S4076

This is my 2nd completed project for the Pattern Stash Contest. I'm not nearly as prolific as some of the other sewists, but at least this is getting me to use some of the patterns that have been languishing in the pile. And really, isn't that the point? Well, it is for me, anyway. ;) I love the idea of using some of the patterns that have just been sitting around. After all, I wouldn't have purchased them if I didn't like them in the first place. I just tend to get distracted by the latest thing I've hauled home.

My pattern stash isn't very large and most of it hasn't been around long enough to qualify for the contest anyway. So, my goals are modest. I'm hoping to complete 5 items from "old" patterns.

I got a little lazy with this one and didn't do an FBA. I (stupidly) thought that the gathered neckline and knit fabric would provide enough extra room for my "extra" curves. Ummmm... not really. It looks better than the photograph shows, and I'm sure it will be just fine another -5 lbs. from now. There is something funny about the way this top shows in pictures. I'll need to remember *not* to wear it anywhere that a camera might be pointed in my direction.

I was surprised that I had to add 3" to the length of this top. I'm an average height and rarely need to alter the length, but this was drafted quite short. The sleeve length was fine, though, so I think this was just a "design feature"... just not one I liked. And of course, I had to remove some of the ease from the sleeve cap, about 3/8".

At any rate, I'm extrememly happy with this top and will probably make it again someday. There are two other neckline variations for this pattern-- a v-neck cross-over style, and a twist front. I will probably try each of them as well.

I am not a model!

I really hate being in photos... and it shows. The bad hair day doesn't help, either. LOL Oh well. My latest sewing projects just didn't look that great on Wilma, so I had to step in.

First up is New Look 6375, a six-gored knit skirt. Since I stopped working, I don't have the occassion to wear many skirts. They always make me feel a bit overdressed, partly because we live in an area where most people dress casually and choose comfort over style. I hate feeling frumpy, so I've decided that a few skirts are in order.

I chose this pattern for a couple of reasons. First, I've entered the stash contest at Pattern Review. The challenge is to sew patterns that have been in the stash pile for 6 months or more. This pattern definitely meets that criteria. I've had it for at least 2 or 3 years. The other deciding factor is that I've been on a diet (WW online, if anyone cares), and I am still shrinking. Six gores and an elastic waist make this a VERY easy skirt to take in later. ;)

I wasn't sold on this skirt before I sewed it, mostly because it called for knit... and I haven't had great luck with knit skirts in the past. Then I fell in love with this poly-lycra knit at Joann's, and it was positively BEGGING to be made into this skirt. The fabric wasn't the greatest to work with-- it wanted to roll and made the casing and hem a real pain in the rear-- but the feel and drape of this stuff made it well worth the trouble.Now that it's finished, I absolutely love it. This will probably be a "go to" pattern in the future.

My other recent finish is Butterick 5185. This top is assymetrical with a knotted front. It's a little tough to see these details in the picture, though. Because of the print, they just sort of blend in. It doesn't do this so much in real life, but I was too lazy to take better photos. Sorry about that!

Anyway, the fabric is one that I ordered from Fabric Mart especially for this top. I loved the print and weight of the fabric, but wasn't crazy about the way it feels. Can't have it all, I guess. It feels okay on, so that's good... and it's such a distinctive top that I probably won't be able to wear it too often for fear of becoming "the woman who seems to have just that one top". LOL

The only real trouble I had with the construction of this top was the sleeves. The pattern as drafted had WAY too much ease, which resulted in a puffy gathered mess around the shoulder... not really what I want in a knit top. The detailed review is here: http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?readreview=1&reviewnum=56312.

B5495

Last month, I was at Joann's during a Butterick sale and purchased only one pattern. I left feeling not-so-great about Butterick. Well, I might be having a change of heart. I was at Joann's again last week, during another Butterick sale, and decided to try again. This pattern and fabric were among my finds...



The pattern envelope said "Fast & Easy", no naturally something had to go wrong. In this case, the side front extended about 1 1/2" beyond the center front.



Normally, I would wonder if I accidentally cut two different sizes, but I was using the smallest one. I ended up laying the back onto the front and cutting off the excess. There was enough ease in the front to allow it to fit even after I removed the excess, but I'd still like to know what went wrong.

I love the top... except for the sleeves. They're kimono style, rather than set-in. It's not bad, but that style of sleeve is not my favorite. If I make this again, I'll make the sleeveless version and draft a sleeve to go onto it. At any rate, this is what I'll be wearing for lunch with the girls tomorrow.

NL6807

My mojo is still missing, but I decided to do some sewing anyway. I needed a "short attention span" type of project and decided on New Look 6807. It was just four pattern pieces, with raglan sleeves... basically, a no-brainer.



The fabric was an embroidered poly-lycra blend from Fabric.com. It's one of those that really wants to curl along the edges, which made for a lot of fabric-fiddling, especially when it came to the neck band. Cutting it out wasn't a lot of fun, either. Come to think of it, I probably spent more time fiddling with the fabric than sewing. I do like the way it looks, though.

The complete pattern review is here...

http://sewing.patternreview.com/review/pattern/55620

Has anyone seen my mojo??

My sewing/stitching/crafting mojo seems to have gone missing. I'm afraid it has been killed in a consipiracy between my floor and a sewing WIP.

The floor in question is in my den. A few weeks ago, I got the bright idea to rip out the carpet, which I have always disliked, and install tile. Naturally, I did every bit of the work myself... and just finished yesterday. I didn't do any sewing or stitching while I was working on this project. I was just too tired and sore to think about it.

Meanwhile, I also started this...



It was going well until I got to the stupid yoke. It isn't particularly difficult, but for whatever reason, just doesn't want to attach properly. I really think it's because I've been tired and/or in the wrong frame of mind every time I've tried to work on it. At any rate, it has brought my sewing progress to a screeching halt. I'll probably put this top away for a while and work on something else. I'm not sure what that will be, though.

M5586 Revisited

Yes, yes... I just completed View A of this top last week. But as I mentioned in the previous post, my original attempt at sewing this pattern was View B. Thanks to my handy-dandy new ruffler, I was finally able to finish this thing. Excuse the very poor photo-- I was (once again) too lazy to do it properly. I really do need to work on getting some better pictures, but I am too busy sewing/knitting/stitching/weaving baskets/etc., so this will have to do for now.

This fabric wasn't really suitable for the v-neck version. It just didn't want to gather properly in the front. Using the ruffler fixed that, but if I had done it by basting and gathering, it would never have been finished. I'm amazed that I didn't simply throw it out, but I'm SO glad I let it hang around.

As always, it looks much better on me than on the hanger.



I've also completed S2369... details on that later. Oh, and I started knitting a new pair of socks, just for fun.

Unimpressed

I visited Joann's yesterday. Again. Since getting back into sewing with a vengeance, I seem to be there a lot. Whenever I'm in the neighborhood (not often, since it's 35 miles away), I try to pick up a few patterns from whatever is on sale. This week, it was Butterick, and... well... I was unimpressed. There were a few possibilities, but in almost every case, I could think of another company's version that I liked much better. It was rather disappointing, but good for the pocketbook. I did manage to find one pattern-- 5185. My plan is to do the long-sleeve version, but I'll need to find a printed knit that I like first.

I've done a little bit of stitching lately, but not much. The summer heat seems to chase all of my stitching mojo away. I have a couple of exchanges that I need to work on, but for now, Garden Verses is still getting what little bit of attention I have. Excuse the poor photo... I took it with my new phone, which I have yet to completely figure out. It will never come close to my DSLR, but it's a lot more convenient since I can upload directly to Photobucket from my phone.

The Saga of M5586

I don't know what it is about "easy" patterns, but I seem to run into some kind of problem every time I attempt to sew one of them. Give me something with lots of seams & pieces, maybe a nice set-in collar or cuffs, and I'm just fine. But just tell me that it's "easy", then sit back and watch how quickly I can complicate it.

This brings me to McCall's 5586, a very loose-fitting, sleeveless top. It has a simple faced yoke, a front, and a back. That's all. Nothing to it, right? Well, maybe.

I originally attempted this top in the v-neck version (View B) using a Mystery Fabric from my stash. All was going well, until I gathered the front and tried to sew it to the yoke. It was all downhill from there. No matter what I did, I simply couldn't get the thing to hang right. I decided that the fabric was a touch too heavy to gather and drape correctly around the v-neck, and promptly moved on. I wasn’t doing much sewing in the interim.

A year or two later, I decided to attempt this top again, in View A, with a different fabric. The construction was mostly uneventful, until the end when I had to finish the yoke. Something wasn’t quite right, so I took the whole thing apart, cut another one and tried again. The second time must be the charm, because this is what I ended up with...



The thing that really saved the day on this project was a ruffler foot. I hate doing gathers! They’re so simple, and yet I never seem to get them right. I think it’s because I fiddle with them too much, and the more I tinker, the worse they look. I never can seem to get them even, so I ordered a ruffler before completing this top. The gathers are a bit fuller than the pattern is designed for, even on the lowest setting, but it makes the job so much easier that I’m happy to adjust for that.

The ruffler is also going to salvage my original attempt at the v-neck version of this pattern. I gathered it this morning, and it looks great. :) All I need to do now is the hand-finishing (not really leaping forward to do that at the moment), and hem.

Simplicity 2416, continued...

It's finished, but I'm not thrilled with it. I had such high hopes for this fabric & pattern combo. Unfortunately it was better in my head than it was in reality. Sorry for the bad photo-- I don't actually have a top to go with this yet, and I am having a bad hair day. And well, I'm lazy about fiddling with the tripod and remote for my camera. So, Wilma will have to do as a model for now. ;)

The complete review is below. One thing I didn't mention in the review is the way this thing hangs toward the bottom. It hangs much better on me than it does on Wilma, but it does dip inward between my ankles, which really bugs me. The fabric is also just thin enough that I would need a slip, or you'd be able to see straight through it. This sort of defeats the purpose of a lightweight summer skirt in my book.

As you can see, Oliver is trying to play with the skirt. He has been infatuated with this piece of fabric since I first laid it out for cutting.



Pattern Description: Misses' flounced skirt

Pattern Sizing:10-18

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes... mostly.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Despite having quite a few pieces for a skirt pattern, the instructions were very easy to follow. It's a straightforward construction with an elastic waist.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Unless you are more than 6 feet tall, this skirt will be way too long. I'm 5' 6" and would have been tripping over this if I had done it to the length as designed. The instructions say to determine finished length before sewing, but never give any direction on how to shorten it.

You can't really shorten this skirt from the bottom, due to the circular "swirling" tiers. Shortening from the top changes the line & fit of the garment. The very best way to get rid of some of the length is to increase the seam allowance of each layer. Not a difficult fix, but it is a modification that may not occur to a beginning sewist.

Fabric Used: crinkle cotton, which didn't really work out very well for View A. In the shorter view, it may have been okay. In the longer version that I made, the semi-circular tiers are cut in such a way that makes the grain not line up from one tier to the next. It works perfectly in the first 3 or 4 sections, but as I got toward the bottom, it got sort of wonky. (You can see this in the photo if you look closely.) This could have been corrected before cutting, but it didn't occur to me until it was too late. >:(

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I shortened the length and straightened the hemline. The bottom two tiers of View A go together in a way that makes the skirt somewhat lop-sided. I guess this is supposed to add to the "twirl", but it wasn't a look I liked, so I did mine straight across... or as straight as I could, anyway. *groan*

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I probably won't sew this again. I like the style, but would rather find another pattern that doesn't have the hemline issues.

I wouldn't recommend sewing View A. The shorter version looks like a nice pattern, though.

Conclusion:
I really wanted to love this skirt. The basic design idea is a good one, but the hemline issues really ruined it for me. The finished skirt is certainly wearable, but I think there must be a better version of this same idea out there somewhere.

Simplicity 2416

For a couple of years, I've had a piece of turquoise blue crinkle cotton sitting in my fabric stash. I never quite knew what to do with it. It was purchased because I liked the color and it was on sale... an irresistible combination. I kept an eye out for a suitable pattern, but never found the right thing. Until a couple of weeks ago, when I found this...



I don’t generally wear this style of skirt, and I’ve certainly never made one, but it suited the fabric so perfectly that I decided to try it out. I’m used to straighter styles, so I was a little surprised when I saw that it called for five(!!!) yards of fabric. I wasn’t sure I had that much, but my "helper" assisted in determining that there was, indeed, enough for the skirt.



On to the cutting & assembly...



Not a difficult thing to put together, but certainly a lot more pieces than I normally use for a skirt. It is also taking a lot more thread (stay stitching, plus double-stitched seams, plus edge finishing). I ran out last night, about halfway into the project. Oops.

Almost finished... NL 6815

I've nearly finished NL 6815. It just needs buttons and a hem. I probably have suitable buttons in my stash, but I'd like to find something new. So, it won't be totally finished until I can get to a fabric store, probably sometime next week. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this top has turned out. If I ever do it again, there will no doubt be a few tweaks here & there, starting with the interfacing that I used. It was just a hair too stiff for the fabric and made attaching the collar and facing a real pain in the butt. The pattern calls for pockets, which I have cut out but have not attached. I'm not sure I want to use them. I really liked the lines of the top when I tried it on, and am not sure that I want to break it up with pockets. I'm also not sure that I need the extra bulk that the pockets would add to the bust. We'll see how it looks once it's hemmed & buttoned.

What next?

The painting and sewing madness continues. At 7 a.m. (really early for me), I rolled out of bed and finished the last of the painting. Now all I have to do is change the rest of the light switches and sockets, and put the two big light fixtures back on the wall. That's where it becomes a little more complicated, requiring another trip to Lowe's to fix a small wiring boo-boo.

The current sewing project is NL 6815. I'm working on the view D top. I'm not sure that it's going to be a particularly flattering style on me, so I'm using some very inexpensive fabric that I picked up at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago. So far, I'm surprised at how much I like the fabric for this top. The only problem is that it ravels quite a bit, so I'm topstitching most of the seams and edge-finishing everything else. I didn't bother to do an FBA on this one, though I'm wondering if I will regret that choice later.

Here's the WIP on Wilma. I need to "fix" her so that the bust is more accurate. Dress forms don't really account for things like cup size, so while it is possible to get the correct measurements, it's not quite the same. It's much better if Wilma has a bra with plenty of extra padding. Otherwise, everything looks like this... boxy, floppy, and generally shapeless. ;)

Too many projects...

I'm beginning to think that I've started a few too many projects, and it is starting to show. Badly.

My master bathroom looks like a disaster area, thanks to a painting project. I can't just put paint on the walls like a normal person. Oh no... I have to paint all of the trim on the windows, doors and baseboards. Then I have to become dissatisfied with the beige switchplates. You can't have white switchplates with beige outlets & switches, so this leads to me getting sidetracked with an electrical project. And don't get me started on the light fixtures... too ornate to paint around easily, so I have to take all of them down (more fun with electricity!).

My dining room has been converted into Sewing Central. At the moment, it looks like a fabric store exploded in there. I finished the New Look top in time to immediately cut out another, and there are a few more waiting to be cut & sewed.

Since we aren't using the dining room for actual dining, we've been eating in the breakfast nook. But my sewing machine has been living there, since that is where I like to do my sewing. The house is big enough that I could have a dedicated sewing/craft room, but my favorite spots for doing this sort of work are still the dining room & kitchen. Go figure. And of course, the kitchen has been used for soapmaking. Batch after batch after batch of the stuff.

You might not believe it, but I really do cook. A lot. So when it is time to eat, my current sewing project and soapmaking needs to be relocated to the laundry room & sunroom.

Somebody stop me...

FUFOs!

I think most of us have a collection of FUFOs-- projects where the stitching is completed, but for one reason or another, aren't truly finished and ready for display. I also think that my FUFO pile is bigger than most. A lot of projects are there because they need to be framed. I have a real backlog of those kinds of items. But I also have lots of smalls awaiting assembly. I'm on very good terms with my sewing machine, so why can't I seem to finish any of my FUFOs?

Having no good excuse for continuing to ignore a growing FUFO pile, I decided that rather than starting yet another small, I would finally put together some of the ones I've already stitched. I now have a few new Christmas ornaments and some LHN designs finished into small pillows (and now I need to make a basket to display them LOL). The pillows were inspired by some finishes that BeckySC posted on her blog.





All of these projects were completed with fabric that I already had in my stash. So really, there was no excuse for waiting so long to assemble them. I still have lots more to do, but at least the collection has been reduced by six. :)

Of course, I can't post without an update of Garden Verses.

Another update

Garden Verses got quite a bit of attention on Monday, but not so much yesterday. I'm really enjoying working on this one. I'm going to do some more on it today, of course, but after that, I think I might just have to start something new. I have a lot of smalls that are calling my name. ;)



I also got some good mail this week-- the jewel for Malachite Maze arrived! :) I'll be taking this one to the framer soon.

The most wonderful time of the year...

That's right... WIMBLEDON!!! I watch plenty (okay, probably too much) of tennis, but this is the big one. The bonus is that I'll probably get lots of stitching done. I'll need something to do if I'm going to spend that many hours in front of the television. ;)

I've gotten back to work on Garden Verses, so that project will probably get some attention over the next two weeks. Actually, I've been working on it quite a bit today while watching a rebroadcast of the 2008 men's final. I even took a couple of recent update photos.

This is from Wednesday, June 16:



And here it is today:



I also started a new project this week, Secret Pumpkin Patch by the Trilogy. I would probably have finished this one already, if my cats hadn't absconded with some of the floss. I wish I knew where they buried it.

Counted Canvas

While on vacation in April, I checked out a wonderful shop (Weaver's Webb, in New Bern, NC). I went in intending to purchase some new sock yarn, but instead got distracted by their wonderful collection of counted canvas patterns and supplies. I could have gone absolutely wild in that shop, but managed to show some restraint, just in case I wasn't wild about stitching on canvas. I chose a few patterns, mostly by Laura Perin, and had one of them kitted up.

The pattern I decided to kit-up and stitch first was Malachite Maze. I couldn't wait to get started, and I rapidly became obsessed with stitching it. This was a nice change from my usual stitching, and the fibers were absolutely yummy. I finished it on Monday, except for one tiny jewel that I need to replace. The photo is a bit lop-sided (photographer error) and it really doesn't do the piece justice.



Since I've had a few finishes recently, I decided to treat myself to a new start... The Decorator by Full Circle designs, from the 2007 JCS ornaments issue. The fabric in the background is what I plan to use for finishing. All I need to do is drag out the sewing machine. I wonder how long that will take? LOL

A couple of finishes

Wow... it really has been a long time since my last post. I finished a couple of things in the meantime. Both of them were UFOs that had frustrated me YEARS ago, so I'm quite happy about having them out of the way.

The first finish was a Dimensions Daydreams kit. I'm not fond of working on Aida and had the extra problem of having miscounted one of the squares. Of course, I didn't know this until I had stitched most of it, so major frogging was necessary. At the time when it happened, I simply couldn't stand the thought of it and put the project aside. At any rate, it is finished now. :)



The next finish was much more challenging. This came as a kit-- one of three that I've purchased from this designer. I've had nothing but trouble with every one of them, but this was by far the worst of the bunch. The design was apparently done for the 1998 CATS festival, as it has this charted on the design, although it is not shown on the kit photo. The kit photo shows a blank space where the "CATS 1998" would be. Since the top & bottom three bands are identical, it looks like they simply left something off. Try to imagine a blank space between my bottom two rows, and you'll get the idea.

Kits from this designer are widely known for their shortages. I was aware of this when I started, thanks to first-hand experience with the two previous kits. Even so, I wasn't quite smart enough to check thoroughly before starting it. Silly me! I found out, too late, that the fabric was too short. Not just a little too short, but WAY too short.

Disgusted, I put the thing down. Fast forward about 10 years, and I pulled it back out again. I decided to start over. But, as I had already stitched about 1/3 of the design, there wasn't enough overdyed silk to start again. (There was barely enough in the kit to do the entire design once, much less make any mistake along the way.) This necessitated a color change. I decided to use Waterlilies "Harvest" floss on Apricot linen. Unfortunately, the colors didn't show well in my photo... poor lighting, and perhaps the wrong lens filter, I think.

Starting over wasn't so bad. The new colors suited me a bit better. But of course, there were more kit problems. First, there wasn't nearly enough #8 perle cotton. I had plenty in my stash, but that doesn't change the fact that this was a kit and should have had the correct supplies. To make up for the shortage of #8, there was WAY too much #12 perle. The instructions also had various flaws, mostly instructions that didn't match up to what was on the pattern. Easy stuff to figure out as long as you're paying attention, but just one more thing that shows poor quality control.

Aside from the kit issues, I also had several stitcher-created problems along the way. I took this project on a vacation in April and did a lot of the work on it then. Not being very bright, I decided that it would be a good idea to work on the Hardanger edging in the evening... in poor light... while I was tired from a day of sight-seeing. BAD idea! I ended up cutting the wrong threads (of course) and got to do some really fun (NOT!) Hardanger repair.

In case you haven't guessed, I am really, really glad this is done! LOL

Just a quick post...

I have lots of updates to share, but no time to post all of them. The short version...

Wee Spring is finished, or the stitching is, anyway. I still need to figure out how to FINISH it.



I haven't done much lately on Garden Verses, but LindaK requested a pic, so here 'tis. Hmmm... looking at it now, I realize that it has grown quite a bit since the last time I took a photo of it. I really need to be more regular with progress pictures.




And, a picture of my TUSAL, taken on March 19... a few days late, and even later with posting it.



There's more, of course, but it will have to wait until later.

Thinking Spring

Our crocus are blooming! That always puts me in the mood for spring. The only drawback is that my fondness for flowers translates into a LOT of work. Lately, I've spent more time on my hands and knees in the flower beds than I have stitching. By the time I sit down to stitch, I'm too sore & tired to hold a needle.

With the improved weather, I thought some spring-themed stitching was in order. So, I started Wee Spring, by Heart in Hand. The photo isn't very good-- poor lighting. The fabric is really a much prettier shade of yellow than shown here. I'm not 100% happy with the way the white is (or isn't) showing up against the fabric. Perhaps a bit of backstitching will be in order.



I also took a photo of the needleroll that I stitched last month. The stitching is complete, but it still needs charms. I didn't have anything suitable on-hand, so the actual "finish" will have to wait a bit longer.