Black,White and Red ( continued from last week )

Thank you so much for the lovely comments you left  on my black and white pieces. I really appreciate you taking the time to stop by and comment. I've worn all my pieces and love having them in my wardrobe. \

I got a nice compliment from a sweet young girl in Winners. I was wearing the black/white check shirt and she came up to me and said "I love the shirt you're wearing". Not often a 60 something gets a compliment from  a teenager!!

My son and his family are arriving today for  a two week visit so I'll not have time for blogging or
sewing. Nana will be very occupied with her little  Riley and Poppy.

 I wanted to show you two more pieces that fit the black /white. red theme.

The first one is McCalls 6822 (OOP)

                                                           )

   .This is strictly an around the house top and because it is loose and made from a very lightweight cotton knit from Mood.com is very cool to wear on a hot summer day.

I had read on PR that the shoulders would fall off because of the neckline being wide  in the front and  low in the back. I didn't alter the neckline. I simply added a band across the back neckline , sewed down the overlap and that works for me.

The colours are red and grey and so it  matches  perfectly with my grey skinny jeans made last summer

The last top is a colour block top and  the pattern is V8856, View C .


The fabric is the left over cotton lycra knit from other projects with plain red and black poly lycra for the contrast sections.  ( I know I'm asking for trouble mixing cotton and poly , but we'll see how that works for me ).

I left off the sleeves and added neck and armhole bands for a pop of red.

I left out the inverted triangle from the bottom of the back. I don't need attention brought to my bottom at my age, LOL !

Here I'm showing it with slim yoga pant, palazzo yoga pant and skinny jeans and I think this top works with all tree bottoms.

I'll be checking all my favorite blogs while my company is here but I won't be sewing or posting.

Happy Sewing and see you in a couple of weeks!

A Story in Black and White ( With a Little Red Thrown In )

I send out big hugs to all of you who left such sweet messages of sympathy for the loss of my friend. Your kindness is truly comforting.The shock has started to wear off but it is still awfully hard to believe it can be true. But dear sewing friends, during that first week of trying to come to terms with the loss of my friend, sewing really helped soothe me as it has through any bad times I've ever lived through..be it divorce, children troubles, my mum's Alzheimer's and everything in between, Sewing has always been my comfort. We are all  so blessed to have this wonderful craft as our  hobby. I truly don`t know how I would ever cope with life`s hurdles without it.


During our week-long power outage, I did manage to cut out four items, all black and white. I have  them finished. All quick sews, they are all casual wear because ,for the most part, I do sew for my lifestyle.

The first is a classic T-shirt dress using V8793 by Katherine Tilton  but of course  I lengthened it .

I was intending to use this collar but it ended up being too heavy so it will keep for a heavier weight version.

Instead I cut neck and arm bands using a red stripe Thrift Store top I had bought for just such a purpose.

The dress fabric is a cotton lycra bought at Mood's online store.
This is a very comfy dress that I already love having in my closet! I left it quite loose fitting on purpose but I can add a belt to bring it closer to the body..

Next, I made this short sleeved shirt using S2339

I was inspired by an outfit at Coldwater Creek  ( I miss them already !! )

This is an Amazing Fit pattern . I cut the bodice front using the C Cup piece because I've used this before using the D cup piece and it was too big. I wear a DD bra so I'm not sure why  the C is better for me ??? In any case , I love the fit and will be using this pattern again for sure.

The fabric is cotton but not gingham. The check is woven in however and has just the right amount of body for a shirt.

Nothing much to say about the construction. I love a collar on a band and used this method outlined at Diana's Sewing Lessons.

The third piece is V8792, View B which I've always wanted to try.
I had fun changing it up a bit by adding a band at the hem as well as sleeve bands.

Isn't it cool ! It's also very comfortable to wear and goes well with the grey skinny jeans, last summer's palazzo pants,as well as with my Silhouette Yoga pants which I tapered to form a "skinny " black  version. The fabric is scuba knit from Fabricville which I imagine is make-believe neoprene. Whatever!I love this fabric and have made two other pairs of yoga pants this summer. No pilling unlike the ponte knit of last summer's multi pairs of yoga pants.

Well DH is calling me to watch Episode 16 of Season 5 of West Wing on Netflix. Oh my! We are so addicted to Netflix!!

I have a couple more things to show you but they will keep for another time.

Happy Sewing from

A Sandra Betzina Dress

I've been absent from blogging for a while now. Two weeks ago, I lost a dear friend to a freak accident . It's been hard to continue with life's daily routine when  you've lost someone so dear to you.I don't have a lot of good friends but Beverley was one of the ones I do have. It's really hard to believe she's gone. I'll always miss her.

The past week has been especially trying because the province of New Brunswick was hit hard by Hurricane Arthur last Saturday. No lives lost but many, many trees uprooted and the loss of electricity and telephone service for many of us. Ours was finally restored last night . Thank God for NB Power and Quebec Hydro who came to our rescue.

I've had this dress made for a while now at the request of my sewing ladies who asked if it could be their summer project. They often look through my patterns and this Sandra Betzina pattern ,V1101, now out of print, really appealed to them. My version was the test to see if I thought they could handle it.

If anyone has this pattern and would like to join our Sew Along, I've documented the steps and will soon publish a series of posts of the various steps on Diana's Sewing Lessons.

Here is my version.

The two tone chevron effect was quite accidental. My fabric is a two tone linen, thus when I chenilled it, each side highlighted one of the two colours of the weave. I used white linen for the facing which shows behind the chenille work.

The back area is also suppose to be chenilled. Well this chenilling business was a lot of work and I soon decided that I would only do a few rows at the back. I'm satisfied with that. Actually, you wouldn't have to do any at all.

There was a lovely white fringed selvedge on one side of the fabric and a blue one on the other. I turned up a narrow hem on the dress and then zigzagged the selvedge to that. I love this little extra touch of white.

As for the pockets, I've used this style several times before and have a tutorial here. I omitted the zippers because I didn't have any on hand and thought that I'd prefer them open. Now I wish I had added them.

When I tried on the dress after basting the side seams , I thought there was too much fabric at the hips and it wasn't flattering. So I took away some of the fullness. I started at the hips , drew a new cutting line and finished by taking off  a wedge that was about 2" by the bottom of the skirt.

That worked nicely and is much more flattering.

This is how I will wear this dress to church

The photos give me a heavier look but in person,the dress doesn't add the pounds but is flattering ,I think.
This is the perfect summer dress to wear on those hot ,humid days of July.(like today )
For those of you who love the bias cut and who love linen, you would love this pattern.

Happy Summer Sewing to All !