Road trip to Fabric Mart

Layla, Mary, Claudine, Cidell, me, Trena and Diane at Fabric Mart

I waited to the last minute to decide to join in at the fun at Fabric Mart. Cidell and Trena had invited their readers to join them there (near Reading, PA) Monday.

The trip there was not bad about 2 hours for me; Cidell, Trena and I kept asking ourselves why it had taken us so long to make this trip.

You can read all about what we did over at The Slapdash Sewist. I had no camera and Trena did a great job documenting our excursion. I did borrow the group picture ;-)

Everyone working at the shop was so nice and helpful; I was surprised to read Trena say we had spent 3 hours browsing, it really did not feel that long!

I fell in love with this fabric and could not leave without it. I originally thought of making a simple shift dress but I now I'm also considering using it for the ruffled pencil skirt of Marina's sew along. I will decide later... My other purchases included some basics to make skirts for work and ITY print that Cidell flaunted so I caved in ;-) At PA fabrics, in Lancaster, where some of us stopped at on our way home, I bought zippers and closures.

And look there is actually a collar fresh out of my sewing machine, and it is for me!

And as a refresher here is the line drawing of the pattern

Hopefully more to come soon!

Narciso Rodriguez at Kohl's

I love Narciso Rodriguez graphic designs so when  I heard that Kohls would carry a line by the designer I wanted to check it out. I had some time early this morning so I went to my local Kohls.

I have narrow shoulders in comparison with the rest of my body, as reference, I use a size 8 at the shoulders, a 12 at the chest and 14-16 at the waist/hip area when I make my garments. I also need to add 1 to 1.5 inches to length of the bodice to get the correct fit.

All the dresses were snug below the waist (size M) but the shoulders were too wide. I think part of the problem on me with the dresses that since they are shaped to follow ones curves they need to fall exactly in place; with my longish torso the waist was higher and therefore the hip placement was off giving me undesirable wrinkles in the waist/tummy area and then not having enough ease at the hips. Also the sleeves are very snug in all the long sleeve garments.

 The skirt (size 10) fitted fine at the waist but was too snug at the hips. Which is funny because the tuxedo pants, which I purchased, in the same size gave me a great fit.

 I tried on this dress but shortened as a top. I went down to see if the shoulders would fit better in a S, but they didn't and then the hips were tight.

 This cardigan I considered but the fit was not perfect and the fabric not very good quality, so it stayed at the store.

 This jacket/coat was available in a purple at the store, the quality of the fabric was poor, very scratchy wool.

 This top I also tried, again I had the issues of the ill fitting shoulders in sizes S and M

Looking through their website I can now see that the selection at the store was limited. I included the pieces that I took to the fitting room with me for some snoop shopping.

Because we sew we know that we can get better fitting clothes in general than RTW, but it is always fun to snoop shop and once again reassure ourselves that we can do better!

A quick update

We are winding down in theater, I've done myriads of hems, attached do-das to costumes, helped in picking out costumes, recovered a few chairs, made cushions, recovered cushions, gone shopping with two teenage girls, made bow ties, etc. The best of all: teaching students to use needle and thread. I loved watching their faces as they concentrated to follow my instructions and how proudly they showed the others what they had done.

Here are a couple of pictures of apparently the last of the work. Dress rehearsals will start soon and some repairs might be necessary =)

Added a veil to a 1950s pill box hat

I made a yellow one earlier and now these 3 black ones

I got to look at my silk blouse the other day but couldn't move forward.

I have been knitting since I can do it while watching tv at night when I'm too exhausted to do anything else.

Hopefully I'll have something more exciting to show soon!

Happy Halloween!

Here are my cuties, when they were 6 (Charmeleon from Pokemon) and 2 1/2 (the dinosaur) in 2000.

The pattern is from Simplicity, I believe is discontinued because Pokemon characters are probably not as popular as they once were, but there are other dinosaurs patterns, they never go out of style.

They loved their costumes and my youngest was thrilled that he got to be part of his brother's first grade Halloween parade.

They still like to get dressed up for Halloween and having a mom that is willing to make up costumes to their design helps a lot ;-)

Liking Halloween seems to run in the family...

My husband, on the left and me, with a friend sometime in the 90s

Hoping everyone is safe after the storm. We were very, very lucky, for the first time ever we came through a storm with power, no flooding and no major tree branches down.

The Filati Cardigan

 Knitting from an European magazine is like sewing from Burda, the instructions can be sketchy but with simple designs you will probably be fine. One huge advantage is the designs are always timeless or fashion forward and the shaping is always good.

 This very simple cardigan has only the pretty lace detail on the sleeves

 The fit is pretty wonderful, in my opinion.

 Here is the link to Ravelry

 I added one inch to the length of the bodice, which I usually do.

 The cardigan is the only thing made by me.

One of my students told me she liked my outfit today, "it is very hip!" She made my day!

My wizard at work

Second time around it's a winner!

Checking in

Wow! I did not mean to go missing for so long! I have been very busy but I have not produced much to share.

I finished this scarf that had been my travel project for a couple of years. I blogged about this before

I also attached the sleeves to the Filati cardigan I have been knitting. I now need really long circular needles (47" long!) to pick up stitches along the front for the band.  I don't have the needles so until I find them  I went ahead and made a swatch for my new knitting project. It is from the book Amber by Kim Hargreaves

I'm making the cardigan called Ginny. I love the shape of the sleeves and the fitted bodice.

 I am using the yarn called for in the pattern, Rowan Felted tweed but in a different colorway

I have also been helping at my son's high school with costumes for the play. Nothing to make from scratch but finding the right pieces and altering those that are available but not quite fit. My 32 year old high school prom dress (made by my mom) will appear on stage as a wedding dress so I modified it to fit the actress/student.

Most of my time however has gone to prepare for the one class (Spanish 2) I am now teaching at the community college. All the teachers I talk to say the first one is the hardest because later you recycle the material. I also spend time helping my son with Geometry (can you say Proof?) and Spanish. And let's not forget I'm in the middle of painting my bedroom...

Sandra Betzina on Craftsy!

Sandra Betzina on Craftsy

I was so excited when I got the email about this class that I had to share!

I loved watching Sandra when she was on Home & Garden tv. Her enthusiasm empowered me to try so many new things, and a  lot of her techniques are the ones I still use in my garments.

There are a couple of things I would like to fix in the next pair of pants I make so I'm hoping to soon take this class.

An FO and a Fail

So I finished the hat, and it looks great, just what my son wanted.

However I messed up on the sizing and it doesn't fit!!


I did not take into account that quilting the fabric would reduce the size of the opening, so sadly I went out again today to get the supplies to make another one.

Oh well, it might come in handy at some point.

Progress on the hat

This past week besides being extremely busy, I had a back pain flare up. Quilting is not good for my back so quilting the velvet for the wizards hat was delayed until today, since I'm happy to report the pain is almost gone.

I have used Simplicity 5512 many many times but this is the first time for the wizards hat. Since my son is now over 6 ft I had to modify the hat for size and also he did not want the scrunched tip so I made it shorter.

The picture is terrible but it shows the quilting. For the brim I spaced and cut the velvet before quilting the fabric but I made it work. The brim is quilted with cotton batting, which I had on hand and no backing. The crown has the velvet, batting and a lining.

I have to start painting my bedroom today so I hope that tonight I will be able to continue on the hat.

Here is the inspiration picture again.

Curious about BB creams?

I was! If you have been reading my blog for a while you can see that I don't wear a lot of makeup. I am fond of the natural look; of course as I've gotten older there are things that although may be natural I don't want them on display ;-). I get dark spots with a little bit of sun and we always get a little bit of sun in our daily life.  I prefer tinted moisturizers to foundation, I use foundation as a cover up.

Anyways, back to BB creams... The American market has been flooded with BB (beauty balm) creams  which claim to be better than tinted moisturizers so I decided to investigate.

In general the reviews for the BB creams in the states say that most formulas have little or no coverage, like a tinted moisturizer and most had a shiny finish that most of the reviewers set with powder. Some reviews said that the Asian BB creams are much better when it comes to coverage.

I have two Korean markets very close to my house and the second one I went to had a cosmetics counter with 4 different BB creams (two were IOPE brand). I tried them all and talked to the very nice lady behind the counter and she told me that BB creams have a natural finish and will not cover imperfections, so they wouldn't do much for dark spots. On my hand they all looked  a little different some with more pigment color than others but they all blended into my skin, giving me very light if any coverage but  they did even out my skin.

The biggest difference in my quick and dirty research? The Asian BB creams dried flat, no shine whatsoever, no greasy feel.

I ended up picking up the IOPE Air Cushion Sunblock Ex, Cover, SPF 50, which was recommended as having more coverage but still looking natural. Some reviewers put this product in the BB cream category.

Well I have been wearing it and  I love it, while still looking very natural it gives coverage to smooth out my color. It feels cool on the skin and very hydrating. Since I spent more than I usually do on skin care I'm so glad I'm this happy with it.

This and that

Yesterday afternoon I took time off. Time off from computer, exercising, cooking, cleaning...you get the idea. I sat on the couch and read magazines that had been piling on the mail table (Vogue Knitting, Vogue Patterns...didn't get to the new Burda!) and I finished reading the book for my book club. The book is the Paris Wife by Paula McLain and I enjoyed it very much. I will review it later over at Goodreads; although it is fiction it deals with Ernest Hemingway's first wife. Don't you love the shirtdress on the cover?

Courtesy of Amazon.com

I have been blocking the cardigan I'm knitting and now when I am reading to start putting it together to finish it.

 Filati Cardigan

I also will finish this quirky and fun little cushion I crocheted.

The pattern comes from Attic 24


I also cut a beautiful silk to make Burda   which I already had traced but because of the cut on sleeves I couldn't find wide enough fabric to use for it.  The silk is from Metro Textiles from a couple of years ago. I was very nervous cutting this out, my first time on a slippery silk. Of course I have used Bemberg rayon for many linings  but never silk.

I found a nice velvet at Joann's to use for my son's wizard hat. Rhonda was very generous in offering me her quilted fabric, but my son was set in black with blue accents. I will have to quilt the fabric to get the look he wants.

While at Joann's I saw that they had quilt fabrics on sale and I couldn't resist on getting these

they will be a quilt for my in-renovation bedroom. By the way if painting was just about painting it would be a piece of cake, the priming is what is killing me.

Today I'm working on the wizard's hat, since my son is home from school I will be able to try on the pattern and see how it fits him.

Happy sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting and reading everyone!

Quilted velvet fabric?

Photo from Talltoad.net

Hello everyone!

My son has asked me to reproduce a wizard's hat we saw at the MD Renaissance Festival this past weekend (they wanted $50 yikes!). I have looked through my usual internet sources but haven't seen any quilted velvet. I know I can quilted but was hoping to find it ready for me just to cut and sew.

I am grateful if you can point me in the right direction!

Vogue 1250

Recently Catherine reviewed this dress saying that she was probably the last person to make this, well...now I'm the last!

I was hesitating to make this one because the pattern pieces were oddly shaped and I knew that I needed to add at the hip. Below you can see how I did it.

It wasn't difficult, I traced the shape of  the dart and then placed the tracing under the tissue paper to retrace at the spot where it would give me the extra ease I needed at the side.  I really like how the dress turned out, I hope to make more. What made me decide to go for it? At NYC  PR weekend, I was able to try on the dress since Karen had made it; even though it was tight around the hips, I really liked how the bodice looked.

The fabric is a rayon knit that I loved on Carolyn and ordered right away. From her post I can see I aged it a bit ;-)

Vogue 1250 has been made many many times, so I wont reviewed it over at PR since I have really nothing earth shattering to add.

I braved going outside in 90 degree weather and killer mosquitoes so I wore the dress with sandals. I'm looking forward to wearing it in the fall with fall appropriate shoes/accessories. If you haven't made it go for it, really I think it looks better in person than in pictures!