Weekend images

The many faces of the National Arboretum...

Stella McCartney coat and the Burda version

Nordstrom ad for Stella McCartney coat in Sept Vogue issue

So I finally got to look at my Sept Vogue and came across this ad and of course the first thing I thought of was Burda's version in the September issue; they described it as a turned-up notch collar. If you like the style aren't you glad you sew?



I like Burda's version better, funkier and distinctive!

Here is a link to the coat with its nice price tag.

My present project

My plan is to make an outfit that will work well together to take me into fall, there will be three new pieces to coordinate with existing pieces in my closet.



The fashion fabric is a light weight knit from Emma One Sock (it was called onionskin back when I bought a few years ago). To line it I used a poly blend knit from Fabric.com from their Lavender label Vera Wang collection that was almost given away. The lining fabric has a nice weight that makes for a nice drape at the hem.



As you can see the skirt is done but I'm waiting for the other pieces to show you the whole look.

In my desire for giving myself enough ease at the waist and hip I made the skirt a little too big for me. I corrected some by easing some of the extra at the waist. I think the technique is called stay-stitch plus? Basically you put your finger behind the presser foot while you sew to gather in extra fullness. I learned watching Sandra Betzina doing it in her old Home and Garden tv show. I added stay tape also for stability.



I will also make a tank top from Burda magazine, it is basic but has a pretty neckline. I will give you the issue later. I will be using leftover fabric from this dress

Lastly I want to make the cardigan from this Vogue pattern, I hope I have enough fabric, I bought it a long time ago when I was a little skimpy with yardage, will let you know!

Burda Style Fatina dress

This dress while it is very basic in construction was difficult to fit. The pattern has the bust darts and some shaping in the side seams but because I'm a pear I needed to fiddle with the side seams to give me a good fit. I need to remember that while I can wear sheath dresses they need to have princess seams or fisheye darts so that I can get a better fit. Nonetheless I planned on this dress being casual and comfortable and it is. The fabric is a cotton stretch and I noticed that in both these pictures the neckline is not laying flat; it must have stretched a little when sewing but it didn't always look that out of shape when I wore it. I'm going to look up some techniques in how to handle better open necklines like this. Am I thrilled with the fit? No but it is the best I could do.


Did you put your sunglasses on? Pretty bright fabric!


I could have paid more attention to fabric placement in the back, but I don't think is that bothersome, besides I can't see it ;-)

I'm glad I tried a Burda Style downloadable pattern. They are really not hard to tape together (although I had help!) I read the instructions and they were good and of course using the bias binding in the neckline and armhole is a great technique that can be used to eliminate facings.

And the winners are...

The Butterick pattern winner is

Janice (tryitagainjan) who just got back into sewing!!

The Simplicity winner is

Connie!!

Thank you so much for taking part of the fun. I have emailed you both so that you can send me your address.


Mom picks the winners

Free to a good home

Yesterday I went through most of my patterns planning my next projects and I found these two patterns twice, well I guess I'm consistent with my likes I just wish I had better memory =)
Anyways, if anyone out there is interested let me know which one you would like, if I get more than one request I'll pull names, let's say by Thursday and they will get mailed at the end of the week (I'll mail anywhere, on Earth that is).

Here is the info

Butterick 5243 8-10-12-14

Simplicity 2816 6-8-10-12-14

Let me know!

New project - Burda Style Fatina

My nails coordinate with this fabric!

So after initial difficulties caused by my brain being on holiday, I got this pattern traced, cut and as you can see above I stopped short of binding the neckline because well, other duties took precedence.

Karen was very kind and sent me this downloadable pattern from the Burda Style site after I fell in love with the (3?) versions she had created. I thought it wise to first make it up as designed to determine the bones of this very simple pattern.

Parting shot...

DS2 who loves puzzles saw me starting to piece together the pattern and ask if he could do it, well of course!!

Rethinking the Patrones blouse

Since I started working on this blouse with this particular tight weave poly woven, I have had to force myself to work on it. I don't like the feel of the fabric and I was concerned about the wear since I don't like wearing poly silky wovens (cold in the winter, hot in the summer). Yesterday I noticed that one of the center front pieces had a defect, about 5 lines of color variation. I still forced myself to continue since I figures if I hadn't noticed it until now I could probably get away with it. I started finishing the armholes with the bias strips and then I noticed that no matter how careful I was so that my hand stitches didn't show on the right side (it wasn't an option to topstitch the bindings down) they were showing; the fabric has such a tight weave that is impossible to grab just a strand.

So I say "Basta!", my time is too precious to waste on an activity I'm not enjoying to produce a less than stellar garment. I'm moving on!!! I will however reuse the Patrones pattern I really like the fit and it will be pretty with a different fabric.

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Since I don't like pictureless posts, the above was the only thing sewing related that I found in my Yellowstone vacation. It was a picture hanging along with the many guns on display at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming.

Progress on Patrones blouse

I got to work a little bit on my blue blouse this week. When I attached the ruffle which is cut as a rectangle, and sewn according to Patrones scant instructions I didn't like the way it ended. It is inserted in the princess seams and it ends about bust level. As you can see the end was just squared off and it didn't fall nicely.

I decided to round off the ends and now it looks much better.

Creature encounters in Yellowstone

Besides the beautiful landscape Yellowstone offers wildlife viewing to its visitors. For sure you will see the American bison, but we also got to see brown and black bears (for very short periods of time or from very far), elk, coyotes, squirrels, chipmunks, prong horn antelope, etc. I have no good pictures of the wildlife but I do have a good story. So here is my guest blogger, my husband, relating a "little" incident we experienced. Hope you enjoy it!

So, we were vacationing in Yellowstone NP last week. It is simply an amazing place. There aren't many places left in the world where you can stand on a mountain top and view a spectacular landscape as far as the eye can see in every direction that hasn't changed in ten thousand years. If you are into the outdoors at all, its a place you should try to visit.

Anyway, we're staying in a cabin outside the NE gate, hiking everyday and crashing in blissful exhaustion every night. Half way through the week, I wake up at 3:00 AM to noises outside the cabin. There is an animal outside the window next to the head of my bed. A BIG animal. Grunting and growling. No problem, it is outside and we are in here. Nothing to worry about. Except now in addition to the grunting and growling I hear sniffing and scraping at the window. I try to sneak a peak through the window but all I can see is a BIG shadow lurking next to the window. Ok, let's assess the situation. It's the middle of the night and a large animal is sniffing at the window. It's most likely a bear. Based on the size of the shadow, its probably a grizzly bear. And it is separated from us and a cabin full of left over dinners and snacks (we haven't exactly been following "clean-camp" rules in the cabin) by a mosquito screen and sheet of double pane glass. We have no phone in the cabin, cell phone coverage is non-existant, I have no bear repellant spray, and the cabin offices are a 100 yards down the road. Ok, I'm feeling a bit anxious now. If the bear come through the window should we bolt out the door? or out the other window? or lock ourselves in the bathroom? Hmm, how stong does that bathroom door look? Not very. Do we run for the car or the cabin offices? How fast can I get my family awake and out the door? Knowing my kids, probably not fast enough. Might lose one. Or two. That wouldn't be good, the wife wouldn't take it well. Hey, I can heat up some water in the microwave to throw at it, or maybe I should just throw the whole microwave. This is the way my brain works at 3:00 AM when I'm hyperventilating.

At this point the wife wakes up wondering what the hell is going on. I share with her my assessment of the situation and she supportingly decides to share my sense of panic. This goes on for a while, until my wife hears a second animal outside. A second bear? that doesn't make any sense. We then see a bison come walking out of the shadows toward the cabin while at the same time the beast who was in the shadows next to the window steps out into the moon light. It's a huge bull bison. If you have never heard the noises a bison make up close, let me tell you they sound an awful lot like the ones you would expect a bear to make. But then what the hell do I know about bear and bison sounds, I grew up in New Jersey. The second bison was soon followed by an entire herd, and soon our cabin was completely surrounded by bison grazing in the moonlight. I have no idea what the hell they were doing in our cabin grounds, ten miles outside the park, in the middle of the night. I read a lot about Yellowstone wildlife preparation for this trip, but I don't recall any mention of bison being nocturnal.

What's the moral of the story? Noises in the night aren't always what you think they are. And, always keep a microwave nearby. Just in case you need to throw it.


Next post about sewing...promise!

Yellowstone National Park

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

So how can I describe the natural beauty that surrounded me this past week? Words fail me...and remember I speak two languages. All I can say if that you enjoy the outdoors this area is a must see.


view from our cabin/cabin

We stayed outside a little town in Montana, Cooke City about 5 minutes outside the Northeast entrance to the park. If you could drive at 60 mi/hr through town it would past you in a minute. We had no cell phone coverage and at our cabin we had intermittent wifi. It was wonderful to be disconnected, really.


First breakfast in Cooke City, temp 50s in the morning and night, high of 70s during the day, zero humidity

We did a lot of driving, and we covered most of the park except for the southeast corner. We saw thermal pools, geysers, we did wonderful hikes (at least one a day) and we visited Cody, Wyoming for a change of pace. Hope you enjoy the pictures!


View on the road, at least once a day


Chromatic Thermal Pool, the color comes from living organisms!


I hiked up a mountain!(Specimen Trail)


Enlarge this picture to see DH and DS2 on top of the mountain at the Petrified Wood forest!


Two spots of the Beaver Ponds Trail, the wildflowers were amazing!


Enlarge to see bison in the background


Beautiful Canyon hike


At the Roosevelt Gate

Next post will be by a guest blogger who will relate a funny encounter (although not at the time) Stay tuned!

Gone hiking

So I have been teased endlessly by my family (yes all males) about my "stylish" hiking boots. But seriously if you were presented with two pairs, priced the same, both comfortable and both perfectly suited for the job, wouldn't you pick the pretty pair? These have been worn and they are very comfortable, I feel confident my feet won't be bothering during our hikes in Yellowstone this week. How excited are we you ask? Very!!!!



With all the trip preparations going on these past week I lost my sewing mojo and the Patrones top is still not completely cut out. But as you can see I caught the Granny Square bug so I have been crocheting instead. My knitting needles will go in my luggage so that I can work on the sleeves of the Louisa Harding dress, when we are relaxing indoors.

Hope you all have a wonderful week, I'll be enjoying the cooler temperatures of Montana!

PS: I just found out we will have WIFI in our cabins so I will probably post at least once from there.

It's here!

Today I received the knitting book I won in Andrea's giveaway. Thank you again! It will be going on my road trip tomorrow when I go visit family up north.

And since my intention was never to tease (Karen) here are pictures of the magazine and the top I'm working on. I decided to cut it in the blue fabric I showed before to go with my Simplicity skirt, if later I don't like them together I can still use the top with something else.


Patrones no. 290


Have a good weekend everyone!

A little bit of crocheting

This crochet rug has been finished for quite a while, at least a year, and it waited in a bag to be sewn together. It is made with Lion Brand Kitchen cotton and I think I also used Peaches and Creme cotton. The pattern is free now, I paid for it many years ago. I made it using colors in my kitchen so it would give my knees some help while I do dishes. My husband says it won't last clean and he is probably right but I'm willing to give it a try.



I decided the rug needed to be finish because I fell in love with the Flowers in the Snow blanket. This blanket with the flower-like Granny squares in its white background makes me so happy! I know is another item whose practicality comes into question, but so far making this flowers has been a joy and an addiction. I am waiting for some more yarn with brighter shades of the colors I already have, this flowers are not happy enough for me yet! If you are on Ravelry the designer has more pictures of the blanket. Finding cotton blend DK/Sport weight yarn has been hard, so far I have used three sources to find a variety of colors. The great thing about this pattern is that you make your flower centers and then crochet them together while you work the final round in your choice of color background (in my case it will be white like the original)
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In sewing news, I traced a Patrones top that needs the seam allowances added and then I can cut it out.

Burda 7517

So here is Burda 7517, my first ever garment out of linen. These pictures were taken immediately after putting the dress on, no sitting or real moving had been done (I did sit for the last shot after we were done). At this moment you can tell I went about my day in this dress =) that is the nature of linen and I did nothing to help it. I did not underline but I did pre-treat by washing it like Sandra Betzina suggests in Fabric Savvy.



Here you can see the slit which makes it really easy to walk, I believe there is enough ease in the skirt that you could get away without it.



If you are the type that likes pleats to nicely sit closed and perfect this is not the pattern for you. I ironed the pleats but they do open up, maybe with more ease they would sit better, but I don't mind it gives the dress an easy, relax look that I like. This was meant to be a dress to wear on really hot summer days in Maryland, even though today was cool, breezy and beautiful.


One more just because...

Burda dress update

I got some time this past week to work on my dress and all I have left is the hem. This dress has a side zipper which I had never done before. I look at some of my rtw tops that have them and they are installed upside down (the zipper opening up all the way to the hem) which makes sense to keep the tab away from your underarm. With a dress however having the whole side seam open would take a mighty long zipper. So anyways I installed per the instructions and it feels just fine in the underarm.



Burda's instructions for finishing the armholes with a bias strip (as described by Melissa recently) are wonderful. I use them in all my sleeveless garments.



This dress also has a side split. I finished my seams with store bought seam binding using the color I had on hand but for the split I cut bias strips of the linen to bind the seam allowance.

School is finally out and although I will still have to work my interpreting load is much lighter yay!! Now to keep the kids entertained...

Father's Day - Día de los Padres

Missing my father
Extrañando a mi papá


Celebrating with my husband
Celebrando con mi esposo


Wishing a joyful day to the newest father in our family, my brother
Deseándole al más nuevo papá en nuestra familia, mi hermano, un día lleno de alegría

Moving on

While I ponder what to wear with my Simplicity skirt I started the next project on my (mental) list. Can you believe I have never used linen? Don't know why, maybe because summers are so busy and I usually don't sew much then. I have had this linen for a long time and I have a lot of it (5 yards/60 inches wide), I bought it during a Michael's Fabrics sale. The fabric is wonderfully soft and drapey (I did wash it following Sandra Betzina's directions in Fabric Savvy). After sewing the darts I basted the side seams and shoulders to try it on and I have no ease on the waist so I have to go back and give myself some room. One thing that I thought it was weird is that Burda printed the ease at hip without taking in the darts, how helpful is that?



I started knitting the above dress. This was not planned, evil Elann had the yarn on sale and I fell in love with the design, and a few days later pattern book and yarn was in my hands. The lace pattern is a 20 row repeat but not difficult, it really looks pretty in person, the picture does not do it service. The above was frogged (rip it rip it) because of not enough hip ease. I'm having a hard time getting an accurate gauge for this project...but I'll persevere.

Today is my last Spanish tutoring session with the kids I have been seeing for almost two years, I'll miss them since they are not taking Spanish next year. I'm planning on a Cuban flavored snack for them so I'm glad I have no interpreting jobs today. Later on I'll be helping my son coach (more like trying to keep them focused since I will have no advice to offer) his ultimate frisbee team since my husband is traveling, wish me luck.

One last random comment...A robin decided to make a nest on the wreath by my front door and we were all super excited, careful not to get close so as not disturb mom and eggs. Sadly she abandoned the nest, as you can see the eggs never hatched. They have been there now for months I wanted to make sure she wasn't coming back before taking the wreath down and taking pictures. Aren't they just perfect?