Burda WOF 8/2008 118 Tunic

Well, here is my long sleeved version of this popular pattern. I finished it a while ago just as the temperatures rose so it sat waiting to be worn. The fabric is a very stretchy knit from my stash, I have no idea what the fabric content is, but it does wrinkle really easily. I extended the sleeves because I'm always cold although I really like the short sleeves. This was a very easy top to make. I probably won't make it again but if I do it will be the short sleeve version.

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I have been working on the jacket from Simplicity 4500. I had made a muslin a long time ago, corrected the pattern and then put it away because the weather turned warm. I now finished interfacing all the pieces and wanted to keep a record of how I did it so that in case I wanted to change the techniques used in my next jacket. I followed Paco's great tutorial (here it is in English translated by Tany). I have also been reading Tailoring Ladies' Jackets by Mary Ellen Flury and I followed her suggestions for the kind of interfacing to use in the armhole: on the curve I used a fusible straight tape and the upper section towards the shoulder a fusible bias tape.
I highly recommend this book if you are interested in tailoring techniques, the book has excellent, clear illustrations and just as clear explanations of all techniques.



The interfacing in all pieces except the sleeves is fusible tricot, I used up all that I had in black and white.

I now need to find the time to cut out the lining and then I can start on the fun part: sewing!! This jacket is to go with the skirt from the same pattern that I already made

Pictures from the Appalachian Trail

Two weekends ago we went out to Western Maryland to pick up a trail that connected to the Appalachian Trail. The trail sort of ended at Annapolis Rocks where a great view awaited us from an altitude of 1500 feet. The walk was about 2 miles and it took us about 2 1/2 hours. I found out I need better hiking shoes that my Nike sneakers, believe me my knees and ankles were asking me to please stop. We got some unexpected rain at the end but all in all it was a great walk. I wish I were a better photographer, my pictures cannot capture the beauty of this trail.

WOW

The 44th President of the United States and his family.

Did you vote?

I had to stand in line to get my free Starbucks, but it took me all of 10 minutes to walk in and cast my vote. The waiting is killing me...

Halloween and our family addition

I was able to finish my oldest costume, cape with hood and mask (he was a World of Warcraft Rogue)by staying up late Thursday night.

The cape is from Simplicity 5512 view A. I have used this pattern many times now. It is a nice cape with shaped shoulders and the hood drapes nicely on the head. I had to lengthen the cape (my pattern goes up to child size 8) and widen the shoulders, all easy alterations.


The youngest costume was a blending of patterns. The pants were pj pants from a McCalls pattern that I removed a lot of ease from to make them straight pants with an elastic waist (my son who doesn't like home made clothes told me he can wear these all the time!). The top, from the Simplicity pattern, I shortened and added the hood from Simplicity 5512. The vest I lengthened it from the original.




My husband carves our pumpkins following the design we each pick. Don't they look good?



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Look who joined our family!!






These cuties come from Small Angels Rescue, a non-profit organization that rescues little critters, fosters them and then finds permanent homes for them. We drove out to Frederick to pick them up this morning. So say hello to George, Jink and Houdini.

Costumes and BWOF top

So I finished one costume and then my oldest decides he wants a cape with hood instead of a cloak...So yesterday I took an emergency trip to Joann's and found black Halloween fabric (on sale). Today I will cut it up and hopefully get it sewn. I had a date for breakfast with my mom and then some shopping but weather is miserable today so we have postponed.

Yesterday I finished Burda WOF 8/2008 tunic 118. I made it with long sleeves since I'm always cold and I wanted to be able to wear it this winter. This style really needs a belt and I think it will look great with tights and boots as a dress.

They built a ballpark

Last week I was a chaperone for my son's 5th grade class trip to Camden Yards. I love Camden Yards so I was pretty excited when he told me I had been picked (there are so many parents that volunteer to chaperone that they pull names out of a hat).


The kids got a tour that it was fun and very informative; you get to hear neat stories about Baltimore and how the park got built. It turns out it was a woman who came up with the (brilliant) idea to build a ball park not a stadium and who was responsible for the decor. One of the things she insisted on was to have the seats all the same color (Camdem green).


The view from one of the private rooms

These days the Orioles are not doing so well and the price of tickets borders on the ridiculous, so I truly enjoyed visiting the park for the mere price of the tour, and I got a cool button to boot.



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In the sewing front I'm almost done with the costume

In the knitting front I finished the back for Michael Kors cardigan from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2007. I have visions of wearing it with a belt as a vest.

That wonderful time of the year

So Halloween is coming and although I've had the fabrics for my youngest costume for weeks no sewing has been accomplished. Yesterday I took the pattern out which I graded down from adult to what a tall 8 year old could wear. This was 2 years ago so he's done some growing since then.

Here is the pattern:




And a picture of my son when I first made it:



I used the version in the center and added a hood, he was a character from a favorite game. Now he wants to be a different character from the game, but I will still be able to use the basic design, instead of a robe it will be a shirt and pants and the armor will reach his waist; he also wants some kind of hood, but I still don't have a clear version of how he wants it to look like, I'm sure we'll find something from one of our other Halloween patterns.The new version will be all black in different designs and textures (he went to the store with me to pick out the fabrics). Yesterday I got his new measurements and had a little bit of time to work on the pattern. I hope to get it cut today.

A couple of small FOs

I posted these in Ravelry but I know many of you don't have access, so here they are, they gave me a sense of accomplishment ;-)

The socks are for my DH who was always borrowing my wool socks. The pattern Basic Ribbed Socks is free at Ravelry.




The crocheted scarf is the One Skein Scarf from Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. I used leftover worsted weight yarn from Berroco (discontinued Sensu Wool) that was used to make my first sweater many years ago. This is the only crochet book I own and I really like it. The instruction part is very clear and it has a lot of nice projects.



Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Nui and Metru

Nui and Metru were our gerbils, brothers that we got from a very generous young girl who found out her gerbils were not both boys when she got a litter of pups. They were named by my boys after the city of Metru Nui a fictional city in the world of Bionicles, a branch of Legos. Nui and Metru lived beyond the expected age of gerbils (2 - 3 years) to the ripe old age of 4. Metru we lost a few months ago and Nui joined his brother in gerbil heaven yesterday. They were the hit of the Science Fair at school when my youngest with help from his dad built a maze to test how fast the gerbils would navigate the maze and if a treat at the end made a difference in their speed. Nui was by far the most social of the two, he loved to come out of his home and play and loved to sit on my oldest shoulder and tickle his face. Metru loved his food and preferred to stay in and always close to his brother. I was reluctant at first to get them, my husband convinced me and once I saw them I had no regrets. If they are hand raised by a reputable breeder they are social and well tempered, they don't smell and they required minimum care.

We'll miss them and with such a good experience my family is ready for the next pair!

Forgive the pyracantha

Pyracantha is one of the nastiest shrubs available for landscaping in my area. Not only does it have thorns that can get as big as 1 inch but if you get prick by them they give you a big red welt that not only itches but burns, therefore the common name "fire bush". To add to its attributes, mine which is probably around 50 years old (it came with the house) has grown so big that it only produces fruit if I let it go wild, which means no trimming. Since my shrub is planted next to the driveway along with two quinces, another shrub with very nasty thorns ( I don't know what the previous owners were thinking), I need to keep up my trimming if I don't want people and cars to get scratched. But I forgive the pyracantha, why? because this fall I will have a beautiful mantelpiece full of gorgeous berries, and so will my neighbor since I have plenty to share.

Burda's Duchess dress and the coat sew-along

Here I am with my new dress and my gorgeous SIL

I wore my Burda WOF dress (3/2008 116)this past weekend to a wedding we went to in New Jersey. I was lucky that it was a warm weekend if rainy. I love my dress, it feels very girly and I love the way the skirt flares out.


My brother and his bride


My family goofing off at the reception

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So I cleaned up the sewing/guest room on Monday and started thinking about the coat for the sew-along. I'm making the pattern for the lining while I wait for the coat fabric to come back from being steamed at the cleaners. Burda WOF tells you to place the back piece on the fold and to add 1 inch for the pleat but says nothing about how to deal with the vent ?? So I'm pulling out Easy Guide to Sewing Linings which always answers my questions. As soon as I get the fabric back I'll test a couple of fusible interfacings. I'm still terrified of the welt pockets this pattern has since I have never made them before, but I keep telling myself one step at a time, one step at a time.

Here is a reminder of what the coat looks like

Construction Details of Burda WOF 3/2008 116

Ignore the button, it is not the one I will use on the dress.

This dress as designed does not include a lining, I wanted a lining in part because my fabric, a rayon with a crepe texture, was semi-transparent and I didn't want to wear a slip. I just cut two dresses one of the fashion fabric and one in Bemberg. After constructing both separetedly (24 fish eye darts in total!), I basted both together at the neckline and armholes.



I made the bindings for the front slit, neckline and armholes using the wonderful gadget you see in the picture. I bought it for quilting but I have used it more in fashion sewing.



The binding was applied first to the front slit, then around the neckline enclosing the seam allowance (of both lining and fashion fabric) which had been trimmed to 3/8 in and and the top of the zipper. The seam allowances at the armhole were also covered with binding after attaching the sleeve/ruffle.



Applying seam binding around armhole




The sleeve/ruffle will show the wrong side if not doubled. I chose to do it as indicated in the pattern. As you can see is hard to tell the wrong/right side in my fabric. The hem was finished with a satin stitch.




Here is how the inside looks with the full lining. I will post a picture with me wearing the dress after this weekend, since the wedding I'm going to is on Saturday.

Friday Musings

I woke up this morning and felt that the pain in my neck has sort of moved to my right shoulder. What did I do to make the pain come back?I have no idea...I haven't been doing my arm exercises, just my walks and the stationary bike. Oh well at least I'm not getting the nasty headaches I've gotten in connection with the neck.

After reading Barbara's post over at The Furry Mind where she asks if blogging was worth the effort, I started to wonder how many of you out there read this blog. I signed up for Site Meter, the free version ,I'm curious but not curious enough to pay for the extra services. I know I'm guilty of reading blogs and not commenting but then I remember how much I enjoy these blogs and how nice it is when I get comments, so I will make it a mission to leave a note.

Anyways I leave you with another version of Simplicity 4076. I used up a 1 yard remnant from Metro Textiles. This time I used the honeycomb stitch in my Bernina for the hems, I think it nicely echos the print design.




Have a great weekend full of sewing time!

The zig zag crochet skirt

I finished this skirt from Interweave Knits Crochet Fall 2005 a while ago. Well, I finished crocheting a while ago and then it sat waiting to be sewn together. As I expected it takes a while to sew since you have to change colors quite often and then there's all those tails to be woven in. Anyways I used Red Heart Lustersheen which gives it a nice drape and weight. Because I substituted yarn and it was my first crochteted garment I struggled getting the gauge right. All in all I'm happy with the skirt, it will be fun wearing it this fall.

Here is a couple of more views, I really like the kick in the back.

A change of plans

I have a wedding coming up and so I decided I needed a new dress. I found a beautiful rayon print and matched it to Vogue 7793 (OOP) which has been in my stash for a while (as has been the fabric). After modifying the pattern I found out not even shortening the skirt by several inches could I fit the pieces in the yardage I had. So I remembered it this Burda WOF 3/2008 116 dress was a runner up for this fabric. I have loved this design since I first saw it, and even more so after I saw Trena's version in a knit. So I have traced the Burda and it is ready to be cut.



I am making the short version but using the sleeves on the wedding dress using the rayon print below.



Because I had spent the time with Vogue 7793 I decided that instead of putting it away I would look for another fabric (as my mom said "I'm sure you have some other fabric in your stash that would work"). Well I found a beautiful cotton lawn that I bought in my only personal visit to Metro Textiles. Because of the light weight of the fabric I'm interlining the bodice and adding a lining to the skirt, using white cotton batiste also from Metro Textiles.



Have a great day wherever you are!!