Saturday, September 10, 2011

Happy Birthday, Roxy

It's a ducky day. Roxy is one year old and still a puppy. She's growing more lovable everyday. When I was shopping the dog toy clearance rank at Petco, I saw this duck. It looks like the same one that Shannon's dog, Hartley , received for his birthday. I use many ideas that I get from Blogland, even buying dog toys! This idea was a definite winner. She loves that duck and continues to shower it with kisses. I tried to get her eyes in the picture, but she won't take her eyes off that beloved duck.

If I can stop watching her, I might get some sewing done.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Lost Jacket

No, I didn't lose my JAM #4. I'm referring to the TV Series "Lost". Actually, I sometimes felt like I was mentally losing it while working on this simple shrug. It's the Sewing Workshop e-shrug. Here's a view of the back:This jacket started back in April when I saw Robin's version of this pattern. I copied her sewing techniques, including watching episodes of "Lost" while doing the handwork. There is no copyright on blogs, right? I'm not planning on selling the shrug, selling the techniques, or even doing it again! I do like the results and certainly enjoyed watching "Lost". It took me a while to finish because I was doing more watching than sewing and, of course, I had to watch the Japanese subtitles. I got to the beginning of Season 2, but there probably won't be a Season 3 in my future. The series is starting to drag for me and is getting a little too weird. That's good because I started doing more sewing.

Now, I'll get back to sewing process. I used a bamboo knit rather than a double knit. Yes, that caused me problems using techniques that were done on a double knit. If you are interested in the entire process, check Robin's blog. She did not say how wide she cut her binding. I decided (just to make life interesting) to cut a narrow binding. The lesson learned was: drapy bamboo knit interfaced with pro-sheer does not turn easily. I almost got it all done before the interfacing started to tear. The only solution was to serge the jacket edges or make a new, wider binding. In my usual manner, I took the more challenging option. I cut my binding 2 1/2" wide. It was still slow going while turning the binding. Then, I got lots of practice doing a fell stitch. Yes, I do a decent rolled hem which will appear on future jackets of this type.

Many thanks to those of you who e-mailed me about the jacket muslin in my last post. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of caring from bloggers. I do have the back fixed to my liking. The front fits, but the sleeve area does not look just right to me. I'm going to let it set a bit and then look at it again. Overall, I like the jacket. I learned a lot about fitting my body in this extremely tedious and frustrating process.