Summer Goings-On

We've been busy around here. I've been trying to eke out a little sewing time but don't have much to show for it. Last Friday we went to the Jelly Belly Factory with a group of jr. highers from our church. I'm snacking on some belly flops as I type.

On Saturday I helped my brother and his wife move into their new house. Then on Sunday we all (me, my husband, brother, sister-in-law, mom, and dad) went to the city for my dad's birthday - a Giants game followed by dinner in North Beach.

Yesterday was the 4th of July (obviously), and I worked on my Clover shorts all afternoon and got them this close to being done. They need a little hand-stitching and one more cuff sewn on. Then in the evening we went to my in-laws' house for a block party BBQ and a few fireworks.

This upcoming weekend we're heading back towards the city with the jr. high youth group to visit the Golden Gate bridge and hike around the headlands. And on a totally different topic, here's my one completed curtain. I still haven't finished the other one or ordered the fabric for the big one. Oh well. At least we can't watch our neighbors' TV anymore.

Craft Room/Office Reorganizing

This is what I've been busy with lately:

One of our extra bedrooms is an office/craft room all for me. The current organization is, well, lacking. I need shelving and boxes and have plans for things like a pegboard and a mirror I can actually see more than my knees and feet in. Today it's a little better than these pictures; this was when EVERYTHING was pulled out of the closet, out of cardboard boxes, out of piles on the floor. Our neighborhood is having a block garage sale in a few weeks, so I set aside things to sell and/or donate. Made a garbage pile. Still have quite a bit to go through and organize, but my fabric is purged and put away in plastic boxes and bins. I feel like I don't have much of a stash, but when I pull it all out there's more than I think. I only kept things I really liked and/or had actual plans for. And the supplies for my Etsy things.

And in other news, Juliet kindly nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award! Thank you, Juliet! If you haven't visited her blog, do. Her sense of humor comes through in all her posts, she makes cute clothes and posts delicious-sounding recipes. And she's a kiwi, which is just fun to say. :) Thus I bring you:

Seven Things About Me

1. I married my high school sweetheart, and married him young (I was only 19) - this fall will be our 7th anniversary!

2. I work at my dad's business - two of my uncles work there as well

3. I've been playing Clusterz online way too much lately

4. I spent my 15th birthday in Venice - I know, right? I was very fortunate to go on that trip with my parents and grandma, and made quite a lot of memories

5. I was able to visit Europe again last year and took only a carry-on size suitcase plus a backpack for a 17 day trip. I was quite proud of that.

6. I grew up on the same street that my mom grew up on - with my grandparents up the road, my aunt and uncle next door, and other aunts and uncles up the road or over the hill at various times. Needless to say, we're a pretty close-knit family.

7. I bought this today (under the less exciting name "Biscoff Spread). Let's just say, I dipped a spoon straight into that jar. A few times. Nutella has the same effect.


And I would like to pass the award on, although I'm only going to choose 5 blogs rather than 15. These are all blogs that I've just recently started reading and would certainly recommend.

Alice of The Pin and Thimble - she's a new sewer, but is already making some lovely things. Check out her tie-dye skirt!


Jo of Making it Well - another new sewer, also making lovely things! She shares multiple types of projects and a lot about the process of each one

Lauren's Musings of a Flower Child - brand new blog to me, but she's got a soft, pretty style and and eye for good details


Erin of Opportunity Knits - She doesn't just knit, she sews and crochets. And even her sweeping is pretty - I certainly don't get to sweep up pretty flowers like that!


Paige of Lux Per Diem - Photography, sewing, life. It's all there.

Summer Has Arrived

I got a new camera a few weeks ago! My old one was just getting old and starting to not work right. I'm still learning how to use this one, but it's been fun so far.

My hydrangea has started to bloom. This plant is from a cutting my grandma took from one of the plants we used to decorate at our wedding. Love that.

I made chocolate-cherry ice cream (I have a photo of the actual ice cream, but I think it's still on the camera.) Cherries are so pretty; these were cooked into a candied cherry syrup. I haven't made ice cream since last summer, I think. Working on remedying that.

I also made a sweater/jacket for a friend's new baby girl (who made her entrance to the world yesterday!) 100% cotton, pattern from Little Crochet by Linda Permann. I've made two patterns from this book so far and both were very cute. I need to work on choosing a yarn weight that fits the project ahead of time, though, I've had to make alterations for sizing both times because I chose heavier yarn than what was called for.

And the thing taking up most of my sewing time right now is curtains for our living room. We have woven wood blinds/shades right now, which I really like the look of, but they don't totally block the light. I also just wanted drapes - something to add some color or pattern or something. I'm making lined pinch-pleated draperies out of a small scale black and white gingham I bought from Fabric.com. It's coming along fine so far, but they're much more time-consuming than I anticipated. Working with these big pieces of fabric take a lot of space (and pins!)

So that's part of my summer so far. An update on the Palette Challenge will be posted soon!

Inspiration: Beaded Sleeves

Last week was one of those weeks that just wasn't productive. I didn't feel motivated to do much, so the time I did spend working on things went towards a gift (yet to be finished... I had to redo a good chunk of it). I realized today I had this post sitting around half-written.

So, two weeks ago the Coletterie linked to this Threads article showing a pair of beaded and embroidered sleeves. If you haven't seen it, do! They're absolutely beautiful. The detail is amazing.

It got me thinking about how cute it would be to add sheer beaded sleeves to a simple top or dress. I lack the experience or ability to make anything quite like the inspiration, but I have done a bit of beading and rather liked it. The Alabama Stitch Book even has a little info on beading, and the stencil patterns from it would work for beading patterns.

I started looking for examples, and while they weren't all over the place, I did find a few (quite a few wedding dresses, too). Here's one:

Photo at tomandlorenzo.com

I like that it's more modern, with the very plain bodice and bright colors, but the beading is a little heavy.

This is example from Flickr is on a sweater and different beads than I'd use, but I like the random, scattered style with a stronger concentration at the hem:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onthevraydar/6425678691/

I'd use a simple bodice and little cap sleeves for this. And wouldn't the Truffle dress look good with beaded sleeves and matching detail on the ruffle?

Notes to self: Fitting

I meant to put this in my original Pastille post, but seeing as how I forgot and it was a wordy enough post on its own, I'll put it in here. I mentioned some of these things, but I want to very clearly document fitting notes and future changes so that I can easily find them if/when I make a pattern again. Or for reference on similar patterns. I could write them down somewhere, but chances are I'd lose them. Blogs really are handy as notebooks.

Pastille Dress

• Back bodice is too long
• Waistline on front bodice needs to be raised a smidge outside of the darts
• Skirt could still be straightened a bit - near the middle it still rounds out too much
• Sleeves - didn't mark changes on pattern piece, so try to trace dress or just re-do them (or remove them)
• Check waist length between front bodice and front skirt - it didn't seem to match up, probably forgot to adjust skirt waist after altering bodice

Optional:

• Make back bodice one piece and move zipper to side, add width to seam allowances for lapped zipper
• Sleeveless or draft separate cap sleeves
• Lace insertion at hem instead of pleats
• Do the bow

Also, things I learned or tried:

Thread tracing

Using lace hem tape

Prick stitching, lapped zipper

Hand-stitched understitching on facings

SBA

Several certainly-not-textbook fiddlings to get those sleeves to lay right without unpicking everything...

And here's a close up of the fabric I used (in TWO colorways!) just because:

Via trinityquilts.com

Wooly Jacket, Part 2

I knew I had more pictures of this jacket. I finally found them in a different folder on my computer. I realized I like this jacket with a longer shirt, as shown here. I wore it the other day with one that just came to the top of my jeans and didn't like the look quite so much. Funny how proportions change the look of something so much.

SSPC 2012: Pastille Dress - DONE!

My sister-in-law gave me The Colette Sewing Handbook for Christmas, and I highly recommend it. There are reviews about it all over the place, so check those out if you want more info. It's full of great tips and very clear writing, plus it includes five patterns. I decided to start with the Pastille dress, which is a fitted cap-sleeved dress with three horizontal tucks near the hem. I used a pink cotton with a red and white feedsack style print that I bought from a local fabric store.

Why, yes, I *do* feel awkward taking pictures of myself!

I haven't done a whole lot of pattern adjusting before, but I needed to adjust this one. I liked all the cutting, moving, adjusting, and most of all - getting results. I tissue fit to figure out how much to take out for the SBA I needed, and I made the muslin with those changes. Then I just sewed the whole thing with 1" seam allowances so I could let out anywhere I needed to. I did not test the skirt at all. I realized at the end that the waistline needs to be adjusted a little bit, so I may test it all in the future.

The main adjustments I made were the SBA, taking some length out, especially in the back bodice (although it still needs quite a bit more taken out), and straightening the skirt a little. It had quite a pronounced outward curve around the hips.

The other change I made was to redo the sleeves. I sewed them up as drafted, but ended up carving a good slice out of the outer edge to make them shorter and change the curve a little. They just weren't fitting correctly over my shoulders. I will most likely change them more significantly if/when I make this pattern again.

I made my first lapped zipper on this dress! This dress was designed with a centered zipper already, so I made a centered back lapped zip. I could (and probably will) move it to the side next time. I feel like it's kind of conspicuous right there, and I certainly need more practice with those. I must have had it misaligned, because I have a weird fold/crease at the bottom and I managed to make the top edges not line up at all. I did not want to redo it, so I'm living with it.

That zipper is one of the reasons (excess back length being the other main one) why I like this dress much better with a cardigan.

I will probably wear it without one also, because I want to be able to wear it during the summer.

Besides the general awkwardness, I was using a different camera and not sure of its timing...

And in other news, my Alabama Chanin skirt is *THIS* close to being done! I just need to attach the waistband elastic, which I'm going to do tonight (probably while watching Once Upon a Time). I also have my 80's pattern t-shirt all cut out, and I'm re-fitting my Clovers as shorts - hopefully a wearable muslin. I ordered a few things from Fashion Fabrics Club, and lo and behold they didn't send me any thread, including the Woolly Nylon I was hoping to use on my knits, or the blue knit for the McCall's shirt. So I need to see what else I can find now. But I'm still making progess!