Some utility sewing for me

Since I have a new swimsuit, I thought a new cover up was in order. I used the same pattern I did a year ago, which was my tank top with an added A-Line skirt that starts about waist level. It's an easy pull on dress with purchased double fold bias tape at the neck and armholes.

Very simple, very easy, and I used a fairly recent purchase of French terry from Stylish Fabrics (purchased in mid February) for this purpose. Their prices are very reasonable and if you can find what you want in the sale category, it's even better.
https://www.stylishfabric.com/catalog/category/view/s/apparel-fashion-fabrics/id/220/

I'm trying to decide if next up is my dress muslin for my granddaughter's wedding, a one piece swimsuit, more cover ups, some tee shirts, shorts, or something else. So many thoughts, so few garments! LOL

Here's the new cover up.

I'll be back, hopefully soon with more new garments to share!

Just a quick one here

I have passed my one year anniversary of doing Aqua Aerobics and the number of times a week increased from two to three several months ago. Now I'm increasing again, and hope to do four to five days a week. I think it keeps me on my feet, and before too long, in lieu of knee replacement, I'm going to be having stem cell therapy to my both my knees, which should make a huge difference in my life.

In the meantime, I've pretty much worn out a couple of swimsuits and have been working for a bit to try to get the patterns just right so they work well for me. I'd like to have at least five swimsuits that I can mix up so they don't wear out so quickly! This one is very close, but not quite perfect yet.

I used the same Butterick pattern, #5795, and have modified it to be "my" pattern in my size. Since it's almost impossible to buy good bra cups for a larger size...the ones at Jo Ann Fabrics are not much more than about 1/8" thick and do nothing, I purchased some foam from Sew Sassy Fabrics,
 http://www.sewsassy.com/BraProducts/poly-laminate-foam-fabric.html and used my bra pattern to get a well fitting under layer. Getting it pinned into the right place took a little work, and I finally figured out that putting the swimsuit top onto the dress form with the interior of the lining face out would enable me to get the placement right. I have a few more minimal tweaks to make, mostly to my process, and it will be perfect. Without further ado, here is the completed swimsuit worn yesterday for class.

I have several items whirling around in my brain. I need to make another swimsuit cover up, more swimsuits, more shorts as the weather is heating up, and a granddaughter is getting married the middle of June. To that end, I've got a Bootstrap pattern that I'll be making a muslin out of quite soon, as I want it to fit really well. I'm torn about the fabrics though as she's chosen Emerald Green and Burgundy as her "colors." Odd for a summer wedding, but this girl is anything but typical! LOL I am thinking about buying some raw silk from Dharma trading and dying it myself. We'll see if that happens. 

Well, that's all for now. Happy sewing!

Finally completed!

Seems like it's been way too long, but I have finally finished my third and fourth teal pieces.

I feel like Ruthie is making about a dozen to each pair of my makes. Ah, well. It's life in the slow lane at this stage of my life I guess. :-)

I made another Pamela's Perfect Tee in a dark teal cotton interlock with a matching cardigan. The cardigan is a mash up of an older version of Petite Plus Cardigan, looks like it's now OOP, and a Sure Fit Designs pattern, along with multiple alterations.

Although I've used it before, since I have completed this one, I'm making several more adjustments to get it to fit the way I want it to.

Odd picture of the tee. The darts don't stick out any farther than I do! I think the picture was taken before it was washed and pressed correctly. Interesting enough, they are both the same fabrics, so you can really see the difference the light makes in the photographs. Neither is perfect, but the picture of the cardigan is much closer to the actual color.

I am thinking the tee may be taken in just a bit at the side seams as it's roomier than I'd like at this stage. The cardigan has multiple alterations that need to be done, and I've already adjusted the pattern for the next one. I have a piece of light blue cotton interlock that will be my wearable muslin for the corrected pattern. 

I've widened the shoulders; added a bust dart; added about 5/8" to the front shoulder area; added sleeve cap height, and walked all the seams to be sure I have it about right now. Hopefully, it will be a much better fit. 

I'm a year into my Aqua Aerobics class now, and I know it's made a huge difference in my body and the way I feel. Things are moving around, tightening up, and I'm getting ready to move from three times a week to four. 

Doctors have been telling me for multiple years now, perhaps more than a decade, that I need to have knee replacement surgery. I've resisted for multiple reasons, not the least of which is the recovery time. And a strange and very compelling and overwhelming fear that I will die on the operating table if I decide on the surgery. 

A friend has a doctor in El Paso that is working in regenerative surgery, and is certified and a Fellow in stem cell replacement therapy. Bill had stage 4 cancer in his throat, and after surgery and his first bouts of chemo, they told him to get his affairs in order that he had about 6 months left. He decided the side effects of the chemo were not worth it, and looked for alternative therapies. That was last May and his Oncologist is in shock that he is now cancer free! His last appointment, he and the doctor got to talking about my knees and stem cell therapy. 

After hearing Bill talk about the wonderful results they have had with the stem cell therapy, and how much he likes his doctor, I made an appointment. Long story short, I'm having stem cell therapy on May 21. Between now and then, I want to get my body in as good of shape as possible to help with the healing process. 

I am on multiple supplements suggested by the doctor after extensive blood tests, and have a new eating plan he wants me to follow for the interim. I found out some of my current issues are genetic and he has given me some answers and hopefully things that will combat my issues. I haven't quite figured out yet how it all relates to my Weight Watchers program, but I think in many ways it is close, although there is an addition of legumes and nuts and seeds every day that I haven't been doing on Weight Watchers, and considerably less whole grains. I guess they balance each other out somehow. 

And, great news. I have a granddaughter getting married on June 16, so I'm going to be doing a dress for the wedding. I need to start the muslin about the middle of May so I have plenty of time to get that done before the wedding. I'll be using a custom Bootstraps pattern, so it should go quite smoothly. Here's a picture of the dress, and I am hoping it will be perfect for Denver in June. 

Here's what I've found about the typical weather in Denver in mid June:

"In most years, Denver averages a daily maximum temperature for June that's between 77 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit (25 to 30 degrees Celsius). The minimum temperature usually falls between 51 and 55 °F (10 to 13 °C). The days at Denver warm most rapidly during June." 

I expect I will need to make a light weight jacket or duster to go along with the dress, but like Scarlett, I'll think about that tomorrow! LOL 

Seems to me that 2018 is going to be a fantastic year and will get me out of the doldrums and into full sailing ahead. Excitement is rampant around our house! 

That's all for now. More later as all the beautiful garments in my head start to make it onto my cutting table!

January & February sewing continued

Hi there!

Well, it's been a month since I posted, so figured I'd do a catch up post once again. I got the teal denim pants completed, but my "slight boot cut," of 3/4" on the inseam and the side seams added up to bell bottoms that could have rivaled those of the 60's and 70"s!  I also needed to drop the back crotch seam about a 1/2" due to gravity and age! LOL Because I got buttonholed by a friend, those sat for a couple of weeks needing the alterations!

A good friend asked me to make some box cushion covers for her. Ordinarily, that would be a flat no from me, but she's had a really hard month to put it mildly.

She has dogs, and like many of us, has baby gates to keep them out of where they're not supposed to be. She was stepping over one of the baby gates, caught her foot, and tripped and fell hard on her hip, which fractured. She was healing, and getting better and just started walking without the cane, when the second shoe fell. Her husband, who has rapidly increasing dementia, got pneumonia, and when she was getting him to the hospital, she hurt her hip worse and went from a cane to crutches. While he was in the hospital the dementia went full blown and he doesn't even remember how to bathe himself or brush his teeth, etc.

So what is a friend to do? When she asked me how much I'd charge to do the covers, I said nothing. But was mad at myself because I hate this kind of sewing and it puts me into the sewing doldrums.  Long story, but I did them and they're gone now so I can get back to my personal sewing.

First thing was to remake the swimsuit cover up that was my first project of the year. Plus size ladies do not need to wear horizontal stripes over their bodies. I hated the way I looked in that and wasn't wearing it when the light bulb went off. I could make it an "empire" style and take the skirt part and make the stripes run vertically. Done, and it's being worn now and getting compliments. Whew!

Then the pants. First thing was to remove the 3/4" I added at each leg at the hem, back up to the knee. They are still a bit wide legged for my taste, but that works. The next pair will definitely be narrower though. I KNOW to measure the hem width on pants I like and use that, so I don't know why I didn't do that first. And I dropped the back crotch, which, due to the added room, somehow increased the waist by about an inch and a half that had to be removed.

Then I moved on to my second tee for the teal grouping. I love this and it went quickly. I used my standard TNT Pamela's Perfect Tee pattern, the January 2014 version, but again, due to gravity, I've been noticing some more shoulder movement, so I wound up taking 1/4" off the inside of the shoulder, tapering to zero at the outside. It picked up the neckline just enough so I no longer have a little extra. Whew!

Without further ado, here are the first three pieces in my teal grouping:

I've started the next piece, which is a dark teal tee, and will have a matching cardingan so that will give me 5 interconnecting pieces so far. I'm quite pleased with the prints and the solids in the grouping and think they'll get a lot of wear! 

More later!

First garment for teal grouping

I'm definitely trying to keep up with my blogging for 2018 because I love having a record in one place of all the garments I've sewn throughout the year. At my age, I do forget sometimes when something was made, and it helps to be able to go back through past posts and files to determine when I did what.

Also because my weight has a tendency to fluctuate quite a bit, it's nice to be able to determine the date so I can kind of get a clue about the size it is and I was when it was made. :-)

This tee was begun on January 5, and morphed a bit from the initial thoughts to the final garment. As usual, I used Pamela's Perfect Tee shirt, which I use almost exclusively. I had intended to do a long or 3/4 sleeve on this one, but after looking at the fabric and thinking about my wardrobe needs, the climate in this area, and the short winter versus the long warm days, I went ahead and did the short sleeves. It only took about one yard, so I have enough fabric left for a tank top.

As I think I said in a prior post, I had intended to do a teal grouping back in 2013-2014, and this fabric was purchased for that group in November 2013. I was all gung ho to get the grouping going ] before other things got my attention. It's from Mood and it's a wonderful rayon jersey that sews like a dream, drapes beautifully, and has a gorgeous soft hand that almost feels like silk.

With a lot of family drama, and an interim for a bout of the flu that left me in bed for days and days, it wasn't completed until January 14. I can picture this in rotation for years to come. I just love the look and the feel of the fabric.

Perhaps because of the background, the fabric color appears different IRL. The photo is the last post is quite close to the actual colors. 

This week, I've started a pair of denim slacks out of a teal blue that will be my first bottom in this group. I started pattern work on them on January 14 as soon as this was complete. I am using the same Burda pattern I used for my shorts and instead of using the long pants in the pattern, I did some research on the width of pant legs, and the consensus was that straight leg pants have an 18" to 19" width at the hem, full pants have a 22" width at the hem, and the boot cut should be about 20". Somewhere in my research, I found something that equated the width of the hems to the crotch width, but when I went back to find it as I was starting the drafting, I couldn't find it again, so following directions in one of my pattern drafting books,  I started at knee length on the shorts, and went for a boot cut by adding 3/4" to each inseam and outer seam at the hem, tapering to the knee. 

I have relatively chunky thighs and don't want them too tight through that area, so this procedure should work well. I finished the redraft on the 15th, and finished cutting them out yesterday, but have not yet begun sewing. I do have about a yard of fabric left, so should be able to get a skirt out of that. 

The fabric is an end of the bolt cut from Fashion Fabrics Club, that was purchased along with some french terry and other denims back in September, so for me, it's a fairly new fabric. I was able to get a 3 1/4  yard piece for only $15.25, and it's a nice heavy denim with a bit of stretch. I'm sure it will also get a great deal of wear! Here's a teaser swatch of the new fabric:

In this photo, the color appears to be fairly close to real life. I'm excited to get these pants made up and into rotation. 

More later!

Quick Swimsuit Coverup

This is a quick sew that I put together as a swimsuit cover up. I needed something a bit warmer for the winter, as our pool, in general, is open year around and I need those Aqua Aerobics classes to keep on my feet, and to help with weight loss and muscle tone.

Due to other obligations, It was started on 12/28/17 with the idea of having it done that day. Hah! I finished it New Year's Day.

I used my TNT Pamela's Perfect Tee pattern, and just extended from the waist down to about ankle length. I had intended to leave slits a couple inches long in the bottom hem area, but forgot to do so, as it was truly sewn under the old Nancy Zieman 10-20-30 minutes to sew, so it is one long column. .

The fabric was purchased from Fabric.com via Amazon on November 9, 2017. A really new fabric! LOL. It's a 50% polyester, 50% cotton French terry. This particular garment is okay with the polyester content as I only wear it about an hour in total.

I had thought to do a vertical piece down the front, but got lazy and did the whole thing horizontal. I wish I'd done the vertical piece now. That much horizontal stripes across a fairly significant torso isn't that attractive. Oh, well. Now I know. I had purchased 3 yards with the thought of the vertical, and now have right at a yard left over. It could make a tank top for summer. We'll see. I'm debating going back in and doing some sort of a gore from about bust height down to the floor to give more walking room and add the vertical interest.

One note to self. Match stripes below the darts so the majority of the garment is matched. I matched at the armpit on this. It won't be noticeable to most folks, but sure is to me. At least the stripes are fairly narrow. 😄

I've started on a core grouping out of teal. I intended to do this core back in the fall of 2013, but it's been sitting idle while I went on to other groupings. Sew Ruthie has given me a push as I see all her lovely garments in the teal grouping she's doing. I do have multiple fabrics and will be making several garments. First up is a tee from a gorgeous rayon knit purchased from Mood many moons ago. It's been aging nicely, and is a dream to sew. Here's a teaser look at the fabric.

My second grouping will be browns and tans, so this is perfect. I can see it getting a lot of use! Since I decided to go with a short sleeve, I'll have enough left over to make a tank top also. Hooray!

This one is also being sewn in 10-20-30 minute increments, so it will probably be a few more days before it's done. I'm going to try to post all my sews this year so I can remember what was done when and hopefully keep on track with cores so there aren't any orphans in my closet and I have a varied and beautiful wardrobe.

More later!

My Final Christmas Gift

I have a wonderful sewing friend that lives in Eugene, Oregon. We met in the fall of 2013 when we both attended a Sure Fit Designs workshop. Afterwards, we began to communicate a bit by email, and for a very long time now, we communicate daily. Although we are very different people in very many ways, we are very similar in many ways too.

The last couple of years, she has made me a gift from the heart and the sewing room. Last year was the microwave soup bowl cozies that I liked so much I made them for all my peeps this year. See last post. :-) 👧 This year she made me the most amazing bag out of recycled jeans. It's phenomenal. So of course I wanted to make her something special also.

In October Rhonda Buss had a hand sewing caddy on her blog. Since my friend loves to hand sew, I thought it would be the perfect gift for her. I did want to find sewing related fabrics though. So I searched and came up with three fabrics I thought were appropriate and I did enlarge the caddy. Rhonda's was on a 5" X 7" stand, and I went for the larger size 8 1/2 X 11 stand, so I did have to do the math to enlarge the pattern, but it was minimal. Without further ado:

Here it is on my sewing table before I sent it. She's made very nice comments and it appears that it was a big hit. 

Then it was off to selfish sewing and time to get moving on my 2018 projects. More later!

Some Christmas Sewing

I made the ubiquitous microwave soup caddies for our kids and grands, and a couple extra for relatives that showed up and a couple of "White Elephant" gift exchanges:

I used cotton quilting fabrics, Quilter's Dream batting, and Aurifil thread. I made an effort to match the fabric pattern to the person. I.E. our son-in-law who is a scuba diver got a fabric with little scuba divers, fish and bubbles all over it. A granddaughter who does cognitive science research (PHD program) got some little bots with lots of math equations. One granddaughter who is an artist got a Picasso-esque fabric. A granddaughter and her partner who are heavy into music got musical instruments, etc

. 

These were made from the free pattern on HappyHourStitches.com. They are quick and easy, and once I got them figured out, I found the actual sewing to be about 30 minutes per pair. I can see them being a great seller for craft booths and local fairs with vendors. 

Then I made another "fish pillow" for my brother. This was just an 18" square pillow form, with the fabric cut at 19 1/4", a zipper added, and 5/8" seam allowances. I love the fabric, find it cheery and it makes me smile every time I look at it. As a minister, he's not only a fisherman, but a "Fisher of Men," so it seems to me to be appropriate. 

And along with a horrendous cold, some cooking, a bit of reading, and some cleaning, that was my November-December.

Now to move forward with one more late Christmas present for my BFF, and then to selfish sewing once again. I'm hoping for 36 garments made in the upcoming year.

I had thought to do the Artisan's Square Sewing Guild SWAP, but I'm just going to go at my own pace, making the garments that fit my lifestyle and my needs. It may turn out to be a mini-SWAP, or a maxi-SWAP, or just a cool bunch of clothes that are badly needed.

First up will be a new French Terry cover up for my continuing Aqua Aerobics classes. During the winter a little extra fabric is needed. Then on to January and my three pieces in teal.

Hope you are all getting revved up for a wonderful New Year full of joy and surprises!

More Later,

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all the joys of the Holiday Season!

Merry Christmas.

Happy Hanukkah.

Happy Kwanzaa.

A blessed Solstice.

Buenos Las Posadas.

And a joyous festival of lights for the rest of you.

I'm sending you sincere desires for a wonderful New Year filled with hope, joy, love, and expectations.

Although I've been neglectful of the blog for the last year, I hope to improve on that situation in the coming months! Thank you for being my virtual friends!

Catch up time

I've been sewing for the summer, but life has gotten a little hectic around here. Just a quick catch up post with some items I've made since the last post at the end of May.

First off was a pair of Burda 6613 shorts out of a suit weight natural linen. I was in a hurry because I wanted to take these with me to San Diego for a Granddaughter's graduation from UCSD and I knew the weather would be perfect for dress up shorts. Since I've used Burda patterns forever, I didn't make a muslin, just made them using my measurements.

DUH,.. I didn't think about the fact I've been doing Aqua Aerobics for months and my body has tightened up a lot. Put them on the morning of the graduation, and they slid down to my hips making me look like those youths with the falling off pants. SIGH. Took them off and tried again. First pair:

I thought about taking them apart and re-cutting them, but it was more trouble than to remake them from scratch. The pattern is beautiful with the inner pocket that goes across the front, a nice fly front, and all the rest of the top stitching and so forth.

I did a "wearable muslin" from a wild and crazy patterned indigo and white stretch cotton. I did carefully match the pattern on the pockets, but went stupid and didn't even think about the side seams until they were completed. Oh, well. The wild pattern is just carried a bit farther.

These had multiple alterations, finally I think taking in a total of 6" around the waist and dropping the back crotch seam by a fairly large amount IMO. But now they fit well and are in regular rotation. Then because I didn't have a sleeveless top to go with them, I did a navy tank. I did use my TNT tank pattern and removed about 2" from each side by the time I was done altering it.I very much like the fit now. 

Once the navy tank was done, I quickly made two more pair of the shorts out of linen from JoAnne Fabrics. Not great quality, but they'll do for the rest of the summer. 

In and around the clothing, my brother moved here from Southern California. He's disabled, and I've done A LOT of running around getting things set up for him, getting him a home, furniture, etc. And as a Welcome Home gift, I made him a throw pillow.

He's a fisherman, and I saw a similar pillow on a website and knew he'd love it. So I sketched out the fish, pulled a piece of canvas from stash, a colorful remnant with shells on it in "sea" colors, and made the pillow with the fish on front. I don't do applique as a rule, and anyone who is talented at applique would probably not be impressed, but my brother loved it, and has it in a place of honor in "his chair." 

This week I'm making him another fish pillow, (he would rather fish than almost anything) for his birthday on Saturday. He's 18 months younger than I am, and we've always been close. With the advent of his move here, we talk and see each other most days. He's going to be thrilled. The last one, he just kept saying, "No one has ever made me a pillow before." Now he can't say that, but I know he's going to love the new one. Luckily I have enough of the canvas remnant for a semi-matching pillow. 

Once the pillow is done, I'm moving forward with a few more tanks. I have the fabrics washed and ready to go, and perhaps I'll make a couple of pair of denim shorts. They'll be quite useful for days when I'm working around the house. My sleeveless shirt TNT pattern somehow got way too big, and I've started altering the ones I have that I'd like to keep moving forward. A few have been donated, but some are worth keeping because I love the fabrics.

So all in all, a relatively productive few months. I had thought to start making fall and winter items in August, but with the temps still in the 90s, I can't bring myself to start sewing heavier fabrics. I'd like to get back to knitting too, but the thought of sweaters and hats makes me start to sweat. So I'll wait a few weeks before I start thinking about such items.

Hope you are all enjoying your summer and sewing a lot! More later,

It's summer here now!

In Las Cruces, New Mexico summer has arrived. Our ten day forecast shows six days with highs in the 90's and four with highs in the 84 to 88 degree range. Our night time lows are all in the 60's. We may even get a bit of rain on the "colder" days, so that would be nice and refresh things a bit.

Dale had gone to Santa Rosa, California for the last week to visit the kids and watch our granddaughter graduate from Sonoma State University. She graduated with honors, and he got a nice visit with both his daughters and their families, and even got to have dinner with my daughter one evening. On his return, he had a layover in Phoenix, where the temperature was 108 degrees at 4 p.m. He was glad to get back to our 90 degree temperatures. It was 94 when I picked him up at the El Paso airport at 9:00 last night!

I'm quite pleased to report the serger is back and in use once again. I had a few things cut out that are finished now.

I used my TNT pattern, and made up a quick royal blue tank top. Nothing out of the ordinary other than the fact I used cross grain for the neck binding, and the armhole bindings, and turned and stitched them. I may have to redo it with bias. It seems to me to not be quite tight enough on the neck band, and after a quick washing and drying I'm going to reevaluate and perhaps take the straight grain off and add some bias. We'll see how that works.

  

Once the tank was done, I did two quick pair of pajama bottoms out of cotton flannel. Both pieces were from JoAnn Fabrics a while back. The floral was several years ago, and the teal was purchased in 2016. Neither is good quality fabric, but they will be useful in my wardrobe. I don't post pictures of things like this to bore you, but because this blog is actually my sewing record of things I've made throughout the years.

I am using these as a kind of "muslin." They are from the Style Arc Barb pattern, shortened to about an inch of so below my knees. The pattern is designed for knits, and these are both wovens, but with the weight loss, they fit fine in the woven. I had decided to do a quick and dirty muslin to enable a few pair of quick elastic waist shorts to wear around home in the heat. It was a big success in my book. The only changes I'll have to make is to add pockets, since I'm not sure I can be awake and not have pockets! As Barbara from the Sewing on the Edge blog mentioned a while back, my main accessory is poop bags in my pockets! LOL

I've been cleaning rather frantically because like a lot of sewers, that is lower on the list than sewing most days, and I have a granddaughter coming to stay for the first week of June. I'm very excited to see her, and we should have some nice photos of things to share. But, I do have to clean, as she'll be staying in the "guest room" aka the sewing room, and there really does need to be enough room for her bed!

The next outfit will be a pair of "desert color" stripped shorts, and a sleeveless, collarless, button down shirt using my TNT pattern I've made several from before. Those shirts are getting a lot of wear in this weather!

Hoping you are all enjoying your sewing, and making lots of gorgeous or at least useful things!

More later,

Quick catch up

I've been sewing, but it's been a little of this and a little of that. 

The bathing suit tankini took a lot more contemplation and a lot more testing and work than I anticipated. Getting an inner bra installed in something you're not sure where the bustline will be is a process. It was overall successful, but harrowing and difficult in my brain. I spent a lot of time mulling over what exactly would work. In the end, I eliminated their lining piece and did one of my own design, adding the bra cups where I felt they should be on my body. 

Sorry about the flannel pajama pants underneath the top! If you look closely, you can see that the bra area is not ideal, but it is certainly wearable. Sorry about the fuzzy picture of the pants. They work just fine, but as I'm peeling pounds away, I think they won't last for long.

I did make some decisions based on this muslin. I need to shorten the straps by about an inch. In the future, I'm not going to try to add the bra into the tankini top, but actually make a swim bra out of the same fabric (from my custom bra pattern) and just it combined with the tankini top. 

I have upped my Aqua Aerobics to three times a week, and hope to get in five times in the combing weeks. That will necessitate a few more suits as I go along. I'm thrilled that this program is really enhancing my range of motion, and ability to move. Every week I am able to do something with my body and my knees that I haven't been able to do in years. It's very exciting to get closer to "normal" physical status for me. 

Currently, I'm working on several things at once. I am adapting the Morris Blazer from Grainline Studios to my personal body, and a muslin will be coming out fairly soon. I have a tank top begun, but the serger has issues and so will be out for servicing starting tomorrow. I have some pajama pants laid out on the cutting board as I can do those without the serger. I'm also going to be working on a muslin for a sleeveless woven shirt. Just an old fashioned shirt with front buttons, back yoke, and regular collar. 

Our weather is a bit crazy right now, but overall warm and sunny. We did get a few drops of rain this week, but our temps are generally in the 75-85 degree range during the day. That necessitates sleeveless tops, tank tops, and knee length shorts to supplement the bathing suits. Also need more shorts, so those are percolating too. 

Hope things are going well in your sewing world! More later!

Been down and out of it

There is a really nasty cold going around, and I was lucky enough to get it a few weeks ago. The first week was mostly lying in bed, sleeping, and trying to get plenty of fluids. In between naps, I did get to the sewing room a little bit.

I was able to complete a new pair of jeans, and a cotton oxford cloth tank top. It can be worn alone or under my "big shirt" or other topper. As the body is shrinking, (thank goodness!) it is changing in ways that were unexpected. The water aerobics is helping a great deal with range of motion, and mostly eliminating the pain in my knees, so I am more able to do things, and so on and so forth. I've started to rebuild muscles that had been sorely atrophied, and it is also making a big difference in motivation when I can so readily see results. The waist has shrunk, as has the butt, but perhaps due to my age, the belly is holding on strongly. I'm thinking I'm going to get back on limited portion sizes to do much good with that part.

Anyway, here is my new outfit. The jeans are again a self draft from the Don McCunn "How To Make Sewing Patterns" book. I think I may want to slim the legs down a bit to be more fitted, now there is less of me. The tank is modified from the one I made in knit at the Sure Fit Designs retreat. I eliminated about an inch in shoulder width, changed the French dart for a standard dart, and did some upper body adjustments for my slightly rounded back, plus more at the waist for a sway back.I may need to do a little bit more at the bust to eliminate the wrinkles from the bust to the waistline. The back of my pattern is beginning to look like a mountain road with all the S curves! LOL

This outfit should get a great deal of wear over the next several months. 

I've moved on to a new bathing suit. Bottoms are in the works. I'll share, but not on me at this point in time!

Move later,

This is why you should post after each garment!

Okay... I forgot one of my makes. I had in my head an idea for a shirt similar to one I made back in the dark ages and literally wore out. Unfortunately, when I went pattern diving, I realized I was a size 12 when I made the shirt. Measurements on the pattern are listed at about 34-26-36, and it's been a REALLY long time since that would fit me!

Instead, I decided to try to make a "big shirt" with a Mandarin collar. I did a franken-pattern using an old Simplicity # 8497 mixed with a Bootstraps that has been fitted and muslined. It’s kind of an old fashioned “big shirt” but brought into the 21st century. I widened the shoulders by an inch, and have short sleeves on it. I used a very nice blue and white striped oxford cloth, and actually have enough left over to do a tank that matches. I’ll be able to wear the big shirt open over the tank in air conditioning. I’m enjoying working with the cottons more so than the knits for now.

I finished up the shirt and have worn it a couple of times. It’s not exactly what I wanted just yet. I like the big shirt theme, but want a regular collar, and the shirt tails at the sides with side slits. So that’s in rotation, but not quite there yet. 

So although it works for now, I will be experimenting with this also in the months to come. This style is heavenly in the heat with either a light weight cotton fabric, like a plisse, or a seersucker, or something of that nature. 

Without further ado:

And now I'm moving on. I'll try to post more often so I don't forget! LOL

Been sewing, not posting?

I've been doing a bit of sewing, but not really posting. Don't know why, but that's the case.

I finished the Bootstraps #40029 second shirt, and added about 3" to the sleeves, which suits me better. Here's the finished top:

Bootstraps #40029 #2

It's gone into rotation already. I debated about what would be next, but due to the weather in my new location, shorts hit the radar hard. I have the Style Arc Jennifer City Shorts that I thought might be just perfect. I haven't used many Style Arc patterns, and the instructions and way of doing things are a bit different than I'm used to. On the first pair I goofed up the waist facing treatment, and had to modify it to work. I also left out the hem vents on this pair. Here's an in progress photo with the pants on before hems and waist facing. I think you can tell they lie really low on my body:

When I got to the second pair, I inserted an inch in the body of the pants to bring them up a bit higher. I did get the vents into this pair too. They're all done except sewing the button on the second pair. Unfortunately, as I was doing my preliminary test for the buttonhole, my machine decided it didn't want to do those anymore. SIGH! It's now in the shop where they are estimating a 2-3 week turnaround. I'm hoping it just needs adjustment and not a new computer part! I pulled out my Pfaff Passport that I bought to take to classes, and set it up. I've only used it a couple of times, and it took a while to find everything and get it moving, but I actually really like the buttonholes on that machine. Both pair are in a light weight denim from JoAnn Fabrics. Here's a pic of both together. 

I'm not sure if the first pair are going to make the cut. I cut the size indicated for my measurements, but yesterday I was wearing them, and after the typical denim stretch, they were falling off my body. I realized I could actually remove them without undoing the button and buttonhole! Perhaps after a couple of wearings and washing in hot water, they'll be fine. I did realize I really don't like a waistband facing on MY body. I love them on others, but with my body, they don't sit well, and as stated above, have a tendency to move on down the torso. 

To that end, I went out today because JoAnn has their Burda patterns on sale for $2.49 and got Burda #6613, which will be used for the next pair of shorts. Hopefully going back to my beloved Burda will get me some shorts that work really well on my body. If they don't I'll modify my self drafted trousers to make the shorts work for me. 

I'm also reworking the navy ponte waterfall jacket I made a year ago. It was kind of oversized when I made it, and 30 pounds later, it's just sad. So I've removed the sleeves and the side seams, and am debating what I'm going to do with it. I think it's going to be recut with a Semi Grainline Studios Morris jacket vibe. Or maybe something else. However, it's going to be a lot shorter, a lot more fitted, and probably will lose at least most of the waterfall. 

My "to do" list is getting longer and longer. I want at least four or five pair of shorts, several new woven tank tops, some tees, and...I have a few bathing suits on the list too, as we've become regulars at the Tuesday and Thursday Aqua Fit classes, and I'm going to add on a third one each week. The old bathing suits are getting pretty roomy, and this week as we were doing "jumping jacks" I almost lost the bottoms to my Tankini. I got a pattern from Butterick that is in the right range I think, and have the fabric and notions for three new suits. We'll see how that goes. 

Hope your March was marvelous! More later,

A lot is going on around here!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and some sewing!

Since this is mostly a sewing blog, I'll start with the sewing. I am leisurely working away at my SWAP 2017 plan, and at last post, I was starting on the Bootstraps #40029. It is a great pattern and went together quite well, despite my leisurely pace for sewing it. I will make a couple of changes on the next one, which is already underway.

I did get the customized pattern with all 17 measurements, but I have put on a few pounds, and/or was slightly bloated, so the bottom button is unbuttoned in this picture. I have also lengthened the sleeves in the second version. Head cut off due to no makeup or hair styling! LOL

The fabric is a very light cotton chambray (I thought it was rayon until I looked!) It was purchased in May of 2015 from Amazon supplied by Designer Fabrics Warehouse. It's a dream to wear, and I anticipate a lot of use from this over the warmer days of summer.

I have started on the second version of this, made out of a Cotton/Lycra shirting from Emma One Sock. It's a dark navy with a tiny white flower print, and was purchased back in July of 2014. I'm using up some of my stash fabrics this year! It has the collar installed but not yet finished. Here's an "in process picture of it, slightly fuzzy.

As you can see, sleeves, are yet to come, as well as hems and buttons and buttonholes. This one is heavier and seems to me that it looks a bit more upscale than the chambray one. We'll see once I get it finished. 

As per my last post, I have a new friend, Carla, who has invited me out and is introducing me to some other local people. Her family has been in the Mesilla Valley since the 1800's, and she says she's probably related to everyone here some way or another. We've been to Aqua Fit a few times, and last Friday night, she invited me to go with her to the local Bernina/Quilting shop where they do a last Friday of the month sew-in and potluck.

I had purchased several "jelly rolls" a few years back thinking I could make the Jelly Roll race quilts with them. One was baby fabrics, and I'm a bit late in making a new quilt for my first Great Grandson. This was a perfect opportunity! Last week I stitched the pieces together a few hours at a time, and had the top done by Friday night. I put it together with the batting and a backing, and spent my time at the sew-in stitching along each line to quilt the pieces together. I've sent off for another fabric for the binding, and as soon as it gets here, this quilt will get completed! Hooray. Another stash item that will be in use! The fabrics I'm using are called "Monkey Tales" and those are sock monkeys all over. I think it's so cute for a little boy! Here's a pic of the top before quilting.

The sew-in was a lot of fun, and the potluck was great! I've been invited back, and I think that will be a regular monthly meeting in my calendar moving forward.

I'm doing a little gardening, a lot of sewing, a lot of reading, and generally enjoying life here in the sunshine. It's a bit odd to me to have sunshine 360 days a year, but it sure eliminates the Seasonal Affective Disorder I've suffered with for years. I need to wait until "last frost" to start planting most of my garden, but I am getting things ready now.

I sure hope you all are enjoying your time and accomplishing things that make your heart sing!

More later,