Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Sewing in the Transitional Month of October

I've been busy with several projects at work so, sewing has been taking a back seat. I've been sewing just a little bit, mostly small stuff.

1. Kwik Sew 2694, a knit top. I made view B, which is an empire cross over top from a leopard print knit. I have made this before It was quick and easy--a very nice way to get back into sewing.

2. Kwik Sew 3283, a neck pillow for traveling (one of those u-shaped pillows). I dug this pattern from my stash. I found a great bold cotton print that I acquired somewhere. It's a straightforward pattern, relatively easy to sew. I did not use fiberfil to stuff the pillow. I went to a store that sells foam (upholstery foam, Styrofoam, anything you can imagine). They sell bags of shredded foam, and I used that to tightly pack the pillow. The only problem I experienced was that the shredded foam gets everywhere! I had to bring out my hand vacum several times.

3. I spent this evening tracing Burda 8269, which is the plus size version of Burda 8407. Burda 8269 goes to sizes 44 - 54 (18 - 28). It looks like both patterns are out of print. This evening, I traced of the pattern on the Swedish tracing paper. Every piece needs to be traced out and the cutting layout suggests a single layer of fabric. And to make certain that I know what I'm doing when I actually sew the skirt, I have taped the pieces together. I have not checked to see if the front and back pieces are uniquely shaped. I may check that tomorrow before I cut the fabric.

I'm making View B (the same fabric throughout the skirt) I found a nice drapey royal blue rayon (I think it's rayon--I got it at either a fabric swap or an estate sale). The skirt pattern and fabric reminds me of a CP Shades skirt I purchased several years ago. It's a great comfy skirt that doesn't show wrinkles. It should come close. I'm also planning on making another version from another fabric, yet to be decided.

Friday, October 8, 2010

A Happy Accident (no sewing, but Caprica )

So I decided to stay up late and watch TV, using the On Demand service. I'm never certain which shows will be available, and whether or not they will be in HD. With certain series, I will watch the episodes more than once. Well, I think that someone made a happy mistake (which all sewers means is an opportunity).

Tuesday night was the premiere of Caprica on the SyFy network. I managed to watch the episode, but since I was distracted (I got home late and I was tire ) I didn't understand all of it. So tonight I decided to check and see if this episode was available On Demand. No, unfortunately it wasn't, but the second episode (111) of the season is available. I started watching it and I was confused because the episode didn't match my memory: Lacey does things that I'm sure I would have remembered, and I didn't get to see other scenes again (so I can figure out what happened), and other characters appeared that weren't in the premiere episode. It's a great episode, so catch it if you can.

Well, after watching it once, I'm watching it again. I'm so glad that I don't have any early morning meetings.