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.

One for the 'Donate' Bag

This was my very first go at Vogue 8634.  This one is headed for the 'Donate' box; but I am going to do some revisions to the pattern and try it again.  One of the issues is my fault; the others are due to the pattern.

First and foremost, I dropped the empire seam too much.  I think I assumed the front raglan seam and the collar would join at the shoulder and used that for the basis of how much I dropped that seam; it's about an inch too low, which is about how much that seam intersection is offset from my actual shoulder.  I'm not sure why I made that assumption, but it did throw that seam off way too much.  The print does hide it, though, and if it were not for other issues I would probably not let that keep me from wearing it.

The other glaring issue is that the top is just too short.  I made the shorter length to conserve fabric, but it really is too short for my comfort.  For a regular (not tunic) length, I need to add about 2" to it. 

That might help the next issue just a bit; the sleeves are supposed to be 3/4 length but they are more like 7/8.  That's an awkward length in and of itself, but it also so happens that the sleeves and the lower edge of the hem are almost in a straight line, making a strong horizontal right where I don't need it.  I need to either lengthen the sleeves to full length or shorten them about 3" so they are truly 3/4 length on me.

Finally, I'm hoping this has taught me for the final time not to buy polyester knits.  My machine did NOT like sewing it, and it feels cold and clammy to me.  I've just GOT to remember this the next time some of those pretty prints tempt me to ignore the fiber content.

So, this one goes into the donate bag, and I'll make the afore-mentioned corrections to the pattern and give it another go in the not-too-distant future.

I will also reduced the seam allowances through out; it was probably due somewhat to the poly jersey, but the 5/8" seams were twisting all over the place.  I did a FBA and rotated the dart into the empire seam; that shaping rippled a bit and I'm hoping a smaller seam allowance will help with that.  I think I'll raise the underarm just a smidge, too; it's just a little droopy.

I'll hold off on  the review until I've made a keeper top... ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 11-20-11

Well, this month we have gray/burgundy and mustard yellow w/ jeans; I've got my CWC knit bootcuts, a Textile Studio Monaco Shell, crafted from burgundy slinky knit (which was a remnant, actually) and one of my modified Jalie 2919 Cardigans, which is in a gray lycra/rayon knit. 


I really like this color combo and have been known to wear it when I'm not even in choir! ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 11/13

This is going to be a short month for choir posts; we didn't have choir last week, and My Sweet Baboo and I will have our semi-annual prayer ministry gig Thanksgiving weekend, so we won't be in choir that weekend, either.

So this week and next week will pretty much be it.

Which is rather a pity; I love the burgundy-and-gray combo that were' wearing this month.  Mustard yellow is also an option, but I don't think you'll see me in that. ;-)

Today I wore a Lands' End turtleneck, Lee bootcut jeans and a Loes Hinse Designs Bolero Jacket, made from a marvelous wool-lycra blend I purchased from Emma One Sock and made up something like 6 or  7 years ago.

Wow. six or seven years ago... I just went back and checked.  The review is dated January 2004.

Time flies.

Thank You

To all US service men and women and all law enforcement officers...those who are serving and those who have served...and all their families:  Thank you for the sacrifices you make every day for this great country.  Words can't express my appreciation.  God bless you all.

Wear whatcha want ...if it fits...

We didn't have choir today; there was a rather large wedding at church this evening and the stage drapes for it that were put up earlier blocked the choir risers, so we had the day off.

I thought about taking a photo of what I wore today, just because it was whatever I desired, but I didn't because I had to face the fact that all my clothes are basically too tight. I managed some camouflage, but I was rather uncomfortably confined..mostly because the shapewear that made wearing my too-snug pants possible rolled into a thick wad of elastic just above that pants waistband.  It really didn't show, because of the loose top over it, but I'm still feeling the effects around my middle.  Oy.

I have weighed (slightly) more than I do now, but I don't think I've ever been as squishy as I am now. 

Now, there's no sense in whining about it.  I need to either suck it up and do what I need to do to lose weight or suck it up and make some clothes that fit me now.  Or both. 

It's not my intention to be the wispy little thing I was when I got married; I'd settle for being the healthy, I feel-good, reasonably sized thing I was at age 35.  Heck, at this point I'd be happy to be the size I was after my last kid was born and I thought I was pudgy. (age 37).

In all honesty, it's not just about fitting into my clothes.  There are unpleasant things that start happening at a certain weight, and right now I am over that line.  Even five pounds down makes a difference in how I feel.  So.

But that will take some time.  And meantime, I need clothes.

Methinks I need to pull out my stash and start Making A Plan...maybe two plans: one for sewing and one for eating and exercising...

Lovely day...

It was pretty foggy this morning when Miss A. picked me up and we headed south, but the sun soon came out and it was a lovely drive through near-peak fall color.

But we spent the day indoors, getting our sewing inspiration tanks filled up by Louise Cutting.  I came home with  about 4  1/2 pages of notes, a booklet and a pattern.  I browsed the fabrics that Louise brought, thoroughly enjoyed petting all that lovely stuff, but ultimately did not purchase any.  There were lovely tropical wools; but I have several pieces of lovely tropical wool already in the stash so I really couldn't justify getting any more.  Most of the fabrics were in a warmish color range, and since my personal color palette runs to the cool side I wasn't tempted by them. But there were nonetheless a couple of pieces that were very tempting...if I hadn't already been over 100 yards fabric in for the year, I'd've probably given in to temptation.  But I decided to come home and sew up one of my tropical wools into something this week in honor of the seminar.

Not exactly sure *when* that will happen, but I'm gonna try...I've got to take the fabric I swatched yesterday up to the, um, fabric storage zone so perhaps I will pull out a piece of wool and bring it down...hm...I *do* have an extra hour tonight, don't I?  ;-)

Happy Blogiversary To Me!

in which she looks at the calendar and does a facepalm, because not only have I just realized it is Sew Random's sixth birthday, it is also my Dear Mother-In-Law's [somethingieth] birthday.  How does the calendar do these amazing overnight jumps of multiple days???

Yes, my dear friends, it was six years ago today that I wrote my first post and began the blogging journey.

And I completely meant to do a giveaway to commemorate the day, but, well, I can't find the item I was going to give away.  It's around here somewhere, honest, and, well, maybe when I find it I will dream up some cutesy little reason to give it away.

Cause I totally cannot give away something I can't find.

So I'll just say I'm celebrating by going to a seminar with the ever-inspiring Louise Cutting tomorrow, sponsored by the Birmingham chapter of the ASG. 

Rumor has it that she will have fabric available...I will let myself buy ONE PIECE, if it something I NEED.

I've been swatching the stash today and, wow, the size of it hit me all afresh.  If I could just sew up the yards as quickly as I can buy them....anyway.  One...1, do you hear??...piece.  Ahem.

I'll report on the seminar tomorrow evening. And show you my 1 piece I could not come home without. :-)

I smell a SWAP coming on...

I haven't done a SWAP wardrobe in 5 years (Sewing With a Plan - annual contest begun by Julie Culshaw and now hosted by Stitcher's Guild  that involves making 11 coordinating garments in approximately 3 months).  Either I was in over my head on another project, or I just didn't need that many clothes in my wardrobe right then, or the specifics of the online contest just weren't practical for me, but this year...the rules are pretty much set up to tweak some patterns to TNT ( Tried-N-True) status and make a well-fitted 11 piece wardrobe.

I've mentioned the, um, weight that crept up when the hormones shut down.  Not to mention my last wardrobe is 5 years old and showing its age.  I need to do this.  I need some TNTs that fit the body I currently have.

In fact, there are so many pieces that I need, and so much nice fabric lurking in my stash, that my problem will be to choose one color scheme/plan and stick with it.  I need some black things (boring) for right now, but I really, really need to have some brown stuff so next fall's choir colors don't seem so hard to pull out of the closet.  But the SWAP timeline runs into spring...and who wants to be sewing black and brown when spring is peeping around the corner? I'll be ready for some color....

I really need to determine what I need and get on it.  Maybe I can make a black jacket to test the pattern for the brown... ;-)

Anyway, last time I did the SWAP I was a stay-home mom.  Now I have a (sorta kinda) paying job.  It has cut seriously into my sewing time, as my loyal online buddies have no doubt noticed.  I don't know that I can do it in the time frame allotted.

But, as a wise friend recently said to me, 'Every ending has a beginning.'

Even if I don't finish, if I get a couple of patterns tweaked I'll be eons ahead of where I am now.

That's worth it.

Choir Wardrobe 10/30/11

I really am not crazy about how quickly the year is winding down, but I have to admit I'm somewhat relieved to be at the end of the brown/orange/oatmeal month!    Hopefully I can get a couple of things made before it rolls around next year...

But I did manage to scrape by.  Since the temps have dropped into the fallish range, I pulled out a brown rayon/lycra turtleneck that I made so long ago I can't remember where the fabric came from or what pattern I used.  I *think* it's a modified Loes Hinse Cowl Top, but it might be a Christine Jonson Basewear 2 top.  I'm gonna say it's the Cowl Top, frankenpatterned w/an oop Kwik Sew turtleneck.

The jacket is from Coldwater Creek (and yes, someone asked if I made it!).  It's a great jacket, but it lacks pockets.  I pondered it pretty hard before I bought it last year, but I was in urgent need of a brown jacket to wear for choir and I just didn't have time to get one made.  So it has filled in the same role this fall.  But I still miss the pockets.

The jeans are also CWC bootcuts; I actually bought these a couple of years ago during one of their serious online sales; I was losing weight and so I bought the size below what I was wearing so I'd have something when the current ones got too loose.  Well, about that time the mid-life hormone shift hit and the scale reversed itself and hasn't come back down.  But I discovered to my dismay today that among the loads of laundry I *didn't* get done this week were my 'machine wash cold' jeans...i.e, all the jeans I wear for choir.  I found these hanging in the back of the closet, and pulled them out mostly just to convince myself they didn't work.

Let me tell you, they are not pretty around the midsection (hence the cover-it-up top and jacket), but the lycra in them was sufficient for the purpose and I wore them.  And now I'm going to go change into sweat pants.

I will be doing 'wash cold' blue jeans ASAP.

Bring on the Burgundy and Grey next month...LOL...

Burda 2/09 108 and the Animal Not Found in Nature Print

Can't remember the last time I actually sewed up a piece of fabric in the same month it came through the door.  This is one of the 'trendy' knits that a couple of online vendors were selling like hotcakes this summer; I grabbed this from one of the final clearances.  Not something I'd usually go for, but the color suits me much better than the usual gold/brown leopard/cheetah/other big cat print so I thought I'd make something fun.  The vest is from May '08 Burda (I think); that has been a true wardrobe staple that is not shown at its best angle here. 

I need to make more vests.

I've got the sleeves pushed up; they really do cover my wristbones.  And I still need to tweak the neckline a bit; it *still* wants to buckle a bit.

But it'll do, it'll do.  It was kinda fun to wear today...

Choir Wardrobe 10/23/11

October colors are burnt orange, brown and oatmeal, and with one Sunday left to go in the month, I finished the second top for our 'burnt orange' color.  This is not something I would ever have chosen, had it not been for our choir colors, but I guess it worked; I got several compliments on it today.

It's my second go at Simplicity 3624; this time in a very thin and drapey rayon/lycra jersey.  I used the long sleeves this time; I think they worked better for me than the weird cap sleeves I used the first go-round, for all that these turned out to be full-length instead of the 7/8 length shown on the pattern.  It's over the brown Jalie 965 tank, both for color and for, um, church suitability.  Actually, church or not, I doubt I'd wear this without something under it...it's pretty low and wide.

Lee bootcuts this week...someday I WILL make myself a pair of jeans... ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 10/16/11

So. Despite a really busy week (including an all-nighter at our Girl's Ministry Sleepover on Friday)  I managed to complete ONE of the three tops I cut out on Thursday, so I at least had something burnt orange to wear today.  Add one more Jalie 965 Tank Top , this one from burnt orange rayon/lycra jersey, (I've lost count...that makes somewhere between 12 and 15 of those tops in my closet) to my wardrobe.  I've matched it up with an oblong scarf made from the remnants of the Threads scarf I wore last week, and my heathery brown Jalie 2566 Cardigan, all with the CWC knit jeans I keep raving about.

I actually have another top cut from that same orange fabric; maybe I'll get that one put together this week...

The Fabric that Haunted Me

Been meaning to post this for a week or so now...

A year or two ago, I purchased a bundle from Fabric Mart that had some fabulous tattersal tropical wool in it.    I marked it 'gorgeous' and added it to the stash, sending it off to the bin w/a fond memory of how lovely the colors were ... and particularly thinking of some golden hash-type marks that lit up the fabric.  I distinctly remember sitting on my sofa, holding the fabric just so the light hit it perfectly.  Such a nice fabric would require a special garment.

Sometime after that, this wool fabric showed up on Gorgeous Things.

I was SURE it was the same wool.  It was uncanny how similar it was.  I smiled, thinking how fortunate I was to already own such a lovely piece.

But...this winter I sorted and organized my fabric stash.  I thought I'd pull that piece and compare it to the photo on the website and see if they really were the same piece.

And I could NOT find the fabric I recalled so vividly.

I did find the piece of fabric that I'd gotten in the bundle from FM...and it was nothing like the piece I remembered or the piece on the GT website.  Not the same pattern, not the same colors.

I hunted through all my records of past fabric purchases.  I could find no record of purchasing any wool that I didn't have physically in front of me at that moment.  And I record EVERYTHING.

Weird, huh?

So from that moment, I was fascinated by the fabric on Ann's site.

And, at the last sale, I finally succumbed.  I bought 3 yards. It's in the 'fabric in' picture at the bottom of this post.

No, it's not a dead ringer for the fabric I must've dreamed about handling.  It's heavier and the pattern is larger.  But, yeah, it is still marvelous and will still make something great.

I just gotta quit hearing the Twilight Zone music every time I look at it...

Choir Wardrobe 10/9/11

This was a last minute throw-together; I couldn't seem to make *anything* work this morning...October colors (burnt orange, oatmeal and brown) are not plentiful in my wardrobe.

One of these days, I'm going to do that and realize as I'm walking out the door that I'm wearing all RTW.  I don't think I've sung in choir without wearing at least ONE garment (or scarf!) that I'd made in a long, long time.  Not that that would be a horrible thing, I suppose, but it would make for a rather sheepish 'Choir Wardrobe' post.

In this case, the one thing is the brown rayon/lycra jersey Jalie 2682  top, worn with  Coldwater Creek (jacket and knit jeans).

I have fabric in a burnt orange color, for at least one top, and some brown Zegna wool from Michael that needs to be used before the moths find it...if I can just get myself to the sewing nook this week, hopefully I'll do better next Sunday. ;-)