Heading to Bed

Ahhh shucks! I was hoping to finish this jacket tonight, but it's midnight and I've got to get to bed. All I have left to do is hand whip the back collar down, do the buttonholes and hem!

UPDATE: FINISHED IT!



Charity

Cold Feet

I'm getting cold feet on my choice for the Designer Knock-Off Contest. After looking at photos of my white suit, I'm thinking that a super cropped jacket isn't going to look right with me being a little on the busty side. I want to try on some bolero length jackets at the stores before I cut out the Rodriguez suit.

So...in the meantime, I'm doing a trial run of a Butterick jacket pattern that I've been wanting to sew for some time. I don't want to cut it out yet in my chosen fabric without doing a muslin first. So I chose a floral corduroy that I'm not that particularly fond of. I combined it with some vintage root-beer plaid shirting, using it in some flange seam inserts and some bias binding on the collar and cuffs. Here are some pics so far...

Bias flanges in armscye and exterior arm seam


Close up of seam treatment


Bias Bound Collar


Butterick Pattern

Better Pic

Okay...it's done and bagged up in my closet. I decided it's far too formal for regular church wear. At least our church. LOL! I'm saving it for Easter. It should fit by then and hopefully I won't look like too much of a lost opera devotee if I wear it to church on a holiday.

Bonus Day!

A basketball tournament in a small school has a way of wiping out any useful classroom work. When a girl's and boy's basketball road trip coincides the high school basically empties out. Not much gets done for the few that remain. Casey was told that of his four classes today, two were going to be make-up work (and he has none to make-up), one a party and the other is simply being a teacher's assistant. And that teacher is on the road trip. So...Craig said he could skip the day and the two of them are going snowboarding, then to dinner and a movie. Craig said not to look for them until late. So, you know what that means? A whole sewing day for me!!!



I made them a big batch of blueberry pancakes to provide some carb reserves for hitting the hills. Casey was too excited to eat much so the dog also had his share of carbs. I've just finished cleaning the kitchen, taking out the garbage and running the vacuum. I simply need to make my bed and fold a load of laundry and then the fun begins!



I plan to finish and photograph my suit. I will have to photograph it off the body until someone is here to help me take photos with it modeled. I will also finish up the entry form and pattern review necessary for entering the contest. After that is completed I plan to start on the red and blue suit below. Even though Pam hates it! LOL!! I may allow myself to be briefly sidetracked by a couple of quick skirts. We'll see. I always plan way more for these occasions than could possibly transpire in a month of Bonus Days!

But a girl can dream!!!!

UPDATE: Only thing I have left is to bind the interior sleeve seam allowances so that the jacket is perfectly finished inside. And then sew on the hook and eye closures. Probably about one hour left! Yeah!!!!

UPDATE:One sleeve bound one to go...



UPDATE: Jacket is done. I'll take a better pic tomm. It's dark now and this was the best I can do. I'm going to clean house a bit and then start on the next project.



Okay...here's a pic of me taken as best as I can with one hand in a mirror. Please note that this is me in all my have-not-done-my-hair or put-on-my-make-up glory. I was trying to maximize my time today. My desire to sew was stronger than my vanity. So, I do NOT feel as bad as I look. You can get a rough idea of what the suit looks like on. As you can see I need to lose more weight before this will look its best. But I was trying to make sure that it would still be in a size to fit after I lose the next 30 pounds. The skirt is just an elastic waist so I can tighten it easily enough.


Charity

On My Way!

Mother Nature has taken pity. The weather cleared and Craig is going to make it in today. I'll be dropping our one remaining nestling off at school and then heading into town to pick up Craig. And on the sewing front...I finished the beading on the jacket. Finally. All in all, a promising day in the making.

Charity

Snowed In!

The Husband was supposed to come home today, but a blizzard hit the Slope. His oil field was declared a Phase Three Weather Conditions, meaning only emergency vehicles were allowed to travel. So his plane couldn't get out and he is still at work. Bummer. Since a good chunk of my day was freed up (I usually pick him up at the airport), I took the opportunity to get back at my suit. Only 8 days remain until the contest deadline. The remaining appliqués have all been attached. I have about 25% of the beading on this second front of the jacket done. I estimate about 3 more hours of beading left. I can then finish the final assembly of the jacket which is comprised of bagging the lining and setting in the sleeves. The skirt is already completed. I should make the deadline with some time to spare. I hope the weather will cooperate for photos!

So...off to pop in another disc of King of Queens to keep me occupied while beading. After this is done, I don't want to see another bugle bead for an eon or so.

As far as what project is next, I will begin another contest entry. This one is a designer knock-off contest. I'll be copying the navy and red Katy Rodriguez suit that appears below. However, I will be lengthening the skirt (I am 47yo, afterall) and making the blouse a bit more polished.



Charity

Passing on a Passion

When you really, really love something, it is only natural to want to pass it on to others. I feel that way about my faith and on a much, much smaller scale...about my love for sewing. Unfortunately, my teen-aged sons are not much interested. I guess it's a gender issue. :) On a much happier note, my best friends' two daughters are! We had talked about it before, but it never seemed to work out. This year everyone's on the same page and we're finally doing it! We've had two sessions so far and I am enjoying myself so much.

Emily is working on making a slip dress to wear under a vintage 40s era shirtdress that was her great-grandmother's. Very Dior's "New Look." A navy flocked and dotted organza. She's making a very basic sheath in navy lining fabric to wear under it, Simplicity 3676.



The vintage dress actually has a very high couture look to it that is trendy right now. Very wearable. She'll have a bit of a challenge as a beginner putting a zipper into lining fabric, but I know she'll do great!

Sarah's first project was a coaster that looks like a little tree stump. She finished her second project, a bunny hat, yesterday. It's a copy of something she saw online for $40. She drafted the pattern herself and her total cost was about $3.00. She was thrilled as you can tell from her big smile! This will be her "snow bunny" snowboarding hat. Cute, huh?



This is all the fun and none of the stress of having my own daughters...*evil cackle inserted here*. Thanks for the loan, Pam! I'll return them when they get hungry and cranky! LOL!