Happy Pink Dress Wearer

Finished it up a bit after 2 PM yesterday. Given the taxi driving I did picking everyone up from work and school yesterday, that really was just in the nick of time.

But the Flute Player was extremely happy; and now she has a nice dress to wear also to the Father/Daughter banquet in April (Assuming, of course, that the spot she put on the front when she dropped her fork while she was eating her chocolate pie washes out ok).

And we've got a booked up morning...dunno if I'll even get the green silk cut out for the new choir top. I've decided to go with the simplest option; we'll see what happens when I get home this afternoon.

Pink Dress Progress

I'm completely changing up the sewing order and not even looking at the directions, since I'm making the dress with a full lining and, I believe, a tulle ruffle on the lining for a little pouf at the bottom a la Summerset.

Anyway, I've put the bodice and the lining together, assembled and attached the skirt back so I could put the zipper in. The invisible zipper I purchased yesterday turned out to be too short by a couple of inches (I didn't have the pattern with me at the time and I was just guessing), so I ended up using a conventional zipper that was in the 'stash', but was a bit long. I would rather have had the invisible zip, but, well, ya do what ya gotta do.

So, today I'll finish and attach the skirt and skirt lining fronts, then sew up the side seams and do the edge finishes. I pin-fit the bodice and one skirt panel to The Flute Player last night before choir practice (she is very pleased with the fabric and style, thank the Good Lord. OH, btw, the 'backup' dress is too big -- she wouldn't even wear it out of the bathroom. 'Mom! It's too REVEALING!') It looks like it's going to fit fairly well, although it hits exactly at her knee and I really don't want it any shorter. So I'm seriously thinking about a black serger rolled edge finish for the skirt.

Then all I'll have to do is the net; I expect that will take the longest time.

And decide exactly how the velvet ribbon trim will be applied. Just a band at the seam, or shall I leave enough length to tie it in a bow in the front? I'll have to experiment a bit...I'm not even sure the ribbon *will* tie in a pretty bow yet.

Anyway, here goes day 2!

Bonus Post: A Personal Pro*ject Run*way Challenge

Ok. If I can pour myself into making a costume for our children's pastor, I can pour myself into making a dress for my daughter.

If those folks on, um, that reality show about designing clothes, can pull off something like this in 24 hours, I should be able to get something together for her.

Not to mention, should I fail, I have the hand-me-down dress as a backup ;)

This design challenge is to create a formal dress for a stick-straight twelve year old who wants to wear the dress with black shoes. You will not be able to get said twelve year old's opinion until the dress is well under construction, so choose carefully! She must wear the dress to a banquet that starts at 7 PM CST tomorrow. Make it work!

Here's the product of the shopping trip (just to clairfy - the pattern has been in my cabinet a while! It's just the one I chose to go with the fabric I bought):

It's now 12:02 PM on Thursday and I'm off!

Next Urgent Item

I finished Pastor N.'s shirt (well, he had to sew the buttons on; all I had were plastic ones which are Not Acceptable for these garments, and the bottom edge was just serge-finished...it'll be tucked in, no one will notice, and we can turn it up when we have more time), prepped the lesson to be taught last night and still had enough time to grab a small bite to eat before running off to church. Whew.

He was utterly delighted with the whole thing (there were four of us total working on the two outfits...he now has two new pairs of knee breeches, two new vests, which he made himself and a new shirt and a new coat) and promised to take photos at the Trace this weekend (the event for which he needed the garments). It was really gratifying to see how pleased he was, but I am reminded all over again of why I don't do this sort of thing for income!

I'll post a review when I get pictures. There needs to be a warning label on that pattern, to wit: 'Pieces and notches do not match. Be warned and proceed with care.' I found a couple more drafting errors on the shirt...pitiful.

But, we must Move On.

There is a fancy awards banquet for kids who work in the children's ministry at church tomorrow night. The Actor is going to borrow a trimmed-up tuxedo he wore in the recent production of The Bald Soprano, so he's good. I thought The Flute Player could wear one of her dressy stretch velvet things, but we've discovered that all the rest of the girls we've talked to are wearing FORMALS. Aiiieee.
We tried one borrowed dress; it was hopelessly too big. I'm picking up another today from my sewing buddy Miss M, who feels pretty confident that it will fit. The Flute Player is still strictly a 'Girls' size...no curves at all...so it's hard to find something fancy on short notice.

But I do have a back-up plan. I've got about a yard and a half of black rayon/lycra matte jersey left from my BWOF dress, and I'm thinking of morphing Jalie 2682 into a Little Black Dress for her. (She did ask for a black dress). I dunno if I could manage to put some bling on it somehow...maybe. I know that it really doesn't take long to put that together and I *think* I could do it.

But mostly I think I'm hoping the dress Miss M's daughter outgrew will work. ;)

The "I'll Just Do This Real Quick" Trap....

Back in January, I made a black rayon/lycra jersey turtleneck top from Christine Jonson's Basewear 2 pattern. I'd used the pattern before, and I *thought* I'd used the turtleneck with no problem. But, for some reason, the Turtleneck on the latest top was too small; the shirt rather puckered around the neckline seam, and it was very uncomfortable to wear. Fortunately, I had some scraps of that fabric large enough to cut a new (larger) turtleneck, so I decided that, before I changed the thread in the machines from black to white to work on the linen shirt portion of the Frontier Preacher costume, I'd switch that turtleneck out. Quick cut...quick rip...quick sew...quick done and on to the linen.

Arg. Not.

I'm not going to detail all the little frustrations I had with that stupid turtleneck. I did get it replaced, and it does look and feel better, but it was after lunch before I got to the 'cut out the white shirt' stage of the program.

And, when I got to the last piece, (the shirt back), I found I was about 4" short of having enough fabric.

Make it work, make it work...the back is being pieced. It'll look like a split yoke in the back.

And the shirt Must Be Finished by 4:30 tonight....maybe I *shouldn't* have gone to the Scrabble Chicks party last night?

Off to sew....

More Fabric In...

Well, despite my reluctance to add fabric to the collection, I found myself fabric shopping in Hancock's yesterday, looking for 'bright dark green' fabric for a top...or blouse...or quick jacket...

Our 'choir colors' for March have been reassigned to April, and now March's colors are the afore-mentioned green and bright yellow, with black. I don't have either of those colors in the closet, hence the shopping trip.

Yellow is not an option for me; I can't even go there. But that's a blue-based green, so it's ok...I just didn't have any. I did some perusing online, and found a couple of green things...a knit print that bordered on being too big/loud for choir and some green silk charmeuse... that would do, but there wasn't a prayer of getting mail-order stuff in time to have a shirt by Sunday. So I went to Hancock's.

And came home with three yards of silk duppioni. The quality is not nearly as nice as the duppioni I got from Textile Fabrics, but I washed it and it did soften up considerably. I purchased it thinking I'd make another Tribeca Shirt, but I'm also considering a stripped-down version of Vogue 1017 (without the assymetric frou-frou on the front). But Sharon's Simplicity 3684 blouse caught my eye, too...and I have that pattern in the stash as well.

I guess it just depends on whether I end up with time to work up a new pattern or not. I still have to do Pastor N's linen shirt...which isn't even cut out yet...

I still may be in all black *this* Sunday, but at least I have a shot at a green shirt...

Pictures are ordered...

I took Pastor N's coat to him yesterday; he put buttons on it last night and it really doesn't look *too* bad. He's pleased, so that's what really counts.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo of it actually *on* him, and a picture of a black coat on a hanger isn't really post-worthy. But I have requested photos of the finished coat on him (he will be wearing it this weekend), mostly so I can post about it over on Pattern Review and warn everyone about the pitfalls of the draft.

But, for your amusement, My Sweet Baboo did snap this photo yesterday:
The photographer assured me that you could indeed see the point of the whole thing in that photo...that The Actor is now about 1/2 inch taller than his mother...but I really can't say that I can tell it from that camera angle. I guess we'll just have to take his word for it.

Choir Sundays '09 #7

This month's Choir Colors: Black and White
Jacket: McCall's 5529, from a double-faced checked rayon blend.

The top was a RTW bargain from a big Talbot's sale; a black silk jersey cap sleeve t for which I believe I paid 8 bucks. Unfortunately, it's a tad big so it only gets worn under things.

The pants are the often-seen Vogue 7881 black cotton twill. Looking at the photo, I really think this jacket would look better with skinnier pants, but, oh, well. I was comfy. ;)

Hand Sewing Friday....

Well, for a photograph of a black garment, that's not too bad...

I'm not terribly happy with the way the lining is going in. I probably should've thought it all through better before hand, but since I was literally making it up as I went I guess a little rough edges are inevitable. I will finish off...probably with a machine zig-zag...the top edges of the vents; I'm thinking I'll sew them all together. I don' t know why I didn't finish those edges earlier; I think I was expecting them to be under the lining. As I said, I didn't think all the little particulars out ahead of time. Anyway, after everything's all closed up the vents will be topstitched across the top to hold them in place.

And I've got a bit of hand stitching to do on the lining seams above the vents; I had to release them a bit so that there was room for the coat to overlap.

But, mostly I'm going to be blind hemming a section of the coat, then going back and stitching the lining to it. I expect it will take all day.

But all that will be left for me after that is to pull out the Kenmore and make some faux buttonholes; Pastor N. is covering his buttons w/scraps and will sew those on himself. So I'm getting close....

The Pitfalls of Making it Up as I Go

Did I mention that I'm adding a lining to the preacher costume coat? (Butterick 3072, for those who've lost track of what I'm working on). It's an unlined pattern...which bugs the stew outta me, there's no way that coat will move properly without a lining. So I drafted the lining pattern, made it up first and fitted it so I could use it to tweak the original pattern. But the jacket has three vents...one in center back, and one on either side of the back, in the wrapped-to-the-back side seam.

I'm trying to figure out how to finish off the lining at those vents. I'm probably going to have to just hand sew it all down, but I did think I would wrap the self-facing on the upper side of the vent over the lining.

Which means I can't stitch the vents down until after the lining is inserted.

Wish I'd realized that before I stitched 'em down. That was the 'I'm done for tonight!' moment last night....so I get to start with my seam ripper today....

Here We Go...HSM '09: Aida

I got The Call today...could I come down to school tomorrow afternoon and help with the preliminary costume pulling/idea kicking around for costumes for this year's musical? The show actually went into rehearsal last week, but because The Actor was involved in a drama department production that was presented last Thur-Fri-Sat, he was excused from the first couple of rehearsals. The show dates are April 17,18,19, 24 and 25. I've not seen Aida at all, so I've got nothing much to go on for ideas at this point.

The decision was if I could get Pastor N.'s coat done to the lining, I could run up to school for an hour or two to begin the percolation process. There are 50 cast members, so it will be about the same size as last year's show.

This will be...interesting....

First up, though, is to finish preparing the lesson I'm teaching tonight, then pushing the coat through the machines.

A bit of diversion

For you, my loyal reader, as I have not much to report on the sewing front. Pastor Norm has recruited assistance, so I am taking the knee breeches and the pattern/remaining fabric for the vest to him tonight so he can pass them along to a friend of his who has said she could help (he needs these things next week). Meantime, I traced/altered the vest pattern, and the coat is cut out and all the fusible interfacing has been applied.

Ann asked about her readers' senior years, and, since I had just been tagged w/that meme on Facebook, I thought I'd copy it over here for this weeks randomness. So, if you're curious, here's stuff you wouldn't otherwise know about me...if you're not curious, toodle-oo and I'll see you when I've got something a little more sewing-related to report.... ;)

Remembering the Senior Year --


(As if you needed to know more about me than you already did...)

1. Did you date someone from your school? Um, I did.

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? I most definitely did not!

3. Did you car pool to school? Had an hour ride on the bus morning and afternoon all 12 years.

4. What kind of car did you have? Me? A car? Not in high school!

5. What kind of car do you have now? According to our insurance, I'm the primary driver on the white momvan... er, minivan...

6. It's Friday night...where were you? (then) At home reading or sewing.

7. It is Friday night...where are you? (now) At home reading or sewing.

8. What kind of job did you have in high school?I worked summers at the Lizton Dairy Bar. I made killer extra thick milkshakes that were so thick I would stick a straw and a spoon in them and give them to the customers upside down...never had one fall out of the cup.

9. What kind of job do you do now? Little bit of everything with no paycheck (ain't that the job description of a SAHM?), although the emphasis seems to be on taxi-driver these days.

10. Were you a party animal? That is SOOO funny...because I SOOO wasn't....

11. Were you considered a flirt? Not even.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Band. Drum Major my senior year, in fact! I was also in choir in 9th & 10th grade, but they swapped up the scheduling my junior year so that it was very difficult to continue to do both. I was in drama, too, but did not get cast in a play my senior year (I could've cheerfully gone all day without remembering that detail).

13. Were you a nerd? Absolutely.

14. Did you get suspended or expelled? Nope. But I did get called to the Vice Principle's office once because a study hall teacher had mismarked the attendance list. I still don't know why I got chewed out over that one....

15. Can you sing the fight song? Maybe. I do remember all the words, but it's pretty high for this alto. I bet I could still play it on my clarinet if my embouchure was up to snuff...I also remember the parody version about beer and wood alcohol and drunk teachers...

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher? Tough question. Probably Mr Thompson, the principal and physics teacher, if I'm limited to my senior year.

17. Where did you sit during lunch? The banana table!!! (Only other Tri-West Bruins band geeks will get that)

18. What was your school's full name? Tri-West Hendricks High School

19. When did you graduate? 1977. Wow, that was a really long time ago...

20. What was your school mascot? B-B-B-R-U, I-I-I-N-S, B-R-U,I-N-S,Bruins, Bruins, Bruins! (so ended the fight song)

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Wow, that's a deep philosophical question. If I could go back and do it again, knowing what I know now, I would no doubt do many things differently, which might make me end up in a different place than I am now and so mess up the Now, which I wouldn't mess up for anything in the world. If I had to go back and do it again and be as dumb as I was then...um, no way do I want to live through the humiliating bits all over again...even though large parts of it were tons of fun. So I suppose the answer would be no. Not worth it. Once was enough for me.

22. Did you have fun at Prom? It was ok. All things considered, the Prom isn't anything more than just another fancy dance. Thank God it was really cheap back then.

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Um, no.

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? Yeah, I'll go! I do enjoy seeing people again. The folks who still live round there work hard to make an event possible and I do appreciate the opportunity for all of us 'out of towners' to come in at the same time and visit a bit.

25. Do you still talk to people from school? Oh, there are a few that are still on the Christmas Card list....

Facing the Giant (Er, the Coat)

I finally got the costume coat pattern fixed so that the sleeve and the armsceye appear to be in a harmonious relationship again....the fabric is spread on the table and I MUST cut it out today. The whole thing needs to be finished this week (at least the lining is already done!)

So, I'm (mostly) home today, since it's a holiday and the kids are out. 'Course, someone has to have an appointment of some kind on a school holiday, and today The Flute Player must visit the orthodontist for a retainer check. It's very likely that she'll need a second round of braces to get everything lined up right, but I'm hoping we can put that off a bit longer; the budget simply could NOT handle it right now. And I've an errand or two to run while we're out.

But mostly I'm going to be working on that coat....

Wearing a different hat...

So, no choir post today! I ended up taking part in a drama...in jeans, t-shirt, and cardie hoodie instead of singing in the choir. It'd been over a year since our drama team did something, so I was tickled to get the chance again.

We should be returning to our regularly scheduled programming next week! ;)

Taking 10 (or 20 or 30...)

I have been fiddling with the coat armsceye/sleeve pattern and I just had to walk away from it for a little while before I rip some tissue into little pieces and fling it into the air.

I mentioned that I found a drafting error when I was tracing the pattern...the side seam (which is shifted around to the back somewhat) doesn't match front-to-back.

And that seam dumps into the armsceye right where my problem is.

I even pulled out the original pattern to see if the boo-boo was there, or if I introduced it when I graded up/attempted to fix the original.

Nope. There is 1 3/4" too much sleeve between the shoulder dot (which is in front of the shoulder seam) and the underarm dot. And the double notches don't match.

I also checked the pattern guide and there is NO mention of easing this sleeve into place, so there is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ANY EXTRA FABRIC THERE.

Grumble, grumble.

I looked again at the one review for this pattern on Pattern Review, and that reviewer made no mention of any problems with the sleeve. However, she used the middle size range for her project, so I suppose it's possible that the error is only in the larger sizes.


Grumble, grumble again.

It is made more difficult due to the fact that the seams in the jacket are offset from the seams in the sleeve, so it's a real trick to walk the seamlines.

I've shaved a bit off of the curve of the sleeve cap on the back, and I've shaved a bit out of the back armsceye, but I think I'm just going to have to rotate some fabric out of the sleeve back seam. And I'll probably run an ease line in it, although I'm not crazy about that. I just don't know if I have enough patience (or time) to keep tweaking it down to perfect.

Deep breaths here.

And, for anyone who has noticed the sudden jump in my 'fabric in' -- no, I have not succumbed to the siren call of the printed knits. I will be making Mantles for the HMC graduates again this year, and I've been stalking on line vendors watching for a sale I could apply to some black and white crepe-back satin for that purpose. Fabricdotcom had a suitable sale last week, so I got enough to make mantles for this year and hopefully next year as well.

So don't panic, Carolyn, I haven't let you down...yet ;)

Fixing the pattern....

I finished Pastor N.'s coat lining yesterday morning and had him try it on whilst I was at church for a meeting in the afternoon. All in all, it looks pretty good, but I'm going to have to do a bit of work on the armsceye.

I was quite chagrined to find what is apparently a drafting error in the armsceye/sleeve. There was a good inch too much ease in the back of the sleeve, and the notches for the backside of the sleeve/ jacket didn't match up at all. So something was amiss, but I didn't know if the error was in the sleeve or in the armsceye. I removed about 5/8" from the sleeve at the sleeve back seam, trimmed some of the curve off the back sleeve cap and made a teeny pleat (it's the lining...it'll be ok) in the sleeve to get the rest out.

I still don't know whether the error is in the sleeve or the jacket, but after trying the lining on Pastor N., I'm going to enlarge the armsceye a bit. He can use all the sleeve ease I can give him. ;)

The back of the shoulders look a bit funny to me; almost like the shoulders are too wide. But he needs all the ease when he moves, so I guess we'll just have to live with the drapey lines when his arms are down. He will be quite active in the costume (this is close to a re-enactment type deal) so he needs to be able to have full range of motion.

So, I need to pull out the pattern and work some on the armsceye to get it to be a little better fit to the sleeve.

At least it's a pretty day and it will be nice working in the sunroom...where the cutting table is still staking a claim... ;)

The Promised Expo Link

Well, even though I can't go to the Atlanta Expo this year, I'm going to post the link for it. Last night, I found myself talking to a lady who quilts but had never been, so I told her if she'd stop by here today she could get all the info.

So, for my quilting buddy (and anyone else who's interested), here 'tis:
The Original Sewing and Quilt Expo: Atlanta

I gotta say, it's a great venue for it...the Gwinett Expo Center in Duluth is really pretty and, best of all, parking is free! If you've never been, check out the info and be sure to look at all the classes offered in your area of interest.

Wish I could make it this year...

Doin' the Lining First

We have an Event at church tonight...a Girl's Glam Night...so I have some work to do, both on my contribution to the munchie table and my non-glam self, which is going to cut into my sewing time today.

But I *must* get the lining put together for the Frontier Preacher's coat; I have a meeting at church tomorrow and it will be a good time to try the lining on the recipient, just to make sure there's enough length (he's 6'3") and girth (I had to grade up 2 sizes) before I cut into the good linen shell fabric.

But I may end up with only about four hours of sewing time...it's going to be interesting to see if I can get it done or not.

And a non-related update: those knits are still there....

Stepping away from the credit card....

I really goofed. Being in frugal mode, I hadn't visited one of my suppliers favorite internet fabric vendors in a while.

That's really smart, 'cause I won't covet what I can't see.

But I had a not-smart moment over the weekend...and I clicked through 'just to see what's there now.'

And got sucker punched by a couple of gorgeous rayon/lycra knit prints. However, at $19/yd, they're just not in the budget, although I'm having to be really careful not to drool on the keyboard every time I look at 'em (and you know I've looked several times...half hoping and half fearing that they'll be flagged 'SOLD OUT').

Knit tops are so quick to make...but, no. Must. Conserve. Resources...

However, I did comment to My Sweet Baboo that if they were still around on the next sale, I would consider it a Sign From God that a chunk of each of them was to come live at my house... ;)

Choir Sundays '09 #6

This Month's Colors:Black and white
Ok, one more frumpilated photo of this sweater coat and I'm going to start suspecting the mirror, which tells me it's ok, is lying through it's reflectively shiney teeth.

Or maybe the camera is just catching that I needed a nap after church in the worst way. Didn't get it....

In any case, I'm wearing my new RTW sweater coat, my Sandra Betzina Vogue 2945 top, from black and white oval dotted
rayon/lycra jersey from Hancock's and the La Fred Daphne pants, made from some of Gorgeous Thing's black cotton/lycra twill.


I think I'm gonna quit wearing the sweater coat for photos... LOL...

Beyond the Directions

Gwen asked a question on today's Friday Confession post that I found I couldn't properly answer within the confines of a reasonable comment, so I'm posting it here today:

When sewing, do you stick pretty faithfully to the instructions or are you quick to throw them out the window and follow your own path? If the later, were you always this way, or did you slowly grow into it as you gained experience? And does the way you approach sewing mirror the way you approach other things in life?

I used to be a completely by-the-pattern-guide kind of seamstress. I mean, I have been taught well to Follow the Directions. I remember sewing disasters and near-disasters, and the only comment I could make was 'Well, that's the way it SAID to do it!' Doing something different never crossed my mind.

Sometime in the Mid '80's I wanted to duplicate a detail from a pair of Liz Claiborne pants that I had purchased at a ridiculous clearance price and loved...the zipper was in the pocket. No ugly topstitching to worry about, no added bulk to the tummy area. I thought it was a great idea. The problem was, I could *not* find a pattern to show me how to do it.

Oh, I found some patterns that had the opening in the pocket, but it was just a finished-off edge. A little drafty, and I more than once put a Kleenex in my pocket and saw it fall out of my pantleg a few minutes later. But that was all I could find instructions for. I made do.

It wasn't until around 2002 that it occurred to me that it didn't matter if I did the zipper 'right' or not...it's in the pocket! No one will see it! So, I devised a method of inserting the zipper in the pocket...and even used a zipper that didn't match the fabric, just because it was what I had on hand.

I had an epiphany with that project...I really *could* do things my own way! Why do things like the patterns say? The objective is NOT to Follow the Directions, but to have a nice-fitting, nice-looking garment in the end. Now, I use the Pattern Guide as a general idea of how to put a garment together...but I may or may not do it as instructed. If I know a better way, you better believe I will do it that way.

I hadn't thought about that as an approach to life in general...but you know, I probably do look for ways to do things better, adapt instructions to fit my particular 'skill set' (isn't that a great term? I just heard it applied to my abilities last week...). Most of the time, it's a good thing, but every once in a while I go too far out on that limb and have to scramble back to safe ground (and usually make some apologies on the way).

All in all, though, it was an esteem boost to realize that I had enough knowledge and skill to do something on my own...and that gave me enough confidence to try some things I would never have tried. So, unless we're dealing with an Absolute Authority, I will adapt and modify 'bout anything if it looks like a better way.

Under Consideration....

When we moved into this house in 2005, I was tickled to death to have a sewing space that was not in the garage...it's in the end cubicle of the laundry room. It's a pretty tight space, being only 8'x 9', and it has pretty dim lighting and no outside window (If you click on the post label 'My Space' it'll bring up some photos of my sewing nook...both cleaned up and in its usual chaotic state).But it was heated and cooled and dedicated to sewing and I was happy.

But it is beginning to cramp my style a bit. And my eyes are beginning to have difficulties seeing in the dim light. So now I'm wondering if maybe there isn't something else I could do....

The house came with a sun room on the south side; not on central heat/air (there is a hotel-type room unit for temperature control) and it has a hot tub in one corner. Not wanting to introduce vast amounts of humidity into the house, we never put any water in the hot tub and the room, which is in desperate need of redecorating, was used mostly as storage/overflow/exercise space.

But we had a problem w/leaky skylights and now we're going to have to do some pretty extensive cosmetic repairs. The room got somewhat cleaned out and, needing some well-lit space for cutting some black fabric, I decided to roll my table out there and make use of the available light.

Ooo. Mesa liking this. Suddenly, I'm seeing potential for a nice sewing space.

Problem being, it's really the only room in the house that has a decent amount of natural light. Done right, it could be a really nice, useful room for breakfasting, reading the paper, just enjoying family fellowship time. We've been kind of mulling over plans to make it more useful as regular living space. I'd like that very much, too.

Decisions, decisions....

Meantime, I'm gonna go back and cut out my black fabric in all that nice sunshine. ;)

A Year of BWOF

I got the Feb '09 issue in the mail yesterday...that makes a full year of BWOF now residing in my little sewing cubicle.

And, out of that year's worth of monthly pattern magazines, I have made exactly one (1) pattern.

Um, that was a pretty expensive pattern...unless I get in gear and use more of them.

And there are more that I want to use. LOTS more. But...time!

I'm going to have to figure out a way to squeeze in a little fashion sewing amongst all the costuming that's looming. The problem w/BWOF is that I think I need to muslin just about everything I want to make and that takes, um, more time. And there are so many options I'm not sure where to start.

So...what are the BWOFs I want to make and haven't had a chance yet? Well, how about just one from each month:
From March '08, there's this cute wrap blouse, for starters.

I even have some black-and-white-stripe cotton/lycra fabric to make The Cover Jacket from April '08. I've not decided if I want to use hooks/eyes as a closure or whether I'll add some overlap at the center front and use buttons/buttonholes (what I'm leaning towards, actually). Need to make a muslin and see if the overlap would work....

I made This Dress from the May '08 issue, but there were some great dresses in there...I'm pining to make this one, too.

I'm not sure where or when I'd wear this cute trendy t shirt from June '08, but it has caught something in my imagination and I keep coming back to it.

The Cover Dress from July '08 caught my attention...not because I thought I'd wear a dress like this, but because I thought with some modification, in the right knit, this would make a great nightgown. That's one for the muslin trials, for sure!

From August '08 is the Deitrich pants that have been so popular on the boards. Classic, comfy, camouflaging... what more could a girl want? Oh, already traced and tested and ready to go would be nice...

I've been wanting to try this shortie jacket from Sept. '08, if only to compare it to Louise Cutting's Anything But Ordinary jacket. The similarities struck me the moment I looked at the line drawing.

I loved this twisted skirt dress from the Oct. '08 issue but I fear I am too, um, mature to pull it off. Perhaps I should make the dress for The Princess and just use the bodice portion for a nice top for myself.

The Cover Jacket on the November '08 issue talks to me, too, although some of that may be due to the appeal of that gorgeous fabric....

December 08 had me wishing I had an occasion to wear a drop dead formal dress. But, alas, I do not. However, the pleated ruffle blouse is definitely calling to me. Feminine without being frou-frou!

On first glance,this top from Jan '09 didn't grab my attention until I started seeing the reviews for it. Now, I think it's kinda cute and quirky and definitely worth a try...

And from the current issue(Feb '09), I'm liking the lines on this jacket bunches...in a different fabric/color, I think that'd be something fun to wear.

And of course there are issues that have two or three 'I want to make that!' patterns in it, but if I could just manage one from each issue I'd more than pay for the subscription.

I just need some time... ;)

Contemporary Easter

One of the things I was anticipating this year was a large scale production to costume for Easter; however, it looks like our production this year will be in a contemporary setting and the costuming will be more a matter of coordinating than constructing.

So I won't have to do too much on it. Which means I'll likely be more involved than I had anticipated in this year's High School Musical, which has just been cast (The Actor is once again in the chorus). I thought I would be consumed by the church production and only get in on the last two weeks of the school costuming (I believe the show opens April 23, but I could be off by a week). But...well...here goes.

Meantime, I can breathe a little easier about sewing up the Frontiersman Pastor costume; Easter production sewing is not going to be pushing me.

Choir Sundays 09 #5

This Month's colors: Black and White












When My Sweet Baboo and I went out on the porch to take the photo (it's 65 and sunny here today...anyone want to come visit?) he asked me, "Haven't we already photographed this outfit?" (Um, it isn't one of his favorites).

To be honest, I don't think we have photographed this *precise* outfit...I've got on my Vogue 7881 Claire Shaeffer pants, made from black cotton twill from the dollar table at Wal-Mart (One of the Good Hunting days...).

The blouse is Hot Patterns Purity Blouse, from white cotton lawn. I really need to tweak that pattern and do another iteration...it's got so much potential!

The vest is a longtime wardrobe piece, Simplicity 5919, from a knitted stretchy poly lace fabric that I got from Fashion Fabrics club eons ago.

It's that whole '70's rock band thing goin' on. And wouldn't you know Pastor's sermon today was about getting rid of the old stuff... LOL...