Sew Confused

Fabric Purchases

2011-07-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

I stopped into Joann tonight to pick up a few notions and ended up buying more fabric.

I love this one; it's destined to be made up into Collette 0003. Yes, it's quilting cotton. Yes, it came from Joann but look at that print!

(The fabric is actually black and white-white. I apologize for the poor photos. The only cameras I have right now are my 35mm SLR film camera and my iPhone.)

And this corduroy is destined to be some kind of garment for my granddaughter. I only bought a yard, so I'm not sure what.

Or it could be that the fabric will just age in my stash. I do have, after all, a beautiful one-yard piece of silk suiting that's been aging for almost two decades.

Game On!

2011-07-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

In a supreme act of confidence or blatant self-delusion, I entered the "One Pattern, Many Looks" contest at PatternReview.com. As described in the constest thread, "The main focus of this contest is to see how you can make the same pattern look very different by using different fabric, trim and color combinations." So no major drafting changes, which is fine with me since I have, oh, zero drafting skillz.

I selected McCall's 2818, a Palmer/Pletsch, Classic Fit Pattern. My fabric is metallized quilting cotton purchased at Joann. I was hoping to end up with a wearable muslin. I selected my pattern size, 12, based on my high bust. After tissue fitting, I lowered the bust apex by 1" as always and cut my fabric. I encountered some difficulty during assembly easing the princess seams; there seemed to be quite a lot of fabric to ease. I'm surmising that the metallic finish on the cotton was the cause of the problem.

Anyway, once all the main pieces were assembled, complete with zipper I tried on the top. WOW, what a disappointment. There was quite a lot of excess fullness along the princess seam above the bust apex and the front seemed to be just a tad too wide above the bustline.

Being spatially challenged, I had no idea how the fabric I had pinned out of my top related to the flat pattern pieces so I decided to follow an excellent piece of advice from Belinda at PatternReview.com.

"Let the toile tell you how, what and where to alter."

My toile, or muslin in American-speak, certainly had a lot to say. I pinned out the extra fullness and marked my fabric. Then I took everything apart, altered my pattern pieces based on what the muslin was telling me. I was hesitant to recut because the new pattern pieces were dramatically different from the originals but I trusted my muslin, took the plunge and cut. And it fits!

There are still issues. First, my alteration radically changed the shape of the arm scye. I don't think I can alter my facings to match so I'm going to have to finish them with bias binding instead. Since the armhold facing was integrated with the neck facing, well, yeah...that's getting the bias binding treatment, too. Also, the upper chest is still just a tad too wide and I'm not sure how I'm going to fix that yet. I might just try a small, inverted box pleat at the center neckline edge. Not sure.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure my muslin will end up wearable, at least for knocking around the house and garden (good-bye farmer tan!) and I'm confident I can whip up a couple more of these before the contest deadline. So there you have it!

Black Linen

2011-07-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

The other day my husband and I were getting ready to go out to dinner to celebrate my dad's 85th birthday. I was wearing this top and was opining...okay, I was whining...that I needed a black linen jacket to wear with it.

It's not as though I don't have a jacket pattern that would be perfect in linen. I do and how cute is that pleated peplum in the back?

I even have a piece of black linen. I'm just not sure if it's "the right linen" for a jacket. Hopefully, someone can chime in and help me out.

This is actually a linen/rayon blend that is fairly lightweight. Held up to a window, you can clearly see daylight through the weave. I think it might be too thin for a jacket, or at the very least would require lining. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Too thin? A different design, maybe?

Not Quite What Was Expected

2011-07-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with this pattern the first time I saw it; I really liked the bodice with overlay. However, when it came to actually making the top, the bodice with overlay caused me some problems. I needed to lengthen the bodice by 1 inch, which seemed pretty straight forward; however an unintended consequence was too much fullness in the overlay across the bust. I actually set the top aside for about a month and worked on some Christmas sewing because I was pretty stumped about how to remove the fullness.

So I finally took the plunge to finish is. I tried on the top and pinched out the fullness over the bust, which was about 1 inch at the side seam, tapering off at the bust apex. Then I took the whole thing apart and stared at it for a while. Finally, I decided to just position the overlay under the bodice with the placement that I wanted, smooth it all out and trace the outline of the bocide onto the overlay. Then I put it all back together and was grateful that it fit reasonably well.

The only other thing that caused me a problem, and caused me to scratch my head as well, was the sleeves. I have what could only be described as fairly burly forearms. But the sleeves, which on the pattern looked as though they were close fitting, were enormous. I first sewed them with the regular 5/8 inch seam allowance, tried on the top, and could only laugh; they were absolutely ludicrous! I ended up taking the 5/8 inch at the underarm seam, tapering to 1-7/8 inches at the hem! I'm not sure what was up with that. I'm pretty sure that most women would need to take them in even more.

The last thing - and this is no fault of the pattern - is that my top is far dressier than I expected. I'm sure this is due to my fabric choice. But now I have a really cute, fairly dressy top that I'm not sure where I will wear it. It's just a bit too dressy for the grocery store, gardening or scrubbing the bathroom. The photo on the pattern jacket shows the top in what appears to be a solid cotton knit. View A is drawn in a print and I thought it still looked fairly casual, which is probably where I got the idea that I could use the red and black jersey and have an every day top. My bad!

The top is still just a tad short from shoulder to bodice seam but other than that the fit is reasonable. As I mentioned, I would not recommend this pattern to someone who would need to lengthen the bodice unless they also needed a full bust adjustment. The other thing that happened by lengthening the bodice is that the v-neck took quite a plunge. So I tacked it at a more modest level. I also tacked the overlay to the bodice to keep it in place.

I may sew this pattern again, but it is far more likely that I'll try a wrap top that does not have a horizontal seam under the bust.

On the other hand, my husband loves it.

(Note: Garment was completed and reviewed at Pattern Review in January of '08.)

Adding to the Pattern Stash

2011-07-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

Because you can never have enough, right?

Simplicity patterns were on sale at Joann today for $1.99 so of course I had to make a special trip to pick up a few items from my wish list.

I picked up six patterns for $11.94, a savings of $87.76 off retail. Not that anyone actually pays the marked price, do they? I don't think so. I hope not.

Of the six patterns, four are for jackets or coats.

S2150: I've been lusting after this one since I first saw it last month. I like View A, the denim jacket.

S2508: The white one is awfully similar to a coat my daughter's been wanting.

S2560: Oh, won't I just be the trendsetter in this one!

S2341: I have BIG PLANS for this one. More on that another time.

The other two patterns are for tops.

S2364

S2594

Two of the patterns - 2560 and 2364 - call for knits, which is pretty unusual for me. I really need to get over the fear of my serger and I love these two patterns enough that they just might motivate me to do that.

A Clever Tool

2011-06-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Check out this clever invention for adding seam allowances to pattern pieces. Home sewists rock!

Fashion or...Something Else?

2011-03-02T00:26:00.000-08:00

Fashion can be kind of crazy. Check out this gown from Givenchy's Spring 2000 collection.

Old news, I know, but I stumbled across it today and it really struck me...it looks just like something I once made!

Now I'm wondering if I missed my calling as a fashion designer. See more beautiful gowns.

(Disclaimer: My cheesecloth ghosts served eerily for many Halloweens; now their spirits have been set free to pass on to the other side. I snagged this photo from the Martha Stewart website.)

Apron: Fashion Accessory?

2010-02-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

I was looking for an interesting pattern (free pattern...yes, I am just that cheap) for an apron and look what turned up. The woman who wrote this back in 1926 took her aprons seriously!

Did you ever stop to consider how many different kinds of aprons there were? A great, big, roomy, coverall apron for mother when guests are expected and important things are happening in the kitchen. A wee bit of a lace apron for the person who is in charge of the tea-urn at five o'clock. A smart bungalow apron to make household duties seem pleasant, and a rather petty apron with deep pockets for the sewing room. And, of course, sweet little aprons for the kiddies—gaily colored and bound with an almost grown-up regard for smartness.

You see, there are really so many interesting kinds of aprons that the subject deserves a lesson all by itself. We're going to teach you little important points about tea-aprons and work-aprons, children's aprons and chafing-dish aprons. And when you are all finished with the lesson, you are actually going to make a pretty apron for yourself.

It sounds like something out of a simpler, safer and happier time, but every generation has it's burdens. The women who were sewing aprons in 1926 were just a few years away from the Great Depression, child birth was a major cause of death for women, and people still routinely died from smallpox. I need to remind myself of these things when I yearn for simpler times.

Goals for 2010

2010-01-03T00:22:00.000-08:00

I have a few sewing goals for 2010 and without going into too much detail, here they are:

Master the use of my serger. It's old and not very fancy, but it's functional and it's a crime to just let it sit.
Master the use of my sewing machine. It's relatively new and very fancy so it's an even bigger crime to fail to use all the features.
When I say "master the use of my sewing machine," that includes the embroidery function.
Make a well-fitting blazer. This will have to come towards the end of the year because, of course, one of my other goals is to lose a few (okay, maybe more than a few) pounds.

That's it for now. I'll have to come up with some intermediate steps for the first three goals so I can measure my progress.

Love Me Some Doll Clothes

2009-10-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

I love dolls so it should come as no surprise that I love making doll clothes. The "clients" patiently endure fitting after fitting, and they never complain about my fabric choices. It's been many, many years since I've made doll clothes so now that I have a granddaughter of suitable age, I thought the time was right to indulge myself.

The clothes for American Girl dolls are large enough so you can add lots of fun details, yet still small enough so that they can be made from mere scraps. My granddaughter was the lucky hand-me-down recipient of one of her aunt's American Girl dolls - her Girl of Today (I was the lucky recipient of Josephina and, yes, I will eventually make clothes for her as well) and now I plan for her - my granddaughter, that is - to be the lucky recipient of a hand made wardrobe for her doll as well. I'll be using Simplicity 7083, which includes enough pieces for a nice-sized wardrobe.

I made the first piece today, a pair of white twill "jeans." They turned out well despite a few construction details that left me scratching my head, most notably a back seam opening where the fabric doesn't overlap. Instead, the overlap is constructed by offsetting the Velcro. No pictures of this because I didn't have any Velcro on hand, but I'll be sure to post photos when that's complete. Unless that works out a lot better than I'm imagining, I'll probably modify the pattern to add an overlap before making the pants again.

They do fit the doll beautifully. After I make the matching jacket, I'll post a photo of the outfit on the model.

I added some embroidery on the hem/side seam of the right leg of the pants. I used a vine stitch on my sewing machine to stitch the leaves, then added hand-worked French knots. I'll do something that coordinates when I make the jacket.

I constructed these little pants entirely using my sewing machine, by first zig-zag finishes all the exposed seam allowances, then stitching the seams. I would have used my serger (you see how bold I am becoming!) but I didn't have enough spools of white thread to pull it off.

An Ending and a Beginning

2009-10-25T00:25:00.000-07:00

When I made the decision not to make any kind of hoody out of my Skullz fabric, I knew it meant the end of my beloved, faithful sweatpants, as my intention was to cut them apart to use as a pattern for a new pair. Yes, I could have purchased a pattern - I actually have a pattern for sweatpants - but my old pair was so comfy that I wanted another pair just like them.

To be honest, my sweats had long ago passed retirement age. How long ago? My husband nearly wept with joy when I told him I was going to cut them apart. Me: But they're comfortable! Him: You look like a homeless person! Me: A comfortable homeless person! It would be tempting to describe them as ratty, but that's not really fair to the rats of the world.

It took about two hours to pick the sweats apart and steam out the permanent bagginess in the knees and seat and produce this pattern piece. Because my fabric was bordering in the "not quite enough" range, I cut off 3 inches at the top with the intention of adding it back with a solid black casing. You can see I also pinned out some length in the crotch; roughly 2 inches in the back and tapering to 1-1/2 inches in the front.

Here's a close up of the part that's worn through. This is probably the main reason my husband thought they made me look like a homeless person. By way of explanation, I have extremely short legs combined with cold feet. It seemed natural to pull the excess length down onto my feet. Sort of like open-toed footy pajamas.

Now for the big surprise...I used my serger! Some of you might know that I don't have a warm relationship with my serger like I do with my sewing machine, the incomparable Lily. Actually, I'm fairly terrified of my serger. I think that's partly related to being spatially challenged and the serging process being so final. And partly related to high speeds and sharp, moving knives.

I've had my serger for over ten years and this is only the second time I've used it on an actual garment. It's not an expensive serger; it is a Kenmore and I received it as a gift from my parents (who knew nothing about sergers; I was surprised they even knew of sergers). But even with my lack of serging expertise, it produces what I think are very credible results.

It had been years since I'd sewn a pair of elastic/drawsting pants and I'd forgotten how fast it is! Before you knew it, I was ready to hem them up. I had serge finished the bottom edge before sewing the pants together. To finish, I folded up a 1 inch hem allowance and top-stitched it from the right side. I like the way it looks on the inside and the outside. Not quite as nice or easy as a cover stitch machine, but close enough.

Things I'll do differently next time:

Make sure I have enough fabric. The sewn on casing is functional but looks kind of funky. Not that it's a big deal; these are strictly for around the house wear, but I'd still prefer self-fabric.
Make a smaller opening for the drawstring and do a better job of stabilizing the area.
Redraw the legs to make the finished pants slightly less tapered.
Give more careful consideration to the elastic/drawstring.

The new sweats are fine, but don't seem as comfy and warm as the old ones. I'm not sure if that's due to differences in the fabric or because the old pair had elastic at the ankles while the new pair does not or the changes I made to the pattern. Or if it's just in my head.

Skullz

2009-10-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

I bought this sweatshirt fleece last January and it's been aging in my stash ever since. Yes, I got strange looks from both my husband and my youngest daughter when I brought it home. I'm not sure why I fell in love with it. It may be that I'm entering my second childhood prematurely.

My original intention was to make a pair of sweat pants for bumming around the house. Working from home as I do, bumming around the house is a daily activity so the pants would definitely get a lot of use...but they wouldn't be a garment I would ever wear in public.

Which brings me to my dilemma. I love this fabric so much, I started wondering if maybe I shouldn't make a hoody, which might be a little more versatile. That idea was squelched when I measured the fabric. I have a scant yard and a quarter, and it hasn't yet been laundered.

That's probably not enough for a full on hoody, so now I'm thinking about a hooded vest. I wear activewear-style vests frequently, so I think it's a good option. I'm looking for opinions. Am I crazy to consider wearing this fabric outside the house? Vest? Sweatpants? Something for my granddaughter?

What do you think?

Book Review: Fine Machine Sewing by Carol Ahles

2009-10-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

As stated in the introduction, "This book is for all sewers who want high-quality machine stitching, finishing, and embellishing without headaches, whatever their level of expertise." The book is an excellent reference and should not be considered as having value only to those interested in heirloom sewing.

Ms. Ahles covers such basic topics as fabric preparation, thread, needles, presser feet, stabilizers and tension, among others. She encourages sewists to maintain sample notebooks of their favorite techniques that include fabric swatches, presser feet used, stitch width and length, tension adjustments and any other information required to produce excellent results. Chapter 2, Easy Ways to Achieve Precision in Your Sewing, alone is worth the price of the book, discussing cutting and marking techniques and creative methods for guiding your fabrics to the needle.

Each chapter ends with a few frequently asked questions that expand on the topics discussed. Realizing that the same stitch might be given a variety of names by different sewing machine manufacturers, each stitch mentioned is diagrammed in the sidebars. The sidebars also include tips such as "Some machines have more than one feather pattern. The feather pattern with a straight stitch down the middle is usually the easiest to learn.

Aside from the wealth of how-to information, Ms. Ahles makes it clear that home sewists need not settle for mediocre results, when today's sewing machines are capable of so much more. The book encourages you to challenge your machine and yourself to achieve beautiful results.

Index/Chapter headings
Chapter 1: Getting the Best Results
Chapter 2: Easy Ways to Achieve Precision in Your Sewing
Chapter 3: Decorative Edges and Creative Applique
Chapter 4: Twin Needle Stitching
Chapter 5: Hemstitching
Chapter 6: Replicating Vintage Lace and Entredeux Techniques
Chapter 7: Fagoting
Chapter 8: Hemming and Re-hemming, Plain or FAncy
Chapter 9: Narrow Hemming
Appendix A: What to Look for in a Sewing Machine
Appendix B: Machine Settings for Decorative Techniques
Appendix C: Caring for Your Sewing Machine

PaperBack or HardBound? Paperback (199 pages, including appendices).

Does this book have clear illustrations or photographs? Yes.

Storing Patterns

2009-10-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

As you might imagine if you saw the frightening state of my sewing space, I have "a few" patterns scattered about. While it's tempting to just stash them in a box to get them out of the way, I decided I might as well do it right.

Maybe it's just me, but I find most pattern envelopes to be terribly inadequate. They're flimsily made and once the pattern has been taken out and used, trying to fit it back into the envelope is nearly impossible in the absence of mad origami skillz.

My solution (yes, I have a system; the issue is to "use it.") is to store patterns in 9" X 12" catalog envelopes. Each pattern has it's own catalog envelope. I cut the orginal envelope apart. The front of the original envelope is pasted onto the front of the catalog envelope; the back of the original envelope goes inside with the pattern pieces and instructions. The envelopes are stored in banker's boxes, filed by pattern number without regard to manufacturer.

Catalog envelopes open on the short end of the envelope, unlike booklet envelopes which open along the top. Banker's boxes are sturdy, cardboard boxes that come in either standard or legal size with a variety of closure options (I like the kind that have separate lids). Both catalog envelopes and banker's boxes are available at office supply stores such as Office Max or Staples.

Three reasons why this works well for me. (1) The catalog envelopes fit perfectly in a standard banker's box. (2) After using a pattern, I don't have to spend hours refolding the pieces so that they'll fit into the original envelope. (3) When I want to buy fabric for a particular pattern, the yardage requirements (the back of the envelope) are ready to go with me.

Whew! It's Dusty In Here

2009-10-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

But this is nothing compared to the condition of my sewing room. It's time to put some serious thought into organizing my sewing and work space so that the two can peacefully co-exist...and I can easily move from one to the other without have to moved piles of paper and other crap, er, important stuff. Even simple mending projects are piling up because I can't find my needles!

What you see here is the result of two hours of semi-dedicated labor (okay, I was watching Stargate Universe and cleaning at the same time) and you can see I still have a long way to go. I'm going to stick with this so I can get my sewing mojo back!

Senior Prom

2009-04-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my daughter came to me and asked if I would consider making her dress for senior prom. Of course I said yes and we immediately got online to look for a pattern. Most of what we saw was pretty uninspiring, until we stumbled across Vogue 2847.

We both thought it was cute and original and I didn’t think it looked all that difficult so we were off Joann to pick up the pattern, fabric (red polyester crepe-backed satin) and supplies. We’re making the long version, with straps.

As it turns out, it’s not a “what you see is what you get” kind of pattern. Underneath the deceptively simple look is a closely fitted and boned bustier designed to support the strapless bodice. Duh!

My daughter is a size 8 in the waist and hips, a size 12 at the full bust and a size 10 at the high bust. I elected to start work on the foundation layer of the dress using a size 10 pattern, planning to make a full bust adjustment.

Here is the first fitting of the bustier cut from the unaltered, size 10 pattern.

This was definitely too small in the bust, so alterations were definitely required. I own a copy of the excellent book, Fit For Real People, but it unfortunately doesn’t include any examples of how to perform a full bust adjustment on a princess seam when that seam is cut by another seam line. Looking at the flat pattern pieces and being able to envision how they fit together to conform to the body is not my sewing super power, so I looked to the web for instructions. Naturally, my first search turned up Debbie Cook’s Princess FBA tutorial, complete with animations.

Debbie’s tutorial is also for an unbroken princess seam line, but I watched the animations over and over, alternating those viewings with time spent ~~staring blankly at~~ contemplating the pattern pieces.

When I was confident that I understood the concept behind the FBA, I proceeded. I split the foundation upper side front from bust apex to side seam to add length over the bust. I also redrew the princess seam line to add more fullness.

Then I added corresponding length and fullness to the foundation center front.

And here are photos of the second fitting.

Those changes made quite an improvement to the overall fit of the foundation. My main concern at this point was to eliminate the dragline running from seam to seam under the bust. It looked to me as though we needed more fullness to accommodate the lower inside area of her bust.

On advice from MarthaA24 and Nancy K at PatternReview.com, I opened up the seam joining the center upper front to the center lower front and determined that I needed to add about a quarter of an inch to the bottom, like so:

Here are the results of that change on our third fitting.

I still had some concerns about the center front. It was standing about 3/4 to an inch away from her chest but after once again consulting with the good ladies at PatternReview, I was convinced that the bodice fit just fine. (Thanks, Marji!)

Somewhere in this process, we made the decision to add bra cups to the dress. Her strapless bra (that’s her $60 “professionally fitted” strapless bra from Victoria’s Secret) didn’t seem to be providing secure support. We fiddle with it for a bit and determined that we probably should have purchased a 32 rather than a 34C. Bra cups seemed like a nice, inexpensive option and I think (hope) it will work out nicely.

My next step will be to alter the bodice front (the part that’s designed to look like the loops on a bow) to fit the foundation. I've always wanted to make a prom dress and I'm flattered that my daughter had the confidence in my sewing skills to ask me to make this dress. This may be a case where I should have been more careful what I wished for. While I love collaborating with my daughter on this project, it's very stressful because, obviously, I want her to be completely and totally in love with the dress when it's finished. That's a lot of extra pressure. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Princess Dress Update

2008-09-01T22:25:00.001-07:00

I got the go ahead for spaghetti straps for the princess dress. Here's a sketch of the re-designed bodice. I'm not sure what fabric I'm going to use...something inexpensive as we are, after all, talking about a play dress. Another reason for an inexpensive fabric is that I think it's going to take yards and yards of it counting petticoats, etc.

But at the same time, I want it to look very princess like. I haven't been to the fabric store in ages - it's safer that way - but I think it's time for a trip.

A Princess Dress

2008-08-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call from my granddaughter the other day (yes, the same one who was the happy recipient of the BWOF ensemble and the dragonfly dress) asking for a princess dress. I am only too happy to oblige.

The dress will be for playing dress-up, I assume, so it's no holds barred, nothing is too far over the top! Yeah! What you see here are my preliminary sketches. I've gone ahead and designed it as sleeveless, but I'm asking my daughter for permission to go with spaghetti straps instead...as close as I want to get to strapless for a five year old (so I guess not every hold is barred). If I don't get the go ahead for spaghetti straps, I'll have to decide between the armhole with and the armhole without the ruffle.

No fabric has yet been chosen, but the color will, of course, be pink!

Aw, Shucks!

2008-08-29T20:34:00.001-07:00

Gosh, it's good to be welcomed back by so many of you...I feel even more like a dog for dropping off the face of the earth, but it's nice to be missed.

Just a quick clarification, as there seems to be some confusion. I do have two grandchildren, but only one granddaughter. Kara is 5 and started Kindergarten on Monday, and her brother, John, is 2-1/2. Their new brother, Luke, will be making his debut on September 23rd.

A Disaster Narrowly Averted

2008-08-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, my daughter bought a dress to wear in her brother-in-law's wedding, rather than having me make the Maggie London dress. She took the dress, which was cleverly purchased off the sale rack at Nordstrom, to the cleaner this week to have it steamed.

Daughter called this afternoon in a panic. She had picked the dress up today and there was a small, a tiny, a miniscule cut in the fabric, at the bottom of the center front pleat. She brought the dress over for me to have a look. The tiny cut was right right below the pleat and right on the pressed edge. It didn't show much, but it did show. I used a tiny piece of fusible knit interfacing on the inside to reinforce the area, then stitched the pleat another quarter of an inch down, turning the pressed edges under slightly to hide the cut. It worked acceptably well.

Now that cut may have been there before she dropped it off at the cleaners but there's no way to know for sure. Even though she asked that the dress be steamed, they pressed it; so what were soft folds became sharp creases. I suspect that the flaw was hidden in the fold and only became obvious when the pleats were pressed.

And as it turns out, they cut was the least of the problem. Not only did they do a poor job of pressing, but they managed to shrink the dress as well. Seriously, I could barely zip it up, even though it fit perfectly last week. I was certain that I was going to rip it if I pulled it together any tighter. We did finally manage to zip it all the way up, but it's uncomfortably tight. She figures she can wear it for the pictures and the ceremony, then change afterwards.

So as the title implies, disaster was averted, but by the narrowest of margins.

I'm Baa-aack!

2008-08-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

And many thanks to those of you who were thoughtful enough to inquire about me while I was incommunicado. I hope you'll all accept my apologies for leaving you hanging. I lost my sewing mojo, I was busy with work and family, my computer was acting up and...I've been obsessed researching colleges for my youngest daughter, the main criteria being will she qualify for a fat scholarship at said colleges.

Well I'm still busy with work and family, still researching colleges and my mojo's still in hiding but I did get a nice, new 22" LCD Touch Screen All-In-One PC for my birthday (Friday). And my darling middle daughter, the mother of my two - soon to be three - adorable grandchildren, finally found the USB cable that had gone missing when they moved house So without further ado, here are pictures of my granddaughter in the dragonfly dress with hemstitching and the BWOF capris-not-bloomers and tunic.

I am still working on the Maggie London dress for my oldest daughter. She won't be using it for the wedding, and I must say, I'm happy about that. I was not looking forward to making that dress out of polyester crepe backed satin. I'm going to finish the practice dress using the cherry print cotton, then we're going to get something really nice and make a little black dress that will be a little more versatile. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Something Unexpected

2008-06-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Look what I found in my yard today! We don't have a lot of butterflies in Western Washington. They are uncommon enough that seeing one fly by on a hot day is a treat. So you can imagine how surprised I was when I found this absolutely perfect specimen on the ground in my garden today. It's actually not quite dead, but nearly. It was being attacked by tiny red ants when I found it, so I was just in time to preserve it. I'm pressed for time right now, so this was the best photo I could get in a hurry. I'll try to post one with better color later.

Refresher Course

2008-06-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you remember these BWOF pants that I posted about here. Or maybe you don't. Either way, let me just say that my oldest and youngest daughters had serious doubts about the cuteness of these pants.

I finally got the pants mailed off to my granddaughter in Texas. There was quite a delay as they were moving and I didn't want to mail them until they were all settled in their new home. Anyway, I got a call from my daughter and granddaughter yesterday to let me know that the package had arrived and...they loved the pants! I am vindicated!

Photos of the my granddaughter wearing the pants along with the coordinating top (and the butterfly dress, too, but not at the same time) forthcoming...

Ugly Stepsister

2008-06-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

I completed my third skirt for the Hundred Skirts Project, Garden Party. I am not loving it. That being said, it has flowers and pink ric-rac, so I'm sure that there's a little girl at The Shadow of His Wings orphanage in Guatemala who will love it.

There are a couple of things about the skirt that I do love, such as the pockets. I like these so much, in fact, that I'm hanging onto my template so I can use it again.

I also like the way I placed the ric-rac so that it's only partially showing. I copied this idea from Bloom's Fabric Obsession, where she used it to good effect on 50s-inspired pockets to dress up a simple skirt. Placing the ric-rac like this did entail some hand basting, but these skirts are so small, it really doesn't take any time at all.

To learn more about the Hundred Skirts Project, visit Vintage Threads
.

Hemstitching

2008-06-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

After seeing the hemstitching on my Daisy Chain skirt, Dawn commented, "I love that hemstitching. Seeing things like that make me sometimes wish my machine had more than just the basics."

What's pretty cool about hemstitching is that you don't necessarily need a lot of special stitches on your machine. In the sample on the right, I used various utility stitches on my machine, machine embroidery thread (and bobbin thread) and a 100/16 wing needle. From top to bottom:

Feather Stitch
Zig-zag Stitch*
Ladder Stitch
Triple Stretch Stitch
Blanket Stitch
Overcast Stitch

*I stitched over the zig-zag twice, taking care that the needle went into the same holes.

So while they're not a daisy chain, you can still get some pretty nice effects. The main thing to keep in mind when choosing stitches is the more times the needle goes in and out of the same hole, the more "open" your hemstitching will appear.

Yikes!

2008-06-21T08:15:00.001-07:00

Rhonda in Montreal asked if the hemstitching on the Daisy Chain skirt was done by hand. I'll answer that with a resounding "NO!" I do resort to hand sewing at the first hint of difficulty, but even I draw the line somewhere!

The hemstitching is done using one of the many choices found on my Baby Lock Ellegante and a big, ole' wing needle. I first saw the technique in the excellent book, Fine Machine Sewing, by Carol Laflin Ahles and was encouraged to try it by Bunny on a dress I was making for my granddaughter. I first checked Fine Machine Sewing out of the library and kept it until they wouldn't let me renew it anymore. I'm happy to report that my very own copy is now waiting to be picked up at my local Barnes and Noble.

While today we're lucky enough to have amazing sewing machines that produce perfectly precise hemstitches, in days gone by these stitches were done by hand, but probably not by homestead wives for every day wear!

Something Simple and a Confession

2008-06-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

I took a break from work, family responsibilities and my daughter's Maggy London dress and sewed something quick and easy: another skirt for Charity's Hundred Skirts Project. I've sewn a grand total of two with five remaining to fulfill my pledge.

Let me present to you "Daisy Chain." This skirt utilized the remnants from the BWOF tunic I made for my granddaughter.

I modified the pattern ever so slightly from the one I used to make Animal Farm, chiefly by lengthening it to compensate for the lack of ruffle and by making the casing wider to make it "just a little" easier to insert the elastic.

Daisy Chain's unique design elements are an attched tie belt, pocket with hemstitching and button details and a "daisy chain" hem.

Here's a view of the daisy chain hemstitching. Although the hemstitching takes time, it's really an easy way to finish a hem.

Extreme closeup of the hemstitching.

Backside of the hem with the fabric trimmed close to the hemstitching.

Pocket detail.

Extreme closeup of the hemstitching on the pocket.

Here's the back side of the tie belt. I would have preferred to be able to make the belt two-sided but I didn't have enough fabric. My results with my rolled hem foot continue to improve.

Now for the confession. I did not use my serger to construct this skirt (hanging my head in shame). I wanted something quick and easy and that did not include wrestling my serger into a usable location and re-threading it with appropriately colored thread. Maybe next time (evil grin).

Then and Now

2008-06-15T08:40:00.001-07:00

Circa 1929

Circa 1946

Circa 1960

Circa 1963

Christmas 2007

Love you, Dad.

Something New

2008-06-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

A new technique for me today...I inserted my first invisible zipper. My daughter bought a strapless dress at Value Village. It was in really good condition except that the invisible zipper was broken. Hey! No problem! And it wasn't a problem, it was easy-peasy!

Easy, that is, once I figured out how to attach the zipper foot to my sewing machine. Even with my glasses, print on the package was so tiny, I needed my magnifying glass to read it. Then they expected me to have arcane knowledge of my sewing machine: long shank* or short? How am I supposed to know? It certainly doesn't say in my manual. How do those pieces fit together? How do I attach them to my sewing machine? Aaaack!

Then, once I deciphered the insertion instructions on the package, piece of cake! Except - oops! - I sewed the zipper to the outside of the dress. So it was back to those instructions, where I realized I'd overlooked a key piece of information the first time.

So I tried again, and it worked like a charm...the zipper is on the inside of the dress, where it belongs! If you're interested, she plans on wearing the dress like a jumper, over a thin, white t-shirt.

*Long shank, haha! This reminds me of the evil villain in my favorite movie, Braveheart - Edward Longshanks. Don't you all think Mel looks really good in blue?

First Fitting, B4915

2008-06-14T17:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had our first fitting of the Q&D muslin. I learned many things, such as the tissue fitting was an apparent waste of time and my original pattern alterations were - essentially - unnecessary.

Here's the front. Notable on the front is that her bust apex is approximately 1 inch lower than the apex marked on the pattern. One thing that is not apparent from this angle is that the front gaps away from her body a bit. I am not sure why. My first instinct is that she needs more bust room but she is only a B cup so I'm not sure. I am not sure if lowering the apex is critical with this design or not, since the fullness is coming from below the bust rather than from the side. I loosened the bodice pieces from the midriff and pulled the ends down about half an inch, which helped. Now I would say that it's not really gapping, but it does not fit snug up against her body.

The armscye is also to high and way too tight on the front. She tells me that she has this problem all the time with RTW and actually can't wear woven tops unless she goes up one size. Of course, my pattern alteration exacerbated this problem.

The back, on the other hand, fits beautifully with no gapping at all on the inside edges of the bodice. In the photo, you can see some pulling across the midriff. I may have pinned the sides too tight or it may be related to the problems with the armscye; not sure which.

Here is the back armhole. There is just the tiniest little gap here. I'm not even going to try to figure out how to fix this until it fits properly in the front and at the underarm.

That's pretty much it. I'm cutting a new muslin without the broad back adjustment. I'm scooping out about half an inch from the front and bottom of the armhole and adding about 1/2 inch of extra seam allowance under the arms to compensate for her developed lats. I'm hoping to have it ready for another fitting tomorrow.

Quick and Dirty (Not to Mention Ugly)

2008-06-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

I cut out the quick and dirty muslin for the Maggy London dress I'm making for my daughter. Do you not love the charming fabric? At one time, like about 12 years ago, I was going to use this with a coordinating fabric in a twirly dress for Jennifer. I saw it made up a Joann...I swear it was cute. Really.

Haven't really had a chance to sew it up, though. My dad's health issues are once again my top priority. We were going to do the first fitting tomorrow, but between another trip to the hospital and paid work that needs to be completed, I'm probably going to have to cancel again.

At any rate, posting will probably be irregular for the next week or so. Once again, your prayers for my dad's health would be appreciated.

More About Daughters

2008-06-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

You've already met Becky, my oldest daughter. Today I'd like to introduce you to Jennifer, my youngest daughter. Today we are pretty excited because she's been selected as a semi-finalist in the National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP).

NHRP is administered by the College Board, the same organization that administers National Merit and Advanced Placement. While NHRP Scholars don't receive a scholarship like National Merit Finalists do, many schools do offer scholarships.

This could be huge for us. We've always planned on paying for college and we can certainly do so. But a fat scholarship would sure make things easier. I did some checking online yesterday and many schools offer full tuition scholarships to NHRP scholars. Schools like Arizona, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. And smaller schools like Westminster College, Knox and Bowling Green.

Jennifer is smart but what sets her apart from a lot of the other smart kids is that she has worked super hard in school since about the second grade. Her drive and focus are staggering. This is a child who has never needed nagging to get her to do her homework. And she swims and plays the violin!

The final word will arrive in September, not so far away, but the suspense is killing me already.

Round 1, Continued

2008-06-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

I continued working on Round 1 of alterations on Butterick 4915 this evening. I now have two altered pattern pieces, the Upper Front and Upper Back. I'll be using them along with the unaltered Middle Front and Middle Back pieces to construct a bodice muslin for a fitting on Thursday evening. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Thanks to Marita and Birgitte for your advice, and to Gwen for stopping by and offering some moral support. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out or just to let me know you're there.

Completely Off Topic

2008-06-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't be much of a mother if I weren't inordinately proud of my daughters. I actually know more than a few people who surely think I'm overly and irrationally proud of mine.

It just so happens that my oldest daughter, Becky, the lucky recipient of the Maggy London dress I wrote about in yesterday's post, has just made her first post to her new blog, Becky Hartman, Professional Student.

Becky is going to make a wonderful nurse, and I'm looking forward to keeping track of her progress on her blog. If you get a chance, take a minute to stop by her blog and get to know her a little better and leave her a comment if you have the time.

Round 1

2008-06-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

I spent some quality time with Fit For Real People today. I laid the pattern pieces of B4915 out on my desk next to my computer while I worked, awaiting some brilliant flash of insight as to how to best alter them.

I can't say that I had a lightening bolt moment, but I do at least have a starting point, which is progress in itself. Here's a photo of the original pattern piece, with my first alteration cutting line marked in red. I know it's hard to see here; however, if you open it in it's own window, you can see it quite clearly. My plan was to cut out a box around the armscye, slide it over 3/4", then redraw the side seam. This was also going to increase the width of the shoulder strap.

Here it is after I moved the armscye and redrew the side seam, waiting to be cut out. You can see I also extended the shoulder strap a ridiculous amount; I wanted enough length to just be able to pin it to fit at the next fitting. You can also see that I've redrawn the armscye. My daughter's shoulders are broad, but not as broad as her back is wide, so I removed 1/2" of what was added when I made the broad back alteration.

Here's a detail shot of the armscye and shoulder.

Here's my new pattern piece...

And a side by side comparison with the original.

I ~~hope~~ believe that I've maintained the grain line and the original angle on the bias edge. My intention is to make corresponding changes to the front bodice. I originally thought that I might have to do an FBA, even though my daughter is barely a B cup as the tissue gapped so dreadfully, but I'm going to hold off on that until I see how it fits in the actual fabric.

Comments, opinions and advice are most definitely welcome!

Up Next On My Agenda

2008-06-01T21:13:00.001-07:00

I went over to my oldest daughter's house today to tissue fit her Maggy London dress. She will be wearing the final dress in her brother-in-law's wedding at the end of August. My daughter is tiny, so I cut the pattern in a size 8 (I ever so briefly considered tracing the pattern but opted not to as I was pressed for time).

As it turns out, I could easily use the size 6 for the midriff pieces. After that, it gets tricky. The front bodice pieces appear to be the correct size around the bottom; they meet nicely at center front and reach around just exactly to where the side seams should fall. But I think I need to do an FBA maybe? I don't know...it's not as though she's actually chesty! But the halter sections gap dreadfully and come nowhere near providing enough coverage to appear in public!

And then there's the back. The pieces are really close to the correct measurement at the bottom, but moving up her back about two inches, there's a good inch and a half gap between her center back and the center back of the dress!

And what to say about the shoulder seams? Another gap of about and inch and a half before I even take seam allowances into account.

I'm not sure I even know where to begin. How will I perform an FBA on a halter style bodice (it's not in FFRP, I checked!). How to I add enough width to the back of the dress to fit and still maintain the correct line on the Vee? I guess I will figure it out, but I'm stressing a little bit about it right now. We bought some fabric for a practice dress, but I'm thinking some cheap muslin is in order!

I Hate To-Do Lists

2008-06-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

Because I feel like such a failure when I don't complete all the items. Take yesterday's to-do list, which I posted for the current meme:

~~Finish the purse for Daughter #3;~~
Trace off a pattern for Daughter #1;
~~Yard work;~~
Watch There Will Be Blood;
Paid work (three files)

You'll notice that only two of the items are crossed off my list - and in all fairness, the yard work isn't actually done (it never is in our yard); crossing it off the list just signifies that I did some yard work.

Enter the reason for my failure: a cotton rib knit I picked up on sale for $2.50 a yard at Hancock's last weekend. I know, I know...it's a cheap piece of fabric, but the print called out to me. It's vaguely reminiscent of Celtic knots and I am a sucker for all things Celtic.

So rather than move on to the next items on the list after I finished the brocade bag, I spent the rest of my evening contemplating my next move with this fabric.

Amazingly enough, I have a pattern designed for knit fabrics! How did that happen? It's Sandra Betzina's oft-reviewed Vogue 8151, and my musings focued on whether or not the knit is soft enough for the wrap version or should I stick with the plain version, as I intend to actually use my serger (Charity, are you listening???)!

Finished!

2008-05-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Yay, the brocade bag is finished and best of all, my daughter loves it!

The bag is small; it measures 9-1/2 inches at the bottom and 12 inches from the top of the handles to the bottom. It would have been nice to be able to make it a bit larger, but I used just about every bit of available brocade at this size.

The bag has two exterior pockets, two interior pockets and a magnetic closure.

I never did figure out how to sew the lining using my sewing machine, so it is stitched by hand. In fact, a lot of hand sewing went into making this bag...tons of hand basting, then the lining and finally, attaching the purse to the handles.

A few things I learned about working with brocade...it seriously ravels. I have polyester "stuff" all over the house. It's worse than dog hair.

It doesn't fuse well. In order to bond the interfacing to the fabric, you have to use a heat setting that makes the fabric do weird stuff. I think it really wants to melt, but doesn't quite melt. So sew in interfacing is a good thing.

It makes bulky seams and doesn't hold an edge, so if I ever get around to making the Asian-style top that I have planned in blue and silver brocade, I'll need to use a different fabric for facings to minimize bulk.

As for changes I would make to this purse, if I were to make it again - and I am seriously considering making two more - first off, I would replace the interior brocade pieces (where the magnetic fasteners are) with a closely matching lining in a different, thinner fabric. I think the brocade looks great, but it's a lot of extra bulk in the seam allowances.

I would square off the bottom corners and eliminate the gathers. They look cute and my daughter quite likes them, but I think it would be a neater look without them.

I asked my daughter to model the purse and she declined, as she didn't think her outfit would do it justice...not sure why. She's wearing the soccer shorts we bought for her when she was 5 and a Kokopeli t-shirt she's had since she was 10 or so. These shorts are a child's size small! And she still can fit her 16 year old body into them!

It's true, she does have to pull them all the way up to her waist or they're too tight. I explained to her that they're supposed to go all the way to her waist, but I don't think she believed me.

The shorts are in surprisingly good condition. Other than the binding on the side slit, they're still good to go!

Tagged Again!

2008-05-31T16:24:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Rhonda, of RHOTO's Rag. This time it's a few questions designed to help us get to know one another a little better.

WHAT WAS I DOING 10 YEARS AGO?
Ten years ago, I was working as the IS Manager at a letter shop. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ~~junk mail~~ direct mail marketing industry, a letter shop processes the data and product, i.e., letters, flyers, post cards, brochures, etc., that you are so happy to receive daily in your snail mail.

WHAT ARE 5 THINGS ON MY TO-DO LIST TODAY?
Finish the purse for Daughter #3;
Trace off a pattern for Daughter #1;
Yard work;
Watch There Will Be Blood;
Paid work (three files)

SNACKS I ENJOY:
My favorite dessert is cheesecake. I also like chocolate in just about any format. My favorite salty snacks are well-buttered popcorn, pretzels and Fritos.

THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A BILLIONAIRE:
Establish college funds for the grandbabies;
Build a 50 meter x 25 yard indoor training and competition pool for my daughter's old swim club;
Hire a cook

PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
Unincorporated King County, WA
Eugene, Oregon
Bellevue, WA
Renton, WA
Ellensburg, WA
Renton, WA
Anchorage, AK
Renton, WA
Sumner, WA
Bothell, WA
Unincorporated Snohomish County, WA

WHAT TYPE(S) OF WORK HAVE I DONE?
Swimming Pool Cashier
Receptionist
Inventory Clerk
Typist
Billing Clerk
International Invoicer
Secretary
Day Care Worker
Administrative Assistant (x2)
Marketing Manager
IS Manager
Officer Manager
Self-employed Technical Writer/Editor
Transcriptionist

SIX (6) “PEEPS” I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT.
Rhonda said, "I GUESS a “peep” is someone who writes and/or visits blogs??" I'm thinking it's just short for "people."

Allison (AllisonC Sewing Gallery)
Heidi (Sew Exotic)
Marita (Paradise for Me)
Charity (Vintage Threads)
Elaine (Goodworks1)
Bunny (La Sewista!)

As always, tagees, you're free to decline to play with no hurt feelings.

A Legacy

2008-05-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Most of what I inherited of my mother's mother is china; beautiful bone china teacups and saucers with matching dessert plates in random patterns. They're beautiful and I love them but they're not the topic of today's post (maybe another day, though).

I also have the small but treasured collection of notions and needlework-related items that you can see here.

I never knew my grandmother, Grace, to sew, although having been born in 1906 and raising four children during the depression years, she must have had at least a passing acquaintance with the business end of a needle. She did do some lovely hand embroidered pillowcases in her later years, which, after her death, I finished off with some crocheted edgings for my mother. She bought me my first sewing machine, an inexpensive Singer, as a high school graduation gift and I sewed with that machine for about ten years until it was replaced by a Kenmore SensorSew (the immediate predecessor of my Ellegante).

I know for certain that she never crocheted and the excellent selection of steel crochet hooks were her mother's. My great-grandmother, Amelia, taught me to crochet when I was five and produced an amazing number of doilies, tablecloths and bedspreads, some of which I'm privileged to own and which are in amazingly good condition.

A point of interest...notice the brand name on the pinking shears!

And a little something to make you long for the good old days...check out the prices on the needles!

Daily Dilemma

2008-05-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

It seems as though each day I work on this purse brings up a new dilemma. Today's dilemma: How to ease the gusset around the rather sharp curves at the bottom of the bag. If I were working with cotton, I would stay stitch and clip the gusset. On this poly brocade, however, with it's tendency to ravel, I'm reluctant to do so.

Up to this point, I haven't fused the interfacing to the brocade as I don't like the way it changes the character of the brocade, but fusing it to the gusset is an option. I've also thought about gathering or pleating it.

I wish I had big enough scraps left over to give it a good try, but I don't. Or some really good Sewing Simulation Software...wouldn't that be a boon?

Purse Progress

2008-05-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Still plugging away on this little purse. It actually is quite small, despite the number of pieces. We were limited on size due to the fabric being fat quarters (and the sole remaining bundle of brocade at that) rather than fabric we could purchase by the yard.

All of the handle attachment units were hand basted as you see here.

And then edgestitched.

For those of you who are having trouble following what I'm doing - and I don't blame you; frankly, I'm having a little trouble following it myself - here are a couple of pictures that should make it clearer. This top photo shows the pieces spread apart so you can see them better.

But when I attach the purse to the handles, they'll actually be scooted together like this.

Here's something really sad. Or pathetic. Or sad and pathetic, maybe. I drafted this pattern myself, but once I got to the point where I needed to start actually putting pieces together, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to do it. So here is what I finally settled on. First, I folded the upper curved edge of the purse and lining sections under along the seam line and edge stitched them. Then I sewed the purse and lining sections wrong sides together.

Then turned them right side out. Next, I'll use my zipper foot to sew the attachment units onto the handles, then I'll sandwich the raw ends of the attachment units between the purse/lining sections and hand sew it. Firmly. With very strong thread.

How crazy is this? I'm actually considering making two more. They would be great gifts for my other daughters for Christmas (notice the loooong lead time!).

40 Pieces

2008-05-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Here's what all the fuss is about. This is the method I drafted to attach my daughter's purse to the purchased handles. Each attachment unit consists of five pieces: two fabric pieces; two lining pieces; and one interfacing piece. There are eight attachment units for a total of 40 pieces to attach the bag to the handles. Because accuracy is so important on this part of the bag, I cut each piece individually. This was mandatory for the brocade; there's no way I could have cut two layers without slipping on these small pieces. But even on the cotton lining, I wanted to make sure the cutting was spot on.

I'm glad I had the foresight (for a change!) to cut the pieces extra long. The raw edges of the brocade melt away as you turn the assembled units right side out. I tried overcasting the raw edges, but that caused them to disappear as well.

After the second set of four units is assembled and turned right side out, I'll hand baste the finished edges, then edgestitch. I'm doing quite a bit of hand basting on this project. Unfortunately, my thimble doesn't fit the way it used to and the ones available at Joann are "not the best" quality. Mine keeps falling off and last night I ran the eye end of my needle into my middle finger. Ouch!

But never fear, it's Elaine to the rescue! She recently acquired some vintage thimbles at auction and offered to send me one that fits. Thanks, Elaine!

Oh My Gosh!

2008-05-25T09:52:00.001-07:00

I realized this morning that I needed more lining pieces, so I cut 16 more for a total of 67 pieces of fabric, lining and interfacing for a seemingly simple bag! I had barely enough lining fabric left so the pieces were cut willy-nilly. Straight grain? I don't need no stinkin' straight grain!

Off The Wagon

2008-05-24T23:10:00.001-07:00

I confess. I have fallen off the 30/30 wagon. Not to make excuses, but I've had a lousy week with no opportunity for any sewing at all and along came a weekend with plenty of free time. I caved.

After missing seven days, I was trying to decide if it would be better to make up the time missed in a sewing marathon, start over or pick up where I left off and just keep going until I had 30 days of actual sewing in. A sewing marathon didn't seem right because it's so much easier to be productive in a large block of time than in short bursts. Starting over felt like failing. Picking up where I left off probably would have been the best option but I just needed to treat myself to something enjoyable so there you have it.

I'm working on my daughter's purse. Believe it or not, I cut 51 pieces including interfacing! 27 of those pieces have now been reduced to 4: the front (with pocket); the back (with pocket); the front lining; and the back lining (with pocket).

I started by assembling the interior pocket and lining pieces. I interfaced the pocket with a lightweight interfacing, then stitched the pocket to the pocket lining, right sides together. I turned the lining to the wrong side, pressed and edgestitched it, then basted it to the lower lining.

With the pocket constructed, I sewed the pocket assembly to the upper lining piece. Then I folded the seam allowanced towards the upper lining and edgestitched it. This completed the back lining. The front lining was easier; no pocket, so all I needed to do was sew the lower lining to the upper lining.

On to the purse front and back. Bunny had clued me in that the brocade has a tendency to shrink when fused to interfacing. Because of that, I decided on a medium stiff, sew-in interfacing for the outside of the bag. For the outside pockets, I used the same lightweight interfacing I used on the inside pocket.

The first step was to line the outside pocket pieces; I sewed the lining pieces to the pocket pieces, right sides together, along the curved edge. Because the brocade will not hold a pressed edge, I understitched the seam allowances. Then I clipped the curves and turned the lining to the wrong side. Again, because the polyester won't hold an edge, I hand basted the edge, then edgestitched.

Each outside pocket is made up of two of two pieces. Since each piece was constructed individually, I hand sewed the edges down after overlapping them. This is the front and back of one of the outside pockets.

This was my stopping point for today. I started to baste a pocket onto one of the body pieces, but the fabric was bunching in front of the presser foot. I'll just hand baste those and keep my fingers crossed when I actually assemble the bag. I looked in my manual, but couldn't find any information on decreasing the presser foot pressure. (If anyone else is using a Baby Lock Ellegante, is there a way to do that???)

***The color is SO off. Once again, the base colors of the fabrics are various shades of a mossy green.

We Have a Winner

2008-05-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Rhonda in Montreal wins the eagle-eye award for noticing my new look. On Sunday morning, I had about 10 inches cut off of my hair. I think the style looks fine, but it's making me crazy! It won't stay out of my face! And I think it's a little boring. It makes me feel like I have to put on nice clothes and makeup and it feels a little at odds with the "nature girl" vibe I try to maintain.

So I'm giving it mixed reviews.

Heavy Sigh, Retracted

2008-05-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

My beautiful oldest daughter, Rebecca, happened to read my Heavy Sigh blog post and was so upset. She, of course, had no idea that her comment about being able to tell my blouse was home sewn could be considered uncomplimentary so of course had no idea that my feelings were hurt.

After a flurry of text messages and a phone call, we got it all sorted out. I now know that she could tell I had made the blouse because it was "so me" and the buttons were like nothing you would see on a RTW tailored blouse. She now knows that home sewn isn't always a compliment. But I especially need to know if something looks home sewn in a bad way - and, most importantly, why it looks that way.

Just to set the record straight, I have a pretty amazing relationship with all my daughters. None of them would ever intentionally say anything to hurt my feelings, nor have they ever been button pushers. It was because we have such a great relationship that I couldn't shake off the blouse comment. If it had occurred to me, even for an instant, that she was just yanking my chain, I could have shrugged it off. It's precisely because I knew she would never do that, that it was so disturbing.

Becky's embarking on a new adventure...to become a registered nurse. She's going to be blogging about her experiences on her new blog, Becky Hartman, Professional Student. She doesn't have anything posted yet, but stop by in a few days to get to know her better.

30/30 Update - Days 4, 5 and 6

2008-05-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that there have been no 30/30 updates for a couple of days. To make a long story short, I made three trips to the emergency room with my father; two back to back visits Sunday afternoon and and all day visit yesterday. Between the time spent at the hospital and the resulting mental and - surprisingly - physical exhaustion, I just couldn't pull myself together for sewing. And today...much work to catch up.

And about my dad, it was nothing really serious. It was bothersome and painful, but he was in no real danger.

30/30 - Day 3

2008-05-17T23:12:00.000-07:00

It was super hard to stop tonight! I so seriously wanted to keep on going. I got quite a bit of the cutting finished tonight. There are quite a few fiddly little pieces and the fabric is sort of difficult to cut; it wants to move away from the scissors so the cutting goes very slowly.

Here's a sneak preview of the handbag I'm making for my daughter. The photos I'm taking of this fabric are pretty disappointing; my photos definitely do not do it justice.

Rhonda had a question about the "30/30" I'm using in the post titles. She wanted to know what the second 30 represented. The answer is that it represents 30 days. The project is to sew 30 minutes a day for 30 days and keep track of how much I accomplish.

Up tomorrow...I hope to finish the cutting, including the lining and interfacing. If there is time left, I'll start overcasting the edges of the pieces. This fabric ravels! Some of my pieces are cut with quarter inch seam allowances and I can see that disappearing during construction without overcasting.

ETA: I uploaded a new photo that shows the colors of the fabrics a little better. The fabrics are really lovely, I swear.

30/30 - Day 2

2008-05-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

My apologies for no 30/30 update yesterday. After cooling my heels all day at the hospital, I was beat. Tell me, why is sitting around doing nothing so exhausting?

I did manage to get in my 30 minutes, though. I finished drawing up my pattern (the pattern is far too simple to dignify my process by calling it drafting). In addition to the pattern pieces here, I'll be cutting about a two inch gusset to give the bottom of the bag some depth. I'll also be using a fairly stiff interfacing as my daughter wants the bag to have some body, but not be stiff.

I also got the fabrics pressed, with my timer buzzing just as I finished up the last piece. I am a little concerned about the piece on the far right. These fabrics were purchased as a bundle of fat quarters and unfortunately even after some fairly conscientious pressing, I can see fold marks in the fabric.

A Quick Update

2008-05-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

My dad came through his surgery today with flying colors. Many thanks to those of you who took the time to pray for him and for me today. If all goes well overnight, he will be coming home tomorrow. This is always tricky as he lives by himself, but it usually works out okay. The pathology report on the tumors (as it turns out, there were three small tumors) should be available when he goes in for follow-up appointment on Wednesday.

File this under "Just Too Weird:" The surgeon presented me with a glossy photograph of one of the tumors, taken in situ. I tried to give it back, but he wouldn't take it.

A Change of Plans

2008-05-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

I won't be getting my 30 minutes of sewing in first thing in the morning tomorrow; I'm going to have to fit it in sometime later in the day. Instead, I'll be taking my dad to the hospital for surgery to have a small tumor removed. The surgery itself isn't major, but he is, after all, nearly 82 years old and takes various blood thinners and cholesterol medications so it's not without risk. If you're the praying kind, please remember my dad in your prayers tomorrow. I've stocked up on new sewing magazines and a book to pass the time while I wait. I might take my computer...I think the hospital has free wi-fi.

I have semi-committed myself to Marji's Great Coat Sew-Along. It doesn't start until July, so the 30/30 project will be complete (unless, of course, it works out so well that I continue it) and there's plenty of time to purchase fabric and other supplies. I happen to have a coat pattern in my stash, Vogue 8346. I want the coat to wear with jeans (and trousers, if I ever get around to making any) so probably a little bit shorter than the red one shown on the envelope. And probably in gray. Or maybe in red. Who knows, I have a little bit of time to decide.

30/30 - Day 1

2008-05-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Marji asked the excellent question, "...does this mean you're going to limit yourself to sewing only 30 minutes a day? or try to get in at least 30 minutes?" The answer is...both! The point of my 30/30 Project is to force me to use a 30 minute block of time for sewing and to stop when the 30 minutes is up.

My sewing mindset is to wait until I have a huge block of time for sewing, then sew until I drop. The problem is that huge blocks of time are hard to come by in my life and so days (weeks!) could pass with no sewing getting done at all.

At the other end of the spectrum, when I finally realized that maybe I could utilize smaller blocks of time for sewing, I had a hard time disciplining myself to put it away and move on to other tasks.

And I guess I'm taking it to the extreme of limiting myself to 30 minutes even if more time is available simply for the sake of idle curiosity. Nancy Zieman's 10, 20, 30 minutes To Sew patterns got me to wondering how much sewing could actually be accomplished in 30 minutes a day by a slow sewist such as myself.

So there you have it and it's probably more than you wanted to know about the motivation behind my 30/30 Project.

Which started this morning at 5:15 a.m. Here's what I managed to accomplish, most of the purse pattern for my DD's Asian brocade purse. What is immediately apparent is that you must focus like a laser beam if you want to get anything done. No time for wool gathering. I believe this is going to be interesting.

Housekeeping

2008-05-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

I'm just reorganizing my blog to limit the length of the lists running down the sides of the page. It looks a little odd right now but we'll get used to it.

I did get a chance to tidy up my sewing area so I'm all set for tomorrow morning. My first task is to draft the pattern for my daughter's bag. I'm hoping I can get the whole thing drafted in 30 minutes. Please cross your fingers for me and send lots of positive energy my way!

Favorite Tutorials

2008-05-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Bullion Knots by The Heritage Shoppe
Mitered Hem by The Sewing Divas
Welt Pockets by Debbie Cook

Snoop Shopping

2008-05-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

Sara Campbell Ltd.
Net-A-Porter

Street Fashion

2008-05-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

Copenhagen Street Style
Face Hunter
Hel Looks
Pike/Pine
The Style Scout
The Sartorialist
Tokyo Street Fashion

Sewing Blogs

2008-05-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm reorganizing my blog.

2B Sewing
After the Dress
AllisonC Sewing Gallery
Assorted Notions
Bloom's Fabric Obsession
Bubblegum 4 Breakfast
Couturesmith
Diary of a Sewing Fanatic
Encue Creations
Erica B.'s D.I.Y. Style!
Eyelets in the Seams
Faye's Sewing Adventures
Fiber Arts Afloat
Frogs in a Bucket
From Fabric to Clothing
Goodworks' Notes
Great Coat Sew-Along
Hungry Zombie Couture
Journey to Couture
Keely Sews
Knit Sew Much
La Sewista!
Laura's Sewing Room
Lean Mean Sewing Machine
Lindsay T Sews
Loohoo Originals
Mary is Sewfast
My Vintage Charm
Paradise For Me
Phat Chick Designs
Pyrose
Quality Time
Sew Every Day
Sew Exotic
Sew Loved
Sew Much to Sew
Sew Random
Sew, Mama, Sew
Sew-4-Fun
Sewing Bits
Sewing By The Seat of My Pants
Sherril's Sewing Saga
Sigrid's Sewing Projects
Stitches and Seams
Studio Alexandra
The Rusty Bobbin
The Sewing Divas
The Slapdash Sewist
Two On, Two Off
Vintage Threads
Wall Street By Day
When Ladies Dressed

Counting Down

2008-05-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

The day after tomorrow will be the first day of my 30/30 experiment to see how much sewing can actually be accomplished in 30 minutes a day. I've allowed myself a free day each weekend, where I can sew as much as time allows in order to make sure I can complete the muslin for my daughter's bridesmaid's dress in a timely manner, but I'm going to try not to use it. I really want to see what can be done in just the 30 minutes.

I already get up at 5:00 a.m. every day. I'm going to continue to do that, but rather than start work right away, I'll take the first half hour of my day as my sewing time. That way I can be sure that nothing/no one will interfere with it.

To keep me accountable, I'll be posting here on my blog each day on what I've accomplished and whether or not I stuck to my 30 minute plan. I'll spend some time tomorrow tidying up my sewing area, making sure my fabrics are ready, etc., so that come Thursday morning, nothing stands in my way.

On an entirely unrelated topic, my 16 year old daughter went on her first "date" this evening. In keeping with her ~~nerdy~~ studious persona, they're off to a Spanish Club event at school. This is big for us; our style tends to be "parenting by suffocating over-protection." But hey! I've only texted her once so far! Yea, me!

The Mother of Invention Strikes Again

2008-05-12T15:19:00.001-07:00

You probably don't know me well enough to have figured it out yet, but I'm the sort of person who values the independence that comes with being able to do things for myself. It's more than just the feeling of satisfaction that stems from completing a project. It's one of the reasons I sew, knit and crochet. It's also one of the reasons I've read the Little House series of books at least a hundred times - truly, I never tire of reading how Ma made head cheese - and why I actually purchased "Frontier House" after it aired on PBS.

It's also one of the reasons that, even though I love Norm Abrams, guys like Roy Underhill and Dick Proenneke get the lion's share of my admiration. Where Norm has a special tool for every conceivable task encountered in his workshop, Roy and Dick use a limited array of hand tools and aren't above fabricating their own tools when the need arises.

You've already seen my High Tech Tube Turner and my Precision Seam Allowance Tracing Tool. Today I'm proud to present my Princess Seam Pressing Aid. This handy notion started life as a mind-challenging puzzle in the heyday of Rubik's Cube but, when covered with a towel, this perfectly sized pressing aid adds just the right amount of shaping to a standard, B cup princess seam.

You might also be interested in my Point Turner, a former shishkebab skewer on which the point has been somewhat filed down to avoid skewering my fabric...or my hand. It also doubles as a tube turner for tubes that have one end sewn shut prior to turning.

I'd be interested in hearing about your most ingenious sewing aids, but I doubt you can top my Princess Seam Pressing Aid.

I also want to take a minute to acknowledge everyone who left kind words in response to yesterday's post. It's pretty cool, isn't it, that I can whine in Snohomish, Washington, USA, and someone from Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia (Two people from Toowoomba! Who knew!) takes the time to commiserate with me. And not just Toowoomba, but from all over; like-minded people, whose comments really mean something because they know. So thank you, everyone.

My husband convinced me that I did not need to throw the shirt away and, in fact, he would be very sad if I were to do so. For the time being, it remains in my wardrobe; whether or not I wear it again remains to be seen.

Heavy Sigh

2008-05-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

I had the most discouraging thing happen today. Well, in terms of sewing, anyway. We met my oldest daughter and her husband for dinner. I was wearing the linen tunic I made as my entry in the Fitted Blouse Contest on PatternReview. My daughter said she like the blouse and I said, "Thanks, I made it." And her response was..."I could tell."

That is so depressing. What's worse, neither she nor my other daughter (who agreed you could tell I made it) could tell me why it looks homemade. I'm reasonably sure it's not the quality of the construction. I was fairly meticulous about that and I know it fits better than any RTW blouses I have. They couldn't say if it was the style, the fabric or the combination of the two or what. Although my oldest did say maybe it was the buttons.

Gosh, now I feel like I never want to wear it again. How discouraging is that? If I ever happen to run into Tim Gunn, he's going to immediately think "Happy hands at home!" I need to head back over to PatternReview and read that topic about making your clothes look less homemade.

How Cute Is That?

2008-05-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Don't you think I'd better stop patting myself on the back before I wrench my shoulder or something? But really, is this too cute or what?

No matter how cute this tunic is, though, right now I'm seriously doubting that Burda World of Fashion and I are going to be able to maintain a long-term relationship. I mean, if you can't communicate, what kind of a future can you have together? This little top, #140, from the April, 2008, issue has two pattern pieces plus ties and no closures and I struggled to put it together. You can read about my troubles in my review if you're interested.

A few details.

The completed top.

Some more hemstitching. I wanted a more subtle look on this top than on this dress. I still used the wing needle and embroidery thread on top, but rather than embroidery bobbin thread I used regular machine sewing thread in the bobbin so that the holes made by the wing needle would be more filled in.

ETA: Thanks to a comment made by Debbie Cook on my review, I figured out how the pattern was actually supposed to go together. My review has been edited to reflect that. Thanks, Debbie!

I'm It!

2008-05-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged in the literary meme by Keely. As luck would have it, the closest book to hand, as I sit here in my sewing room, is Fine Machine Sewing by Carol Laflin Ahles (no, I haven't returned it to the library yet...as long as no one else has requested it, they'll let me keep renewing).

The meme works this way:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Turn to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and acknowledge who tagged you.

So...
2. Straight stitch (length 2mm) along the heading.
3. Roll and whip the fabric edge with a zigzag (width about 4mm, length 1mm). Let the right side of the zigzag go completely over the edge of the fabric.

And I'll be tagging...
Kellie: Check out her yummy swiss dot dress.
Nancy: Who just completed a fantastic swap and is still sewing strong.
Elaine: Currently showcasing some vintage pillowcases.
Tamara: Like me, having a hard time finding time.
Bunny: Amazing vintage laces, clever tips and beautiful vintage handwork.

Okay, ladies, you're It!

An Experiment

2008-05-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

Evidently I'm not the only person who struggles to fit sewing into busy days. I know that Kat, Sherril and Jemima Bean have all posted recently about the things that keep them out of their sewing rooms. I need to find a way to fit in some sewing every day, without letting the sewing grab more than it's allotted share of time.

I know I said a week or so ago that I was just going to find some time to sew everyday, even if it was just for a few minutes. What I found was that that was too open ended for me. I could find a few minutes, but 10 minutes soon became 20, and 20 became 40 and 3 hours later, I realized that it was time to go to bed and the dinner dishes were still in the sink.

So here is what I intend to try. Starting on May 15th for 30 days, I'm going to devote 30 minutes - and only 30 minutes - each week day to sewing. I think it will be interesting to see how much I can actually accomplish on that kind of schedule. I've always relied on large blocks of time to finish sewing projects so it will require some creative planning on my part to make it work, as well as trying some new methods and techniques to streamline my work.

I'm giving myself one free day each weekend on which I can sew as much as I have time for - that will usually be Saturday - and the other day I'll be back to my 30 minute limit.

I'll be posting here daily about my progress, just a quick blurb to hold myself accountable. I'm sure you all have some strategies for finding time to sew, and I'd love to hear about them here.

What I Want / What I Need

2008-05-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

A comment was made over on PatternReview about the amount of "stuff" that's required to sew. This got me thinking...how much stuff do we really need?

I have a healthy assortment of gadgets and notions, but the number of items I use regularly is pretty small. In fact, other than my sewing machine (and associated feet) and my iron, the things you see in the photo are pretty much what I use when I sew.

I'm not saying there aren't things that I want. I'd love a pressing ham and a seam roll and one of those fancy-pants tube turners would be nice (although mine works perfectly well), but I don't actually need them (and just so you'll know, I'm too cheap to buy them).

I have nine things in my list of indispensables: paper scissors, dressmaker's shears, embroidery scissors, pins, tape measure, seam ripper, ruler, hand sewing needles and chalk marking pencil.

What's on your list?

A Junco Palace

2008-05-08T21:15:00.001-07:00

I said yesterday that if the weather cooperated, I would get pictures of the junco nest up under our eaves posted. For once, the weather did cooperate!

Those little birds have worked their tails off building this nest and it is driving my husband crazy. Juncos are small birds and the nest has gotten "quite" large. He wants to know why they think they need a palace, hence the title of this post. I'm not sure if it's complete; I don't think it grew any larger today, but I'm not sure. For reference, the beam on which the nest is built is 2 x 12 dimensional lumber.

Without any further ado, here are the pix.

A close-up. This is as close as I could get with the zoom on my relatively inexpensive and ancient digital camera.

Zoomed out a tad so you can see how far down it trails. It's a little longer and fuller on this side than the other.

Finally, I zoomed out all the way so you could see how the nest looks as you approach the house. You can see where some construction debris has fallen and caught on the window frames.

The nest was empty when I took the photos. The nest is so tall now that I'm not even sure how the birds will get in and out; I'm not sure if you can tell from the photos, but it very nearly touches the soffit.

I did not get any sewing in today at all but I am still thinking about it. I may try an experiment; I will post about that tomorrow.

Just Thinking About Sewing

2008-05-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Do you suppose that counts as a sewing related activity?

In view of the fact that I spent far too much time sewing yesterday, I'm taking a break today. I'm so close to finishing that I know I wouldn't stop until I was finished, and I can't afford the time today. So I've spent some time thinking about the best way to fit sewing into my schedule. It's making my head hurt.

On a completely unrelated topic, some adorable dark-eyed juncos have taken up housekeeping under the eaves of our house. My daughter and I are thrilled, as juncos are among our favorites of the birds that frequent our yard. If the weather is decent tomorrow, I'll try to get a picture of the nest. I must say that by comparison with Mr. and Mrs. Junco, we keep a pretty tidy home.

That's Mrs. Junco on the top, by the way, and Mr. Junco on the bottom. For those of you east of the Rockies, I'll just point out that our western Juncos differ from the ones you see by having a white band on either side of the tail. It's not that noticeable on the females, but it's quite striking on the males.

Best Laid Plans

2008-05-06T19:18:00.001-07:00

I believe I may have discovered a flaw in my plan to engage in some sewing related activity every day. I theory, this sounds like an excellent plan; each day you find ten or 15 minute to pre-wash a fabric, stitch a seam or to, hand stitch a hem or whatever activity fits the available time.

In practice, my question to you is: once started, how the heck are you supposed to stop? I obviously lack the discipline to just do a little bit, then lay it aside for the next day. So rather than have a nicely cut garment, waiting to be stitched together in easy stages, I have a nearly completed tunic despite several other important tasks awaiting my attention. Like carpets to be vacuumed. Like dishes to be washed. Like paying work.

The BWOF girl's tunic top is coming along nicely, despite my inability to understand their instructions. As I said before, I am liberated! I can do it however I want! And keep my fingers crossed that it all works out in the end!

I just turned my sewing machine OFF. That means, no more sewing today. I'll easily be able to finish up tomorrow, even if I decide to add patch pockets; it's very cute, but seems a little plain.

Next Up...

2008-05-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Is the tunic top to go with the BWOF pants I just finished. I'm using pattern #140 from the April, 2008 issue. The pattern is traced and cut out, the fabric is pre-washed and pressed so I'll be ready to pin and cut out tomorrow.

I also pre-washed the practice fabric for the Maggy London dress for my daughter. I think I'm going to start with a size 6 and cut extra wide seam allowances just in case. Anyway, I'll be tracing that pattern as well, just in case I need to go up a size for the real deal. Here's the practice fabric she chose. It's so cute, I hope I can make the dress work. Maybe with some red piping.

A Lazy Sunday

2008-05-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

After spending nearly all day yesterday in my (so-called) sewing room, I took kind of a lazy day off today. I did get in a sewing related activity, though. After shopping for a dress with my oldest daughter, we hit Joann to pick up a pattern for a dress that I'm going to make for her to wear in her brother-in-law's wedding. It's Butterick 4915, which you can see to the right.

Her measurements call for a size 8 in the bust and waist, and a 10 at the hip. Since the dress is so full below the waist, I'm thinking I can disregard that measurement entirely.

One thing I'm not sure about, though, is the fabric. The pattern envelope lists Matte Jersey, Lightweight Crepe, Soft Faille and Stretch Velvet. So some of those are knits and some are wovens, right? We're thinking about crepe-backed satin for the real dress, using a combination of the shiny and matte sides.

We did pick up some inexpensive cotton to use as a muslin, but I'm not anticipating any real fitting issues, other than she is quite short and a little broad across the back. It seems like this style should be easy to fit, but maybe this is a case where ignorance is bliss.

Burda World of Fashion - Conquered!

2008-05-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

The little pants are finished and they are cute, cute, cute. At least, that's my opinion. My 16 year old daughter is both appalled that anyone would make them and relieved that she's no longer young enough to be forced to wear them. You can decide for yourself.

Now I'll just keep my fingers crossed that my daughter and granddaughter like them. They look a little more like bloomers than the ones pictured in the magazine did, but I suspect that is at least partially due to my choice of fabric. The ones in the magazine were made out of fabric that could most accurately be called drab. The fabric I chose is a linen/rayon blend, which I hope will be comfortable in the Texas summer heat.

A few details...

I used my narrow hem foot to hem the ruffles. Even going slow, this must be about 1,000 times faster than doing it by folding and pressing. Also, no burned fingers, a nice plus!

I added a "K Brand" label to help my granddaughter tell the front of the pants from the back.

The leg casing with drawstring inserted.

ETA: Lindsey, if you're reading this, the pants don't really look that much like bloomers. I think I may have sewn the wasit elastic too short, and that may be where the resemblance comes from. I forgot what you said the waist measurement of her pants was.

Burda Update, 5/2/08

2008-05-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

I know I said I was going to wait until Saturday morning to deconstruct the #139 pants, but my husband mentioned that we might go to FlowerWorld and I did not want anything to stand in the way of that! So I'm back to where I was two days ago. Actually, I'm slightly ahead of that, as I went ahead and stitched the ends of the waist elastic together and closed the opening in the casing.

Now it's time to get started on the ruffles. The ruffles are made from a 3" by 42" piece of fabric. Yes, you read that correctly. That's 42 inches of fabric to ruffle...for a pant leg! That's "quite" a lot of ruffle; I'll probably do a double row of basting stitches since the ruffle will be so dense.

But before I worry about that, I need to hem the darn things, so it's back to work with my narrow hem foot.

23:35 Pacific Time: Both ruffles are hemmed!

Burda Update, 5/1/08

2008-05-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

The little linen pants are just sitting here, waiting for me to deconstruct them. I am so seriously not in the mood for that right now. That's a project for first thing in the morning, so maybe on Saturday.

I had mentioned before that I wanted to make a top to go with the pants, #140 from the BWOF April/08 issue. I really wanted a nice white cotton with tiny pink rosebuds; unfortunately I couldn't find any. There were plenty of fabrics with dainty rosebuds, but all on cream backgrounds. So I went in a completely different direction an picked the daisy fabric on the right.

The blue fabric on the left will be used for the casings and drawstrings on the pants. I may also put a bow at the center front waist to mimic a drawstring.

My 16 year old daughter wants blouse 114; apparently she has a desert hike planned and doesn't have a thing to wear. Anyway, the blouse is two dots; I think I can probably handle that.

Before I get to that, though, she's been patiently waiting for me to make her a purse from some Asian-inspired brocades she picked out. Then a top for me, then the Burda top. I'm trying to take a page from the Everyday Sewist's playbook and do something every day, even if it's just pre-washing a fabric. Not my usual modus operandi, but maybe I can make it work.

Aaaargh!

2008-05-01T14:18:00.001-07:00

Just got a text message from my daughter...the mother of my grandchildren...as it turns out, little Missy is not, after all, 43 inches tall, but rather 39 inches tall.

No wonder these pants look so freaking long! The next time I see my daughter, she gets a slap upside the head before she gets a hug.

I'm thinking I need to shorten these by maybe 3 inches. Here's the million dollar question: do you think that any of that length needs to be taken from the crotch depth, or do you think it's okay to take it all from the bottom. Well, not the bottom, exactly. I'm going to cut off that bottom extension, cut the length off of the bottom of the upper pant leg, then sew the extension back on. That way I'll keep the extension from becoming so narrow that it just looks stupid and save my good work on that casing.

So what do you think: Shorten them at the top or not?

And on another front, I found out last night that my favorite Joann is going be be closing permanently around the middle of July. True, there's another Joann equidistant from my home in the other direction, and that the other one happens to be a huge, clean, well organized facility, while the other is small, cramped and incredibly disorganized (NOTE: this is coming from someone who called her blog, "Sew Confused," so you can get some idea of just how disorganized this place is). However - and this is big - the small store carries a much better selection of fashion fabric than the bigger one. That big one is filled up with craft supplies, bolt after bolt of quilting cotton, decorator fabrics, cheap (in the worst possible sense) decor and every color and pattern of fleece imaginable. Fashion fabrics? Not so much.

So in the long run, that pretty much sucks. However - and this is big, too - there's going to be a liquidation sale. So as Ma Ingalls would have said, "There's no great loss without some small gain."

Burda Update

2008-04-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

I started sewing the BWOF pants this evening and, Hey! So far, so good!

The instructions are equally incomplete, confusing and liberating. For these little pants, incomplete and confusing aren't an issue. What's surprising is how liberating they are. I can pretty much do whatever I want, whenever I want.

For example, I am entirely free to select my preferred seam finish. Ssssh! Don't tell Charity that I didn't use my serger. I stitched the seams on my Ellegante, then used an overcast stitch and trimmed the seam allowances.

One thing I'm not really clear on is how to transition from an overcast seam allowance to a seam allowance that, for whatever reason, needs to be pressed open. The transition always looks messy to me. These little pants have a drawstring above the ruffle on each leg, so the instructions were to stitch the side seam, leaving an opening for the drawstring. This is how I finished it off inside; I'm fairly happy with this.

One thing I'm super happy with is how well I lined up the horizontal seamlines when I stitched the side seams.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the ruffles hemmed - each ruffle is 42 inches long so it looks like another outing with my narrow hem foot.

More Burda

2008-04-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

I did my initial tracing of my Burda World of Fashion (BWOF) pattern on Saturday evening, but waited until today to add the seam allowances and cut the pattern out. Tracing the pattern is quite an experience. There are lines running all over the pattern sheet. For anyone tracing their first Burda pattern, I recommend using a very, very sheer pattern material so that the color coding is clearly visible.

Since BWOF patterns don't include seam allowances, you have to add them yourself. I remembered a trick I read about on PatternReview and fabricated a high tech seam allowance tool. I think it will go down in the High Tech Hall of Fame right along side my high tech tube turner.

And here are my pattern pieces. I still have to cut the ruffles, casings and drawstrings, but there are no actual pattern pieces for those; you're simply given the required dimensions and you cut them accordingly. I'll be cutting these pieces and the ruffles from a white linen/rayon blend tonight. The casings and drawstrings are cut from contrast fabric, which are as yet unpurchased.

Burda Update

2008-04-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

I finally have all the measurements I need to proceed. I'm still swamped with work, but I'm going to try to take a break tonight and at least get them cut out, if I can get the linen washed and dried again (I learned my lesson on my fitted blouse!) in the meantime.

I looked through my meager stash and I don't have any fabric that would be appropriate for the top so I guess that will have to wait until I have time for a trip to the fabric store. I want something sweet and dainty, similar to how it's shown in the magazine.

Burda World of Fashion...

2008-04-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

...Here I Come!

I'm about to make my first foray into the Burda World of Fashion. It's not a death-defying leap from a rocky cliff into crashing seas below, but rather a toe-dipping, ease your way in kind of entry.

I'll be making pattern 139 from the April, 2008 issue, the ruffled pants being worn by the little girl in the middle. Cute, aren't they? As my model lives a little over 2100 miles away, I'm going to have to rely on measuring the pattern pieces in order to make sure I've selected the correct size. Depending on how the pants turn out, I may make the tunic as well. (Unfortunately, the cute tunic is hidden under her sweater. Unless you happen to have the magazine, you'll have to trust me that it's very sweet.)

I'll be making the pants out of a white linen blend; her mother says she doesn't mind ironing and, since I don't mind ironing either, I believe her. I'll have to purchase something for the tunic if I decide to make it, too.

Wish me luck, I'm going to trace the pattern tonight!

Tying a Sash

2008-04-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

The pros and cons of wearing tops with bows has been debated over at PatternReview, but whether or not you think they're appropriate after a "certain age," bows are undeniably a part of today's fashion scene. And, of course, bows are always in fashion for little girls. Being able to tie a symmetrical bow that sits level rather than flopping limply to one side or the other is crucial to pulling the look together.

Keep in mind that there's nothing so special about tying the perfect bow. You most likely tie bows just like this when you tie your shoes. So I've documented a lot of steps here, but remember, you're really just tying a bow.

Here's how.

Cross one sash end over the other. I'm left handed, so it works well for me to cross the right sash end (B) over the left sash end (A). If you're right-handed, it may work better for you to cross the left over the right; just remember to reverse all the steps.*

Now the right sash end, B is on the left, and the left sash end, A is on the right. From now on, I'll just refer to B and A. Fold B up behind A and over to form a half knot.

Pull your half knot snug, but not uncomfortably so.

With A, form a loop up close to the half knot. This is the most important part of tying a perfect bow: the loop must always be formed with the tail that comes from the bottom of the half knot. B must be kept on top. This is the only thing that differentiates a perfect bow from a bow that twists to one side.

Bring B over the top and in front of Loop A.

Pass B behind the Loop A. Form a loop from B and push it back through the space you created when bringing B over and then under Loop A.

Pull Loop B all the way through.

Pull your knot snug. Adjust your bow by alternately pulling on the loops and tails until you have a nice proportion of loop to tail.

Your finished bow:

Notes: You can apply this procedure to tying a nice knot, for example, on the belt of a coat. Just remember to keep B on top.

Your finished knot:

And here's what happens if you forget to keep B on top. Ugh!

This type of bow is better suited to a two-sided sash or ribbon, but it is possible to tie a nice bow with single-sided as well. Just remember to keep the right side of the sash/ribbon properly oriented at all times. You will have to twist the ribbon as you're pushing Loop B back through on itself; the trick here is to make sure that the twist ends up in the knot as opposed to on either side of it. Here's a picture of a bow tied with single-sided ribbon, just to prove that it's possible.

*This is a small but satisfying payback for the countless times I've read and tried to reverse directions written from a right-handed perspective.

Work, Work, Work

2008-04-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

That's what I've been doing for the last three days, in case you may have been wondering what had become of me. I am so unsuited for steady employment that I'm sure I was actually intended to be independently wealthy and it was only by some evil twist of fate that I'm left with the need to work at a job for pay.

I don't mean to give the impression that I'm lazy. I'm always doing something; sewing, gardening, making jewelry, running Mom's Taxi, cooking, cleaning - well, not that much cleaning. But I find the effects of the every day sameness of a job to be roughly equivalent to repeatedly driving my head into a brick wall. Thankfully I work from home so I can vary my routine from day to day but the last few weeks my workload has more than doubled...to the point where a lot of my flexibility has vanished. I must work at certain times or work will be left unfinished.

All that being said, it is my intention to post the sash tutorial later today, right after I run to store to pick up fresh batteries for my digital camera, so be sure to check back later today if you're interested.

More About Croquis

2008-04-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

I picked up the Spring, 2008 issue of Sew Stylish at my local Barnes & Noble yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to see, on Page 19, "Design by Proportion; Figure-flattering garments are just a sketch away," which is an article on...croquis! The article includes instructions for making your own croquis and how to use it to choose patterns that will be flattering to your figure.

The actual text portion of the article is quite short, just 2/3 of a page (and part of that is a rather large headline), but the remainder of the article is lot of pictures showing how make your own croquis and how to use it to try out different silhouettes on your body shape. The illustrations include detailed captions.

If you have considered making your own croquis, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this magazine to help you get started.

Piecing the Contrast Band

2008-04-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

I spent the better part of today finishing up Simplicity 4721 the Lizzie McGuire dress intended for my granddaughter. Most of that time was spent piecing in the contrast band.

If you're new to this project, let me bring you up to speed. The short story is that I had expected the contrast band to be pieced into the skirt. In actuality, it was appliqued onto the skirt. I was dissatisfied with how that was going to look and had all but decided to use jumbo rick-rack instead when Bunny, of La Sewista! suggested piecing the band using hemstitching. Which is what I did, after referring to Carol Ahles excellent book, Fine Machine Sewing (my review). For those of you who are interested, this is how I did it.

Warning: This procedure is neither for the rushed nor the faint of heart!

First, I pressed under the seam allowance on the contrast band.

Then I pinned the band to the dress, placing the bottom of the band on the placement line.

Next, I stitched the band to the dress, using a straight stitch and stitching very close to the pressed edges of the band.

The next step was one of the most nerve-wracking things I've ever done; seriously, I thought I was going to hyperventilate. From the back side of the dress, I slit the base fabric between the lines of stitching. This was the point of no return.

I pressed the raw edges of the base fabric away from the contrast band and basted the seam allowances down, well away from the seam line. I wanted to make sure they stayed in place while I was stitching from the right side of the fabric.

Next, from the right side, I hemstitched the edges of the contrast band using the Parisian hemstitch, Sulky machine embroidery thread and a 100/16 wing needle. The Parisian hemstitch looks like a blanket stitch, but it stitches in and out of each hole in the main row of stitching five (count 'em!) times. This step alone took nearly two hours.

After I finished hemstitching, I trimmed away the seam allowances very close to the stitching.

Here's a detail shot of the contrast band.

And here's the finished dress*:

*I apologize for the poor photo; my model lives far, far away.

Huh!?!

2008-04-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

It's snowing in the Puget Sound region today. What's up with that?

Both pictures are taken from my deck, looking out over my back yard. Late spring snow isn't entirely unheard around here, but it's very, very unusual.

A Heartfelt Thanks

2008-04-18T13:07:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has visited my blog and taken the time to offer valued opinions, advice and encouragement as I sometimes struggle through my sewing projects. You may not realize how much appreciated your words are, but I want to assure you, I appreciate each and everyone of you and your comments.
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Contrast Band Revisited

2008-04-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

I was all set to use jumbo rick-rack for the contrast band on the dress I'm making for my granddaughter, Simplicity 4721, when Bunny suggested pinstitching as a solution to my problem.

It was perfect timing as I had Carol Ahles excellent book, Fine Machine Sewing on loan from the library. Hoping that pinstitching and hemstitching were the same thing, I pulled out the book, read up on the technique and started practicing. I selected Parisian hemstitch and a wing needle.Bunny suggested a very large needle rather than a wing needle but a wing needle is what I had on hand, so that is what I used.

This is a close-up of my best practice swatch so far. I think it looks pretty good. If this were an heirloom dress made of handkerchief linen, I might feel differently, but I think this is quite adequate for a (not so simple after all) sundress made of quilting cotton. Even the back looks good, as all the excess fabric is trimmed away, eliminating the problem of how to keep the seam allowances from showing through.

I'm still undecided whether to use rick-rack or the hemstitching. Opinions, please.

How To Tie A Standalone Bow

2008-04-16T20:19:00.001-07:00

One thing that often crops up when sewing for little girls is the need to tie a bow which will then be attached to a garment. Here are instructions for getting a symmetrical bow every time.

Start with a length of ribbon that is more than long enough for your bow. I usually purchase an extra half yard of ribbon and cut it as the bows are tied.

To begin, form two loops with the ribbon as shown. Leave plenty of space between the loops; the wider your ribbon, the more space you need to leave. Make sure there is enough length on the short end of the ribbon that you can cut the tail to your desired length. If your ribbon is one sided, the good side of the ribbon should be on the outside of the loops.

Cross one loop over the top of the other loop. I’m left-handed and it works well for me to cross the left loop over the right. If you’re right-handed, it might work better the other way. If the hole made by crossing the ribbons looks a little small, start over and leave more space between the loops.

Take the top loop and fold it down behind the cross and into the hole formed by crossing the loops.

Pull the loop all the way through.

At this point, there should be a loose tail of ribbon laying across the front of the bow (you can see it in the picture above); move it over the top and to the back.

Pull the loops until the knot is snug, but not too snug. If you’re using one sided ribbon, now is the time to make sure that the good side is on the outside of the loops and facing toward you on the tails.

Your bow should look kind of sloppy right now, with very long loops and at least one very short tail. Shape your bow: pull one tail to shorten a loop, snug your knot, then pull the other tail and so on until the loops are your desired size. Trim your tails to length.

Your finished bow:

Coming in the next week: How to tie a sash bow.

Coming Soon!

2008-04-16T07:56:00.001-07:00

I'm working on my first tutorial. I picked something really simple to hone my tutorial technique, so I'll be tying bows. With three daughters, it's something I've gotten sort of good at over the years. Hopefully it will be ready to roll out this afternoon.

A Disappointing Project

2008-04-13T19:11:00.001-07:00

I hate it, hate it, hate it when a pattern disappoints. You've spent time - not to mention money - carefully matching fabric and pattern and anticipation is high. Then, as work progresses, there's something, or a series of somethings and you find yourself disenchanted the the project.

Simplicity 4721 has certainly become a disappointment. I'll finish the dress, one way or another and I'm sure that my granddaughter will like it and wear it. But it's the sort of thing for which I would constantly feel as though I needed to apologize.

My dissatisfaction is related to the contrast band near the hem of the dress. When I purchased the pattern, my assumption was that the band was pieced in. When I began cutting fabric, I realized that, rather than being pieced, the white band is appliqued onto the skirt.

Okay, that was a little disappointing and seemed like kind of a cheesy way to do it, but I sucked it up and proceeded. Then, as I was getting ready to turn under the seam allowances on the band, it occurred to me that my white fabric was kind of thin, and, Hey! the print from the main fabric might show through. Which, of course, it did. And actually looked worse, to my way of thinking, with the seam allowance turned under.

But since I was filled with the sewing mojo, I decided just to cut another band, sew the two together and turn the whole shebang right side. It seemed like it would eliminate the show through AND finish the edges at the same time. So I tried it and that's where I sit right now. The band still isn't opaque enough to keep the base fabric from showing through, you can still see the seam allowances as whiter than the rest of the band, and it's so thick, I think it will look like an afterthought and possibly weigh it down.

I've considered several options, but at this point I believe I'll replace the contrast band with two rows of super colossal, jumbo rick rack. I think it will look just as cute and there won't be any show through

Massive Frustration

2008-04-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

It ticks me off royally when I can't get a post to format properly.

The Mother of Invention

2008-04-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

You know the old saying about necessity being the mother of invention and at my house today, that really is the case. You may think this is a picture of a lowly piece of crochet cotton and a tapestry needle; in reality, it's a highly effective, albeit not particularly user-friendly, tube turner.

There's nothing like being in the middle of a project and finding you don't have a tool you need to maintain forward momentum to get your thinking cap warmed up. In my case, I had four skinny tubes to turn in order to make spaghetti straps for a dress. AK over at PatternReview suggested serging a long thread chain before stitching the seam. That wouldn't work for me; I have had a serger for the last 10 or 12 years, but I don't believe I've ever used it for anything other than practice. Anyway, the thread chain gave me this idea and it was off to the races.

Sweet Success

2008-04-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I finally managed to get a three column format on my blog. Yay, me! With that out of the way, and being mostly caught up on paying work for at least a couple of days, I think I'll be able to get some sewing in this weekend. If I sew like a mad woman tomorrow, I can get my granddaughter's birthday dress mostly finished. Which brings up the question, why am I blogging and not sewing?

XHTML and CSS

2008-04-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

I ~~spent~~ wasted the entire afternoon trying to re-format my blog template to include three columns. At least I was in good company, as Lindsay tells me that she ~~spent~~ wasted her afternoon the same way. That was perfectly good time that we could have spent sewing!

Of course, now I won't be able to sleep until I figure it out. I'll be able to eat, though. Why couldn't it be the other way around???

The Replacement

2008-04-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

A replacement has been chosen for Butterick 4991 and it is Butterick 5046. I've always liked Butterick patterns, can you tell?

I know that a lot has been written over at PatternReview about the drawbacks of purchasing a pattern on the basis of a fashion illustration. In my own defense, let me just say that I've actually seen this pattern made up; it was in last summer's edition of Sewing Today and it was really cute. I'll be making view D (with the sleeves) but I'll likely not use contrasting fabric for the sleeves and band. Choosing a print of any kind is fairly revolutionary for me, so unless I'm hijacked by some sort of coordinating fabric, I'll be sticking to just one print.

I had kind of told myself, after the terrible time I had fitting Simplicity 3837 (Review), that I wouldn't make any more garments with a wrapped or crossover bodice that also had a seam directly under the bust, but here I am again. Even though the Simplicity pattern was made from a knit, I'm hoping I can apply what I learned making that top to this top designed for woven fabric.

The fabric, like the pattern, comes from my small stash. It hasn't been stashed long, only since December, but I've been anxious to use it. The pattern, in fact, was purchased with this fabric in mind. I like the pattern/fabric pairing as I think that each enhances the vaguely Asian feel of the other. You can't tell from the photo, but the gray areas of the fabric are actually a silver metallic, which will mesh perfectly with the other fabrics chosen for the larger wardrobe capsule I have planned.

I think this top will be a nice addition to my mini-wardrobe and a much more realistic choice given the time frame.

ETA: Bunny asked about the fiber content of my fabric. It is 100% cotton. I believe it's actually intended as a quilting cotton.

What Was I Thinking...

2008-04-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

...When I chose Butterick 4991 as part of my mini-wardrobe? There's no earthly way I could construct this particular garment and three additional garments in the space of one month. Talk about a moment of irrational, cockeyed optimism!

I mentioned in an earlier post that the garment has 14 darts. True, but the garment is also fully lined, meaning there are really - please sit down and place any drinks you may be holding on the table - 28 darts! Eegads! It will take me an entire month just to mark the darts to my satisfaction!

Don't get me wrong, I still intend to make this vest, but it will be an add-on piece to the mini-wardrobe I'll be making for the PatternReview contest. Now off to peruse the pattern company websites for a more suitable choice...perhaps something from a knit with no darts!

The Envelope, Please

2008-04-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, Charity nominated Sew Confused for the excellent blog award. At the time, I said I would have to put some thought into my own nominations. Well it's been a couple of days, and I've spent a little time thinking about my nominations. So without any further ado...

La Sewista! I love Bunny's blog for her excellent prose, imaginative use of prints, creative use of patterns and photos of her beautiful hand work.

Lean Mean Sewing Machine. Dana is just plain fun! If you haven't seen her Big Honkin' Pants, you need to visit her blog immediately!

Vintage Threads and Two On, Two Off. I know Charity and Dawn have both already been nominated, but their blogs are the first two I visit every day, so there you have it. A lot has already been written about their blogs, and I don't think I can improve on what's been said.

Hel Looks. The first street fashion blog I ever visited and still my favorite. What's not to love about a blog that first introduced you to Sweet Lolita and Angelic Pretty?

Pike/Pine. Okay, okay. I'm putting in a plug for the home team with this one!

That's it, five nominations. As I said at the outset, most of the blogs I frequent have already been nominated, which is why I'm stopping right here. I do want to say, though, that all the blogs in my blog roll are excellent choices and if there are any there that you haven't visited, you won't be wasting your time to visit them now.

Mini-Wardrobe, Here I Come

2008-04-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

I cut a muslin of Butterick 4991 last night. Of course, I encountered my first dilemmas: (1) how to lower the bust apex by 1" when there is no apparent shaping pointing directly at the bust; (2) given that there is no apparent shaping pointing directly at the bust, does it really matter; and (3) why is the back lining identical to the back other than being 1/8" wider at the bottom and given that, why is the front lining exactly the same as the front (other than being shorter, of course).

Carefully sidestepping the philosophical ramifications of #2, and realizing that there actually are darts pointing at the bust apex (but they are a cool design feature and I didn't want to shorten them) I decided to just add my standard 1" above the waist to the pattern pieces, except in this case, I added it below the armscye and above the bust. This put the bust apex at least in the general vicinity of my own. I was a little concerned that the waist darts still ran up onto my bust, but a careful perusal of the photo on the pattern envelope revealed the same on their model.

I'm making View A, the vest. I love vests; with just a few pattern pieces and no sleeve, what's not to love? This particular vest, however, has 14 (count 'em!) darts, 12 of which are top-stitched and so must be perfectly stitched. For my muslin, I'm just marking with dressmaker's carbon, but for the real deal, which will be made of black linen, I think I will need to thread trace. In case you didn't see my previous post about this pattern, this is the fabric I intend to use. Yummy, isn't it?

I am very excited to actually take the first steps toward a mini-wardrobe. I have been completely snowed under with work the last couple of weeks, so hopefully I will manage to keep up with that and still find some time for sewing in the coming week. Happy sewing, everyone!

Animal Farm

2008-04-05T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've done it! I've completed my first skirt for The Hundred Skirts Project, and here it is. I've named it "Animal Farm."

Before I say anything else, I want to thank Charity of Vintage Threads. She's made participating in the project so easy, that it's almost shamefule not to participate. Just in case you haven't heard, The Hundreds Skirts Project benefits The Shadow of His Wings Orphanage in Guatemala.

I'm especially proud of this little skirt as I drafted the pattern myself...I know, it's just an A-line skirt pattern, but for a spatially challenged person such as...me...it represents a fair accomplishment. The fabric came from my tiny stash, where it had been patiently waiting to be used for ten or so years. It's a Noah's ark print that had a coordinating border print. I used the border print for a dress for my granddaughter at Christmas, but I had some small pieces of this print available to use. When the fabric was originally purchased, I had a dress/pinafore outfit in mind. I struggled with the dress and the outfit was never completed, but I had some fairly large scraps of this print and, thus, Animal Farm was born.

I used my narrow hem foot to hem the 60+ inches of ruffle - a first for me - and I'm pretty happy with the results. I can remember when my older girls were young, doing this by hand and the narrow hem foot is quite a convenience. The shape of the little pocket was lifted from the hearts in the print.

Narrow Hem Detail

Pocket Detail

One down and six to go!

Who, Me?

2008-04-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Charity for nominating my little blog for the Excellent Blog award. It's flattering but at the same time a little humbling to be included amongst her other outstanding nominees. For my part, I'm going to take a little time and really think over my selections. I don't know that I'll come up with ten, as so many of my favorite blogs have already been nominated, but I will be making some nominations in the next few days.

Paper Dolls

2008-04-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite activities was to make clothes for my paper dolls. I would lay my doll on a piece of "typing paper," then carefully draw the outline of a dress around her shape. Using crayons or colored pencils (this was in the days before watercolor markers) I would draw in the fashion details, add tabs, cut it out and - voila! A new dress. One of the the most thoughtful gifts I ever received was a folder of 8-1/2 x 11 inch papers printed to look like different fabrics and trims, which were designed to be used with paper dolls. Quite the thing in the mid-60s.

Today I played paper dolls again, with the help of my croquis, Polly. She was a good sport, and tried on as many skirts as I asked and helpfully offered her opinion on the best length for me.

For those of you who read my earlier introduction to Polly, it may come as no surprise when I say that my first instinct when choosing a dress or skirt would be to select the longest possible length, like the skirt on the far right. Looking at the skirt on Polly, however, I can see that it's actually a little too long. Probably 2 to three inches shorter would be more flattering.

Looking at the next two skirts, I think it's fairly clear that mid-calf length is out, but looking at the fuller skirt, I can see that if it were just a touch shorter, just below knee length, it might be okay.

But the most surprising to me are the three short skirts. It would never have occurred to me that a short skirt could be at all flattering, but of all the looks included in the picture, the short a-line and pencil skirts are my favorites.

The paper doll exercise is part of my preparation for the PatternReview Mini-wardrobe Contest. I don't intend, at this point, to toss out the pattern selections I've already made, but I will definitely take a second look at the lengths I've chosen. A trip to the mall for some snoop shopping may be in order.

Problem Child

2008-03-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

I am pretty excited because I finished the linen/rayon blouse that was giving me so much trouble a couple of weeks ago. As is so often the case, the problem child has ended up being near and dear to her mother's heart. I just love this blouse: the rumpled look of the linen (hey, what can I say...it camouflages those puckers!); the buttons my daughter picked out; the tunic length; the cuffs, which, for some reason, just strike me as being really beautiful. Thanks to everyone who offered advice an encouragement, here and at PatternReview. It's due in large part to you that this blouse was finished rather than becoming a wadder. Although this is not "officially" a part of my PatternReview mini-wardrobe, it is, in fact, the first piece of my new wardrobe capsule.

I have high hopes for my April sewing projects...let me list them for you.

* A birthday dress for my granddaughter, for which I've found the most adorable fabric. You can't see it in the photo, but it's sparkly!

* Also some clothes for her American Girl "Girl of Today" doll, a hand-me-down from my 16 year old daughter, using Simplicity 7083.

* Several ribbon belts for my oldest daughter.

* Muslins of Butterick 4991, McCall's 2818 and (hopefully) Burda 7944 in preparation for the mini-wardrobe contest.

I also have two other tops I'm itching to make, which will be great add-ons to my mini-wardrobe. I seriously need to figure out how to carve more sewing time from each day. Suggestions, anyone?