A Dancing Day

Yesterday, I was dancing in my sewing room. Fortunately, DH Richard was absorbed in the Sunday paper and had no idea what I was doing. Now, what could be the cause of such joy? There were several things. First, the coat muslin finally fit without so many pull winkles that it looked like I slept in it. I let out a seam here and there and eventually it hung straight, seams in line, and all those wonderful things. Many thanks to NancyK and Mary OK who gave me the winning ideas for fixing it! Of course, the collar and sleeves weren't in yet but, hey, I'm making good progress. This afternoon I put the collar in. This was not a dancing day. I had clipped the neck seams and had all those big seam allowances. In the future, I betya I'll sew that collar in first rather than clipping the neck line and pressing it under first to check the neckline. Frankly, I'd rather rip collar basting if I have to adjust the neckline. Usually, I dread set-in sleeves, but I actually enjoyed doing anything other than trying to sew a collar/band on a lapel! It should be much easier with normal seam allowances when I do the real thing. O.K., back to yesterday and happier times. The second cause of joy was my Hot Pattern Cosmo Dress. The bodice muslin actually fit with only the flat pattern adjustments I did ahead of time. I thought I'd be working on it for Summer 2009. Take a look:

Now, I know the fabric is ugly, but it is a muslin. Poor Dolly is still wearing my old T Shirt from the day that I made her. BTW, she is crooked because I am, but not as much as the day of her birth. I've been working on my posture through Chi Walking. There was 1 inch difference when I made her. Now there is about 3/8" between sides. Now, that makes a lot of difference with fitting. That difference is the reason one side hangs a bit on Dolly. One of these days I'll have to fix her and make a new cover-outfit for her. There is a third reason for yesterday's dancing. I'd been itching to enter the Pattern Review Mini Wardrobe Contest. I just love participating in contests. Of course, I might as well be on a different sewing planet from the winners, but I love the sewing spirit that happens. Yep, I never seem to finish the wardrobes but I do get a lot more sewing done. Anyway, I was thinking that the Cosmo Dress could be an item in the wardrobe. I hopped on the internet and signed up for the contest. Then, reality set in. I have to have 3 garmets that go with the Cosmo Dress's mod floral print. Oh boy! There is a reason to have a stash! I have a piece of linen that is a perfect color match. Also, I have a floral crepe in the same shades of blue. That print has brown in it which is crying for a pair of brown pants. Naturally, I have brown pants fabric in my stash. I know that is a lot of "floral" but they are similar prints and look like they belong in the same closet. Never mind that I said no more contests until I learned how to do a storyboard. The storyboard will come after the coat sleeves are finished! Ahh... the joys of sewing!

Coat Muslin Burda 7855

Right Side

Obviously, this muslin needs work before I add the sleeves and collar. There is a half inch difference between my left and right side so that part is not my sewing. The left shoulder is lower and the right side is one half inch wider from the center. I'll appreciate any suggestions to get rid of those winkles. Thanks!!

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.

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.