Some Progress

I ended up putting in a lot of computer time today doing some research. Only two pairs of RTW pants got hemmed this morning. That's quite a bit of progress for me. I used my reliable "thing-a-ma-jig" to sew over the humps of the thick seams.

Hemming my jeans on my SM

The most time consuming process for me is to measure the hem, turn up the hem, press, tuck in the raw edges, and pin. Sewing the hem is the easy part.

Used a dark thread to hem my jeans

Finished hem on my twill jeans

I've got the following fabrics queued for tote bags (main bag fabric on the right and the lining on the left of each picture):

Blue and gold print fabric

Pink, rose, & brown fabric

Gold print fabric

Now, I'm ready to go sit on my porch and enjoy the fantastic weather we are having and get some knitting done.

On the Cutting Table...

I finished knitting and seaming my two-tone sweater and it's finally off my cutting table. I can now start sewing again. It's been awhile, like two months to be exact. Have I missed sewing? Yes!

I was reading Linda's blog about the cute KwikSew twinset she had made. It happens to be my TNT pattern. I had two fabrics sitting next to my cutting table. Waiting for some action. It took me awhile to find my KS 2759 pattern. You know, I put it in a safe place. Well, that could be anywhere in my sewing room. Can you relate?

KwikSew 2759 - Twin Set

I will be using one of the two knit fabrics below. What's amazing about these two fabrics...they look very similar in print. The biggest difference between the two is the weight. One is a heavy-weight and the other is a mid-weight. I'm beginning to think the mid-weight fabric will work better with this pattern.

Brown and blue floral sweater knit. Heavy knit with a slight stretch.

Black and white floral knit. Mid-weight knit with some stretch.

I will be going up to a size Medium on this pattern, since the knit fabrics have very little stretch. I think I will add a black contrast trim around the front edge and leave out the buttons and buttonholes. I think I will lengthen the cardigan to the normal pattern length. My previous versions were shorter. I just love black and white fabric.

Off My Fabric Diet for an Hour

This is what happens when I have to pick my DB#2 up at the airport...I automatically stop at G-Streets on the way. I found 2 nice sweater herringbone-type knits (left and right) that I plan on making cardigans from. I found a nice soft dark denim remnant for pants or a long skirt. The bright floral/paisley print will be used to line some future jackets. So, now I have added 10 more yards of fabric to my stash. I have to say this will be my last purchase for the year and into the first quarter of next year. We'll see how long I stay on my next fabric diet.

A Step in the Right Direction...

I have posted this fabric before. I wanted to share with you the inside (edge folded down). It's a mid-weight home decorating fabric from Hancock's remnant table. I'm making this into a tote bag for an Xmas gift for my SIL. I was going to line it, but decided against it as I want to show off the interior.

This morning I managed to cut out the two pieces for this tote bag. A step in the right direction to get my sewing mojo back.

Here's a VA Tech fabric I found also at Hancock's. This will be made up into another gift. I can't say what the final product will be, as a certain someone might be reading this post. I also managed to cut into this fabric.

I can now move around in my sewing room. I was able to remove a lot of clutter and re-organize my stash (notions & fabrics).

The other day, DH was listening to me complain about being behind in my sewing projects. He reminded me that "sewing" was suppose to be an enjoyable experience for me and not to get bent out of shape. Well...he's absolutely right.

I have taken a step in the right direction. I'm ready to sew again.

More Fabrics

So, I'm planning my future sewing projects and they will include the fabrics I picked up recently at Hancock's. These are upholstery remnants I found on their tables. The fabrics will eventually become future tote bags for Christmas presents. This year, I've decided to sew as many presents as I can for my family members.

What kinds of gifts will you be sewing for Christmas?

Next Vogue Projects & Other Things in the Works

Here are two Vogue patterns that are on my tracing/cutting table.

This is Vogue 8429. Loose fitting and lined jackets. I'm looking at making View A (jacket in the middle). The finished bust for a size 10 is around 37-1/2 inches. It will be interesting to see how loose fitting this jacket will be. What caught my eye are the pleats on the collar. I also like the shape of the patch pockets. Also, no buttons...just snaps. Pretty cool, if you ask me.


This dress is Vogue 8486. And you probably noticed the pleats on this dress. I'm not a dress person, but I picked up this pattern for the style. This is a slim fitting dress for moderate stretch knits only. Guess what I am going to do with this pattern? I am going to make a top. I am looking at View A (left dress), the sleeveless version. The finished bust for a size 10 is around 36 inches. This might work for me if I used a knit fabric with some stretch. If I use a really stretchy knit, I might end up with a size 8. I still need to take a flat pattern measurement. I might end up doing a muslin. We'll see.

As I mentioned, I'm at the tracing stage for both patterns. I still haven't picked out the fabrics. This is rare for me. Usually I have the fabric picked out before the pattern. Oh well.

No sewing today. I decided to get out of the house and enjoy the beautiful humidless day. I did stop by G-Street with coupon in hand. I picked up this beautiful slinky knit. Doesn't it look like a lacy knit? Now, this slinky knit looks very familiar. I thought I saw this on EOS's site last year?

Another project in the works is a curtain panel. I found this sheer curtain fabric at Hancock's. I plan on making a privacy panel to hang over my doorway into my sewing room. I'm using a spring tension rod to hang the panel. That way I can keep my door open and keep folks from looking in and bothering me while I'm sewing.

In closing, I was just thinking that I could get used to these 3 day weekends.


And don't forget that September is National Sewing Month. You can find their link here: National Sewing Month

Ready to Sew...Vogue Jacket and Other Things

I am now working on this Vogue jacket. View A with short sleeves. I am making a muslin...using inexpensive fabric to see if I like this jacket style on me. I really want to make View B with the long kimono-type sleeves, but decided to make the short sleeves instead. 1) to see where the short sleeve falls on my arm, 2) to gauge how much I need to shorten for View B sleeves, and 3) view A uses the least amount of fabric.


Here is the muslin fabric I am using. It's a cotton woven floral print with some lycra that I found in the clearance section at Joann's. The dark areas in the fabric is olive green. To line this jacket, I'm using an olive green lightweight cotton fabric. I could not find a raspberry or medium brown fabric to match. There was no way I was going to use orange fabric for lining. Oh well, it's only a test jacket and green will have to do.


G-Street is having another sale. I went off my G-Street Fabric diet. I had a list that I pretty much stuck to (e.g. weft interfacing, buttons, thread), but I made a mistake of looking at their fabrics. Here's what I purchased (left to right): dark gray and white floral sweater knit, black with white thread suiting, black and white squares suiting, and blue and brown diamond print sweater knit.

I also found a black heavy lace knit and a black jacquard floral print brocade for some future eveningwear garments.

I did finish sewing the buttonholes and buttons on my Butterick brocade jacket. I plan on doing a special review for this jacket real soon.

In non-sewing related news...I found an Omni-Bounce flash diffuser for my external Nikon flash unit. I tried it out when I took the two pictures above. I am very happy with the results. Now, I can take wonderful pictures of my fabrics without getting any weird results. Not sure if there's an interest, but I thought I would do a future post on the basic photo equipment that I use to take pictures. Let me know if you think it would be helpful.

I am looking forward to the long weekend of sewing. How about you?

Next Up On My Sewing Agenda

I have been in the cutting out fabric mood. I decided that during my upcoming 3-day weekend, I would sew two pieces of garments that I can wear together (top and bottom). The floral and butterfly print fabric will be made into Butterick 5216 – the gathered top without the front ties. The pale sea green fabric will be made into another pair of walking shorts, KS 2840. This might get me in the mood to do a future SWAP on PR.

I thought it would take me awhile to get used to wearing the longer shorts. You know what? I love them! They are really comfortable to wear. I think they look very stylish and hip for my 40-something age. After this 3rd pair of shorts, I plan on tracing out a pair of capris.

I am looking forward to a nice long weekend and practicing my stash reduction technique.

Oh No...My Fabric Stash is Growing! (another post for today)

And growing...and growing. It's a disease. And it doesn't help that I get an email from Ann (Gorgeous Things) to remind to stop by and shop at her site. But you know what??? I love fabric shopping! And I love browsing through Ann's Gorgeous Fabrics site. Here's proof...I made another purchase. These are all cotton fabrics that I purchased from Ann. Yeah, I know...another black fabric, but this one is cotton sateen with some stretch in it. lol! I love flip-flop prints. I've been eyeing this fabric for some time. It's a lovely pink/white cotton pique fabric. There's also a blue mini-medallions cotton fabric. And finally, a crinkle cotton floral print...really light and lovely fabric. My order from Ann, took only 4 days to receive...that's been the average. That's fast!

I also received another package this week. This lovely group of fabrics came from Fashion Fabrics. These are all wonderful cotton lawn fabrics that I couldn't pass up. The fabrics feel wonderful and light. I almost forgot that I ordered these as it took awhile for the package to land in my mailbox. Was that 2 weeks ago? It doesn't matter. Aren't the fabrics luscious?

Do I know what I am going to do with all these lovely fabrics? Not yet. That's why I have an ever growing fabric stash. And if you noticed, I have been buying a lot of spring/summer fabrics. That's because my current fabric stash has a lot of knits (big time), wools, flannels, denim, cotton (quilt), and fleece (what was I thinking). Hardly any lightweight fabrics. So there you have it...my justification for my recent fabric purchases. lol!!!

Looks like I have a lot of pre-washing to do this weekend. Enjoy your weekend!

More Fabric Finds - Post #3 (last post for today)

I could not help myself. Another fabric purchase. This time at Joann's. They were having a 60% off Spring fabric sale. I found some wonderful linen and cotton fabrics. The print fabrics (pink & blue, black & white, and the soft blue & white) are all cotton. The solids and the beige striped are all linens. The pink fabric in the middle is cotton pique.

I couldn't resist the black & white cotton shirting. It wanted to go home with me. :)

As Kat is cheering me on...I am making an effort to sew more with florals and other colors (besides black).

(If you see any fabrics that are loud and tropical...that's because I am also sewing some cruise-wear garments).

Happy Sewing! Stay cool...for those of you who are going through a heatwave....

Fabrics...part 2

I went fabric shopping...again. This is what I found: light blue/white "fine" cotton pique floral print, black/beige striped linen, black wool (super drapey & soft), and a navy blue/brown/raspberry/beige cotton sateen stretch print. Atleast 3 of the 4 fabrics I purchased are summer-weight fabrics. I am getting better. I couldn't pass up the black wool (remnant)...it was sooooo soft.


I also came across the following pieces on the clearance table: Black/gray/white striped, purple/dark gray striped, and red/gold window-paned fabrics. These appear to be microfiber and very drapey. I immediately thought about making some shirts or tops with these.

I pre-washed gentle cycle, the Donna Karan linen (previous post) and the black/beige striped linen and very lightly dried in the dryer. Yes, they are machine washable and the results....they came out very soft.

So, what am I going to do with all this fabric? I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Happy Memorial Day!

Fabrics...my latest fabric purchase & current projects

I wanted to share my fabric purchase from G-Street Fabrics. I was looking for some colorful lightweight fabrics for summer. I had a hard time looking beyond the black and white fabrics I saw in the store. There was a lot...cotton sateen, jersey knits, lycra knits, polyester microfiber, etc. When I got past the black and white colors (and walked up and down the tables), nothing jumped out at me to say "take me home with you".

I did manage to find some wonderful pieces and in the back of my head, I was actually planning for a "mental" SWAP (sewing with a plan). Working from left to right: you guessed it...a black and white poly print that I hope to make in a Vogue surplice/wrap top. Next, is a wonderful black cotton/rayon that is soooo soft and would make a lovely skirt. The next one is a raspberry and black brocade evening fabric. It was an end piece and I think I have enough to make a sleeveless princess seam top with buttons down the back. The last piece on the right is a gorgeous raspberry poly fabric with a floral print (tone on tone) that looks great on both sides. I kept thinking of a jacket using the base color (shown in the picture) and using the reverse of the fabric for the collar. Yes, my mind was working overtime while shopping.


I did end up with a summer fabric. I found this gorgeous Donna Karan taupe and white linen. When I touched this fabric, I immediately fell in love with it. It's so soft. It's also machine washable. I could not pass this up. This might end up as my 4th version for another Butterick 5223 top.

Speaking of Butterick 5223, I also wanted to share with you the fabrics I am using for my next versions. My second version is this bright colored cotton pique fabric. All I have to do is finish the buttonholes and I will be posting this on PR.

And my third version, is a colorful cotton fabric...much lighter than what is suggested on the pattern. I am getting ready to stitch the pleats and I think this fabric will work. So for now, this pattern will be considered a top and not a jacket.

What can I say? I can't stay away from fabric that has black in it.