Happy 2021!!! and a recap of Holiday sewing

 Happy 2021!

I have arrived into 2021 feeling renewed and full of personal hope. I am so very glad to have sewing and creativity in my life, having this stability to fall back on has been a wonderful thing for me. A place where I can go to be happy and calm and express my creativity which helps to make me a better person overall.

My life has calmed down a bit since the end of 2020... Like many people "stuff" has been going on and the 2 big P's- Pandemic and Politics have not made anything easier. We sure are living through quite a bit of history. I truly hope that when we, as a collective, emerge from the other side, we are stronger and better!

I wanted to share a couple pictures of some Christmas Sewing that I did for 2020.

Since Christmas was being spent quite differently this year I decided to make special lounge outfits for my daughter, granddaughter, myslef and for Arya! We had a fun time taking silly pictures! All day was spent lounging in our coordinating outfits while we watched movies and played games and ate food on the couch!

The fabric is all from Natures Fabrics and are dyed with eco friendly dyes The pants and cardigans are made from the Cotton Velour which is so lovely to work with!! 80% cotton and 20% poly. Washes and sews lovely!! The T-shirt watercolor rainbow hearts fabric is also an eco friendly cotton jersey that is also so lovely!

All the pants were made from True Bias Hudson Pants pattern, with the cuffs and pocket detail in the knit tee fabric. The adult tank tops are from Cashmerette Saybrook Tank and the Cardigan is the Helen's Closet Blackwood Cardigan. The kids T-shirt is Misusu Pattern's Rowan Tee and the Cardigan is Ellie & Mac The Chapman Cardigan.

The doggy tee shirt and sweater are part rubb offed from an existing sweater and part self drafted.

 

And no worries anyone... we were at a complete halt on Lake Shore Drive for about 15 minutes when we took this!!

I also sewed fun pillowcases for my brother and his family in the Netherlands and then some dinosaur ones for my granddaughter.

Plus I did some hand crafting (great for those times when I really need to just rest) and made 2 birds. One for my Nephew and his wife who are expecting a baby girl at the end of April and one for my sister to enjoy. :)

I did do one large sewing related project to start off the year. I purged my fabric collection! This has been something I have been meaning to do and now just felt like the right time! We all have those fabrics in our collection or stash that just dont suit us. Either our tastes have changed or maybe it is a beautiful fabric that you would never wear or perhaps it was given to you or picked up in a swap or trade. I decided that I needed to get rid of those fabrics that my hands always pass over in favoor of something more appealing. SO I got rid of quite a bit! It was also easier to do since I was giving the fabric to a wonderful young woman who is starting her journey in fashion design. She is a person that really deserves all the good that the world can give her!

Happy Sewing!!

WIshing everyone peace, health and happiness as we navigate our way through another historic year!

Pulling out of the funk of 2020 and wishing for the best Holidays we can have!

 Wow, what a year!

I felt like I was doing so well with ALL the crap that 2020 brought to all of us and then apparently I crossed a line that broke the proverbial camels back! Adding personal issues on top of the global issues was just enough for me.

I made the decision to be a bit quiet on my blog about it as I don't like to use it as a bitch fest but to use it more as a record and celebration of my sewing and creativity.

CELEBRATION OF MY CREATIVITY!

I love how that sounds and I am slowly getting back to feeling that way. Sewing and creating is such an important part of my life and I have not stopped, I just felt a bit down and unmotivated and overwhelmed with 'stuff'. So, instead,  I have been doing some holiday sewing which has been fun and enjoyable and has helped me to hold my shit together. 

Whatever it takes right now to keep moving forward in the healthiest way possible. I think having grace with myself is so very important. Self care and self love is so important on a regular basis and even more important during these trying times.

I want to wish everyone, every single person across the world, a Happy Holidays and to remind us all that we are not alone, even though it may feel like it!

May your creativity fill you with joy and positive energy during the Holidays :)

 

Happy Sewing!

Stay Safe and Stay Healthy!

Stephanie

Fabric shopping at Liberty London and Amsterdam street markets! Happy 2018!

Happy 2018 everyone! 
I am starting off the new year with a blasted head cold that has me suffering through sinus headaches, using an endless supply of tissues and trying all the different cold remedies. The temperatures in Chicago are brutal right now so at least i'm not feeling bad about not getting fresh air. Wind chills of  -20 F have left me snuggled up in my place getting lots of rest.

I have also had the time to go through my holiday pictures and reminisce over my trip to Europe that I went on for the week and a half before Christmas. I had such a wonderful time!! I spent a couple days in London and then went on to the Netherlands to spend a week with my brother, sister-in-law and niece. 

As I look back at everything I did over those 11 days, I feel like it should have been too much! But, it really wasn't at all. I had some things I wanted to do and some things on the would like to do but not necessary and then plenty of unscheduled exploring time. I could write a blog post on each and every day! Since this blog is mostly about sewing I will share the sewing side of the trip :) 

I started in London for a couple of days. So most surprising thing about London: The Christmas lights and decorations!! London goes over the top and it was so awesome and so much fun and you just couldn't help but to smile and look around in wonder. They even have an entire webpage devoted to where and when you can see Christmas lights all over the City.

What else did I do in London:

• Had tea at The Grosvenor House (I also stayed here!)
• Walked and walked through and around Hyde Park
• Saw the Balenciaga and general fashion exhibits at the V&A Museum
• Went to the Opera: Power, Passion and Politics exhibit at the V&A
• Attended the British Library Harry Potter- A History of Magic exhibit
• Shopping at Liberty London!!! SO delightful!
• More walking all over the place!

Balenciaga exhibit at the V&A was very well done despite, what I thought, was a relatively small sampling of his creations. It was well curated cross section of his design career and was done very interestingly. It was broken into 2 parts. The downstairs was all his work and then the upper level was all designers that were inspired by him and some that also had similar work. A very wide range of garments as well as 2 video large and loud video screens with looping interviews with new and current fashion designers as to how Balenciaga has inspired them. It was interesting and had some lovely creations but really felt more like they needed some filler to provide more for the price of the admission.

One of my favorite parts of the Balenciaga exhibit were these displays that had a dress (on right) on a rotating stand so you could see all of it! The muslin of the dress on the left, sketches of the garment and sometimes fabric swatches in the display. An x-ray of the dress in full size and on the video screen to the right was a ~2min movie that showed the construction of the dress. There were 3 or 4 of these displays.

This display was of some of the more over the top dresses. The pink one on the wall and the ombre one were all hand beaded by Maison Lesage. The embroidered gown on the left was embroidered after the pieces were cut. This kept the embroidery out of the seam allowances and made things match perfectly across the dress. sublime!

This was a display of some of the day dresses for his clients! Imagine wearing such beauty on a regular basis! The case was lined with mirrors so you could see the backs of the dresses as well.

Another highlight of my trip- Liberty of London!

I arrived in London and to my hotel by early afternoon. A nap, a shower and then I was off to the Liberty shop :) It was the only actual shopping that I did in London other than books from the exhibits that I attended. I spent almost 2 hours in the shop. It was very cool, eclectic and unlike any shop that I have ever been in. Each area was so different and the building itself was so charming. 

Of course I made a beeline for the fabric area! Ohhhhhh so many tana lawns!!!! and the rolls of silks and velvets. I could have just spent all day in there! They did a very nice job of organizing. The center of the floor was open to below so you could see up and down and the outer perimeter of that room was lined with all the garment fabrics. They were organized by special collections, newest releases, childrens prints, older collections and some of there ongoing collections. As you can imagine... I had a hard time not buying everything!!

The photo on the left is off a little alcove on the first floor where they have little gifts and such and these wonderful deer in the fireplace and mounted on the wall that are made with different liberty print fabrics. On the right upper is the notions and quilting fabric room and also houses the collection of buttons. In effort to not lose my mind or ALL of my money I stayed away from the button wall!

Left is the corner entrance and on the right are a shot of the home dec room which was delightful in its own right! adn the view from the upper balcony looking down. There was so much more to the store! Jewelry, clothing, rugs, home dec, live plants, kitchen, bath and lighting. It was a treat :)

The top picture is of the Tana Lawns: Starting top left going clockwise- Liesl from the Alpine Symphony seasonal collection, 2 Winter Florals (pink and smaller piece for contrast in yellow) from the Garden of Temptaion collection and then a piece for the Princess, 

Que for the Zoo from the main Liberty collection.

Below are 2 silks that I could not pass up! 

On the left is Tresco in a silk Satin and on the right is Turtle Thief.

After London I headed over to The Netherlands to spend time with my younger brother, Willie, and his wife, Lide, and their daughter, Roxie.

This too, was an amazing time! We had so much fun together and it was relaxing and I loved just getting to see and experience where my brother and his family live. Some things very similar and some things very different!

Netherlands trip included:

• exploring Utrecht city, trying to climb the Dom Tower built in the 1300's and only making it to the bells!
• Going under Utrecht and seeing an archaeological dig that showed evidence of the ancient roman walls from over 2000 years ago and all the periods between then and now.
• Exploring a floating Christmas Market in the city of Leiden.
• Exploring multiple outdoor markets in Utrecht and Amsterdam.
• they sell everything in markets! flowers, clothes, fish, bread, meats, fabric, leather goods and more.
• Enjoying a lovely tea made from fresh mint, shaved ginger and a lemon slice all served in a clear glass.
• Taking the wrong train
• riding a boat in the canals
• visiting the Anne Frank House 
• navigating and not getting run down by bicycles and vespa scooters!
• buying buttons
• buying fabric
• Spending hours in the Van Gogh museum
• Cookie baking and decorating party!

Fabric fun in Netherlands included: the Noodermarkt, The Albert Cuyp market and a couple small shops in Utrecht. 

My brother and I headed to the Noodermarkt in Amsterdam that is held every Saturday and Monday. The part that we went through reminded me very much of flea markets found here in the US. Lots of used books, clothes and stuff. I found some great vintage buttons and I bought myself some lovely thick double knits that you can see in the photo below

I also found a great button and notions shop in Utrecht (okay so my SIL showed me this shop... I'm just excited that I found my way back to it on my own!) These buttons are so cool and colorful and the best thing they are NOT plastic. they are shell that has been printed on.Very cool!

I had a free day to myself in Amsterdam and had a list of places to go to. I only made it to half the list! The Albert Cuyp market and the Van Gogh museum. I had several other fabric shops in another part of the city on the list but those will have to wait for the next trip! Probably a good thing since my suitcase was quite full from the purchases I already made! LOL! 

The Albert Cuyp market  was quite large, entertaining and had quite a few fabric shops/vendors as well as many other vendors! It was interesting as some of the vendor stalls were walk throughs to get into the shop associated with it and some were strictly tent vendors. Most of the fabric vendors also had shops and did a good job of showcasing sales or specials in the tent which enticed you to go inside! Of course my very favorite fabric shop in the market, Nanucci Tessuti, I did not get any pictures of because I was too busy trying not to drool on the amazing fabrics! 

Several of the shops along the way. Lots of fun and colorful fabrics to admire.
In the photo below you can see a lovely array of special fabrics for possibly mid-eastern and Indian weddings and special occasions. Sort of reminded me of US Prom fabric displays!

This shop, N&N Stoffen had a large assortment of beautiful cotton/lycra dutch prints. Many of which I have seen on Emmaonesock and other online US retailers. From here I kept my purchases at a minimum of 2 cuts because I knew this was all my suitcase could hold!
The first is a panel print that has a large image of the hot air ballons with the animals and is big enough to easily make a cute knit dress for the princess and on the right is this amazing skull print! I have been on the search for a good skull print for quite a while and this one is perfect.

Once you are tired from your shopping you can go from the notions store to the flower and plant shop and then right too the fresh fish and seafood vendors! 

SO in a nutshell... that was my fun and happy trip to Europe for the holidays!

Happy sewing in 2018!

The Princess playing tea with her stuffed animals and baby doll!

Appleton wrap dress hacks!

Just before the Christmas holidays I made 3 more Cashmerette Appleton wrap dresses. Two for myself and one for my daughter.

Since this was the first one I've made for my daughter I used the pattern as is. I let her pick a fabric from my knit collection and she choose this soft cotton/lycra animal print. Not much else to say about this! She looks great and feels comfortable so that's what counts.

Melissa showing off her animal print Appleton.

For the two dresses that I made for myself I did change up the pattern to introduce some variety to my closet.

Dress one: I changed the skirt on this one to be a full skirt. In order to achieve this I traced off my pattern and then from the waist line and below I made vertical cuts from the hem line to the waist and spread these out. I employed a basic slash and spread techniques keeping CF and CB on grain. I kept in mind the width of my fabric because I wanted to be able to cut the CB on the fold and keep CF from having to be cut single layer. This also kept me from going with a skirt that was too full. The only consideration that you need to keep in mind is the overlap portion on the front skirt. If you take that out in too far of an angle your fabric may want to fold back on itself. I know this from experience! I ended up having to change the skirt portion of the overlap just slightly. I took 2 inches off the width at the hem and angled it to nothing up at the waist area. It was just enough to keep the overlap hanging straight. I really love this slightly fuller skirt. It makes the dress a little more frilly and feminine.

Yay  for a twirly dress! Photobombed by Blue. Poor baby is so lonely after losing her 2 best friends in the space of 10 months. Now she is VERY interested in everything I am doing!

Dress two: I wanted this dress to be a party dress. Something for the holidays that was a bit more dressier than my normal Appletons. I thought about lengthening it into a maxi dress but when I held the fabric up in front of me on the mirror it just seemed to swallow me up! So I left the length alone and ended up lengthening the sleeves. I added enough so that they would be long sleeves and then an additional 8 inches so that I could ruch the bottom portion. I loved it. It gave it just enough something different and special in this party fabric. Which by the way is a burnout stretch velvet so it is sort of see through depending on the lighting. I decided against lining and wore it with a black camisole and tights. This is a winter dress so the likelihood of it ever seeing daylight is next to nil. So, I think i'm okay with it!

This stretch burnout velvet is very shiny!

Detail of the ruching on the sleeves. I think this fabric just lends itself to this detail.

Here I am in my new dress at a Christmas get together! Man, you just have to love that suit!

Since I have lost so much weight since I made the first trio of Appletons I think I may still need to add one or two more to my current wardrobe. I did end up altering one of my existing dresses. My favorite of the 3, the gray lightning dress, it lent itself to being easily altered due to the type of knit and the random pattern if the knit. The other 2 have made their way to the goodwill bin. To take in some of the fullness I decided to take it in at the center back. I literally laid the dress out, found CB, folded it on CB and then pinned it about 3 inches away and hit the serger running! I took off about 31/2 to 4 inches from CB. I serged right through the hem and right through the neck band leaving long enough tails at each end so I could bury them in the seam.

Happy Sewing!!

LOL!!!! I had to add these photos! I looked entirely pissed off... I was home alone. I wonder what I was thinking about? That Face!!

Hudson Pants Galore!

Time for a couple of catch-up posts from the end of 2016. The holidays always seem to get ahead of me and somehow make my time just disappear into thin air!

My little family all together in our Hudson pants PJ's!

I had mentioned that one of the projects that I did was to sew up 7 pairs of True Bias Hudson Pants. They were a perfect style of lounge/PJ pants that I wanted to make up for the family that was getting together for Christmas. If all had gone as planned we would have all been wearing our wonderful checked hudson pants as we opened stocking and gifts Christmas morning!

"Better late than never" read the note that I included with the Hudson pants that were mailed AFTER Christmas to my parents!

Getting everyone to smile and look at the camera at the same time was the hardest part! Blue was so curious as to what we were doing!! 

I choose the True Bias Hudson Pants for several reasons.

• The come in womens, mens and mini sizes. So we could all match.
• The style was what I was looking for. Cuffs, pockets, shaped legs, something more that just a straight leg baggy PJ pant.
• I could have them printed at a copy shop. I detest PDF patterns that have to be taped together. I won't purchase them unless they have a copy shop option.

My experience with purchasing, getting the patterns printed and sewing these pants was an overall positive one! For $18 the local UPS shop right down the block from me printed up 2 copies of the woman's, 2 copies of the men's and 1 copy of the mini's. SO for a total of $46 I had the three patterns and multiple copies. Seeing that this was for Christmas gifts for 7 people I was more than good with that price!

The harder part was picking out fabric for everyone. My first choice was some ridiculously nice knit that went for $19.99 a yard. which would have come to just about $400 with shipping. HECK NO. Not for a pattern that I have never made and not knowing how the fit was going to be and if everyone would like the styling.

The adult pants. Each couple received a different colorway and all contrast fabric was in black knit.

 I choose to go with the buffalo check knits in cotton/spandex and came in several colorways from Girl Charlee fabrics. This came to a much more reasonable price of just under $180 with shipping.There are definite differences when you pay $7.99 for a yard of fabric versus $19.99. I was worried about the quality of the knit. It was perfect for what I wanted! A lightweight cotton knit that you could wear to bed and not get hot or wear around the house and be comfy. It washed and dried beautifully.

Princess Victoria got a color all of her own! I took the photo on my work table so you can see how small these are!These may have been the most technical to put together due to the small size. But, man oh man they are ADORABLE!!

 However, the print was off grain on all the pieces. Some way more than others, I was expecting this because you just don't get the same quality at that price. However, for the pants it hardly matters at all.I made sure to cut everything with the knit on grain and just ignore any pattern matching of the print. This worked great, only if you really study the pants do you start to notice it. However, in the top that I made for myself it is quite noticeable.

Here I am modeling my Hudson pants and Jen Stern The Tee. You can really see how off grain the print is on the gray portion of the top. It is not quite as noticeable on the pants but if you look hard enough you can see it. Like one of those 'magic' posters from the 80's!

The actual patterns are drafted quite well and I had no problem in construction. I made some slight adjustments for differences in height among us and of course the difference in sizes. I also changed the waistband a little bit. SInce these were for PJ's I did not see any reason for putting in the drawstring. Especially since whenever a drawstring comes undone I find them left on my to-do pile to get them restrung! So , no drawstrings on these. I also simplified the entire putting on of the waistband because I was making 7 pairs. I cut out the elastic to the size needed. Butted the ends and zigzagged with a scrap underneath for a flat join. I then marked the quarter marks on the elastic and on the waistband. sandwiched the elastic into the folded over waistband and serged it all on at once! I then did a vertical set of stitches across the waistband at CF, CB and each side seam to hold the elastic in place so it would not turn on itself. This way worked out quite well for me. It is not the easiest way to put in an elastic waistband but it is quick and looks quite good!

Love the details in this pattern!

I really like the pocket details and made my pocket binding, waistband and cuffs in a solid black for contrast. On my own pair I will make some slight adjustments to the pattern. Add to the rise in the front and back. the elastic wants t sit at my waist and is comfortable there but when you look at the pictures you can see that this is causing the fabric to pull in the front and back. Fine for PJ's because I don't even feel it with this light cotton spandex. However if I was to make a pair for outdoor or public use or in a thicker knit I will need to tweak the fit just a bit.

This past weekend my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were over. I declared that Sunday morning was going to be Hudson pant PJ morning and that after breakfast we would be taking a group picture! Everyone said they are comfortable and feel good. My husband will probable wear his once a year, he just does not wear knit pants, sweat pants or anything of that kind. The rest if us will get good use.

Silly family!!

Hopefully my parents are enjoying their pants as well! They got the red buffalo check versions.

Happy Sewing!

Farewell 2016!

I always love the holidays! Lots of time with family and friends, pretty Christmas lights and decorations, time off from work, a bunch of birthdays, my Son-in-law, my husband, one of my brothers and mine and if lucky, we get the first snowfalls of the year. I enjoy buying and making gifts for my family and friends and I always look forward to see what goodies I will get. :)

My sister, Jennifer and I in front of the
 Art Institute of Chicago.

Myself, My sister, Jennifer, and my daughter, Melissa. 

                                                    

 I won't bore you with all the nitty gritty details of my holidays but, I do want to share with you the sewing related gifts that I received. 

Designer books: (I've linked to amazon on each of the book titles)

Manus x Machina

This book is amazingly cool! I was unable to get to  NYC to see the exhibit so the book was a welcome gift and addition to my library. They did a wonderful job with the photography as well as with some very cool printed illustrated pages. SOme of these illustration are silver printed and some are printed on silver pages. My copy also included a separate booklet of interviews from some of the designers.

Dior Impressions

This is a wistfully wonderful book. Dior does some of the most feminine and beautiful designs. It really shows how some of the works of Dior relate to the impressionist movement. Photos of beautiful artworks from the impressionists era are compared alongside amazing Dior dresses. A great book for both an art and fashion lover! 

Issey Miyake

This is one giant book! This book has over 500 pages and is 12x12. I have always had a fascination with Issey Miyake's creations. The way he has bravely gone to places that other designers don't dare and that he has been successful for so many years really makes him and his work interesting to me. His work is not my personal taste but it is always interesting and sometimes makes me wonder and want to ask why. Maybe someday I'll venture into trying out some of his designs.

I also received several pieces of fabric. Happy dance! 

My sister, Jennifer, braved the fabric store and found me this beautiful length of a taupe mesh with this delicate sequined design. It is light, airy and sublime! I am envisioning a lovely over tunic or dress/skirt layer for this fabric.

My wonderful friend, Wendy of Couture Counsellor gifted me these lovely lengths if fabric that she had printed from spoonflower. They are based off of  The Woman In Gold painting done by Gustav Klimt. The painting is beautiful and the story of it is even more beautiful. I can't wait to see what my imagination comes up with for this pair of fabrics.

Wendy and I at the Field Museum for my Birthday.

I did some sewing for the holidays. Not as much as I wanted but my health issues were still being worked out, lots of rest time and time finding the best mix of medications was needed for me. 

I made my granddaughter, Princess Victoria, a holiday dress to wear for Christmas. This is a BUrda Kids pattern. It was my first time using a Burda pattern and It came out great! She was happy to wear her pretty and comfortable new dress.

I also had grand plans of making PJ's for everyone for Christmas morning... then I though I'll just make the PJ bottoms and buytops... and then it went to just making the PJ bottoms. I almost had them done... so close, I just needed a couple more hours before we were to get in the care and make our 12 hour journey to my mom and dad's place. Buggers! Well, those darn PJ bottom are all done now :) Better late than never. I will just have to photoshop a picture together of all 7 of us in our respective Hudson pants PJ bottoms. I can say that this pattern by True Bias is very well drafted, excellent directions and a modern updated styling.

Princess Victoria was the first to get her new PJ pants, the Mini Hudson Pants.
They are quite adorable and she loves the pockets!!

Each couple has a specific color. My daughter and son-in-law have the grey check knit. My parents have the red check knit and my husband and I have the purple check knit. All of them have black knit for the waistband, ankle cuffs and pocket detail.
I left out the drawstring. I figure for PJ pants it wasn't needed.

I did also manage to squeeze in 3 new Appleton dresses. 2 for me and 1 for my daughter. We all needed some new clothes for the holidays :) More on those at a latter date!

I'd like to say that 2016 was good for me... it was not one of my better years. However, I'm here, I'm kicking and I have the most amazing friends and family. So very much that I am thankful for and appreciative of. Here's to making the best out of 2017!