Marry Christmas!

The rest of the year is filled with things that have to be done before January 1, so I'll see you all back here in 2019! Happy New Year!

FINALLY FINISHED!

Strangely, I started this blouse according to my journal on November 26. I'd had my daughter and three granddaughters to visit the weekend before, and I just got my sewing room (aka guest room) put back together. My GOAL was to make about 4 of these before the first of the year. Probably not going to happen though!

Due to multiple interruptions, classes, seminars, procrastination, and uncertainty, it finally got the buttons sewn on and the blouse finished yesterday morning. It was a second "muslin." from McCalls 6436. I'm pretty sure the first one was done in late February of 2013. Although I tried it on and it seemed to fit well, I really wanted to do a mock up to be sure I was really getting everything right before I started on the more expensive fabrics. The original was blogged in March of 2013. All of the alterations, and it was a big list are in that post.

I have decided on a few more minor tweaks, but it will work really well for a "professional work blouse."

The fabric is a very light weight printed cotton (I think it's a voile) purchased from fashionfabrics.com (they've been out of business for a while) a long time ago. It was on sale and listed as a "cotton lining" abstract print. I bought 3 yards and the total cost was $4.99. SCORE! It is an "eggshell" background with a "sea mist" grey, and taupe print. It's going to go with a lot of items in my wardrobe. The most exciting thing for me is that I've been looking at similar blouses in RTW and the prices for 100% cotton in my size are upwards of $69-$86!

Here's a hangar shot from this morning:

I did French seams throughout most of the interior. The shoulder seam, which was adjusted due to new information I found on fitting sleeves was done with a regular seam, a second stitching 1/4" away, and trimmed adjacent to the second stitching. 

This afternoon I started on my next wardrobe staple to be. It's a pair of black, tropical wool trousers for work. I'll be using the same TNT trouser pattern I have made most things out of in the last year. It's a great pattern, fits well, and looks great IMO.

Hope you are all done with your Christmas sewing and looking forward to celebrating with family and friends. 

I'm wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Fabulous New Year filled with love, happiness, meaningful work, health, and peace!

More later!

A few Holiday gifts!

It’s Christmas!

I’ve been busy making a few gifts for friends. It’s always difficult when you have a diverse group of people to figure out what’s going to work.

My Aqua Aerobics group has several women that I wanted to gift a small item and had been searching my brain for something appropriate. I saw on Mary’s blog over at https://kf-biblioblog.blogspot.com/ that she had made mug warmers for her riding friends, and figured that was a great idea. I think most everyone drinks coffee, tea, or cocoa! So they are getting a Christmas mug and a mug warmer. I put together several, one of which is shown here:

My first time to applique, so it was an interesting project. I made 6" square out of two fabrics and added a 100% cotton batting to the interior. Sew all the way around the outside, leaving a hole for turning. Turn, press in the open edges, and topstitch. They are fairly quick and easy once you figure out what you're doing. These are certainly not perfect, but they are handmade. And I always remember our Hopi friends saying that all Pueblo peoples leave a slight imperfection in their works as a spirit door because only the Holy Ones can make something perfect. Frequently this will turn into an artistic signature for a particular artisan.

The other, much more intense gift is for my BFF. We all have tote bags we use for our towels, etc. when we go to the pool. I wanted to do something special for her. She’s very loving and giving and is always doing for others. I took a large “grocery tote” I had received from the local grocery coop that is a perfect size. I figured out how it was made, and copied the size for Lupe.

The outside is a fairly substantial denim, with the fish cut out of a piece of quilting cotton. I’d rough cut all the fish quite a few years ago. I think I was going to make a shower curtain with fish on it, but obviously, that never happened. After completing all the appliques, I sewed it together, and added the straps. I used a quilting cotton for the interior lining, and put a pocket for eyeglasses on one side piece and a pocket for a cell phone on the opposite side piece. Again, not perfect, but not bad.

I still have the blouse I was working on set out. It was set aside when I realized that Christmas is almost here! It just needs the sleeves installed, and the buttons and buttonholes. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the week.

That’s all for now! Happy Sewing and Happy Holidays!