A Couple of Memes

Danville Girl recently passed along a couple of awards. Both have the "10 things" meme, so I'm going to do like Linda and come with 10 items in total. Hopefully they are all honest, and maybe they'll also be interesting.

1. I've been divorced since 1991.
2. I've lived in New Mexico longer than anywhere else, including my hometown of Louisville, KY.
3. I recently had braces reinstalled on my lower jaw.
4. I was encouraged to start sewing at the age of five, beginning with simple hand sewing kits. I started using a sewing machine when I was 12.
5. I've lived on my own since my divorce. It's a big adjustment to be living with someone again.
6. I like having a clean house. However, cleaning it myself is not a priority!
7. I've had cats for as long as I can remember. I usually have 2 at a time, although I've had as many as 3 at various times.
   
8. I'm somewhat of a clothes horse.
   
9. Grilling is my favorite way to cook.
10. I take a lot of pleasure in having my own sewing room. It's nice to have an organized space to work in.

OK, I'm going to cheat a little, and not name specific nominees for awards. I hope no one minds, but there are so many blogs that I follow. While many like this kind of thing, several don't, and I would not want to inadvertantly annoy someone. I hope you all understand.

Shopping in Vegas

In a word, it's amazing.

Everytime I'm there, I'm always surprised at the sheer number and variety of luxury retail shops and how busy they all were. I counted at least 4 Louis Vuittons and 2 Chanels, among many more.

These 2 windows are from one of the Chanels. You can't tell from the photos, but the tweed shown had a lot of gold metallic in the fabric.



The following window is from Alexander McQueen's store at the Wynn. The clothes shown were totally different than those at the Bellagio. The red dress on the left was really interesting. The fabric started at the collar as a houndstooth, then morphed into birds. It appeared to all be in the weave. How'd they do that? The jacket was made of an obviously faux fur, but I really like the lines of it.


These shoes were also from McQueen. I thought they were clever, with the zipper trim and skull pulls. I could see wearing them to the office, really!


I don't know who makes these bags, but I thought they were cute, especially the ones with the flower ruffles. They were in the window of a leather goods store so I couldn't see the brand.


Did I buy any of this stuff? Umm, no. This was shopping as inspiration.

I did go to the Fashion Show Mall later in the afternoon after DF went back to the hotel. The place was hopping, and honestly, I got pretty overwhelmed so I didn't buy much. I mean, 6 major department stores? Pu-leeze!! I ended up getting a little fleece jacket at the ABC Store (what is the deal with them? Hawaii merchandise everyplace!!). I also bought this pair of Sofft pumps:

Home, Home Again

Like BeeBee and her family, DF and I went to Las Vegas for the weekend. Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to meet this trip although we at dinner only a few yards apart from each other at the Venetian on Christmas night.

DF and I are creatures of habit, so we stayed at the Mirage again. It's a nice property and centrally located on the Strip, so it works for us. It was incredibly crowded, as was every place we went! We spent a lot of time wandering from casino to casino, eating (Onda at the Mirage, Margaritaville, B & B at the Venetian, Stratta at the Wynn, and Wolfgang Puck at the MGM Grand) and drinking. We also went to see David Copperfield's show--yes, I know it's all smoke and mirrors, but how?

It was a quick trip for us, only about an hour's flight. It was wonderful to get away from cold and quiet New Mexico, just as wonderful to come home. 3 days at a time is just about enough for us.

Oh and BeeBee, I have no idea about New Year's. How about a warm beach somewhere?

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc...

....Best wishes to you and yours whatever you celebrate!!

DF and I will be out of pocket for a few days, so I'll catch up with you after the weekend. Mwah!!

Completed: TSW Ikina Jacket

This jacket really came together quickly! I finished it up this morning.

Because the boucle hid any stitches, I did most of the assembly with the serger and sewed down the hems with a large zig zag. The fit is a cross between a sweater and a jacket.

Thanks Terri K, for posting your knit Ikina to Sewer's Guild a while ago. I used a lot of your ideas to make mine.

Another Project: TSW Ikina Jacket

Yep, I'm starting with another project before finishing the last one. The lining of the Butterick skirt is completed and attached to the skirt, so now I'm taking a little break before finishing it up. I know, that's a way to make a UFO (unfinished object for you non-sewers), but the cool weather has me wanting to make something more wintery.

As a result, I'm making another version of the Sewing Workshop Ikina Jacket. I made a lightweight version from linen and rayon last summer, but this time I'm using this boucle that's been resting in my stash for a while:


It's heavier and less drapey, so I'm thinking this version will be more like a sweater. The photo above is a little bright due to flash, so here's another shot on Miss Acme that gives another perspective:


I'm also using the serger to construct this version. While steaming works, the fabric doesn't lend itself to hard pressing, and it also sheds like crazy on the cut edges. So serging is a good way to both sew up and finish off the seams.

On a tangent: Smudge has decided that the plant ledges make great perches to lounge upon. The picture below is from this morning. I took the shot from the kitchen at the end of the breakfast bar.

Ahh, Vacation!

Finally, I've got a few days off! DF keeps coming up with suggestions on what to do with my time, but basically I'm more interested in having "me" time than anything else. Today, I didn't do too much, but it was so great just to be able to go to Starbuck's and actually sit and have my coffee without having to be on a schedule.

Tomorrow I'm having a dental day, getting some corrective orthodontics to correct some crowding of my lower teeth. They've bugged me for a long time so I finally decided to do something about it. I hope it'll be easier than the first time I went through the whole braces thing eons ago.

Butterick 3201: Progress

Work on the skirt continues.

I installed the invisible zipper, using Els' instructions. One thing I'd do different next time is to use a longer zipper; the one in my stash was the perfect color match but a bit too short for the technique. I ended up with wavy stitching lines at the bottom of the opening because I couldn't avoid sewing around the zipper stop. I'd recommend using a zipper at least a couple of inches longer than the opening to avoid this problem.

I also stitched around the waist to provide additional stabilization (I previously pressed on some stay tape) and to mark the waist seam for later. Then I sewed up the side seams. Nothing exceptional there.

The skirt is resting on Miss Acme, waiting for the lining to be made and attached.

Butterick 3201: Matching a Seam

This skirt requires some attention to detail, at least because it's so simple. As a result, I decided to pay a lot of attention to matching the center back seam. I talked about this several projects back.

Of course, this starts with marking and cutting. What I do first is to mark the seam line to be matched on the tissue.on the tissue. Patterns seldom include stitching lines anymore, and this will become important later. Then I cut the first piece from the fabric, using that stitching line as a rough placement guide. Once cut, I press a fold into cut out piece along the center back seamline. I use that piece to match the remaining side by laying it out on the yardage and marking the seamline of the second piece along the fold of the first piece. I also mark the top and bottom of the first piece with pins. I use flat head pins for this step. Next I lay out the tissue, aligning it with the pins that mark the the center back line, top, and bottom. Remember to flip the pattern orientation, so that there are two different sides.

I didn't think to photograph the matching process this time, but you can see the general process I followed if you go to the link in the first paragraph.

OK, after fiddling around with the fabric and matching, there are two backs. Now what?

I also use that folded center back seam (remember the first fabric piece I cut?) to match the seam for sewing. In the photo below, I've prepared the pieces (seam finish, etc.) up to that point.


As you can see, I laid out the 2 pieces on the ironing board. Then I used flat head pins to attach the pieces together, matching the print as I pinned.


A pretty good match, but a normal seam can't be sewn like that. What I did next is to baste the 2 pieces together along the fold line. I believe the technical term is "slip basting", because the stitch used is more of a whip stitch vs. the more common running stitch. Kind of hard to see in the photo below (yay, I did a good job!), but it shows the basted seam.


And here's the finished seam, ready for the next step. It virtually disappears:


Is this process a bit fussy? Yes, absolutely! Are there easier ways to do this? I'm sure of it--there are basting tapes that you could use to stick the pieces together before seaming. Is the fuss worth it? I think so, the extra effort makes the skirt look less "loving hands at home" and more high-end.

Q and A

It's been a while since I've answered any questions, so I'll remedy that now. I haven't been doing a whole lot of sewing since Thanksgiving time due to houseguests, back spasms (owwww!), etc. I finally got my tree up last night, only a week late, and it looks great!



Today's projects will include cleaning up all the emptied boxes of Christmas decor. DF commented that the house looks like when he was moving in!

But in the meantime I thought I'd catch up on some recent comments:

Duchesse commented on Butterick 3201: That casual phrase "I've got the fitting issues worked out" made my blood run cold. That's why I abandoned sewing, and why my skirts looked like laundry bags. Ruined a lot of fabric and never got the issues worked out. And... does it have a drawstring AND a zipper? Nice shape, beautiful floral.

I've made my share of duds over the years (including this pattern), so I can relate. I think that's why a lot of sewers end up making the same patterns again and again. I'm planning on dragging out an old pencil skirt pattern next for the very same reason. And yes, the pattern features a drawstring and a zipper--IMO, the drawstring is primarily a style element and can easily be left off as I plan to do with the current project.

Marji also commented on Butterick 3201: BTW, check out Els tutorial on installing invisible zips using a reg zipper foot and a seam that is presewn. Excellent tutorial. I use her method sometimes and my #35 foot the rest of the time.

Marji, thanks for bringing up Els' tutorial! I haven't tried it yet but I definitely plan to use it when sewing the invisible zipper in this skirt. And thanks for the foot recommendation I am still pretty new to the World of Bernina and don't know my way around the mulitude of feet available!

Thanks to everyone for comments on recent projects. The pajama pants are easy projects that always turn out well. I have fabric picked out for another Pure and Simple Shell; although it's sleeveless, it'll be a good layering piece.