Okay...Where Were We?....

Have you been thinking of me?  I certainly have not forgotten you!  I've been busy and sewing between the holidays and regular days since my last post.  It's now about time I brought my friends and readers up to date on the specifics of these activities.

One thing I've begun since moving cross country (about a year ago) began because I currently have no dedicated sewing space.  I now have begun to work on multiple projects simultaneously.  It's only because when I cut something out (my least favorite part of the process), I must clean up and return the area used back to its original appearance.  So, I seem to have begun to cut out multiple projects at a time.  It's fine, but I've always been a 'one-project-at-a-time' sewist, so it seems to be taking me a longer time to get anything to the point where I can blog about the process.  I rarely hoard fabric or purchase it without a specific project in mind.  I worked at a fabric store during my son's last two years of high school and accumulated a lot of fabric at a substantial discount during those years.  Moving (and paying to move) lunks and trunks of this yardage cured me of hoarding.  Don't misunderstand, I still love beautiful fabric, so when the fabric is purchased, the next step is to cut the project out, organize it with the associated notions, and work on it with the hours or minutes I have available.   With that as a background of how my life currently works, I will share with you how my current minutes have been spent.

The things I seem to sew are things that make me stretch my talents and keep me open to new sewing experiences.  Most of the time, the projects I select appear nowhere else on internet blogging sites (like patternreview.com or the personal blogs on blogger.com or wordpress), so there are very few sewing hints or completed examples of identical projects posted by others.   I feel more like a pioneer in the sewing world.  Part of that is because I have been sewing for so many years, the 'standard solid-color-shift-dress' sort of sewing doesn't seem to interest me any more.  New and interesting designers do, though....and working with new and interesting fibers and textiles....and incorporating my other talents (cross stitch/embroidery/silk ribbon embroidery/quilting) keep my creative projects interesting.

I did take everyone's lead and create a dress from the ever-popular Vogue 1314 by Tracey Reese.  I bought an ideal  soft, patterned knit fabric from the local Hancock sale table for it.  My sister (another seamstress) copied me and rushed to the local store buy two yards for her own version in another color.  I had no problem with her actions because we've had many, many sewn items in our closets that are from the same pattern since we were little girls.  We always end up in identical clothing in different colors, and the picture below proves how proud we were of my mothers sewing talent (and our new bicycles). lol  

'The Girls'
Back in the Day in Nebraska

Weren't we adorable?????  Bows and all!..hahahahaha!!!!!...My sister would die if she knew I posted this pic, but you won't tell her, so she will never know...right?  I would have rather shown another pic of us at Easter in some identical frocks we wore that year.  She and I recently laughed long and hard about our holiday outfits as tried to remember which color hers was versus mine.  She didn't have a copy of the picture and mine remains packed away.....so, instead you get this little glimpse into our history.  We are a year apart in age and a size apart in clothing.  I think her interest in sewing no longer keeps pace with mine, but, she remains a creative individual and my creative backboard with a very good eye for style and 'the arts.'

Vogue 1314
Photo courtesy of McCalls Patterns

This pattern had been produced many times, so I was able to incorporate some design changes to improve the fit.  Invaluable were the suggestions made by Sarah, one of my favorite bloggers, posting to Goodbye Valentino. I had already completed my dress by the time she wrote the blog about this pattern, but I went back and opened the side seams to incorporate the changes she suggested.  It improved the garment dramatically, and I plan to make it again with the RTW changes the designer made to the original dress. Also...thank you, Andrea (posting from Knit-Knac.blogspot.com)  for the inspiration for my second version of this dress....I love this dress and the changes she plans to make to it; I am currently seeking the ideal fabric to duplicate the new version of this pattern, too.

Vogue 1314
Front Neckline

Wow!...my blogs are too long....but I can't leave without telling you about a couple of other projects 'in-process.'  This second one is taking a long time to cut out.  It took a long time to find the fabric and a few additional days to read the pattern instructions to make sure I understood the construction process.

Vogue 8957
Image Courtesy of McCalls.com

I LOVE this evening jacket!   I am making View B (shown above) which is sleeveless by design, but I will be adding the tiny cap sleeve from View A.  The jacket is fully lined and is put together by joining a series of split circles lengthwise (the number depending on the size you are creating).  The pattern in my size required 5 yards of fabric 60" wide.  The instructions suggest a template be made for the three circles, and they be cut from the yardage a total of 68 times...that's right....no typo...sixty-eight times!  The circles are joined by french seams (my choice) and the edges of each ruffle are to be double-rolled after staystitching.  I don't recommend this project to anyone fearful of handwork or as I've seen it called "fiddly" handwork.  It will be beautiful, though....and I will keep you posted on my progress.

Vogue 8957
Over 60+ pieces of fabric!

My non-sewing machine handwork includes cross stitch.  My current project is a little black girl in a yellow dress.  The pattern was purchased from an Etsy vendor, and I am working diligently on this every day for the past month or so.  She reminds me of my childhood when the neighbors used to refer to me as that 'big-legged girl.'  As you see, she has braids and ribbons, too, so she holds a special place in my heart.  I'm not sure if she will become a pillow or be framed on my wall, but she will be one of a pair of little black girls whose charts are waiting to be completed.  I know, more of tedious work that calms me and currently strains my eyes.  I am getting older....

Little Girl in a Yellow Dress
Cross Stitch

Okay....that's all for today.  This post has taken too long to compose.  I hope you enjoyed the update.  I haven't told you about my Easter dress because its soo springy and the weatherman is predicting another snowstorm tonite in my area.....sigh!  I will also include my completion of a summer version of the ever-popular Vogue 8728.

Vogue 8728
Photo Courtesy of McCalls.com

I goofed putting together the belt buckle, so I am re-doing that portion of this project.  It also includes a lapped zipper....I still detest the invisible type, but, I am getting better at them.  This vintage dress required an old fashioned installation at the side seam.  I'll show you the result on my next post.  It's been fun!...comment any time.  If I've omitted anything, please ask....I love comments and appreciate hearing from everyone who visits!

Remember....Keep going....one stitch at a time!....

A Birth Announcement

I'm marking today as the day...
I'm putting my toe in the water...
What is the worst thing that could happen?

Okay, I apologize for the long interval between today and my first post, but I assure you I've been sewing and reading quite a few blogs since then. ....and, I've learned A LOT! I've watched bloggers deal with anonymous meanies, drooled over the fantastic give-aways, and decided what kind of comments I want to encourage from anyone stopping to read my thoughts. So, there is no better time than today for me to step out of the shadows and share a little more of who I am and what I do creatively in my life.

Today's blog came about as a result of my niece's cell phone suddenly having problems sending text messages to me. (It's still happening, each carrier pointing fingers at the other.....grrrr!) I visited my carrier's local office in an attempt to resolve the problem and while there a technician demonstrated how to get the pictures from my phone to my computer. The solution required I enroll in a data plan (something I never thought I would need.) Today you get to see one of the projects whose photos were on my phone.

My sister has inspired me to do this particular project. She is a flight attendant and has always carried some sort of needlework to fill hotel and airport moments on her trips. On a recent trip, I saw her carrying this cross stitch project and I decided it was a perfect gift for a very good friend of mine who was expecting her first grandchild very soon. Well, I promptly sought a copy of the chart and ordered it from a vendor on Ebay. I used the 18 count Aida because the size of the completed project would be 6 1/2" x 7" prior to framing. Without saying a word to my sister, I began the project. The baby was not yet born, and I was determined to deliver it prior to the baby's first birthday! Okay...so I finished the work before my sister finished hers, and the closer I got to the final backstitching and lettering, I showed it to her so we could discuss our projects.

It was then that I discovered the area in the middle of my cross stitch left very little room for the simple name and details I needed to squeeze in. I tried hard to chart the baby's name (first, middle and last), the date, weight and length. I wasn't willing to eliminate one of those details, but each were considered. You will see how I worked it out in the next picture. How did my sister avoid this problem? She cross stitched the baby's name and details prior to beginning the floral work! Because she cross stitched the lettering in all caps, her finished product was huge when compared to mine. She ended up having to expand and stretch out the flowers, and took my idea of adding the butterflies to hers to fill space. Because I hadn't spoken to her about how to she started, I walked right into creating my problem. You'll see how I worked it out by looking at the next picture.

As you will see...my self-inflicted drama did not end there. I had decided I wanted to change the flowers on my project. My sister had told me there was a "girl" chart (it has the girl's name in the chart photo) and a boy's chart (with a boy's name) on the chart cover photo. She told me the boy's chart has little boys, and the girl's chart babies were little girls (the girls have pigtails). That information is not true.

I started work using the chart with the pink border, but I didn't like the yellow flower, so I changed it to the little baby bent over looking at the worm and backed her with the irises. I think I switched a couple of the babies around. I also changed the coloring of three babies using different shades of brown. This gift was for the child of an interracial couple who I knew would be a child whose coloring would be a blend of her parents. Making these changes revealed the subtle shading on their features and bodies that was not noticable in the darker shades. I used gold metallic thread for the babies wings, so there is a gossamer-like twinkle every once in a while when you look at the picture. I also added the little blue butterfly to fill in what appeared as open space when I had to drop the lettering a few rows to balance filling in the space. It was a great project, and the baby was 3 months old when I finished it and mailed it off!

My friend loved it so much she didn't pass it along to her son. She museum framed it and hung it on the wall of her spare bedroom. Should I have been surprised? Would you pass it along if it were a gift to you? I didn't make any stipulation, but feel I caused a problem by not doing so. Should I have sent her a picture and mailed it directly to the parents? And, please share what do you do when you're not sewing!

Thanks to you and everyone for taking a moment to read my blog!
I promise to come back soon if you will. too...!

The Birth Announcement?....My son is having his second child early next year! I'm sooo excited.... Being a grandmother is WONDERFUL!