B5190 Knit Skirt

I finally finished one garment for the June Capsule Contest. This is a knit skirt made with yellow, orange, white, and brown polyester knit from Gorgeous Fabric. The pattern was easy fit and easy sew. The waist of the pants was fitted using the My Label pullon pants. The fitting couldn't have been easier which is a nice change for me. I did have my share of beginner problems. Of course, I had one yard of fabric, the pattern required 2 yards, and there was a pattern that had to be matched. I have to make everything challenging! I considered changing to a top but I planned the mini wardrobe around this skirt. I made a yoke from the skirt pattern and used 3/8" seams rather than the suggested 5/8". Then I spent considerable time matching the pattern. I managed to cut out the skirt with scraps the size of a postage stamp! I wasn't sure all this would work but it did. I love the skirt which will go with tops in the colors that I usually wear. I also was uncertain about using polyester knit but this fabric worked beautifully. The sewing was a dream! Hopefully, the fabric will wear well. BTW, I did not make that poorly fitted blouse. It's much too tight for my comfort. You can see my motivation for struggling through this learning-to-sew process.

I did finish the computer storyboard for the wardrobe. At least, I thought I did, but it won't upload. I will figure that out eventually. Right now, I have to get back to sewing. I may be able to finish the garments by the June 30 deadline if I don't run into too many unexpected problems (lol). Today, I plan to finish the pants (another story) and finish cutting out the jacket (a simple one -- sure!). The blouse is cut out and the purse half finished.

New and Old Toys

Well, I'm behind on my sewing schedule. I'm not surprised because I always plan more than I can do. Last week, I tried to figure out the reason I'm so behind. There are always chores and unexpected events. Still, I love to sew, want to sew but very little of it is happening. Sure, I could spend less time on the computer and do need a little more discipline there. But..... I do spend a lot of time at the ironing board with DH's shirts and, especially, his chef's uniforms now that he is going to cooking school. Of course, he doesn't worry about it a lot. I'm the one who hates to see him leave the house looking like he slept in his clothes. Cotton and silk clothes just need pressing even though we hang them as they come out of the dryer. I try not to complain very much but I did mention this problem to a friend. She suggesting a steamer. Wow! I need to discuss my issues with others more often! It won't work for everything but is great for jackets and those touch-ups!! Here is my new toy - a Rowenta Pro Steamer.

In back of the steamer, you can see my ironing board with an old toy. I'm using my big board to press my coat wool. I bought a cover for it with a grid to check that the fabric is on grain. I used it a lot when I was making quilts and just thought of using it for garments. BTW, you can see the corner of the Pinwheel Quilt that I made several years ago.

Another of my "new toys" is the Adobe Elements Program. I'm not very happy playing with that one right now. I've spent 3 days (off and on) trying to put together a storyboard for the JCC (June Capsule Contest). I sure wish the instructions were more basic like open a new page and highlight the pictures you want to use. The help menu caused me problems because the focus was on fancy applications (great for later) and seem to skip the basics for tech newbies. I think I finished the storyboard today, but the computer crashed when I tried to print it. Yes, I saved the page (I'm not that new at using technology!). Hopefully, I'll have it on the blog by the end of this week.

Coat 2

Well, I've figured out how to get Vogue Patterns uploaded. This is a coat that I would like to make sometime - maybe this Fall. I bought my Burda pattern from SewingPatterns.com but, apparently, the site won't let anyone upload pictures. At least that's what my error message said. So, the problem may not be me. Geez, it's confusing for tech newbies.

In case anyone noticed that my header picture is not smaller, I did figure out how to do that as I promised. I just didn't like the way it looked when the picture was so small. So, it's going to stay the way it is for now. I've got sewing to do along with all this techie stuff.