A new outfit

I finished another shirt, this one made from a very lightweight slinky knit that has a printed pattern of purses all over it. It is fun and looks quite cute with the black knit pair of yoga pants I made.The pants still need to be hemmed but I figured I would wait until I had the denim capri's finished and hem them at the same time.

Simplicity 2690 view C, This is the 3rd or 4th variation of this pattern I have made.

 

up close of a twin needle stitching detail

Silhouettes by Peggy Sagers: Three Piece Yoga Pants #3400 These still need to be hemmed.

Denim capri pants cut out and ready to be assembled.

On another note: the mauve slinky shirt in the previous post worked great when worn with a suit. I tucked it into a pair of black dress slacks with a suit jacket and was super pleased with the result! Next time I will try and get a picture. I wore it in to a meeting in Danville, PA on Thursday.

Hopefully I will get the capri's done this weekend otherwise they will have to wait another week or so.

Slinky Shirt

Well it has been one busy, busy week. The weather finally decided to brighten up and I have been spending lots of time out in the garden.

All of the annual flowers are potted, the hanging baskets are done, the herbs have been planted and the veggie garden is on it's way to bountiful summer season.

The backyard is looking great and is almost all cleaned up. Rick and I have been eating dinner out on the deck almost every evening that it is not raining and it has been so nice.

The front yard and the side yard are still giant disasters... but, one thing at a time!

In the mean time I have not had much time in the sewing room, 30 minutes here, 15 minutes there. Tonight I have the time but not the energy, physical therapy kicked my butt today. 

Anyway.. I dig get time last week to finish my slinky top and managed to get a couple pics of it on me. They are not the best pictures! Just me holding the little Sony point and shoot camera and taking the picture into the mirror.

I have a couple projects lined up. Another knit top that is cut out and ready to be assembled, a light cotton top fabric and pattern to be cut out and a kitchen decor project that needs to be done.

My wonderful serger and a busy week

Last post I was cursing my darn serger. I was convinced that after having it for 15plus years that it was going to be dead.

NOPE! The repair man had it ready for me the very next day! They never even called with an estimate because when just trying to get it running to give me an estimate he had it fixed. After a grand total of $38 and the timing adjusted on the lower looper it was back home.

The repair guy just looked at me and said he loves my serger and that they sure don't make them like they used to! I have been taking my serger to the same guy for about 12 years now and he always comments on how nice it is.

The unfortunate part is that I have been so darn busy to do much more than set it back up and give it a test drive.

Tuesday night we went to a Rammstein concert. Not the typical music genre that I am into, Industrial Metal. However this was one show that I will never forget probably the best concert that I have ever been to and all in German.

Wednesday and Thursday I was in Ohio for work.

Friday I worked from home, rode my horse and got a new tattoo at a tattoo expo.

Saturday I rode my horse again and had a dinner party

Today, Sunday, went to my future son-in laws graduation 2 1/2 hours each way at the University of Illinois.

Hoping to steal a lunch hour or 2 tomorrow and get back in my sewing room and work on my shirts!

New projects and that @%$#** serger!

I was able to get into my sewing room for a good block of time this week.

I had Thursday and Friday off from work and since my leg is 'on rest' from the barn I decided to spend half my time off in the sewing room and the other half outside getting the pots ready for spring planting.

I decided to pull a couple knits from my stash and sew up some new tops. I am in desperate need of some nice business casual wear that can double up with a good pair of jeans. Using knits lets me pack things better for work travel too.

cowl neck line, flutter sleeves with a gusset side.
I sewed clear elastic at the shoulders and in the sides for support of the seams. This slinky is pretty heavy .
It is very flattering on!



flutter sleeves



sleeve flutter folded back to see side gusset

I cut out both tops and got started on the first. I had to sew one and then the other because I needed to change the serger threads between the two. Well somewhere about part way with the first the serger started acting up. It happened about the time I tried to switch over to a rolled hem. That obviously was not working out, so I switched back to a regular stitch and after about re threading the upper looper about 20 times decided that enough was enough. Something is definitely hinky with the tension disc of the upper looper.

I hate running into issues when I am on such a good roll! That darn serger had me so frustrated that I wanted to kick it and cry at the same time! The darn thing is at the shop now... hopefully it is only a minor problem and that it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to get fixed. They are supposed to call with an estimate in a couple of days.

The first top is done except for the hem. I will wait for the serger to be returned before moving forward with the finish. I don't mind too much because the top is a nice weight slinky and it will be good for it to rest and hang out for a bit before I actually hem it.

The second top is a lighter weight slinky knit and I will just wait for the serger to come back to do that project as well.

In the meantime, I whipped up an e-reader cover for my e-reader. Or as I affectionately call it, My Book. It came with a bulky zipper cover that I find too big for my travel and have just been sliding the naked book into my purse. Probably not a good thing to do to it. So I used from stash fabric and made a cover. The outer fabric has a heavy weight interfacing and a layer of fusible batting. The lining did have interfacing at first but I re cut it without because I thought it made it a little too bulky.

I made a flap to close it with a simple piece of sew in Velcro. Super cute, somewhat easy to make and now my book is protected.

E-reader cover

 nice snug fit with a bit of protection without being too bulky

I say somewhat easy to make because I decided to do a bag lining which required me to sew around the top and I found out that my new sewing machine has a big free arm. Certainly would not be able to sew a child's sleeve hem or cuff with it! Well, never to worry! I pulled the dust jacket off my trusty old Necchi and got the job done :)