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!!