The Very Springiest of Spring Blouses

Tags

Butterick 6026, Seattle ReCreative, sewing

I wish I were a better photographer, because this gorgeous shade of kelly green should be properly documented.

That one’s closer to the real color.

I really, really love this blouse–the color makes me so happy, the contrast fabric is so pretty, it feels really comfy, and it looks pretty decent, too!

I got the green “linen look” fabric at Seattle ReCreative and there was only about a yard of it.  I didn’t bother to do a burn test on it, but judging by the its sheen and drape, I would guess it’s a rayon blend, maybe rayon and polyester?  The contrast fabric is a quilting cotton.

Marking the fabric for all the tucks was a bit of a trial, since my marking pen didn’t show up on it and I didn’t want to use pencil on the right side.  I wound up doing tailor’s tacks and drawing my fold lines with chalk.

(Despite how it may appear–since I seem to always pick patterns with tucks of some sort or the other–marking fabric has to be my least favorite part of sewing.)

The fabric frays like CRAZY, but I thought French seams (my usual) might be a bit too bulky, so I decided to finish the seams with more bias strips of the contrast fabric.

The combination of the two fabrics was so gorgeous, having those lovely finished seams to look at felt like giving myself a secret little present.

I sewed these all by hand because I seriously don’t know how people machine sew on bias tape and have it come out looking good on both sides.  I guess I’m sloppier with measuring than I think I am, or something?  This is an eternal mystery to me.

My difficult relationship with collars continued on this project.  I was unpicking a thread nest that formed while I was top stitching the collar and managed to cut a hole in the fabric near the collar seam (sigh–I need new glasses).  I initially thought I’d have to start over with it, but then realized I could just turn the collar inside-out again and re-sew the seam a quarter inch away from the original seam line.  Luckily, this pattern has a pretty big collar and it came out looking fine.

I like the fit on this, though I know it’s a bit looser than the fashion right now.  A little looser fit is just more comfortable to wear and I really hate constricting clothing.

I decided to use the same pattern again for the Yellow Submarine blouse–but with sleeves this time–and I’m about half finished with that as I write this.  And, yes, I managed to mangle the collar on that one, too.

STH

Bits and Pieces

Tags

DIY, e-mail, Flickr, meta, Seattle ReCreative, sewing, skin care

Happy Friday!

My Friday plan–less talking about sewing, more actual sewing.

Some tidbits that may be of some interest–

—  Flickr:  I’ve added a Flickr widget to the sidebar, and here’s the linky to my Flickr photostream.  Not much there yet, but I thought I would put extra photos there so that anybody who’s interested can go look, and those who aren’t interested don’t have to see them.  The Flickr pics will be mostly ones that I haven’t put up on the blog.

—  E-mail:  I need to figure out how to add this to the sidebar, too, but you can contact me at livingincolorblog@outlook.com.  Feel free to drop me a line and have a chat.

—  DIY skin care:  Way back in the mists of time, I did a couple of guest posts for a friend on how to make your own moisturizer and lip balm for sensitive skin.  These are sort of last-ditch recipes for people like me whose skin is so sensitive they can’t use anything else.  They’re easy and quick to make, but they aren’t as effective or as pleasant to use as commercially-made skin care products.  If you want to try them out, be sure to read the comments on the posts for more information and ideas on variations to try.  If you have comments to make, however, please make them here as I don’t think that blog is active any more.

—  Fabric sale:  Seattle-area crafty types, you might want to check out Seattle ReCreative’s big fabric sale this coming Sunday.  $1 a yard!  BOGO patterns!  Donate $5 to get in early!  Even if you don’t need fabric, they have materials for making mosaics, scrapbooking, woodworking, etc., etc.  If I weren’t 4 hours away, I would totally be there.

Have a great weekend, everybody, and make sure you make time for some fun stuff.

STH

Sunday Sevens: 03-15-15

Tags

cooking, recipe, Seattle, Seattle ReCreative, sewing, Sunday Sevens, travel, Washington, Woodland Park Zoo

I spent most of my time this week working on a present for my sister’s birthday, but here are a few pictures of the other stuff that’s been going on here.

Okay, this is totally cheating, because I’m sure I’ll blog about this at some point.  But on Monday I was tired and nursing a sore foot from too much exercising, so I didn’t do much except sit and work on this UFO from a class I took years ago.  It’s a hand applique quilt block with an interesting 3D look that I like.

(The quilt’s not even done, but I’m already regretting those dark pencil marks.  Several-years-ago-me, what were you thinking?)

Tuesday’s dinner was this hash with turkey sausage, broccoli, and spinach; I topped it with chopped tomatoes and green onion and shredded sharp cheddar.  Technique is here.

Me stylin’, as per usual.

From Thursday’s walk with my mother in Columbia Park.

Friday’s task was to make cookies for my honey’s Saturday randonnee, which just happened to fall on Pi Day.  So I made cookies with filling, the closest I could get to portable pie he could eat with his hands.

Any kind of jam would work in these; I pulled some homemade Rum Raisin Apple Butter and peach-blueberry jam out of the freezer and used those.

Early Saturday, my partner headed out for his (rainy, windy, AND hilly!) ride, while I met up with my bestest BFF for a day of fun.

First we headed to Seattle ReCreative, looking for craft bargains.  Oh, what a fun place!  Lots of random and interesting odds and ends there for all sorts of creative endeavors, plus room for classes and kids’ activities.  If you don’t mind a little digging, there are a lot of treasures there.

I was in the mood for a splurge, and came out of there with a bag of fabric:

Can you tell I’ve been longing for bright, spring-y fabrics?

(Not shown is a dark blue crinkled rayon maxi skirt that’s going to be cut up and refashioned.)

I got about 10 yards of fabric for $11–that’s my kind of splurge right there.

Next was a massive diner brunch, then on to Woodland Park Zoo, where we obviously failed to impress this very handsome family of lions.

After yet another huge brunch this morning (I have definitely exceeded my quota of hash browns this weekend), honey and I headed home.

Have a wonderful week, folks, and find the time to connect with a friend if you can.

STH