Some instant gratification sewing

After doing the two jackets and knowing I will be doing production sewing in the next several months, I decided to do some "instant gratification" sewing to not only have some quick and easy sewing, but also because all of a sudden winter is here, and I needed long sleeve dressy tees for work. So far I've got two print tees done and the third will be finished up shortly. I have another solid Organic Cotton from Near Sea Naturals that will be either a long sleeved or a 3/4 sleeved tee with a matching French terry cardigan. Then I have fabric for two other cardigans too if I like the way the French terry turns out.

Pictures this afternoon.
More later!

My story board for the Artisan's Square SWAP

Taught myself Adobe Illustrator to do this. Not bad if I say so myself!

More later.

The next jacket is done.

This one now has a lining, and is complete. I'm okay with it, but do want to figure out a better way to connect the lining at the bottom of the facings. I think Kathleen Fansella has a tutorial on her website to make this work so you don't have icky things there. In the past, I just used a Hong Kong finish along the edge of the facing, so it was okay. But that's not as nice as I'd like it to be. So that will be one of my projects for this weekend. Find the tutorial, figure out how to do it, and get my lining/facing patterns fixed up so they are completed nicely. :P}}

Well, and I'm going to do some instant gratification sewing with a few tees and an French Terry cardigan, and also make up a sloper to try on Cathy Friday. She wants a dress, and I've been promising to make her one for a long time, so I need to get her fitted so the dress will not be a total waste of time. Shouldn't take too long I don't think. I'll draft the skirt from measurements. Torsos I'm not so good at, so will use an old Burda fitting pattern I have here to compare the draft I've made to be sure it resembles a bodice when I'm done.

Can you tell, work is slow this week? this is the first Holiday in many years I won't be working at least part of the day. Woo Hoo!

Here's the jacket. Unfortunately, I'm bigger than the form now, so it looks a little baggy. It's not. :P}}More later!

The first "muslin" for the SWAP

I've been working on getting a jacket pattern fitted well enough to be a TNT. This jacket started out as Simplicity 4273. It's an easy jacket that I initially made unlined so I could wear it during the summers to "dress up" my work clothes without getting into stuff that couldn't be washed easily.

This version is my third one, and it's definitely getting closer to being what I wanted. I did make a lining pattern for this one, and it is made out of a rayon-linen blend from Joann's with a Bemberg lining in a color I LOVE! I may have it at the point I want it to be as far as fitting correctly.

I just have the shoulder pads, hems, and buttons and buttonholes to finish up, and it's done and ready to be worn. I'll finish them today and start on the next project. I need clothes badly and next will be a "twin set" from Petite Plus Patterns with a cardigan out of an organic cotton French Terry with a matching organic cotton knit tee shirt from the Pamela's Perfect Tee Shirt pattern. Then it will be multiple pairs of pants. I do want to get the Hot Patterns shirt fitted too before the SWAP starts, and am doing a fitting muslin for my daughter as she wants some knit dresses for work. Should be quick and easy items!

Well, off to the sewing room. More later.

Excuses for buying fabrics

I'm rather excited at this point. I've made the decision to join the Artisan's Square 2012 SWAP. It is something that totally fits in with my wardrobe concepts that I've culled into a tolerable and doable idea with the help of Nancy Nix Rice's newsletters.

The 2012 SWAP is to make a wardrobe using TNT patterns that you will use over and over again for wardrobe staples, being sure that you are very conscious of fitting your current body. Right up my alley. The idea is you make 11 garments that work together, four may be repeated garments from the same pattern, or one garment each from two different patterns.

I'll be doing 2 blouses, 2 tee shirts, at least one of them the cowl neck I want to perfect, 1 overshirt, 1 pair of jeans, 2 slacks, 2 jackets, and one other garment that I haven't decided on yet. Two garments can be made before the official start date of December 26, and the finish date is April 30. I may make either a button down shirt, or a vest, or a skirt depending on what happens towards the end. I may not finish if work gets too crazy, but having the plan in play will help immensely with the planning and goal setting.

At this point I need to go through all my fabrics and pick out what's going to get made, but I have been doing a small amount of shopping for fabrics...LOL Have several new pieces here that will get entered into the "pick me" for the SWAP. And I've purchased a few more fabrics keeping in mind my SWAP colors. I should have a very extensive wardrobe with relatively few garments that interact when I finish this up.

I need to go through my boxes of fabrics that haven't been cataloged yet and get them into the binder so I can quickly and easily find what I want. You can also get the muslins made and the SWAP garments cut out and fused before start day, so that's on the schedule along with everything else.

My move is becoming more permanent. One of my clients is still sending me Sonoma County appraisals, but the others are now sending me Solano County appraisals. I didn't realize until it stopped just how much driving I was actually doing. Santa Rosa, although only 55 miles, takes between 1 1/2 and 2 hours. Petaluma is a good 1 hour. I did one in Suisun City last week that took 10 minutes to get there. Much better. By the time this gets settled, I'll have more time for my sewing obsession!

Off to finish my teal green jacket and get started on the first "muslin" of a sweater that will be used frequently around here in the winter!