My husband worked all day today, he normally does not work on the weekends. I was bummed about it especially since I traveled most of last week and leave again tomorrow!
I did my best to make the m out of it and spent a solid 8 hours in my sewing room, maybe a little bit more. I really needed it! We have this trip to Jamaica coming up quite quickly and I have very little budget to buy new clothes. I am reserving that money for a new bathing suit, I have yet to dive into the territory of making bathing suits. Someday, but not this day!
I am in need of summer/tropical vacation clothes! Today I feel I made good progress.
I finished the ruffle shirt, ended up making the sleeves and then removing them, they looked more like linebacker shoulder pads or some weird such thing. Off they came, honestly I am not so sure how I feel about this shirt. It fits nice and the ruffles give it some interest but the base fabric is just sooooooo.... Outdated, juvenile, country, something. Well, I can be sure that no one else will be walking around in that shirt!
I did a re-fashion non a t-shirt that my husband gave me. He loves to get me cool t- shirts but they need help. I only wear t-shirts when I am exercising or cleaning the house! This one I removed the sleeves, cut off the neckline and made a wide scoop neck. I serged the neckline and the armhole in a contrasting color that was in the print on the front of the shirt, made a little rosette with some leftover fabric from one of the sleeves and added an iron on to the back. cute!! Looks great layered with a tank top.
I made another pair of Peggy Sagers yoga pants. This time as a pair of capris. The fabric was a 4 way stretch woven that i purchased a while ago to make riding breeches. Since I am not riding anymore I decided to use them for this pattern. The fabric is an expensive one that have wonderful qualities and made a super pair of pull-on Capri pants that certainly don't look pull-on!
I cut out another pair of capri pants out of blue linen that I have washed multiple times to get it nice and soft. This pattern is another Peggy Sagers pattern, the Capri Pant, and has a front zip. I eliminated the front pockets and plan on adding a single patch pocket to the left leg and adding a drawstring to the waist and not sewing any darts. For years I had a great pair of linen beach pants and when I broke my leg I cut one leg off to wear with my cast. Now I am on a mission to recreate them. These are all cut out and ready to be sewn.
I also readied a shirt pattern that I want to make from some light weight cotton that I picked up at Mood last Christmas. The pattern is cut, the fabric is washed and dried and I just need to cut the fabric and see it up.
So, as you can see a busy and successful day in my sewing room!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Serger Club and a little of this and that
Updating my blog as I sit at my gate waiting for my flight. This is going to be a very busy workweek, so I figured I'd make good use of my time.
A couple weeks ago I joined 'serger club' at Linda Z's shop where I bought both my Babylock Symphony and Evolution. It meets the second Monday of every month and you can go during the day or in the evening. The day of the week and the choice of times works perfect for my crazy work schedule. As a rule, I try to not travel on Monday's.
I figured that since I now am the owner of the best serger on the market, as well as the easiest to use, I could use some inspiration. The club is run in a 2 hour format with a break in the middle. The first hour is a project. The instructor is up front on an evolution and she does a project from start to end along with a handout. They also have a very large screen TV over her with a video camera close up on the serger so you can really see what she is doing. Yesterday's project was an ironing board cover.
Then a 15 min break for chatting and shopping. Then back for another hour that consists of show and tell. And then some technique work and Q&A session. I think one of my favorite parts was the show and tell! It was fun to see what everyone else was working on and things that they have done as well as get brainstorming ideas from others. I liked it!
I also learned that every other month they have a specialty class for using specialty feet on the Evolution. For Evolution owners only. I signed up for the one in May and July. I have about 8 feet with my serger and have only ever used 2. This class is a technique only class and I like that very much. I'm not much for doing hands on project classes, I like to do things on my own.
Speaking of doing things on my own.... Here is a picture of my works in progress sitting on my dress form at home. Having fun!
I have also finally cut out a bunch of hexagon pieces for my English paper piecing project. I am calling this my traveling project since it is done entirely by hand. A great way for me to bring a project along with me while I travel for work. It will be interesting to see what I have done by the time I get home on Friday.
Last but not least... I am going to miss the premier of Fashion Star on NBC! I'll be I an airplane. Booh. Hopefully I will be able to watch it online tomorrow.
Is anyone else planning on watching?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
A couple weeks ago I joined 'serger club' at Linda Z's shop where I bought both my Babylock Symphony and Evolution. It meets the second Monday of every month and you can go during the day or in the evening. The day of the week and the choice of times works perfect for my crazy work schedule. As a rule, I try to not travel on Monday's.
I figured that since I now am the owner of the best serger on the market, as well as the easiest to use, I could use some inspiration. The club is run in a 2 hour format with a break in the middle. The first hour is a project. The instructor is up front on an evolution and she does a project from start to end along with a handout. They also have a very large screen TV over her with a video camera close up on the serger so you can really see what she is doing. Yesterday's project was an ironing board cover.
Then a 15 min break for chatting and shopping. Then back for another hour that consists of show and tell. And then some technique work and Q&A session. I think one of my favorite parts was the show and tell! It was fun to see what everyone else was working on and things that they have done as well as get brainstorming ideas from others. I liked it!
I also learned that every other month they have a specialty class for using specialty feet on the Evolution. For Evolution owners only. I signed up for the one in May and July. I have about 8 feet with my serger and have only ever used 2. This class is a technique only class and I like that very much. I'm not much for doing hands on project classes, I like to do things on my own.
Speaking of doing things on my own.... Here is a picture of my works in progress sitting on my dress form at home. Having fun!
I have also finally cut out a bunch of hexagon pieces for my English paper piecing project. I am calling this my traveling project since it is done entirely by hand. A great way for me to bring a project along with me while I travel for work. It will be interesting to see what I have done by the time I get home on Friday.
Last but not least... I am going to miss the premier of Fashion Star on NBC! I'll be I an airplane. Booh. Hopefully I will be able to watch it online tomorrow.
Is anyone else planning on watching?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Chicago O'Hare airport
Friday, March 9, 2012
The Couture Dress: Part 2
Now that I have my dress form perfected, I have been able to make some progress on my Craftsy.com Couture Dress class.
The muslin has been fitted and adjusted and then refitted to make sure I liked the adjustments.
A couple of basic adjustments that I made.
Took in about an inch at each side seam above the waist, raised the armhole by 1/2 inch, added a 1/2 inch to the side seams just below the waist. Those a pretty basic adjustments that I was not surprised to make.
The adjustment that I was surprised about making was that I needed to lengthen the front bodice a full inch and tapered to nothing added at the side seams. The dress has a bias pieced band that runs just above the waist around the body. Before I made the adjustment this band was pulled upward in the front and just looked funny. Once I made the adjustment I was able to get the entire band to run perpendicular to the floor as it should.
After perfecting the fit and transferring all the information on to the muslin, I took the muslin apart and used it at the pattern to cut out the interlining. I. Used a fine 100% white cotton for my interlining. This step is exactly like the first step where you cut out the fabric and use a tracing wheel to transfer all the information onto the interlining. I used red waxed tracing for the seam lines and any markings within the seam allowances for any areas that needed to marked in the main body of the fabric I used a light yellow. The yellow does not show through the fashion fabric but the red did.
I must comment here that this process is both slightly tedious as it seems to take me about 55mins for each and every step! However, I also find it quite liberating since by the time I get to cutting into the fashion fabric I feel comfortable with the pattern and no worries about cutting into an expensive piece of fabric. I have also found that while working with the muslin and interlining that I keep in my mind my fashion fabric and how I want to best make use of it.
At this point I have spent aprox 7 hours on this dress, i have made and adjusted the fit of my muslin, deconstructed the muslin and cut out the interlining, transferred all the sewing lines and marks to the interlining. Doesn't sound like a lot of work for 7 hours!!
Next step is to cut out my fashion fabric and hand baste the interlining and fashion fabrics together.
In the mean time... I have been playing with another project. This one is a fun top that I have had cutout for at least 2 years. I have NO idea why I cut a top out of this particular fabric... But I did. So, my challenge to myself was to finish the top in such a way to make it fashionable and fun to wear regardless of the base fabric. Pictures to come!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The muslin has been fitted and adjusted and then refitted to make sure I liked the adjustments.
A couple of basic adjustments that I made.
Took in about an inch at each side seam above the waist, raised the armhole by 1/2 inch, added a 1/2 inch to the side seams just below the waist. Those a pretty basic adjustments that I was not surprised to make.
The adjustment that I was surprised about making was that I needed to lengthen the front bodice a full inch and tapered to nothing added at the side seams. The dress has a bias pieced band that runs just above the waist around the body. Before I made the adjustment this band was pulled upward in the front and just looked funny. Once I made the adjustment I was able to get the entire band to run perpendicular to the floor as it should.
After perfecting the fit and transferring all the information on to the muslin, I took the muslin apart and used it at the pattern to cut out the interlining. I. Used a fine 100% white cotton for my interlining. This step is exactly like the first step where you cut out the fabric and use a tracing wheel to transfer all the information onto the interlining. I used red waxed tracing for the seam lines and any markings within the seam allowances for any areas that needed to marked in the main body of the fabric I used a light yellow. The yellow does not show through the fashion fabric but the red did.
I must comment here that this process is both slightly tedious as it seems to take me about 55mins for each and every step! However, I also find it quite liberating since by the time I get to cutting into the fashion fabric I feel comfortable with the pattern and no worries about cutting into an expensive piece of fabric. I have also found that while working with the muslin and interlining that I keep in my mind my fashion fabric and how I want to best make use of it.
At this point I have spent aprox 7 hours on this dress, i have made and adjusted the fit of my muslin, deconstructed the muslin and cut out the interlining, transferred all the sewing lines and marks to the interlining. Doesn't sound like a lot of work for 7 hours!!
Next step is to cut out my fashion fabric and hand baste the interlining and fashion fabrics together.
In the mean time... I have been playing with another project. This one is a fun top that I have had cutout for at least 2 years. I have NO idea why I cut a top out of this particular fabric... But I did. So, my challenge to myself was to finish the top in such a way to make it fashionable and fun to wear regardless of the base fabric. Pictures to come!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:,Lisle,United States
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