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.

Planning for sewing, weight loss, and what I've been doing.

The stem cell therapy went quite well, and I went from a pain level of about a constant 7 or more to a pain level of less than 2 most of the time, and quite a bit of time to no pain at all. It does continue to heal and get better. I am pretty stiff from not being able to use the knees for so long, but believe that will reduce with movement as time goes by.

Yesterday I did my first full Aqua Aerobics class since the middle of May. I was thrilled that I have so much more range of motion and can do almost anything in the pool. It also helped with the stiffness as it somehow or another "greases up" the joints. Not sure of the technical or medical reasons, but I do know it does.

Now begins the long haul back to full health. I determined that over the last 22 years since my late husband was diagnosed with cancer and died, I have gained somewhere between 82 and 87 pounds! That is not helpful for my knees or anything else. This last week as we were driving, I had a great deal of time to think about things.

The wedding was in Centennial, Colorado at my daughter's house. We drove from Las Cruces to Centennial, Colorado. We were on the road from the morning of June 14 to late on the 19th, and drove a total of 1,399 miles. We stopped overnight in Las Vegas, New Mexico for rest and sustenance in both directions. It's a quaint historic town that was part of the Santa Fe Trail, and reminds me a lot of going back in time to the 50's.

We did have some issues, as Centennial is a suburb of Denver which is the "mile high city" and Centennial is at 5,830', plus there are 2.8 million people in the greater Denver Metro area. After our town of Las Cruces at 3,900 feet, and a population of not quite 102,000 people, it was a big change. We both got altitude sickness compounded by the inversion layer of smog. It was nice to be back in the Land of Enchantment with our clear skies and minimal traffic! Even at a higher elevation than the Denver area in Las Vegas, NM, we were able to breathe much more easily and didn't have the altitude problems. However, we're both still exhausted and sleeping a LOT more than normal.

Anyway, Rhonda Buss had posted a motivational saying a bit back about dreams, goals, plans, and actions. As I was thinking about my life and my current year at 71 years of age, it came to mind and reminded me that I need to make a plan and work it in order to achieve my dreams.

For my weight loss goals, I want to be realistic. It's going to take a long time to get all that weight off, so I've made a specific time frame of two years, starting Monday, June 25. However, I've already really started in reality. I'll be making a weekly menu, doing the appropriate shopping, and cooking healthy meals. My Aqua Aerobics teacher has added an additional weekly class, so I'll also be doing four hours a week of Aqua Aerobics. Once I've lost 10% of my weight, I intend to add walking at least a mile the other three days per week. That 10% will get me back down to where I was a year ago, and I was much more able to walk at that weight.

With the goal of 82 pounds in two years, that will give me more than sufficient time to make permanent life changes. It only averages out to about .8 pounds a week, which should be really doable. I'll do my own combination of the Weight Watchers program, South Beach, and the Mediterranean diet. I'm going to be focusing on clean proteins, vegetables, and fruits with an emphasis on fish as a protein. We have a very recently opened Sprouts Market in town, and their fish is fresh, and their produce is awesome!

As far as sewing goals, I'm going to be making "quarterly" goals. Right now the main one is to complete my Craftsy classes that have been sitting for so long, with the primary emphasis on Suzy Furrer's bodice and sleeve classes. I have realized that no matter what I do, there is never going to be a well fitting bodice unless I draft it myself to my personal measurements. Other goals include finishing the baby quilt I started more than 2 years ago; making some baby clothes for an upcoming Great Grandson; 2 or more pair of shorts, and some lingerie. These are my balance of June, July and August goals.

I'm going to post a picture of the completed McCall's "wedding dress." It's a nice summer weight linen bought in Taos on a trip back in 2005. I did get the jacket done, but took it to a local dry cleaner for a final press, and some idiot decided that the "Chanel look" jacket needed lapels, so pressed them in with the lining as the outer layer. I have rinsed it, and have the fronts pinned awaiting my own pressing. Hopefully I can get it back to where it's supposed to be.

That is a wrinkled me, the very pregnant bride, and the bride's other grandmother.

Here's what the cleaners did to my jacket:

We won't be using that dry cleaner again!

I also got a quick pair of shorts done out of a taupe linen or linen-rayon blend that I've had in the stash for a really long time. I believe it was purchased in Jo Ann Fabrics back in 2011. I used the TNT Burda pattern with nothing new other than some (too big) patch pockets. Here's a picture after wearing and washing, but obviously, not ironing!

That's all that I've got for today! Hope your sewing is going well and your week is fabulous.

It's been a long month!

Hi!

May has been a long month around here! I'm going to give you a short rundown of the month for us, but first...I wanted to share.

Due to Dale's work schedule, (he's currently driving a school bus to keep busy and to supplement our Social Security income,) my stem cell therapy was delayed a week. I'm now scheduled for Tuesday morning. I'm excited about it, but have also had a month of anxiety. In my head I know I'll do well, but I also don't want to get my hopes too high just in case. I need to stay down for at least 5 days afterward, and I'm not good at doing nothing or staying in bed, or even being a sick person. I have books lined up, and the Kindle is ready to go.

In addition, I needed to cook extra meals so that when I'm on my butt for a week we can eat. Dale doesn't cook so it's imperative that I have stuff in the freezer he can pop in the microwave for dinner.  A healer we know says I have "starvation pictures." I think I have enough for two weeks but it does add that little extra. 

On top of that, I've been working on trying to get a dress put together for the Granddaughter's wedding which is the third weekend in June. Thank goodness it will be an outdoor wedding, so not too formal. I'm going for a modified version of the Butterick pattern from a few posts back. April 26 to be exact.

Three muslins in, and it's moving forward. I started with a size 24, DDD cup based on my measurements and their pattern envelope. It's been vastly altered since then, and I decided I wanted to turn it into a slight A-line instead of a sheath based on my body composition at the current time. Sorry for the cranky faces.

Muslin #1

Muslin #2

Muslin #3

At this point, it's been altered extensively including reducing neck width, shoulder width, reducing fabric above the bust, adding wearing ease from waist to hip; removing a wedge from 1/8" at the front neckline only to zero at the shoulder point; doing a sway back adjustment, and as stated above, altering the skirt to be a slight A-Line.

So as of today, the outer shell is completed and waiting for me to start the lining after I have my lunch. I'm quite pleased with the current status, although as I always say when asked about any garment I've made, it's not perfect yet. 😊 It is pretty darned good though.

Here's current status:

Better get back to my day. More later!

It's shorts weather!

I'm thrilled to have my Pfaff 1475 CD once again! In celebration, I made a quick pair of shorts last week, using my TNT Burda pattern, modified, and a piece of deep stash cotton twill.

Nothing new, same old processes, same old fit. They are a winner and will be worn a lot over the next several months I think.  They also go quite well with the last two tees I've made.

This trio should help update my spring and summer wardrobe nicely.

Next up I'm starting a muslin for the Butterick jacket for the wedding. I'm getting a piece of what JoAnn Fabrics terms "utility fabric." It's a cotton duck, and I'll use natural. I'm not doing a lining for the muslin, but expect once completed, it can be used for a topper throughout the spring and summer and well into the fall.

Wish me luck!

A little clarification & a quick and easy "wrap skirt."

Pictures of neck band process. Sorry I don't have one while I'm stitching the binding to the neck band as that takes two hands.

First step. Fusible bias on neck edge to stabilize.

Fusible bias along the cut neck edge of garment

Second step. Sew binding to neck edge, right sides together, slightly pulling the binding only until it just starts to cup towards you, being careful to keep edge even. This may take some practice. Don't stretch the neck edge or you'll wind up with an awful looking garment. If the fabric is 100% cotton knit, you may be able to steam it back in place, but it's generally not pretty. 

Third step. Press seam allowances up with the binding above the neck edge.

Fourth step. Take upper cut edge of binding, and fold it to meet the stitched upper edge of the neck edge with the fusible bias. Press as you go around.

Left side is the fused neck edge. Right side is the folded over bias neck binding

Fifth step. Carefully bring the folded edge of the neck binding over the neck edge of the garment, with the top edge of the bias and sewn neck edge reinforcing the top of your finished neck edge. It's kind of like having interfacing inside a piece, but with it being bias, it gives a bit of stretch. When you're doing this, use a seam gauge to be sure the outside of the binding is even, giving a professional looking neck edge.

Outside of tee with bias binding pinned in place prior to stitching in the ditch

Inside of bias binding with folded edge pinned prior to stitching in the ditch

Carefully stitch in the ditch. Press. This will give you a very professional high end neck binding with no raw edges showing. 

As I said a few posts back, I have a wedding to attend in mid June and I'm trying to figure out an outfit for grandmother of the bride. It's going to be outdoors and at least mostly casual. I have been thinking I'd make the Bootstraps #45699, which is a combination of a sleeveless shirt dress and a wrap dress. I love the look of it, but since I've never worn a wrap dress wasn't quite positive how it would work. To that end, I started with a "muslin" of the skirt portion thinking I could wear it as a swimsuit cover-up. 

I traced off the skirt pattern, added my waistband from my Burda shorts pattern, and used a "remnant" I found in the quilt shop. It's two yards, but the fabric is very wide. I think it was 106" wide! I like the skirt, although I am reminded that I don't like skirts much because of my large inner thighs that rub together. Here's a quick picture, then back to the grindstone.

I am also going to audition a sheath dress, and have the tutorial on fitting from Threads magazine January of 2014, Issue 170. I want to see which one will look the best. I also have two jacket patterns to audition. The sheath dress and one of the jackets are from Butterick #5719. I think this looks quite nice and may fit the bill. 

The jacket I'm thinking about to go with the Bootstraps pattern is one I saw in a winter white wool on someone's Artisan's Square Sewing Guild SWAP page. Don't remember whose, but it was lovely. It's Simplicity #2229, View C, only without the ties at the waist. I'll have to check the neck edge versus my dress neck edge and see if I can get them to work nicely together. 

So excited today! I just got my "new" sewing machine. For almost 20 years, I'd used a Pfaff 1475 CD, which was an amazing machine. I got talked into buying a new one, but got a middle of the line, instead of top of the line machine due to cost. I've rued the day I did that, and finally when the middle machine touch screen went out and I found out it would cost $300 plus to fix and had to be shipped to Ohio for repairs, taking a couple of weeks at least, I decided to look for another machine. 

On a retirement income, top of the line Pfaff machines are prohibitive in price, BUT I found a completely reconditioned and guaranteed 1475 CD on E-Bay for what I consider a reasonable price. It arrived yesterday evening and I'm excited to get back in and start sewing again. 

I have my next garment cut out and ready to go. It's a pair of grey cotton twill shorts using my now TNT Burda pattern. Can't wait to get them in rotation with my new tees. 

More later!

Another item for the gray grouping

My second tee for the gray grouping is also a stripe, and this time I put it together differently to add a bit of interest and flattery for a bodacious figure.

I decided to do this one with the stripes running diagonally from shoulder to opposite hem. I really like the way this one worked out.
I am finding that the prospect of teaching someone else to sew has me thinking about process and procedures much more than typically and I'm harking back to my sewing classes, teachers, "couture" sewing quests and remembering some of the ways to do things more professionally.
Again, I started with Pamela's Perfect Tee, which has been modified so many times for my body "of the moment." I love this tee as it is flattering to most women and the darts help so you don't have those folds and pleats running around on your body.
The Fabric was purchased from Marcy Tilton in mid January of 2013, so it's aged a bit in the stash. It's a rayon/lycra knit and is so soft and beautiful it almost feels like silk.
The sewing was pretty straight forward, but I adapted my neck binding technique slightly. I use the instructions from an old Stretch and Sew pattern, 326 "City Tees."
After stitching the binding to the neck edge, the instructions have you take the binding and turn it to the inside, stitch in the ditch, and then cut close to the stitching, leaving a raw edge along the stitching line.
I don't really like having that raw edge on the interior, and in my opinion, the tees don't stand up as well as they do when the raw edge is turned in and stitched inside the binding.
As you can see below, I have been having "machine issues" and in lieu of trying to stay stitch a light weight knit, I pulled out some Japanese bias cut fusible tape that I've had about forever. I fused it to the neck edge, front and back before doing anything else so my neck wouldn't stretch out of shape.
I have modified the instructions by cutting the neck edge on the bias about 1/4" wider than the instructions. I stitch the binding to the neck edge, stretching only the binding slightly until it starts to cup slightly. Once stitched, it is pressed flat, and then pressed up away from the neck edge. Then I press the raw edge of the binding even with the top of the seam allowances.

Once that is done, I fold the pressed edge to the inside to cover and slightly exceed the seam allowances, measuring the outside to be sure my binding is presenting an even neck edge. Then it it pinned in place, with my pins along the stitching line where I will stitch in the ditch.

Interior Pinned

Outside pinned

Then a stitch in the ditch, trying hard to stay in the "ditch" and you've got a great looking neckband on both the interior and the exterior.

Even though it's not official, we have reached summer around here. Temps today were in the high 90's and close to 100 degrees F. We will cool down to the high 80's over the next few days, but that still is warm! My next garment will be a pair of grey twill shorts to go with these two grey stripped tees. Fabric is out and ready to be pressed, cut and sewn.

As always, more later!

A new collection started in grey

I'm teaching a friend to sew. She had asked if I would help her to make a few tees. No problem, right?

Imagine my surprise to find a late 50 something woman who has never made a single garment, not even the ubiquitous pillow case or apron! Instead of the hour or so I thought this would take, we're now doing "lessons." As well all know, something in a woven cotton is the best way to learn to sew.

But she still wants tees and I had helped her draft her own version of Pamela's Perfect Tee as I find it the best tee I've ever made, bar none. So I wrote out some basic instructions, (still not knowing she'd never sewn anything before) and left her with the pattern, instructions, and three pieces of fabric she purchased at Hobby Lobby. I have to say the light bulb should have gone off when she didn't know the difference between woven fabrics and knits, but I knew she'd taken a basic quilt class, so just figured she hadn't run into it before.

She had the first tee sewn together, but couldn't figure out how to do the neck or hems. That's when I got my first inkling and asked the questions. Shock and awe were my reactions. She did pretty good putting the tee together all on her own, but since she was using an old machine that was pretty messed up, I told her to take it in for servicing, and I'd finish the tee. Instead of servicing, she traded it in on another machine.

As I was finding out all of the above, I realized I needed to have her come to my house for "lessons" as I have, ahem, all of the supplies we'd both need. I did have her get some jersey needles, good quality thread, a seam gauge and some ball point pins. The rest we'll do here. BUT, she wanted to have me make a tee concurrently with her making hers so she could watch anything and everything I do. She's definitely a visual learner as she's had dyslexia quite badly her whole life and has a very difficult time reading instructions.

I agreed to make a tee with her, and we were going to get together last Sunday for our lessons. Something came up and she couldn't make it, but since I'd already cut mine out, I went ahead and put it together this week. I really like it a lot.

I love stripes, but as a voluptuous woman, horizontal stripes don't really flatter me much. As I thought about what I wanted to do, I realized I could take my Pamela's Perfect Tee as a base and combine it with my Bootstraps #42721, turn the center piece to vertical and have some nice interesting lines that would also flatter. Since the fabric is tissue thin, I also used some Japanese fusible bias along the neck edge to keep it from curling, and then cut my neck binding on the bias to alleviate the curling on it. I really like the looks of this one! 

The fabric is a fairly recent, for me, purchase coming from Mood in February of 2016. It's a heathered cotton jersey, and as I said above, light weight, which will be perfect for Southern New Mexico summers along with a pair of linen shorts. 

Now my friend will be here tomorrow, so I'm working on cutting out another striped fabric for a tee to make with her. This one is grey and white striped, a bit narrower than the stripes on this one. I'm thinking a diagonal stripe from one neck edge to the opposite hem might be very interesting. Here's a photo of the fabric, and I'll update as I get it put together.

Wishing you happy sewing this Spring!

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!