New fabric

I got a new shipment of fabric from Fabric.com. I ordered it on Mon. night and it got here Thurs. wow that was fast, 2 days to ship?

The yellow and blue are cotton knit, and the bottom 2 are stretch poplin, with lycra,, I was concerned because Fabric.com's info on the poplin was med weight, but I have 2 shirts I ordered from Chadwicks several years ago, that is the same weight at these, and I love the Chadwicks shirts. So this material will work great..

Burda 7758

I have seen this pattern on many blogs, so I finally decided to make one for me,, it was a little different, the neck is just turned under and top stitched using a twin needle,, I did raise the neckline 3 in, it is VERY low cut,, if I make it again I will make it more circular,, right now its kind of a v shape, but it will work.

The material is a slinky knit,, I think I got it off Wal-Mart's $1.00 table,, I used a slight zigzag to finish off the hems...and did a 1/2 upper arm adjustment,, I never knew my upper arms were so full,,, but this is the 3rd pattern I have had to make this adjustment to,,so I think it is to stay...

Another Vogue

A quick post,, yes I am still around,, have been helping my Db, he was diagnosed with Colon Cancer in Nov of 07, since then, it has spread to his lungs, liver, breast bone, and now to his brain stem,, and yes he has been undergoing Chemo, but the Cancer that he has, is so aggressive, that it will never be in remission,, it will always be maintenance, so it will eventually win,, unless a miracle happens,, and I do believe in those,, thank God!!!

Sometime in Oct/Nov, (been too long to remember now),, he came down with Pneumonia, was in the hosp for a month,, scarring on his lung left him with only one,, he is now doing as good as is possible,, but we go day to day,, so that is part of where i have been lately,,,




Now onto sewing things!!!

I love this pattern,, this is the 2nd one, I think I am getting better at making it,, I am getting the bugs worked out, still have to take it in a little more though,,

Vouge, 8151

I am in the process of finding a TNT knit top for Dd, and I think I have found it,,,,


This is my 1st try at it,, I am in the process of making another one, and each on that I make, I am adjusting the pattern to get the right fit, its nice doing it this way cause each time she is getting a new top,, and cause its knit,, the material is forgiving,, on the right is the 1st adjustment I made, and 3/4in forward shoulder adj, it may not look bad, but when she is standing straigh,, it is very noticable that the seam is too far back..



I also moved the sleeves "forward", basically adding 1/4in to the back sleeve,, and taking away 1/4 from the front,, I think I will need to adj the front a little more, but that is for the next one,,, well, the 3rd one,

Browsing

I am in a blah mood,, I have had my SM back for a week now,, and just cant get into doing anything, at the same time, I haven't embroidered for a month,, I wanted to make something on it this weekend but can't make up my mind what,,

So what is the next best thing,, browsing,, I was thinking purses,, and lets face it,, what lady can say no to a new purse,, but,, I always wait for a sale to get them,,but the places I like getting purse design from aren't having any sales,, so,,, browsing i went,, here is what i found, here lots of tutorials,,, enjoy,,,:-)

New patterns

I have been eyeing several patterns for a while, so I figured I had better get them before they are no longer available,, I got the idea for them from here

I will probably make these for DD sometime,, as they are more youthfull, and I well, have passed that area of life a little,, too much "fluff" carried around the midsection,, :-)

Anyway,, they are all Vogue's,, the black is 1107, (not on her site)the white is 1048, both of these are Chado Ralph Rucci,, the other is Badgley Mischka 1066, I first started looking at Tany's blog several months ago,, and was astounded,, she sews like I would love to, so much detail,, so perfect,, so fast, of coarse she probably doesn't have as many fitting issuse as I do either,,, lol...

Jean Skirt

I have been looking for a jean skirt pattern that I liked for a long time,, I finally found one,,,Burda 7651

I was going to make a muslin out of just this black denim,, but it turned out so good,, well it's no longer a muslin,, it is very comfortable,, but, there was some tweaking,,

The pattern has 2in tucks, but I didn't think they looked that good on me with all my "fluff",
so I sewed the tuck up, tapering it to nothing at the hem,,

but that didn't look too good either,,

so next I tried putting 3 small tucks in,,, nope didn't like that either..

so I finally figured out to just pin out the fullness, and make a flat tummy,, much better,,,

I really like this pattern, and will not only make more of them,, I will make several more,,,:-)

Comment away,,,,

I got this from Dawns blog

It sounds like fun and . So comment away. .

The following is copied from her blog:

Here's how it generally how it works:
The first five people to leave a comment on this post will get something from me.But in return, you have to do the same thing on your blog and make something for five other people.The details are as follows, and if you want to play, copy the following onto your blog and leave me a post:

BUT since I don't have 5 followers yet,, I am going to do it this way,, the first 5 people that leave comments,,this will apply to..:), you do not have to have a blog...

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.

2. What I create will be just for you, with love.

3. It’ll be done this year (2009).

4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something strange.

6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.

7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you.
Okay get busy and leave me some comments so I can get busy making you something.

New things.

I have been quiet lately,,, because,, I got a new computer,,in the pic, you can see the dark pink shade, well that is where my old computer used to set,, the plastic file cabinet used to be under the far side of the table,, the drawer,, ha ha,, you probably didn;t know this table came with one huh,, well that's because it's been hidden on the other side of the table,, against my sewing machine table,,,, oh, and yes,, that is a ton of fabric under the table,,,

A better pic of my computer,, I really like it,, I have never had a laptop before,, actually the only comp I've had was the table top one,, we started with it as a family comp, in 03 when we got internet,, and slowly from there,, DH got one,, DS got one, now that I have this one, DD got my old, one,,, OK now the reason I got it,, the 1st week of July,, I thought my comp crashed,, my DH had been telling me for a while that it was running slow,, and slower,, well you get the idea,, well one Sun I tured it on, and nothing,, the biggest problem was I didn't have anything saved,, none of my designs,, my password for Embird,, nothing,, see about a week before,, we had went to Best Buy to look for something for my DH,, well I asked him about an external hard drive, for my comp.. he said he had one I could use but would have to get a cord for the power supply,, well that week went by and my comp went down,, so ,to make a long story short,,, we finnaly got it going again,(but in the meantime, we dicided it was time for a new one so we wouldn't have to worry about any problems again,,,), Dh got the ex.hard drive going, we got everything transferred,, and the day was saved,, but get this,, I had SOOO many designs on the computer, that it took over 2 hrs to transfer all of them,,, wow,, when we got the new comp,, it took 10 min,, 10 MINUTES,,, hah,,,but now I am learing all the advantages of having a table comp,, the number keypad is built in,,,(yes I know you can get the keypad built in on a laptop,, but is has to be bigger than what I have,, so...) the slot for my memory stick for my camera, the slot for my D1 floppy disk, all these I have to plug in manually,, so that's 3 usb ports taken sometimes,, not to mention all the usb ports used anyway,,, but all in all,, I like it,,now I can take it with me where ever I go,,, AND the bigger plus, I can use my cutting table again,,, YES,,,,

My 24 hour Dedication Gown

I don't sew for people very often,, but I have a soft spot for Dedication/Christening gowns,, I guess because I love heirloom creations. Well a couple in our church had a little girl on the 19th,, they were going to wait a while to have her dedicted,, but Family came in from out of town,, and it got moved up,, very up, I was told on the 21st, (Sun, night) that it was going to be on the 23rd (Tues),, :-0,,,

The Grandmother, was happy that the in-laws were here,, but didn't think I would be able to make anything that fast,,, niether did I actually, so she was just going to go get something for the baby instead,,, I thought about it for about a minute,, and said,,, I can do it,,(some times I wonder how I get myself into these things),, it won't be what I really had in mind,, but it will be pretty,, she was happy,,,

So I started thinking,, I have SO many designs,,, surely I can find something to use. I found the fabric to use,, a white voile,,, my pattern, Simp 7488, the only baby pattern I have,,(out of print) and started figuring,, I didn't get much done that night,, so Mon, I started experimenting,, after a while I realized I didn't have time for that,, and I went to what i knew,, Heirloom,,

I only used the front, back and sleeve pieces when I make a dress,, I make up my own skirt,, and any embellishments that go on them,, the flowers on the bodice are cuttouts from the lace used on the hem,, that I had on hand.. I love pintucks,, they are quick, cheap,, and easy. there are 4 just above the lace,, then I used a shaping board I got from the Martha Pullen Co,, that has loop shapes on it,, and traced those shapes for the circular pintucks,, then I just echoed the shape once, the trim for the waist is just voile folded in half with a shell stitch giving it a scalloped look...


After all was done,, I was happy, the family loved it,,, and I was glad I did it,, this was the 1st one I have made in about 10 yrs, so I was relieved I managed it,,

BWOF jacket

My first BWOF pattern,, now what makes these patterns so different is you have to add seam allowances and hems,, and sometimes the instructions are a bit vague.. so it helps to have a little sewing experience to make them,,

Some embroidery I added to the front yoke

A closeup of how I had to pin the yoke to the hoop,, centering it up wasn't easy,,,,

Answering questions

Thank you ladies for you'r comments,,and I am so sorry,, I thought I had the option chosen to be allerted when a response had been made,, I guess not,,,


SewMarySew, I bought them, about 5 of them in all, I already had several,, (I know have 13), but several were needing replaced,, If you get any, make sure that they are both glued and stapled,, the ones with just staples are now very sturdy,, that will come apart,,,


FBeenZ,, yes I had though about that,, not that I think my room is "all that" . well I do but for me,, I looked at one site mostly, with lots of ideas on it,, http://www.younge.com/sewing%20rooms.htm so I may submit pix to one sometime,, just to see what they think,,,,:-)

Making decisions

I don't like making decisions, EVEN in sewing,, coarse for me,, I have known that about life in general for a long time,,, but i just realized it even happens when I sew,,,when I go out to eat,, even if it is the same restaurant (like Miky Ds) I sometimes still have to think about what i want,, even if the menu has been the same for a year,,, :oops:
When I sort mail, especially if it is a clothing catalog, or a crafting book,, I "might" look at it right quick to see if I want to keep it or throw it away,, OR it may sit on my cabinet for months, until i get tired of it setting there,,(along with all the other mail that's there because of indecision) and go through it and finally decide what to do with it,,,

Now onto sewing,, it may sound odd, that I am indecisive (sp),, but unless you were around me for a while,, you wouldn't see it,, and this isn't a sewing block,, well if it is,,then i have a lot of them, and fairly often,, :-0 and i don't think it is always being overwhelmed,, i think i just have a hard time making up my mind what i want to do,,,, If I was just a procrastinator,, it wouldn't be so bad,, but that and being indecisive,, wow,, its a wonder i ever get anything done,,, oh wait,, I don't get much done, and I have cleaned out as much material as i currently have,, Its not that it gets old,, well it does,, but i just don't make up my mind to do anything with it,,, then I get tired of looking at it,, and say by by,,, then i get more,, and it sets for months,, and years,, waiting and waiting,,

Same thing with designs,, I see all this thread,, my machine,, now that I have everything organized,, I think, what do i want to do,,well i would like to make some lace to go on an outfit, but then i have to decide on material, pattern,, color of thread, yadda yadda..
Well, maybe at least now that i know what the problem is,, I can work on it better,, :)

Icky iron

I know it's probably not the dirtiest, but its mine,, and I need to clean it,,, :).. my iron has been like this for about a month,, we don't have anyplace local any more that carries and descent sewing supplies,, ( Wal-mart fab dept closed down over a year ago,, that's another subject,,:(
every time I would go to Joann's, I would forget about it,, well Friday, I almost burnt my DH shirt,, so I think making a special trip to Joann"s was necassary,, the before
the after,,, wow this stuff really works,, it took everything off,,,

off the iron, onto the rag,,

Sewing room,,,

I am sooo excited,, after about 10 yrs,, I finally have a new sewing area,, this is what the old one looked like,,,I used to always say that I didn't have any more room left,, that we were going to have to start on the ceiling,, well i now see just how much waisted space we had on the wall,,,,
ok, excuse all the clutter,,, and I took these pictures,,,

the books by the computer, setting on the shelf,, they are my design/online class/project binders,,,

And now,,,, drum roll,, I love, love, love it,,

We took down that one shelf,, (that was pulling away from the wall already),put in a sheet of pegboard 4x8 ft.. he put the top brace board(for lack of a better name for it), going across the top,, then he put in 4 verticle boards in,,and nothing in the bottem,,, he told me it always happend that something always falls in behind the pegboard and gets trapped by the horizontal board,, well there are none aside from the top one,,

All of my thread is up where I can get to it easily,, I even have some more space to fill in to the right of the thread racks,,, I told my DH,, after looking at other ladies sewing rooms for years,, I am finally looking at my own,, you can't imagine how good this feels,, I don't have to look for things,, or move stuff around to be able to sew or embroidery, I just go over set down and go to it,,, it makes me feel like doing something,,,, or sewing something.. :)

DH took these...he told me after getting the room done that "I need a bigger room"... well I could have told him that,, what with my machines,, material, table and all, yes,, a bigger room would be nice,,,,

Scissor case

I got this designs from a friend on a board,, I just love crazy patch,, both because it looks so pretty, but because you can use up scrap material, whether it be old or not,,


Now I still have to put a closure on it, probably will hand sew velcro to it,, , and the scissors arent all the way in,, but DH wanted them in there for looks,,

Embroidery designs.

You've heard the saying of people being addicted to something,, well I think I am addicted to designs,,, I have 33 designers here,, now that isn't 33 sets,,,, my binders are separated by designers,,, and I have anywhere from 1 set to up to 30 sets froms each one,,, the binder on the left is a3 in D-ring binder,, it is FULL,,,it is so full, I had to start putting them in the 1-1/2 in on the right,,,,I have been collecting them for over 5 yrs,, don't ask me how much I have spent,I don't know,,but I would problably be shocked to.... :0

Knit binding

I have been wanting to learn how to use my binder on my coverstitch machine, ever since I got it,,(too long ago),, well I finally am learning,,,,this is a shirt I am making,, now there is a little pucker on the upper right corner, but maybe a trip through the washer an dryer will fix that,, but I am making progress anyway,, yahooo,,,,,,,,,

Bowl finished

Bowl is finished and washed out,,,

Finally,,,

Oh it feels so good to be embroidering again,, I finally got my machine back,, after being gone for about 3 weeks,, Viking is in the process of moving I guess part of thier facility,, so it took longer than usuall to get the part it,,, but,,I also found out,, my bobbin tension is off AGAIN,,, you would think this machine and I have a love hate relationship,, humph, I actually really love my machine,, it is the best one I have ever sewn on,, I guess I have done pretty good that in about 10 yrs this is the most problems I have had with one,,, but I am very lucky,, I have a great, great, GREAT,, tech,, he is just wonderfull,, he has been sooooo helpful,,, never treated me like it is just me,, , you know the feeling i am sure,,,

Anyway,, here is the project I am on now,,, I haven't made a bowl in a long time,, so I thought why not,,, this is a new set anyway,, and I need to get some of this old emb. thread used,,( I am getting it a big order this week),,,I got this set from


myembroideryhaven

It's done,

When will I ever learn,, probably never,,, I finally got the tablecloth done,, plus placemats,,, well one for now,, the other has wss (water soluble stablizer) rinsing out of it,, so I can put the last 10 pieces on it,,,

This is how it looked embroidering the edging,, the hoop size is 150x240,, I think I got 5 or 6 pieces on each hooping, then moved the stabilizer and rehooped...

It was a little trial and error,, but I figured out the best way for me to sew the pieces together,,, at first,, I just left the stabilizer on the designs,, (after cutting as close to the edges as possible),, then I tried putting the pieces together,,, but as I lapped the one piece over the other,, the stabilizer got in the way, and I couldn't see where to sew them together well enough,, so, I wet just the edge of the lace,, the dense edge that curves,, well some of the pieces may have gotten a little more wet than others,, but , next pic

this is what I was intending,, you see how leaving the stabilizer on the "bottom" piece allows for more stability,,, this way, I just match up the lines, and sew,,,

I wanted to use a contrasting thread to show the exact way I stitched,,,

This is after I have sewed the edging all up,, I sewed a loose running stitch (about 4mm) in the upper edge,, I re-wet the lace down,, to make it more pliable,, and easier to gather,, if you look close, you can see the pins in the outside edge,, I simply, but carefully pulled the threads up enough to make the lace lay flat,, then gently steam pressed it, then I starched it,, and layed it on the material..

This is after the lace is sewed down,, no, it isn't quite circular,, but I was getting tired, and just wanted to get it done,, and yes,, I sewed down both outside and inside,,

You know how when after you have started a project,, and it is already taking a while,, and you realize you still have a lot left to do.. you start wondering if it is going to be worth it,, well this placemat is where I started thinking that,,,I forgot to take pix of how I embroidered it out,, but it was a lot like the edging,, any piece of wss I could find that had some room on it,, I used it,,,

In the placemat,, there are 28 pieces,, 10 half pieces,,(these are the 3 on top, and bottom, and 2 on each side) 6 circles, and 12 I guess you would call them square pieces,, although they aren't literally square,, they do have 4 corners,,, 4 of them actually make up the corners,,my biggest concern was stability,, I mean, this is not a dense set,, the digitizer made it that way,, but I was concerned about how well it would hold up,, but when I got all the pieces together,, I was really supprised, and happy,, it was holing up pretty good,, I did also starch it some,, but,, the designs are tacked together about every 1/2,, or everywhere the two piece meet closely,,,and at first,, i trimmed the threads,,(on samples that I did) but on this mat,, I left them,, I didn't want the tacks comming out,,,oh,, the color variations are because the darker places are still wet.

This pic was taken by my DH,, he has a much better camera that my simple digital,, plus he took it into Adobe,, and took out the glare,, now you can really see what it looks like,,, :) Update,, well I thought you could see a closeup,, I will try to get this figured out,, cause DH said I should be able to click on it and make it larger,, if anyone has any ideas, let me know......

The finished tablecloth,, I didn't realize until I loaded the pic, that my feet were showing,,, oops,,and yes, I am fully dressed,,although it may look like I am trying to cover something,,, lol....

This is the table setting we put together at G-Mothers house,, she really likes it,,,