Lean Mean Sewing Machine

Buried Treasure

2012-01-07T23:36:00.000-05:00

Today I emptied one of those closets. A closet that is just plain full and hasn't been cleaned for 10 years. Among other things I found these treasures.

The treasure is not in what they are worth but the fabulous memories some of them hold. McCall's 8532 is from 1962 and I still have some of the outfits that my mom made from this pattern. When I found the McCall's pattern for Barbie furniture I also found all the fabric that I used to make this for two of my nieces. (I have a couple of pix but it was before everything was digital.) And as I told my daughter, it was a time when I didn't think I'd ever my own little girl to sew for. I loved making all these things. Everytime Sharon does a Barbie post I remember making all those doll clothes and I want to do more. Then reality hits...my daughter likes (not loves) Barbie and she's close to growing out of playing with her dolls...I can't even find the time to make clothes for me! Oh well, I'll just settle for the memories.

I worked very diligently on a basic black jacket during my winter break and finished it but pictures aren't ready yet. Instead I'll share our happiest Christmas present, Trisket.

He's a havanese-poodle mix, small and smart and a perfect addition to our family!

Calling 1990 . . . Are you there?

2011-11-19T22:51:00.000-05:00

Some Vogue Designer pattern, sorry I can't remember #

I finally switched my closet from summer to winter last week. As usual this is a weeding out process and there are always a few garments I cling to. Honestly, I'd only been hanging on to this one because I thought it turned out really well, great welts and great sleeve caps. Those pretty much sum up a well-made jacket to me. I made this while I lived in Minneapolis and must have bought the fabric from my former employer, the long-gone Northwest Fabrics. I mention this only because I bought a lot! Enough to make two jackets (one using method I read about in Threads on converting a set-in sleeve to a sleeve with a gusset. Can't find the first issue that showed this but it is shown again in issue 94), a skirt, and a pair of pants. This is all that's left of that wardrobe and it was on it's way out the door until I tried it on. I was absolutely certain that it would never fit my now "mature" body...but it did! And then I started to think about how nice it would look with some of my gray pieces. And then I thought about how I have this gray and pink shirt that it matches...and this great necklace...

So, now what? Those shoulders are huge! My only choice is to alter them. Open the lining, take out the shoulder pad, lower the sleeve cap, reduce the shoulder slope, re-attach the sleeves, re-attach new shoulder pads, close up the lining. That is a lot of work and I hate alterations. I always tell people that I hate them so much that if I have a broken zipper, I'll make a new skirt/pants instead of replacing the zipper.

Well, at this point it has made the journey out of the close and up to the sewing table. And I do have a few extra days at home this week for Thanksgiving... we'll see what happens.

Just one more thing...

Another garment - yay! (See sidebar and click on the pic to read the review.) I really love the result and especially love the fabric. I orginally ordered it from Gorgeous Fabrics to go with a little SWAP experiment in ... 2008! Jeesh, am I ever behind. This pattern suits it so much better than my original idea. The "artsy" vibe is a little out of my comfort zone but...I guess it's good to step out of the zone sometimes!

Still Here

2011-11-13T14:38:00.000-05:00

And still sewing! I'd love to share all the little interruptions that have prevented me from posting for hmmmm...3 months(?), but really it's just life... busy, crazy life.

On to the sewing. Let's start with McCall's 6395. See that? It's a current pattern! I really thought I'd be the first to review this on PR, but looks like I'm just a few weeks late for that. The complete review is here; the personal comentary is Here!

In that never-ending quest to sew a perfect garment every time, I'd been reading the Real Fit for Real People book. I picked up on two items while reading, 1) press your patterns before you cut (of course, I knew I should do this all the time, but I hate it - it takes more time and you can't see the factory fold lines to fold it perfectly back in the envelope - which I actually love to do), and 2) maintain the design ease into your garment in addition to fitting alterations.

I will explain what I did with the understanding that I don't know why I did it on this particular garment. To me, the fit on the model shown on the pattern envelope isn't particularly flattering, especially the neckline. If that's due to the design ease, why the heck would I want to duplicate it? I don't know. But I did it anyway.

First, I compared the bust/waist/hip measurements on the envelope to those same measurements on the pattern and determined that this was the fitting and design ease. Next, I made the fitting alterations for my body in these areas. Lastly, I added the "ease" measurement after my alterations. The result was a big garment. The bust darts seemed huge! I went back and took in a total of 3" from the hip and waist, and about 2" from the bust area - all done in the side seam. I still hate the bust darts. They feel like two gigantic arrows. Oh well, I'll continue to wear it...this year ;)

That's all for now. I've got more garment pictures just waiting for the words to go with them!

Thanks for stopping by - can't believe I've actually got a few new followers (big smiley face that I'm too lazy to insert)!

VINTAAAAAGE!

2011-08-15T23:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, so there's is this really cool vintage shop that I drive by everyday on my way to work. Over the past 10 years I've probably only been in three times. So, I know what's behind the uber-cool display windows (I'm linking to this blog and their, apparently overlooked FB page, because their website just doesn't do it justice.). Today I made visit number four because I'm sort of looking for a cool Mad Men-like couch. I could kick myself because I didn't pull out my phone and take some pictures. You know how sometimes you go to a vintage shop and you turn a corner and there's this little closet-sized room filled with vintage clothing, purses, shoes and hats? Well, this place has about 20 of those little rooms.

Because my daughter was at my side reminding me how "boring" this was I was forced to resist more than a glance at everything...except the four small boxes of vintage patterns. I couldn't believe that I found one of the vintage patterns that I have been lusting after for three years. Ironically, when I first saw this pattern online I didn't buy it because it wasn't my size. Well, neither is the one I bought today but, I don't care! Look at that collar, that collar and those sleeves! Did you notice the shape of the armscye? This is one of those patterns that just has "me" written all over it. IMHO, this is contest worthy. I'm going to PR to find out when the next vintage contest begins!

Did you notice that little sticker on the envelope flap? This is the second pattern I have in my collection from The Higbee Department Store. Higbee's is the store that is featured in the movie The Christmas Story and was also my very first employer during high school (out in the suburbs, not the downtown one you see in the movie). I still remember the few times I worked in the fabric department and one of the older sales clerks shook the ultrasuede and explained to me that it sounds that way because it has rubber in it. (I don't know if that's true, but I don't care. It's a very special memory of mine along with running the fabric through that measuring thingy.)

If only I didn't have to spend the next week getting ready for my real-life paying job...ahh such is life. I shall use whatever time I have to daydream thinking of the perfect fabric for this blouse.

Summer Postlude

2011-08-13T15:20:00.001-04:00

Life is getting hectic again. I can feel it. One week left before school starts. Fingers are crossed for a good year...Oooops..sewing this is about sewing!

Here are two other pieces I made this summer. Nothing really exciting but they have gotten a lot of wear.

Pattern: Simplicity OOP 7588 view B. At first I thought this was a vintage possibly 60's-70's but when I looked on the envelope...1997. Nothing special. Just another "old" pattern. ;)

Fabric: Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voile Diamond Mine purchased at Stitch Cleveland (they happen to be on call for the filming of "I, Alex Cross" currently filming in Cleveland and their latest facebook post said they were working with Tyler Perry's personal tailor - WOW).

Fitting Adjustments: FB adj. and added width to sleeve.

Construction notes: I did two things differently for this blouse. I used organza for interfacing and attached it by sewing it to the right side of the outer edge of the facing first. Then, turned it to enclose the seam allowance before attaching it to the front.

Also, followed this tutorial from Pattern Scissors Cloth. Mine doesn't look nearly as good as hers or I would have shown you a picture, but it was good practice!

App. Prep time: 45 min.

App. Sewing time: 3 hours

Miss Alaney: I love this blouse. Mostly because I'm sick to death of fitted T's which is ironic because for the past several summers I've been searching for the perfect T. This summer I realized I've acquired more than one wearable t-shirt in all of my favorite colors and I don't want to wear them. I wear them but I don't want to. What I really want is a nice light cotton blouse...just like this one!

Goes with: I first wore it with my white pants and it was okay. But later found I loved it with my jeans skort and my tan shorts.

Pattern: Simplicity 2451 view D

Fabric: Joann's cotton sateen.

Fitting Adjustments: Hips are one size larger than waist ;)

Construction notes: Once again I used the underlining/hong kong finish to line the skirt.

App. Prep time: 45 min.

App. Sewing time: 2.5 hours

Goes with: I loved it with this T and new "el cheapo" necklace of many colors.

I really like this skirt but I think it’s the fabric that makes it. The reason I’ll continue to wear it is that the print really hides those two pleats in the front that pouf out. I won’t be holding on to this pattern. I think it was those pockets that drew me to it in the first place and now that I’ve made it…well, eh, no need to make it again.

In completely unrelated news…my X’s now X girlfriend has sent me a few messages…kind of like she wants to be friends…because he wronged her too and, get this, my kids might miss her ?????? I don’t think that will happen, I mean us becoming friends - well, my kids missing her either. Oooops…sewing, this is about sewing!
I’m going to try really hard to finish 2-3 sewing projects this weekend but I’m soooo ready to cut out some wool! Oh, I almost forgot… It’s been ages since I ordered fabric online but when Fabric Mart had their trendy challis marked down to $2.50/yd I couldn’t help myself. This is what I had to have. (The pictures are pretty bad - sorry, I was in a hurry!)
Jeepers, I’ve done a ton of yard work this summer. Tonight was the first night that the mosquitoes got me – I got 12 altogether and a giant one on my forehead – yikes.
Oh, and also, I fell off my bike!! You should not ever fall off your bike when you are past a certain age. I'm not going to say what that age is, but I've passed it!! I must be okay though because I was able to ride my bike home and transplant a small lilac bush the next day ;)
Oh yea... I lost my logo!! Anyone seen it? I tried to "update" my blog format and accidentally deleted my blog heading picture. Sad face :( Some other silhouettes are auditioning for the part but I haven't picked a winner yet.
Have a great, creative, enjoy-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-summer weekend!

Another Good Class

2011-07-31T19:26:00.001-04:00

Fitting: the European Method - Virginia Marti-Veith

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this class. First, recently I have heard some, well not-so-great comments about the fashion design department at Virginia Marti CAD primarily about the lack of sewing knowledge in some of the graduates. Second, I’m realizing that my age is directly limiting the amount of new ideas and techniques out there (i.e. I'm so old and have taken so many classes that not too much seems "new" to me). This doesn’t mean I know everything. It just means that I’m familiar with a lot of techniques and when I take a new class, there’s a pretty good chance I’m already familiar with the information. Note: that doesn’t stop me from enrolling in more classes ;)

So, I’m happy to report that this class was about 90% new info, or info I knew before but forgot, or info that put a new perspective on things I already knew. (That means I thought I was good!) And, I couldn’t wait to get home and share all the good stuff with you.

The class was led by Mrs. Veith (Virginia Marti Veith, school founder) and primarily focused on measuring and evaluating a figure to complete a sloper and then using the sloper to adjust your patterns. It’s a lot to cover and we never really got to the actual "how to use the sloper to adjust a pattern" part. That’s ok with me. Even though I seriously struggle with that step there was so much other information that energized me I didn’t really care.

A live model (a fashion student who volunteered because she has a hard time with fitting) was on hand for Mrs. Veith to demonstrate how to take measurements and how to evaluate the figure. This was especially helpful as even though the student was young and had great figure, it wasn’t perfect there was much discuss about the problems and solutions for fitting. One thing that really impressed me was that she (the instructor) knew the correct terms for all of the bones and body parts. In fact, one of her main props was a model skeleton!

So here it is, the highlights from my notes. Remember, I didn’t say everything was new, they may not all be “aha” moments to everyone. But they were to me so I’m gonna share! I’ve starred what I think are the “must-reads”

She emphasized two things that I usually overlook

Use your eye first to identify problem spots. Don’t just rely on the tape measure to tell you everything about your body shape.
Weight! As in weigh yourself or your customer when you measure. Your body decides on it’s own where it’s going to add or subtract those extra 5lbs., it won’t just be evenly distributed. If your weight changes, you need to go back and take new measurements. And girls, don’t take your measurements PreM because you will be retaining water and the measurements won’t be accurate!

Shoulder measuring tips:

Look for an invisible line from the side that starts at the back of the ear (the actual ear, not where it connects to the head), goes down the neck and ends at the shoulder point.
Move your arm forward to about bust level to be able to feel the dip that will form at the shoulder point.
Once you have found the shoulder point, look to see if the upper arm stands out a lot (sorry I didn’t catch a more detailed term here than “a lot”) compared to the shoulder point. If so, you will probably need to make adjustments to the upper arm sleeve width.

Standing in front of a mirror check to see if your chin lines up with the jugular dip (dip is my word, can’t remember what she called it). We didn’t go over what this means, only that it will be an indication that there are probably other areas of the body that are out of alignment. This was repeated for other areas. For instance, if one shoulder is higher than the other then the hips will also be out of alignment because the body is compensating for the shoulder imbalance.

To find the waist, I know this is a very common one, tie a piece of elastic around the waist. The new-to-me part was to tie it tight so it doesn’t move. For all except the waist measurement, you just need to know where the waist is so keeping it tight is okay.

Measure the body in quarters. I always think about this one now because my body has changed so much in the last 10 years and I know one waist measurement divided into equal quarters does NOT reflect my actual body. But since I’m kind of lazy and usually in a hurry, I’ve just been guessing at the difference ;)

I won’t list all the measurements here because they are pretty standard and available in most books about fitting. She did say that the students must have these measurements memorized in order. I think that’s a good thing for me to put on my to do list.

** When taking the hip measurement watch for other areas, like the tummy, that protrude. When she took the models hip measurement, she held out the measuring tape to allow for a protruding tummy. Because for most garments, in this case a skirt or pant, you will not want the garment to be body hugging at that point.

** For all fitting issues you must keep the CF vertical and centered, and the hipline and waistline parallel to the floor. If they are out of alignment, fix them first and then go to the area where there is a problem. At the problem area either pin out the extra or cut open to release stress until the garment fits correctly. (I know this is vague but this is just a summary and many books can explain the fix-it better than me.)

** To add fitting ease to a garment (her method) she counts how many seams will be inside the garment (including darts). For example, at the waist of a straight skirt with 2 back darts and a CB zipper there will be 3 seams and 2 darts, double that for each layer of fabric in the seam. Then take the fabric to be used for the garment and fold it into that many (10) layers. Squish it down and measure the thickness. That is the minimum amount of ease you will need for your garment. Note how this will be different for each type of fabric.

So that’s the bulk of the sewing information – hope you didn’t fall asleep reading it. I really prefer picture-posts to text-posts but this one can’t be helped! Now for the fun facts from the other attendees:
One woman was an American who lives in Italy and is taking a sloper class from an old-school sewing instructor and most of the fun facts came from her like,

A woman in her class visited China and bought some fabric. Before she was given the fabric they asked her if she wanted “Made in Italy” printed on the selvedge!! Yes, you read that right.
When her Italian instructor was questioned about a garment not being comfortable her response was something like, “If you want to look beautiful you cannot be comfortable.”

Mrs. Veith indicated that they will soon be opening a couture sewing department in a newly acquired building. Not sure how soon, or if any community ed. classes will be offered but the possibilities sound exciting.

So, how will this change my sewing habits? I’m not sure that I want to spend the time or energy making an updated sloper. I will, however, be spending some quality time with the tape measure to update my measurements. From there I will be able to make more accurate adjustments to my patterns.

I’m trying to figure out how to either join or start a sewing group that focuses on garments instead of crafts. There are a couple of options but none of them seems to fit what I’m looking for. Stitch Cleveland is a really nice place and seems like it would be ideal, but most of the classes and projects are for craft or “learn to sew” items. Apparently there isn’t a Cleveland chapter of ASG (so the possibility of starting is there) as I went to the website, sent an email, and after a week I still haven’t heard anything. There is an active group in another community that is close but 1.) I don’t think there are many garment sewists, and 2.) I’ve heard they’re clique-y and I definitely don’t want to deal with that. So there are people out there…and apparently NONE of them are in the online sewing community! Then there’s the whole thing about scheduling. When my kids have to be in bed by 8 during the week it doesn’t open up much time for evening activities. So, what do you think?

Whew! My fingers are tired! Happy sewing to you all!

P.S. – I wore my Beautiful Fabric dress to the class 

Saturday Sewing Schedule

2011-07-29T20:09:00.000-04:00

I'll be here (scroll down a bit for details) for the morning attending Fitting: The European Method :)

I'm counting on the inspiration from this to take me through a weekend of sewing productivity (in between all the other to-do's on the list)!

I've got a few more project pix to post (hahaha) nothing to exciting just some additions to the summer stuff.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. - I've been trying not mention the state of teaching in my state, well the city where I teach in particular, but... Today I received an update from our union pres. indicating that the actual student/teacher ratio after spring teacher layoffs now appears to be 60:1. That number is up from the originally anticipated 40:1. I know it probably won't happen but, seriously? At the very least, that's going to be a fire hazard, right? School starts in three weeks.

Beautiful Fabric – A Timeline

2011-07-21T19:05:00.000-04:00

I’ve had a crush on this fabric since the first time I saw it.

Carolyn made it into a skirt.

I found it at Janie’s booth during a Sewing Expo

I made it into this.
Looking at the picture now it doesn’t look so bad, but it didn’t wear well. The neckline was too low for my comfort and the sides have slits that slide up even further every time you sit down. Too much to worry about.

Recycled it into this (Simplicity 4149.
It’s nice and wearable but I think it looks kind of funny with shorts. Good with pants but I don’t wear too many pants in the summertime.

I found more of it at Janie’s on my fabric excursion this spring and just had to have it so I could try again.

Ta Da! A dress I like. (Hmmmm. I think I like it. Now that I've seen these pictures I'm not so sure.)

Pattern: Very Easy Vogue 8486
Fabric: Rayon print from Janie's Sewing Corner

Pattern Adjustments: Originally, none. But after putting it together I raised the hem by 4-5" (sorry, I don't really measure these things - I just cut).

Construction notes: Because this pattern is made for knits and my fabric isn't knit, I cut it out one size larger. This worked for everything except the armhole. I had to open up the front curve and underarm curve by 1/2" (after it was finished).

App. Prep time: 1/2 hour to cut and iron on interfacing.

App. Sewing time: 3-1/2 hours. I sooo wanted to make this to wear at my sewing workshop last weekend. But sometimes, when you don't come up with the idea or start a project until 9:00 p.m. the night before...it just doesn't work out that way.

Real-life time: 5 days. I started it last Saturday night and finished it last night.

Miss Alaney: See timeline :) I made it shorter than I normally would for a dress because I intend to wear it as an everyday dress this summer (i.e. I won’t be wearing it to work unless it looks good as a tunic).

wink wink ;) - see how short it gets in the back when you bend over? It's something to think about.

Ha! Two posts in one week. That's a record for me this year, woohoo! Oh, did I mention my kids are at an overnight camp for one entire week? Celebrating now because the party's almost over ;)

Day of Sewing with Kenneth King

2011-07-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

(Sorry for the blurries. Realized too late that there were little munchkin fingerprints on the lens.)
Without talking numbers…because this was a birthday present to me…let me just say that the first workshop I took with Kenneth King was before he’d written any books. At some point during that 2-day beading workshop he mentioned that he was working on a deal to write a book about making tassels. OK? Get it? It was a long time ago. You do the math.

The only thing that made this workshop less exciting than that first one was the fact that thanks to the worldwideweb I already knew and have tried several of the techniques we worked on. I knew that before I even signed up. I signed up for the atmosphere. I wanted to be around other people that love to sew and that’s what made it fun, super fun!

We worked on the alternate pocket flap (p. 95 in Cool Couture) and I realized when I got home that I must have thrown my sample away :( - sorry 'bout that, no pic. Then we put together a bound buttonhole and welt pocket using his ribbon method (p. 103-106 in book). I didn't bother taking pix or notes on this process because the book does it much better than I could...(and I took this class on PR a few years ago and have my notes from that.) Before turning the pocket opening we put together the pocket lining and facing.

Because I was in panic mode, and couldn’t find the picture of this in the book, and because I really wanted to remember what goes where at this point, I decided just to leave my sample like this. It will be much more helpful for me when I sew my pocket bags.

This workshop was sponsored by Janie’s Sewing Corner where there’s lots of sewing energy, knowledge, and creativity. In my most recent visits I’ve seen pre-teens sewing away, adults learning to sew for the first time, and a good variety of quality fabrics. If you live within an hour or two of Cleveland or are planning a visit (yes, people really do visit Cleveland) please make a point to stop in and support her!

I also got a little spending money for the big day (THANKS MOM!). How convenient that I could run a tab and fabrics were 30% off. Here are the rest of my birthday presents.

Happy sewing to all...in your nice, cool, air conditioned sanctuary. And if you don't have one of those - GO TO THE BEACH OR THE POOL OR THE MOVIES OR THE MALL - go somewhere where you can keep your cool and forget about sewing for a while! ;)

Happy Birthday To Me!

2011-07-16T19:34:00.002-04:00

Best Birthday present from me ever - "Cool Tricks" class with Kenneth King tomorrow - I can't make my face smile big enough! Will report back later, well maybe sooner than later since the other amazing b-day gift I gave to myself was to send both kids off to Camp Fitch for the entire week. What perfect timing.

Both kids have been warned not to break anything, cut anything, or catch anything that will make them sick or they're grounded for the rest of the summer! (It was at this same camp last year that DD broke her other arm and got a 2-hr ambulance drive back to the city.)

Now...what to make, I mean what to wear, what to wear?

It's New To Me

2011-07-06T22:09:00.002-04:00

Pattern: McCalls 5433. So funny, I just discovered this pattern and thought "Wow, this is a really nice new pattern. I wonder if anyone at PR has sewn it?" Well, yes, yes they have. More than 15 people have reviewed it - as early as 2008. I'm so behind the current patterns, sigh.

Fabric: Lightweight linen, from Janie’s Sewing Corner, local shop

Pattern Adjustments: full bust adjustment, lengthened sleeve by 1/2", cut 14 on top, 16 on.

Fitting Adjustments: Alterations are shown where you see orange pattern paper.

Construction notes: Here's the fun part! I recently found/saw two new construction techniques for blouses that I was really eager to try.

The first is the front band technique that I saw on Silhouette Patterns video for the 1-hour blouse (seriously, she made a blouse in one hour and that includes cutting it out and answering questions!). Based on what I saw, I extended the CF seam allowance to be the width of the CF band w/o seam allowances. The band for each side is a piece that is the band width + 1/4" on each side which is pressed under. Then, the band is just sandwiched around the CF extension on the blouse and topstitched in place.

The second technique is a RTW cuff application - woooohoo! - from pattern-scissors-cloth ! Love it when I can speed up the process. This is another one of those mysteries uncovered - the mystery of the RTW cuff - mwaaaaaahahahah.

App. Prep time: Rats. Thought for sure I'd post this before I forgot. I'll guesstimate it was 30 min.

App. Sewing time: See above. It went together faster than normal because of the cuff and front band changes so I'll guesstimate.....4 hours.

Real-life time: I'm stumped. I think this was a weekend project (w/o kids) so I'll say 2 days. Every time that I try to start tracking things, like sewing time, I do it once and just plain forget to do it the next time - sorry :(

Miss Alaney: I just LOVE it when I find a new sewing technique. I knew there was a faster way to attach a cuff and was so happy to find out that I could do it with fairly decent results.

Goes with: Mostly white stuff of which I don't have much...yet. I've worn it with my white jeans.

Got'a Lov'a Print

2011-07-03T08:28:00.012-04:00

Pattern: Very Easy Vogue 8424
OOP but still available on their website.

Fabric: Black - cotton print from Fabric.com purchased two years ago.
Green - Heather Bailey print from Stitch Cleveland (local).

Pattern Adjustments: I've made View B of this skirt in a cotton before but always felt the front pleat pulled it down in front. I wanted an A-line with pockets so I just eliminated the pleat by laying the front pattern piece with the CF on the fold.

Fitting Adjustments: None.

Construction notes: I used the fabulous underlining as lining (on the link site, scroll down until you see HongKong underlining) method and attached the pocket lining after the the underlining was turned. Both skirt hems were completed using the blind-stitch function on my machine.

App. Prep time: 1-1/2 hours to cut fabric, lining, and interfacing for both skirts. I just didn't feel like bothering to try and match the patterns ;)

App. Sewing time: 2-1/2 hours of solid, uninterrupted sewing for each skirt.

Real-life time: Used my Saturday afternoon/evening to sew them both (7 hours with interruptions) but they were cut out about 3 weeks ago.

Miss Alaney: Love the results of the no-pleat A-line! If you're a pocket person, you'll love these, they're nice and deep. They're the main reason I chose this pattern.

Goes with: Summer t-shirts. I realized when I got out my summer wardrobe this year that I have a solid T in almost every color imaginable so matching a top won't be a problem. The skirts are a welcome addition to my summer run-around outfits and will be worn with my Teeny Tiny shorts.

Teeny, Tiny, Shorts

2011-06-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

You will NEVER see me model these! As I've mentioned before, I want shorts to wear under my summer skirts/dresses and that's the only reason I made these - purely functional. Two years ago I had the original idea (shorts under summer skirts) to make some and ended up with these baggy, ugly, and really uncomfortable shorts. They were so big and baggy in fact, that I deconstructed them and reconstructed them with my new pattern.
Pattern: I got the pattern from these spandex RTW shorts using the duct tape method.
To preserve the finished duct tape pattern I attached them to pattern paper (I use the thin vinyl made for covering banquet tables in orange).

Fabric: Cotton/lycra single knit, pretty sure it was from JoAnn’s.
Construction notes: There's a gusset in the crotch(snicker, snicker)! Maybe this is standard on workout clothes - um, I wouldn't know - but I thought it was pretty funny especially when I ran out of fabric on the green pair and had to use black for the gusset - hahaha!

I used the fastest, I-don't-care-what-it-looks-like construction. The thread only matches two pair because I didn't want to take the time to change it.

I really like the waistband - a new technique, yipee! Here's my version of what the RTW construction, sans coverstitch.
Once the elastic was stretched and stitched on (cut only slightly smaller than the actual fabric length) I just folded the waistband in half and stitched to the shorts. If you look closely at the picture you can see that I put the yellow waistband on in reverse - inside is out. Oh well.
Pattern and cutting prep time: 20 min. to tape the RTW shorts and create the pattern. Another 50 min. to deconstruct previous shorts (yellow and green), ugh. Cutting new pattern assembly style (4 pair) 20 min.
App. Sewing time: Assembly style 1 hour. Well, it probably would have been done in an hour if my machine hadn't frozen up.
Real-life time: About two months from the time I came up with the idea and when I actually finished them. It just became one of those low-priority projects. I've known I wouldn't need the shorts until summer and I don't really like making the same exact thing over and over. In other
Goes with: All the new summer skirts and dresses I'm going to make this weekend - HA!

Thanks for the well-wishes for my son. After visiting the pediatrician, he was given the okay to at least play catch - whew!

Ugh. A Sad Story

2011-06-13T21:39:00.002-04:00

New sewing post soon but....just when I thought I was going to get a chance to breath, relax, sew, blog, begin my summer...my little guy ended up in the hospital with an infection in one of his beat up knees. He was admitted on Thursday and just came home today. Now I've got to figure out some way to keep him busy and still rest his knee. Yep, school's out, weather's finally improved and he can't play baseball, swim, golf, skateboard, run, play catch, etc. This is not a child that has ever enjoyed sitting still. Oh, and did I mention tomorrow is his 9th birthday? He wants to go golfing sooooo bad. :( Poor little guy had at least three crying fits today when he got the news.

In the meantime - THANK YOU so much for all the nice and encouraging comments from my recent posts. I do have more to share but have to wait for life to get back on track. First goal is to get caught up on all my blog reading - yikes! you guys are way to fast! I don't know how you do it :)

Just Patterns

2011-05-06T19:52:00.006-04:00

It's been a long time since I've even browsed my favorite vintage patterns sites. But last week the sales were too good and I couldn't resist just a glimpse. Well, more than just a glimpse.
I'll use some fun florals for the dresses. The coat, well, I thought I'd be using some fabric from my stash until I saw that View 2 takes 5 yards of 60" wide fabric. May have to rethink that plan!

And, the one I absolutely don't need but had to have.

I liked the shape of the coat but what really sold me was the line drawing. This will be the "You expect me to lift that? Not." coat. Those sleeves were meant to be worn in one position only - down. I'm going to channel my inner Patsy Stone when I wear this one!

I seem to be collecting these shorts-under-skirts patterns but wonder if I dare wear them.

In the summer I want to look put together and love wearing a comfortable dress, but I want to be able to jump on my bike and ride with my kids too. So, I'm looking at these from a practical standpoint. The questions is, am I too old for this style? I know the answer. I'm just trying to find a way to make them work! Any suggestions?

FYI - There are an overwhelmingly number of great vintage pattern resources. I just stick to these three because I'm a creature of habit ;) LanetzLiving, Momspatterns, and Out Of the Ashes Collectibles.

Paisley

2011-04-29T22:48:00.007-04:00

Pattern: Vogue 8287 (OOP but still on their site) shown here with the Vogue 2886 gray pants and before I added the buttons.
Fabric: Cotton shirting from Janie's Sewing Corner
Pattern Adjustments: View A without the sash.
Fitting Adjustments: Full bust adj., added width to upper arm, added length to the sleeve (3/4")
Construction notes: Followed the pattern instructions except for the cuff. Since it's almost a french cuff, I didn't bother to turn under the seam allowance on the inside. I just stitched them together and serged the SA - nobody will know except me...and now you.

This blouse is so easy to make! If you haven't made many or have a fear of making blouses, I highly recommend this pattern. You have to be careful when attaching the collar but everything else is a breeze!
App. Prep time: 20 min. I've made this before and just made a few minor fitting adjustments before cutting out.
App. Sewing time: 2-1/2 hours (guessing)
Real-life sewing time: 3-4 hours without kids.
Goes with my: Gray, and black skirts and gray, black, and tan pants. Do you sense a theme?
Miss Alaney: I've made this one waaaaay too many times. This is #3.
I'm in a rut with my blouses and even though I have many blouse patterns I go to the same two patterns each time. This Vogue and New Look 6783 (OOP). Will try to break out of my rut. I have over 20 blouse patterns, for pete's sake!

P.S. I joined a sew-along for the first time ever (that I can remember, anyway)!
I'm so excited about this one; learning the real RTW techniques. I'm way behind in every step but I can't wait to really tackle the jacket. As a matter of fact, I'm supposed to be making my pattern adjustments right now! My jacket is going to be a boring old basic black jacket but something I desperately need in my closet. I have two black jackets already but they're not basic and can't be thrown on over just anything. This one will fill that void. Even if you don't make a jacket, you should join and read through the instructions you might find something you've never seen before - I did!

I'm getting drawn back in. For months I've been able to resist my favorite vintage pattern websites...but tonight I caved. This is not good, not good at all.

2011-04-24T22:28:00.008-04:00

Pattern: Vogue 8633
Fabric: Cotton, from Janie’s Sewing Corner in Cleveland. I noticed just before I cut this out that the pattern is for knit fabrics so I went up a size but just ended up taking it back in again. If you're going to do the same, I suggest making a muslin first just to be sure.
Pattern Design Adjustments: none
Fitting Adjustments: Most alterations are shown with orange pattern paper. Construction notes: I sewed the skirt using the lining as underlining technique. I fused interfacing on the entire bodice. Changed the bodice lining construction by enclosing the armholes before following the pattern instructions.
App. Prep time: 5 hours for fitting adjustments, muslin, transferring adjustments, cutting fabric, lining, interfacing, and applying interfacing.
App. Sewing time: 5 hours
Real-life time: 3 Days
I'm made this while on spring break and was able to dedicate some serious daytime sewing to get it done in less than 2 weeks.
Goes with: Green duster from New Look 6518
Miss Alaney:
Hahaha! - see it? It's the attack of the pins! This time I sewed right over one with my zoom zoom (industrial straight-stitch). The machine didn't even slow down! I only noticed it because it sounded funny. So, add about 15 min. of real-life time while I tried to get it out without cutting the thread.

Also, my kids got these fun nerf-type pop guns and we were all playing while waiting to go to lunch at a really nice restaurant but one of the balls got lost. About four hours later when I changed into my "relaxing" clothes guess who found the missing ball? It was secretly hiding in my cleavage all afternoon. If you didn't notice on the pattern adjustments, I raised the depth of that V by about an inch. Apparently there was still enough room for a small ball to hop on in!!

Purple

2011-04-23T08:10:00.008-04:00

In an effort to increase my blog activity without losing hours of possible sewing time, I'm going to try and just give the facts.

Pattern: Vogue 8601
Fabric: Wool denim
Pattern Design Adjustments: None. I made the one-button version (view DE)
Fitting Adjustments: Alterations are shown where you see orange pattern paper.
Construction notes: Bagged the lining, added sleeve heads, used Steam-A-Seam at the back vent (instead of under stitching) to control the lining from rolling out.
App. Prep time: Didn't really track it this time. But I did make a muslin so maybe around 4 hours.
App. Sewing time: (totally guessing) 10 hours
Real-life time: Most of the jacket was complete after a Saturday sewing marathon. The finishing parts - closing up the lining, adding the button, attaching the shoulder pad, and then opening up the lining and doing it again (see Miss Alaney) were done in a couple of evenings over the next two weeks.
Goes with: Black, dark gray, purple (yes, purple) wool pants and black wool skirt. On top - well, it's all about the turtleneck for me and I've got black, dark gray, and purple of those too!
Miss Alaney: See the pin poking out of the sleeve head? Well, I didn't. Not until the jacket was complete - hence the need to open up the lining!

New notion that I think I love! It's chalk in pencil form. It goes on so easy with very little pressure and most of the color can be rubbed out. I picked up the last one at Janie's Sewing Corner a couple of weeks ago. I'll try and remember to update if it works any better/worse than my first impressions.

Fabric Shopping!!!

2011-04-19T09:55:00.005-04:00

It's official I have a local fabric friend! We've been talking about it for at least a year and finally had a date. A shopping date, of course. Joan lives in a third or fourth ring suburb and I needed to introduce her to some of the non-chain fabric stores that are a little closer to the big city. Our first stop was Stitch-Cleveland where we ogled and purchased a few Amy Butler cottons. Next it was on to Virginia Marti Fabrics (an offshoot of their school of Virginia Marti College of Art and Design....). This is the only store that I had thought to take pictures and the only one where we didn't buy anything!
It's still good to know that it's there and that your purchases support a great cause. Lastly we spent a good deal of time at Janie's Sewing Corner (check out the upcoming seminars - Mr. King makes an appearance in July and I will definitely be there!). Great fabrics and great conversation.

As if having a fabric shopping partner weren't enough, the night before I went to pull out all my spring/summer fabrics....screeeeetch....I could only find four pieces! That's certainly not enough to make a new wardrobe. And so, I was able to shop guilt-free because I really did need new fabric! It was a great day. See? The geometric print in the middle is my second purchase of this fabric. A few years ago I made this and just wasn't happy with how it looked on me. But I love the fabric!

Then even though our date ended my shopping/creativity motor was still going full force. The only store we didn't visit was JoAnn's so the next day I picked up a few more additions.

Ahhh! an hour on the computer - I've got to go sew!

Where Exactly Does Time Go?

2011-04-17T11:15:00.001-04:00

How is it that I thought I'd missed about three weeks of blogging but it turned out to be two months, and that turned into four months?? I have been sticking to my every-other weekend sewing, but haven't worked in the time to blog. I've decided to write everything down and give it to you in pieces, well, I'm going to try anyway. (We'll see how that goes...I started with this plan in March and I'm only able to finish it now because spring break finally arrived!)

At last, it's the gray pants to go with the gray to with the jacket made over a year ago - yay! I used the pants-fitting webcast at Silhouette Patterns to fit my muslin for these and I'm very pleased with the result. I took my hip measurement while I was sitting down and transferred that measurement to the pattern. I also took the pocket pattern from Simplicity 2700 (best pockets ever designed, imho) and adjusted the pattern to include pockets. The original pants go to the waist but I planned on using the waistband from 2700 too so I just estimated where I wanted that seam to be placed. Here are the glamorous fitting pix.

The finished garment is one of the best-fitting pair of pants I own. I know those drag lines in the back look bad but I don't care! That will get fixed with the next pair I make. I didn't make a single adjustment to the crotch area. Instead, while fitting I pulled them up until they felt comfortable and then pinned everything so they would stay that way. Until I see some other (as far as I know I've tried just about every other way possible including computer software) method I'll be using this one for all future pants. Period. Here's the inspiration (from Akris Fall 08, pic from style.com) and my completed version, gloves and all.
The pants fabric is an unbelievably soft wool purchased in November from my old friend SR Harris in Minneapolis, the jacket is a wool denim from the now extinct Cutting Room Fabrics. This is one of the few times I've sewn both pieces of a pattern and I'm really pleased with the result. I'm a sucker for a longer jacket and I really like the narrow but not too narrow pants.

Off to work on a little something for Easter (didn't realize the patterns was for knits until yesterday. Mine is a cotton. Wish me luck!)

Heavy Sigh

2011-01-26T22:05:00.007-05:00

I've lost my momentum. I've been trying to sew at least one garment every weekend that my kids spend with X but I don't think I'm going to make it this time. This weekend the schedule was interrupted. Not a major interruption, but not what I was anticipating.

In addition, my planned project was a gray pair of pants but I ran into a pattern glitch. Two? years ago I made this suit.
The jacket is great, the pants are horrible. Ever since then I've been looking for a suitable fabric to replace the pants and finally found one. But Friday night I got out the pattern to sew a muslin, and....the pants pattern was uncut! What? I can't remember what pants pattern I used for the ones that fit so bad. No biggy, right? I should just cut out the original pants and try the new fitting technique. Well, then I started thinking about those narrow legs. Will I really wear them with anything besides the jacket or should I pick out a different pants pattern?

So here I sit. The evening is almost gone. Do I pick a different pattern and muslin it? Do I chuck my plan and make a dress for DD? Do I input my grades so I can sew tomorrow? Do I go back down to DS's room and finish hanging the new curtain rods? Do leave my sanctuary, put my heaviest sweatshirt on, and spend the evening doing laundry in the freezing basement? (You're right, there's no chance that last one is going to happen!) Well, one thing is certain, if I don't get off the computer none of the above is going to happen!

More later!

Outfit-In-A-Day

2011-01-16T09:24:00.009-05:00

Love this one! It's a cotton/lycra knit and the skirt will probably be floor length soon but I don't care. The skirt pattern is for wovens but I've only used it for knits. I didn't make any changes to the pattern and I included the zipper but really didn't need to.

This is the third skirt I've made from this (please don't call it vintage) OOP pattern. Aside from the fact that is fabulously comfortable, it also has a high compliment factor. It just flows when I walk. I even get compliments from (loud gasp) my students! They especially like the gray one - wow, that's a really bad picture. In motion it looks much more impressive.

For this version and the gray one I used elastic as interfacing in the waistband. I was supposed to just cut a length of fabric and fold it over but, I accidentally cut the fabric in half lengthwise. So, it ended up having a seam, and more bulk, and took a little longer (I was sooo mad about that one) but it turned out okay. When I first tried it on (after I thought it was all done) the waistband was about 3" too big. So, I opened up one of the ends, pulled the elastic and stitched it back up.

Top is Vogue 7799 (OOP but still on their site). The sleeves on the top are 3/4 because I ran out of fabric. I've only made this top once before and the collar was very flimsy so I used a different interfacing on this one and had the opposite result. That's okay, I L.O.V.E. a high collar.

For the hem on the skirt I used spray starch to press it under 1" then did a blind hem. The hem on the top I turned it under 3/4" and sewed a straight stitch and for the sleeves I pressed the hem under 5/8" then lined up the fold with the right side of the presser foot and moved the needle to the right until it was 1/4" away from the fold. When the stitching on the sleeve hem was done, I trimmed the hem close to the stitching.

My next kid-free weekend is in two weeks and I plan on making a pair of gray pants to replace this disastrous pair. Ugh. It pains me to even look at those. I want to use the same pattern but make a muslin (gasp!!) and follow the fitting advice from the Peggy Sager's live video chat. If I can manage it, I'll do the muslin fitting and cut out the fabric before my sewing day. There's just one little obstacle that might delay this plan. My daughter only has two dresses in her closet right now, and you know, that's just not right! Somewhere I have to work in something for her soon.

Special thanks to those of you that have left comments recently. I truly appreciate the fact that you're still stopping by!

Garment In-A-Day!

2011-01-08T21:46:00.000-05:00

I made a complete pair of pants (closure and hem included) in one day!! Okay, the fabric, interfacing, and lining were already cut out but all of the sewing was done in one day. Great way to start the new year! Equally exciting is the fact that they fit!! I only wish I could share all the fitting details with you.
See, I cut them out so long ago I don't remember what I did to make sure they fit. I think I took a previously good-fitting pattern and just adjusted the pattern in the hips and crotch area to fit. Wait, it's coming back to me...it was the pink-linen-who-over-the-age-of-10-needs-pink-pants?-borderline-vintage-pattern pants that I never wore but did in fact make this summer. They fit sooooo well! (One of my problems with spring/summer sewing is that I like to sew work clothes. But I'm a teacher and in the summertime I don't need a work wardrobe. More on this dilemma when the seasons change.)

Here there are: Vogue 1035 Alice + Olivia (OOP)
Please excuse the wrinkles. Pictures were taken after wearing them all morning and I realized too late I should have sewn the lining as underlining both to prevent wrinkles and to stabilize this lightweight wool.

I'm going to break down and show you some of the details with this disclosure: I am not a perfectionist. I strive to be one, but it will never happen because when I get tired most of the time, I just let it go. If it looks good on the outside that's fine with me.
And I try really, really hard not to just point out all the bad stuff. But I will point out the most obvious one. The welt pockets in the back are a whopping 1" out of alignment with each other.
I have no idea how this happened. I didn't even check it while I was making them because I had marked them very carefully. Since I don't run into fellow seamsters in my daily life, I chose not to let it go. (If it's really obvious one of my students will point it out!)

I've worn them twice and am happy to report that the students did not point to the welt pockets and laugh. (I did hear mumblings about the floral RTW top I wore with them though.) I think I may have changed the shape of the legs. They look kind of bell-shaped and I don't really like the way it looks. I may try to change it but I don't think they'll be in my closet for the long run. Hmmmm, we'll see. They're okay. They're comfortable. But......we'll see.

**The welt pockets were sewn with a method that I learned second-hand from Palmer/Pletsch. Awhile ago a made a tutorial for the method that you can see at the end of this post.

It felt so good to actually sew something again!! Schedules at my house are completely different this year so I'm going to try making at least one garment each weekend that I'm kid-free. If needed, I think I can get the fitting, cutting, interfacing done before my actual sewing day. The following week my goal will be to post it. Woohoo, another plan! My next project is already on the table. I'm not at all concerned that an entire week has gone by and it isn't cut out yet.

Thanks for all the compliments and comments for my previous posts and thanks for the continued sewing support!

Let the New Year Begin!

2011-01-01T22:24:00.006-05:00

This has been the most sewing/blogging-productive weekend ever! I already have another post ready that's just waiting for pictures. Yay me!

I spent New Year's eve planning. I was going to sew but the sewing part of my brain has been so confused lately there was only one thing that I could do: PLAN. :) I did some serious purging that resulted in this:
Since one of my Christmas presents was fabric, I must make room and if I don't have time to sew it, I will purge! I loved you once, but it turned into like and then, eh. So, buh bye.

After that I tried to visualize a wardrobe. Well, additions to my current wardrobe. Since current wardrobe is black, gray, purple, and royal blue separates (mostly skirts and pants) and I've kept that in mind when buying fabric, it wasn't too hard to put together.
Here are the miscellaneous, I just need them, pieces.
The knit will be a skirt and top and will match the navy blues I plan on adding eventually. The red plaid is for a short fitted jacket to be worn with a white blouse and jeans ala Coldwater Creek (Ever notice how they put almost everything with a white blouse? Call me square, but I love that!)

Here are the main pieces
I added the picture to Powerpoint then added pattern pix and voile!

Every time I see a new way to create a wardrobe plan, I give it a try. But this year I decided this is what works for me. One of the reasons it works is because I did that whole add-your-patterns-to-the-computer thing last year. I didn't think I would like it, but it's really fun just to hop over to the computer and see my whole collection at once. Next, all I had to do was prioritize and load things into their "production" drawers.
Let the sewing year begin!

Is It Too Vintage??

2010-12-29T19:05:00.010-05:00

In a whirlwind of sewing on Tuesday I almost completed my vintage coat Wednesday night. (I really thought I'd be done with it by now but have had a two-night buttonhole breakdown! They're still not done.) This is the pattern that I took all that time to re-size last October.
Then I tried it on. Hmmmmm

My first impression was that I looked like someone who got a great deal on a vintage coat at a second-hand store. That is not exactly the look I was going for. So, is it too vintage?

(looks really odd without a scarf - or maybe I just need to balance it out with a hat!) The buttons are just pinned on right now because of my buttonhole issues.

Oh well functionally, it's exactly what I wanted. A medium-weight coat for running around during the fall/winter.

Here are some of the details:

Call me vain, but I LOVE how my pockets turned out! I didn't want to topstitch the welts but when I've hand-stitched them before it hasn't been very durable.
I ended up hand stitching them from the wrong-side of the jacket using a back-stitch. The first one was so strong I couldn't pull it apart, so that's what I stayed with.
I didn't realize until I cut out the sleeves that I was running out of fabric. So the sleeves will remain at this too-short-for-me length.

The coat calls for 3 gigantic buttons. I used two because a.) I had them in my stash and b.) they remind me of my grandmother ;) I'll be keeping my eye out for a set of three buttons that are the same size and match better.

I used Gigi's recent tutorial for that lining-facing-hem intersection on the front. I think I've almost got the process memorized - love it!

Here's my blouse that I started ummmm, I think it was in October and hoped to finish in one day. I finished it completely on the 24th...of this month.

By the time I was ready to wear it, it just needed a few extra buttons.

This is New Look 6783 (OOP). I was inspired to make it because of another blogger - thanks Nancy! I just loved her blouse and really loved it paired with the white skirt. According to the guy at the fabric store this is a linen that has been treated on one side to create the shine. Shiny but not in-your-face shiny. Love it.

Not too many sewing details (that I can remember).

I added a strip of fusible interfacing at the shoulder seam. After the sleeve was attached it looked like the shoulders seam was growing and starting to look like a dropped sleeve.
The button situation isn't pretty. But who cares? It's all covered up! I used what I had available but it turned out they were spaced way too far apart. Since I ended up finishing this on Christmas Eve day (so I could wear to church that night) at my mom's house. But, I forgot to bring my additional buttons and had to use what she had on hand. It's not too pretty under that lap.

So, I was able to put together a real live honest to goodness sewing post on the last day of this year. Well, here's to you 2010. May you roll over, fall in a deep hole, get buried, and never be spoken of again ;) Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year. I mean a full 365 days of wonderfulness!

Sewing stuff (no pix :( )

2010-12-28T09:39:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my parents I have a full day-and-a-half of guilt-free time. Of course, I'm in a sewing frame of mind but just wanted to take time to share this cool link from Peggy Sagers (no affiliation). I was so curious when I read my e-mail invitation, I actually I interrupted my productive sewing time to watch this http://www.livestream.com/silhouettepatterns and was so impressed! She's probably not the first person to do this, but it's the first one I've seen. I definitely will be trying pants fitting after my vintage jacket is done. (I'm so tempted to join both the vintage and jacket sew-alongs. After all I could accomplish both in one day....before the new year even!)

I hate posting without pictures especially when I have finished garments, but right now I've got to sew! Will try and get pix up later today.

News Flash

2010-12-23T23:13:00.002-05:00

JoAnn's Buyout!

Maybe you know this already but...I just heard it on the news. Since I live less than 30min. away from JoAnn's headquarters thought I'd share what the local press is saying. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/12/jo-ann_stores_going_private_in.html

Good news? Bad news? What do you think? Well, who's thinking about that kind of stuff now anyway? I'm just trying to figure out if I should make my buttonholes (for my Christmas Eve outfit blouse) tonight or tomorrow. Just saw the clock. It will be tomorrow.

Happy hope-you-find-time-to-sew Holidays to all!

Sew Fresh

2010-11-17T22:28:00.004-05:00

This might be it. The weekend that I get to sew....again.....finally. X will have kids for two nights and two days. I know I should feel sad that they're not going to be with me, but I haven't had that much "me" time since they were born. So I say yipee. I'll be able to sew like I did before-kids, from Friday to Sunday. I don't want to get too excited because then it might not happen. So yipee.

FYI - I teach HS Band and I put the titles of the music we'll be practicing on the board everyday. Twice this week I've written "Sew Fresh" instead of "So Fresh" and didn't realize it until a student pointed it out to me. I think that's sew funny but she didn't seam to get it!!

O-H

2010-09-08T21:36:00.000-04:00

(I-O. If you've every lived in my neck of the woods you know what that title means but it's really not what this post is about.)

Here's why I haven't sewn much. My DH who's never been much of a D and is now an X made my summer a living H. He didn't drag out as long as possible (at times threatened up to 3 years) and he didn't force us both to spend every penny we had, but there was too much fear and anxiety to enjoy much of anything. I did lots of fun things this summer but had this H cloud hanging over every activity.

Anyway, aside from that and aside from my daughter breaking her arm, and my car requiring around $500 worth of repairs the first week of school, and the fact that they haven't given me any band classes yet, and that I didn't get paid last Friday like I was supposed to, and that I think I now have bronchitis and will have to spend a sick day at home with my X; aside from all that I believe in a better life for all of us. The bad things have happened not to ruin our lives but to save them (ok, I read that in "O" magazine this month but it seemed to fit). X will be around for 29 more days and then my new life will begin.

Oh yea, Saturday we (mom, kids, me) will make the pink walk again. Survivor - Year #6. That is, I'll make it if I'm not too sick to walk. Ugh.

P.S.- DD, who really is a D, got her cast off today! Poor thing, she didn't want it to come off because she was afraid it hadn't healed yet. Once she saw they X-ray she was okay with it. Just needed a little confirmation. She has a splint to wear at school and orders not to do any running yet, but she can swim, and she can bathe by herself - woohoo - mom is soooo glad about that!

Non-Sewing Stuff

2010-08-28T21:31:00.005-04:00

Well, not all non-sewing....My linen dress made it to the Natural Fabrics Fashion Show at the sewing expo in Michigan! Yay! I'm going to try my best to make it there IRL, but just don't know if I can. I don't even care if I can't wear the dress I just want to meet some online buddies! We'll see what happens.

I made it through the first two days of school. Another, Yay! Lots of improvements going on in my building because we are almost doubling the numbers of faculty and students. Somewhere in all the improvements all the desks and chairs in my room disappeared! Hmmm. Luckily after 15 years in this district I'm prepared; found folding chairs and already had clipboards for the students to use. But, the BIG news about the first day is that since there are three high schools merging into one (my) building this year, it is kind of in the spotlight (this is my way of telling you what's happening without all the the nitty gritty details - and they are gritty!). So, during an assembly on the first day we had the district CEO, a local DJ and graduate from the district - Basheer Jones (he was FANTASTIC, I was so impressed, and the students absolutely listened to every word he said), and Trey Songz! Ok. I'll admit it. I'm a music teacher and I had to Google him to find out who he was. But that's not that important. What is important is the students knew him, went crazy when he walked on stage, and were absolutely attentive when he spoke. He purposely didn't not perform so the students would absorb what he said. Very few people in the school even know this, but in one of the classrooms, that just happened to be next to my room, he autographed the whiteboard. I just thought that was so cool! Of course, I immediately snapped a picture with my phone! I'm sure it will be erased soon.

Forgot to mention earlier that my DD broke another arm...at camp...in Pennsylvania. It didn't require surgery but was bad enough that 1. everyone knew it was broken, no questions, 2. one of the counselor's threw up after she saw it (no blood, just a really abnormal shaped arm!) 3. it required an ambulance ride from PA to Cleveland. She weathered this one much better than the last one (in November, just in case you forgot) but now she's really afraid to get the cast off - afraid her arm's not going to be strong enough. Well, we'll deal with that in two weeks!

Must stop now. I had no idea how long my last post was! Way too many words-lol! Hopefully sewing, or at least blogging, will be worked into my routine soon and I'll have a few sewing-related items to share!

Sewing Is Going On!

2010-08-15T21:28:00.010-04:00

I once owned a long, straight, white skirt with pockets and I wore it to death. I’ve been meaning to replace it for years. I’m hoping this skirt is the answer.

Patterns (I think both are OOP) Vogue 8424 (for pockets only) and Vogue 8427 – I’ve made the long version of this about three times and with that slit, it’s one of the sexiest skirts ever! Just watch it when you sit down ;)
Fabric - Can’t remember where the fabric is from but it’s a mid-weight cotton with a little stretch and it’s lined with a poly from JA’s.
Design – I decided to keep the waistband because I knew I would want to wear it with a belt. Just kind of winged it with the belt loops and I think you can see, they didn’t fit the belt, at least not this belt…or three others I tried. I knew I had to be careful with the slit so I lowered the opening 1-1/2”.
I just love how the pockets are almost invisible on this when they’re not being used. The openings just happen to fall right in line with the hip line or something. And, they’re nice and deep.
Construction – This was my chance to follow along the article in the current Threads issue 150 to follow the method for lining a skirt with a vent. Even though my vent wasn’t the same, that’s not really what intrigued me. When I read the instructions and saw they attached the lining to the hem before sewing the side seams, I knew I had to try it. There were two things that got me mildly frustrated; 1. I had to read all the directions, sometimes twice! I’m a visual-learner and there weren’t enough pictures for me. 2. I didn’t think it was very clear about when to insert the zipper. After much gnashing of teeth, I finally put it in before working on the lining and that worked. At this point, the method didn’t save any time but once I get used to it, it might, meaning I will be trying this method again.

I entered a contest! About halfway through the construction of this dress on Friday, I realized that it qualifies for PR’s Natural Fabric Contest. I haven’t done any contests for such a long time, I don’t really think it has much chance of winning, and have no idea if it were selected to be modeled, if I could make it (even though, I’m not that far from Michigan) to the show. So, I decided what-the-heck! That gave me some extra motivation to finish it too.

At first I thought, oh I’ve made it before I’m just going to put it together without instructions. Well, Murphy was listening. Here’s my first seam. That’s right I enclosed the wrong side of the pieces, and trimmed my corners too! Sew, rip, and read. Fabric – 100% Linen (Liz Claiborne) from EOS last year.
Pattern – Simplicity 3773 (This is labeled as an “Easy To Sew” probably because there are no closures to worry about but IMHO, the collar construction on this is not a beginner technique. And, I’m not just saying that because I messed up on mine!)
Construction – I didn’t include the pockets because of the lack of fabric. I did create facings for the sleeves because, I guess I’m in the minority, I love facings. They just work better for me most of the time. Here’s what they look like attached.
I added the facings to the collar facing pattern piece before cutting.
I took Carolyn’s suggestion from the comments when I posted (scroll down) about cutting out this pattern and fused strips of interfacing along all of the seamlines. I then cut an underlining out of a poly lining I had in the stash. I serged the underlining to the sides and centers of the front and back pieces, then sewed it together. (Just read my posting on this dress from last year and noticed that I added to the width of the shoulder seam. Also, the first time that dress was put in the wash it came out with blue blotches everywhere and hasn't been worn since. :( )

This came home with me after a trip to Goodwill. I thinks it’s kind of like the Lutterloh system.

This was gifted to me today from a neighbor that’s moving. Just look at all that binding!! That’s something I’ve wanted to start using a more often but, man, that stuff just never goes on sale anymore. Woohoo!

I’ve got more, so you might actually need to visit again before the month is up! In the meantime here’s some fun I had before taking the "serious" pix.

The Mind Is Not Willing

2010-07-28T19:10:00.003-04:00

Finally I can breathe. Kids are gone during the day. Other personal baggage is lightening up. I have time to sew, but I don't know what to make. Oooooo, I hate that! I'm desperate to sew something just to make room so I can buy some more fabric. The last 3-1/2 things I've made are on their way out of the house. Hated them. (This includes the two sleeveless blouses I just made - yuk, hated them.) It's so bad I can't even think of what to plan. I put all my patterns and most of my fabrics in Picasa files, I've put together a little plan for summer but it's just not motivating me. Poop. I know you've all been there and might be there right now. Just wanted to vent.

I think I'm just going to have to write-off this as one of the worst, most unproductive summers ever and move on. I've only got three weeks left before the school year begins. (More uncertainty there too as I'm once again in a position where there's about a 50% chance I won't have the same school/position I had last year. It seems that although my district is supporting the arts all of the open positions so far have been for Art or Vocal Music. Guess Instrumental Music is too much work!) I mean, it's not like I won't have anything to wear...

Totally unrelated to sewing - My daughter is at an overnight camp this week (she went last year too) and I discovered the Bunk1 website. It's so cool! I can go on the site daily and see photo's of what the kids are doing at camp (like 200 photos!). And for a fee I can type up a message, they print it and deliver it to her the next morning. I'm terrible at writing letters and even worse at making sure they get mailed.

Later,
Dana

P.S. DD doesn't know it but I'm totally purging her wardrobe while she's gone. Seriously, the child is 9 and still has garments that are size 6! And she wears them! I don't realize it until I look at her think she may be putting on weight. Duh, no, it's a t-shirt from when she was 6!!

Blogger's Block

2010-07-20T22:42:00.003-04:00

I wanna write more but just can't think of what to say. I do have a couple of pictures though. Remember those cool cotton prints from Gorgeous Fabrics? It only took me, ummm, just two years to put this one together. It did turn out to be exactly what I originally wanted the fabric to be though.

Try to ignore the waist, the green shapes on the print are not even and for those of us in the know, well, it's noticeable here. I have belts I could add but really liked the way it looked without...on this particular day anyway. The pattern is New Look 6723. A pretty basic pattern that I lined with white cotton/poly broadcloth. From the pictures, it looks like I'd better add a swayback adjustment to my list.

Kids are both out of the house for most of the day next week...maybe I'll actually get some real sewing done then!

Fabric Store Tragedy Hits Home

2010-07-05T18:07:00.005-04:00

Maybe that's a little dramatic but, one of my favorite local fabric resources, Cutting Room Fabrics - is CLOSING!! Shock, sadness, sympathy...and then guilt. Guilt because I didn't shop there enough (it's a 30 min. drive to get there). Guilt because I usually only bought interfacing, shoulder pads, and fabrics marked way down. Serious guilt when I read this: "Going Out Of Business - 75% off everything! Emergency fabric trip. Cancel all appointments, watch the kids, I'm outa' here and I don't know when I'll be back!

The normally empty parking lot was almost full. I saw, I grabbed, I stood in line.......and stood in line......and stood in line....for almost 1-1/2 hours but I didn't care. A couple of people said it but I'm sure everyone was thinking it - why couldn't it be this crowded all the time? Well, maybe not that crowded, just crowded enough to keep them in business longer. Enough, here's the good stuff.

Here are the details: The cutting slip reads 1.25, 4, 4, 3, 3 yards with only one piece marked below 17.95/yd (originally) figure in the 75% off and we have a grand total of $65. Still feeling guilty but felt the need to share.

* If you're in the area or familiar with the store I suggest you get over there quick. The sale goes through the end of the month, but if today is any indication there will little if anything left at that point.

Some Actual Sewing!

2010-07-03T22:07:00.007-04:00

The three blouses I hoped to finish in one weekend (two weekends ago) have gone from this! To this. Ta Da!

What's that you say? One is missing? Well, the one that didn't get finished is actually about four years old. I think the hold up is the armhole finish. Well, that and the fact that I have no idea what pattern I used, so I'm not completely sure what it's supposed to look like. Does it have darts? Um, I don't know. The strips that I cut to finish the armholes (I think) are not on the bias. Sewing obstacle. What's that you say? Just go and get some bias tape to finish them off? Well, have you noticed how the tapes and briads at some fabric stores never seem to go on sale any more, have you? Zippers either, but that's not important here. Anyway, I finished two.

If you look closely you will find many mistakes. This I know. This I don't care. These are not forever-after blouses. They will be replaced soon. Maybe I'll tell people I bought them at an inexpensive chain store. I do like this OOP pattern though. I made it with the ruffles last year and have yet one more version cut out.

I should probably go on about all the sewing details of the blouses but I don't feel like it! Tonight I have other sewing issues on my mind. Last year I bought the end of this fabulous Liz Claiborne linen from EOS. At first it was going to be a long bias skrit. Then it was going to be the same dress that Isaac designed for Liz (bias dress, long skirt sleeveless top with collar). I didn't have enough fabric. Now it's going to be this sleeveless summer dress and I didn't actually have enough fabric for this one either. Oh heck, most people don't notice that anyway, right? The all-important CF is perfectly matched, so I'm just going to make sure no one sees my CB!

Took some pictures of how I matched the CF for this one.

Pinned front and back.

Can you guess what my next dilemma is? I'll give you a little hint...BIAS. This thing is going to stretch out of control! Any and all ideas for a suitable infrastructure are welcome!

Oh yea, I did something bad this week. Can you guess? It cost $35 and you can't wear it but it has to do with sewing. Hmmmmmmmm, what could it be?

Barbie Love

2010-06-25T22:24:00.004-04:00

Is this not cool? I rarely visit ToysRUs but today I happened to be there with my daughter (trying to spend a $5 gift card, right?) About eight years ago I sent a message to friends and family that my Barbie collection was complete and no matter how beautiful the new Barbie's were, you must not give one to me. It's only fitting that I'm the one who broke down.

I just thought this new edition was so unbelievably gorgeous. Black and white with a little bit of silver (in the accessories which I didn't buy...yet) thrown in. Take that you pink and purple shiny, fluffy stuff! I'm actually too lazy to find all the info about this doll so I'll just say there are about 20 different versions and the advertising implies that you will add new accessories for her every season.

My Barbie History

I'm a light-hearted collector. When I started making real-live grown-up money I started buying/receiving "collectors edition" dolls. Probably about the same time most of the baby-boomer population was doing the same (meaning they probably aren't worth that much because everybody has them). My collection has a "Little Debbie" edition, a Speigel edition, a Pocahontas edition (this was given to me by a dear friend that met the woman who was the voice for the Disney production of Pocahontas and so had her autograph the doll, but she signed it Pocahontas. Couldn't anybody have signed it that way?) And then there was this one. The last one. The doll that was so beautiful I couldn't possibly continue collecting after her...........until today.

I hate the fact that now you can hardly go in and buy an outfit because they are marketed to make you buy the whole doll instead of a single outfit. As a kid I loved shopping for outfits that were rarely purchased because they were too expensive. Besides, my mom sewed and knit several wardrobes for my, and my sister's dolls so buying clothes was hardly necessary. (I love those clothes now, but you know the store bought stuff always seemed nicer then.)

I have a love/hate relationship with these dolls. I love how beautiful and special they are. I hate the fact that I'm not supposed to take them out of the box and play with them. (In 7th grade I was the victim of an "I still play with Barbies too" scam which resulted in two new kindred-spirit-type friendships but was also rather humiliating. So believe me, if I could take them out and play, even at my age, I would.) With the exception of one fabulous "special" outfit and one Christmas doll (out of about 15), I have not taken them out their boxes. Promise. But it's killin' me. Seriously. They are stored in a closet where I can't see them just so I don't open then up. And now my daughter knows about them. How can I explain this foolish notion of collecting when I don't entirely believe in it?

Anyway. I L.O.V.E.my new Barbie!!! I wonder what she would look like with her hair in small braids in an updo, or different shoes, or a custom designed dress? I wonder if she wants to live in my daughter's doll house and go for a ride in her pink convertible? I probably will never know.

Should probably mention that I have no affiliation with any big or little toy mfgs.

More Randomness

2010-06-12T08:19:00.007-04:00

Check out this link from Cleveland Plain Dealer - Would love to be a bridesmaid in this dress - just for the petticoat!

Who doesn't need a pair of cotton-candy pink, high-waisted, linen/cotton pants for the summer? Well, I thought I needed them. Then I made them. If the fit wasn't so fantastic they might be on their way to Goodwill as we speak. Here's a peek at the construction, the fit pix will have to come later.

This weekend I SEWED!!!! Saturday was a long dress for my daughter that I've been wanting to make for ages. The picture shows two version of the same pattern (see sidebar for review - thanks for all the lovely comments from some of my favorite bloggers). Today the white thread was loaded, the interfacing was applied and off I went working on three blouses (leftovers from last year) at once. They won't get finished today, but I am hopeful for this week.

I keep forgetting to post about this suit I made for a wardrobe contest (the year of monochromatic looks that included matching gloves) that I didn't finish on time. The jacket hung on my dress form for almost a year before I completed the hand work and the pants were a terrible fit; not worth trying to fix. After playing around with several different combinations I came up with one ab-fab outfit that I will wear whenever I need a confidence-booster. It makes me feel good and makes me hold my head just a little bit higher.
Life's still a bee, but at least I'm closer to my favorite pastime and might even find enough to time to pass there (get it?).

It's So Sad.

2010-05-28T11:53:00.009-04:00

Have you ever seen anything so sad?

Remember this?
Here's what happened. This is some of that special, untouchable, waiting-for-the-perfect-garment fabric that I bought when I had visions of becoming a real, live, shy but famous fashion designer. It's been patiently waiting for more than 10 years. Three years ago I made my first just-break-down-and-sew-it garment from one of my really old patterns that I'd made before and loved. Well, the pattern didn't age very well and the jacket just looked goofy. This is the first time it's been seen in public.

Then I found the Butterick pattern. Made it, wore it, loved it. One day I tried it on with a cotton blouse and it felt a little snug. The next time I went to pull it out to wear AAAAHHHHHH!!! The fabric must have simply given out when I tried it on with the blouse. Maybe I'll try to convert it into a long vest (which I'm kind of diggin' lately). But for now, I'm still getting over the shock. I invested so much hope, so much love, so many beautiful possibilities on this fabric that it will definitely take time to recover. Lesson: Don't wait for the ultimate special garment to use your good fabric!! It's just fabric. Make your garment then go out and buy some more! (Yea, like I need to tell you to buy more fabric :))

Okay, this is the last of the sad news.

Just in case you can't tell, those are spider webs on the thread guide for my industrial. Enough said.

Life's A Bee

2010-05-16T21:36:00.011-04:00

(Trying to be kid-friendly.) At least it has been for the past month. Just when I see a light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel caves in...again...like it did about an hour ago. I'm going to get to that light soon though, definitely by the time summer vacation starts!

Since I don't have any really informative sewing to share I thought I'd show you some of the pictures I've been collecting. These were all meant to be their own separate blog posts at one time but...

A few years ago my mom, the person that taught me to sew, started sewing banners and liturgical stoles seriously. She'd done the banners before but when she got "serious" they became amazing! I don't have any of the banners but here are a couple of her stoles. She makes her own designs, scouts the fabric at JoAnn's and sews them up!

UFO's (unfinished objects) Over the years I've developed a sewing system. I plan, I cut hopefully several garments at once, I sew as the spirit moves me. Once a garment has been cut it is considered "in process", i.e. not the same as a UFO. I found this storage unit at a garage sale for...$2.00. (Gotta love a bargain.)

So when the garments are cut all the pieces, notions, and pattern are stored in the drawers until the spirit moves me.

In my little sewing world this is what a UFO looks like. See that black blob shoved in the corner or that brown blob shoved under the table?

They are the pieces that need to be fixed, altered, or just finished. Since taking this picture I have freed the black blob from it's humiliating home (actually a pair of black double knit pants that suffered from the big-honkin'-pants syndrome). The brown blob (a boring brown pair of pants) is still there. It may not make it back into the closet.

Well, it feels good to blog again. I haven't even had the chance to comment lately. So glad that you keep blogging anyway and give me that little escape from the tunnel. Thanks, you guys!

The Failed Plan

2010-03-17T10:24:00.006-04:00

Well, two posts in one week…what a treat! How am I able to post at 11:00 a.m. on a weekday, you ask? It’s because I’m home with a sick child, of course…for the second day this week!

Anyway, this post is about change. Since my rediscovery of PR and discovery of SWAP my sewing became all about the plan. I changed my method and quantity of sewing based on these discoveries. Last year I spent some time planning out a wardrobe that would follow all the pieces of the pattern, just in a different color scheme. Loved the pattern, loved the fabric. Only two pieces were cut out before spring arrived and the plan was put on hold. Then more things changed. My sewing schedule changed as my school job improved. My interest in SWAP changed; too much structure. (One reason I was able to move away from SWAP was because the garments I constructed with a plan have provided me with a very large coordinating wardrobe. Ironic, yes?) Everytime I looked at the cut garments for the new wardrobe I just groaned and looked away. Plus, they were black. I’m so sick of black. Even when I looked at the pattern cover I couldn’t get excited. I started making plans to use different patterns for the uncut fabrics.

A long introduction to explain why I hate the jacket I just finished. (Watch the PR sidebar for a review to come soon.) Before I list all the things that bother me, let me say that I don’t plan on donating it just yet. The season's almost over, I let it marinate for awhile.
The style – I am not a big fan of ¾ sleeves. Don’t like the wide style of these anymore. It looks and feels very boxy to me.
The length – I didn’t think the jacket would be as short as it turned out. Mine cannot be worn with a belt without looking way too short.
The color – Sick. Of. Black. (The reality is I will be making more black clothes, the color was just another strike against this project.)
The construction – it went along well until the collar application (operator error). It’s not the worst I’ve ever done and with a different outlook I could have done better, but it got to the point where I just wanted it done and I didn’t care how it looked.
The fit - It's much more fitted than I expected. Of course I didn't make a muslin.

Construction Tidbits
I used Judy Barlup’s article “Get The Edge” from Threads #147 for the front edges.
I cut my own shaped sleeve heads. I had been cutting just a straight strip until I read this. The shaped ones have noticeably improved my sleeve caps.
I used the sleeve lining method where the lining is attached at the hem before attaching the sleeves. Then I used bias binding (should’ve used a wider one) to enclose the seams. (Results are yuk.)
I finally have learned how to sew a button with no visible knots!
I had to use my regular machine to sew the buttonholes. That darn vintage buttonholer ARGH! I have to use the cover plate since I can’t drop the feed dogs but then there’s hardly any room for the fabric. Suggestions anyone?

Happy Sewing!

Life and Some Sewing

2010-03-14T21:05:00.004-04:00

In the past four weeks:

I did something to my back – 3 days of excruciating pain, 2 days of mild pain, recovery.
DD got sick (out two days)
I got sick (out one day)
DH got sick
DS got sick (out one day) – didn’t think it was strep but thought I should have him tested anyway since strep likes our family so much. After 2hrs 45 minutes at the “minute clinic” found out he couldn’t get the quick test because he’s had strep in the past 30 days. Have to have the 24hr test. By nighttime I’m convinced he’s okay and send him to school the next day only to get the results and find out he’s got strep. But I digress…
DS recovers
My back goes out again. I’ve been alternating between excruciating, bad, and maybe it’s going away over the past three days. Not happy. Hurts to type, hurts to sew, hurts to sleep, really hurts to drive, also hurts to stand. Yes, it’s been a great weekend.

In between all of this I’ve made two tops (Vogue 8616, the other is the same pattern in ivory) and a jacket that’s thiiiiiiiiiiiis close to completion.

Just the facing/hem intersection and buttonhole/buttons to go. At this point I just want to finish the jacket, which I hate by the way, so I can move on. (Look for at least one long post about the failure of the jacket!) I’m going to try one more time on that intersection; my instructions aren’t working tonight for some reason. Then I’ll be ready for another buttonholer rant. (There’s hardly any space to insert the fabric on my vintage machine without tearing into the fabric!!)

Gosh, that all sounds so negative - I'm really not unhappy :) It's almost spring for pete's sake! Hopefully the next post will be more about sewing. I got three vintage patterns in the mail this week. At least three of the four of us will (hopefully) be representing a different era for Easter!

Bunch-O-Stuff

2010-02-26T09:56:00.005-05:00

Finally, A SNOW DAY for pretty much all of NE Ohio! It's just been killin' me to read about all the snow days (wanted or not) that are happening to the east, to the south, and to the north of us. We haven't even come close to needing one. We've gotten a decent amount of snow but it's come down so slowly that travel hasn't been a problem.

So today we all get to play!

I'm joining the Compliments Guaranteed Party with my coat-of-many colors.

Fun facts:
This coat is close to 20 yrs. old (yikes! I can't even believe that one, try to ignore the pilling ;) )

The plaid on the right side of this fabric doesn't match the plaid on the wrong side. The pattern is the same just not the colors which means that it's pretty much a miracle I got the plaids to match! And believe me, they match...everywhere horizontally, vertically, bound buttonholes and welt pockets!

I made the entire coat in one weekend. Bought and cut the fabric Friday night, sewed all day Saturday, added the buttons on Sunday. (I think it took 18hrs total. This was a time in my life when I was timing my projects.)

90% of the time when I wear this, someone pays me a compliment.

The pictures aren't so great as I took them when I first started blogging.

Speaking of pictures, I read some helpful tips about camera settings at What I Wore Today. She gives some easy adjustments to make when taking pictures of clothing indoors and I decided to try them out. I have a very basic camera (Traveler - Aldi's special) and was able to find all the functions she mentions on my camera without even looking at the manual. It would have been nice do all this from one of the photo spots in my house on a live person, but from where I'm sitting at the computer this morning I can easily just turn around and take a picture without have to even stand up! (Some of the pictures are blurry because obviously, I was too lazy to go get the tripod.) Anyway, here's a comparison of my experiment. Photo #2 is probably closest to the actual color of the fabric.

Thanks to everyone's for the kind words regarding my grandmother's house. I know that deep down what I really miss is my grandmother and all the memories of the time we spent with her. And...I've still got those!

310 Lake Street

2010-02-15T20:39:00.004-05:00

It's a sad day for me. Before I mention the heartbreaking news let me say that no one was hurt, my grandmother passed away years ago, and her house was sold soon after she died. The sad news is that last night her house was destroyed by fire. (If you click the Multimedia tab you can see more pictures.) (This article shows the "before" picture.)

This house was the "home base" for my mom's family for at least three generations. We visited every year. It was my home-away-from-home while I went to college in Minnesota. Eau Claire has never felt the same since my grandmother died but at least the house was there as a reminder. The news articles don't mention that on the other three corners of this intersection there are three more beautiful (even bigger), landmark historic homes. How will we ever be able to face that intersection without Nana's house?

I know that there are many worse things that could have happened. My heart goes out to the people, mostly students, that lost everything including their home. I know that it's just a house and that a house doesn't replace a family, or a memory. But it's still sad, very, very sad.

They're Just Words.

2010-02-13T14:12:00.008-05:00

So here’s what happened. I spent about 45 minutes typing a clever post about my sewing and life in general. (I was typing in word and planned on cut and pasting it.) I had to run downstairs and decided I wouldn’t bother saving the file because I’d be right back.

Downstairs I find DD (8) frantically trying to clean up a failed baking soda experiment before I found out about it. By the time I got back upstairs DS (7) was on the computer looking up pictures of tornadoes.

Me: Where’s my file?
Him: It’s gone.
Me: Did you shrink it liked I showed you yesterday?
Him: No.
Me: It’s just gone?
Him: Yes.

So you get what you get – the abbreviated version.

A sewing puzzle – my current soon to be finished project

My previous completed project (took almost two weeks to finish – ugh – not difficult just too busy).

I will definitely use the collar/lapel seam allowance treatment (from the current Threads issue - Get The Edge) that I referenced in my previous post. Because, this is the first time I’ve gotten this part of the lapel to stay tucked underneath.

I love everything about the vest except the length. It hits at just the wrong spot. Don’t know how/if I’ll ever try and fix that.

p.s. Check out the Sundance channel if you get it. They’ve been showing a bunch of sewing/fashion/designer documentaries including Signe Chanel of internet and youtube fame.

Memories...

2010-01-26T21:10:00.008-05:00

This is why I love lurking on the vintage pattern sites. Yep, that's me. Homecoming 1XX4. I made the dress and I loved it. The minute I saw the pattern on the website I was young again! (Pattern pic from momspatterns.com)

My current project (going on week #3) is a vintage vest on which I'm trying out the methods described in this Threads article (current issue). So far, I love it. The turn-of-the-cloth on the collar is perfect!

Too Much

2010-01-09T21:30:00.003-05:00

Time Ever been in a position where you’ve got so many things you want to do that you can’t figure out what to do first and then you end up doing nothing? Sometimes I solve this by making lists. Other times it's just too much. That’s where I am now. I think I’ve been here since school started! Maybe that would explain my lack of sewing. I have been sewing but at about half the rate I was doing last year. This does not make me happy. When I think about it, there are pockets of time here and there but when I sit down it’s all, Do I sew? Do I blog? Do I SWAP? Do I do school work? (Do I clean? never comes up ;)

Sewing Boo hoo me because I didn’t get my special Christmas Eve outfit done. Not even close. This doesn’t happen very often and I know it’s materialistic but… I did, manage to make 3 nightgowns, 2 pairs of flannel pj pants and 2 robes for my kids. All that in two days isn’t too bad.
Last weekend I finished one piece of my outfit and managed to write a review. I like it with the black but my vision was a complete winter-white outfit. (The blouse and the pants are cut.) After I wore this to school and heard more than one comment about my nice “lab coat” I decided that maybe the black wasn’t so great. I’ll try it again in ww when the pants are done (if they’re done before spring).
I have all these beautiful pieces of fabric purchased in the last two years. I know what I want to make, I just can’t seem to prioritize. And, I’ve run out of space; both in my sewing area and my closet!
Tonight I finished a pair of plain-old brown pants that I don’t even know when I started (maybe September?), and a plain-old black skirt that is left over from one of last year’s plans. I started to work on a really nice vintage vest that is already cut and will match several existing garments, but I just don’t feel like making it. sigh.

School I really love my job but it takes a lot of time, at least when I’m teaching what I want to teach the way I want to teach it, it does. That’s where I am right now. That means more work; more figuring out what is going to make them want to learn. Now there is another little concern. My district is “in danger of failing”. In an effort to fix this the CEO announced a Transformation Plan this week. I fully support anything that will help our students. And while I’m pretty sure I won’t lose my job, I’m once again in a position where I don’t know if I’ll be in the same school next year. I've been there before. I'm not afraid. It's just hard to build a band program when you're in a different building every two years.

Blog I can’t believe how few entries I’ve made this year. I was going to post something over my winter break and just watched the days on the calendar float by. One of the reasons I decided to write this entry is that I’ve realized the longer I don’t post anything the easier it is to not post anything. So forgive any typos and the lack of pictures or specific sewing details – I’m just trying to get back on that horse!
My blog is outdated. I used to have a job in a graphic arts department and was always aware of new programs and stuff. It bothers me that I can't keep up with it anymore. (I still don't quite get the whole follower thing. I'll let you know when I finally catch on.)

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.” I love that. I’m going to remember that. It's silly and profound. (I don’t know if this is where it came from originally but I heard that tonight as the kids and I watched Kung Fu Panda.)

P.S. Check out this blog for some amazing pictures from the top of the world - well, really it's just Alaska. One of the authors is my cousin. The scenery pictures are amazing (see January of '09 for eagle pix, and Nov. '09 to see where the rainbow ends).

I FINISHED!

2009-11-25T21:04:00.004-05:00

At this point I don't even remember what the details were for the 2008 Stitcher's Guild SWAP, but today I attached the very last button! Woohoo!!

I only had enough energy to take pictures of the garments today. (Not even enough energy to iron the blouses lol!) As soon as I can, I'll show the outfits. I was actually very close to finishing on time. Believe it or not, it was not the jacket that prevented me from finishing - that was all done (except for hand work, which I consider done ;)) a month before the contest ended. My final obstacle was the purple "silky" blouse. Originally it was to be ivory silk charmeuse but I didn't have as much as I thought in my stash and then I found this purple that matched the pants perfectly. As much as I'm not a fan of this poly fabric (from JoAnn's) I knew it would be easier to sew than charmeuse. Anyway the pattern for this was gathered sleeves, gathered cuffs (from this blouse pattern), and a bow. I just didn't have the energy to tackle that when all the other bloggers were sewing for spring! Well, the blouse is done now and I love it - especially the sleeves.

It wasn't until today when I pulled all the garments together that I realized I really love how all the pieces can work together. I'll put together more details when I show the outfits, but here are some bullet-points, FYI.

- I've worn the purple pants almost as often as the black pants. Seriously, who looks in their closet and says, "I need a pair of purple pants to make it complete."? Well, I didn't. The fabric is actually a hand-me-down wool crepe that my mom gave me after it sat in her stash forever. I now agree with Carolyn that this fabric is fantastic for pants, especially a wide leg!

- The biggest disappointment is the pair of dark gray pants that go with the jacket. From the knee up they look and feel awful! I see myself wearing them exactly once, just to show off the suit. I've been searching the web to find this fabric for a different pair of pants - no luck. It's wool denim. Anybody else seen it?? I bought it locally at a store that I only visit about twice a year.

- The jacket pattern called for all pieces to be interfaced. I really went back and forth about this because the fabric was quite firm to begin with. I decided to follow the pattern...unfortunately, NOT before I purchased my interfacing from Pam. The interfacing started to bubble long before the hand work was finished.

- After I realized I wasn't going to meet the deadline my jacket just sat and sat and sat on my dress form. When I finally took it off, it had smoushed all the shoulder and bust padding on the form!

- I also made turtlenecks in black, purple, and medium gray - my standard winter comfort garment.

Thanks for all the well-wishes for my daughter. She's adapting well - when she wants to!

That's all for now. Hope everyone enjoys the holiday!

Randomness

2009-11-22T23:02:00.006-05:00

Taking some baby steps with the sewing...sewed up a muslin for my vintage jacket pattern and made small adjustments. Revisited the brown pants that I cut out and couldn't remember what modifications and pattern I used. It looks like they might be wearable soon.

Then my little princess fell off the monkey bars. Four days, three splints, one surgery, and countless healthcare professionals later she's ready to return to school. Well, for half-a-day anyway. She'll be getting a permanent cast in the afternoon. Tomorrow morning we'll be working out the fashion details. It's not easy to find shirts that will fit over a giant cast. Today, between Goodwill and JoAnn's I put these together. You can't really tell from the picture but almost all of them have some sparkle. When you're 8 that's really the most important part (at least in this house).

Managed to sew and write a review for this garment. I love the dress with a turtleneck but in my "virtual sewing" imagination I thought it would look about 100 times better all alone. Figured that I would be making many of these for all seasons. Not now. Not with that neckline.

Here's hoping everyone gets lots of sewing, or at least fabric-shopping done this week! My vacation days will be spent, catching up with all the days I've missed from school, sewing, eating, shopping - definitely not in that order!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Resizing

2009-10-31T22:08:00.008-04:00

Just when I thought I was too busy for anything except complaining about being so busy…I came up with a little tutorial sort of thing!

After making the good witch of the west costume forced me back into my sewing area, I was motivated to tackle one of those projects that is easy to put off for a long, long time. Sometimes, even more than a year.

This project is resizing a vintage coat pattern. During the great coat sew along I caught Marji fever (scroll down to the May 15th post) and purchased many vintage coat patterns. This one in particular just had to come home. Then someone on PR made a fall coat out of corduroy… then I saw this fabulous wide-wale corduroy at a very good price…that also needed a home. Well, they’ve both been very cozy waiting for a fall. Last fall, this fall, next fall, whatever! Finally I’m ready to resize the pattern – yippee! This is how I did it.

Step 1: I went to the nearest Threads resource – mine happens to be in the sanctuary (a.k.a. sewing area, a.k.a mommy zone) – and read this article.

All the other steps:
Trace the original pattern and all markings (extend the grain lines the length of the piece at this point – I didn’t do this on the sleeves but should have).

Draw cutting lines to divide the piece into segments where the adjustments will be made. On the pictures, if you look closely these are in red. By the time I did the body pieces I just cut instead of drawing and cutting.

The extended grain line gives a starting point for placing the pieces onto the new paper.
Cut along all red lines, or you may want to cut one vertical/horizontal segment at a time so that the pieces don’t blow away! Do this carefully and don’t do it in front of a fan!

Starting with my traced and cut pattern, I picked up the bottom segment that has the grain line marked and position that on the grain line of the new piece. To attach the original pattern piece to what will be the new piece I’ve tried strips of Glad Press’n Seal and tape but this time I used a glue stick. It seemed to go a little faster and since my “paper” is really a vinyl banquet table covering, I could easily reposition the piece if it wasn’t lined up correctly.

At this point I referred to the chart in the Threads article to determine how far away the next pattern piece will be. Then I lined up my ruler with the straight edge of the pattern piece and drew a line as a guide for the placement of the next piece. Continue this process until all of the new pieces are aligned on the new paper.

Once the pieces were all attached I cut out the new piece trying to leave about 1-2” in the seam allowance area. At first I was thinking that I would just use the seam allowance attachment on my rotary cutter to add the 5/8” SA when I cut out the muslin. But wait! I just realized as I’m typing this that the original pattern already has the seam allowances, so I can just cut along the edges of the original pattern pieces.

Tips:
After all pattern pieces of this project after they were cut into segments, I always started with the bottom horizontal section first then moved on to the next horizontal section of pieces. You don’t have to do the exact same thing but I think it would be advisable to have a system that you follow when moving the pieces – some of them may be very small.

The first time I resized a vintage pattern I traced over the pieces to create a solid pattern; one that wouldn’t have all those little pieces waving around. The glue seams to be working for this one so I think I’ll skip that step and move on to cutting and fitting.

The project in these pictures is being resized from a 12 ½ to a 14 so the adjustments are quite large (nothing smaller than ¼”). For my previous resizing projects the largest increment was ¼”. That meant there were a lot of 1/8” and 1/16” changes. I have to admit I trusted myself to visualize these measurements and just skipped using the ruler to mark the new placement lines. (By trust I mean that sometimes, just for fun, I’ll guess the distance of a seam allowance or a piece of fabric and then measure it to see how close I was. My accuracy is pretty good.)

So that’s it. This is not a difficult process but you do have to be in the right frame of mind before you begin. I usually like to keep track of how long something like this takes but I was interrupted so many times the best I can give is a very rough estimate - I would say about 20 minutes per pattern piece. I haven't tackled the collar yet and I will just redraw the facings and pocket placement.

DD got THE flu on Friday so I may actually find some time to sew over the next few days (in between keeping her company and entering grades for the first marking period). Luckily, her symptoms are very mild. Luckily, it’s early in the flu season so after this we won’t have to worry about every little cough from her. Luckily, if this flu ever comes back she’ll have nothing to worry about. Unluckily, the beautiful, fluffy, sparkly, good witch costume and it’s owner had to miss trick-or-treating. Luckily, I took pictures before the big day.

A Long Story

2009-10-24T09:03:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time there was a girl who liked to sew. Everyday she thought about the clothes that would someday fill her closet. On this particular day the girl decided to think about pants. Hmmmm, she thought, my pants don’t seem to fit well anymore. I’m going to take my measurements again. Maybe it will help solve this mystery. AAAARRRRRGGGH! She could not believe her eyes! Never in her life had a mere 10-15 pounds changed her measurements so drastically (and not in a good way). She sighed a heavy sigh and decided to think some more.

The very next day she began searching her sewing resources for a solution. She found a book about pants that looked like it might have an answer – Pants For The Mature Figure. (The book was Fashion Your Own Pants The Simple Way by Connie Amaden Crawford. I wouldn't spend any time trying to find this one.) This sounded promising. Off to the drafting table she went. Measure – draw, measure – draw, measure – draw, for four evenings she worked on the new pattern. Finally, the day arrived to test the pattern with a muslin. Excitedly she cut the fabric and sewed as quickly as she could. (At this point it gets a little sketchy. The muslin stage happened Labor Day weekend and the author has a very weak memory.) Adjust – fix, adjust – fix, adjust – fix. She was frustrated. At the end of the day she decided to take a chance and apply her new sloper to a real pants pattern. This took many nights of deep concentration. She was exhausted! But the dream of new pants was strong and finally the fabric was cut and the new pants were ready to be sewn.

Soon something happened and she was very, very busy. But not busy sewing. Everyday she thought about when the new pants would be done. As time passed the memory of all the changes she had made to the muslin began to dim. Dimmer, and dimmer, and dimmer until she was not sure she would remember how to put the pants together. Even worse than that she began to think, “What if I make them and they fit really well and I don’t remember how I got them to fit, and I won’t be able to make sense of my new sloper ever again? And then I’ll have to draft an entirely new pattern. Oh, the time, the time, the time.”

And then it was time to sew for Halloween. And after that it will be time to sew for Christmas. And everyday the girl will think about all the lovely clothes that will someday fill her closet.

THE END

Happy weekend sewing to everyone that finds the time to sew!!

Dana

10 Buttonholes and 3 Hours Later...

2009-10-17T22:29:00.004-04:00

That's right, the buttonhole saga isn't over yet. This is the pile of excess thread trimmed while I was trying to get the dang things done.

Ready to proceed. Practice buttonhole on cotton fabric A.O.K.
Buttonhole #1 The bobbin thread isn't catching. I stew on this little issue for an entire day.
Steps to a Solution: Dismantle everything, plate cover, buttonholer...after about 30 minutes of trial and error I realize that I changed needles and when I compare the two they are very different shapes. So I put back the original needle that came with the machine.
Buttonhole #2 Good.
Buttonhole #3 Something doesn't sound right.
Buttonhole #4 What the heck?? There's half a spool of bobbin thread on the underside.
Steps to a Solution: Re-thread everything and watch the feed dog cover since it seems like the needle is hitting it.
Buttonhole #5 Well, really it's the replacement for #4. Still not right.
Steps to a Solution: Dismantle everything, feed-dog cover, buttonholer, machine cover...after about 30 minutes of investigating I realize that the presser foot is not sitting all the way down. I oil it, but I still need to push it down to put it in place. OK, note to self - push the attachment down before sewing.
Buttonhole #6, 7 Looks good.
Buttonhole #8 What the heck? Thread is collecting underneath again, oh, forgot to push down the presser foot (actually the buttonholer). Then I realize I positioned #6, 7 so they're going the wrong direction (horizontal instead of vertical. This is because it's been at least three days since I marked the buttonhole placement and I forgot that I just marked the top of the buttonhole.) Commence ripping.
Steps to a Solution: Push the contraption down and re-thread the top thread.

Well, if you do the math it may not add up to three hours as documented here, but trust me, it was at least three hours of real time. And was it worth it?

I love the results, but now I'm too tired to attach the buttons! (The fabric is a JoAnn's poly imitation silk charmeuse and the thread matches much better than it appears here.)

Gone but not forgotten.

2009-10-09T20:44:00.003-04:00

The real and true and only reason I've been gone is because my real job is going so well! The better my students do the more I want to do for them and so, being too busy to blog just means that teaching is going really well.

Of course, having no time to sew...well that's not so great. Aside from being really tired at the end of the day my machines are now right above my daughter's bedroom and the little drama mama insists she just can't sleep if I'm sewing. Last weekend it was just too much and I pointed out to her that if I couldn't sew at night I wouldn't be able to sew anything for her either. Problem solved. I have a new blouse and DD got a perfectly good night's sleep.

I don't have pictures of it yet but I have to give a shout-out for the pattern I used. The now OOP Vogue 8287.
It is a very easy blouse that looks like it's not (IMHO).
I love the collar.
There are french cuffs but they don't have buttons.
The bodice is fitted and short enough to wear untucked.
The armhole is high and comfortable.

I have tons more to share but it will have to wait. I just tucked the kids in and the sewing machine is calling my name!

Today I Wore Pink.

2009-09-11T21:25:00.004-04:00

I’m going to wear it again tomorrow. But in order to wear it I decided, at about 9:00 last night, that the shirt should fit properly. So I made about my 4th t-shirt makeover. I didn’t have time to take pictures of this makeover. At about 11:00 DD crawls about of bed to complain that my machine woke her up - it’s right above her bedroom - “Just two more seams and I’m done. Go back to bed :)” I used Simplicity 4023. First, I carefully cut off the sleeves of the original T exactly at the seam (the original was a size L, so there wasn't much extra for mistakes). Then, I re-cut the side seams to follow the pattern. Lastly, I took off the neck ribbing, re-cut the neckline and sewed everything together. It may not look all that spectacular, but it definitely feels better than the generic size L.

I’m usually pretty quiet about my pink status, but this is year number five and tomorrow my kids, who were 2 and 3 when I was diagnosed, are taking the walk with me.

And I’m proud.

Buttonhole, Buttonhole, Where Can You Be?

2009-08-28T23:16:00.004-04:00

Well, I didn't quite get the blouse done. Your comments were very helpful and inspiring! It is cut out and it does have ruffles. Maybe I'll get to it this weekend.

I did however, find the time to whip up this little flow chart to show you the process I went through in search of the perfect, easy, consistent buttonhole.

It's so close I can taste it!

Wondering...

2009-08-21T21:02:00.009-04:00

What can I make with this....by Wednesday?

When I read Kristine's blog about a first-day-of-school outfit for herself, I realized I don't have one! (Sewing's been on the back-burner this week as I start tackling summer school work and my own kid's last week of summer.) Then I was at JoAnn's and ran across this Robert Kaufman fabric that I remembered I wanted to buy. I've seen lots of music-themed fabric but this is the first piece that "spoke" to me (anyone watch PR this week? - feel kinda funny using that phrase now!). It's the first fabric that I could actually see myself wearing (as a HS music teacher) instead of using for a bulletin board background.

But what do I make?

1. Practical but obvious - a shirtdress. Easy, but kinda LOUD. Do I want the garment to wear me???

2. Practical but subtle with extra points for wearabilty - a blouse, possibly with ruffles? I've got lots of separates that would work with this piece. Can't you just see this with a black suit? - just a hint of my sense of humor peeking out for a performance.

3. Practical and functional - a jacket. Love this one; take it off, put it on depending on the situation. But the fabric is just a quilting cotton so it'll either be super-casual or super-interlined.

Maybe I have enough for a blouse and a jacket.
Have an opinion? Go ahead, express yourself!

What Would You Do?

2009-08-15T18:41:00.005-04:00

Pros
1. can't beat the price........$10.00
2. has all accessories, feet, bobbins, etc. (but no manual)
3. all info says, if you find one at a good price, get it

Cons
1. don't need it
2. don't need it
3. really, I don't need it

(In real life the difference after cleaning is much more noticeable.)

This all came about because of my stupid buttonholer! I've convinced myself that it's the Necchi's fault that the buttonholer doesn't work but I need to try them on a different machine to see if that's true. The problem is, they don't fit on any of the other machines at my house (see list below)! How could that be?? I had this brilliant plan to go try it on my mom's bernina...duh, that thing that holds the feet is completely different - didn't even need to take it out of the box to see it wasn't going to work. So, off I go in search of an inexpensive old machine to make better buttonholes. Instead I found this at an antique mart buried in the back of the clearance room - and I do mean buried, this place is overflowing with stuff! I didn't see the tag originally and the guy said $10 - help me get rid of these sewing machines! What could I say?

Dana's Sewing Machine List
(In my defense I use all of the first three machines for almost every project I make.)
Consew industrial straigth stitch (zoom, zoom)
Scandinavia 200 computerized
Simplicity 3-thread serger
Student model Necchi (from the 90's, currently used for buttonholes only - this is the one I'm trying to replace to acquire the best buttonhole humanly possible!)
Antique Singer model 128 (no idea if it works, no pedal, another hand-me-down, read on line that if it doesn't work it's not worth fixing)
Kenmore Mini (belongs to daughter)

and now a Bernina 530 Record!

1. Would you have bought it? (Okay, I probably know the answer to this one!)
2. Would you keep it, if you were me or try and sell it?

Big Sewing Mistake Repaired!

2009-08-12T19:52:00.007-04:00

The whole twisty thing happened because I didn’t want to follow the pattern directions for a sleeveless dress/top. If your pattern directions tell you to sew the fabric and lining by machine except for the shoulders (sew those in by hand) – DON’T do it! I’m one of the seamsters that is convinced this is a secret ploy in “the industry” to make sure garments made at home continue to look home made. Search high and low for a tutorial that shows you how the whole thing can be done on the machine. Like this: sleeveless tutorial (scroll down to Lining Sleeveless Dress). Nancy’s method is slightly different from mine but both will give you professional results. (The difference between my method and Nancy’s is that after I’ve sewn the neckline I sew both armholes. When the sewing is complete I pull the side back pieces through the sleeve band.)

Here are some detail shots. And/or here’s a link to the review on PR.

Any vintage buttonhole users out there?

I posted this problem on the PR boards but still haven’t resolved the issue. In short, the SL dial is set at #1, I have two different models (Singer 1025785, 102878) and get the same results with both. The feed dogs are down but I still can't get a nice tight buttonhole. Could it be the machine (a 90's student model - as in home ec student - Necchi)?

Fashion Statement or Big Sewing Mistake?

2009-08-11T18:03:00.003-04:00

Well, if you've read any of my recent posts you already know the answer. The pattern calls for the dress to be fully lined and sure enough they instruct you to attach the lining all by machine except the shoulders - sew those in by hand. It's been decades since I've used that method! So I decide to attach it just as I would a sleeveless top, except it's a dress. As I'm sewing I think "wow, I've got to be careful so this doesn't get twisted." Not until I've sewn the last side seam did I discover the twist. Right away I ripped out that SA only to discover the mistake was made when I put in the zipper. great. Solution: rip out the shoulder seam and (at least partially) sew it by hand.

Just can't wait to get started on my next project (can you see the sarcasm in that sentence?).

Hope you're having better luck than I am.

P.S. I'm really excited about this dress, it's a sheath that really fits well - yipee for that!

Hello YELLOW!

2009-08-10T11:01:00.008-04:00

I started catching the yellow bug last year, there were several garments that caught my eye. My summer wardrobe for about four years had been in shades of turquoise and orange/melon. I needed a change. Welcome change:

First, I really don't plan on ever wearing the first outfit like that. It's a little LOUD. I already had the skirt on and wanted a new picture of the top. I posted a review on PR for the yellow blouse (McCall's 5803) but the review shot is before I tamed the wild ruffles. This picture shows the tamed, yes, I said tamed ruffles. You can click on the sidebar or here if you want to read the review. I really haven't written that many reviews lately...mostly because my sewing hasn't been anything to write about!

The best garment this week was this yellow skirt (recently OOP Vogue 7857) but if you enlarge the picture you’ll see something funky going on underneath the button at the waistband. Oh, and if you look at the back you’ll notice that the belt loops are not quite evenly-spaced. I just can't seem to keep track of these things when I get interrupted every 10-15 minutes. I did find a simple solution to a big problem (for me) in this skirt. Care to guess? It’s the vent! And there are two in this pattern, no way was I going to manage a perfectly lined vent...twice. The skirt has lining that acts as underlining so it’s attached to the outer fabric like underlining everywhere except the hem. Recently, I read on someone’s site about how to deal with the lining underneath a vent. I am frequently frustrated by this, especially in skirts because I like to make straight skirts. Remember that I’m a picture person? Well, I never get the pattern instructions right when I see how to finish the lining at the vent – I blame it on dyslexia. The rs/ws and r/l are always backwards in my version. In Nancy Zieman’s method you just draw a curve on the lining between the vent opening and the hem. Voila! Edges are finished, lining is effective, but no one can see it.

This dress (OOP Vogue 2412) is from the Liz Claiborne fabrics at EOS. I had intended to make a pencil skirt a la Marji, Lindsayt, Cidell and Carolyn but when I got the fabric I realized that it didn’t have enough body for a skirt. Finally decided on this Vogue pattern and loved it…in my head. I pretty much love the finished version too. It’s just that, as I was getting to the pin-fitting part the bust was waaay too tight! Like 3” too tight, and I knew I had adjusted the pattern. Then the waist seemed really tight (finally realized that I had intended to eliminate one set of darts rather than add more at the side seams). I figured out the mistakes I made with the bust area too and after sewing a ripping for about 45 minutes, well, it’s better than it was. I didn’t use the back facing or bias strips on the armholes as instructed, just lined the whole thing.

(Can you tell these pieces have been worn? Hmmm, the wrinkled linen was a giveaway? I don't stress out about the wrinkles, ever. Wore that outfit yesterday. I wore the dress, w/shorts underneath, this morning as the kids and I rode bikes to their respective camps. It's actually fun to bike in a skirt!)

3 in 1

2009-07-31T21:47:00.006-04:00

Last week I made (mostly) 3 skirts in 1 week (even though four were cut out). I had fitting issues with almost all of them. Here’s what bothers me…they are all a-line skirts. If it fits at the waist it tends to buckle under my tummy. If it doesn’t buckle under my tummy, then the waist drops down to my hips. Anybody else deal with this? I’m also having issues because I gained some weight this spring and because of well, previous surgery mentioned somewhere in the middle of this post, my stomach is uneven. My body shape looks really weird. I don’t know how to fit my waist anymore. You know, if you have to add 1-2” to the waistline of a pattern it’s not a big deal. But if you have to add a stinkin’ 5-6” it changes the design! Okay, enough whining about fit. Time to whine about something else.

You won’t see any detail shots of any of these garments. If you read the last post about me being “project-oriented” that’s why. Too many interruptions = crummy workmanship = no detail shots! Okay, whining is over.

This year I decided that my outfit of choice for the summer would be some fun prints – skirts/dresses. But because I like to ride bikes and generally play with the kids in the summer, there is the issue of modesty. At first I was going to do the jumper with overskirt route (and hopefully I will get one of these done) then I decided to just make some simple knit shorts to wear underneath the skirts/dresses…for security. That should explain the “under” pix.

Greeny – this is Vogue 7879 (Sorry, many OOP’s in this post.) I think this one fits the best of all but there are no pockets! I guess I mean it looks the best on. The skirt really sits about 1" below my waist. There are pockets on the skirt, they’re just not functioning. At first I thought I would just add them in the side seams and all would be okay – uh, no. They’re still in the side seams but when I decided it looked awful I just sewed the seams shut.

Yellow-y – this is an OOP McCall’s 3656 pattern. I just loved all the options on the cover, so I cut out three from this pattern (blue-y isn’t done yet). Also, one of my inspirations was a Talbot’s skirt that I saw online - a-line with front pockets. For all three (McCall's) skirts I cut size 16 at the waist and tapered to an 18. And when the first two were all done – I had to remove 2” of width from the waist down. For this skirt, since it didn’t have a waistband, I just made a stinkin’ CF seam and got rid of the excess. The fabric is from JoAnn’s; a good cotton from one of their collections (i.e., not the Keepsake collection).

Greeny II – another skirt from the McCall’s pattern and the least favorite (a big disappointment as I really liked this Amy Butler print). I removed the 2” excess with this skirt from the CB. That’s right, took out the zipper and put it back in again. Somewhere along the line while sewing these I determined that I just might have to make a swayback adjustment, from the waist down. For this skirt I removed almost 2” at the CB waist which then made the back hem, um, really short! It looks even now...on the outside. Underneath, the front hem is 1-1/2" and the back is 5/8". It's not pretty. I should have just stuck with Simplicity 3754. That one worked out great last year and it has fantastically deep pockets!

On a fabric note, I ordered this fabric - oops, was going to give you a link but it's all gone, when Carolyn speaks the bloggers listen! It's a silk/cotton twill - and even though I listened to Carolyn when she said, “the softest, drapiest fabric...and wonderful to work with”. I seemed to ignore the shopping online advice that said, “read the descriptions for key words”. The fabric came and it was much too yellow for me. (Yes, I know it said “yellow” in the description. I just wanted it to be more of a yellow, um, “tint”.) So I decide to dye it. Here’s how that project went: 1. Yellow to ecru = weird spots, color only mildly darkens the yellow. 2. Remove color = back to the original yellow, spots still there. 3. Go black = a really flat, dull gray. 4. Add fuchsia = mission accomplished. Even though the results are not a color I would have picked out, I checked on the dry piece of fabric just after shopping at Ann Taylor and getting an eye-full of this same exact shade of purple. In addition, it will look great with my gray pieces from last year and soon-to-come ivory pieces for this year.

Took a bunch of project pictures today, so I may actually post again before the month is over!

Oh yea, like I told my sister, I knew you would all jump on my case about that Vogue dress (8552)! I have to admit that when I saw the picture I liked it a little better. So at the last minute and I mean really last minute – we’re talkin’ loading up the bags of donation clothes in the car – I saved it. I saved it and threw it in with the silk (step #3, black). It also came out a dull gray and I was ready to make another trip out for some black dye until I saw this. Will this really and truly save the dress? I haven’t tried it on yet to check out the new color. I make no guarantees!

Rambling - Or "Why I Haven't Posted Lately Even Though It's Summer And I'm Not Working"

2009-07-27T23:21:00.003-04:00

This full-time mom thing is just too much. I want my old schedule back – the one where I teach all day. My youngest is totally exhausted. Today the only option for extra rest was to make him stay home from his baseball game. This child Lives. For. Baseball. I listened to his tired little body cry and beg for a good 15 minutes before I caved. Fingers are crossed for tomorrow. But before all this my daughter put on her best "please don't leave me" crying performance (a face that I have actually seen her practice in the mirror) as I dropped her off at....theater camp!
I have fingernails. It’s not the first time in my life…maybe the third time. But this time I have them because I’m trying to be a good mom. Both my kids bite their nails…like I used to. They had to learn it from someone, must’ve been me. So I stopped biting my nails - for the kids. They (the nails, well, the kids too) tend to drive me crazy. I go to scratch and almost tear my skin off. Recently, they’ve been hitting extra keys on the keyboard. And, it’s more work. Now I’ve started using polish because they look much better covered, but it takes soooo much time!!! I’m trying so hard to keep it up, to set a good example…for the children.
I just about paid twice as much for a fabric I wanted on Fabric.com. Long story about why I'm buying a piece for the second time, but you really should check out the Designer section (apparel fabric) of the site. Yesterday this silk was $10.98. Today I went to order and it was $5.49 – awesome! I didn’t even get the e-mail yet about whatever this sale is.
If I don’t start sewing by 7:00 p.m. I don’t sew. I really thought that I’d grown out of this habit but now that the kids are staying up until 8:00, I just can’t get anything done at night. It stems from my single days when I could make a lined straight skirt in three hours and still get my required hours of beauty rest.
I’m a project-oriented person. I need to sew in big chunks – one skirt, everything except the buttons on a blouse, the outer fabric of a jacket. My life doesn’t let me do that anymore. I can’t cope. My garments will agree.
Summer accomplishments so far: 1. completely cleaned out my closet, 2. completely cleaned out the closet that no one uses because it has so much junk in it, 3. moved my sewing area to accommodate the “zoom, zoom”, 4. scheduled ¾ of the kids dr. appointments, 5. made a small dent in the summer fabric stash. I can’t even begin with the “yet to do” list – it’s big.
Hopefully the next post will have some actually sewing info and pix, cause really, I hate to read. Just show me what you’re trying to say.

2 Fer 2

2009-07-05T21:00:00.009-04:00

Meet my new Fourth of July uniform, let's call her "Forever The Fourth" – Simplicity 3773. I was desperately putting this thing together Wednesday night to wear to a parade on Thursday. There are no zippers, or buttons, and it isn’t lined. I have my zoom zoom so it should easily be done in two hours. Well, that didn’t happen. It ended up we skipped the parade too so I was able to finish it under less-stressful conditions.
You may not be able to tell, but I added piping to the outer edges and facings at the armholes to enclose the seams. I would have piped the pockets too but I ran out. I added 1-1/2” to the shoulder seam to make sure my bra straps would stay hidden. My only problem with fit is the right collar. I pressed it to death to get it to look somewhat acceptable but it really wants to stand away from my body by about ½”. Yea, I can live with that.

Now meet my two most recent waders. Number one I’m calling “How Do You Take Everyone’s Favorite Pattern And Make It Look Bad?” I bought the pattern after seeing it on PR’s top ten list last spring. I bought the fabric from JoAnn’s. Last summer I made a top using a similar fabric. This is a knit fabric with some sort of clear coating stamped on in a print design – but the coating doesn’t melt!? Anyway, I had a fit with the top, my machine hated that fabric. So the pink dress, all cut out and ready to sew, sat in a holding drawer for an entire year. I either needed to dump it or make it and for some unknown reason, when I’m still feeling pressed for sewing time, I decided to sew it. Well, I’m happy to report that my zoom zoom had nooooo problem with the fabric. The big problem is that the fabric has no stretch. Ugh. Even if it looks okay on the picture, it feels horrible! I don’t like the length either! Yuk, it’s already in the donation bag.

And number two, “I Knew It Was Wrong Before I Even Bought The Pattern.” Vogue 8552. I don’t know if I’ll ever outgrow this habit. In my quest to try something new I picked out something that I knew deep down wasn't going to work. But, I refused to listen to my little voice and found some lightweight linen from my stash. I don’t have too many pieces in my stash that are more than two years old, but this was one of them. I didn’t make any changes to the pattern but the detail that really convinced me it wouldn’t look good, was the neckline. It’s too low. The necklace helps but… I think the other disaster factor is the color. Never should have ever purchased fabric that color. This pattern goes in the “it’s just not me” file and the dress joins pinky in the donation bag.

This dress almost didn’t make it. It’s vintage Simplicity, #6499 . I thought it would be so cool to match a boring old shift pattern with a funky print. (I just love all the cotton prints that are out there and am constantly looking for something besides a craft project to make with them.) At first I was looking to the Amy Butler fabrics, but then I found this fabric in my stash. It’s a Michael Miller print that, I think, I bought it a JoAnn’s last year. I didn’t even try to match the pattern in the front because I didn’t have any fabric to spare. The reason it almost didn’t make it was the neckline. I think I used the wrong SA’s, I mean I didn’t sew the same width that I cut. I used to cut every single neckline with a 3/8” SA no matter what the pattern called for. I’m not sure why, but I gotten away from that. Well, I think t’s because I started forgetting to sew them that width. Anyway, if the zipper is open too far the entire collar stands away from my neck. I was going to just remove the collar, but a day came when I was desperately looking for something besides shorts and a t-shirt to wear. I played around with it a bit and decided it would work just fine as it is.

I thought my schedule would slow down a little but I decided to take a class. (Instrument repair – and it is the BEST class I’ve every taken! The first day we completely took a clarinet apart! Yes, we did manage to put them back together and they are playable ;)) One more week of trying to manage all the summer schedules, learn something fun, and do lots of driving (it’s about an hour’s drive one way to my class). Then the real summer sewing will begin :) Happy sewing to all!

Purchase Pix

2009-06-28T08:04:00.009-04:00

More vintage patterns. It seems that the only way for me to control my vintage pattern stash is to avoid them completely - Hah! (That will never happen.)
Another beautiful but mostly impractical garment (much like the jumpsuit!)

Just love the lines of this one.

Got this one for the vest - I've got big plans for "the vest" in upcoming wardrobes. (Note the word plans :))

Dear readers, especially those that commented on this (thanks for such encouraging comments BTW), I happily blame you for this one! Not only do I love the jumpsuit, take a look at the line drawing for the jacket - note the back armholes and sleeve cap. Hmmm, this is something new...

And then there's the fabric:
My Vera Lavender purchases. Note: Yes, I'm happy with my purchases. They were exactly what I expected. Lovely, crisp silk for a blouse in the fall/winter wardrobe.

Silk/wool blend twill with a really nice hand.

I also got two pieces of white, one knit, one a nice cotton for either a blouse or a dress.

Then I got this e-mail from EmmaOneSock. This is another site I try not to visit often - it's just much too tempting. I wasn't looking for anything in particular until I saw this. I have been drooling over the spring Liz Claiborne and found many of the fabrics on this site! Only bought two though.

This lightweight cotton print for a blouse, maybe a nice sleeveless dress.

The second piece is one of the linen huge multi-colored plaids. My pictures don't do this fabric justice and I can't find an online pic to show you. Guess you'll just have to wait!

Then there's this glazed linen - thanks to you Nancy I had to have it. There is a blouse from this fabric in my future!

One more. I picked up this yesterday for a festive 4th of July dress. Hmmm, that's this weekend, right? I'm getting off the computer NOW!

Too much to say!

2009-06-26T21:24:00.007-04:00

We just got back from a week's vacation in...Michigan City, Indiana. What's that? You've never heard of it? You can't figure out why anyone would want to go to Indiana for a vacation? Well, just take a look at this.
1. The Beach

2. The Zoo (note the wandering peacock in the second pic)
3. Mt. Baldy (the dunes)
4. The Family
3. The Property
4. The Sunsets
It's close, it's got lots to do, and it only rained at night! A good time was had by all :)

In addition to all that, this city has a fantastic outlet mall that is really within walking distance. (But at 90 degrees I wasn't walkin' anywhere except the beach!) I mention this because the credit card has been very busy for the last two weeks. Online fabric sales before and during the vacation, a few more vintage patterns (online and at an antique mall in MC), and of course, some outlet purchases. I did have certain items I wanted to get for the kids (Gymboree and The Children's Place) but my wardrobe grew a little too. Four sleeveless T's (Liz Claiborne, Ann Klein) and the most exciting of all, a bright pink and yellow belt from J. Crew. You don't know this but I spent most of the summer last year in search of a yellow belt. When I finally found one I got it home and it was way too big. I added the extra holes but the entire thing was topstitched and couldn't be shortened (scroll down)in length. I don't even try to wear it anymore. Will have to share the fabric and patterns later this weekend. Gotta get off the computer and sew, for Pete's sake!

Just one more thing. Here's a website you must check out, if you haven't already. If it doesn't work, go to style.com and scroll down to the Perfect Jeans Calculator. It's not just for jeans. Once you put in your measurements they assign your body type and have links to many, many, many garments that will (are supposed to) flatter you. I'm excited because this is something I struggle with. I know what garments I want to make but am never 100% sure that it will flatter my figure. I like to shop RTW for ideas but don't like it enough to actually go try on high end garments that I know I have no intention of purchasing. I shall take the magazine's advice and see how it works out.

Happy sewing!

Jump n'

2009-06-08T18:30:00.007-04:00

If you're ready to jump 'n the jumpsuit trend I suggest visiting the vintage pattern sites. I know, they're completely ridiculous when you have to use the restroom, but I just couldn't resist. (Be kind as you evaluate the pix, I'm hot, I'm wrinkled, I'm ready to end the school year!) It's Butterick 6680 by Willi Smith.

I only made two design changes to the pattern. The first was to increase the width of the pant legs - I think it was a total of two inches. I took a yardstick and put one end at the widest part of my hip and came sort of straight down. I didn't want to width to be extra wide (like my hipss :)), so I brought it in slightly. The other was to add elastic at the waist. I wore it once without the elastic and while it felt fine when I was standing I had some droopy backside! The elastic keeps the crotch line in place. The back view is still not-all-that, but it's certainly better than before. You can read about more of the sewing details by clicking on the PR sidebar picture.

I'm sorry I can't remember the blog I visited recently, but she too had invested in some groovin' vintage jumpsuit patterns. When I started my hunt last year there were many patterns out there - just type in "jumpsuit" in the search box.

Here are my other treasures:

A Different SWAP

2009-06-06T14:12:00.005-04:00

Shopping Without A Plan.

The Results:

Two years ago I discovered sewing with a plan. I organized my stash, listed everything (patterns and fabrics), shopped with my list, and made garments that all coordinated but didn't necessarily look good together. The "outfits" were just a little off. Last fall I decided to stick to one or two color schemes, make what I liked and then backtrack to see if it fit into a SWAP. No lists just a few sketches as my guide. I don't really know if this worked as I only finished about 1/3 of the garments I had planned. This spring I've completely reverted to my old ways. The result so far has been one wader, and five days of coming home ready to sew but no production. I go to my sewing area and don't have any idea where to start. Today I scanned all my summer fabric so I could look at them all together (I was surprised how quick the process was). What I realized is that almost everything I have was purchased to make clothes for work...and work ends on Wednesday. And if you haven't figured it out already, well, just look at all those prints! Last night I made a pair of shorts, orange shorts. Yes, orange shorts! Sheesh.

Here's the current, um, "plan".

Your suggestions are welcome. Just remember, 1. I'm looking at spending the next three months in SAHM mode, 2. I've got to do some more sewing before I can buy any more fabric because I'm out of storage space.

Blogger's Block

2009-05-29T21:33:00.003-04:00

At first I was just plain busy, then I was busy, stressed out, and too tired to write. Finally, when I went to make a blog entry, I just didn't know what to say! So to ease my way back into blog-writing, I'll just let you read the pictures (one of my favorite pastimes). Luckily, blogger's block didn't mean sewer's block. So here are a few of my projects.

Well, school's out in 8 days (9 for the teachers) so I hope to get my bloggin' mojo revved up about that same time! (I made a fantastic 70's jumpsuit that I can't wait to share with you. Oh, and an almost finished tailored jacket.) Thanks all you blogger's for providing me with my daily down-time.

I'll Be Back...

2009-05-15T22:37:00.002-04:00

I'll be here tomorrow with my (hopefully) 22 band members as they perform for the first time together. It's a really big deal for us on many different levels. Equally important, I'll be back sewing and blogging once it's done - hurray!

P.S. If you can find the time, send a little message to the rain gods to head up north or down south, or just skip right over Cleveland for the day! Pleeeeeeze!

The Need For Speed

2009-04-19T22:33:00.004-04:00

I had it and now I’ve got it! Today my loving husband accompanied me 155 miles (one way) to pick up this gem for the bargain price of $200, a tank of gas, and a whole lot of muscle (to hike it up to the attic/sewing sanctuary). Consew 7360R – 5500 SPM – oh, yah!!!

Zoom. Zoom.

Sewing Drought

2009-04-03T23:46:00.005-04:00

Usually when I hear the comment, “You sew? I have this pair of pants that need to be altered…”, my response is something like, “If my pants don’t fit, I make a new pair of pants.” I hate repairs or alterations of any kind – hems, zippers, waistbands, mending. AND patches. So you’ll understand why I’m not that excited about this week’s sewing.

He runs, he falls, he puts holes in his pants.

I don’t really remember what the last garment was that I made, but Easter is coming and I know what I’ll be working on this weekend!

I’ve cut it out of a white cotton pique and at the time the Little Miss was exited and wanted a dress “just like the white one” on the envelope. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that there aren’t “a thousand stitches” on the inside that might force her to wear the 100% polyester chiffon hand-me-down hanging in her closet!

Just have to include this kid shot - it was mohawk afternoon at our house a couple of weeks ago. Yea I know, to you and me they may not look like a true mohawk - but it was close enough for a few "rock-n-roll" faces. Oh look, it's the100% polyester chiffon hand-me-down-better-not-be-Easter dress!

Oh, JoAnn's

2009-03-21T19:47:00.010-04:00

If you’ve kept up with your sewing bloggers, you surely read about the deplorable condition of some of the JoAnn’s locations. I had no idea that it was even possible that they wouldn’t have a pattern stocked – or even in order in the drawers until I read Lindsay T’s rant. Wow. Luckily both stores that I frequent locally are the exact opposite. In fact, lately at both locations I’ve noticed younger sales associates that seem genuinely interested in garment sewing. Having said that, last night I made a discovery that I need to share. I had two bolts of presumably 60” wide fabric. One bolt didn’t have enough fabric and I said something to the sales associate about the width. She looked at the end of the bolt and told me it was 50”. 50”??? Then I looked at my other fabric and noticed that it was the same width. Then I came home and measured another fabric that I purchased two weeks ago, thinking it was 60” – nope 50” wide!!! (Then I started remembering a rayon/cotton blend that I bought over two years ago and was shocked when I thought it shrunk over 4" in width...maybe it really didn't shrink!) Not 54, not 52, 50 inches wide! Sheesh, the fabric companies don’t even put the yardage for that on their envelopes, do they? I sense a company-$$-saving conspiracy. If you’re a JoAnn’s shopper – check your widths before you buy. And if it’s 50” go to the back pages of the big 4 pattern books and study the conversion chart so you get the right amount the first time.

As a follow-up to my daughter’s wardrobe rant, there were a couple of recent successes!
Here’s a dress I made that she put on without a single complaint or criticism. I even heard her proudly announce, “I love it!” followed by a big hug. Of course, she hasn’t worn it since (rolling my eyes).

Then she got this little gem for her birthday (mommy’s proud ebay purchase :)). Somewhere before her birthday someone asked me if she liked to sew? Uhhh, uhhhh, uhhhhh … she better! Well, even if she doesn’t I’ll use the machine! Since the big reveal she’s said, “I’m going to be a seamstress just like you!” and after two enthusiastic sewing session “You know mom, sewing’s really not my thing.” Both comments were made on the same day – so I’m not too concerned.

I’m gearing up for a serious project – the jacket that will match the gray pants from my previous post. This is the biggest obstacle for my Stitcher’s Guild SWAP. Now that I confirmed it doesn’t need to be done until the end of April I think I’m ready to devote some quality time (i.e., tailoring, and hand sewing) to this project.

Happy sewing to all!

Quick Post?

2009-03-15T20:50:00.007-04:00

I'm not sure if that's actually something I'm capable of, but I shall do my best!

First, here's a pic of the gray *&%@!! pants. I wore them today and they weren't nearly as uncomfortable as I thought they'd be. However, I won't be wearing them without a jacket, 'cause the waistband business is yuk! I've also decided that the "sits 1" below waist" is just not a flattering look for me. Next pair of pants I go higher or lower. And I've got patterns ready for both ;)

Second, thanks to a new fabric store (!!!!) I've overcome my frustration of the pants. I visited this store yesterday and came home and got right to work on a nice cotton blouse. So far it's looking very polished. This store just was just what I needed to recharge my battery. Do they have nice fabric you ask? Well, of course, or why would I be so excited! Good or bad I will quickly be known as one of the regulars. I realized this morning that it's only about 5 minutes out of my way as I go home from work. This could be dangerous. Here's the damage from Saturday. And you can read my review on PR for all the juicy details.

Lastly, a picture of my purple pants. (The ones I mentioned in the blog-e-o that were to big to hold up to the camera!) Surprisingly, I've worn them often. Who would have guessed that I needed a pair of purple pants?

Happy Sewing to all!

!^#&!!

2009-03-13T23:18:00.010-04:00

I just finished (except for the hook and eye) a pair of pants that should have taken about three hours to make. I wasn’t keeping track but it had to be at least 6 hours of sewing time to get to this point. And they don’t even feel good. I want to pull them up so the crotch fits and pull them down so the waist fits, and this is after I’ve adjusted them more than once. The biggest problem is that, thanks to this book,
I realized that I should be making the “protruding seat” (read: big butt) and protruding front thigh (this is definitely not from exercise) alterations AFTER I’d already cut them out. These are not alterations that can be made after the garment is cut. Okay, that was the biggest problem. There were so many other little problems that I can’t even remember what they were! All I know is that I probably should buy a new seam ripper because these pants have worn out the old one.

The pattern is Simplicity 4366 which I made successfully last year. I’m making a jacket of the same fabric and they are both pieces of my SWAP for Stitcher’s Guild. The jacket is cut but I’ve been putting off sewing because I’m debating about the sewing method. Every time I see one of Tany’s beautifully tailored jackets I get a little more confident about making one myself.

So, I’ve kind of been thinking that I should try it on this jacket. But after these frustrating pants, I’m losing my courage for doing something so meticulous. Stay tuned. I’ve got a blouse cut and a knit skirt to make in addition to the jacket then my SWAP will be complete.

P.S. I highly recommend the pants fitting book! I purchased it recently at Half-Priced Books and it's really helpful. It shows ill-fitting pants on real people, identifies the problem, shows the pattern alteration, and the result.

Takk Så Meget!

2009-03-04T20:44:00.009-05:00

That's the extent of what I remember from taking Norwegian I and II in college. That's right, I went to a college that taught Norwegian. My sister went to a college in MN too, but she learned Swedish so we never could carry on a conversation!

Speaking of sisters, thanks for the Sisterhood award, Sharon!!

The Rules are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.

The bloggers I've nominated truly feel like sewing sisters. I'm sure that if I just called up and said, "I'm in town, let's go fabric shopping." The response would be something like, "Just let me get my keys!" That includes you Sharon! (So now, you've all been warned.) This is the third time I've tried to finish this post and I know many/all of you have been recognized already. Just consider this one more pat-on-the-back.

Faye
Kristine
Cennetta
Trena
Dawn
Linda
Alexandra
Cidell
Brigitte
Lindsay T. (The ultimate fabric shopping friend!)

I truly have been trying to post more sewing, pictures are ready they're just waiting for the words! Here's a hint: jumpsuits, purple pants from the blog-e-o, monochromatic outfits including gloves, SWAP's almost done, and of course some vintage patterns. Someday...

Have to share this parting shot that I discovered after my kids were in bed. All clear for take off!

2009-02-13T22:36:00.000-05:00

Life is busy and it seems I've been at some level of "sick" since November. My hair and I were not speaking to each other until about a week ago. Hence, the one month (argh!) absence.

First of all: too short? too young? both? belt? no belt? I made this because I wanted something other than a sweatshirt to wear in a cold, old house. It's not very flattering with my jeans so I thought I'd put it together with some black lycra pants. I like it much better than the jeans but... not sure if I'll actually wear it out of the house!

Okay, in an attempt to get a post done in less than two hours I decided to try a blog-video. It's rough, has bad lighting, you can't see the garments very well, probably can't understand what I'm saying, and well, my list goes on. But it's a NEW POST so just keep this in mind as you watch :) I had some techno problems that turned it into two videos so, of course, it took more than two hours to put together, way more than two hours!

I'm sure this will eventually be the inspiration for one of those "I can't believe I put that on my blog" posts!

Thanks to Diana and Alexandra for the Kreativ Blogger Award! Rather than nominate the seven, I've updated my Daily Visitation by adding at least that many more to the list.

My Sewing Back Story (in bullet points)

2009-01-12T20:29:00.005-05:00

(Well, I couldn't get the bullet thing to work but you get the idea.) Here ya' go Lindsay!
Pre-sewing years
My mom sewed clothes for the four of us kids (two boys, two girls) like a mad woman. Just about everything we wore, and she wore, came from her sewing machine!
Sometime around 3rd/4th grade
I remember making my first dress that I LOVED! It was a sleeveless a-line dress in white pique with navy epaulets and gold buttons. I don’t remember anything about actually making it.
4th/5th grade
My mom and a friend taught a 4-H sewing class to my sister, me, and maybe 2 other girls. My first garment entered into the fair was a cotton knit (boy that dates me – it was cotton because lycra wasn’t around yet!) halter bikini. I remember the judges being rather embarrassed, and giggling when there were supposed to examine how it fit me. They basically looked at a seam finish and said, “Ah, okay that’s good.”
Jr. High-HS
I sewed as many clothes as I could and prided myself on wearing items that I knew no one else would have. (The complete opposite of my – at the time – painfully shy personality.) Never took a sewing class.
I LOVED this outfit! I made an exact copy of the red dress, with matching panties so that the undies wouldn't show. I remember this style be called a sizzler - the style where a dress is so short you had to wear something underneath to cover up the undies! Doesn't anyone else remember that?

The classic baby-doll dress/top.

(the original "Big Honkin' Pants" mine were just like the red, wide-bell pair.)

College

Started out with a minor in Home Ec. – textiles until I found out that I’d have to attend an extra semester to meet the Home Ec. Requirements. Took my first formal sewing class of which I remember three things: 1. My mom said, watch out, now you’re going to have to learn how to sew the “real” way, 2. Two classmates (twin sisters) whose mom was a home ec. teacher asked me to sew the gathers in their projects because they couldn’t get them to look right, 3. The instructor said the rule was to make the buttonholes in the same thread color as the button. I was making a red and white nightgown where the red heart buttons would be on the white front panel. I didn’t want people to notice the buttonholes, just the buttons so I made the buttonholes in white. The instructor never mentioned it.
First Years of Teaching
I have an income! I can actually afford to buy clothes instead of make them! What a concept! I take advantage of it for awhile.
The Minneapolis Years (80’s-90’s)
I started working at Northwest Fabrics – such a fun time we had! Eventually started a custom bridal sewing business part-time. Was a member and eventually president of the Professional Sewing Association (PSA, which I understand from Sharon is no longer around). Attended many Sewing Expo workshops with Patti Palmer, Kathleen Spike, Bobbi Carr, Margaret Islander and discovered a whole new way of sewing. Took pattern drafting and alteration classes from Laverne Bell, and the MCAD (Mpls. College of Art and Design), and beading from Kenneth King. (Have you seen the movie “Raising Arizona”? In my sewing life, these were “the garden years”.)
My favorite bow blouse.

The best summer play dress ever!

I confess, the outfit I made from this pattern was exactly like the floral outfit except in shades of rose/pink, and I wore it proudly :)

Mid 90’s
Move back to Cleveland to get master’s degree.
Gradually get back into my sewing routine – cut it out on Thurs. and Fri., sew all weekend, wear the new clothes that week. Until, I met my husband. Skreeeeeech my sewing life has to make room for a social life. Then my sewing life has to make room for kids, and some strange body that I have no interest in dealing with.
2005 Discover PR
Was shopping for a new machine, got the info I wanted and forgot about it. Am still sewing but nothing like what I was used to.
2007 RE-Discover PR
My sewing renaissance begins!

Happy Sewing to all!
fyi - time to post about 2-1/2 hours. Yikes, The homework will never get done tonight!

A Day In The Life...

2009-01-07T21:30:00.004-05:00

This morning my DD was the last one to wake up, last one to get dressed, and last one to get in the car all because she didn’t have anything to wear – she’s 7. The drawer for tops was full of tops, the drawer for bottoms was full of bottoms. This is a frequent problem that has yet to be resolved. Most of the problems are with the bottoms, and fall into one of these categories:

there aren’t tights to match the outfit
the elastic on the knit pants isn’t tight enough – she owns them but refuses to wear jeans or pants of any woven fabric, even if they sparkle
these pants feel like there are a thousand stitches against my legs – I finally discovered that the pants she referred to were made out of some french terry where the loopy weave is on the inside
the skirts are too dressy – what? I thought it was just the dresses that were too dressy?

What am I to do with this child?

Before Christmas I finally placed an order with Fabric Fairy. And look at this. What girly girl wouldn’t just to drool over this package of fabric?? I proceeded to make one pair of pink pants, a floral/patchwork top, and a psychedelic dress both from Burda 9627. In addition, I’d already made two skirts from McCall’s 5169 paired with purchased T’s and tights. (I don’t have pictures, but will share a quick video of her fashion show on Christmas day.) Today all those clothes were dirty, waiting to be washed. And, they haven’t really passed the real-world test yet, just the “I’ll wear it for the fashion show at grandma’s house” test.

I’ve never made an issue about how she puts together an outfit. It’s not worth the argument. And eventually her peer’s will take care of that. But when there’s a closet and dresser full of clothes and she doesn’t have anything to wear because it doesn’t “feel” right? Iyieeyiee (sp?)

Her final outfit was a white peasant blouse with dark purple embroidered flowers, an aqua and brown cotton geometric print skirt with a ruffle, black leggings, bright purple socks, and brown shoes with pink flowers. When we kissed goodbye she didn’t have a care in the world! I’m very sorry I don’t have a picture to share.

Feel free to offer advice or just share your stories!

Thou Wilt Sew a Welt

2009-01-02T15:48:00.004-05:00

Of course now that I’m getting used to being home and all our celebrations are over (we also have an anniversary and birthday during the holidays), it’s time to go back to work!

So, I thought I’d end all the celebrations with a tutorial on welt pockets. I’ve noticed this is a 2009 goal for many fellow seamsters and I’ve wanted to do this since before I started blogging. Now that I’ve been around the www sewing scene for a while, I’ve seen a couple of tutorials (Kay Y, Adrianna ) that show basically the same/similar method so I didn’t feel it was necessary to do another one. But today I changed my mind! Not because I think it’s better than the others, but because 1. I haven’t seen anyone show it exactly this way, 2. when I used to use it (before my sewing draught) my pockets were consistently as perfect as I could ever hope, and 3. I haven’t made one for years and I needed to know if I still could. Here’s the teaser, just to make it interesting I decided to make the welts 1/8”.

At one point I timed myself and I could whip up one of these in 10 minutes. I used it on my “coat of many colors” for the pockets and (I think) for the bound buttonholes. I learned this method from a sewing colleague that learned it from a Palmer/Pletsch workshop over 12 years ago. The difference between this and the other methods is that it uses graph paper as a stitching guide. For this sample I used 1/8” graph paper which could also be used for ¼” welts. Hope this helps some of you overcome your welt fears – I know that’s what it did for me!

Welt Pocket Tutorial (Clicking on the word "main" will stop the slideshow and give you a chance to get a closer look at the pictures.)

Write more soon!

Last Garment of 2008 and ramblings

2009-01-01T16:22:00.007-05:00

And I do mean last...like I was sewing the buttons on while my husband waited so we could go out for dinner! (You can click on the PR list if you want to ready the sewing details.)
This is part of my SWAP, which I am sewing for but I kinda keep forgetting that there's a plan and a contest to go with these garments. I was a little nervous about using this fabric - it's a little flashier than I'm used to. But I love the way it turned out, especially the sleeves! They're nice and long and puffy. It's this vintage pattern. I've got more to say about vintage patterns, but I'll add that later when I finish the post I started about 2 weeks ago!

Sewing Wrap Up - I have no idea how many things I made this year! I didn't review everything, I didn't blog about everything, and I didn't make a single list (ahhhh!) about my sewing. Last night I casually tried counting by looking in closets and came up with 32 for me and 11 for DD, but that's just the winter stuff that caught my eye. Whatever the count, it was a good sewing year!

Resolutions - I made a fine list of sewing resolutions last year. I'm not a resolutions person, I mean, I've never made New Year's resolutions ever! And, if I could find the list I'd share it with you! LOL I know it's on my computer somewhere because I was checking it this summer and was surprised because I'd completed most of the items. The only resolution I can think of for this year (sewing or otherwise) is to try and balance everything better. I absolutely love my new job (now teaching HS band instead of random music courses like beg. strings, keyboard/composition, choir, etc.) but it is more time and energy consuming than what I've been doing for the past 2-3 years. That has thrown everything else out of whack! And I miss blogging! Every time I make something, I'm blogging about it - in my head - but it never quite makes it to the computer. Sigh. I haven't even organized my fall/winter wardrobe like I promised at the end of this post!

That's all for now. I'm already a day late posting this! Happy New Year to all!

P.S. - How much time do you guys spend contributing to your blog? I mean how much time would you say it takes for you to complete one post w/pix and links?

Can You Say TNT?

2008-12-30T20:22:00.008-05:00

Sometime after school started and I started drifting away from my consistent summer blogging, I remember Carolyn asking us about whether we use patterns once or over and over. I never had a chance to respond but guess which category I fall into? Which I don't really understand because I think of myself as a creative person, open and willing to try new things. Someone that almost always has a plan for a pattern when it's purchased. Okay, in my mind I fit into both categories. When I find a pattern that fits me and my life I make it more than once (wool skirts, summer skirts). But you have to try new patterns to see if you want to make them again, right?

Well, this is Butterick #3344 I made The Original last year with the leftovers from another top. It's the original because it's the only one that follows the original pattern (view D with long sleeves). That means it has a gathered neck with a zipper in the back. The others I decided to try without the zipper. I didn't decide this until I had already cut them out and I cut them all out at the same time, so they all have a CB seam. My criteria for the zipper was whether I could keep the tight high neck and still get it over my head without all the seams pulling out. The answer is yes, but...we'll see how it wears. There's a lot of pulling to get them on and I noticed that the fusible knit interfacing is showing through - like where it's really stretching. Click on the PR review if you want all the other sewing details.

Guilt, guilt, guilt over neglecting my blog. No wedding dress, no 2008 summary, no updating my links, yikes. I'm reading, I'm trying to comment, I'm sewing, and I'm thinking about all that I'd like to write about! Have a happy and safe New Year!

P.S. Yay, found out my sister's reading my blog - Hi Deb!

2008-12-26T19:30:00.005-05:00

Thank you bloggers for providing me with a year's worth of inspiration, a perfect "chill" time activity, and fun!

I'm terrible about sending out Christmas cards; ask anyone of my close friends or family members. One year I spent hours putting one together, printed several color copies and never mailed it. Not one. I have no explanation except that I procrastinate. Well, this year I may break the cycle. All that I need to do is put on the postage and drop them in the box. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they go out this weekend.

(If you're a friend or family member don't look any further, at least for a week, because you're getting one in the mail.) For all blog readers, Merry Christmas!

Thanks so much to all of you that continue to read and add your two cents when I have the time to post. And thanks to all of you that diligently blog on a regular basis!

Good Vibrations

2008-12-08T22:08:00.003-05:00

Wish me luck, my students are performing here tomorrow night. I'm not directing and were not listed on the flyer but it's a very important and inspiring night.

And equally important, I'll have more time to post about my new coat and gloves once it's over ;) !

Capsule Anyone?

2008-12-03T22:17:00.004-05:00

Just ran across this RTW challenge and thought it might inspire some of you SWAP and Wardrobe Capsule fans. Check out some of the participant's capsules.

Hmmm, anyone feel the need for a similar seamsters challenge???? Instead of just sewing the wardrobe, let's see if we can wear it in a week. I say use the same criteria as workthatwardrobe except all the garments must be something you have sewn.

15 Years in the Making (con't.)

2008-11-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

From the beginning, this suit was always intended to be used when I'm directing (currently, that would be H.S. band). I chose it for all the interest on the back since that's what most people will see during a concert. It took so long because everytime I looked at it all I could see was pleats, pleats, and more pleats! I finally cut it out last year and it was one of the key pieces that sat in pieces for an entire year. The fact I've done so many fast and easy garments lately, and have settled in to a comfortable sewing schedule gave me the energy to finally put it together.

You're going to have to be satisfied with headless shots and "silhouettes" for the pictures of me wearing it. (I'm still not feeling 100%.) Detail shots are on the dress form.

My original plan was to have the long version of the skirt, but I was missing my short black skirt earlier this fall and sacrificed this one. (I mean, I cut off the excess when I got ready to sew it up.) I think the longer version would be a little more flattering. Oh well, just another excuse to buy more fabric!

My button problem was that originally I didn't place the top button high enough. So I switched to smaller buttons (tacked the ends of my button wholes to shorten them), added a three more buttonholes (one above, and two in between the existing two). I'm still not perfectly satisfied with their placement, but it's better than it was.

Thought I'd try something new and put the pictures of my construction details in a photobucket slideshow. Tell me what you think.

I'm so relieved to have this jacket done. I'll let you know how it works in the near future.

Happy Thanksgiving-time sewing to all!

The Winter Coat Saga

2008-11-21T22:04:00.000-05:00

(Details of the black suit are coming, but I've been sick for two days and am not ready to get a picture of the entire suit yet.)

I had these grand illusions of sewing-along with all the GCSA participants and happily trotting out in my new garment the minute the temperature went below 40 degrees. Okay, I knew that was really not going to happen and my beautiful coat fabrics have been hiding all summer...and fall.

Guess what? The temps have dropped and I need a new coat, now!

One reason I haven't cut into it earlier is because I kept changing my mind about the pattern. I want an updated version of a tan wool coat the I've had for...dare I say, decades? At least one decade, more like a decade-n-a-half. First, it was going to be this OOP Vogue that I've had for some time. Then, everytime I turned around I saw a vintage pattern I wanted, including the one I used on the coat I was replacing. (Believe me, I was tempted!) I love the oversized feel of Vogue 9931 and the buttons all the way up to the neck (I hate it when the wind sneaks into that spot!). Then I saw Butterick 5078 and loved the silhouette, really loved the raglan sleeves, and the big pockets. Then a couple of weeks ago I was checking out the new Butterick patterns and fell in love with this.
Even after making the last purchase, I was still undecided. Until last week. I took my scissors to the fabric with the new Butterick pattern.

Did I make the right decision? Check back after Thanksgiving break and let me know what you think!

15 Years in the Making

2008-11-15T21:06:00.008-05:00

It's the black suit! (Made the skirt a month ago.)From the first day I purchased this pattern in (ahem) 1993, I intended to make a black suit. Well I just, almost, finished. I thought I was finished but I messed up the button placement - and I never mess up the button placement! There is a Plan B, but I'm done working on it tonight. More details to come.

Why'd it take so long? Here's a hint:

Happy Sewing!

The Needle Does Matter

2008-11-09T14:18:00.010-05:00

This is what I wore to church today.
This is what I wanted to wear to church last week.

I couldn't wear it last weekend because of sewing machine, well, umm, operator error. Last weekend I was on a roll, really living up to my blog moniker. (The bulk of my work was on a jacket that won't be blog ready until next week.) You know how you kind of envision all the steps to making a garment in your head? Well, I figured that I had just enough time to sew a knit top and skirt, probably long before we had to leave for church the next morning. Top goes together in a snap and is soooo comfy! Skirt goes well until I'm ready to sew the side seams. At least a half hour of frustration ensues. The bobbin is a mess every time I sew. So I put it away and started trying to figure out when I'll could bring it in to be serviced. That never happened. Yesterday evening I tackled it again. This time the bobbin thread wasn't even locking with the top thread! As a last resort before packing it up I changed the needle and got the most beautiful stitches I've ever seen (okay, that an exaggeration but - what a relief)!

That's the story behind the garments; these are the actual sewing details. The fabric is a poly knit jersey and both patterns are for woven fabrics. I used this pattern for the top. The center seam is visually distracting but necessary for the dolmen sleeve. I extended the turtleneck (cause I like 'em tall 'n tight), eliminated the opening in the back and made the separate tie/bow. I interfaced both sides of the bow. It turned out way too bulky and the bow itself just got lost in the print - instead I used it for the skirt waistband! The neckline has enough give to fit over my head without a back opening, but I will probably go back in and make the turtleneck a little tighter, it's still a little loose for me.

I've been looking for a flattering knit skirt pattern that wasn't the usual gored skirt. And I have to say, I'm not a big fan of an elastic waistband - just one of those things. This pattern is from 1995, and yes, I'm the original owner! Honestly, I don't even remember making it before, but it was cut so... Anyway, I'm intimidated by how a bias skirt looks on me but thought this would be okay in a knit. I didn't cut it on the bias and ended up (a little short on fabric) cutting it with a CB seam. Originally I cut it to have an elastic waist, but when the bow didn't work out on the top I decided to add the waistband. I did move the zipper to the CB since the seam was already there and a side zipper in an a-line knit, well, I just didn't want to deal with that. I interfaced the seam allowances at the zipper opening. I also basted fusible web at the hem, pressed the hem into place and then used my blind hem stitch to secure.

Hopefully, I'll be posting again next weekend with my completed black suit! I've been so busy with school - and having so much fun - just can't seem to make room for blog posts!

SWAP?

2008-10-25T07:38:00.005-04:00

I think I’m going to do it. Join the SWAP (sewing with a plan) contest at Stitcher’s Guild , that is. I was pretty sure that with all the fabric and patterns I was purchasing for the fall I’d have all the required pieces to put together at least one wardrobe plan. And, I was right! This plan took me about one evening to put together and I’ve already purchased all the patterns and fabrics – woohoo! The twist this year is that is must be “A wardrobe which reflects a week in your REAL LIFE”. For me this will mean clothes for work, which is 95% of what I sew anyway.

The SWAP discussions have been reorganized too. I think it will be much easier to find a discussion thread.

Here’s a quick summary of the plan. (I need to draw out my pattern pictures when I’m organizing a plan. I just can't seem to visualize it as easily with a pattern envelope. The computerized version with the pattern line drawings is coming soon…)

Here are this year's rules:

Each SWAP must consist of 11 garments, which all work together to form a basic wardrobe. All garments must be handmade. You may knit, crochet or weave if you please, but they must be your own creations.
4 bottoms - jeans, pants, shorts, skirts or kilts.
6 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles.
1 jacket - a tailored blazer, jeans-style jacket, sweater or shawl will do, as long as it looks right with everything else.
All garments must be made between November 1/08 and April 30/09
No purchase neccesary anywhere; this contest is open to anyone with a needle and thread, regardless of budget or availability of items.

Anyone else out there considering or already committed to this?

Oh yea, Gorgeous Fabrics , Hot Patterns , and Sew Organized are all donating prizes!

Trying to Catch Up

2008-10-13T15:08:00.016-04:00

Monday gave me the perfect time to get caught up, well, mostly caught up.
Before I start does anybody know why my Outlook Express doesn’t work? (The error says: The connection to the server has failed. Account: 'OEmail', Server: 'yahoo.com', Protocol: SMTP, Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 10060, Error Number: 0x800CCC0E)Or, why when I try to respond to blog questions through e-mail, it automatically goes to Outlook Express? I really want to get back to you but I have a TT (temper tantrum) everytime I see the OE box pop up.
Here are answers to some recent blog questions.
Summerset, of course you can steal the idea. And, I can’t believe that two of you noticed my box of plastic bags was the tiny sandwich size! I’m not so particular about the size anymore, just happened to have these on hand.
And, a couple more non-sewing, sewing items that I forgot to include.

I use the brush to clean out my machine instead of the one that came with it. The press and seal – I use for everything! I read about this in a PR review and have used it for all sorts of things. I cut it in strips and use it instead of tape on my pattern adjustments. I used it to stabilize gathers as I was attaching them. I used it to hold buttons in place while I sew them on by machine. It’s great because it doesn’t gum up the needle when you sew through it.

C_fabrication, I don’t remember where I got the binder but yes it’s small, just the right size to fit a Butterick, McCall’s or Simp. Pattern. The others are put in sideways and folded. I 3-hole punch the envelope. I used to use the clear plastic sleeves but when I got the smaller binder it just wasn’t necessary. I too fold my patterns the way they came from the factory but I keep them folded up inside the pattern instructions so the smaller bags still keep everything together. This seems a little OCD but when I fold the pieces into the instructions, I keep the pieces I didn’t use in a separate “fold”. That way, if I want to make it again, all the pieces I cut are separate from the pieces I didn't cut.

Here are my recent vintage pattern purchases. Sometimes when I come home I’m so exhausted I just want to veg out in front of the computer and the vintage pattern sites are so much fun. I’ve been checking the daily listings now instead of going to a certain era. The pamphlets that I ordered last week haven’t arrived yet but I’ll share them with you as soon as I can.

The story of the black skirt. Once upon a time I made a basic black ultrasuede straight, knee-length skirt. No matter what my body did, that skirt looked good. I wore it to death. Last year I was forced to retire the skirt before I had made a replacement. This resulted in many anxiety-ridden mornings staring into my closet. Very sad. Finally, I have a replacement!

My favorite design feature on the skirt is the combination of a pencil silhouette with multiple pleats instead of a slit at the back. Here’s the detail on another skirt from the same pattern in a dark gray. It’s so easy to do! I’ll try and diagram the process in another post because you could easily add it to any skirt pattern that is designed with a slit.

For the black skirt I attached a waistband, but for the gray I went back to an old standby – the grosgrain ribbon facing. Can you see how I did it from the pictures? I learned the process years ago. One of the keys to getting the ribbon to lie flat is to press a curve into it first. Who knew that grosgrain ribbon was flexible? (Sorry, I hate to throw things out there without and explanation but any details are just going to have to wait for a different post.)
As for the turtleneck, yea, so I bought this pattern and made a muslin on my quest for the perfect turtleneck. Then last weekend I got out my winter clothes and found this turtleneck, which I love! The only flaw is that there is a zipper in the back. I cut out three more on Monday and will play around with the zipper. Meaning; I’ll probably try at least one without the zipper to see if I can stretch the neck opening so that it's wide enough to fit over my head without breaking stitches but still holds the shape of the turtleneck.

Kristine tagged me ages ago! Finally, I have a response :)
Rules to the Game of Tag:
1. Link to your Tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. (See list below.)
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a post on their blog.

When I eat, I only eat one food at a time. You know, salad, turn the plate, vegetables, turn the plate, meat, turn the plate. Most of the time I don’t even realize I do it!
I was once mistaken for my mom...by her brother!
I got married (for the first time) at age 39. (Just so you know, prior to getting married I was perfectly happy being alone, not lonely.)
I’m terrible with numbers. (It’s possible I was 38 when I got married. No wait, I think it was 39.)
Two years ago, two weeks before my birthday I was in shock because my husband pointed out that I was already 47, not just turning 47. Honest truly.
Guess it’s redundant to point out that I never remember anniversaries. After filling out so many forms for my kids I think I have their birth dates correct. Just don't ask me how me how much they weighed when they were born!
After the first two weeks of work/school I realized I hadn’t worn the same thing twice. I kept it up for a total of 3 ½ weeks. (Well, somewhere around 3 ½ weeks.)

Thanks Linda for the Premio-2008 award!

Rules are:
Paste the rules on your blog.
Select 6 to 10 bloggers to whom I would like to give this award to. You're all nominated and tagged - how about that!
Curly Crafter
For Me by Me
Nibbles and Bytes
Subversive
The Amazing Ms. O
Weekend Designer (Wow, I haven’t visited in a while and I just saw another project to add to my list – instructions for drafting a pair of jeans – cords for me. You must check out this site.)

Write 6 of your most important values:
Humor
Forgiveness
Faith
Humility
Perseverance
Creativity!

Happy sewing to all!

Vintage Alert!

2008-10-07T20:10:00.000-04:00

This just in: Sheila at Out of the Ashes is offering 10% off all purchases. Just use the coupon code LEANMEAN. Thanks Sheila! Enjoy your shopping!

No time to chat, but if you're a vintage fanatic you've got to check out the items posted on Out of The Ashes yesterday. Mine are already in the mail.

What Does That Have To Do With Sewing?

2008-09-25T20:45:00.006-04:00

I've been meaning to do this post for awhile. Then Summerset asked the question, "what do you keep on hand that you use all the time?" That's just the motivation I needed. I decided to show you things I use that are not necessarily considered sewing items.

1. Binder for pattern envelopes. This one is a perfect size for pattern envelopes and if the envelope is too big (like Vogue) I just fold it in half.
2. Twin sheet set – my new fabric source for a crisp white blouse. Depending on the style of blouse, one twin flat sheet is probably enough, but this set was on sale.
3. Sandwich bags to hold the contents of my patterns, which are then filed in numerical order.
4. Fabric sizing (light starch) – My new BFF! I read a tip about using this while constructing your garments – even knits – and I LOVE IT! (I didn’t realize it was a light starch until I came home. Next time I’ll go for the real thing.)
5. Padded shelf liner. Originally purchased to keep my sewing pedals from moving. It hasn’t really made a difference there but has worked miracles on stabilizing my serger.
6. Pattern paper (actually vinyl). This is a tip that I sent to Threads (and got published :). It’s a roll of tablecloth vinyl that I can get at a local craft store for about $10, and it’s huge. I mean, it will last a loooong time. (Michael's craft stores probably carry it too.)
7. Crayola washable markers. My new fabric markers, from a tip on PR.
8. Glue stick; used to attach all the pattern pieces for the Neue Mode patterns I downloaded this summer.

Lastly, my sewing sanctuary treasure. This was purchased from a local antique store that was going out of business. I'm convinced it was originally made for storing and displaying patterns. So, that's how I use it.

That's it for now. Kristi tagged me, but that post will have to come later (when I can think of some witty answers)! And, Carolyn asked us to share our vintage pattern purchases (BTW, just got an email that momspatterns is running a sale, use the code "momsweekender"). I've had another recent delivery but that will also have come later. AND...I made a skirt last weekend! Finally, the basic black wool skirt that never got done last year. Not only that, it's part of a suit...stay tuned!

Misfits

2008-09-15T21:19:00.004-04:00

Here they are, the poor summer projects that didn't get any attention. Constructed with tender loving care, but in the end something is just a bit off. I don't have the heart to part with them...yet. But I fear their home in my closet is only temporary.

Maybe by next spring I'll be excited at the possiblities these misfits have to offer!

Happy Sewing!

2008-09-12T18:07:00.002-04:00

Hi, I'm Dana. It's been 12 days since my last post. Feel free to respond in your best monotone voice, "Hi, Dana."

Yikes, life has gone from 0 to 50 in 12 short days. I may not be making many comments, but you can trust that I'm out their getting my daily sewing blog fix. Thanks, to all you bloggers that post on a regular basis!

Just a quick post about Project Runway. I was just catching up on Tim's Take and found that the SIX remaining contestants all showed at Bryant Park today. I understand the logistics of having everyone show, but why do they keep advertising that as one of the prizes for the top three?! (Okay, sometimes I miss the finer details when I get worked up, so maybe they don't do that anymore.) Does that bother anyone else?

So, here's the link but don't feel obligated to visit if you want to be surprised. IMO I think Jerrell, Korto, and Leanne's were the most innovative. And I just have to add, Suede - yikes! Maybe he made the clothes that bad on purpose because he wasn't (isn't going to be) one of the top three. Care to share your opinion?

Maybe I'll get some sewing done this weekend - I need some quality time in my sanctuary (sewing area)!

Lean Mean Sewing Machine

Buried Treasure

Calling 1990 . . . Are you there?

Still Here

VINTAAAAAGE!

Summer Postlude

Another Good Class

Saturday Sewing Schedule

Beautiful Fabric – A Timeline

Day of Sewing with Kenneth King

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's New To Me

Got'a Lov'a Print

Teeny, Tiny, Shorts

Ugh. A Sad Story

Just Patterns

Paisley

Purple

Fabric Shopping!!!

Where Exactly Does Time Go?

Heavy Sigh

Outfit-In-A-Day

Garment In-A-Day!

Let the New Year Begin!

Is It Too Vintage??

Sewing stuff (no pix :( )

News Flash

Sew Fresh

O-H

Non-Sewing Stuff

Sewing Is Going On!

The Mind Is Not Willing

Blogger's Block

Fabric Store Tragedy Hits Home

Some Actual Sewing!

Barbie Love

More Randomness

It's So Sad.

Life's A Bee

The Failed Plan

Life and Some Sewing

Bunch-O-Stuff

310 Lake Street

They're Just Words.

Memories...

Too Much

I FINISHED!

Randomness

Resizing

A Long Story

10 Buttonholes and 3 Hours Later...

Gone but not forgotten.

Today I Wore Pink.

Buttonhole, Buttonhole, Where Can You Be?

Wondering...

What Would You Do?

Big Sewing Mistake Repaired!

Fashion Statement or Big Sewing Mistake?

Hello YELLOW!

3 in 1

Rambling - Or "Why I Haven't Posted Lately Even Though It's Summer And I'm Not Working"

2 Fer 2

Purchase Pix

Too much to say!

Jump n'

A Different SWAP

Blogger's Block

I'll Be Back...

The Need For Speed

Sewing Drought

Oh, JoAnn's

Quick Post?

*!^#*&!!

Takk Så Meget!

My Sewing Back Story (in bullet points)

A Day In The Life...

Thou Wilt Sew a Welt

Last Garment of 2008 and ramblings

Can You Say TNT?

Good Vibrations

!^#&!!