SEWmuchKNITting

Mr. Jim of The Lost Art of Fine Tailoring is hosting a fantastic give-away right now, and I sure would like to be a winner! I'll be sewing my first Chanel-like jacket this Fall, and his instructional DVD set sure would come in handy. Living in a semi-rural community as I do, there are not a lot of offerings for garment/tailoring sewing classes, so this would be a wonderful addition to my sewing library.  Check it out!

Simplicity 2938 I've used this pattern several times this summer, but this is the first time I've posted about it. Needing more tops for work, I made view B two times, one in a silky poly fabric and another in a black and white polka-dotted chiffon. I was happy with them both, and since I had the pattern altered to fit, I went ahead and sewed up a dress out of some stash fabric in my collection. Gee, I think "collection" is a great descriptor for my fabric stash! This is just a simple sheath, with a pleated neckline and belted at the waist. Easy to make and fun to wear! Although, mine is a little short for my taste, and I used every bit of fabric available. I think this fabric is a polyester peachskin, and didn't wrinkle a bit in my suitcase. Concorde Square This dress isn't lined, and has a neckline facing and bias-bound armholes. I would change that next time with a full lining.  I've since worn it to work with a cardi, an...

The pattern for this shawlette is The Labor Day Mystery KAL 2012 , which is a free pattern posted on Ravelry, and uses Stonehedge Fiber Mill Crazy yarn. I used 2 skeins of the crazy-colored mill ends, and I think this a perfect marriage of pattern with yarn. My shawlette wet-blocked out to a size 46" at the neck edge, and 74" at the lace edge, a perfect size, in my opinion, for wearing as a scarf or gently wrapped over the shoulders. This was a easy and fun project.....once I realized that I needed to place stitch markers at the very beginning to keep count LOL! It only took four false starts for me to figure that out ... On the needles is another small shawl, Holden , which was my travel knitting on my recent trip to Paris, France. We were busy most of the trip, so not too much knitting was accomplished ;-) Plenty of time for that now that I'm home again...                   Luxembourg Garden...

This pattern has been on my cutting table for awhile now, but it came up to the top of the pile after I saw Lori's version . I had this interesting fabric in my stash, it's a light-weight, dotted-swiss printed cotton. Initially, I thought I would make a skirt with it, but after some 90+degree days this summer, a breezy summer top made more sense. What drew me to this pattern was the ruching/gathering on the neckline yoke, along with the different variations. Simplicity 2892 Love the small ruffle at the neck edge: The one alteration I did make to the pattern was to add some 1/4 inch elastic at the waist, sewn on with a simple zig-zag stitch....no casing. Easy-peasy! Following pattern directions, the armholes are finished with bias tape. I had some to use up, so like a good little soldier I followed directions. I usually prefer to make my own with the same fabric as the garment, but this worked okay. Can't wait to wear it! I...

My daughter, Kristen, asked for a maxi dress.......LAST year! And I have to admit, I had the dress sewn, she had tried it on for a fitting, and it just needed a couple of easy alterations and it would have been finished. But...the Autumn weather came up fast, and I bundled up the project to finish for this summer. I was so happy to finish it for her to take home after she was in for the 4th of July weekend :-) Butterick 5491 was a fun and easy pattern, and I love this ITY knit for this project. I believe that it came off of the red-tag table at JoAnn Fabrics, which was a lucky find. Dresses like this can take a lot of yardage, so finding the fabric where I did made it a bargain. I lined the bodice with a beige-colored knit, and the belt/sash at the empire waist is ruched. I needed to tack the ruching down by hand so the folds wouldn't collapse on themselves. The only real challenge with this project concerned the casings at the neckline, of all things! When...

Flower Fireworks - Nov/2010

It's official....it has been over a month since my last blog post...my life is as busy as ever! Not too much actual sewing has been accomplished, tho I am working on a T-shirt quilt for my niece and have a Burda pants pattern cut out of muslin. I hope to perfect the fit with this pattern and add a few pairs of work slacks to my wardrobe. On the knitting front, I have several blocks of the Great American Afghan completed....working on this with a few of my knitting buddies has kept me on task. Oh, and the Christmas Knitting has commenced!  And tho I briefly considered participating in MeMadeMay , I'm so glad I didn't....I would have fallen short of my commitment on that one. The month of May has been full of family time: lots of fun, proud moments! Our youngest son, Matthew, graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in Philosophy: The commencement ceremony in the " Big House " is really something special! So nice to have the whole...