A Taggy Blanket or Jordan's Gift to Riley

Last week ,I was in Ottawa visiting my daughter as well as my youngest son.

While there, my daughter was planning a baby shower for my future daughter-in-law. Jeff and Melanie are expecting a baby girl, whose name is to be Riley, in a couple of weeks.The day before the shower , Tamara and I invited my son's step-daughter, Jordan who is eleven,for a visit.We thought she would enjoy helping with the shower preparations .

We decided that Jordan might like to do a little sewing.I had made a taggy blanket



for my other baby grand-daughter and after explaining what a taggy blanket is,Jordan thought it would be a great gift for her baby sister!. We went to Fabricland where she chose fabric,which should be soft and cudly, and a variety of ribbons of different colours and textures.

Back at home,we got right down to work.

Step 1....Here Jordan is measuring the ribbons.We decided to cut each one eight inches and to make the blanky 15 inches square.



Step 2....Next, Jordan looped each ribbon as she pinned them about 4" apart to the right side of one of the layers.





Step 3...After pinning the second layer over the first layer and the ribbons, It was time to go to the machine.Jordan was a little nervous because she had never sewn before, but I think she did very well with a little help.



Here is the blanket sewn on all sides with an opening of about five inches left on one of the sides so she could turn it right side out.



Step 4...After turning it and sewing the opening shut, here is Jordan with her gift for Baby Riley.



I forgot to take a picture but Jordan made herself a cushion with the left-over fabric and this time she did it all by herself!

Sewing was not all Jordan did that day. She helped Tamara decorate these cookie jars containing the ingredients as well as the directions for making the cookies which were to be party favours that each guest took home.



We carved this watermelon baby carriage fruit bowl



And she helped decorate the cupcakes which were one of the desserts at the shower.



The day ended with a feast of Chinese food and a very tired young girl.

The next day was the shower and Jordan's gift was a great success with not only her Mum and big sister, ,but with all the guests!

Sewing for my Lifestyle

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! Are you stuffed, tired and happy? Hope so.My Dh and I got up early and prepared our turkey and all the fixings so we could enjoy our family which includes our little cutie pie Sadie who is almost 14 months old. I can't resist showing a picture.



I'm almost too tired to blog but if I don't post this tonight ,I won't get another chance as we are leaving for Montreal on Thurs. and I'm then taking the train to Ottawa . I want to be in town for the baby shower my daughter and Co. are having for my daughter-in-law. My new grand-daughter is to be born in mid Nov.
I have a lot of baby stuff to make before Thurs. because as is my habit,I've procrastinated and waited for the last minute to make crib sheets, bibs, receiving blankets and even a quilt (sort of).

So here is what I have to show you tonight.





The fabric is a light chocolate brown sports weight stretch cotton that looks just like denim.The pattern for the jacket is this OOP Vogue Designer one that I've wanted to make for years.



This wasn't my first choice ,however. I had my heart set on making this OOP jacket, but horrors! there was a crucial piece missing.It probably found its way into another pattern envelope when I was cutting out more than one but since that was a long time ago, I couldn't come up with a solution so I had to settle for a different pattern.

I think the jacket is as cute as can be (and look at all that top-stitching which as you know I love to do) but I would have preferred it longer. I added a couple of inches at the bottom but I didn't want to mess with the style too much and it had no allowance for adding length in the body of the jacket.







I was having a hard time finding the right buttons (for the other style ) so the zipper closure on this one solved that problem
.



For the pants, I used the S.Betzina jeans pattern I used for my Swap, but I wish I had chosen to make a simpler style as there's an awful lot going on right at the stomach which we older women just don't need.But the fit is good and they went together really well.



I trimmed the back pockets with a design to mimic the trim of the jacket.



When I close the jacket, the wide band acts as a girdle and feels good,



but I prefer the opened look.



All in all, I like my new sportswear suit.It will be a great outfit to take with me to Montreal and Ottawa.Now if only I had a medium weight jacket to go with it.Mmmmmm!

More pics here.

Just a Few Thoughts

I had planned on posting about my brown denim pantsuit but since I didn't get any pictures taken,I thought I'd just put a few thoughts out there.

Ever since I participated in Swap 2009, I've been very aware of whether or not I wear the things I make.I guess that would be because I actually sewed 17 different items for Swap and of course some of them I've hardly worn at all. This has led me to consider very carefully what I now sew.

After really examining my past projects ,I decided that by far I wear the coats .jackets and pantsuits that I make the most.These include long coats,



3/4 coats,


<
short jackets



, jeans jackets,



and casual pantsuits .



However during the summer months, I'd have to include sundresses and skirts to the list ( except for this summer when it rained most of the time).

So what do I sew and don't wear or wear very little? I'd have to say dresses, skirt suits (but I do so love skirt suits and do wear them occasionally) and even tops.That would be because I really like sweaters and nice classic T-shirts.As for shirts,they were once favorites but since I've developed this bigger than necessary chest, I'm not that comfortable wearing them.

After Swap, I decided I wanted to make my sewing more meaningful and I sewed more things for my daughter and I felt good about that. But it doesn't mean that I lost my desire to sew for myself. After all I have this humongous stash and as many ideas as I have pieces of fabric.

So I've been wondering what your thoughts are on this subject.Do you only sew things you need or are you like me (in the past) and sew that oh so stylish suit or party dress to have it languish in your closet?

A Sew Passionista Design or My Self Drafted Jacket

I'm not succeeding in keeping to my Sunday night blogging schedule. Why not? I guess life just gets in the way sometimes. Or am I lost in LOST?

You see, my husband and I started watching Season 1 a couple of weeks ago and became quickly wrapped up in it. We are now on tape 1 of Season 3. Right now we are taking a break so DH can watch a hockey game so I thought I'd post last weeks project.

A couple of years ago I bought this fabric that is a cross between a boucle and a chenille.The purple is just beautiful.



Originally, I tried to copy this cardigan from Coldwater Creek.



I drew out the pattern by copying a loose fitting pullover with dropped sleeves . It didn't turn out right and I just hung it in the closet where it stayed till last week.

I was looking for something to do while spending time with my mother at the Nursing Home ( I always take hand-sewing or something else to do because my mum can't communicate anymore and if I have something to do while I'm there I can stay longer I find. She just likes to know someone is there who loves her,I feel. )

Well, I grabbed the jacket ( I wish I'd taken a before picture ) and ripped out some of the seams and cut a few inches off the bottom to have a little fabric to work with. When I got home I remodeled it by adding the collar,



adding a strip of fabric to the undersleeves because they were too narrow,



and gathering the bottom of sleeves because they stuck out..



I finished off by lining it and I really love the results.
I'm especially proud because I feel like I was the designer in this case. So here it is.








Instead of buttonholes, which would have been a real problem on this fabric, I made large loops. I found the buttons at a second-hand store!



Here I am in my jacket. Sorry but I can never get the colour just right.





This week I'm working on a brown stretch denim pantsuit and it's turning out quite well I think. Hope to have it up on Sunday night.

Now back to "Lost".

What I've Been Doing Lately

I've been wanting to post about a few different things but have been just too busy to spend much time on the computer. This past week ,I hosted the monthly meeting of the Retired Teachers Group for my area and of course I had to clean every inch of my house.

It was a great success and the big plus is that the house is very clean now and I can sew to my hearts content for the next few days.

Toward the end of August I started sewing a few transition pieces for the early fall. I also wanted to extend the wear of this suit .

Using this New Look pattern,



I made these navy loose flowy pants which are OK and fit well.



I'm not in love with the fabric though but we all make mistakes sometimes. The fabric was a rayon/nylon (of all things) mix and I liked it before I turned it into pants but now I don't think it has enough body. But they do look well with this jacket. (I forgot to get a pic of the two together ).

Then I made this Sandra Betzina top and I love it. It actually looks exactly like the pattern cover and I didn't change a thing .
Here it is!





I've worn it a couple of times and have gotten compliments each time .
The fabric is a fairly light poly/lycra. I do feel I have to wear my Spanx with this one as it is a snug fit. (I made size C ). A thicker knit might be a better choice for the next time and I do intend to make it again.

Then I added this jean jacket which I've made several times before.



It is this Burda pattern and an absolute favorite.



The fabric is a very finewhale corduroy which was in my stash for years.I never could decide what to use it for but I really love it as this jacket.The buttons are sweet aren't they? My husband pointed out that they had hearts on them and since I'm really not that fond of hearts I turned them sideways . I think that makes all the difference don't you think? LOL.



Here are the three pieces together.



And for more pics, look here.

Have a great week everyone and here's hoping you find time to sew!

Not Just Your Ordinary Denim Jacket

My grandchildren have been here this week.It will be the last visit until Thanksgiving (which is in October here in Canada ) so we really made the most of our time together.

Last evening while Jessica and Matthew were busy on the computer, Nana was busy in the sewing room making Jessie a denim jacket.

In choosing a pattern ,I had to take into consideration that I only had about three hours for this one because they were going back home today . When I made this jacket for my daughter this summer, Jessie had tried it on and liked it.I also knew it was a quickie to make. So Vogue 8232 it was.

The embroidered denim came from my stash and was approved by said Jessie.
Here is my sweet grand-daughter in her made by Nana jacket.



I made a couple of easy changes to the pattern. I lengthened the sleeves and made them a bit narrower so they wouldn't puff out. I simply measured the yoke band to see how much I could eliminate from the width and folded it out.

I added an inch to the centre front so I could add buttons and buttonholes. Instead of gathers to the top front and back,I used pleats and sewed them down. The fabric really had too much body for gathers.








Jessica thought her jacket might be a bit short and wide. I had to explain that this is a "fashion" jacket and not just an ordinary jean jacket.I think this is a nice piece for a young girl going into Grade 7. What do you think?

Vogue 8605 for a Store Display

It's that time of year again when the staff at Fabricville is encouraged to sew garments or crafts out of the new fabrics coming in daily to be used as displays for the various fabric collections.
The deal is that we get all fabrics and notions including patterns,for a particular project at no charge.We must leave the item on display for about three months .After that we get to take it home.


Vogue 8605 caught my eye right away when I first saw it on someone's blog ( maybe Carolyn's?) It's that type of pattern that I know would be more suitable for that tall willowy model-like creature who is wearing it in Vogue patterns catalogue.You've heard me go on and on about that before.Well,since this jacket isn't going to cost me one cent and I get to add the pattern to my collection and I really like the skirt and pants in this one,I decided why not!





I used a wool /acrylic sweater knit that I feel was very suitable for the style .A light wool double knit was recommended and this knit would be very much similar in weight .It's a hazy floral with navy and other blues as well as a couple of shades of green.Because the wrong side of the fabric shows at he collar,I decided to use a navy knit facing and I'm not sure it works. I may decide to take it out and just let the wrong side show when I get this home in late fall.




When I chose this pattern I thought it would be a quick project but not so.First up, I hand-basted all the markings ( pockets,tabs,etc).Then the fabric insisted on curling at every edge so I ended up turning the seam allowances over a scant quarter of an inch and stitching them down.After joining seams I then top-stitched them on each side of the seam .This took a considerable length of time.What with having to figure out how to add a facing and working it in into the style of the piece,I worked 11 hours on this little beast.



I really enjoyed making this garment though. It was fun!I love trying different things.The only change I made,besides adding the front facing, was to make the buttonhole in the "band" rather than in the spot indicated by the pattern because I just didn't like the effect of having a buttonhole so far from the edge of the jacket.

Do I like this rather boxy and floppy cardigan-like jacket? Yes I do. I think it's cute and will be fun to wear with jeans. It would look great with a longer pencil skirt like the one in the pattern but to be realistic,for me ,it will be a casual piece. And if I change my mind and decide it's too baggy ,I'll at least wear it as a wrap while I'm on the computer in the winter on those cold days.

It has been so terribly hot and humid for the past ten days here that I just couldn't persuade myself to try the jacket with a turtleneck and the appropriate pants for a photo. Instead, I waited to get a couple taken at work. The setting on my camera wasn't right but these pictures will give you an idea of how it looks on .




Look here if you want to see more V8605.

Hope you got the chance to sew this past week.If not, maybe you will this week.