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.

Another Sewing Update

You'll be so happy to know that this is my last post for today. I've had a productive day.

This afternoon, I ended up at G-Street in Falls Church. I bought some weft interfacing, hooks & bars, zippers for my future shorts/capris/pants, remaining cotton brocade print fabric that was left on a bolt (good thing I had my 25% off coupon), and two pieces of stretch cotton sateen printed fabric (scrollwork and butterflies). Everything I purchased was 30% off and the brocade was an additional 25% off.

I love the zippers that G-Street carries. They are YKK brand. They come in many colors and sizes. So, my 9" zippers ended up costing $0.77 each. Is that a bargain or what?

I was also able to get some sewing done. I am in the process of topstitching the waist band of my raspberry shorts. Then I need to add two hooks and eyes and hem.

I really need to do some more research on getting the perfect fit of my rear end. Now, I know what everyone goes through. I've already added a 1/2 inch to the crotch point and still not quite there. It's definitely better than my first pair. Back to my sewing books and research on PR.

But first, I need to finish topstitching my shorts before it's lights out at our house.

My Favorite Sewing Notions Organizer (used in my immediate sewing area)

I found this nifty Rubbermaid storage organizer at Staples late last year. I keep this organizer to the rear of my sewing machine. It has two cutouts on top to store my small scissors, seam gauge, marker, pencil, and miscellaneous items.

Under the fold down plastic lid, I store an extra pin cushion and spools of special threads.

There are 3 drawers where I store my: short spools of threads, Mettler threads, bobbins, extra SM feet, SM needles, buttons, and snaps

While I am sewing, I have have the tendency to scatter my tools/notions across my sewing table. When I am done sewing for the night, I quickly gather all my tools and notions store them in my organizer. When I am ready to start sewing again, it’s all in one location. Since my sewing time is so valuable, I don't want to waste time looking for things. And have you ever put something away in a safe place only to forget it later? This is also my safe place organizer.

G-Street Fabrics - 30% Sale

How could I forget to mention that G-Street is having a sale. Yes, they are having a 30% off most things sale. This sale runs through July 13th. Last weekend I was on the hunt for some stretch sateen and stretch denim fabric to make capris. I found what I was looking for...amazing. The fabrics are medium weight and I have already pre-washed them.

They are also having a 25% off one sale item coupon. You can find the coupon at their G-Street website.

Their online store is also offering the 30% off sale. Here's their G-Street Online site.

Next on my list of things to get is more lightweight weft interfacing, hooks & bars, 9" zippers (for the many more shorts/capris I will be sewing), Mettlers Metrosene threads, etc.

(Warning! I'm in a chatty mood this morning...be warned)

PIctures From Our Garden and My Next Sewing Project

I do not have any sewing pictures to share with you yet. I will get to that topic shortly. I thought I would take some non-sewing time and share some pictures of our front garden.

It is definitely Summer and we have many plants that are showing off their bright colors. This is a picture of our front curb garden that faces the street/cul-de-sac. Everytime I back out or come into our driveway...I get this wonderful view. So, one morning I did remember to take a picture.


It amazes me that bees don't seem to mind me taking pictures of them. We have all types of critters flying around our gardens. Besides bees, we have butterflies, moths, and a hummingbird or two visiting each day.



We have many daylilies in a variety of colors. Thanks to DH's good friend, who is a grower...he keeps sending over some wonderful plants.




And our live-in bunny who doesn't seem to mind my picture taking...



...she's just happy to be hopping from one garden to the next:



Now to my sewing topic. I've been thinking about sewing all week long. I am making another pair of shorts. This time I made my pattern adjustment (increase my crotch point by 1/2 inch to the back pattern piece) to the shorts pattern I reviewed recently. I also shortened the length of the shorts by an inch. My fabric is all cut out and pieces are interfaced and ready to sew. I can't wait to see how this version will fit. I am, again, working with a cotton twill fabric with no stretch. This time in a raspberry color! Don't worry...I've got some cool looking black fabric waiting to be made up as cropped pants. lol!

Oh, and I've been in the kitchen with DH this evening, preparing meals for our local SERVE.

Have a great weekend!

Kwik Sew 2840 – City Shorts…Completed

So, I now have pictures to share with you. Here's my "city shorts". I know they look a bit long (below my knee). I did not adjust the length of my shorts as I wanted to see how the basic fit would be straight from the pattern. The inseam length is about 10 inches.

I just love these shorts. The front pockets, the curved waist band, and the zipper application made these shorts fun to sew. I love Kwik Sew for their great pattern instructions and drawings.

The zipper is installed further in from the center front. That way you can't see the zipper at all. Even when I'm sitting down. I could have used a hot pink zipper with these shorts and you would never noticed. lol!

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had issues with “smiles” in the back of my shorts. Here’s a before and after picture. The before picture (left) represents the actual fit with no adjustments. You can see I have pinned the back seam to see what the fit would look like. On the right, is the after picture which includes the adjustments I made to the shorts. I re-sewed the inseams using 1/4 inch seam allowance. I sewed the back crotch deeper than the 5/8 inch seam. Once I got towards the back of my shorts, I tapered back to 5/8 inch seam allowance up along the back and through the waistbands. It does look a little better.

Sorry for the shocking rear end picture (left). DH was using my new camera and it must have been in "macro" mode with the flash turned up. lol! Well, I guess it helped that you all can see the rude details.

Here’s a picture of my back waistband. It’s nice to have a back seam that goes through the waistband area. Makes it easier if you have to take in or let out. I tried to make sure my seams matched up.





Here’s a picture of my front pocket with the topstitching details. It is true what some say, never stop topstitching while going around a curve. I kept an even sewing tempo going around the curves and created a smooth stitching curve. The edge of the pockets are also topstitched (double rows).

And I must not forget a picture of my zipper sewn into the center of my shorts. So, I didn't use hot pink after all. I went into my zipper stash (thank you...Vogue Fabrics) and found the perfect color. Of course, it was miles too long. After I sewed in my waist band to the top of my shorts, that's when I clipped the top of my zipper off.

I used my serger to finish most of the raw edges and seams. For the hem, I serged around the bottom edges of each leg. Then I pressed a 1 inch hem. I then pressed the serged edge into the hem. I topstitched around the hem.

I am pretty confident that I need to adjust my back pattern piece by adding to the crotch/inseam area. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the rest of the “smiles” would be greatly appreciated.

Blueberries in Our Garden

Nestled in the side garden is a blueberry bush. We had transplanted this lovely shrub almost 10 years ago. Actually, it was a pair of them but one had succumbed to mother nature. Okay, I really don’t remember what happened…it might have been competition with other plants/shrubs or lack of water or transplant shock. Our blueberry shrub is producing lots of wonderful blueberries for us.

We saved this blueberry shrub from human devastation. Here’s our story.

Many years ago, DH and I used to visit a wonderful blueberry farm in Northern Virginia. The owner gave us a bucket and told us to fill it as much as we could. We did and had fun. There were rows upon rows of blueberry shrubs with these dazzling fruits to be picked. Back then, I was considered to be a wonderful baker specializing in chocolate concoctions and had dreams of opening a bakery. Ooops…I digressed. Back then, I would make wonderful blueberry muffins and blueberry cakes with these fruits.

Several years later (10 years ago), I am working for a technology firm where the owner’s wife (my boss) mentions to me that a blueberry farm had been sold and they are clearing the land to build new homes. Oh no! She had received permission to dig as many blueberry shrubs as she could. This is where my DH (the horticulturist) comes in.

We thought we were going to dig 6-8 shrubs, giving half of them to my boss. DH and I arrived to what was left of the farm (a sad scene). We found an area that wasn’t bulldozed yet. Well, the 6-8 shrubs became only 4 shrubs. They were HUGE! DH wanted to make sure we had a good size root ball and even one shrub was quite heavy to load into the truck. Thank goodness my boss lived less than half a mile away from the farm. We gave her two (and she was extremely happy to have two large shrubs). Quality is better than quantity.

Our blueberry shrub sits proudly in our garden and we are thankful that it’s producing wonderful berries for us. Since I no longer bake (long hiatus), I add the blueberries with other fruits for juicing. We can tell that summer is officially here.

Status of Kwik Sew 2840 - City Shorts

I have finally finished my shorts. I finished sewing two pairs of hooks and eyes into the front waistband. Now, it's too late for me (after 10pm) to take pictures, but I will be posting some pictures over the next few days. Hopefully, a PR review will follow shortly.

Shannon...thank you for providing the appropriate description of View C, now known as "city shorts". I like that. Since this version is a wearable muslin, mine are actually a little bit longer as I made no adjustments to the length. My sewing goal was to see how these turn out straight from the pattern.

I will also share a before and after picture of my city shorts. The only issue I had was in the back/behind...I had "smiles". I made some adjustments which I will also share in a later post. My RTW shorts/capris have bigger "smiles". So, I'm happy with the end results and especially for my first try.

I am getting a sewing high from this pattern. I can see this could be a TNT pattern for me. I already have other fabrics lined up for different versions (lengths) of these shorts/cropped pants.

It's sleepy time for me...more later.