The Coat Whoppee! Yahoo!!

This summer I'm making a coat along with almost 100 other people with the Great Coat Sew Along. It's an internet learn, sew, and share project organized by Marji. Today Mr.Postman delivered the coat fabric and muslin for coat fitting. He just smiled at me (knowing my fabric addiction) and didn't say anything. That's quite different from DH who typically yells "MORE FABRIC". I finally figured out why I am soooo excited about making this coat. When I was running, I never felt like I was a Runner until I finished a marathon. Now that I'm garment sewing, I won't feel like seamstress (or whatever the term is for the talented, creative people whose blogs I stalk regularly) until I make a coat. Here's my fabric:

The brown is wool flannel from Denver Fabrics and the muslin is from PerfectProductsonline. Now I'll admit it doesn't look all that exciting and, normally, I wouldn't take a picture of muslin. Hey, this is my first coat and I need to keep everything easy to sew. I'll have enough challenges with the tailoring involved! With the exception of a few other newbies to coat sewing, I don't think anyone is more excited about their coat fabric than I am. Of course, I have seen some gorgeous fabrics and plans that the experts are making. I'm honored to be sewing with them. Now I'll see if I can copy my coat pattern from the internet (lots of new tech learning going on!) Well, the chef (DH) almost has dinner ready (don't get too jealous, I have clean up duty) and my attempts are not working. I'll have to work on that one. Anyway, my pattern is Burda 7855, View A.

May Planning Brings June Sewing

May has been a planning month with very little sewing. This summer I took a look at what I need the most and actually prioritized my sewing. Now all I have to do is follow the plan and try not to get distracted by new ideas (lol). First on the agenda is the June Capsule Contest (sew along for me) that is sponsored by Elizabeth on StichersGuild. The rules are to make four garments and one accessory from June 1 to June 30. There cannot be any black items and one item can be purchased or made before June. Here are my fabrics for the "contest":
So far, I've got the patterns ready for 4 items. The yellow blouse is giving me some fitting problems (I'll keep the nasty words off this blog.). I'm working on a muslin and, hopefully, can get that ready soon. I have cut out the orange pants. At least one item is ready to go! Next week's sewing is a purse which is the small yellow and orange piece although the orange doesn't show very well in the picture. I figure I'll get one fairly easy item done first to encourage myself. My computer challenge is a story board to show the fabrics and patterns together. I think I know how to do that but we'll see!

Blog Awe

There are so many awesome sewing blogs that I stalk regularly. I learn from them, get many ideas, and feel a sense of community. I hesitated doing my own blog for a while because I am such a beginner. Obviously, I changed my mind. There may be other beginners who can learn from my struggles and mistakes. Although I use purchased patterns, I do much of my work from Bernina's My Label Software program. I only know of one other blogger Robyn who uses this program although I'm sure there are others. My computer skills are not that great but I am learning. I will figure out how to make the "view from my window" smaller. Mostly, I started to feel like I did in high school when I wanted to join a sorority. I wanted to belong, but wasn't sure that I would be accepted. I'm a lot older now and there is no "rush" to start a blog. So, I'll just have to do the blog for my own record and encouragement -- I'm more likely to get things done if I have to "report". If others visit me and benefit, that will be the icing on the cake.