Bits and Pieces

Since I last posted, I've felt scattered. My sewing reflected my feelings. I figured that it was time to sew Vogue 1250 like everyone else in blogland. When I saw Carolyn's most recent version of this dress, one of the fabrics in my stash started screaming "Me, Me". It's not a ponte. It's a gauze type fabric with a backing, but the houndstooth is similar. I purchased it from EOS because I loved the camel and brown color combination. This fabric was not a great choice for my first version because it raveled like crazy. Also, it didn't have enough stretch for this design. I took out the side seams as much as I could. With a bit more ease, I would like it better but it's wearable. I like it.

I'm still trying to decide how to finish the armholes and hem. Usually, I topstitch. I just don't think that would look very good with this fabric and design. I'll probably serge and hand stitch although I may use binding. Right now it's hanging in the closet waiting for the final inspiration. For the back I turned and used stitch witchery instead of a facing (got that idea from Carolyn). I like the way it finished the edge without a facing flapping around.

While procrastinating making that decision, I started working on a shirt for DH, Silhouette 6012.The definition of sewing insanity is making a tailored man's shirt in a cotton gauze, especially for the first time. I made the mistake of asking him what fabric he wanted. What a trip this has been! I've been trying to get all those points just right and, finally, realized that is not going to happen. It's crazy anyway. He wants to wear it in the garden to stay cool and protect him from the sun. I seriously doubt that he will notice those points. I have finished all the pieces and sewed the front and back together. The rest should be easy, right?

I was too lazy to press the sleeve before the picture. I just wanted to see my progress. The collar does have a band that I added after taking the picture.

My work on the shirt stopped when I needed something to wear to a funeral. At my age, I knew that I needed a funeral dress but it seemed morbid to start sewing one. I am tired of wearing my old black pants and t-shirt top. A good friend died of cancer last week. I was planning to take a picture after the funeral but just didn't feel like it. A picture of the dress will come in a future post. While appropriate for a funeral, it's also a nice date night dress.

Sewing has been slow the past few weeks because we are remodeling our master bathroom. It's hard for me to concentrate with all the banging, etc. going on. Here's my home work-in-process picture:

You can see the edge of embroidered quilt I made years ago. That's the only pretty part of this picture. I can't wait for the construction to be done!! I'd like to work on organizing and decorating my sewing room. I've seen so many great pictures on the blogs lately. I'll get to it - soon I hope.  I'd like to finish some of my bits and pieces first.

I did finish cutting out the lace anniversary dress except for the lining (which was orderd and only arrived a few days ago). I doubt that I will start the sewing until the end of May or June.

I've tired to resist all the wonderful fabric sales around. I barely have room for my large fabric stash. I saw this on EOS. It spoke to me and was in the cart before I knew it. I'm looking forward to an easy (hopefully) summer dress from the fabric. I want to end the post with a pretty picture so  here it is:

Silhouette 150 - Top #2

I managed to finish 2 tops for Faye's Essential Top Sew-A-Long! I'm proud of myself since I was sewing as I was finishing tax returns. If anyone reading this blog hasn't seen the sew-a-long tops, you can hop over to Faye's blog and see some amazing eye candy!! Here's my second top:

This is Silhouette 150 sleeveless version. Years ago I made this top and had horrible gapping problems in the front. I made the long sleeve version this winter and had no problems. I made a size 3 tampered to size 4. The only adjustment was raising the armhole half an inch for the sleeveless version.  It's a great 1 to 2 hour top. This is a close up of the front yoke.

I forgot to take a picture of the back. It has a slightly curved back yoke.

I'd love to continue making tops, but there are lots of other garments on my sewing list. Right now, the anniversary dress lace is on my cutting table. My anniversary isn't until the end of June so I doubt that I will start sewing it. That dress will be a long process. Why should I make it too far ahead of time? I'll probably make a simple dress or the shirt for DH that already is cut out. We'll see what mood strikes me!

The First Essential Top: Silhouette 425

Here's my first top for Faye's 2013 Essential Top Sew-A-Long.

Silhouette 425

In the Fall, I made this pattern in a cotton with long sleeves/cuffs. This version is made in a silk that originally was purchased for a sleeveless top. There wasn't enough fabric for long sleeves so I just made short sleeves with serged rolled edges. When I cut out the top last week, the temperature was dropping in to the high 30's at night. I was not happy about the fabric shortage. Now, I'm glad because the temperature is in the 80s. I like this pattern and this top. I used a size 3 and tapered to a size 4 in the hips. It is easy to sew and only takes a little more time than a knit top. I do prefer it in cotton as this silk droops a bit at the front gathers. I'll still wear it a lot. It fits to my liking (loose with some shape) and is soooo comfortable. Actually, I could sleep in it! I cut out a white cotton version, but want to sew something else now. Although I'll make this top several times again, I need variety with my sewing.

I'm off to finish a couple of tax returns and work on my next top coming soon - hopefully before Sunday, the end of the Sew-A-Long.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I'll start with the good. After seeing Carolyn's version of the Oscar de Renta Dress, I bought a couple of yards of Guipure lace to go with the silk/wool fabric purchased at one of Mood's 50% off sales. Hey, I got the silk/wool at such a good price I might as well buy fancy lace to go with it. The $400 a yard for 44" silk guipere was out of my price range (even in my wild mood of "gotta have Guipere lace"). Mine is cotton which is expensive but much less costly. Still, I almost called to cancel the order. Enough of my wild mood was left that I didn't. When it arrived, I did a happy dance and floated around the house the rest of the day. It is gorgeous! The photo does not do the lace or the wool/silk justice.

Over the past several months, I've lots of fun reading Carolyn's blog and thinking how I could make her garments to suit me and my life style. The lace dress is planned for my anniversary in June. I made a dress similar to one of her Butterick dresses in March (photo to come) and cut out the black pointe and faux leather dress. I really have to finish that dress one day soon. It was a challenge to do the pattern work and the cutout, but I had fun doing it. I was working on my SWAP garments and had brown thread on the machine. I was too lazy to change it.

Then, the bad comes. It seems like the past couple of  months have been one bad news thing after another. There was nothing terrible - just annoying and hard on the budget. As a result, there has been minimal sewing and blogging. It started with scratching noises in the attic. The neighbors next door left and took their cats with them. Here, I thought the cats just liked us so they spent most of their time at my house. No, it wasn't the treats and back rubs. It was the rats. When the cats left, the rats moved into our attic. When the exterminator climbed up to the attic, he managed to step on the shelf in the closet and pull it out of the wall. Years of old business records and forgotten fabric came tumbling down. About the same time, we had our annual air conditioner/heater check and discovered our 28 year old air conditioner wouldn't make it another year and needed to be replaced. I took my car in for regular service and learned that a tube thing had come loose and was starting to leak. If it wasn't fixed, the leaking would ruin my engine. I was advised not to drive it until it was fixed. Naturally, I told them to fix it. Then, the ice maker broke in the fridge. I think there were other things that I can't think of now (best forgotten anyway). All of these things happened in the middle of tax season. Although I'm retired, I still do tax returns for family and friends. They managed to give a few tax challenges this year, but that's all right. After the air conditioner and the car, I put off taking my sewing machine for annual service. It's in the shop now so I have my fingers crossed.

Here's the ugly.

The pictures above are most of the stuff that I had stored in one closet. Obviously, I am talented in putting lots of things in a small place. At least, the one bed is just my projects in progress. Everything but the business records are cleared out now. The majority of the mess went to the trash bin, to Goodwill, and to Red Cross. After I finish taxes, I'll do the shredding of those old records.

While I'm thinking about "ugly", is anyone watching Fashion Star? I really like that show, but they have started working in teams and showing the nasty conflicts among designers. I'm so disappointed. It is starting to be more like Project Runway that I have stopped watching. I just don't like all those ugly conflicts.

To end on a positive note, I'm back to sewing now. Yea!! I finished one top for Faye's Essentail Top Sew-A-Long Challenge and, hopefully, will have another finished before Sunday. This post is long enough so I'll blog about those is another couple of posts.

More to come soon.

January and February Sewing

The year 2013 had been a zoo for me so far. At least things have settled down a bit now. I'll save the details of most of my activities for a later post. Since I'm posting at last, I want to talk about sewing. I did manage to do a little of that in the midst of chaos. It helps me cope! I only made 3 garments in January, but I love them. They are just basics which I need in my wardrobe. They also are garments from my 2013 SWAP.

The pants are Silhouette 3200 made with a wool/cashmere blend and bemberg lining. The skirt is Simplicity 5914 made with brown flannel. The top is Silhouette 550 made with a polyester knit. There were MANY pattern changes in the pants. Peggy Sagers did her magical adjustments in a 4 day workshop last year. I shortened the skirt and added about 2 inches at the waist. Then, I had to take the waist in an inch. My waist is smaller than my skirt sloper now. I think I'm getting some results from all those walking miles and weights! The top is a size 3 in the shoulders and size 4 in the hips. I raised the armhole an inch for my toothpick arms. All 3 garments are easy sewing. I had to do some thinking with the fly front in the pants, but the instructions are excellent.

February was absolute chaos. I'm proud that I finished one easy top.

The top is Silhouette 550 made from rayon knit. I made my usual Silhouette adjustment using size 3 to 4. I don't like the way my hems are looking with the rayon knit. This time I used washaway stabilizer which made the look worse IMO. I was careful not to stretch the hem so I don't think that's the problem.I like the drapey look so I don't want to interface the hem. Next time I think that I'll try steam-a-seam or stitch witchery. I gonna solve this problem eventually!! Part of my fabric collection is shown  in the closet next to the picture. That was an accident. I considered editing out that part of the picture, but decided to just show it. I love every piece there. Actually, a number of fabric bags went to charity in the past few months. I honestly try to control my fabric purchases. Then, someone has a sale or this beautiful fabric appears on my computer. The next thing I know the UPS man is making a delivery.

I don't know why this last part of the post is centered and the beginning is aligned to the left. I guess I must have hit something, but I don't know what. That's something I'll have to explore sometime. Right now, I have to get ready for a hot date. Sewing is tomorrow (hopefully I won't have any surprises to prevent that!).

Happy Sewing!!

Christmas Spirit Begins

Every year my friend, Jane, gives a Christmas party in the first or second week of December. She starts decorating before Thanksgiving and does an amazing job. There is a decorated tree in every room and a big one in the living room. About ten years ago, I saw the tree in Rockefeller Center. It was incredible. While her living room tree may not be quite as awesome as the one in New York City, it comes pretty close for a smaller version! There were so many people at the party that I couldn't get a full shot - unless I asked people to move which would have embarrassed me and my hostess. Instead, I took pictures of the top and bottom.

Do you see those boots sticking out? They are so cute!

I didn't finish the blouse that I planned to wear to the party until a week ago. So, what else is new? I did finish it, though. At least, I'll have a new top to wear for our family Christmas. To the party, I wore a red top, Silhouette 115, that I made last March. I was making the rounds of taking pictures of friends when hubbie took the camera and snapped a picture of me.

I love this top. It's quick and easy!! Next time I make make it, I'll take a bit off the collar. It's a little to big for my small frame.

This post was delayed by the events in Conn. It didn't seem right to write a happy post at the time. Besides, I have 3 grandchildren in Elementary School. Two of them are in Kindergarden. I had the shivers and the weather was warm here. These events reminded how precious life is. By the time I recaptured my Christmas spirit, I had to go into manic mode to get things done. I still have to sew pockets on shirts for DH and wrap a few presents. I may still be wrapping on Monday, but it will be done without too much stress.

Merry Christmas!!

SWAP this year

This year I'm going to do it. At least I'm going to try my best to stay focused on 2013 SWAP. I've rediscovered my bloging mojo while I was planning the wardrobes. I'll probably change a garment or two, but the basic plan WILL stay the same. Hopefully, I won't experience a lot of ADD! I won't repeat the 2013 SWAP rules here. They are available at http://artisanssquare.com at the Stitcher's Guild section.

Wardrobe 1: Squarely Chic

3 tops, 2 bottoms

Silhouette 550  tan, gold, and brown sleeveless top - This one is cut out, as the rules allow ahead of time.
V8772  brown, tan, and orange silk blouse
Silhouette 300 brown, tan, and ivory blouse
S5914 brown flannel skirt
Silhouette 3200 wool crepe pants. This is my one garment that can be done ahead. It is finished, but needs to be lined. I wish that I realized this before I added the waistband.

Wardrobe 2: Spring Dreams

2 tops, 1 bottom, 1 dress

Silhouette 300 pink teal multi silk jersey blouse with cap sleeves

Silhouette 500 ivory tank top

Silhouette 3200 tan wool crepe pants

V8824 teal wool crepe dress

 Extra Garment to go with Both Wardrobes

Collette Anise  tan wool crepe jacket

Actually, the entire 10 pieces are mix and match although the themes are different. Here are the fabrics from the two collection shown together:

Addional Spare time (LOL) Project

Self Drafted Skirt with Marina at FrabjousCouture

Additonal Commitment

Pictures of my 2012 sewing projects

Plenty of sewing, just no blogging

Happy Sewing!!!