I KNOW, I KNOW...

it's been over two weeks since I last posted. I have missed posting, but did not really have anything sewing related or otherwise that I thought note worthy. But I know how it feels when you regularly check in on favorite blogs and THERE IS NOTHING NEW! Well here's an update, (I still don't know how note worthy this information is). I started my second math class on July 8th and it is kicking butt; and that's all I have to say about that.

My friend Noni (who also sews) called me yesterday telling me that she was at Walmart and they were "GIVING PATTERNS AWAY". I never heard of such a thing - (wonder what Walmart is up to now - discontinuing patterns and fabric at yet another store?), but she asked if I wanted her to pick me up a few - being the patternaholic that I am, of course I said yes. I stopped by her house this afternoon and this is what she gifted me.This one is my favorite of the bunch, and I am so making it right away. I've seen more than a few bloggers make this over the last year or so and although I always liked their finished products, I never bought the pattern for myself. It looks ultra easy and I know I can check plenty of reviews over at Pattern Review.com for advise and or suggestions on making this pattern. I'm not sure which KNIT fabric I'll make it out of but I'm sure I can find something in my tiny stash to still this itch (the itch to make something up) CAUSE YOU KNOW JUST HOW MUCH I LOVE TO SEW KNITS! Hopefully it'll come to life this weekend just in time for back to school next week. Don't we all just love wearing something new!

In other news....I will be starting a new sewing class tomorrow evening. I'M EXCITED! My sewing buddy LISA will be teaching the class for the next 8 weeks at the store she works at. She says we will be starting with a straight skirt, center back zipper and different waistband treatments. The part about the different waistband treatments will really help me because I have problems with waistbands other than just straight ones (especially the contoured two piece ones). I'm hoping to learn lots of new things and fine tune the skills I already have. Got to get up now to look for a straight skirt pattern with a contoured waistband treatment, and to get my sewing stuff ready for tomorrow. You know I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ON THIS LEARNING OPPORTUNITY...

FINISHED GARMENT

I finished New Look 6748 last night. Those who know me well know that I name everything, (it's a carryover from a game my siblings and I played when growing up); so the name of this dress is Gail K of course (lol). This is the one and only fabric purchase made on my first visit to Gail's. Wheeee....Gail's prices are nothing to play with. I actually tried to get out of the store without making a purchase, mainly because there was so much there that it overwhelmed me and it's hard for me to make a purchase when there are so many chooses to make. But my "Sister's With Scissors" weren't having that so they helped me make my one selection.

This fabric is a nice knit but has an enormous amount of Lycra content. It was hard to pin, and I had to watch to make sure my stitches were catching because of the strength of the stretchy fabric. The instructions called for two buttonholes that would be used to run a drawstring through a casing, so I decided to do a practice buttonhole first. When I started making the buttonhole the fabric got stuck (and I mean REALLY stuck in the throat plate). I had never removed the throat plate on this machine and was unable to remove because the factory had tightened the screws as if they never wanted them to be removed. I had to make an early morning run to a repair shop (good thing we have one here) to have the fabric removed. Making buttonholes in this fabric was not easy either even though I reinforced with interfacing. Anyway I did get it finished and here is dressform photo of the Gail K.















I stopped at an estate sale yesterday and saw a three drawer cabinet similar to the one I purchased for pattern storage. The price was really cheap, but I couldn't think of a place to put it so didn't buy it. I thought about it again today so went back to the house where the sale was to see if it was still available. Well the sale was over and I guess the people took what wasn't sold yesterday and placed it out for trash. I was able to pick it up for free. (Call me Mrs. Sanford and Son I guess). It was quite dusty so I cleaned it up and now it's full of patterns. I can spread out with room left for upcoming pattern sales (lol)!










I'm a big procrastinator but I have got to get some order going on in the sewing room. I'm thinking about hiring someone just to fold patterns and put them back in their respective envelopes. But in the meantime I need to do this myself. This afternoon I cleaned off the shelf of the closet in the sewing room because I really need a place to put my little stash. Right now it's kept under my cutting table and is a little bit of an eyesore. Here's the start of that process.
LindseyT is back from her sewing expo in Chicago and had some really good information to share. I need to repeat to myself that I don't have to be a perfectionist in my sewing. I need to remember that!

AM I THE LAST PERSON...

...to find out about the company called ETCETERA ?
I was lurking around at Artisan's Square and someone posted this link so I thought I'd check it out. I REALLY like it a lot and thought that just in case you hadn't seen it you would like it too. They also have a gorgeous 47 page storyboard with all types of styles pictured (I liked 99% of them - lol). The extensive STORYBOARD can be found here. I think it might help me in planning a SWAP of some type. Artisan's Square has a July sewing capsule going on (an extension of the June one), but even if you didn't participate in the June one you can still join in on this one. I'm still having committal issues, but I think I might try to do a silent capsule since I actually did accidentally end up doing a 4 piece swap in June. So I know it's possible for me to do. I just have to be careful of getting too bogged down in the planning stage and then getting frustrated and not trying to do one at all. Making a four piece capsule would really help me out with back to school outfits for August.









I've got some lovely white fabric that I bought at Walmart last summer that I've been wanting to do something interesting with and maybe this great story board can help spur me along. There's still enough summer left to wear a white outfit. I've got to finish that New Look dress that I started before I went on vacation,









and I've got a black dotted swiss sun dress that I cut out weeks ago that still needs to be sewn from this pattern and didn't start. I haven't sewn anything this week; just been resting, and I started my math class for the summer quarter last night so that will slow me down a bit but I think making four pieces in July is still doable. We will see...

I'M BACK...

and it's a bittersweet homecoming. Saying goodbye to my family at airports has gotten to be much more than I even want to deal with. But now I'm back home missing my family like crazy. I HAD A MARVELOUS TIME WITH THEM!!! I love going home, but then again who doesn't? I tried to s-t-r-e-t-c-h those days. The weather there was like our spring, and it even rained quite a bit while I was there - I LOVED IT! Elmira is not that large which is to my liking. I just love being there with my family. Good food, good conversation and much love. I even got to see my daughter Alondra and my grand-children who were in town just for the weekend for a graduation. I figured out how to add a flicker photo album to my blog in order to post all of my vacation pictures.

We visited a quaint little quilting fabric store in Corning on a rainy afternoon, don't know why I didn't take pictures of that. I loved it, and I did get to go to Joann's twice while I was there to hit the pattern sale. What did I buy while there - not much. I'll tell you this thing with baggage and the airlines is a mess. I guess next time I'll really pack light, two or three outfits to leave room for what I want to bring back. I almost had to leave my three pieces of fabric at the airport because I was 2 pounds over, two knits and a pinstripe woolen blend. My Mother gave me this plaid pleated shirt that I will refashion into a straight skirt. I found these great wooden buttons at Wal-Mart while there. Picked up some cone thread and more pins (can't have enough of those).

This is the New Look pattern I started before I left on vacation. I didn't have time to finish it so it didn't get to make the trip with me. Because of the deep v neckline I decided to put in an insert (which I call cleavage protection) - the pattern did not include an insert. I had seen a friend with a similar RTW dress and asked if I could see how the insert was put in. (This is a picture of the wrong side of the dress bodice.)
The insert is sagging just a little bit, but after reading Carolyn's blog I now know what to do to take care of that problem. I will attach twill tape to each side at the shoulder seam and attached to the insert. This will give the insert additional support and should alleviate any sagging. It really pays to check in on the sewing blogs regularly-you never know what you will learn...

I also wanted to trace another Burda Pattern before I left but didn't get the chance. I got it done today and wanted to post these pictures for my Mother because I wasn't able to explain the process well enough.

This is a model picture of a pattern in the Burda Pattern Magazine.

This is a picture of one of the two pattern sheets. Each sheet has patterns printed on both sides of the sheet, it looks like a road map. You locate pattern pieces for the items that you want to make, it's color coded and in this case the pattern pieces that I needed to trace was coded green. In the case of the PJ's it was only two pieces. Picture #2 is the see through pattern paper (with polka dots on it) pent to the pattern sheet. I use colored pencils to trace the pattern on the pattern paper, and add a 5/8" seam allowance to all seam edges. The first time I traced a burda pattern I used Lisa's double tracing wheel and tracing paper to trace the pattern off. I haven't gotten a double tracing wheel yet so I just used the colored pencil and a ruler to get the job done.
This is a picture of the finished two traced pattern pieces for the PJ's. I hung them up on the dark wall so they could be better seen. The next thing I will do is use these pieces like a regular pattern to cut out the pajamas.










I'll just choose simple Burda patterns (those with few pattern pieces) until I get use to tracing and the Burda instructions. After a while I'll be able to branch out to more detailed garments.

Long post, but I had a lot to update...