Sewing Vortex

I've put myself on Instagram, perhaps a better forum for my terrible quality "sewing selfies". Find me here!

For all my whining about how there are no sewing classes near me, and only Joann's for fabric shopping, I almost missed the American Sewing Expo in Novi! I remember reading about it on A Fashionable Stitch and Gertie's Blog last year and so when I read Sunni's post a week or two ago on scaling back on her appearances this year, I Google searched for it and discovered it was set for the following weekend. Talk about close! I made the 1h40m drive Sunday morning and stayed the day. As a first timer, I was completely overwhelmed and bewildered for the first 30 or 40 minutes. I wandered through each aisle systematically browsing and fingering fabrics and sample garments. Planning to go back through and shop in detail, I made all kinds of notes in my little notebook (my notebook and pen fit perfectly in the secret inner pocket of my Minoru) so I would knew where I wanted to revisit. At the end of my tour I found Angela Wolf's booth . I watch her all the time on It'...

She brings me presents..... I received some Marcy Tilton fabric today. It's lovely! 3 knits for tops, cause that's how I roll: White on white cotton print with teal Lightweight rayon/lycra This lovely is a 4-way stretch knit  I thought I'd have plenty of summer sewing season left, but for the last two weeks, it's been COLD! Maybe I should move on to my big Fall Project titled, "Lingerie Trench Coat". While inspired by the famous $5500 Burberry Lace Kickback trench, I won't be using layers of 4-ply silk. I purchased a black/gold circular lace (yay for no flowers!) and a black/gold metallic glazed linen for the body of my coat. I will line it in a silk charmeuse (cause I love it) but that color is yet to be determined. Sorry, I'm unable to capture the beautiful luster of the fabric; I'm a pretty crappy photographer.

I know I haven't posed much here, but believe me, it isn't  because I'm not sewing! It's because nearly everything I work on ends up a wadder. Wasted time and unwearable garments.  Case in point McCalls 6752.   I spent a long time working on several trials of the top for version C, but was never happy with some detail. Wonky stitching on the knit, gaping V neck, struggles with inserting clear elastic on my serger to rusch the sides. So I took a rayon knit that I loved and made the kimono sleeve dress instead. What I got was a dress that made me feel so awful about my body that I was depressed for a week. I put it away for a month, then decided to chop the skirt off into a peplum and reshape the sides and sleeves using an existing shirt I like. It still doesn't work, but none of that matters now. The peplum looks all crooked and too short. I don't have the fabric or the interest to re-cut or fix it.  I had pictures of it to insert here, but I've delet...

And I love it! Sorry the pictures suck. The fabric is a blue and ivory lace striped poly-cotton blend jersey that I bought a year or more ago at Hobby Lobby. I know, right? They actually have 1 or 2 bolts of something that isn't for quilting. This was my first successful knit that I can wear in public. I read on all sorts of blogs about how easy and forgiving knits are to work with. Up until now, that was not my experience. I used Butterick 5497 , View A with V neck front and back. And I'm pleased to say that I didn't have to make any alterations, really. I cut my size based on my measurements, only adding 1/4 inch to the center front and back when cutting out my fabric. I also left out underbust elastic. Completely unnecessary. The whole time I was sewing, I was convinced that the upper half wasn't nearly long enough to properly cover my bust. Turns out I was wrong. This pattern was very easy to put together and I don't even have gaping in the front ...

I was the winner of a random drawing on Elliot Berman Textiles Friday Fabric Love on Facebook recently. I am super excited, because I've never won anything like this before. I received my prize right away: two yards each of two different Dolce & Gabbana fabrics. The one on the right is a beautiful rust, cream and brown sheer woven viscose. The embroidered stripes run vertically with random translucent sequins stitched in. It's light and delicate and has a lovely rumply-crinkley look to it. There are a million and 5 things that can be done with it, I just need to settle on the right one. The second fabric is a printed viscose knit. Not as thin as an ITY, but feels similar in terms of recovery and tightness of knit. It's got lots of drape.It's a bold print and a lovely fabric, but I have no idea what to do with it! The print says 60's to me, but the colors invoke the 70's. Of course, I'm not a student of fashion history, so I probably have that all w...

MY COMPLETED MINORU!!    I'm so pleased with how my Minoru turned out. It took me FOREEEEHHHVER. But, it's worth it. I didn't find it to be difficult, but sometimes it's hard to fit things into a full time life. Tasia's Sew Along posts were key to staying on track with the project. I hardly glanced at the paper instructions, but read through all the posts and comments as I went along. I poured over blog after blog of finished Minorus before planning my project and found myself really inspired by  Jessie's Bike-In-The-Rain  version. I loved the sheen of her fabric and the length of the coat. I don't bike. I drive.  Truth: I try to avoid the great outdoors.  Still, I find myself darting through the rain going in and out of buildings, or moving the hubby's car out of the way so I can drive the small boy to school.  Don't mind the dust mote....I've been too busy sewing to clean. I first made a muslin in size 8, what I thought ...

Recently, my friend hosted Girls Night Over Pajama Party! With this in mind, I decided to take a chance an order the Sleepwear Mystery Bundle from FabricMart.com several weeks back. For $12, I get 2.5 yards each of a flannel, knit and flannel backed satin. That's lots of fabric, and I was feeling adventurous. Fast forward to delivery and ....boo hoo. I was disappointed! Really, what did I expect for $12? My bundle contained: White Flannel Backed Satin. At first I thought it was really great, then I handled it and realized it is so thin. The "flannel" backing is really just a brushed back. It's a terrible silky poly, and shreds the second you glance at it. I think it's natural state is puckered. At least at the seams.  Baby Blue t-shirt jersey. As it turns out, this  is the best cut of the bunch. It's a standard t-shirt weight jersey. I think it's just a 2-way stretch and it's thin without being flimsy. It will make nice shirts. But it's not a...