Miscellaneous. Sewing

I haven't blogged for a while because I just didn't seem to feel like it.
But tonight I feel the spirit move me so here I am.

I've actually sewn a plethora of things in the last two weeks.I don't really enjoy home dec. I only do it when I have to. I've needed to make a new cover for our outdoor glider for a couple of years. To make myself get to it I had to schedule it in my weekly work plan. I started at 9:00 last Tuesday morning and finished it at 9:30 that night.I'm so very glad that's over with.



I had extra fabric so I made cushions for our bistro chairs as well.



Our youngest grand-daughter will have her first birthday on Aug.21st. I decided I'd try my hand at quilting. Have you seen this paper doll fabric ?It's just irresistible and I was very inspired to give a little quilt a try.
Here you see it with all the top pieces sewn together. That's as far as I've gotten.I'll have it machine quilted by a local woman .



Here's a closer view. Aren't those dollies adorable?



I'm also planning on making the dolls for Sadie to play with when she gets older. You use drapery weight fusible interfacing on the back of the fabric and you cut them out .You can even make a stand for them. Here are the clothes that go with the dolls.




You fuse fusible fleece behind these . You cut them out and supposedly they will stick to the dolls. I'll show you those after I've made them.

This next item ,I made just for the fun of it.I made it late one evening when I told my husband I was going into my sewing room to play.That's the term I use when I don't really know what I feel like sewing.



The little clutch is made out of metallic vinyl.I cut two pieces about 10 inches wide and 16 inches long.



Before sewing the sides together ,I cut strips of vinyl and sewed them to the ring.It's hard to explain how I did this without pictures but I forgot to take some of this step.



Next I sewed the embroidered taffeta lining, which I cut about 4 inches shorter, to the clutch width wise.Note the pocket which I sewed close to the bottom.



Before sewing the sides ,I added a magnetic closure.



My new purse purse matches these shoes quite well I think.

Next up is this OOP New Look skirt .I had a similar pattern in the late 70's and found it to be very slimming.



The fabric is a small geometric print stretch poplin from my stash which I've had a while and still love.It has a black background with white ,light orange and dark orange shapes.I used big black buttons also from my stash (of notions that is). I considered orange buttons but they really didn't do anything for the skirt.



I've worn this a couple of times and I love the style of this pattern.




My next project(s) is a mini wardrobe for my daughter,I'll be starting with this skirt.

More pics here.

Vogue 8486 (for me)

I'm cheating a little because I actually made this dress about three weeks ago but I didn't get around to blogging about it.



I first saw this pattern made up in Vogue Patterns magazine in the June/July 2008 issue. I talked my self out of it because it was one of those patterns that you know would look better on a tall, willowy ,slim woman. You know you are not tall and slim, at least not since hitting fifty eleven years ago.Then , the same pattern is featured in the April/May 2009 issue and you still love it!

Well,I tried to talk myself out of it but I just had to make this dress.So here it is in a mini geometric cotton knit.It looks really nice on Antoinette ,my dress form.



I love the pleated detail at the scooped neckline.
.


It needed no zipper, just a loop and a button .



The whole thing, from cutting out to finishing the hem, took three hours!
Here it is on almost short, and not quite slim, little old me!



Now when you're 61, and you haven't exercised in a couple of months, you don't have the arms that look good in sleeveless. What do you do? You add a little cardigan and you're good to go!



I've already worn this little dress three times in three weeks! Do I like it? Yes I do. It's a keeper!

See more pics here!

Now, I'd like to know.At what age do you think a woman should stop wearing sleeveless?

A Sundress for Tamara

I've been making this same sundress for my daughter since 1995!!.



Last summer I told her I was retiring the pattern and we'd have to find her a new favorite.

Well, as I was leafing through the Vogue patterns catalogue at work one day during my lunch break, I came upon this.I was astounded to see that the dress was exactly like the very old Butterick that my daughter has always loved, but of course in a shorter version. So I made her this.



The fabric is a border print cotton with payettes sewed onto the design and I only had 1.2 meters because it was a remnant piece that I picked up at Fabricville.



In spite of the limited yardage, I still managed to get both a dress and a little shrug out of it. It wasn't easy.I faced the bodice with cotton voile.



For the shrug I used Butterick4396 and had to conform it to the fabric I had left.I had to not only split the sleevee but separate them and rejoin them with fabric strips. I think this added a fun design element and Tamara liked it.





Even though Tamara was home for over a week, I couldn't persuade her to have a photo taken. You see, we've had three weeks of bad hair weather! LOL! She is on her way back to Ottawa as I write this .
We did manage to go to Fabricville together and she chose some patterns and fabrics that she liked. I'll wait for the 3/1 sale to buy a few pieces for her. Stay tuned for this dress in the near future.

Feeling Better About My Stash

I just had to respond to the comments about my last post.

Thank you Gail ,Kim, Linda ,Vicki ,Carolyn ,Betsy ,Adrianna ,Gwen ,Chris ,Julia, Karinna,Ivalyn,The Sewing Loft and Knitmachinequeen. You've made me feel less greedy and more normal.

It's so very true what Linda T said about fabric being our entertainment. And Linda, about needing counselling, my DH thinks I should start a fabricsaholic group.Mmmm!Think that might work?

Now my fabrics are pretty well all very economical because as some of you already know, I work at Fabricville and get very good buys on everything I take home.By the way, as I was cleaning up the other day it occurred to me that I could find only two pieces that I had before I started working there five years ago. Now that tells you doesn't it that I used to be more controlled in buying fabric.


Most of you don't think that having a large stash is a problem. I think the problem with me is that not only do I have too much fabric,but I have too many shoes ,too many watches, too many handbags,too much jewellery,too many coats,etc.

Having said that, I see myself more clearly now. Not only is sewing my hobby and my passion,but so is fashion! Oh my! Not only am I a Sew Passionista! I'm also a Fashion Passionista.But then, that would make me a Fashionista wouldn't it? Surely I'm to old for that and I should know better.LOL

I'm sure there will be many more posts on this topic on many other blogs but I at least do feel better.There's this gorgeous yellow cotton jacquard that I've been trying to resist at Fabricville and I work tomorrow....!

Happy Sewing !

My Stash! Oh My!

I spent all of yesterday cleaning my sewing room and reorganizing my stash. I brought out the summer fabrics and put in the winter stuff. ( By out I mean on the shelves in the room and by in I mean on the shelves in the closet of the sewing room)





The above pictures show only part of my extensive stash. the rest is in various under-the-bed containers and on shelving in other parts of the house.

Now I know there are frequent discussions about stash in the sewing blog world. Some sewers feel that one can never have too big a stash while others don't condone the stash that is, well, shall I say uncontrolled.

Mine is absolutely out of control to the point of nausea. I mean I sometimes can't sleep wondering and worrying over what I'll ever do with all that fabric. And what if I die suddenly? Will my stash find a good home?

Now you probably think that I've made a resolution to not buy any more fabric, right?
Wrong! But I have a new rule. It's this: I can't buy a fabric unless I know exactly what it will become and when it will become!

So there. The problem is solved as far as limiting the growth of my stash.Now what to do about decreasing the stash as it stands now?

That brings me to another problem. Too many clothes! Sewing from my stash shouldn't be too hard but I'm running out of hangers!Now I hear some of you thinking

"Why don't you give away some of your clothes to Goodwill?"

I've already done that many times and already have the next bag half full. I still can't wear all the clothes that are left in my closets.

And someone else is saying

"Sew for your family"

I do sew for my daughter but I don't always get feedback and I often wonder if I'm just wasting my time or does she really wear the things I make for her.My grand-daughter is 12 and she suggested that I could make her pretty tops and capris so you can bet they are in the works.

But, let's face it. I could go on and on and who am I trying to kid. I'll always be happiest sewing for myself because my creations are my babies and I love almost all of them. No one appreciates them as well as me.

Ok.I feel better now. I think I'll go start on Jessie's top which I'm making with the leftovers from my DD's last dress.

Is there anyone else out there who is feeling overwhelmed or greedy or maybe a little nauseous over too much something? I'd love to hear from you if there is.

A Whole Lot of Sewing

I haven't been blogging but I have been sewing up a storm.

I've been putting a lot of thought into what pieces I really wear out of all the things I make.The answer is SPORTSWEAR. I love making and wearing casual suits.As well,I love dresses and in the summertime I wear sundresses a lot when it's hot.Last year I made three new sundresses so this year I want to make a couple of skirts which I also wear quite often at this time of year.

I had a whole lot of this navy and white pin-cord cotton and I decided to make a Sportswear Mini Swap.

I used these patterns and made three pieces.



The Vogue Designer pattern ,I admit,was a stretch for me as far as the style.I also knew that it probably wasn't right for my 5'4.5" chesty shape ,but I just loved it and had to make it.

The New Look pant pattern is a TNT and the same one I used for these. the New Look skirt is OOP and I thought perfect for varying the lay of the stripes.

I started with the pants and they were a joy to make. When I tried to top-stitch , the result looked like a series of crooked skipped stitches I guess because the stripes are so mini.Not to be deterred, I decided to use a zigzag stitch. After a bit of experimenting, I ended up feeding two threads into a 90/14 universal needle and a 2.5 wide and 2.5 long stitch.I really like the result.

I trimmed both the pockets and the hem with navy grosgrain ribbon. I wasn't sure about the hem but when I asked for my DH's opinion ,he said he liked it at the hem so I did but am not sure I like it.



The shirt I'm wearing with my cropped pants in this photo is a linen version of a Sandra Betzina shirt which she fitted for me at her workshop



Next up was the Vogue jacket.



I cut out a size 12 and added an inch to each side but didn't need it. I did my usual FBA and followed the instructions and had no problems. Again I used a zigzag top-stitch but I limited it to just a few places.The sleeve cuffs are really weird in this pattern but I resisted the urge to change them to a more ordinary look. I may change them yet. I'll wear it a few times before I decide.

I love big buttons and this jacket was a perfect chance to use them. These buttons are an inch and a quarter and I just couldn't bring myself to make the buttonholes. Instead I used snaps and just sewed the buttons to the right side of the jacket.






Since I want to wear this as much as possible into the summer months, I decided to line the jacket with cotton voile so it would be cooler. It isn't an ideal lining for a jacket as it's not slippery, but it's too late to turn back now.



I've made this skirt before in the longer length in a red striped stretch denim. I can't show it because my daughter has it in Ottawa.Anyway, I pictured an A-line skirt for this fabric and I also think I'll wear it more than I would a straight or pencil skirt in the casual life that I live.I lined it with a rayon lining mainly because I didn't have any voile left.



I'm showing my less-than-perfect invisible zipper here ( Carolyn if your reading this you are not alone). I've been using invisible zippers for a few years and I have this thing that if it's not completely invisible after two tries, I just leave it alone.



Here I am looking rather bedraggled (I just got my hair cut today and it's kind of flat)in my new sportswear.







If you want to see more, look here.

Gratitude of Attitude Award

Thank you to Ann of Ann's Fashion Studio
for sending me this award.

I have an attitude of gratitude because I have a very happy marriage and my husband and I are both healthy; my children and grandchildren are all healthy; as a retired teacher ,I have a great pension and the time to do whatever I like when I like;I have really good friends and my cup is full to the brim.In short I'm perfectly satisfied with my life!

I'm just leaving to go pick up my grandchildren for the weekend (another thing I'm grateful for) so I don't have time to pay this forward but I will as soon as I can.

Have a great weekend all and I hope you have time to sew!

My Daughter's Birthday Dress

June 7th is my daughter's birthday. It's one of those Big O birthdays. She's going to Las Vegas with her dad and some friends for the big day. We'll celebrate with a party when she comes home for a visit at the end of June.
I just went to the Post office to send her dress off and I just hope she gets it on time.
Tamara really loves knit dresses so we came up with View E of this pattern.



Neither one of us likes cap sleeves so I ended up making three versions before I came up with this length.





View E had a twisted band detail and I tried it in both plain black and with the self fabric. I wish I had thought of taking a picture. In any case ,it didn't do a thing for this dress. We decided I would go for simple and just leave the midriff plain.



The fabric is a poly/lycra and only took about two metres to make.The skirt had no back seam and the midriff isn't faced. That bothered me a bit and I almost decided to line it but then I thought the dress would be a lot cooler to wear if I just left it out.

This is a really easy pattern to make up,well if you don't make three versions of the sleeve that is. I would recommend it as a good project for those of you who would like to try working with knits but are a little leary.

I decided to post this project today because My DD doesn't check my blog out the way she use to so she probably won't see this and she'll still get a surprise when she opens her package.So here is the dress.

Final Pictures of Swap

Although I've already added a link to my post on the right side of my blog (I know there's probably a name for that part of a blog but...) I thought I'd post composites of my final choices.I just realized that at some point after taking these photos I changed the burgundy printed lycra top for the yellow geometric print top. Whoops!



Here ignore the burgundy print top at left.



On either end are my two extra pieces, the jacket to my little black suit
on the left and my bburgundy felted wool jacket. on the right.



Swap was a great experience and I'm glad to have participated and to have seen it through.

There has been an unexpected benefit as well. It has made me think about how much I really do wear (or in some cases don't wear ) what I make. It has made me realize that I want to concentrate on making special items from now on or at least to sew only garments that I'll be sure to enjoy.

I've added a section on the sidebar,if that's the right term,called

A Few of my Favorite Things.

The items you will see there are the clothes that I love and wear often. You can click on any one and see a few more shots of each piece.

I'd love to see others do this as well. I'd really be interested in seeing your favorite things.

One UFO Finished...Adri V2976

Just a quick post on this one.A couple of years ago, I bought this black and white herringbone (yes, herringbone again) linen and I made culottes. They didn't fit well and I just cast them aside and decided to make the jacket from this pattern:



Well, I started it but it was late August and I decided to leave it for spring (2008). Here it is spring 2009 and I decided it had to be done before I can go on to a new project. My new thing is to alternate one new garment with a UFO. So this is what Adri 2976 looks like.
The culottes have now morphed into wide legged cropped pants, by the way.






The fit isn't great (the jacket is snug across the bust ) and if my daughter likes it , she can have it. But,Tamara be forewarned that this is linen and although I washed and dried the fabric three times in hot water and hot dryer respectively a la Sandra Betzina, it is still quite wrinkly.



More pics here.

Adri Times Two

Does anyone else have this pattern?

I made this jacket last spring as a store display. I made it out of metallic linen and I loved it.



It is a great pattern for top-stitching and as you know, I love to top-stitch!



I also made the tank but out of a light cotton.



The pants are made from linen , They're cropped and I used an old favorite TNT.



Of course being linen, the outfit is very wrinkly but I love it anyway!



Now back to the present.The minute I had finished my Swap, I cut out and made this version of the same Adri jacket.




The fabric is a two-sided denim so what could be better? The collar and lapels have
only one layer and you turn the seam allowances to the outside. I used two spools of polyester thread for the top-stitching. I threaded one of my extra machines with the green thread and that made it very convenient.
Also, I wanted buttonholes instead of the loops, so I added an inch to both. front pieces at the centre line.

For the pants, I used this Pattern.

I had used this pattern for my grey Swap jeans and I knew they were a little big. I used View B and since I thought this style could stand to be a little roomier, I just cut the size C with no alterations and they fit perfectly!.



The back pockets were another Top-stitching Opp.The colour in this photo is terrible though.



I used the contrast side for the sides and the label is to cover up an"oops".



This is the kind of outfit that I love to wear and that will fit very well into my lifestyle.My husband and I are going to Vancouver next week and I'll be taking this with me.




More photos here.

Now on to a UFO, another Adri Pattern.