This and That

I'm in between major projects right now, but still keeping busy in the Cave.

DH talked me into alterations and mending on a couple pairs of his motorcycle pants. One pair done, and one to go. The alterations consist of adding some room by adding a wedge of fabric to the center back (both are the same style). Mending is fixing a zipper on one and replacing the hook fastener on the other. Only for my husband!

I cut out a couple more pairs of the TNT pajama pants (McCall's 2476)  late last year and have sewed up both of them as of this weekend.  Here's the pattern, which is out of print, I think. However, there are lots of pajama patterns out there and all of them are similar.

Here's a photo of the latest ones. Yes, folded. You know what pajama pants look like, so this is more to show the prints.

I used "quilter's" cotton for these, which is a nice weight for lounging and sleeping. I used to make flannel ones, but they're too warm to sleep in. These sew up pretty quickly because I've made so many. Instant gratification and a good way to use some of the wilder cotton prints I have. I think both of these came from Nob Hill Fabrics. If you're visiting Albuquerque and looking for souvenir fabrics to take home, Liz's store is a good one to look into. 

I also just completed a crochet project. I don't pull out the hooks often, but it's nice to make something from time to time. Plus, I can work on it while hanging out at home without having to be in the Cave. I learned how when I was in junior high with guidance from my grandma and one of my teachers (thank you Mrs. Penn!). This latest project is a scarf that I found on the Moogly blog, called the Chevron Lace Infinity Scarf. The yarn is just Red Heart, but I loved the Monet color scheme when I saw it. The photo below shows it looped twice around the neck.

I'm pretty happy with how it came out although I found the instructions a little hard to follow. I'm thinking about making the matching fingerless mitts too (so I guess the pattern wasn't that hard to follow!).

One of my latest projects is the result of the Ugly Fabric Challenge sponsored by the ASG chapter here in Albuquerque. My fabric is a beige stretch cotton bottom weight. Let's just say it's not my best color.

There's a lot of it, so I'll be muslining pants and attempting to compete one "real" pair.  I'm currently trying to narrow down the patterns I've pulled from my collection. Any leftover fabric after the challenge will be used for the First Day of School project that we've done for the past couple of years. The fabric is heavy enough for kids' pants.

Another of my latest projects is also related to ASG. We are one of the sponsoring guilds of the biannual Fiber Arts Fiesta, so we need to make some little goodies for a charity fundraiser at the event. I have been going through my Pinterest and the pattern collection to come up with some ideas for quick and cute things to make. I know, charity sewing, but my "selfish sewist" goal is to use up many of the scraps that are taking over my sewing space.

2014 First Day of School Project, Part 2

I'm well underway with the making of the matching capris for the peasant tops I showed you in the last post. So far, I've completed a blue linen blend pair. This fabric is from stash and came from TSW.

 and two gray cotton pairs. I bought this fabric from JoAnn's last year for boys' pants but the gray looks perfect with the fuchsia, yellow, and gray print tops.  Since they're both the same, I'm just showing one:

They are View E of the same pattern I used for the tops (Butterick 5776). I stopped by JoAnn's on Friday and got a green linen look fabric to match the two remaining tops. The final two pairs are all cut out and ready to be sewn.

A good thing too, this project comes to a close on July the 10th when the outfits have to be turned in. It does not appear there will be any little boys' outfits this year but that will be my priority for next year, assuming that we'll be doing this project again.

This weekend, my sister in law Dorothy came to visit from New Jersey for a little getaway.

Instead of doing a lot of touristy things, we mostly stayed around the house, logging a lot of time on the back patio.  We did go out for a couple of nice dinners and a lunch, since she has become addicted to chile.  She and I also went shopping on Friday at ABQ Uptown--Coldwater Creek, the Loft, Lululemon,  Ann Taylor and Alfred Angelo. I'm not much of a RTW shopper but did find a few items. Of course, Coldwater Creek is liquidating and the pickings are really getting slim, but I did find a couple of t-shirts that are wearable for work and some baubles.

(Note to self: find something to clean the permanent marker stains off the cutting mat.)

I also found a cute t-shirt at the Loft, which was a total surprise. It's eyelet on the front and sleeves, and the back is knit. Sorry for the odd angle but this was the best of the lot for showing the eyelet.

It's wearable as is, but I may make a couple of minor tweaks to improve the fit. The darts are too high for me and of course, that bugs me as a sewist. So I'll be adjusting them.

Lululemon is a new store for Albuquerque. However I'm dubious that $100+ yoga pants will go over with the local citizenry. Or maybe they'll be wildly successful, who's to say?

We stopped into Alfred Angelo, because Dorothy is MOB for an upcoming wedding and is trying to get some ideas for a dress. She doesn't sew and will be buying a gown.  I do sew and will be needing  dresses for the wedding and rehearsal dinner. October will be here fast, so I'll have some work ahead of me.

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend has been relaxing and enjoyable so far, particularly since the weather has cooled a bit.  I recall seeing 100 degrees on the car thermometer last weekend while running around. This weekend, it's in the 80s and much more moderate after all the heat we've been having.

No sewing this weekend, although I stopped back at the liquidating JoAnn's Friday afternoon. What a difference a week makes! The place looks like locusts have been through it. No Coats and Clark threads left (although a good bit of Gutermann, figure that one out!). The pattern cabinets are empty, except for a few Burda and Simplicity patterns. They'll go fast at $2 each, now that the 4/$1 patterns are gone. As for me, I bought zippers. I want to make a TSW Quincy Top for fall and it requires a separating zipper for the closure. It seems that I never have the right one when I want to make a zippered project, so why not stock up now? The cashier called me the Zipper Queen. Oh honey, if you only knew...

I also took some time out to do some clearing in the Girl Cave. It had become something of a dumping ground with all the free fabric acquisitions and other flotsam that found its way in there. I guess I was in the right mood, because it was actually kind of enjoyable.

I have been working on jewelry this weekend. Not anything wildly creative, mostly just repairs and refashioning. Working on stuff like that is a good way to see how things are put together in case I decide to create from scratch. Plus, it's like getting new stuff! I can definitely see jewelry-making becoming another crafty activity. I like wearing baubles, and it's almost instant gratification. These are some that I worked on, using some jewelry I had and some stash items that I uncovered during my cleaning.

Alas, not very good detail, but the one on the left is a carved monkey bead that I kept very simple. A small bead on the bottom to hold a wire in place, loop at the top of the wire, then a thin leather cord. The earrings are a re-styling job, just the carved bone beads on wires. The original pair was way over the top--beads, plus a woven knot and tassel. Step away from the chinoiserie! The necklace on the right is a fancy reverse-painted bead that has dragons on each side. I used a discarded knot and tassel from the earrings at the bottom to secure the wire, a spacer at the top, and made a loop to attached the silk cord. This one is still a work in process; I'm not totally happy with how the spacer sits at the top of the bead. I'll wear it until I figure out how I want to change it.

Busy Sunday

I hope you'll indulge me with a catch-up post. Weekdays are busy and weekends can be, too. That being said, I've got a little bit of a breather to talk about last Sunday's activities.

I dropped of the vestments at church, which also happened to be a farewell to the associate rector, who took a rector's position at another church. Fortunately, it's also in Albuquerque so I'll be seeing him soon. The church was very full, as you might expect, and I could do little more than drop off the bag with one of the acolytes before I had to leave for my next activity...

...an ASG class. It was out of my comfort zone, since I'm not much of a hand sewer nor do I make or wear a lot of frou frou. Here I am, working away. Obviously, this was a candid shot!

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the ribbonwork class and had the project 90% complete at the end of the class. Just a little more finishing work on it while watching TV in the evening, and it was done.

It's a pin, so it can go on a garment, bag or hat. Still debating what, so it may just end up as a sample piece. However, I did see this cardigan in a catalog recently, and it's a different way of looking at the technique:

I like the tone on tone embellishment and it would be a nice way to dress up a plain cardigan. I'd probably make the flowers as pins so they could be removed for laundering. I'd hate to see my efforts ruined by washing or dry cleaning. This example came from Soft Surroundings.

So anyway, I went shopping after class since I was already in a part of town with two liquidation sales I wanted to check out. One of the local JoAnn's stores is closing, it's smaller than their newer stores and the strip mall where it's located has become run-down so not worth an expansion. I picked up some tools for the sewing room, some supplies, and some patterns. They had BMV on sale 4 for a dollar, so how could I resist?

Vogue 1250: yes, late to the party for this one. But it's been very popular on the blogosphere so I had to nab it.

Vogue 1244: you know, I like Koos in concept but I often find the execution bizarre. I can't say I'm wild about the envelope styling but the basic "bones" of the pattern are good. Love the cowl shell. I think it could be quite elegant in a different fabric. Same with the skirt--not loving the piecing but the shape could be nice.  We'll see. For a quarter, it was worth taking a chance.

McCall's 6112: a simple little knit dress that might work for an upcoming event.

Vogue 8722: is a belt pattern. I can never seem to find RTW belts that I like so I might try my hand at custom.

Butterick 5144: a classic vintage style jacket. I love the draping in the back.

Vogue 8486: a basic little dress with pleat details.

The pattern area was busy, so excuse me for a little ranting here. When at a liquidation sale, do not linger, grab what you're interested and go. You can always put back later. Yes, I got behind one of "those" people, and it was annoying. She lingered over each drawer and positioned herself so no one else could look with her--on each of 4 drawers in the cabinet. Some people.

I went to Borders' liquidation after that, but it was depressing. I didn't have the heart to seriously pick the bones. I ended up with a few magazines, a couple of candle jars, and a 2012 calendar. And checkout person, you don't have to tell me 4 times that all sales are final. Your employer's troubles have been all over the news, and there are big LIQUIDATION--ALL SALES FINAL signs all over the store. It's obvious, ok?

I had more plans after leaving Borders but it was so hot that I headed home. What a runaround day! I'm glad I don't over-schedule like that on a regular basis.

Loes Hinse Tank Dress, Version 1

I've been mad for tank tops this summer, but I also wanted a simple dress that I could wear in the heat and be comfortable, yet somewhat put together.

My solution is the Loes Hinse Tank Dress Group. It's been out for a number of years, but I just got around to tracing it recently. I sewed it up Saturday and wore it around the house afterwards. I liked wearing it so much that I retraced an improved version and cut out a second dress that night before going to bed. Hopefully, you'll be seeing that one soon.

The first tracing was my usual for Loes Hinse, Medium from neck through armsyces, then Large the rest of the way. It looked a little long in the torso, so I folded out 1" in the chest . When I cut into the fabric, I allowed an additional 1" at the side seams for "insurance." This is an old Sandra Betzina trick, and I did it for a couple of reasons. I'm short waisted and my "hip area" falls higher on me than pattern drafting standards, even for petites. Also, Loes designs with a European fit, so sometimes her patterns don't allow quite as much ease as I feel comfortable with. Nobody needs to know what size I'm sewing anyway--whatever works for me is right...for me, that is. Isn't that part of why we sew? For what it's worth, I wear a 10 or Medium in most RTW.

It was wearable sewn per the original pattern, but I little snug for casual wearing in the desert heat, meaning no shapewear, no pantyhose, just the bare essentials. As a result, I ended up using 1/4" of my seam insurance at each seam (1" total). I also cut off about 10 1/2" of length so it falls right above the knee.  I noticed that the neckline was a bit high and tight fitting over the head, but that was my fault. I traced the view with the crew neck, when what I really wanted was the scoop neck. My bad. I also felt that the elastic shirring could be a little higher on my body even though I'd already made that 1" torso length adjustment. My revised tracing takes all of these tweaks into account, plus a little additional shaping in the bust area. I also marked the tank top length so I can use the pattern for those as well.

The fabric is faux batik rayon from JoAnn's. I don't remember when I bought it, but I'm amazed at how nice it is. Nice weight, very drapy, and it has a herringbone weave like Tommy Bahama clothing. I wish JoAnn's had quality like this all the time; it's lovely stuff.

Here's a close up of the necklace. It's one that I made a few years back. Despite its simplicity, it's a favorite and gets worn a lot. You can also see the weave of the fabric.