I finally got my sewing mojo back (very excited about a lot of designs in Burda Style magazine!) but life has kept me from sewing. It is the start of the spring semester so I have been attending seminars/professional development/training sessions, filling out paperwork, coordinating schedules and now doing lessons plans. My oldest left for school yesterday so I spent most of my day getting him ready. Also the school musical is moving along and costumes are going to be made. Of course these are just the extras all the regular stuff also has to be kept up =O.

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed yesterday, especially when I realized that we had stripped my son's bed in school at the end of the semester to wash all the bedding and I did not see it at all during the break and still has yet to be found. I'm thankful that I had given an extra set of sheets but mattress cover and duvet cover are missing. Where is the stuff???

So...School musical Wizard of Oz....patterns I will use...

This looks like a bear with the dark color fur!!

I will be making Dorothy's and the Cowardly Lion for now the others have to be decided. We might have a dress that I can add to for Glinda, but I still have yet to actually see what the rentals look like in person.

I requested fur samples and I'm waiting for those and I think I can get most I need at Fabric.com and Joann's.

I apologize that I haven't kept up reading all the wonderful blogs I follow and hopefully once I get into my routine this semester I will be able to keep up again. By the way I had to remove my blog list since it was giving virus alerts when readers using Chrome would try to access my blog, Blogger!! I will have to play with it again and see if it was a temporary bug with Blogger.

Looking forward to a new normal!

Have you seen CBS Elementary?

 While I lay around hoping this cold gets better, I watched the newest episode of Elementary and then started to search for info on the wardrobe worn by Lucy Liu, who plays Joan Watson, Sherlock's companion.

Can I just tell you how much I love the clothes? Love, love, love

 Of course I'm going to sew inspired garments! I already have a top I finished before the New Year and it is waiting to be worn and shared. I'll tell you how that top came to be and although the inspiration did not come from the show, I believe it fits right in.

The one piece I was smitten with is this dress

The dress by designer Yigal Azrouel

On the show Ms Liu wears it with a button down white shirt ( I figured out how to do screen shots!) and it is just perfect. I have never heard of the designer but I am in love with so many of the pieces! I am going to try to reproduce it, with a more modest length of course.

A couple of more outfits

 This site has a lot of pictures and info about the show and  a how-to-get-the-look using rtw.

Anyways hope you enjoyed the ramblings of my congested head ! =)

A walk in the woods

Yesterday after the boys that came for a sleepover left, we decided that it would be nice to walk in the woods while it was snowing. Of course by the time we got everyone ready and we got to the park it had stopped. No matter, we still had an enjoyable walk. These days we are always amazed at our 12 year old beagle who comes alive in these walks. My boys talked non stop as always when they are together and my husband and I had a chance to look around us and find beauty in a grayish winter day.

The water beads on the trees were gorgeous, my phone's camera couldn't do it justice.

I have been doing some sewing so I will have something new to share soon. I don't know if I'll make an end of the year post, still deciding =)

I'm still here!

Well, I got a nasty cold, then the allergies hit me, at the same time last week was one of the busiest ever! I guess because school is off this week everyone was trying to get their meetings done.

I have made progress in the Burda jacket, it is going well. I'm finally done altering the prom dress; my son's friend was ecstatic with the fit when she tried on her dress on Friday, what a difference good fit makes!

I have been playing with crochet swatches for a couple of different dresses, I have wanted to crochet a dress for a while so when I'm done with the finishing on the knitting projects (winter wear) I will commit to the dress. I couldn't find the magazine picture online but here is the Ravelry link of the Winter 2006/2007 Vogue Knitting Crocheted dress by Michael Kors. I also ordered yarn for this Interweave Knits design



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I promise to get pictures of the jacket this week, I should have plenty of time to get it done.

A Beautiful Fall Day

The picture of a happy (blurry)dog

I have been feeling cold symptoms for the past couple of days, but on the weekend I was fine and we got to do a beautiful walk. Not much to say just enjoy the colors of the season.

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?

An update

Just before I came down with the nasty cold I'm fighting off right now, I finished Simplicity 2472; the temperatures also dropped and I couldn't even think about wearing this dress. I wanted a really simple pattern for the knit print since I didn't want to worry about matching circles and I didn't want chop the print too much either. It can't get any simpler than this pattern! I know it doesn't have hanger appeal but it does look cute on. I'll take pictures of me wearing it later, when I feel better...



I also decided on McCalls 5752 for this knit print that I found at Joann's about a year ago. I think it will look good with this design.


In looking through my stash I found this beautiful twill from Michael's fabrics. I usually don't buy this color, but it came in a bundle and the quality is wonderful. I really need a neutral spring jacket so now I'm searching for a pattern.

I'm really looking forward to next week, the kids are off and I don't work thanks to working for the school system. I hope I can shake off this cold soon because I have plans!!

Look what showed up in our backyard a couple of days ago! This is the first time we see a pheasant visiting, the colors were just beautiful!


I wish to those who celebrate a good holiday!

To a healthy day

Wednesday night my poor DS the youngest came down with (what I hope) a 24 hour stomach flu. By 6:00 am on Thursday it had been so bad I called the doctor's office to be told that I was looking at taking him to the ER for dehydration, so I had to be on the lookout for signs. I'm thankful that he was able to keep enough fluid down to avoid that trip.

I was never any good at pulling "all-nighters" when young, at this age the warning "do not operate heavy machinery" certainly applied. Come to think of it, "handling light machinery" also applied.

Enjoy your holiday (for those of us in the US) and stay healthy.

A prom dress

My mom used to make me all my party dresses, so when senior prom came along we headed out to the fabric store to find a pattern and fabric. I picked this Vogue pattern but we could not find a fabric we liked, so my mom after work (she worked at a bank that was located where they now do the Today show in New York City) went to the fabric stores in the city and found this beautiful silky fabric. I wanted to coordinate with royal blue (after all this was 1980) so mom made me the belt from beaded trim and I wore royal blue peep-toe pumps. My date brought me a blue orchid corsage, all in all matchy-matchy.

What was really funny, well not so much back then, it's that my neighbor whose personality and likes were as different from me as can be chose the same pattern for her dress!!Thank God her mom made her the short version and in a different color; well we both laughed at the coincidence and it wasn't like we would be spending time together at the party.

Here is one more with my brother who as a freshman got to go to the prom with one of my friends (he went to every prom after that except his own, I guess he had had enough!)

A week in review

I have been busy with my crafts but have nothing finished to share. I continue working on the baby quilt, below you can see a preview; I am in the middle of machine quilting.



I'm also making progress on Green Gable (I guess mine is White Gable). After working on lace I wanted something simple.



This past Thursday I was a chaperone for my son's ninth grade science class. We went to the Air and Space Museum in DC. They had a handout to complete and after we had some time to wonder around. I found out that Pucci had designed uniforms for the stewardess in the 60's. They had one sample and lots of pictures. Here is one of the pictures they had on display.



I spent Saturday at Hershey Park with my family. We had lots of fun and actually got to ride some roller coasters (my kids are not too keen on them). Their zoo only has native American animals and they have a good selection of specimens, lots of lizards and snakes which are favorites in our household.

I'm kind of tired today but I hope to get some more quilting done after I get everything ready for the school week (laundry, supermarket run, etc).

I got the new Burda WOF yesterday and enjoyed it while having my coffee this morning. There's a lot I like in it, it is after all the dress issue, but I'm also liking the plaid section especially this little vest




And this jacket/top




And lots more....

A few random things to share

Yesterday I finally cut Vogue 7862. This Sandra Betzina pattern for a bag, I have made several times before. One of those times I made it for my cousin who loved it and requested another one; this was a few years ago, I figure by now the original one has been put to rest so I'm sending her a new one. This one I'm making from a cool synthetic leather I bought from Emma one Sock a long time ago. Pictures to follow...

These two necklaces I made after taking a beading class. The pendant is made from early 20th century pressings(molds?) that I purchased at a bead show. I enjoy beading but I struggle with bead combinations.

I finally decided to buy the Kai gift set, since they have been highly recommended it on the net. I still haven't tried them, I'll let you know how they hold up.

I'm still knitting a pattern for my friend's yarn shop. I hope to finish it before Easter. I'm using Berroco's Comfort Chunky. This yarn feels wonderful against the skin, it is a mix of acrylic/nylon and once you touch it you'll love it. It also comes in worsted,DK, baby and sock. Go check it out! (NAVY, just love the yarn)