I am Thick

..as in really dense. At least sometimes. Here's why I am this time.. I sewed the lining into my skirt (who knew it would take that long to sew it to the zipper tape - geez) and then did the topstitching of the waistband. I was really pleased. It's too big through the hips by a size but it went together nicely and since I don't like tight things I was ok with it. Went to hem it and saw my big error. Big, dumb, thoughtless error. Grrr! I'm 5'1 and I should have taken the skirt up (turns out about 2 inches) all across the hips and thigh area. The cute things about this pencil skirt are the two pleats in the back _bottom_ and the slit in the front. If I want to keep the design features, the skirt will be too long to wear (somewhere around mid-calf - blech). If I hem it to mid-knee (my preference) then I'll have to lose the darts and deal with a freakishly short slit in front.

Oh! I am starting to giggle (very slightly) at this point but I'm irritated with my lack of forethought. (To be honest, I'm afraid that the only troublefree invisible zip I'll get in this sewing life and was hoping I could at least wear it out!! *grumble grumble* ) Since the fit adjustments are going to be easy to make, I'm downright busting to remake this correctly. The only fabrics I have in the stash for this is a brown linen-rayon-lycra. It's soo nice and I'm sure it would make a nice skirt. I had envisioned pants but I do already have something similar in RTW. In the magazine, they made it up in a printed poplin. I have some cute Hilco poplin in green-on-green polka dots. I think it would be cute but I can't wear it to work and maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it would be terrible because the dots wouldn't match in the center front seam and there would be a line of funny crescents down your center. I'm really hoping to sew some of the stash so I guess it's the nice brown linen. It should go fast, right?

Still working on my pants muslin. These are the pants from the November 2008 BWOF tutorial and feature those bias strips down the side of the legs (like tuxedo pants). So far I'm pleased with the fit but I'd like to go ahead and sew it all together to be sure. Probably just paranoia from the skirt flub. Ha!

I also have a couple of knit tops I'd like to make. One is already cut and marked but, of course, I'd like to make the super simple (and hopefully satisfying) BWOF boatneck tee from 01/09. :) Glutton for punishment with the unrealistic expectations! I'm hoping to step up my efforts and create some new habits though. It was disappointing (to say the least) to have dragged my butt so slowly through that last sewing project only to learn I was going to have to cut out a design element at the end. In the future, I'm going to try much harder to push through projects. I want my skirt!!!

Have a fantastic week!

Rachel S.

Hit by Spring

Oooh, it's gorgeous here. Well, it's mixed. We have a wonderfully, sunny gorgeous day and then a rainy, gloomy one. My moods have been riding the same wave so I've been hit and miss on my projects. I do just have the hem of the skirt (that just won't finish already!) but I am putting it off because I'm unhappy with the fit of the hips. It's just too big and I haven't the heart to rip everything out. It will get by and I know just how to make the next one work (I think). So I'm still dawdling on that one.

Not that I didn't move on (bad form, I know) to sewing something else. I sewed enough of the pants muslin that I'm pretty sure the fit is what I want. I cut for my hips (which meant the waist might be too small) and took quite a bit an inch or so (can't remember exactly now as it was a couple of weeks ago) both above and below the knee (to petite it). I was surprised to find that it seems to fit well and I won't need to let out the darts in the waist after all. Since I haven't done proper pants before (just jammy bottoms) I've decided to complete the rest of the pattern on the muslin before cutting into my nice pinstripe. I'll try to get a photo or two of the above up later.

Just got back from camping (to be read car camping) in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was so beautiful. I tried to sprinkle some throughout the post but it probably just seems weird until this part. : )

Until next time!
Rachel S.

Palette for My Kitchen

Stitched this up on Saturday for something different to do. I've been waiting on a huge shipment of linen for the bazillion projects running around in my head. How cool is this monogram? Think it should be filled in? I found it in one of my japanese stitch books. No other letters were available. lol - guess DB is out of luck. It's just as well. While he did appreciate my uniform stitches the background did not impress. "Too busy." What do you think? It so happens that the two blues in the flannel are a great match for the two different blues in our kitchen and I was planning to accent with white and red so - voila!
There it is.

Avoid!! Resist!!

I will resist..

..buying a huge lot of zippers off of eBay to practice making zipper pouches. Best thing to do would be to wait until I use the last of the most recent bulk purchase. But those are so nice (such a fantastic deal that was!)...

..the urge to begin a quilt. I don't know how to do this and my garment sewing isn't yet where I want it to be. There are a gazillion items I want to (read NEED to) make. But Oh, Fransson! is just beginning a Quilt Along and I've been admiring her creations for awhile now. Her quilts are darling!

..the urge to avoid swimming so I can get in more craft time. This excuse is a topper, isn't it? Quite proud actually. ..Maybe I'll begin this one tomorrow...

..purchasing any more items from the Fabric Co-op for at least 2 months (I blame Dawn who blames Kristine and so on and so on). Unless they get some of that awesome looking striped wool jersey I saw earlier...


..most definitely avoid imbibing (alcohol) in the evening and going online fabric shopping. I simply cannot resist Bunte Fabrics after a glass of wine. I think it's because I love the quality of everything they sell over there but deem it to be more than I "should" spend. hehe I am in love with this new (to me) jersey from my last *ahem* purchase. I see some cute nighties coming my way! But to return to topic, no more inebriated online shopping!!!

Halfway to the weekend! Whoo hoo!
Rachel S.

Museum Visiting..

Happy Monday! The weekend went by very quickly over here. Friday night I drug DB to the DeYoung Museum. They have Friday events and I wanted to rip through the YSL exhibit before visiting it later this month with a girlfriend. I was so struck by the quality of the fabrics and their care. Really, the fabrics are all so stunning. It really impressed upon me what a difference quality fibers make and how rewarding caring for them can be!! Isn’t that funny that that’s my big takeaway? I loved seeing the designs and was especially taken with the Mondrian dresses but the fabrics are what stuck with me. I highly recommend visiting if you can. The exhibit runs through April 4.

The real reason I wanted to go Friday night, though, was to get my tickets to the upcoming King Tut exhibit! Got tickets for my birthday in August. Double-wootness! I was able to visit Egypt in 2006 for a really short week but, of course, King Tut’s things were not there; they were visiting some other country. Needless to say, I am excited.


I ended up doing a little more crochet work than sewing work this weekend but am happy with my progress. My BWOF skirt is still in the same state. I’m thinking that it will be done by the next post because I’m tired of making excuses for it! (I was right about the blogging holding me a little more accountable.) Managed to finish marking my muslin for BWOF 11/08 pants 105 with galloons and also was able to cut and mark BWOF 10/08 top 114. Both require different thread then the black needed for the skirt so I’m telling myself I have to sit at the machine and attach my skirt lining before moving on. lol The baby blanket is really coming along. I hope to have that finished by the end of this week. Baby is due in two – hooray!!

One little wrinkle to the weekend was that my computer decided to start acting up. It's been showing signs of difficulty but I kept putting off the final backup. Now I'm praying that I'll be able to bring it up for a last memory dump before it goes past the point of no return. I don't even want to think about what I haven't yet backed up...Wish me luck!

Rachel S.

Zipper-ific makes me giggle..

Rutroh! I'm a little behind again. I've been keeping busy. Just not with the things I thought I was going to be doing. Ok, so it's been just about 2.5 weeks since the last post. That makes me feel a little better as it felt like a month! Still don't have the skirt finished. It's oh-so-close and now I'm just procrastinating. It makes no sense since I'm only a couple of hours away but that's me sometimes. Here are a few of the random things I've been up to.

Planted some parsley and basil (my first time since kindergarten - oh geez, long time!) and I'm pleased to see sprouts! Here's a picture of the parsley.

Made another scarf for a friend whose birthday I missed last month. It's really sunny and warm today. LOL - now I'll have to wait to give it to her until the weekend when it rains and becomes chilly again. This one (top) is to go with the one I made for her a couple of years ago (bottom) but never quite finished. (Yep, I'm really that bad. Always try to use me in a procrastination comparison. You'll feel better.)

Attempted another zipper pouch (for the zipperific experience). I'm ok with it. I'm trying different tutorials. This time I tried the one from Twelve 22.org and I'm pretty happy with it. I definitely need practice though!

Side note: DB has had some extra time from work and has done a couple of interesting things so I thought I'd post a pic or two. Ta-DA!! We are just a quick trim (darker blue) away from our newly painted kitchen! It looks so fantastic already!! I could not be happier with the color.

It turns out that it looks great with my bright red tulips so I was inspired to purchase these knobs for the white cabinets and drawers from GoGoGail over at Etsy. (She has some pretty nifty holdbacks for drapes too that I might have to purchase when we get to the bedroom but that's for later).

One of the other projects is a...well, a Lego house. I'm not sure how that sounds. Probably ok if you have kids. We are kid-less but we love Legos nonetheless. lol AND they're a little more fun when you're big. Have you seen some of the hard-to-find ones? Well, DB received one from his mom for Christmas as a sort of nostalgic gift. It was really sweet. The best part was the genuine excitement and the big smile that DB had once he realized that it was a lego kit. He drew it out as long as he could but after a day or two it was together. Here's a few (stop-action) shots. Isn't it cute? It is modeled after a city market building with 3 floors. The market is on the bottom and living quarters are on floors 2 and 3. There's a grill on the roof and gardening tools out back. Oh, and a fire escape! Not sure how we're going to display more if the collection continues but we'll cross that bridge if it comes up. :)


That's all for today. On the list for the rest of the week is to finish the skirt, mark some pants, and cut a blouse. Let me ask (even though only one or two folks check in here - lol)...what do you think of this baby blanket? Too busy or should I just finish it and gift it? It's made with two strands - blue and white with color flecks). I think it's too busy and not pretty but DB thinks I should just complete it (he hates to see me rip).

Ok, have a great week all!
Rachel S.

First Hoodie

Hi there. I had the flu last weekend and I'm playing catchup.

Sewing Update: Skirt is still waiting for the lining. Traced & fit BWOF top 114 from October '08. I have some pretty turquoise knit that I'm anxious to use for this. It might have to wait, though, as I signed up for a fitting class next Tuesday at The Sewing Workshop! I'm excited about this one. You are supposed to bring in a muslin and then it will be adjusted and marked in class. The goal is to go home with a muslin ready to recut and sew. I'm hoping to learn my key adjustments for pants and, since I like side zips best, I'm thinking of these simple pants (132) also from the October '08 BWOF (what a great issue!). Maybe they're too plain to use on this class. What do you think? On the yarn front, I made another attempt at a hat and it bombed again. This time it was only a mini-bucket but that was enough for me so I'm putting all crochet aside for a few weeks. Baby Gift Front: Also had to postpone making baby items for this particular baby shower event. I'll have to purchase something ready-made for now but I still have 6 weeks until the baby is born. :)

And now for a pattern review. This is from Burdastyle and was free when I downloaded. Now it's available for a small fee. Well worth it still, I think. Fabric: Rayon-Lycra Knit [See other projects in this fabric]
Pattern Description:
Hoodie Variation on the Lydia shirt
Pattern Sizing:
sizes 32-44 available - I cut a 40
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes, but I think it goes unnoticed how voluminous the hood is in the picture! : )
Were the instructions easy to follow?
Very
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Pros: This is just a great pattern. The directions were easy (except for the hood part - more on that later) and there was nothing really "tricky" to it. I lucked out in that the fit turned out without alterations needed as well. Very easy and quick (i.e., satisfying) for a beginner.
Cons: The hoodie part of the Lydia doesn't really have directions that are helpful to a beginner. I tried to look at ones in the closet but they were obviously meant to be better made. In the end, I just ended up attaching it with a small zig-zag. Since the hood is so big (to be read: gigantic) it ended up that you mostly just see the backside of my fabric when it is not up. Also, it's so large that it actually has a bit of weight. I didn't like either of those things but just can't seem to rip it out successfully. I must have made the zigzag too tight. (?)
Fabric Used:
Rayon-poly knit, I think. $1.99 / yd.
Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
None but I would recommend making the hood smaller and possibly even lining it before attaching. I think that would make for a nice look but then maybe the weight of the hood would be a problem. Too inexperienced to make that call. : )
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, I would both sew it again and recommend it (although probably without the hood). It has easy steps and the knit is forgiving.
Conclusion:
Great easy and quick project. The shirt is great. Consider if you really want to add the hood.

That's it for today. Have a fantastic weekend!
Rachel S.