Mysterious Laundry problem

For the last few months, I have noticed, from time to time, some discoloration on woven garments.

But only on POINTS of woven garments.

Latest example:

I had pre-treated similar spots on shirts in this load and washed them, then checked before they went into the dryer and I didn't see anything.  But these two shirts came out of the dryer with spots; one on a collar point, one on one of the lower band points.


So the dryer seems to be implicated

But I don't know why this is happening or what is causing it.  So I sort of crawled in and took a look.

We purchased this dryer when we bought the house in 2005.  There is one odd spot on one of the vents that MIGHT be a rust source; I can't tell really what it is. But it wouldn't explain why the spots are only showing up on points, not other parts of the garments; I had some rust spots in my old dryer that would leach if damp clothes sat in it.  But those spots would show up anywhere, not just on points, and besides, these shirts were put in, immediately dried and removed.

Could the points be slipping down into the juncture of the turning drum and the back (or front)?  Why/how would they do that...and how can I either clean that part or prevent them?  I suppose I could make a really big mesh bag to hold them...

Anyone else ever had a problem like this???

A 'What Was I Thinking' Giveaway

Now that The Wedding is past and we can begin to head back to what passes for normal life around here, I decided I'd just stay in dressmaking mode for at least a little bit and began the search for the next Serious Dress.  I want a (possibly bateau neckline?) sheath dress w/ 3/4 sleeves that will be good for dressy fall events.  I purchased some deep red wool tricotine just because I loved the color last February, and I'm determined to get it made into something wearable for this fall/winter season.  Since I just ordered some burgundy rayon lining from Gorgeous Fabrics current sale (along with a couple of other pieces that have been literally haunting me for months...more on that when the fabric arrives ;-) ) I thought I'd get rolling on the pattern search.

 In the course of digging through my stash of patterns, I pulled out the famous Vogue 8280 'Galaxy' dress and discovered, to my utter astonishment, that I' purchased the smallest size range - 4/6/8.

But, my stupidity has turned into my reward for one of you dear folks who drop by here, because I decided to give it away.  Just leave a comment on any post on the blog between now and, say, noon central time on Sunday, and I'll throw all the comment authors' names into a  hat and post the winner on Sunday's Choir Wardrobe post.

Meantime, I'll be checking my Hancocks/JoAnn's sale flyers for the next Vogue sale so I can pick up the pattern in a more reasonable middle-aged spread size range. ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 9/25/11

First, a bit of news:  the decision has been made to not use the full choir on Saturday nights; our pastors felt it was beginning to be a little too much to ask of the volunteers; we were having problems keeping a full choir on both Saturday and Sundays.  So Saturday night will just be a small praise team, like the 8 AM Sunday service, and we will just be using the full choir on 2nd and 3rd service Sundays.

So the upshot of this is that I will only be posting one choir photo per week instead of two for at least a while.  That takes a bit of the pressure off; while it didn't bother My Sweet Baboo to wear the same thing on Sunday morning that he had worn for a couple of hours the night before, I just wasn't feeling good about that.  So my wardrobe requirements have just been halved.... LOL...

So, for the last weekend of muted green, cream and brown, I wore the mossy green rayon/lycra jersey  Jalie 2682 top, Lee denim bootcuts and a tweedy linen jacket that was very likely my first mail-order Cold Water Creek purchases about 10 ish years ago.  It has some black in the mix, but the other colors in it are spot on, so I fudged and wore it today.  It just looks taupish from a distance anyway.

This may be the last time out for that green top; the fabric at the bottom of the v really is wearing out; it's ripped through the stitching, even though you have to look Very Close to see that!   I have some olive green rayon/lycra jersey to make a replacement, but I'll still be very sorry to see it go.  The new fabric is a little more yellowy than this is; this color has been good to me and I'll miss it!

Thowin' up some photos

...because I'll link to these from reviews later! LOL!

I put on the MOB dress last night...sans makeup, jewelry and P*ntyhose, just so My Sweet Baboo could snap a photo that I could use for the review.   The just-barely-visible bruise on my right leg just inside below the knee is, I think, from climbing up and down and leaning on the big aluminum ladder on the platform at church, using a steamer to get the wrinkles out of the background curtain.  Prince Charming joined me with a second steamer after a while, and the two of us got that thing fairly wrinkle-free in about an hour and a half.  But the bruise made P*ntyhose a necessity for the wedding...

The Butterick top pattern lines the garment to the edge on all the edges; I thought the neckline would stand open enough for the back side to show, so I made facings for the neck edge: 

All in all, the dress worked, although I didn't think about the petite adjustment I made through the upper chest and upper back also raising the waistline and the hem.  I'd've caught that in a second muslin...and if I ever make the dress again (and that's quite possible; I love this basic pattern), I'll add that length back in between the bust and the waistline.

And I just *might* aim for the length to be mid-knee, rather than the top of my knee.  Not sure I'm wild about that short of a length on me.

Here's another photo, which is not a very high-quality picture, but I love the composition once I cropped it.  It makes me smile...

The other wedding -related sewing I did was a surprise gift for the Princess's L*ingerie shower (such trouble I'm going to so that creepers won't land here with creepy searches!).  I hustled (and failed to have a clean house for the weekend) to make her a tap and cami set from Vogue 7837, from raspberry-sherbet colored silk charmeuse and some fancy lace I'd picked up a number of years ago at a serious Hancock's sale.  The only problem was shaping the lace to the edges; I ended up cutting the motifs apart and reconnecting them to fit the necessary curves.  Plus, the lace had no vertical symmetry, so it is just a wee bit uneven from side to side.   I had to shorten the top about 3 inches to get the lace to work right..but, to be honest, I think it was probably longer than she would've liked anyway:

Unfortunately, due to some glitches and goofs, she didn't actually GET the set until they were in the ready room preparing for the ceremony.  So I don' t know if she liked it or not or if it fit or not.  Guess I'll find out when they get back from the honeymoon...I don' t even know if it made it to the suitcase or if it got sent back to the apartment.


So, now to find some time to write the reviews! ;-)

Then and Now

I thought I'd do a little reminiscing...the first dress I reviewed for the Flute Player (she was, I think, 6) and the most recent dress I reviewed.

Sigh.  Time flies.

I will post more about the things sewed for the wedding as the week progresses.  Unfortunately, I did not manage to get a good shot of the MOB dress at any point Saturday, so I'll need to put it back on and have someone point the camera at it.  The pictures I did see, though, revealed some fit issues that the mirror did not.  I really could've benefited greatly from one more muslin; it's a pity I didn't have time.  But I did learn some things about drafting and fitting...and it probably fit at least as well as something bought RTW would've fit.

I read back over the wedding posts and realized I never mentioned what happened with the bridesmaid's dresses.  At the very point at which I was ready to dig in and start the manufacturing process, the Bride decided that it would be easier on me if each of the girls all just went out and bought a grey dress that she liked.  So long as it was sleeveless and knee length, she was happy with it.  So we had an eclectic mix of dresses in a couple of different shades of gray (one had some black accents, which went with the overall color scheme) that actually looked very nice together.  Made the guys, in their rented suits and matching ties, look kind of cookie cutterish in contrast.

And I suppose the best thing is that none of the girls will ever wear their dress in an 'Ugly Bridesmaids' pageant...

Choir Wardrobe 9/18/11

September colors are muted green, cream and brown or oatmeal but, due to the festivities yesterday and enjoying the company of our  out-of-town guests, we skipped church last night.  And this morning, I skipped contacts and makeup and went for easy with the CWC knit bootcut jeans,  Christine Jonson's Sleeveless Basewear 2 top from olive rayon/lycra jersey, and my ever-useful heathery brown rayon jersey Jalie 2566 cardigan and my creamy balsa bead necklace and plastic door-hanger earrings from the late '80's. 

It has occurred to me recently that we in our choir were color blocking before color blocking was cool...never been ahead of a fashion curve before... LOL!

Even the Mascara Survived

I may have to put on the dress again for a proper photo for reviewing, but you can sort of see the finished product.  It was a lovely  day for a wedding, and a lovely ceremony, and I think I want to sleep for two days now...

Pictures and Reviews are Coming...

Crunch time on the wedding now; T minus 39 hours (give or take...) and counting.
I have finished the MOB dress, after making every. single. bone-headed mistake. in. the. book.

That puts my wedding sewing at:
1 bridesmaids dress (jersey knit...not too tricky)
1 bridal veil (very very very plain and simple)
1MOB dress (simple does hair-pulling)
1 surprise present for the Princess's bridesmaids/bachelorette party/lin*gerie shower...a Vogue 7837 tap-and-cami set.  She didn't know I was making it and I snuck it over to the hostess this morning; wish I could see her open it but, well, maybe it's just as well I'm not.  I did get a 'floor pic' of that and I'll post it in a bit, too.

After things settle down. :-)

A Moment of Silence

I am not posting my choir wear this weekend.

Instead, a moment of blogging silence in memory of September 11, 2001.

'Rock of Eye' drafting

All I have to report on the MOB progress is that I have obtained the necessary zipper and hope to get the dress cut out this afternoon before the leadership meeting this evening that precedes our  women's conference, which starts at 9:30 in the morning.

So I thought I'd share something that showed up in my burn feeder today.  I've subscribed to Thomas Mahon's blog, just for the fascinating glimpses he gives into the life and business of an English bespoke tailor, and to my delight found he'd linked a video of himself hand drafting a jacket front.

Like many Americans, I enjoy listening to the accent, but the video (imbedded in his post) is fascinating.  Using the previously drafted jacket back, a tape measure, chalk, and at one point a 'stick', Thomas drafts the basic outline of his jacket in about 12 minutes.

I was especially intrigued by the shape and placement of the armsceye.

Definitely worth a look if you're interested in such things.

The MOB Dress - part 2

I spent most of Labor Day working on the muslin.  Unfortunately, because the cheap fabric I was using was far too sheerish to put up on the world wide web, I don't have any photos to show you.  But I
1) Petited the upper bodice on both the front and back

2)shaved a wee bit off of both the side front and the side back where they went into the armhole, to reduce some gaping there

3) Added a bit to the armsceye; the raw edge was about where I wanted the seamed edge to fall from the bottom all the way around the front to the top, so I basically just added a seam allowance

4) took a bit off of both back princess seams below the high hip

5) shortened the length 1" (I plan to use 2" hem allowances) and

6) drafted neckline facings; I think the wrong side is going to show a bit and I'd much rather see the face fabric than the lining.  I also plan to reduce the seam allowances on the neckline so that it stands a bit higher.

I may not get back to it until Thursday...and this weekend is our annual Women's Conference , so, while the conference will be wonderful and I'm really looking forward to it, it's going to be a wash as far as time available for sewing.


And I don't think I have a suitable zipper in the stash...looks like a Hancock's run is is the works.

You see why I decided I wanted a simple style. ;-)

The MOB dress - Part1

I fully planned to make my dress last, after everything else was done, because I figured that if I had to wear a dress hanging in the closet already the world wouldn't end.

However, the tulle that the Princess had purchased to make her veil has been determined to be too yellow, and I've placed an order for some 'light ivory' tulle from fabricdotcom that will hopefully match her creamy white dress better.

But, it's a holiday weekend, and even with FdotC's typically speedy delivery, it'll be the end of the week before it gets here.

So...I figured I'd start on my dress.


I pulled down the Vogue Kay Unger dress pattern that I'd had pinned to my bulletin board for ages and found that I just didn't have the oomph to do it. I wanted something simpler.

However, I had this picture torn from a Coldwater Creek catalog (who knows HOW long ago) also pinned to the bulletin board:

That features one of the most flattering necklines I can wear; I've been looking at it and looking at it and it's been growing on me.

And it looks Very Simple...especially as I have Butterick 3843 in my stash, which includes a sleeveless top that is basically just the top 2/3 of that dress.

So I've pulled that out, traced it off, and added length to make it 22" long from the waist.   I traced a larger size than my heart wanted to trace, and my gut tells me it will be too big, but it is a VERY slim style and I definitely wanted room to move, sit and breath.  So I pursed my lips and went with the larger size.  The first alteration I made was to lower the bust point, which is just a requirement, and then I redesigned the armhole, following Alexandra's example.

It looks a little odd to me, but I'll give it a go and see if it makes a difference.

Now to make up the muslin and see how much I need to adjust before cutting the Good Stuff...

Choir Wardrobe 0904

With the new month, the colors have changed.  September colors are muted green, cream, and oatmeal or brown.


Last night, I decided to go with an old Loes Hinse City Dress shell made up in a crinkly rayon print, and topped it off with Jalies 2566 cardigan, made up in that yummy heathered brown rayon knit that I would love to have in about a dozen colors.  I put them with Lee bootcuts that, even though they are labeled 'short', need 2" heels if I'm going to wear them.  They are definitely Saturday night pants...

 Today, I pulled out my original Jalie 2682 green rayon jersey top.  I made it to wear in choir over 3 years ago and have literally worn it to death; the fabric at the v of the neck is beginning to rag out a bit.  I've got some green fabric to replace it...after the wedding! ;-)

It's teamed up with Coldwater Creek: a taupey sweater that was close enough to 'oatmeal' to work, even though it looks grey in the photo, and the knit jeans again.

And flat sandals.

Choir Wardrobe 08/28

Ok, I confess, it's 10:30 something and it's time for this one to be heading upstairs for some shuteye. We had a guest at church tonight...comedian Tim Hawkins had a jam-packed house laughing so hard we couldn't breath for a good hour and a half straight. He is one very talented...and very funny...fellow.

But, we had to squeeze extra chairs in for the event, which meant most of our nice wide padded chairs were removed from the sanctuary and replaced with narrow plastic folding chairs. My Sweet Baboo and I, having had a miraculous upgrade from the general admission (plastic) seats to the VIP section (wide plush seats), felt obligated to return the favor and joined the crew to help break down and pack up the white chairs and reset the purple ones.

It took an hour after the show.

Of course, that has nothing whatever to do with the choir wardrobe, but perhaps it might explain things if my narrative wanders off into scrawly gibberish.

Last night, the clock snuck up on me and I really had to dress quick. I ended up in Coldwater Creek boot cut denim jeans and linen jacket, and a white interlock Vogue 8151 t-shirt. I had to smile; a friend asked me how long it took me to make the jacket and was suitably shocked when I told her I didn't make it but bought it for a song.





















This morning I tried very, very hard to make a sleeless silk print blouse work. I've lost a smidgen of weight,so I was a little hopeful, and I picked compacting undergarments, and actually found that it didn't look too bad when I put it on.

However, after walking around in it for a bit I found that movement made it ride and wrinkle and it is still Too Small. So, I had admit the truth to myself and change clothes just moments before we walked out the door. Once more, it's the CWC knit jeans, my white twill Vogue 8045 jacket, the yellow sweaterish knit Simplicity 2603 top, a vintage plastic beaded necklace (from 1984 or 5) and, for fun, my white canvas oxford shoes.

I'd love to chat with you some more, but...good night! ;-)

Ready for Fitting

Four hours from throwing the lining fabric on the cutting table I had the dress to the 'try on' stage; I need to put it on The Flute Player to adjust the shoulder straps before I go farther. Unfortunately, four hours later ended up being around 11:30 last night...too late...and the next three nights are BOOKED (not to mention the fact that we probably should pick up Suitable Foundation Garments beforehand); it may be Saturday before I actually get to see this on her.

However, once that's done, assuming it fits otherwise, all that's left is to clip/understitch the upper flounce seam and this dress is finished.

The Princess had cleaned out her small fabric stash and given me a couple of pieces of a slick, semi-sheer dark gray poly knit; she made herself a wrap from it sometime in the past. She doesn't remember where she got it, only that it was exceedingly cheap.

It was perfect for lining this lightweight jersey.

My serger skipped a stitch about every three or four inches on the whole garment; on the seams, I did a narrow zig-zag stitch to fill in the skips, but there are teeny loops on the rolled edge that I don't think I can really do anything about. I showed the dress to The Bride this morning and we decided that, since someone would have to look embarrassingly closely at the dress to see the loops, we'll leave 'em alone.

Gotta get that machine in for a tune-up one of these days.

(The Bride...AkA The Princess...was happy with the dress, thank goodness...)

Since I 1) lined the garment, 2) eliminated the empire seam and 3) used a rolled edge on the flounces instead of a narrow hem, I paid very little attention to the directions. But a quick glance at them had me shaking my head.

Why - why- why do pattern companies persist in instructing folks to sew knits together with two passes through a straight stitch machine??? A teeny zig-zag is the way to do it if a serger isn't available. So simple. So why isn't that in the guide sheets???

Next up: The Veil.

Choir Wardrobe 8/21/11

Ok, this is another one of those days when it just seems so trivial to write about what I wore to church. We had an incredible service; I wrote about it on my other blog; you can click through and read the story if you like.

But, for the sewing blog, our colors for choir are navy blue, (mustard) yellow and white. Both last night and this morning I wore variations on Vogue 8045...denim last night and white twill this morning.























Last night, I teamed the denim jacket with my bootcut Lees; I have recently learned that denim jackets with jeans are a fashion no-no, but, well, a blue jacket is a blue jacket and I wore it anyway. I've got a creamy white RTW sweater shell and a cheapo yellow scarf from Wal-mart with it.

Today I wore, again, the knit CWC blue jeans (I know you're seeing those every week. But I am washing them regularly; I promise!), with the yellow knit Simplicity 2603 shell top and a scarf that was made from a rayon print remnant from a blouse I made years and years ago. The blouse has long since been retired as too small; fortunately scarves aren't outgrown...

Just before I did my blog post, I found that someone had uploaded a video of the choir from second service this morning; the song was written by our worship pastor, with input from one of the pioneers of contemporary worship music, Lenny LeBlanc.

If you'd like to see the choir in action, here 'tis:

Fall Colors

I made one last purchase; this may Be It for the year, unless some unforeseen need (or unbelievable sale...) arises.

Or I do a bunch of sewing. :-D

These all colors needed for choir for the rest of the season. They're from Fashion Fabrics Club and all listed as rayon/lycra jersey knits; however, the green and the yellow both feel a little beefier/loftier than the cream and the orange and they're wrinkling much less; I think they've got at least a touch of polyester in the mix.




I *hope* to use themvery soon, since knits sew up so fast. But there's a lot going on in the next month; we'll see.

I ordered a total of 7 yards; the FFC cutters must've been feeling generous (although one piece is damaged and may account for the extra goods) because I ended up with 9 7/8 yards.

The colors look really nifty together, don't they? The flash washed them out just a bit, but it's a great 'Color Me Beautiful' Autumn Palette.

Trouble is, I'm a Winter.

But you know, those colors looks so nice as a group, and I have extra fabric in each cut...I may color block a Madison Avenue dress...Cream on the shoulders, yellow midriff, orange upper skirt and green lower skirt. Or something like that. In my spare time...LOL...

Overdue Photo

I actually finished this dress back in the first week of June and just didn't manage to get a photo. I wore it for my anniversary dinner date and remembered to get a photo. Of course, this was AFTER the amazing mega meal, and I'm stuffed like a sausage. I don't know why I can't seem to get a picture when I'm going OUT the door and am relatively fresh. But oh well.

It's Textile Studios Madison Avenue Dress rendered in Fabric Mart's amazing bamboo knit.

I had enough fabric leftover to make Loes Hinse's Sweater Set, providing I made 3/4 length sleeves on the cardi. Astute readers will remember my lament about mis-cutting the cardi back, so that it has no buttons, but it works with the dress *almost* as well as it works with the sweater set shell.



After My Sweet Baboo snapped the photos, I saw that I had a choice of posting photos w/ glasses glare or with the kitty.

You got the kitty. ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 8/14/11

This month's colors are navy blue, mustard yellow and white. I think the blues in my tops were more 'marine blue' than 'navy', but since everyone's eye is different we have a range of shades of blue, so pretty much any darkish blue is working.

Same with the yellows...we had some dijon yellow (which is really the color), some French's yellow, and some just plain light yellows. So close is good.

Saturday night, I felt like doing some thing different and I pulled out an ancient top...does anyone remember when Emma OneSock was selling 'buttermilk' knits hand over fist? I bought some...a lace-and-denim print, and made a skirt and top set.

I don't know what happened to the skirt. It has been missing for a long time. I may have donated it because it was too tight...I don't remember. But the top, a variation of one of my old TNTs, Vogue 7799, is still going strong in the wardrobe.

I'm wearing it with another longtime closet resident, a navy blue poly tricotine Evan Picone jacket purchased sometime years ago from JC Penny. The sleeves were too long, and I tried to shorten them (being shocked at the untidiness of the inside of the jacket), but somehow I got them whopperjawed and the hems don't want to hang nicely. So it doesn't come out and play often.

The jeans are regular denim bootcuts from Coldwater Creek.



The tank top in today's picture looks more teal than blue on my monitor, but the color is something Lands' End called 'bright navy' when I ordered about 3 of these deep scoop tanks from the clearance pages. I've got on my original mystery knit Jalie 965 tank under it, for both color and coverage, and the white Vogue 8045 jacket...with some French's yellow plastic beads and the knit CWC bootcut jeans (which are holding up to weekly wearing and washing very nicely...)


On the Wedding prep, I finally ordered some silk organza to underline my MOB dress today. I hemmed and hawed and finally decided that the rayon jacquard would wrinkle less and hang better with a little support. So it's on its way. Soon I'll be sewing it...

Bridesmaids Dress, Pt. 1

The Flute Player has been promoted to the position of Bridesmaid, so the orange dress I planned to make her for the 'Sister of the Bride/ Guestbook Attendant' role has been relegated to another time and place. She needs a silver gray dress.

The Bride (aka The Princess) took her shopping, and they came home with a maxi length dress that needed to be shortened to knee length. They were both happy with it, but it just didn't look at all flattering on The Flute Player, to my eye. It was a was pretty much a column of gray jersey, with a blouson waistline and tie and double flounces at the neckline; the bottom flounce reached almost to her waist. The edges were merrowed, not hemmed.

The Bride and I had a 'discussion' about the dress, in which a number of other issues were raised (civilly, I might add), but I offered to make her sister a dress and then we'll see which one looks the best. So, a quick scan through the bookmarked online vendors turned up one Tencel jersey knit in the right color, which was quickly ordered and dispatched to the house.


Yes, observant readers will discern there are two pieces of fabric in that photo; the vendor from whom I purchased the jersey had some stretch lace on sale and I purchased a brown-and-cream version of the stretch lace that I used to make the 70's rocker vest, which I have loved but is, um, getting a little small. A brown/cream will work with fall choir colors, I think.

And everyone knows fabric needs a Traveling Buddy.

And, it just so happened that the pattern I'd picked out, Butterick 5313 was on sale at Hancock's this week, so all I need now is for JoAnn's to have some silver gray perle thread for the rolled edge and I'm set. And I have to make a trip to the shop next door to JA's later today.

We're planning to do the flounce/spaghetti strap bodice w/the a-line single flounced skirt.

I think it will suit her much better... ;-)