Birthdays, sewing, lace, and more lace!!!!

Yesterday I celebrated by birthday by relaxing and sewing. I'd show you my presents, but they haven't arrived yet. Mr. D was a little disappointed, but I told him it was fine. He bought me a Dell mini laptop computer. I'm still a little unsure about it, because it so small. I'm guessing I'm just use to the regular size laptop. I am siked about having a new toy to play with though. My other new present is the Singer 14CG754 Pro Finish Serger. That present is from my mother and myself. She doesn't know yet, and she usually gives me money for my birthday. I ordered it Friday night from Sew and Vac Direct.

I also purchased a 36 x56 cutting pad from JoAnn's. I've found that I like using my rotary cutter instead of my ginghers or fiskars scissors. I get a much more cleaner edge.

I worked on my NL 6433 skirt yesterday, and it's coming along nicely. I just have to hem it and decorate it now with the ric rac. So far the only adjustments I made were to the waistband. Per the directions I did a lap zipper. When I cut out the waistband, I cut it a little longer and wider. From past experience, I learned to do that because the waistbands are sometimes a little short for me. In doing this, I'm able to adjust it so that it turns out perfect for my waist.

In knitting news, I started a lace study. I've been reading Eunny Jang's Majoring in Lace. Today I read the article "A Primer on Knitted Lace" by Jackie Erickson-Scweitzer. The article can be found in Interweave Knits Summer 2006. I followed it up by reading "Lace, Shaping Your Garment" by Eunny Jang. That article is in Interweave Knits Fall 2006. I think I'm ready to go, but it's all still a little confusing. I guess I can figure the rest of it out as I go along. I'm getting ready to start charting a pattern out next on graph paper. I'll then start swatching.

Weekend Sewing Update!!

I started a new sewing project last night before going to bed. I wanted a new A-line skirt. The pattern I'm using is NL6433, view E. So far this skirt is a breeze, and there are only 2 pieces to cut. The waistband and the skirt, which is cut on the fold so it's all in one piece. I purchased the fabric at Fabric Warehouse last year. The brown fabric has eyelet cut-outs all over it. This meant that I would have to have a lining with this skirt. I wanted to incorporate the lining into the whole skirt, so I cut the lining the length that the actual skirt was suppose to be, and cut the skirt part shorter. It's a little crooked in this picture but I'll correct. I'm planning on putting 2 rows of chocolate ric rac as trim on the bottom lining of the skirt. I'm hoping it's not too much. I love this dog. He is too cut. He even knows not to walk on my fabric when I'm cutting it out.

Today I purchased this.


From buzzing around online,I see that the book is very good, and from looking through it, I think I can learn a lot from it. I'll keep you posted.

I ate year old wedding cake yesterday, and it was pretty good. I guess that means I wrapped it right.

Year 1

Today, one year ago I married this man. It has been a year of change, adjustment and boy have we had fun, and I'd do it all over again. I'm just glad he doesn't mind the crafting thing. In fact he loves it. And in honor of that I'm making him these.

I hope that everyone has been having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I don't know about everyone else, but it has been a weekend of organizing for me. I organized two containers of fabric and put the other three in the basement to go through later. I also organized my patterns in these 2 containers. I'm now working on these sheets so I know what I actually have. For the pictures I couldn't find online at the Butterick site, I took pictures with my camera. I'm also going to be working on an excel spreadsheet so that I know what fabrics, notions and yardages I need. I still need to organize my Burda Magazines. I came across this post from Cidell last night. I like what she did with her patterns, so I'll probably do that.

I also want to thank Omega for giving me this lovely award. Thank you. In turn, I now have to spread the love.

Sheila
Robin
Susan
Adrienne
Marissa
Lisa
Robin
Lori

These are just a few of the ladies that inspire me. I love your blogs.

I'll be back later, the day isn't over and I'm going to try and see if there is anything else I can start and or finish. Now, on to that year old wedding cake I have to go eat. At least we were able to save a bottle of champagne from the wedding. I'm hoping it will go down easy with that.

Wedding Accessories and New Projects!!!

Every girl needs her accessories on her wedding day. Recently, one of my knitting buddies asked me to make her daughter's handbag for her upcoming wedding. Better late than ever me( the wedding is next weekend) started working on it last night. I'm hoping I can finish most of it up by tonight. Here is what I have so far.

The zipper is basted in.

I asked the lovely bride if she wanted a zippered pocket on the inside of the bag. She requested just a plain pocket. The shoulder straps were cut from her wedding gown. I plan on incorporating the beading on the straps into her handbag.


Note** 5/14/09 - These last 2 pictures were taken this morning at work. The bag is almost complete, so I figured I'd carry it with me for the mother of the bride to see. I worked hard last night and this morning before work getting this baby to look like this. I still have some tweaking to do with the straps, but I think I figured out what I'm going to do.

Now you would think with all this going on, I haven't gotten any knitting done. Well, here's Ishbel. She was my carry along project when I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool. I binded off last Thursday. I just have to weave in the ends and block. The yarn I used was from stash(Yeah!!). It's Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.

I've also started Coraline. The yarn I'm using is Acero by Brooks Farm. I purchased this yarn while at Maryland Sheep and Wool specifically for this sweater. I was itching to start knit with it. It's gorgeous and I love working with it. Are you catching my theme yet? Ysolda was in town a few weeks ago, and I got a chance to meet her. She's a very nice and talented person, and I love the construction of her designs.

As I mentioned a little earlier I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool. I had a blast. I went with these lovely ladies, Rachel, Regina, Marissa, Lisa, Sherry, Robin(thanks for the pic.), and Rhonda. I tried to be good, I really did. Here's the newest additions to my stash.

First up is Blue Mountain Fibers Sheep 2 Shoe roving kit. Also from Blue Mountain Fibers is Socks That Rock.

From Just Our Yarn, here's Almaza, and some beads. Roving from Spinners Hill. Yarn from Tilli Tomas. Acero from Brooks Farm. Calypso from Creatively Dyed Yarns. Mercerized cotton from Old Mill Yarn by the way. This is 2200 yards for $12.45. finally, Tofutsies sock yarn. Sorry this post is long, but I only had individual pictures of all the yarn. I'm trying to be more diligent on making sure my stash is up to date on Ravelry.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!!

I don't know about all of you, but the last couple of weeks for me have been like a whirlwind. I need a video camera of life just to play it back. I last left off talking about my trip to Savannah. No girl can do without a traveling outfit so I'll start there. Back in September I talked about making this lovely Victoria Secret knockoff. Well I had finished it except for the hemming. I made sure I finished it for my trip and here it is. This outfit is so comfortable.

While in Savannah I visited Wild Fibre. If you're ever in Savannah, you must visit this shop. The shop is cozy and the ladies are very nice. While there I purchased 2 balls of Jojoland Melody Superwash and 3 skeins of Ironstone Solo.

I also checked out The Lady & Sons Restaurant. That's the restaurant owned by Paula Deen. It was pretty good. The buffet is your best option if you go there. I also got addicted to these lovely glazed pecans from River Street Sweets. I couldn't stop eating them.