The Ramblings of TCM

My Image Spring/Summer 2012

2012-02-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

LOVE! That's all I can say about this issue! I wasn't aware how much I loved it until I got it in my hot little hands this afternoon. As a matter of fact, I loved it so much, I also bought the kids issue. Now that's love, because I don't really sew for my kids.

My Image Magazine

This has got to be the first time I have ever bought a pattern magazine and wanted to make most of what was in it. Actually, I want to make everything in it except for the two pairs of pants. I don't know where i'm even going to begin. Might be M1212.

I'm just so happy to be excited about sewing again!

On a side note, if you know where I can get a copy of the August 2010 La Mia Boutique, leave a comment please. I've been looking high and low for this issue with no luck.

Drafting woes!

2011-11-20T09:45:00.001-05:00

So, for the FNSI (and apparently the SNSI) I decided I was going to work on drafting my own pattern. Heh? All I can say is the back feels good, but i'm not quite sure where I went wrong otherwise...

Early on Friday, a friend of mine helped me take all my measurements. According to the drafting book i'm using, I need about two dozen measurements. My friend was through and we got some good measurements. However, I think we made a wrong turn somewhere when it came to establishing my waistline. You see, my actual waist is right up under my boobs, so we determined that using a measurement around my belly button would be a lot more reasonable (Otherwise I get a back length measurement of something stupid like 10 inches). Anyway, as you can see from my pic above, something went seriously wrong. You will not be seeing the pics of me wearing my muslin. The armholes are bigger than the sleeve, which is odd, to say the least. However, it feels fairly comfortable in the back and shoulders, so I might actually have something to work with here. I may revisit this in a day or two.

Friday Night Sew In tonight

2011-11-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

The Friday Night Sew In is tonight. I'm not sure how much sewing is going to happen tonight, but I do hope to get some drafting done. I bought the book Making Your Own Patterns from someone on PR. A friend of mine helped me get some good measurements today, and i'm hoping to get to drafting my own pattern tonight. The book looks like this is layed out in a pretty straight forward way, so i'm hoping not to have too many problems with it. We'll see how it goes.

You can sign up for the sew-in here.

Happy sewing all.

Jalie Patterns

2011-10-23T20:23:00.001-04:00

So, I did manage to actually SEW and FINISH something! YAY me! lol

I finished Jalie 3132. It's one of their new top patterns that just came out. I didn't use the nursing view, so I don't know how good it is. However, I think the regular view is just great! I think the front pocket is a touch too small, but that can be fixed if I make this again.

Now that that's done, i'm moving on to Jalie 3130.

I was able to get the pattern traced, the one adjustment I made to the armhole done and the pattern cut, all in one day. So i'm making good time with this one. I might actually get to cutting some fabric before the nigth is through.

FNSI The results.

2011-10-16T18:30:00.000-04:00

I'll tell you, I have to give a lot of you ladies credit for the work some of you do. You go to work all day, come home and take care of a family and then STILL crank out projects like crazy. Me, I clean my kitchen so I can have a nice area to cut fabric with, and i'm pretty much finished.

I did somehow mange to get Jalie 3132 cut. I even managed to get the kangaroo pocket finished. Then I was done, it was time to clean up. However, that's progress, and I might get the top done within the next week or so.

I do have to say to my credit though. I've pretty stressed the last few weeks, and that could explain the tiredness. Hopefully that's going to clear up here real soon, and I can get back to sewing. There are TONS of things I would like to get to.

Friday Night Sew In is Tonight

2011-10-14T19:55:00.000-04:00

http://craftyvegasmom.blogspot.com/2011/10/friday-night-sew-in-signups-102111.html

The October FNSI is tonight.

I'll be working on Jalie 3132. Which is one of just many great new Jalie patterns. I traced the pattern last night while sort of watching Project Runway (what a SUCK season!).

That is all.

Happy sewing!

Colette Crepe -- FNSI

2011-08-19T23:58:00.001-04:00

I can't remember if I signed up for the FNSI or not. :(

Anyway...

This is why I get so damn frustrated. I have a muslin of my Crepe finished. Other than the fact that it's a size to small in the skirt (which I kinda knew it would be before I even cut it, I just didn't want to admit it) the dress fits perfectly. EXCEPT for the back, which is like 4 sizes too big in the shoulders. That kills me because i'm an 8 by my measurements (which is tiny as far as i'm concerned! lol ) I'm thinking I may need a 6 or even a 4 in the back shoulders only. What sucks is that i'm probably going to have to retrace everything except for the front, which is like making a whole new dress.

I know a lot of you don't want to hear it since I know some of you make 14 muslins before you get a good fit. I OTOH am not used to caring about fit, or i'm usually sewing with knits, so woven muslins are killing me. I'm getting kind of good at figuring out what adjustments I may need for a big 4 patterns. However, I have never used a Colette pattern before, and it seems as if their fit is WAY different.

Anyway, i'm going to bed. Hopefully I will have something to share soon.

My latest fabric haul

2011-07-16T10:57:00.000-04:00

This is my latest Fabric.com haul. 17 yards of 'bought on a whim' fabrics, and I have never been so pleased with an order. I have a TON of stash. But in one area i'm lacking is woven prints. So, Fabric.com was having a 30% off sale, and I bought some woven prints. Ok, and one solid and the two on the bottom left are knits. But I got 4 cuts of woven prints. It was all cheap too! I got 17 yards of fabric and a Colette pattern (Ceylon) for $61.

The down side is that this puts me over 100 yards in for the year, and it's only mid-July. :( I have been sewing a bit though. I think i'm at 75 yards out already for the year, so i'm not doing too bad. I just have to stop with the shopping sprees! (Did I mention this was my second order from Fabric.com this month? Oh, and that one small order from Fabric Mart...)

Two Colette Pattern giveaways!

2011-07-07T22:31:00.000-04:00

For those of you who may not be followers of Colette Patterns on facebook, you should know that there are few blogs out there with Colette pattern giveaways. And we all love giveaways, right? YAY!

(I hope I win a Crepe pattern!)

Ahem! Anyway, the first site is http://www.honeykennedy.com/. They are giving away 3 patterns! 3 to the same person. Thats liek a small treasure!

The second is bramblewoodfashion.blogspot.com. Check out some of her site. She has some cute things!

Good luck!

Jalie 2447

2011-07-02T11:51:00.000-04:00

I have been on a bathing suit kick lately. I think I own all the swim suit patterns in the Jalie and KwikSew lines. This is Jalie 2447, made straight from the pattern with no alterations. I had a few issues with finishing the neck tie and my clear elastic bottom edge on the tankini didn't go as well as I planned, but it's wearable. Also, the fabric I used isn't very thick. It was a nylon/lycra blend from Hancocks, but I think I could of went with something a bit heavier. Good thing I placed a large order with fabric.com. My fabrics should be here in a few days! lol

While I will admit, this suit isn't the greatest, as it's only my second attempt (I have bottoms I made from a KS pattern that I wear all the time. Although my fabric choice was a bit questionable and they aren't holding up well). I can tell you that I don't think I will ever buy another bathing suit ever again. Swimsuits are so easy to make. Don't fear making one. Give it a try!

Anyway, about that bottom edge on the tankini -- I was having a hard time just making a hem. The fabric is thin and it just wanted to curl up so I had to use another method.

Normally with knits I use Steam-A-Seam Lite to stabilize my knit seams. I love this stuff. If you struggle with knit seams, give this stuff a try!. However, with the bathing suit, I didn't want to compromise any of the stretch, so the SAS was out.

My second option was to use strips of wash away stabilizer. This probably would have been a great idea except I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to get the little strips to stay still so I could stitch the seam. Apparently what you are supposed to do is use steam from the iron to 'melt' the stabilizer to the fabric. I will keep that in mind for next time.

I ended up calling my friend Melody for advise. She suggested clear elastic. So, what I ended up doing on this suit was stitching on clear elastic to the hem, then turning and top stitching with a wide zig-zag stitch. I'm not so sure this was the best option either. I think I stretched the elastic a little to much and the bottom kind of rides up a bit and feels weird.

I think next with suit, I'm going to try a bit harder to get the wash away stabilizer to work. Although, part of me says the elastic is a good idea too -- if I had not stretched it so much. There will be other suits to try out other techniques, I'm sure.

If you haven't made your own suit yet, I highly recommend it!

I'm so Dissappointed! SOBS

2011-07-01T09:09:00.001-04:00

So, there is a new JoAnns in my area (it's 19 miles from my house. That's "in the area" where I live). I have not been to a JoAnns since I moved to North Carolina back in November because there just wasn't one near me. The nearest one was 80 miles away in Winston-Salem. So, imagine my excitment when I found out they were opening a new JAs in Moorsville, NC! I actually drove the 19 miles there before I even realized they were not open yet. And just so see that it was actually there, the drive wasn't a disappointment.

Then it happened. I was actually able to get the the store while it was open. I'm so disappointed! First, there is the usual amout of fleece in the store. When I lived in Michigan, I kind of understood the logic behind having so much fleece in the stores. But this is NC, it's been 80 every day since mid-Feburary. Now it's 90-100 and I doubt it's going to cool off until at least September. Guess what they didn't have? A single swimsuit print. Oh well, fabric.com here I come, I guess! Second, the store is tiny. Once there, I realized the store wasn't one of their etc... stores, it was just a small fabric and craft store. Which amazes me because this area is being built up so fast, that I can't imagine that the population can't support a superstore. Maybe they have a bigger store slated for closer to Charlotte? I can hope, right? lol

Oh well, I guess I can continue to hit the local Hancocks when I need notions, and then to continue to support my ever growing list of online retailors when I want a fabric fix.

La Mia Boutique Translations

2011-06-21T14:50:00.002-04:00

All of a sudden I find myself really interested in teh LaMia Boutique patterns. Unfortuanitly, I don't speak Italian. So, as I translate some of the terms, i'll be putting them here. As of now, this is a short list, but as I get more translated, i'll add them here. However, due to time restraints and the fact that I lose interest quickly, this may be short list. If you have anythig you like to add, just leave it in the comments and i'll add it to the list.

COLORS
Arancione = Orange
Azzurro = Blue
Nero = Black
Rosa = Red
Verde = Green

SEWING TERMS
Altezza = Length
Arricciare = Gather
Confezione = Directions (Manufacture, dressmaking)
Davanti = Front
Dietre = Back
Centro Davanti intero Diritto Filo = Center right front
Scalfi = Arm holes
Spalla destra = Right shoulder
Spalla sinistra cucitura = left shoulder seam
tagliare l'elastico in due parti uguali di cm... = Cut elastic into equal parts
tessuto doppio intero = Fold of fabric
occorrente = materials needed
Orlo = Hem
Piegare = Fold

What I did at the FNSI

2011-06-18T11:06:00.000-04:00

I didn't have a whole lot of time for the FNSI, but what time I did have was actually productive. First, I finished a little night gown for my littlest DD. The night gown has been done for the most part for the last month. Except it was a bit to short, so I needed to add a ruffle. All I had was tiny scraps of fabric, so the ruffle didn't add much length, but an extra two inches is an extra two inches, I guess. It took me a month to do that ruffle. I feel so ashamed. I used the tee-shirt pattern from Kwik Sews Sewing for Toddlers book.

The second thing I was able to do was get started on this damn Jalie robe that's been laying around for at least 2 or 3 months. When I started it, I didn't have enough fabric. So I had to order more from Fabric.com. However, I was having a hard time trying to get a color match. After three orders, I have given up trying to match the off white fabric that I have. I'm just going to make the robe, then dye it purple, or something. Anyway, I was able to get all the edges serged and get the robe half way assembled. At this point, all it needs is the facing, sleeves and hems, then i'll be all done. It's probably all of an hours worth of work. Hopefully it won't take me a month to finish this because having this robe hang over my head is kind of starting to hinder progress for other things.

So that was how I spent my FNSI time, hope yours was productive as well!

The Sack Series!

2011-06-14T15:40:00.000-04:00

Well alrighty, here is dress three is what i'm calling my 'sack series'.

The first dress was from the June 2011 Burda. Design 113:

The second dress is also from the June Burda issue: Design 107:

Yes, I am aware that it looks like a prison uniform from the fro-fro womens facility, but it's linen and a billion degrees here. You can't beat it!

Last but not least is Kwik Sew 3681:

I'm not entirely sure what's going on witht he silly look on my face, but it is what it is. I like this dress. It's especially cute witht he belt from the dress in the first pic. (I didn't want to bug DH for more pics. I got what I got and i'm happy about it! lol ) I might actually make this one agian.

I'm sorry to say that now that I have a few new dresses that I can just toss on, it's time to move on (back) to something I really don't feel like doing. The robe. Ugh! I need a robe so bad though, the one I have is falling apart. I had started the robe a few months ago, but I didn't ahve enough fabric. I had to order a few different pieces of fabric from Fabric.com. I still can't find the right color. I think what i'm just going to do is just dye it when i'm finished.

Also... I'm so damn excited I could pee! They built a new JoAnns near(er) to me in Mooresville, NC! This one is only about 20 miles away. I can't wait to go there!

June FNSI June 17th

2011-06-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

Hey all!

Don't forget this months FNSI.

You can sign up here http://craftyvegasmom.blogspot.com/2011/06/friday-night-sew-in-signups-for-61711.html

I have no idea what i'm going to be working on yet. And last month I just totally forgot about the whole thing, so we'll see when the time comes.

When the Cats Away...

2011-05-18T17:08:00.000-04:00

...The mice will get sick, apparently!

My husband got a new job and had to fly to Seattle for two weeks for training. I admit, I hate it when my husband leaves for more than a few hours. But I decided that this time I was going to make the most of it. I had big plans for sewing and doing fun things with the kids (Not to mention packing because we have to move by the first, but that's a whole other story. We are moving right next door. Literally).

Anyway, since I had all these great plans, what happens? I go ahead and get sick! And I mean sick SICK. I can't remember a time when I felt this bad. I have a raging ear infection, sinus infection and a fever. I've lost three pounds in the last few days and i'm convinced that it's because of all the fluid loss from the nose blowing. This has been going on for three days. I am so sick that i've drank all of a half of bottle of Diet Pepsi in three days -- nomally I have an IV drip.

I am starting to feel a bit better though, so hopefully if I can just manage to get a good nigths sleep (I never sleep well when hubby is gone) i'll feel better and can get to the fun stuff.

Currently on the table is the dress on the cover of My Image magazine. This is my second 'test' although I had plans on wearing this one. I'm proud to say I have to take in the side seams, and that's what i'm working on now. Hopefully i'll get that done for the Friday Night Sew In. Which is this Friday, BTW.

What is it that i'm doing...?

2011-04-24T20:39:00.000-04:00

Oh, yeah, procrastinating. That's it!

Years and years ago, my mother gave me a bathrobe for Christmas. Well, the robe is starting to rapidly deteriorate. There is almost nothing left holding the left shoulder seams together on the current robe i'm using. I NEED a new one. About 4 months ago I bought the Jalie robe pattern. I made DD her robe and thought that I would knock one out for me. Well, apparently it didn't happen that way because I still need a robe.

I now realize that I hate utilility sewing. I could probably sew this up, from trace, serge to finsh in about 2 to 3 hours. Clearly i'm waiting on an invitation! lol I WILL get to this tonight!

...Or tomorrow.

Also, don't forget about the PatternReview two week challenge. I'm the manager for this one, and I would love to have you. This time around the challenge is aprons. Join us and have fun!

What is so hard about shipping?...

2011-04-19T14:14:00.000-04:00

...And why do some places get a free pass?

Some of you may remember a few months ago me bitching that it was taking forever to get patterns that I ordered from SewingPatterns.com. This seems to be a common isssue with them and the whole world seems to know it. No one is suprised when someone makes a "where are my patterns?" thread on PR when it somes to SewingPatterns.com.

Well, now i'm having a simular issue with everyones beloved HotPatterns. Last month I ordered a pattern from their Esty site. Three emails later, i'm still waiting for the pattern. You know, just by reading their feedback and from some of the threads on PR, this seems to be an issue with HP too. Why is it ok for HP to be all slow to ship, but not for SP.com? I understand that the owners of HP seem to be really nice people, but is that a good enough excuse for shitty customer service? And yes, I consider a month to mail goods shitty customer service.

I have only made one HP pattern (I have 5 of 6 in the stash) but I know that it took a while to get that pattern. And when I finally did get it, it was drafted poorly (another gripe for another post). I know i'm not the only one to ever have this issue with them. But yet they seem to get away with it. I don't get it, why is it ok for HP, but not for SP.com. And let's be realistic, if Fabric.com took longer than 4 days to ship, we would be all over that too. So, why so much love for HP?

FNSI

2011-04-15T07:02:00.000-04:00

Friday Night Sew In Sign-Up

The FNSI is tonight. I'm not sure how much i'll get done because the in-laws should be in from Michigan. But I have a skirt half done that I might be able to finish. Wish me luck! And enjoy your project!

The vintage pattern contest

2011-04-13T09:59:00.002-04:00

So, as most of you probably already know, Pattern Review is having a vintage contest in May. I have decided that i'm going to join in on this one, and I might actually make an attempt to win this time. I have a few lovely patterns picked out, but I can't really decide for sure which one to use.

First up, and so far, my first choice is Anne Adams 1625. The fabric I chose to go with it is from FashionistaFabrics.com.

My other three choices are:

Mail order 2684:

Mail Order 2827: Honestly, I just love this design. BUt like I said, I might be actually making an effort to win this thing, and I don't think this design has what it takes.

Mail Order 4792: Another of my favorites, and I HAD the perfect fabric picked out for, but some sneeky ass stole it from me!! (It was listed on Etsy for like 15 hours. Nothing ever sells on Esty in 15 hours!)

So, there are my choices. There is a poll over there to the right. If you have an opinion, go ahead and vote!

My Image M1106 Dress

2011-04-04T14:57:00.000-04:00

Uh, yeah. So I decided that I want to make M1106 from the spring/summer issue of My Image magazine.

It's not really clear weither this design is made for knits or wovens, so I went ahead and made it in a woven. Here are my observations:

*I* need to go up a size (or even two). This could be due to the fact that i'm slightly delusional about what size I am to begin with.
Make a facing for the neckline cutout. There is no way you're going to get a narrow hem in there.
This dress is short. I added 3 inches to the dress in the picture, and I didn't hem this version -- so, we're talking mini skirt here.
If you made this in a knit, you could probably get away with out the zipper.
My Image instructions suck.

Needless to say that even with the few problems I had, I think i'm going to try this again. Either in a bigger size, or in a knit. I bet this would be really cute if it wasn't so snug.

FNSI results...

2011-03-20T08:44:00.000-04:00

Well, there isn't a whole lot for me to post about the FNSI.

I WAS able to get the fabric for my Butterick pattern cut out. Unfortunately, I let my 6 year play with my machine every now and again, and she managed to make things get a little wonky this time around. I spent my FNSI time being pissed off and trying to get things back into working order.

The machine is back in working order, and I may have to consider giving her one of my other machines. The problem is with that is that none of my other machines have a sped selector like my Kenmore does. I'm a little afraid of letting her loose with a machine without a 'slow' setting. :/

FNSI and the Mini Wardrobe...

2011-03-18T17:49:00.000-04:00

The FNSI in is tonight. Sign up here.

Tonight i'll be working on Butterick 5351. You kow why i'll be working on that instead of the mini wardrobe? It's because i'm DONE with the mini wardrobe! Ok, so i'm done sewing, but I don't have the reviews up yet. That could be a huge problem for me since I hate doing reviews, and I have to take (what seems like) tons of pics. Ugh. Maybe I should be working on that tonight instead?

Stay At Home and Sew Saturday.

2011-03-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

Since I have NO life, and I no longer go out on Saturday night anymore, I am going to have Stay At Home and Sew Saturday. It's kind of like the Friday Night Sew-In (if you haven't signed up already, what are you waiting for, an invitation?), except you don't have to sign up, I don't have prizes, it will be on Saturday. See, exactly like FNSI!

Anyway, tonight i'll be working on part of my mini-swap. I'm going to be making NL 6648, view A. I am going to be making both my tops for the mini swap from this pattern. I was going to make View A in a print and View D in a solid, but turns out I didn't have the solid fabric. So, i'll be making 2 of View A, and both will be in a print.

Fun, fun!

Mini wardrobe storyboard

2011-03-06T10:19:00.000-05:00

So, this is my attempt at a story board. I think we can all agree that my storyboard making skills could use a lot of help.

In case you didn't know already, PatternReview.com is have a mini-wardrobe contest. In this contest, you will make 4 coordinating pieces to go with one existing piece. These 5 pieces must combine to make a total of 6 outfits.

This was one big pain in the ass for me. For some reason, it seemed as if I just couldn't get 4 pieces to come together. Yeah, that's right, I have 550 yards of fabric in my stash, and I can't find 4 pieces that go together. Sad, really. When I thought I was almost there, something would go wrong. One pattern I had cut wouldn't fit on my 60 inch wide fabric, even though the pattern was supposed to be cut on the fold! Clearly they didn't test their pattern before sending it to print.

Oh well, this is my attempt, and I'm sticking with it.

Good luck to all those that are participating!

The February Five...the Results!

2011-03-02T07:54:00.000-05:00

So remember way back when, when I announced to all teh world that I was going to lose five pounds in February? Well, I managed, somehow, to do it.

I'm so amazed by this because to lose it, all I mostly did was jsut change my diet. At first I attempted to exercise, but it seems that I would be starving after my workout and couldn't get enough to eat. My reasoning is that it doesn't make any sense to workout to lose 200 calories only to consume 300 because you're over hungry. I'm not suggesting that all I do is sit on my butt in front of the TV all day, because I don't. I do move around, I just lost the weight without any formal exercise. Oh wait, I take that back, every third day or so I would do some kind of tummy floor exercise for 5 to 10 minutes.

I thin i'm going to try and lose 4 pounds in March. Why 4? becuase the thought of losing 5 pounds is far to much for me. I don't know why, it just is. Seriously.

Amazing!

2011-02-28T11:53:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering what that picture of a big pile of zippers is, it's most of my zipper stash.

While it's not the largest you have ever seen, it's certainly not the tiniest either. So, you know what amazes me? It amazes me that I NEVER have an appropriate zipper for my project. NEVER. So, ok, maybe twice i've had the right zipper, but usually i'm stuck running to the store OR (my favorite option) just using an invisable zip and hope that no one notices. I complain about this so much, that even my husband knows that I never have the right zipper.

Does this happen to anyone else? It can't just be me.

FNSI the ahem results...

2011-02-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I amaze even myself with how little I can do before I just say forget it and move on. Last nigth I decided that I would work on a top pattern from the Ottobre woman 2 2010 issue. It's a very easy top. One that should have took me all of 30 minutes. So, do you think i'm supprised that it's not done? Don't be, because i'm not.

So, here's what happened. I think. I cut my pattern and fabric, sewed the side and shoulder seams, THEN I went against my better judgement and decided to finsh the top per the Ottobre directions. WHich is to baste clear eleastic to the armholes, then turn once and stitch with a double needle.

I don't understand this technique. It makes everything look so handmade. Now, don't get me wrong, sometimes the handmade look is ok, but this isn't one of those times. I tried to sew on the elastic, and all it did was bunch up my seam. So, I had to unpick it all, and that's where my sewjo went away. I'm going to try to get back to it tonight. And this time I won't waste my time on a technique I know I can't make work. Personally, I like facings or bands that are serged on.

I did get a bunch of tracing done yesterday afternoon, so the who day wasn't lost.

Friday Night Sew In is tonight

2011-02-18T09:48:00.000-05:00

Don't forget, tonight is the FNSI!

If you haven't already signed up, what are you waiting for?

I'm going to be working from the 2/2010 issue of Ottobre Woman magazine. This is my first Ottobre woman magazine, and I just love this issue. I just got this issue 2 or 3 days ago, and I already have 3 things traced. There are a few otehr things I like as well. If I make 4 things from this issue, that will be a record for me. I don't think I have ever made 4 things from a Burda magazine.

Also, here is the new 2/2011 issue. Looks very promising. I decided to get a year sub to Ottobre woman when I bought the 2/2010 issue. I doubt i'll be disappointed.

Lena Modetrend Magazine

2011-02-13T10:38:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was searching around eBay and came across Lena Modetrend for plus sizes.

I don't know much about this magazine, and there really isn't much info out there either. What I do know is that it's published by a German publisher, and that there is no regular publish date for this magazine. Apparently it's published 'whenever'. There is a good range of sizes in the magazine, so sizes all the way up to size 52. The magazine is in German only, and I can't find any helpful sites out there who have already translated the instructions. So, you'll probably have to already have a clue before you tackle anything in this magazine. Oh, and the pattern sheets? IMHO, just as bad, if not worse than BurdaStyle. There are only two colors on the sheets, black and red, and the patterns are bunched up good and tight on the sheets. Oh, and there isn't one page with all the line drawings on it. The line drawings are next to the instructions for that design.

I do have one pattern traced, but not sewn yet. I'll post when I get it done, but I have a few other things going on at the moment.

SewingPatterns.com

2011-02-08T11:26:00.001-05:00

I don't usually complain much about places I shop. Of course, I don't get totally crappy service all that often either, so maybe that's why I don't complain much.

Well, not today! Today i'm going to complain about SewingPatterns.com. Last month, against my better judgement, I bought a few patterns from this site. They shipped one, and the other is on backorder. I have emailed this company 4 times, and all I got was one reply saying they would check into it. A simple "Hey, we will get that in stock about Feb. 15th" would have made me happy.

Needless to say, I opened a dispute with PayPal in an attempt to get my money back. I would ask them directly, but it's already clear that they don't reply to emails.

Reading over reviews and past threads about this company on PatternReview, this isn't a new thing for this company. They just don't give a shit, as far as I can tell. I have read from a few people that seem to think it's prefectly acceptable to wait 4 to 6 weeks for patterns. I don't think it is. Especially if the company is in the US and shipping to the US.

Their attitude seems to be "Yeah, we'll ship your patterns when we're good and damn ready. If you don't like it, though, becuase we're not going to answer any of your emails." They should put that in their FAQs or on their "About Us" page. Since that's the truth.

Long, whiney story short, i'll never order from them again.

The February Five

2011-02-01T09:37:00.002-05:00

Just putting this out there...

I plan on losing 5 pounds in February. That may not seem like a lot to some of you, but I think it's an attainable goal.

I think that my be the problem for a lot of us, we set our goals to high, and then when we don't reach them fast enough we start to fail. For example, when someone proclaims "I want to lose 40 pounds!' Is that really attainable? After a few months, sure, but it's not going to happen overnight. And I think that leaves a whole lot of room for discouragement. So, my goal for the whole month of February is going to be 5 pounds. I think that's an attainable goal, don't you?

Trudy Jensen Patterns

2011-01-24T21:25:00.009-05:00

One thing I don't normally have a problem doing is spending money on stuff that I don't need. However, I think 2011 might (might!) be a new year for me. So, ok, i've already bought a half dozen european pattern magazines I don't need, two Hot Patterns and a Jalie. OH! And lets not forget the Kayla Kennington pattern I didn't need, and probably won't make because if i'm reading the envelope correctly, this project takes 11 1/2 yards of fabric! Yuck!

So, here I find myself eyeballing these cute Trudy Jensen patterns. I really like the Wrap Coat:

and the Designer Denim Dress:

So, here I am actually contemplating NOT buying something. I'm not so sure how that's going to work out, but I think i'm going to wait a few days to see if I still want it as badly as I do now. I'll update you on Wednesday!

FNSI post...

2011-01-21T22:27:00.003-05:00

I'm going to make my FNSI post now, just in case I can't get to it over the weekend.

I'm making Vogue 1051. Misses slim pants.

One of my biggest sewing 'fears' is welt pockets. Well, this pattern has welts. I have one front done so far, and I gotta say, it doesn't look bad. So ok, it's not great either, but at least it looks like a welt! lol Of course, I also have 3 more to do on this pair of pants too. There is a lot of room for error with 3 more pockets to go!

I would also like to mention that I am going to be using Sandra Betzinas easy, fly front zipper technique for the first time. It's looks far to easy to be true, but it's worth a shot!

Lena Modetrend Magazine

2011-01-20T18:34:00.002-05:00

So, i'm trolling around eBay looking for someting, and I came across this! I have never seen this before, and there is next to nothing on the on the internet.

Naturally, I bought a copy. I mean really, there must be worse things I can spend $16 bucks on, right? (You're also welcome to see yestrdays post about my new found love of pattern stashing).

I'll post pics as soon as I get the magazine. It's coming from Germany though, so I could be a few days.

A girl's gotta stash something!

2011-01-19T22:15:00.004-05:00

For the last few months I haven't been very interested in fabric buying. The more I think about about that, the more i'm starting to realize that it's ok to not buy everything I like. Don't get me wrong, i've bought about 8 or 9 yards already this year. But i've already sewn 4 of what i've bought, and i've sewn another 8 yards, for a total of 12 yards out already. These are promising numbers for me! Now if I can keep this momentum up, i'll be good.

HOWEVER, yes, you knew that was coming. I've always heard that usually when you drop one vice you pick up another. SO true! Now i'm buying patterns. This typically isn't an issue for me when they're the $1 JoAnn special. This isn't the case right now. So far this year i've already bought probably 20 big 4 patterns but i've also bought 2 Hot Patterns, one Jalie and one Kayla Kennington pattern. (Isn't it beautiful!?) These are pricey patterns. That wouldn't been an issue if I sewed (is that a word?) every pattern I bought, but chances are, the pattern is just going to wind up in my stash, never to be seen again.

I won't even mention the January La Mia Boutique i'm pinning for.

Now, I will say though, and this is mainly for my own personal record, I bought the Jalie and Kayla Kennington pattern today from Sewingpatterns.com. I really didn't want to because i've read so many bad things about their ship time, but the price of the KK pattern was $12 cheaper than anywhere else, and PR was out of the Jalie pattern until next month. Hopefully I won't have to wait long for the patterns. Beacuse, yanno, i'm in a big hurry to bury them in my stash!

Charlotte area sewing group

2011-01-19T09:13:00.002-05:00

In case you are in the Charlotte, NC area, me and a few other ladies from PatternReview are getting a sewing group together. You can get more info here Charlotte area sewing thread on PR . Even if you're reading this long after it's been posted, feel free to join in.

This is not a formal group. We don't have any structure or planned group projects. Normally you would just bring whatever project and suppiles you need and then just enjoy the company. I'm finding that room space isn't cheap in Charlotte, so the cost of whereever we are is split among whoever shows up that day. We will probably meet on Saturdays about once a month, or so. The location will probably be in Denver or Huntersville.

The more you know! :)

January Friday Night Sew In

2011-01-17T16:42:00.004-05:00

Friday Night Sew In for this month is January 21st.

I have lots of stuff to work on.

I have a pair of Vogue pants cut and ready to go. The only problem is they have welt pockets, and I FEAR welt pockets.

I also have the fabic for a 'skirt' to go around my sewing table. I need the skirt so I can hide all my crap under the table. After all, my sewing room is in the living room now. I'm a bit bummed that this fabric won't count fromt he stash contest on PR, but oh well, I need the skirt.

Tooth Fairy Pillow

2011-01-14T21:22:00.004-05:00

I have a 6 year old that's going to lose a tooth any day now. Well, actually, I think it's pretty much all the way lost. Now all she has to do is pull it from the thin piece of skin that it's still attached to and THEN it will be lost.

If you have young children that are about to lost some teeth, an embroidery machine and an hour to spare, I really recommend this little pillow. He is sooo cute and really easy to make.

Here is a link to the design. Urban Threads Tooth Fairy Pillow

I don't know what you would call it...

2011-01-09T16:34:00.004-05:00

...But I think it's a sewing room. Possably. I'm not feeling it.

This room is supposed to be my sewing room / kids playroom. I think the options are endless, I just don't know what to do with it. I feel bad about that too.

I think part of the problem is 1) It's the first room you see when you walk into the house. I don't mind having a few toys about, but I don't want a lot of clutter in that room. It needs to stay neat, and for some reason, I don't know how to do that. I'm not a hoarder by any means, but I have a tendancy to not 'see' clutter until it's out of hand. 2)We're a bit strapped for cash, so the $1500 armoire is out of the question. And so is the cute sewing desk and cabinet. *sigh* 3) Everything is this house is white! It's so steril. And since this is a short term rental, painting is out of the question.

Anyway, here are a few pics. I have a microwave stand with a tv on it. It's going into that room and i'll probably hook up the Wii on it. And i'm thinking about one of those big fat Ikea chairs. Maybe a small area rug, curtains and some kind of cabinet, and then maybe I can feel at home.

FNSI and Simpliciy 2374

2010-12-18T09:00:00.003-05:00

Ok, i'm just come right out and say that I barely did much last nigth. What I DID do was watch clips of Bill Cosby standup on youtube.

Anyway, on with the show.

I got my My Image pattern cut (I traced it the day before). I did go out to the garage to find my fabric and I tore up the upstairs to find my rotary cutter blades. Other than than that, that was about all I did.

I'm blaming Bill Cosby for not getting anything done.

A few days ago, I finished up the first muslin on Simplicity 2374. Oh...the humanity. I don't normally make muslins, but I did this time. I'm glad I did, because this thing won't be seeing the light of day anytime soon.

Friday night sew in...

2010-12-17T20:30:00.002-05:00

Oh gosh! I forgot all about it! Tonight is the Friday night sew-in.

Yesterday I got the first issue of My Image magazine. It's a cute little pattern magazine with 16 designs in it. The designs are cute and usable, and the pattern sheets are printed on nice paper. They look to be a lot easier to trace than Burda is too.

One thing though, and I know a few people won't like this because this magazine is new, and for some reason some people don't think a new company should get any criticism. BUT the instructions suck. Bad. I can't make heads or tails out of them. Don't get me wrong, they made an honest effort, but the translation is ridiculous. There designs aren't too out there though, so I can probably get away without them. We will see.

Simplicity 2374

2010-12-15T20:59:00.003-05:00

Just going to try to keep myself honest here...

My next project is goign to be Simplicity 2374. View D, the long jumpsuit. (All of a sudden, I can't shamlessly steal pics from Simplicity's site)

Anyway, I plan on making this from a flowy blue streaky fabric that I got at JoAnns years ago. The only problem is THAT I CAN'T FIND IT!! There has got to be a missing bin of fabric here somewhere. I just can't find it.

On a side note: I think I may be broken. I have tried since I moved into the new house to buy fabric from fabric.com (Cause lord knows there isn't shit for fabric in the stores here!!). I just haven't been able to buy anything. Nothing is exciting me enough to spend the $35 to get free shipping. Something is CLEARLY wrong! lol

There has been sewing, and there will be more...

2010-12-15T20:42:00.002-05:00

I've been in the new house for 3 weeks as of tomorrow. I've actually got a lot of sewing done.

No pics, sorry. Maybe next time.

I made tab curtains for Suzies room. They are pink and purple. I bought the fabric for curtains for her room in Michigan right before we moved. I'm glad I was able to use that fabric, and that it didn't manage to sit in my stash for the next 5 years.

I made two night gowns. One pink and one purple. This was fabric left over fromt he curtains. All told for the two gowns and the curtains, I usd up 13 yeards. Too bad it was broadcloth, so it hardly made a dent. Now if I could just sew up 13 yeards of fleece, I could empty out a bin.

I made an apron to clean in. Every shirt I have ever cleaned in gets bleach all over it. I'm hoping the apron will help a tiny bit.

I made a little cat house. Basically I cut a hole into a box and hot glued fabric onto the box. Then I made a pillow to go inside. Cats loved it for the first few days. Now they could care less. A little over two yards for those two projects.

I feel like there was a fifth project in there somewhere, I just can't remeber what it was.

Friday Night Sew In - the results

2010-12-11T10:27:00.003-05:00

I'm in a hurry, so here is just a quick rundown of what I did.

I was able to cut two pairs of jammies.

I got one of them done. I was only able to get about half of the second pair done.

That's it for now. Gotta go work on getting a sewing group together.

Wee!

Friday Night Sew In December 10th

2010-12-07T15:45:00.004-05:00

For those of you who may not know already, there are two scheduled FNSI's this month. The first is the 10th and the second is on the 17th. I plan on participating in both. I don't have any gifts planned, but I do have some garment projects planned for me. I need clothes badly, so now that i'm (basically) unemployed, I should make the best of it.

For those of you don't already know, I moved from the Detroit area to the Charlotte, NC area in November. I'm not sure how I feel about this anymore. At first I was all excited, but I think I was a bit delusional about the Charlotte area before I got here.

First, the weather has sucked since I got here. It's been 20 degress below average for the last ten days! It's almost as cold as it is in Michigan. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Second, can I just bitch about the fabric stores for a minute? I have two Hancocks in the area, and a place called MaryJo's. I have made a total of 5 vists to these 3 stores and I haven't purchaced a single yard of fabric. I'm not sure if it's because I just moved my whole stash half way across the country and I can no longer deny that I still need more stuff, or if it's just that i'm really not all that impressed with these stores. I really think it's the later, and yes, I know people are going to think i'm crazy because i'm not impressed with MJ's. Let me briefly tell you about MaryJo's. They have got a TON of stuff. It's a huge warehouse full of fabric, but unless you're a quilter or plannign home dec projects, most of the fashion fabric was just 'meh'. There was plenty of cottons, but what I was really looking for was some cool knits. I couldn't find anything decient. I can tell you, I won't be planning many trips there.

As for the Hancocks. Well, two dirty little stores with a crappy selection of fashion fabric. The one hancocks didn't even have any of the new patterns, and really at this point these patterns are not all that new. So it looks like it will be ClubBMV and Fabric.com for me. What a disappointment.

Oh well.

Project Runway, the finalie part 1

2010-10-21T21:28:00.002-04:00

Project Runway is on! YAY!

Instead of watching, I'm here blogging! Boo!

DH is watching something, so I gotta wait my turn. I have a tv down here I could be watching on, but I refuse to sit through commercials. And the tv down here isn't a DVR box.

Anyway, GO MONDO!

Project Runway, Season 8, episode 44

2010-10-09T21:08:00.028-04:00

(I apologize for the weird spacing.)

Congratulations Andy! Sorry Gretchen, but your crap in in the bottom three this week.

So, Heidi decides that she wants some cheap labor, and she's going to get it with the PR cast. Hell of a business woman, if you ask me.

When the challenge was presented Heidi says brightly "I'm providing you with some fabric, and you can also buy some other fabric". I didn't write that wrong, she actually said that.

In this episode, it appears that the cast wasn't happy with Heidi's line, with her fabrics, with her being on the workroom floor, with her critiques...with each other. What really kills me is that they aren't all that happy with the line, but you could bet not a single one would turn down the opportunity to have their item in that line (Free labor and all!)

Mondo rolls his eyes at Heidi...

Oh no he didint!

Then the commercial comes on...Cats are getting appetizers now? WTF!??

After the commercial, it is announced that 'the past' will show up. The past shows up in the form of 6 previous losers. One of those losers is Bitchface, Oh, I mean Ivy.

Bitchface is pissed because Michael C. is still on the show. Ivy says "He is holding a spot that could have been Valerie's, mine and Michael Drummonds". Yes folks, Michael is taking up 3 spots. Maybe he is three people? I don't know. Who cares.

Also, she believes in karma. Then promptly gets a needle to the eye.

So, now it's runway day. Heidi tells the designers that there are 6 of them left, soon there will be 5. This is in case any of the designers forgot, and to remind some of the less advanced audience members that 6 minus 1 equals 5.

Andy sends a ripoff down the runway...

We seen what you did there

Here's is Aprils stuff.

I'm sorry, BUT THIS IS NOT FUCKING ACTIVE WEAR!!! Look, I like April. She seems like she's a nice girl, but I just don't get the appeal of her designs. It looks like lingerie you would were if you wore lingerie to a funeral.

Then comes Christophers stuff. I couldn't get a clear screenshot of the pants, so you get nothing. But I really liked his pants. Doesn't matter, I guess. *Shrug*

And also, next time one of you PatternReview people get so hung up on wavy hems on your knits, remember that Project Runway contestants are churning out lovelies like this.

Oh, and here is Michael's wonky hem offering...

I thought Mondo should have been the winner.

So, Gretchen, Michael and Christopher are in the bottom. So therefore, Andy, Mondo and April are on top.

Gretchen says that shes surprised she's in the bottom because she made 10 pieces in TWO days, and they're good! (You know, just like everyone else.) She's also shocked that Mondo is in the top because she feels like he really only made one look. Keep your eyes on your own paper, bitch!

So, here Michael Kors is talking about Andys look. Michael is being really nice, and saying nice things about Andys look. Michael nevertheless, still looks like a schmuck. I guess it's just his nature.

What is this in the crotch? These pants look like they've been washed and worn a few dozen times. (These are Christophers pants, BTW.)

Gretchen actually tells Heidi that she doesn't really have anything sophisticated in her line! LOL Heidi counters with a frown!

So anyway, Andy wins the challenge. Good for him, I think he deserved another win...just not necessarily with this challenge.

Christopher is out. Personally, I think it was his time. He seemed like a nice guy, but his stuff really was just 'safe'.

Project Runway, season 8, episode...what...7?

2010-10-02T20:36:00.004-04:00

First, GO MONDO! WOO-HOO! Congrats!

*wildly waves my 'Go Mondo!'* flag!

Bye-bye, little brown haired girl. She seemed like a wonderful person, I just didn't see anything that gave me any type of reaction. While I was no big fan of Ivy, I thought she was the better designer. I'm still a bit suprised that Ivy went home before her too. Of course, I know jack about high fashion, so I can be way off. Of course, the judges could have just wanted to get rid of her because she was so bitchy and willing to throw people (Micheal D.) under the bus. Eh, who cares, she wasn't going to make it to the end, anyway.

Christopher is next. Sorry, Christopher fans.

That will leave April, Andy, Gretchen, Michael and Mondo.

I would really like to see Mondo, Michael and Andy in the top three, although, I doubt Gretchen isn't going to go down without a fight. April I really can't see in the top three because all her stuff looks the same to me. Morgue lingerie. Of course, once again, I know jack about high fashion.

Can someone explian to me why Micheal Kors always has a stupid look on his face? Really, he looks fucking misreable -- ALL THE FUCKING TIME!

Anyway, I can't wait for next week. Hopefully we will finally find out who's cheating. Although, I have a feeling that's just footage of Gretchen accusing Micheal of stealing her fabric color, and the actual footage just wound up on the cutting room floor. We'll see.

Project Runway, Season 8

2010-09-27T12:53:00.004-04:00

CAN I JUST SAY THAT I FUCKING HATE GRETCHEN?!

*ahem*

Anyway...

The whole time that project runway has been on the air, I have not paid any attention to it. I have not seen a single episode...that is until about 2 weeks ago. I am so totally hooked now. I have DVR'd as many episodes as I could, and I think i've just missed one from this season. Is this show on DVD? Can I get it from the video store?

I hate having 'shows'.

In case you haven't been paying attention, here are two links to fill you in on all the catty drama:

Una LaMarche from the Huffington Post
Projectrunguy Blog

Here's my thoughts:

I just totally love Mondo. I hope he wins. I like Mike C. too! Tough shit if you don't like it! He has a son, isn't he gay?

Now that Ivy is gone (What a bitch), I can focus my hate and anger at Gretchen. Not to repeat what is said on every other blog out there, but really Gretchen, the mullet isn't doing you any favors.

Andy: I have to say, I really liked that futuristic, peanut butter cup shoulder action things he made last week. I like his stuff too, I just happen to like Mondo and Mike C better.

Christopher and the other dark haired girl: Meh

April: I like her, I would so totally hang out at the bar and do shots with her. I'm not really digging her designs though, as they aren't really my style. Although, i'm sure sweat pants and bleach stained tee-shirts really isn't her style either so, it's all good.

Anyway...go Mondo!

Free Lekala Patterns

2010-09-09T20:43:00.002-04:00

For those of you who might not already know, or for those who have never used Lekala patterns, now is your chance to check them out.

Lekala Patterns For the month of September, they are giving away their size 42 and size 44 patterns. These sizes are supposed to be comparable to the BurdaStyle 42 and 44. Go ahead, give them a try!

Etsy find

2010-09-06T15:52:00.002-04:00

See what I bought myself last night? cute isn't it? Too bad it's 2 sizes too small and summer is almost over, BUT we'll always have next summer, right?

Feliz dress

2010-09-04T16:28:00.003-04:00

The Feliz dress is finished! Actually, it's been finished for at least a week now, I just can't manage to get a good picture. I just love the results! I had been putting off making this dress for a year now because some of the reviews made it sound like this dress is so hard and time consuming to make. It's not! The ruffels are a bit of a pain, but other than that, this dress went togther easily.

This pattern is from the book "Sewing Clothes Kids Love". I think it's a great book if you sew for little girls. The instructions aren't the best in the book. And the instruction that come with the individual pattern are even worse! Don't reinvent the wheel. Use one of the many tutorals that are out there. I used the one found on

Trillium. Do a search for Feliz when you get there to find her three part tutorial on the construction of this dress.

Now for pics!

FNSI

2010-08-22T00:38:00.002-04:00

Well, I didn't get too much accomplished during the Friday Night Sew In, but that's not all totally my fault.

I have the 'Sewing Clothes Kids Love' book, and I think it's a wonderful book. If you sew frilly dresses for young girls, apparently the Feliz dress in this book is the holy grail of dresses.

Anyway, back to the FNSI. All started out well on Friday. I decided to trace the Feliz pattern. Not only do I have the book this pattern comes in, I also have the individual pattern too. I decided to trace from the individual pattern because I like the heaver while paper it's printed on, as opposed to the regular old tissue paper that comes with the book. I also used the individual pattern because it's in German. I have other individual patterns from Studio Tantrum, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to brush up on my German. NOT! Not a single word that is on the pattern is in my (rather large) German to English dictionary. WTF! I might have some problems!

Anyway, the pattern is traced and the pieces are cut. Wish me luck, I hear that the first time you make this dress, it's a huge pain.

Simplicity 3956

2010-08-20T17:32:00.004-04:00

So ok, I don't blog for a month, and then you get two in one day. The world must be coming to an end. That, or i'm just a bad blogger. :/

This post happens to be about Simplicity 3956.

I just have to say that I love this top. I've actually made it twice in the last 3 weeks. I might even make it a third time too. The next time I am going to have to lengthen the bottom part by about 2 inches. I just don't quite like where it lands.

Also, here is a tip for you if you don't already know. When you are going to cut silky fabrics, starch the hell out of it. I hung my fabric out on the line and sprayed it with starch until is was wet, then let it dry. It made cutting and sewing silky fabrics so much easier. I recomend Stay-flo starch. It's in a blue bottle (like a bleach bottle). The stuff in a can just doesn't cut it for stuff like this.

I really like this top, and I would defanitly give it a try if you like this style.

Friday Night Sew In

2010-08-20T11:29:00.004-04:00

I've decided to join the Friday Night Sew In. I have a whole queue of things to get to tonight. And then we have the southeastern Michigan meet up in Ann Arbor on Saturday. I should get quite a bit accomplished.

Actaully, now that I think about it, I have been sewing a lot lately. I've made a dress and two tops in the last two or three weeks. That's good for me. Of course, I haven't been working much because of a health issue so I have a bit more free time, but whatever.

Anyway, hope you can join the FNSI! Seems like fun!

I'm pissed off at my stash!

2010-07-29T22:31:00.003-04:00

..And i'm currently giving it Angry Eyes... >:(

So anyway, I finally decide to join the rest of the sewing world and make Vogue 8379. I had a nice fabrc picked out and was ready to go. Well, I notice that the pattern says I need 2 1/2 yards of fabric. I only had 2 1/4 of my chosen fabric. No problem, I said. I can make it work.

Well, apparently, no I can't make it work! I tried everything. I even traced extra pieces so that I could try and place each individual piece. NO luck. Nothing I tried worked.

Well, I took the high road and decided that i'll just go find something else in my stash. Can you believe that I have 555 (no kidding) yards of stash and not a single piece of stash is either long enough or inspiring enough? Friggen amazing! I need more knit prints, that's what I need! That's it, more fabric. The answer to all my troubles. Although, next time i'll be buying 2 1/2 cuts. lol

And the grand total is...

2010-07-01T16:05:00.002-04:00

...537.25. That's only half of my estimated 1,000. And boy am I glad!

I still have a few items that I need to count -- mostly scraps. And some of that will end up in the trash. I have a small pile of yardage that needs to be counted, but I doubt it comes to more than 3 or 4 yards.

The great thing is that I have a whole empty storage bin left over. I'm sure it won't take me long to find something to put in it though. I think my scrapbooking supplies and when little bit of yarn I have can probably go in it.

Hopefully now that i've worked through some of the clutter, I can get some sewing done!

312.50 That's enough for one night

2010-06-30T23:39:00.002-04:00

Well, the count stands at 312.50. I'm done for the night. I'm tired of standing and folding for what seems like hours!

The good news is that i'm probably 2 thirds of the way done.

The good news X2 is that i'm sure i'm not going to hit the 1000 yard mark! I'm proud to say that i'm not the horder that I thought I was. YAY me!

121 and Counting

2010-06-30T20:08:00.002-04:00

I'm doing the unthinkable.

I'm starting to count my stash.

I'm two whole bins in, and already I have 121 yards counted. I've got about 10 more bins to go. I'm hopeing to not hit the 1,000 yard mark, but it's going to be close.

Oh, the UNopened box from my latest fabric.com purchase is still upstairs...

Is this really what its come down to?

2010-05-31T22:36:00.003-04:00

I swear, i'm going to take a class or something. I totally feel like a new sewer all of a sudden. Bah!

For the last few weeks (OK, months) I haven't had much of an interest in sewing. I think the only thing I actually finished besides the Butterick dress was some cloth baby wipes for a friend.

It's not that I haven't been sewing. I'm trying. I'm really, really trying. It's just that nothing fits, I don't know how to fix it, and it's starting to piss me off!

My first attempt was a Vogue dress that was so big that after the first one or two (feeble) attempts at trying to fix it, I knew it was a wadder. My second attempt was a McCalls dress. I cut a size 14, but can you belive that the stupid thing is about 5 inches too big? So, another wadder. Attempt three is a pair of KS shorts. They are particially made, sitting there on the ironing board just waiting for their turn. I lost interest installing the zipper. Bah again!

So, today I decided I needed some instant gratification. I came across New Look 6464. Easiest project ever. Although, I think i'm about 15 years too old for this look, I just don't give a shit. I'm going to wear this sucker with pride until I can make something a little more age appropriate fit! HA HA

For your viewing displeasure...

Butterick 4790

2010-03-27T23:42:00.003-04:00

I have to start by making something clear. I'm a vintage pattern reseller on eBay and Esty. I have TONS of vintage patterns laying around my house. Not only do I buy patterns in lots to resell, I have spent a small fortune on patterns to add to my personal collection.

Ahem, having said that, I finally decided to wade into the vintage sewing waters the other day. With all the patterns I have laying around, want to take a guess on what my first project was? If you guessed a current Butterick repro, you win! (There is no actual prize, just be happy that you're a winner)

)

I gotta say that I just LOVE this dress...IF I had chosen a better fabric. The pink is a cotton and it wrinkles like crazy! This is supposed to be a fun little dress. I have no intentions of ironing it when I want to wear it. Hopefull to many people will notice. :/

I made a size 12, due to teh fact that a lot of reviewers mentioned to go down a size. Because of that, I had to use buttons and loops. The loops are a bit too long, but I think i can fix that with no problems. Other than that, i just love this dress. Give it a shot!

The Nani Iro Side Pocket bag is mine!!

2010-02-20T19:24:00.004-05:00

Imagine my suprise this morning when I woke up to see this: And the winner is...

The winner was me! YAY! I hardly win stuff, let alone stuff that's actually cute.

Oh, here is the bag I won:

Heather from FeathertySews made this. Isn't it totally cute! And it's mine! Wee!

Thank you, Heather!

Baby Mozart

2010-02-17T16:54:00.002-05:00

See my baby? Isn't she cute?

Patrones Magazine

2010-02-17T14:35:00.004-05:00

I got my very first issue of Patones magazine the other day. I have to say that i'm not all that impressed. My opinion is that Burda WOF is way better, not only design wise, but pricewise too.

I read somewhere that Amazon.com offers the Patrones subscription for something like $400 a year. I hope i'm wrong, because I would not pay half that for the magazine. If you want my opinion, if you want to subscribe to a magazine, I would go with Burda. (Which you can get from GLP News)

I will say for those who are not falmiliar, this magazine is published in Spanish. The patterns are a lot like Burda -- pattern sheets that have to be traced, stapled to the center of the magazine. One thing I don't like is that as far as I can tell, the Patrones doesn't have the line drawing for the garments in the issue. I'll go back and look again, but I couldn't find them. Oh well.

I leave you with a few pics from the design page. Sorry, they're bad pics, but I dont' ahve a scanner. Also, if you're interested, I believe this is the Jan 2010 issue, although, i'm not entirely sure.

I'm a blogger lamer.

2010-02-17T13:27:00.002-05:00

Well, here we are, only 6 years since my last post. Bet you're excited to see i'm still alive! I got a lot of stuff accomplished since I last updated.

Where to begin?...

I guess with the Pattern Review stash contest.

So far, I have about 10.50 yards entered into the contest.

I made a baby blanket: 2 yards

I made the Simplicity cardiwrap: 2.50 yards. I have to say, I really like this wrap. I put off sewing this for so long, and I don't know why. RuthieK from RuthieKSews has inspired me to make these from prints, as opposed to the plane ones I was plaing on making.

I made the famous Jalie Sweetheart Top.: 1.25 yards. I have mixed feelings about this top. I seemed to make my small bust even smaller. And the 1/4 inch SA didn't seem to be enough room for the basting stitches the top required. Also, when I was clipping curves, I cut part of the neckband. So, now I have to fix that.

I made yet abother version of McCalls 4223. 2.50 yards. I just love this fleece pullover. Hey, it's cold here in Michigan. We can't always be cute and warm. lol

I also made another version of Simplicity 3634 This is a cowl neck sweater pattern, but I just lengthed it into a dress. It turned out great. Trust me, the pictures are bad.

See, so i've been sewing. I'm just lame when it comes to blogging.

Here's one way to keep the stash under control...

2010-01-05T13:10:00.003-05:00

...Close down all the damn fabric stores! If there are no stores, then I can't buy anything, right?

Last summer, they closed down the JoAnns in my city. It wasn't such a big deal, because I had another one not too far from me. Well, turns out, they're closing that one too. Now, I don't mind so much that the crappy fabirc is going away. If I really need something, I can buy online, and for notions, there is a WalMart a half mile away (although, i'm not a big fan of WalMart, I don't mind going there if all I need is a zipper). But I really feel like i'm losing a part of me with the closing of this store. It was one of the few places I could go and I didn't have to take the kids. I could just go there and look, even if I wasn't interested in buying anything. I sort of feel like they're taking my playground away.

I have to say, I still have a few JoAnns that are sort of near me, but I won't be making any special trips to go there any time soon. My stash will thank me for it.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T21:40:00.003-05:00

Well, here we all are again. A new year, time for reflection and to set new goals.

The reflection part is easy. I had a baby in 2009 and I sewed some stuff. Didn't take me long to do all that reflecting.

The goal part is a bit harder. I like to set goals for myself that are actually attainable. So, here we go, since I know you're dying to read this! lol

- I would like to lose 10 pounds. I've already lost 50 since the baby has been born, so i'm thinking I can lose 10 more. Attainable.

- I'm thinking about keeping a cleaner house. Probably not attainable.

- Quit smoking. As soon as I can get hubby to quit, I should be able to do it. Probably attainable, but depends on the cooperation of someone else.

- Sewing goals. *sigh* Me thinks this is the biggie. lol I finally had to break down and go shopping for clothes the other day. What a sucky expierence! I hate clothes shopping! I always have. And as some of you can relate, it sucks when everything you try on doesn't fit for whatever reason. That's why I sew, because of my narrow shoulders, wide back and low armhole. RTW just doesn't fit. It's also really crummy when you're in the store and all you can think is "$20?? I can make THAT for $5!"

I had a gift card for Victoria's Secret that I got for my birthday LAST year, and I finally got around to using it. I spent $38 for a teddy. $38 bucks for a thin little garment that takes less than a yard of fabric. Amazing. I can't wait for the Pattern Review lingerie contest. I'm telling myself that I need to enter a few garments in that contest.

I'm ahead of the curve though this year. So far, I almost have Simplicity 2603 finished. You know, the cardi wrap that everyone on the planet has sewn. I finally made it to the party. All I have to do is hem it, which sucks. And I made a little sleep sack for my DD. She's 5 months old and in year old clothing. The sleep sacks they sell in the stores just simply don't fit. I'll be making one or two more of those for her soon.

Oh, that brings me to another goal -- More fabric going out than coming in. 2009 wasn't a bad year for me. I think I had about 20 more yards that came in than went out, but as most of you will probably agree, that's pretty damn good! lol I already have almost 4 yards out this year, and it's only the 3rd. YAY!

Anyway, we'll see how it all works out. Hope everyone has a happy new year!

Cheesecake...yumm...

2009-11-29T09:44:00.002-05:00

I made an awsome cheesecake for Thanksgiving. A coworker of mine wanted teh recipie, so i'm putting it here.

Carmel nut cheese cake.

Crust:
2 cups grahm cracker crumbs.
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup crushed peanuts
1 stick of butter, melted (8 tablespoons)

Mix ingredents together and press into a FOIL LINED 13 x 9 baking pan.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Filling and topping:

4 8 ounce bars of cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
4 eggs

1 jar carmel ice cream topping.
1/2 c nuts

Mix cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until well blended.

Add sour cream. Mix until well blended.

Add eggs, one at a time, just until blended.

Pour into pan, bake for about 35 minutes at 350.

A cooked cheesecake should still jiggle in the center when its done. I had to bake mine for 40 minutes.

Let cool completely, then put in the refigerator for 4 hours.

Once set, pour carmel topping on cake, add nuts. Although, you could top with anything you like -- next time i'm going to use strawberrys. I still recomend the nuts in the crust though, it gave it a good flavor.

Cuz they're cute...

2009-11-27T22:58:00.003-05:00

..and they're mine!

Back to work. :(

2009-10-16T15:39:00.002-04:00

I have to go back to work tomorrow. What a bummer. I guess I was in denial that this day would ever come.

The good news is that I bet going back to work will help me loose the 15 or so pounds I have left to loose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. That and a paycheck are the only two positives I can think of.

On a positive note, DH and I talked about it, and when we get X amount of debt paid off, I can quit and he won't give me a hard time about it. I'm sure I can get the debt paid off in less than ten months. So, wish me luck, as I am in such a hurry to be unemployed! Wee! lol

I sewed something!

2009-10-05T23:55:00.004-04:00

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but I finally sewed something! Go me! I made two buntings for Suzanna.

This is a Simplicity pattern that I had to pay more then the usual .99 for because my kid grew so fast that she outgrew the first pattern I cut before I had a chance to sew it! I need to stop feeding that kid...

I only have a pic of one of the buntings, but trust me, there are two of them. lol

I still have a few other kids projects to do, and then hopefully I can I can make something for me. But seeing as how I go back to work next week, something for me isn't likely to get done. :(

Still nothig new to add...

2009-09-23T01:30:00.008-04:00

Still no sewing. I have a pattern cut for me, but I just can't find the time to sew anything. Not that it matters, as I have lost a whole 4 ounces since the last doctors appointment (which was 3 weeks ago), and I can still wear my maternity clothes with wild abandon! Weee!

So, i'll post pictures of the Little Miss instead! YAY!

Here is a picture of Rachael and Suzanna.

And now a picture of my husbands birthday cake. It was funny, because a neighbor brought a ton of cupcakes over, and I felt bad because I had to hide them. I spent so much on the cake, I didn't want people to fill up on cupcakes before I got the cake presented. (the cake was a surprise)

Other than that, nothing new. Hopefully next time i'll have a shirt, or at least some handmade rags to post about! lol

Just for you, R.

2009-09-18T17:18:00.003-04:00

She's ALIVVVEEEE!

2009-09-16T21:45:00.002-04:00

Heh? Sorta...

I'm really working on getting some sewing done. I'm actually making some progress. I was able to make a Helo Kitty tote bag for my oldest daughter. One yard down 999 to go... Apparently, the school really would rather the kids have tote bags and not back paks because they're easier. Fine with me because I didn't get DD a backpack this year. However, plenty of other parents did, because there in nothing but Hanna Montana backpacks as far as the eye can see during the kindergarten lineup.

I have a few patterns cut. One was a bunting pattern for my baby. Unfortunatly, I cut it out about 10 days ago. At the rate she's going, she'll be able to fit it for the next ten days or so. Sigh. Guess she's not getting a bunting.

I have a pattern cut for ME!! Wee! Simplicity 2774. I really need clothes, and hopfully this will get my sewing mojo going again. Besides, i'm getting tired of being LAME...

I did buy 10 yards of flannel to make buntings, jammies for the oldest kid and a gift for a nephews and his wifes baby shower. BUT, well, yeah... i'll get to that, eventually.

A shift in paradigm.

2009-08-23T18:30:00.004-04:00

Let me be the first to admit that I have always been a jeans a tee shirt kind of girl. ALWAYS. I was a tomboy as a kid, and things just went downhill from there. While I do clean up well on the rare occasion, I would prefer to generally look like a bum. Or as my loving husband calls it, 'frumpy'.

I am 33 years old.

When I got pregnant 10 or so months ago, I made myself pretty much all dresses for pregnancy attire. I lived in those dresses for my whole pregnacy. Now that i'm not pregnant, i'm finding that I still want to wear those dresses. Well, not those dresses, because they're maternity dresses, and they are starting to look a little frumpy since i've already lost 25 pounds. But I just want to wear dresses now. How could that be!? Could I possably be leaving behind my comfy jeans for more femine fare?

Don't get me wrong, i still have no desire to put on panty hose and heels (I should point out that I own about 12 pair of heels, altough I never wear them. Strange), but I do want to wear the dresses.
Now I have a reason to make all those great dress patterns i've been hoarding for the last few years for no other reason other than I thought they were pretty.

First up (I think) is going to be a vintage pattern. McCalls 5176. Ain't it sexy? I'm hoping I can get it done by Christmas. I have a new baby, and sewing time seems to be next to nothing. Also, it's at least a size or two too small, so i'll have to venture into the world of altering. Boo!

She's a girl!

2009-08-12T17:46:00.001-04:00

Ok, just so we're all on the same page, i'm starting this post at 5:48pm on Wednesday. Let's see if I can finish it before tomorrow...lol

12:01 am FRIDAY morning...lol Suzanna Marie was born on Saturday August 8th at 1:45 am. No Lynn, I didn't hold out for you, she did! lol

She was 7 pounds 10 ounces, and 21inches long. She was awake and alert at birth. I atribute that to the fact that I didn't ahve an epidural during labor. I did have something that I can't reamember the name of at about 10 pm, but i'm sure it was pretty wore off by the time she was delivered.

(11:08 am, friday morning...)
This is Suzanna right after she was born. I'm working on getting a few current pics of her. I can't believe how pretty and chubby in the face she already is. She a little blonde too, just like me. lol

(3:03 pm) I'm hoping to have some newer pics up soon. But, as you can see, it's taken me two whole days to post these two. lol

40 weeks pregnant

2009-08-05T00:18:00.003-04:00

40 weeks preggo today. The baby doesn't seem very interested in coming out.

All I know is I spent weeks 30 - 37 making sure I did everything to keep the baby IN. now that it's finally time to come out, baby isn't interested. Figures! I can't wait to be induced next week! Or not.

39 weeks preggo

2009-08-01T12:07:00.004-04:00

Yes, there's me on Tuesday the 28th at 39 weeks pregnant. I really don't think I can get much bigger.

I keep trying to convince the baby to come out. I tell the baby every day "Hey little baby, don't you want to come out and meet your family, play with your toys and breath actual air? Things out here have to be more exciting than what you got going on in there. Don't you want to come out?" Apparently this means nothing to a baby that has no concept of air, toys and family, because so far this kid isn't budging! lol

Anyday now. Kid can't stay in here forever!

New pattern

2009-07-28T00:07:00.004-04:00

I got a new pattern today!

Mail order pattern 1271. It's for jumper with a skirt. I can't want to make it up in some vintage-y fabrics.

Of course, since i'm fat and pregnant, and probably going to stay fat for a while even though the baby should be here any day, the pattern is too small. So this is going to be my first grading project. Go me!

Side note. I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow. I am so hoping for this to finally be over. I thought I was making some progress a few weeks ago, but apparently not. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. Hoefully he will have some good news about my dialating. Wish me luck!

Enwrapture dress version 2

2009-07-19T11:42:00.015-04:00

(If you click on the pictures, they should enlarge)

Ok, here is my second attempt at the enwrapture dress.

I ended up just buying a dress in order to get a template together to makr this. Here is the second version. With the exception of being too short (for me and my pregnant body, anyway), this is pretty close to a store bought one.

You will need for this dress at least 2.75 yards of fabric for the top (outer layer) and 3 yards for the botom (inner) layer.

I should also explain that I used a serger for almost the entire construction of the dress. If you don't have a serger, you will just have to hem all the edges.

Here is a small scale template for you to see how I the skirt part is made. This version fits me. I am a size 12 to 14 in pattern sizes. 8 to 10 in RTW size. I'm sure you can use these same measurements and go up or down a few sizes. If you need bigger or smaller, just adjust the part of the pattern that is 24 inches on my pattern. As that is the part that actually wraps around your body.

The actual pattern piece. It's pretty big.

You are going to need a lot of room to cut out these pieces. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, the left edge of the patten is CUT ON THE FOLD. I am fortunate that I have a lot of smace and a big mat. However, if you are a little more limited, I suggest using the floor, plenty of pins and a good pair of sicssors.

When you cut the bottom layer of fabric, you use the same pattern piece, EXCEPT you add 6 inches to the bottom edge only.

Now for simple instructions!

Finish all the edges. I used a rolled hem on my serger. Once all the edges are finished, sew the top edges together (The top edge is the curved edge, marked 24 inches). I used a quarter inch seam. Once you get that done, you have half the dress finished. All you need is straps!

Here is the dress just pinned to my dressform. The bitch is skinnier than me, so naturally the dress looks much more svelt on the dressform.

Now, it's time for the straps. The straps are easy, trust me. I just know that I am not a pattern writer, and my direction will probably suck. You might just have to play with them a bit to figure it out. But trust me, they are easy.

For the srtaps you can use either the top or the bottom leftover fabric. I used the top fabric for my straps. You are going to need about 8 yards of fabric for the straps. For yards for the front, 4 for the back.

Here is how I cut my straps:
I folded my fabric along the selvedge edge twice, then I cut off the selvedge. Then I cut 4 strips of fabric 3 inches wide.

To make the straps, I take two of the cut pieces, and sew them together at the short end.

Do that for the remaining two pieces.

Right sides togetehr, sew those two pieces together at one of the long ends. Turn to the right side and press. Topstitch close to folded edge.

Now fold strap in half to find the center of the strap. Mark with pin. (actually, you should have the seam there where you sewed the two parts together)

FInd the center of the top edge of the dress by folding it in half. Mark with pin.

Match center of strap to center of dress, right sides together. Sew seam using 1/4 SA. Sew the seam until you come to the edge of the dress.

Now here is the tricky part. It's not hard, just I suck at explaining things. Perhaps you can figure it out fromt the pic.

On either side of the dress, right sides together, sew short edge of seam and then sew long end of strap just until you get to the end of the dress.

Turn strap to right side.

Now, we're almost done! After you turn the straps right side out, then you will fold the free edge to the wrong side 1/4 inch, then stitch to the top of the dress. Topstitch the rest of the length of the strap.

Now, make two button holes. For buttonhole placment, you fold the dress in half, then in half again. Mark that pont, and that is where you would put your buttonhole.

All done!

I know my pictures and instructions are not the best. If you need help, feel free to leave a comment and I can try to help the best I can. Also, if you're having problems with the straps, you can probaby use just about any apron pattern to see how to add straps.

Simplicity 3503, the maternity version!

2009-07-04T10:46:00.004-04:00

Here I am, 35 weeks and 3 days pregnant! I don't seem to be getting much bigger at this point, but things are getting more cramped!

The dress i'm wearing is Simplicity 3503. I love this dress. It's so easy to put together. And i'll tell you, I did not modify this for my preggo belly. I mostly made the maxi dress so that I would have something to wear after baby. Turns out it almost fits. The one thing though is that I added the pockets to the first version, and they look a little weird because they stretch around the belly. I don't care! lol

This is version two. I gotta tell you, it's impossible to look svelt in a picture when you're 9 months pregnant. Who knew? I can't say it enough, I just love this dress. This one doesn't have pockets, so it looks better than the first one too.

Happy 4th all!

Simplicity/New Look co-op?

2009-06-30T17:33:00.003-04:00

I'm tossing around the idea of starting a pattern co-op. In order to do this though, I need to know that there is an interest, as I would have to buy quite a few patterns a year. The cost would be about $3.50 USD per Simplicity/New Look pattern + shipping?

The idea for this is because so many people outside of the US don't get pattern sales, and if they do the store is out of stock.

This would not start until probably early October. If you would be interested, PLEASE let me know. Because if I don't feel like there is any interest, i'm not going to bother.

Thanks!
-Tina

2009-06-28T00:40:00.002-04:00

A few of my IRL friends have been making comments about how I finish my sewing projects so fast. Melody suggested that I make a blog post about it.

I have to be honest, I have no idea how I finish projects so fast. But i'll list a few things here that I think probably help me move things along a bit faster.

First things first, I would like to point out that my organizational skills suck, so they have nothing to do with me getting things done. I'll give you an example, I have at least a dozen seam rippers. Do you think I can find one when I need one? Nope! Half the time i'm ripping out stitches using the point of a small pair of scissors. So, it has nothing to do with being organized.

Here are a few things I do to keep myself on track to finish that project.

- I don't hang on to UFO's and wadders. If it's a UFO that needs something to get it done like a hem or zipper, I just do it. Get it finished and out of your way so you don't have to think about it anymore. If it's a wadder, get rid of it. Why are you hanging on to that thing? You know damn well you're not going to fix it. Why let it clutter your space? I will tell you, every year, DH goes on a trip with a buddy and he wants me to make him and his friend embroidered tee shirts. Well, I have had nothing but problems with the stupid embroidery machine, and I DREAD making these shirts. So, what do I do? I put them off until the day before DH leaves for his trip. For two months I think of doing nothing else, but do nothing. SO I get no enjoyment from sewing because these shirts weight on me. As soon as they're done, I get my mojo back. It's because I let them fester, and they just zap all my sewing energy. Get rid of the extra crap, and get back to your project!

- I don't let things like zippers and hems intimidate me. Just install the zipper and move on. No one will notice that it isn't perfect.

- Someone on PR has a saying in their tagline that says 'Done is better than perfect'. I believe that. I don't rip out seams because they are 1/8 of an inch off. I don't care. No one will notice! Trust me.

- One of the few pieces of sewing advice I do follow is to keep all my pattern pieces and directions handy. I make sure to have all the notions I need. I make sure I have CLEAR markings on my fabric (that includes right and wrong side) right from the start. It makes things so much easier if you have to make a pleat if you actually know where to place the pleat!

- Just finish it! This goes back to the wadders and UFO thing. Don't go on to something else before you finish what you are currently working one. Just finish it, you'll feel better for it.

- The last thing I do is I make myself get started! I can sit on the internet for days and get nothing done. I have to make myself get up from the computer and actually do something. You can do it too! I have faith in you! lol

My first wrap dress.

2009-06-26T21:32:00.005-04:00

Well, here it is, my first wrap dress!

I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I know it's a bit too short. And perhaps I would like it better if my belly didn't stick out as far as it does. But for now, I think it's going to be hanging out in my closet until after the baby comes.

These dress was pretty simple to make. I don't have an actual tutorial here, but I can give you a basic idea as to how I made mine.

First, I got two 1 and 3/4 cuts of silky type fabrics. I came up with this measurement pretty much randomly. I figured a good length of fabric would wrap arounf my ody almost twice. The length I chose I think was actually pretty good. So that's probably what I will go with next time.

I cut the outer fabric (which is the print) to the length I wanted. Which was 33 inches in width.

I cut the inner fabric to 29 inches in width.

I serged all the raw edges and then serged the two pieces together at one of the selvedge edges. The garment looks fine as a skirt, but this was not my goal. I wanted a dress. These measurements are a tad bit to short for someone like me who is way pregnant, and who was a bit overweight to begin with. I will add 6 to 10 inches on the next one.

I made a belt with the leftover cut fabric. The belt was pretty long. It goes around my body almost 3 times or so. Then I just serged that onto the two triangles I had previously serged together.

You can see a video on how to tie these wrap skirts/dresses here on youtube.

I think these dresses are really fun and versitile. I am definetly going to be making more. ANd I know people get down on the silky poly stuff from JoAnns, but really, I think some of that stuff would be perfest for this. All those loud, vibrant prints? They too can be beautiful! lol

Day Trippin'

2009-06-22T21:09:00.005-04:00

My friend Lynn and I decided we were going to take a little fabric road trip. What a fun day! Our agenda was to drive from the Detroit area to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, IL and then drive home. Well, even with the ungodly amount of sitting we did in traffic on the Kennedy expressway in Chicago, we still had time for a stop at Field's Fabrics in Kalamazoo!

First up, Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. Please don't throw tomatos, but I can't say that i'm all that impressed. Although, you would never know it from all the fabric I bought. I did get a few knit prints that you can't get from the local JoAnns, but other than that, it seemed like a lot of the same stuff. Although for WAY better prices on most things. Here are a few pics of my findings.

The top two pics are of the knits I got. The bottom one is of the 3 cuts of woven fabrics I got. One is a heavy weight WHITE denim. I can't wait to try out a pair of jeans.

Our bonus stop was Field's fabrics in K-zoo. I was a lot more impresses with this place than I was with Vogue. The store is clean, the staff is friendly, the store is well stocked and almost everything was on sale! I told Lynn that I would like to make a trip every few months to this store. I think it's worth the drive.

By this point I was getting a bit tried, as I am 8 and a half months pregnant. But I still managed to pick up for cuts of fabric and four patterns! GO ME!

I got two knits for me, a bunny knit for DDs jammies (how cute!) and a cute eyelet that was on the 50% off clearance table.

At the end of the day the damage was just over 26 yards of fabric. Not bad when you consider that buying fabric was what I had set out to do! lol Oh, And I had to get hubby some fireworks from Indiana for our big 4th of July party. I hope he doesn't set the yard on fire...

Happy Fathers Day!

2009-06-22T00:31:00.002-04:00

While I doubt there are many fathers reading my blog, I would like to just say happy fathers day anyway!

For dads day, I made a shirt for DH. It's Kwik Sew 3484. The fabric I used was a Navy print(you know, like the military). DH was in the military years ago, so it's fitting for him. He also got a big ole' pan of lasagna. I narmally make it with chicken and no ricotta chesse, but today he got a whole pan of lasagna with spicy sausage and plenty of ricotta. Me and DD both don't like it, so it's all for him!

32 Weeks Preggo

2009-06-10T22:35:00.002-04:00

Yep, that's me. Getting bigger by the day. As of June 10, 2009 I am 32 weeks and 1 day pregnant. ONLY 58 MORE DAYS TO GO!!!!

I love all you women who say you love being pregnant. You're the best. You can have it! I still have 8 weeks to go and so far I can't work, half the time I can't stand, I can't walk, I can't sleep, heartburn sucks and i'm dying for a smoke! Add to that about an extra 30 pounds I get to carry around... Can you tell i'm not the happiest of pregnant women? lol

Jalie 2907 View A this time

2009-06-05T10:31:00.004-04:00

I am trying the pocket diaper from Jalie. I think this one needs a few adjustments though. I'm just not sure how to go about it. Here are the changes I plan to make.

1) First things first. I want to use snaps and not velcro. I didn't add any to this diaper because this one is a 'muslin'. I can't believe i'm making a muslin for a baby diaper when I don't even make a muslin for half of the things I make for me. lol

2) The outer layer is PUL and the inner layer is supposed to be some sort of wicking fabric. I just used flannel on this one just to get an idea, but i'll be using fleece for anything I plan to use as a real diaper.

3) The outer PUL layer. YUCK! I think i'm going to cut a cute fabric and use some basting spray to stick the two layers together. Then treat it as one layer nad have the PUL hidden inside. I just don't like PUL either, but it's necessary.

4) I need to add snaps to my soaker insert. I'm not quite sure how to go about this yet. But the pad that gets stuffed into the diaper is not going to stay in one place. Also, the soaker really needs to be thicker. As it is now, it's only 4 layers of flannel.

5) I wish I had a real baby to test on. All this could be for nothing because I don't even know how they fit.

I do like these AO2's though so far. Mostly because I don't like the stand alone PUL covers. I'm going to make a few more of these -- tweaking as I go, of course and see aht I can come up with. I'll keep you posted.

Look at what I got!

2009-06-04T13:45:00.002-04:00

I bought some Michael Miller fabrics off of Etsy.com the other day. I think these are so cool! Two vintage-y type fabrics. I just love it. I can't wait to make a shirt from the fabric with the pattern pieces on it!

If anyone is interested, I bought this from Rainbow Fabrics from Etsy.com. SHe has a lot of nice fabrics there.

I have a diaper! Jalie 2907

2009-05-26T16:38:00.005-04:00

Well, I have ONE fitted diaper! One! I'm on a roll now! This pattern is really fast to make and you can assembly line them. Right now I have about 6 diapers cut and ready to go, and I have the soaker pads serged. Now I just have to finish the assembly.

This particular pattern calls for velcro, but honestly, I don't really like velcro, so I used snaps (applied with my new pliers, more on that below). I am under the impression though that snaps on fitted diapers aren't the best idea. Although I see plenly of them out there.

Here is one happy Elmo with a new diaper...

Now for the snaps. As I said in a previous post, I have 3 snap tools from Dritz. Pliers, a 'quick attatcher' thing and the little knob thing that you hit with a hammer. They all suck as far as i'm concerned. So, I needed something to add my snaps to my diapers.

I ended up buying a pair for pliers from KAMsnaps.com. The pliers feel a bit flimsly, but so far i'm pretty impressed. The pliers with a bunch of snaps were about half the price of just a press. A press is what I really wanted, but I just couldn't justify the cost. If I use the pliers a lot, i'll get a press eventually, i'm sure.

My Mad Diaper Makin' Skillz...

2009-05-20T22:37:00.003-04:00

...Or not! lol

Well, here is my first attempt at Jalie 2907. These are view C, the covers made from PUL fabric. My snap panels don't match up. And my snap setting sucks. I think I lost half my snaps in the washer. Oops!

Snap panels: Looking at the pattern piece, the front and back match -- they're the same size. However, on my sample, the back is way bigger. I'm thinking that I may have streched a bit to much trying to sew on the elastic. I'm going to have to come up with a better technique.

The snaps. I have three different Dritz tools that attatches snaps. As far as I can tell, all three suck. I had the best luck with my dritz pliers, but they are still a pain.

I considered buying a snap press, but at over $100, I decided against it. Although, I may kick myself later because as far as I can tell, the resale value is really high. So proably could have sold it if I decided I didn't need it.

What I did settle on was another pair of pliers. But I hear these are a bit better than the Dritz pliers. They are pliers for the plastic (resin) snaps. They come with an actual die set, so we'll see how that goes. Apparently people like these pliers, so, if they don't work for me i'll sell them off on eBay at a small loss and then just break down and get a press.

I'm going to attempt another pair of covers probably tomorrow. And hopfully my terry from fabic.com will be here tomorrow too, so I can make the insert! YAY. Now all I need is some 1 1/2 loop tape (velcro). Wonder if JoAnns carries velcro that's that wide? I'll have to stop and check tomorrow.

Cupcake Hat Awwww! and Jalie 2907

2009-05-19T14:13:00.005-04:00

If anyone is paying attention, I would like one of these for the new baby! How can you go wrong with a cupcake hat on a little baby? lol

Here is a link to the shop of the lady who makes these. NinisHandmades Shop on Etsy Check it out. She has a lot of really cute stuff.

*************

JALIE 2907

I have the diapers all traced, and I think i'm going to get cutting tonight. I'm putting a little thought into this project for once, and I think I may have traced the wrong sizes. I traced newborn and 1 month sizes.

The newborn size fits 6-9 pounds
The one month size fits 7-11 pounds.
The three month size fits 9-15 pounds.

I'm wondering if I should skip the 1 month size and just do Newborn and 3 month since that will cover me from 6 to 15 pounds. Or do I really need the one month size? It seems like i'm wasting time with that size. One, because it seems like that is just overlapping with the 3 month and secondly, the kid is probably going to be in the 1 month size for only 3 weeks before he grows out of them anyway. I guess I can start with the newborn size, considering that i'm probably going to start with a newborn anyway. lol

I have the PUL fabric waiting to go. I can start with the covers. I ordered terry from fabric.com. It's should be here in a few days. Has anyone ever tried using plain muslin for soaker pads or prefolds? The directions I have found say use twill, but you need a yard each, so I bet it can get expensive fast.

Vintage patterns, Jalie 2907 diapers and other ramblings.

2009-05-17T21:40:00.007-04:00

I got some of my newly vintage patterns up on Etsy this weekend. These are patterns I KNOW i'll never use. So, instead of hording them, might as well find homes from them. I got a few 70's ones that I really am dying to sew, along with some of the 50's mail order patterns I got. I'm just waiting until the baby comes so I can see where my waist is going to end up. ;)

Visit my Etsy shop!

I would also like to take a quick second to apologize to anyone who has landed on my blog buy doing a Google search for Simplicity 2587. Yes, I see my stats. I know how you get here, just to find no useful information. Sorry!

Now for Jalie 2907:

(How cute are these?!) I'm going to try my hand at making a few cloth diapers. I bought two yards of PUL fabric (from a company who shall remain nameless until they have been given a chance to correct their shitty customer service issues) and I have 6 yards of terry coming from fabric.com.

I'm going to make the fitted diaper and the diaper cover. I was going to go with the All-In-Ones, but I have been reading that they take forever to dry. I have the pattern traced, and I might start on the covers tomorrow -- as they require the PUL fabric. If anyone is interested Jalie.com has a video of their diapers being made. I haven't used it yet, but it could be a good resource if you need it.

New Vintage Patterns

2009-05-14T20:58:00.006-04:00

I got my lot of vintage patterns from eBay a few days ago. I am so happy with what I got.

I never thought to take the picture while I had all the patterns out of the box! Duh! I can't believe some of the stuff that was in this lot. There are a few recent kids patterns, but most are 1975 and older. Here are the older ones. I haven't counted them all, but there are quite a few. And they are all mostly in got shape. A lot are still factory folded. And if that isn't good enough, most are in a size I can use! They are either 34 or 36 bust. I can't believe how I lucked out with this lot.

Here is a picture of the oldest ones.
They are mail order patterns that you ordered through the mail. They are not dated, and most don't even have an actual pattern company. But I do know that they are early 50's, and one is post marked 1952. I am thinking that the others are earlier because they don't have a dated post mark.

Here is a picture of my fav from the 70's! Simplicity 6925. I was looking at something really similar in the Victoria Secret catalogue. I couldn't find anything current really. But here it is, in my vintage lot! I can't wait to make this up. I'm going to change it to a dress though. I have the perfect purple gauze for it. Of course, I have to not be pregnant anymore, but I only have about 11 more weeks to go.

One question if anyone can answer. I want to sell some of these on eBay, or etsy or whatever. They smell really old. Is that common? Or can I air them out somehow? I don't want to put smelly patterns on eBay, but they are 60 year old patterns. Anyone know anything about this?

Kwik Sew 3327 and the modification of Simplicity 2587

2009-05-11T20:37:00.005-04:00

Well, I finally got around to making me some jammies! Weee! I don't think I have ever had a night gown in my adult life, but for some reason, I want them now.

The pattern I used was Kwik Sew 3327 For the most part, I like the pattern. It does have one big issue though. The fact that the nursing openings go down to your knees!

I hate to say this because it's just a night gown, but you will probably need to make a muslin just to find out where to place your nursing openings. I can't imagine that these fit anyone -- unless you are sagging to your knees. Sheesh!

After I made the nursing gown, I decided that I just really wanted a few more non-nursing gowns. So, I hunted through my pattern stash and came up with NOTHING! How do I not have a simple night gown pattern in my stash? Then it dawned on me, I can just modify the kwik sew pattern. It was actually really easy to do. You just fold the front right down the center front line. Voila! No more nursing gown, but you do have something that will fit a pregnant lady. These gowns are also so easy to put together. Hour, at most, start to finish. On piece of advice though, use your pre-pregnancy measurements.

Now that I have a few night gowns, I think i'm going to try something a little more ambitious.

Simplicity 2587. Except I have to modify it to fit my pregnant body. I already slashed the front skirt piece, we will see how it goes. I plan on starting on that tomorrow. There are a million and one pieces though, and i'm not in any hurry to get a wadder out of this. Wish me luck!

Fun With Vintage!

2009-05-08T14:07:00.007-04:00

Yes, I know there are other blogs that go over this. And I know they are better at it, but this was just too good for me to pass up!

I was looking through the vintage patterns on Etsy.com the other day, and I just happened to come accross a few gems! The were so good infact, even DH thought they were funny.

Really, are these cartoon pattern cover chicks so ugly that we can't even see their faces? Was the illistrator new and unsure of how to draw faces? Wonder if the sexy bonnet (wonder how many google hits I get because I said 'sexy bonnet') is part of the pattern. I never checked.

IT'S FRANKENLADY!! I think the rose necklace is holding her head on -- or hiding the scars. Has to be. There is no other logical explianation!

Can I just bitch for a minute?

2009-05-07T17:16:00.003-04:00

You ever notice how if one thing doesn't go rigth, nothing goes right?

Right now i'm really agitated with online retailers, USPS and shipping issues.

So, I buy patterns from PR a week or so ago. I get an email from Deepika telling me my patterns have been shipped. Great, I should have them in 2 or 3 days, right? WRONG! Apparently, USPS shipped my patterns to Washington state. So, my patterns Started in Mass. went to Wash. only to (hopefully) be back on their way to Michigan. My patterns are better traveled than I am! Just so we're clear. This is not a reflection on PR, the turn around was fast. This is a gripe about USPS. Which is my employer, BTW. How nice is that?

The day after I ordered the patterns from PR, I ordered some PUL fabric from whamsupply.com. Well, they say they have a turn around time of 4 days on orders. Well, I ordered early on the 30th, and it's now late on the 7th. Their website still says my order is processing, and they haven't answered my email.

Arg! eBay. I won some vintage patterns of of eBay the other day. I had a brief conversation with the seller, and she said she would ship yesterday. Well, I haven't get a tracking number in my email, so I assume i'll probably be waiting on those too.

Last but not least, grill parts. I ordered some new grill grates for DHs BBQ grill yesterday. Now I have no reason to worry that the grill grates won't ship in a reasonable amount of time, but it seems as if I am having no luck with shippers right now. Grr!

Thanks for listening to me vent. I needed to get that off my chest.

The Studio Kat Boho Bag is Finished!

2009-05-04T17:37:00.002-04:00

The bag, it is finished! I can't beleive how easy this pattern came together. After all the pissing and moaning I did about all the pieces, it just came together.

Pic of the lining. If you like this design, definetly try this bag. It comes together so easy and they results are great!

Seriously, what have I done part 2...

2009-05-04T10:19:00.005-04:00

I have been on my own little shopping spree for the last few weeks. I don't know what's gotten into me. But I think I better find a way to control it or we're going to end up living in a box eating Ramen noodles every night.

I have been trying to stay away from buying vintage patterns for some time now. Mostly because I have plenty of other crap I horde. But the bug finally got to me last night. Ready for this, I bought a lot of 120 patterns off of eBay. Auction YAY me! Now, if I could only find a place to store them.

Actually, I do have a plan. I saw a few in the picture that I actually do like. I am going to save those, and then probably try and sell the rest. We'll see when we get here, as I have no idea even what kind of shape these are in.

A week or so ago I posted that I had bought a few patterns from PR. Well, one of those patterns was for baby diapers. Well, I don't have any PUL fabic, so naturally, I had to buy some of that. I ordered 2 yards of white PUL from WAHM supply.com. I have neever heard of them, but they were by far the best price. I also bought two sling rings, because I want to make a baby sling.

As for today, I have to go to Michaels because I have to get beads to finish the Boho bag. I have a zillion beads in my stash, just nothing that matches or that will fit the cording. So off I go, hopefully to end my shoping spree! lol

The Ramblings of TCM

My Image Spring/Summer 2012

Drafting woes!

Friday Night Sew In tonight

Jalie Patterns

FNSI The results.

Friday Night Sew In is Tonight

Colette Crepe -- FNSI

My latest fabric haul

Two Colette Pattern giveaways!

Jalie 2447

I'm so Dissappointed! *SOBS*

La Mia Boutique Translations

What I did at the FNSI

The Sack Series!

June FNSI June 17th

When the Cats Away...

What is it that i'm doing...?

What is so hard about shipping?...

FNSI

The vintage pattern contest

My Image M1106 Dress

FNSI results...

FNSI and the Mini Wardrobe...

Stay At Home and Sew Saturday.

Mini wardrobe storyboard

The February Five...the Results!

Amazing!

FNSI the *ahem* results...

Friday Night Sew In is tonight

Lena Modetrend Magazine

SewingPatterns.com

The February Five

Trudy Jensen Patterns

FNSI post...

Lena Modetrend Magazine

A girl's gotta stash something!

Charlotte area sewing group

January Friday Night Sew In

Tooth Fairy Pillow

I don't know what you would call it...

FNSI and Simpliciy 2374

Friday night sew in...

Simplicity 2374

There has been sewing, and there will be more...

Friday Night Sew In - the results

Friday Night Sew In December 10th

Project Runway, the finalie part 1

Project Runway, Season 8, episode 44

Project Runway, season 8, episode...what...7?

Project Runway, Season 8

Free Lekala Patterns

Etsy find

Feliz dress

FNSI

Simplicity 3956

Friday Night Sew In

I'm pissed off at my stash!

And the grand total is...

312.50 That's enough for one night

121 and Counting

Is this really what its come down to?

Butterick 4790

The Nani Iro Side Pocket bag is mine!!

Baby Mozart

Patrones Magazine

I'm a blogger lamer.

Here's one way to keep the stash under control...

Happy New Year!

Cheesecake...yumm...

Cuz they're cute...

Back to work. :(

I sewed something!

Still nothig new to add...

Just for you, R.

She's ALIVVVEEEE!

A shift in paradigm.

She's a girl!

40 weeks pregnant

39 weeks preggo

I'm so Dissappointed! SOBS

FNSI the ahem results...