Day after Christmas

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. 

Saturday-Lake time

Yesterday, DH and I went to Smith Mountain Lake to spend time with another couple who live on the lake.  They were gracious host for the day.  We had not seen their new home and it is gorgeous with a great view of one of the lake coves. 

We went out on their boat and I discovered that the lake is huge.  There is no way one could see all of it in a day trip.   Weather was fantastic.  We docked the boat at the "Boat Landing" and had a choice of laid back restaurants to have dinner.  After dinner we ventured back to their home with the setting of the sun and the cool evening temperatures.

Truly relaxing day with sun, water, good food and good friends.

Weekend Sewing

Yesterday DH and I visited his niece and her new husband; a two hour trip.  It was a social event to celebrate the newly weds with friends and family.  My sewing time was limited to incremental sewing in the AM.

This morning I resumed sewing in between household chores and fixing "stuff" on DH's phone.  Butterick top is almost complete and will post photos later.  Back to the sewing room.  Hope all are enjoying your weekend.

4 Day weekend-priceless

Yesterday I took a vacation day in order to have another 4 day weekend!  I needed it.  My DH injured himself on the job over a week ago and had to be out of work all last week.  He does not handle pain well and becomes a "little whiny".  Perhaps you understand where this is going; between work and home it was time for a day off.  He was actually in better spirits yesterday so the day worked out well.

I did get some sewing in on Thursday evening and last night as well.  I have almost completed the knit top and the Lutterloh pattern worked out fairly well.  There are no real sewing instructions for this pattern so I basically sewed the top pretty much like I sew all other tops with raglan sleeves and upper and lower bodices.

The length of the top is a little too long for my taste and I will shorten it about an inch.  I added an inch for the hem. So I will remove that and then take an inch width hem.  I will try to take photos later.  After hemming I will then determine whether I am going to use the facings that are drafted for the neckline or add bias binding.

I used 3/8 seam allowances throughout the top.  I made a forward shoulder adjustment, raised neckline 1/2 inch, made a FBA of one inch eliminating the resulting side dart and moved the dart to the tuck at the neckline.  I eliminated a side zipper that was shown as part of the pattern draft.  Not sure why they included that since they noted the pattern was suitable for a knit fabric; even using a woven I don't think necessary because neckline is rather low and wide which makes pulling it on easy and most appropriate.

Today DH and I are making a brief visit to see his mother and then we are visiting one of my cousins in NC for a steak cookout.  So I am glad that I got in sewing time yesterday as today will be family time.

Updates and photos later.  Enjoy the 4th of July holiday!

Family weekend

Not much in the way of sewing tomorrow. We are visiting my DH's niece and her family. They have a new pool and wanted to have us over for fish fry, swimming and just a good time. So we will be traveling to So Boston,VA; almost a two hour drive.

I really love summer. Being outside, not having to wear several layers of clothing, open toed shoes, sandals, flip flops, shorts, etc. It all adds up to a good feeling!

I may get in a few minutes of sewing later this evening. Right now waiting to eat pizza!

Later.

Updates

Wow, I didn't blog anything this weekend. So much going on and the weather being so nice I find I vacillate between sewing and being outside doing "stuff".

I made a lot of progress with the white jacket and probably could have finished it on Sunday but the weather was so nice that I spent time outside with DH while he washed vehicles and did some yard work. By the time I decided to go back inside, it was time to start on dinner and then it was TV time for the rest of the evening.

Back to update on the jacket--this is an easy-peasy jacket to make. My only regret at this time is I wish I had lined the jacket. My fabric is a poly-gabardine,and I thought it was rather opaque and did not need lining. I also wanted it to be lightweight for summer and for cool offices. There will be some visibility of what I am wearing under the jacket from the back view. The sleeves are lined and I had enough white lining for that.

The only thing left to do at this point is to insert the sleeves, add shoulder pads and hem. Here is a glimpse of it before I pinned in the sleeves for sewing.

Spring has sprung!

Today was such a gorgeous spring day that I spent the AM doing some spring cleaning around the house. Then spent time sitting in the yard while DH washed my car.

After showers, we went out to do some shopping and then dinner. We got home around 8PM and dropped into our LazyBoys! Thus no sewing today but gosh it was such a great day to be outside, in the warm 71 degrees.

I will sew buttons on my Sencha blouse in the AM and start the McCall's top. More later.

MIL Birthday

Today is my MIL's birthday, so we are going to Danville to visit and take her out to lunch. The only thing I have done to my red/black dress is baste the lining to fabric at armscye. When we return home this evening, I will hopefully attach the sleeves to the dress. I will only have hem the dress after that and will have another new dress to wear soon.

Later!

Class Reunion

This week was a short work week for me-Monday was a holiday. Today, I am on vacation as I am getting ready for a weekend of activities in celebration of my 40 year High School class reunion. (Gosh, I can't hardly believe it has been that long since I was 18!!!!!!!) Most days I still feel young.

My three day work week was jammed with meetings, reports to be written and submitted, more meetings, a presentation to a local SHRM organization and constant follow up with staff on numerous projects. My and DH's evenings were consumed with FB, phone calls and emails to our former class mates to set up meet ups and lunches, etc. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up. Being preoccupied with all of this we hardly even watched TV (yahoo!!!) that is probably a real good thing. But also I never made it into the sewing room to do anything remotely related to finishing the Butterick top or do anything else.

We will be traveling this evening to Danville and spend the weekend there; today will be consumed with grocery/banking and packing. So sewing related projects are on hold. So my blogging will be pretty quiet over the weekend as we enjoy our reunion weekend.

Mojo rising

This weekend was gorgeous. We had spring like weather on Saturday and Sunday. Highs in the upper 60's-low 70's. What a nice break from the extreme colds earlier in the week with highs only in the upper 20's.

I am like a bear in winter-I pretty much hibernate. With the warm temperatures on Saturday, I just did not feel like sewing at all. Though my thoughts did turn to warm weather clothing to sew. The closest thing I did to sewing on Saturday was to go to JoAnn's Fabrics to get some batting to be used as sleeve heads in jackets and I bought a Sew News magazine. With warm weather comes thoughts of grilling, so I stopped at the grocery store to buy steaks and baking potatoes. I cleaned up the grill and grilled our steaks for an early dinner. Then I just plunked myself down for TV time with DH.

Sunday AM I began work on my jacket again. Inserted the shoulder pads and sleeve heads, attached the lining unit to the neckline and front edge. That is as far as I got as again the spring like fever bit so DH and I went motorcycling.

Today I am going with DH to two doctors' appointments which are follow ups to two health issues he has had over the past few years. I like to go as he misses a lot of what the doctor says. This month he and I will have been married 36 years. I would like for him to be around much longer so I choose to go and hear what the doctors tell him about what he should and should not be doing. In between I need to do some work related things as well as ASG Treasurer work and who knows I just might get the jacket completed!

Family

Most Friday evenings I do the grocery shopping along with DH and then we have a quick bite to eat. When we get home, I usually go into my sewing room for the end of the week, start of the weekend sewing. Not this Friday though.

Yesterday was my dad's 80th birthday! He is in the early stages of Alzheimers. He lives in an assisted living facility in NC. My uncle and aunt live 10 minutes away from him and do a great job of looking in on him and taking care of many of his needs. I am so appreciative.

Because it was his birthday, they brought him to Danville, VA for a birthday dinner at a local seafood restaurant to be with other family and friends. I left work a little early to travel to Danville to join in and to celebrate his birthday. We had a great time and it is good to spend time with his side of the family as we have at times been estranged from each other.

So sewing will start sometime today. My goal is to finish the dress!!!!! I am still on the fence for the jacket.

Have you missed me?

I was amazed to see that my last post was Thanksgiving morning. My holiday weekend was very busy with family and personal things. Thanksgiving I cooked almost all day with a few breaks in between which lent itself to minimal sewing. Friday, DH and I traveled to Durham, NC to see my father who lives in an assisted living facility. We took him out for a hamburger and fries which he does not get often. He suffers from Alzheimer's but is doing fairly well but I can tell that his memory is failing more.

In VA as well as in some other states, our vehicles require an annual inspection. Traveling back from NC, we kept hearing one of those irritating noises that sometimes I turn the music up on so not to hear. I know that is not the way to take care of a vehicle issue. It was one of my tires that really needed to be replaced. So Saturday AM I spent 3 hours dealing with getting and installing new tires (all 4) and having the car inspected which required new front brake pads.

So now the car is good for another four years; that is how long I have owned the car. I don't use it much except on weekends as I have a company car I use during the week.

Saturday afternoon I did spend time sewing and completed the skirt to go with my jacket. It is complete except for the hem which I will finish tonight.

Some sewing

I did get some sewing completed on the Simplicity jacket pattern this AM. The darts in the upper front of the jacket were sewn as well as sewing the front and back pieces together. The upper seams of the front and back sleeves have been sewn. I am happy that I completed this before we went to Danville to see family and attend my DH's niece 3 yr. birthday party. We took his mother shopping for some new shoes and I got a cute Christmas themed sweater vest.

Returning home, we stopped for a bite to eat. I have just slumped out in front of the TV for a couple of hours watching some taped shows and then decided to catch up on some emails and post a brief comment on sewing.

Tomorrow I should finish the jacket. I then plan to do some machine embroidery for some Christmas projects and while that is going on I want to cut out the Vogue 7975 pattern.

Saturday sewing

I went shopping this afternoon at JoAnn's. They were having a sale on Vogue and McCall's pattern. (Like I don't have a gazillion now) I purchased two Vogue patterns for $3.99. I really did not have any McCall's patterns that I just had to have. I do have a list of Simplicity patterns.

I also found BUTTONS! for my jacket. Actually I found two potential sets so purchased them both. One set was very much like the ones in my stash that I wanted to use but did not have enough of. The other was a very distinctive button with unusual center; this was a shank style button. After returning home, I laid the buttons on the jacket front and decided to go with the buttons like the one in my stash.

Tomorrow is DH's birthday so took him out to dinner this evening. After returning I started sewing up my dress. It is a sheath style dress so hopefully it will not take long to make it.

Still contemplating my next garment to make. I have a knit top cut out and ready to sew. I am trying to perfect the fit of the Pamela's Perfect T-Shirt pattern on me. This would be something quit to make.

I have several fabric pieces in my sewing room waiting for their destiny.

TGIF, what a week!

Well I am happy to report that my husband was moved to a private room yesterday. They have his legs in support stockings and he is allowed to walk around a little. He still has tenderness in the right leg and no swelling from the filter inserted at the top of the right leg area. They continue to give him blood thinner shots and he is also taking a pill as well. He will be on blood thinner medication from here on out. He was in much improved spirits.

I have to say that hospitals are not like what I remember from my childhood stays. I have not had any major hospital stays since I was 7. A long, long, long time ago. I remember that jello was the best part of the meal they served.

My husband was provided with a restaurant style menu and the room service phone number to order his meals for the day. You can even have a guest dinner ordered for $3.00 for the quest. So I had dinner with him last night and I admit it was a decent meal. I wanted more seasoning on my potatoes, but just having a dinner with my DH was pleasant enough.

Today he was optimistic that he will go home tomorrow. The doctors are pleased with the blood situation so it may be possible. Sometimes when you want something bad enough it does come true.

Again thank you everyone for your kind comments and for the well wishes.

Vacation Day 3

First, thank you all who have commented on my dress!. I truly appreciate the feedback. I am not sure why photos are so blurry when I downloaded from camera to computer and then did some edits they look pretty clear. Somewhere along the way that got fuzzy.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that this was fabric I acquired from Gorgeous Fabrics. It was so great to sew with. Quality fabric turns out a great garment, no matter the skill level of the sewist.

Yesterday afternoon, early evening, I retraced the Hot Patterns Sunshine Top pattern. This morning after coffee and breakfast and reading emails and blogs, I cut out the pattern and sewed it. This was a "muslin" or "test" or "trial" garment.

I have to say that the instructions for this pattern were the best I have encountered with the Hot Patterns patterns. Unfortunately, I have to say that I again have not made a good garment from this pattern company. BUT, I know what the fitting problems are and are the same for just about all the other patterns I have made using their patterns. Now, what do I choose to do with that information? Or how do I adjust the various pattern pieces to deal with these issues? Do I really want to?

That is the biggest crux of the problem is fixing all the fitting issues. The scoop neck needs about 2 inches taken out of it for it to lie snug against my upper chest. When I pinned out the excess, this brought the top closer in and up. I need to pin out some of the back neckband also. When I do this, it also brings the shoulders in but then the underarm is too high up in the front area, which I can scoop out. But do I need to do something to the sleeves? Then the length is way too long for me and I cut it at the T-shirt length. This is a tunic on me. I was going for the t-shirt look. So I need to cut off about 2 inches.

Then when I look sideways, the bottom poufs out and I don't need that look as I have a tummy on my own without a top making it look worse.

But to make lemonade from a lemon, I don't feel like it was wasted time, (well maybe a little as I could have made something I have made before). I think also that this is not the best style for me. Face it, I am over 50 and this may be for someone from 20-40's. Look at the drawings, it geared toward someone younger, I think. And I did not ruin some of my better knit fabrics. These patterns work well for others. I read reviews of this top at PR and on some other blogs. I am glad they work for others and only wish they did for me. They are definitely not petite or short friendly patterns.

So as Tom Petty sings "Get Over It" !

Well my plans have also changed for the day which turns out better. I had planned to visit my father,who lives 3 hours from here,tomorrow. As it is, his brother is taking him to Danville for dinner tonight and other family members will be there also. Some I have not seen in over 5 years, so I am going to my hometown for dinner at the Mayflower. This gives me another day tomorrow of sewing time! And a nice visit with my father's side of the family. And my Dad still knows most of us and me so that makes it nice as well. Alzheimer's is not a pretty disease, it took my mother way to early and hopefully with my Dad it is prolonged due to early detection and medication.

Tomorrow, I am cutting into the chocolate eyelet fabric and the chocolate silk fabric lining to make a skirt. It is either going to be a KS skirt that I have made before or I found a Burda skirt in my stash that looks like it would work also. But maybe I will go with the one I know for this one. I have some other fabric to try with the Burda.

Later.

Fridays

I love Friday! It is the end of the work week and visions of weekend opportunities surface during the day. My DH and I met for dinner at a little family restaurant, nothing fancy by far, but decent food. I think all food is decent when I get waited on instead of having to cook it myself.

When I got home, off with the work clothes and into some comfy clothes-shorts and t-shirt. I then spent some productive time in my sewing room working on my dress. I made final touches to sleeves, inserted neckband and sewed the skirt piece to the bodice and midriff pieces front and back. Today I will sew sideseams and hem and viola!!! a new dress.