Saturday Morning-10/18/08

It's early Saturday, house is quiet, I'm on my first cup of coffee.

I have been to the Burda site looking at previews of Nov. BWOF, clicking on patterns, responding to some emails from my cyber sewing friends. Given the week I have just completed, this feels like bliss!

Computer locked up on me earlier this week after upgrading my Norton Antivirus and getting all the Windows update. I could operate in Safe Mode, but when going back to "Normal", darn thing was locked up tighter than tight. So unplug, load it up and take it to CC the next day for them to check it out. This caused computer withdrawal syndrome. Thankfully it was not a major issue and got it back the same day. I then have to remember what goes where in putting all back together.

Work has been hectic. We are an agency that must go through an accreditation review every three years and Monday the reviewers arrive. So the last minute, get everything together syndrome kicked into high gear and yesterday the office was a buzz. Since I worked late most evenings last week, I left work at the appointed 4:30 official closing time. Did the grocery shopping with DH's assistance, had pizza and then returned home to spend time in sewing room.

The room looked and still somewhat looks like a hurricane aftermath. I had two embroidery projects going on, pattern fitting project and a dress with snaps that for the life of me I have had difficulty getting the darn snaps to line up.

One project is now complete. The snaps are finally on the dress and hopefully I will take some photos of me wearing it. I need to find the right belt to wear with it or some sort of scarf if I don't wear a belt, it just needs something. Fit is good and I like the dress but it is just not complete.

This weekend my sewing plans are to cut out the McCall's blouse pattern, finish pin fitting Butterick jacket pattern and cut that fabric, and pin fit the McCall's dress pattern. Meanwhile I will continue my lace embroidery project.

Time for second cup of jo' and off to CURVES to reduce my stress!

I love Holidays!

We get two floating holidays a year where I work. Yesterday was one of those holidays!

I had made an appointment 6 months ago with my doctor for checkup and of course I made it for yesterday at 8:00, so no sleeping in for this girl. Worked out just fine in the end. Unfortunately I have to go to an orthopedist regarding a knee problem I have; we think it is torn cartilage.

After doctor visit, I went to Panera Bread for a latte and cinnamon roll. Then stopped at grocery store for a few items and then home to sew. I did not get a lot of actual sewing done but I did work on fitting several patterns while I ran my embroidery machine. I don't embroider as much as I use to and yesterday I found that I missed that.

Go here and here to see what I was working on. While that was embroidering, I pin fitted and adjusted this pattern.

It is an OOP pattern that I bought on eBay several months ago. I love the look of it and most particularly the front tie. I am going to make the sleeveless version.

The front and back pieces are full pieces and will be cut on the bias. I needed to make a one inch FBA, so I had to adjust the pattern this way. I added 1/2 inch on each side to get the one inch. I used a combination of FFRP and Linda Maynard's technique to make this adjustment. I have not sewn a bias garment in ages so this will seem like a new sewing technique for me.

I also started the fitting process for the McCall's dress and the Butterick jacket pattern also.

All in all I felt my day was pretty productive.

Upcoming Projects

I purchased this McCall's pattern recently during one of their sales. The fabric is one that I have had for several years now. Acquired from Vogue Fabrics. I am not sure of the fabric content; it drapes well yet has some body, not like linen or silk dupioni. I have pulled this fabric each fall season and have not found the right pattern. I think this one will be the right one. I plan on making View A but may go with the cowl neckline. The pattern only calls for the bodice to be lined but I plan to line the skirt as well as the fabric is not that opaque.

This is another fabric I acquired from a shop in Tampa, FL that was going out of business in the late '90's. It is rather ravelly and I have a limited amount of the fabric. It goes well with the dress fabric mentioned above. It too is a fabric I pull every fall but have yet to make it up. I am planning on making a jacket from this Butterick pattern. I was going to make a Simplicity jacket, the one that is on the cover of the Sewing Stylish magazine for fall. I did not have enough of it however.

Carolyn's Brand Loyalty Question

If you click on the title above, it should link you to Carolyn of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic blog. Carolyn is what I call a "deep thinker" and many of her posts asks the reader a thought provoking question. One of the reasons I like to read her blog.


Yesterday she posed the question about fabric store brand loyalty-not only brick and mortar stores but online as well. I think that I have online brand loyalty as I seem to buy fabrics from specific online stores on a fairly regular basis. Sometimes I buy more from one site than another based on their current offerings.

I did enjoy shopping Hancock's fabric brick and mortar store until they closed ours. I suppose I should look at their online offerings more frequently but their website just does not feel appealing to me.

Depending on where I have lived, Jo Ann's was a key store for me in some areas. I personally think that not all Jo Ann's are equal. Meaning some had better fabric selections for fashion sewists versus my local one that seems to appeal to quilters and other crafting hobby's. Sometimes I get lucky when I visit our local store but not often. We did have two Jo Ann's in town, one 10 minutes from my home. That one was closed and thus I have to travel to the other side of town which is only 20 to 25 minutes away. Yet I really never know what to expect when I visit that store. It always looks so empty and I always expect to hear that they will be closing just because it is not well stocked. I never shop online with Jo Ann's.

For me I do have brand loyalty to several online sites. The reason is that they offer quality fabrics at good prices. Since I shop with them frequently I have saved them as favorite bookmarks on my Google homepage. Makes it very easy to click and go there. Included in this list are:

• EmmaOneSock
• Gorgeous Fabrics
• Fabric Mart
• Fabric.com
• Fashionista Fabrics
• Vogue Fabrics
• Fashion Fabric Club

I have not purchased from some of the above in recent months. Only because I have not seen any fabric that I could not live without. There are numerous other fabric sites that I visit and purchase from, though sporadically.

I think my answer is I do have brand loyalty to numerous online sites as my shopping experience has been good, available fabric choices are normally very good, prices are good and most of all service is excellent.

I will always be on the lookout for new fabric sources online and if found and if I try them they will have to live up to those above to make my list.

Deliveries

Well I did not do any sewing today! The weather was gorgeous today-low 70's. DH and I decided to go motorcycle riding and it was a perfect day for that. We then went to Outback for dinner.




Upon returning home, I checked the mailbox and found two more patterns I ordered from BMV. These are Butterick patterns and they had a sale earlier this week. So did Vogue and yes I ordered three patterns from them.



Here are the two Butterick patterns I ordered.

This is a dress for knit fabric-either Double Knit or Ponte Knit. Yesterday I received my fabric order from Fabric.com and part of the order included two yards of Ponte Knit in Navy. Not sure if that is enough to make either dress, but will check that out tomorrow.

This skirt pattern I ordered after seeing Erica B's gorgeous skirt she made using this pattern. A great looking skirt and I decided I needed to make this one also.

I have one more snap to sew on the dress that is taking way too long to complete. Once that is done I plan to decide which of numerous projects I have going on in my head to start on tomorrow. Good thing for me is that Monday is a holiday so sewing is the plan for the day.

Wearing what I have made this week

So far this week I have worn garments that I have made. Unfortunately my camera and I are not working well together so I will have to show you shots of the items when I made them.

On Monday, I wore a black pant suit (RTW) with a blouse that I made that I truly love to wear. It is a Vintage pattern from Eva Dress Patterns. The colors are a little more vivid than in the photo and it always goes so well with black.

Yesterday I wore a dress and jacket that I made. The dress is a Vogue pattern and the jacket is from McCalls.

Today I wore this Vogue 8323 top with a RTW skirt that I just purchased while in Hagerstown at the Prime Outlet mall. Several reviews for this knit top at Pattern Review are a mixture of like and dislike for the top. The cowl neck on this was long in length and I reduced it some. The scoop neck top included with this pattern is one that I made also. I had pretty decent experience with the pattern.

Not sure what I will wear tomorrow. The weather continues to be cool one day and warm the next.

Thank you for the nomination!

Thank you to Jackie, who came out of lurkdom to comment on a recent blog post, nominated me for the Premio-2008 award. Thank you. I am truly flattered. Jackie's blog is called "Jackie's Sewing". According to Jackie's post, I am to post the award on my blog and tell who nominated me. That's done.


Next I am to select 6 to 10 bloggers to whom I would like to give this award to. So many have been nominated so I will try to come up with 6 new ones. Here goes:

• 2BSewing-she is also lives in Virginia
• Elaray-her blog is Another Creation, a person who I will one day meet in Charlottesville, VA
• Phatchick Designs-believe me she is not "phat" and she makes lovely garments
• Krystal-aka Pirouette, blog is called Krustallos
• Dana-her blog is Lean Mean Sewing Machine
• Adrienne-her blog is Real Life: Live and Unscripted

Paste these rules on your blog. -Done
Write 6 of your most important values:
-Honest
-Ethical
-Loyal
-Compassionate
-Respectful of others
-Gratitude
6 negative points you condemn:
-Duplicity
-Unethical behavior
-Betrayal
-Irresponsible
-Disrespectful
-Untruthful

Inform the recipients by leaving a comment on their blog.

Fabric purchase yesterday

In reading emails yesterday, I read one from Fabric.com about a sale that ended at midnight (11:59). They had (have) a great assortment of new knits that I found irresistible. So I made a purchase of only 2 of the designer knits and a purchase of ponte knit which I want to try. I keep seeing gorgeous items in the Talbot's catalogues made from ponte knit. Hopefully this one that I bought will be of the same quality. It was a navy blue.

Here's what I purchased. I obviously was in a blue mood. The quality of the last knits I purchased was great. Of course, I still have a few of those waiting for me to sew up as well.

Blog Reading and Colds

I just about finished the dress. I have two more snaps to sew. I just felt miserable and decided to rest. That led to a nap that was longer than 1/2 hour.

I decided that since I did not feel like sewing that I would read blogs. One of the first I read-"2BeSewing", she too is suffering with a bad cold. So bad that she could not attend the sewing expo class she had signed up for. Now I know that she must really be sick. The next one I read also spoke about not sewing/not blogging due to virus.

Must be the season for colds and viruses. They certainly do make one miserable.

I have lots of sewing ideas going on in my head. Hopefully I will be feeling more like sewing in the next few days. I want to put these ideas into action.

I wish all who have a cold or virus that you all feel better soon.

Progress with dress

Yesterday I did not do any sewing. I had to do the ususal Friday night shopping Saturday afternoon. I also just did not feel like sewing. Colds can kick butt. DH took me out to dinner so I did not have to cook. Yeah!

This AM I felt much better and after reading a few reviews at Pattern Review, I went into my sewing room and began the final steps of completing my dress. It is now hemmed and the front is topstitched. The final thing to do is sew on the snaps. I hate hand sewing but I am following the instructions for this dress and it calls for snaps, so snaps it will be. I really don't want buttons as it would distort the look I want.

I will do those this afternoon and then begin to think about what project next. I have several going through my mind. More later.

I'm back and glad to be home!

I am back from Hagerstown. Business wise trip went okay. Personal side of the trip, I caught a terrible head cold. Yesterday driving back was tough with having to cough, blow my nose and trying to not let the medicine interfer with driving. I did not attend any meetings on Friday. I could not stand the idea of sitting in a room with a lot of people with me coughing and sniffing. Thankfully the session was not necessarily geared toward the work I do for my company. So I hit the road early and was back in town by 2 pm.

This morning I have been catching up on emails as the wireless and ethernet connection in my room did not work well at all. I should just say it did not work as the wireless signal was always poor and attempt to connect to the Internet were never successful.

I am off to take a shower as I have to do some grocery shopping as DH as to go to Danville to take care of family "stuff". Any sewing I wanted to do is postponed another day. Hopefully I will feel like finishing my dress tomorrow. Call me a "medicine head" right now!