Midweek Update

I'm rather on a roll right now, and excited about it. I look up at my June-July-August "to do" list posted above both my sewing machine and my computer, and I see that I've partially completed Item #1, just waiting on the zipper to get the initial bodice fitted so I can get the critique and whatever minor adjustments need to be done. My sewing friend indicated that she thinks it fits well when she was here last Saturday, so we'll see once I'm able to actually get the zipper in and try it on zipped up the back.

Item #2 is to sew 2 or more pair of shorts. These are both from my now TNT Burda pattern. The bronze stretch cotton ones were shown a few posts back, and yesterday I finished the navy linen shorts. Nothing new other than I did a decorative stitch along the top of the pockets for some tone-on-tone interest. They've been finished, pressed, and are in the closet ready for wearing.

So here they are in all their glory:

The third item was to finish A.J.'s quilt. Which was done and shown a few posts back. He's got it now, and I heard an adorable tape of him saying, "I love it, it's beautiful!" Warmed my heart no end!

The fourth item is a general category of Baby Clothes. I have the knitted blanket underway and a patchwork quilt underway as shown in the previous post, and I've pulled out of the stash some baby themed cotton knits and cotton flannel for a few onesies and a few receiving blankets. I don't think you can have too many of either of those.

So I'm excited to be moving ahead with my listed projects and hopefully am going to exceed my self assigned tasks for the quarter. Hooray!

Now to get the September-October-November project sewing to do list put together. More later!

Moving Right Along

It was a very long week, but I was able to distract myself a bit with my projects. Thank goodness.

I'd been doing reasonably well with all of my goals, but a health scare, thankfully nothing, did me in for a little over a week. Add in some fairly healthy family drama, and instead of hanging tough, I blew it. That eliminated 3 weeks weight loss and added another .8 pounds, darn it. Despite doing everything I could to contain the stress, I am nothing if not a stress eater. Between comfort foods and ice cream, it wasn't my finest goal action week.

As far as the goal of the Suzy Furrer custom bodice, I ordered three 30" long zippers from zipper stop, so I will have a couple on hand moving forward. But because I want to have the zipper installed to better critique the back of the moulage, I'm waiting on any further work until those are here.

Since I hadn't knitted anything for about 30 years or more, and wasn't sure what I was doing, the initial blanket turned out to be a mess and in a fit of pique, I tore the whole thing out. That one is going to be saved until I have done more knitting and am better able to concentrate and follow a pattern. It was pretty complicated for a novice (again) knitter.

But, I am moving forward rather quickly on a new knitted baby blanket. One of my friends who goes to a knitting club told me about free patterns on various yarn websites, and talked about a shawl that some of the ladies have made that is a great re-entry project. I found a super easy pattern on the Lion Brand yarn website. It was free, and it's all just knitting! Hooray. You start with a cast on of only five stitches and add one stitch each row until you have 99 stitches, and start to decrease one stitch every row until you're back to 5 stitches. It took me some mulling to figure out how that was going to wind up in a 30" square blanket. Then a light bulb went off...duh! You're starting at a corner.

I didn't have the proper yarn or the right size needles, but I went barreling forward as is my wont. I actually like the blanket a lot! The yarn is kind of a chenille type and the needles used are a size 15 instead of the 13 called for in the pattern. I decided if it turned out crap, it could be a trial piece, but it's not. Since it's so easy, I purchased the right size needles and the right yarn to make another. This one is kind of lacy, so will be good for a summer baby, but with the correct needles and yarn, it's going to be much heavier, and will be perfect for a Christmas gift. The pattern is http://www.lionbrand.com/knitting-pattern-cuddle-tight-baby-blanket-3.html

Here's a preview about half done...

That wasn't quite enough to distract me, so I also decided this baby needs it's own quilt. I did a very easy and quick patchwork using 8" squares. It went VERY quickly, and it's now clipped together with the batting and backing ready for me to start doing the quilting. Here's a preview:

I used some fabrics I'd purchased for the other quilt to audition for the bindings, and added in a "caterpillar" fabric to get a quilt approximately 40" X 50". The backing fabric is a jungle themed with a white background, so they can have primary colors or a little less bright. I'm hoping to get both the knitted blanket and this one completed this week. 

My friend was over for another couple of sewing lessons this week and when she heard I was knitting a blanket, (she also wants to learn how to knit) the second day together, she brought some yarn and needles given to her by her granddaughter. She picked up crochet in nothing flat, so I expect starting with an easy knitting project she'll surpass my skills in no time. She not only learns how to knit but how to knit left handed just by watching! She is bright and quick and learns a lot each time we're together. She's now got a pair of shorts and two tees completed. She doesn't have my OCD, but is doing fine for initial projects. I'm trying hard not to make her tear everything out that is less than perfect, as I don't want to discourage her forward progress. Next up will be a simple-ish sleeveless A-line dress from an Octobre magazine. It should go quite quickly once we get the pattern traced off. 

We also decided that we need to do a Hatha Yoga class together in addition to the Aqua Aerobics, so we've got our initial foray planned for next Friday. My pain is gone from the knees, but the muscles have atrophied after 10 years of not walking correctly, so I'm thinking the yoga will help get them stretched out. I figure it's never too late for yoga! I do know my practices will take a lot more effort and my progress will go much more slowly at 71 than they did at 35! But always moving forward is the way to go IMO. 

So my week was a lot of reading, knitting, and sewing, with some visiting and teaching added in. Thoroughly enjoyable! 

The goals for next week are to finally finish my navy linen shorts, finish up the knitted blanket, finish the quilt, and start on some baby clothes. We'll see how it goes! 

Hope you're enjoying your summer! More later...

Back to the drawing board

I have to say I'm loving Suzy Furrer's Craftsy class. I sure wish I'd done this a while back! She is an excellent teacher, and if you have a less than typical body and are interested in getting clothes that fit you, plus you're willing to take the plunge into drafting your own patterns instead of spending thousands of dollars on patterns that don't work, I can't recommend her classes highly enough. You will wind up with couture garment fit to go along with your bespoke clothing!

The bodice was done Friday and I got Dale to help me by pinning it together and taking some photos for me. I'm going to show the front only!

Have to say skin tight on a chubby body isn't all that attractive! The front isn't bad other than the waistline is a bit low, which puts everything below it off. I re-measured and it's at least an inch too low in the front. That will solve some of the issues I think. There are some other measuring issues that need to be addressed and then I'll redo the moulage draft and redo the muslin moulage. I was expecting this, so I'm not upset that it will take me more than one to get it right. 

Dale did fairly well measuring me, but there are some obvious places where he missed the mark besides the front waistline. The back armholes go in way too far, and the back waist is lower than the front; it appears to my eye to be about 2 or 2 1/2 inches below my waistline, which means the upper back is fine, but about an inch or two above where the waistline SHOULD BE, it starts to wrinkle up, and about the middle of the high hip, the back seam doesn't come together. 

When I rechecked as well as I could on my own, it appears he has the high hip and low hip measurements about an inch and a half below where they actually fall on my body. That's an issue for sure. 

Before I make up the next muslin, I'll be getting a 30" long zipper so I can put that in and zip it up to have an easier time figuring out where things should go. Although if I get my measurements in the right places, it may be that I don't need one quite that long. Oh, well. IMO, longer is better as far as zippers go!

So moving forward on multiple projects. I have a quick and easy baby blanket in the process of being knitted; I'm starting on a baby quilt with really big squares; :-) and still have one pair of navy linen shorts partially done, and another pair in a navy twill ready to start cutting out.  

Then there is the Jalie Rose pattern to put together and muslin, and a few more items I'd like to get done over the next five weeks or so. 

Wish me luck, and I'll be back with more soon!

Bodice Underway!

As part of my June-July-August sewing to do list, my #1 desire was to complete the Suzy Furrer Patternmaking Basics: The Bodice Sloper.

I REALLY want to have a current made-to-measure sloper (or toile for my international friends,) drafted to my measurements. Not a tweaked "one size fits all" but a made-to-measure that actually fits my shoulders and shoulder slope, my bust line, my back, my armholes, arms, and all the rest.

Well, I'm very pleased to report it's underway. This week all week, my sewing time has been devoted to watching the lessons on Craftsy, following through with each lesson, and as of today, I have completed Lesson 6, and am starting on Lesson 7.

The first six lessons include how to measure, and the drafting of the moulage, plus cutting the completed draft into a "princess seamed" garment, cutting it out, and sewing it together. I have the first draft of the front and back completed, and at this point in time, it is cut out and ready to be sewn out of muslin for the first fitting. As my body is so very far off the "typical" fitting model, I expect there will be more than one draft before I've gotten the moulage completed.

Here are the fronts and backs (back slightly visible behind the front) as per the original draft. There are a lot of steps in each draft, with the front having something like 52 measured points with lines all over the page. You start with a Capital A, and go through the alphabet with capital letters, then lower case letters at each point, and end up either at lower case y or z. Towards the end, it gets kind of confusing. At the end, you cut it apart, and as you can see from the photo, I used a heavy duty Sharpie to mark the lines to cut so I wouldn't be confused. There is also some waist shaping, not marked on this draft that gets cut apart so you have two upper bodice and two lower bodice pieces for the front and for the back.

It's taken me most of the week in my spare moments here and there to get this far. Today I'll be cutting out the muslin for this first draft and putting it together for the first fitting. 

More later!

Bronze Shorts completed

My latest pair of shorts is done.  And picture is included.

I used a Steven Alan Medal Bronze Stretch Japanese Cotton purchased from Mood. on June 20 of this year specifically for these shorts. https://www.moodfabrics.com/steven-alan-medal-bronze-stretch-japanese-cotton-twill-304437

It's a lovely fabric that sews and presses quite well. I used the same Burda #6613 pattern that has now become my TNT, but again made patch pockets versus the typical pockets for further alterations as my body eliminates excesses. I also attached each waistband to the corresponding individual shorts pieces so I can alter at seams without having to do a lot of ripping. The waistband is drafted as four pieces with four additional facing pieces, so each front and each back has its own individual waistband piece with facing.

I SHOULD be able to just undo the waist facing seams for a couple of inches beyond each seam line, take them in, then reattach the waist band.

I started cutting these out in my spare time on July 7. I completed them this morning, July 15. Due to a question from a friend, I've been trying to keep track of the amount of time it takes me to sew these from start to finish. I've been sewing in increments as small as 12 minutes up to increments as large as an  hour and 15 minutes. A couple of the time frames may be off by a few minutes as I'm not really used to tracking my sewing time. It took me just under 5 hours from cutting to attaching the hook and eye. Not bad, but that included a fair amount of ripping and re-sewing due to ridiculous amateur mistakes on my part. I figure I have about an hour or more of "frog stitching" included. 

I have the next fabric, a dark navy stretch cotton twill from the same order in the washing machine right now.

I am now going into the Sewing Room to begin the draft on the bodice from the Suzy Furrer Craftsy Class. Wish me luck!

He doesn't represent the majority of Americans!

I'm watching the appalling news of the most recent trip to Europe of the Donald. I can't call him the President, because he is so far from presidential it would be laughable if it wasn't so horrific!

I just want to say to the rest of the world that he does not represent the majority of United States Citizens. He's so embarrassing and such a blow hard! His favorite pejorative of "fake news" just means he doesn't want what he said or did to be reported. Statistics show he lies on average 6.5 times A DAY!

He's trying to take away our First Amendment rights. He has in the past insisted that reporters and others should be fired for not agreeing with him! For those of you not aware of them, the First Amendment to the US constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. It prohibits any laws that establish a national religion, impede the free exercise of religion, abridge the freedom of speech, infringe upon the freedom of the press, interfere with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibit citizens from petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. 

No one I know agrees with him, his views, his elitism, his xenophobic sentiments, his racism, his bigotry, his objectification and disdain for women, his anti-feminine ideas, and most of the rest of the baloney that comes out of his mouth! 

I am afraid that he is ruining the United States reputation with the entire rest of the world. This puppet of Putin is so narrow minded and seems to most of us to be attempting to destroy the United States, and all of the rest of the free world. He finds dictators and authoritarian regimes to be "really great." He finds true democracies to be lacking. We can only assume that Putin is blackmailing him.

I find his ghastly habit of bad mouthing women in power behind their backs and then contradicting what he said to their faces ludicrous.

All of the rest of the world, please accept my apologies for this buffoon!

Don't want to be political, but cannot avoid apologizing for this man, his ideas, his lies, and his actions. Please spread the word that the vast majority of the US Citizens do not agree and are ashamed and disconcerted by this man.

I'll be back to sewing in my next post!

It's finally done!

Hooray!

With a little prodding from an upcoming move of my Granddaughter and Great-Grandson to Australia, I finally got back on the horse and finished this quilt. It had been sitting since February 2017 and all it needed was a binding. Since I wasn't sure how to do that, I put it aside and procrastinated.

With help from a tutorial sent by a quilter friend; several books I own; plus several You Tube videos, I finally figured out the proper way to add a quilt binding, and got it done. Today it is going in the mail to Denver instead of me having to pay the postage to Australia. The grandson-in-law is in the US Air Force and is stationed in Alice Springs. Should be exciting for them, and hopefully they'll take advantage of exploring a new country and area. I've done a bit of Google Research on Alice Springs and it sure does look different from Denver where they've been living the last several years, including all of Great Grandson's life!

Great grandson should have a really interesting accent when they get back. Dad is Texan with the typical drawl; Mom has been an Air Force brat, raised in Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, and Colorado, but doesn't have a discernible accent to my California ears. He's now talking with no discernible accent, but the combination of Texas, Colorado, and Australia should be really interesting! How does y'all sound in Australian? LOL

Without further ado...

 Front of quilt

Back of quilt.

I used a package of 2 1/2" strips called a Jelly Roll to make the quilt.

Back in 2014, when I was still in California, I went to a Jelly Roll Race class. You take approximately 40 to 45 precut coordinating strips that are bought in said Jelly Roll and just start sewing. You sew them end to end, mitering the pieces together. When you have them all sewn into one huge strip, you cut it in half, then sew the two halves together. Repeat until you have them all sewn.

It makes a piece big enough for a baby quilt with some left over. The batting I used was about 45" by 60" and I trimmed it a bit. I just sewed the quilt, batting and backing together along the lines of the strips. Then the binding was sewn in a very long strip that would go all the way around the quilt with about a six inch tail at each corner for mitering. It was cut 2 1/2" wide, folded and pressed in half. I machine stitched it to the front in a 3/8" seam allowance, turned it to the back, and hand stitched it all around. The quilt isn't perfect, but for the first one I've ever made, it's not bad at all! The next one I do will have a wider seam allowance on the binding so it can be machine stitched instead of hand sewn. That part took forever!

This is the first thing checked off my June-July=August sewing to do list. Hooray!

Onward and upward!

At what point do we outgrow our relationships?

Although this is really a sewing blog, it is also a place where I share my thoughts and feelings about things, although infrequently. Right now, I feel the need to share something weighing heavily on my mind. If you have thoughts, feelings, or ideas, please feel free to comment.

I am trying to determine when it is time to walk away from a friendship, a relationship, even a family relationship? 

Why is it that so many people in our lives play games? Why can’t we all be real and just be who we are? Why can’t we make our opinions known without the fear of being condemned because we believe differently than someone else? Why does what we believe to be a discussion turn have to turn into a confrontation with someone being right and someone else being wrong?

Lately, I frequently find myself doing something I don’t want to do to fulfill someone else’s expectations and not disappoint others. I am trying to remember once again the power to say no. I don’t like feeling obligated, and am generally shy and introverted, so I am often wanting to spend time alone instead of with others. I need alone time to feed my soul, unlike extroverts who need to be around others.

 I’ve been contemplating this for about a month now, and I keep remembering the poem that goes…People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

I found the following on a blog and I’m trying to figure out what is working and not working in my life. I’m feeling overwhelmed and like I just want to go back to my former preferences of being alone most of the time and not interacting with others except by choice.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.  They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.  They may seem like a godsend, and they are.  They are there for the reason you need them to be.  Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.  Sometimes they die.  Sometimes they walk away.  Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.  What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.  The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.  They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.  They may teach you something you have never done.  They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.  Believe it!  It is real!  But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.  Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.  It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. – Author Unknown

How do you select friends, and as an adult do you find it difficult or easy? Do you consider many people friends? Do you consider casual acquaintances or do you only consider those people friends who you enjoy doing things with? Have you lived in the same town all or most of your life and your friends have been with you from childhood? Have you moved to a new location and had to start over? How and where did you meet compatible people?

How important is it that you and your friends agree about things and have a lot of things in common? Do you have one friend who shares one activity or interest, and another friend for another interest and so on? If you’re a more or less introvert, what causes you to chose a specific person as a friend or do you fall into a friendship by having someone else continue to pursue you and then allowing it to happen?

Do you believe you need to have shared values and beliefs to be friends? How about wanting to do the same things?

The majority of my friends over the last ten plus years are women I have met in sewing classes and we had that connection. Some I have other connections with like Phyllis, who is another avid mystery reader, and with whom I share book suggestions and thoughts. She will actually write a critique of the books she reads, which I find wonderful to read, but impossible to do. I can tell you when I like something but can’t give a synopsis of the books I read. My mind doesn’t work like that. Although I’ve always been an avid reader, book reports were absolutely torture. At the same time, she loves going to clubs and learning new things like embroidery club, knitting club, etc.

Another friend, Barbara, and I have shared a love of sewing, travel, the real estate industry, energy work, life plans, goal setting, and motivational beliefs as well as many spiritual beliefs. We have taken a lot of classes together over the years. We are at different life stages now and I am finding we’re not connecting at the same levels as before, but that shared history is there. And I really like her outgoing personality.

My new friends are people who live near me. We are part of a group that does Aqua Exercise several times a week. The friendships have grown over more than a year. But currently, with one exception, we don’t spend a lot of time together outside the pool. I am teaching one of my friends to sew, and another is also a gardener, so we do have that in common.

I find it difficult to understand how anyone can be interested in watching sports on TV. I find it incredibly boring. I don’t know the people, and don’t much care about what’s going on. I generally don’t know who is playing in the World Series or even the Super Bowl. I don’t even watch the Olympics. Don’t want to watch them and don’t understand the hoopla surrounding them, although I do get that for a lot of people, it’s a huge deal they find imperative--- and they wouldn’t not watch.

I’m not into organized religion, and again, know that for many it is very much something that is important and takes up a lot of their time, including for some it being a very big part of their social life. I find it interesting intellectually to see that, but don’t find it something I would ever be involved with. I’m not sure what they get out of their devotions. We do our own thing spiritually but consider that to be a private practice, and don’t generally even share it unless asked specifically.

I don’t want to police anyone else’s lifestyle or life choices. I personally don’t find it any of my business or anyone else’s’ whether you are gay, straight, or somewhere in between. None of my business what you eat, what you wear, or what you believe, although I do find it incredibly sad that so many people in this world look at others as inferior or dangerous when they are just different, and don’t take the time to love and understand them.

Overall, I find people very interesting and like to find out what makes them tick. It may be that they intrigue me for the long haul, or it may be that I find out who they are and don’t need any further interaction. Then the conundrum is to figure out a way to tactfully withdraw without hurting anyone’s feelings.

All of this is going through my mind as I’m hand stitching the binding on a baby quilt. I’ve got decisions to make, and think I know the answers.