Choir Wardrobe 10 27

This is the 'I haven't had time to do laundry in about two weeks' version...

All the jeans are waiting for the laundry.

That means I had to be creative.

Colors for the month are burnt orange, purple and brown/tan.

So...I repeated what is pretty much my only brown jacket at the moment, a sale purchase from CWC a year or two ago, and Textile Studio's Madison Avenue dress, rendered in purple bamboo/lycra jersey.

Bought the boots at an outlet last Christmas; this is the first time I've worn them.

I tried one of my remnant scarves w/this, but it just didn't work...the beads had to do to fill in the neckline.  Not great, but, well, it kind of worked.

Colors (and the clocks!) change next Sunday.  I declare, time is picking up speed as we head to the holiday season...already...

Choir Wardrobe Returns - 102013

I really didn't expect it to be three months.

But, we are on the backside of the data base rollout and I am hoping to get back to something like a normal schedule very soon.  My Thursday afternoon training sessions have moved to another day of the week, which makes it  possible for me to leave around noon on Thursdays (possible, not likely...) so, in theory, I have a little breathing room.

Anyway, it was time.  I missed choir.

And, actually, I did  a bit of sewing last night.  The Flute Player and My Sweet Baboo were at the closing performance of a local community theater production of Les Miserables (I saw it last weekend with The Actor...FABULOUS production!), so I had a bit of sewing time.

First, I concocted and tested a tote bag pattern for my  high school girls'  class sanctity of life unit project (we had a marathon sewing session this evening; 3 out of 4 girls finished theirs...one had to leave a bit before we were done, so look for a photo tute very soon so she can figure out how to finish).

Anyway, whilst looking about in the stash list for likely bag fabric (you know I took 3 stashed pieces in today...more yardage out...), I suddenly saw that I'd  purchased some burnt orange stretch lace last fall, to use for a choir top.

Now, said stretch lace really wasn't terribly stretchy so, remembering the striped top debacle, I pulled out my Jalie 2566 T pattern and traced it off, um, two sizes larger than my usual size.

'Cause that top is drafted for some stretchy fabric.

Anyway, I cut it on the cross grain, so as to take advantage of the scalloped selvedge for the hem.  Then I cut the rest of the scalloped edge off and appliqued it...well, just zig-zagged it down, actually...to the neckline.  Hemmed the sleeves.   It was quick...and it did not look 'sausage casing'.  Actually,  it's a pinch big under the armsceye, but, well, still better than RTW. ;-)

 I wore it today with  I-can't-remember-which jeans, over an orange Jalie 965 tank with a purple scarf and metallic denim jacket, both from  Coldwater, October's colors being dark purple, burnt orange and tan or brown.

It's good to be back.

Expo Day Trip 2013

Well, my traveling buddy Miss A and I rolled out of the Rocket City about 7:15 Friday morning, which was just a pinch later than we'd hoped, then we missed an exit in Birmingham and went a bit out of our way to get to the venue.

So we were about 15 minutes too late to catch Cynthia Guffey's 9 AM class.

I am trying to console myself by believing that it was probably stuff I've heard before; but every time I hear it it gets a little deeper so my consolation is somewhat short.


That was one of the classes I'd picked; another one was full and another was offered the same time as the Louise Cutting class I wanted.

So I only took 2 classes...Louise on measuring/alterations and Cynthia on transferring changes made on a muslin/toile/mock up/pickyourfavoritepracticegarmentterm to the paper pattern.

But the noon style show was all Cynthia's designs, with her narrating about how the cut/lines of the pattern worked...it was like a free class.

These two ladies are both marvelous instructors and absolute delights to listen too.  I know there are other teachers who are really good as well, but I can't seem to bring myself to pick someone else's class over theirs.

Anyway, I bought a wee bit...

The black/white is a double faced linen from Louise's remnant rack; I walked by it 3 times before I succumbed.  The Of the Moment pattern was marked down as well, so I snagged it.  I may just use that fabric for that pattern...we'll see.

I picked up one of Cynthia's tops pattern; jeeminy, I have about 5 of her patterns now and still haven't managed to get one made...so sad...  I picked up a small pair of duckbill scissors, too; I have the regular size SOMEWHERE.  It's been missing long enough that I wanted a replacement, but decided to get the smaller ones because, well, you know, the others might show up.

The food print cottons are for Rhonda's Mary Bridge Pillowcase project.  I've been meaning to find some fabric from the stash and whip some up, but, well, I don't have a ton of cutesy cotton prints.  I happened to be standing next to a quilting cotton vendor while waiting for the daily grand prize drawing and spotted these fabrics.  Could NOT walk away.   I *think* I have some green/red/yellow fabrics about to use for the trims; this is my goal before I start sewing up other stuff this week.

If I get a chance to sew something up this week...

One day at the expo was fun; it's enough to shop, but I really, really would like to be there all three, so I could take the Thursday and Saturday classes, too.

But, trying to be grateful for what I had and not fret about what I didn't have. 

Strangely amusing/slightly sad moment from the weekend:  one of the classes was held in a hotel across the busy highway, so they ran a shuttle bus for folks to take over.  I went down to the lobby a little early and struck up a conversation with another lady who was waiting for a friend to arrive and then she was going to head up to the vendor floor.

'What kind of quilting do you do?' she asked.

Um...I don't quilt?  Would like to make a quilt someday...I have some chopped up squares from scraps from the kid's clothes I made ages ago, but, nope, don't do it.  I make clothes.

She actually looked surprised....but the shuttle pulled up before I could tell her to check out Louise and Cynthia's racks...I hope she saw something inspiring.

Finally...something in the 'FINISHED' column!!

Both the Loud Jacket and the Simplicity Tank top made it into the finished column this weekend.  I literally sewed that jacket about 10 - 20 minutes at a time; sometimes less.  One night all I did was set the machine up for buttonholes.  Another night I managed to sew on two buttons.  It was like that pretty much start to finish.

And, since I'm currently on a choir hiatus, it didn't matter that I finished it the evening of the last day that the choir wore lime green and purple.

I wore it to work today, anyway, with the green challis tank, even though I don't think the lengths worked together very well. 


I decided to put side seam pockets in it because I HAVE to have a place to stash a kleenex, my office keys, my cell phone and possibly a communion set.  This was not the most comfortable place to put these pockets; they're really too high to be useful for parking my hands, as you can see.  But so long as I can carry what I need to carry when I need to carry it, that'll work for me.

After I had the front partly assembled, it occurred to me that it would've been easy to put a patch pocket on the inside between the side seam and the side front seam for carrying stuff.  Maybe next time....

Or, maybe I'll lengthen the jacket a bit and put welt pockets in the side front.  That would be the most natural hand-parking spot.

I really do like this pattern, (OOP McCall's 5191)  though.  So long as I use a fabric with some Lycra in it, it doesn't seem to mind the middle age creep as much as some of my other jacket patterns.

(ETA:  Just didn't have the oomph to take another picture and upload it last night, but I'm pretty stinkin' proud of the pattern matching, even if I am probably never going to wear it buttoned up.... :-)...back to original text  )

I should've had my Sweet Baboo take a photo of the top by itself, but, well, it was late and he was on antihistamines and I just didn't have the heart to ask him to do a lengthy photo session.  The shoulders of the top are just about right, now (I just whacked off about an inch and a quarter off shoulder seam at the arrmhole and tapered it down to the existing cutting line on either side).  There's still some wonkiness at the bottom of the armhole, though.  It looks like I need to scoop the lower front curve just a bit and perhaps even rotate a very small dart out of it.   And I think it would be more flattering with a shirt tail hem instead of straight across.  So I have at least one more iteration to go before it  achieves Wardrobe Workhorse status.  But it's close.

Then, as I was poking through my spreadsheet for the year I found a piece of Home Dec fabric listed in the 'fabric purchased' column...and I didn't even remember what it was.  Found it with the new purchases and decided that, shoot, it only takes a few minutes to turn it into a table cloth...just trim the corners and run it through the serger...so I did.  Boom.  Another 2.5 yards into the 'OUT' column.

And then I put it on the table and suddenly remembered that I don't need 2.5 yards of length...I really only need a fuzz under 2.25 yards, but I've learned to buy 2.5, in case the ends are cut crooked.  This had been cut pretty straight and I didn't loose any length to square it up.  So I had to whack off the extra and then reserge.  So it took a little longer...

 But, before all this hit the 'out' column, I had a teeny bit more creep into the 'In' list.  What can you do if an on line vendor posts a 'Crazy Priced Fabric'  that is pretty much exactly what you've been looking for to use for a specific pattern?   You buy it, of course, and  it has to have a traveling buddy...           

So the 'IN' box now has some rayon/lycra jersey stripe that will be dead on perfect for my new Sewing Workshop cardigan pattern...and it was such a good deal that I have enough for a maxi dress or a couple of tops as well...

The gray is a wool shadow stripe that has a nice springy hand; there's enough there for a serious jacket, or maybe a not-so-serious jacket and a pair of pants.  We'll see.

 So, yeah, the discrepancy between 'In' and 'Out' still got bigger...Think I'm going to work on some of the UFO's next...least till I get a chance to spend a day cutting...