Meh....

 I finished the white-linen - rayon-crepe tunic outfit a week ago and meant to wear it to church last Sunday, but, as it turned out it was one of those odd damp coolish days so I put it off for a week.

It is NOT the most flattering thing in my closet by a long shot, and it has clear construction issues,  although it is comfy and fun to wear.

 The biggest problem I had was that the fabric was crazy unstable.  It wouldn't even lie square on a single layer. It was just a beast to try and work with.  Hindsight...I shoulda starched the daylights out of it, but I didn't even think of that until I put the finished product on.  I think if I had starched it into paper stiffness, I would have had much less trouble with things going whopperjawed on me as I was first trying to cut it out (and I used a sharp rotary cutter) and then trying to assemble it.

The second issue is...it really would have looked better with out the waistline seam, although that allowed me to line the bodice, which I really wanted to do due to the sheerness of the fabric.  I need that double layer on top or I would have to wear a tank top or cami under it.  And because of the shiftiness of the fabric, the two layers kinda fight each other; hence the ripples in the top. Sure wish I'd thought of spray starch a little sooner.

The inspiration pattern had the seam above the waist but I left the top waist-length because I didn't want a gap between the top of my pants and the seam showing through the sheer skirt layer.  A little higher seam likely would have looked less frumpish, but then there would be that color shift underneath. So I picked the lower seamline.

The white linen pants are great...even though the construction details (pockets, seam allowances) show through the fairly  substantial fabric (Fabrics-store.com 4C22).  I thought it was stout enough that it wouldn't be a huge problem.  Never underestimate the shadow factor of white fabric... well, best worn under a tunic, lol.   

So, yeah, lessons learned and maybe I'l wear it on really hot days despite the problems.  Like I said, it's comfy and floaty, and if I keep moving...who will notice? LOL.  I wore a lightweight linen knit long cardigan over it...air conditioning and all... so I think a lot of the issues were camouflaged a bit.

I did cut a couple of scarves from the remnants of the green print; that might be a better use for that fabric.  Instability won't matter much there...

Smacked by Inspiration

 Despite the fact that I have way more  fabric than I can reasonably sew in the next 30 years, every once in a while I succumb to a sale.

Happened a couple of weeks ago and I ended up with what was supposed to be two pieces of crinkle rayon.  One was a crinkly rayon and I intend to turn it into a floaty summer maxi, but the other was a semi-sheer printed jacquard pattern.  I loved it...but I could read the newspaper through it.  Too sheer for a dress ( yes, the website did warn that a lining would likely be necessary but I thought something with lots of gathered up fabric would be ok...Not this).

It's white with a mint green reverse print.  Lovely and summery...just sheer. You're looking at a folded bit in the picture; it really is sheer.  Honest.

You can just barely see the little pattern woven in under the print.

Earlier this week, I had a flash of inspiration.  I have a Burda pattern that has been in my stash for...decades, lol.

I suddenly thought about making that split side topper from the green and white rayon, with some white linen pants.

Spent yesterday tracing one of my favorite quick pants, Stretch and Sew 704 'Quick and Easy Pants', which are slim no-side-seam pants with welt pockets, in a bigger size than my 20 year old tracing, cut it out of some White 4C22 linen from Fabric-Store dotcom,  and sewed them to the crotch seam yesterday.  Today, I finished them to the hem, then set it aside to do the hand sewing whilst occupying my brain in other ways, and turned to the split tunic.

I have  had a good bit of trouble with Burda's woven patterns over the years coming out decidedly short on ease.  I was surprised when I pulled out this pattern and found I had traced off and apparently made the pants years ago; I even reviewed them on Pattern Review.  When I read the review, I vaguely remembered them...the review indicates that they were Too Small, even though I had made the size my measurements indicated.  So...no wonder.   I compared the Size 44  upper bodice to  my recently- retraced Cutting Lines Designs My Hearts A Flutter shell and saw that, yeah, that was going to be more fitted than I really wanted.

So, I just used the upper bits from the MHA top, and adjusted the skirt bits to fit and cut it out.

Then I had to cook dinner, lol. I'll hem my pants whilst watching number 2 son stream tonight.

 So, hopefully in a couple of days I'll actually be able to get that top whipped up and we'll see if my inspiration pans out...stay tuned, lol.

Sewing in June...

 I have done a wee bit of stitching here and there...I made a half-dozen diapers for my neighbor, who has a new baby; hemmed the remants of the waffle fabric I used for the linen towels last year to use as dish towels (they are rather oddly proportioned, but they'll dry dishes, so who cares...) and made up the first of several patterns that I made years ago, when I was about 30 pounds lighter, and recently re-traced.

This one is La Fred's Athena Blouse; I posted about the last time I made it back in 2006; I originally made it in 2003, Before Blogging, lol.  

Back then, I actually sized down from my measurements as pattern measurements showed that it had a generous amount of ease.  So I remembered that and sized down when I traced my ...bigger size...to have a go at it again. But...I didn't remeasure.  I just assumed consistent ease.  Ooopsie.

And I decided to use it on the the floral fabric I got in my recently - mentioned Fabric-store.com cash-in of my loyalty points.   It's a beautiful print on fine cotton fabric; but the size of the print was such that I didn't want to cut small pieces...like a band and collar...from it.  So I went with the Athena, because it has a cut-on collar.  But the print was so large that, when I tried to match it across the front, I had to place the front pieces such that it was then impossible to get the rest of the pieces on the fabric (and I had an extra half yard!).  So I just shrugged and cut it out as instructed, with no attempt to match.  Um, I'd've been better off going for a deliberate mismatch that was balanced, but more on that later...

The fabric is a very tight weave; it was difficult to get pins to go into it, and the pinholes didn't close up, even after I sprayed it with water and steam pressed it.  Maybe after it's washed they'll go away.  Maybe...

This pattern has 6 places where you have to sew an  inside-corner to an outside-corner; it's the caveat I would give anyone.  It does have a really cool shape.

But I learned that the larger sizes apparently don't have as much ease as the smaller sizes...my shirt is a bit snug.  I don't think it's unwearable, but I will add a bit...maybe via a full bust adjustment...if I make it again...and I probably will.  I want at least one in linen.

I'll tell you, my friends, but will not mention it elsewhere, lol.  that near match on the front made me gnash my teeth a bit.  Fortunately the print is fairly well balanced so it's not terribly noticeable, but it bummed me.  With a match that close, you'd think I could have actually matched it...but I'm telling you, I tried several different ways to get it on there and it broke up the yardage so bad I couldn't get the other pieces (back, sleeves...which are pretty big...and front facing) all on.  

A friend recently asked me if I was still working on that wardrobe from the Vivienne files...and while the specific additions for Nov. and Dec. of 2021 are still in the queue, the garments I have sewn since, by and large, all work with the pink-green-navy-white color scheme.  So, while I haven't 'finished' that series, I am still building on it.

Today, I cut down a massive t-shirt...almost too much, lol.  It was from the previous year's collection in the merch shop at last fall's women's conference; I got it for five bucks and decided I'd use it to test the Style Arc Kim's Swing Top.  I took a TNT T shirt pattern and used it to pick the size to trace (a 12) and then I did a full bust adjustment.  I had to shorten the top by 2" to get it on the boxy original shirt (which I somehow missed getting a photo of before I took it apart).

It also came out a wee bit snug.  May have been partly due to the difficulty I had putting in on the half-deconstructed t-shirt (I left the shoulders and neckline intact)...it may not have been quite right.  But I think I will trace off a larger size before I try it again.  The sleeves are especially...fitted, lol.  But for a $5 test of the pattern...it's fine.

So...one pattern from the deep stash and one from recent stash, lol.  I have a few patterns that I made back in the day that I've retraced in a larger size.  Some of those patterns were great, that I wore over and over, and deserve to come back into the wardrobe.

Is Home Sewing Collapsing? A bit of a rant...

 As if it wasn't bad enough that Hancock's fabrics collapsed in 2016, then Jo-Ann's  (who had previously gobbled up the Cloth World, World of Fabrics, and So-Fro Fabrics chains in the previous decades) failed under the ludicrous burden of the leveraged buyout back in 2010, in which the investors who purchased the company did not take on the debt themselves but pushed it onto JoAnn's -- something that, in my opinion. should be illegal; now the news comes that the conglomerate that owns ALL the major pattern companies...Vogue, Butterick, McCall's and Simplicity... has sold all assets to a liquidator. 

Oh, there are mail order options for patterns from independent companies...some of whom have quite good patterns...but the only sewing pattern tissue printer in the entire country is part of that liquidation and all of those indy folks who print patterns on tissue paper use that printing service.  Who knows what will happen to that equipment now.  And we do have online fabric vendors.  Michael's craft stores has supposedly purchased up a good bit of the Hancock's and JoAnn's IP and intends to expand their home sewing offerings but the whole situation seems ominous.  I don't know if I will ever be able to, in the midst of a project, run to a local store and pick up that thing I need to finish, be it thread, zippers or buttons.  

I have read a lot of the comments pertaining to these closures, many of which say something to the effect of 'Oh, (whatever company) just didn't keep up with the times, so the demise was inevitable.'

But that begs the question...why did (fabric stores, pattern companies) not keep up with the times?

Y'all, they were all done in by financial shenanigans.  One company bought out all (or almost all) the major competition, then itself was bought out by an investor group that cared only for profit and had no interest whatsoever in the  home sewing community.  The Big 4 were owned, and just sold by,  IG Design group, who is a leading manufacturer and distributor of stationery, crafts, party and gift products for goodness sake!  Home sewing enthusiasts got frustrated with the lack of quality and techniques offered by the blob organizations and began turning to independent pattern designers and online fabric sources.  Not to disparage those folks, some of whom have great service and products, but...had the local store resources retained their quality, the masses would not have turned to online vendors.  Home sewing is an intensely personal pursuit, and we ALL want quick access to items we can see and touch in person.  I know the main reason I buy sewing goods online is because I can't get them locally. 

Which sounds like a business opportunity...except the goods available to retailers have also been disappearing.  Almost all fabric is milled overseas now.  Remember when a visit to a local fabric store would have the choice of multiple color ways in various prints or designs?  That's been rare for a long, long time.  Home sewing offerings are now mostly manufacturing overruns, with patterned fabrics available in one choice of color scheme only.  

All of this makes it difficult for youngsters coming of age to pick up the sewing habit.  The resources just aren't there; not to mention the demise of home economics in the public schools.  Materials for theater groups/ costuming/ cosplay are also getting harder to find...and more expensive.  I used to costume entire church productions from the dollar table at the local Wal-Mart.  Now I hesitate to even call what shows up on the discount rack (just one small rack...not a piled high table) 'sewing fabric'.  It. Is. Dreck.  A biblical costume could be made for less than $15 twenty years ago; that same costume would be about $75 now.  That's hard on a shoestring budget.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do wish our financial institutions would not allow leveraged buyouts that enable investors to skim profits from a company and then dump the debt back into it. 

I think I will now go upstairs and sew something as my own personal protest, lol.

Odds and Ends sewing

 I stumbled across a serious Lands' End sale a few weeks back and decided to pick up a few things to fill in some gaps in my wardrobe...until I can get some sewing done.  Got a couple of shirts and a couple of pairs of black pants.

One of the shirts fit fine, the other, being a sleeveless shirt, had a bit of gaposis.  There's an unsewn dart in the armhole and it is quite unattractive when worn.

But, I have McGyvered a solution to this problem before, so I pulled out my textured nylon serger thread and a large - eyed needle to tackle the problem. 

I doubled the thread, then took a stitch about the middle of the front armhole, running the needle through the loop to make a knot-less secure stitch.

Then I run the needle through the bias binding

All the way to the side seam.

Once the thread is through, I do a slight mark w/ a soft pencil on the thread right where it exits the fabric, then tug it up a good inch past that point.  Take several stitches, then knot the thread off and bury the tail in the binding.

I put it on after I'd done the right side; you can see the gaping on the left.  The armhole looks a little puckery on the hanger but it's not noticeable when worn.

My Sweet Babboo needed some patches sewn on his Royal Ranger utility uniform.  This is all very specific as to what goes where and how it should be spaced.

I had some ancient Wonder Tape, which didn't stick really well to the plastic coated  backside of the patches, but it gripped enough that it didn't shift when I sewed the patches.  Some are embroidered; some are just velcro pile so the patches can be switched easily to reflect the most recent event/ achievement/ class/ etc.  I was able to sew on all the patches except the ones on the chest pockets...my machine just couldn't get into that tight space.  He'll hand sew those.

Finally, I hemmed one of the pairs of black jeans.  These are wide-legged, with a deep hem.  I turn the hem up so that the very narrow folded edge is exposed on the wrong side (the edge is just barely visible on the bottom layer), then just do a catch stitch between the new cuff and the pants.  

This works really well and makes the pants suitable for shorty me to wear with flat shoes, lol

I also got a bit of new fabric; I was just going to get some dusty olive linen for a pair of pants, using the credits I'd earned at Fabric-store.com.  I thought I could just redeem enough points to get the 2 yards of rustic fabric, but found that I could only use all of them at once.  So I ordered some of the midweight linen in the same color, some optic white midweight, and one of the cotton prints.  They are all currently in the wash for the pre-shrink but I do intend to sew those up fairly soon.  I hope, lol.  It was 8 yards of fabric for only about $36, after my credit, since it was actually over the minimum for free shipping.  So not gonna complain, lol.  

I need to make some time to get in the sewing room....

Finally a wardrobe addtion!

 Y'all.  The last actual garment I made for my own wardrobe was for LAST EASTER.  

This is not a good set of circumstances, lol.  

But Easter rolled around again, as it does, and this year is different.  The church choir is on an indefinite hiatus so...for the first time in 20 ish years I could wear anything my little heart desired for Easter Service.

So I went through my stashed patterns  and fabric and decided to make a blue linen tunic and pants.  The tunic is Vogue 9305, which has been in the stash since 2020.  I had five yards of Fabric-Store dotcom's  IL019 softened midweight linen, in 'Medieval Blue' that I thought would make up nicely as a tunic and pants and be very easy to accessorize...besides going well with the Start with a Scarf 2022  Wardrobe...I still have two more month's worth of designated items to add to that wardrobe, but I have also been favoring those colors in my fabric purchases, so I have things outside of the 12-month specifics that I am adding...such as this outfit.

There is a wide-leg pants pattern in the envelope with the tunic, but I already have a TNT wide-leg pull on pants pattern so I just used that one instead...an ancient New Look pattern that I've been using since 2003...with tweaks for, um, age-related metabolic decline, lol. (read:  I've added girth...)

Now, the Vogue pattern I had only went up to a size 14, and after doing some measurements and comparison I came to the conclusion that I probably needed about a 16, so there were some girth adjustments to be made, as well as petite adjustments since I'm only 5'4".

But this is an asymmetric pattern...which meant the adjustments were, um, rather tedious.

I traced off half of the top front above the lengthen/ shorten lines and made my adjustments for 1) petite armhole ( cut just below the armhole into the pattern for about 3", then cut up towards the shoulder , folded 3/4" out of the cut bit and filled in the gaps with tissue to shorten just the arm opening and not the whole bodice)  2) lowered the bust point  3) did a full bust adjustment  4) added 1" to the side seams, tapering into the underarm curve. 5) Lowered the neckline a bit so I could pull it over my head without a buttoned opening in the back.  I did leave the dart unsewn, so I had to curve the bottom edge up 3/4" at the seam allowance to compensate.

Here's the finished half pattern:

Once I made all those adjustments, I traced the adjusted half of the front onto folded tissue paper to  make a whole pattern for the top part of the tunic.  

And the whole adjusted top bit, with the half pattern on top:

Then I moved to the bottom part of the front:  I 1) folded out 1" in length in three different spots, to spread the length adjustment out some and 2) added 1" to the side seam.  Then I taped the lower part of the front onto the bodice, matching the length  adjustment lines  (Interesting note... I did not do any length adjustment at those lines; that's just what I used to connect the altered top part to the altered bottom part).  I also shortened the lower left side front piece by 3"...folding the length out at 3 different spots...and adding 1" to the side seam.

For the back,   I just traced the pattern and 1) petited the armhole  as I had done for the front  2) removed 3"  buy removing 1" in three places below the waist  3) added 1" to the side seam and 4) adjusted the neckline to match the front.

I also drafted front and back neckline facings because I didn't think I'd have enough fabric to make bias binding for the neckline.

All the pattern work was the hard part. Once I had it cut out, it was pretty simple to put together.   I did extend the seam between the upper and lower left fronts a bit,  and I hemmed the cap sleeves before sewing the underarm seam.

The linen sews like a dream and the alterations worked well.  It does look like I lost some of the flare from waist to hem when I compare the final photo to the line drawings, and to the photos in the reviews, so that was probably due to alteration error; I did have to make some minor adjustments to the sideseams when I joined the top and bottom pieces of the pattern, so if I make it again I will see about adding a bit of flare to the skirt portion.  But...maybe it's because I sewed that drape a little farther?  Ok. Next time I'll stop on the dot, lol.

But it was really comfortable to wear!  This photo is after two Sunday services yesterday, so I am a bit rumpled, but I will likely wear this a fair amount this summer.  I can wear it over leggings, or skinny blue jeans, or white pants of any leg width...lots of options.  Sunday I wore an oblong pink/ blue/ mint green/ white floral rayon scarf just draped around my neck, but a statement necklace would look good too.  I think I could actually pull the neckline in a bit on the sides and it would still be pull-over-the-head-able.

So nice to make something again.

A bit of Birthday Sewing....

 The saga of the Pirate Shirts continues.  See, my original plan was to make Pirate Shirts for all my kids-in-law for Christmas, but life got complicated (read: I got a nasty tummy bug) and lost all the time I had planned to sew in December.  It occurred to me, along with the fact that I could make those tea towels for Epiphany, that both my sons-in-law had birthdays early in the year; The Jokester in January and Prince Charming in February.  So I decided to make their pirate shirts for birthday presents and we did something else for them for Christmas.

I made the tea towels first, told the Jokester that 'shipping was delayed' for his birthday present as it was clear I wasn't going to have it ready to mail in time to get to him;  then started in on the shirts. It's the same pattern I used for The Dancer (Butterick 5008)  but both of them got Large shirts. I added a bit to the girth for Prince Charming but otherwise they were the same, made full length (I shorten it 4" for ladies...).  I used twill tape, stitched in half, for the ties instead of burning my fingers on ties made from the linen, just as I did for the shirts I made for Christmas.    I thought I had taken a photo of Prince Charming's shirt before I wrapped it for his birthday dinner, but if I did I inadvertently deleted it because it is nowhere to be found.  But I do have a pic of him opening it...The Little Prince was, of course, very interested.

Prince Charming noted that it would also be good to wear to the annual Renaissance Faire, and he's completely correct.  A good pirate shirt can be worn for a number of things.  However, I don't think he's put it on yet so I'm still hoping I guessed right on the alterations, lol.

I finished the Jokester's shirt a couple of days before we headed to Florida last week.  I did get a picture of that shirt...

His shirt was the same as Prince Charming's ...no ruffles.  He was quite pleased with it; tried it on after we left their apartment and reported that it 'fit perfectly!'.  He's in children's ministry so it will get used.

I think I'm going to do some sewing for me next; I need to get through some of the stash, lol.  I have acquired quite a bit of linen...and it's been so lovely to sew that I want to have something ready for spring, which surely can't be too much farther off...

RIP Claire Shaeffer

 I suppose most folks in the sewing community have heard that Claire Shaeffer, author, educator, pattern designer and source of much inspiration, passed away a couple of days ago.

That was just 5 days after she posted a you-tube video with plans for 2025.  I haven't heard cause, but it appears to have been something sudden.

I have several of Claire's patterns...haven't gotten brave enough to try any of them yet.  I have a couple of her books...she was a wealth of information.  The you-tube channel was a fairly new thing; she doesn't appear on it but does voice-over narration.  Or, at least that's been the case for the videos I have watched so far.

So we have lost another of the major influencers of home sewing enthusiasts...one who knew and taught the classic techniques.  I'm encouraged by the younger faces now appearing with instruction on social media...some have done much work and research and are well worth watching.  But we are losing some of the folks who sustained us during the years when home sewing was rather scorned.  Now the creative potential is beginning to revive, along with an interest in clothing as investment, which was a Thing of the Past for so long.  

I feel much gratitude for folks like Claire Shaeffer, Nancy Zieman, Cynthia Guffey, Clothilde, and others, who kept the education going when universal sewing instruction in home ec class slowly faded away.   I have I have learned much from these ladies over the years and my sewing is better for it.

Mayhap I should pull out one of Claire's Vogue patterns this year and challenge myself to learn from her some more....

A bit of...Epiphany? Sewing...

 I had the idea last summer to take advantage of a sale on some Christmas print tea towel kits at Fabric-Store.com.  At first, I was just going to use them for stocking stuffers, and maybe one or two others.  Then I thought of my co-workers...and decided I should make tea towels for them.

I ended up getting 10 kits...that's 20 towels...and it still really wasn't enough.  Stocking stuffers for my daughters/ daughters in law; a goodie for a sort-of secret (but not secret) sister, and the rest went to ladies that have worked with me in the data base in the past year.

The towels aren't difficult...you cut off the selvedge edge, then cut them apart on the  marked line, then hem them; much like the linen waffle towels I made in October.  I made, like, six back in the early fall, then got busy with other things.

I had planned to take my unused vacation/ personal leave (sick) time to work on them during December; then I ended up using my actual sick leave...being sick...and totally useless.  As we got closer and closer to Christmas and I still had the two pirate shirts and the crossback apron to do, it hit me that our first day back at work after the Christmas holiday was Epiphany.

So I was sewing during Christmas break and my co-workers got Epiphany presents, lol.

I thought I took some pics of the construction process when I did the first batch...but if I did, I have lost the photos.  You'll just have to look at the pics on the waffle towel construction...because it's the same.  I did miter ALL THE CORNERS on the tea towels.  (80 mitered corners).  That's lots of practice...but they were simple.  Both sides of the corner measured the same, and the fabric pressed beautifully and didn't fray badly.  It was just fiddly.

I had already given away five of the ones I had made earlier but the other fifteen are in this photo; multiples are stacked together:

  The only print that's not in the photo is the kitty print...I made two of those and they both went to my cat-loving daughters for Christmas.  The 12 days of Christmas print was the one I made the most from...I think I did six of those.

My only complaint is that the towels aren't perfectly square on the fabric.  Trying to get a straight edge yields something a bit crooked looking; after a few tries at that I gave up and just cut it according to the print. It didn't make the edges too off grain to press well.  The prints are lovely.

I will say that these are COTTON towels, not linen towels like I thought in the beginning.  Just so you know.

I've gotten some nice comments from the folks that got them!  Wish I'd had time to make more so I could have enough for everyone....

A bit of Christmas Sewing....

 I kept having to rethink the workload before Christmas, but I came up with something that filled the bill.  Now that we've had our family Christmas (Friday last week) I can share a bit of what was happening in the sewing room, lol.

The princess had asked me to make her an apron off of my old Simplicity 7481 Daisy Kingdom pattern (you know it's old if the design is listed as 'Daisy Kingdom,' lol)

I had intended to give it to her for her birthday on Dec. 17, along with a couple of pie plates, since she didn't have any.  But she went and bought some pie plates for herself, so that nixed that.  I found something else for her birthday, and that gave me a whole 10 more days to sew up the apron.   The fabric was Disney Cats...I ordered it online like a year ago, and I forgot who I got it from.    

I don't do the binding the way the pattern specifies....the instructions are to 1) cut bias strips 2 1/4" wide, seam them together end to end,  then 2) press 1/4" under along each long edge, then...and this is unbelievable to me...3) press the resulting strip ALMOST in half, allowing one side to be slightly wider than the other and 4) encase the raw edge with the bias, having the narrower side on the right side, and topstitch it down all the way around.

It sounds good in theory, but in reality will lead to ripples,  scorched fingers, uneven binding (who can consistently press a narrow strip slightly off center?  For about 5 yards? LOL) and high blood pressure.  What I did instead:

I cut the strips 2 3/8" wide,  seamed them together and did a quick check to make sure I'd cut enough...I didn't, needed another strip...pressed the seams open, and then pinned the binding to the wrong side of the apron, folded in half lengthwise but NOT PRESSED, all the raw edges lined up.  I turned the end I started with  towards the inside of the binding, and then overlapped the ends a couple of inches w/o turning under the other end.   Once it was flipped to the right side, the raw edge was under the folded edge.

NOT PRESSED is key,  because that lets the binding adjust for the turn of the cloth.  Took forever to pin it all around the giant mobius strip that is the seamed together apron, but once it was done I sewed around w/ a scant 1/4" seam allowance, then wrapped the  folded edge around to the right side (still not pressing that folded edge, although I did press the seamline a bit, carefully),  pinned it down and then edgestitched the fold all the way around.  Not technically difficult, but...yeah, I spent half the total construction time on the binding, lol.  

She liked it.

The daughters-in-law got ...pirate shirts!  LOL.  Both their hubbies have pirate costumes that they wear from time to time (you should see the getup the Artist wears to the Magic Kingdom Halloween Party...) so I thought I would make sure the ladies could match their hubbies.  I had some bleached linen from Fabric-Store.com (they have such nice linen...) that made up beautifully.

I had to use patterns in different size ranges, because The Little Red-Haired Girl (married to the Actor) is TINY.  I used Simplicity 3644, which is a kid's costume pattern, in a size 14.  I added 3" to the length, with side slits to allow for curves kids don't have, lol.  I changed up the sleeves; the pattern specified elastic  in a casing at the wrist, but I wanted something a little more...true to the era?...than elastic.  I happened to have a goodly supply of twill tape, so I put the casing on the OUTSIDE of the sleeve, stopping just short of the seams, and put the twill tape (1/2" tape, folded in have and stitched down) through the casing so it could tie. 

Or so I thought.  After I got the sleeves gathered, trimmed and serged, I realized I had put one of them on inside out.  What I get for sewing late and hurried, lol.  But instead of taking the sleeve off, I opened the sleeve seam, unpicked the hem and the casing, then turned the hem the other way and put the casing on what was now the outside of the sleeve.  The same 'no difference in right/wrong side' that led me astray was the saving grace on that one, lol.

I also added twill tape to the neckline before I added the facing, so she has the option of tying it closed if she wants. 

 I didn't alter the neckline depth, but she said it was a wee bit snug going over her head.  Aside from that small nuisance, it fit well. 

The second shirt was made for The Dancer, the wife of The Artist.  For that one, I used Butterick 5008, a pattern that I've used before for both The Actor and The Flute Player but apparently never reviewed.   I did the same twill tape trick instead of making ties from the linen; it's not an absolute match but I am pretty sure the twill tape is as correct as a machine sewn shirt would be, lol.  

It's shortened 4" from the pattern...that is a crazy long shirt.

 

She sent me a selfie of her in the shirt...but she has an iPhone and my windows / android devices can't do anything but look at the original.  But she was delighted and said it 'fits perfect!'

I finished that shirt at 11:50 on Christmas night, lol.  It was a good thing we were opening presents on the 27th.  Had a whole day to wrap things.

...and a red hat that doesn't go...or maybe it does...

 My participation in the church Christmas production this year is minimal; I'm just in the chorus of the two Big Numbers...the one right before intermission and the finale.  For the finale, we are in biblical gear so, pulling out the ol' Bible costume for that one.  For the other one, we are in contemporary garb, and were encouraged to dress as 'characters' (ie, baker, barista, etc).  One of the suggestions was 'a granny'.

Well, I AM a granny.  How about a kinda hippy granny?

I had some things in my closet that I probably wouldn't ever wear in public as a combo, but it works for this...

White trainers w/ red trim.  Red sweat pants.  A longsleeved red t shirt w/ white snowflakes.  A white puffer vest.  Red hoop earrings.

But it needed something else...

Hey, remember all those hats I made?

What about a red bakerboy cap?

I knew I had some red corduroy...and some red velveteen....either of which would work.  Found the corduroy first.

For some stupid reason I cut out twice as many gores as I needed.  I guess I was just stuck on the number six.  Either that or I was still stupid from being ill all week (nasty tummy bug followed by a sinus/ ear infection...). I didn't get started on it until late Saturday afternoon. 

Had to use one of my backup machines; that's another story.  It wasn't as happy going through lots of layers as my main Janome...but it worked.

The best thing was finding a crocheted button in my button box...if I remember right, it was a spare from a sweater I had, oh, I dunno...30 years ago?  The sweater is long gone but the extra button was still in the box.

It was a pretty close match.

As you can see from the clock, I finished it up at about 20 minutes till twelve Saturday night.  Woulda been faster but I stopped for dinner and some laundry switching and I had to do a bit of unstitching and restitching because the crown was just a pinch too small for the band.  Tried to fudge it to be a wee bit bigger and it wasn't entirely successful.  There's a tiny pleat in the back band...shhhhh.....it's not terribly noticeable....

And...I would wear that outfit in public, if I switched the sweat pants for cream cords and the trainers for my vanilla granny boots, lol.  Make it just a pinch more uptown, lol.

That's my sole contribution to the costuming this go round. The team that pulled last year's production together whilst I was busy getting the boys married off had this in hand and didn't need me.

And, given how useless I was last week...it's probably a good thing, lol.  Still haven't gotten my appetite back...that tummy bug don't play, y'all.  Word up...wash those hands....a LOT.

A different sort of towels...

 A while back Fabric-Store.com had a sale on their linen waffle fabric.  It's a very interesting thing...fairly stiff when it arrives, it shrinks variably and waffles up when washed.  They have a tutorial on their blog for cutting two bath towels one hand towel and two washcloths from three yards of the fabric; I ordered an extra yard to get a total of two hand towels and 4 washcloths...which is what I always get when I buy towel sets.

I added an extra step after cutting...I serged all the raw edges.  The fabric is sort of loosely woven and regular towels sometimes fray out so, an excess of caution prevailed.

I used templates cut from manila folders to press the hems up...slightly narrower than recommended

 (1/2" turned twice instead of 3/4")

At this stage the fabric is really nice to press.

The instructions are just to fold one side over the other and stitch them down, but I like mitered corners so the first two washcloths I mitered the corners.

Now, I don't like MAKING mitered corners, I like LOOKING AT Mitered corners, lol.  They are fiddly and tedious to do...

But after grinding through four, I suddenly realized that those threads were gonna shrink when washed and I got worried that I'd trimmed them out too much.

But I didn't want bulky corners...what to do...

Finally I decided to trim a bit out, then fold the hems over each other like the instructions.

But I box stitched the corners to make sure to hold everything down well.

 

Once everything was done, I washed the towels to waffle them up.  Here's the before the wash and after the wash...

Hand towels:

 

And the bath towels:

The towels are still really big, compared to my Lands' End towels.  I am actually standing on the hearth, lol. But...it needs the length.  When I used them, my subconscious reaction was 'Ew!  Cheap thin towels!'   And I had to remind myself that they weren't thin, they were different.   So the extra length kinda makes up for the lack of heft. They ARE really absorbent.  And the miters seemed to have held up fine...after one washing, anyway.  But the box stitched corners are way faster to do and there's no chance it will come undone.

So...it was an interesting experiment.  I've read that the towels get softer over time.  I may do a follow up report after six months or so to let you know if the opinion changes, lol.

I am going to label this as Home Dec, which is isn't, technically, but that's the best label I've got, lol.

Another one bites the dust...

 Sad face.  Very, very sad face.

I have received an email that Textile Fabrics in Nashville, THE ONLY REAL FABRIC STORE within driving distance, will be closing as the owner is retiring.

I don't often get to go, as it is a 2 hour drive, and I don't even think I've made it to their newest location (they've moved twice since I first managed to visit), but just knowing they were there was like a security blanket.  

I probably won't make it up this fall for the clearance sales; it's not like I NEED more fabric anyway,  so I'm just going to have to remember how lovely it was to walk in...smell FABRIC and not cinnamon brooms, and see gorgeous silks and woolens live and in person.

I am grateful for the internet vendors, but even the best of them will sometimes send a 'Hhhhmmmm...' piece of fabric, something that wasn't quite what I pictured from the description.  There's just something so luscious about actually touching that piece of fabric and envisioning what it might be...then putting it on the counter and watching it get unrolled and cut; finding matching thread and buttons right there...

I fear that is a thing of the past.  At least in North Alabama.  There's just nothing around...that I know of, anyway.  Textile Fabrics was the last bastion of fine home sewing.

Now all there is...is JoAnn's World of Polyester and Crafts.

I'm going to be kinda blue about this for a bit.

I should find time to sew something I bought from Textile Fabrics in honor of the dreams I have dreamed there...

Putting the suitcase away....

The last road trip of the year...so far as I know, anyway.

Drove myself to a large cabin in the mountains of North Carolina...taking a very roundabout route to avoid all of the 'essential travel only' areas that are marked in both North Carolina and Tennessee.  I decided I'd talk about the trip itself here...and the reason for the trip (a small writer's conference) over on the other blog, once I get it processed enough down to coherency.

I will just say that the willingness to make the 7ish hour drive by myself, in completely unfamiliar territory, is evidence that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to go.

I had obsessed over Google maps for the previous, like, month, trying to figure out the best way to go.  I had a plan, including a stop on the way back to visit with a friend in East Tennessee, then Helene tore through and wrecked all those plans.

My friend lives in the 'essential travel only' (henceforth ETO) area.  We discussed meeting up on the edge of said area for a bit as I went by, but she ultimately decided it was going to be too tough to get in and out.  We were sad to not get together (it's been 5 years since we last met up) but...too hard is too hard.

And google maps played with me.  I had planned one route out;  based on what I saw on the North Carolina maps, it looked like the route was good east bound, with some lane closures west bound, so I was going to take the longer route home, with a stop on the way (which I had planned before it became obvious I couldn't meet up with my friend.  Just decided to keep the overnight west of Knoxville to make the trip home easier).  But when I actually tried to bring up the route on my aging tablet  in the driveway before pulling out, the North Carolina route didn't even show up.  Instead, I had the option of going through the ETO area in Tennessee, or driving down to Atlanta and then back North.  And my tablet kept losing the GPS signal; that worried me.

I decided I'd stop for coffee in Starbucks in Chattanooga and check the map again and see what I got.

Then had problems with a tire pressure light about 8 miles from the house.  Not going into the details; turns out it was a problem with the sensor but I lost nearly half an hour dealing with it.  Worth noting that the problem never showed up again on the entire trip.

So, a potty break being a necessity, I stopped at a McDonalds about 1/2 of the way to Chattanooga, scrapping the Sbux plan, got a biscuit, hit the bathroom, and looked at the routes again.  I gave up on the tablet and pulled GM up on the phone.  Still wanted me to go to Atlanta or through the ETO area of Tennessee. I figured there was a problem on the North Carolina route, so  I manually selected the all-interstate route that went up into Virginia to connect with the ONLY interstate that currently crosses North Carolina, the route I planned to use coming back, and got back on the road.

As I approached where I would have headed East, had I been given the option of the NC route, Google suddenly says 'We've found a faster route that will save you 14 minutes'  At that point, I was a little weirded out..  Was there or was there not a problem on that route?  As I got closer to that exit, I decided to stick with my (only 14 minutes, right?) longer route as a Sure Thing and kept going.  I assumed Google would revert back to my route choice, my phone screen being too small to quickly see where it was heading.  I relied on the voice directions, but I had a basic idea of where I was going.

Wrong.  I kept an eye on the ETA (we had been asked to be there between 4 and 5 Eastern) and I was looking pretty good.  Until I got the 'In two miles, take the exit to I 26/ Johnson City' alert.  Apparently, somewhere it had defaulted back to that ETO route  (why, Google??  Why???) and THAT was the '14 minutes longer' one...not the route through VA that I had selected.  It kept trying to reroute me that way at every exit I encountered until I got to Virginia.  Where I discovered that the I-77 exit wasn't around 40-50 miles in, as I had kinda rough estimated from looking at the maps, it was EIGHTY miles in.

I was going to be a bit late.

I knew the 4 - 5 o'clock time recommendation was a  bit ahead of the actual start of the event, but still, it put some stress on me at that point.

There was, however, a real treat going that way.

Virginia. Was. GORGEOUS.

ALL the trees were in full fall color.  One specific tree made a big impression...about 25 miles in, in the middle of the median (which was pretty wide at that point) was a huge, full, rounded maple tree on which all the leaves were a vibrant orange.  The sunlight lit it up so that it almost looked as if it were glowing.  None of the branch tips were bare yet; I'm telling you, it was magnificent.  Took my breath away.

The whole corridor was just brilliant with golds, yellows, reds, oranges..  It was hard to pay attention to the traffic, which was pretty heavy and needed attention. I stole glances as best I could at the display as I passed through.

But there was another treat.  Almost immediately upon getting on I77, which was nearly bumper to bumper in places and running 30 - 40 mph (I did say it is the only interstate that crosses NC right now...), there was a sign warning of an over 7-mile-long descent ahead.  The road literally ran down the bluff and the view off to the left was just unbelievable.  It was a bit hazy, but I could see for miles and miles.  I was glad we were going slow, it gave me the chance to look over at it three or four times on the way down.

It was not really visible on the way back, being over my shoulder as I went up the hill.  If I had come the other way, I wouldn't have seen it.

I got to my destination at about 5:30, with half an hour to get situated in my room before the event began with dinner. Just enough time to shake off the road stress, lol.

I was a bit bummed on both the trip out and the return trip that I couldn't share the beauty;  no one was with me to see it.  I couldn't take photos while I was driving.  It was a purely transitory experience.

Sunrise from the deck of the lodge on Saturday morning....

I will say the conference was worth the trip.  And I will also say that I'm glad I can collect all my travel gear and put it back in its storage spot for the foreseeable future.

And get back into creative mode again.

Everything BUT sewing...

 Good Grief.  How has it been two months since I last posted?  

Things have been ...busy... of late.

I have chipped away at a couple of projects in the sewing room but there's nothing really worth talking about in there.  Which is disappointing.

But, since I last stopped by,  we have had a trip to celebrate our anniversary, I made a spur-of-the-moment drive up to Indiana to help freeze sweet corn, driving up and back by myself,  we've had a holiday and a women's conference and a 10 day trip to Florida, where we spent a large portion of time with all the kids at Disney World.  

I had a button that read : "I am celebrating a New Hip!"...and got wished 'Happy Birthday' SEVERAL times.

Of course, we all did the Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom...and I pulled out the Edna costume for the 3rd time. 

Knowing how these things go now, I got a quick picture in the mirror before we left our (not on Disney property) resort, lol.  Good thing; I didn't get a chance to get a good pic of it later.

I got more reaction to it this year than I got last year; one of the cast members at the entrance told me I was the first Edna Mode he'd seen.  Which surprised me, because you can BUY an Edna Mode costume on Amazon.  But I heard 'No capes!' over and over again all night, lol.

If I could by chance meet up with the actual official Edna character for a picture I could retire the outfit and plan a different one.  I'm thinking Roz from Monsters, Inc, but we'll see.  

 I did NOT get the costumes done for the Florida kids' church wardrobe.  I got a good start on cutting one out, but that was it.  

I'm still working on a massive data repair project that is taking up days off.  I was planning to go in on Friday (our offices are closed on Fridays) for the 3rd time since we found the problem, but...I have laundry from the trip piled up, and we're supposed to have the remnants of a hurricane in our neighborhood on Friday...I may just stay home and do laundry.

And, dare I hope, spend some time in the sewing room?

Healing up...

Yesterday, I actually sat down to the sewing machine and did some sewing whilst having a zoom chat with a number of sewing buddies who all used to be part of the now-defunct Stitcher's Guild (Dragon Lady, I do hope you are doing ok...).

That was the first sewing of any kind that I've done since I whacked my right pinky finger on the mandoline on July 2.  Unfortunately, I can't share what it was because of the nature of the thing.  Sometimes things have to be...secrets.

I will talk about it...eventually, lol.

Actually, quite a lot of my sewing over the next  2- 3 months will be of the 'I can't talk about it on my blog'  ilk.  It will all make sense at the end.

I will take pictures, lol.

But...what I *can* talk about is costuming.  We did a first pass at sorting through the costumes...at least, getting like items all on a rack together instead of spread out over all the racks willy-nilly, which is how they were done.  We are, I am told, getting some additional industrial z-racks so we can refine the sorting somewhat once those come in and are assembled.

Then, perhaps, we can do some sort of inventory and see what we actually have now...which will give us a better idea of what we will need in the future.

I wish I had better organizational skills.  Maybe this will force me to learn some, lol.

On another note, the Great British Sewing Bee finale was last week.  Was anyone watching?  We had a discussion about it on the zoom call this morning and lamented that the quality of sewing just isn't up there ...due mostly to the ridiculous time restraints.  But, also, earlier in the series when the choice was between a fantastic vision/ design that isn't fantastically sewn and a well-sewn but less adventurous design that wasn't quite finished, the not went to the design and the person who had executed well but bitten off more than she could chew in the time allotted went home, I found myself wondering if they were looking for 'Britain's best amateur sewer' or 'Britain's best amateur designer'. I think that subtle shift happened when May Martin (a sewing educator) stepped down as one of the judges and Esme Young ( a fashion designer) took her place. In the final pattern challenge of this series, Patrick emphasized 'We have given you PLENTY  of time' to sew a pair of very fiddly opera gloves.  Looking at how everyone faired...I'd say they gave them plenty of time to sew it perfectly but no extra time to go back and fix mistakes that are likely to be made by someone who's never tackled something like opera gloves.  Of course, the winner of that challenge was the one person who had actually made gloves before.  The other two made mistakes they didn't have time to fix, which was sad.  I am not sure the best skilled sewer is one who never makes mistakes...or one who has the determination and wherewithal to undo and correct a mistake.

 I know  I am never the first type but hopefully the second, lol.

Back to Work

 ...an update of sorts.  I returned to my normal work hours last week so I guess I'm almost restored, lol.

My hip continues to improve; I've been released from physical therapy as they said I had improved enough.  I'm supposed to keep walking and do some strengthening exercises about three times a week.

Um.  yeah, sure...meant to do that...

But I am walking.  I've hit 7K steps pretty regularly and have even made it up to 10 k once or twice.  I'm at 8K right now and am planning to do some laps around the house to get up to 10 before I head to bed tonight.

The foot is still swelling slightly...more if I don't wear the compression socks.  At my post op visit a couple of weeks ago, I told the surgeon what was going on with my foot, and commented that it felt like a bad sprain.  I actually sprained that ankle really bad back in 2001, and it was very similar both in how it felt and how it was restricted.  He got kind of a funny look on his face and said, 'You know, sprains don't  really ever go away...in the course of the surgery we clamped your foot in a big boot-like stirrup and manipulated it pretty aggressively.  It's entirely possible we have aggravated that old injury.'

Well that would explain a LOT, lol.

But I can put on shoes and socks unassisted again, so that's a gain.   I feel like I'm about where I was a year ago, before the situation began to deteriorate at a faster pace.  I should continue to improve, so long as I keep moving, lol.

The finger is still bandaged.  It's extremely tender and I keep it bundled more to insulate it against bumps than to bandage the wound.  It is closing but it's slow.  And I'm making much use of the backspace as I'm posting because...9 finger typing...

On a whole 'nuther topic...We have gotten a dedicated room at church for costuming; a crew actually began the process of sorting and organizing the costumes last week; I'm going to stay late a couple of nights this week to do some as well. I'm told we'll need Bible costumes and some Dickens costumes for the Christmas production this year...not sure what else. Maybe we can get a jump on it and get some things created ahead of time; I'm thinking men's Bible costume vests/over coats, for sure. We seem to have developed a real shortage there... 

Not sure how well I can wrangle hangers with a bummed hand but we'll see....

...and the klutz is at it again...

 Got a mandoline (the slicer, not the instrument, lol) around Christmas last year; finally pulled it out to slice cucumbers for salad on Tuesday.

It was a fairly large cucumber, and I thought, 'My hand is a good 3" above that blade, I'll whittle it down a bit and then use the guard."

Stupid.  Stupid. Stupid.

I did fine for about the first dozen passes, then something happened...still don't know what....and the cuke twisted and threw my pinkie finger right down on the blade.

Y'all.  I was still on aspirin to avoid clots, post surgery.  That thing bled and bled and bled...we went to urgent care, where I went when I stupidly cut my index finger last year, but when I told them I was on aspirin they said I had to go to the ER.

So off we went...to the pricier (and closer) of the two hospitals.  It wasn't stitchable, so they put a compression bandage on it but it was still bleeding profusely after about a half hour (at this point I'd been squeezing my pinkie for about an hour and a half to two hours; my left hand was cramping) so they put some stuff on it to help the blood coagulate, wrapped it up tightly and told me to leave it for 48 hours. 'If it's still bleeding when you change the bandage, come back.'

It hurts worse than last year's injury.  Probably because my finger was twisting as it hit the blade.  I actually went looking for my post surgery pain meds  middle of the night on Tuesday, it hurt that badly.  But I had stashed them so well (didn't actually take them after surgery; it was never that bad) I couldn't find them.  I took an ice pack back to bed and managed to get back to sleep.

Well, not going into gross detail but the non-stick dressing completely adhered to the booboo so when we tried to take it off on Thursday...it pulled on the injury and it started bleeding again.

So we went back.  Following directions.  Was SO excited to go to the ER in the evening on July 4th, but they were surprisingly not busy, at least while we were there.

A soak in a sterile saline bath and the old dressing came free with minimal bleeding so I got bandaged back up and sent home with instructions to change it after another 48 hours.

Just changed the bandage again and that puppy is still oozing when disturbed. And it still hurts, although not so badly as earlier in the week.

Stupid. Stupid.  Been saying that a lot.

So much for getting back in the sewing room.

Sigh.

I am going to get myself some of those chain-mail gloves, lol.

I lost my blogroll...

 This hurts...

I had a long list of blogs that I followed from back in the day.  Unfortunately, some of them have fallen into ...other hands?...and were now being updated with non-sewing material, to put it mildly.

I repeatedly tried to edit out the blogs that were now talking about stuff other than sewing, or that set off my Unsafe Site alert when clicked, or that were now just filled with crazy asian script, but I could. not. get. Blogger to save updates.  The Save button just would NOT activate.  I tried over and over, over several months.

Then I hit on an idea...what if I just made a new blog list widget, with the bloggers that I could remember who were still publishing?  I could copy and paste from the old list pretty easily.  Then I could delete the old one and hopefully not get those random non- sewing links showing up

It was sad to go through the list and see all the fine folks who were no longer blogging.  And, it's true, some had even reactivated after several years of being dormant...that was exciting to see.  But truth was...any non- active blog seems to be subject to being hijacked and used for other purposes so I took a deep breath and just listed the ones I thought were active, as best I could remember.

It saved it...in the wrong place.  I tried to move it, but no dice, so I did a new one...again...

It saved, I thought, but all I managed to do was get rid of both the old list and the list in the wrong place.  The list in the right place, for whatever reason, didn't save.

So I will likely have to reconstruct it all from scratch again and that will take some time.

Bummer.

I guess this is the kind of thing that happens when I can't actually sew, lol.

I will say I am recovering from the hip surgery slowly.  It's one week out today and I actually managed to lift my foot high enough to get over the edge of the bathtub, so I could take a real shower.  Hooray for small victories...

New Parts....

 Specifically, a new right hip.  Installed on Thursday...and I'm really amazed at how little pain I have today.  And today is worse than yesterday, lol.  I figure tomorrow will be about the same and then we should start seeing improvement.  I hope to be consistently walking without the walker in a week.  I can do it a little now...but I'm trying to be good....

Incredible what new tecniques are out there for these things.  That surgery took 30 minutes.  

Maybe in a few weeks I can actually put on my own socks and tie my shoes again....

And get back into the sewing room.  I'm behind. ;-)