Yet another...

Another skirt ready for shipping. This one is from a Liz Claiborne stretch twill that I bought from Vogue Fabrics quite a few years back. It's a size 8.

DEADLINE!!!

The deadline for The Hundred Skirts Project was to be August 1st, then December 1st. Obviously, those have both come and gone. I wanted allow time for those of you who said you were working madly to get your skirts in. The new deadline will be January 1st. This time I will have to enforce it as I don't want to delay receipt of the skirts any longer. My mother-in-law and I are working hard to finish up the last amount to complete the 100 skirts. When we reach 100, we will be sending the skirts whether or not the pledged skirts are all in. If all the pledged skirts arrive, that will be terrific! It will put us well over our goal. However, the skirts are going January 1st regardless. If you can't make the January deadline, I can provide the orphanage's address and you can mail them when you're ready. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at lovelace @ mtaonline . net

Thanks to all who have participated! I will continue to share skirts as they arrive in my mailbox or are completed in my workroom! Hugs!

Charity

Skirt Donations From High School Classmate!

I am quite late getting these posted. My high school best friend (Class of 1978!) and I "found" each other after 30 years. We had a delightful visit this summer. I was touched to receive these adorable skirts from her a few weeks ago. She wanted to help with our 100 Skirts Project. She did a beautiful job on the skirts. The fabric combinations are really charming. Thanks so much, Lisa! Lisa is now working on a extravaganza auction for the Northwest Children's Fund. To read more about this project, click HERE.

Black, Red and White Ladybug Print Ruffled Skirt


Teal Floral and Stripe Ruffled Skirt


Border Print with Eyelet Trim

Hundred Skirt Update

My mother-in-law and I have been working on skirts to wrap up The Hundred Skirt Project. We have made three in the last day or so. Here they are..

Black and White Pique with ruffle, a girl's size 14


A Distressed Denim with Appliqued Pocket, a girl's size 16


A Hawaiian print sheeting with banded ruffle, a girl's size 7




And we almost have a paisley stretch twill and a moss green moleskin ready to share with you next. I'll share those as soon as we're done.

Almost Forgot How This Works...

I've been gone so long I've almost forgotten how all this works.... :) I apologize for the long absence. I have been so busy teaching and then remodeling a room for my mother-in-law to use while she stays with us for a couple of months. But I finally got a few minutes to get back to blogging. Life should settle down from here. I'll post a Hundred Skirt Update shortly!

Charity

Sewing Withdrawals!

It's prep period. While other teachers are happily ensconced in their classrooms engaging their eager students in the mysteries of quadratic equations and the wonders of constitutional monarchies, our pathetic heroine is huddled behind her desk. Her eyes glazed. Her limbs trembling. Perspiration beads on her furrowed brow as she suffers violent chills followed by fatiguing sweats. She wraps her arms around her wasting body in a futile attempt to bring comfort to her hollow existence. It's been 10...no...12 days since she has had her last fix. She attempts to rally. She must pull herself together for the sake of the children. But all she wants is the delicious feel of the fabric under her fingers and the sound of the humming machine....

Switching Gears

I have been scheduled to substitute-teach for six weeks at our local Christian school where my youngest son attends. Filling in for one of the teachers' maternity leave. I wasn't expected to be needed until next week or the week after that. But I got the call to come in Monday. So I've been and will be teaching high school until probably the end of November. I'm willing to do it because the school has only a couple of us high school subs they can call on, but I'm reaalllllyyyyy not looking foward to it. It's going to put me behind on making my Christmas gifts this year big time.

Anyway, I'm going to try to continue to sew (and share my efforts with you) regardless. Even if I have to do the get up at 4am thing to do so. But if I'm a little quieter than normal, this is why.

I don't know how those of you who work full-time are able to manage that, your homes AND still find time to make all the gorgeous things I see on your blogs. Advice welcome! :) :)

Charity

On My Cutting Table - Vintage Toddler Pattern

Today I cut out this vintage toddler's pattern. Isn't that one of the sweetest little wrap dresses ever? I'm going to make it in the rosebud print below. I may insert a tiny picot lace into the yoke seam. Or a baby rickrack. Or tiny pink piping. Still playing around with ideas. This is for my eldest niece's baby girl, Serenity. Isn't that a lovely name? My niece, Noelani, is learning to sew so I will leave it unhemmed for her to put the hem where she desires. The pattern envelope shows an awfully short hem placement and I'm not sure that Noelani will want it that short for her wee one. We'll let Mom decide. I'm not sure when I'll get this one started. I have to finish up the Harvest Dress. Then I have a shirt halfway completed for myself as well as a two piece sweater dress. I need to wrap those up and then perhaps I can get started on this one. It's a size two and won't fit Serenity till Spring anyway. The fabric's a bit light for a Washington winter.



Charity

Woman's Perogative To Change Her Mind

I've changed my mind on the petticoat for this jumper. One of the problems last time I made this dress was the weight of the skirt relative to the structure of the bodice. The petticoat and very full appliqued skirt really put a strain on the straps of the jumper.

Since I was going to make a peasant blouse for the jumper anyway, it dawned on me that I should make a peasant dress with full tiered skirt to serve as the petticoat and blouse all in one. This will be so much more comfortable than a very heavy skirt with its weight born only by thin straps (rather than a shouldered bodice). And the dress could be worn alone or with another jumper as well. It also will solve the problem I had last time with two very full skirts layered into the bodice seam join.

So...first thing tomm. morning I will join the skirt to the bodice and then cut out the underdress. I'm too tired to do anything more tonight and likely to make dumb mistakes. I will work on the beading and button embellishment while watching tonight's DVD. I think I'm in the mood for James Bond! Off to check the DVD shelves.

Charity

PS - Forgot to say what fabric I picked for the underdress. It's a country primitives print. Small mustard stars on black. Perfect to continue the country, primitive look of the dress.

Harvest Dress, The Sequel...almost done

I've finished the bodice and the skirt on this Harvest Dress, The Sequel. I've pinned it together in this pic, just to get an idea of proportion. I think I'll shorten the bodice a touch. All I have left to do is make the attached petticoat/crinoline that gives the skirt its body and then attach the bodice to the skirt. Then it's simply a matter of buttons and buttonholes and it's ready to hand on to Karess. Well...gotta get the review and contest entry filled out and THEN it can go to Karess.

Oh! Forgot! I also have to do some buttons and beading accents on the skirts appliques still.



Charity

And Blanket/Nursing Cover Is Finished

The flannel patchwork with fleece backing blanket/nursing cover is finished. It's in the same flannel fruit and flower fabrics as the burp cloths. This is for a little girl baby, the first child of Casey's Bible and Literature teacher. I will be subbing for her six week maternity leave. The baby is due any day now, so if I suddenly disappear it's because I'm teaching.

Which is all the more reason I have to get all my projects caught up NOW!

Burp Cloths Finished

Eight burp cloths down. One nursing cover and a ruffle attachment to go!!!!



Charity

Sewing Up A Storm

I am sewing up a storm here...

I have 8 baby burp cloths and a nursing cover in progress. The baby shower is 3:30 pm today and it's 8:37am here in Alaska. So do the math. Yep! I need to haul.

And when that is done and I have time left over (Keeping my fingers crossed that this power of positive thinking stuff works...) I will attach the ruffle to my "Harvest Dress, The Sequel" project mentioned below. I finished the applique fusing on the skirt and got the top edge gathered. I will do the button-stitch edging and the hand-beading while attending the soccer tournament this weekend. Then hopefully get the petticoat and bodice assembled on Sunday. That leaves Monday for putting the skirt, petticoat and bodice together and whipping out a quick peasant blouse. So...if all works out as planned (Gee, that would be a first), I should be able to complete this outfit and get it entered in the PR Contest before the Tuesday deadline.

Here's a pic of the fused skirt appliques. Please excuse the very ugly indoor lighting photo. No time to set up a shoot outside!



Will report in this evening as to whether or not I achieved today's goals.

Charity

Harvest Dress...The Redux

On to the next sewing project. This one is far overdue. About a year ago a little gal from our church, Karess, modeled this dress for me. It was for a children's designer invitational event at Ebay.



Karess just adored that dress, as you can tell from her smile in the photo. Though I compensated her for modeling, I did also promise that I would make her a similar dress someday. I did warn her that it would not be as elaborate as the one she got to model. :) :) I don't think I could bring myself to do all that applique twice!

But I'm finally starting in on the dress. I will use this pattern for the bodice as she's outgrown the pattern I used before.



I self-drafted the skirt as it needs to be much, much fuller than most pattern draftings. I will also include a petticoat with a tulle ruffle to make the skirt pouf out - as I did in the original.

I have started the appliqué. Instead of using Fall vegetables, I'm doing a cutsier and slightly more childish crows and sunflowers theme. There will be a crow on the jumper's bodice as well. I will add buttons, beads and hand embroidery to the appliques and plan to hand buttonhole embroider the sunflowers' edges and narrow satin-stitch the rest. I can't imagine trying to navigate a satin-stitch around all those little petals of the sunflower. :(



If I have time, I will recreate the black homespun peasant blouse for her to wear under the jumper. I will most likely not recreate the jacket, but might applique on a purchased denim jacket if I can find a nice one at a thrift store.

The DK Coat is History!

Here are my final pics and final thoughts on this coat. And just to keep things interesting...a confession.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN SEWING THIS PATTERN:

1) Be sure to note that the seams are sewn 3/8! It says this in the beginning and this does not mention it again. So make a sticky note and put it on your machine if you need to. Tearing seams out of fleece is a real pain, so you will NOT want to forget this.

2) Many of the seams are sewn wrong sides together so that the seam allowances are exposed. This is done to show off the color on the double-sided fleece. However, when you are cutting out, you will want to be VERY careful to get the seams cut perfectly straight as they will show.

3) Because of the exposed seams, I recommend NOT cutting out the notches. The pattern does not say this and it should because it does not remind the reader to remove the notches after sewing. I recommend thread basting all your markings. Chalk will brush off the fleece. Pencil does not work well on fleece either.

4) I used my built-in walking foot as the double-sided fleece is quite bulky. It also helped when attaching the faux fur which is apt to stretch more than the fleece.

5) The pattern calls for interfacing the collar. I found that there was plenty of bulk going on already and didn't think the double-sided fleece needed it. However, if I was doing the coat in a different fabric such as a lighter wool or suiting, then I would do so.

6) When working with the curly faux fur I recommend using those large flower-headed pins. Regular head pins completely disappear into the fur. It's easy to hit them with your needle or overlook removing them when completing the seam.

7) There is a slight problem in attaching the neck facing. If you are making the coat from fleece, the pattern layout calls for cutting the neck facing from fleece. When I went to apply this I realized it was going to be far too much bulk to use fleece for the neck binding. At one point this would mean four layers of fleece in the seam allowance. So I decided to use a bias strip of cotton as close to the fleece color as possible for the neck facing instead.

8) Illustration #12 show the front facing being on TOP of the neck facing. Actually when this seam is sewn the neck facing should be depicted as being atop the FRONT facing so that when the front facing is turned back to the inside of the coat it encloses the raw edges of the neck facing. The directions say to do it this way, but the drawing shows it incorrectly.

9) The pattern calls for a button-on hood that sits under the collar. I didn't like this idea and decided to do the hood as one would a hat. Separately from the coat. I lined with the fur fabric, inserted ties cut from strips of the fleece and put pom-poms on the end of the ties and the point of the hood. The hood can sit under the collar for the cuteness factor when not in use and then tied on like a bonnet when desired. This way the collar doesn't wad up at the neck like it would if the hood was buttoned on and used in place under the collar.





MAJOR CONFESSION TIME.....

Does anyone notice a difference between my coat and the one on the pattern envelope. A big difference?



Sigh...I had a thyroid moment. Okay, a couple of thyroid days evidently. I sewed this coat the wrong side out. The pink side of the double-sided fleece should have been showing. I sewed this whole thing. Worked hours and hours on it. And never even noticed my error until I was cleaning up after it was finished. Upon putting pattern pieces back in the envelope it dawned on me that the coat in the pic was pink and mine was...was...was...VERY orange! Oh well. Here's to hoping my little niece likes orange. Alot.

Bummer. It would have been so much cuter in pink. Note to self...check thyroid levels before sewing!


Charity

Fold-Over Elastic Contest

Saf-T Pockets.com is having a contest for the most creative use of fold-over elastic. The grand prize is a $100 gift certificate to their website. Second prize is a $50 certificate and Third prize is a 19" decorator dress form. See details HERE.

And just look at their marvelous assortment of FOE!



And here are some tips and tutorials on using FOE.

Angry Chicken's FOE Tutorial

Tip For Binding Edges

FOE for Diapers

Blue Lily's Tutorial

Charity

Back From a Quick Weekend Trip

I don't know how people who must travel for business do those quick 2-3 day trips. They're exhausting! My niece got married in Colorado this weekend. I flew from Alaska, traveling all Thursday night and arrived Friday morning. The wedding was Saturday. I flew back out very early Sunday morning and didn't get to bed till past midnight. Whew! It was a beautiful, casual-but-still-elegant outdoor wedding. And Candace looked absolutely gorgeous. Doesn't every bride?! :)

So...back to my sewing gig here. Here's the sewing line-up for this week:

1) Finish the Orange Coat and get it mailed off. Get my entry in for the PR Contest. To see all the darling entries so far, click HERE.

2) Because the contest ends Sept. 30th, I need to drop my other projects and quickly get together the other entry I had hoped to get listed. An appliqued dress for a girl at church. It will be somewhat similar to the Harvest Appliqued Dress. She was my model for that one and desperately wanted one for herself.

3) A set of burp cloths and matching breast-feeding cover-up for one of Casey's teacher's at school.

4) Finish the gray sweater outfit I was making for myself.

5) Finish a shirt I have about halfway completed for myself (will post on that one later). It's this Khaliah Ali pattern.



That's probably more than I will be able to get done for this week. A girl can always dream.

Charity

Daisy Kingdom Coat - Almost Done

Just a quick update on the Daisy Kingdom coat. I'm on my way to do an airport run and so only have time for a quick photo.

One important note on this coat. The neck facing calls for it to be cut from the fleece. This requires far too much bulk at the neckline. Up to four layers of fleece in places. And the hood isn't even yet tucked under the collar. I thought this was a poor plan. So I cut a facing piece from a quality quilting cotton, from the bias so that it could navigate the neck curve. Here's a photo of the facing ready to be handwhipped down.





All I have left to do is the closures, the right fur cuff and the hood. You can read the Pattern Review I have written for this coat HERE. I will update it when the coat is completed. It will then be entered in Pattern Review's Sewing for Babies/Kids Contest before being shipped off to my niece, Winter.

Alaskan Womanhood

I've had a rather glamorous morning assisting my husband's installation of a new septic system. This is what we Alaskan women do when we're not buying lipstick or attending hockey games.

But I digress...where was I? Oh yes, standing in the bottom of a sewage-littered trench holding a metal rod while my husband takes measurements with one of those tripod thingies. He's not in the sewage trench, mind you. I'm not sure how I ended up being the one on the crap-covered end of the stick. But such is the life of an Alaskan woman. Equality and all that.

And what does the style-conscious Alaskan woman wear while holding a metal stick in a sewage trench? Besides the lipstick, of course. Well...fellow fashion mavens, I'm happy to report that I was wearing boot cut jeans, dark denim with silver embroidery on the patch pockets. Since it was a bit cold and drizzly, I bypassed this Fall's must-have ruffled blouse and chose an Old Navy red fleece pullover instead. But I WAS wearing boots - which if you've been paying attention to the action at Bryant Park is THE must-have accessory this season. They were men's size 13 rubber knee boots, bearing the paint remnants of their former role as part of Caleb's Darth Vader costume. How I managed to stroll up and down my septic runway in shoes four sizes too large for me can only be a testament to the grace we Alaskan women show under pressure. Not only can we navigate raw sewage while wearing galoshes fit for Goliath, but we do it with style and grace.

I wonder if this makes me qualified to be VP?? Perhaps I better freshen up my Republican Red lipstick....

Charity

Distracted by Sweaterknits

I was cleaning up after my session on the DK Coat last night when I came across a lovely grey wool sweater knit in my stash. It has been cold and yucky and miserable and that sweater knit looked so cozy. And it was perfect for Fall. I suddenly had to have something to wear out of it for church on Sunday....Or maybe I just didn't want to set the collar on the DK coat. I hate doing collar/front facings. Anyway, I decided to do a quick serger project for myself.

I settled on New Look 6730 for a quick basic skirt pattern. But I'm making a few changes. I'm angling the hem line asymmetrically for one. Secondly, this sweater knit has an interesting ruffled selvage. I cut it off and inserted it into the shorter side seam as a sort of piping. I only need to make the elastic casing and hem to finish up the skirt. Then I want to make a long sweater to go with it. Perhaps a wrap style and repeat the selvage ruffle at the neckline and/or cuffs. But I only have 2.5 yards left and this is only about 30 inches wide. So we'll have to see about the top...

Here's the pattern I'm using for the skirt. Haven't picked the pattern for the top yet.



And here's a pick of the selvage being basted onto the side seam allowance. I used orange thread so I could follow it as a guide when layering over the second skirt piece.




I should finish this skirt today. Then I'll finish the DK coat before going on to the top for this skirt.

Charity