Saturday Night Sew-In

Spending Saturday night alone with your sewing is nice.Now add sewing friends like Faye , Ebony and Sharon.Spread out a few snacks and drinks.Don't forget to set the table.

Now you have a perfect 'Girls Night In"which is priceless. We got together at 7pm and didn't stop till midnight.We shared tips,techniques,ideas and sewing disaster stories.We discussed future sewing/fabric hunting adventures we could enjoy together.It was so much fun to be among wonderful,positive women who all share and enjoy the same interests. This is our first "Sew-In" but it is not the first time we've gotten together.Last month we took an 1.5 hour drive to Joann Fabrics and shopped till we almost dropped. We plan to do it again soon.

Between the 4 of us we nearly completed(up to hems) a pair of pants(Faye),2 dresses(Ebony and Sharon) and a top(me). I had a wonderful time.My friends are truly blessings for which I am truly grateful.

Dress Blues

Tuesday,I had the joy of spending the day sewing,while my DH was at work and DD was in school. I finished this dress. More and more I'm finding,that making a muslin should be a required part of all my sewing. It would probably save me a lot of frustration.

Here is my version with the following changes.

1.I did a FBA and I not really sure about how to do that properly on this type of top.

2.After finding the FBA left the top still to scanty,I added solid color additional fabric for

more coverage.

3.I closed up the deep cut v,again more coverage.

4.Eliminated the back zipper.

I'm still not happy with it.Can you see how wonky that neckline looks and the gaping at the armhole.I think I'm going to scrap this and try it again at a later date.If you have any tips please share. I'm going to check some of my fitting books for bedtime reading tonight.

Here is the back view. Back to the cutting board.

Sewing All Day

I had a wonderful sewing day. I made a bag to carry my knitting projects,from recycled materials. One pair of old jeans and three bandannas equals one bag. This type of bag is really not my style but I wanted to do something easy and I need a bag that I can take to the park or beach without worry about it getting dirty. I can just toss this in the washing machine. I used an OOP Butterick pattern as starting point,then I just went on to all kinds of experimentation. I going to carry it around tomorrow to test it out.

I want to knit something but I don't know what. I need some inspiration. That's why I love reading blogs. One stylish lady,Toy

,has some beautiful knit and sewn fashions on her weblog.

Another is Sheila
She knits,sew and crochets.Her garments are sophisticated and fit her perfectly.

Maybe I'll get there someday until then,I'd better find something beside scarf and hats.

I know I promised a ruffler tutorial today but I need a bit more time to do a really good one.It will be worth the short wait. I also made a dress that caused a few more gray hairs to sprout from my head. More on this later. Now here's a picture of one of the items I completed during my blog absence.

I did view A.

The hem is not crooked. My skirt fell down a little in front after my DD told my to "suck in your gut". It is made from challis which I think,is too light weight for this type skirt. However it is cool and comfortable. I'm not going to make it again.

Wearing The Anorak

As promised,here I am wearing the anorak jacket. Thank you all for the sweet comments. It's very light weight.Perfect for places that over do it with the air conditioning. The pattern is very easy.I want to try a shorter version in linen or denim.

I don't have to work tomorrow and plan to spend the entire time sewing.My DH will be at work and DD will be in school. I've got one UFO which need a hem and it will be finished. I been thinking about a new tutorial. I've been working with my ruffler foot and I absolutely love it.It seems like every top and dress features some type of gathering,this season,so I thought put it to work. So tomorrow,I PROMISE,a new tutorial.

A quick bit

I'm so ashamed that I haven't posted anything in a month. I must do better.It's an hour after my bedtime (11pm on workdays) and I wanted to post at least one thing.Even though I haven't been posting, I have been sewing. So here is a little bit. This pattern is from a previous post.This is my jacket made from purple crepe back satin. I know this is a bad picture (low battery).I was in a rush to post at least one picture. I'll post many more tomorrow. I PROMISE.