Monday, January 30, 2012

I'm doing it again

Sewing for the high school play! This time around they are doing Seussical and I making costumes/dresses for two of the main characters Gertrude and Mayzie, who are bird girls.

These are the patterns which I'm using.
This one for Mayzie who is the flamboyant one. I'm giving her a taffeta ruffled slip and of course there will be feathers, a tail and such
And this is for Gertrude, who has a one feather tail, until it starts to grow.

I have already made muslins; I especially wanted to test the halter dress for cleavage and to make sure there's no gaping. Of course I'm already prepared with double sided sticky tape to make sure that neckline stays put ;-)

My biggest challenge is going to be working with feathers. The ultimate challenge? How to make Gertrude's tail grow on stage. Yeap, I'll let you know how it goes.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Burda Style 2/2010 112 A quick top

I had all intentions in showing this simple top in a creative outfit, but yesterday we had ice in the morning that quickly became slosh as the temperatures went up and it rained; so, it was jeans and weatherproof boots for me today!

There isn't much to say about this. I'm always looking for the perfect boat neck, is this one it? I'm not sure. When I first finished it I realized that in styles like this I need a 36 at the shoulders instead of my usual 38; the neckline was all sorts of wonky and not laying nice at all. So I went and took in a bit at all the shoulder/necklines seams and now it is behaving. Of course as soon as you put a cardigan on top the neckline will droop a bit, I think it is just the way of the boatneck. Just know that the sleeves are on the long side and so is the body, which I like and I can see adding a nice belt to change the look.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Who would have thought

that my chubby baby would turn into such a string bean?
He was born two weeks early weighing 9 lb 8 oz and measuring 22 inches, and he seemed so small to me! Today he turns 14 and he's 1 inch away from 6 ft.














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I have a dress in the pretreating fabric stage, more later!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Vogue Knitting Winter 05/06 The Yoga Wrap



I had not noticed this pattern until I saw this version and then I decided I had to make it. While looking in Ravelry I saw that May had made a version of this pattern using a lighter gauge yarn. I happened to have Debbie Bliss Merino Aran which I had purchased for a project I no longer wanted to make and it was perfect for her version , which she kindly gave instructions for.






Wearing this sweater is like being wrapped in a large cozy blanket!





I was trying to show you that the body of the wrap is just one big rectangle with two slits to insert the sleeves in; it was kind of windy yesterday so  I couldn't get the fabric to hang perfectly.



This project was all knitted by the end of the year but I didn't block and sew it until this month, so it will count as my first knitted project of the year!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Christine Jonson Base Wear Two 1025 - Skirt

I have been purging and organizing my stash and I found two one yards cuts, one the leftover Sophia knit that I used for these pants and the other  leftover from a jacket I made before blogging. They were perfect for this simple pattern.

I used a decorative elastic I bought at Pacific Trims in NYC after seeing it in a picture that Kyle took (thanks Kyle!) I thought it made this simple black skirt a little more special.

Both skirts were constructed with my serger (yay!) except for the hem and attaching the elastic. I love how the cut of the pattern allows for and elastic waistband with minimum ease to give a smooth fit.

I wore it to work today and it was extremely comfortable!

Here is the other skirt

It felt great to make use of this fabric that was just taking space in my leftover bin!

Monday, January 09, 2012

A hike in the woods

On the last day of the year we took advantage of the mild temperatures in our area and went for a hike. I loved the mushroom color everywhere


The unexpected color



the creatures

Salamander under a log


the fairytale landscape


and the contrast we added


It was just perfect.

Thursday, January 05, 2012

What I made in 2011

I wasn't going to write this post but I was curious about what I had accomplished this past year after reading the end of year recaps of other sewists.

Burda Style 2011

Paco Peralta Patterns 2011




Vogue Patterns 2011

Butterick, My Image 2011




Knitting and crochet 2011

Costumes 2011



Quilts in 2011
 Keeping a blog is a great way to keep track isn't it?