Inga, Matilda and My 1st Self Draft Pattern!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Mine was relaxing and uneventful. It's been a while, and a lot has happened. I think I needed a blog break/vacation. Although, I've been away, I still kept up with my reading even though I haven't done much commenting.

My birthday presents finally arrived in the mail. Meet Matilda, she arrived first. It's the Dell Inspiron mini, which I received from my wonderful husband. I like the fact of knowing that I can carry her around in my handbag. I'm still getting use to her, and I do like a regular laptop better, but she is growing on me.

My next lovely present was Inga!! She is the Singer 14CG754 ProFinish Serger. Can I tell you that I just love her. I've never owned a serger before, and I think I'm in for a lovely ride. She had me a little frazzled at first. After a phone call to Sheila,(she always calms me down. Thanks girl!!) and then one to Sew and Vac Direct, (One of my strings weren't caught in the tension dial tight enough. Shoot, I thought I'd broke the darn machine)I was up and running.

To commemorate the occasion, I decided to try and self draft my first pattern. Here she is. Adrienne, I hope you like her. I got the idea from you a while back. I think I like the cost even better(Nope, I LOVEEEEEEE the outfit too). The fabric was a find at Walmart for a mere $1.50 a yarn and it feels fabulous. I purchased 4 yards and only used 1 1/8 yards. I lined the bodice with black tricot that I purchased at Philadelphia Fabric Outlet in Philadelphia. Let me tell you. I will make sure I check there first for my tricot before going to JoAnn's again for it. JoAnns sells tricot for 9.99 a yard. I stocked up at the outlet. I got 2 yds of white tricot 64 inches for 98 or 99 cents a yard, cream tricot for a little less that 1.50 a yd at 64 inches, and the black tricot was 4.50 a yd at 100 inches. I'll do a more in depth review by the weekend, but I can tell you now that I would definitely make this one again!!

This past weekend I worked on McCall's 5621.I'll try to have a review with pics of me in the dress by the weekend. Mr. D says he likes the dress, but he's not feeling the pattern on the fabric. I think I'm going to make it again using a different pattern.

In other news, I got laid off from my job a few weeks ago. My whole office closed. We are suppose to reopen in September. I guess we'll see. I've been starting to get things done around the house. It's been a slow go, but it's getting done. My mother is loving it, I've taken her to all her doctor's appoints, which so far there has been one every week.

In knitting news, I'm still working on my shawl/wrap. It's coming along slowly, but I do like it. Here's a little taste.