Sunday Sevens 09-27-15

Tags

bags, Kennewick, SCRAP Tri-Cities, sewing, Sunday Sevens, Washington, Zintel Canyon Park

Busy week here, but I wasn’t as great as I could have been at taking pictures of what I was doing, unfortunately.

I made a couple of little fabric bins, one for thread and one for pin cushions and my bobbin box (tutorial here).  I used some of my Mary Engelbreit sewing-themed fabric from SCRAP Tri-Cities.

These should have been quicker and easier than they were, but I had to piece my fabrics to get them big enough for the bins and then the heavyweight craft interfacing I used turned out to be a real pain to work with.  (For example, no matter how I pressed it, I only managed to get it to fuse to my press cloth, never the actual fabric.)  I think I would have been better off using a lighter interfacing and applying it to both the fabric and the lining.

I’ll have to see if I have enough fabric for one more of these, as I could use another for all my purse hardware.  They were a hassle to make, but I do love them and they’re such an improvement over the old shoe box I was using before.

I took a walk with my mother this week to Zintel Canyon Park in Kennewick.  Normally we take the paved trail, but this time it was under water, so we took the rougher trail.  Much more photogenic.

On Saturday, my partner and his buddies did a 200k bike ride, then everybody came back to our house for a potluck dinner.  I’ve been to WAY too many potlucks with 12 plates of cookies and no main dishes, so to avoid that I made carnitas and some appetizers, and we asked folks to bring sides and desserts.

This is quite the carnivorous crowd, though, so we wound up with ONE container of cookies, THREE meaty main dishes, AND a meaty appetizer.  We had a great time, though, and all ate well.  Pooh even decided at one point that he’s no longer shy around people; he strolled out to the living room and plopped down on his back for tummy rubs and general admiration (that all ended when somebody picked him up, though–NOPE, he wasn’t having that).

And I was so busy being the host that I forgot to take any pictures of the evening.  😦

Here’s a picture of the aftermath, though, and all the leftovers I’m going to be eating this week.  I think the pork might make an appearance in chimichangas in a few days, and the leftover corn tortillas will have to go into chilaquiles at some point . . . .

I’ve also been working on my shark pencil / glasses case.  The zipper could use some work . . . I think I’ll set this aside until tomorrow, then tackle it again.  The instructions on the zipper installation are less than great.

The plan for next week is to start work on my honey’s birthday present.  I’ve been putting a plan together in my head for what I want to do and I’ve got my supplies and a month to make it.  He’ll be in Oregon next weekend for another cycling event, so a lot of progress might be made then.

I’m so glad that he has a hobby that keeps him moving and gets him together with all these great people.  But I do sometimes wish he was super passionate about, say, knitting, and we could sit together and work on our projects rather than him being off on his bike for 12 hours at a time.  Sigh.

Anyway, have a great week everybody.

STH

Sunday Sevens 09-20-15 (and a question)

Tags

bags, Columbia River, CozyAfternoonQuilt, Kennewick, quilting, sewing, Sunday Sevens, Washington

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series in which we show some pictures from our week and gab about what we’ve been up to.  See Natalie at Threads and Bobbins for more info, and please feel free to join us–every week or once in a while.

Not the most productive week here, I’m afraid, so not much to tell.  My honey has been down all week with a nasty cold and I’ve had worse-than-usual fall allergies, so there’s been Netflix-bingeing and junk food and orange juice consumption and not much else.

I did manage to get my final Cozy Afternoon block done this week, though (while I was having angst and procrastinating on sewing the Laurel).  Which I was excited about, until I realized that means I don’t get to do any more of them.  😦

BTW, if you’d still like to sign up and get the blocks, you can–go here.  There’s a Sew Along Day next Saturday for catching up on them.

Here they all are together, laid out on the fabric that’s going to become the setting triangles, backing, and binding.

The box of tomatoes got chopped up and joined the beans, chicken stock, and pesto in the freezer.  All ready for fall chili, soups, and pasta!

My mother and I took a walk on Thursday along the Columbia.

Look–fall color!

And now here’s my question to you:  since I finished the Laurel dress, I’m wondering what I should do next.  My dilemma is that I’m really fixated on this shark pencil case, but I have no actual need for a pencil case.  I need ideas for other uses that I can put this to.

Or maybe I should just get over it and make the thing already?  In purple.  🙂

Anyway, have a great week everybody and WASH YOUR HANDS.

STH

(I’ve linked up my quilt blocks on WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.)

Laurel Dress (a.k.a. OMG SECRET PJS)

Tags

clothing, Greenstyle Laurel, sewing, swears

Sometimes your relationship with a sewing project is simple and easy:

Great idea!  —  Smooth execution!  —  Lovely result!

And sometimes it gets a little more complicated:

Possibly great idea + risk + worry  —  Massive fustercluck!  —  Kinda love, kinda not

This is the latter kind of project.

I loved the idea of a Greenstyle Laurel dress in some sort of weighty knit; I mean, a dress like that with leggings underneath is maximum cozy for fall, right?  But I haven’t sewn much with knits and don’t feel super-confident about doing so.  Plus I haven’t made a Greenstyle pattern before, so I don’t how they fit, and reviews online are not very enlightening on that issue.

So I decided to make a muslin using this tee shirt knit that my mother gave me.  The whole “huge florid swirly cabbage rose print” thing is so very much my mother and so very much NOT me, but it’s a nice quality knit and I thought I might get some wear out of it.

First big problem:  not enough fabric.  The pattern is vague on this, but says you may need up to 3 yards depending on what options you choose.  I had 2 1/2, but probably needed 3 1/2.  After MUCH angst, I decided to be cautious and cut a 2XL, even though my measurements would suggest an XL (and I chose the long torso option).  I also added 3″ to the length of the skirt, a pretty unusual circumstance for stubby little me.  Is that why I was so short on fabric?  I don’t know, but I didn’t have enough to cut the front OR back bodice on the fold, I didn’t have enough for the full cowl, and I had to cut the sleeves crosswise.  And then I discovered that the fabric has such a huge repeat–and I had so little left of it–that pattern matching of the bodice was not anywhere near possible.  OH JOY.

There were several points at which the only thing that kept me working on this project was the thought this was a muslin, and this was the first of those points.

So I took a few days’ break from the dress, then came back and started sewing, using the sewing order from the CSC review of the pattern (LOVE inserting sleeves before sewing side seams!)  I hadn’t realized I was out of ballpoint needles, though, so I had all kinds of problems with skipped stitches, broken thread, thread nests, you name it.  Of course I should have stopped right there and gone out and bought a ballpoint needle, and of course I did not.  Sigh.

But I finally got it all together and tried it on.

AAAAAHHHH.

SECRET PAJAMAS.

SO.  MUCH.  WIN.

I thought I was going to have to hem this by hand, but I finally got lucky–it felt way overdue!–and found a “reinforced straight stitch” option on my sewing machine that actually worked on the knit without any drama.

Then, just because I like the contrast of leggings with lace, I slip stitched some lace to the hem.

I wound up using this mauve-y thread because my sewing machine decided it hated my black thread.

And then, because I wanted to do SOMETHING to that front bodice seam to make it look more intentional and less half-assed, I added some buttons.

Boy, they’re hard to see here, but all three are on there.

So, final verdict on the dress:  feels SO SUPER LOVELY OMG WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE to wear, but oy those cabbage roses.  I do have an off-white fleece cardigan I can wear over it to cover some of them up, though, so that may help.  I have some days when I haven’t slept well and every joint aches, and all I want is to be comfortable and not have to think–this is the dress for those days.  Sizing is right on, though I might raise the neckline just a bit next time and make the pockets out of lining fabric to reduce bulk.

I’m also thinking about a good-sized piece of purple knit fabric that I saw at SCRAP last week, and about how I need to make another one of these dresses immediately.

I am feeling so very ready for fall.

STH

ETA:  Forgot to mention in the post, but this is my entry for Fabulous Fall week at the Sew Long Summer Sew-Along.

The End of the Summer (Blouses)

Tags

Butterick 5610, Butterick 6057, sewing, swears

Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer in the U.S., so I thought I should blog about my last two summer blouses then, just to sort of tidy up and end the season neatly.  But of course these things aren’t neat.  It was hot on Labor Day weekend and felt very much like summer was still underway.  It’s been cooler in the mornings lately, but afternoon temps have still been near 90F.

But fall arrived this week.  Sunday’s high temp was 96, I think, but Monday’s was 71 and accompanied by a gray sky.  It’s been cool all week, and I’m starting to see people in fall clothing.

So time to wrap up summer and blog about the other two hot-weather blouses I made (and enjoyed) this summer.

First, Butterick 5610, which I chose because it was the only pattern I had that would enable me to use my single yard of this embroidered cotton.

(I’m kind of wishing I wasn’t doing the headless, anonymous thing on these pictures, because my facial expressions in these are really funny for some reason.  I look either super-grumpy (TAKE THE PICTURE ALREADY CAMERA) or super-skeptical (WHAT EVEN IS THIS NEWFANGLED CONTRAPTION).)

I love this fabric, but it was pricey ($14 a yard, I think) and the end of the bolt said it was 50+ inches wide, so I just got a yard of it and figured that should be enough.  Problem is, it has a super-wide unembroidered edge, so the actual usable part of the fabric is only about 45″–not much fabric to cover a plus-size bod.

So I combined it with a plain white cotton from the stash and bound the sleeves with scraps of the embroidered fabric to help tie it together.

Couple of warnings about this pattern, if you should decide to make it.  First, the pleating in the front is weird and confusing and the instructions aren’t much help.  You make some pleats like normal–okay, I’m with you so far–but then you’re supposed to make an “inner pleat”–what?  I never did figure that out–then a big pleat essentially pleating the pleats.  I had no idea which markings to match up for the last one, so I puzzled over it and turned it over and over, and suddenly I saw it.  No idea how I did it, but it looks like the pleating on the envelope, so I’m calling it a win.

Second, if you hate hand sewing, this is not your pattern.  The whole front and back facing–which extends into the sleeves–AND the sleeve hems are slip-stitched down, which takes some time.

Third, you need fabric with a lot of drape for this pattern.  As you can see from all the creases in my pictures, my fabrics really weren’t right for it.  Besides all the creasing, the lack of drape also makes me look a little bit pregnant, since I carry my weight in the abdomen.  Something like challis would’ve looked much better in this style.

You know what, though?  I really like this blouse and I wear it a lot.  It’s cool and comfy and I still love that embroidered cotton.

Okay, on to Butterick 6057, another pattern meant for chiffon or some other light, drapey fabric.  What I had in mind, though, was a simple woven cotton tee shirt, since I’ve been enjoying wearing my other cotton tops so much.

I evened up the high-low hem on this and included all the cute details from the different views on the pattern envelope.

You can barely see the pocket in this ladybug print, so I sewed a button on it to make it a little more visible.  And I was determined not to have to iron this, so I sewed down the sleeve cuffs to make them stay put.

There are buttons down the back, another fun detail I liked.  I used BIG buttons to emphasize them.

Please note, buttonhole haters:  this thing took something like 11 buttons and I didn’t have to sew a single buttonhole.  The “band” on the back is actually just a pleat that’s sewn down. This would actually be a great pattern for a sewing n00b, as long as you use an easy-to-handle fabric like cotton.

The neckline on this blouse is a little bit wide for my taste, but–let’s be honest here–I was just too damn lazy to check it beforehand, even though this is a problem I often have.  I was going for quick and easy on this, DAMMIT.

I’ve been going back and forth on whether I should take the sides in . . . I suspect it would look a little better with some ease taken out, but it feels really nice on hot days to wear something loose-fitting like this.  And frankly, I’m more concerned with how I feel than how I look.  😉

Both of these have been really useful (and fun!) additions to my summer wardrobe, the kind of tops you look forward to putting on and enjoy wearing all day.

Now on to fall sewing and that Laurel dress that’s all cut out and ready to go.

STH

ETA:  I have linked this to Finish It Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts and Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Sunday Sevens 09-13-15

Tags

Columbia River, CozyAfternoonQuilt, Pasco, quilting, sewing, Sunday Sevens, Wade Park, Washington

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series in which we post seven-or-so pictures from our week and give our online friends a little peek into what we’re up to.  Please feel free to join us–every week or whenever the mood strikes.  Seven pictures, three pictures, ten pictures–whatever.  😉  See Natalie at Threads and Bobbins for more info.

Was a bit more productive this week, I’m happy to say, and exercised a bit more, always a good thing.

On Tuesday, I took a walk along the Columbia starting at Wade Park in Pasco.  Not sure what island that is there . . . .

I always take (and post) pictures of GREEN wherever I find it, but this is pretty much what eastern Washington looks like in late summer:

Nice haul from the fruit stand this week, including zucchini, red and yellow onions, a butternut squash, and a box of tomatoes.

Some of the tomatoes will go into recipes this week–the ones I save for tomato season–and the rest will be chopped up and frozen.  We have a massive freezer, but little storage space, so it makes more sense for me to freeze them than to can them.

My mother went through her fabric and gave me some cast-offs.  Some of these will go to SCRAP, but I’m definitely hanging on to that swirly rayon challis in the middle of the pile there and the stripey knit on top.

More home improvement–made a valance for this (formerly very bare and quite sad) little window in the bathroom.  Please forgive the terrible lighting and weird color here; it was the best I could do.  The fabric is the same one I used for the tote bag I made recently; the lining is from an old blue rayon shift dress (loved the fabric, but it wasn’t sturdy enough for clothing and kept developing holes at stress points).

I had a brain cramp while cutting this out and put the wrong edge of the pattern on the fold, leaving me with a valance with a long center and short sides.

*headdesk*

After a few deep breaths and some swearing, I decided to slit the fold and just put a seam in the middle.  Not ideal, but good enough.  And I have to say I’m loving all the color in this window now.

I did the embroidery for my fourth Cozy Afternoon block; hoping to finish the block today, just in time for the next one coming tomorrow.

Is this cute or what?

I’m also planning to cut out my Greenstyle Laurel today, as the Greenstyle Facebook group is having a contest.  I’ve been agonizing over sizing on this, but I just need to dive in–what I’m making is supposed to be a muslin, anyway.

Have a crafty week, everybody!

STH

Sunday Sevens 09-06-15

Tags

bags, cooking, embroidery, recipe, sewing, Sunday Sevens

If you’re new to Sunday Sevens, welcome and come on in — we’re celebrating one year since Our Fearless Leader, Natalie of Threads and Bobbins, got the whole thing started.  Many thanks to Natalie!

This has sort of been home improvement week here.  I don’t know, maybe it’s the change of seasons that makes you want to clean up and start over, but there has been much hanging of pictures and washing of wall quilts and sorting of things to take to Goodwill.

One of the pictures that still needs to be put up–a comforting phrase in sunshiney yellow, my favorite!

The biggest accomplishment was sorting through and organizing all the bike mess in the garage.

This is my partner’s work table and I really wish I had a “before”picture–this was a big job and took both of us most of Saturday to sort out.  You never saw so many nearly-identical brackety-things in one place as we had in here when we started.  Now much more manageable and he can actually find things!

Also:  BONUS SEWING STUFF!

I scavenged this pile of hardware from bike bag straps my honey threw away.  Some of it is a bit mysterious, but some will definitely be put to use.

After I finished my Summer Crush dress, I was itching to get back to my scrap quilt blocks, but decided to be a RESPONSIBLE ADULT and take on this pile of mending before I ran off and did the fun stuff.

Then I remembered how much I hate mending.

So the pile is still sitting there . . . and my partner keeps adding to it.  😦

Made a little bit of progress on my embroidery, but I’m not exactly burning through that project, either.

I did cook some nice things this week, though (maybe that’s why I’ve been so tired and unproductive?)

I’ve been tinkering with this recipe forever, and finally feel like I’ve got it where I want it.

I added sliced onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms to the marinated chicken and cooked the whole mess in a grill pan on the barbecue.  I put the chicken and vegetables on some brown rice and seasoned black beans, then topped it with some chopped tomato and green onion, a little cheddar, and the sauce.

SERIOUSLY good.

And this–a Greek bread called Ladenia–was part of tonight’s dinner.  I also made a Potato, Squash, and Goat Cheese Gratin and added some grilled sausage at the last minute to make the resident carnivore smile.

I’ll take another shot at that mending pile tomorrow.  Then I want to make a valance for my tiny and very bare bathroom window.  And maybe get back to those neglected scrap quilt blocks.

Have a wonderful week, everybody.

STH

Summer Crush Shirtdress

Tags

cats, sewing, SewLongSummer Sew-Along, Vogue 7541

This is my entry in the SewLongSummer Sew Along Summer Crush contest, and, you guys, “Summer Crush” totally describes this project.

All summer, I’ve been reading sewing blogs and drooling over all the lovely shirtdresses people have been making.  I really wanted to make one for myself, but I kept resisting, thinking I wouldn’t have anywhere to wear it and it would look wrong on me and I don’t have any appropriate fabric in the stash and and and . . . .

Then I happened to open up a drawer in my sewing room dresser and came upon this UFO.

(Many thanks to my photographic assistant for the use of his fluff as background.)

This Vogue pattern (7541) is dated 2002, so this UFO is at least 10 years old.  Unlike some of my UFOs, I remember the circumstances of it getting wadded up into a grocery bag and stuffed into the Dresser of Shame:  I had finished the bodice completely and had just put the darts in the skirt pieces, when I decided to pin it together and check the fit.  Whoops.  Too small.  In the dresser it went.

So all I had to do was finish the skirt, attach it to the bodice and do the buttons.  Perfect, since I had to get it done quickly to enter it in the Sew-Along.

It was still a little bit snug, so I unpicked the side seams and resewed with a 1/4″ seam allowance.  (Do Vogue patterns usually run small?  I wear an 18 in Ready-to-Wear, usually make size 20 when sewing other patterns, but this is a 22 and I probably should have made a 24, at least for the skirt.)

The only other change I made was to use more buttons.  The pattern calls for 8 buttons a whopping 4″ apart.  I was nervous about gaping, so I put them 3″ apart, added extra to the waist seam, and extended them farther down the skirt (believe me, nobody wants to see my thighs).

I love this.  I love the fabric and the green buttons.  The dress is so comfy and it makes me feel pretty.

You know, my body and I have something of a . . . complicated . . . relationship and it often feels like we’re fighting each other–me forcing my body to exercise hard when it is feeling tired and worn out, my body punishing me with lots of achy, sore joints (and other symptoms if I DON’T exercise).  And I just turned 51 a couple of weeks ago.

So being able to make and wear a dress that’s pretty and comfy and makes me feel good?

Yep, a summer crush indeed.

STH