Busy, Busy, Busy!!

So, over the last few weeks, I have actually done some sewing! I made 2 skirts and a simple jacket. Those reviews will be coming as soon as I can get them photographed. Anyway, I didn't do too much because I had a niece get married last weekend and had my house full! So, I started a knitting project from Wendy Knits Lace by Wendy D Johnson.

Now, it's been a few years since I took on any kind of yarn project. I did learn to knit as a teenager, my mom is very talented in this department, but I haven't done any since then. So, I picked a beginner project from the book- the "Lace Stripe Scarf".

It seemed like a pretty simple pattern, you only need to know a handful of stitches. Unfortunately, I only remembered the basic knit stitch, and while the book provides descriptions and drawings for the stitches, I still didn't get it, so off to the internet I went! I have to say that I love the internet! I found several sites and watched several videos to learn the stitches that I needed for this pattern. And when I find the slip of paper where I wrote down the sites I used the most, I will be happy to post them. Now the pattern calls for 2 skeins of Madelinetosh Tosh DK, 100% superwash Australian merino. I couldn't find any of that at my local Hobby Lobby, but what I did find was a beautiful yarn with sequins in the perfect color to match a top that I already have! It is Patons Lace Sequin in Aquamarine. Now this could be the reason my scarf looks nothing like the picture.

But I still like how it looks, so I plan to keep going. Of course, after I fell in love with the yarn and bought it, I reread the part of the book where it talks about yarn selection and says that anything over 20% acrylic does not do well for lace knitting because it does not block well. My yarn is 68% Acrylic. Oops! I promise that next time I may possibly get the actual yarn recommended so that my results look more like the picture. Or maybe not. That's just how I roll.

Happy Mail Day!!

Today, I really love my postman!! Not only did I get my Colette Pattern order,

I also got my Amazon order!

I am so excited!! Now I have my Clover pattern for the sew along and the lovely Jasmine pattern to go with it! Can't wait to sew them up!

I also got "Wendy Knits Lace" by Wendy Johnson. No, I don't knit. Well, I learned as a child, but that was long ago. But, the projects in this book make me want to learn again! Hopefully I will have some success with this book.

Second book is "Handbag Designer 101" by Emily Blumenthal. I am also not a handbag designer, but have always wanted to learn and this book has some great ideas and resources that would be great for all sorts of projects. Plus, I have extra fabric from my raincoat that has been screaming to be made into a matching tote.

And last, but certainly not least, "Patternmaking for a Perfect Fit" by Steffani Lincecum. I love pattern drafting and I love the idea of being able to copy your favorite pieces! Can't wait to try some of the ideas from the book.

Lots of new sewing stuff for me!! I think I will be busy for a while! How about you? Any new sewing purchases that have you excited?

Sewing Summit

So, quick update on what is going on with me- Moved cross country. We are back in Utah and after moving, I had a week to set up house and get the kids registered for school. Fun!

So, weeks later, I was finally able to set up my sewing room. It's in the unfinished basement. Maybe one day I will get pictures of my space.


Anyway, while cruising some of my favorite blogs about a week and a half ago, I found out about The Sewing Summit.

Of course, I had to go! I was only able to go for one day, but that was still wonderful! I met so many great people and learned so much! I actually decided to update my blog!



I just want to thank Amy and Erin for their hard work in putting the Summit together!


And the teachers were wonderful-



Dana of the Old Red Barn Co. taught about blogging and social media. I got lots of great information from her. And met lots of people from Utah County! So many sewers right in my neighborhood! Yahoo!!! (Note to Dana- sorry for the terrible photo, I hadn't yet taken the photo class. :)

I also took a photography class from Vanessa Christenson of V and Co. I don't have a photo of her because after looking at all her great photos- I was too intimidated.

And then I got to take my last two classes from the wonderful Gertie of Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing!

She is truly wonderful and a really great teacher!

Vintage Pattern Finally Finished!

Yeah! It is finally done!! It took me a while because we were making life decisions at the same time, but I have triumphed! Of course, I am also getting it in just under the wire.

First a list of changes that I made to this pattern-

1. Graded up just a little in the back only.
2. FBA on the front.
3. Swayback alteration in the back.
4. Really deepened the darts on front to give the bodice more of the shape on the drawing.
5. Pegged in the hem about 2 inches on each side, again to give it more of the look in the drawing.
6. And this is the big one- FTA (full tummy alteration, for those that don't know.) This was a big one because I did muslin after muslin and just couldn't get the front to drape right. I kept getting wrinkles that just wouldn't go away.


Can you see what I mean? After much research, what I found was that I had to do the FTA. It has been a while since I seriously sewed for myself and so this was a new one for me. In all the books I read, they recommend staying away from darts altogether with this flaw, but the dress has 2 front darts on each side. What I ended up doing was cutting the front skirt off and redraping it with only one dart. So, the front bodice and skirt are now actually 2 pieces instead of the 1 the pattern originally had. But, this works perfectly! No strange wrinkles!

I meant to take photos of this process, but with the upcoming cross country move, I have been rather preoccupied.

Anyway, here are more photos of the dress- they are kind of difficult to see because of the dark grey fabric and the fact that my photographer is only 15 and doesn't know about lighting, but beggars can't be choosers and she did a great job overall!



Full front



Full back



Hem done with seam binding as per the instructions.



Close up of the neck pleats.



And the elbow darts!

What I have been up to......

Well, it has been a while since my last post. I had hoped to post photos of my new Easter Dress, Vogue 1043, but it was not to be.



I had even picked out the perfect fabric- a beautiful pink with white polka dots! I had dreams of vintage perfection. I did 3 muslins and really tried to make this pattern work, but it just wouldn't.

But, not all is lost! I have learned a lot from the experience. It has been a really long time since I really sewed for myself and I am still having a lot of problems fitting. I have lost a lot of weight and totally changed my body shape so at least I have a good excuse!

I think the problem that I ran into with this pattern is that it is a wrap with a cut on sleeve, but no darts. I needed to do an FBA, but ran into problems because the cf is not on grain. I even tried to de-draft (is that a word?) the pattern to take it to its basic shape and see how it was drafted, but that didn't work.

I have not totally given up on this pattern, but have set it aside for a little while while I practice my fitting skills on something a little easier- like my pattern for the PR Vintage Pattern Contest!

Here is my pattern again-



I traced the pattern because I want to keep the original intact. I can't replace it if I mess it up. I must say that I really like the details on this pattern. It is only a front and back, sleeves attached, and facings. Really simple! But it has great details, like 3 darts on the back sleeve for elbow shaping!



Since I knew I would be doing some grading on this pattern, I pin fitted to see how bad it was going to be and to measure for the FBA- it wasn't going to be as bad as I thought!



I have concluded that I need a fitting budy! Tissue fitting yourself is really hard!

After all of that, I made up a muslin. Only one this time! I am getting better! But I must say that it now looks like a Frankin-muslin. I have realized that some of my fitting issue may be that I don't like as much ease in my clothes as they put in the pattern. The first fitting looked like a shapeless sack, even with all those darts! All I have done since then is take in and reshape darts! And the ever needed sway back alteration.

Now that almost all of the changes that are needed are done, I think I will do one more muslin from scratch to check all of the changes before I touch my fashion fabric. But that works out because I don't have all of my supplies yet, still looking for seam binding locally. I may just break down and order some.

Vintage Pattern Contest

So, I have just decided to enter my first sewing contest. I chose to enter the vintage pattern contest on patternreview.com This is the pattern I will be using. More details and updates to follow.

Sew Serendipity Three-Fabric Skirt Completed

My original book review can be found here. If you don't have this book already, I highly recommend it!

I will probably wear it styled like this, but tucked the shirt in so I could show the cute pockets better.


I finished this skirt a couple of days ago, but didn't get around to photographing it until yesterday! All photo credits go to my 2 daughters!

This skirt turned out so cute! The only problem is that I lost some weight and now it is a little big. But, not to worry! I'm sure the food on the upcoming cruise will take care of that!

That said, I do plan on sewing up some of the other versions of this skirt. There are so many!



And here are just some more photos by my 10yr old. She has a lot of talent with the camera!




She loves the shoes, but boy do I need a pedicure!



This skirt was really easy to fit, easy and fairly quick to construct (when you aren't running into all kinds of distractions!) There are so many ways that this basic pattern could be done up. I also plan to take some of the fullness out and do more of a pencil skirt soon. I highly recommend this pattern and the book!

Bonus! I found out that I have a few Serendipity Studio patterns in my stash!