Danvillegirl Sewing Diary

Top completed

2012-01-28T22:19:00.000-05:00

I completed the brown knit top this evening. This is the second Pamela's Perfect T pattern completed. This one I changed the neckline to a scoop neck.

The two other patterns I ordered from Pamela's Patterns arrived today. I want to make the cardigan jacket soon.

I am moving forward with my plans of making a dress next.

This and that

2012-01-28T09:50:00.000-05:00

I hope to get some productive sewing in soon. This week has been a whirlwind of activity related to my job, working late some days and traveling requiring me to get up even earlier than I normally do and out early.

I still have neckband and hems to complete for my brown knit top that has been laying patiently on my sewing table. I want to begin on a dress pattern next and now that the tricot lining has arrived I am ready to get started on this project.

I am still waiting for the two patterns from Pamela's Patterns that I ordered last Saturday. I wanted to attempt to make the jacket to begin some transition sewing.

Just looked at some of the new Vogue patterns for spring last night. There are a few I want and some I already have a similar pattern but the use of fabric shown in the photos have given me some creative ideas as well.

I am frustrated with Blogger. I enabled the new embedded comment feature. Yet I have only been able to reply to embedded comments on a couple of posts that others have made. Now it is back to not allowing me to reply to comments using this feature. However if I click on "delete", it immediately responds, takes me to another window and asks if I really want to delete it, I then click cancel because I don't want to delete it.

I have posted my concern and sought help using Blogger Forum and Help. The only response I have gotten is from someone who also has the same issue. Not getting good customer support is one of the most annoying things to me, a true pet peeve of mine. No matter if it is Blogger or a retail store, an online store, etc. I am using/buying your service/product. Why can't you take care of the customer???????

Whewwwww! just needed to rant about that for a moment. Off to shower and get ready to run around with DH for a while. Later.

What the postman and UPS delivered

2012-01-26T06:56:00.000-05:00

I ordered some tricot fabric from Fabric.com which arrived yesterday. My next dress project using this Butterick pattern suggests lining using tricot fabric. Not having any in my lining collection, I order four different shades of this fabric. Two of the items are very soft and 108" wide; the other two are little different in feel and one side is rather shiny and the other side is matte and feels less soft and they are 54" wide. All are labeled the same as 40 denier. I have not used this type fabric in years and years; perhaps never actually. This will be a new sewing experience.

From Fashionista Fabrics I ordered the February Burda Style magazine as I like some of the patterns others have been sewing or blogging about from this issue. I also ordered some white with navy polka dots in cotton from the same online store. It is lovely fabric but somewhat thinner/lighter in texture than I had thought it would be. So I am now rethinking what I will make from it.

Still waiting on the two patterns from Pamela's Patterns.

It is always fun getting these packages.

More tops

2012-01-22T10:46:00.000-05:00

I had a J Stern knit top pattern in my pattern collection for a long time. Yesterday I decided I wanted to try it. I said before I started you may want to trace sizes and not cut up the pattern. I did not listen to my inter voice. Cut to the chase--the pattern sizes I used were way too small! I did not want to fiddle with making a lot of adjustments. Lesson learned. Trace first! Most independent patterns tend to run large on me so made that assumption with this one. Not a good assumption. Will order another one soon.

Thus I decided to cut out another Pamela's Perfect Knit Top. That fit has been perfected and I tweaked a smidgen more yesterday. Using brown knit fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics that has aged appropriately, I cut out another top. This one I am changing neckline to scoop neck, keeping 3/4 inch sleeves.

I did order two more patterns from Pamela's Patterns last night. I have enough brown knit left to try the tank top pattern that I ordered.

More later.

Blog background change

2012-01-17T20:50:00.002-05:00

With the turn of the new year and heading toward spring, I thought I would change the look and colors of my blog. It is less dark than the previous version, but the blue coloring feels good. I will probably play around with the look of it some more.

On the sewing side of things, I found myself pulling out dress patterns once again. I still have some tops I want to make but I am not feeling the love for knit fabrics that I have in my stash at this time. I did pull out some blouse patterns as well. In going through the fabric bin in my sewing room, I found some fabrics that I have purchased in the past two years or so that were purchased just to make blouses.

Who knows what will be my next project. I don't know just yet, but I am sure it will come to me soon.

Blogger Issue

2012-01-17T06:56:00.001-05:00

Yesterday and again this morning while attempting to read blogs, several times when I clicked on the post of a blogger, I would be taken to their blog. The blog would appear and then go blank. Sometimes if I clicked on the name of the blog and not the blog title I would to see and read the blog.

Is anyone else having this problem? I know they have made some recent updates and changes to Blogger. I only know this because on occasion I read Blogger Buzz. I read this morning changes to comments. Not sure that I am clearly understanding what exactly that change is but nonetheless it was the first topic for the day.

Enquiry minds need to know.

Butterick 5566 Take 2-new technique (photo heavy)

2012-01-15T16:09:00.001-05:00

Well the second version of the pleather yoke and brown skirt is now complete, except for the hemming.
As promised here is a few photos of the technique. This is the article below that appeared in the November issue of Threads.

Here is a photo of the darts that are sewn in the skirt front and back in the fabric and in the lining. For the back piece, if it has a zipper you insert that before stitching the lining to skirt at the waistline. Trim waistline seams to 1/4, I only trimmed to 3/8. Then pin darts in lining and fabric sewing them as one dart from point to point.

Here the photo shows the continuous side seams of lining and fabric:

And here is where the side seams and waistline intersect:

After sewing, I needed to tweak the fit at the waist line and all I had to do was take a deeper seam of 1/4 inch on each side to make the waist fit better. This is a nice technique to use. I think you are experiencing fluctuations in sizes frequently, this is a easy to fix the fit waistline alteration without a lot of ripping. My first version of the skirt will be donated to Goodwill as I am sure there will be someone who will find it a nice fitting skirt.

I am so happy that I had fabric leftover to make a second one.

Sewing-this and that

2012-01-15T14:44:00.000-05:00

I have continued to do some clearing and cleaning in the sewing room. It is looking much better and now I feel I can start some new projects.

I am doing a remake of this skirt. I completed the skirt and wore it once to work. It did not pass the wearability test at all. I was pulling that skirt up all day and the longer the day, the looser the skirt became. I know I skipped an important step and that was applying fusible or sew in stay tape to waist line.

The pleather front yoke has a knit backing and I think by not stabilizing that it grew! I like the skirt pattern and made a blocked skirt in black and tan that did wear well. So I decided to undo side seams and take deeper seams.

Well that proved to be very painful because of having to undo topstitching, under stitching, seam sewing----. So because of my cleaning out the sewing room, I realized I had enough brown fabric and pleather just to make another skirt. This would allow me to appropriately stabilize the waist line area.

I also decided to try a technique that was in a Threads magazine (Oct/Nov?-the cover is a red lace dress). This has you sew the lining to waist band, then stitch darts in both fabric and lining and then have one continuous side seam sewing. This technique will allow for ease of adjusting darts as well as side seam allowances without having to undo half of the skirt before making adjustments.

So I have been working on the new skirt starting last evening and much of the morning today. I will have completed this by afternoon. Will take some photos later.

Shrug it off

2012-01-09T06:59:00.000-05:00

I really like the eShrug pattern from Sewing Workshop. It just doesn't work for me. Sometime back I posted about making this shrug. I screwed it up the first time using some inexpensive knit lace fabric. The second was a little tight.

Yesterday, I attempted to make the next size up, Size 2. It was huge; I also elongated the sleeves as well as the top using the download instructions for SW to do so. I used some knit fabric that was black, white and gray stripes; it too had been in my stash for over 8 years. Because the shrug was so big I think I can salvage the fabric and turn it into at least a cami/tank top. If not, I will give the shrug to Goodwill.

My next attempt was to draft the pattern between Size 1 and Size 2. In the end, this was a better fit, but the back, no matter what version I use hikes up in the back and just does not fit around the back of the neck well. I have decided that 4 attempts is enough. There are some other patterns out there that I think will work better. So I am shrugging off making this pattern.

So I will once again focus on other knit tops I want to make. I also need to get my act together on participating in the SWAP 2012. I actually pulled some fabric from stash yesterday than I think I will use in developing my plan.

Later.

Cleaned up and ready to go

2012-01-08T08:29:00.000-05:00

We have a very bad viral sickness around town. Of course I contracted it the latter part of my vacation. I have had laryngitis for days. I finally had to go to doctor and get some medicine. I haven't really felt too bad with this. I can tell the medication is helping but still have a squeaky voice.

Because I am feeling better, I have regained some of my energy as well. With renewed energy I was highly motivated to clean up my sewing room. I have a very compact ~~small~~ sewing room. A lot of things I store under my cutting table. I had just been piling stuff on top of stuff until it was a chore to get what I needed.

I pulled out everything under the table; packed things into some plastic containers and rearranged the "mess". I was amazed at what I had purchased and not done anything with a lot of the stuff. So one affirmation for this new year is I will not buy new sewing gadgets on a whim. Also I will not talk myself into sewing projects that I know I will never do.

Now that I have cleaned up the room, I am now motivated to tackle some more sewing projects.

Later.

Looking forward to weekend

2012-01-06T06:48:00.003-05:00

Boy, when you have been off from work for a week and then return to a four day work week, those four days are sooooooo longgggggggg! I am awaiting two new patterns, one of which is a coordinate pattern that I plan to build a storyboard around for the SWAP 2012 over at Stitcher's Guild. I am way behind already.

I have a few more knit tops to make and will try to coordinate one of those into the SWAP as well. Having trouble determining color scheme and theme.

TGIF.

Productive day for my last day off

2012-01-02T16:22:00.000-05:00

Today has been very productive sewing wise. I decided to make another Vogue 8669 now that I have got the pattern tweaked to for a better fit. I had some black crepe knit in my stash, acquired from Les Fabrique in Charlottesville, VA. It is at least three years old. I love the rich black color of this knit and the texture. I had enough of this fabric to make two tops. So the second top I made was Pamela's Perfect T-shirt pattern #104.

I was surprised about the fit of the Pamela's Pattern. I had made one from this pattern before, but it was huge. I decided to give it a try again though and went with the small due to high bust measurement and then made a one inch FBA. This turned out well. I did use the front pattern piece with the dart. This resulted in a good fit.

I wear a lot of black for my job. I never seem to have enough black tops., either RTW or custom made by me. One of my favorite black tops is one I made from a Sandra Betzina pattern that it is now looking fairly worn. I decided to give it to Goodwill.

So now I have two new tops to start the new year. Photos later.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T08:11:00.000-05:00

Just want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Photos of two Vogue knit tops

2011-12-30T17:35:00.000-05:00

As promised earlier, here are shots of the two knit tops I completed.

The first one is a black knit, Vogue 8669; I lightened the photo for the purpose of showing how the neckline drapes as a result of the pleating at the shoulder. The top is a little boxy and very full in the back. The next top I will take out some of that back fullness by taking a small tuck all the way down the back. After making a FBA of 1 1/2inches and eliminating the resulting dart, I ended up trimming down the sides after basting this top for fitting purposes. I adjusted the pattern by taking a 1/4 inch horizontal tuck across the upper chest to raise the underarm area some for the next top.

I like the top even though this one needs the tweaks I just mentioned. I don't like the knit fabric. It sewed up well, but wrinkles a lot. I am planning on making another solid color top from this pattern. Here is another view of Vogue 8669.

The next photos are of Vogue 1275. I like and dislike this pattern. I love the front ruching but I am not sure it is the best look for busty person. I hope you can see this and I would like your feedback about the look. I like the square neckline and I like that it does not gape. I don't particularly like how the finish was for the neck binding and the center front section. It works, but it is not real pretty on the inside.

Here is a semi side view of the top

The sleeves have elastic sewn in three places creating ruching in this area also.

And here is a close up of the neckline. This became the most difficult area to sew and the instructions and illustrations did not seem to sync up.

I stitched the center edge down though instructions did not call for this. I was concerned the edge may roll out. It is rather snug to chest so perhaps it would not and stitching was not necessary, I will never know as I chose to stitch it. I love this knit fabric; it sewed well and handled easily. This too is from Gorgeous Fabrics.

So back to sewing room to think and ponder on my next top or two.

Vogue 1275 and what's next

2011-12-30T07:55:00.001-05:00

Sewing Vogue 1275 was pretty easy-peasy until the neckline band. The written instructions and the photo just don't seem to make sense. After numerous attempts at understanding how to do it, I finally came up with what will be my best solution. I think there were some finishing steps left out or at least for me there was; so when you are in these situations you just punt! Or make it work!

I hemmed the other Vogue top yesterday with coverstitch machine and hemmed the sleeves for this pattern. I have the hem for this pattern pinned and ready to stitch.

That now leaves two other patterns I wanted to cut out and sew. I am rethinking about the solid brown knit pattern I had planned to use. I have a McCall's tunic style pattern already fitted and I may go with that pattern, but using a different front piece (the pink one) that I have not tried yet.

Anyway, I will post photos soon of the two completed tops later today.

Now going to have some breakfast and then on to the sewing room.

One done and another in the works

2011-12-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

Vogue 8669 is complete except for the hems for the sleeves and top. I need to re-thread the coverstitch machine but have the only black serger thread I have on hand threaded on the serger. So I proceeded with the next top .

I made fitting adjustments yesterday AM and cut out the fabric. I am now over half way completed with this Sandra Betzina top. I needed to take a break and decided to post an update before jumping into the shower and getting dress to run some errands. One such errand is to buy more black serger thread. I thought I had replenished it but obviously not.

Once this top is sewn together then both will get hemmed using the coverstitch machine. And then I have two other knit tops in the line up. I also want to make some blouses using woven material. And I still need to give some serious thought to SWAP 2012.

Later.

Day after Christmas

2011-12-27T07:08:00.000-05:00

Not much to report in the way of sewing. Most of the day was spent running around with DH. We even had late lunch of pizza and salad at Ragazzis. Time for a change from turkey, dressing, and other Christmas dinner leftovers. We even ventured to the mall; surprisingly it was not as bad as we thought it might be.

Returning home, I spent time in the sewing room making the last tweaks to the Vogue pattern and then I was able to cut out the top. I decided that I wanted to start preparing the fit of another Vogue knit pattern top, a Sandra Betzina pattern. I am using another Gorgeous Fabrics knit in a green/black animal print. I had originally planned to make a dress from this fabric but it is telling me a top would be better. Once this pattern is adjusted and fabric cut out I will then sew these two tops.

I have to start thinking about my 2012 SWAP project. I have decided to participate in this sewing challenge. I normally talk myself out of it; I think this will help me focus a little on developing a spring wardrobe and to use up some of the patterns/fabric I have on hand.

More later; sipping on coffee and taking a moment to read blogs to see what everyone is up to.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-25T18:03:00.002-05:00

I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays. May your time be joyful and pleasant with family and friends.

Sewing inbetween

2011-12-24T09:35:00.001-05:00

All the Christmas shopping is done except for one item for DH and we will take care of that later today. Call us crazy for going out into what I am sure is going to be a frantic holiday shopping scramble. Fortunately it does not require going near a mall!

This AM I have been cooking for dinner tonight and for family gathering tomorrow for Christmas. So in between peeling, chopping, cutting, and cooking, I am now working on fitting a Vogue knit top for one of many that I plan to sew over the next few days of my holiday and vaca days.

I am working on Vogue 8669 which has been in the stash for awhile. I have so many to choose from and settled on this one because of the neckline and because I think it will work well with a skirt I completed recently and have not worn yet because I need some new black tops.

The knit fabric I am using is one of several that I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics over a year or so ago. I plan to make the pink version of the top as I like 3/4 quarter or ballet length sleeves for fall/winter and transitioning into spring. I really like them year round as my aging arms just look better in this style.

I hope everyone is enjoying their pre-Christmas time with family and friends. Off to sew and cook.

Without Further Ado……

2011-12-20T05:32:00.001-05:00

Here is the Sandra Betzina Vogue pattern, faux leather and Sherpa jacket.

After coming home from work yesterday evening and changing into comfy clothes I decided it was time to reveal the completed jacket.

The final steps were tweaking the princess seams. I then trimmed each of the exposed Sherpa seams to between 3/8 to 1/4 inches and then stitched down the center of each seam to help keep them open. This was suggested in the pattern instructions. I probably could have used a different method to construct these seams; yet this method assured a better fit.

I did not insert pockets, there is just too much going on with this fabric and I would not really use the pockets.

I turned up 1 1/4 inch hem at the bottom and after stitching that I trimmed the hem by about 3/4 inch all around to eliminate some of the bulk. This faux leather is thick.

Here is a view of the back:

Here is how the jacket looks when partially unzipped:

You can also see the zipper in the sleeve in the shot above also. Having made a KS jean jacket with zipper in the sleeve, I prefer their method than this one as you have a placket behind the zipper; this one is stitched into the sleeve seam.

I will write a more formal review for PR soon. I do recommend this pattern and will definitely consider making another non-faux anything for the next one.

Soon to see

2011-12-19T06:58:00.001-05:00

I finally completed the jacket!!!!!! I took some photos of it hanging with my iPad and just did not have time yesterday to post. I will also take some photos of me wearing it.

My DH saw it hanging yesterday afternoon and immediately commented on how well it turned out. He had seen some work in progress and I could tell he had some concerns about the outcome.

I am now ready to move on to some very instant gratifications projects. More later.

New Fabrics

2011-12-15T13:44:00.000-05:00

I posted previously that I purchased some new fabrics.

This fabric is from EOS (EmmaOneSock) and is beautiful knit fabric with warm shades of brown, gray and some green. Sometimes photos just do not do justice to the fabric. Another fabric purchase from EOS is this black, gray and white knit. This was labeled as Chico's. This also is from EOS in a green and brown mosaic/paisley design. I also purchased black fabric but black is black so no photo.

The next two fabrics are from Marcy Tilton, my first purchase from her site. One is gray ombre wool jersey, very thin. The other is a ponte knit in green; it is a thinner fabric than I had anticipated but still nice enough.

I have plenty of visions dancing through my head of all the sewing I am going to do over the Christmas holidays/vaca.

More later.

I'm dreaming of

2011-12-11T08:15:00.001-05:00

sewing something else besides the Vogue faux leather jacket. I am down to the last few areas to stitch. Then hem and trim those seams. I only got about two hours of sewing time yesterday and I had a real challenge with sewing the collar and the facings to the jacket. My sewing machine is getting tired of sewing this fabric!

Attaching the collar was actually a breeze; the collar pattern is drafted very well and all markings etc lined up as it was suppose to. The challenge came with when sewing the facings to the neckline. I am now sewing three, thick layers of fabric; I am talking THICK fabric. One issue was my needle by this time is dull and the thread kept breaking. Changing the needle of course helped a lot, but we are still sewing thick fabric and the walking foot was not "walking" over the fabric well. At this point I adjusted the presser foot presser which helped some. Then I get to sewing over the shoulder seams which in those areas made the sewing even more a challenge. All of this took about an hour. By then I was tired and was rather late. I decided to stop there until tomorrow. I could feel myself getting flustered and likely to make more mistakes.

All I have left to do now is sew the facings down the front. Make a lower back adjustment, hem the jacket with the machine and hem the sleeves, trim those seams.

All in all this has been a challenge to me and actually one that I have learned from.

I am so ready after this to tackle some knit tops, a few blouses and some more skirts. I also want to make a cape. I have some great fabric purchased over the past four years or so that would make up into a nice winter cape. So I am dreaming of some new challenges and new clothes for the future.

I have vacation time coming up during the Christmas holidays and my sewing plans are ambitious ones. I will get several complete I am sure.

In dreaming of some other sewing projects, I have burned up the Internet of late with some fabric purchases. More show and tell later. I am off to sew now.

SB Vogue jacket

2011-12-06T06:58:00.001-05:00

SB Vogue jacket, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

This is still a work in progress. Sleeves inserted. This was a difficult task given the thickness of fabric and the nature of the fabric. When fitting is finalized the seams will be trimmed to 1/4 inch.

More progress

2011-12-04T10:13:00.001-05:00

I wanted the jacket to challenge me, particularly because I am sewing on faux leather. Believe me this has been a bear of a challenge. The fabric is thick to begin with and when sewing through two thicknesses it is rather difficult and sewing very slowly is the best way to handle this.

I have switched back and forth between walking foot, zipper foot and Teflon foot. The walking foot has been a huge success in sewing layers together.

I just completed inserting the sleeves which was the most difficult sewing thus far. Photos to follow.

Start of the Holiday parties

2011-12-03T07:49:00.001-05:00

After a very stressful week at work, the ending of the week has begun for me the start of various holiday parties. My Rotary club kicked off the week with an event Thursday night, which because of work I was not able to attend. Our agency had its annual meeting which became close to a four hour event.

Today I will be going to our annual ASG Holiday luncheon at a local country club. I had truly hoped that I could complete my faux shearling jacket in time for the event; I realized Tuesday evening that I would not meet the deadline unless I spent time into the wee hours working on it. Unfortunately I am way past the age when I could go to bed at 2 AM and get up at 5AM to get ready to work a full 9+ hour workday. Accepting this reality, I will present my jacket at next month's show and tell.

The real fun for me with this event is the opportunity to enjoy time with people who love to sew, eat great food and have a genuinely good time.

I will say that my jacket is coming along nicely. I have inserted the zippers into each sleeve. I had to cut out another set of sleeves; fortunately I had enough fabric to do that! In reading the reviews on PR it was noted that the sleeves ran small. Based on the measurements on the pattern piece, I thought the size I cut would work nicely. NOT! If you wear say a heavier sweater under the jacket the sleeves will be very tight fitting and I believe uncomfortable. I think some of the tightness also relates to the thickness of the fabric I am using, as faux shearling is thick. Having to re-cut another set of sleeves created a slow down in the sewing momentum also.

I eliminated the back belt as it looked wide on me, rather bulky and unflattering. I will adjust the back to fit closer through the various back seams.

Enough for now, have to go now to get ready for today's luncheon. Later!

Back view

2011-11-26T23:50:00.001-05:00

Back view, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Here is view of back. The exposed seams will be trimmed to 1/4 once all fitting is finalized.

Right front view

2011-11-26T23:46:00.001-05:00

Right front view, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Here is the partially completed front portion of the jacket.

Jacket progress

2011-11-26T22:25:00.001-05:00

I made good progress on the Sandra Betzina's Vogue jacket pattern over the past two days. All the seams have been sewn
after basting and fitting. I took a 3/4 seam for the shoulder seams. I did not take my usual 1/4 inch horizontal tuck in the upper chest area. I will probably take deeper seams in the front seams; this is the great thing about princess seams, the ability to make easy fitting adjustments.

After my search for the perfect gray zipper, I decided to go with the brown. The medium gray zippers were a good blend with the gray fur, but the metal zipper teeth were just too much of a contrast. I have stitched one side of the zipper and that is where I stopped the sewing for the evening.

Will upload photos soon.

I appreciate your thoughts and prayers

2011-11-23T17:01:00.001-05:00

I want to say how much I appreciated your thoughts and prayers during this time. I feel like so many of you are my friends, because of our love of sewing and our sharing together of that passion through our blogs.

Today there is a more of a sense of normalcy again. We held my father's funeral Monday. The weather was very accommodating and in the low 70's. I was able to reconnect with many relatives on my father's side that I had not seen in years. I feel at peace knowing that he is not suffering anymore.

Today I shopped for all the foods and such that I need to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for DH and me. I always love to cook for Thanksgiving. I think it is because I have plenty of prep time to fix the dinner.

I spent time this afternoon finalizing the fit of the Vogue jacket and then cut out the fabric. All of the zippers I ordered online arrived this week. The zippers from Sew True proved to be the best gray color for the front separating zipper. I have decided not to sew the pockets. I can change my mind when I begin as I do have the zippers necessary for the pockets. I am just not feeling the need for them.

I am currently waiting for DH to come home. He has decided to stop and get us Chinese food for dinner. The perfect before Thanksgiving day dinner tonight.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wish you a pleasant and thankful holiday. If you are not celebrating, I also wish you a pleasant day on Thursday. More later.

A time of loss

2011-11-20T08:36:00.001-05:00

I am so thankful that I was able to travel to see my father on Friday. He has been suffering from Alzheimer's for about 6 years now. He became very ill about three weeks ago and was in the hospital for nine days before being sent to a short term care nursing home. I was truly stunned when I arrived on Friday to visit with him. He was still very ill and had lost so much weight. The dementia had gone into overdrive.

Saturday morning I received a call that he had passed away. For this I am also thankful because I know he has gone to a better place with my hope that his mind and soul are now at rest.

I have lost both parents to this horrible and life taking disease. It is so very difficult to lose them to such an illness that leaves them as a shell and they no longer know themselves and no longer know who I am.

So this week I will be thankful that he no longer suffers with trying to form sentences, or trying to remember how to walk or trying to eat or even understand. I know he is in a better place and hopefully whole again.

Vacation and Holiday

2011-11-18T06:01:00.001-05:00

Today I begin my vacation and holiday time off! I really am looking forward to the break. My mind and soul needs rest and time for creativity.

As much as I would like to begin the time off today sewing, I am traveling to NC to see my father who has been moved into a nursing home providing some needed skilled nursing services. Fortunately he has been moved closer to where I live so the travel will not be as lengthy as it was previously. This will allow me to visit more frequently.

I will be back home early evening and plan to begin the pattern fitting process for the new jacket. Zippers that I ordered have not arrived yet, hopefully today.

More later.

Thank you!

2011-11-15T16:49:00.001-05:00

Thank you to everyone who offered information on zipper sources. I found some zippers on eBay from Zipperstop that hopefully will work out. I also found zippers on SewTrue this afternoon and decided to order two from them also. They should arrive this week and with my upcoming holiday/vacation next week I should be a go to make this jacket.

I have finished some hand sewing things I needed to do with the recent Butterick skirt. I will plan to take some photos of me wearing the latest skirt.

After I complete the jacket I want to work on some tops and another skirt or two. More updates later.

SOS

2011-11-13T08:33:00.001-05:00

I need your help finding a separating zipper, 20 to 22 inch length, in dark gray. I am getting ready to start making this jacket.

The fabric I am going to use is a faux leather/shearling/sherpa type that has a contrasting dark grey fur that will show in the exposed seams and of course the collar. The right side is a golden brown shade. I have a brown separating zipper with metal and molded brown zipper teeth, but it is a dark brown. I went to Zipperstop and found the limited selection of colors which I can easily get at JoAnn's.

Your help is most appreciated.

Lining pinned and ready

2011-11-09T06:55:00.000-05:00

The lining to the Butterick skirt is pinned and ready to attach. All I need is few moments of sewing time.

My next garment is going to be a jacket, this one from Sandra Betzina's Today's Fit pattern line.

Photo from Vogue Patterns website

I purchased some lovely faux leather/Sherpa fabric from EOS. I was going to use a KS pattern that I made a jacket from before. DH was really pushing me to make this one, which is rather unusual in that he normally does not suggest patterns for me to make that often. I need to get started with this as I plan to have it completed to wear in our ASG Annual Fashion held at our annual holiday event.

I have some vacation time coming up around Thanksgiving so will have some extra sewing time, I hope, during that week.

More later.

I've got a feeling, that today is going to be......

2011-11-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

A good day for sewing.

Last two weeks have been so hectic at work that I had a major melt down on Friday-at least major for me. A good Appletini and nice dinner with DH (who also had a crazy week) helped reduce the stress I was feeling. After a good night's rest on Friday and last night, I am back to feeling happy again.

I also have been very sewing motivated today. Last night I cut out the fabric for my next skirt again using the Butterick pattern shown in the right side of this blog. This AM, following my coffee break and blog/email reading, I began the sewing of the skirt. Here are a few shots of my skirt in progress taken with my iPad camera app:

The pleather is a brown/black croc skin that I think I purchased when I lived in Florida over 12 years ago. It was going to be a purse, but that never came to be. The bottom front of the skirt is a brown polyester gabardine acquired from Sewing Studio several years ago, which I was going to attempt to make a pair of pants. That did not happen either. So today both have become part of a new skirt.

The pleather has not been difficult to sew and mostly I have sewn from the wrong side which is more of knit type backing. When I topstitched the pieces I switched to a Teflon coated foot and that worked very well. I decided I wanted to line the skirt so I will work on that this afternoon.

My next challenge is going to be a jacket using faux Sherpa/shearling acquired recently from EmmaOneSock. Our ASG Christmas party always has a fashion show and this year the show will be about jackets. More on this later.

Decisions, decisions

2011-11-04T06:49:00.000-04:00

Thank you to all who gave me feedback about the jacket. I have decided to just use a solid color.
I plan to cut out that pattern this weekend. But before I sew it I have the desire to make one more skirt from the Butterick pattern I recently used to make the color blocked skirt.

I really like all three versions and will eventually make all three. The next skirt will be similar to the view of the one in the upper right hand corner. I have some pleather that I will use as the yoke contrast with brown gaberdine. The pleather has been in my stash for over 10 years and appears to be in great shape. The brown gab was a purchase made several years from Sewing Studio fabrics.

So glad today is Friday; it has been a heck of work week. I make my budget presentation to CEO this AM, wish me luck!! Sewing this weekend will be such a stress reducer.

What next?

2011-10-30T10:29:00.000-04:00

I completed the Butterick skirt this AM. Decided that I needed to do some culling out of sewing debris and went through a huge bag of patterns in my sewing room that I will either sell or give to Goodwill.

I want to make this Butterick jacket, the view at the bottom right. I have enough of the tobacco/camel wool fabric as well as the black. I am thinking of making the sleeves in black and the rest in the other color. I want to wear the jacket with the new skirt; but I am thinking that just may be too much color blocking together. I think that doing that I could still use the jacket with other black pants or skirts.

I would really appreciate your feedback about this. Is it to much color blocking? Please take a moment to comment. Thanks.

It’s almost a skirt

2011-10-26T18:48:00.001-04:00

I had an opportunity to try on the skirt this evening after work. I added the lining and prior to doing that, I had taken deeper side seams on both the skirt and lining. I may let out the seams a little as I am seeing some puckers. Those could be where I need to press the seams again or perhaps not.

I thought I would take a few photos of how the skirt will look when finished. I need to sew the front and back facings together and then attach to the skirt. Then hem the lining and the fabric.

I made the decision to use a black exposed zipper.

I plan to make another skirt from this pattern but use one of the other views. I think after that I will make some jackets. Time for a new direction and a new sewing challenge.

Progress

2011-10-23T11:03:00.001-04:00

For sometime now DH and I have wanted to purchase a new bed, Tempur-pedic bed. So setting aside funds to do so, we were able to get our new bed delivered yesterday. It is everything I expected and then some!!! Not affiliated with the company so this is not an advertisement, etc. for them. Just only expressing my humble opionion and sharing a little of what happened yesterday.

With all that going on and getting bedroom prepped, no sewing took place yesterday.

This AM I have been going at a fast pace of making the Butterick skirt. Front and back pieces are sewn. Next zipper, side seams, lining made and insert, hem and new skirt. More later.

Crazy week

2011-10-21T06:57:00.000-04:00

Work has been exhilarating and crazy. We are preparing for two audits next week that requires extra meetings to make sure all documentation is in place, accurate and timely. It is also "budget season" so I am spending after hours crunching numbers. And I have the crud so missed taking a flu shot this week.

I am so looking forward to the weekend. New bed arrives tomorrow and once all that moving in and out is complete I plan to sew. I continue to take the 5, 10 and 15 minutes of sewing I can spare to keep the sewing going.

TGIF!

A moment here and there

2011-10-19T06:48:00.000-04:00

I continue to work on the new skirt pattern as moments will allow. All the skirt pieces have the edges serged. Most of the time when I am going to line a garment I still serge finish the edges. On occasion I may not depending on the type of fabric I am using. Most of the time I also serge finish the lining fabric as well. I just like how all of that looks.

We are in the process of redoing our bedroom. This is also occupying some of my free time between working, eating and sleeping. So I take my moments here and there to do a little sewing. As things stand now I should be able to finish the skirt this weekend.

More later.

Plans can go awry

2011-10-16T17:28:00.002-04:00

My big plan for the weekend was to cut out and sew up Butterick 5556. I woke up Saturday very ill. I had some sinus issues which triggered an inner ear issue causing me some dizziness for most of the morning. Taking some medication, going back to bed and sleeping several hours helped alleviate the problem.

Today I am much better and was able to cut out the skirt pattern. I am using two wool pieces-wool gabardine. One is labeled tobacco, a golden brown color. The other is black. both are left over fabric pieces from other projects. I am making the view that the model is wearing. I also used the pattern pieces for the underskirt for another view to cut out lining fabric. I always line wool.

Here is a shot of the front and side front pieces laying on the cutting table. The flash somewhat washed out the color of the tobacco wool fabric. It is actually much darker than this.

I am not sure that I will get much more than this completed for today. More updates later.

Final sewing for Monday 10-10-11

2011-10-10T18:08:00.004-04:00

I attempted to make an eShrug from Sewing Workshop during the summer. I messed up with the markings and the sleeves were inserted kind of "wonky". Because it was a stretch lace, I decided not to redo the sleeves.

I did cut out another test garment using some free crinkle knit fabric that someone gave away at our ASG meeting several months ago. Everything went together well; you can see it somewhat in this picture. Black of course is hard to photograph.

It fits well from shoulder to shoulder. But it is a little too tight through the back. I used the smallest size as normally SW patterns run pretty large on me. Next one to try will be Size 2.

This was the last thing I sewed today.

Holiday weekend sewing

2011-10-10T17:21:00.001-04:00

I finished Simplicity 2413! Two new skirts thus far for fall/winter.

I have had this pattern forever and recently learned that it is OOP. I saw a review on PR of this skirt and it looked lovely on the reviewer. I decided it was time to pull this out of the stash and make it up.

The fabric I used was included in a fabric bundle from Fabric Mart. This has been around in my stash for at least two years if not longer. It was great to sew. Not sure of the actual fabric content and it is a stretch woven.

This skirt was fairly easy to sew. It does have some tedious sewing requirements such as numerous pleats that require accurate marking; a fold over facing again requiring accurate marking. A side invisible zipper that needs to be stitch accurately because there is a side pocket as part of the seam for one side of the zipper.

It is not lined which is good again due to all the pleating and such. The fabric I chose seems to work well for one that is not lined.

I marked the pleats with marking pencil but recognized that with the fold over facing, the markings were not going to be so visible unless I marked on the right side of the fabric. I decided to baste stitch the pleating marks which worked out great. In the end I had to take deeper pleats as the waist was a little to big.

I like the skirt, but it feels a little full. The model’s version of the skirt on the pattern envelope does not look as full. I was concerned about the horizontal stripes on the bottom skirt band. When you are short that is not necessarily the best look as it can of widens and cuts you off. But 2/3’s of the skirt is vertical stripes, so I decided it would be okay.

Here are photos of the completed skirt. The first one is the skirt on the hanger; there is sash hanging down the front.

Back view below:

I am holding the pleats in this view.

I like the pockets.

Fabrics from Waechter’s

2011-10-09T17:44:00.001-04:00

I wanted to share with you my recent fabric purchases from my trip to Asheville and Waechter’s Fine Fabrics.

I had so many choices to make; their selection was great but I was on a budget so I had to leave some of my fabric wants behind.

I loved the fit of the Vogue 8750 skirt pattern that I decided to purchase a dark navy blue cotton bottom-weight fabric to make another skirt.

I love the feel and weight of this fabric.

Displayed near by was some 100% rayon fabric. One particularly caught my eye was a navy blue background with shoes printed all over. I want to make a blouse/top to wear with the navy blue skirt to be.

This photo does not do this fabric justice. The blue background is much darker than it appears here.

The fabric below is another rayon of crème, gray and blue. Again to made into a top/blouse.

The final piece was a gray textured knit. I am thinking cowl neck knit top for this one.

Back from Asheville

2011-10-09T08:34:00.003-04:00

Well I am back from my recent business trip to Asheville, NC. Let me say that it has been several years since I visited this lovely city. I wish I could have extended my stay there. There is so much to see and I just did not get the time to do all that I would have liked.

I did get some time to visit Waechter's Fine Fabrics. They were about 10 minutes from the hotel. Once I checked in and knew I had about four hours before the reception, I entered address into Verizon Navigator and I was on my way. I did find some fabulous fabrics and picked up a few independent patterns. Their employees were so helpful and entertaining. It was a great visit.

I have been recharging camera batteries so I could take a few photos of my newest items to my fabric/pattern collection.

I resumed my sewing again yesterday evening and getting closer to finishing the Simplicity skirt. It is not a real difficult pattern to sew; the challenge for me is the sewing steps are rather different from my thoughts on how you would sew it. Yet their way makes a lot of sense.

I am hoping that I now have several weeks ahead of me for sewing and less traveling. I have so many sewing ideas and items I want to sew. More later.

Front view 2 V8750over exposed

2011-10-03T18:40:00.001-04:00

Front view 2 V8750over exposed, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Overexposed photo of skirt. I wanted you to see the paisley/floral overprint of the skirt onto the demin fabric. Fortunately I have more left and need to decide what it shoud become. This is from EOS. As posted previously I used what was possibly the wrong side but the right side for me.

Front view 2 V8750

2011-10-03T18:39:00.001-04:00

Front view 2 V8750, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Front view of skirt with top tucked in.

Front view V8750

2011-10-03T18:38:00.001-04:00

Front view V8750, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

I was having some issues with the camera. I had untucked my top and realized I needed to take a few more photos. So I turned the top under and took this with top untucked.

Semiside view-Vogue8750

2011-10-03T18:37:00.001-04:00

Semiside view-Vogue8750, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Another view from the side. It is very difficult to see the details of the topstitching and the curved side pieces.

Back view V8750

2011-10-03T18:36:00.001-04:00

Back view V8750, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

I took some photos after work so you can see the completed skirt. I love the fit of this skirt. I wish I had tucked my top in better as it looks from this view as if I am "lopsided".

Skirts

2011-10-02T08:14:00.000-04:00

Vogue 8750 is complete including the hand work--yeah!! I am ready to begin sewing my next skirt which is a Simplicity Project Runway skirt and is now OOP. I have had several plans to make this skirt but seemed to always put it aside as another pattern become my focal point.

I think I posted previously that I am using a striped fabric with the stripes running vertical and the band at the bottom edge will run horizontal. I read through the instructions last night and glad that I did. I would not have pleated the fabric the way the instructions have you do it. I think that the instructions are probably better than if I had done it the way I was thinking. There are pockets and side zipper involved and can see where it would be better to sew those first than doing the pleating first. I will share more about that later.

I have another business trip coming up next week; I will be traveling to Asheville, NC. Waechters' Fine Fabrics is located there and has been several years since I visited their shop. They are in a new location since I was there last so looking forward to seeing the new shop and all the goodies. My plan is to go there first before checking into the hotel!!!! I have my priority in clear focus.

I will try to take some photo shots of the completed skirt and the Simplicity work in progress. More later.

New Shoes

2011-09-26T21:07:00.001-04:00

UPS delivers not only fabrics but shoes. I love patent leather shoes and platforms. However, platform pumps are not so easy to wear when you are over a certain age. But this platform is subtle enough to work and for me to be comfortable. I could not get patent leather locally so ordered from Zappo's. What great and prompt service they have. This is my second pair from them. I also ordered some ball of the foot petals for comfort and to help with my feet sliding forward.

These will look great with the Vogue skirt as well as the black/white stripe one coming up next.

Almost complete

2011-09-25T18:04:00.000-04:00

I only have to sew the grosgrain ribbon to waistline seam and hem to have a completed skirt. I worked very hard to make sure that side seams and back yoke pieces lined up. In one of Louise Cutting's workbooks she gives some great tips of making sure those type of seams line up well. You need to baste them at matching points and then pin the remaining seams together. You may still need to adjust, but the basting seems to help the most for me.

I used a regular zipper per the instructions. I normally use an invisible zipper but decided I wanted to keep my skills up on inserting this type of zipper.

I love the fit of this skirt and think I have found my correct skirt size for now. I did not make any fitting adjustments while sewing the skirt. I did shortened the length between waist and hip as well as doing a sway back adjustment prior to cutting out the skirt.

I hope to have a completed skirt to show later. Time for dinner!

Vogue Skirt in progress

2011-09-24T20:47:00.000-04:00

I've make great progress on the Vogue 8750 skirt. The front unit is complete. I love the three pieces of the side front. They went together very easily. The fabric is from EOS and is a stretch woven fabric that looks like lace overlay. I am actually using the wrong side of the fabric; but for me this gave a better illusion of lace and it appears more gray and black.

I continue to see a lot of gray and silver colored clothes in department stores and magazines. So I want to add some of this to my wardrobe.

Here are a few shots of the skirt front:

Close up of side front pieces

Topstitching of the curved side pieces

Front and side front pieces stitched together

I started on the back pieces and should have a completed skirt tomorrow!

Work, work and work

2011-09-22T19:17:00.002-04:00

Where I work we held a strategic planning session with senior staff and some of the board members. This began with brunch on Sunday and extended into the early evening, followed by dinner. Monday we completed the session and was back to work. Wednesday and Thursday I have been in seminars. I was able to serge finish the edges of both skirts on Saturday. This will give me a jumpstart for this weekend. I am so looking forward to this weekend when I can sew my skirts.

I have taken the opportunity to view some Flickr photos of what many of you have been working on. Always inspiring. I am about to make two shoe purchases soon and will be seeking fabric to go with both.

I hope to share more later.

Update to Patterns for Sale

2011-09-17T09:48:00.001-04:00

I have added more patterns to the Patterns for Sale page. Take a look as there maybe something you like.

Second skirt cut out to sew

2011-09-16T20:43:00.000-04:00

I cut out Vogue 8750 skirt pattern on Sunday and have not had a moment to sew this week. Tonight after pizza dinner with DH, I cut out a second skirt-Simplicity 2413. I just found out that it has been moved to the OOP's at Simplicity.

I used fabric from my stash, striped black and white stretch woven that I acquired in a fabric bundle from Fabric Mart perhaps two years ago-maybe longer than two. The stripes will run vertical for the main body of the skirt with the stripes running horizontal for the skirt band at the bottom.

Of course, I get my sewing mojo back when I have to travel Sunday for a business trip. It is just a one night away trip. The meeting begins early afternoon on Sunday so only have a small window of sewing opportunity on Saturday.

The weather turned much cooler today so I find myself ready to begin the fall/winter sewing. I pulled a few more fabrics out of my collection and coming up with some potential ideas for sewing.
More later.

I Won

2011-09-15T20:33:00.002-04:00

I won a book giveaway on ThreadsMagazine.com. I remember commenting to enter for the giveaway, but had truly forgotten about it until now. I received an email notifying me today and then went to website and saw the notice there. Link is below:

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/20036/and-the-winner-of-couture-sewing-techniques-is#comments

Cool!!!

Vogue 1250 Front

2011-09-12T06:45:00.001-04:00

Vogue 1250 Front, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Front view. Overall I am pleased with the look of this dress. I would not make this in a solid color for me but a print works well.

Vogue 1250-side view

2011-09-12T06:44:00.001-04:00

Vogue 1250-side view, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

This is semi side view of dress. I have not hemmed the sleeves so there is a thread hanging down that needs to be cut!

Vogue 1250 Back

2011-09-12T06:43:00.001-04:00

Vogue 1250 Back, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Back view of the ever popular Vogue cowl neck dress. I cut a size 18 but can get by with 16. Could probably get by with 14 but would make front to clingy. I made swayback and narrow shoulder adjustments. Plus took 1/4 inch horizontal tuck right above the under arm area straight across to center back and did the same for the front.

Vogue 8750

2011-09-11T00:05:00.000-04:00

Following dinner with DH, I spent time moving fabric from one place to another. This is to begin my fall sewing and to refresh my memory of what I have in the stash.

I knew I had and did find some pleather pieces from my collection. One is green and one is brown/black crocodile skin. I want to incorporate one of them into a skirt. The other (probably the green) will become a sleeveless top similar to this.

My first fall pattern to sew will be Vogue 8750, like the one the model is wearing. I plan to use a denim fabric purchased from EOS in February of this year.

It has the look of lace overlay. I washed it previously but thinking about washing it one more time.

It has some stretch to it as well which I like. The pattern pieces have been cut out and I will pin fit tomorrow.

I feel like this is going to be a good, good sewing weekend

2011-09-10T07:39:00.000-04:00

I am feeling it again-sewing that is.

I really like the Pinterest website. I spent time this AM waking up to my usual coffee, breakfast and Internet. I decided to peruse the Pinterest site and saw a lot of clothing of interest to me. Obviously other bloggers are there also as I repinned many of what others had pinned.

I am seriously into making skirts for next sewing projects. I have several skirt patterns acquired earlier this year and of course some from last year. I already have picked a few I know I am going to sew initially.

Also as part of my sewing weekend I will be moving a lot of my spring/summer fabric in my sewing room back to the fabric collection room and begin to pull the fall/winter fabrics that I will work on next.

Enough for now, got to get ready to go to CURVES for Zumba class. Later.

Vogue 1250

2011-09-06T06:51:00.002-04:00

I completed Vogue 1250. Photos later.

I am happy with the way my version of this dress turned out. My areas of concern with this pattern were the shoulders, the drape of the cowl and how low it would go, and whether I would a FBA.

My concern with the shoulders were more with length. I decided to narrow the shoulder width by 3/8 inch. I also ended up taking up the shoulder seam by one inch. This was due somewhat to the stretch of the fabric and more and more of a reality that I probably need to use a 12 in the upper chest/shoulder area. I needed the 14 to 16 for bust down.

By taking that deeper seam it also helped with the drape of the cowl. I really don't wear low draping styles well and my preference is not for low necklines; when you are my age, that is not the most flattering of looks.

I decided not to make a FBA and that worked out okay as well. There is a good example of how to do a FBA for this pattern at Debbie Cook's blog Stitches and Seams.

Will share more later.

2011-09-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

I am sure that many of you have started a project and decided you had to just put it aside because you were just not "feeling it". That is how I feel about the Butterick dress and came fully to that conclusion this morning when I went to my sewing room. I just don't want to make this at this time.

After making that decision and allowing myself to not finish it now, ( I can be obsessive sometimes) I did some cleaning up of the space as well as cleaned out the bobbin area of my sewing machine. I also cleaned and oiled the serger.

Once I did that I threaded the serger to prepare for sewing the final summer dress of the season, Vogue 1250. I am probably one of the last people to sew this popular dress. I hesitated sewing it because of the low neckline on the model and my petite size. And how does one make a FBA with this. Having read pretty much all the reviews on PR and various blogs where many of you have made this dress, I am ready to give it a try.

I will post updates later.

Sewing mojo is starting to return

2011-09-03T23:52:00.000-04:00

After dinner out with DH and returning home, I spent some time in sewing room. I completed the front facing part of the Butterick dress in progress. I also pinned the neck binding to the dress and will sew that next. Followed by inserting sleeves and hemming. I am really ready to get this dress completed. I think I will have several opportunities to wear it before transitioning to fall.

I have Vogue 1250 cut out and ready to sew next. After this I plan to start on sewing for fall. I want to make a few skirts and start working on some jackets. I have been busy perusing various magazines and have found some inspirational pieces. So I am feeling like getting back to sewing now. Having a long holiday weekend helps also.

Back from Charleston

2011-09-03T23:38:00.000-04:00

I returned from Charleston, SC on Wednesday evening. I enjoyed my visit but would have liked to have had a few more days to see more of the city. I spent Tuesday AM in downtown Charleston and a lot of time walking around the City Market and visiting shops close to that area.

I saw a sign for Hancock's Fabrics but did not have time to stop and shop. I ate some fabulous food while there; ~~perhaps~~ really more than I should have.

I did find a pair of shoes at a really neat shoe store that was within an air conditioned area of the city market. It is called Charleston Shoe Company. They are comfortable and affordable shoes. Here is a link to their website, if interested.

Here is a really blurry shot of the shoes I bought. They are sooooo comfortable. The fabric is a stretch fabric. Most all of their shoes are washable in the delicate cycle.

Patterns sold and actually sewed

2011-08-28T20:58:00.000-04:00

I sold all three of the KS patterns on the Patterns for Sale page. Thank you everyone who enquired. I will post more when I return from my trip to SC.

I actually did a small amount of sewing this afternoon. I attached the ruffled neckline piece to the front neckline of the dress. This time when I made the gathered neckline, I stitched over a piece of gimp using a zigzag stitch. I then pulled the gimp string to gather the edge. It worked much easier than the way I did it last time using the instructions with the pattern.

Cleaning out pattern collection

2011-08-27T10:07:00.000-04:00

I really have way too many patterns. Yes I am a patternaholic! You can go to my Patterns for Sale page and see what I just posted. It is a start and I will have more to post later.

I have another trip coming up on Monday; I was suppose to fly out today but Irene had a different plan for me as well as a lot of others. For those that may be in her path, take precautions and be safe. My real reason for mentioning my upcoming trip was that if you would like to purchase any of these patterns, I will not be able to ship until Sept.2.

First come, first served. You can email me if you are interested to lwl1951at gmail dot com.

Reading and Sewing

2011-08-25T05:25:00.003-04:00

I love to read, particularly mysteries. I agreed when requested to read “Pleating for Mercy”, a first in a series. This mystery falls into the “Cozy Mystery” category. This is a rather new category of mystery reading for me. I tend toward the more suspense, action and graphic depiction of a murder. This was a nice change.

The other enjoyment of the book was that the main character is a dressmaker/seamstress/sewist that designs and sews garments. She left her hometown to live in NYC where she trained and worked for a designer of high end fashion. She has returned to her small hometown of Bliss, Texas.
In returning to Bliss, she moves into her great grandmother’s home where she reopens the Button and Bows shop. Throughout the book there are many references to designing, altering and sewing garments. If you are a sewist/seamstress, then you can easily identify.

Harlow Cassidy, the main character, is a descendent of Butch Cassidy. A murder occurs in the front yard of Button and Bows and Harlow sets out to help discover and solve the mystery. The author does a good job of balancing a “who done it” suspense with every day life which makes for a pleasant cozy mystery read.

Fashion

2011-08-21T09:01:00.000-04:00

Like many of us we turn to fashion magazines for inspiration. Last evening after dinner, DH and I went to Barnes and Noble for coffee and perusing magazines and books. I acquired the new, big September Vogue issue along with Harper's Bazaar. I also picked up a new Sew Stylish magazine.

IMHO, the fall Sew Stylish is always the better of that seasonal publication. I always get better sewing ideas from the fall one than others. Or perhaps because I am needing a sewing booster, this one just does it for me.

Right now there is just a lot of things going on with my life on a work and personal level that I am just needing what I call "ooze time" and for now sewing is not providing an outlet. Yet I am continuing to design in my head; I have two dress garments in the works and yes, I just ordered some knit fabrics.

So I will be perusing my mags and visiting your blogs to help energize my sewing mojo for later.

Where did the week go?

2011-08-19T06:52:00.001-04:00

I just realized I have not posted anything since last Friday. Gosh time is flying by.

I traveled to Arlington, VA on Sunday and was there from Sunday til Tuesday afternoon. I wish I could have stayed another day to go to GStreet. My boss would not have appreciated that. It was a good business meeting and I wore clothes I made both days. I received many compliments. I wore my Butterick 5638 dress the first day and the second day I wore my yellow eyelet Sorbetto top and McCall's skirt. They were both perfect for the ~~warm~~ hot weather and the not so cool meeting rooms we were in.

Back to work on Wednesday with a long list of projects ahead of me has left me feeling tired when I get home. I did take some time to create the ruffle piece that is to be attached to the neckline of the current Butterick dress I am working on. So the sewing mojo is rising!!!! Look forward to some sewing time this weekend.

More patterns, but no sewing mojo

2011-08-12T15:36:00.000-04:00

I can't seem to get my sewing mojo going. I did take advantage of the Club BMV sale and purchased 4 Butterick patterns. They arrived today and kind of lit a spark but just not enough. I am even taking a vacation day today. But I planned the day to get all my grocery shopping done, take "stuff" to Goodwill, clean the car washed and heading for a manicure in about 30 minutes.

DH and I are visiting a family member tomorrow evening for a cookout and then I head out on Sunday for a business trip. Sewing is just not in the cards for now. I will be checking out what others are working on in the meanwhile for some sewing inspiration for when the sewing moment strikes.

JoAnn's Vogue $3.99 Sale

2011-08-07T12:20:00.001-04:00

I took advantage of the Vogue pattern sale at JoAnn's this weekend. Here are the four patterns I chose that they had in my size. Club BMV has a sale this weekend also, that I should take advantage of as there are a couple of Butterick patterns that caught my eye.

B5638 Take 2 in Progress

2011-08-07T12:07:00.001-04:00

As promised here are two shots of the fabric, pattern and current state of the dress in progress.

Weekend sewing updte

2011-08-07T11:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday evening I began making my second Butterick 5638 dress. Having sewn this pattern before and tweaking the pattern based on previous dress experience, I seem to be moving right along. All front pieces and back pieces have been sewn together and dress is attached at shoulders. I basted the side seams and stopped there. So fitting step is next.

I wanted to cut out Vogue 1250 (yes, I got to be of the many who have made this dress). I had made some fitting adjustments to the pattern Saturday AM. I cut out the fabric before stopping to make breakfast for DH and I this morning.

This afternoon I will resume sewing the Butterick dress working on the detail sewing--gathering the front ruffle piece and attaching; adding the front inset piece at center, back binding and inserting sleeves. I decided not to make it sleeveless. Once that is done, hemming is the only thing left to do.

I hope your sewing weekend has been productive. More later with some photos.

Sorbetto to work

2011-08-03T18:35:00.000-04:00

I wore my Sorbetto eyelet top to work today. The skirt is one I made about two summers ago. It is great when a top and skirt made separately and even years apart become a new outfit for work! This was taken with my iPhone so not the best photo in the world but you get an idea of how it looks.

Today I wore

2011-08-01T18:20:00.000-04:00

Butterick 5638--My DH loves this dress and I do also. I have a second one ready to sew using a cotton jacquard fabric acquired from a local quilt shop. I plan to set up the serger and sewing machine for this. And then I am going to attempt the Vogue 1250 dress that so many people have sewn.

I have been hesitant to sew it; not sure why really. I have read so many different reviews and now have a better idea of how to make some fitting adjustments. I think I feel like I can make it work.

Later.

Sunday Sewing Mojo Gone

2011-07-31T12:02:00.000-04:00

My usual routine for Sunday AM is to get up, drink some coffee, read emails/blogs and go to my sewing room. There was no sewing mojo this AM. I think I used it up trying to finish the tops to participate in the One Pattern Many Looks contest on PR.

I also had some other items to take care of and decided they needed some priority over sewing. I will do some cleaning up of the sewing room this afternoon and set up machines for my second Butterick dress with neckline ruffle. That one is ready to sew.

I did browse through some sewing photos of others while reading through blogs and found this photo. I saved it to my favorites. Boxy tops are in, the Sorbetto tops are rather boxy. Of particular interest was the white scalloped edge top in the bottom of the photo. I had not seen this before making the yellow eyelet top. Good minds think alike.

Later

All three

2011-07-30T21:26:00.001-04:00

Here are the three Sorbetto tops.

Sorbetto 3

2011-07-29T20:36:00.000-04:00

Small incremental sewing during the week. To enter the PR contest has to be complete by 7/31. I'll make it.

I have a dress pattern cut out and ready to sew next. But may deviate from that. Updates later.

Sorbetto Top 2 and 3

2011-07-24T18:03:00.001-04:00

I completed top 2 yesterday, late night. This morning I cut out top 3 using fabric and lining from my stash.

Top 2 was a multi color striped fabric acquired from Jo Ann fabrics about a month or so ago. It is a polyester crinkled fabric with very sheer stripes between colors with metallic thread running through it. The lining I used was lining acquired from Fabric Mart and was included in a bundle package over a year or so ago. I call it an oyster color as it matched the “oyster” color serger thread from Maxi Lock.

Here is the completed top 2

After attaching the lining and sewing side seams, I decided to edgestitch the neckline to keep the pleated area from rolling out.

I used the rolled hem setting on my serger to hem the top.

Top 3 is still a work in progress. The fabric used was a yellow cotton eyelet from Fabric.com. Acquired over two years or more ago. I decided I wanted to use a contrasting color for the lining and chose a warm green lining fabric also from my stash.

The eyelet fabric has scalloped edges, so I wanted to use that edge at the hem line.

Top 3 has lining attached at the neckline and I had to stop there because DH says its dinner time!

Second Sorbetto Progress

2011-07-23T23:33:00.000-04:00

I have almost completed the second Sorbetto top. This one is lined. The only thing left to do is hem the fabric and the lining fabric.

I want to make one more and think I can complete it so I can enter the three tops in the PR contest-One Pattern Different Looks. My ambition with this contest was to make four tops, but three will probably be it.

I am going to use fabric from my stash - a yellow scalloped edged eyelet fabric I purchased two years or so ago from Fabric.com.

More later.

New Fabrics

2011-07-20T06:58:00.000-04:00

Last week at our ASG meeting, our speaker was the owner of Les Fabriques in Charlottesville, VA. She presented Christmas in July. She shared with us many gift ideas that one can sew up for Christmas gifts for friends and family. In addition she showed several garments made from apparel fabric that she sales in addition to quilting fabric. When she presents to our chapter, she always brings fabrics, embroidery packages as well as some notions. I for one can not resist not buying up some of her apparel fabric.

Here is what I purchased:

Embroidered ombre silk organza

Two cotton fabrics-for blouse and skirt. The floral print fabric is unique to me as it looks like it has raised areas somewhat like a jacquard, but it is just the print of the fabric. I really want to make this one up soon to wear for the remainder of this summer.

Sorbetto 2

2011-07-19T06:58:00.000-04:00

I did find a few extra minutes to do so additional sewing on the Sorbetto 2 top Sunday. I sewed the front pleat and darts in the fabric. I also sewed the darts in the lining fabric. I cut the front pattern piece on the fold using the pleating line as the fold line. Shoulder seams are sewn on the fabric and lining. And that was the final sewing for my sewcation.

Next steps are to attach the lining and fabric at neckline. But before doing that I plan to baste side seams in the lining fabric to try on for any fitting adjustments.

This will be a busy work week so I may not get to do any sewing until the weekend. Updates to follow. I also need to post about new fabric purchases last week.

Stay/sewcation ending

2011-07-17T09:56:00.000-04:00

It has to be written somewhere that when your sewcation is about to end and you hope to squeeze in one more project before returning to the world of work, that you can not get your serger to cooperate. I had to re-thread my serger four times before all the stars in the universe would line up correctly so that the serger would serge appropriately. Now that all things are in alignment, I was able to stitch the darts in the Sorbetto top and top lining. Before I had to stop and take care of breakfast etc.

I really am pleased how well the fabric is sewing. With crinkles, metallic threads running through the fabric, etc. my concern was skipped stitches and such. I am using a metallic needle and it is sewing beautifully on this fabric (sigh of relief).

More updates later if I can find time to sew again today.

New sewing projects

2011-07-16T21:29:00.000-04:00

I cut out two patterns this AM. Both are repeat patterns and thus all fitting adjustments have been made.

I am going to make another Sorbetto Tank Top. The fabric is sheer, crinkled polyester fabric acquired from JoAnn's Fabrics. It is a striped fabric and I am using the wrong side. I like the pastel look of the wrong side.

I am going to line it using an oyster color lining fabric from my stash.

I also cut out this fabric to make Butterick 5638. This is a cotton jacquard acquired from Quilt N Sew in Lynchburg, VA. I purchased this about a year ago, maybe even two. For this dress I am going to use the short sleeves instead of making it sleeveless.

Since my plan for my stay/sewcation was to make tops, I am going to make the Sorbetto top before starting on the dress. I hope to complete it tomorrow.

M6203 Front view

2011-07-15T21:04:00.005-04:00

M6203 Front view, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Here is the almost complete M6203. This top runs large. I narrowed the shoulder area, reduced the length by one inch and still could reduce it another inch. This has not yet been hemmed. Otherwise it is complete.

M6203 silk gauze knit two staggered layers for neckline

2011-07-15T21:04:00.004-04:00

M6203 silk gauze knit two staggered layers for neckline, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.

Close up of the neckline.

Sorbetto Top- photos as promised

2011-07-14T15:41:00.001-04:00

I completed this top. I now know all the fitting adjustments I need to make and even with this completed one, I think there are a few more tweaks to make. Even taking deeper side seams and taking an even deeper seam at the waist, it still looks a little boxy. The material I used was like a "peachskin" fabric, hard to sew, press and hard on the needle. All in all I like the intent of the style and can see this made up several ways. It was fun using the bias binding as a design touch on the right side. It allowed me to practice topstitching.

Sorbetto

2011-07-13T19:05:00.000-04:00

My time was consumed most of the day with making the Sorbetto top. (Pictures to follow). I ended up making several fitting adjustments that included deeper shoulder seams and deeper side seams with from under the bust to hemline. I even took a deeper seam at the waist area to make the top look less boxy. I have attached the bias binding to the neckline and one armhole. One more armhole and hem and we are done!

All in all I like this top. I actually see a few more of this in my wardrobe for the summer transitioning into fall.

Tomorrow I want to make the McCall's top.

Day Two Stay/Sewcation

2011-07-12T17:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday (Monday) I spent most all morning in the sewing room trying to fit patterns. Particularly the Sorbetto Top (freebie) from Collette Patterns. After making two tracings of this pattern, I think I have the sizing right now. I had to make a FBA, swayback and high upper round back adjustment. The McCall's knit top also needed a little more tweaking but just minor adjustment. DH got home from work a little earlier than usual yesterday, so spent some time hanging with him.

Today I cut out the McCall's top, the Sorbetto Top and another eShrug from Sewing Workshop. I used fabric from my stash for all with one being fabric left over from another project from 2007; a black crinkled fabric-a freebie from an ASG meeting and the McCall's top is from fabric I purchased last year from Denver Fabrics. I had planned to use another knit fabric but it did not meet the knit stretch factor necessary for this.

The serger is set up already for the Sorbetto Top. The bias tape required for this was in my stash. It is almost time to fix dinner and perhaps afterwards I can sew a little. Updates later.

Where did last week go and what's ahead

2011-07-10T10:25:00.001-04:00

I hardly spent anytime during the past week in my sewing room. Completing one wadder and one top last weekend was the last sewing I did. Things were crazy at work with a colleague leaving to take a position in another state. It was like a week of cramming for an upcoming exam. There was a lot I needed to finalize with her before she left.

Next week-a stay/sewcation. Yes. This AM I spent time adjusting a pattern for another knit top/tunic. It is a McCall's pattern. I hope I did not flub up too much on the pattern adjustment. I had to make a FBA of about 2 inches and I wanted to get rid of the resulting dart. I followed a technique that Debbie Cook posted about and have used it several times. But I think I may end up with an issue with this one.

I plan to use a knit fabric that has been in my stash for several years to test it. It is one that I was not overly crazy about after purchasing, thus if outcome is negative, I want be overly concerned about the loss of this particular fabric.

I also downloaded the free pattern from Collette Patterns for a sleeveless top with front pleat. I printed and pasted all the pages together and plan to trace this pattern for fitting and sewing also.

I also want to make a few more dresses. I purchased these two Simplicity Patterns yesterday while out doing some shopping chores--Simplicity 2145 and Simplicity 2146. I fell in love with red/black dress on this pattern and recently saw this dress on some TV program. In black and cream.

Updates later.

eShrug

2011-07-04T20:02:00.001-04:00

I sewed the eShrug pattern from Sewing Workshop. This shrug has potential but mine did not turn out so well. Operator error not the pattern.

The stretch lace fabric was a bit fiddly to work with. All went well until I put in the sleeves. I did not mark the notches and dots well enough. Rather hard to do with multi-colored lace. I need to determine a system for this type marking with stretch lace. I should have use thread to mark. As result, the sleeves are all wonky. Again my error not the pattern.

Using 20-20 hindsight, I should have tried this with a more substantial fabric instead of lace. I have not sewn with lace much and probably would have been better to have done this. I have enough fabric to cut out new sleeves but I think undoing the serged seams will make a mess of the fabric. I actually may have enough fabric to remake the whole thing. But only after testing it with another fabric first.

You can see it on AlmaMarie

Productive and restful holiday weekend. I hope yours was a good one also.

V8710 Complete

2011-07-04T19:54:00.001-04:00

I completed the knit top and I am truly pleased with the outcome. It fits very well and I plan to make the other knit top and hope it fits as well.

Here are a few shots of the top

On a hanger

Here is a view of the side panel with topstitching

And a shot of the hem. I used my coverstitch hem for the neckline, sleeves and top hem.

And one final view from the side

Top almost completed

2011-07-03T10:40:00.000-04:00

I have only brief moments of time to sew thus far this holiday weekend. I basted shoulder and side seams this AM to test the fit. Perfect! I was happy about this as various types of knits behave differently. This is stretching appropriately. I attached the front and back at shoulder seams as well as attaching the neckband. I set up coverstitch machine to use around neckline and elsewhere for hemming.

Next attach sleeves, sew side seams and hem!!

I will then set up machines for the eShurg. I have a few other ideas for tops to at least get cut out this weekend if not sewn.

Off to brunch! Later.

Quick note

2011-07-02T09:26:00.000-04:00

I started sewing the Vogue knit top this AM. Have some running around to do and wanted to get in a little sewing before showering and going out. Front and side front pieces are sewn together, ready to be topstitched.

The knit fabric has been in my stash for soooo long, I really don't remember when or where I purchased it. I do know that it sews great and good recovery.

More later. Wishing everyone who celebrates July 4 a great holiday weekend.

eShrug

2011-06-30T06:55:00.000-04:00

I cut out the eShrug pattern. I love the lace knit fabric; I need to definitely find some fabrics in my stash or online to go with this.

The serger is set up for sewing the Vogue knit top pattern. I am counting down the hours to the upcoming long weekend. I also have a sewcation coming up as well. WhooHooo!