Slipped up on SWAP

Oh, last fall I really thought I could participate in the SWAP contest at Stitcher's Guild.  I made an excel spreadsheet with a rough outline of what I'd need...and that's as far as I got.  I mean, so far this year I've managed to make myself exactly, what,  3 garments?  And I just saw today, when I finally made it over to the SG site after all our internet connection problems, that the voting is even over and the winners announced.

Lovely collections, all, and I'm delighted that there were a number of ladies that participated this year.  SWAP is alive and well, which is a very good thing.

But I *really* do need to sew a collection for myself.  I need to get some more go-to patterns developed...I particularly need a jeans pattern...and so many of my wardrobe staples are beginning to really show some age.

But...ain't it always the case...there is just more to do than I have time in which to do it.  The lack of sewing is not the only place where this is manifesting itself.  Even if we hadn't had the electronic issues that we've been dealing with, my blogging...on both blogs...as ground to a crawl.  I'm doing good to post an occasional status on Facebook...and we won't talk about the appearance of my house. 

But I have great job security, as more and more things come to light that need to be addressed with the data base.  The children's ministry has costumes for the summer,  and the Girls Ministry classes are going forward.  Things are being accomplished.  Just not stuff that I can see when I look around me.

So, back to the SWAP...or, at least, making a plan and sewing it...that's something I need to, somehow, move up the priority list.

Shoot, getting in the sewing room, period, needs to move up the priority list...

Choir Wardrobe 051312

The choir sang in all the services this weekend; we're changing up our worship service schedule and discontinuing Saturday evenings, at least for a while.  So, to go out with a bang, we had a full worship team last night and ice cream after the service. ;-)

 I kind of got out of my fashion box, just a bit, for Saturday night...and we went out for pizza after church (not a good idea, my tummy reminded me most all night...), so I'm rumpled.  The only bit of the outfit that I actually made is the top...a sparkly gray jersey sewn up into Simplicity 2603 .  The blue linen jacket was from the clearance rack at Coldwater Creek a year or two ago; those aged Gloria Vanderbilt mom jeans are the closest thing I have to skinny jeans, which would be truly scary on me.  The scarf is from Talbot's, a silk square with a gigantic chrysanthemum graphic folded so the green part doesn't show much, as the colors for May are hot pink, gray and navy blue.  With jeans.  The white canvas oxfords are the whimsey part...

For Sunday, I teamed up the tank top version of  my gray rayon/lycra jersey Double Twin Set, comprised of Jalie 965 and Jalie 2566 with the rayon jersey knit Simplicity 4076 .  With Lee bootcut jeans.

I will confess to a rather discomfiting moment during the third service worship today; we were really short on gentlemen (the service is at 12:30 and I think all the guys took their moms to lunch...), so I sang tenor with My Sweet Baboo.  As the tenors are in the center, I ended up being in the middle of the front row, just in front of him. Which meant that at odd moments I could see myself in the monitor on the back wall...but I was behind one of the ladies who was singing on microphone, so that several times what caught my eye was just my head, the only part of me visible over her shoulder.

Only with my hair pulled back and the bright lights glinting off the lenses of my glasses, I didn't see myself. I saw The Actor (who, btw, is on a missions trip to Guatemala and cannot appreciate the irony here). Um, yeah.  I was rather startled.  Every time I caught that shot on the screen it made me do a double take.  I actually wondered for just a second if I could reach back and pull the clip out of my hair so it wasn't pulled back quite so tight...but, being on the center of the front, there was just no way to do that.  So I just kind of blinked and tried to ignore the weird feeling it gave me to see my kid's face where mine should be.

Maybe it's time for a haircut. ;-)

Not Ironmongery...

We have been having connectivity issues with our internet for the last few days...down more than it's up.  Trouble shooting has not found the issue, since it is so sporadic.  But that facilitates sewing!  Here's a glimpse of the 'chain mail hoods' ...I made 10...for the summer theme in our kids ministry.  The Actor rather grudgingly  good naturedly agreed to model one so I could show my internet buddies what I've been doing.  This is a sparkly meshy knit...and it left silver glitter all over EVERYTHING.

I'm down to adding the waist ties to the tabbards...I think I have 8 left to do and then I'm done, except for the remaining hoods that I haven't figured out how to do yet...they may just get made from white knit and dyed...

Choir Wardrobe 05-06-12

Sometimes, you just can't take me anywhere.

I had a little feeling that I should take today's choir wardrobe photo before we left the house but, as usual, we were on the edge of being late (and, for reasons I won't go into now, being late is a problem!) so we didn't.

Then The Actor called me while I was in my office working on the data entry at the end of 3rd service and wanted to know if he and his sister could go with a group of friends to get some lunch and see Avengers.

Um, and leave me and My Sweet Baboo on our own for lunch? To quote The Artist, "Heck yeah."

I happened to have a $25 Red Lobster gift card in my purse; that'll get ya a couple of bowls of soup and some grilled shrimp bruschetta and  have a bit left towards the tip.

Only...I discovered when I got in the car...the tomatoes on the bruschetta are apparently a bit drippy.

Yup.  Right on the middle of the front of my top. Sigh.  Fortunately, the resolution on the photo is not that great so it doesn't show in the picture, but, well, I know it's there.  I hope it comes out.

Anyway, May's colors are hot pink, navy blue and gray and that pink top is one of those 'Ooooo, pretty' deals I ran into at Coldwater Creek last summer, and I grabbed one when it went on sale.  I had to take up a pretty hefty chunk at the shoulders since I'm not 5'11", but it's kind of a fun top...a jersey knit w/a chiffon overlay w/applique'd and embroidered flowers over the front pleats...and it's the right shade of pink.  Those are CWC jeans, too...I'm a regular CWC commercial today...and my wardrobe staple gray rayon jersey Jalie 2919 cardigan.  I opted for closed shoes, rather than sandals, because it was raining this morning and I hate wet squishy sandals....

Now to see if I can get the little dot of...vinagrette dressing?  Maybe?...out of my floaty top...

Tempted by a Sale...

Determined to be more fiscally responsible this year,I have been diligently deleting the sale emails, but for some reason I didn't delete this one from Gorgeous Fabrics.  The Flute Player and I had discussed the blue cotton knit w/the note motif before and decided that it would make the best PJ pants, so when it hit the sale I hit the 'add to cart' button.  And, since no fabric can travel alone, I scrounged around and bought 3 one-yard pieces of jersey knits to make some quickie tops. The stripe and the purple (which is a very rich purple, not the very brown-burgundy looking color it appears in the photo) are both rayon/lycra; the orange is a poly/lycra.  Yeah, I know I have sworn off poly knits, but tangerine is one of our colors for choir this summer and I need some tangerine in my wardrobe.  So I'll deal with it.

Now to head to the sewing room and work on the costume pieces that are keeping me from sewing stuff from the stash...

Choir Wardrobe 04-29-12

There is a cami under this top for security ;-)  The last day of turqoise/gray/yellow, and I just didn't have it in me to do a repeat.  Most of the stuff is hanging on the 'to be ironed' rack anyway, so I pulled out an old poly (ITY? Maybe?  Feels like it) top, Burda 05-2009-103A, and wore it with Lee bootcuts.

So this is the 4th?  I think? Weekend in a row that I had to Do Something (meaning the laundry and the housework is still languishing).  But I had 4 ladies come with machines over the weekend, so we got all the banners trimmed out; one lady took them home to sew all the casings at the top.  We fiddled around and got a decent 'Chain mail hood' pattern...I'll have to post a photo of that one...and I have 9 hoods cut out and ready to sew.  Our progress on the tabbards was a little slower, mostly owing to the fact that we couldn't just go buy 30 packages of wide double fold bias tape.  So, some of them have the double fold tape and some of them we are fudging with single fold, which takes two passes with the machine.  I brought home 12 tabbards, but I think I have talked someone into taking 8 of them off my hands and adding the bias.  The other tabbards were farmed out amongst the other ladies.

So, except for the items that I saw on the list that looks like we need to make that we haven't discussed with our Children's pastors as of yet, I think we may make it.  If I can just motivate myself to go pull the stuff out and sew it.

Costuming continues

Can I just admit that there are times when I wish my name didn't pop into everyone's mind the moment the word 'costume' comes up?  Don't get me wrong, I really and truly am glad to be able to sew for a cause, and I'd feel really, really awkward if I weren't involved but...there are times...

We are in our second sewing weekend for the children's ministries summer theme.  We're getting a bit more done this time...we've had extra ladies coming with machines...but we've still got a ways to go, and we're running out of time.  We still had a few pieces that we didn't even have fabric for, so I stopped at Hancock's (and hit a great sale!) on the way home and picked up the last chunk of fabric and...hopefully...the last notions we'll need.

It just so happened Vogue patterns were on sale for $4 each; the newest book wasn't in but I found 3 patterns to bring home just the same.  The nod to the 'I wish I had time to sew for ME!' pout.

I picked up Vogue 8669, mostly because I am looking for great one-yard top patterns and I thought the sleeveless version was worth a try.  Vogue 8743 landed in my basket because it's a shoulder-princess style dress.  I think the fabric they show pictured on the website is too stiff for this; I'm seeing it in a nice rayon/linen blend.  And I just happen to have a nice red rayon/linen blend in the stash...

I picked up the Kay Unger dress, Vogue 1241 mostly because I had a Cold Water Creek catalog lying around for the longest time with a black dress the dead spit of that one.  I think I tore the picture out...but who knows where it is.

I have a real hankerin' to make some dresses...dunno where I will wear them, but I am ready to make something pretty and feminine looking.

When we're done with the knights and squires, that is...eventually...

Maybe I can snap some photos of what we're doing tomorrow.

Choir 04-22-12

Yup.  No picture.

This was one of those days where I hit the ground running...with a trip to the airport to see My Sweet Baboo off on a business trip at 5 AM...and have just now sat down, at about 10:30 PM. 

I sang in the choir for 2 out of 3 services today, but I didn't get a photo.

It's all stuff you've seen before anyway.

Today was the matinee closing of the show that closes the theater at the school; there's a brand spanking new building right across the railroad tracks that will be opening next fall.  There will be ball fields over the space that is now the old theater very shortly.

To Kill a Mockingbird was an excellent play to close the theater.  What an incredible message it has.

I just wish we could've gotten a few more folks in the theater to see it.  But our promotion budget is, like, pennies.  A few posters and some facebook posts were about the best we could do.

So, in lieu of the choir photo, I will leave you with a picture of The Flute Player in costume as Mrs. Dubose...in a costume that was golden, as it fit perfectly and needed no alteration whatsoever. 

...and the show opens

They did it.

Pulled it together and gave a strong performance.  Oh, it wasn't perfect, but it was amazing.  Knowing where they were Monday night and watching tonight's show...well, I'll be honest, I was bawling like a baby at the end.

I know it is a common tech week experience; horrific rehearsals that somehow meld the cast into a unit that reaches beyond what they've done before to do a show that touches folks, but it still has sort of a miraculous feel to see it happen.

Anyway, I'm very proud of the cast and crew. 

Midnight Oil...

Rough night in the theater...

We have a first year director and, boy, is he getting his baptism by fire on this show.    Let's just say this was the kind of evening that results in folks shaking themselves out and pulling it together...or falling into pouts and coming unglued.  It could go either way.  Everyone was exhausted by the end.  But I have seen shows at this point before pull it together and do fabulous stuff...so, we'll see.  One more rehearsal and then 6 performances.

Costuming, we are in good shape...I think...finally.  There have been no new costumes made; everything has come from either the school's costume shop,  other community theaters costume shops, the thrift store, or folks' own closets.  We've altered and redesigned a few things; most of the sewing is looking at a garment and trying to figure out how to make it work.   The directors' aunt, who is very active in local theater and education and has forgotten more about putting together a cast costume story than I will ever know gave us about 4 days out of her busy schedule and pulled and pinned and instructed and got us on target.  It was kind of amazing to watch.

I learned how to raise the closure on a jacket quick-and-dirty style.  It ain't purdy up close, but from the stage it works pretty well.  Makes those contemporary jackets look much more depression-era, so it was worth doing.   You press the stew out of it, then toptsitich the lapel to the jacket.  Yeah.  Really.  But it works.  We tried just tacking it, but that didn't put enough security on it and it kept reverting to the old roll line.  But once we stitched it down hard, it stayed.

At least so far. ;-)

One more late night; I've got a couple of small things to do...I think...and then it'll be mopping up.

Then I can focus on the children's ministry costumes...

Choir Wardrobe 0415

It has been a long day.

Long week, in fact. 

I'm not going into the blow-by-blow account, just suffice it to say that I have been home very little this week, as the laundry overflowing the hamper readily testifies.

Now, I had in mind one thing to wear this week, but when I got dressed I found that the top I'd planned was, after all, in the laundry.

I really thought it got through before the crunch hit.  Guess not.

So I went with plan B.  Last week, one of  my friends in the choir handed me a turquoise jacket.  She'd bought it on sale at a local department store, then, after she got it home, decided it just wasn't her style.  So she gave it to me, thinking that if it didn't fit me I might be able to alter it to fit.

It fit pretty well for a RTW jacket, although there were some details that I really think I could've done better...or that I would feel like I should've done better if I had made it.  Still, a free jacket is a free jacket so I thought I'd see if I could remedy at least the most glaring of those items before I wore it.

However, given the excess of unwashed laundry at my house, I grabbed the jacket this morning and wore it with my Lee bootcuts and my rayon/lycra jersey Christine Jonson Baseware 2 t-neck top

And I taught my class, sang in choir for 3 services, and then  went straight to the high school and worked on costume alterations until 5 PM.  Then we took the photo.

Maybe I can wash some clothes after the show opens on Thursday...

These are the comments I get...

I've gotten some pretty pathetic ones, but this one takes the cake.  It was posted from some spammer in Pakistan; I actually laughed out loud when I read it.  I mean, does the poor person even know what they wrote?

This was a comment on yesterday's lengthy choir weekend post...which, of course, did not mention a lamb anywhere:

I’ve never heard of that before, there are lots of fascinating customs. Your lamb turned out really well. I hope it brings you every good thing, including prosperity. TFS! 

The link tacked on to the end purported to be  to an online source for the GED.  I don't think I would trust the writer of that comment to advise anyone on getting educated...unless GED stands for something else that my sheltered life would not recognize.  In any case, I wasn't clicking on nothin'...not after just getting the computer back to something like normal after the last virus.

Spam, spam, spam, spam... delete, delete, delete, delete....

Choir Wardrobe 2012 - Easter Weekend

Three days of services...one on Friday, three on Saturday and three on Sunday.   A fuzz over 5,000 folks (counting babies and everybody) attended, spread over the 7 services.  Yes, it was tiring.  But it was also very cool. ;-)

Anyway, the mundane side of it was that there were 3 outfits for choir this weekend.  Fortunately, turquoise is one of the colors that lives in my wardrobe, so it really wasn't so hard.  The colors actually are turquoise, charcoal gray and soft yellow...with jeans...

 Friday night was a last-minute.  I actually had sort of a plan...but, well, I picked up The Flute Player from the school bus stop, hit the grocery store for a couple of things I needed for today's dinner and pulled into the drive a fuzz over an hour before I needed to be ready and out the door.  My hair wasn't behaving well, so I decided I'd hop in the shower and give it a quick wash to see if I could get it to tame down a bit.  I stuck my head in The Actor's room and gave him a notice that we'd need to leave in an hour, and hit the shower.  Just as I got the shampoo lathered up good, he pounded on the bathroom door, and what I pieced together over the sound of the water was that he'd just remembered he'd gotten a text message earlier in the day and he needed to be at church an hour before choir call to help move some furniture.  Which meant that we pretty well should've been walking out the door at that very moment.

At that point, I was committed to the shower, so, well, he was half an hour late.  And I went with my hair gelled instead of  styled, wearing what was hanging in the closet instead of what needed a touch from the iron. But, hey, I was out of the door in less than 30 minutes from when I got the word, so I felt like I had Done My Part. ;-)  This was Coldwater Creek denim jeans,  my gray denim Jalie 2320 jacket and the yellow sweatery-knit Simplicity 2603 top.

Saturday, I did get the ironing done before taking the Flute Player to drama practice.  I stayed with her and measured the cast; that had not been done yet.  I still don't know how much help I'm going to be for that show...so much depends on how well the church sewing  goes this weekend.  I rather expect to spend most of Tech Week evenings at school, doing alterations.  Anyway, we left school about 11, ran home and changed clothes and got a bite to eat, then headed to church for round 2.

This was the first go at New Look 6407; in turquoise cotton/lycra shirting from Hancock's.   I've tweaked the pattern once since this version; I think if I do one more tweak it'll be just about perfect.  But this one isn't, and I usually try to wear a scarf to camouflage the too-low neckline.  ;-).  The scarf was a cheapie from Wal-Mart; the jeans were Lee boot cuts.

Today I wore the 'B Minus Jacket', (Vogue 1100) which hasn't been reviewed yet.  I really would like to find the pattern so I can check and see if the skimpy hems were because I goofed up on an alteration or not.    It's teamed up with another Simplicity 2603 top; this one from sparkly gray jersey knit, and the Coldwater Creek Knit Bootcuts.   The jacket looks rather rumpley, but then, this was AFTER 3rd service today, and I was feeling rather rumpley!   Actually, I think this jacket is something that is going to be worn for its own sake...not because it is particularly flattering, shape-wise.  Part of that is the fabric choice; this is a tropical weight gabardine and, really,  it is not at all forgiving with any kind of wobbly bobble, and I had plenty!  But it feels really good on (it's that silk cotton lining, I'm sure), and I expect I'll wear it, even if it isn't skinnifying.

And about halfway through today's services I wondered why my legs felt so sore.  Then I remembered all the up-and-down I'd done yesterday, measuring inseams and out seams and bending over to write things down...guess I got my exercising done...

Now, after going through all of this, I gotta give a little disclaimer that, really, it's not about the clothes any more than it's about a bunny.  Before we left the house this morning, I posted what was on my heart about the day on my other blog.  Just so you know. ;-)

The 'B Minus' Jacket

Some things go together so nicely; others, well, others make me think I've no business claiming 'advanced' sewing skills.

The Vogue 1100 jacket started off well enough, but the whole collar debacle kind of threw all my sewing rhythm off and I ended up with a so-so jacket.

The redeeming features are the color and the fabulous scarf panel lining. Oh, and the fact that the fabric was on mad clearance and the jacket cost something like 20 bucks all told.  The small things that are 'off' will glare to me (and quite possibly to other seamstresses), but, well, in the middle of the choir it's not going to matter so much.

For all that, I really like the pattern and would like to make it again, now that I have THOROUGHLY acquainted myself with the pitfalls.

I did have what I believe is a drafting-an-alteration error, after all.  Won't go into it here, but it resulted in very skimpy hems.  If I make it again, I will correct that.

Anyway, here's the hanger shot.  I expect to wear this for choir on Sunday, so you'll see the 'on a real body' photo then.

I'm just really, really glad to move this into the 'Done' column!

Two Steps Forward, One and a Half Back

I am *still* working on the Vogue 1100 Jacket.  I finished off the bottom edges and topstitched it all, then decided the facing had somehow wonkered up too short; the jacket was curling at the bottom.  So I unpicked the topstitching and released the bottom edge; I'm going to have to hand hem it, to offset the facing at the bottom a teeny bit.

Part of the problem is that the pockets I drafted turned out to be too long.  So I'm going to trim about 3/4" off the bottom of the pocket bags and see if that helps with the lumpy bottom edge much.

They really only need to be big enough to hold a kleenex anyway.

So...*maybe* I'll get the jacket done by Sunday.  If I can work on it steadily tomorrow.  'Cause tomorrow is about the last chance.

The first of our 7 Easter Services (yes, we are repeating the same service 7 times, because we can't fit everyone into the building at once) is tomorrow night at 7 central; we're having 3 on Saturday (2 PM, 4 PM and 6 PM) and 3 on Sunday (8 AM, 9:45 AM and 11:30 AM).  If you are interested, the services will be streaming live at therockfamily.tv   (the dot tv stands for Tennessee Valley, not Television like I thought...)

Next week the children's ministry sewing starts.  Of my list of 8 or so volunteers, 2 of them have already told me they aren't going to be able to make it.  And I still don't know for sure what all we are doing...only that we need to do it quickly.

How DID I sew before the Internet?

'Toteworthy' nailed it...the problem with the jacket wasn't the mysterious unknown alterations, it was that I put the collar on upside down!!

Spent a bit of time spent unpicking and resewing and...TA DA...the humongeos error has evaporated:

It's wrangled and mangled and in need of a good pressing, but I am back to the point I was at last night.  And the collar is as it should be.  A long shot from perfect, due to the fudging necessary to deal with the already-trimmed seams, but WAY better than it was.

Obviously, the guide sheet is a necessary friend for this project.  And, since I recollected that page one/two of the guide sheet was missing from the envelope when I originally cut the jacket out, I signed up for Club BMV and ordered another copy of the pattern.  

I'm going to have to make this again, correct from the beginning, and see how it turns out. ;-)

Thanks to all my internet buddies who offered consolation and advice, and especially to 'Toteworthy' for spotting the actual error!!

Choir Wardrobe 04-01-12

And the choir colors have changed...for April, we are wearing aqua, dark gray, and yellow.  At least I have some of that in the closet! ;-)

So, today I've got the Lee Bootcuts, my Simplicity 4076 original scoop neck T, made from a very worn and pilling poly/rayon/lycra blend knit I got at the Atlanta Expo probably 6 or 7 years ago. It's matched up with the  Jalie 2566 cardigan and Jalie 965 tank top from the Double Twin Set and some yellow plastic beads.

It might look odd out of context of choir, but I blended well with others today. ;-)

Next weekend, in an attempt to get everyone into the building for Easter services, we are having 7 services spread over 3 days.  It's gonna be a marathon...but it should be great!  And, although what I wear really will be the least of all the aspects of the weekend, here on the sewing blog you will likely see 3 outfits, as we are serving in all seven services.

And praying hard for a larger facility. ;-)

A Humongeos Error of Unknown Origin

Ok, the topstitching was a pain in the patootie since I'm using a contrast thread so it needs to be darn near perfect.  I don't know how many times I pulled the topstitching off of those shoulder seams, only to have them still not be balanced perfectly.  I finally achieved 'good enough' and moved on to the collar.

It wasn't until I came to the computer and pulled up pictures of the pattern and other reviews to check the collar that I realized that only the sleeve side of those seams was supposed to be topstitched.  So I took out the topstitching on the body side; that alleviated much of the 'not quite symmetric' problem I was having.  But the collar is covering that up, so it doesn't show at all in the 'WIP' photograph.

The collar, however, was beyond such simple fixes. Look at it carefully, then look at the pattern on Vogues's site. Do you notice the difference?  The collar is supposed to come all the way to the front edge of the jacket!  Mine is a good 3 3/4 inches short.  On both sides. That's 7 1/2 inches total (can I scream?  Just a little??)  Now, if you look at the reviews for this pattern, you'll  see that everyone else's collar comes to the front edge as well.  This is obviously an error on my part. 

But, not being able to find the pattern, I can't even begin to figure out what the problem is.

My guess is that I made bustline alterations (low, full) and somehow altered the neckline without realizing it.  I don't remember making alterations, but I can't figure out ANY way I could've generated such a whopping big error without having done that.  I don't believe it was caused by stretching of the neckline; only the sleeves weren't stabilized by something right at the start, and the error is consistent between the jacket and the facing/lining, which I wouldn't expect if they had stretched out of shape.  It must be an error in the (presumably altered) pattern that I used to cut the jacket.

Of course, no one I meet when wearing the jacket is going to look at it and exclaim, 'Oh, my goodness!  Why isn't that collar where it's supposed to be?'  (unless, of course, said person happens to have read the blog...).  It just looks like that's the way the collar was supposed to be; it'll be our little secret that it's wrong.

Sigh. I *really* liked the collar as drawn on the envelope and sewn by everyone else in the world but me.

I really, really hope that pattern turns up.  I want to know what happened here.

'Flying Blind' Jacket Progress

I have finished the lining of the jacket; it's ready to be attached to the shell when it's ready.  The next step is attaching the cuffs to the sleeves; first I need to fell stitch the cuffs into a circle, just to make sure they line up properly.  I don't know if the directions were to finish the cuffs, then hand stitch them, or do a funky clip to the seamline to sew the very bottom part of that seam by machine...I still can't find the pattern and guide.

So far, I think the only thing I have messed up is that I assumed the seam allowance on the pocket welts was 3/8"; however, once I got the welts actually pinned to the jacket it appears it was supposed to be 5/8"; my welts went a bit past the dots.  But that's pretty minor.


















For the lining, I used a silk/cotton panel print that I ordered from an online vendor, thinking I could use it for a scarf.  However, the fabric was much too substantial to be a scarf and it sat around for a while while I wondered what on earth I'd do with it.

As I recall, it somehow ended up lying next to the turquoise wool and I noticed that they went together rather well.   So I decided to use it for the body lining.  The back pleat is still basted shut.

The sleeve lining is Ambiance.

I *might* actually finish this in time for the Easter services; so far, I haven't heard anything about costume sewing...

Lookit, it's a PRESENT!

My friend, Gail, is an artist who specializes in scarves and banners.  Some time ago, she created a Facebook page for her studio and offered a little premium for the first few folks who 'liked' it.

I was fortunate enough to stumble onto it that very day...and I 'liked' it before I even read the offer for a hand painted silk scarf.  I mean, Gail is my friend and she does beautiful work that has been included in juried shows...what's not to like? 

I actually forgot about the scarf.

So you can imagine how tickled I was to get a package in the mail yesterday containing this exquisite silk chiffon scarf.

I sent her a message to let her know it had arrived and I loved it, and I had to ask about the processes.  She said it had been hand painted, then silk screened w/a discharge agent.  The phrase on the scarf is from Song of Songs 2:11 & 12:  See!  The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come...

I've heard rumors that fuschia will be one of the choir wardrobe colors again this summer; if that turns out to be true you'll likely see me wearing this... and I'll be singing... ;-)

Goin' to the Queue...

Since Turquoise/aqua is one of the colors for next month's choir wardrobe, I  pulled the  Vogue 1100 jacket out of the queue box. I'd cut the fabric, the lining and the interfacing and bagged it all up in a zip-lok bag sometime last summer, before we started the porch remodel.

For some unfathomable reason, I did NOT put the pattern in the bag with the  fabric. 

Now I can't find it.  I've looked in all the places I would expect it to be, but all the stuff got shuffled but good when we cleaned the porch off and, well, it's apparently been put in some unexpected place.

So, I'm rather flying blind on this.  But I'm determined to finish it before the volunteer sewing kicks in.  If it looks good when I'm done, I may very likely wear it for Easter.  We'll see.

Meantime, I did something I don't do often and browsed my bookmarked fashion blogs.  Normally I'm just shaking my head over what folks wear (or what designers send down the runway!) but I was completely smitten with  this Jacket I spotted on The Sartorialist.  I don't think my drafting skills are up to that...but I want to recreate that in the worst way.  Fabulous!!

WHERE is that Waistline??

A bit of Friday fun...this is a page scanned from a catalog I recently received from one of my favorite RTW vendors.

You'll likely have to click on the photo to see this, but the britches in this photo are all listed has having waistlines that sit 'slightly above the waist' (top left) or 'at the waist' (other three).

Just for grins, I ran it through Paint and drew a line where the natural waistline actually occurs on the models .  Actually, I think I botched the top ones a bit; there's really not enough trunk showing to tell where the narrow spot is. I really think the natural waist on the upper left one is just above the waistline of the pants. But you get the idea.

So, has the waistline officially moved to the high hip now?

...and Here We Go...

The volunteer sewing front has been very quiet of late.

The calm before the storm, y'all.

A week or so ago our children's pastors asked me to lead the production of a number of costume pieces for our children's summer theme. As in, a small something for each kid participating.

In the little Baptist church we were in for something like 20 years back in the day 'something for each kid' would not be an issue.  But we have hundreds of kids in our children's ministry each week.  This is going to be a pretty major task.  Now, all of those kids won't come to the camp/day camp events that will be part of the whole 'Chronicles of the Kingdom' theme, but, well, we'll have enough to keep us hopping.  And they need them by sometime in May.

We're planning a sew-a-thon for the Thur-Fri-Sat after Easter.  The request for sewing volunteers is going in the church bulletin this week.  If we don't finish that weekend, we may schedule another or...we may just divvy the stuff up and sew it at home.  We'll have to see how it goes.

Then, yesterday I got a text from The Flute Player, saying that the Tech Theater teacher wanted to know if I would head up the costuming for the swiftly upcoming production (as in, the show opens  April 19) of To Kill a Mockingbird.  She has one volunteer who has promised to sew/alter/obtain all the ladies' costumes, and there are a number of folks who are willing to help...could I just be the One in Charge?

I didn't exactly say 'No', but I did indicate that I didn't think I could head up two major costuming efforts at the same time.  I'm willing to help, but I need to be doing it NOW, 'cause once April 12 gets here I'm committed to making little knight/squire/medieval outfits.

And I have a pile of things cut out that I really, really need in my wardrobe that I haven't had time to sew up yet.  Obviously, something has got to give.

I'm betting that something is sleep.  Housework went out the door ages ago...

Still, I have a comp time reserve.  I suppose if I need to, and if the urgent things are done, I *might* be able to take a few days off.  We'll see.

Taking a deep breath. Or two.

Choir Wardrobe 2012 03-18-12

Well, after a week of backing up and reloading, we're approaching normal computer capabilities again.  There's still a few things that aren't back, but hopefully I can be a little more active again.

I still haven't found the green for this month...I'd call it a 'bright jade green'; some other folks have called it 'seafoam'.  Maybe if I'd shop at the pricey department stores I'd have better luck, but I just haven't been able to do it.  No matter; we have folks wearing everything from mossy green to almost blue turquoise.  So my muted green scarf..from Target?  Maybe? works well enough.

It's matched  up with my Coldwater Creek knit bootcut jeans, an old  navy blue Evan Piccone poly/rayon jacket on which I nearly botched up the sleeves when I tried to shorten them.  They roll funny and feel weird, but, well, no more than I wear the jacket I put up with it.  Maybe someday I'll make a replacement with sleeves the correct length to begin with.  The sparkly gray knit on the Simplicity 2603 top is a hair darker than the designated gray for this month, but it will be perfect for next month and, under the lights, it all kinda blends anyway.

Next week I'll be tending to other church duties, so I won't be in choir, which means I'm done needing the green now. Whew.  Next month is medium gray, butter yellow and aqua, so I should be pretty much set...or I would be if I could get to my sewing room!  The vest that I began cutting...what, 2 weeks ago?...is still laid out on the cutting table.

If I could get caught up at work, I'd take a week off to sew.  Maybe after Easter... ;-)

And I thought I could do the SWAP competition this year.  Ha ha and ha.

Choir Wardrobe 2012 -catching up

Since I still had last week's photo in the camera, I decided to just talk about both weeks today.

Our March colors are silver gray, navy blue, and a weird bright bluey-green that defies my ability to name it.  Or to find it; I've ordered a couple of different knits  that looked close on the monitor from online vendors, only to find that one was way too dark and the other was way too yellow.  So, so far, I'm  batting .000 for the green, which is very pretty and fresh but, wow, I can't find it.

Last week I wore an ancient Kwik Sew 2948 twinset, which was my true introduction to successful knit sewing (if I counted right, it was the 16th review I did, back in '02).  The knit was an amazing high - quality navy blue cotton/lycra that I got from Fashion Fabrics club and wish I could find the likes of it now.  It would fit better if I were 10 pounds smaller, but, well, I'm making do. ;-).  The scarf is a little too grayish, but I'm fudging it anyway. I got it last fall at (I think) Target, just because I liked the color.   I can't remember for sure which jeans I wore; I think they were a pair of Lee bootcuts.


Today I *am* wearing Lee bootcuts, along with a sleeveless navy cotton interlock mock t that I bought about a hundred years ago from Lands' End, under my gray rayon/lycra Jalie 2919 pleated cardigan (slightly modified).  You can barely see the green glass bead necklace that I put on to provide the third color...it's not the right shade of green, either, but it's small and under the lights I thought it would be ok.

I actually cut out about 5 knit tops Friday; two navy, one gray and two aqua (one of April's colors...I'm thinking ahead!)  I have the remnant of the gray satin I used for the recent wadder jacket laid out on the table with my Burda 05-09-108 vest anchored down for imminent cutting, and I have suddenly remembered a piece of green linen that has been in my stash for simply ages that *might* do that may turn into a shirt sometime soon.  Just because it's aggravating me not to have complete options. ;-) 

And, with the computer still limping along at a reduced rate, I seem to have just a wee bit more time for sewing...

Bullet Points

Borrowing from Debbie tonight...

1. I didn't get my choir wardrobe post up this week
2. During lunch on Sunday, the Flute Player suddenly remembered that she had four essays due on Monday
3. Four.  Essays.
4.  She had written maybe one and a half.
5. So she was on the computer until, like, Midnight.
6. I went to bed at 10.
7. I logged on after supper on Monday to put up the choir post.
8. Late.
9. I scrolled through Google Reader first.
10. While I was there, we got hit with a nasty cyber thingy.
11. I didn't click anything...honest...
12 My Sweet Babboo has managed to get it all off.
13. We think.
14. We HOPE.
15. But everything is hidden.
16. All my shortcuts have disappeared.
17. We think everything important is still here, though.
18. We HOPE.
19.  Why do people do that stuff?
20. Isn't there something productive that all that creativity could be used for?
21. I haven't sewn anything since the Wadder.
22. Even though I really need some choir stuff this month.
23. But it doesn't matter if I repeat Sunday since I didn't get the picture posted.
24.Maybe I'll have a little sewing time on Friday.
25. I hope.

Choir Wardrobe 02-26-12

Well, I got No Sewing done this week at all; been a busy week at work (the training session I led on Thursday seemed to go well, however, so it was a profitable week).

So...more old stuff for the last Sunday of silver/black/purple.  Lee bootcut jeans and the silver silk scarf again, this time worn with the botched-up Loes Hinse Sweater Set that I made from bamboo/lycra knit last summer.  Mostly I don't mention the wacky boo-boo I made cutting the back and no one notices the slant to the side seams... ;-)

Bailing

For two out of the last three years, I've made The Flute Player's fancy dress for the kids' ministries service awards dinner at church.  In '09, it was The Pink Dress, which I totally threw together in about a day; in '10, it was the Masquerade Dress, which just about cleaned my clock and took every available second to finish.  Last year, the banquet was the same weekend as the Drama Magnet's production of Romeo and Juliet, so they didn't get to go the banquet.

This year, the quick dress pattern that I wanted to make needed alterations and style changes to make her happy; I didn't have fabric in the stash (imagine that!  The theme is 'black and white'- no fancy black fabric that I was willing to sacrifice for a dress of few wearings) suitable for other options, and I have something going on every day this week after work.

The dinner is Friday.  I just could NOT get my sewing/creating anointing flowing for a critical deadline.

So I bailed; we took advantage of the school/work holiday to drop by the mall and, after merely two or three armloads of  black and black/white dresses we found one that she really, really liked that wasn't all strapless and short.

It was on clearance; with tax it came to just a little under $70.

She's happy and I'm relieved.  It was worth it.

Choir Wardrobe 02 19 12

...and she admits defeat.

I had hoped to wear my new LH Milano jacket today, but last night as I was wrestling with the sleeves I realized it was a wadder, would never be anything but a wadder and the sooner I admitted that to myself and tossed it the less stress would be in my life.

Now, if you've been around Sew Random for any length of time, you know that I absolutely HATE wadders.  I've been known to disassemble, recut, and reassemble a garment to salvage it.   At the very least, I will finish it off and drop it in the Salvation Army donation bag.

But there was no salvaging this fiasco.

It began with fabric choice.  I had ordered stretch poly charmeuse from an on-line vendor, thinking I could use it as a lining.

What I got was a HEAVY stretch satin. Very polyestery at that.  So I decided I'd just us it for trim or for muslins or some such thing.  IOW,  I wasn't crazy about the fabric but just didn't want to hassle with complaining about it.  Early this year, I realized that it IS a color we're wearing a lot for choir (silver gray) so I decided I'd just whip up one of Loes' quick little jackets from it.  No big deal.

I picked the Milano jacket; I'd made it before from poly/lycra moleskin with moderate success, but wanted to see if I could tweak it a bit.

Why I didn't go back and read my notes and look hard at that first jacket I'll never know.

I did a FBA on it, which had the result of making the jacket boxy.  My bad.

I tried to rework the armceyes a bit but was too chicken and didn't go far enough.  I also failed to compare the final sleeve cap seam length to the armsceye seam length.  I had something like 2 inches of extra ease in that sleeve cap.  I thought I'd messed it up, until I pulled out the moleskin jacket and saw the telltale wavers around the sleeve cap; I believe there is just too much ease there to begin with.  After I set in the first sleeve (I first tried pleating in the extra...there is NO easing that heavy satin!) and saw that the armsceye was cutting into the front too much  with something wierd going on in the back, I took it out and whacked away at the armsceye, lowering it and cutting it deeper in the front.  Then I whacked away at the sleeve cap, shortening it and sloping the back more into the cap, as most of the extra ease was in the front.  After I'd chopped enough to get rid of the extra ease, I set it in again and looked at it hard.  It was better, but there was still some weird pleating going on at the back, and the funky little lapel thingy would NOT stay folded flat; the facing kept pulling away.  A button/buttonhole might fix some of that, but I remembered that I'd actually tacked down the lapel on the first jacket to try and get it to stay put...but given the extreme body of this piece, I wasn't sure it would work.

And it was boxy and unflattering.  Not something I would enjoy wearing.

So into the trash bin it went, and I'm trying to decide if the pattern should go with it.  I didn't ding it too badly in the review after the first iteration, so I'm thinking it was just an extreme mismatch of pattern and fabric that made the fiasco.  A natural, spongey, ease-able fabric would no doubt work much better.  But IF I try it again somewhere down the road, you can bet I will give special attention to the armsceye/sleeve cap before I ever put scissors to the fabric (which, I just noticed, I mentioned in the first review.  Yeesh.).

So...where does that leave us?  Wearing old stuff...

February colors are silver, purple and black with jeans, so I ended up wearing my boot-cut Lee jeans, a Cold Water Creek black sweater shell and an ancient silver silk scarf, along with one of my favorite jackets that will fit better once I loose about 10 more pounds...Textile Studios Florence Jacket , which dates from early 2003 and is made from an unbelievably gorgeous textured purple boucle and lined with silk charmeuse. 

Definitely one of my favorite things to wear in the winter time. ;-)

40 Days Later...

A lot can happen in 40 days.

You can, for instance, take advantage of the time off from blogging to give the blog a new look.  I've been meaning to update the template for a long time, but the last time I ventured into the layout builder I had problems getting it to cooperate so I gave up and reverted to the old template.  Apparently Blogger has updated things since then; I found it to be just a little contrary and with patience and persistence  I was able to add all the sidebar stuff I wanted to add.

The background picture is from 2006.  My sewing room hasn't been that clean since the Silver Lame Shirt Sewing Marathon of 2007.  It's pitiful now.  Maybe someday I'll clean it out and rearrange it and take another picture and not shrink it, like I had with the '06 photo, which is why it is tiled. (Now all the feedburner readers will click through to see what in the world I'm talking about, right? ;-))

OR...you could make an  unplanned trip to the Emergency Room and embark on a weeks-long journey to figure out what happened.  Final verdict:  Superior V*entricular T*achycardia, and  a six-month round of meds to see if that will control the problem.  The meds seem to be helping...so long as I remember to take them.

OR...the fix up project to the sun room could turn into an unbelievable series of uncovered bad construction and the resulting consequences and drain all the resources  allotted for the entire project before it's half done.  Who knows how long it will be before the room is actually useful again...

AND...40 days of highly restrictive eating does,usually anyway, result in some weight loss, so the sewing project started at the beginning was too big before the end.  The Tribeca shirt has been bagged up; I will trim it down at some point and have another go at it.  The Milano Jacket, being less fitted, is going to be ok, I think.  It just needs the sleeves inserted and a button /button hole to be on the 'completed' list.

The sewing I did accomplish was a royal blue Burda 9/10 funnel neck top.  Wore it for choir, but didn't manage to get a photo.  Maybe this week...


And, The Flute Player had a birthday party to attend.  One that had a video-game theme; all attendees were encouraged to come as video characters.  She set her heart on Wind Waker Z*elda...with an ocarina.  Despite all my protests that she did Not. Have. Time., she forged ahead. Using fabric from the stash (mostly, anyway), and paint and craft foam and styrofoam balls drilled through, she came up with a plan.  And I sewed 90% of the skirt, taken from OOP McCall's 3296.   We have some disagreement about the success of the hot pink vest-thingy; I think it should've been made from something fairly stiff, but, well, given our time constraints it was Definitely Good Enough.  Especially since there were no prizes or other rewards for the effort. Happy teen daughter has to be reward enough....and she was VERY happy.  ;-)

Now to go figure out what I'm going to do with the 862 blog posts that have accumulated in Google Reader while I was gone...

Choir Wardrobe 0108

My Sweet Baboo being out of town on business, The Actor was forced into the role of Fashion Photographer.  Hence the slightly odd perspective that somehow seems to make me look like I'm leaning into the camera.

Anyway, for the second Sunday of January, in which the colors for choir are black, royal blue and silver gray,  I'm wearing the CWC knit bootcut jeans with  my first go at Loes Hinse's  Milano Jacket, made from royal blue poly moleskin knit, the salvaged silver rayon Vogue 7604 blouse and a scarf made from a teeny remnant of fabric left after I made a scarf to give away.  It's really too small for good scarf, but the colors in it were too pretty to throw away.

I did manage to get the Tribeca shirt cut out, but I didn't get the weird curvy darts marked (gotta find my tracing paper for that; tailor's tacks just are not sufficient).  I intended to make the Burday Style 09-2010 Funnel neck top that so many folks have made as well, but I was dismayed to find that I actually *hadn't* traced the pattern like I thought.  So I spent what would otherwise have been my cut and construct time tracing the pattern, adding the seam allowances, then removing 7" of length from the sleeves as I didn't realize how very scrunched they were intended to be.  I finished with the pattern about midnight last night and called. it. a day.  It'll have to get cut and sewn another time.

So, I'm going to be on hiatus for the next 6ish weeks, but if I make anything new during that time I'll be sure to take photos and post it when I get back.  Happy January, everyone!

New Year - new projects...

I actually did a couple of sewing-related things yesterday...

Firstly, I pulled out my pattern for The Sewing Workshop's Tribeca Shirt.  I've made it twice; once in a burgundy/gray poly/rayonish brocade that I bought for a song at Sir's Fabrics; once from green silk duppioni from Hancock's that I bought for a bit more than a song and has proven to be only slightly more sturdy than paper towels.

I didn't make any changes in the pattern between the two, but the green one just never fit nearly as well as the burgundy one; it has serious problems with armsceye binding that, for who know what reason, is not as noticeable on the other top.

But, at the moment, both tops are too little.

So I decided it might be worth a quick adjustment; I need to adjust the shoulder/armsceye anyway, so it won't be too much trouble to add a bit onto the side seams that I can remove later.  And I have a sizable remnant left from my MOB dress that should do nicely and be wearable for choir this month.

In my 'quick adjustment' I
- did a 3/8" square shoulder adjustment
-moved the armsceye up and in to remove 3/4" length from the shoulder seam, which raised the underarm about an inch (but has not changed the overall length of the armsceye)
-lowered the bust darts/points an inch
-did a slight FBA
-added 5/8" to the back side seams.

I'm hoping to get it cut out today, but I have a huge amount of end-of-year home office work to crank out, so if I get it cut out I'll consider myself fortunate.

The other sewing related thing I did was to look up the Project Runway All Stars site and watch the first episode. We don't have cable; I've seen very few PR episodes through the seasons.  So it was interesting to finally see the folks whose names I've seen on the boards and such, and I was amazed by what folks made from $100 worth of 99 cent store finds and even more amazed by the creativity under pressure.  They had, what, about 12 hours in the workroom to do that?  Bless.

I should stop complaining about my lack of sewing time...

2011 Stats

Wow.  If I needed evidence there is a shift happening in my life, this would certainly be the telling of it:

Fabric In: 148.375 yds

Fabric Out: 56.375 yds

Last fabric purchase:11/30/11

Garments made for me: 25

Garments made for other people in my family: 7

Home Dec items: 2

'Donations': 1

Muslins: 2

Things made for friends: 1

Miscellaneous Church-Related Sewing:

Team Effort: 5 baptismal robes 

I barely sewed one third of the fabric I purchased, which happens to be the highest yearly fabric acquisition since 2007  --  nearly twice what I bought in 2010 -- coupled with my lowest cumulative production since I started tracking this stuff back in '03.

Not sure why I felt so compelled to purchase so much fabric when I wasn't sewing that much; I don't know if I haven't really gotten my brain around the fact that my available sewing time has cut dramatically with the part time job (which I've been on for 3 years now; it's about time my subconscious got a clue) or if I was just caught up in dreaming.  Still, 74% of my sewing was from new purchases, so I did work at sewing what was coming in.  I just had way more coming in than I could keep up with.

And, part of the issue was, of course, the weight thing that made fitting a challenge.  TNTs suddenly weren't very True any more, and I didn't have time available to redraft and retest.

Hence the large number of knit garments in last years 'finished' list.

So...what about the new year?
In my heart, I know I can NOT purchase fabric at the rate I was buying last year.  And if my sewing doesn't increase, I really don't need to purchase any fabric for the next 24 months.


Can I just say...not realistic? as she laughs just a little hysterically...

So, I made a deal with myself.  I will allow myself to purchase up to the amount I sewed *this* year, providing I *need* the fabric made up immediately.


Oh, that will be hard.  But, in all honesty, I have a large stash of VERY lovely fabric.  Aside from something unforseen (such as a new color for church choir), I should be able to sew pretty much from stash.


And make some pretty things.  Especially knits...at least for the first few months.  Who knows...I may yet figure out a SWAP wardrobe...

My turn...

Posted by Lisa Laree to Sew Random

Shannon went first.

She bravely posted what has been stewing around in my head for a while now.

So I'll say it...I am unhealthily overweight (trying to be PC here). 

I've talked about it a bit from time to time; the frustration with the hormonal shift and the accompanying weight gain. If you've been reading the blog for any time...and taking note of the photos I've been posting...the weight gain has been pretty obvious.  Like Shannon, I've found that clothes that I made that I love don't fit.  And I've also lost the desire to make pretty new things, despite an urgent need for clothes that do fit.   I'd like to participate in the Stitcher's Guild SWAP this year, but I don't want to spend time making a wardrobe to fit the body I currently have.  And its not because I just don't want to deal with it; it's because if I want to feel good and be healthy I have to make changes now, which means (hopefully) my shape will start changing and...what size should I make?  I just don't know.  I'm still thinking.  And I know everyone else is sewing already... ;-)

Anyway, I have learned that I really can't eat sugar and grains.  Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth and love baked goods and pasta.  When I was younger, I pretty much got away with it.  But no more.  Habits must change. 

I'm not looking for an eating plan to lose weight; I know this is a lifestyle issue. And I know what I need to do.

Now, it just so happens that we have a time of fasting and prayer every year in the month of January through church.  That's really not news; you know my practice in years past has been to stay off the internet during the fast.  And, by and large, that will happen again this year; my fasting will include media (I'm gonna have a gazillion updates in Google reader when I come back), with one exception.

I am going to be blogging my way through it at my other blog, Beer Lahai Roi; I explained it in more detail here.

The fast really isn't about losing weight, although typically I would lose a little.  But it will be about breaking habits and patterns and, well, other things.  If you're interested you are welcome to read along; if you're not, I'll be back  when it's over.   

Now, this is not meant to be any kind of a religious shill.  I'm not after looking all spiritual.  But this is  a very large part of who I am and I can't always keep that side of myself locked away on the faith blog.  This is one place where it will spill over, because I won't be blogging on Sew Random (or visiting other blogs or the sewing boards or even Facebook...).  And the reason I am going to be gone so long is because Things. Must. Change.  And it's more than just my weight.

So,  I will be focusing other things for the next sixish weeks, starting next Monday.  Meantime, I do have some other posts to put up.  I'm not putting up the shutters just yet. ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 010112

Happy New Year!

I'm continuing the Choir Wardrobe posts for the New Year, although I will be taking a bit of a blogging break very soon (more on that another day).  Our colors for January are royal blue, black and silver gray;  we stayed up to greet the new year last night so I'm a little less than perky today. 

This is the Lee boot cut jeans with my silver rayon Jalie 2919 Pleated Cardigan, over  a blue acetate slinky sleeveless, cowl-less Loes Hinse's Cowl Top.  This will be the last time you'll see this particular top; literally as I was walking out the door I glanced down and saw 4 or 5 teeniny pinkish spots on the front of the top where apparently a bleaching agent of some sort had splashed it sometime in the past.    I didn't have time to change before we left, but it was retired from the wardrobe when I got home.

Fortunately, I have 3 yards or so of royal blue bamboo jersey from last year's buying frenzy (I'll update the sidebar totals and talk about last year's accomplishments later this week), so I can replace it...if I can just find time to get to the sewing machine... ;-)

The Last Project of 2011

Alas, I finished at the end of the month and so it will not be worn for choir this year.  But it will get worn nonetheless.

The Mock T is from Jalie's Twin Set (2566).  I made it sleeveless, and the armhole needs some tweaking to be perfectly gap free as a sleeveless top, but since it will be worn under a topper virtually all the time I can live with it.  I'll work on it before I try it sleeveless again. 

This is my 4th Jalie Pleated Cardigan (2919)...and would you believe that, as I put the pattern away yesterday, I noticed for the first time that those tucks should be on the OUTSIDE of the garment?  In my head, they should be inside, and I never even looked at the directions to see that my head wasn't in agreement with the Jalie designers. But...even knowing they should be outside, I think I prefer them inside.  At least on fabric as bulky as this (it's a poly/rayon/lycra jersey).  They would stand away from the garment a bit and add visual weight, I think.  If I were using a very thin, limp fabric...well, maybe I'll do it right someday.

However, this is my second major alteration to the pattern.  I worked the armsecye/sleeve head over a bit, moving the sleeve cap up and into the shoulder so that it sits more on my shoulder instead of down my arm, and I moved the shoulder seam forward at the shoulder point, adjusting the curve on the sleeve pattern as well, so now the back sleeve cap is longer and shallower than the front sleeve cap and the ease has been reduced in the sleeve so it's pretty close to a 1:1 ratio with the armsceye.

(Just realizes I should've taken photos of my changes.  I'll try and remember to do that next time I pull the pattern out). But the big change was a style change in the back:

I added a seam at the waist, and made a gore for the lower back, lengthening it at the center.  It might be a teeny bit more flattering if the back waist seam curved down as well, but it's not bad. 

I really wanted full length sleeves, but I was literally ONE INCH short on having enough fabric to squeeze that full length sleeve on.  So I went with the tabbed 3/4 length that I used on my last two versions.

So, how many pleated cardigans can my wardrobe hold??  We'll see...

A Goofy Shirt for the Artist

The only other bit of holiday sewing I did this year was what amounts to a joke.  I saw a sweatshirt in a catalog that was customizable with "(NAME) The Man. The Myth. The Legend." as the graphic.  For 42 bucks plus shipping.

I immediately knew that my older son had to have such a shirt.  If you knew him, you'd know why.

However, I wasn't going to spend such a sum for what was essentially a gag gift.

Fortunately, I had some long-stashed white cotton french terry fleece in the bins and a long out-of-print Palmer/Pletsch  multi-sized sweat shirt pattern ready to use.  Light fabric transfer paper from Hobby Lobby and my minimal graphic arts skills were all that I needed to come up with a truly memorable Christmas gift.

After all, not many presents generate a reaction like this:

So here's the shirt, with his name in Icelandic.  I may never actually see it on him:

A Stocking for Prince Charming

Twenty-six years ago, My Sweet Baboo and my large pregnant self made the trip to family in  Northern Indiana for a baby shower to welcome our soon-to-arrive firstborn.  Driving 8 hours at 36 weeks meant that we stopped at every mall along I - 65 so I could walk around a bit.

At one (on the north side of Nashville near Goodlettesville...can't remember the name off hand), there was a shop with cool appliqued stockings.  We decided we'd get some, since we weren't going to go to our parents' for Christmas that year (the baby was due Jan 3).  I selected a stocking w/ Santa, MSB picked a rocking horse and, even though we didn't expect the baby before Christmas, we picked one for him/her anyway.

Back in the day, routine ultrasounds were not done and we did not know the gender of the imminent arrival, so we got a gender-neutral teddy bear.

Of course, the Princess showed up two weeks early, so we were glad to have a stocking for her.  However, we neglected to imagine having MORE kids at that point, as other kids came along we adults relinquished our stockings to them...The Artist got the rocking horse, and The Actor got my Santa stocking.

At some point, I made a pattern from  the stockings and made Mr and Mrs Snowmen stockings for My Sweet Baboo and me , and, when The Flute Player came along, I made a stocking for her with a little girl mouse on the front.

We were all set at that point.

Until this year, when we added a son-in-law to the mix.  I thought I would just buy a stocking somewhat similar to ours, but I couldn't find anything that didn't look...tacky.

Then I found out that the Princess thought it would just be LOVELY if he had a teddy bear stocking like hers.  Unfortunately, my stocking pattern has been AWOL for a while.

No matter.  I retraced it last night and used odds and ends of fabric scraps and snippets of yardage in the stash and, behold, the sort-of-matching set:

I omitted the green toe and used blue accents instead of green, but it's reasonably close.  The bear really isn't pink...it's a beige velour.

Except it apparently came out a fuzz smaller.  Not sure why...unless it's just not lying quite as flat as the quarter-century old stocking.

The Flute Player's comment: "Well, you messed up his mouth, but he's still cute."

It'll do, anyway.  At least it looks better than what I could find retail. ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 12/18

...and I'm late again.  Well, we were celebrating a birthday yesterday and, while I did get a photo taken before we left in the morning, I didn't have a chance to write it up.

I fudged a bit yesterday and wore a DRESS instead of blue jeans! (It is ok; I just usually don't have a dress that works).  So I felt rather posh.  Funny how different a dress feels.   ;-)

Anyway, the colors for December are black, silver/gray and red. So I wore my red/silver/black plaid wool/lurex/faux suede Silhouette Patterns'  Robin's Jacket with my black poly/lycra slinky Sewing Workshop Cityscapes dress.  That Edwardian hobble silhouette is showing up more and more; and let me just say that this dress, made in slinky, is one workhorse of a wardrobe player.  I've got 3 of them, and they see a LOT of wear.

Particularly since they are so forgiving re the whole middle-aged middle. ;-)

This is the last Choir Wardrobe post of 2011, now that I think about it.  Next week we will not have choir; we have special services on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Not sure if we'll be choiring on Jan 1 or not; may depend on how many folks are out of town.

But that's next year. ;-)

Therefore, while I intend to do some sewing and posting this week, we all know how my intentions have been playing out of late, so I'm going to wish everyone a Merry Christmas...just in case I don't make it back to Blogger before Saturday.

And, if you don't celebrate Christmas, then I hope December 25 is a particularly lovely day for you just the same.

Choir Wardrobe 12 11

It's really sad that I'm only managing the choir posts at the moment; as I've lamented on Facebook, I seem to be more behind on my Christmas prep than I've ever been...and I'm not even involved in any big projects this year. At least the Choir posts are keeping me from totally neglecting the blog... ;-)

Anyway, December's colors are black, silver gray and red.  So this is the Lee bootcut jeans with the saved-from-disaster Vogue 7604 rayon blend sleeveless blouse under a Lands' End boiled wool jacket that I received for Christmas in ...I think...1996.

That jacket sat in my closet for the longest time; I loved it and wore it now and then but it was way too wide on my shoulders.  Finally a few years back I got brave and opened the top part of the armscye seams and moved the sleeve caps up into the jacket about 3/4".  I could get away with that as there was a pinch of ease in the sleeve, which I eliminated, and boiled wool stretches a bit so I could kind of manipulate it into the new armsceye.  Anyway, the jacket is now making more regular appearances ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 12 04

I know, I know, I'm a day late here.

But I was chaperoning a school trip and got back abut 12:45 AM Sunday, was at church from 8 AM to 1 PM, came home and fixed lunch (salad and shrimp from the deli and some leftovers...) then went to a Christmas party, so, well, it's been a busy weekend.

Somewhere in there I threw the camera at My Sweet Baboo and got him to take a photo.  (Note to self: do not stand in front of the sofa for choir photos. It totally absorbs the blue jeans.)

So, it is not my most flattering photo.  Ah, well...

Anyway, December's colors are red, silver/gray and/or black w/jeans.  The jacket is Robin's Jacket from Silhouette Patterns, crafted in a sparkly holiday red wool/silver Lurex plaid and trimmed w/faux suede.  It's one of my favorites for this time of year; you may see it again before the month is up.

I'm wearing it over a black microfiber charmeuse Pam's Blouse, also a Silhouettes Pattern.  I have an on/off relationship with that blouse; somedays I put it on and love it, other days I can't get it to drape right.  And it's polyester, microfiber notwithstanding.  I need to make one out of black silk, and make a couple of changes to the pattern to reflect the fact that I'm not quite the same shape I was when I made this almost 7 years ago... The weird looking wrinkles in the front are actually pleats that just didn't photograph well.  It really looks better under a buttoned jacket, but, well, the jacket doesn't look quite as good snapped up as it might've looked a few pounds back so I just decided to embrace my frumpiness and go. ;-)

I am wearing it all with the CWC knit jeans, which just happen to be almost the same color as my sofa.

But I have been hit w/inspiration for another variation on that Jalie draped-front cardigan...stay tuned and see if I get it put together or not.