Lisa's Carolina | Handmade

Butterick 5935 | Vintage Skirt Pattern

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 20:18:00 +0000

Because I am sick and tired of worrying about all the corona virus stuff..... and sick and tired of making face masks.... and sick and tired of being cooped up..... we will pretend we are back in what we remember was a lovely 'normal' life and focus on this pretty skirt made from a c. 1970 vintage pattern.

Ahhhh, the 1970's were the best of years.... from a child through my teens I loved, and still love!!, everything about the '70s from the seemingly 'simpler' times, to the music and fashion. Truly I must have had a skirt like this back then because my heart skipped a beat when I saw this 'old' 'vintage' pattern in a thrift shop last year.

Much pleasant time was spent in thrift stores last year with my daughter who, as a first year teacher, was building her classroom library by purchasing children's books in the thrift stores in our area. She'd research which thrift stores she wanted to go to, make a little list and off we'd go for the day visiting thrift stores I never knew existed! And I LOVE thrift stores!! While she looked at books, I could be found rummaging through stale fabrics and tattered pattern envelopes. When Butterick 5935 was spotted, one could definitely feel the spark of 'joy'..... and to see the size 26 1/2 made the heart truly skip a beat because that was my size, so this was meant for meeeeee! Can't remember now how much I paid for it, but probably around 25-50 cents. Now which view to make? Really wanting view A, but not wanting in-seam pockets, decided for view B with the slant pockets and zip in back. Definitely want to make view A at some point though.

The skirt was made back in August 2019, just never blogged, when I had lost so much weight and a size 26 1/2" waist was a perfect fit. Today, weighing in at a healthier weight, it's a little snug, but wearable. Removed 2 1/2" off the bottom length, and sewed the hem with a 2 1/2" hem allowance. And still not sure it might not need to be a little shorter? What I really like about this skirt is that it is full without being voluminous, if that makes sense.

Um, did I mention it has gathers, and lots of them?! Gathering is so not my thing, but thought this turned out pretty good..... at least the fabric is very forgiving for any gathering issues.

Wish I'd paid better attention to evening up the flowers on the back. There's an invisible zip back there with a hook and eye waistband closure. Unlined with serged seams meant a pretty quick make. Fabric is a polyester something pulled from the stash but originally purchased at my local open-only-once-a-month-fabric textile outlet center.

So this is what I wore today and thought it felt a little frumpy-ish until my daughter said how nice and fresh it looked.... without my asking. ;) At a quick stop at the post office, received another sweet compliment.... so all's good and maybe not so frumpy after all. Leggings and skinny jeans are the usual daily fashion in my area, and sometimes I just really want to wear a skirt or dress.... so that's kind of odd even then I guess. Wearing the very old, hardworking linen Ottobre Sculpture top tucked in.

So I'll close wishing everyone good health as we learn to live in our 'new normal'.
Happy Sewing All. :)

NewLook 6735 a t-n-t favorite

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 21:23:00 +0000

Needing an easy project, NewLook 6735 was the pattern to turn to. Again. Beginning to lose count on how many of these I've made. Classic pattern.

My t-n-t (tried-n-true) easy wearing tee shirt pattern that's been tweaked here and there, finally re-traced with all the modifications altered and/or noted so it's a sit down and not think about it sort of sew.

What would normally be an afternoon make, took a few days as am finding it hard to concentrate with the constantly changing news drawing me in. Everything is put down when my President or state governor holds a press conference. Makes me think of World War II days when families might stop all they were doing to huddle 'round the radio for updates of those serious times. One point of construction I'd like to note is that I do not gather anything. With knits its so easy to 'ease' those 'gathers' in.... bust area and even the sleeves.

The sister fabric in the orange-red colorway made Simplicity 1716, below. This green colorway was supposed to be another top like the Simplicity, but could not bring myself to manage those 6 pleats again in this slinky knit.

Absolutely could care less with the puddling back there. This top will become part of my workout wear and this does not bother me at all.

When one forgets to take off their glasses..... ;) Still getting used to my new surroundings and neutral walls. Miss the woodland setting some days..... but this is much easier when its' cold and rainy outside like today. Wearing self-drafted leggings/pants that needs work in the fitting department but are comfortable to wear on days like this.

This also completes the Make a Garment a Month sewing challenge for March 'Matching March'. 2 tops out of 2 sister fabrics = Matchy Matchy in my book?! ;) This challenge is hosted only on Instagram and you can find the information by going to my instagram page and clicking on this picture to see the hashtags.

Because I clearly need a break on sewing knits, BurdaStyle 3/2019 #109 will be the next project out of a drapey cream crepe. Not sure why they labelled this as a 'Blouse' as that would be totally indecent... but I shall call it Over Shirt and think the lovely cream will go with everything. In our hot summers, the air conditioned indoors are chilly to me, so when I'm wearing a sleeveless dress it will usually be paired with some sort of lightweight jacket or over shirt. Hoping this will suit that need.

On a completely divergent note..... I am one of those people who enjoy Bible Studies and Daily Devotions...... who only reads Nonfiction and Biographies and maybe a classic here and there like 'Jane Eyre'. But it didn't always used to be that way. Many pleasant hours were spent reading Marquerite Henry's 'Misty of Chincoteaque' series, Walter Farley's 'Black Stallion' series and all things horses during my growing up years long ago, so Olga da Polga, the adventurous guinea pig missed my radar. With the serious times at hand, and the oh-so-cute illustrations and my friend expounding on her love for Olga da Polga as she gave Melissa a copy of her beloved set to take to the classroom so other youngsters could enjoy these out-of-print books.... I could not help but begin the first book before Melissa took it to her school. Not far in to the reading there is a passage that caught my eye.... the normally spunky, confident, wanting-to-go-places Olga da Polga's thoughts as she was plucked from her familiar surroundings at the pet shop and plunked into a box heading to her new home.

"She had also made an important discovery. Going places when you know where you are going is one thing, but when you don't know it's quite a different matter."

Somedays I feel like Olga da Polga. ;) We are doing good.... finding the new normal... a new routine.... being flexible for these ever-changing times. We are so blessed. And most importantly these days.... we have plenty of toilet paper. :))

Happy Sewing All! :)

NewLook 6735 | an old favorite and a little chat

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 20:58:00 +0000

Deciding these strange times are a great opportunity to catch up on some makes from last year that I've neglected to blog. Case in point..... the ever cute and classic NewLook 6735.

An oldie-but-goodie pattern still in print, click here to go to Simplicity's site. I've had my pattern since I first began sewing my clothes..... sometime around late 2013. A classic top pattern, this sort of fit never goes out of style.

I've made the long sleeve version as well as the short sleeve you can see here. This was a Hobby Lobby fabric too, below.

Back in 2014 I finished off the neckline a la Alabama Chanin style because machine stitching a neckline binding on seemed most intimidating at the time. Wrote a short tutorial you can see here about how I did this. Sleeve hems were also hand-stitched. This top, below, was adored and worn until the fabric wore out.

Hard to see, but a key element to a great fit with this pattern are the side seam gathers at the bust line. I do not gather these the conventional way, but ease them in by stretching the fabric as I sew between the dots. This is also how I put the sleeves in. Mimi G gave me this idea of easing in knit sleeves in one of her videos. Oh my goodness she made it look so easy. It's not hard.... but I take my time and sew s-l-o-w. By the way..... I love to watch youtube video creators like Mimi G and Brittany sew because even if I may not be making the garment they are sewing, it's great to learn from the pros!! Can you tell I took my time and tried to figure out the best fabric pattern placement, below. Receive compliments on this top every time I wear it and believe it's the fabric that catches folks' eyes.

Fabric came from Hobby Lobby and is still available. Occasionally Hobby Lobby offers free shipping and that's when I place an online order. You can see Shirley's cute tank she made out of the very same fabric here. So funny we purchase the same fabrics from Hobby Lobby!! I think you already saw this 'action' photo, below, but thought I'd share it again. Pleasantly surprised to be enjoying my self-defense class, learning a form of Kung Fu...... thus ya' know..... channeling 'Po' below. Ha! See the similarities?!! ;) Those classes have been suspended as even my beloved YMCA network has closed for now due to trying to slow the coronavirus spread. Restaurants have closed with the exception of drive-thru or curbside take-out. Retail stores like Macy's and Ulta have closed.... the entire Mall has closed. Grocery stores and pharmacies are open with reduced hours and extra time taken for disinfecting. We are taking this very seriously in my area.... and I am glad. #flattenthecurve

Okay.... on to more pleasant thoughts such as organizing. Years ago Sarah Liz shared her way of organizing her sewing notes and I thought it was a fantastic idea and immediately copied it using a photo album that holds 4" x 6" 'photos'..... only in my case it holds 4" x 6" index cards.

On each card is this basic template established years ago. Date of beginning project - date of ending project. Always note the pattern, awkwardly draw a copy of what I sewed, construction notes and changes I'd make next time..... and last but not least fabric info and swatch. I've made so many things now, I've begun noting info on the actual pattern itself.... but always continue with the notecard no matter what.

Another little tip.... see that little tag pinned to the slevedge of my fabric? It tells me the yardage, 'w&d' means 'washed & dried', and source of purchase. AAF is shorthand for All About Fabrics one of my favorite local haunts. Another NewLook 6735 view c will be my next project.... and if the fabric might look familiar....

..... it could be because it's the 'sister' fabric to the recent Simplicity 1716. My original plan was to make 2 of these cowl, 3/4 sleeve tops, but after dealing with all the slippery slidey-ness pinning all those pleats.... decided to go with something much simpler. Thus the NewLook 6735 short-sleeved view c.

And if I were going to the gym today, this is exactly what I'd be wearing, below. Instead it's out for a solitary walk then working out at home.

Happy Sewing All! :)

Simplicity 1716 Top

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 21:07:00 +0000

As the coronavirus begins to spread across the United States.... my city, state and country have begun encouraging people to stay at home to ‘slow the spread’.

Yesterday our South Carolina governor closed all public schools and universities in our state for at least 3 weeks, so even my daughter, who is a 2nd grade teacher, is working from home as they implement e-learning for her students. Last week I shopped my stash choosing Simplicity 1716......

Top info

..... paired with a bright and lovely silky knit, as it was clear changes were coming and I needed a pleasant distraction.

Fabric purchased at All About Fabrics

This knit is a luxurious, super slinky, shifting, silky pain in the you-know-what to sew, but will be oh-so-wonderful to wear... so the first order of business was figuring out which needle to use. Microtex worked well on this.

Having never made this pattern before, chose the tunic length view E, with the cowl neck and 3/4 length sleeves but all along construction was worried this might be too tight through the hips, even though I cut my normal size 10 grading to 12 from the waist down per the Nancy Zieman pivot and slide method. The working theory was that if the tunic was too tight, it could be cut off to be a top. Below.... you are looking at the enormous amount of pleats this lovely begins with. 4 to make the cowl drape, and 2 above the bust to add to the drape = 6 total. The inner cowl is part of the pattern (not attached separately in any way) and folds in nicely during construction.

Below you can see the massive amount of pleat pinning I do. Each pin plays an important role in forming a perfect pleat.

Even though the knit did not 'mark' well, still tried to mark the pleat lines to the best of my ability, then carefully pinned those lines with vertical pins noting the sewing line. The horizontal pins are keeping the knit from sliding.... with the last horizontal pin noting where to stop sewing. Was very pleased with the pleating on this.

Was zooming right along and began pinning side seams together when I realized I was dealing with horrible curling. As in the curling one would see across the grainline..... not curling one would see on a knit cut along the grainline. Pulled some of the selvedge scraps to check my cuts and yep.... you guessed it.... I cut the fabric completely opposite the grainline of what it should've been. *sigh!* You'd think after sewing my clothes consistently since 2013 I'd be immune to making a 'newbie' mistake like this..... but nope..... mistakes happens to all of us, no matter how long we've been at it. Okay. Now what to do. Luckily in this case, this was a super stretchy 4-way stretch knit, with all directions of stretch pretty much equal. Whew! So I continued. And it was a real pain to pin these curling side seams straight. ;(

Here's the one and only photo of the top under construction at the tunic length. After setting the sleeves in flat, (because I'm horrible at setting in sleeves and will always choose flat if I can!), then stitching up the side seams along with the sleeve seams so it could be tried on..... it wasn't only tight..... it was indecently tight from the hips down.

Now let's look again at the pattern. See the upper right blue dress..... the tunic length was a little shorter than this.... and it looks nice and flowing around her hips. *sigh* On to Plan B.... cut it off to a top length of view F and at this point chose to 'ruche' the sides too. I've never done that before and thought it'd be interesting to see how that all worked. In this case.... it was sewing a 1/4" wide elastic 4 1/2" long to pre-determined points on both side seams.

And this is what it became. Sewed 1 1/4" hems in sleeves and top's hem.

Worn with the Ottobre mini-skirt on this stay-at-home day......

.....thinking everything looked great until I saw these photos. See the 'ruching' on the left side? Something looks very wrong there.

And again..... below..... yuck.

Hmmmm..... definitely needs the seam ripper.

Meanwhile..... as I was writing this post to get a pattern link for you (looks like it may be out of print)... I realized that 2 of my sewing buddies have made this pattern before..... Sarah Liz made this very top sans ruching (which may be what I end up doing!) and Shirley who made the alternate neckline as a dress. Funny story about Shirley.... the last couple of tops she and I have made we've chosen the very same fabrics from Hobby Lobby!! And we don't even live anywhere near each other. Great minds think alike, no?!!

So future plans are to think of this time at home as an opportunity to definitely sew, as this little top was the most pleasant distraction to deal with all the uncertainty at hand.

Hugs!!!

Orla Dress by French Navy | a free pattern

Wed, 11 Mar 2020 10:00:00 +0000

To say I adore my new dress would be an understatement! We all know each dress has its own story to tell, so let me begin at the beginning with this lovely thing.

As everyone on the sewing planet is probably aware, The Orla Dress produced by French Navy, is a free online .pdf download that has been available now for quite a few years.

I made a version straight from the envelope waaaaay back in October 2017 as a Christmas gift for my daughter, pictured below with McCalls 4979 comfy pants, also for her. She loved the comfy pants but wasn't too keen on the dress.

So eventually the dress became mine. ;) Every time I wore this cute thing, it always rolled through my mind the couple of tweaks it needed to make it 'perfect'.....

raise and narrow neckline
lengthen bodice 1"
pleats instead of gathers
add pockets..... preferably applied vs. in-seam
fully line both bodice and skirt

Yep, just a couple of tweaks.....!!

Then along came last month's Make a Garment a Month 'Free February' Challenge and knew this was the project that needed to be made now. Remember Make a Garment a Month has moved to Instagram so if you want more information about this fun challenge, to go my Instagram account and click on this post for all the hashtags and contact information. Edited to add: Well, duh, guess you can see all that on the photo below. *que rolls eyes and sighs*

Back to the dress.... had already purchased a pretty quilting cotton from Joann Fabrics with this pattern in mind..... so it was really all about having the sewjo to do this.

"Sewjo" Definition: 'sewing energy and/or sewing motivation.' In my case lack thereof. So it clearly did not get done in February. Early March work was begun and immediately crashed to a halt as I over-thought pleat placement and applied pocket work. Eventually I threw up my hands and gave in to going with the flow..... putting in in-seam pockets and clustering a set of 3 pleats at each side seam both front and back. And all worked perfectly!

Took time first making all the modifications on a newly traced flat pattern.... beginning with the size Small...... then paid LOTS of attention to the fabric placement patterning. Extremely proud of my work here. This pattern only needs 1.5 yards.... but somehow I didn't buy that much, much less taking into consideration pattern placement..... so it was a miracle this all worked. May I say literally a handful of scraps were leftover. Front, below....

Back, below. Also proud of the invisible zip insertion with very little to no puckering!!! Yes!!! A skillset I have been working on for a while. I channel the lovely Diane at Dream Cut Sew every time I put an invisible zip in now. She wrote a tutorial of her technique you can find here.... only I use an invisible zipper foot for the zip insertion, then switch to a conventional zipper foot to sew the seam closed, back-stitching at the bottom of the zip like she does.

Bodice lined with oh-so-soft white cotton muslin..... just like the original version..... because I liked the feel of that against the skin during hot summers vs. a bemberg polyester lining fabric....

.....and remembered to clip and understitch the neckline seams. Important. This lies nicely and does not roll out.

In-seam pocket work, below..... used a previously unused cut set of pockets out of white lining fabric for the front of the pocket.... and fashion fabric for the back. This was critical as I was running out of my fashion fabric at this point. Remember to understitch your pocket seams too.

Inside out, front...... you can see the contrast between the cotton muslin bodice lining fabric vs. the polyester bemberg lining fabric used for the skirt. Clustered pleats there too, but wasn't too concerned about placement and such. Wanted to use the bemberg lining fabric for the skirt because the quilting cotton fashion fabric is already a little 'stiff' and did not want to make the drape of the dress any stiffer.

Inside out back, below. Super proud of the zip insertion all 'round!! Experience really does make the difference with this sort of thing.

Below, showing how I simply serged the armhole seams together, within the seam allowance, with the lining fabric after the sleeves had all been put in..... if that makes any sense. This helps with the steps of construction enabling me to try the dress on with seams intact before adding the lining

Finished the hem by machine stitching using the blind hem stitch and special blind hem foot for my machine. My favorite method!!! What I've found critical, is the placement of the pins. See how I have mine pinned below. Holds all in place beautifully, yet easy to pull out while stitching without messing up your stitching line. Gee I thought I'd written a video tutorial post on how to machine stitch a blind-hem easily.... but cannot find it now. I'll write a separate post on that soon for those who may be interested in how to conquer this intimidating technique easily.

Can you see the hemming stitch after ironing?! Nope not me either!! It's 'blind'!! Ha!! Let me assure you it is there and secure.

So there you have it.... a new pretty dress..... front.....

.....back. Not sure why it wrinkled up there... hmmm... didn't see that in the mirror earlier. Oh well, think I must've twisted my body setting up the camera. Wore it all day this day.

Here was a fun shot I shared on Instagram recently. Orla Dress meets Orla Dress! Ha! :)

One last thing I wanted to say.... I was a little surprised to find the pleats make this dress feel more like a 'nicer' dress than the gathers. With my age and the styles I like to wear, this works well for me as I am definitely more of a pleat girl than a gather girl, so I am most happy.

Happy Sewing All!! :)

DIY Fleece Scarf Tutorial | super easy, quick no-sew project

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 11:00:00 +0000

Harry Potter fans will quickly recognize the colors of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin in these colorful fleece scarves.

19 were 'made'..... using that word loosely here.... for each of my daughter's 2nd grade classroom students as a gift to celebrate the completion of her Harry Potter unit. The book is above her student's reading level, so she chose to read the book aloud, turning her cassroom into Hogwarts, even including a Sorting Hat and Hedwig the owl bringing 'messages'..... all to hopefully inspire her students to have a greater love of reading, writing and imaginations.

Look at all that lovely fringiness!!! Because this is such a quick and easy no-sew project, thought others might be interested in how I made these 19 scarves in less than 1 hour.

Needing the colors of Hogwarts Houses, it was pure serendipity that my local WalMart had these primary colors in stock. Had already pre-planned the scarves to be 6" wide and using the full width of the 60" fleece fabrics meant I needed to purchase 1 yard of each. The green fleece was only available in their 1.5 yard pre-cut pile so that's why there's more in the photo below. Still.... thrilled all was so easily available and inexpensive.

You will need a cutting mat, a couple of 6" straight edge rulers and rotary cutters. Cut your straight edge first.... and below is how I set up my 2 rules as I don't have one lone enough to span 30". The 60" fleece is folded in half, selvedge edge to selvedge edge, so you are cutting through 2 layers of the fleece.

Below... the straight edge remnant is discarded and now you have a true straight edge to cut your scarf width because we want nice straight width scarves, nothing wonky. ;)

A 6" scarf width worked perfectly so that's what I'm cutting here, below.

.....and how I handle where the 2 rulers butt together..... just go slow and make sure there's no dips, or jagged edges in your cuts.

Below... cut the selvedge ends off....

.....and discard. My 6" square omnigrid ruler works perfectly for this and....

....The Fringe!!! Oh my gosh I am in love with this fringe!!! Using the 6" square ruler cut your fringe WITH THE ROTARY CUTTER.... this is key.... scissors do not work as well..... ask me how I know. ;(

Below, you line up the edge of the ruler to easily cut 1/4" wide fringe. I'm working through two layers of fabric here, to fringe both edges of one scarf at once. It was so easy.

I stopped cutting around the 6" mark or so.

Almost done fringing below.... super easy and quick.

All done!! Look how nice and straight and uniform the fringe is cut.

Love it! I want all things fringe now. ;)

Remember fleece does not fray so you don't need to worry about raw edges. All 19 scarves are ready to be given out next week. Can hardly wait to hear about how they will be received as this is all a surprise. My daughter teaches in one of the lowest income and highest crime rate elementary schools of the district, and it is such a privilege to be able to do something like this for her students.

I know the scarves look odd on this sleeveless dress but also wanted to show the progress made on the Newlook 6261 sleeveless sheath dress I've been working on for my friend to wear to her son's wedding reception dinner. It will be an informal bbq event at a historic venue and think this pretty floral cotton will look terrific under a blue jean denim jacket she's planning to pair with it.

So that's it! Super easy, quick, no-sew fleece scarf tutorial.
Happy Sewing All! :)

Where did February go?! | Monthly Summary February 2020

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 23:03:00 +0000

Since it seems I've not really made anything this past month 'blog worthy', thought I'd write another summary post for the month of February to let you guys know what's been going on in my neck of the woods.

Trying to get back in the routine of taking photos for my Photo Journal, and as always it's kind of a pain, yet rewarding at the same time.... so a lot of these photos were drawn from there.

Beginning with... Yep... the Ottobre jacket is still not done... only needs hemming... what is my problem?! Been languishing since last fall...... guess by the time it's all said and done it'll be an 'early' wear for Fall 2020?! ;)

Outfit info

Talked about the uptick in pageviews of my humble, innocuous Face Mask Post last month and the pageviews have continued to rise with over 1000 direct pageviews per day.... and growing. Some have left comments speaking of the shortage of face masks due to the coronavirus outbreak worldwide and that there is no supply for them, other than to make something like this. Truth be told, I have cried some days watching the pageviews increase knowing it is out of desperation they are coming to my blog. Sad. Hoping it may give some some sort of hope..... and that all will be okay, safe and healthy. Crazy times we live in....

On a lighter note.... going to the Y (gym) almost everyday.... and incorporating cardio and weight training into my daily routine, even at home. This was an interesting set of photos this day as I 'really' saw how wrong I was holding my body and how much more improvement it needed. Photos are definitely a great self-critique.

Outfit info

On 2 consecutive days I wore the same pair of self-drafted leggings and was amazed at the 2 completely different 'looks' it produced.

Outfit info left
Outfit info right

Off to the Y with all my 'gear' that is all handmade by me... except for the jacket over the arm. Even the bag is used daily. Love it!

Outfit and bag info

I've recently begun a self-defense class and this day was heading out there channeling 'Po'..... as in Kung Fu Panda..... because I'm learning a form of Kung Fu and am most certainly (un!)coordinated like poor Po. ;)

Outfit info

A friend was getting rid of her sewing notions and gifted me with her lot. This bag of thread could not be used, so I donated it to my local Quilts of Valor group who produces over 100 quilts for this worthy ministry per year. As part of their fundraiser to offset costs, they make/sew items to sell and thought these threads could definitely be used for that. For those who may not know what Quilts of Valor might be about, I've copied their mission statement below:
"The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor."

Remember last month when I shared that my friend needed a Mother-of the Groom dress for her upcoming son's wedding? Well she ended up buying a beautiful dress she loved and that fit her perfectly so our attention turned to making a dress for the informal bar-b-que Reception Dinner that would be held in an historic venue. She chose NewLook 6261 and this cute cotton fabric from her stash. We spent a pleasant day altering the flat pattern to fit her 6' body, size 14 with 1" length added to waist, re-work vertical darts, 3" length added below hips, sloping right shoulder adjustment and now to work on fit from hips down. You are looking at 6 hours worth of work, below.... though truth be told.... there was lots of talking and eating going on too. ;)

Loving (and wearing!) this buffalo checked vest more this year.

Oufit info

My new Fossil Sportwatch found on sale, was a good purchase and I really enjoy using this not only from a fitness standpoint, but also as a daily watch. The numbers are so large it's easily readable.

Don't forget to check out your local library for unique sewing books. I was shocked to see 'shapeshape' at mine. Will be making something from this... hopefully sooner than later... meanwhile it was most enjoyed.

And another workout selfie. If your Y has a large room used for groups, you might ask if they allow folks to use it when it is empty. Mine does and I love having this large, well-equipped room with floor-to-ceiling mirrors all to myself. The weights, tubes, mats, kettleballs and steps are off to the side and out of sight in this photo.... but it's great.

Outfit info

This bag was a joy to make completely inspired by the blue zip, bottom right below, that was in my friend's notions she'd given to me. This was a 'thank you' to her made of denim, blue ticking and jacket fabric scraps from the stash. I may do a proper blog post at a later time..... we'll see.

Seem to be languishing on the Orla Dress plans too. Gee whiz! Such a simple dress..... but some of the modifications made me scratch my head.... like changing the gathers to pleats. Ya' know.... how many pleats..... should they be scattered or clustered.... how to incorporate the new in-seam pockets.... over-thinking stuff like that shut me down to a turtle pace.

So that's a pretty good summary of the month of February 2020. Busy but not as productive sewing as I'd like. One thing though, is that what was worked on sewing-wise helped bring back the 'sewjo' and find it's carrying on into March. So hopefully I'll have some new completed things to show you soon. Meanwhile......

Happy Sewing All! :)

Sewing plans and ramblings

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 03:35:00 +0000

Hello dear sewing friends!! I know I cannot be the only one who is amazed we are already into the month of February 2020?! And I was just getting used to writing 2019...... ;) 'Life' is going well and I hope to be back here on a more regular basis journaling my work now that I am settling into a new routine and feel so much better. I've been sewing some.... just not blogging or instagramming my work... need to catch you guys up on those.... but meanwhile wanted to share a few plans and other stuff I'm working on with you today.

First up..... making another version of this cute dress, below. Everyone should have a couple of fun, easy to wear little dresses in their closets and the free pattern Orla Dress by French Navy fits that bill for me. This dress, below, was made way back in 2017 for my daughter who never liked it, nor wore it, so it was eventually rescued and put into my closet but never officially blogged about. Sewn straight from the pattern, was pleasantly surprised to find it produced a pretty good fit for me. Made from a lovely sage green quilting cotton with the bodice lined in soft white cotton, it is a delight to wear.

For the new upcoming version I will be making a few tweaks...... narrowing the upper neckline a bit as I must have a narrow width between the shoulders, adding 1" to the bodice length, change the gathers to pleats and add POCKETS!! Everything needs pockets in my humble opinion. ;) Below is the quilting cotton from the stash that's been waiting to become another Orla Dress. With this colorway it will be a fun dress to wear with tights, booties and a cardi on these warmer winter days we've been having here. Hmmmm, might need to line the skirt with a Bemberg lining of sorts so the cotton won't cling to the tights.....

Because the Orla Dress pattern is a free pattern, this also qualifies for February's Make a Garment a Month Sewing Challenge that is on Instagram. Sue, Helene and Suzy are wonderful hosts and I hope to be a better participant of their challenge this year. All are welcome and encouraged to join in when they can.

Change of subject.... when I saw this adorable free printable 2020 calendar you can download from Clean & Scentsible, below, I immediately thought of you guys. She produces I think 3 different sizes to print out and I fell in love with the lovely watercolor colorways of the little animals.

As part of my thoughts here today..... it's been most curious to me that an old post of how to make Fabric Face Masks has become one of my blog's highest daily pageviews recently. Can't help but wonder if the threat of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus has something to do with this uptick in pageviews. As a full disclaimer I have no idea how much of a germ barrier these masks might be as they were made for my pup's groomer to help her combat inhaling dog dander and fur.

Speaking of my pup, I had to say goodbye to sweet Susie recently.

At 13 she had lived a great life. 12 years ago I chose her from the local shelter to be a companion to my mother-in-law at the time. She filled that role well, and when things changed a few years ago with the need for a memory care assisted living facility, Susie became my constant companion. I miss her greatly.

After drying a few tears..... wanted to share a couple of other things with you. A few years ago Burda Academy offered a free class to learn how to design and sew your own custom workout wear. I am finally working my way through the class and am focusing on this princess seam workout tank top, below. Mine will be black with leopard side panels. ;)

As part of my new lifestyle and focusing on bettering my health, I am working out every day now and need to up the quality and style in my workout outfits. Most afternoons a pleasant hour is spent at my local Y (gym) where not only am I getting healthy physically, but meeting some of the nicest folks and expanding my circle of friends. It's now such a part of my routine, I look forward to going each day and miss it if I'm not able to get there. There are lots of different cardio and weight resistant machines that I enjoy, but some days it's nice to slip off to a quiet, empty group exercise room and use simple tools, below. This has been..... is.... a huge learning curve for me and one that I am very much enjoying.

As I was scrolling through my IG feed this morning, Erin at sewordinary had put up Pantone's 2020 Spring color palette.....

..... and after a quick search, found a little clearer image that also included 4 'Classics' colors. I really like all these colors! What do you think of the Spring colors this year?

Classic Blue has been proclaimed Pantone's 2020 Color of the year. This is a great shade of blue.

It's been fun to share with my new friends that I sew my clothes. Oh the look on their faces!!! Fun!! One of my new friends needed a cute dress hemmed. She said it'd been sitting in a bag waiting for this simple alteration for a couple of years..... and less than 30 minutes later.... 2" shortened with a 1" hem pinned in place ready for her to try on to check. She's given me word that all's good so I'll be machine sewing a blind hem tomorrow then all's done and ready for her to wear again. Maybe less than another 30 minutes to do that. So glad that I am able to help her in this way.

Then at the school where my daughter teaches 2nd grade, another teacher had discarded this pillow.... can't think of what these things are called.... but both sides had exploded out their side seams like you see below. My daughter brought it home, asked if I could mend it..... which warms my heart by the way..... and after maybe 30 minutes working on my invisible hand-stitching.... both sides were stitched closed and the next day the the kids were using it to prop up against while reading in her Reading Center.

Tomorrow should be fun as another girlfriend is coming over to look at patterns and discuss sewing her Mother of the Groom dress. The Mother of the Bride has chosen this dress, below.... so the pressure is ON!!

Years ago my friend sewed all her clothes before her life got so busy..... and at 6' with uneven shoulders she's concerned she might be unable to purchase a dress that fits properly. May I insert a girlie 'squeal' here!!! I am so excited to see if we might be able to pull this off!!! Before we saw the Mother of the Bride dress, I'd sent her photos of a couple of patterns I'd previously made thinking if she liked them it'd be easier to make something I was already familiar with.
Initially we both thought of the classic sheath dress.....

....made as 'Carolyn's Dress'....

She likes princess seams..... and this would give her a fuller skirt for dancing......

.....made as 'Toile du Jouy'...

She adores my Ottobre sheath dress, but wonder if it'd not be 'formal' enough?....

..... I thought this little jacket might work with all of them?......

The Ottobre ensemble together, below. Would the dress work if made of something with a lace overlay? Would it give her enough room to dance? Oh I cannot wait to see what she thinks. We may not be able to produce the dress she wants..... but I'm so excited to try.

I hope you've enjoyed this little chatty post as it's been fun to write and share with you! Will be back soon as more sewing progresses.

Happy Sewing All! :)

November 2019 Summary

Sun, 01 Dec 2019 16:30:00 +0000

November has flown by with nary much to show in the creative outlet field but quite a busy month still. Of course my handmade garments have been worn each day. ;)

outfit info

The Fitness Journey. As you guys know well by now, I've been seriously ill since March and my lungs are recovering..... still. They are so much better, but still recovering. I joined my local YMCA (a gym for those who may not know) end of September and that decision has been one of the very best I've made. Exercising, eating properly and learning about women's fitness over 50 has become my new 'hobby' and one I want to continue for the rest of my life. I need this..... we all need these healthy lifestyle components no matter how old or young we are... it's just even more important as we women age. So because I am going to the Y most days, it's becoming clear my exercise outfits could use improvement. These leggings were bugging me, below left.... they felt awkward and I hated wearing them. Couldn't figure out what was wrong until came up with the thought that maybe it was the length... so right, below, was a less than 30 minute improvement of cutting off to capri length. Love them and wear them constantly now. Sometimes it's the little things, right?!

Outfit Info

The Y is outfitted, not only with cardio machines, but with all sorts of weight resistance and strength training machines which is so important for our bone health. Below, is the hip abduction/adduction machine of which I had to take a photo this day to show I am moving 95 lbs. which has never happened before. It was a huge step showing how much stronger my legs are getting. After all the illness, which meant not a lot of moving, my muscle mass has weakened and honestly is not really there, which meant in my legs, there wasn't enough structure to hold the weight off my knees..... so my knees have been killing me, making walking and getting up from a chair difficult. Building up my muscles has been a slow process, and it's a thrill to see improvement in not only how my body is able to handle the machines, but also in simply walking and getting about. I've considered cutting these colorful leggings off to capri length too.... but for now am leaving them long.

Outfit Info

November saw the first of bitterly cold weather move in. We went from 10 degrees above normal, to 10 degrees below normal in one day. Bundled up well this day to walk my pup that is also part of my daily healthy lifestyle routine. This Shetland Scarf was knitted a few years ago and I still love to wear it, particularly with the sherpa coat.... though this coat pattern seriously needs pockets. Oh, instead of tying a doggie bag to Susie's leash for ease in picking up her waste, I made a little bag that clips to her leash that holds a couple of the bags. So much nicer and easier too. That's the tan/brown/rust round bag you see below.

outfit info

I have the great good fortune to live about 5 minutes away from a wonderful WalMart that still carries patterns and fabrics, so this day had a lot of fun looking at the $2.97 patterns in the kiosk. Way back when, WalMart used to carry the NewLook patterns for $2.97, so thought it was interesting they've switched to McCall's, calling them 'It's Sew Simple'.... breaking out patterns from the regular McCall's patterns to re-package in this more inexpensive alternative. Love this idea! Anyway..... what caught my eye this day, were that these two patterns below are exactly the same. Different cover photos, different pattern numbers..... but exactly the same. I bought the one to the left......

......and while cutting out the pattern, realized how odd it felt. After all the time spent tracing Ottobre and Burda patterns..... it almost felt like I was doing something 'wrong' cutting out this tissue paper pattern. But oh how quick and easy!!! A huge timesaver!! Got as far as cutting out the leggings in black knit..... and that's where they sit. Got to get them sewn up to see if they will be wearable for exercising.

And then the weather warmed back up to be able to wear one of my new unblogged tops. This is the free pattern Kirsten Kimono Tee by Maria Denmark. Shared this photo below on Instagram wondering if it looked like an 'old lady top'. Fabric from Joann Fabrics, and it's definitely not the fabric's fault as it's a beautiful color and oh-so-soft and comfy knit. But still..... note to self..... pay more attention in considering fabric from bolt to garment.

outfit info

Another warm and mild day wearing my all-time favorite t-shirt pattern NewLook 6735. Had an epiphany of sorts this morning deciding to wear it to the Y to work out in and it handled the workout well. This cute top has not been worn much because it's been sort of 'saved' to wear as a 'good' t-shirt. Do you do that? Save your 'nice' things and then they never get worn or used?! I need to wear it. Period. But first cookies.....

outfit info

..... 6 dozen homemade sugar cookies. My daughter Melissa, teaches 2nd grade and was hosting a Grandparent's Day for her classroom and kindly asked if I could bake cookies as one of her treats. Oh yes!!! Absolutely I said!!! Sugar Cookies were chosen as some of the kids have peanut allergies. A couple of kids have chocolate issues, so half the recipe included M&Ms and the other half colored sugars. Honestly.... the colored sugars were the best! She had a great turnout and the kids loved the homemade cookies. On their own initiative, they wanted to 'thank me'. Oh my heart!!! Sort of wonder if homemade goodies are being replaced by Deli/Grocery store bakery department versions. Anyway, I'll post the recipe I used below that are more like a shortbread sugar cookie and taste best with some kind of addition like colored sugars, M&Ms or my real favorite Buttercream Icing. ;)

Sugar Cookies

2 eggs
2/3 cups shortening (I use Crisco)
2/3 cup butter (I use unsalted butter)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
Bake 10 - 12 minutes at 375 degrees F

Grocery shopping and errand day still trying to get used to this high-low hem, below. Super comfortable though....

outfit info

Melissa needed to bring a fruit platter to her school's faculty luncheon, and wanting to do something special, found a Turkey Fruit Platter photo on Pinterest for inspiration. Below is her completed Turkey Fruit Platter and may I say..... IT WAS AWESOME!! It was a 'memory making' project for the two of us, and quite rewarding as she received lots of lovely compliments from the staff. She is a first year teacher and wanted to make a good impression. Body is a cantaloupe, head is a pear and 'feathers' are cantaloupe, mango, green grapes, kiwi, strawberry, raspberry, red grape, blueberry and blackberry. A glorious abundance of fruit.

More mild, warm November days followed and it was nice to layer a Nancy Zieman sleeveless top, with an Ottobre cardi and pants......

outfit info

.....and make Turkey treats for Melissa's students. She wanted to give them a cute and fun treat the last day before Thanksgiving break, and found another Pinterest inspired project. She ran out of time, but had saved the photo to her Pinterest board, so I was able to go in and not only 'see' what she wanted, but the photo lead to a tutorial. Thank goodness! The instructions can be found here. Another run to WalMart to get pipe cleaners, tulle and googly eyes and 20 Turkey M&M treats later.....! Those who have chocolate issues were made with Skittles. Surprisingly the pipe cleaners are simply stuck in the tulle, actually stayed in there pretty well....... at least until she gave them out.... then, when in the kids' hands..... turkey heads and legs were falling out all over the place. As an aside, may I say Pinterest is exhausting!! ;)

To celebrate the beginning of her Thanksgiving break, she and I went out to eat and I wore the outfit you see below. My sewing space looks like work is being done there..... Ha!..... need to get back to it.....

outfit info

Now back to the photo beginning this post, it was fun to pair the Alabama Chanin skirt with the Burda wrap top..... kind of like Alabama meets Germany..... as Christmas decorating began.

outfit info

Hoping to be more productive in December as I need new clothes desperately. Thinking I'll focus on exercise things first as that is such a big part of my life now. The Y is close to my home, so I try to get there most days and it'd be nice to have cute tops and more leggings to choose from to wear. December usually bring consistently cooler weather our way, and it'd also be nice to have more winter type tops. So that's sort of the sewing list thoughts..... just need to find the sewjo. Meanwhile, hope all had a lovely November.

Happy Sewing All!!! :)

Vintage Simplicity Pattern 5882 Boxy Jacket and Pencil Skirt | Friends. Friendships.

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 01:55:00 +0000

Friends. Friendships. Through the global world of 'Social Media' we are exposed to a variety of people from all walks of life, of which much has been written about the pros and cons of such.... with my little Social Media world connecting me to others creating 'friendships' bonded by our simple love of sewing and making..... that's a great big benefit in my life. No cons here!

Mary @pdxsquared on Instagram, and I couldn't be any more different. She is tall and lovely at 6', (I top out at 5'7"), loves to refashion all things, particularly garments picked up at thrift stores and turned into new garments, photo below. She teaches sewing classes/mending/refashions at a women's shelter, sews all things boxy, adores Ottobre patterns (we have this in common!) and enjoys sharing photos of her vast vintage pattern collection on IG, of which I have a meager few. She lives in the Pacific Northwest in the United States located on the other side of the country from my southern east coast South Carolina, but through Instagram we've 'known' and followed each other for years creating a sweet bond through the love of our common hobby.

View this post on Instagram

What I made and wore to #seattlefrocktails is this vintage Jiffy dress using silk harvested from four different XS garage sale dresses/skirts. Super fun to put together and delightful to wear because nothing beats a loose fitting silk dress for comfort!
A post shared by @ pdxsquared on Nov 10, 2019 at 8:04pm PST

Sometime October 2018, Mary posted a photo of her vintage pattern Simplicity 5882 and spoke of how she wished she could be a size 14 (bust 34) to sew the pattern and how she loved the jacket especially, but would never be making it. I loved the pattern and commented that I was a size 14 and would she consider allowing me to purchase this lovely pattern. Her immediate reply was to send it to me as a gift, with her joy to simply see it made. She included the loveliest of handwritten notes and some labels along with the pattern in her beautifully packaged parcel, below. So sweet and so special it was decided that this outfit would be my Easter 2019 outfit, as well as 'the special outfit' to wear to my daughter's graduation in May.

And then my life turned upside down. The skirt was completed in March a few days before the great illness hit. I lost 6 pounds in the first 3 days and by the time it was all said and done, lost so much weight, coupled with a huge shift in my body shape that the skirt actually could not be held up. It fell down my hips. I've lost my notes on the jacket but think it was completed around the same time and it swamped my now very thin, frail frame. Unwearable. Completely.

Until today. 8 months later..... needing to run some errands in town, looking at this beautiful jacket hanging on my dress form all this time.... thought how that would be a perfect Fall outfit to wear this day and wondered what it might look like on me now that I've gained most of the weight back. It fit! And fit perfectly!!! Oh Happy Day! That's why there's such a big smile in the first photo above. :)

The pattern envelope is dated 1965 and describes the skirt and jacket as: "Dart fitted skirt has waistband and side zipper closing..... Lined jacket has below elbow length two-piece raglan sleeves, collar and top-stitching trim". I was also thinking about making the sleeveless top with tie too, but with buttons down the back, thought it might not be too practical to get on and off. ;)

In this photo below you can see a little better the shape of the jacket against the skirt. Honestly the jacket still feels a little large on me and I may make a few tweaks in the shoulders and sleeve hems before wearing it again. Also a first for me was putting in this type of collar. It wasn't perfect.... but it wasn't too bad and I learned a new skill.

The pattern instructions have you line the jacket, but I chose to bind all seams in the hong kong method with the armscye seams enclosed seam binding. All the bias tape was made out of some lovely ivory bemberg type satin from the stash. Almost a silk feel.

The jacket fabric is upholstery fabric purchased from my local only-open-once-a-month textile outfit. It was washed and dried before cutting out and laundered beautifully. From the pattern envelope I thought the sleeves would be a closer fit.... and a little shorter.....

....with the overall jacket length shorter too. See the bulkiness in the shoulder areas. Thinking I might redo that part..... but also the overall largeness of the sleeves can be seen here too, below. Weird. I know it was a boxy jacket, but thought it'd be a closer fitting boxy jacket of sorts. I did not top-stitch anything as I didn't want to potentially mess anything up by getting off kilter with top-stitching. I do like the jacket, but am not sold on the fit for me.

The Skirt. I LOVE this skirt!!! This is the perfect skirt for my body shape and it WILL be made again. With pockets added. There are no pockets here.....

but there are 8 darts..... 4 in the front.....

.....and 4 longer ones in the back and it gives this pencil skirt the best shape.... though to tell you the truth, these are so long it gave me pause during construction as I was concerned it'd be too tight. Those 1950's - early 1960's women's shapes were oh-so-small back then but no worries, perfect fit for me after I adjusted all seam allowances to a mere 1/4" after cutting everything out at a 5/8" s.a.

Speaking of the darts..... I learned a new-to-me technique that has continued in my sewing skillset with finishing off a dart by stitching the dart tail inside the completed dartline. This is a Nancy Zieman technique...

.....and I wrote more about it and included a little video clip here. Super easy and fast with no hand-tying threads to lock your seam.

Before I cut this skirt out, I compared the pattern pieces to a recent Burda Skirt I'd made with the fit I liked. Burda Skirt 02/2017 #117 is a very similar fitting skirt, below.

Below, the Burda Skirt pieces are on top and it gave me confidence to sort of feel like I was handling 'fit' before cutting anything out. There were no adjustments made to this vintage skirt other than shortening the length and re-stitching at a 1/4" seam allowance. When I make it again, I may shave a little off the hips area as I'm a little more slimmer there. You can see the biggest difference in the two patterns in the back pattern piece underneath the pattern envelope below.

As you can tell by all the wrinkles, the skirt's fabric is 100% linen and was purchased years ago when we had a Hancock's Fabric Store in town. It is also fully lined with Bemberg lining fabric and a side invisible zip. I may shorten the skirt a little more at some time as the length felt a little 'frumpy-ish' today. Wearing it with the old Ottobre 100% linen top that I still love and wear.

And ya' know what.... when I put everything on this morning.... I swear I could feel Mary giving me a big hug......

....and I will think of her, and sweet social media friendships, every time it is worn.
Happy Sewing All!

'Down the Rabbit Hole' and more of October 2019

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 02:06:00 +0000

October flew by and until I began to put together this post, thinking there wouldn't be much to share, I was surprised at how much happened this month. October is my youngest daughter's birthday, and this year she turned 27 years old and her one and only request was for me to take her to our local museum's special Alice in Wonderland exhibit called 'Down the Rabbit Hole'. And what a fun day it was! With a lovely display of original artwork, the main exhibit room held costumes and paraphernalia from Tim Burton's movies starring Johnny Depp.

Because this is a sewing blog after all, we'll focus mostly on the textiles. The attention to detail was stunning.

Alice's chain mail was actually woven ribbons. Very cool.

The Queen of Hearts costume was interesting.....

..... as was the White Queen's....

..... and Alice's gown that she 'grew out of'.....

..... but it was this one..... one of Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter's outfit that truly caught my eye and my attention.

There was interesting details at every glance.... different buttons..... the thread sash.... scissor holder....

..... ribbons at the ready.... but it was the way the costumer 'made' the fabric for his coat that was fascinating. Distressed, yet perfectly tailored.

The beautiful shirt with triple top-stitching tied with a silk tie. Each detail unique and different.... yet pulled together a perfectly cohesive outfit and garment.

Cheshire Cat greeted you as you walked in. Our museum had even built in different sized doors and 'rooms' for you to open and have an Alice experience. This yellow door was for the larger Alice experience....

...while this small door was for the smaller Alice.

The exhibit hall displayed many of the original artworks from the different popular publications, as well as information about both the author and the different illustrators through the years. And here I'll introduce to you my second Ottobre modified sheath dress..... it has pockets..... yay!!!

Made of quilting cotton from my local only-open-once-a-month-textile outlet.... lined with bemberg lining fabric from Joann's..... finally, a true t-n-t- dress pattern customized for me, wearable, compliments my body shape and is super comfortable to move in. Oh, and pockets..... did I mention it has pockets?! A true winner!!

Our local museum includes the history of our town with brick and mortar shop facades, built like this one below, and I had a little fun 'meeting' Mr. McBee.... a merchant and town leader from long ago. Wearing a rtw cardi with the dress, below, but have an accompanying Ottobre jacket in the works.

Had to take a selfie with the birthday girl and of course the Cheshire Cat. ;)

One is never too old to love foxes and cute kitty cats, right?! So it was a new comfy outfit and extra pair of comfy shorts for the birthday girl. Both shorts are McCall's 4979 shortened to 'shorts' and the top was NewLook 6230. First time I've made this top, and of course made it and only THEN checked the reviews at Pattern Review. *sigh* And yes, the top's neckline finished a little wide and large. But it's a comfy top..... and ya' know..... foxes... and the secret making was successfully kept secret, so all's good. Fox and pink kitty knit fabric came from Joann's.... gray knit came from Hobby Lobby.

New patterns were purchased during the $5.00 sale at Joann's this month. The Sandra Betzina's 'Today's Fit' Vogue 1630 pants are already in the planning stage. I did not renew my Burda subscription this year because I have 3 years of subscriptions containing a treasure trove of patterns I'd like to explore, as well as wanting to make outfits from Vogue and the other more traditional pattern companies.

Been working on the Ottobre jacket to accompany the sheath dress shown earlier. Super simple, have made it before..... no excuse why it is languishing. *sigh* Anyway, here I'm sewing the flat felled seams with my felling foot.... but it also has hong kong seams, enclosed seams with binding as well as serged seams. A sampler of seams of sorts?!

Joined my local YMCA the end of September and try to exercise there most days. The exercising forces me to breathe deep..... 'exercising' my lungs so to speak. Upping the daily protein I eat, as well as my water intake, coupled with the exercising has helped my lungs improve significantly. Who knew October was 'Healthy Lung Month'?!....

.....then, be still my heart, to find out my local Y gives out fresh popped popcorn on Fridays! My life is complete!! Photo below also showing the Ottobre leggings made last year.

Mid-month went to the South Carolina State Fair with a friend to look at the textiles.... and found ourselves immersed in the baked goods.

Sweet time is regularly spent with an elderly lady who invites me to her little wood cottage, nestled beyond those trees to the right, as you take the gentle bend around her lovely quiet, still pond filled with wild ducks and the occasional white heron, below. She is a master pianist and we 'play' together. More importantly, we laugh while eating chocolate and drink bold-brewed coffee. She is a delight, a precious treasure to me.

Most of October has seen record high temps, and with the 95 degree + heat comes poor air quality. With my poor lungs still on the mend, it limits time spent outdoors so I've been experimenting with how to set up photos inside. Still getting used to my hair. With over half fallen out in June/July, I am over-the-top HAPPY to see it is growing back!!! My head is full of 'fuzzies'..... some a mere 1/4" and some 1+". Also noticing the texture is returning more to what it used to be. Thinking the added protein in my diet is probably helping there too. I have to pause and say I am so blessed, as I realize that with some folks, the hair never returns. Wearing the Ottobre sweater cardi, Burda wrap top, and old Ottobre pants, below.

What better way to close out the spooky month, than by holding a couple of cute ghosts wearing NewLook 6292 with a still unblogged self-drafted pair of leggings.

This was fun pulling together a month's summary instead of boring you with a little snippet here and a little snippet there. I may write in this format more often in the future, though continue to write individual specific posts about makes that are new to you, the reader. As I'm beginning to tweak my tried-n-true patterns and make the same patterns over and over again, I worry about boring you guys to death. Need to find my sewing motivation as it's been a little lagging lately and I desperately need new clothes. So probably expect to see more pants, tops and jackets in the near future. Oh and exercise clothing as exercising is at the top of my priority list now. Now where's that little Ottobre jacket that needs finishing.....

Happy Sewing All!! :)

Newlook 6735 Top | a favorite

Sat, 07 Sep 2019 13:35:00 +0000

Why oh why has this cute tee shirt pattern been languishing in the pattern stash when, but in an afternoon's time, one can be up and wearing it and out the door taking their sweet pup for a walk. Well clearly my sweet pup did not get the memo on which direction to look for the photo..... but let's talk about this little top for a bit today.

NewLook 6735 was probably one of the first patterns I purchased when I began sewing garments for myself in 2013, so it was quite a surprise to see it's not out-of-print (OOP) and still readily available at the website. So many great patterns go OOP in short order. Wonder how they decide which to retain and which to let go? Hmmmm.

Anyway, this is more of a form-fitting tee with gathering at the side seams in the bustline area, to create what I think is a flattering fit for a tee. The sleeves are inserted 'in the round', which is not my favorite method of sleeve insertion as I never think my gathers turn out quite right, but hey, this is a tee shirt right?! I cut a size 10, grading/adding a little to the hip area and serged all the seams.... so maybe 1/4" seam allowance. I also raised the neckline about 1/2" because this is kind of low for an active tee shirt.

As you can see the back pattern piece has 2 pieces as they are contoured slightly to fit the curve of your back and waist..... which I like and need. One could easily place it on the fold.... but I wanted to sew it up this way and didn't care a bit how the fabric placement came out and was pleasantly surprised to see the almost symmetrical diagonals of the blues.

It only requires a mere 1 1/8 yard of 60" fabric, so used my Blue Shibori Knit from Hobby Lobby that is still available online and I even saw it in my local store last week. Such fun to stand by the bolt 'wearing the fabric' and show the sweet lady who works in that department my 'coordinating' top!! She always asks me what I've been making and I love fabric stores/departments who have kind employees who really care about our craft. Anyway, it has a nice weight and I thought the fabric colors and pattern were kind of neat and different. Sewing by Shirley made a cute top out of the very same fabric you can see here.

I've actually made this pattern as a long-sleeved top 3 times now..... twice in 2014 and once in 2015.... and each time called it an "Alabama Chanin inspired" top as I finished the neckline, sleeve hems and hem a la Alabama Chanin with an overlaid hand-stitched piece of knit. I think I used the herringbone stitch. Version 1 and 2 are shown below and I talked about and showed construction details at both their links of how I created the handstitched finishing details if anyone is interested. By now the pattern was pretty shredded, as back in those years I cut and modified directly on the pattern tissues..... tracing was foreign to me.... so I went ahead and took the time to trace everything including raising the neckline on my new master pattern so I won't have to 'think' about all that whenever I want to make this again. I really think that is why I haven't made this pattern again in so many years as it was an arduous thought to handle all the shredded tissues and 'remember' how I modified the neckline. Trying to make things easier on myself now..... and this little top will definitely be made again more sooner than later!!

Truth be told..... the whole reason I completed the neckline with hand-stitching back then is because I was too much of a coward to tackle putting a knit binding on a neckline by machine..... and machine-finishing the hems and sleeve hems. But not this time!! Everything was serged and machine-stitched with success. It was fun to play around with the neckline binding to figure out where I wanted the darker and lighter blues. I zigzagged top-stitched the binding, below.

Applying neckline binding is still a new skillset for me that always seems to give me pause. And because I'd modified the neckline anyway, I only used the neckline binding pattern piece to give me the width of the neckline binding..... measured my finished tee shirt neckline..... then took 20% of that figure..... added 1/4" seam allowance..... and voila'..... now have my new neckline binding numbers to cut. Divided my top's neckline in quarters.... divided my neckline binding in quarters after sewing the binding together at the short ends.... and it's a perfect fit for me. Not pulling too tight, not sagging/gaping because the neckline is too loose. Yes!!! Lori, from Girls in the Garden, wrote a great Knit Neckband Tutorial that explains all this in much better detail. Also, below, with the top inside/out.... wanted to show you how I stabilized the shoulder seams with a piece of handmade bias binding simply pinned to the shoulder seam and top-stitched being careful to line up the stitching so it will look nice from the right side.

As I am feeling better and making new routines, I decided to experiment with my iphone today for the outdoor photos and was pleasantly surprised that in 2 shots, less than 5 minutes..... we had our photos for the blog. This shot includes the old caboose set up by this trail head as part of the 'rails to trails' project that has been extremely successful in drawing tourists and residents to our area to enjoy 22+ miles of uninterrupted biking and walking along old historic railbeds that have been overlaid with asphalt. This particular spot connects to a university campus lakeside trail that welcomes all to use. It's become my favorite place to walk now.

I've shown the beautiful university's clock tower by the lake before.... and this photo was taken one evening walking around the lake with my daughter as we drank chocolate milkshakes......

.....that's when my daughter noticed this small child statue, below, sitting way up on a little hill, setback from the trail around the lake, but with dark descending, and our milkshakes about gone, it was time to get on home so figured today would be a good day to check it out with Suzi. Little did I realize, Suzi would be scared to death of this!!! She's usually a pretty 'chill' dog so it was quite a surprise when she about yanked the leash off my arm as we casually walked up to the little boy statue. With lots of treats in hand it took a few minutes to show Suzi all was okay and soon she was sitting by the little boy, almost looking at him like "Well, Hi there?!" Though she looks youthful, with little gray around her muzzle, Suzi is over 13 years old and sometimes I wonder if her eyesight might be changing a bit. Anyway, the little boy statue had no description plaque, nor identification of any sort..... and there's no other statues around the lake. A mystery of who he might be, or represent. He is utterly lovely.

This is the little boy statue's view, below.

Got a few more completed projects to show you soon. Meanwhile....
Happy Sewing All!!
EDITED TO ADD: Forgot to mention that I'm wearing the white Itch to Stitch Belize shorts in this post.

Where to begin....

Mon, 12 Aug 2019 18:45:00 +0000

Hello sweet readers! So much has happened since my last post from April it's hard to know where to begin. I've been sick. Very sick. Mid-March I lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital via ambulance where I was diagnosed with the Strain A Flu with multiple viruses layered on top. In my last post from April I really thought I was getting better..... but every day seemed to wake up to a new health problem eventually turning into bronchitis with probable pneumonia end of April.

That was my first round of antibiotics and I was very grateful to feel well enough to attend my girl's Master's of Arts in Teaching graduation in May!!! It seemed my strength was returning, though I'd lost so much weight the outfit I'd made for her graduation fell off of me, so instead wore my tried and true Ottobre ensemble. But that was okay..... I was getting stronger......

..... strong enough to move to the city with my girl. Just me and my girl. Though the move actually took Three Men and a Truck.... and this truck was full! No more woodland setting as we are in a lovely 3rd floor urban apartment with soaring ceilings and lots of natural light.

Meanwhile I made Simplicity 2188 again out of a breezy crepe fabric from Hobby Lobby..... lengthened and curved the hem. I did not think to size down and you see the top simply hangs on me here. I've lost at least a full size all around. Around this time I began losing my hair..... in clumps..... so much so that the glorious mane is gone. I figured it was all the illness and stress taking its toll and the hair loss began to subside end of June. I thought I was finally on the road to recovery and felt my strength continuing to return. I was enjoying walks with my dog and daughter and be-still-my-heart.... our apartment is close enough to walk to the grocery store!!! LOVE!!!

The original Simplicity 2188 made in 2018 (below) can be found here . Big difference in hair, no?.

End of July I woke up one Saturday morning and just knew something was wrong with crushing fatigue and labored breathing. My daughter took me to our MD360..... a place to receive doctor care instead of being in an Emergency Room..... and was diagnosed with Bronchitis and pneumonia..... again. Prescribed a 2nd round of antibiotics, in a different tier than the first and did not get better. This time was able to see my primary care physician and my lungs were worse and I was now wheezing. It was definitely pneumonia and not getting better. She bumped me up to a higher tier of antibiotics at the highest strength, adding steroids on top of the mix. I am finishing up those this week and can say I finally feel more like myself again..... and it feels GREAT!!! It feels great to be able to breathe and get a good lungful of air again.... to not cough and hack all day/night...... it just feels great to feel better. So much better that I felt like taking a few pictures this morning, taking advantage of some of the beautiful natural light pouring in from the sunroom to share with you my new dress.

Ever since I first made this sheath dress in 2018, I have loved it. The flattering princess seams, neckline not too high, nor too low with an almost A-line 'skirt'..... this is the style that works best on my body shape.

Ottobre 02/2015 no. 4 Sheath Dress

The original Ottobre sheath dress, below, along with its accompanying silk jacket made in 2018 can be read about here. This is the outfit I wore to my daughter's graduation cermony.

c. 2018

Purchased the quilting cotton fabric from Hobby Lobby last year specifically for this 'vision'. The original dress is made of quilting cotton too and I like the structure cotton affords. Both are lined with Bemberg lining..... soft as silk and gives the dress a beautiful shape when worn. But I felt the dress needed pockets and that's what I did here.... added pockets to the front princess seams in the skirt.

Proud of my pocket!!! Love all the seamlines and decided to topstitch everything and everywhere. Envisioning this dress with a denim jacket and think may add that to the queue.

Guess you can tell I did not iron it before wearing it this morning!! Oh well. Invisible zipper and can you believe after sewing the lining to the zip..... one of the last steps of construction..... I caught the lining in the zip as I was testing it out and tore a hole in the lining. Got out the needle and thread and sewed the hole up as best I could. So glad I am letting go of perfectionist tendencies as this didn't phase me at all. It feel so nice to have a new dress to wear.

Before I go I wanted to also explain that when I first became ill in March..... not only this blog, and sewing in general..... but Instagram became overwhelming to me. I deleted the app from my phone and stopped checking in. It felt so odd..... missing the interaction with the sewing community there.... missing my sewing friends.... but felt I needed to concentrate on getting well. I am sorry if it seemed I fell off the face of the earth.... in some ways it felt that way to me. But I am doing so much better and 'life' is very good. Melissa was hired as a 2nd grade teacher at the elementary school where she wanted to teach and this summer has been such a delight in helping her pull together her classroom. She will be the BEST teacher. See those pillows down there..... it was an honor to make those for her Reading Center for the kids to plop down on. She chose the fabric and piping color and wanted the zippers nestled in the piping so nothing would scratch the kids. Took me a little bit to figure that out.... but all-in-all a super easy, fun project. She's got a fox rug ordered for this center area.

So as the old adage goes.... "the only thing constant in life is change" is quite true. I am enjoying my new life and look forward to what the future holds. Our apartment is close to a beautiful university complete with swans in the lake and a clock tower. 'Life' is good.

Happy Sewing All!!! :)

NewLook 6292 #2 | Tunic Top

Tue, 02 Apr 2019 17:46:00 +0000

Wanting a fresh new outfit to wear to the Biltmore on March 15, 2019.....

...... NewLook 6292 view D with view C long sleeves was cut out on March 11 and finished on March 14. That's fast for me!!

The pattern was mostly chosen because I'd recently made it, below, and knew it'd fit and more importantly be long enough in the back to cover the derriere well with the new pair of leggings/skinny pants I also made specifically for the special day. I wanted to be comfortable with all the walking, stair climbing and getting around the Biltmore Estate without worrying about uncomfortable clothing concerns.

This outfit was a great success on all accounts. Decided to keep the hi/low hem thing going on even though I continue to not necessarily like this 'look' on me.

I just really wanted the coverage in the back. Today I am also wearing the new leggings/skinny pants made specifically to go with this outfit.

It was unseasonably cold this morning! Fabric came from my favorite only-open-once-a-month-to-the-public-textile outlet center and is some sort of lightweight polyester quite similar to the feel of the green/brown tunic fabric above.

Here, as at the Biltmore, I am wearing it with the white Itch to Stitch Hepburn Turtleneck made last year. It was a cold day at the Biltmore, and it's a cold day today. Also.... for some reason.... this placket turned out lower than the green/brown version and needs something underneath for modesty purposes.

Wanting to show you, below, how proud I am of not only centering the medallion design well, but cut and sewed the placket perfectly centered.

A little tricky process, I took a few photos during construction with the iphone to share a little of what I did. Here I am beginning to line things up. The instructions have you trace the placket sew lines and cut lines on the interfaced placket piece. Here I am trying to find my center using the cutting mat.

Next I pinned the center cut line. This would be the most critical point to line up.

Once I thought that was looking well..... I kept checking the pin points on the front and shifting things around in the back..... I added the pins to mark my sewing lines. If you look carefully you'll see they are all pointing 'up'. That's because I sewed this in 2 parts..... beginning at the neckline and sewing to the bottom of the placket, lock and snip threads. Then sew the other line beginning at the neckline and sewing to the bottom of the placket, lock and snip threads. This will keep the fabric from distorting while sewing.

One last check of the pins before sewing. You can see the middle pins, marking the cut line, goes perfectly through the center of the medallion. The other pins, marking the sew lines are centered on the medallion well.

One last look. Hopefully I'll be posting about the little crossbody bag I made soon, as well as the leggings/skinny pants.

My current work in progress.....

The skirt is done and fits p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y.

..... and finished 2 home dec pillows one afternoon using leftover sweater fabric from the recent Ottobre cardi.....

.....complete with invisible zippers. Why have I not put invisible zippers in my home dec pillows before?!!! Super easy!!

Hope it starts feeling more like Spring soon! I've been down with the flu but am beginning to feel better now.

Happy Sewing All! :)

A Vanderbilt House Party 'The Gilded Age' exhibit | a magical day at Biltmore Estates

Sat, 16 Mar 2019 23:51:00 +0000

We have the great good fortune to live about an hour's drive from Asheville, North Carolina, where the magnificent Biltmore Estate is located. Completed in 1895, George Vanderbilt's French Chateau spans @178,000 square feet and is furnished with the most opulent tapestries, furniture and artifacts he collected from all over the world. But what I was interested in this day was to experience the embedded exhibit of garments recreated from the original garment, if available, and/or using historical photographs, paintings and sometimes newspaper clippings to glean information of the Vanderbilts, their family, guests' and servants' clothing. 'A Vanderbilt House Party The Gilded Age runs through May 2019' is worth the time and effort to visit. I'll include links at the bottom of this post for those interested in learning more about the history of this grand home as well as how to purchase tickets. Btw, this is not a sponsored post. :)

Edith Vanderbilt's Engagement Gown
George Vanderbilt's wife

Having honeymooned at the Biltmore Estate 12 years ago, how could one not fall in love with the history, architecture and stories this grand home holds. When my husband asked what I wanted for my/our honeymoon 'momento', there was no hesitation to pick out 2 books detailing the construction and history of the house and family. And I read and devoured them both! There's not been an opportunity to return and time sort of moved on.

Winter Garden Ceiling

Until this current exhibit captured my attention. A few weeks ago, at the Tuesday morning Ladies Bible Study I attend, the subject of Biltmore came up as some of the ladies had just been with their families. This jarred my interest to the front of my mind (and mouth!) and before I knew what I was doing..... found myself asking one of my friends, who I knew used to sew her clothes, if she'd like to see this exhibit with me. Out of the blue I hit her up with this. Oh I felt so badly afterward because I kind of put her on the spot and she sort of "ummmed' about needing to check her schedule, that she was really busy right now, and not sure...... and...... you get the picture.

Edith and George

So imagine my complete surprise when earlier this week my friend texted that she had free Guest Passes that expired on Friday, she'd cleared her schedule and was I free to go. Yes!! Yes I was!!! Oh great joy was had!!!

Meanwhile another NewLook 6292 tunic top had just been cut out and it was decided then and there, that this event was so very special, it deserved a new complete outfit to wear for that day. And if that wasn't enough.... when the top and leggings/skinny pants were complete, I realized all my handbags are huge and I really needed a Crossbody type of bag because there's a LOT of walking at the Biltmore. So..... I made a new Crossbody Bag. Perfectly perfect. Little did I know my outfit and bag would match Biltmore's Guide Book. Anyway, I'll write a post of all these details at a later date as this one is all about the Biltmore.

So the special day dawned gray and rainy. Not a drizzly sort of rain..... but a downpour from the time we got in the car until we arrived. It continued raining there and there's a lot of outdoor walking and standing in shuttle lines to get to the house. Little did we know we'd picked one of the busiest days to visit with Biltmore expecting over 10,000 visitors in the home this day. So there was much more organization and security all set up in tents outside, which was fine and no problem but all this to say..... we got drenched. Not wanting to cart an umbrella all over, I wore my hooded black rtw raincoat, which was perfect, but did not want to take any personal photos.

Let's talk a little about the Exhibit. Biltmore did a fabulous job of not only recreating the garments, but embedding them throughout the house on mannequins posed in realistic ways.

George & Edith Vanderbilt at the christening of their daughter Cornelia

They even customized the self-guided audio tour to include tidbits about the 'people' we were seeing..... almost as if we were a part of the gathering too.

Not much was spoken about the garments............

Isn't she adorable

....nor was it easy to see fine details in the subdued lighting..........

...but that became almost secondary as one was swept up in the moment, feeling the home brought to 'life' by this lovely Exhibit.

Edith Vanderbilt

We spent 4 hours in the home.

Mesmerized.....

..... transported back to another time.....

..... and way of life.

The rain ended and skies were blue when we completed the tour.

Bowling Alley - don't the red socks look fun!

We both very much enjoyed the self-guided audio tour. One can take all the time one wants. We'd put the earbuds in to listen to the commentary, then remove one so we could discuss each exhibit.

Swimming attire in the large indoor swimming pool
that would've been filled with heated c-c-c-c-old mountain water

We both weren't too sure about this one, below. A woman 'working out' in the Gymnasium? But the short video at the end of the Exhibit assures one all is authentic and explains a little more how the garments were pulled together.

Gymnasium - Workout wear

We finished in the Banquet Hall and seems I took the most photographs here.

Banquet Hall
Loved this butterfly dress

So glad Biltmore allows photography now. They only ask to not use the flash.

Banquet Hall

Banquet Hall set for dinner

See the mannequin in the balcony by the Pipe Organ? She is representing a woman who is singing for the Vanderbilts and their guests during their dinner.

Massive Pipe Organ fills the balcony of the Banquet Hall

Gathering in the Banquet Hall

Grand Table in the Banquet Hall was set with the more
glorious fresh flower arrangements

Hard to see but the engraving in the Banquet Hall reads: DA PACEM DOMINE IN DIEBUS NOSTRIS....

'Give peace in our time, O Lord'

that translates to:
Give peace in our time, O Lord.

I hope you might have enjoyed this blog post as it's a little different than what I usually share. And if you are ever in the Western North Carolina area, whether this exhibit is still in place or not, the Biltmore Estate is a 'must see'.

Links to explore more about the Biltmore:
Behind the Scenes of the clothing Exhibit
Bi ltmore History from the Biltmore website
Biltmore History from Wikipedia
Biltmore Estate main website
How to purchase tickets..... be sure to include the audio tour in your visit

Next post will be outfit details.
Happy Sewing All! :)

Sweater Knit Swing Cardi | Ottobre 02/2015 #13

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:35:00 +0000

Fabric purchased Friday afternoon. Cardi began and completed Sunday afternoon. Cardi worn Sunday night. One of the fastest things I've ever made.

Ottobre 02/2015 #13 Knit Cardigan has recently been made 3 times, with 3 different fabrics and now this unique sweater knit makes a 4th. So to say I was familiar with the pattern would be an understatement. No closures, no interfacing, front is simply turned back after being caught in the neckline seam that finishes it all off nicely, all pretty much sewn on the serger. A nice quick 'n easy make. Hmmmm, not sure why I traced a size 36 when I'm a size 38 in Ottobre, but that's okay as it fits me well. It's always good to doublecheck sizing as I'm a size 36 in Burda, a 38 in Ottobre and a size 12 in the big 4.

A friend and I made the trip to Williamston, SC Friday to All About Fabrics, for the open-only-once-a-month-to-the-public textile outlet mill where I always come home with lots of treasures. There was no disappointment this time either! Such FUN! The minute I saw this chunky sweater knit fabric, I knew it had to be another Ottobre cardi. Fabric cost @$7.50 a yard.

Guess one could say this is a t-n-t for me now. Tried-n-True Pattern. A couple of hours from cut to final seam and it was being worn. And it's wonderful to (finally!) feel like there is a small arsenal of t-n-t patterns in my 'collection'. This pattern has a nice 'swing' to it that is fun to wear, with a gentle taper from front to back with the back covering the backside well that also makes it a great layering piece when wearing leggings. Wearing old Ottobre pants today with the Itch to Stitch Hepburn Turtleneck from last year.

Don't know why I've been struggling with my camera recently. As I'm trying to show you the lovely back of my cardi, the silly camera focused on our distant mountain. *sigh*

It's a little milder today and no rain. Hope that means it'll soon be time to enjoy more walks in the woods.

Happy Sewing All! :)

Basics | Ottobre 02/2015 no. 17 Jersey Top

Mon, 04 Mar 2019 21:15:00 +0000

Basics..... particularly exercise basics are soooooo boring aren't they? In fact, they are so boring this post almost didn't get photographed and written because you know..... who wants to read about a humble t-shirt when there's so many pretty dresses floating about blogland.

The mission of this blog is to journal my makes, so to stay true to myself..... I present my new lowly t-shirt.

After posting a few recent (unblogged) t-shirts on IG, bemoaning the fact I hadn't found that 'perfect' one..... @marjoriesews on Instagram encouraged me to take a look at some of my Ottobre Design Woman patterns...... that there are some good basic t-shirt designs there. And she's right. Totally done with sewing a V-neck t-shirt..... this Ottobre Design Woman 02/2015 no. 17 Jersey Top, below, looked like it was just what I needed. Reminded me of the (free) Kirsten Kimono Tee pattern from Maria Denmark with a few differences..... the neck is not a boatneck, the shoulders have a neat yoke type piece there instead of traditional shoulder seams and the armholes are bound as is the neckline. And Ottobre usually fit me well.

To prove I'm on a basic t-shirt kick.... here's just one photo, below, of a bit of fabric purchased recently at Hobby Lobby when they were having a sale. This is the blue, mid-way down that is a poly/rayon/spandex content with a 2-way stretch. Only needing a yard, I think this was less than $5.00. By the way.... I LOVE my local Hobby Lobby store! The sales clerk in the fabric department recognizes me now and it's so nice to chat with her about what we are making as she cuts my fabric. Kind of like the stores of long ago.

Back to the pattern..... not really much to say except I am so glad I double-checked Ottobre's size chart before tracing the pattern as I'd forgotten I'm a 38 in Ottobre. So this is a 38 with no modifications at all.

Knit bindings always give me pause, and this top was no different. So stressed!!! Particularly with the armhole bindings. After I sewed the last stitch on those I was so put out they were put aside to be ripped out and re-done next morning. But by next morning I'd remembered that I've been learning about how we women sometimes put perfectionist burdens on ourselves and decided to let them be. So glad because in actuality they look fine.

I really like the little shoulder yoke piece. Not wanting to break up the lovely blue, I used the same fabric there. And by the way..... it was freezing outside when I took these photos and my arms are covered in goosebumps! We've had rain, rain, and more rain lately which brought in cold weather with blue-skies tempting outside photos regardless of the temps.

The back. I wear leggings and a t-shirt to exercise at my local Y, and I usually like the t to cover the derriere. So when I make this again I'll lengthen the hemline both front and back. Wearing it with the Ottobre Leggings today.

Overall I like this top and think it will get lots of wear.

Thought it might be fun to share a little blast from the past here. On IG recently, I think due to the Great British Sewing Bee highlighting the 1970s, we were asked to post photos of things we made from that era..... or things our mother made for us. Well..... that's me in the floppy hat wearing a maxi dress my mother made for me driving my beautiful American Quarter Horse Poco who did a magnificent job pulling this little cart for a historical re-enactment c. 1976/1977 at Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama. My sweet friend is sitting alongside. I did not sew, nor had any interest in sewing back then..... because... ya' know.... horses!! :)

Happy Sewing All!! :)

An Easy Quilt Project for a Baby Girl

Sat, 02 Mar 2019 19:59:00 +0000

What a fun project this has been!!

In January 2019 I wrote of a baby quilt that was planned for the upcoming birth of a baby girl at my church and that'd I'd be using the Lattice Baby Quilt Tutorial from designer Amy Smart. It's always a maker's prerogative to change her mind, right?! So instead chose to go completely free-form following the encouragement of my quilting friend, D, who helped me.

D is a quilter friend who also attends the same church, so she graciously donated much of her time, and fabrics!, to collaborate on this project together. Oh what fun we had!! See that cute bunny print below.... that's hers. Along with the pretty multi-colored polka dots and stripes, among others.

She brought over her stash of pinks and soft colored quilting cottons and it was such a blast to combine our prints to make this quilt. Most of my fabrics were the Waverly quilting cotton from WalMart. D's were the quilting designer brands. They went together well.

I'd already gotten a jump start on cutting out my fabrics into 5" squares, still thinking I would be making the Lattice Quilt..... but after D got here, we decided we wanted this to be a fun, no-stress easy project, so she suggested putting the 5" squares together in rows divided by 2" sashing and borders so we wouldn't have to match any seam allowances or points. GREAT idea!!

She brought along her really cool cutting template so while I was piecing the squares together in rows, she was cutting and prepping for me. We spent maybe 3-4 hours that afternoon and when she left, the piecing was pretty much done. I had some Fairfield cotton batting on hand, as well as Waverly white cotton large enough for the backing, so it didn't take too long to sandwich and pin everything together. I deliberately pinned everything on an angle because I knew I'd be doing diagonal quilt lines.

And this is the very scientific, mathematical way the beginning quilting line was determined, below! Ha! Seriously..... it took me longer to figure out the quilting than it did to pin everything together because nothing lines up on a diagonal. So I took some twine and taped it from one corner to another marking with a Frixion pen (disappearing ink when ironed) after checking all would disappear okay on my fabric first. And that was my first quilting line. With a 'guide' line in place it was only a matter of lining up my Bernina's walking foot quilting guide bar to sew 1" lines apart. This took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I'd forgotten how long a repetitive process this is.

After it took so long to complete the diagonal quilting one way..... when it was finished the thought was entertained to run an opposite quilting line throughout the entire quilt and was thrilled when D said this one directional line would be fine. Whew!! And she was right..... !! As you can see below, after the quilt was washed and dried an opposite, 1" diagonal quilting line(s) would've been too much.

Now it was time to sew on the binding I'd prepared earlier following my own post from 2013. Only I think I cut this 2 1/2" wide per a Nancy Zieman Binding Technique.

I am super pleased with the binding on this quilt and think it may be my best finished product ever.

It was first sewn to the front then wrapped to the back and carefully pinned in place so when sewing 'in the ditch' from the front..... it would catch the back binding perfectly.

I always machine-stitch bindings on quilts I make as I do not have the patience, nor time, to hand-stitch them on. This one looks pretty good.

All washed and dried, stitches checked and overall quilt checked for any problem areas before gifting out. I like to do this as 1) the quilt looks so wrinkly, crinkly, comfy all washed and dried and 2) if there are any problems, I'd like to find them and not the quilt receiver. After washing and drying the quilt measures 38" x 48".

Last and certainly not least..... D has an awesome embroidery machine so she designed and embroidered the quilt label that I sewed into one of the back corners. Keeping all the names off for privacy concerns, but think you can get a feel for the beautiful job D did. This thread just 'glowed' in a silky lovely way and it is really a lovely, lovely label.

One last look at the finished quilt ready to comfort a sweet baby girl.

Happy Sewing All! :)

Tunic Top | NewLook Pattern 6292

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 19:28:00 +0000

Do you ever buy a pattern.... so excited to make that pattern at the time, then find it sort of lingers in the pattern ~~stash~~ collection for years..... quietly talking to you every time you thumb through the patterns, yet always the one overlooked and unmade. That's the way it was with NewLook 6292. And now it's finally made.

As long time readers of this blog know by now, it seems most of the items I make have some sort of story to tell, and this tunic top is no different. It was not planned..... not in the queue nor anyway near my radar until I made these gray suede stretch leggings, below, last week. I've been fairly successful methinks in mashing up a Burda and Ottobre legging pattern to create a customized version and as I wore these to snap a photo for Instagram last week, it felt I needed a little more coverage.... particularly in the front. The Ottobre Swing Cardi covered the back well..... but the front sort of bugged me.

Cardi, Top, Leggings unblogged

A thoughtful search for a longer, more tunic-style length top pattern in my collection produced NewLook 6292, that looks like it is still available here. Pattern Review has a few reviews of the pattern and is also available there. Anyway, I thought view D..... the greenish one at the top, with it's split hem, higher in the front, longer in the back.... with the front still being over the crotch area might work. This beautiful rayon challis type fabric came from my only-open-once-a-month textile outlet fabric store All About Fabrics..... and if you look closely there is a soft gray within the circles. It looked nice held up to the gray suede leggings. Though I'm not a big fan of hi-lo hems, I thought this one might work well for me.

This fabric was all slippery-slidey so from the very beginning of pattern placement I took my time and double/triple checked before all cuts. I am pleased and think the alignment of the fabric's print shows a quality of workmanship and higher skillset I've worked hard to achieve. Believe it or not, this was my first split placket (is this what it's called?!) I've ever made. Instructions were good and I reeealllly took my time with not only centering the cut, but also the stitching of the placket. Hard to see because of the brown thread blending in..... but it is even on both sides. The only step I had trouble with was the neckline binding/facing. Instructions had you understitch and layer seam..... but did not have you clip the seam and think that would've helped with everything laying flat without such a headache. Ironing had to be done very carefully because I found out quite quickly my fabric melted. ;)

The split hi-lo hem was super easy to do. I chose to serge the raw fabric edges of front and back pieces before stitching together.... then simply turned back twice and topstitched at the split hem. Not sure I like the hi-lo look of this on me. It feels like I've got some sort of weird tail back there or something. If it bothers me enough it's still long enough to cover the derriere if I even it up with the front. I think. This is a size 12 straight from the pattern envelope with no modifications even though my hip measures more of a size 14. This may be why it looks 'straight' on me when I thought the pattern envelope showed it to be a little more flowy in the hip area. It also fits me snug through the back shoulders which I found odd as that's where I usually have to narrow patterns. So if you are broad shouldered you might need to keep that in mind. Sleeves are long-sleeve length with an 1 1/4" hem I simply top-stitched..... same as bottom hems.

Today I've got it paired, not with the gray suede leggings, but with a newly made brown ribbed knit leggings from the same mashed up pattern. These leggings are so simple, and I've got it down pat now that it takes maybe an hour from start to finish. The brown ribbed knit has been in the stash as long as the top fabric and I had always planned on doing something with them together. Still think this will look good with the gray leggings.

These photos were snapped as I headed out to the Tuesday morning Ladies Bible Study I enjoy at my church. And to my super delight..... out of the blue one of the sweet ladies said how much she loved my top and asked if I made it. *insert big smile here* They know my little secret of how I sew my clothes and this nice compliment really made my day.

We've had super weird weather lately. A week ago we had sleet and hail covering the ground, with a lightning storm that struck our home twice the very next night..... we woke to smoke and the smell of fire in the house...... then rain, rain and more rain the rest of the week. This was one of the first days we've been dry and even now are expecting more rain tomorrow. The lightning strike took out our internet service and we are only just now back online. Am so grateful all our other electronics were spared and our home was okay.

Happy Sewing All! :)

Fabric Face Masks | An Easy but Fiddly and Free Project

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 21:07:00 +0000

NOTICE: The content of this website is copyright ©2011-2020. All rights reserved. Unless stated otherwise; all photographs are taken by me and are owned by me. All content is created by me and is not to be sold or re-formatted to be sold, or used in any way for market gain. Thank you. Lisa

4.14.2020 UPDATE: First of all, please do NOT contact me to order and/or make face masks to sell. This blog is about journaling my work while, hopefully, inspiring others to sew. I am not a company. I do not sell products through my blog.

I also want to reiterate I am NOT a face mask expert. This post was originally published February 2019 to share how I made fabric face masks for my pup's groomer. Recently there has been some question about the elastic sizing for this face mask. Evidently all faces are not created equal size.... and some folks are saying it's a 'perfect fit', others are noting it pulls on the ears feeling too short and uncomfortable. As you read my post, my pup's groomer thought the ponytail holders were 'perfect'..... my daughter and I wear the masks shown in the photo below where I used 1/4" wide flat elastic cut 7" long and overlapped 1/2" to sew together and we both like the snug fit..... while others deem them unwearable because of the pull on the ears. So clearly there is a LOT of difference in what people find comfortable to wear. This post is about showing what worked for me.

Having said all that, I recently came up with the idea to make bias tape ties that should solve the elastic problem. They can be tied around the ears.... or tied around the head. I cut 44" 100% cotton fabric 1" wide, ran it through my bias tape gadget, sewed it shut, cut it in half (so each 'tie' is roughly 22" long) then ran each 'half' through each channel. Now the mask is fully adjustable in a couple of different ways for the wearer. Hope this might help. Be safe all. Lisa

4.04.2020 UPDATE: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now recommends wearing Fabric Face Masks when out in public.

3.18.2020 UPDATE: Recently So Sew Easy included this Fabric Face Mask post in a Face Mask Sewing Patterns Roundup..... a collective post featuring DIY Face Masks of different shapes and forms. So if you are looking for something a little different than what I've shared here.... you might want to check out their site too. Their information is free, just like my information is free and Craft Passion's pattern I used is free. We have a wonderful selfless sewing community. Be safe everyone. Lisa

2.29.2020 UPDATE: Due to the high volume of traffic to this post recently due to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, know that only an N95 rated face mask will prevent the wearer from inhaling viral particles. Click here to read about the differences between face masks. If there is no access to an N95 rated face mask and this is your only option, you might want to include the additional steps Craft Passion wrote at the end of her updated blog post showing how to sew a pocket sleeve for a surgical mask or nonwoven material to slide into to give a little bit more filter to the mask..... but again, will not bring it to the protection of an N95. That is also where you will find the free pattern. I followed her pattern but used hair bands.... i.e. ponytail holders......as the elastics to fit around the ears. My steps and mini-tutorial about how I sewed those are below in the body of this post. I hope and pray all will be safe. Lisa

Have you ever considered making a fabric face mask? Some folks who deal with allergies may feel their only option is the disposable paper mask, but a mask of soft fabric might be something to consider. My sweet companion Suzi, below, is sporting a lovely pink fuzzy barrette given to her by her sweet groomer Erin and you will see in a minute how all that connects to face masks. ;)

Top, Pants

Suzi is a high maintenance border collie mix, who not only needs a special prescription diet, has allergies to most things.... but also needs monthly grooming. Her grooming is more than just a bath and blow-dry, needing teeth brushing, ear cleaning and anal glands expressed regularly..... a necessity for Suzi that is part of keeping her well and healthy. So we love Erin, her groomer, who we see every 4 weeks. I don't share with many folks that I sew my clothes..... which sounds so funny with how active I am about all that here and on IG.... but generally have found that it creates an awkward pause that most nice people just don't know what to say because it is such an anomaly in my area. So it caught Erin by surprise when I shared a couple of sewing related things on Facebook and she texted me asking if I could make her a couple of fabric face masks because she's allergic to dog dander, and that she'd like to pay me. Erin is the sweetest, kindest, most generous person of all..... so of course I said 'sure' and that there'd be no payment and could she send me a photo of what she'd like. In my mind I'm thinking face mask? Where in the world can I get a pattern for a face mask?!!

Shiny coat, bandana and barrette means Suzi saw Erin this morning

This is the image Erin sent me, below, linking it back to the Etsy shop where it was listed for sale for $17.51 + $13 for shipping from the UK to USA. Adjustable elastic around the ears, fully covering the nose, mouth and chin. Those are the features I zeroed in on. And pattern.... at this point was certain I'd have to figure all that out on my own.

Etsy Listing link

So imagine my surprise when a simple Google search provided the one and only perfect pattern! And it was free!! Craft Passion drafted 3 sizes in their simple pattern and provided step-by-step instructions. Somehow I printed a little .pdf booklet, but today can only find the instructions on their website. Anyway.... it is free. A big Thank You to Craft Passion for providing this great service.

So leave it to me to overthink everything at this point. *Cue rolling the eyes here!* Knowing Erin needed these for allergies, I thought about what sort of fabrics would make the best filter. Bottom left is a cotton gauze to be lined with soft cotton knit, bottom right is 100% linen to be lined with cotton muslin. Those fabric contents would filter allergens well, right?

Below you can see how they made up. Cotton knit was not a good lining as it kept collapsing on itself and honestly they were just all blah. I was so focused on filtering, I wasn't thinking aesthetics. And these pitiful elastics were just...... pitiful. Wimpy, too stretchy, too flimsy.... but they were all I had on hand and could find at my local notions dept.

The blahness of the original 2 affected me to the point where a quick look in the stash provided a couple of cute 100% cotton quilting prints that became the 2 masks below, both lined in 100% cotton muslin. These 4 masks were taken to Erin as a sort of prototype/sample for her to let me know what worked best for her.

She immediately gravitated to the cat fabric and said she loved purple. After a few days of using, she also said the cottons worked great and were the best because they kept their shape. She loved that it covered her nose, mouth and chin and that the pattern was perfect. She also added that they laundered well. She was a trooper about the disappointing elastics, but I knew there was definitely room for improvement there.

Knowing I had a good pattern, now I turned to Etsy for cute doggie fabric. And boy what fun I had!! As everyone knows, Etsy is a marketplace for independent sellers and I had the great good fortune to land on The Fancy Flutist Finds site when she was selling her stash of doggie fabrics. Such a super nice seller. After responding almost immediately to my e-mail asking for reduced shipping charges due to combining fabrics, she asked what I would be making. When she realized I needed such small pieces, aka scraps really, she included all the doggie scraps she had for free in my package too. What a nice surprise!! Isn't the envelope she made for me fun too?!!

These are the larger pieces I purchased. It was doggie cuteness overload. I specifically tried to buy the prints that had purple after Erin shared with me that was her favorite color. Now it was time to sew all the face masks.

The face masks are super easy to sew..... just fiddly and a little more time consuming than one would think. All are 100% quilting cotton lined with 100% white cotton muslin. But honestly the biggest headscratcher was what to use for the elastic around the ear. I purchased a couple of different types of sturdy elastic cording from another Etsy seller and initially thought the problem was solved..... until I realized knotting them was awkward.... actually they would not knot and stay knotted.... and my poor Bernina absolutely could not sew through the rubberized middle of those things. More time was ~~lost~~ spent on figuring out how to attach those darn elastics until the thought crossed my mind about hair elastics. Or better known in my world as Ponytail Holders. :)

These are soft, stretchable and already secured in a circle..... so no awkward tying of knots or adding a cord stop. Actually one of my originals had cord stops added to the elastics and Erin spoke of how it rubbed her ear and didn't feel good.

These certainly seemed to be the right size for the mask needs and it was fun to match colors to masks.

The way I chose to sew them in is how I've got my machine set up below. Both sides of the mask are left open, so I simply placed the elastic within the seam allowance and slowly, carefully stitched the seam closed encasing the elastic as I went.

Fiddly but easy!!

All the insides.

Wanting to show the great curved form that covers the nose, mouth and chin.....

All done and ready to be used.

In all I think I made maybe around 10 doggie print face masks.... just forgot to take photos. It was quite exciting to take all these to Erin as she thought the original 4 were 'it'. :)

Priceless to see Erin's look on her face as she unfolded each one and tried them all on. She said the ponytail holder elastics were p-e-r-f-e-c-t. She even gave Suzi an extra spa day as a sweet thank you.

So never in my wildest imagination would I have thought the sewing skillset I have been working so hard to achieve over all these years would be used in this way. And I am so VERY grateful for the opportunity those skills provided for this sweet project.

Happy Sewing All! :)
2.06.2020 EDIT/UPDATE: With the current worldwide 2019 Novel Coronavirus threat, this page is receiving a lot of attention recently. Not sure if this pageview uptick is connected to taking precautions against the threat of the virus, but as a full disclaimer I have no idea how much of a germ barrier these masks might be as they were made for my pup's groomer to help her combat inhaling dog dander and fur.

Infinity Scarf | a super quick make

Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:53:00 +0000

Why did it take me so long to jump on the Infinity Scarf bandwagon, I do not know, but incredibly this is the first Infinity Scarf I've ever made and it was oh-so-easy and quick.

Using the Free Tutorial by Melly Sews, it took more time to wrap my brain around how to line up the edges by pulling the tube sort of inside itself than to actually sew this thing. I chose to machine stitch everything closed as there's so much twisty-turny-drapey fabric that seam will not show. It doesn't. So no time was wasted hand-stitching anything.

Only requiring a piece of fabric 22" wide by 2 yards long, I used a remnant of the drapey sweater knit from the recent Ottobre Cardi. This is like a freebie!! I'm showing it to you today paired with the Itch to Stitch Hepburn Turtleneck on my dressform.....

..... but plan to wear it with the addition of the McCall's sherpa suede coat.

And since this is such a quick post, thought I'd share a little of the baby quilt I've been working on. This is for a sweet baby girl recently born to a couple from my church, and a quilting friend from church and I spent a pleasant afternoon piecing the top using combined "baby girl" fabrics from our stashes. She had the cutest fabrics!! Oh there was much fabric envy on my part..... those bunnies were hers. ;) After she left I sandwiched everything together and thought I'd sit down at the machine and quilt the whole thing in about an hour or two. Ha! Boy was that time frame a joke. I'd forgotten how time consuming quilting is so maybe 4-5 hours later I was done. Whew!

The pink polka dot binding is all prepped and that's where I'm at. Soooo close. I think. My friend has an embroidery machine, so while I was doing all the quilting, she was embroidering a beautiful quilt label. I'll show you that in the finished post I hope to have up sometime next week.

So on that note.....
Happy Sewing All!! :)

A quick Refashion for Make a Garment a Month February Challenge 2019

Fri, 08 Feb 2019 20:30:00 +0000

Why do some of our clothes linger in the closet? Lonely and left out they just..... 'hang' around. Ha! Couldn't resist a little pun there.... 'hang around'...! Okay, okay, please feel sorry for my poor family who has to suffer with the lameness. ;) But seriously.... why do some of our clothes get picked to wear time and time again and others linger? This was one of those items that was n.e.v.e.r worn, but methinks that will change now with a simple 'refashion'.

Knee deep in my vintage Simplicity ensemble, Sarah Liz's Make a Garment a Month February Theme certainly caught my eye and made me think. Hmmmm, from Frumpy to Fabulous.

The original dress, below, (you can read all about here) was not maybe what you would call Frumpy?.... but it certainly was not Fabulous. This never got worn. Okay, maybe once.... then never. I probably made it too long, but honestly it just never 'fit' right. The neck always pulled back hiking up the center front in a weird way.... see the center front hiking up below and that hem is perfectly even. Trust me, I checked.

So with Sarah Liz's theme in mind I decided to treat February more as a Refashion, than a 'make a new garment that fit' because I really want to wear all the lovelies in my closet. See that center front still hiking up?!!!!! It's the neck I tell ya'. You can even feel it sliding back. *sigh* Can't do anything about that but thus forth the hemline shall be called a unique hi-lo design feature. Those hi-lo hemlines do seem to work better in a top than a dress, no?! ;) I think the leggings help offset the wonkiness visually too.

Soooooo all I did was chop 5" off with the rotary cutter, machine stitched a 2" blind hem and it was ready to wear in less than an hour.

I've worn this for the past 2 days now and it feels much better as a top than as a dress. Even the neck pulling back on me isn't as annoying, may be because it's so much shorter? There's not as much fabric pulling on me?

Love, love, love this challis fabric and really want to enjoy it.

Thought it'd be fun to snap a comparison shot..... before and after.

Probably couldn't gone shorter but wanted to try it keep it more of a tunic length than a top length. As a bonus it's been nice to wear a woven top with my (unblogged) Ottobre/Burda mashed up leggings than always putting on a knit. Maybe there's a need for more woven, tunic tops in the handmade closet. Hmm.

Happy Sewing All! :)

Sewing Darts | a quick and easy Tutorial with no hand sewing

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 20:11:00 +0000

How do you feel about sewing darts?

They've always given me a sort of apprehension so as I began working on the Vintage Simplicity 5882 skirt.....

.....that has 8, count 'em 8!.... darts, I applied a new-to-me technique that I'd like to share with you today. You can see there's 4 in the front....

Front

.... and 4 in the back. I'm at the point of putting on the waistband today.

Back

Maybe I should first ask.... how do you sew your darts? I'd always learned that you begin stitching at the edge of your fabric sewing to the dart point, shortening your stitch length to almost nothing at the dart point to lock it, leaving long tails then hand-stitch/hide the tails into the body of your dart using a hand-sewing needle. Like this tutorial from Blueprints for Sewing where she also includes the anatomy of a dart, dart set up and her tutorial/technique. Please know I am absolutely not discounting this method at all, simply wanting to share a new-to-me method I found helpful.

As the dart construction stage of my skirt was rapidly approaching, it was pure serendipity to find a handful of Nancy Zieman's books at my local thrift store, each priced at a mere $1.00. I snatched them up without even looking at them as I knew these would be great resources to have. So it was only when, back at home, I was thumbing through the books to see what goodies they held, I came across Nancy's technique of sewing darts using only your sewing machine in "The Best of Sewing with Nancy" book below. It certainly captured my attention with no hand-stitching/hiding those thread tails. May I pause for a moment here and say how much I miss Nancy. She was such a great lady.

She calls her technique "Durable Darts" and teaches you to sew off the dart point 1" to 2", forming a chain thread, then backstitch/lock stitch it back into the body of the dart to secure. Cut your threads and you are done. Super easy, super quick and no puckers. And no hand sewing.

I've modified her technique a bit..... more because I was so excited to put in practice, I neglected to read all the details. ;) So here's what I did: Begin at the fabric edge, stitch toward the dart point and as you near the dart point, narrow your stitch length to the tiniest stitch length for the last few stitches. Stop as you stitch off the fabric and re-set your machine to a more normal stitch length. Now stitch maybe 3-5 stitches 'off' the fabric forming the little chain. Stop, then back-stitch your little chain into the body of the dart and snip the thread tails, as you can see below. That's it... You are done!

I even put together a little video this morning to show you, using a sample dart. Hope this makes a little more sense seeing it in 'action'.

And recently I shared a few of these photos and information on Instagram and was surprised at how many folks, even long-time sewists, had never heard of this technique before, so that made me feel it might also interest some of you. What is wonderful about this hobby of sewing, is that there are many different ways to put a garment together.... but most of all to always embrace a love of learning.
Happy Sewing All!! :)

Ottobre Design Woman 02/2015 no. 13 Knit Cardi | x3

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 22:31:00 +0000

Can one have too many layering pieces? Methinks not as I've recently completed 3 knit cardigans of Ottobre Design Woman 02/2015 no. 13 Knit Cardi pattern, with no modifications or alterations to each. Simply carbon copies so to speak.

Outfit details here

The photo above and below is of the exact same cardi. This was my first 'test' version and as you can tell from the lovely Fall backdrop, made back in November 2018. My 'test' version turned out to be my favorite! This fabric is a strange sweater-ish texture on the right side and almost net-like on the wrong side that I got at WalMart years ago for a mere $1.00/yard. Because of the net-like weave, thought it'd be a weird thing to wear, but am finding it perfect to layer. It keeps me warm, yet no bulk, and what you 'see' is a sweater texture.

Outfit details here

This ribbed black knit, below, with a silk-like 'wrong' side was THE fabric.... and this is my least favorite version. Go figure! Anyway.... this fabric is s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y and within a few wears has stretched out into an almost oversize type of wear than a tailored wear. See how I have to shove the sleeves up? If I didn't they'd swallow my hands. Because of the slouchiness am wearing this more around the house and to casual places.

Outfit details here

And oh what a lovely back drape/cut the pattern gives you. With a shorter front tapered gently to a longer back, it covers the derriere nicely. Particularly when you want to wear a pair of leggings and want..... um.... need!..... some coverage back there.

The 3rd and so far final version is out of this utterly lovely lightweight sweater knit I bought a few months ago at my local only open once a month fabric textile outlet center All About Fabrics. When I was checking out, one of the owners told me this was a designer knit they'd sourced from California. I thought the print was interesting and quite different from what I'd usually choose.

A bold, graphic print of gray, black, rust red with faint silver stitching throughout..... I tried to take all that into consideration when placing my pattern pieces. This pattern only has 3 pattern pieces. I drew out pocket pieces and cut out of fashion fabric, but am worried my knit is too thin to properly support them so this is still sans pockets as are all the versions made to-date. There are no closures on this pattern. It is designed to simply meet in the middle like it's styled below.

It pairs perfectly with the new Itch to Stitch Turtleneck and this is how I wore it today. The front pieces are simply turned under 5/8" and top-stitched. I chose to top-stitch with a zig zag on this version, as on version #1. On the black version I used one of my machine's decorative stitches.

I like the way Ottobre has you finish the neckline all nice and tidy. I used some black binding from the stash and even though the instructions neglect to mention clip that seam..... please clip that seam as I forgot and my binding pulled horribly on this knit in an awful way and there was lots of unpicking, clipping and re-stitching to be done. It lies nice and flat now. She also has a nice finish for how the front turns back on the back neckline binding and has you stabilize the shoulder seams with elastic. Feel I am finally mastering that technique well. All seams were serged. The sleeves are sewn in flat and with the gentle armscye curve, is easy to do right on the serger.

You can see here how far the length comes down on the Ottobre miniskirt. Am also pleased with the back fabric placement.

Trying to show the angle from front to back here. It's nice and gentle. Adore this length.

Overall I really like this pattern and will definitely make more. Once you get going, it can be completed in a couple of hours. And with no head-scratching or frustrating construction. Nice.

Burda top, Ottobre leggings

EDITED TO ADD: New cardi in play.....

Outfit details here

Happy Sewing All! :)

Itch to Stitch Hepburn Turtleneck x2 repeat...

Fri, 25 Jan 2019 21:03:00 +0000

As part of the recent mini-capsule wardrobe I was working on last Fall 2018, an Itch to Stitch Hepburn Turtleneck was to be my final piece. But pink? Why did I choose pink? Scratching head here..... but pink it was and pink it is. Guess it does go well with the Burda Hoodie Sweatshirt...... but that wasn't a part of the capsule.

And precisely because the pink dumbfounded me in retrospect.... a lovely piece of ivory rib knit was picked up recently at Joann Fabrics and another, more 'mini-capsule appropriate' ivory turtleneck was made. Oh dear, no current photo available to show you this one, so will use a recent one you've already seen. Sorry. A super quick make, the ivory version was put into strong rotation immediately. Or rather.... worn almost daily because the soft ivory goes with e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g! This fabric is the best. So soft, yet keeps it shape well.

Jacket, Skirt

Two tops were made last year (2018), below, and all the pattern details (and outfit details) are noted at that post, so I won't repeat anything else here because there is nothing new to add.... except.... I'd forgotten the fit is quite figure hugging and it sort of surprised me (again) but that is what makes it an excellent layering piece which is perfect for our South Carolina winter weather.

The pink looks refreshing under the new black Ottobre cardi. The pink fabric was purchased from Hobby Lobby, I think, and it's a super soft, rayon spandex knit. Hoping to get the Ottobre Cardis on the blog sometime next week. ;) (EDITED TO ADD: All 3 Ottobre cardis can now be found here)

Might you have noticed the pile-up of projects in progress? The pink polka dot will be the baby quilt I spoke about in the last post.

And my little box. This little box is ever so special to me as it belonged to my Alabama great-grandmother possibly dating back to the 1940s? She must not have used it much, because it's in fabulous shape.....

.....and holds my needles perfectly. They are so easy to spot in my cluttered workroom.

"And they called it....
puppy love....."
Who remembers that Donny Osmond song?!!! Ha! Showing my age with that one. :)

Our weather has been so crazy.... yesterday was c-c-c-cold, gray and rain, rain, rain.... with today beautifully mild. Not complaining...!
Happy Sewing All! :)