Sewing for a Higher Power, Part Four

Yay, sewing this weekend! I finished another chasuble yesterday; this one matches all of the green stoles I made last fall. This one was a quick project: I ordered the silk dupioni last Saturday, received it Thursday, laundered and cut it on Friday, then sewed it up on Saturday.

It'll be worn today as St. Michael's returns to "ordinary time" on the liturgical calendar. This one, and the orange/gold one, are designed for New Mexico--natural fiber and no lining to mitigate our desert heat. The wrong side is finished with French seams and the neck is faced with cotton. The hem was just double turned and topstitched.

I ended up buying this second piece of silk from Satin Moon, the same place that the stole fabric came from. It's an exact match, a feat when you consider that this project began last July. They're definitely not an internet store, but once I got them on the phone they did an excellent job. I'll be writing another post soon about my dupioni research. I've ordered many swatches from several sources, so maybe my efforts will be useful to someone else.

I still have some stoles to make from the orange/gold silk, but I have a couple of months until they'll be needed. I'll post on them when I get back in vestment production mode in August. In the meantime, I'll be sewing stuff for me! The Material Girls group is meeting this afternoon, so I'm taking more projects to lay out and cut.

The tomato plant is still valiantly surviving after being beaten about by a windstorm and dealing with the dry, hot weather we've been having. It even has one tiny tomato so far:

I think there will be others soon, the plant developed several flowers all at once. But look at how crispy some of those leaves are!

Garden Update

Here's how it looks after a month+. Today I moved the pots to a sunnier location in hopes of some additional growth. I think the Arizona fires have slowed things down a bit here in Albuquerque. We're losing a lot of our afternoon sun as the wind shifts and the smoke plume drifts eastward.

I did a little bit of sewing this weekend, a dark blue linen pair of TSW Hudson Pants. This time I skipped the leg darts, so these have a wider profile at the hem than before. I'm thinking this pattern would be great as a regular pair of pull-on pants if lengthened just a bit to full length. They're not excessively roomy and wide-legged as so many pull-on pant patterns tend to be. 

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I've worn the latest TSW Mixit and Loes Hinse Tango skirt, and both were fine after 8+ hours of wear.  

Another Weekend Getaway and Some Sewing

Normally, we wouldn't take two getaways so close together, but DH got 3rd row tickets to Jay Leno for my birthday. The show was at the newest of the luxury Indian casinos in the area, Buffalo Thunder, so we were on the road for a quick overnight visit. Buffalo Thunder is just north of Santa Fe in Pojoaque, one of the major pueblos in the area. Very nice! The casino part was actually tucked away from the restaurants and ballroom, so minimal smoke and clanging bells, a nice improvement IMO. In addition to the show, we had dinner at a wonderful restaurant on the property, Red Sage. The resort is full of Native American art from all the tribes in the area, with many contemporary and traditional pieces.

Because we didn't leave until Saturday afternoon, I had some time to do some sewing! Both projects were cut during the last Material Girls meeting in May--so you see, I actually do stuff other than collect fabrics there!

I made the Loes Hinse Tango Skirt Friday evening. It was my first project ever with Slinky. Yeah, I realize that particular fabric fad is over, but I love the colors in this print from Emma Seabrooke. It wasn't really hard to sew with, just weird. I've made this pattern a bunch of times so it's an easy one for me. I ended up shortening it from the top about 3" after trying it on, so it hits me right below the knee. No hemming on this one, just a raw edge at the hem.

Saturday morning's garment was another TSW Mixit Tank. I made it from some polyester that was left over from another project I made several years ago.

The original garment is long gone, but I still have the cardigan that went with it. Now I have a sort-of twin set that I can wear to work.

Sorry for the hanger pictures, but I'm not photo-ready right now and Ms. Acme is on loan to the ASG. She was used at the Fiber Art Fiesta last weekend for display purposes.