Biting off more than I can chew...

Or, 'Whatever Made Me Think This Was Restful?'

For those who are joining us late, I'm spending as much time as possible at home, supposedly resting up and recovering from mononucleosis.

However, I don't feel particularly ill. I just have no stamina, and an annoying low-level sore throat.

I'd be better off if I were miserably sick. At least I wouldn't be tempted to work beyond my strength level.

But.

Now, I have been puttering about in the sewing room. As in, the last day I sat down at the machine late last week, I sewed the continuous lap on a sleeve. I didn't press it over and topstitch it down, I just sewed it on. That was all I could manage.

But my recent fabric acquisitions have been filling up all the available space in the sewing nook. It has been a while since I swatched and cataloged and put away...so I thought, Hey, that's just sitting at the table with some scissors and index cards; I can do that without expending too much energy!

So, little by little I pulled fabric out of the cabinet that I have down there. I pulled fabric out of boxes that were making it difficult to access the ironing board. I *didn't* get the fabric in box on the sun porch where my cutting table is...I'm still under the delusion hopeful that I can get something made from it soon.

Turns out it's been something like THREE YEARS since I last cataloged my fabric. I was slack-jawed when I saw the pile that I have:















I'm astonished and chagrined that I have so much fabric piled up...and now I had to do something with it.

Now, when we moved into this house I claimed the near end of the attic over the garage as my fabric storage area. I had everything arranged neatly, and I could find stuff.

But about 2 years ago, we re-roofed the house and My Sweet Baboo installed a skylight over my sewing nook...and the reflective tube passed through the eave space behind my fabric storage. He moved all my fabric stuff to other areas of the attic so he could access the eaves, and after the skylight was installed, well, things didn't get put back in any kind of order, and all kinds of other stuff was mixed in with my stash. It was depressing.

So, I had the bright idea that, since I have all this new stuff that needs to be organized in with the old stuff, AND the attic needs a good cleaning anyway, the guys in the family could bring the stash bins downstairs, I can slowly file away all my new stuff and give everything a good shaking out. AND, whilst all that is out of the attic, there's room to do some cleaning/purging of stuff up there to make room for, well, stuff that actually needs to be up there that isn't (just an aside...oh, to have a basement...).

Anyway. They brought the stash bins downstairs last night. I'd forgotten how much stuff was there...



Obviously, some of the mixed-in stuff got brought down, too, but not much. This is about 25 years of fabric accumulation....maybe more, actually, as a bit is from my Grandmother's stash.

Aside from the emotional impact of seeing all these dreams and hoped for projects, which is probably another post, whatever made me think I could do this while I'm recuperating from mono?

But it DOES need to be done.

Sigh. I think I'm going to be looking at that pile in the living room for waaaayyyy longer than I'd like.

Cringing Just a Little

So the Princess has agreed to 'let' me make the bridesmaid's dresses, since she was afraid that Her Dress wouldn't look right if I made it.

Really, that's ok, because I would hate for the girls to have to fork over bucks for a 'bridesmaid's dress' that ain't worth it.

However.

The dress The Princess has chosen is Simplicity 2692, view D, for the bridesmaid's and the same dress, minus the shoulder tie, for her maid of honor.

The Reviews for the one-shoulder version are less than complimentary, by and large.

I'm looking at it and thinking 'Blousy drapey off the shoulder bodice...hm...I wonder what is supporting the top edge of the bare-shouldered version?'

And most of the reviews stated that it ran big.

So...I think I have an idea. I told the Princess if she would get herself some fabric, I'd make a version of the dress for *her*, just to see how it works up.

If it's as beastly to make work as I expect, we may compromise. ;)

Think-Think-Think

My 3rd box of the year from Gorgeous Fabrics arrived yesterday; buying fabric over the internet is always a bit of a guess-what. And, as I've admitted before, this mono stuff has made me just a little denser than normal, so for some reason when I read the description of the blue jersey I pictured something a little different. Anyway, here's the photos:
















(I didn't even notice the white thread on the black cotton/lycra jersey; I was focused on trying to get the blue rayon/lyrca jersey to come out right...) The natural light in the sun porch really washed these out; they're NOT faded in the least. I tried taking a closeup of the blue...that turned out to be a better representation of it.



Anyway, when I read 'It has a sheen to it that looks like silk jersey.', I pictured the silk jerseys ...few and far between they have been,too!...that I've seen, and thought I'd have a matte-type jersey with the barest hint of silky shimmer.

Um, this is a shiney fabric. It's very, very drapey; it behaves very much like slinky, although it isn't.

Now, mind you, the description fits the fabric; I just didn't read it right.

It's still gorgeous, still a marvelous rich fabric, but I don't think it will suit Vogue 1027. Or maybe it's just not matching the picture I had in my head.

In any case, I'm back to the drawing board on this one. I need a dress from it, fairly soon, and I'm not sure what will suit.

Oh, it is just the teensiest bit sheer; I've got some black knit lining that I'll likely line it with, regardless of the pattern.

So...think, think, think....

February Fabric In

Doncha just love the internet? You can be sent home to rest and recover from an illness and STILL shop for fabric...

This arrived from Fabricmart today; the color isn't rendered very well; the red rayon/lycra in the middle looks more coral-ish; it's RED. The other really is salmon and I indulged myself with the burgundy Armani wool.
After I added this fabric to my '2011 purchases' spreadsheet, I realized I'd never shared the purchases that arrived earlier this month, all from Gorgeous Fabrics.


Two rayon/lycra jerseys in mango and deep coral (can you hazard a guess as to the new color we'll be wearing in choir in a month or so?), a yummy embroidered teal cotton, silk herringbone suiting and pinstripe wool.

And there is still one more box en route from Ann...I couldn't resist her latest sale and ordered some fabric to make Vogue 1027 and some staple black cotton/lycra jersey.

Ok. Stopping now... :)

Sleeve Hunting

So, I finished the muslin for the 12/09 Burdastyle jacket last week and transferred all my changes to the pattern; I should have it on the cutting table by now, eh?

But I don't. I couldn't figure out what my reluctance was; so I tried the muslin on my puny self again...and, for your benefit, took a a couple of truly humiliating bad bathroom mirror photos.


Try to ignore the spots/streaks on the mirror (nobody cleans if mom is ailing, you know). This is the muslin, out of exceedingly unstable fabric, and some of the pull lines have been addressed in the modifications I made to the pattern, but I think the biggest problem I've got is that I. Hate. That. Sleeve.

It hangs fine, but it's so big and floppy and what's up with that huge dart anyway? This sleeve is not NEARLY fitted enough to need a dart. I shortened the sleeve and trimmed the width down on the pattern pretty substantially, but I'm not sure it will work because it still has the dart.

So...I think I'm going to embark on a little treasure hunt through my stash of Burda mags and see if I can find a dartless sleeve I can swap for this one.

*later that same day* Suddenly, the statement This sleeve is not NEARLY fitted enough to need a dart jumped out at me; I used the Palmer/Pletsch method of dart smooshing (fold the dart out and just smoosh the resutling fullness in the pattern flat) to get rid of the dart. I think I shall proceed from here. ;)

Jo-Ann's Comes to the Rocket City

There has been at least one Jo-Ann's Fabrics store in The Rocket City in the 30ish years I've been here; it opened in a small strip center pretty much where a very nice independent fabric store had been located (it's sad that I don't remember the name of the store). There was a fire in the center, and the indy store never reopened, but Jo-Ann's was there for a little while. They came, they declined, they went.

Today there was a Grand Opening for a brand spanking new Jo-Ann's. I didn't figure I'd try to go, but I had an appointment on that end of town and, well, I had to look.

I wanted to know if the first thing visible when you walk in the door was fabric. Silly of me, maybe, but that kind of sets the tone for the store. There's a Jo-Ann's in Duluth, GA, that Miss A and I always visit when we make it to the Expo, and there's one in Cool Springs, TN, that we stop by when we do our annual trek to Textile Fabric's Summer Sale.

There's a huge difference. The Georgia store has the fabric front and center; it's what you see when you walk in. I've seen silk, linen, nice cottons...it's a fabric store. The Tennessee store has craft stuff up front, and the fabric tends to polyester.

I wanted to know what we had.

Now, I knew that, since I'm *supposed* to be resting up, I probably shouldn't go. If I hadn't had to get out anyway, I wouldn't have. But the new store was only about 3 miles from my appointment, so...I went, just to have a look.

It's just as well it was just a look. The line for the cash register went all the way to the back of the store. It was crazy.

I could sort of see the fabric all along the left side of the store when I entered; it wasn't front and center but it was visible.

However, a quick walk through...such as I could manage, with the crowd... showed mostly polyester and quilting cotton. I saw a teeny bit of very lightweight silk dupioni that was listed at $25/yard, but no linen or rayon or wool. And they didn't have Burda patterns, which was the main reason I was excited a Jo-Ann's was coming to town.

Sigh.

But I filled out the registration for the gift card drawing just the same before I left. :-)

Squish...

Question: Why would anyone carry antipersperant to work in her purse?

Answer: Obviously, she stopped on the way in for her mammogram.

Are you up to date?

(This has been a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood sewing blogger)

The Salvaged Silk Top

I'm continually disappointed by the way some garments photograph; silk charmeuse in particular. The color always looks off, and what appear to be horrific puckers along the seams are, in fact, not noticeable. I'm not sure why; I guess it's just that the particular reflection of light is captured, when it is ordinarily very transient.

Maybe. Whatever. The top looks tomato red here; believe me, it's more deep cherry; not a hint of orange in it.

Anyway, I finished the top last night. I've got the review written, and will post it when I have a photo of me actually in the top. It's got real potential for a wardrobe work horse, but I need to tweak the techniques a bit. Mostly I'll swap the goofy football-folded-in-half sleeve flap for a real cap sleeve, borrowed from another pattern.

And I need to find another way to mark the pleats, if I use a fine silk again. The tailor's tacks left holes.

But, it's wearable and it salvaged some fabric that would've otherwise just sat in a bag, sending out clouds of guilt and remorse, so I'm happy. ;)

Simplicity Frustration

Is anyone else having trouble accessing Simplicity's website?

For quite a while now...over a month, at least...I have been unable to click through any links to simplicity.com...not the ones in their emails, not the ones in reviews, not even when I type 'simplicity.com' in the browser line.

When I do, I get a page that says 'Bad Request'.

That's in Firefox. If I switch to IE, I can access it, but it tends to run very, very slow and sometimes just bogs completely down.

I suppose I'm going to have to delete all my cookies or something to click through in Firefox, but I'm curious...

Am I the only one?

...And Evaporating Guide Sheets

I'm totally not functional enough to sew. I'm trying to get some actual work done from home (that's probably crazy, but the work's gotta get done...), and it's using up all my brain function, I think. So the red silk top is waiting patiently, and I've been tracing another pattern bit by teensy bit.

It's the jacket for Vogue 1100. I got some turquoise wool from Fabric Mart last year to make a jacket...turquoise has turned into a regular color in choir...and I think this is the jacket I've decided on. I waffled a bit between it and a very similar Burda pattern, of which I have no image due to the untimely demise of the English Burda magazine website, but I think I like the swingy back pleat on this better.

So, I'm tracing away and I can't find a pocket piece. Maybe it's there and I just missed it; like I said, I'm not the sharpest needle in the pack right now, so I thought I'd check the guide sheet.

I've got the second sheet, and the French sheet, but the first sheet is nowhere to be found.

And I honestly don't know if I pulled it out to read and then didn't get it back into the envelope or if it wasn't there to begin with.

The second sheet begins with attaching the lining to the jacket, so any info about the pocket (or faux pocket) is on the missing sheet. So I'm gonna have to pretend this is a Marfy pattern and figure it out as I go.

Evaporating Silk

A couple of years ago one of my online fabric sources had an incredible sale on silk charmeuse; I bought 4 yards of a deep red, thinking I'd at last get a pair of silk charmeuse PJ's for a reasonable PJ price. I'd made the PJ's out of 3.5 yards of fabric before; I thought 4 yards would be plenty.

About a year or so ago I threw the silk on the cutting table and cut the first 'table load' - the back, sleeves, back facing, pockets and leg band. Then I pulled the next chunk of fabric on to the table to continue and discovered that I didn't have enough fabric.

Turns out was 42" wide instead of 45" wide.

I bundled everything up and threw it in a bag, but it has bugged me ever since. At that price, I should've bought enough for PJ's and a blouse and lining for a jacket...what was I thinking???

Anyway, fast forward to the present. We've had reservations for dinner for weeks at the bread-and-breakfast place where we went for our 30th anniversary and I'm determined to enjoy it. If my throat were screaming raw it might be different, but it's not, so we're going, and I though I'd try to throw together something pretty to wear. I traced off and altered the little top from Simplicity 2570 and then I pulled out the bagged up charmeuse and began to creatively cut it out.

I got the back of the blouse from the PJ back and the little cap sleeves and neckline facings from the sleeves. I only had to cut the shirt front/side front from the remaining yardage, and I could cut them pretty much side-by-side, so I didn't cut a lot more fabric from the uncut length. I'm going to skip the bias band on the sleeve; I'll just turn-and-stitch to finish that edge, or maybe I'll cut bias strips from the leg bands and seam them end-to-end. There'd be too much waste fabric around a long bias strip.

I changed the thread on the sewing machine, fused the interfacing to the neckline facings and hit the wall; as much as I wanted to finish the top, I was out of steam. But it's ready to go as soon as I'm up to it.

According to the pattern envelope, the top takes 1.5 yards of fabric in the largest size. And I have just about exactly 1.5 yards left. I'm having a hard time believing I had an entire yard disappear in the remnants of my PJ top...but maybe I did, counting the scrap fabric in the original layout. I'll get another sleeveless top or a scarf from the rest of the fabric, sometime down the road, but meantime, I've learned my lesson...

Don't skimp on the fabric order! ;)

More Color Thinking

Ok, I need to publicly thank Summerset for the tip on Silk Baron.

Oh.My.Goodness.

I sat down and made a list of no less than 20 colors of dupioni that I could possibly use for the MOB dress, depending on what opinion The Princess has on it. Absolutely gorgeous stuff...and the price is pretty reasonable, too ;)

But, whilst I was thinking about dresses and colors and such, I happened to remember a piece of rayon/lycra doubleknit that I purchased on a whim a little over a year ago from an online vendor. It was listed as 'Cherry Red', but, well, when I got it I thought it was more of a 'Coral Red'; it was definitely to the orange side, which doesn't work well for me.

I put it in the stash, wondering what to do with it, and today I happened to spot a partial bottle of Rit Dye, leftover from the dyeing I did for Complete Works, and I thought, what the hey...and I overdyed that orangey red with burgundy Rit.

Oh, it is SUCH a nice, dark red now! The heat from the water probably wasn't the best thing in the world for the lycra content, but I wasn't using the fabric as it was. Now, I'm thinking I'll see if I can get it made up into Butterick 5382. If it works out, that may be my go-to dress for moderately dressy events, like afternoon weddings for which we will be minor guests (we received 2 invitations this week...)

Hey, I'm inspired...I've got a few more pieces of 'meh' colored fabric in my stash; suddenly, I have options! ;)

Color Change...

The Princess was working on her 'save the date' announcements last night; playing with the colors and printing samples. She told me that Prince Charming didn't really care for the blue color she'd originally planned to use as the accent color in the ceremony, which she'd used for the first samples of the Save-the-Date, so they'd changed to a soft orange, which would be more fall-like.

I basically smiled and said, 'That's nice, dear, we'll need to talk about your bridesmaids dresses soon.' and forgot about it.

(Backing up: I just realized I never blogged about my decision for the MOB dress; probably because I made up my mind while I was off line. I decided to go w/ the Kay Unger dress, Vogue 1182, and I envisioned it in a silk dupioni, cross woven w/ silver and either royal blue or turquoise, which would blend well with the silver and cerulean blue color scheme she'd picked. I didn't know if I could find such a fabric, but I figured I had a bit of time to try...)

Until this morning, while I was making my weekly pass through my favorite fabric vendors, looking for my 'hope-this-exists' silk dupioni, when it suddenly hit me that they'd dropped blue from the plan and my pick might not work.

So I'm back to square one on my fabric choices.

Sigh. I don't know what she's planning to use besides the orange now; I don't know what my options are.

Ah, well, there's time, there's time...

One Muslin done!

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures, mostly because in my puny-ness I look pretty pathetic. But I finished out the jacket muslin (Burda magazine 12/08 # 116). I did a square shoulder adjustment when I traced the pattern, but, based on the muslin, I took in the shoulders at the princess seams pretty substantially and added a pinch of ease around the tummy/hips. It looked pretty good, except for the sleeves, which were huge. I ended up taking about 2 1/2 inches out at the wrist, tapering that up into the bicep, which fit fairly well. I also shaved a bit of the ease out of the back of the sleeve cap (oh, I have just had an epiphany! I realized when I was transferring the other adjustments to the pattern that I'd only actually done half the square shoulder adjustment when I traced the pattern; I raised the shoulder but forgot to raise the underarm. But I was pleasantly surprised that there was just a pinch extra ease in the sleeve cap when I put it in. It just hit me that now that I raised the underarm to match the shoulder, I bet I need to pull some more ease out... I'll fold 3/8" out of the sleeve cap to offset what I raised the underarm). I think I need to shorten the sleeves by about 1/2", too, but that's a minor fix. By and large, this jacket is ready to cut out of some real fabric.

Now, I just need to decide which fabric to try first. ;-)

This will be a really great basic jacket pattern that I can use as a basis for lots of style changes...once I'm convinced the fit's right.

But I'm just really glad that piece is out of the WIP file...I was surprised to see that I cut it out on 2/5/10; it's been waiting for over a year....

And, yeah, I probably should've spent the day on the sofa instead of messing with the muslin. But it was so close to being done... ;)

Hm...Directional Sewing?

I had some time a week or so ago to get to the jacket muslin that's been in the queue for absolutely ages, and I noticed something that I thought was worth a mention.

Notice that the shoulder seams line up nicely on the right shoulder, and are totally wonky on the left:



The only culprit I can think of is that I stitch-marked the seam allowances before I sewed the pieces together, and I sewed the shoulders one way on one side and the other way on the other one, so that one side stretched and the other didn't.

I won't be stitching unstabilized pieces on the actual jacket, but it was interesting to see such a definite illustration of one of Cynthia Guffey's concepts!

"...and you know what THAT means..."

Um, well, apparently not.

See, I had a nasty sinus infection around Thanksgiving, that mostly went away, then came back with a vengeance around New Years, and, with another round of antibiotic, mostly went away. But I just couldn't shake that last bit.

Dry air and all, I thought.

But a routine set of blood tests turned up an out of balance liver enzyme. I looked at the results, and thought ,'well, maybe now I can try something other than statin drugs for the cholesterol issues!' and made an appointment to talk to my Dr. about it.

Well, the first thing she said was that statin drugs do not affect that particular enzyme; it's symptomatic of another problem. So we're good with the statins. Sigh.

She continued, have we ever checked your gallbladder?

Um, that was removed back in '01.

Bone density was good at the last test 18 months ago; vitamin D is a bit low but serum calcium is good so it's probably not osteoporosis...

At that point she went and got her little reference book and looked up that enzyme and began reading down the list of things that could affect it.

It was stuff like hepatitis, chemotherapy, a bunch of drugs that I don't take...and in the middle of the list was mononucleosis.

Wait. Did you say mono? I've been having this low grade yucky stuff going on for a really long time...

Well, she did the blood test and the results came back Friday afternoon: positive for active mononucleosis.

So, my friend said when I told her, 'And you know what THAT means, right?'

Well, no, not really.

Apparently it means I'm basically supposed to do nothing for the next 2 -3 weeks. Sounds lovely...but how shall we manage that?

I've stepped out of choir for the remainder of the month, put myself on inactive on the new Bible study I just started attending, and basically am trying to figure out a way to eliminate all non essentials. Once I figure out what they are. ;)

Back from the Break...

Wow, that went by fast...except, when shall I find time to read the 766 posts that have accumulated in Google Reader????

I didn't get as much sewing done as I wanted, but I did have one 'wait up while the kids do homework' night in which I made knit tops. I finally made the boat neck top from the Sept. (oops) Feb. '09 issue of Burda Style...and I made a total of three of em in about a day and a half. I haven't gotten my review written yet, and these photos were taken all at once, but I have worn each of the tops already.

The first one is short sleeved because that's all the fabric I had. I fell victim to a sale, but I determined to sew the goods quickly. However, the vendor from which I ordered my first batch of '11 fabric has gone to the little sticky notes as order sheets, and the information was truncated by the edge of the note. So the '.5' on the order got lost and instead of getting a yard and a half, I got a very scant one yard of the royal paisely print. It's an ITY jersey, which I ordered mostly because I wanted to see what all the buzz is about ITY fabrics. But I didn't have enough for long sleeves. So, I made a short sleeved version.


For all it's slick and drapey, it's still very much polyester. The fabric feels cold when I wear it. It was ok as a bottom layer, but I think this is going to go to the back of the closet until the weather warms up.










I did have a yard and a half (again, rather scant, but not a half yard scant) of the rayon/lycra blend turquoise brush stroke knit. It's super yummy, and I love-love-love the colors. But, to my surprise, those brush strokes are horizontal. Since there was ample stretch in the length as well as the width, I just put my pattern on crosswise, so the stripes are vertical. This may be my new favorite top.




However, I still hadn't made the top as intended, so I pulled a 'why did I get this?' pink floral cotton/lycra knit from the stash and made one more top, since they went together so incredibly fast. This one gets zero style points, but it's nice to wear so it's a good 'change into after Sunday services' shirt; it may get worn more than the others after all. Or, if I can come up with a suitable bottom half, it may turn into a PJ top...


I'll get my review written up in the next couple of days and talk about the fit. I did have to do some tweaking to the neckline and the underarm, but by and large this is going to be a workhorse pattern for me. It is definitely instant gratification, and I was in sore need of some of that.

It's good to be back; I've missed the blogsphere... ;)

Let It Snow!!

The NWS and all the local weather people have been prophesying sigNIFicant snowfall for the Tennessee Valley for the last few days; tonight is the night when all their predictions will be tested. Will we really get a shut-the-city-down snowfall? Or just a near brush with winter? According to the radar, it's been snowing in the Rocket City for an hour or two already, but I've not seen a flake. Apparently the air is still too dry for it to reach the ground. We'll see if the predicted Gulf moisture actually makes it this far.

But...the photo directory pictures are all finished, as of yesterday, and we hustled around and made sure all the bank deposits were recounted and hauled off to the night depository before we left church today; I can access the data base online and finish up my routine weekly data input from home at any time.

So...I'm hoping for a real snow event. One in which I can actually let myself thread up the machine and make something. I'm overdue for a sewing fix.

But, wouldn't you know, tomorrow begins our annual time of fasting and prayer at church...and I'm going to be hitting my geek fast of staying off the computer for everything but email (and weather reports!). I'm not fasting sewing...can't fast something I haven't been doing much of anyway.

So, I'm hoping for snow...and I'll be back in three weeks! ;)

Foiled by a Lack of Preparation

I got an email today from Michael and Sherri...the entire website is 50% off.

I don't have extra money to spend on wonderful fabrics right now, but I looked anyway.

Oh, my friends, I was undone by a piece of rich red double-faced Armani wool that's listed at $60/yd.

I *know* that discounted price is an amazing price for such fabric. I was sorely tempted.

But I closed the window because...I don't have a jacket pattern ready to cut out. Oh, I have one in the muslin stage, but nothing proven.

And I already have about three pieces of wonderful wool that I want to make jackets from before the moths find them (which has happened once already...to a piece of Armani wool...aaaiiieee, that still hurts!). I don't want to buy another piece to just put in the bin to wait on the pattern to be ready for it.

I must muslin this year. I must, I must. I don't want to pass up a lovely piece of fabric for lack of preparation again...

So much for resolutions

Well maybe I'm only partly non-compliant.

See, I told myself I wouldn't spend any money unless it was on wedding-related items.

So, when I purchased a swatch of fabric, and some on-sale Vogue bridal patterns, if a couple other items found their way into my shopping cart...well, no fabric can travel alone...

The Princess is still fairly adamant that I will not make her dress, but I'm thinking I'm plan B if she can't find what she wants for a price she can afford. So, I'm swatching and picking up patterns on sale...just in case. Anyway, I hit up Fabric.com for a swatch of Duchess Satin fabric. Since a $.75 charge on the credit card was ludicrous, I also ordered a couple of pieces of printed knit (I'm going to try an ITY knit and see how it fares) and a bamboo/cotton solid for some much needed PJ's. That got me free shipping. ;)

Later in the day, I stopped by Hancock's to take advantage of the Butterick/Vogue sale this weekend. $4 isn't too much to invest in a slight possibility; Vogue 2842 has some things in common with a dress that she tried on and loved; notably the front draping. However, the dress in the boutique also had draping in the back and a train, so there would have to be some significant modifications in order to replicate the ~$1K dress....

I also picked up Vogue 8569, which might actually get used, as she agrees with me that $250 is a ludicrous amount of money to spend for a comb and some polyester tulle. Along those lines, I also picked up Vogue 7009. Rosette patterns should be handy for about anything...including future costuming...

But, there's more than one dress at a wedding, and I'm starting to mull over the MOB dress. It's going to be an early afternoon wedding, so not too formal; no long dresses. I have a few patterns in my stash that I'll be pulling out and mulling over, but today I picked up the Kay Unger design, Vogue 1182. That's a striking dress, although I'm not sure how easy my standard 'lower the bust an inch and a half' adjustment will be on that. Might get tricky.

I looked through the Butterick catalog, too, since they were $1.99 each, but didn't see anything really wedding-y. However, Butterick 5559 and Butterick 5523 both came home anyway. Just because.

The wheels, they are a' turnin'...I'm sure there's going to be much more discussion ahead...

2010 in the Rear View Mirror

2010 was not a stellar year for me, sewing-wise. But one brightish thought is that, while I was 21 yards short of sewing parity, I did manage to curtail my shopping to only 78.5 yards...just 28 pieces of fabric...which is the lowest my annual intake has been since I started keeping rack of it 6 years ago. Maybe I'm learning self control?

In a less hectic time, I would've easily sewn 80 yards up in a year; this has just been a crazy year.

I suppose the high point of my sewing was the project I did in the early part of the year in which I tried to make 12 garments in 12 weeks. I didn't *quite* make the time line but I did get twelve new garments for the Flute Player and myself that were needed in the wardrobe.

So, here are the final stats:
Fabric In: 78.5 yds
Fabric Out: 57.5 yds
Last fabric purchase: 10/4/10
Garments made for me: 24
Garments made for other people in my family: 7
Home Dec items: 1
Muslins: 3

Miscellaneous Church-Related Sewing:
Six Black/white liturgical stoles

Team Effort:
3 baptismal robes

I still have a few baptismal robes in the bin under my desk at work that need to be finished out; I *think* all they need are side seams and hems.

Maybe that'll be the first 'As soon as I'm done with the church directory photo scheduling' project, just to get it off my conscience ;). We have one more weekend of photography this week, to make up for a day we lost last month due to freezing rain, and then that portion of our directory project is DONE. The next step...editing the directory info itself... should not be so time consuming. I hope, anyway.

'Cause I have total chaos in evidence just about everywhere and somehow I need to get dug out of it. So my sewing plans for 2011 are rather on hold; all I know for sure is that I'll be doing some wedding sewing. Still don't know exactly what...but I should have an idea soon.

I hope. ;)

You got that right...

...From my Christmas morning stocking...not that I'd ever actually TEST the theory, mind you!

Got nowhere near the sewing machine this week; just didn't happen. So I'll have one muslin carry over that I hope to sew up as soon as I can...before I do any more cutting.

At the moment, the cutting table is buried under gift wrapping supplies anyway. We're doing our nuclear family Christmas tomorrow, and our holiday snacks of choice will be decongestants, expectorants and cough syrup night caps.

So, Happy New Year! And, for those who are, like us, somewhat non-traditional in observance...Merry (7th day of) Christmas!

Clearing the Queue

I'm determined not to carry over anything from 2010 if I can possibly help it...so, whilst the laundry was running today, I put together the knit (Loes Hinse) Oxford pants I cut out back on October 2....and I'm holding off on cutting out the last two pieces of the white long-sleeved camp shirt until after Jan 1!

As many times as I've made Oxfords, I've never tried them in a knit before. But, you know, there are times when you need pants that can function as sweat pants, but need to look presentable (I'm particularly thinking about days when I have to leave work, go to the chiropractor, then return to work). I ordered some poly/rayon/lycra double knit at a super duper sale price back in March for just such a purpose...glad I got 'em in the closet before the year was up. ;)

I think these will fill their intended function very well. The knit is very, very nice; I've got 2 more yards but I might make a dress...or some pants for The Flute Player (she needs some black knit pants for drama).

Now, I'm going to get through Christmas, then see if I can get that jacket muslin put together before midnight on the 31st....then I'd have a clear queue for January 1 AND a tested jacket pattern; I'd REALLY like to jump on the 'jacket a month in 2011' bandwagon.

So, Merry Christmas to all my sewing buddies! I hope your holiday is spent with people and events you love!

A Quarter Century...

I thought, in honor of celebrating 25 years of motherhood, I'd do a little retrospective of the various garments I've sewn for my firstborn down through the ages.

I got the highlights of the first five years. Several of those garments I'd totally forgotten about. Wow.


Sometimes I matched her to me...sometimes to her brother...sometimes to her cousin.

And that's really only about half of it...just the better things.

I didn't realize I accomplished so much!

But I had a hard time finding photos that showed the clothes; I guess I was more interested in taking pictures of the kids! Imagine! LOL....

It's Official...

He proposed and she said yes; we will have a son-in-law sometime around the middle of September if all goes well with the scheduling.

There will be sewing...even if it's only a MOB/SisterOB kinda thing.

Stay tuned.

Finally...something done...

I finally finished McCalls 5522, sewing on all 11 buttons while sitting in the endoscopy waiting area at the local hospital whilst My Sweet Baboo endured the Routine Over 50 Health Procedure Everyone Hates.

I have to say, the shirt looks better than I expected. At various times in the process of constructing it I was sure it was gonna be a wadder. I don't think it's a wadder, but I'll have to be careful when I wear it, as it's definitely Not There Yet, fit-wise.

The first issue I had was when I sewed the horizontal seams; I was sure those stripes w/their near-matching would just be too jarring and was really wishing I'd cut the lower pieces on the bias to minimize that. Then, when I added the front band, I found that the stripes were not quite matching up vertically there, either...and I was afraid that'd be jarring. Oh, if I had only added the ruffles, they would totally have masked the variations in stripe widths at the band seams. Then I realized the collar is cut on the wrong grainline; those stripes should be horizontal, not vertical. That's the way it's marked; it just didn't register that, for a striped shirt, I'd really want them going the other way.

And so on.

But, once it was all together, it didn't seem as bad as I thought. Except for one slight problem.

The dreaded Binding Sleeve. That is All. I. Can. Raise. My. Arms.

I've hit this problem over and over again on regular fitted shirt sleeves. It feels like there's not enough fabric in the sleeve, and too much fabric in the shirt, right at the underarm. When I raise my arm, as you can see in the circled spot, the shirt pulls and the sleeve twists over the upper arm.

But I went through several of the reviews for this pattern, and I didn't find anyone else who made the long-sleeved version who mentioned this problem.

I've read several opinions of what causes this but I haven't really seen a solution...a pattern fix...for it. I don't want the sleeve to be looser; it really isn't tight until I move my arms.

Aside from that, I found that I hadn't added enough ease in the back just above my waist (that old lady back fat thing is starting to happen...sigh), and I don't think the stand is high enough for the collar. It's not intended to button all the way up, and it's a good thing, because if it were buttoned at the band the collar bends and crinkles unattractively. Open, it's fine.

So, yeah, this one gets a C+ for fitting, although that's not really the pattern's fault. It's not really drafted to fit a pudgy middle aged lady, and I haven't been a pudgy middle aged lady long enough to have the fit routine nailed down.

I'll get the review done and explain the alterations I did in more detail later on tonight (I hope).

Meantime, it sure feels good to put something in the 'done' column!

Trying to tell me something???

A couple of nights ago I had a dream in which I had taken my Kenmore sewing machine and my serger to a high school or church (not sure which...it was neither the high school my kids attend nor my church) for some costume sewing and while I was away from the area my old beat up weighs-a-ton Kenmore disappeared- footpedal, accessories box, crumbling owners manual, the box of spare bobbins and carrying case all gone with it.

I couldn't believe it. The serger wasn't disturbed, buy my trusty old friend was gone.

I spent a good bit of the rest of the dream trying to find it, or find someone who knew what happened to it, but I woke up with out having located it.

I've been vaguely uneasy ever since. I have so much sewing I want to do, and I can. not. get. to. the. machine.

That's gonna HAVE to change.

Somehow.

Just Past the Halfway Point

We've now passed 16 out of 28 days of photography; it's downhill from here. I've figured out a workaround on printing the labels for the sitting ID's from our data base that lets me just print the labels I actually need instead of a bunch of duplicates, which makes me very happy.

My two younger kids were puking today, which makes me very nervous. I haven't shown any one else how to print the labels...what if I pick up that nasty virus? Hmm....

I emailed the label template to my home computer; if the unthinkable happens, I can sit at home and generate all necessary paper work, then email it to a co-worker to print for the photographers.

Maybe I should be glad I don't have company coming for Thanksgiving this year after all...

But I have a turkey defrosting in the fridge just the same. Hopefully everyone will be well and the turkey will be enjoyed by all.

On the sewing front, I haven't touched my white blouse in an entire week. It's still waiting for about two pieces and the interfacing to be cut out. As I mentioned in the comments on last week's post, I ended up at our photo session wearing an old favorite blouse that, unfortunately, has ink stains on the cuffs. We folded our cuffs back, so the ink stains were inconsequential.

But, with two days next week that are both days off and have no photography happening, maybe I'll at least get to finish cutting that blouse out. ;-)

Gettin' Real...

Ok, I'm just gonna make do with whatever white shirt I can come up with tomorrow; the Camp Shirt is still partly on the cutting board.

Just too much goin' on! After we got home from church...and that was pretty late; the two younger kids had puppet team practice, so My Sweet Baboo and I had a very nice lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant whilst they did the puppet thing; consequently it was mid-afternoon before we walked back in the front door ...I had a choice.

I could throw myself into sewing that shirt, making something that should be relaxing and enjoyable into another deadline, or I could face reality and acknowledge that I'm just not gonna have time to do it well and have a restful Sunday afternoon.

I think, since the lesson I taught my high school girl's class this morning was on the value of rest, my decision to chill out for a while was a necessary one.

I'll just make one of my other white shirts do somehow. ;)

And I will freely admit, hopefully with simple honesty and no whining, that I will be personally very glad when we've finished with the directory photography...

One...stitch..at..a...time...

That's what it feels like, anyway. I've got the collar and sideseams on the black and white stripe blouse; it has some problems and more than once I thought it was going to be an unsalvageable wadder, but I'm determined to finish it if only to be able tweak the fit.

And I'm *trying* to start a new project...we are doing OUR share in the church photo directory on Monday and I've told everyone under this roof that we'll all wear white shirts w/blue jeans (the background is black). It's going to be the Christmas Card photo for this year, and if the picture wasn't going in the directory, I'd put us in Dickens costumes, just for fun(I'd have fun, anyway).

But, since it *is* for publication, we'll be conservative. And everyone has a white shirt, thanks to a quick shopping trip with The Actor and The Flute Player over the weekend.

'Cept I'm not terribly happy with MY long sleeve white shirts. Given the lack of sewing time, I actually stopped by the mall on my way home yesterday to look at white shirts.

Counting the one I tried on when The Flute Player was trying on shirts, I've tried on a total of SEVEN shirts.

None of them worked.

I thought about going to my usual If-I-Buy-RTW-It's-From-Here shop, but when I looked online at their white shirts, I noticed that just about every one of them needed a FBA to fit the lithe young model.

I don't think it would've been worth the trip to try any of those on me.

Anyway, I dug through my Pile (the fabric waiting to be swatched and put away...I'm WAAAAYYYYY behind on that) and found a lovely piece of white cotton twill from Textile Fabrics in Nashville. I think I'm gonna just use Louise Cutting's Town and Country Camp Shirt, and put long sleeves on it.

The fabric is all ironed and laid out on the cutting table...I'm gonna guess about 8 hours of sewing time for it.

I don't know if I'll get 'er done or not. But at least I'll give it a shot.

Considering the '11 SWAP...

I haven't participated in the annual SWAP contest since 2006; high school theater sewing has largely kept me too busy...plus, that was the third year in a row; I was about wardrobed out of the closet!

But that was 5 years and about 12 pounds ago. My wardrobe is beginning to need some overhauling. Maybe I should jump into the SWAP...

But I have a couple of caveats. The first is, simply, time. I'm not done with the High School Production season of life yet; there's a production of Romeo and Juliet AND the spring musical looming just after the holidays...and life has been so busy in general that my sewing production for the fall has been limited to a piddly 5 garments since school started; I've been trying to get that black-and-white blouse put together since Oct. 1. Granted, the directory photo shoot will be over after Christmas, but everything else is so backed up and behind that I really can't guarantee myself much sewing time.

The other caveat is the 'twist' -- that is, the little extra requirement to make everyone get creative with their sewing. This year, EVERY garment sewn for the SWAP has to include a new (or not perfected) technique. Granted, we're allowed to use (I think) 3 previously made or purchased garments in the wardrobe, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around a 12 11 - piece (Ok, 9 8 -piece) wardrobe in which EVERY garment has some particular detail about it that's new to me or something I'm working on getting right.

If I make a SWAP wardrobe, it's because I need clothes I can wear in my everyday life. And I've been sewing for a long time; most of the techniques I need to sew everyday clothes I've mastered.

I'm looking at couture techniques, or embellishments, or some such thing to meet that requirement. Stuff that really doesn't go in my day-to-day wardrobe.

I need some basic things that fit the body I have now. I'm going to have very limited time in which to make them.

So, as much as I'd love to participate this year, I'm really thinking it's just not my year to jump in. I may do a sew-along and see if I can SWAP in my style...that is, along the original idea of the SWAP, which uses TNT patterns to generate a wardrobe quickly.

I won't win anything, but I'll have some clothes in my closet. ;)

I Got Mine!

Ok, it's the second printing...I'm late to the party.

But better late than never!

Can you say 'inspiration'?

Lots of cool ideas; I've only skimmed through it, but I've already seen a couple of things that I'd never noticed on the PR website.

Now if I can just squeeze in some time to sew...

Not Sewing. Is. A. Bummer.

Haven't wandered near the machine for a couple of weeks now.

See, we're doing a photo directory at church and, well, somehow it landed in my office.

So, I suppose the good side is that I'm working extra and so bringing some extra cash into the exchequer...bad news is that there is no time.

It's almost like costuming a show.

My black-and-white striped blouse has had all the fusible interfacing applied, and that's where it's been. And I really need to get it made...if it fits well, I may make another one out of solid white (with the ruffles!) for our picture...which is scheduled for Nov. 15.

But before I can sew a stitch, I've got to dig my way to the bottom of Mount Washmore...we're almost completely out of clothes.

Sewin' ain't the only thing that ain't been happening...

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. We'll get through this... ;-)

Sigh. I've been looking at fabric sources...of course!...but have so far managed to not buy anything. Why add more to the stash since I can't seem to get anything at all sewn?

Costuming the One Act

It is The Actor's Senior Year; to my surprise he elected to be the student director of this year's competition piece rather than audition for it.

The piece is The Metamorphosis. I do understand his reluctance.

Last year, the one act was a hysterical comedy that was a tremendous hit with the audience...but the judges didn't like it. So, this year (under a new drama teacher, btw), the play selection was of a genre that seems to go well with judges...dark, broody, depressing. Yay.

However, I am not responsible for the cockroach costume; I believe that is actually falling under the tech crew/set design/make up folks. My only assignment was to repair one dress that was aged and falling apart.

I spent Monday evening working on it and it's done. I don't know how well it will hold up...the fabric is nearly brittle...but it's repaired for now.

So I'm done.

Other than finding some pieces The Flute Player needs for her costume...black tights (shouldn't be hard) and 'character shoes', whatever that means. She plays the first maid/housekeeper. We'll find something at Shoe Carnival.

However, as soon as we get back from Christmas break, they're going to begin production on their major drama production, which will be Romeo and Juliet. Not done in Elizabethan garb is all I know about the costuming at this point...

But, it's 'funny' how things work out. I have a big project going on at work that will run through at least the end of November. Sewing for a show would be nearly impossible at this point...

Something REALLY different

I normally play along with the Random Dozen Meme on my other blog...the one that talks about faith and other things that I don't feel quite free to talk about here. But...I'm feeling a little adventurous tonight, and sewing Will Be Mentioned, so...

Just for grins I'm answering the questions on this side of the dashboard. For newbies, welcome to Second Cup of Coffee's Random Dozen (minus one this week).

You can click the icon to see the original prompt and the linked up answers:



1. Is there a word which you initially mispronounced? Were the circumstances in which you made the faux pas embarrassing? By the way, that's not "foax pass." (I know you know that. Just jokin' with ya.)
I pronounced 'Sword' as 'swoard' for years and years, to distinguish it from 'soared.' Finally I looked it up in a dictionary and found that 'swoard' is not even an alternate pronunciation and ate humble pie and stumbled over the pronunciation for years. But Terry Woodrum saved me from total humiliation in my 10th grade Driver's Ed class, when, while reading aloud from the textbook,he read the word 'Yosemite' and pronounced it 'Yo-sim-i-tee,' thus saving me from a thousand deaths when it was my turn to read...I totally was going to say 'Yose-mite.'

2. How do you feel about the use of texting shortcuts and trends? (ex: "I've got ur notes. Get them 2 u 2morow.")
You won't believe this, but I actually spell words out in my texts. I only use those shortcuts for dramatic effect...which is usually totally wasted.

3. Tell me about your high school senior picture. Please feel free to post.
Just because this IS the sewing blog, I will point out that I made the jacket in my senior photo from blue polyester doubleknit crepe from Ben Franklin's in Brownsburg, IN, back when Ben Franklin's was a variety store. It was part of my ORIGINAL wardrobe capsule sewing, although I didn't know that at the time. I also bought some navy and white houndstooth poly double knit, and I made the blue jacket, a blue skirt, a houndstooth skirt, a pair of wide-waist trousers from the houndstooth, and a reversible vest using both fabrics. You can't really tell from the photo, but the jacket has short, puffed, banded sleeves (I *think* there was a long-sleeved view, but I'm not sure). This was the second jacket from this pattern; my mom used it to make a cream linen-look jacket for me, too, my freshman or sophomore year. As I recall, she has not sewn anything for me since that, although she has done a wee bit of sewing for my kids (remember the napsacks, Mom?). Um, I *have* been actively resisting stalking vintage pattern sites for that jacket.


4. Since Linda left off number 4 I'm making up my own. *Clears throat* What is your favorite variety of doughnut?
Dunkin' Donuts (would someone PLEASE open a DD franchise in the Rocket City again? Pretty Please?) vanilla creme filled. Yum. Powdered sugar everywhere....

5. Share a high school or college homecoming memory.
My high school consolidated w/another high school my junior year. That was also the first year for our varsity football program. We Never.Won.A.Game. Every away game we went to was the home team's homecoming. I wish I had a sawbuck for every time I heard 'Sweetheart of Sigma Chi' before I graduated.

6. Linda at Mocha with Linda wants to know: "Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?"
Yes.

7. Lea at Cici's Corner asks, "What is something you have not done that you desire to do?"
See the Northern Lights

8. Carol at Wanderings of an Elusive Mind ponders, "If you could come back [in another life] as an animal, which would it be?"
Some rich lady's pampered poochie.

9. Joyce from The Other Side of the Pond is curious: "Where were you 10 years ago?" Please feel free to elaborate more than just your physical location.
10 years ago my kids were 4, 7, 12 and 14; the four of them were attending 5 different schools. We were still in our denominational church, although we were beginning to pull out. We were in a cramped little house...and I had not yet discovered the online sewing community.

10. When you are proven to be correct in any contentious discussion, do you gloat?
Who, me? Um, depends on with whom I am in contentious discussion. ;)

11. What is your favorite food which includes the ingredient "caramel?"
Caramel turtle brownies.

12. From my 17 year-old daughter to you: "If you could be part of any fictional family, which family would you choose and why?" (She's so cute. And clever.)
I think this is a life-stage question. When I was a kid, I thought it would be neat to be part of the Jetsons, because robots took care of everything. Then I thought it would be neat to be part of the Ingalls family, because they were so close. When I was in my late teens, I wanted to be part of the Murray family (A Wrinkle in Time), because they were close AND brilliant. Now, I think I'd be one of the Incredibles...I need to stretch reeeaaaaallly fffaaaaarrrr...

Back from the Mountains...

...and trying to figure out how to get the dozen or so pitiful cell phone pictures off the cell phone and onto my computer (It's a very old, very basic flip phone).

The battery on my actual camera died before we even got to our destination and I'd forgotten to bring the charger. Lesson learned.

Actually, we went to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg with the leaders from our girls and boys ministries at church for a getaway. We had a fabulous time and did things as a group that I don't think I'd ever have tried on my own.

For the sake of not tripping internet searches, there is a famous female country western singer/actress who's made quite a brand for herself in the entertainment industry that I'm going to refer to as 'Polly'. Her name, face, and trademark are all over that part of the country.

I'm not dissing her; she's been very successful at what she does and I applaud her business savvy. And there are some very worthwhile charities that benefit from her business savvy. So more power to her.

Anyway, we did spend some time at some of Polly's entertainment ventures...namely, the theme park and the horse show dinner theater.

The amusement park was very nice; we'd been there before, years and years ago, and been very impressed with the artist/craftsman areas and with the eagle sanctuary. Plus, My Sweet Baboo is quite a steam engine enthusiast, and there are a couple of historic steam engines that pull the 5 mile excursion train. So we enjoyed our day at the park.

The horse show dinner theater...different strokes for different folks, I guess. A number of our friends who have been say it's really good, and most of the folks in our group agreed. I must be a rarity in that I kinda don't find food eaten in a barn with animals moving about and...well, doing what animals do...all that appetizing, even if it is roasted game hens and cream of vegetable soup and other yummy stuff. But I'd barely eaten all day, and we saw the late show, so I was HONGRAY. I tried to ignore the fragrance in the air and ate anyway (in all fairness, a number of folks in our group expressed surprise that they hadn't noticed the, um, fragrance. I had a headcold...and I noticed it. It wasn't strong, but it was there).

I'm not really comfortable in large crowds, either, and the show looked to be sold out, or close to it, so there was a CROWD to manage. In a weird way, it was fascinating to see how they marshaled everyone about and then served up the food from buckets and huge pans. And the folks there are really good at squeezing the dollars out of the audience! (yes, we bought the photos because the only way to get the nice picture of the entire group was to purchase the whole $20 package. But perhaps the photos of MSB and I that were also in the package will be enough incentive for me to get serious about the weight loss thing...).

But I will say this about the show...the animals were amazing to watch, and the costumes were really fabulous. Especially the ones that lit up. The costumers are obviously very talented and very busy, with 2 - 3 shows a day. So I'm glad I've seen it...once... ;)

MY high point (that's a pun...) of the trip was our spur-of-the-moment decision to accompany the group that went up to Clingman's Dome. We *barely* had enough time to make the trip, but 8 or 9 of us in two vehicles wound our way 20 miles into the park and up to the parking lot at the Dome. I wandered around drinking in the amazing views, and then pointed to a paved path heading past the gift shop.

'Where does that go?' I asked MSB.
'That goes up to the observation tower,' he replied, just as I spotted the sign that said the tower was .5 miles up the path.

'Well, let's go!' I said, 'It's only half a mile! We can do that!'

Um, what I didn't process in my glance at the path was that it was about a 30 - 45 degree slope for that whole half mile. We started off at a good clip, then slowed and slowed and finally sat down a bit a couple of times to catch our breath. But we made it to the top and climbed the observation tower for the incredible 360 degree views. Wow wow and wow. We took some cell phone pictures then quickly went back down to the parking lot, where the rest of our group was rather anxiously waiting for us to return (we had dinner reservations to make).

One of the pastors had purchased Clingman's Dome patches for us, saying we'd earned them...LOL.

I wish I'd had time just to sit and look out over those mountains for a while...they were beautiful.

You don't want to hear about the incredible bumper-to-bumper traffic we had leaving at noon yesterday so I won't mention it. ;-)

All in all, it was a great trip and I enjoyed hanging out with our co-workers in the ministries very much. I'd like to take a trip again sometime, when we actually have time to stay until we're ready to come home.

Wherein the Stash Begins to Resemble the Great Salt Lake

as in...it comes in but it doesn't flow out.

I'm trying reeeeaaaly hard not to buy fabric since my sewing time has dropped so dramatically, but sometimes, well, it happens.

Two more pieces from Fabric Mart:



The fabric I couldn't pass up was the black and white... I had a bold black and white checked jacket that bit the dust a long time ago and left a so-far unfilled gap in my wardrobe. I thought this cotton blend suiting would make a good replacement...finally.

And the blue...well, fabric needs a travelling buddy, so this got the nod as the description said that it would make a good tunic, and I have a Simplicity tunic pattern that I love and have been hankering to make again. But when I got it, it turned out to be lighter and not as drapey as the tunic needs.

No matter; I need a Dress That Fits Now...and I think this is PERFECT for a sheath dress that I can wear to weddings and other fancy events. The generous cutting team at Fabric Mart even sent a bit extra, so I think I can get a jacket out of it too.

But...I have a beef w/ the packing team at FM. This is the second time that I've gotten a package that was packed so tightly that I actually snipped my fabric while opening the box. The first time, it was just interfacing, so it wasn't a big deal.

But this time I had to put a safety pin in the yardage on the black and white check so I can avoid the snipped place when I cut out the coat. Grumble grumble...

I need to be wary of bulging boxes in the future...

To Ruffle or Not to Ruffle?

I had a really big 'Duh!' moment a few weeks ago...

At some sale in times past, I picked up McCall's 5522; I liked the lines on it.

I've pulled it out a time or two and thought about giving it a go, but the thought of altering it gave me the shudders. Then, after I finished up my Labor Day projects I picked it up and suddenly noticed something that I'm sure I knew when I bought it but had completely forgotten: It's got different pieces for B/C/D cup sizes.

Duh.

Suddenly, the whole alteration thing got much simpler and I began tracing the pattern and altering for my non-standard measurements.

About 10 minutes at a go. I've been working on this ONE pattern since Labor Day. And I'm ALMOST done cutting it out of some black-and-white striped shirting.

If I decide to put the ruffles on it, that is.

I cut out the ruffle pattern pieces and marked them to be cut on the bias; I thought that would look cool with the stripes.

But as I was cutting the main body of the shirt out, I suddenly got cold feet about the ruffles. Would they make it look to costumey? I didn't cut 'em.

Now, however, I'm swinging back the other way...ruffles are IN, they're different from other stuff in my wardrobe, My Sweet Baboo likes ruffles...what to do, what to do...

I think I'll cut 'em out for now; I've got some a couple of other things I want to cut out today and tomorrow before I head for the sewing room, so I've got a question for all my loyal bloggy buddies...

What do you think? Would the ruffles be Too Much?




Oh, and here's part of the reason I've been so slow at this:

Worth a Look: BBC Sewing/Fashion library

In a post buried in a discussion of Austin and Santino's traveling sewing show (which I've never seen...no cable, you know...), I came across an interesting link to a BBC archive of What We Wore, which seems to be a collection of shows related to fashion produced by the BBC since the early years of television.

I thought it would be a good research source for costuming and bookmarked it.

Then I looked around a bit and watched a show from 1982; it was the first in a series on sewing a wardrobe in a weekend, and had, as its basis, a wardrobe pattern collection designed by Caroline Charles that was published in a book, with the patterns in an envelope in the back of the book (Very similar in format to Sandra Betzina's 'No Time to Sew', if you recall that book/pattern set).

Show 1 introduces the program and the designer, and shows a bit of the design development process, and a montage of garments made from the resulting patterns. Then we return to the studio to watch the presenter (Ann Ladbury)begin construction of the first garment: a skirt. She discusses selecting a size from the multi-sized pattern (she apparently assumes everyone already knows what size to cut, there's no discussion of measuring anything to determine the 'correct size'), then demonstrates cutting and marking the pattern (she used a technique to mark the darts that I'd never seen before...interesting) and creating the lining for the skirt.

I totally didn't have time today to watch it, but I did anyway...as much for the delight of listening to the lovely English accents as anything else...

Random quote from the show: "If you've gone to all the trouble to sort out the correct size, you don't want to spoil it with inaccurate stitching." - Ann Ladbury.

Amen, sister!

If You Send a Seamstress into the Fabric Store...

...she's going to want to have a look 'round to see if there's any good stuff on sale...


Actually, this represents a double haul; I had to go to BOTH Hancock's in town today; the one on my end of town was completely out of Wonder Tape, and we're having a sewing day at church tomorrow to see how much more we can get done on the Unfinished Baptismal Robes. There were not enough robes to go 'round at the last baptism service, and another lady volunteered to help sew them, so Miss A and I and our new friend Miss T are going to head to church in the morning and set up shop and see how much we can get done. I *think* there are 4 that are done to the sleeves; which means we've only got to do zippers and necklines on 6. But I can't do zippers without Wonder Tape, so...when I found that Hancock's South didn't have any, I altered my errand route to include a run out to Hancock's West. Fortunately, they had some.

But, at Hancock's South I picked up 10 yards of muslin (so I can work on the Trench Coat and the Dressy Dress patterns) and the official Hancock's coupon calendar. Oh, and some buttons, which are not pictured 'cos I already put 'em away.

Then, at Hancock's West, I grabbed the current issue of Vogue Patterns (because, you know, The Selfish Seamstress has an article there-in, and we gotta support the blogging sisterhood!) and the final bit of a ridiculously loud rayon challis print off of the clearance table....just so I have something to grab if I ever get invited to a luau. It was less than $4; it'll work.

However, I think the thing I'm most excited about is the muslin, which doesn't affect my 'fabric in' tally since I'm actually considering it a notion (That's my story and I'm sticking to it). I can really do some work on those two projects now! Er, well, after the baptism robes are done, anyway...

So...What Would YOU Wear?

I smiled today when I read Gertie's Post in which she meets Tim Gunn...wearing one of her own creations, which he inspected and complimented highly.

A home sewing enthusiasts dream come true! Her post was filled with exclamation points.

But, I wondered...what if I were going to an event at which a fashion industry celebrity was going to be mixing about with the attendees? What would I wear?

Sudden Flashback to October, 1992: Sandra Betzina was doing a Saturday seminar for one of the local (now gone...sniff, sniff) indy fabric stores and I attended. I don't remember my thought processes for what I wore, but I do remember what it was: black pants, white shirt, red knit tie (remember wearing menswear styled ties?), a black-and-white bias-cut pinstripe vest and a black and white plaid long, straight-cut, 90's linebacker-shoulder-pads jacket. I *think* I wore the jacket because I had a problem with the lapels curling and I wanted to ask her about it...but the mix of stripes and plaids was an inspiration that hit literally as I was dressing that morning. I'd made all of the outfit except the button-down blouse and the tie.

At some point during the post-seminar sale at the store, I managed to ask Sandra about the curling points on the lapels (she suggested I interface all the pieces -- something the pattern didn't require and I didn't routinely do back then), then looked at what I was wearing and said, 'This looks good together. You have a good sense of style.'

I was in a pretty exclamation-point using frame of mind myself after that. ;)

In 4 of the 5 years I went to the Sewing Expo in Atlanta, I tried to wear garments made from the patterns of the designers at the Expo; that's fun to do.

But...dressing to meet folks who are in the home sewing industry is different than dressing to meet someone who is in the fashion/style industry...what would I wear? I'd be in trouble now, because my wardrobe is currently lacking and I have so far not managed to get to the sewing table long enough to do anything about it.

So, my just-for-fun question for any of my dear readers still with me...if you were going to hobnob with a fashion industry icon, what would you wear...and how would you decide?

(Or, if you HAVE...what did you wear and how did you decide?)

Just because I'm curious. ;)

Where'd I Put My Brain This Week?

About a month ago, I ordered some smashing silk charmeuse, with the intention of making another smoke ring scarf:


Despite the fact that I'm going down for the third time on housework, I thought I'd cut the scarf OUT today and have it ready to sew when I get a few minutes. I'll be quick -- whiz whack w/the rotary cutter; zoom zoom on the sewing machine and a pinch of hand sewing and TA-DA! A fantabulous scarf!

Only...I could. Not. Find. My. Pattern.

I finally resigned myself to redoing the pattern and I pulled out that old issue of Threads (half hoping I'd find the pattern stuck there-in, but no luck) and my tracing paper, then realized I'd used up all my available time today.

So I guess I'll have to start w/redrafting the pattern...tomorrow.

An Ethical Question

Let's say...

You are a person who sews a lot (for most folks reading this, that's not much of a stretch).

You've made clothes before with, um, poor print placement, so perhaps you are a little more aware of such things than the average bear.

Now, let's say you happen to be somewhere with a friend. The friend is wearing a very cute top with a swirly print...but one of the printed swirls is, you notice with your hyper-awareness of such things, um, rather poorly placed.

And let's throw into the mix that said friend is not having a particularly good day.

So...do you say anything? Or just be embarrassed for her?

What would YOU do if it were YOU? ;)

NL 6407, Take 2

Yeah, it's another bathroom mirror self portrait; and I didn't notice the streaks on the mirror until I uploaded the photo...you KNOW it's Monday...


Aside from the fact that I haven't yet allowed for the last year's weight gain in the pattern, I'm thinking this is getting close to TNT status.

After the first try, I altered the front a bit, doing a FBA and raising the top of the button band back to where it should have been. Then I scooped out the sides of the neckline so that it was wider at the shoulders and moved the front edges in towards the center a bit. Then I measured the resulting neckline and adjusted the collar and band to fit the new neckline.

I've got a neckline that looks much closer to the front of the envelope now; I may not have needed to move the front edges in. But I think I'll leave them.

I do need to go back and check the collar/collar band; I think in all my slashing and spreading I got it slightly out of whack; one side doesn't quiiiiitte match the neckline. But you gotta look really close to see it.

However, I think the collar is longer/deeper than pictured on the drawings on the envelope; I haven't decided if I'm going to try to adjust that any or not. Maybe. And, if I really want the top to fit the body I have now, I should add some width in both the front and back. And that's so long as I've got a goodly amount of stretch in the fabric; in a non-stretch, well....

Harrumph.

But I have some nice black cotton/lycra poplin in the wings, so the next iteration will be black; then I may try a long sleeved version.

How do I keep up now?

I just found out that Bloglines, my beloved feed collector, is shutting down at the end of the month. Ask.com has decided that it's not economically feasible to maintain Bloglines when their primary focus is answering questions.

Geeminy, I wish they'd thought about that when they acquired Bloglines back in '05. Why buy up a business if you're just going to shut it down?

So, now I need to go looking for another RSS aggregator. Bloglines very nicely provided detailed directions on how to save all the links for transport to a new aggregator, but, alas, did not offer any suggestions as to which aggregator to use.

I can't just 'follow' on Blogger...I still have the old template version, which I've tweaked to my satisfaction, and to be able to 'follow', I have to convert to layouts.

I tried the layouts when I first started my other blog, but quickly found that it didn't work so well for me for some reason, so I converted that one over to the template, too. Converting to layouts would be a MAJOR overhaul. So following isn't an option. (which really stinks when so many folks limit their cool contest/giveaways to folks who 'follow' them....just sayin'.... ;) )

Anyway, my whole blogroll is based on my bloglines subscription list; that may really mess that up, too.

Can you tell I'm a little ticked? Just a little?

Anyway, does anyone have a good aggregator they can recommend? I need one in 3 weeks...

The Stripe SIH

I decided that, since it *had* been a year in progress, that I'd wear the StarsINHeaven tunic today.

Sorry for the pitiful bathroom-mirror self-portrait, but, well, ya do what ya gotta do.

I bought the linen at Textile Fabrics Annual Big Sale last July (as in, 2009). I love the colors in it, but the stripes run crosswise. Interesting. I cut the 'upper sleeve' on the cross grain, so that there's some variation happening. I've got stripes on running crosswise, lengthwise and diagonally...whew! ;)

It's gonna wrinkle like crazy, and it doesn't drape at all, but for all that it's a very comfy summer-feeling top.

Which is good, because even though we're officially past Labor Day, it's still gonna be 90 something degrees Fahrenheit today...

A year in the works...

I finished up two tops today! First up was the teal New Look top that I cut out last week; all I had to do today was put on buttons and buttonholes. I'm a little happier w/this top than I was with the first iteration on that pattern, but I've still got some tweaks to do 'next time'. But it's getting very close to TNT status.

After I hung that one in the closet, I pulled out a zip-lock bag that had been sitting in the corner shelf since last fall and sewed up the stripey linen Stars In Heaven tunic that was cut out and in the bag. I'm not sure how this is going to wear...I *love* the SIH tunic that I made a few years back from some soft, drapey rayon/linen blend fabric. This one is 100% linen, and it's rather wirey. It is a different top.

But when I updated my 'WIP' spreadsheet, I discovered that it had been exactly a year...I cut that top out on 9/5/09.

Feels good to mark that one 'done! ;)

I'll try to get photos the first time I wear 'em.

Sad News

I was grieved to read today of the death of Fred Bloebaum. Fred had been battling cancer for a number of months; I'd been following her story sporadically on Care Pages; I'll confess, I was annoyed that I had to log in to the site to read it and I tended to only check in once a week or so.

So I missed the post last week that said it had been determined that the cancer was no longer responding to any therapy, so they had ceased treatment and called in hospice. I thought Fred was more or less holding her own; I was shocked to hear that she had died.

I actually was privileged to meet Fred at the Atlanta Sewing Expo a few years back; she was delightful and charming and gracious. Her battle was bravely fought; the sewing world has lost another gem this year.

I think I shall make something from one of my LaFred patterns soon...

Coming to Grips

I'm in a position I'm rarely in...

I've had several events (mostly weddings) this summer to which I've had nothing to wear. Oh, I made do with something, but it didn't fit well and I wasn't happy about my appearance.

Which was ok, really, at the weddings, since we were but minor guests, but at my 30th anniversary dinner I wanted to be happy about the way I looked and, well, I wasn't.

It's been The Year. Y'know, the one in which you wait from month to month to see if all the hormonal shifting has really more or less finished.

By the time The Year was officially up, I found I'd gained 10 pounds.
Part of the trouble is that most of this year I've been dealing with some pretty aggravating, mobility-limiting back/sciatic nerve pain. A recent MRI finally pinpointed the problem: a flattened/bulging spinal disc at L4-L5. I now have an appointment with the spine guy at the local orthopedic group to see what HE can do. The chiropractor has helped considerably, but it still is very prone to getting aggravated.

And, unfortunately, spending even moderate amounts of time standing at my cutting table is one of the things that super-aggravates it.

Part of me has been in denial...I've never really been heavy or overweight, and I just don't want to deal with it. But after seeing the photos from our anniversary celebration, I've got to deal with it.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about losing weight; I really do need to lose about 25 pounds for my health (things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels have also suffered during The Year). And, I honestly think my back might be better if I were a little more fit. So, if the spine doctor clears me, I'm going to start seeing a trainer at the fitness center which is in partnership with the orthopedic clinic. I know I need some exercise...but I want to proceed carefully so I don't aggravate anything.

So...meantime, I have no nice dressy clothes. I already have one project that I've promised myself I'd get cracking on this month -- the long-delayed trench coat. But I'm gonna promise myself one other thing, too: a garment that I can wear to a wedding or other dressy event that fits the body I have now. If I lose weight I'll kiss it goodbye, but I'm tired of squeezing into things that are too tight and feeling like a stuffed sausage all night.

So...that's my goal. Actually, I like the idea of making a jacket, a dress and a couple of pairs of trousers all that fit now....but I don't want to over goal.

Because my back hurts when I spend too much time at the cutting/pattern drafting stage.

Babysteps... ;)