Annual Desert Garden Photos

Every year I subject everyone to photos of the few flowers in my yard. Since it's totally xeriscaped, what you get are cacti. Desert plants are strange, but you have to admit that they're also kind of interesting at least for a former Southeasterner like me.


This is one of a variety of prickly pears. There are several varieties growing in my yard, but not all of them are blooming yet. It's been a cold and damp spring, so some of the plants are behind.


These flowers are from a giant cholla in the front yard. The bees love the blossoms, and a family of birds nests in the center every year. Smart birds! Their nest is like a fortress.


The orange blooms come from a variety of barrel cactus, of which I have several specimens around the property. These are typically the first cacti that bloom, so I caught these a little late. Most have already faded.

Another variety of prickly pear.

There are still a couple more varieties left to bloom--a bear paw prickly pear, and another variety of (I think) cholla.

The BIG Project: Plan B

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm taking another direction on the wedding ensemble. I spent a good part of Saturday afternoon working on a few refinements to My Hearts a Flutter, as well as picking out a skirt pattern. I finally made a surprising choice, considering that it's more of an easy type skirt than fitted. But think of it--the top part of the skirt will be covered by the shell, so do I really need to have a darted, zippered skirt for this?

The pattern I picked is an old one, Vogue 2637, copyright 1991. I've had this pattern for years and I originally bought it for the top and jacket, not so much the skirt, shorts and pants.


And of course, I had to prototype it since it's been a while since I've made any type of straight skirt. That's how I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon and part of Sunday. I used an embellished linen blend that I bought from JoAnn's that has been resting in the stash for several years. Here'a a quick photo of it on Ms. Acme with my first My Heart's a Flutter shell.


Needless to say, both parts of the wedding ensemble will be cream silk, but I think the basic silhouette works. I'll provide more details about the skirt in a separate post.

In other activities this weekend, DF and I put together some patio furniture . These are by Martha Stewart and came from Home Depot. Yes, it was as much fun as you think. However, they'll provide some nice seating now that they're all put together.

The BIG Project: Hearts Fluttering in Vogue Sample Dress

The sample dress is almost complete; here it is on Ms. Acme. I just need to complete the side slits and hems. It fits me a little differently, the bodice is less blousy and the skirt is not as gathered. Let's just say that I'm more voluptuous than willowy Ms. Acme (who is a Jr. form, after all). I promise, I'll post a picture of it on me once it's done.

Here's a closer view of the fabric. As I mentioned in my last dress post, it's rayon that's jacquard-woven with palm trees and then overprinted with more palm trees. It has a great hand and it's wonderful to work with. However, I've discovered it's delicate, probably due to that gorgeous weave.


In making this dress, I've come to the conclusion that it's going to be difficult to incorporate the beaded mesh if I make the wedding dress from this pattern.

• The bodice is lined to the edge, which requires sewing in small places and much pressing to lay flat. I don't think the mesh will hold up to it.
• True, I can overcome that issue by binding the edges of the garment. It would be a different look but attractive. However...
  
• The other issue is the waist, which is elastic. It's going to be difficult to put a casing in all the layers (lining, silk twill and mesh) while avoiding beads.
  

Not that I consider this a fail. I love the dress I made, and it's going to Kauai for the honeymoon. DF really likes the style. The altered and tweaked pattern is versatile, so I'll be making it up again.

So what about The BIG Project? I did do a lot of work with the My Hearts a Flutter top in working up the dress, so I'm going back to it for wedding attire.

• I've already made it once, so I know it fits.
  
• I can use the existing top to experiment with the placement of the mesh.
• The pattern has facings, which I can use to finish off the armhole edges thereby eliminating the turning/pressing problem.
• I can finish off the ensemble with a pencil skirt. The silk twill is heavy and firm enough for this style and I've done pencil skirts before. They aren't that difficult. And that eliminates the elastic issue.
  

So there you have it. I've gone from a dress to an ensemble while the clock ticks away. But conceptually it works, so I'm not too nervous about it--it does keep me from obsessing over a million other wedding considerations!

And if worse comes to worse, there's always RTW. Hopefully it won't come to that, because I just know there wouldn't be anything suitable in Albuquerque. Wish me luck!

Sewing Equipment

Recently I received a question about what serger I used, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about my sewing equipment.

Catherine asked:

"Do you use a serger? What brand and are you happy with it? I am very unhappy and discouraged with my Pfaff Hobbylock 756. Just won't hold the tension. Repair person can't even help me in Santa Fe."

I'm on my second serger. My current one is a BabyLock Evolve, and I love it. I bought it from Ann Silva's in Albuquerque, which has an excellent repair department. This model was recently replaced by the Evolution, which I haven't tried yet because I'm not much of a trader. I tend to hang on to my machines. It's true that the BabyLocks are pricey, but since I use my serger a lot, it's been worth it.

My first serger was also a BabyLock, a Protege model that I had for 14-15 years. Finally, the stitch quality deteriorated, and it was too difficult to keep it adjusted. I sewed a lot with it but it was time to let it go.

BTW Catherine, the Pfaff dealer in Albuquerque is Bob's Discount. I think they have a pretty good reputation. I don't know if they can fix your Hobbylock but that's another possible repair resource for you.


My primary sewing machine is a Bernina Activa 140 that I've had for a couple of years. It's a basic, but well made machine that mostly suits my needs.



I bought this BabyLock Audrey last year as a secondary machine to use for travel, classes, etc. I have to admit I haven't used her as much as anticipated. It's a nice little machine, though.

Progress on the BIG Project aka Hearts Fluttering in Vogue

At 5 weeks out from the wedding, I'm still working away on prototypes of The Dress. Currently, I'm working up #3, but progress is being made. This one has a pretty good bodice, although I've rotated the armhole dart out and moved it to the side seam and waist. And I also added the skirt this time.


As I mentioned weeks ago, I ended up bailing on the bodice that came with the pattern after prototype #1, and I ended up using the Hearts a Flutter top as the base pattern instead. Yes, this project is now "Hearts Fluttering in Vogue." Well, more tweaking on the new bodice pattern. I've cut in the armholes to look more like the original design, plus, I rotated out the armhole darts for fear of their impact on the sequined and beaded mesh I'll be using for the final version. I just know that a dart would have intersected a motif. Not good.

Please tell me that the final dress will go together easily as a result of all this pre-work. DF keeps telling me the final dress will take no time. Remember, he doesn't sew!

The silk I bought has to be easier to work with than the poly charmeuse I'm using for prototyping. That stuff is incredibly slick and mobile. I had originally planned to make an actual dress from this stuff but I think I'll pass. Too slick, too ravelly, and too shiny for a dress. Although I actually like this fabric, any leftovers will be used for something else--lining or maybe some lingerie as it does have a Victoria's Secret kinda vibe.

Since I'll need some apparel for the honeymoon, I decided to make an actual garment with the massively altered and tweaked pattern before tackling The Dress. I bought some tropical print jacquard rayon several years ago that will be perfect for a little frock to wear on Kauai. I think it could be Tommy Bahama fabric, but whatever. My backup fabric is some cream and navy silk noil that could become a work-appropriate dress, now that a more business casual dress code is in place. We can now go sleeveless, omit panty hose, and wear peep toe shoes again...

Addendum: I received a great comment from an Anonymous poster regarding the handling of poly charmeuse, so I thought I'd share it with you. I also included my reply explaining why I'd moved on. These are the types of things that have to be considered when working with special occasion fabrics when sewing for events. You really need to be prepared to change directions if you need to.

Good tip, thanks!

Nancy,
Polyester is washable, so, starch the yardage, cut out and it sews like a crisp, thin fabric. When finished, simply wash the starch out and the original drape returns.

My response:

Hi Anonymous--thanks for the suggestion, but I've already moved on to another fabric that's better behaved and has a closer hand to the silk twill I'm using for the final. And that's fine. The poly charmeuse has done its job--which is figuring out fit issues. I had my doubts about making it into a final garment anyway.

Hot Patterns Bossa Nova Skirt

This is the first Hot Patterns garment I've made. Although I've purchased several patterns of this brand, I haven't gotten around to sewing any of them yet. This one was a free download at Fabric.com.

Basically, it's an 8-panel gored skirt, so one pattern piece. I wanted to make it in black and white, since I have a few black items in my closet with white accents. They're harder to match than you'd think! So off to Hancock's, where I found the perfect fabric, a large scale floral. Yes, it's polyester, but I really liked the print, so I'll deal with it. I also bought lining to go with, also poly, because you know how white fabric is. It always shows through.

I proceeded to cut and sew the panels when I realized that they were just a wee bit too short. I had already added some length to the pattern when cutting it out but not enough. The original pattern just has you turn down the sewn panels at the top to create the casing. That wouldn't work in this case because I needed all the length I could spare. Fortunately, I had bought more fabric than I needed (as usual), so I made a separate waistband casing. It also solved the problem of dealing with 2 layers, the face and the lining.

Love love love how the skirt looks! It is also comfortable to wear through the day. I will be making more from this pattern! BTW, I took the photo above after getting home from work and a dentist appointment, and the skirt still looks fine. (I expect my skills with timer and tripod will improve, but not bad for a first effort.)

Wedding dress update: yes, still working on that one. I've mocked up the bodice a couple of times and pre-washed sample pieces of each fabric. Hopefully, I'll have a sample version of the dress soon, then I can move on to the good stuff.

6th Photo Meme

Mardel of SewDistracted tagged me for this one. You're supposed to post the sixth photo posted on your blog and why you posted it.


This is a picture of my pincushions that I posted on January 15, 2007, after noticing some other bloggers had done the same. I was pretty new at that stage in my blogging and was in search of topics.

I still have all those pincushions, plus I added this one last summer:


My favorite is still that basket with the little pincushion, and the kitty is a great one too.

OK, so I'm going to cheat a little bit. As my next step, I'm supposed to pick 10 other bloggers and ask them to share their sixth photo, but I've gotten a little burned doing that on previous meme rounds. So if you feel moved to share, please do and link back!