Cool Off Cardigan

Do you ever get so frustrated with a project, that you have to completely stop and find something else to do? Well that was exactly what I had to do while working on this jacket .

Nothing was going right. I was ready to throw it in the trash can. It was clearly time to walk away. So after a day of sulking,I decided to sew something else. I pulled out this OOP pattern, and some $1 fabric from Walmart and have some non-complicated sewing fun. I morphed this pattern into this cardigan jacket.After rounding off the neckline, shortening the lengthened sleeves,I cut 2 inch bias strips and did rolled edges on my serger.Then I used my ruffler foot to gather this stretchy fabric into an evenly gathered ruffle.This gave me about two yards of new embellishment,which I applied around the neck and down the front of my new cardigan.
I wore it to work today and it was very comfortable. As for the jacket that I almost threw in the trash...I have returned to it with a renewed mind. More on it in a later post.

We Have A Winner

Thank you for those sweet birthday wishes. I'm truly blessed to have you as readers/friends. Blogging is good for the heart.

An now without further ado.THE WINNER IS...........

Congradulations Joyce Plunkett ! You've won my B-day giveaway. Please email me your mailing information so that I may send the gift to you. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you will continue to visit.

My Birthday Giveaway

Today is my birthday and wedding anniversary and in true blogger style,I'm giving away a gift to one of my lucky readers. More on that a little further in this post. My DH and I have been married for 25 years and in all those years he has never cut paper with my sewing scissors,complained about me buying fabric or criticized my sewing creations. He bought my first sewing machine. He has sat in many fabric stores with a bored look on his face but never complained. I never get tired of his one response to my newest creation,"Yeah baby,that looks nice". That's just a few of the many thing I love about him.

I got a new camera for my birthday and my DD was happy to take some picture. This blouse is from Butterick 5284 and the fabric was given to me by friend Ebony.

This pattern is great. Beside my usual FBA,I made one little change.I did a rolled edge(on my serger) on my ruffles instead of the narrow hem the pattern features in it's instructions. I will definitely make it again.

Here is my birthday giveaway.

This is a good book to aid in creating harmony in your wardrobe world. I hope you'll like it. Simply post a reply stating you want to be entered in this drawing.I'll post the winner in 5 days.The winner should then email me her mailing address to receive the gift. Good luck and thank you for reading my blog.

A Little Sewing and A Little Laughter

I finished 2 pairs of pants from TNT patterns,Simplicity 2700 (grey plaid) and Sewing Workshop Plaza Pants(black).I know the hanger shots don't show much but I just wanted to share what I've been working on. I want to make a jacket to wear with the Plaza pants. I'll take pictures wearing both pieces as soon as I finish the jacket.

Here's my latest project is this OOP Vogue. It will be my last winter piece. The fabric is a wool blend with embossed large scale paisley print. The jacket is fully lined and the pattern requires that every jacket piece is interfaced.


I'm using the techniques from my newest sewing library addition"Jackets For Real People: Tailoring Made Easy".In the Palmer/Pletsch books they employ pin fitting your pattern instead of making a muslin. I pin fitted and of course I had to do the FBA as usual. I also added to the side back and side front pieces to accommodate my thick middle. The fabric pieces are now cut,interfaced and marked. As the book suggests,I pinned the fabric pieces together as if sewn and tried it on and fit nicely. If everything goes as planned,I should have a new jacket,by this weekend.



Now for a little laughter:

Wanna see something funny? Look

The Finished Dress

Finished at last ! It seems like every time I have a project that I'm eager to finish, all kind of drama pops up and steals my precious sewing time. I did get some sewing in,during the past weekend. I finished my sheath dress and cut out two pairs of TNT pants. My plans are to reduce my TV watching time (boo) and spend more time sewing (yaay). So far,so good. I cut out my fabric on Saturday,marked and interfaced on Sunday,sewing on Monday and drama (working late=no sewing) on Tuesday. Maybe I can get a little sewing in tonight.

I couldn't use the fabric I'd originally selected for this dress because,there was not enough fabric.Instead I used another print. My sewing friends choose this print during one of our trips to Hancock Fabrics. I'll build my Spring wardrobe on this dress.
I couldn't get my DD to take a picture. She is my usual photographer. My DH took this photo of me actually wearing the dress,so please excuse the blurry pic. I think you can still see how the dress fits. I'll definitely sew McCall's 5818 again,also I think I'll try other sheath dress patterns too. I like that it is lined and I don't have to worry about wearing a slip with it. This is a great pattern. The instructions are filled with fitting tips and the pattern is actually printed with commonly used alteration guide lines like ,the full bust adjustment. If you are new to fitting,this is a great pattern to start with.