the pic look really bold (that's to my liking), but it changes to light and frosty coloring from a different angle. Love the intensity, not the paleness, so this chameleon fabric is not my fave.

The fabric does not have the recommended stretch so I had to use smaller seam allowances too. It's about 20-25% stretch. I'll probably end up taking in the waist side seams a little but I'll need to alter with a swayback tuck above the waist before cutting out another top from this pattern. The sewing side of my brain envisions a LBD from a black knit from this pattern. Lengthen it, tweak it, and voila! It would make a perfect dress. Gotta love those princess seams too.

More later. Or hopefully sooner.

Prom 2010, Young Fashion Eye Candy, Prom Dress Alterations

2010-05-22T18:34:00.012-04:00

It's that time of year again--The Prom! (Can it really be 26 years since "MY" Senior Prom???) My oldest is experiencing that wonderful time of her Senior year, those end-of-the-year festivities. (On a motherly note, I just ordered her graduation announcements.) This year she attended two proms. The first was last week with her guy friend. This was his Senior Prom, not hers. Don't think he's a boyfriend in the true sense of the word, but she's a picky girl like her mama and doesn't want to take just anyone. Neither did he, because according to his Facebook page, he doesn't like dumb girls.

Here's they are in their prom finery:

I had to go on a field trip last week for DS#1, so my mother took care of prom activities for me.

She told me a cute story when he came over to pick up DD#1. He wasn't dressed for the prom, but had his tux in a bag in his car. As soon as he came through the door, DD#1 was making her way down the stairs and he looked up, his smiled a broad smile and gave a most approving look ;) . Like a Wow! moment. He quickly dressed for the moment so my mom could take pics. She snapped a couple of good ones below:

Fast forward one week later to today! My daughter went dateless to her own prom because according to her, "There's no one I want to go with from my school." The guy she went with last week had a previous committment for this weekend. So now I present you with some 2010 Prom Fashion Eye Candy. It was so cool because no one had the same color dress.

Here's DD#1 today modeling the bustle I created for her. We experimented with different effects, but this is what she wanted:

Here are the first pics from this afternoon. The beautiful girls modeling the front of their dresses:

And now the backs:

Here is DD#1 with one of her lovely friends. I created her bustle as well, and rehemmed her dress. She paid $60 to have her dress hemmed by someone else and it was uneven and too long on the sides (the sides only and I don't know why.). I told her I wouldn't charge her a dime UNLESS she told other people ( BEFORE the prom) I was doing some of her alterations. I certainly didn't need a slew of requests because I'm still very busy with doctor and physical therapy appts. as my arm and torn tendons are still healing. There's only so much work I can do and do comfortably. I'm not going to push it. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cutouts on her dress too.
Another pic of DD#1:

After 15-20 minutes of parents taking pics, the "limo" arrived. This morning I asked her how many people were going in the limo and she said about 25. 25?!?! What limo seats 25??? It was a limo BUS!!! Here is DD#1 expression after she saw the interior of the limo bus.

I had the same response! Check out a view of the limo inside:

Here is the entire group of girls in front of the limo bus. An absolutely gorgeous group, and all totally different and lovely gowns.

And finally, DD#1 asked a mom to take a pic of us both. Now why didn't I think this would happen? I would have picked a different purse LOL, one that matched. Instead I have a big epipen sticking out of the front, a huge purple key loop on my arm, and a big, ugly elbow brace. Didn't think about that at the time. At least I'm wearing a shirt I made :) !

Last but not least, I leave you with the bustle I created for her friend. We experimented with different effects and she chose this. I found two perfect, crystal colored buttons that matched her dress perfectly. Since she had a CB zip, I had to attach the buttons to the side of the sip. I tacked Timtex interfacing to the back for stability when attaching the buttons. The loops were *supposed* to be serger chains using decorative thread in the upper looper, but as I was threading my serger it decided to pop a spring from the knife. #*(@#*$(@*(#$&* So...I simply took three strands of Decor 6 decorative thread and braided it. I created two loops for the buttons to attach the bustle once the dress was zipped. I also stitched a "security loop" from black ribbon on the inside of the bustle just in case of a wardrobe malfunction (broken loops). Those loops were really stitched in well so I don't think loop failure will occur, but better to be safe than sorry.

And a final note to Connie! You SHOULD have kidnapped me for fabric shopping!!! I'm SO sorry I missed you guys in Philly, but here's a very positive note: DD#1 is going to college in Philly :) . So I'll be down there a lot. So looking forward to next year, and I missed seeing the sewing group very much.

CJ Patterns: Princess Seamed Wrap Top #426

2010-05-09T21:17:00.004-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms!

Today DH made breakfast and "Linner". On Sundays, we really don't have lunch, but a meal around 3 or 4 that is a combo of lunch and dinner; hence, "Linner". It was delicious. We have the same breakfast most Saturdays and Sundays, but it always tastes better when someone else makes it. My eggs, bacon, and toast were mighty tasty!

For Linner, he prepared Citrus Tilapia, Mashed Potatoes, and Broccoli as per my request. DD#2 made a cake, DS#1 helped out a little, DS#2 gave me a neck/back rub, and DD#1 brought me home a Rita's Ice.

During dinner prep, I decided to do something for myself. Garment sewing has been so slow lately, but I managed to pull out my CJ Princess Seamed Wrap Top pattern. This is the one I bought a year or two ago and have really been itching to whip this one up. I traced off the small, used a single knit stretch muslin fabric in my stash, and stitched up the muslin in about 1 1/2 hours. Very quick and easy!

Here is the pattern and the muslin:

Let me tell you, this muslin "knit" is one that has minimal stretch, and although I used the pattern size that corresponded to mine, it was like a sausage casing LOL. Generally, I don't like super fitted tops, but this one was super snug. Even in the knit with the correct stretch percentage, the super close fit would not have been to my liking.

So I traced off the Medium using Small Shoulder seams. I don't want the crossover to come down any lower. That was my only issue. I will also move the entire shoulder seam forward by about a 1/2" and add princess seams to the back as a "just in case" measure for fit purposes.

I love this style and will whip up a wearable muslin tomorrow using the new size cut out. Also will check pattern reviews too.

Hope everyone had a nice day, but on my end I'm almost falling asleep at the keyboard. Good night and happy sewing!

Pitiful Blogging!

2010-04-19T09:41:00.008-04:00

Pitiful blogging. The same goes for my blog reading. The days have been so busy, and I'm trying to squeeze in sewing any chance I get. It doesn't leave much time for blogging, nor blog reading which bothers me. I have four blog posts drafts that have gone unpublished too. But this one will be posted today!

Thanks for your kind words and empathy. The Shannon I talked about in my previous post is Shannon Gifford. Not to be confused with my friend Stacey who is also battling cancer. Stacey's prognosis is very good. She finished chemo two months ago and is now finished with radiation. Remission is expected at this point, for which we are all very thankful. Shannon's cancer, however, is at the untreatable stage. I read her husband's blog at least every other day. It is very touching, such a beautiful love story. I pray for two things every night. A miracle, or that she has very little or no pain.

Sewing has been my hobby since I first stitched on a machine at 12 years old. Fitting, however, has been something I've only learned in the last 5 or 6 years. I've always referred to my respect and admiration for two fitting gurus that have been so helpful via online classes, emails, etc., and those two women are Shannon Gifford and Jean Haas. There are so many of Shannon's class folders on my sewing shelf, some of those classes I've taken at least twice because there is always more to learn, even if it is the same class. Please say lots of prayers for Shannon. She is an incredible person, and those words seem so lame for the kind, caring, helpful person/instructor that she is. She is one of the people that has had such a profound influence on my favorite hobby.

As mentioned above, I've been sewing trying to squeeze in whatever I can whenever I can. I have yet to review so many things, but here are some of my recent projects.

This one is a leopard print fleece jacket. The fleece was purchased for one of Stacey's chemo hats, but I ordered more than enough to make a jacket too. That was my original intention.

I used the Textile Studio Capri Jacket pattern. It has taken quite a different look than the black lingerie robe, huh? This pattern was selected because all the alterations were already done. The one thing I forgot about was to change the bust dart to a princess line! Imagine--a dart in fleece! It annoyed me, but it worked out just fine. The dart wasn't too bulky, and I slit the dart up the middle to about 3/4" from the point to flatten the bulk at the side seams. The dart gets kind of lost in the print anyway.

Another thing about fleece--I HATE facings. They're usually turned to the inside and kind of bulky. So I took a tip from Nancy Cornwall's book and turned the facings to the outside and binded the edges with black lycra. I also bound the edges of the sleeves with lycra too. The pic shows the sleeves turned up, but they can also be worn down. I like this option because outside it gets worn long, inside it gets turned up to free up my hands a bit. The inside of the jacket is so neat and tidy with the facings turned to the right side. After the lycra was attached, I stitched-in-the-ditch to attach the facings to the jacket. Here's a pic of the "clean" neckline interior and the finished facings turned to the right side.

This was one of those projects where I thought it would turn out "okay", but then realized I absolutely loved this jacket. Even DH commented that he liked it. I've worn it out twice and have gotten so many compliments on it too. He also asked, "Didn't you make a bra out of that material?" No, I didn't. I told him I wanted to make a leopard print bra and panty set a while back, but that would be nylon/lycra, not fleece LOL.

Next up is DH's jacket. It's a Kwik Sew, not much to write about it except that DH hasn't worn it as much as he should be. After complaining for a while that I never make anything for him, I finally make it and he hasn't been wearing it. Okay, maybe once or twice. It does need a light, warm pressing on the bottom and sleeve ribbing to clean up the look, but other than that it was a relatively quick and easy project. I would much prefer, however, that the upper part of the jacket was lined to hide the facings and neckline seaming. At least with a lightweight 100 weight fleece. This black MM fleece was bulky (300 weight), but a nice lining would have made it look more professional on the inside.

Did I just say that (again)? What's going on with me???? Since when have I ever been that concerned with my seam finishes on the inside???????????????????? And another thing because there REALLY must be something wrong with me...

...THIS is what I'm working on below.

GASP! Yes!! They're draperies...I'm working on draperies. Bear in mind, I have never liked home dec, yet these draperies aren't that bad. In the pic above, both panels have been hemmed on the sides and bottom, the header already is prepared with buckram, and the pleats and spaces have been marked completely on one side. I'm making a mirror image of the markings on the other side.

These draperies will replace the poor-excuse-of-vertical-blinds that have been up in my living room for the past 20 years. They have long seen better days. Some of the blinds are missing, they don't hang right anymore--very sad looking.

Below is a closeup in sunlight of the color of my carpeting (well it used to be that color since that's old too now), as well as a paint palette (sp?) I'm consider for my walls. One of my next endeavors under consideration is making slipcovers for my sofa and loveseat. Wouldn't it be nice to have a living that has an entirely fresh new look? My house is so stale and boring looking, and I have no interior decorating taste. But I'm trying! Really trying. Hopefully this weekend I will have some new draperies up and ready to show the world.

Right now I leave you with a short video clip of Jake, who loved it when I was cutting buckram for the drapery header. The buckram wants to roll into a tube, and guess who loves to try to burrow--Jake!

Here's the link because I haven't learned how to embed the video clips right into my blog. Can someone help me with this?

http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q169/mkkdra/video%20clips/?action=view&current=100_5053.flv

And if you want to see some really cool, cute cats, check out (what I think are) Jake's half sibs. I believe they're Devon Rex/Sphinx hybrids. I'd sure love to have one, but we're committed that Jake is an "only child".

ETA *original link deleted*--the beautiful baby hybrids were all sold. But new Devon Rex babies are *** here *** . NAYY--just a VERY satisfied customer :) .

Everything Pales in Comparison

2010-04-10T22:37:00.002-04:00

Just noting this. Everything pales in comparison when you think of one of the most inspirational people in your life with terminal cancer.

Yeah, I just found out that Shannon's cancer is terminal. Let me just say in uncharacteristic words for me, this really sucks. Really, really sucks. There aren't any other words to describe it. I'm going to sleep on this tonight. Please pray for a miracle.

Death of the Brown Blouse

2010-03-14T20:38:00.005-04:00

It's official. Thank you, dear readers, my Burda blouse has officially achieved Wadder status. Why I ever went through with this crazy idea (after I bought a brown, fancy, lightweight turtleneck the same color for $6 on a clearance rack at Penney's), I'll never know. Truly, it should be chalked up to a brain injury.

I'm even embarrassed to post the ugly wadder, but here it is. I mean, have you ever seen something so..."ugly"? It's not the style because I love the Burda BWOF pattern. Just haven't found the perfect fabric for this top. The first was too stiff and this had the drape, but the crinkle cotton is a pain to work with, and the color is just so not me. The fabric had a fade line flaw too. I tried to accent the brown with blue thread and purchased matching blue buttons, but is just wasn't working. Anyway, the pattern will get made one day in the perfect fabric for the style.

On to new things. I took my friend, Stacey, out to lunch the other day, and we stopped at Walmart to pick up some odds and ends. Now, here's the bad news. Our Walmart finally got hit with "changes" in the fabric department. It's downsized with only one wall of fabric. This Walmart actually had a decent amount of beautiful cottons. It's a shame, a crying shame. Customers are mad, the employees are upset, but at least Stacey was able to pick out two colored cotton prints for some lightweight head wraps. She said the chemo fleece hats are now too hot since the weather is starting to warm up. I told her to pick out two cottons she liked, and I bought them and whipped them up into scarves today.

This gave me the opportunity to use my narrow hem foot. The last time I used this foot was maybe 7 years ago? I made a top for DD#1 (now 18) when she was in 5th grade, and I used the foot for the sleeves only to be put back in my foot box until today. It was perfect for the head scarves. It took a little practice again to get the feeding right, into what I call "the chute", but it's such an excellent little foot that gives beautiful results.

Here are the scarves in the cotton prints she picked:

And here's a closeup of that lovely, rolled hem. So neat and tidy!

Now I'm currently working on a custom order for 20 sports headbands made out of 2 layers of 100 weight Polarfleece for a softball team. Everything was cut today, so I'm just waiting for the list with the embroidery info. My machine will be smokin' this week!

BTW, have you seen Alexandra's dress? (I have to change my text colors because if you click on the words "Alexandra's dress" it will take you to her blog post.) It totally rocks! I'm really going to have to bite the bullet and buy this pattern this Spring.

Trouble with my Burda blouse

2010-03-07T21:34:00.003-05:00

I have to de-stress before bedtime. I'm having trouble with a Burda blouse from a Burda WOF, and it has nothing to do with sewing it. My sewing mojo for this particular project is rapidly disappearing so I'm in a hurry to get it done.

Why? Because this is the second time I've picked an inappropriate fabric for it. The first was 100% cotton that is simply too crisp and doesn't have nice enough drape. The second and current is a brown, crinkle cotton with drape, but it is simply darn ugly and has a certain degree of "stretch" because of the vertical crinkles. A few of the mojo loss reasons are: My shoulder seams are falling off in a noticeable way because of the crinkle "stretch", the fabric is a "What was I thinking of???" type of piece when I bought it, and the fabric itself had a fade line repeat which annoyed the heck out of me and couldn't be avoided on the back piece.

A few days ago, I was seriously thinking of tossing it. Then I said no, now I'm thinking of tossing it again. Life is too short to play around with ugly fabric. Perhaps save the buttons and move on. This is NOT an enjoyable project.

Getting Back to McCalls 4922

2010-03-03T08:34:00.008-05:00

Last October I wrote a post on how I was going to make McCalls 4922. And here it is, about 4 1/2 months later, and I'm finally talking about the finished garment. I'm so woefully behind on pattern reviews! Here's the pattern:

It's a perfect pattern for a princess-seamed blouse that works for our school's uniform policy. I made the shirt to fit me and DD#2. She liked this blouse, but decided she didn't want it because...it was white and she didn't want a white blouse. This just adds to my frustration of sewing for her. I still have to review this blouse and a Burda blouse which I also made for her but ended up in my closet. She's always nit-picky about things.

Her Burda complaint was valid because the sleeves were too short. It was the first time I ever used Burda WOF and pretty much made it as-is to check the sizing. A little snug in my bust (but not hers), and the sleeves were definitely too short. A little snug in the upper back, needed a forward shoulder and sleeve adjustment, you know, the same things needed in a Big 4 pattern for me. And the cotton shirting fabric for the Burda style was simply too stiff. The fabric used for it has to have more drape.

Anyway...back to McCall's 4922. Here is how it ended up:

I really like this blouse so I'm glad she didn't like the color white :) . I used a 10 at the neck and shoulders and morphed to the 14 from upper bust down. I love the blended sizes because I end up not having to do an FBA. Sometimes I might need to create an armhole dart if there's not enough shaping and transfer it elsewhere, but not so with this pattern.

The styling change I made on the pattern was to create bust gathers near the bust area of the buttoned front placket shown below:

Here is the styling change on the blouse closeup below:

DD#2 and I saw this detailing in lots of RTW blouses and she liked this. So I slashed/spread the CF pattern piece to create the gathers. I think maybe an 1/2" more of gathers would be even nicer. We'll see the next time I make this blouse. My alterations to this pattern included:

1/4" narrow shoulder

1/2" added sleeve length

1/2" added hem length

removed 1/4" front sleeve ease

Really, very minor alterations, essentially just tweaks. The fit of this blouse is really superb, my only wishes for this blouse was it could be longer and made out of a fabric with more drape. The 100% cotton shirting fabric is fine, but it wrinkles like crazy and is kind of stiff. My wardrobe really needs a long white blouse that can be belted. It was made to the hem length of the school's policy because it was supposed to be for DD#2, and I prefer curved hemlines because I think it's more flattering on my figure. I love, love, LOVE the sleeve options: 3/4 length or full length. I prefer 3/4 ones because I'm a SAHM and working at the kitchen sink often leaves me with wet sleeve hems with long sleeves.

Here's the back. The wrinkles are because I'm twisting around to take the pic. It is actually very smooth with no swayback "puddling".

Here's a pic that show a different perspective and proportion:

In the next few days I'll try to review this blouse at PR. But my assessment of this pattern is that it is a winner, a must-have pattern. It's so versatile and different fabrics will really change the look of the blouse.

Sewing and Fitness

2010-02-25T17:51:00.004-05:00

See this:

You know what it is, right? (And I'm not talking about my machine, but what's BELOW it. Yep, it's an exercise ball. What does it have to do with sewing? Everything for me.

Sitting and standing are still painful for me, especially on a hard chair, or even a cushioned computer chair. I don't know what it is, but my neck really hurts after sitting for extended periods of time.

Two days ago, my computer chair broke. So I brought my Sissel ball out to use as my chair. It doesn't solve all my aches and pains, but it sure doesn't make them feel as bad as sitting on a hard chair, my computer chair, or sitting in my car. I'm a person who likes to be in constant movement. Whether it's twiddling my fingers, moving my legs, anything! The ball lets me "keep in motion", and I think that is good for my aches and pains.

And do you know what the plus side to this is? I woke up the next morning after using it and some ab muscles that I never knew I had were sore LOL. Or maybe that's just because I haven't been able to do any abs since the accident. Just sitting on the chair with a slight rolling motion, whether it be front to back or side to side, works the core. Today, I'm going to see if it's a suitable height for the times I'm using my sewing machine. (I just checked and it is :) !) In any case, if you want tighter, more toned abs, switch your computer chair to an exercise ball. For people like me who thrive on constant motion, and even the ones who don't, I'm sure you'll be pleased at the results over several weeks. When I'm given the okay to resume weightlifting and abs at the gym, I'm hoping that at least one part of my body, my abs, won't be in a full revolt.

Today I put the finishing touches on DH's jacket. It was supposed to be done last week, but he had issues with the sleeves. The ribbing at the bottom wasn't tight enough. This was AFTER I had used a knit stitch and finished the seam allowances--)*@#&$%)*@#&$)@#*!!! Seam ripping a knit stitch on fleece and ribbing? Puhleeeaaassseee...I'd rather be stuck with 10 sharp pins. But I did it anyway. That is what you call love!

Thank you to Laura for the update on Wonder Tape! I sure miss having it.

Where's My Wonder Notion?

2010-02-16T11:18:00.003-05:00

Who knows why it's hard to get Wonder Tape anymore, but I sure do miss it. It's a must-have notion for installing zippers in fleece garments and my DH's jacket has a very long front zipper.

On his KS jacket, the raw edges of the fabric where the zipper is installed are left raw and I hate that. It looks so...homemade :( . So I decided to bind the raw edges down the CF with bias tape. I think this was a wise decision. It made it easier to install the zipper with a minimal roller coaster effect from lack of Wonder Tape.

One more zipper side to go and it's done! Soon I'll post pics of his cozy jacket.

I Can't Believe It!

2010-02-12T21:21:00.003-05:00

Pictures are coming! I finished my Lingerie set!!! It only took me 5X as long as usual :( though. My Lingerie set includes a short robe, bra and panties. Tomorrow I will do the reviews for all and enter the set in the Lingerie contest at PR.

I'll leave you with three chemo hats I finished last month for Stacey. BTW, she is doing SO well. Her tumor is almost non existent now and she just finished up chemo this past week. Hopefully she can wear these as just winter hats or give them away to someone who might need them. Sometimes we don't need reminders of where we've been.

Here are the final 3 chemo hats in the set:

Tomorrow I will post my "Beautiful Blue Moon" Lingerie Set.

Struggling to Sew

2010-02-08T11:28:00.004-05:00

I had a bad week last week so I spent no time at the sewing machine, thanks to the lady who plowed her car into my van. So I'm currently struggling to work on my bra and panty set for the Lingerie contest over at PR. The bra should take me a day, and it might take all of this week to finish it unfortunately. It really depends on how I feel and how long my body can take sitting in a chair at the machine.

At this point, I'm just hoping to be well enough to work on it just a little bit each day in order to finish it by the contest deadline.

We'll see...sure hoping to have some pretty pics of some luscious lingerie by Saturday.

Finished Sewing Projects!

2010-01-31T17:06:00.007-05:00

Here are two of the four that I have to post about. Both of these were done last week pre-accident so all I had to do was model them. I left off my head. I'm in a grumpy, dumpy mood. (You don't need to see it, nor would you want to.) Medical issues still plague me and that's why.

Anyway, first project is my leopard print skirt. It's just a simple, self-drafted pattern. You know the routine: measure your hips, add preferential ease, cut the width of the fabric to that amount, cut the length adding the hem and waist allowances and bam! You have the "pattern". I wore this outfit to church this morning. I was going to wear it with some fabulous heels I bought, but those will wait. Worry about tripping is one thing when you're healthy, but when you're not, it's a no go. Flat boots are a must.

The leopard print fabric is a mesh woven. The skirt is lined with a Bemberg-type of lining. The two layers sandwich the elastic at the top of the skirt. The black lining is about 3-4" shorter than the skirt for a "peekaboo" effect. I tried to show it in the pic below but don't know how evident it is. In the sunlight, the effect is more evident. I was actually ambitious enough to change the threads on my serger to do a rolled hem on the lining and the woven mesh fabric.

Here is the non-fancy, simple dimple, elastic waistband:

And here is the easy peasy rolled hem.

On to my elusive "perfect" pair of pants. They're not perfect yet, but they're getting there. The pants draft was from a Threads issue a couple of years ago. The pattern was self drafted from those instructions with tweaks from another Thread's article by Joyce Murphy on body space.

Before Christmas I ordered Marian Lewis' pants fitting book. The method she uses is not much different than what I did in Jean Haas' Darting Below the Beltline class, however, she does add some new info for the crotch area. I did NOT use the info in her book yet. At this point I just wanted to develop a basic custom block. Believe me, it actually looks like a Franken block 'cuz I have such a weird shaped body.

My plan now is to shave off another 1/2" from the back under the butt via a fisheye dart alteration since there is still a bit of baggy-ness in that area. I think my fuller right side is taking up more of the fabric than the left too. My posture isn't perfect in the pic for this post so I need to examine more of my back pics. Once that is done, then I'll create a separate right and left front and right and left back. This is a necessity for me. My right side of my body is both wider and fuller than my left with a bit of hip height discrepancy as well. This is partly what Marian discusses in her book. Ideally, for a great pair of pants I'd do well with a vertical seam down the middle of the back leg too. I'm trying to get a tradeoff at this point.

Another thing is I like my pants snug. There is almost no way I'm going to eliminate front wrinkles at the crotch with the fit I want, especially in the fabric I used. I could make the pants looser and the wrinkles would go away, but the baggy fit would bother me more than the wrinkles. Ah...the old tradeoff again. It is what is. I'm not going to obsess about these things, but ridding myself of most of the baggy butt wrinkles with my custom drafted pattern is my goal. Most, I say, because that fabric in the back also is ease. That doesn't make things easy. So I'll keep taking a smidge out of my draft, no more than a 1/2" each time. Give me another two or three pairs of pants and I think I have the almost perfect pair.

Here are the pants front:

Here's the pants back. Not perfect, getting there, but definitely better than RTW.

Next up are the shirts I finished two months ago. They need to be pressed before being modeled. Maybe tonight they'll at least get hit with the iron.

See ya tomorrow, hopefully!

Sewing and the Spine

2010-01-27T06:35:00.004-05:00

Thank you, everyone, for your comments and good wishes. My aches, soreness, and occasional dull pains still plague me in the neck and shoulder area with mild intermittent headaches and slight sinus pressure. Yes, the other lady was insured by the same company as me. I've discussed options with an attorney. Still waiting to hear about my van. If you saw the crumpled front of her car, you'd get an idea with the amount of force that hit my van. Let me tell you, this stuff is really a pain in the a$$. One thing the attorney brought up was massage therapy in addition to the chiropractor. I never thought about that. My chiro is not a fan of muscle relaxants and neither am I. As she says, "The heart is also a muscle." I don't want to be relaxing all my muscles, just my neck and shoulders, so the muscle relaxant prescription still sits on my counter, and I don't plan on filling it. There is a massage therapy place near me so I will check that out today.

DD#1 had X-rays two weeks ago at the chiro. Then she had another set the day of the accident. I'll let the chiro check out both sets. As she was adjusting my daughter, she said her current back pain is definitely the result of the accident.

Off the topic of the stupid car accident, good news! I finished my khaki pants from my "elusive" perfect pants patterns. This was my custom, self drafted pattern I worked on last year. (Yes, I did say last year...). I'll take pics soon. Made great progress on DH's jacket. Traced off the pattern for my Vogue retro jacket, and finished cutting out the fabric and interfacing for my Burda blouse. Which reminded me as I was cutting it out--only work with great fabric. Life is too short for crappy stuff. I hope I don't regret using this brown, crinkly cotton for the Burda blouse. Pics are coming!

More later.

It Happened Again! :(

2010-01-25T14:43:00.003-05:00

10 months ago, I was rear ended by a guy going about 30-35 mph to the tune of $3500 damage to my van, and a slightly sore neck.

Two days ago I was slammed by a car that went through a stop sign as I was traveling south on a major roadway in my town. DD#1 and I saw it come out, I slammed on my brakes and swerved to the right in hopes that if she slammed on her brakes she could minimize the impact. She didn't even see me, didn't even hit her brakes, and slammed into the driver's front side of my van between the headlight and my door.

Her front end was severely damaged, and her car totaled. I have yet to hear about my van. The damage didn't look too bad, but sometimes looks can be deceiving. I hope it's not totaled. I got the ambulance ride on a stretcher with a neck brace. My two kids went along for the ride. DD#1 went to the hospital later for the same tests.

End result. Seat belts work. CT scans showed all hardware and software in the right places :) . But our necks, heads, shoulders, and backs are achy and sore. DS#1 was sitting in the back and appeared not to have tensed up at all. He has no soreness, no injury of any kind. Prescription meds to the rescue, and we're visiting the chiro tonight. The other driver was able to walk away just fine. The rental car is a brand new Jeep Liberty with satellite radio. At least I can hear my 80's tunes while awaiting the news on my van.

Saturday night I comforted myself while finishing up the first half of my lingerie sewing for the PR Lingerie contest and got some major work done on DH's jacket. After an achy, restless Saturday, I figured Percoset would be a necessity for Sunday night sleep. Can't say that was much better because it made be dizzy before bed (that's in itself is not much of problem for sleep), but it gave me very weird dreams. Weird sewing dreams would be okay, weird scary dreams are not.

Hopefully within a week everything should be better. I'm holding off on the gym until Wednesday and will see what I can do. At least I'm in great shape to begin with, so that should help the recovery go quickly.

Now I'm grumpy and achy again. The prescription Ibuprofen has worn off so I'll grump somewhere else for now. Maybe look for some ribbing in my stash for DH's jacket. That should cheer me up a bit.

Its Been Awhile: Finished Sewing Projects!

2010-01-15T20:17:00.005-05:00

Yeah, it feels like forever since I've actually posted about finished projects. Really, I'd like them to be garments because my garment sewing has been so sporadic lately, but any finished projects are good.

The first project is an embarrassing UFO. DD#2 and I discussed the idea of a Birthday Memory Quilt for one of her close friends. Her friend's parents took the girls to the 9/20/09 Mets game (which they won!), and I asked the mom to take pics for the quilt. DD#2's friend still doesn't know what her birthday present is, but my daughter has been telling her that it has been coming along. For an entire 4 months! It seemed like every time I tried to work on it, I'd get to a point then stop for some reason. I was planning on finishing it the last week of November, but my tension disk went wonky on my embroidery machine. It had to be serviced, and it took 3 long weeks to get it back. At that point, I was pressed for time with 20 headbands for Christmas presents for my daughters' friends.

Here are some of the headbands with their Christmas tags. The school name and mascot were also embroidered on them in addition with each girls' names. I used some great 100 weight fleece ordered from http://www.wazoodle.com/ (royal blue on the front/grey on the back and terrific fleece BTW). I made several changes from a book's design so it's essentially my own at this point and enjoyed using my Coverstitch for the topstitching around the headband edges.

The downside to these headbands? DD#1 came home and said several people were mad at her because they didn't get one LOL. I may have several orders come spring time when Track and Softball starts. Truly, these headbands were a big hit with their friends. These headbands were designed to perfectly match the embroidered scarves I made for their friends for Christmas 2008

Back to the Memory Quilt! Here is the quilt front:

DD#2 picked the pictures to use for the quilt and I embroidered the front with the Mets lineup from the 9/20/09 game. Baseball graphics and text were added for a customized Birthday Memory Quilt. It was great that the game date was also the exact date of her friend's birthday.

The quilt is double sided with orange fleece on the back. That side is plain because I wanted it to feel soft against her skin. The top and bottom edges are fringed and knotted, the sides are just fringed. I used the iron-on transfer sheets for the pics and ironed the pics to cotton flannel. For the edges of the pics, I used pinking shears, then stitched around the inside of the pinked edges to attach the photo blocks to the quilt.

Here's a closeup of the upper front of the quilt:

Here's a closeup of the lower quilt:

The one disappointment? The girls couldn't get a pic of themselves with David Wright ;) . But at least our darn Mets won that game. I was very happy for Danielle. She's a big Mets fan and we're a family of Mets fans although sometimes we wonder why.

Next up, finishing my leopard print skirt.

ETA, I'll leave you with a pics of Jake in my sewing room.

Cats Play Fetch!

2010-01-13T18:08:00.004-05:00

This was supposed to be a sewing post, but I wanted to share what comes naturally to many Devon Rex cats: Playing Fetch!

No cat I ever had (pre Jake) played fetch. I think most don't. Jake didn't need any training, he simply went right to it. He played fetch with my husband at the beginning of December, then kind of stopped. We think we found out why. He has a preference for his toy mice. We have small mice which are too hard and big soft fat mice that don't fit in his mouth. He likes our little soft medium-sized one and will play fetch for the longest time with it.

Today I took a little video clip of what Jake does best :) . Skeptics take note: Cats do indeed play fetch. Enjoy! (Just don't look at my walls or woodwork...painting and new moulding comes after I make my curtains from the fabric I bought before Christmas.)

Headbands, Skirt, and Other Things

2010-01-01T23:18:00.008-05:00

Other things first :) . I love writing about Jake. I realize not everyone is a cat lover so I'll make it quick.

Here's the cat tree Rich made for Jake. He LOVES it too :) .

Jake fooling around.

What a showoff he is! Proudly displaying that short, wavy coat of fur. If only my hair could be as wavy as his fur.

On to the headbands. They're Christmas presents for my daughters' friends. I just couldn't finish them in time with my embroidery machine in the shop so long so they'll get them when the girls go back to school. I finished 7 today, and will finish the other 8 tomorrow.

Here are the finished headbands:

And here are the ones that will be finished up tomorrow. I need more 1" elastic so that is what's holding me up.

And you see this skirt below? I started it about a month ago. An easy, no pattern necessary simple pull-on elastic waist skirt. What is it waiting for? Me to set up my serger for a rolled hem. I have to change from my off-white thread to black thread. This is the time when I long for a jet-air threaded Babylock, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. The leopard print fabric is a woven mesh purchased locally, and the lining is a black, polyester lining fabric purchased somewhere in NYC. Paron's I think? My sister purchased 10 yards for me way back when.

It's above the knee with the lining about 3" shorter than the woven mesh. That's the way I wanted it. I can wear it with my brown suede boots or my black leather ones.

Still no reviews as of yet. I really wanted to get some done, maybe tomorrow night? I don't know--the headbands still need to be finished for Monday. We'll see...we'll see.

And BTW, HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!! Sure hope 2010 is better than 2009. Thanks for the encouraging comments in my previous blog post :) .

The Most Inspirational Blogger of 2009

2009-12-26T23:33:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! And a Happy Belated Hanukkah to my Jewish friends. My blogging has been very sporadic lately, and it seems the holidays come and go so quickly. On my end, this has been the Christmas that wasn't. It simply hasn't felt like the Christmas season, nor did it feel like Christmas today.

I can't pinpoint exactly why. Maybe it's partly the news. The economy, so many people losing their jobs--it leads to a general feeling of not being in the holiday mood. It could also be my friend fighting cancer and getting denied disability for the second time, while I know another person out of work since summertime who is enjoying year-long unemployment checks while gambling in Atlantic City, not necessarily even looking for a job.

It has been a year of friendship disappointment. There's nothing like lending a long-term friend a high degree of support, yet having their dishonesty and half truths cause people to question my credibility. I promptly terminated the friendship and all association with that person. While another person acted as if they wanted to renew a friendship after blowing me off last year, I simply refused to go there. It caused me to wonder why it was happening and what they wanted from me. I felt they were only doing it because of my connections with other people. Sorry, I'm not going to be used. So, a good riddance to 2009.

Except for one bright spot! That would be who I consider to be the most inspirational blogger of 2009. She's the one person who made me want to consider an aspect of sewing I have never had an interest in. That is, until January or February of this year. She is the person who sews absolutely beautiful bras! I was continually amazed by her better-than-Victoria's Secret bras. Her exquisite detail and beautifully selected fabrics and laces were incredibly inspiring, and I even asked her if she would consider offering a class on PR on bra construction. Instead, she opted to create a lingerie sew along for interested sewers on bra construction. This busy lady graciously offered her expertise and time (of which we know there is so little of) and helped out all of us in creating beautiful bras, sharing ideas, and learning about fitting bra patterns.

If you don't know already who is, what I consider to be, THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL BLOGGER OF 2009, I'll tell you :) . It is...Sigrid.

Before this year, I never had any desire to sew up a pair of panties, nor a bra. But it is her work that provided me with the inspiration to sew up beautiful panties and a bra. I've sewed up two pairs of pretty lacy panties and one bra. The bra was a muslin, but I'm going to make the same bra as a back closure instead of a front closure one. On a side note, my days of front closure bras came to an end the day I was in the middle of teaching a high school class, and my bra became unhooked as I was writing on the chalkboard LOL. It was made worse by the fact that I had on a dress that was close-fitting from the waist up. Not a good experience as a C-Cup woman as one can imagine.

Anyway, I made plenty of little mistakes and ended up with little holes on the back band from seam ripping. Not to worry. I will make my beautiful bra in early 2010. However, it wouldn't have happened without Sigrid. Therefore, she gets my admiration for providing inspiration in an area of sewing I have never had an interest in before. And to accomplish that, one must produce outstanding work to the point that it creates a desire to do the same in another person. To never have an interest in lingerie sewing to have a strong desire to make beautiful bras and panties because of one person's work is a testament to her outstanding work.

Way to go, Sigrid!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T23:07:00.005-05:00

Well, it's been an interesting past two weeks. I still haven't finished most of the sports headbands, just one completed one. It's what I'm going to be working on during Christmas vacation. Here is one of the headbands for DD#2's friend who absolutely loved it. We gave it to her Wednesday evening, and her father found her wearing it in bed on Thursday morning. So I guess she truly was pleased. It's my original design, although not much thinking required for it ;) .

Front:

Back:

Hayley's quilt is finished, and I'm just waiting for pics at this point. I asked her to take pics of it before giving it to her grandparents. We have been working on it for about three weeks, but she had to finish it up on her own. Hayley is my 13-year old sewing student, and I can't wait to see the finished project.

Now, on to my Christmas present :) . My little, lovable Jake who is really growing. The little guy gets neutered on Monday so that is his unlucky day. But we want to keep our little kitten permanently loving and as the breeder said, "Do NOT let him become a man!" LOL. Here is my wonderful little boy. Check out his adult fur growing in. It's short and wavy--so cute!

Snuggling with DD#2:

The handsome guy showing off his short, wavy coat (soft as velvet!):

Right now, I'm off to bed! I'm in normal body rythm mode of going to bed at 11:30 and getting up around 7:30 a.m. If only it could be like this every day...

I'm NOT Stupid!

2009-12-16T21:44:00.002-05:00

I'm not stupid, but today I certainly felt like I was. I was stitching out two embroidery designs today. One is the original, one is a mirror image of a pointsettia design. The first one was beautiful. The second had some wonky stitching and I just didn't like it. The third one I must have pressed one too many buttons and put in the wrong thread color because I know the thread color order by heart. The fourth one I *thought* I forgot to mirror image the design when I stopped, then started back up again mid point later on. But...on the FIFTH stitchout, I realized somehow the design probably went bad on my CF card.

I've wasted a tremendous amount of bobbin thread and half the day doing this
@*#(*&*#* design. It's very frustrating because I waited three weeks for my machine to get fixed and now I'm backlogged with work. Christmas deadlines you know. Tomorrow morning I'm deleting the design from my card and downloading it again. Ugh!

I just HAD to vent!

Quick Update!

2009-12-05T08:12:00.005-05:00

It feels like forever since I posted! But I've been busy. Lots of sewing projects done or in the queue.

Before I get to the list, however, I have to include a pic of my handsome boy, Jake. MeredithP asked about kitty pics so I'll happily oblige :) . He is such a wonderful kitten and is now 4.5 lbs. He's long, lean, very athletic and just learned how to jump to DD#1's top bunk bed. It's amazing how this 4.5 kitten can jump to the top, but the amazing jumping skills are characteristic of the Devon Rex breed. Here's a pic of Jake doing his morning thing--snuggling next to DD#2 while she eats her breakfast. He does this every day and purrs like crazy. A real people kind of cat, and he does indeed seek out human companionship.

Also, to answer other questions as per comments:

Connie, I sure would love to go to Montreal for a PR Weekend! We'll see. It all comes down to economics, and this year has been a bit leaner for us.

Kim asked a question about teaching. Although my certification in my specialty is K-12, I have only taught at the 8-12 grade level. I LOVED teaching high school. Loved the older kids, and my philosophy on the different grade levels has always been: Little kids have lots of little problems. Big kids have a few big problems. Personally I think it's way easier to teach pre teens and teens, but I realize that is just my personality. I'm not a little kid lover. Not that I don't love kids--I do! Enough to have four of my own LOL. But I never loved babysitting or cooing over toddlers. I love it that my youngest is now 10 1/2 and my oldest almost 18. They're the most fun ever, and I never want to go back to the toddler days.

So I guess it's really a personality kind of thing. One has to ask themselves what kind of age group they love dealing with. Perhaps looking at their own personal experiences and family life can help identify the age group one would like to teach if they're thinking about it as an adult. Personally, I think teens are so much fun to work with and they tend to have few problems. The problems they do have can be major but I like dealing with one or two biggies than lots of small ones. I have worked with some absolutely terrific kids and out of the 1000+ I've taught over the years when I was working, there might only be 1 or 2 that were truly bad eggs. Overall? I loved being a high school teacher! Even teaching at the community college wasn't as fun as teaching high school.

Back to sewing...here's the list of my activities:

1. A birthday picture quilt. It's coming along. The holdup? Something went wrong with the tension disc in my Janome 300E. I brought it in the same day (two weeks ago now?), and I've been very lonely without it. In fact, I need to call today about it because I have Christmas presents that have to be embroidered and soon!

2. Both blouses (a McCalls and a BWOF) are done and ready to be reviewed. Just need the time. Not my fave blouses because I used a shirting cotton from fabric.com. It's okay fabric. The blouses would have been much better in a drapy fabric but they're still wearable. Just not my faves because of the fabric used. It was the first BWOF pattern I ever used so the "wearable muslin" is just okay. On my second try with a better fabric I'll do a forward shoulder, possibly a slight broad upper back alterations, and a 1/2" FBA. BWOF drafts for a C-cup? Well, not my C-cups I guess.

3. Completed two more chemo hats and am waiting for the fleece fabric order I placed on 11/24 from Fabric Mart to make several more. Where is it? It's been 11 days so I hope it hasn't been misdelivered. I just sent them an email about the order because it hasn't arrived, and I'm concerned about it.

4. In the midst of making a self-drafted, simple elastic-waist mini skirt out of a leopard print woven mesh underlined with black lining fabric. It just needs to be hemmed. I'm making the lining shorter than the mesh so it has a "peekaboo" effect at the bottom of the mesh. We'll see if I get the effect I'm looking for.

5. Smack dab in the middle of making a pair of pants. About a year or so ago, I wrote a post about the the Elusive Perfect Pair of Pants. Well, it's not so elusive anymore :) ! It's getting much better and am fairly close to a great pair. The pair I'm making is for myself or DD#2. We're the same shape and virtually the same size. The only issue is I'm not altering for asymetry on this pair. My plan was to make it for her, but if she didn't like it they would become mine. However, she tried them on last night and seemed rather pleased with the initial try-on. A little side seam tweaking for a snugger fit so we'll see. When I try them on, I get an inseam pull at the botton on my right leg at the hem. It's very likely because my right hip is about a 1/2" or 5/8" higher than my left hip. If the pants were for me, I would have cut each side separately but since I didn't know who the pants were for, I just did the usual thing.

6. 20 Christmas presents are in the works for my daughters' friends. 20 sports headbands, all embroidered. The good thing? They're quick and easy, and I redrafted a book pattern because I wasn't totally happy with it. It's now my own creation, and I really love the changes--much more comfortable I think.

7. Drapes! My vertical living room blinds, 21+ years old, are in VERY sad shape. I bought a traverse rod, hooks, and am following the instructions in a book for pinch-pleat draperies with matching sofa pillows. Once that project is successful, I will venture into slipcovers for my couches. Home dec is certainly not my fave, but it's always the dept. store prices that send me into a tizzy and push me to making my own home dec projects. I will finish hemming my tab top curtains from 2 1/2 years ago while I'm at it. I picked out the fabric for the drapers at my local sewing store so I'm good to go with this.

8. During short time blocks, I'm making a third pair of pretty, lacy panties. My first pair is okay. Not wide enough across the lower part of my bum, so I tweaked the pattern and made a second pair. Much better, but I need to tweak the crotch piece. It sits too far to the back. I'm very short in the front crotch, long in the back, so I'll tweak a little more. Still have to get going with the matching bras, but that's more of a thought process so it will wait until after Christmas. Panties are quick, no-thinking kind of projects.

9. Other time blocks? PATTERN REVIEWS! When was the last time I did pattern review? It was for my maxi dress. I have so many other things to review, and I've been VERY neglectful in doing them. The perfect night to do them? Sometime during the Christmas holiday vacation when we stay up late.

BTW, in other news, DD#1 got her first acceptance letter. It's to Temple University, and they gave her a Merit Scholarship so that definitely helps out in defraying the cost should she decide to attend. Still waiting on the others at this point. It's a real exciting time for her. And guess what! She shocked us all by picking a Winter "sport"! She's a tennis player in the Fall and Track girl in the Spring, but we nearly fell off our rockers when she announced she was trying out for...(gasp!) Basketball cheerleading LOL! She made the team, and the entire family is going to see her cheer at the first home baskeball game. Even her sporty friends were in shock and asked, "You did what?!?!" Quite funny. She and four or five of her friends decided to try out on a lark, and she ended up being the only one to go through with it.

My daughter is a cheerleader. Who would have thought that would ever happen. Not me LOL. I'll share pics because this is definitely an event no one in the family wants to miss!

"Surprise Me."

2009-11-12T21:51:00.003-05:00

I asked Stacey about what colors and styles she wanted for chemo caps, and she said, "Surprise me." I warned her that was a dangerous statement LOL, and told her she be getting groovalicious fashionista chemo caps. You know, leopard print fleece with leather flowers! (She'll probably get one of those too :) .) But in the meantime, I made two more caps in a different style with ribbon flowers accented with hot-fix crystals.

Tomorrow I'm making a true red one with the band embroidered in a Christmas theme. Embroidery Library is having a good sale so I'll hunt up some nice designs. This is cute, quick, fun sewing and very purposeful. So meaningful when doing it for someone so special!

Recent Sewing Projects

2009-11-12T13:01:00.006-05:00

Thank you to the wonderful bloggers who added Stacey to their prayer list. She had her first chemo treatment on Tuesday. I made one chemo turban last night, and finished the second this morning. I sent Stacey links to different sites that had different styles of chemo hats so she could see different kinds. The ones that I made below are from the Charitable sewing projects at http://sewing.org/ . Nothing hard about them, but I found the depth of the tucks in the back of the chemo turban (3/4") may actually be too deep, not giving enough head depth. I told Stacey to let me know if the tucks need to be let out on the red hat. That one has deeper tucks than the blue.

Here are the chemo turbans. The front has a band loop at the CF. I embellished the band on red turban with a black, embroidered flower in my embroidery stash. If she doesn't like it, I'll remove it.

Here is a view of the backs. Notice the tucks in the red hat are deeper than the blue tucks. Well, it might not be that evident from the way the hats are displayed, but the head depth is definitely different.

Hopefully, they will have a new home with Stacey tonight.

Ah...that UFO I posted about a couple of days ago? It's done. BTW, thanks to my blogging friends that wished me healthy vibes :) . Today was my first day back at the gym since Friday and I'm pooped! Still not 100%, and my cardio routine gobbled up most of my energy for the day. (It's why I'm sitting here typing this post in the middle of the day.) But anyway...

I finished the first of three hunting projects for Rich back at the beginning of October, just in time for archery season. It was a hunting "thingamajig". Can't remember what he called it, but he really likes it. So I dawdled with projects two and three, but knew I had to get them done before deer season starts the Monday after Thanksgiving. So as of yesterday, projects two and three are done!

Here is a pic of the pad: The back was reused, along with the velcro straps on the front. But the camo fabric was replaced, velcro straps, reattached to the new front, and restitched to the original back. Here's the front:

Here is the back. It's the original back that was still in decent shape.

The third, and largest, project for Rich was the tree stand cover. He wanted something to take the bite out of the cool, Autumn "breezes" while sitting in the tree stand waiting for the right doe or buck to come along. The tree stand cover took somewhere between 3-4 yards of fabric, and the picture below shows the back of a small portion. The velcro on the top will go around the railing of the tree stand, and the pockets at the bottom are for supplies and/or small rocks or wood pieces to hold down the cover so the fabric flaps aren't flying all over the place when it's windy. It's not one long pocket, but rather a long pocket with vertical stitching channels to create several separate pockets along the bottom edge.

The tricky part to the tree stand cover? Using industrial strength velcro, the kind with the adhesive back not meant for machine sewing. After one hellish struggle on my machine and breaking a needle, I searched the Internet for tips. One great tip turned up: You can stitch the industrial strength adhesive velcro BUT sew slowly and clean the needle with alcohol every 10 stitches. Quite time consuming for all the strips I had to stitch to the fabric, but it worked like a charm with no needle breakage.

So now I'm moving on with trying to do reviews of two blouses, and hopefully making more chemo hats and DD#2's pants. More to come, very soon :)

What's Worse than a UFO?

2009-11-09T20:26:00.002-05:00

A UFO that you're working on for someone else! And then getting the inspiration to get it done, then not having enough of a specific notion to finish. Add having to go out and get it and coming down with a flu-like bug when my goal was to finish it by Wednesday.

That white blouse has been done for a couple of weeks and no review. The blue Burda blouse is thisclose to being done, and I have to cut pants for DD#2. Jake is growing by leaps and bounds, I just gave Hayley her second sewing lesson (and probably a flu-like bug as well :( !) That girl is a natural I tell ya. 12 years old with a high degree of motivation and desire. She's like a sponge. That makes teaching sewing so much fun! I want her to join PR so she can display her work, gain confidence, be further inspired, and be one of the fresh sewing faces of tomorrow.

Other stuff at hand? Supposed to have a meeting at school tomorrow...think I'll make it? Don't know. Just don't know. Thanksgiving is coming! Who has time to get sick???

Sorry. No pics. I'm too tired to even take one of my UFO at this point. Stay healthy! Those are my final words for this post.

Prayers for Stacey

2009-10-29T21:45:00.002-04:00

If you have a moment, would you please say a prayer for Stacey? She is a good friend of mine and a wonderful person, the kind everybody loves. She's funny, witty, kind, an all-around great person. She's just a year older than me and is in the hospital. She has a 4" malignant tumor that the doctors are hoping to cure and are optimistic about it. If you knew her, you'd love her just like everyone else does.

Tomorrow she will likely begin chemotherapy treatment. I've already looked up chemo hat/cap patterns and said she could have this pretty, long-haired blonde wig I bought several years ago. It can be cut any way she likes it. Maybe she will be in the group that doesn't lose their hair but just in case.

Please say a prayer for her. She has had a very rough past two years and now she just found out about this 3 days ago. She's really special, and her infectious laugh and sense of humor light up any room she's in.

The Feel of Suede

2009-10-26T06:33:00.002-04:00

Quick note:

Meredith asked:

"Forgot to ask: does he feel like suede? There is fur there, but I wondered what texture he feels like. Completely adorable, but he's going to have trouble hiding any weight gain from the vet :-)"

Thanks for asking, Meredith :) . Yes, he does feel like suede. Yet softer. Our little kitty is molting so he's actually losing fur in a few spots. He doesn't have much fur to begin with! His full coat will take two years to come in. His father and mother feel like...Minky! Short, soft dense fur. However, I think each Devon's fur is slightly different.

I've forgotten how active little kittens are, and this is an exceptionally active breed. Our schedules have been changed around to accommodate his kittenhood. DD#2 is getting a lesson on "parenting".

Excuse me...must attend to our little boy's needs... :) .

JAKE IS HOME!!!

2009-10-24T20:58:00.005-04:00

He's our little baby. Our little boy. DD#2's very much desired kitten. Another source of joy and companionship. *My Sewing Buddy*. Although I'll probably think twice about that comment when one of my patterns end up shredded as his personal toy ;) .

He's active. Quick as a whip. Highly inquisitive. Gives new meaning to "cat-like reflexes". Yet loving. Loves to be held and cuddled. And an added plus? Low allergenic. He's Jake, our Devon Rex. Loved so much by our family.

'Nuff said. Here's our pics of our sweet, little boy:

And after all the fun we have, he gets all tired out! (Yes, an embroidered blanket just for him.)

This One's for Hayley, Part II: The "Granny" Machine

2009-10-16T22:30:00.005-04:00

The past few posts I've mentioned the happiness of getting my MIL's 1970's Kenmore 158 series machine in a cabinet, followed by my dismay that the machine was destined for the junk pile because of a gear gone bad. I still wanted the cabinet, and the dealer tech called me back 3 days after declaring the machine dead telling me a Kenmore just came in and was an orphan that would fit perfectly in my machine and worked just fine. It only needed a tuneup.

So, for the $55 tuneup and $20 for the machine, I've added a backup machine which I'm loaning out to Hayley for a while so she can learn how to sew. Today I used it for the tree stand cover I'm making for Rich. The machine is very easy to use, has great stitching, and is a very good basic machine for beginner. Not complicated, no bells and whistles, just good solid stitching on an all-metal machine. It didn't come with any accessories, but I priced the zipper foot at $6. Perhaps a buttonhole foot, but right now I'm just waiting for the manual I ordered off the Internet. The model number for this machine is 158.13170. Wish I had the year but I don't.

I've read how some people name their machines. I've never named my machines, but if I had to, this one would be "Granny". A dependable Granny, no frills, never let-you-down kind of machine. She hides in her cabinet when not in use, and comes out when you want her help and really spreads out with a nice work area. Granny is going to a temporary home tomorrow to help teach a new generation how to sew.

Before Granny goes, here are some pics of her:

Here she is "hiding". I do have plans to eventually paint and maybe stencil the desk. New handle, of course, too. She's been wiped clean with Liquid Gold.

Below, Granny pops out with a flip of the lid. Notice that nice work area to the left!

Here's a better angle of the work surface next to the machine:

A closeup of Granny. Yes, she's 70's olive green. The exterior tells her true age, but internally she's doing might fine. The dings I mentioned before are to the right of the throat plate and covered with a thin, adhesive pad for now. The dealer put that on.

So glad you could stop by and meet her! More later. I'm having issues with the tree stand cover and maybe some bright and helpful bloggers could help me find an appropriate solution to my problem. AND...I've found a seller for Burda issue 5/2009! I look forward to receiving this issue for that special blouse for DD#2.

The capris are almost done. Just have to hem them and finish the waistband. More to come.

A Happy Anniversary, Birthday, and Good Sewing News!

2009-10-13T09:55:00.004-04:00

What a fabulous weekend! Sorry, no pics handy.

First, my 23rd Wedding Anniversary on Saturday, followed by my birthday on Sunday. It was so nice that both of those days fell on the weekend. What did we do that was special? Nothing! And that's why it was special LOL. If you knew what our schedule was like, nothing is actually VERY special indeed. DD#2 made my favorite red velvet cake. DH made my fave morning breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. Purchased my special coffee creamer and actually had some good wine on Saturday night. My happiness formula:

Good Food + Good Drink + Good Company = A Darn Good Time

Okay. Let's be honest--add in some sewing time :) . Which I did.

So, I don't want to keep anyone in suspense (like I could actually do that LOL) about my Good Sewing News so here it is:

1. The sewing machine in the cabinet my MIL gave me died. I got the official word last week. An internal gear was broken and the tech said he could fix the machine for straight stitching only, but the zigzag would never work again. I said I'll keep the cabinet, but chuck the machine.

So...why is this good news??? Because the tech told me he sees a Kenmore that would fit into my machine come in every one or two months. This morning I got the call that a Kenmore just came in! It fit my machine perfectly. He'll tune it up and it will be ready to go. The one caveat--it has some major dings in the porcelain bed. That's okay. There has to be some type of filler that can be applied to fill in the somewhat deep dings. Do any handy people know what I can use? This is an olive green Kenmore circa the mid 70's. I can ask a handy guy I know for advice as well.

2. I started my quest for the "Elusive" perfect pants fit last year. Even self drafted my own pattern as per the instructions in a Threads magazine from at least a year or two ago. Made additional modifications to the pattern via Joyce Murphy's Body Space Concept also in Threads. With the pattern created, I set it aside and didn't work on it for a year.

This weekend I made the capris I was supposed to make from my self-drafted pattern last year. I have to get back into pants because DD#2 wants me to make her more pants for school. So I stitched them up and tried them on right before going to bed last night. Not expecting much, I was stunned to find an almost perfect fit on my backside! No butt bag! No extreme horizontal folds of fabric. It was thrilling! I'll do a post of it in the next few days.

3. I finished the white blouse I was working on. I love it. It might need just a little tweaking here and there on the next one, but overall the fit is good and the construction was a breeze. Simplicity gets a thumbs up on this pattern--no instruction surprises. I'll do a post of this as well in the next few days.

4. Jake (our new kitty) is coming home on the 23rd! We just can't wait for this little ball of fluff to keep us company. He will be well loved.

Okay. That's all for now. Just a quick update with more sewing blog "stuff" to come soon.

ETA--Thank you, Anonymous! I forgot--it was Kristin who shot JR. I was wrong. See what aging another year does to a person? ;)

Who Would You Cast...

2009-10-03T18:52:00.004-04:00

...to play you!

Quoted from Ann's blog:

"...In fact, let's start a meme. Here's how it works. Who would you pick to play the role of You in a Hollywood movie (could be Bollywood, Ozziewood, Eurowood, you pick). Post it on your blog and leave a comment here pointing us to you. ..."

I thought it was about looks for casting purposes at first, but then considered it to be looks and intelligence/talent as well.

Oh my gosh! This is so easy.

Past: Audrey Landers. Oh that 80's hair! I love it. Had it. Still love it. Still have it when I want it ;) .

Present: Audrey Landers (might be a little retouching done here and there, maybe a little Botox or Rejuvenex, who knows. But heck, she's looking mighty fine.) Ya know. She's looking better than me and she's older. Life's not fair. But it's nothing a little money wouldn't change, huh.

Future: Audrey Landers

???

Okay. The young things may not know who this chick is. She's the girl who shot JR LOL! (If the next question is "Who is JR?", then forget about it ;) . ) I can't tell you how many times I was told I bore a strong resemblance to Audrey Landers when I was in college. Too many to count. So I would have her portray me as my past. Ditto my present. Many people probably don't know it, but she's a very talented woman: actress, composer, singer, etc.. And she seems relatively private. Those are things I admire and relate to, so she can portray my present. I can identify with that. And my future? Well who knows what that entails, but she can do that too.

That's who I would cast!

Redraft No. 1 of McCall's 4922

2009-10-03T18:41:00.011-04:00

Here's the pattern, same as my previous post

We're talking a basic oxford style. There's a bit of variations on sleeve detail, hemlines, and bias cut pieces on the pattern, but I need something more though. We're talking teens with attitude. The "standard" oxford style just won't do. So I drew some sketches. Here they are:

So for my first modified version, I chose the bottom sketch. It has bust gathering detail at the CF at the bustline. So I pull out my cutting mat and get to work on the pattern piece with slash and spread. This is what I ended up with (adding 1.5" of gathers which worked out perfectly):

For this pattern, I used a 10 at the neck/shoulders/upper chest, then morphed to a 14 at the full bust down. The other alterations I did were forward shoulder on the bodice with the coresponding alteration done on the sleeve as found on my Sleeve Tutorial blog post and a very slight swayback tuck (1/4" above the waist).

That swayback tuck will vary according to what base size I use. If I used a 12, I'd do about a 1/2" tuck. Which brings me to a question I've seen on the PR boards about cutting a CB seam after doing a swayback tuck. People seem to stress over this, and I don't know why. Here's the issue:

The top of the pattern at the CB neck and the bottom of the pattern at the CB hem are on the bold yellow line. After doing the swayback tuck, the back edge "dips" or curves inward. How do I handle this? Simply align the CB at the neck and the CB at the hemline at the fold in the fabric. It will end up looking like this:

See how there is a slight excess of fabric at the CB because of the swayback tuck? It would, of course, be more if I did a 1/2" tuck which I sometimes do. HOWEVER, the excess of width is usually not a problem. Sometimes I ignore it, sometimes I eliminate the excess by removing width from the princess seam which I have shown in the photo with a new cutting line in white.

This isn't rocket science. It's just a common sense approach to dealing with this issue. And yet I see a number of sewers fretting about this particular alterations. On a top without a princess seam, it can simply be removed from the side seams as well.

Believe me, when I started with tissue fitting and pattern alterations, I made big issues out of small things. It's really easy to do because it's easy to get overwhelmed, especially on a figure like mine that requires oodles of pattern alterations on a base size 12. Morphing from a 10 to 14 is my favorite option, although some patterns I can't find in that range so my pattern alterations increase exponentially.

So where am I on this top? Almost done! All I need to do are the buttons/buttonholes and hemming. Here's a pic from yesterday without the addition of sleeves. Please excuse the hasty photo. I didn't have time to press it again and this cotton is like a wrinkle nightmare. In retrospect, a cotton/poly blend would have been better. But you get the general idea.

I should be finished with it soon, maybe tomorrow. This top takes me back to the 80's for sure! I had this one Brooke Shield's blouse pattern that I made at least 5 times when I was in high school. Truthfully, it has been years since I've made a blouse. But I'm really liking this one. Sure hope DD#2 doesn't want to snatch this for her school wardrobe. This is her "muslin" since we wear the same size. It's actually her 2nd choice top. Her first choice is the one with underbust horizontal seam with vertical tucks to be added on the bottom pieces, kind of like the shirt below in a recent Burda WOF mag. This style will be my next redraft. BTW, does anyone have a 9/2009 Burda WOF they would like to sell me??? This is an awesome top and I'd love to trace it as is. It would save me redrafting time.

BTW, thank you, everyone, for your comments on school dress code/uniform policies. I must add that this is our first year. That is why it is SO darn expensive for me. Starting from scratch for four kids. It is truly a monetary nightmare. They have virtually nothing to use from the previous year to build on for a school wardrobe. Subsequent years will not be so bad, but the first year is very hard. I feel very sorry for the many parents in our school district who have lost their jobs and are in the same boat of buying everything new. Relying on hand-me-downs, at least in my family, is not an option this year. Virtually everything is brand new.

Right now I'm adding a few nice pieces here and there for DD#2. She actually likes and wears what I make her. Same with the boys. DD#1 thumbs her nose, but I know she secretly "approves" but will never actually wear what her mother has made.

Okay. More later. My fingers are tired and I'm going to enjoy my Saturday evening glass of wine.

School Uniforms and McCall's 4922.

2009-10-02T16:21:00.002-04:00

Life with a dress code policy. Fine for a job, but a pain-in-the-you-know-what for parents like me in a public school district that just went to a standardized dress code (technically--UNIFORMS!). Although the claim can be made that uniforms save money in the long run, for me it has been a huge monetary investment since my four kids needed entirely brand new wardrobes. I've probably already spent at least $1,000 on back to school clothes with another $500 to be spent on winter attire that meets the school code standards.

A true uniform, IMO, would be much easier. Instead, we have choices. For pants, Docker style navy blue, black, or khaki/stone colored pants. Shorts and skirts are to be the same colors and must come down to the knee cap. Tops have to have buttons up to the neck (one unbuttoned is okay) in oxford style (girls tops can be a little fancy with gathered sleeves, front pleats, etc., but must be in the full button down style of an oxford WITH a collar). Tops can be white, grey, any shade of blue, or black. Same color tops and bottoms cannot be worn, for example, black shirt with black pants. AND absolutely NO logos or symbols of any type.

Kids have been sent to ISS for tops with no collars, pants with rivets, pants with more than 4 pockets, pockets below the hipline, shirts that don't have buttons up to the neck, skirts that are too short, etc., from Day 1. That includes Kindergarten students too. I think there were something like 2 full rooms of In-School Suspension kids for failure to follow the dress code to a T the first day of school, and that was just at the Intermediate school (grades 5-7).

Unfortunately for me, our "standardized dress code" has too many choices which means more money. The boys are easy, they're young and not picky. A plain 'ol polo in any color will do them just fine. They're not particular about their pants either. Girls, on the other hand, need "fancy" style oxford blouses. Princess seaming, tucks, gathered sleeves, and ruffled fronts in the broad array of "acceptable" colors which includes ANY shade of blue. Skirts with fancy seaming and detailing is a big thing. It would be SO much easier if the uniform was like a Catholic school uniform. One color/style blouse, one style/color dress.

Choices may be nice for the kids, but the bottom line is that choices mean more money for the parents. And I haven't even gotten to shoes. They must be in a predominate color of black or white. No fancy colors or stripes. That's really hard too. I like my kids to have good footwear with good support, but find myself shopping at Walmart for cheap, plain color sneakers and shoes. DD#2's cheapo shoes I bought at Payless were killing her feet. The Dr. Scholl's insoles helped, but I may have to go the route of $60 or $70 Naturalizers. It was far easier when my sporty girl simply needed one pair of shoes--her top-quality sneakers for almost the year.

So where does this lead up to? McCall's 4922.

A princess seamed blouse with several variations. That's what I'm working on right now for DD#2. I made a design modification which is one of 3 design sketches I drew on paper which deviate a bit from the standard, classic button-down oxford shirt style.

Detailed info on that is in my next blog post.

What Did I Just Make?

2009-09-30T06:37:00.003-04:00

I have no idea! Technically, it's a cover for something hunting related. I'm making it for Rich, who is making me a tall cat stand for our new kitten. I'm also making him a cover for his tree stand and redoing a medium-sized seating pad. The velcro on the pad and thingamajig cover was in great shape so I was able to reuse that, however, I'm buying more velcro for the tree stand cover. It's great to be able to barter services like this. The cat stands (or cat trees?) I'm looking at are anywhere from $150-$300, and I know he'll be able to make one even better than what I'm seeing in the catalogs.

Rich bought the outdoor fabric on his own after I directed him to a few online stores that specialize in outdoor fabric. He called and then made the purchase. The tree stand should be done in a few days, then I'll work on the seating pad which should be a snap. He bought just enough material, about 5 yards, and it is enough for all three projects. I've never made anything like this before and it's not too bad. I'm not much into home dec and hate making Halloween costumes, but something like this has a meaningful purpose which will be appreciated for several years.

My only issue with the project? The fabric is treated and has a special finish which makes it very stiff. Maneuvering 5 yards of stiff fabric while sewing seams is a feat in itself LOL. Check out the massive yardage on my kitchen table. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a picture of the tree stand cover when it's done.

More later. I'm getting back into some garment sewing! Yeah, baby!!

Meet Jake!

2009-09-26T08:12:00.006-04:00

Here he is. This is *THE* one! We took a long drive out to the breeder on Thursday and definitively selected him from the litters. He's a Devon Rex, low allergenic, short/wavy fur, huge ears, big eyes, known for their wonderful temperment and desire for human companionship. He was snuggling right up on my chest and neck, and in the pic he's cozying up with DD#2.

We can't wait to take him home. I need a soft, fuzzy, and warm computer and sewing companion. DD#2 wants a pillow and homework companion. The only thing I can definitely say is that he will be loved by all. We are SO looking forward to his arrival in about 3 weeks. It's been two years since our last cat died of old age, and we miss having a fuzzy, friendly, loving cat in our house. Over the next three weeks, guess what I'll be doing! Yep, securing all the threads and everything else that little kitties love to play with in a sewing room.

There is a story behind all of this as well. About 20 years ago, DH and I went to a cat show and picked up three business/cattery cards. DH was cleaning out some stuff about two weeks ago, found those three cards and showed them to me. The first two cards were the two catteries related one of our cats that died 4 years ago. One was the cattery of his mother, the other of his father. The third card was simply one we picked up because we found the breed interesting, but there are so many different breeds at the shows. What was breed/breeder on the card? The Devon Rex! And the owners of that cattery 20 years ago sold a cat (for breeding purposes) to our current breeder and helped her get started. It's really a weird coincidence, but really, I believe very few things are coincidence. It was simply part of the "master" plan--it was meant to be.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Jake and happy sewing! Especially if you own any furry or feathery helpful, loving critters in your home.

This one's for Hayley!

2009-09-24T06:48:00.003-04:00

Several months ago I wrote about how my MIL was in a serious car accident fracturing a vertebrae in her neck. She underwent surgery, had some complications, recovered from them, went into a rehab home, then a nursing home, and is now back home almost fully recuperated. She has a neck brace and can't drive until she gets it off, but is getting situated very nicely. She is approaching 90, looks and acts not a day over 60, and is rarin' to go to get back into her volunteer work. Her office desk is stacked with paperwork for her to help her clients. Her recovery is truly a testament to the human spirit, immense personal drive, and positive attitude.

Anyway, she's downsizing her home and asked if DH and I could come over and look at things we might want. Well, I said yes to everything LOL. She has some really nice things and some of our furniture has seen better days. To top it off, here's the really good part, she has a Sears Kenmore 158 series machine from some time between 1975-1980. It's in a cabinet that looks like a small table. Today I polished the entire cabinet with Liquid Gold cleaner and also cleaned the metal exterior of any dust (which wasn't much) that accumulated when it was in storage inside the cabinet. Tomorrow I'm taking it in for service and oiling, new needles, new bobbins, and a zipper foot. She didn't have the accessory box, nor the manual, but that's okay. I'm downloading the manual off the Internet.

I checked the reviews for the Kenmore 158 series of machines at PR and found many fantastic reviews, which is why I'm very excited about this sewing machine. It has all the necessary features for a beginning sewer. Of course, that's not me, but that is why I'm so happy about it. I'm going to teach my friend's daughter how to sew, and she'll be able to borrow this machine for a while until she decides what she would like in a new sewing machine. She'll go back and forth between my computerized Janome and the vintage mechanical Kenmore. I'm particularly pleased because the Kenmore will not overwhelm her. We're talking a solid, sturdy machine with straight and zigzag stitching. Nothing fancy, but just enough features for a beginner.

As she goes back and forth between the two machines, she'll learn about the different bobbin styles, drop in vs. the kind that goes underneath inserted sideways in the bobbin case, using the knobs of a mechanical vs. the buttons of a computerized, the "fancy" touches of a computerized machine, as well as the ease of making a buttonhole on an up-to-date machine.

Gosh, I'm "sew" excited about this. And when she eventually gets a new machine, this vintage Kenmore will be coming back home to me :) . I'm not in any rush because my machine stash is growing. Holding at four with my sewing machine, serger, coverstitch, and embroidery machine. This will make number 5. What is that saying, "A girl can never have too many shoes"??? Um...no. The fact is, a girl can never have too many machines :) !!!

So this post is for Hayley! When the machine comes back, I'll do a little video clip of it and include it in a future blog post. Then off to her house it goes :) .

And BTW, make sure you visit Erica's blog to check out her beautiful DK dress if you haven't seen it already. And those shoes? I love them! What a match for the dress.

My Recent Projects

2009-09-15T20:50:00.003-04:00

I asked in a previous post where does time go. It flies by, and yet it seems like I have nothing to show for it. What I didn't mention is how totally unexpected things can happen that can befuddle, bewilder, and leave a person (that would be me ;) !) actually shocked and confused. Kind of like walking into a wall. Yeah, friendships can do that to a person.

So, in order to forget the negativity of the situation, I'm reconnecting with my projects. I need feel-good sewing and have something to show for it. So I refocused my much needed attention on sending in my PR Top 10 dress by the date it absolutely needed to be shipped, made a quickie skirt in 45 minutes with a leftover remnant from my "Mini" maxi dress, embroidered and stitched up my great nephew's baby quilt that's been sitting around for 4 months at least, put the final two embroidery lines on DD#1's tennis jacket, and am working on a quickie summer top that maybe will be worn once during the rest of the summer. We have to get at least one more day in the 70's after today.

So here they are in no particular order:

The baby quilt made from Minky and cotton flannel

The quickie skirt I stitched up yesterday and wore today:

The quickie top still a work in progress--I'm futzing with the placement of the straps and will add the facing. I plan on making it short too. Sure hope it doesn't look like a potato sack on me like it does on my DTD.

DD#1's RTW jacket with the last two lines of embroidery for her high school tennis career (She finally got the No. 1 singles spot she's always wanted AND was voted in as Captain.) What a royal pain it is to make sure alignment is as close to spot-on as possible.

Sewing truly is my feel-good-about-the-world activity. It makes the stars all seem like they're in alignment and makes *most* things right.

On my last post about kiddie sewing machines, I wanted to make a clarification. My friend and I did not know each other well when she bought this machine for her daughter. She did not know I did any type of sewing at all. That is why she did not ask for my help. She simply was buying what she thought was a decent machine for her daughter, a beginning sewer.

Peg mentioned the Janome Sew Mini. That would have been a much better option. The reviews for it make it seem like a nice little machine. However, I think the caveat of this machine is it doesn't make buttonholes? So I still couldn't recommend a machine like that to a newbie sewer. It would make for a nice, portable convenient backup though.

Overall, my point was if pattern companies were going to allow their names to be placed on a beginner sewing machine, make sure it's a quality machine from a quality/reputable company. It certainly doesn't need a bunch of bells and whistles, but it needs good basic features found on regular, full-sized machines. And we all know that a good, basic machine CAN be purchased for about $100. But this $70 toy machine was no bargain. Peg, had a very good point--don't shoot them all down before trying them. However, it would be hard for me to shoot down a Janome ;) . I love my Janome machines.

Good night, and happy sewing!

A Waste of $70

2009-09-13T21:50:00.010-04:00

There's a line in the movie, "Back to the Future", where Doc Brown says something like this to Marty McFly:

"Do you know what this means, Future Boy??? It means that this damn machine doesn't work!!!"

Translation for my friend's daughter:

"Do you know what this means, Hailey? It means that this darn machine is made to turn off aspiring sewists before they even start!"

Thus, a Waste of $70.

Okay. Where am I going with this? I'll tell you. It's Saturday night and I'm drinking some wonderful blueberry wine and sitting down at my friend's daughter's "kiddie" sewing machine. It's one of those beginner child sewing machines, the kind that no company has a right to market. Yeah, I'm being a bit harsh, but it's the truth.

My friend has little knowledge of sewing and bought this machine for her daughter who expressed an interest in sewing. She didn't know anything about machines and bought this for her daughter. It was probably marketed as a toy? I don't know. Most likely with a price tag between $50 and $80, which is a waste of consumer money. It's basically about preying on unsuspecting consumers like my friend with no or very little sewing knowledge. Companies who sell these machines should be ashamed of themselves.

Why? Because the aggravation they cause is likely to turn off all but the extremely motivated, young, inspired sewist.

Consider the snippet of a video I made for her. Notice the wine glass stem behind the machine. Boy was I sure glad I had a glass of wine before test driving this machine. My laughter masked some harsh language LOL.

My "Beginner" sewing machine video snippet

Everything about this machine screams cheap. From the knobs and dials, the flimsy plastic components, the lack of power and the ridiculous option of using batteries. What? No component box? Kids leave "extras" all over the place. There was no thread spindle on the machine, no AC Adaptor, likely where kids leave accessories. (For my kids, that might be in the couch!). I know they're in Hailey's room because her mom keeps an impeccable house, unlike mine LOL. So I'm not worried about where they are, they are in order. But the average kid will lose several of the accessories before they even get going on the machine.

Stitch quality? Well, it's what I expected from the machine. The upper thread stitch was actually okay. The bobbin thread was irregular and uneven. The needle type? Who knows. Where was the manual? With the accessories I'm sure.

Do you know who I feel sorry for?

1. My friend and others like her. She was duped by the company who sold this machine. She didn't know and was an unsuspecting consumer. *** ETA...FYI--My friend bought this BEFORE we became friends. Just to clarify that. She had the best of intentions as we all do but I'm sure the box looked nice. Kind of like how my husband will see an informercial and think we should buy product X. It almost always performs way better on TV LOL.

2. Simplicity. I like Simplicity patterns. Always have. And they're name is stamped in large letters on the front of this machine.

Who do I want to yell at?

1. The marketing director who allowed the Simplicity name to be placed on this machine. It does not bode well for the company have their name advertised on this kiddie machine. A better idea would be to team up with a well-known, reliable sewing machine company and market a quality machine to youthful sewers.

2. Simplicity (and other companies) who allows this to happen. Please Simplicity, get these machines off the market! There is a better way.

Moral of the story or the purpose of this post?

We want to encourage young sewists from the get-go, not discourage them at every twist and turn.

And these, my dear readers, are my Monday morning ramblings.

Where Does the Time Go?

2009-09-09T15:36:00.004-04:00

Honestly, I don't know! Can someone help me get it back?

First, it was back-to-school shopping. With four kids, each one has to be taken separately, at least two days for each child. Taking all of them, even only two is of no joy to me. They're much more enjoyable one-on-one. It's about appreciating uniqueness, not thinking about how I'd like to send them to some third-world country so they can understand about squabbling. Really, if they're going to squabble and fight, it better be about worthwhile like lack of food or shelter.

And let's talk about my wallet. Not only do I have no time, I have no money. Our public school went to uniforms this year. The BOE calls it a "standardized dress code". Whatever. It means buying all four kids totally brand new wardrobes.

Even with that, shirts, skirts, and pants all need to be hemmed. The shirts can't hit past mid-behind, the pants can't touch the floor, the skirts and shorts have to be at the knee cap. Not what I call enjoyable sewing.

So how about sports. Call me a chauffer. That really is what I am, but get no tip. "Take me here." "Take me there." "Come pick me up." "I need to be dropped off." Then it's fundraising. DD#2's softball team is requiring each set if parents to come up with $200 in sponsorships. So I'm dressing up every day for the next week going all over the place praying that some businesses will provide sponsorships for her team. There IS a reason why I switched out of Marketing when I was in college. I hate sales and I hate selling. Especially during these tough economic times.

I still have to beat the deadline for the PR Top 10 Contest and send my dress in. It has to be mailed tomorrow. Where's the box for mailing? I don't know. The dress was just dry cleaned though so at least that is done.

I want to sew! My Coverstitch has only taken baby steps. Haven't even had time to really get into it and try some new things with it.

This is the second week of school and I have yet to have a "free" day to accomplish some sewing that has value to me, like making a dress, pants, skirt, or coat. My bathing suit! The one I started in May or June? It's still being worked on! I'll finish it for Christmas LOL.

And blogging, don't get me started. I'm scared to look at the blogs I have subscribed to and the ones I plan on subscribing to. My blog is so boring too! First, the look is stale. The content is abominable 'cuz I haven't done much sewing lately. And no sewing means gives me a very cranky frame of mind. Hence, this blog post today. It's just a lot of complaints. And I'm sparing everyone my biggest gripe for the week.

Happy sewing to you all! Some of us have to have some fun ;) !!

What Not To Wear...The "Fair" Version.

2009-08-27T21:01:00.003-04:00

Believe me, I'm certainly not one to be pointing fingers at fashion faux pas. I have quite a few myself. However, at least I *try* to dress nice. My figure flaws and imperfect body proportions are quite evident when I see my underwear clad body in a full length mirror. And I make every attempt to cover them up with the right clothes.

Funny thing is, when I go to an amusement park or community fair, I think I see the absolute worst of the worst, perfect examples of what NOT to wear. Do people not care or do they simply not know?

This year, the amusement park had some of the worst "fashion" ensembles I've seen in a long time! Maybe it's because we haven't been there in two years or I had the four kids with me last time with no opportunity to look at anyone else. This year, I went with my very fashion forward, beautiful friend who always dresses impeccably with a fab figure to boot. With three kids and is 44! Ah...sometimes we just have to sit back and envy the gene pool of the lucky ones. I took my two boys and she took her 3 kids. Now that my boys are older, I can actually enjoy going and have time to actually walk around, relax, check out the scenery so to speak.

Tonight I went to our community fair and although there were many fashion blunders, there weren't as many as the amusement park. However, I saw one that was so poor that I actually caught the person's outfit with my camera.

This is the look I absolutely loathe. It is so unflattering, all I want to do is run to her with a towel and cover her up. I want to take her by the shoulders and say, "Hey kid! Have you looked at your outfit in the mirror today??? Please, go home and tell me what you see."

What you're not seeing is the front and back views were even more unappealing than the side view. Anyway, cropped shirts are best left for the slim and trim. Did this girl even look in the mirror before she left? I can't imagine she did. She could add a nice supportive bra and rid herself of those cut off, sausage casing jeans. Is she pregnant? I seriously doubt it. But this look screams of Mr. Blackwell's worst dressed list as well as questions of is she or isn't she. The only thing I like about her outfit are her spanking white clean shoes. Must be for back to school. And if she's showing her muffin top, at least her belly skin is nice and smooth. After all, my belly skin will never be shown for public viewing post 4 kids without a tummy tuck.

As you can see, my sewing activities have been almost nil as of late. School starts Monday and I'm cramming in appointments left and right, doing back-to-school shopping, among last minute fun activities for the kids. However, that leaves me plenty of time for clothing choice/fashion analysis of the general public. Not that I have any right to be judging fashion, but some of the outfits I'm seeing make me want to choke. They're really bad. And I thought teens liked watching Project Runway and What Not To Wear. At least my girls do. Oh...shaking my head! Did her mother not see this outfit? Did she not say anything? Is her mother wearing the same "get up"?

Hmmm...I guess these are the musings of a sewing-starved woman. Nothing else to do but analyze at this point in time.

Next post to be worked on--comparison of a kid's "name brand" sewing machine and a "name brand" low-end computerized machine. Sometimes I simply can't understand how a company can put their logo on a machine that has the potential to frustrate a rank beginner as well as lure unsuspecting consumers into buying such a machine. I tell you, it has to be damn good marketing including a beautiful box. It makes me think that all companies should do away with overpriced kiddie machines considering all the issues that have the potential to cause sewing nightmares for newbies with a market niche that needs to be encouraged. After all, we want to turn on a new generation! Not turn them off to the world of sewing.

Stay tuned...

My Other New Baby and Sewing Activities

2009-08-16T20:46:00.005-04:00

The other day, DD#1, DD#2, and I took a 1 1/2 hour plus trip to visit our new baby. His name is Jake.

Here's a pic of baby Jake OR what baby Jake will look like:

Jake is either the middle kitten OR will look like the black one on the left from a new litter. I have to call the breeder tomorrow because she said we could have the champagne-colored one if the purchaser did not send in the deposit in a timely fashion. If not, we have picked out a little black boy kitten from the newest litter since the current 2-month olds are all technically sold. Either way, we will be so happy.

Our baby is a Devon Rex. We were looking into a cuddly, social cat that is low allergenic due to DS#1's asthma. We had 4 Persians at one time and he tolerated them well, but to be on the safe side we're going with a minimum fur coat that is supposedly well tolerated by cat allergic people and asthma sufferers. Do you know what the fur of a Devon Rex feels like? MINKY!!! I didn't know it at first, but I am embroidering a sample of Minky for my great nephew's embroidered blanket and it feels just like the Devons at the breeder. The adult Devon's fur is very short, a little wavy, and oh-so-soft!!! They are great little cuddlers and like to sleep with their owners :) . DD#2 is so excited about this.

So our "adoption" date is either the beginning of September or the beginning of November depending on which kitten. We are currently preparing for his arrival. I have to make sure my sewing supplies are stored well and my patterns are in a safe place. Cat lovers know how much cats love all things paper!

Back to sewing. As mentioned above, I'm working on sewing an embroidered blanket--Minky on one side, cotton flannel print on the other. It will be embroidered with my nephew's name, birthdate, length, weight, etc., the usual baby vital stats. Next up is working on a tree stand cover for this guy I know who is a hunter. He bought the fabric and I'm going to make it for him. I was going to have in pay me, but perhaps I'll barter and ask him to make me a tall cat stand. I'll buy the supplies and carpet, he's good at making things so maybe he could create a nice one for our new baby.

One quickie summer top is ready to be cut out, maybe shorten a previously made wrap skirt, perhaps make a simple elastic-waist skirt from a great EOS ITY-like print fabric. Then work on some summer capris that I was supposed to make last summer, and of course my bathing suit which will be finished in (probably) December! In between I keep working at my bra and panties. The panties are a quick project and I'm still working on a better fit. The bra takes a bit more time and I need a nice block to work on bra #2. Will bra #1 ever get done? Currently it is a no. I seam ripped enough that now I have little holes in the fabric here and there. It's okay, that's how we learn, from the mistakes we make.

I did have time to enter my Madison Avenue dress I made a while back in the PR Top 10 contest. Of course, I don't even expect to make the finalist stage, but it's nice just to enter. I've already been inspired by several who have posted the creations they have entered. Many of the patterns I wouldn't have even given a second look by the pattern covers/illustrations, but the work of PR members is, of course, amazing! I just loved MelissaB's, LonestarLady's and VeryPrairie's interpretations found in this thread. I'm hoping all will be posted soon.

That's it for now. Hope everyone got some sewing in this weekend!

My New Baby!!!

2009-08-09T17:50:00.010-04:00

There she is! Isn't she a beauty?!?! My new Janome CP1000. I've been waiting...and waiting...and waiting to bring her home! Since last October in fact. She was on layaway at the dealer and they took care of her during that time.

She took her first baby steps today working on DS#2's travel baseball shirt. RTW sizing is so crazy. The Adult Small t-shirt I ordered for him for his tournament was just the right size, but all were on the smaller side of the range. The kids that got Youth Small or Medium looked like they had a baby's shirt, no kidding. So the new baseball jersey was an Adult Small and the sleeves were between the elbows and wrists, and the hemline of the shirt was between his crotch and knees, closer to his knees actually. So I pinned a new hemline and sleeve hemline to his liking. I took off 4" of length on the sleeves and 3 1/2" of length on the shirt hemline. I have to be careful not to take off too much because the shirt has to stay tucked into the baseball pants.

So here is the shirt:

It really looks much better on him. He was beaming when he put it on after coverstitching the new hems and felt great. My new baby did NOT disappoint!

Below is the closeup of the coverstitch on the sleeve hem. Isn't that exciting! Some pretty stitching indeed. I can't wait to look into the binders and fellers. I checked out Debbie Cook's tutorials on the accessories so maybe with some birthday or Christmas money I'll splurge and get some accessories. Sometime during the next 3 weeks I'm going to sit down and review Debbie's tutorials and try some things with my CP1000. The fact that it has narrow, wide, and triple stitch is just a super thing to me.

ETA...End result. A happy boy!

That's it for machines. Maybe I'll save up for a new serger at some point in time, but my current serger is doing it's job. Jet-air threading really appeals to me though. One thing about my new machine-- I was very surprised to find that the CP1000 has tiny screws for the needles like my serger. Hmmm...that's not my fave feature by far. Those screws are so tiny. Oh well, I'll get used to it.

Okay. Enough gushing. Back to housework but the break to post this so worthwhile! No longer do I have to lust over Karen's and Robin's coverstitching endeavors. I've joined the club :) .

ETA #2...All right. So what was I doing this evening? Geek stuff. I read the Coverpro manual for about a 1/2 hour and studied the pics and text. Good night type of reading for us sewing lovers :) .

The Mini "Maxi"--McCall's 5893

2009-08-07T17:56:00.007-04:00

Here's my mini version of McCall's 5893. Previously I made the maxi dress--love, love, love it! I like the short mini version too. DH says it's kind of retro? Think 1960's.

I don't know about that. But it's cool. It's breezy. Feels like I'm wearing pajamas just like the maxi dress. My kind of outfit :) . If only all outfits could be like this! Here are two pics of the front and one of the back. Even picked up some little flats on clearance. Not the prettiest, but far better than what's in the shoe department in my closet. The fabric is an ITY print from Spandex World in NYC, and it's a dream to sew up.

Numbers!

2009-08-06T07:08:00.002-04:00

52, 34, 33, 32, 22, 16, 14, 11, 10 !!!

Yes, that's right. Numbers! I've never liked them, never cared for math, Algebra, Geometry, etc. And at my age, they still bog me down. What is the significance of those numbers I have posted? They're the number of blog posts needing to be read in some of my blogfeeds!!! It's the same feeling like when you get behind on a project and feel like you'll never catch up. Or the thought of a delicious weekend, only to find you don't want to step on the scale and face the music. It's why I don't own a scale and haven't owned one in 20 years LOL.

At some point in time I'm going to catch up. Slowly but surely I've been reading and muddling my way through blog posts.

All while working on a second swimsuit muslin (this one might actually be wearable!). The first one was obscenely low. The inner bra is what bogs me down. I need it to be just right and I'm very particular about it.

Yesterday I wore my second pair of panties to assess my pattern modifications. They're a little loose in the back, that was after I tweaked the pattern. At first, I was thinking the back was just too big so I took out some length. Now what I think is that the front is simply too long at the crotch as I've examined some RTW panties for the front crotch seamline. It seems like it falls 1.5-2" farther back than it should. I think I'll add back the length I took off on the back and simply shorten that front crotch area. This will be for panty no. 3. If I find that it simply isn't too my liking, I'm going to drop down a size. I've found my measurement for my KS bathing suit points to a Medium, but there's no way this size worked on my figure and I dropped down to a Small which is much better. I'm thinking the panties might be the same way. I used a Small panty size but think an XSmall might work better. We'll see.

Three days ago I whipped up another dress from my McCall's maxi dress pattern. This is the mini dress version. Pics are forthcoming but my camera battery died :( . Must purchase a new one.

More later.

I have a question for you!

2009-07-24T22:58:00.002-04:00

Do you think about sewing a lot? I know I do!

So many times I'll go to bed and think about patterns, fabric, future projects, techniques--you name it, I've probably thought of it. Then when I wake up, I wonder if I'll get in any sewing time, mull over what to wear that I've made, eat my breakfast while checking out sewing blogs or PR, maybe do a bit of sewing, then start my day. If I'm lucky, I'll do sewing at some time during the day, maybe at night too.

I get very excited when I think about going to Pocono Sew and Vac. So many machines, so much gadgetry, so many sewing notions...oh, I just want to sit at the machines and experiment! And then there are the fabric stores. Where am I going? Is there a fabric store nearby?

Yeah, I think about sewing. A lot! My Coverstitch machine is still in the box. I looked at it every time I was in my sewing room today thinking about those gorgeous coverstitched hems and feeling those stretchy professional-looking hem stitches. It will be another 10 days before I can take out my new toy and play with it. Can you imagine??? Why did I even pick it up when the box tortures me every day LOL? Oh well, after 10 months of layaway, what's another 10 days, right?!?! You know, I get SO happy thinking about my "family". The machine family that is. I want to see them all lined up on one table so I can take a picture--my sewing machine, serger, embroidery machine, and coverstitch. Such a handsome family of machines it will be!

Do you virtually eat, sleep, and breathe sewing? I've been like that since 7th or 8th grade. My summers in high school were spent in the basement making clothes, many times from 8 or 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. when I had to get ready to go to work. I will admit that my sewing went into a temporary hibernation state when my four kids were 7 and under. I think I slept through huge chunks of time in the 1990's or lived in a sleep-deprived daze for a few years. But other than that, sewing has been a major part of my life and who I am.

How about you? Just wondering how many of us have this *passionate* hobby. I'd like to know I'm not alone :) .

Friday night meandering thoughts.

2009-07-24T22:45:00.003-04:00

It's 10:45 on a Friday night and I'm waiting for DD#1 to arrive home. So, I'm thinking about sewing things and will finish up the christening outfit tomorrow night. It just needs the buttons and buttonholes. I was going to do it tonight but cleaned a bit and had to get stuff ready for DD#2's softball tournament and DS#2's very first baseball tournament on a 10U team. What I don't like about this is I'll have to use all manual settings. The 1/4" buttons are too small for my buttonhole foot!

Also, I plan on adding a number of blogs to my blogroll and subscription feeds in Bloglines. That's one of the reasons I love my Sitemeter widget. Sometimes I check out my referrals and find some great blogs that way. It's kind of like if someone is interested in my work, I'll most likely be interested in theirs as well. And, of course, I find some great ones via comments. There's some mighty fine work going on the sewing blogsphere!

Which brings me to Bloglines--I dread looking at the feeds! I've been so busy and haven't had a chance to read any blogs the past two weeks. It will probably be three since I have to get ready to go to Virginia on Wednesday. And do you know who I'm going to see in Virginia??? JEF from Patternreview!!! I'll be there for the ASA Softball Nationals and we're going to meet up hopefully for both coffee/lunch and at G-Street Fabrics. This is really exciting! Although, I must admit, DD#2 is not all that thrilled about it. She'll survive though. I'll buy a new camera battery and be ready to go.

So maybe in another 10 days I'll be back to somewhat of a normal routine and can catch up on an immense amount of blog reading. Or maybe I'll start right after finishing this post :) !

Best Little Pattern of the Year!

2009-07-22T17:26:00.013-04:00

Drum roll...it's from McCall's! This HAS to be one of *MY* top patterns of 2009! This McCall's pattern, 5893, an EASY 1-hour dress is superbly drafted and uniquely designed to fit and flatter.

I desparately wanted a maxi dress *this* summer. NOT next summer with my sewing being so slow which is typically the case. So when I saw Erica B's version (although a different pattern), then Adrienne's version from this same McCall's pattern, I knew it was "the" one and was sold on it. Every version I checked at Patternreview showed lovely results on various figures.

What is key here is that the horizontal bodice seamline is not only gathered, but the seam allowance on the inside is pressed toward the bodice and a casing is created from the skirt seam allowance (the bodice seam is trimmed). This provides a close, comfortable, yet snug fit right under the bust which is very slimming. That's really a crucial area with this kind of dress which can very easily look tent-like. And IMO, it absolutely does NOT look like a tent. I think it's actually quite flattering.

The best part? My quick muslin of the bodice resulted in only 4 very minor alterations.

1. I moved the entire shoulder seam forward a 1/2".

2. I added small darts in the back from the bodice horizontal seamline extending upward about
2". Too much extra fabric. I removed 1 1/2" via the darts.

3. Added the same type of darts (extending just down to the waist) on the skirt in the back to match the bodice. Yeah, I didn't have to do this, but I didn't want to add it as gathers. Too many gathers is not a good look on me.

4. Added 2.5" to the length of the skirt.

These are incredibly minor alterations. I used a size 10 at the neck and shoulders grading out to a 14 from mid-armhole down. I loved the fact that this was a multi-size pattern with the 10-14 sizes which made things so easy for me.

Get this! The vertical darts on the bodice were in the right location! My bust apex is 3.5" from the CF and these darts were 3.75" away from the apex. I left as is--that 1/4" won't really matter.

The fabric used? That lip-smacking ITY purchased from Spandex World in NYC. This fabric is perfect summer weight--not as heavy as the "buttermilks" I purchased from EOS but really the same type of fabric. The drape is heavenly. So much so that I bought two more Spandex World ITY's for a short summer dress from this pattern as well as a top. Here are two more beauties I bought for this pattern and will make a shorter dress out of this pink/black print and a long top maybe with the sleeves out of this green swirly print

And the shoes! I bought Candies flip flops at Kohl's that were a great match. DD#1 not only approved of the dress, she also liked the shoes. Too bad they're not her size ;) .

Here's a pic of the dress outside in daylight. The colors are so pretty! Truly everything about this dress is fabulous. DD#1 even commented, "It really makes you look tall!" And I'm not short either--about 5'7", but the long, column style really elongates the figure and adds height. And...when I wore this to my local Sew and Vac today to pick up my Coverstitch machine, one of the employees loved my dress so much she was going to head out to Joann's this weekend and pick up this pattern.

What is needed now? Better earrings, and a good chunky brownish/bluish bracelet. Oh, and a nice-looking handbag. That would really complete the ensemble. At this point, I really hope maxi dresses are not SO out of style that they can't be worn next year.

Yeah, IMO, McCall's Easy 1-hour 5893 gets my vote as one of the best patterns in 2009! It's a little early to make that call since the year is far from over, but this pattern deserves it! McCall's gets kudos for this one!!!

Smug and Stupid!

2009-07-22T08:22:00.004-04:00

Last night I worked on the snap crotch/legs on the Christening outfit. In not one of my finer moments, I installed the tape on the front legs, installed the tape on the back legs, then go to snap it together and realized something wasn't right--the recollection of baby clothes running through my mind.

You know, I could have looked at the pattern directions again! The method for installing the tape on the back legs is different than the front. If I still had wee little ones, I would have known this but wasn't paying too much attention to things. A moment of smugness with the thought, "I don't have to look at the directions!" will give me another hour of frogstitching with the seam ripper and installing the back tape again. How stupid is that?!?!

Again, the wording could be a little better on the snap tape installation instructions. Same type of thing with the back closure. Better wording would have eliminated any second guessing of "Is this what I'm supposed to do?" I will elaborate on this when I do a pattern review. It would have been fine if I had some baby clothes around to examine but I don't.

Lorrie made me feel much better about things anyway. She posted:

"I had the same problem with their instructions on the same outfit. I ended up modifying to fit my needs...alot easier. good luck finishing."

For once...I'm not the only one :) !

Thank you to Lindsay. She suggested I contact Bunny of La Sewista for help, and I would have except I'm starting to become pressed for time. So I'll follow the pattern instructions and use small, flat buttons. Filing that link in a brain cell for future reference should the need arise.

And, of course, thank you to everyone else for their words of encouragement. Baby clothes certainly are not my specialty but this project is moving along fine with just minor detours along the way.

NOW! HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS!!!

Yesterday I finished my maxi dress with my Spandex World ITY fabric. It looks FABULOUS! I love it and will wear it today. Get ready for pics!

AND...I'm picking up my Janome CP1000 Coverstitch machine that has been on layaway for 10 months! I used all my birthday, Christmas, anniversary, and sewing lesson money to pay for it. So when I go to my local Sew and Vac for tiny buttons today, my Coverstitch will be coming home :) ! In fact, DD#2 was trying on polos (new school dress code a/k/a uniforms, yes, for a public school!) and said the bottom might need to be cut/rehemmed. No problem! I can give her the same hem with my new coverstitch.

The Christening Outfit, Part III: 85% complete

2009-07-18T19:11:00.006-04:00

First, let's talk about the pattern. That Simplicity Christening outfit boy/girl pattern 5813. The instructions were great until the back, "placket" section. I'm a "visual" person and read the instructions and closely examine the pattern illustration that corresponds to the numbered item. The problem is, the illustration was a little misleading. I spent an hour scratching my head after doing the back closure part wrong. Still not sure if it is right, but it looks right so all is well.

Here's the front in it's current state:

Here's the back. Notice the ridge that needs to be pressed out on the back placket aggravation area. Dumb pattern!

Another thing, what the heck is wrong with Simplicity??? Putting a baby sleeve in, in the round instead of flat? I can't imagine using the smallest size for this pattern and machine stitching the sleeve in the round. When I do a pattern review, I'll be sure to note this.

The pattern required bias tape to turn the neckline seam to the inside. The likely purpose for this is to enclose the seam so it would be comfortable against a baby's neck. Instead of purchasing Wright's bias tape, I used bias strips cut from the dress lining. The positive of this is that the lining is thinner and softer than the bias tape. I wasn't going to do this, but when I looked at my clock and it said 2:40 with the store closing at 3, the lining called out to me, "Use me as bias tape!"

Right now I just have to work on the back closure and the snap crotch at the legs. I think I'll do buttons/buttonholes at the back. I was thinking about small snaps as well. Not sure which way I'll go, but will mull this over tonight. If anyone has any thoughts regarding snaps or small buttons, I'd appreciate posting a comment about it.

Now I'm off to examine the pattern instructions for installing the snap tape in the leg seams. I haven't used that stuff since high school!

I've found it! My Fab Maxi-dress Fabric!!

2009-07-18T08:13:00.003-04:00

The perfect knit for the maxi dress I want to make! At first there was a knit that caught my eye at Gorgeous Fabrics, but then I decided on this brown/blue beauty from SpandexWorld:

Maxi-dress-to-be fabric!

I know--it's ITY poly/lycra. Here's the kicker. In the Poconos, we've had one of the coolest, non-humid summers in years with temps in the mid/high '70's, low 80's. The last time we hit the 90's was a brief hot weather spell in May. Very atypical, but I'm not complaining about it.

The brown/blue combo has to have just enough blue so I can pull off this color scheme, and I think it has it. Too much brown, well it's just not my color. Karen is one of the few people I know that can pull off the entire palette of rust, brown, orange, etc. with panache. She really knows her colors, AND they look great on her!

Just wanted to post this because I LOVE this fabric! The print is busy enough, but not too busy. Bold colors, but not too bold, if you KWIM. It has an artsy flair and is different from anything I've seen is RTW. And the beauty of it all? I'm using a Q&E 1-hour pattern. Okay, 2-hours--I've got a few pattern alterations to do first.

The fabric just came in the mail today and I LOVE it! It's not too thick so it won't it be too hot, but is substantial enough with (what I think will be) fantastic drape.

I'll work on the christening outfit for a while today, then do some minor pattern alterations for the maxi dress with a very quick upper body muslin.

The Christening Outfit, Part II: Tracing/Cutting

2009-07-15T21:44:00.005-04:00

I realized today that I neglected to post the pattern I'm using for the Christening outfit in my previous blog post. It's Simplicity 5813, view D (romper). So here is the pattern photo:

Two nights ago I was able to trace off all the pattern pieces for the Christening outfit and start cutting out the pattern pieces. Today I finished the cutting and am ready to start the sewing. Hopefully, my snap tape will arrive soon because the actual sewing of this is very easy.

The traced pattern pieces:

The pattern pieces/fabric all cut out:

Oddly enough, I can't believe there doesn't seem to be mention of interfacing in the collar and leg cuffs. Is this standard for baby apparel? I'm thinking of just putting in some P/P sheer interfacing anyway. Also, I'll need some tiny buttons and bias tape so I'm hoping to get that in town.

In other news, I did take a trip to Walmart and picked up McCall's 5893:

I loved 3kid's version of this in her pattern review and had to get it. There's this great knit at Gorgeous Fabrics that I'm dying to have for this dress. I did have a beautiful border print in my stash purchased from EOS about two years ago, but only have 1 1/2 yards! I need 2 :( . Oh well. The fabric is aging beautifully. It WILL become something, someday. Wouldn't it be great if I could make this maxi dress *THIS* summer when it's in style??? We'll see...we'll see...