Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Pictures of the Apron

I managed to take a few pictures before I wrapped the apron up for the teacher this morning. What do you think?






See my review.

Yawn...

Today is my daughters' last day of school, so of course I was up late last night making a gift for their teacher. I decided on Monday that I would make an apron for her, so I purchased the fabric on Monday. Yesterday at lunch, I went to the bookstore to pick up In Stitches by Amy Butler so I could make the Short Pleated Apron.

After work, I went to the gym and then had dinner - I finally started on the apron at 8:00. I think I got to bed around 12:30, but it was finished...luckily there was a CSI marathon on TV last night to watch while I worked (I love CSI!).

Since I was only using one fabric (a border print twill that called to me), I had to make a few adjustments, but I think the finished product is cute. I hope she likes it. She is a great, and very caring, teacher.

I'll post pictures, and a review, later..

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Second thoughts

I'm not sure that the jacket is the right choice. There is something stopping me from committing to it...


I'll have to check how much of the fabric I have, but if I have enough, I'm now thinking I'll make this dress. The pattern has been in my stash for a couple of years, and it gets a lot of good reviews on Pattern Review.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Project for July?

On the premise that I will actually hem the skirt before the end of June, I am already planning my July project. I've had this linen/cotton blend in my stash for at least 2 years, and am considering this jacket pattern (the shorter version). I've never made a jacket before, but this one looks like something I could tackle. And I think the colours are close enough that I could wear the jacket with my skirt.





What do you think? Any other suggestions for this fabric? Maybe a dress?

Finally...a picture

As promised (several days ago), here is a picture of my skirt. It just needs to be hemmed and some kind of fastener at the waist. The pattern calls for a button, but I think I'll use a hook and eye.

Thanks to my friend Sylvie for pointing out that one of the front darts is shorter than the other. I'll fix that tonight.










Check out the invisible zipper...zipper? what zipper? LOL!
I'm hoping when I add the hook and eye that the waistline will line up correctly :)

Once I have it hemmed, I'll post a picture with the blouse.

Now I need to decide what to make for my July project. I have a cotton/linen blend in my stash I'd like to use. I'll post some pattern options later this week.






Sunday, June 15, 2008

Progress!

I had the whole day to myself yesterday (which RARELY happens), so I actually made progress on my skirt. The skirt itself is put together - now I need to insert the lining, add the waistband, and hem it. I'm pretty happy with the way it looks so far. I found a video tutorial (via Pattern Review) on YouTube on sewing an invisible zipper. I needed a refresher since it's been a couple of months since I did the last one. It turned out great! I'll try and post pictures tomorrow...

Friday, June 13, 2008

Life happens...

Once again life got in the way...One of my daughters wasn't feeling well this morning, so she stayed home with me. We made a quick trip to the fabric store to pick up a zipper and some lining material (It's very hard to linger in a store with a 6 year-old) She was feeling better by lunch time, so I did get her off to school in the afternoon which allowed me time to cut out the lining and use it as a muslin. Unlike the last New Look skirt I attempted, this pattern does seem true to the given measurements (the last one I made was huge!). So I'll need to make a few minor adjustments and should be able to cut out the skirt tomorrow.


I also found time today to put together a storage unit I bought at Ikea last weekend - my house is FULL of toys!

Time to start

I'm not working today and the kids are at school. Time to start my skirt... I would usually make a straight skirt, but I think I'd prefer something a little looser for hot summer days, so I'm going to try view D, which is an A-line. I also want to line it. I'm thinking I'll line it with a light cotton to keep it cool, but that would mean a trip to the fabric store, which could be dangerous and time consuming.
I'll update later today and let you know how much progress I made...

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Project #1 ?




After seeing Sheila's reviews of New Look 6843, I think this will be my June project.
I already have this pattern in my stash and some fabric that I think will go nicely with this embroidered linen blouse I purchased last year but never wore (yup, the tags are still on!)





Monday, June 9, 2008

To blog or not to blog...

I'm toying with the idea of starting a blog...I was thinking I might be able to get some advice on which sewing projects to tackle now that I've committed (on PR) to making one wearable item per month...
I've spent a significant amount of time on PatternReview.com (mostly lurking and coveting) and now have a considerable stash of patterns and fabric, and a few unfinished projects, but seem to get paralysed by a fear of failure (maybe fear of wadder is a better description...). But at this point, I figure I've already spent the money, I might as well tackle my stash and see if I can't get some wearable clothes...