It's been awhile

and I don't even know where to begin. In the past month and a half I have been through so many life changes. Just thinking about it is making my head spin. In June I got laid off again. I guess my boss was liking the fact that she didn't have to pay anyone during the summer months. Well, I couldn't handle that and unemployment is so bad, I couldn't live off of that either.

My buddy Karen called me up and asked if I wouldn't mind covering for vacations at her job for 2 weeks. I jumped at the chance. Mind you, knowing that I was only going to work for 2 weeks, I had it in my head that I would start looking for a new place of employment shortly thereafter. Well, 2 weeks turned in to 3, then 4 then, "We would like to offer you a permanent position". You know I jumped at the offer. When I sent the old boss my resignation letter, because I was suppose to go back to work this coming Monday, she promptly called me leaving me a message wishing me well. From her voicemail message, I got the impression that she expected me to work my new job and still work for her. To that, you know I didn't call her back. Anyway, I am enjoying my new job and learning something new everyday as I am now working in the legal field. That was my July. My official start at the job was the beginning of August.

I didn't get any sewing done at all except for starting the Butterick 5147 which is still not finished, but I'm halfway there. I got to hang out with Mr. D a little. He's on the night shift while I work during the day. It's a little hard, but we make it work. Every once and a while we get that morning drive by. We went hiking in Rickets Glen (I'm saving the pictures for another post. The place is gorgeous. I got to see about 20 waterfalls. The hike kicked my butt, but it was so worth it. Let's just say, I started doing Zumba shortly thereafter and have been going strong ever since. I'm going to work up to adding some yoga in this coming week and since it's starting to get cooler, I'll probably add some bike riding in also. I haven't noticed any weight loss yet, but I have started losing inches and body fat.

In shopping new, I know everyone knows about PR day in NYC. I had such a wonderful time. It was great too see some old familiar faces and to meet some new faces as well. I finally got a chance to meet Robin. She and I have been conversing for the last 4 years or so via blog and email. Girl, you are a delight in person. I'd have to say we had a wonderful time in NYC and I'm proud to say I didn't go overboard with the shopping.

I went with a plan for fall and winter garments, because that's just what's on my mind right now. At Metro Textiles I picked up 8 yards of double knit fabric for 3 dresses and 2 pairs of pants (not pictured) and a knit for a cocktail sheath dress. Some leather and a piece of lining purchased at Mood. Trim from Pacific for future project ideas I have in mind and a special purchase from Elliot Berman. The piece on the top is Dolce & Gabbana for a skirt and the other piece is a cotton fabric from Italy for a sheath dress. All in all it was a fabulous day.

Now, this past weekend I'd planned to get a whole lot of sewing done for me. It just didn't happen. Between running around and getting errands done, hanging with family and friends and sewing for other people, it just wasn't happening. On Saturday night I hung out with my girlfriend and did some alterations for her. I also designed and sewed a painting smock for my neighbor's son. He needed it for school and she couldn't find one anywhere. A trip to JoAnn's on Sunday night produced this baby. Please tell me why you can't find cool waterproof fabric for boys? I found plain blue outdoor windbreaker fabric that had a plastic coating on the inside in the discount area, but that was it. When I went to the cutting counter, there was only a little over a yard left, so I had no margin for mistakes or errors. You know I made a muslin first just to play it safe. Now, a 6 year old can not have a plain blue smock. Especially one that's into Ben 10 so I went over to the quilting section to see what I could find to jazz things up. When I spotted the flying saucers and noticed how it matched the blue fabric and orange bias tape I'd picked out, I knew I had a winner. I picked up some plastic for pockets on the front, embroidered he's name on it and we had a winner. To end the weekend out, I did manage to cut out 2 skirts for myself. Hopefully I'll have them sewn together soon. I have too many ideas in my head, and not enough time.

On a sad ending note, I had to put my best friend Byron(Mr. D calls him husband #1) down 2 weeks ago. He made it to the wonderful ripe old age of 18 and I am so proud and thankful to him for that. We had 17 1/2 years together and they were a lot of fun. He had a lot of character and everyone that knew him, thought he was something else. Let's just say he acted more like a person than a dog. Anyway, he will be greatly missed and things just aren't the same around here without him. Jackson, my other dog is missing him and it's an adjustment. He has taken to chewing my shoes up and his eating habits have gotten a little flaky, but we're working it out.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and enjoying the cooler weather. Have a great weekend.

Loop Neckline T-Shirt Tutorial

I wanted to make one more top for SMOT since it coming to an end. This would make top #4 for me. I was trying to figure out what to make when I came across some inspiration from the LOFT.

I really liked the way the top was embellished and thought to myself, I'd like something like that but in a basic top/t-shirt. Since I didn't have a pattern for the basic t-shirt, I decided to come up with my own. Now, I did promise a tutorial of how I've been coming up with the self-drafted tops I've been making lately. I didn't want to disappoint anyone so, here's a little look see of how I've been doing it.

I started out with a t-shirt that I've had for quite some time. I liked the neckline and cut of this shirt. From there I place the shirt on my drawing table/workboard. I lay my tracing paper over it and place drafting tape at all 4 corners. From there I use my blunt edge tracing wheel by Clover(If you don't have one of these, get one, they're great). I then trace the outline of the top front and back. It looks a little something like this when you're done. Next, draw the lines in with a pencil. I then double check what I drew by folding the top in half and laying the drawing up against it. I start making any corrections there. Lastly, I lay the back and front pieces against each other to make sure they match, if they don't(which they normally don't), I make any necessary corrections to make sure that they do. From there, I drew in my seam allowances and cut the pattern out. I then sewed my top together. For the neckline embellishment I cut 2 inch strips 60 inches long, or however long the width of your fabric is for bias-tape trim. Fold the strip in half lengthwise and iron. Open the strip back up and then fold the edges in to the center fold and iron. Now fold the piece in half again and stitch it closed. At this point you are now ready to start pinning your bias stripes on to your blouse. Make sure to finish off your neckline first, even though you don't see that in these 2 pictures. I tend to work backwards sometimes. If you have a dressform, use her. If not, lay your blouse on a table or your ironing board, it's just as good. That way you can get a sense of what the blouse will look like as you go along. Pin the edge of the bias stripe to the blouse then fold the bias strip in a zig zag formation forming a loop and pinning as you go. The first row should be about a quarter to a half inch from the edge of the blouse. When it looks the way you want it, baste the strip to your blouse and then take it to the machine. Do the same thing again, but this time, make sure that the bias strip is covering the edge of your blouse. Pin, baste and then stitch it to your blouse permanently. That it. Enjoy, and Embellish to your heart's content.

Jacket Love!!

Can I just start off by telling you now that I'm loving my Simplicity Jacket. I could not have picked a better pattern to work with for my first lined blazer. I'm sorry that this pattern is an OOP because it is a very well drafted pattern and the directions are pretty well written.
On Saturday morning I got up and headed straight for the sewing room. I proceeded to gather the sleeves and ease them into the jacket. Upon trying it on, I realized that the jacket was to big for me and there was some major gaping going on in the back. I have broad shoulders, so I had cut out a size 16 for a more comfortable fit. As usual like pretty much every Saturday morning, Ms. Sheila and I were doing our morning catch up. I told her my issue (more like she heard me cussing while we were talking and she then asked me what was wrong. She then told me to fold the front in by about an inch on both sides and hopefully that would take care of my problem. As I had already sewn the leather trim on the jacket, I had some major ripping out to do. With fingers crossed, and teeth mashing I dove in. I was able to get the trim off. It is so delicate and I kept thinking I might rip it. I then moved the trim over a little more than an inch and then folded the fronts in. I tried the jacket on again, but I still didn't like the fit, so I then pinched the fabric between the back and side back pieces on each side and started pinning. I tried the jacket on one more time, and the fit looked pretty good. From this point. I made notes of everything and did the same adjustments to the lining. I then installed the lining in the jacket, attached the trim to the sleeve cuff area and slip stitched the lining to the sleeve cuff area by hand. This view of the pattern has ties that you attached to the front of the jacket. Because of the trim I decided to use, I thought that the ties would take away from the jacket so I decided to go with a hook and eye closure. Originally I thought about using just regular metal ones but upon looking in my stash, I found some brown hooks that I must have taken off of an old jacket of mine. The weird thing was that I couldn't find any eyes. No problem I decided to try my hand at making one with thread.

For my first attempt I sewed both the hook and the thread eye at the jacket edges where the ties should have gone. I didn't like it very much because it left a gap. I then went in a little on the inside of the jacket and did the thread eye there. This did the trick. It now closes much nicer. I still have to hem the bottom of the jacket, which I plan on finishing tonight hopefully. All in all, this baby is a winner, and I can't wait to wear it.
Next up, Spring Month of Tops. I am so behind. I already have 4 patterns cut, 2 of which are for my mother (Mother's Day is right around the corner). I just have to pick the fabric out. I also am going to try my hand at designing a top. I was with Mr. D on Sunday walking back from the museum and we passed this woman wearing this really cool looking top. I loved it from the start. I've been thinking of how to reconstruct/recreate it since then. Yesterday at lunch I sat and drew pattern pieces using one of my t-shirts as a template. I'm going to try and see what I come up with tonight and tomorrow night. Hopefully, it will work out. I got a box of goodies in the mail yesterday, but haven't tried anything out yet. More to come.

Tonight is Glee!!!! I can't wait!!

Improvised Vera Wang Skirt

Do you ever start working on a pattern, cut it out, and then just not feel like finishing it? Well, I'm there right now with Vogue 8941. Sad part is that it's probably the easiest dress to do. And that I'll probably love it when it's finally done. With that in mind, and my growing urge for instant gratification, last night, I started something new. I had about a yard left of the Vera Wang fabric after cutting Vogue 8941, the above stated dress, and thought it would be good for a simple a-line skirt as long as the front and back were the same. Since I didn't have a pattern for that, I went into my closet and pulled out my gray charcoal skirt that I like. I've had it for years. I literally laid it on my fabric and cut the fabric out around it leaving room for a seam allowance. I then drove to Joanns after realizing that I didn't have an invisible zipper to match(thank goodness it was 8pm and they were still open). As of this morning I have one side completely sewn up and the zipper installed. This is how she looks so far.

By Saturday, I hope to have both the front and back facings done, and then I will attach a lining to the facing. Thanks to Ms. Adelaide B over at Pretty Sweet, I was introduced to Gertie's Blog. She has a tutorial for making vintage inspired slips. As a woman who grew up in a household were you didn't leave the house unless you had a slip on under your dress or skirt, I'm loving Gertie's blog. I especially love her scallop edge slip. I'm going to try the scallop edging out on the lining of my Vera Wang skirt. I think it will make an nice inside finish to the skirt.
By the way, I have to thank Karen for taking the picture of me yesterday in my new faux leather belt. It's so nice when sewing buddies work so near each other.

I also want to thank So NGLaLALa for sending me this lovely journal. I will use it for something awesome. This was the very first blog contest I've ever won.

A short time ago, I was awarded this by Eliana. If you haven't read her blog, please check it out. She is an amazing knitter/crocheter. I'm always amazed by her beautiful hand work. She does an amazing job.

Now, with this award, I'm suppose to tell 7 things about myself and then nominate 7 other people to do the same. Here goes:

1. I'm a last minutes person (Yes, Rachel, you were right about me.=)

2. I work well under pressure.

3. I don't like getting up early in the morning. I'm definitely a night person.

4. I love double decker peanut and jelly(it has to be grape jam) sandwiches on wheat toast with hot chocolate.

5. I love out of the dryer warm and cozy sweats on a cold rainy day.

6. I just got Netflix recently, and I think I'm addicted.

7. When I was in High School, I started writing a novel, but I never finished it.

The 7 people I nominate are:

Sheila
Rachel
Robin
Tanya
Melissa
Susan
Faye

Getting Back to Nature

I have to admit that I got absolutely no sewing done this past weekend. On Saturday I did buy some Donna Karen fabric from Jomars. It's sad, I just can't seem to stick to my fabric diet. I went to the Norristown store to pick up one more button for my MIL's sweater that I was changing the buttons on. I couldn't resist. I got some blue fabric for a $1 a yard. I think it may be a shantung to work up a muslin of my Easter dress, by the way, for the dress portion of my outfit I'm going to go with Vogue 8491. Now, I'm having issues over fabric choices for my Easter outfit as I picked up this DK beauty for $2.00 a yard. The color in these 2 pictures is very off. The fabric is a mint green with chocolate brown. I also got this plaid fabric for $1.60 a yard for this jacket that I previously talked about. At Jomars they think it's either Nine West or DK. After that excursion I stopped at JoAnns and picked up a few patterns. I thought when I got home I could get some sewing done. I finished sewing the buttons on my MIL's sweater and then Mr. D kindly informed me that we were going on a winter hike as he needed to record some outdoor sounds for a project he was working on. We took a ride over to The Willows in Radnor and went for a walk in the woods. It was awesome trekking through the snow. I forgot my camera so I tried to capture a few of the scenes I saw with my iPhone.
I also got a picture of Mr. D wearing his new cable hat which I finished last week in time for his birthday.

On Sunday, we went skiing with friends at Spring Mountain. I've only been wearing berets of late and I needed a fitted hat to wear. What's a girl to do but crochet one up on the ride to the mountain. I used scraps leftover from recent projects. The next knitting project that I've been working on are bootie slippers for a friend. These pink ones belong to his wife. I think either her mother or grandmother made them and they are worn out on the bottom. Their anniversary is coming up and he wants to surprise her with a new pair. It's been great trying to recreate them as I don't have a pattern to work from. It's been a great learning experience. I'm working on the second one now and it's about halfway done. I hope she likes them.