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 ;-)