Sunday, January 31, 2010
Stopped snowing, still sewing
Great progress on the dress. Lining is complete as well as most of the dress fabric is complete. I like to make the lining first so I can tweak it to then transfer those changes to the fabric. Not a lot of changes necessary. I took deeper seam in upper chest and from under the bust down to hem on the front princess seams. I also took deeper seams in the back from upper back to waist.
The neckline is rather high, so I plan to scoop that out by about 1/2 inch before attaching the lining. I am not overly happy with the zipper I need to use. I just could not find a zipper that matched the fabric as well as I would like. Since it is an invisible zipper I am not over concerned.
I think this will be completed today. I know some time has to be spent helping DH shovel snow so I can go to work tomorrow. Hope to have some photos to show later. Off to sew.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Snowing and Sewing
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
10-20-30 Minutes to sew
I need to do something sewing related during stressful work times as a means of "therapy". I also have caught glimpses of others sewing projects on Flickr notices I receive. That too is a form of sewing therapy also.
Jeez, maybe I need to press another item this AM. Later!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Butterick 5399 ready to sew
I am using a wool fabric that I acquired from Fabric.com about a year or two ago. I purchased lining fabric from Schoolhouse Fabrics in Floyd, VA awhile back as well. The fabric and lining have been cut out. I just need to set up the serger and sewing machine.
I had to do some housecleaning today as well as work on some projects brought home from the office. So not the sewing weekend I would have liked to have. Yesterday we went to Danville to visit MIL. Next weekend I hope to have more time.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Putting aside
The neckline pleats are good but the bust dart is just too low and is pulled down some by the weight of the double knit. The back looks better; but now I think the shoulder length is too long and that is fixable.
When I don't like something I am working on and I keep pushing myself to work on it, I find I start avoiding sewing. I will put aside for now and give myself a new sewing opportunity. I am still going to sew another dress and am considering 4 or 5 patterns. I will be using fabric from the stash that I pulled out for winter sewing.
My Jalie patterns came today, the wrong Kwik Sew pattern was shipped. Will have to send back to PR for the correct one.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
More patterns
Monday, January 18, 2010
Vogue 8593 Progress
Friday, January 15, 2010
Long holiday weekend
This week I wore two skirts that I made over the past few months. I wore this one Wednesday. I fits better than it looks in this photo. I love the back pleats. I wish I had had time to take a shot of how I looked Wednesday. I purchased a pair of brand new, never worn, suede Ferragamo (sp) shoes from the Discovery Shop, a local thrift store that funds go to help the American Cancer Society. They went with the skirt and knit top I wore perfectly. (This reminds me I need to take some photos of some recent shoe purchases I have made.)
Today I wore the brown herringbone skirt shown here. I truly love this skirt pattern.
Starting on the Vogue dress tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Next dress project
I hope to get time tonight to at least pull the pattern out of the envelope and start cutting out the pattern for pin fitting. I will be making solid color dress out of gorgeous double knit from Gorgeous Fabrics.
Later!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Butterick 5247 for Immediate Gratification
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Dresses
The first Vogue pattern may have the wrong side of the fabric showing-having not read the instructions yet. The Butterick dress pattern would based on reviews and comments by other bloggers. The navy fabric will work for either of those.
The double knit fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics have two distinct right and wrong sides so the second Vogue pattern is the best candidate for that fabric. Both pieces have been washed and ready to go. So I need to get ready to go myself.
I want to end this post by saying thank you to those who recently left comments on my previous post about my job. I appreciate your empathy. Sometimes you just have to go through, over or around a brick wall. I am getting there and by Monday hope to be on the other side.
Friday, January 08, 2010
2010 Sewing Goals
With this job change, I just have not had the energy to go into my sewing room and prepare for my next sewing projects. Fortunately though, I have allowed myself the opportunity to think about what I want to work on next. I had been leaning toward dresses and have decided that will be my focus at least for this month. I also decided to come up with some sewing goals for 2010. I don't want to set a goal of sewing X garments. For me, not achieving this will feel like failure and I just don't want to do that. So my goals are broad yet measurable.
1. Spend less time at computer taking advantage of that time to do more sewing.
2. Reorganize sewing room.
3. Refashion some garments acquired through Goodwill, other thrift stores,consignment shops and items already in my closet.
4. Reacquaint myself with machine embroidery and incorporate this into a minimum of three garments this year.
5. Work on sewing with a plan.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
2009 Sewing Affirmations Review
1-Take advantage of sewing opportunities and spend more time at machine than computer. I give myself a B on this one. I still spend too much time at computer when could take advantage of sewing time. This will be an ongoing goal for me.
2-I will make some garments from BWOF since I renewed my subscription. I did make three garments (knit top, faux suede jacket, wool skirt) from BWOF; one I just completed today. I have plans to make more garments as I renewed the subscription again.
3-I will learn and use two new sewing techniques.I learned three-all involve working with or around zippers. One was sewing linings by machine to invisible zippers; the other was inserting a regular zipper with the outcome to look like an invisible zipper; the third was attaching a facing to an invisible zipper. I have used two of the three techniques on a fairly regular basis.
4-I will continue to sew for quality not quantity.I really worked on this. I really worked to have well fitting garments, seams lining up as they should, plaids or prints matching up nicely, adding linings to make the garment look and wear better, and more. I completed 23 garments for the year which was a lot less than what some others have recently noted. Not sure if the low quantity is because of this goal or because of goal 1.
5-I will make one good pair of well fitting pants. Oops! I failed this one. Did not even try though I bought two pant patterns. Maybe in 2010. RTW normally fit me just fine.
6-I will strive to use patterns more than once. I made some strides there. I made three skirts from one pattern, a couple of tank tops from a KS pattern and a few other knit tops from other TNT patterns like KS and Jalie. I also have a Simplicity dress pattern I used again for a knit dress. I have a couple of dresses in mind to sew soon and involves using a previously sewn dress pattern.
7-I will use fabric from my fabric collection more often. I think I did better with this one for 2009 but still gave in to the urge to buy more fabric which sometimes got sewn up quickly and other times not and now is aging nicely in my collection.
I have not fully thought through my goals/affirmations for 2010, some of the above, like #1 will be back on the list.
Well, it is back to work tomorrow. I have had a nice time off for holiday and vacation. Even though I did have a bout with vertigo, I was mostly able to do much of what I wanted during my time off. Later.
Three skirts-30 days.
And the skirt goes on
I love a challenge and thus is why I choose to try numerous patterns instead of making my same TNT one all the time. Maybe it is the style and the fabric but with the last fitting I thought I had made enough adjustments for the skirt to fit. I had to undo part of the waistband stitching to take up the side seams another 3/8 inch on each side.
It is now ready for hemming. I am debating on whether to use the belt carriers or not. I do plan to wear a belt with this but with the carriers I will definitely limit the belt width. Off to hem now.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Update on BWOF skirt
As I stated in an earlier post I made adjustments to the skirt pattern. I added width to the waistband area and added to the skirt as well. In retrospect and from fitting the skirt I did not need to add to the skirt portion except at the top edge that would attach to waistband. Thus I ended up taking deeper seams in the side front area of the waistband and also taking a smidgen in the side back areas of waistband. This resulted in my cutting off about an inch on each side of the skirt front and back. This is the amount I added from top to bottom. This seems like a lot of wasted work but truly I rather have the too big issue than making something that is just too tight. All in all, this is a learning opportunity.
I now have to go back and make the same adjustments to the lining pieces. Once all of those are completed, I will need to hem both lining and skirt. I really like the look of the skirt and look forward to wearing it when I return to work next week.
I now leaning toward sewing some dresses. I am getting encouragement from DH as well.
More updates and photos later.
WIP-BWOF January 2009 Skirt 112
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I appreciate everyone who stops and takes time to visit my blog. I so enjoy reading other blogs to see what that blogger is working on, to get inspiration and to learn a new sewing technique or a way to improve on how I sew something.
Let's hope 2010 is a better year for all of us; that the economy improves, people are able to return to work, and that the Republicans and Democrats find away to govern for the people instead of their current method of, if one is for something then the other party is not!!!!
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