Sewing Vortex

Sad basket of discarded project patterns. I came up for air after finishing my Cape Coat  and realized the state of care my sewing supplies are getting is downright shameful.  I have a tendency to just toss things in a pile when I'm frustrated or in a hurry or if "I'm going to need that later..." (ie: lazy). That's pretty much always. I figure I need to slow down, tidy up, and maybe learn to use my new overlocker before diving head first into another project. Patterns are neat, but the fabric.... My sewing supplies are scattered between my office upstairs, the family room downstairs and the pit of my laundry room in the basement. I'm not going to drone on  embarrass myself  with pictures of my mess but I will say that laundry room bears a scary resemblance to an episode of Hoarders. Honestly.  the amount of money spent on fabric and things, I should treat things better. Something to work on. In between cleaning sessions, I plan to h...

The thought of me being "trendy" when it comes to fashion is laughable. But, as I scoured the internet, I realized that just about anything can be considered trendy if I look hard enough.  My cape coat combines the trends of plaid with cape with over-belt to create an outer wear piece I thought to be suitable for my mid-western, mid-30's mom-ness. Truthfully, the inspiration for this came from wanting to use a caramel colored obi-wrap belt I bought a year ago at the Limited for no reason at all and have never worn. The price tag is still on it. If cape coats are so trendy, then why can't I find more than one or two sewing blogs where people have made one? My inability to over research a project forced me to hesitate, but just for a quick minute. I found this lovely Shetland Wool on clearance for pennies on the dollar. Without checking the pattern back, I ordered 4 yards and as it turns out, I have enough fabric to make two. It's the perfect color for my carame...

I'm not a quilter, and I don't make things for other people. Except for my most recent project.... Say "Hello" to Tacky Turtle,  Simplicity 2493 . My present for a friend's baby boy who was born last July. I am justifying the lateness of my gift because they live far away. I think one month for each hour it takes me to drive to visit sounds about right. During construction of this beginner's project, I experienced all the typical love/hate relationship issues that I often feel while sewing.  Questioning fabric choices...CHECK Shoddy stitching...CHECK Swearing because 6 layers of minky, batting and cotton flannel suck...CHECK Ripping out the center piece no fewer than 4 times...CHECK "I swear to God, if I forget to drop the presser foot one more time..." OH YES. Finally, I ended up with this: Each section is a sandwich of minky (on the bottom) cotton batting in the middle and cotton flannel or minky on the top. The s...

This is my version of the Colette Anise. I call her my Lumber Jackie O. Coat. I started my first muslin at the start of October and after countless trials and struggles I finished her in early December.  She's made of cotton flannel on the outside, fully lined with an ivory/ivory polka dot silk twill and hiding between them is a layer of lambswool. The collar, self-covered buttons and welt pockets are micro suede. Cozy and Casual! Took far longer than this "advanced beginner" thought. 2 Months. Mostly because I was stuck just working on weekends, but I also took my time to try my hand at several new-to-me techniques. I tried bound buttonholes, and individually they look good.  As a set, they are not uniform enough to make me happy.  Rather than recut the front panel and try again, I stitched perma-buttons over them and used snaps as closures. On a larger scale, my first ever welt pockets turned out perfectly.   ...

This is just a summary of last year's projects that were previously posted on Facebook. I think this format will be much better for talking to myself and documenting my plans and and completed items. The Silk Pencil Dress... Spring 2012 This pattern is Burda's Jenny skirt. Sadly, there are a million things wrong with this dress and it's unwearable. It's one should take the time to fix because it's really pretty in person. The skirt is a red/ivory denim-weight silk suiting and the top is (new) 14 inch wide kimono fabric from Japan. Peony Pipe Dreams... Spring 2012 Simplicity 1882. I've actually worn this in public and it's really comfy. Made with a stretch cotton sateen fabric. Hexagon Pencil Skirt... Spring 2012 McCall's 5523. I really liked this princess seamed pencil skirt. I should make more of them. this one is made with ivory vintage kimono silk with black and red hexagonal pattern woven in. It has a pleat panel in t...