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...