My Instincts Were Right!

I was leaning heavily towards wearing the black Burda dress, but I had originally made the print dress (before that issue of BWOF was released) with the intention of wearing it to the reunion. When I saw how great that black dress was, though, I found myself wavering and the votes all confirmed my thinking. The print dress will be the church on Sunday dress. Thanks to everyone who 'voted'! ;)

Church on Sunday will be interesting. You see, DH's parents...well, his whole family...are Quite Musical. For their 40th anniversary party (20 years ago), the kids and kids-in-law joined them and sang an arrangement of 'I Love to tell the Story' for church. Ten years later, we thought it'd be fun to do it again...that time, three of the older grandkids joined us. This year, we've pulled out the music once more and we'll be adding all but the youngest two grandkids and singing the same arrangement at St. Paul United Methodist in Elkhart. I don't know if we're singing for the first service, the second service or both services, but if anyone videos the event I'm gonna try to post it here.

At the very least, I hope to post a photo...there should be 18 of us singing...if some of the grandsons do not back out ;).

I probably won't get another post done until after all these festivities, so have a safe and happy Independence Day celebration!!!

Just for fun question

We have a very, very busy party weekend coming up; how often do the Dear In-Laws sixtieth (that's 6-0!) wedding anniversary celebration and Dear Hubby's 35-year High School Class reunion fall on the same weekend? Not to mention the family reunion that got slipped into the same time frame!

Anyway, I'm taking all three of my newly crafted summer dresses with me, and I'm not sure what to wear where. I've got a hunch, and I'll probably do what I like anyway, but I thought I'd ask, just for grins....

If you were me, would you wear the the Slinky Madison Avenue dress or the Burda WOF black jersey dress to Hubby's class reunion (at which I will only know about 4 people)? I haven't really pressed him for his preference yet (I will...), as he declares he's not sure what he's going to wear (but is leaning towards business casual slacks and a polo shirt). It's at the local country club, and the announcement said come however. Past reunions have seen folks dressed in everything from sparkly glitz to farmer's overalls; so anything's ok.

I've got a couple of knit shirts that I'm trying to finish up before we go; part of the festivities include family photos, and Dear MIL has said she wants everyone in jeans and a solid (not black or white) shirt. I know, I've got a ton of choir stuff that will work, but, well, it was a good excuse to move a couple of yards out of the stash, KWIM?

Arg, Matey!

My Sweet Baboo and his Senior Commander (just for the record: I did not make Sr. Commander's pants) are trying hard to look fierce; MSB later said he wished he'd quit shaving a week or so before the event but he didn't even think about it. He did get one picture of the back of Senior Commander's coat; he's talking to a gent from another church whose wife had made him a pirate suit from the same pattern, although his had been made for another purpose sometime earlier and has been used several times for different characters. MSB said it was really nice looking; he thought it was made out of something that looked like upholstery fabric. I saw the photos that he appeared in and wished I'd gone to the trouble/expense of putting some lace on the sleeves for the Senior Commander's shirt.


And, just for my sewing/traveling buddy Miss A, here's a photo of our other Deputy Senior Commander wearing the shirt that she made.

It was an interesting weekend, by all accounts. MSB told me that they did three skits w/the pirates; in the third one, the 'good guys' had given the 'treasure map' to one of the younger boys, and the pirates came off the stage to capture him. What they didn't figure on was ALL the other boys jumping to the rescue! I would have LOVED to have seen the resulting impromptu melee between the 'pirates' and the boys who were trying to fight them away from the map...it totally flummoxed the guys who were the pirates and they had a difficult time 'capturing' the youngster with the map (who was part of the skit and knew what was going on). I still chuckle thinking about the surprise they had....

Incidentally, Senior Commander's coat and vest are from Simplicity 4923; all three shirts are from Butterick 4486 and the ratty pants are a modification of the breeches in Butterick 3072 (I didn't review those; didn't really have appropriate comments to make since I messed around w/the pattern from its intention)

Choir Sundays 08 #19

This month's colors:blue jeans w/green, yellow or orange tops


Jacket: Sewing Workshop's Thai Coat, in a wildly printed cotton twill purchased from Vogue Fabrics at last years' Atlanta Expo. This really is walking right on the edge...maybe even over the edge...of Too Wild for Choir, but I *did* make it for choir last year and I've got to wear it at least once a year to justify it hanging in the closet. And it is fun to wear... ;)

Top: Vogue 2925 top again; it's about the only orange thing I've got that looks even close to ok on me.

The jeans are Lees and are almost too long, even with the taller shoes. These don't have much flare; I may take up the hem just a wee bit one of these days.

I probably won't have choir posts for the next two weeks; we've got some celebrations coming up that will pull us out of choir (more on that later...)

Tomorrow: Pirate Costumes at Pow-Wow... ;)

Bailing

I cut out the lining for the pirate vest yesterday, and got stopped dead because I couldn't find the remnant of fabric I used for the interfacing/underlining on the first vest. I looked and looked, and, while I was looking, I had a few moments of Real Thinking.

And I recollected that I had a LOT more to do today than sew a pirate costume that really wasn't absolutely necessary anyway. My Sweet Baboo and Number 2 son are both going to Pow Wow; Number 2 Daughter and I are both going on the Girl's Retreat. We all are supposed to be at church bright and early in the morning to pack up vans and head to our respective destinations.

Which means I have laundry and packing to do today. Now, I *might* possibly have been able to squeeze in the pirate costume, but, really, the only reason I was making it was to get it off my list...not because it was needed. The shirt, pants, and sashes I've already made for him will be quite sufficient.

Sigh. They may become UFO's...but it's not worth putting myself into a totally stressed mode just to prevent that. So I'm bailing. The vest pieces are going back into a bag; I'll get to 'em when I get to 'em.

And I will not allow myself to be guilty over it...

Looking for focus

I didn't want to start on the brown linen pirate costume pieces yesterday; I really, really want to sew Real Clothes. So I piddled and diddled around and did neither. I thought my Flying Needle Saturday would abate the urge for personal sewing, but I'm afraid it actually did the opposite. Geeminey, it was fun to write some reviews and hang some new things in the closet!

But I really, really don't want those pirate pieces to hang around indefinitely; and if My Sweet Baboo is going to use them at Pow-Wow, I have to have them done by bedtime tomorrow night.

C'mon, Lisa, deep breath...you can do it....

Flying Needle Saturday

If you watched around the edges (i.e, the pattern reviews), you probably realized that I made...from throwing the fabric on the table to finished garments...two knit tops and a little jacket on Saturday. I didn't realize my personal sewing mojo was so keen...I gave it a couple of days and got 4 garments done!

The jacket you can see on yesterday's Choir Sunday post; I didn't update the review since I didn't really have any new info to add.
Both of these tops came out of ONE YARD of fabric! (I'm so proud of myself). I had to alter the Jalie pattern; it is supposed to have a cut-on lined front, but I didn't have enough fabric, so I added a seam allowance and turned the edges under. It worked...and I realized what a great use-that-last-bit of fabric pattern this is going to be. The pieces are short enough that they can work around bigger pieces on the folds. DD may very well get several of these....

One thing that has struck me funny, though, is the number of comments I had about the color. I usually avoid orange like you wouldn't believe, but this has enough red in it that I can sort of get away with it. Since this is the second year we've used orange in choir, I thought it would be worthwhile to go ahead and see if I could get something in the wardrobe that's usable....

Choir Sundays 08 #18

This month's colors: Yellow, orange or green tops w/blue jeans

Jacket: Vogue 8398, from embroidered rayon/linen purchased at JoAnn's in Cool Springs, Tn, last month. I've still got a yard an a half left; I'll get something for DD from it. I had to make the jacket, after I saw how well it matched the

Top: Vogue 2925, from modal/lycra that's been in the stash for a couple of years. Looks like they were made for each other, no?

(same ol' Lee dark rinse jeans...)
Yeah, I had the sewing machine humming yesterday! Hopefully that got the bee out of my bonnet and I can refocus on the remaining pirate items. ;)

Friday Fun Drawing

Ack! I completely overlooked the fact that yesterday was Friday and so I forgot to draw for the pattern freebie. Oops!

I rectified that this morning; My Sweet Baboo did the honors and MARY (Sewfast) won the pattern! Mary, if you'll email your snail mail addy to tig77lw (that's a lower case 'L', not a number one)at yahoo dot com, I'll get that off to you! Hope you make it and review it! :D


But I was busy sewing! I finished the BWOF black dress and had Number One Son take the photo, since DH was out of the house until late in the evening. He looked at the dress and said, 'Is that what you were cutting out last night?' When I replied that it was, he observed, 'That was fast!'

The next one will be faster...I had to, um, use the seam ripper a bit to get the fit passable, since I was chicken and sized up.

And trying it on about 4 times to get the fit adjusted totally disproved the 'little black dress friendly' claims on my anti-perspirant....

But I like the dress...now I just need an occasion to wear it ;) (The review's linked on the side bar)

I still want to get SOMETHING made from the orange ASAP, but I'm having difficulty hearing the fabric tell me what it wants to be. I'm afraid that's because it really, really wants to be something for DD, whose favorite color is orange... sigh.

Indulging

For some people, that would be expensive chocolate, a night on the town, a fancy pricey handbag.

For me, it was ignoring the housework and the budget that have all backed up while I was sewing pirate things, not to mention the two pieces of My Sweet Baboo's pirate wear that I do not want to let slip to UFO status, and do a bit of personal sewing.

First up (since there was black thread in the machines, you know) is Burday World of Fashion 5-08 #104, made in the unbelievably yummy black rayon/lycra matte jersey I got at Textile Fabrics last month. I spent yesterday tracing the pattern and cutting out, and stayed up after choir to work on it. It's about half sewn up; gimme another couple hours and it'll be done.

And I think I'll do one more thing before I return to Pirate mode; I've got some soft orange linen w/red-orange embroidery that I think I'll see if I can quickly turn into a little unlined jacket. Maybe.

Then I gotta go back to Being a Responsible Housewife ;)

ETA: Um, I forgot to ad(mit) that I also purchased a small amount of a really pretty rayon challis print when I stopped by Hancock's yesterday to pick up thread and buttons for the orange maybe-jacket. It *was* 50% off...and black and white...

I guess if I've got to indulge, 2 1/2 yards of local sale fabric is a more responsible addition to the stash than a 12 yard bundle...

Arg, Matey!

Ranger Senior Commander was delighted with his costume pieces and tried them on after church last night. I'm not terribly happy w/the button placement on the vest; because I didn't put as many buttons on as specified, I didn't even pull out the placement guide. I overlapped the front so that *all* the buttonholes buttoned, and, when I was looking closely at the photographs when I wrote the review I realized the top two or three buttons were not *meant* to close...so the vest overlaps too much in the front (and is a bit snug, as you can see). I won't get a chance to fix them before the campout next week, as he's going down very early to help set up, but after it's over I'll ask him if he wants me to move the buttons over.

I'll get a photo of My Sweet Baboo's outfit before he heads to camp...

Buttoned Up

I sewed the last button on about a half hour ago... I finally watched the last four DVD sessions of John Bevere's Drawing Near curriculum (which I have been sporadically working through for an embarrassing length of time). I love doubling my time...watching the teaching whilst I'm doing something productive! I still have some knickers and a vest cut out for My Sweet Baboo, but he has a shirt and some raggy pants so the knickers and vest would be, like, extra pieces. I may go ahead and make them just so they don't turn into UFO's, but the pressing need for costumes has now been abated. The pieces for the other guys will be delivered tonight; My Sweet Baboo will not be packing until next Wednesday, so I've got time to finish those other out if I choose. ;)

I tried taking a photo of the coat on a hanger, but it is so heavy that it just sort of collapsed and doesn't look at all Nice. Hopefully I'll get a photo of it on a real (non-skin-damaged) person soon. I'll write a review when I do...

Gotta catch up on my housework, but I've promised myself to make SOMETHING for the wardrobe before the week is over ;)

Still buttoning...

I did get all the buttons on the coat yesterday; Part of the time I was sort of playing a video game with the kids (I could sew when it wasn't my turn to actually do something); I finished while we watched one of our newest DVD acquisitions, Enchanted. That was a HOOT! I hadn't seen it before....

I've got a bunch of errands to run outside the house today, I'm not sure how many buttons I'll get sewn on, but having the coat done is a big relief.

I wanted a photo of it on My Sweet Baboo, but he has contracted a bodacious case of poison ivy and so didn't want to put it on and I don't blame him. I'll get pictures as soon as I can.

15 buttons left...

Button, button, who's got the button?

I do.

A BUNCH of them

If I'm adding right, I have...(12 + 2 + 4 + 9)...27 buttons to sew on various piratey garments.

Looks like a day in front of the DVD player to me...

But that's all I *have* to do...everyone will have a wearable costume at that point. I bailed on the knickers I had cut out for My Sweet Baboo, and made a pair of raggey-bottom pull-on black linen pants instead. (he complained that there were no pockets; I apologized but didn't have time to draft pockets that weren't included on the pattern...) I also made a second pair of those pants for the other deputy senior commander...actually, I didn't have enough fabric for two pairs, so DH's pair is pieced about knee level in the back. Good enough for costuming... I will make the vest I cut out for him *if* I have time. It's not absolutely necessary....

I hope to get some photos of these things before they all go away, but I may have to settle for photos from camp.

Which would be kinda cool, anyway.

I'll let you know what movies we watch ;)

Choir Sundays 08 #17

I realized this week that this is sort of my version of the 'I wear what I sew' post ;)

Around the house, I'm likely to be in shorts/jeans and a t-shirt from some event, but when I go out, I'm usually in something I made. Today is no different!

This month's colors blue jeans w/either green, orange or yellow.

Vacation season is upon us; I thought about waiting for next week to see if we had a few more folks in the choir, but decided to just post what we had ;)...

Jacket Vogue 8045, from fairly hefty denim that had been in the stash for several years when I made it 3 years ago.
Top: shell from modified Loes Hinse City Dress, made from a green/white/taupe rayon crinkle print. Very cool (as in temperature... ;)

These are Gloria Vanderbilt straight leg jeans; today was the bi-monthly visitor's luncheon and I was on my feet a LOT... no heels today!

A Little Lamenting

Last summer, I visited a very interesting couture shop in Nashville and splurged on a piece of Denim Eyelet. I think I've decided what I want to make with it, but the pattern needs to be tested out and tweaked before I cut into it.

Yesterday, in an exercise in self-torture while taking a break from the pirate stuff, I stumbled upon This offering at Gorgeous Fabrics.

For just a fuzz over half of what I paid for it at the pricey boutique.

Now, if I had already made my jacket up I wouldn't feel so bad. But mine has been sitting in the stash for nearly a year.

I guess that's what I get for cruising the internet when I'm supposed to be sewing...and know full well I can't buy anything right now anyway...

I threw a party and no one came...

LOL that's happened more than once; sometimes it hurts but this one is just funny.

I guess there just aren't that many folks who want a size 4-6-8 pants pattern!

So, tell ya what...I'll leave it open for A WEEK.

If there's ANYONE who wants that a+o Vogue pattern I mentioned in yesterday's post, just leave a comment that you're willing to take it off my hands; if there's more than one, I'll draw NEXT Friday ;)

I'm off to sew more piratey stuff...

Summer Fun

1. Summer Fun Shoes
2. Summer Fun Giveaway


As promised, here's the 'new sandals w/ a little heel' that I got to make my 'wear with boots' jeans wearable in the summer. They came from Shoe Carnival, in one of the perpetual 'buy one, get one half price' sales. The grey ones are 2 1/2" heels, the brown ones measure 2 3/4". Not at all serious heels, in this day of six inch spikey instruments of foot agony, but, given my tendency to back trouble and the fact that these are worn for church choir...which can easily be standing for 45 minutes to an hour or better...they are my LIMIT for heels ;) Plus, they're both wedge/wide heeles, which is much more secure on the top riser than little spikes (says she who has more than once looked down to see half her heel hanging off the back of the platform...)

But I've worn both of them for choir now and, while my feet weren't in blissful comfort, they weren't in agony, either. They'll do.

The grey ones are even a bit of a fashion stretch for me; I'm not used to blingy feet ;).

But...there's another 'Summer Fun' item to post today. I started the idea of 'Fun First Fridays' back in April, then promptly took the hiatus and missed it in May, so to bring it back, I'm gonna do a giveaway.

Actually, it's just a way to make up for a goof on my part. Hancock's had Vogue patterns on sale last month for something like $3.88 each and I bought a bunch. But when I got home, I discovered I had purchased Vogue 2907 in the wrong size range. (4-6-8, hips 31 1/2" to 33 1/2"...approximately my WAIST measurement...). I thought about just hanging onto it and morphing the details onto the other Vogue alice + olivia pants pattern, which I was alert enough to purchase in the correct size range, but since I got back to Hancock's before the sale was over I decided to just get it in the right size and give the small one to someone who reads the blog.

So...if you're a thin little thing, or if you have a daughter who's a thin little thing, or if you're a whiz at grading patterns or if you'd just like to have the pattern as a collectible, just leave a comment on today's post: Tomorrow, for the Fun First Friday, I'll draw a name from today's comments and send this ridiculously small...er, um, very interesting pattern along with my blessings ;)

The Hazards of Late Night Sewing

The last time this happened I was sewing cloud pajamas for DD's senior year one-act competition play nearly 5 years ago...can I blame it on sewing at 11:15 PM?

It's the little slice that occurs when the curved upper sleeve pleats itself under the seam allowance of the armsceye seam whilst serge finishing that seam...and you don't spot it before it goes under the knife.

Arg!!!

At least it's on the back side of the sleeve. Perhaps we can, um, pass it off as a saber slice?

My first thought was 'Thank goodness this didn't happen on one of the lame' shirts...'

No Braces!

I had about an hour in the waiting room while the braces came off...I got 16 out of 28 buttons sewn on. They look really cool...

But I'm working on the shirts today; I've made these before and, if all goes well, I should get them close to done before bed tonight.

Hope, hope, hope...

Still Hand stitchin'

I have a regularly scheduled volunteer job on Monday mornings now; it's a good thing to do but it does cut a bit into the sewing time!

I managed Saturday to get the big cuffs on the sleeves tacked around at the bottom to make sure they stayed rolled at the right place, get the sleeve lining attached and about 1/3 of the body lining attached. Just a bit more and I'll have the coat ready for buttons (tomorrow!)

But I changed out the thread and got most of the self-interfacing cut out for the shirts; they'll go together quickly once I sit down at the machines to work on them.

But I still gotta get lining for the vests...I'll probably do that tomorrow after the orthodontist visit.

Trying to get them all done this week!!!

Choir Sundays 2008 #16

This month's colors: Either orange, light yellow or muted green tops w/blue jeans.

We had a slight mixup with our camera and I didn't get a picture of the whole choir; next week! (Someone said that the colors reminded them of Baskin Robin's sherbet case...)

But me...
Tops Vogue 7998 and modified Loes Hinse City Dress, both from a green crinkle poly voile I found on the dollar table at Wal-Mart. The shell top is lined w/grey Hugo Boss rayon lining from Michael. This set has had much more fashion-staying power than I ever thought when I made it 3 years ago!

The same dark wash Lee jeans...those fit well and could easily turn up on most every post this summer.

I've got on the second pair of new sandals...I promise, I'll do a 'new shoes' post next week! ;)