Two shirts!

It took me a little longer than I expected, but I finished the two shirts today. Buttons and buttonholes take longer than sewing seams. I should have time to wear, launder, and check for loose threads and buttons before I travel (and press--I just noticed the wrinkles in the sleeve of the red cherry print. Yikes!). The gold and white shirt is an African print from a special bundle from Michael's (purchased earlier this year). I love the creamy white square buttons that I found at Joan's. Sorry about the iPod pic--my computer is still being repaired.

One down, one more to go

Well, I still need to add buttonholes and buttons. I'm going to use the red ones that are pinned to my dressform. I should be able to assemble the gold and white shirt tomorrow night. After that, I'll make some t-shirts. I have some bamboo jersey from a coop purchase.

Pardon the mess in the background. That is part of my ever-growing stash of fabric. I'm glad to have sewn something with this blouse weight cotton (with stretch). I purchased it over a year ago from Fabrics R Us in San Jose. It was $2.99 a yard (it was outside). I saw someone else purchasing it so I asked for some yardage. It's a fun print, probably, more summery than winter, but I like it and that is what counts. :)

Sewing Mise en Place

My laptop broke again but it's under warranty, so it's at the shop and I'm using my iPod touch. Sorry about the pic quality but it does make it easier and quicker to blog.

I was able to sew the front to the back (shoulder and side seams), and attach the button bindings. I'm a little bummed that I'm not as far along, but I'm sewing TWO blouses, so I should expect the process to seem slower. Tonight I should be able to sew the collars and sleeves. The pic shows one of the African wax prints from Michael's. I think that shiny white buttons will suit it nicely.

Simplicity 3684

I made one version from a lightweight pink ikat print from Happy Stop. It was such a success that I started two more versions. Since the fabric is primarily white, I don't need to change the thread. Last night I made the collars, cuffs, and button facings. Tonight should be able to assemble the shirts. The pic shows what I was able to sew last night. More later!

Triumph & Tribulation of technology

I just spent thirty min on the phone with tech support only to be told that my wireless router was broken. And would you like to buy a new one?

Hah! I pulled from my box of dead technology a combined modem And router. It took me another thirty minutes of almost random keyboarding to get the equipment to recognize a different ISP.

Triumph! And I got my iPod touch connected to the wireless,too!

Sent from my iPod

November! Random and scattered thoughts

I'm sorry for the long abscence, but I've been busy.

• What a wonderfully crazy weekend in San Francisco. Halloween, World Series, and Dance workshops all in San Francisco. I had a wonderful and busy time driving between the Mission, North Beach, Noe Valley and the Richmond district seeing ghost, goblins, the Pillsbury doughboy and lots of orange and black.
• My car. I took it in for routine maintaince gracious it can get costly. It's still cheaper than car payments, but gracious it's painful. Parts are cheap, labor is expensive.
• My laptop broke. I pushed the power button on my G4 and nothing happened. How sad. I tried to drop it off at the Apple repair place on Saturday, but they were closed for termite treatment. Happily, I was able to drop it off yesterday and the fix is relatively cheap. Memory is cheap, labor is expensive.
• I'm getting ready to travel internationally, so I bought an iPod touch to help keep in touch, but that thing needs to be synched with my laptop. The laptop should be repaired tomorrow, so right now I have a very shiny and pretty brick.
• Sewing. I'm sewing for my trip. I won't share details about where I'm going (until I get there!) , but I should need to dress somewhat for warm weather (no rain). I'm taking the HP Marrakesh pants, one of the Jalie trousers (made from jeans), and I'm making some Simplicity 3684 long sleeved blouses. This is one the Threads patterns with the different pattern pieces for different cup sizes. I'm almost finished with one blouse already. And yes, it will coordinate with the Burda 8269.
• I must remember that when buying buttons, buy them in batches suitable for blouses: 8-10 buttons, which means 6 buttons for the front placket and 2-3 smaller ones for the cuffs. Some of my travel blouses buttons will have mix and match buttons.
• I have too much stuff stashed away. I'm still working on getting rid of 1 bag of stuff a week. It's not necessarily sewing: it can be clothing, books, random items that have been hoarded away.

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.