Top 5 Sewing Hits

1. V8805 Red Knit Dress

Normally, I don't wear dresses. Perhaps, I just didn't like the dresses I had. I wore this dress  a lot and always received compliments.  

2. Papercut Rigel Bomber

This jacket is my favorite make of the year. Since I live in Florida, I didn't wear it as often as other lighter weight jackets. The weather did permit me to wear it often last winter. Usually, I wear it opened which looks better. I do like it closed because it shows my favorite feature, the zipper.

3. Grainline Morris Blazer

I love this blazer and wore it a lot.  On a whim, I entered it in the Girl Charlee July 4 contest and won  a $75 fabric prize. The fabric is so  comfortable and goes with many other garments in my wardrobe. The pattern is great with clear instructions. There will be another Morris Blazer soon!

4. Blue Prints Saltbox top and Sew It Over Ultimate trousers

This outfit ranks as the most often worn, particularly the pants. Yes, I did hem those pants after looking at the pictures. The pants are starting to show wear now so I definitely will be making another pair.

5. Cashmerette Appleton Dress

I have another dress in the top 5 which surprised me. After trying numerous unsuccessful wrap dress patterns, this one went together like a dream with only a SBA as an alteration. The fabric from Mood sewed easily and is soft and comfy.

I pleased with my successes this year. Next up, I'll show my misses.

LRD: Vogue 8805

The little red dress is a garment that I've wanted to sew for a long time. I needed a dress that packed well and was easy to sew. When I saw Lori's dress, I knew what I wanted to make. The dress was exactly what I wanted. I was not disappointed!

I was amazed that my adjustments were similar to hers.I made a size 12, C cup, lowered the bust dart 1/2", and used self fabric to bind the upper edge. Also, I coverstitched the seams because the dress was just too plain otherwise. Unfortunately, the coverstitch does not show in the photos, but it did make a big difference. The fabric has been in my stash for a long time so I don't remember where I bought it. It is a red pointe that I did buy with the LRD in mind.

The only change that I will make next time is a sway back adjustment to take care of that extra fabric in the back. The next version will be color blocked. What a great pattern to play with different ideas and try new techniques!

Yes, my expressions are strained in these photos. I have a hard time smiling a lot when the temperature is in triple digits and the sun is in my eyes. For most of the day, I was running errands. So, I was sweating so much that my hair was sticking to the sides. I had put off taking pictures for a while. If I kept making excuses, this post would never happen. There may be a perfect time for taking pictures - I haven't found it yet.

There isn't a lot going on in my life except for the maintenance of my large house and yard. Other than sewing, the high points are family time, playing with my dog, and reading good books. I finished the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. The writing and character development is excellent. I can see why it won a pulitzer prize. It is a very long book that is hard to put down at many points. Now, I'm reading something a little lighter, Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

Happy Sewing!!

MMM ROUNDUP WEEK 2

This is a quick post to document my made-by-me for the week

Friday, May 9th

I took my dog Roxy to the groomer to get rid of her winter fur. The top is Hot Patterns Sunshine top and the pants are RTW. The look is: "I've got to figure out this camera phone or I'm going to be late for our appointment".

Sunday, May 11

I'm dressed for Mother's Day. The dress is Vogue 1250. The look is: "I'm starting to get this phone camera thing - now I have to learn to hold the phone higher so it doesn't hide part of the garment".

Wardrobe notes:

While the loose top is comfortable for local errands, I prefer tops more fitted.

This dress is the only made-by-me dress that has short sleeves. I'd like to add at least 2 dresses to my summer wardrobe.

UFO progress:
I've finished a pair of pairs and a top except for the final pressing-will blog about them soon.

Bits and Pieces

Since I last posted, I've felt scattered. My sewing reflected my feelings. I figured that it was time to sew Vogue 1250 like everyone else in blogland. When I saw Carolyn's most recent version of this dress, one of the fabrics in my stash started screaming "Me, Me". It's not a ponte. It's a gauze type fabric with a backing, but the houndstooth is similar. I purchased it from EOS because I loved the camel and brown color combination. This fabric was not a great choice for my first version because it raveled like crazy. Also, it didn't have enough stretch for this design. I took out the side seams as much as I could. With a bit more ease, I would like it better but it's wearable. I like it.

I'm still trying to decide how to finish the armholes and hem. Usually, I topstitch. I just don't think that would look very good with this fabric and design. I'll probably serge and hand stitch although I may use binding. Right now it's hanging in the closet waiting for the final inspiration. For the back I turned and used stitch witchery instead of a facing (got that idea from Carolyn). I like the way it finished the edge without a facing flapping around.

While procrastinating making that decision, I started working on a shirt for DH, Silhouette 6012.The definition of sewing insanity is making a tailored man's shirt in a cotton gauze, especially for the first time. I made the mistake of asking him what fabric he wanted. What a trip this has been! I've been trying to get all those points just right and, finally, realized that is not going to happen. It's crazy anyway. He wants to wear it in the garden to stay cool and protect him from the sun. I seriously doubt that he will notice those points. I have finished all the pieces and sewed the front and back together. The rest should be easy, right?

I was too lazy to press the sleeve before the picture. I just wanted to see my progress. The collar does have a band that I added after taking the picture.

My work on the shirt stopped when I needed something to wear to a funeral. At my age, I knew that I needed a funeral dress but it seemed morbid to start sewing one. I am tired of wearing my old black pants and t-shirt top. A good friend died of cancer last week. I was planning to take a picture after the funeral but just didn't feel like it. A picture of the dress will come in a future post. While appropriate for a funeral, it's also a nice date night dress.

Sewing has been slow the past few weeks because we are remodeling our master bathroom. It's hard for me to concentrate with all the banging, etc. going on. Here's my home work-in-process picture:

You can see the edge of embroidered quilt I made years ago. That's the only pretty part of this picture. I can't wait for the construction to be done!! I'd like to work on organizing and decorating my sewing room. I've seen so many great pictures on the blogs lately. I'll get to it - soon I hope.  I'd like to finish some of my bits and pieces first.

I did finish cutting out the lace anniversary dress except for the lining (which was orderd and only arrived a few days ago). I doubt that I will start the sewing until the end of May or June.

I've tired to resist all the wonderful fabric sales around. I barely have room for my large fabric stash. I saw this on EOS. It spoke to me and was in the cart before I knew it. I'm looking forward to an easy (hopefully) summer dress from the fabric. I want to end the post with a pretty picture so  here it is:

JAM #3 Vogue 8675

The jacket was almost finished in April. I had a little motivation problem doing the last bits (pulling through threads and final pressing). It's so hot here that I wanted to work on brighter summery fabrics. It's too close to the final product to go on the UFO shelf (There's no room for it anyway!) Finally, a long self-talk got me to finish it.

The jacket was quick and easy to sew. Actually, it closer to a wrap than a jacket. I did shorten the length and the sleeves a couple of inches. That's it. I plan to make a LBD to wear with it, but I won't push the black outfit motivation too far. I doubt that I'll wear this until cooler Fall weather. Usually, I crop out the mess around a garment in photos. This mess consists of the patterns and fabric that are in my dreams and will, hopefully, become a reality soon.

This picture shows the jacket the way it is suppposed to be worn. At least, it's closer to the pattern envelope (see last post). Most of the time, it'll swing open like the first picture. I will wear something a bit more appropriate than the brown that's on Dolly. (Reminder to myself: I need to get that dressform covered properly in the white fabric already purchased.)
This is a photo of the back:

Here's a closeup of the trim:

So, I haven't posted in two months. I've been a bad blogger, but I have good reasons. I finished tax season with minimal stress and took off for my usual week at the beach. We went to Daytona Beach Shores which is less than 30 minutes away. Yea, we didn't have the stress of driving. It's a great place to just relax, read, enjoy the beach, and watch the sunset. All the action occurs in closeby Daytona Beach. We had plenty of that in our younger days but prefer a quieter atmosphere now.

Soon after that, I spend a very long Saturday night in ER with DH who was having severe stomach pains. He had to have emergency surgery and is still in the hospital. He is doing much better now. Hopefully, he can go home today. I keep watching the phone. I know that doesn't make the call from the hospital come any faster. Somehow, I feel better just looking at it.

Most of my sewing has been done in periods of less than 15 minutes. I've kept it to simple projects and am amazed at how much I accomplished. I've made pull-on pants to match the paisley jacket and t-shirts. A couple of the tops are worthy of a post, but those are long sleeve. I seldom wear long sleeves in the summer, but I'll do a post later. Right now, I'm working on the Sewing Workshop e-shrug. This is another simple project. One day last week I decided to forget the world and just sew. It was great except the shoulders were finished and bound on the right side rather than the wrong side. I bound them with the knit fabric and the look was c***. It took a while to rip those seams and fix them with a better looking rayon binding. I didn't even get upset at my stupidity. I just sewed. I was so happy to have a block of time to sew!

JAM #3: The Planning

Although I'd like to start sewing yellows and corals for Spring/Summer, I have a wardrobe for a more conservative outfit. Honest, there are times (not too many) when I want to just look like a lady. So, it's time for a LBD and a matching jacket. The jacket will be V8675 which has some swing (can't be tooo conservative!). I plan to make view A (the red one) without the pockets.

The fabric is a drapy RPL that I bought from Timmel's years ago. I need to add something to break up all that black and think I'll add this trim. I tried my entire stash of trims and this was the only one that looked like a possibility.

Now, I have a dilemna about the direction to turn the trim. I could do it this way.

I could turn it around and do it this way.

What do you think? Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing.

First, I have to finish the pants and top to wear with the paisley jacket. They are a camel color. Fortunately, I can wear the jacket with lots of other colors. Yea! I love the idea of adding some versatile jackets to my wardrobe.

Progress

Sewing has been more challenging this past week. New skills just take a while to learn! Most of the sewing has been good with a few clinches. (I made sure my seam ripper was handy.)

The pockets are ready to be sewn on the Burda 02/2009 #115 jacket. I know at least one of the individuals who reviewed this pattern put the pockets on before doing the hem and facing. Burda instructions have you sew the pockets over the hem and facing. This time I decided to go with Burda so the pockets are waiting. I spent a lot of time preparing the pockets because I really want them to be exactly even and the same size. So, I used a variation of a tip from Shannon Gifford. (Note: Her courses on PatternReview are excellent.) She suggests tracing the pocket without seam allowances on cardboard. For these pockets, I used template plastic which, IMHO, is easier for tracing than cardboard. The first step is pinning the pocket pleats on the pattern:

Then, I traced the pocket and flap without seam allowances. The pattern slipped a bit with those pleats pinned so I checked and corrected the tracing. I labeled both pieces, partly because I'm scatterbrained and partly because I may use these tracings for pockets on another garment.

Then, I cut out my traced patterns and used them to iron the seam allowances over them. The ironing was easier and more accurate. I checked my accuracy by folding the pockets and flap at the center mark to make sure both sides were the same. Then, I checked the pockets and flaps to make sure they were the same size. They were! (Before making the pleats and pressing the seams, I added fusible interfacing to the top of the pockets. I do use pockets and want them to be stable.)

Here's my big clinch:

The linen I used has some lycra in it. The fabric must have slipped because the upper sleeveon one side was cut way off grain and hung crooked. I ripped and carefully pinned this sleeve so that it would hang on grain. What a pain! The difference between the upper and lower sleeve is not big so, hopefully, I can just shorten the sleeves a bit and still use the sleeve bands. Naturally, I did not have enough fabric to cut another top sleeve! After the fact, I remembered a tip that I read somewhere (can't remember where) to press fabric with a dry iron, spitz with water, and iron parallel to the selvage. I tried that with a skirt I cut out last weekend. The fabric lies so nicely. I guess I've been steaming the fabric out of shape. That won't happen again!!

The collar is ready. I really worked on it. The points are pretty good but I sure wish I could do them better. I know, from past experience, that the points can only take so much fiddling before a hole appears. I used Pam's tutorial for the collar except that I didn't have to turning tool she used. That tool is on its way to me now.

I had to read the instructions for installing the collar several times. Finally, I figured them out. The front facing is only sewed to the notch for the end of the collar before the collar is sandwiched in between.

I did pin the CB and shoulder points to check the fit first. We'll have to see how this works.

Then, I moved on to doing another collar for a shirt that I had cut out. I just had to try that collar again quickly. It was sort of like someone who comes close to drowning in a pool. They had better get right back in (assuming there is no physical damage, of course) and start swimming. Otherwise, a lifelong fear of water can occur. I certainly don't want to have a lifelong fear of pointed collars. Here's my blouse V2634, in process, that I hope to finish this weekend: