The Liebster Award!!

I was nominated for the Liebster blog award! How FUN!!

It sure is nice to know that some other people are reading my blog :) I was nominated by Annette from Mrs Toad Sews. Thanks Annette!!

Some may not know what the Liebster Blog Award is. It is an award given to small bloggers by another small blog who has been nominated. It is then to be given to others. It is to raise awareness of small blog of 200 or less. I consider it to be an honor.

So this award is given to new bloggers/ small bloggers and the rules are as follows:

• You thank the person who gave you the award
• Then link back to that person’s blog
• Copy and paste the Liebster award to your own profile
• Answer the 5 question your nominator asked
• Pick 5 blogs who you feel deserve to be noticed (they have to have under 200 followers)
• Ask them 5 questions
• Then finally blog it and leave a comment to let your 5 choices know they have been chosen.

What a super fun way to get know our fellow bloggers! There is such a great community of sewing bloggers out there on the blogosphere and I so enjoy both big and small blogs. There are so many ideas to share and sometimes its just nice to know that we aren't alone in our sewing passion :)

So a great big THANK YOU to Annette!! You are Awesome!

The five questions given to me were:

1. How did I get into sewing? Both of my grandmothers sewed. My mothers mom sewed for a living, she worked for a furrier in NYC and sewed custom fur coats. I inherited her old tools, there are special combs and things to be used when sewing on fur. My fathers mom also sewed quite a bit! when she passed away I inherited her old sewing machine, her stash and supplies. It was the loveliest thing to me to be given these sewing items. They really made me feel connected to my family, like sewing is in my genes! My mother also sews, many of the old pics of me and my siblings are in outfits that she sewed for us. She still sews to this day and I wish we lived closer together so we could have sewing dates. As you can imagine sewing just came to me, it is in my blood!

2. What types of sewing do I enjoy? Hands down, My favorite is garment sewing and machine embroidery. I do also dabble in some quilting and accessories and even once I awhile home dec. And when time permits in busy schedule I day dream about art quilting!

3. What do I do when I am not sewing or blogging? well, I must work to support my sewing habit! (LOL!!) I work full time as a technical sales specialist for a radiation oncology company. This keeps me busy and I travel quite a bit for work. On the home front, my hubby and I love to ballroom dance, have a big veggie garden, several dogs and soon a granddaughter. Life is full and lovely! I used to be very into horses, riding and competing but I broke my leg very badly in a riding accident 4 years ago and all of that went away. Sewing really helped for me to heal my soul from that traumatic incident.

4. Do my real life friends know about my blog? Some of them do, some don't and some probably don't care! I feel weird telling some of them about the blog unless they are sewers/crafters or take a special interest. Otherwise I can feel like I'm jumping up and down going "hey, hey, check out what I can do!!' and that just isn't really me.

5. Why do I blog? I started blogging so I could keep a record for myself and share with those that are interested. I continue to blog because I love the feeling of community that it brings to me.

OK, now for the hard part! Picking 5 blogs that I feel deserve the award. I follow TONS of blogs on bloglovin so this part is going to be difficult. These are in no particular order :)

1. Nan from Retired in Alaska

2. Ann from Everything Sewing

3. Tanya from Mrs Hughes

4. Martha from Now Sewing

5. Sarah from Musings of a seamstress

My five questions for these lovely ladies are:

1. How do you photograph for your blogs? point and shoot, DSLR, selfies, etc...

2. What is your most favorite part of the garment sewing process?

3. What is your least favorite part of the garment sewing process?

4. Do you sew for others and if so, do you enjoy it?

5. Other than sewing, what other hobbies do you enjoy?



Now pass on the Liebster award!

Summer Concert Tee from DixieDIY

I have been searching for a nice loose fitting, cool pattern for tops to use with my thin ITY knits. I love a nice ITY knit! However, I can't use them for anything close fitting because they show every detail of what is underneath. And when you don't have a smooth body underneath an ITY knit can show that to everyone!!!

I don't want to see that and I'm darn sure you don't want to see that either!!! So for more fitted tee shirts I will use medium weight knits.

So, on my quest to find a looser fitting top pattern I came across the Summer Concert Tee from DixieDIY. As I was googling to see what others have said about this pattern up popped the Perfect Pattern Parcel #1. If you have not heard about Perfect Pattern parcel then you must check it out!!! parcel number 2 comes out in 8 days. Parcel number 1 included 5 patterns including the lady Skater Dress, dandelion dress and top, the summer concert tee, a cute little purse and one other top/dress that for the life of me I can not remember the name!!! But I want to make! 

The cool part about this is that you get to name your own price. You pick the price and how much goes to the designers, how much goes to perfect pattern parcel and how much goes to charity. Very Cool!!! A great way to try out 5 indie pattern designers and give back at the same time :) gotta like that!!

Anyway, back to my Summer Concert Tee's. The pictures are taken indoor on the dress form because it was SNOWING here yesterday and if I don't blog about these soon they will never get blogged!!!

I made 2 of them. I really like how they fit nice though the shoulders, upper chest and bust and then fall gracefully from there! The design ease in this top is going to be wonderful when it is hot and yucky out and will look super cut with a pair of skinny capris or Bermuda shorts.

The first with no adjustments cut out on the XL size and fit great except that, as described, it is a crop top in front and I'm not showing my belly..... No discussions, just not going to do it. However, what I can and will do is wear a tank top underneath. Because it was already so cropped, I just did a rolled hem for the hem and then just did the same for the sleeves. 

The second one is color blocked and made out of a very thin/light cotton jersey that is so soft against the skin. But again a fabric that shows every lump and roll through it.... Got the picture? So PERECT for this loose fitting summer tee. This time I lengthened the front by 3 inches and just redrew the back side seam to the same length. Didn't actually have to lengthen the back because it is already quite long. I also changed the sleeve into a band instead. Made construction much easier and the length of the sleeve was better for me. This is going to be a lovely shirt to wear when it is 100plus degrees in Chicago with massive humidity. It's coming, the weather gurus are already warning us that the summer is going to be brutal... Yet it is STILL snowing here.

The neckline looks wonky in this picture but it really isn't. Must have been how it was hanging on the dress form and sticking to the cover.

These were a super fun and quick project! The pattern was delivered via PDF and was quick to tape together. And since I did not need to make any changes other than length I did not even trace. Just used my taped together printer paper as my main pattern. The fabrics were all from my stash and it has made me happy to use some of those lovely ITY and lightweight knits for something nice for me.

Next up on my work table is another pair of jeans. pair number 3! I made some changes to the pattern after wearing my first 2 pairs and can't wait to see how these turn out. :)

I'm off the next 2 days to go the original Sewing and Quilt expo in Schaumburg. I have ,signed up for a bunch of hands on classes. Mostly garment sewing... But I did sneak in one quilting class with Nelly Vikelas. I REALY enjoy her classes! 

See...no pics outside!

A new Megan Nielsen maternity/nursing shirt for my daughter

OI wanted to make another maternity shirt for my daughter. This one is also form Megan Nielsen but is a different style than the last ones I made her. This is the Perfect maternity and nursing top.

This top is a match for the blue skirt with flower appliqués that I made her. It also goes great with jeans and leggings! For this shirt I made a size medium for the bust and tapered to a large at the hemline. I also lengthened the sleeves to 3/4 length. I think it looks almost perfect on her! Next version just needs a sway back adjustment which will be easy to accomplish with that back waist seam. 

I did have to make a second version of the blue inset. It is sort of shaped like a funky Y. With a bit attaching to the shoulder seams and a bit attaching to the upper side seams. Let's the wearers pull open the top to expose the boob for breast feeding. The first one I made I was complelty not thinking and tried finishing the edges without any stabilization and boy oh boy that was a disaster! That light blue rib not just rippled and stretched so far out of shape that all I could do was throw it away and cut out another one!

Other than the sway back adjustment, the fit is perfect with this shirt. I was quite pleased with the outcome..

She has asked me to make a couple dresses for her. So with this top on, I measured to just below the knee at the side seam and the center front so I could determine how much fabric I would need. 

I picked up these pretty grey floral see-through mesh knit and grey lining for a dress for her baby shower. 

It sure has been fun sewing up maternity clothes for my daughter! I can't wait to meet my granddaughter :) 

Here she is at just about 29 weeks, checking out her baby belly in the mirror :) 

Happy Sewing!!