Burda 8906 Boatneck top

This pattern is now out of print, I've had it for a long time. I finally decided to try it to use up a remmant from my Madison Avenue dress. I really like boatnecks but I usually don't have much luck fitting them on me. I have very narrow shoulders (there are 3 size differences between my shoulders and hips) and these type of necklines are always too big on me.

In this pattern the opening is too wide even though I made my usual Burda size at the shoulders. Also the shoulder width seems extremely narrow to me, it doesn't look that way in the pictures on the envelope. Because of the width the neckline never stays nice and straight, it deeps in the front; I believe it is also too high. The neckline and armholes are nicely finished with binding.



I had high hopes for this pattern but it needs work to fix the above problems. Nonetheless I wore it today like this. The sweater I knit a while ago from the Spanish knitting magazine Katia.



We've had two days of miserable cold, misty rain, which will continue at least for another day, I hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

Burda WOF 3-2008 107

This is a very simple tunic made out of a stretchy mesh that came from the $2.97 table in G-street in Rockville; I know it has been in my stash a while because it has been a couple of years since I ventured out to Rockville.

The neckline is bound and I followed the Burda instructions with no problems; it gives this simple top a nice finish at the neckline. One thing to note is that my version even though I went up a size from my usual in the hip area it fits snug.

As far as layering this top I would prefer, from looking at the pictures, to either wear a turtleneck or a lower neckline than what I'm wearing.

I traced, cut and sewed this top in about a day, that's pretty quick for me. If you like the style give a try!

Saturday

Not much sewing has gone on this past week, well no sewing really I refuse to count washing my fabric, but it is ready for a simple knit top. I still have to show you the shell I made with leftover fabric from the Madison dress, but because I worked in the garden today it was a natural looking day for me and I am not inclined to share with you that look ;-)

The boys are playing baseball as I type and I'm exhausted from the yard work. I know these pictures don't show that I did much, but I worked the soil to spread mulch which had turned to a really nice rich dirt and spread some seeds my neighbor gave me. I'm hoping that next spring I can have an "after" shot of these corners. I also made a border by cutting into the soil to create a trench;the same neighbor that gave me the seeds showed me how to do it and I wanted to try it out.




If you have seen these beetles, they are an accidentally introduced bug that seems to be showing up more and more in the suburbs.



Even though in my household we respect all living things, these bugs are getting out of control and my sons spent quite a bit of time today exercising some control. Here is info on this annoying insect.

I took a look at the new Vogues, and there are a few I like, I'll let you know more when I look at them with more time. Any favorites out there?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Mystery Books

Cindy asked me who was my favorite mystery writer after I confessed to loving this genre.

P.D. James is who first comes to mind. I love that her mysteries are complex, wonderful stories with very well developed characters. Inspector Dagliesh which most of her novels are about is a policeman that writes poetry; reading each book is like reading about a friend you have known for years (and I have). I'm anxiously waiting for the next one, I worry because Ms James is now in her eighties. She also wrote two novels with female detective Cordelia Grey, but she never pursued this series, which received critical acclaim.

My next favorite is Elizabeth George who writes the series for Inspector Lynley. I love these books for the same reasons that I love P.D. James. Ms. George novels are grittier and more emotional with just as captivating stories and characters.

I have read many different authors that I enjoy, you can link to my GoodReads page on my sidebar if you are curious. You won't go wrong picking up a book by either one of these wonderful mystery writers!

Slouchy, comfy knits

I was thrilled when I saw the spread of slouchy cardigans in the latest Lucky magazine. I know some of you are thinking along the lines of Trini and Susanna and Stacy and Clinton...fitted is best. But I love these relaxed looks anyways!!
Here is one from Lucky



and a great pattern to make your own from Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine



Here are a couple of wonderful cardigans from Lucky



and here are patterns from Debbie Bliss magazine (Fall/winter 2009)



And here is another possibility, this one from Filati Knitting magazine in their latest issue.



Of course if you don't knit there are wonderful sweater knits available and there is always Ann Taylor Loft...

Seven things about me

A number of bloggers have invited their readers to play along because they cannot bring themselves to name seven people for the newest award making the rounds. I have decided to play along.

1. I left Cuba when I was 13 years old along with my family for Spain. It was to be a temporary stay until we were granted permission to come to live in the United States. It was a grand adventure for me even though I was sad to leave, family, friends and everything I knew behind.

2. I love mysteries, whether they are tv shows or books.

3. Shoes are my weakness, have been since I became aware of fashion, back when I was around 12.

4. I cannot excuse or tolerate snobby people, I quickly cross them off my list.

5. In my senior year in high school I was voted "Class Braintrust" in the senior poll, I was the valedictorian. I certainly pursue brainier activities more than physical ones.

6. I love to dance. I don't get to do it often so I compensate by dancing around the house when I'm doing chores. I hope no one is looking...

7. Gardening was my no 1 passion (after reading) before crafts (sewing, quilting, knitting and crocheting) took over. It is a tragedy to have so many interests and not enough time to indulge in all of them ;-)

I hope you enjoyed my revelations, play along if you like!

Textile Studio Madison Avenue Dress

I have had this pattern a long time, I loved the simplicity when I first bought it and I love it still. As you can see I shortened mine quite a bit, I wanted to be able to wear it with flats in the summer and boots in the fall, and I thought this length would give me more flexibility. I still see making this in a stretch velvet in the longest length, very elegant.

I had never worked with patterns from this company so I needed to find out about the fit, but I figure in this easy to work knit from Emma One Sock and because it was a simple design I couldn't go too wrong. I like the fit. One thing I would do different is a forward shoulder adjustment, this is the first time in a pattern where the shoulder line is so off.


Something else that showed up when I took a picture of the back is the wrinkles at the waistline. I don't have swayback, so I know that's not the problem. Any ideas? Could it be that having the shoulder seam off is causing problems in the bodice?



Other than adding to the waist length I made no other alterations. I did notice that the fit is snug at the waist/hip area; I went up a size from their recommended size, to give myself some insurance and still had to make 1/4" seams in that area.

As far as construction I added 1/4" elastic in the shoulder seam allowance, I usually use clear elastic but I'm out so I used what I had in hand.

I also stitched down the neckline facings, they were flopping around driving me crazy. The directions have you stitching in the ditch to tack them down but it wasn't enough. I always remember Connie Long telling us in her knits class at G Street Fabrics that there is no reason not to stitch down the facings.


I have some fabric leftover which I'm going to use make a simple top so stay tuned!

Sewing plans for the weekend

Before I lose the opportunity to use the computer during the weekend (both the main computer and the laptop are monopolized by the boys and husband) I wanted to let you know that I modified the Textile Studio Madison Avenue dress and the fabric is now drying on my shower pole.

I was inspired to pull this pattern out after seeing the cute top that Shannon made. I've had this pattern for years! I'm making the short dress with a fabric from Emma One Sock which I have also had for a while.

I hope you all get a chance to sew this weekend!

The Pink Quilt is finished

It's done! Yesterday I finished the binding that is all done by hand, I rather not fiddle with trying to catch both sides of the binding when sewing it in the sewing machine.

The back is interesting...I decided that I would use the left over fabrics from the quilt top, pieced in a random pattern and I quickly realized that I didn't have enough, so I introduced the blue fabric. I like to think that I constructed the back in the way quilts used to be made, with whatever fabrics were available.

I quilted in a new way for me, 1/4 inch away from seamlines in a criss-cross pattern, I really like it. I used Gutternmann's cotton thread for the quilting which I had never used before (always bought Mettler's) and it worked great; the fact that is sold at Joann's is very convenient!

I went window shopping on Friday and I'm so excited to start fall sewing! I won't say which pattern I'll start with because it always seems to change; let me say that I have several patterns already modified so I might start there.

This past week to take a break from the troublesome lace tunic I started Valley Yarns Staghorn Cabled Tunic. I bought this pattern at last years Stitches East with the Northampton yarn called for. So far so good! Sadly this year Stitches East is in Connecticut instead of Baltimore =(



Keep on sewing! I'm enjoying looking at everyone's plans, and hope that one day I'll put one together...

I'm going on a bike ride

A couple of days ago my husband said to me that very same thing and then he says "I have truly turned into Calvin's father!" and we all knew what he meant. My entire family loves Calvin and Hobbes, so it was fun to look for a scene to replicate. What do you think? Isn't it perfect?

What is it about this pattern....

that defeats me so?

I started the Square Bodice Pullover last summer, I got so frustrated that I contacted the designer, Shirley Paden, by email, who very generously sent me her original pattern and charts which she had submitted to Interweave Knits for publication. That information helped a lot and I was able to finish the back. When I started on the sleeve the shaping that goes on was so confusing to me as regards to incorporating the stitch patterns as the sleeve became wider. On Ravelry I found Amy (AmyA) who also very generously sent me by snail mail a copy of her notes for the sleeve, her version of this sweater is gorgeous.

Last summer I was too frustrated to attempt the sleeve one more time and since fall was around the corner I put it away. I studied Amy's notes and finally saw the light, especially how to effectively add pattern stitches as the increases were added.



So here we are, I have charted, I have knitted and yesterday I realized that about 9 inches from the bottom things went wrong. Was it my chart or was it a mistake when knitting?. Well, I'm frogging it and once I get to about the same spot I'll see what happened.


The bottom row above is fine but then things get different

Now I'm not a lace girl. I do admire the work but usually for garments I like more modern and simple looking designs. However I fell in love with this pattern(the yarn is Paton's Grace which I really like), and although it might put me off knitting lace from now on, I will finish it. Wish me luck.

This and that

The weather forecast for this weekend was so dismal that we decided to play it by ear. On Friday I went with the boys to see the last Harry Potter movie; this we did at my insistence since the boys had lost interest in this series a while back. Well, I really enjoyed the movie (the 3-D portion of it which was maybe 15 minutes long was great) and so did the boys. Once the movie was done they started drilling me for information and when we got home my oldest picked up the last book and he is now halfway done :-)



On Saturday we went for a long walk in the humidity but no rain. Before that my oldest helped his father to trim one of our trees and in the process they found a tree frog.


On Sunday we did chores around the house and got the backpacks ready for school, since today was the first day. I also got to do keep working on my pink quilt. I finally finished the back which is pieced with the fabric leftovers from the top, and I started to pin in preparation for the quilting.


The colors are more intense in the photo than real life

This morning the boys were excited to start, even though they will deny it. No pictures though, they are teenage/preteen boys and no longer want to document every event.

One more:

Here is the baby quilt I made for my nephew; his parents decided to hang the quilt and enjoy the colors that go so well with his room.

Textured Circle Shrug

So I finally finished this shrug that I began with the KAL over at Lion Brand. I'm glad I did it this way, there was something about the way the instructions were written that threw me off, I'm sure it was just me so I was glad I had her (Stephanie Japel) expanded instructions with detail photos to guide me. This is basically knit in a circle (hence the name) with increases in key areas to give the shaping. The 1x1 rib and then the seed stitch border took forever but it was easy knitting.

I love the color of this yarn (Universal Yarn Deluxe Solids) but it is 100% wool and quite itchy specially in 80 degree weather. I plan to wear it on top of long sleeved tops.

Ugh! looking at these photos reinforces that I need to do something about my tired looking hair...

What I did instead of modifying a pattern

The month of August has been emotionally exhausting and now my body caught up with me, so even though I was very excited to watch Project Runway again and start sewing I couldn't bring myself to work on my next garment project. Instead I took out my quilting fabrics and started playing with prints and colors. Here is a peek at the result.




I've wanted to make a pink and white quilt for a long time, and therefore I bought quite a few fabrics in that color. I know prefer more modern looking prints and brighter colors but I can still see the charm of a totally girly and feminine quilt. This quilt will go together fast,just simple squares and straight lines quilting.

The boyfriend jacket

I like the look of the boyfriend jacket. I always have, back in the 80's I wore a smoking jacket that belonged to my father in the 50's (he didn't smoke and mom says he might have worn the jacket once)and I loved the relaxed and comfortable look. It seems that this style is back and I will be making my own.



LaROK 'Charms of Perfection' Jacket from Nordstrom.com

I found the McCall's pattern during Joann's last $1.00 sale and even though I haven't compared it or looked for other versions, I figured for that price I would get it. I like the lines of it and the welt pockets will finally force me to try them. I have plenty of jacket fabrics so shopping my stash will be the way to go.



Chloe's boyfriend jacket from Nordstrom.com

I will still like to do at least one more summer outfit, something in linen, so I'm not starting the jacket right away. That will give me more time to look at other patterns..;-)

BurdaWOF 2-2009 124 A

I made view A which is supposed to be unlined, view B has underlining because is made with lace. My dress has an underlined bodice and a lining from the empire waist down. The fabric, an embroidered cotton from Metro Textiles needed I believed extra body to carry this semi-fitted look and a lining just makes the garment hang better and more comfortable to wear. The underlining/lining fabric is cotton batiste;the fashion fabric was washed as well as the batiste but the finished dress will go to the cleaners to preserve the shaping in the dress.

The back has a pretty v neck.


The facings are interfaced and tacked down by hand to the underlining.

The hem is interfaced up the finished hem line for a crisp look; I attached rayon seam binding to the raw edge and sewed it by hand.

The shoulder seams and the armhole edges are bound with packaged bias binding, I would like them not as wide better but I was in a hurry to finish and didn't want to redo them. I sewed by hand the armhole allowances to the underlining.

The fit in the bodice felt a bit loose to me, even though I made my usual size. I might have done more fitting but I really wanted to wear this dress to an event this past weekend. All in all I like this dress, is simple but elegant and it will look a lot more casual made up in a print.

I'm still deciding what my next project will be. I'm thinking linen even though the summer is ending...

A non sewing week

Last week we had house guests and so the sewing room was a guest room and my machine was resting.

We had a nice visit with family and one of the activities was fishing at one of our local parks. We also made a visit to the Botanical Gardens, below are pictures of two of their botanical art exhibits. The gardens always have an art exhibit of botanical nature, of course, that is housed in a nice air conditioned room; I photographed my favorites.

Next week I'll have pictures of another dress, stay tuned!

Simplicity 3803 view B

I made this pattern two summers ago but never reviewed it. I wore it the first summer then over the winter gained 10 lbs and couldn't wear it the following summer. This year I get to wear it again since I lost the extra weight(yay!!)

I used a cotton seersucker from Joann's that I had bought originally to make a long skirt. The bodice is lined (with cotton batiste) per the Simplicity instructions, the skirt is unlined. I don't remember that anyone had any problems with this pattern but I had a lot of gaping in the bodice in the armscye, which I took in by easing it and securing it with 1/4 inch cotton tape.

I wore it all day friday (which unfortunately included being under torrential rains) and it is not only comfortable but kept me cool in the hot summer weather. It is not the style to show your shape, that is why my husband doesn't like it, he prefers I emphasize my waist, so I just won't wear it when I'm with him ;-)