January Getaway

No progress on the new sewing project so far, because we decided at the last minute to head to Tucson for some warmth! We left on Friday after work and returned Monday evening, which left two full days to enjoy the city. But mostly, we wanted to focus on relaxation, which we have had too little of lately.

DH did a lot of research on travel deals, and we found some good ones. The best by far was our hotel, the Lodge on the Desert, which is a historic property dating back to 1931. Its most recent remodeling and expansion occurred in 2009, which you can see in the photo below:

It's a gorgeous property located in a residential area not too far from the University of Arizona. Our room was like this one:

It even included a working gas fireplace and a tiny balcony. So romantic!

The grounds were also very pretty, although the landscaping was a bit worse for wear due to a freeze the previous week. We got there just afterwards.

Although it got quite warm during the day, you can tell from these morning and evening shots that it could be chilly too. Pretty typical of desert climates.

The  big highlight of the weekend was the Sonoran Desert Museum, a zoo and botanical garden featuring the Sonoran Desert region of southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. The animals we saw included Mexican wolves (lobo),

Bobcat,

gray fox,

mountain lion,

and javalina.

As you can see, many of the animals were taking a siesta in the afternoon sun. There was also an extensive exhibit of reptiles, lizards, arachnids (spiders), and other creepy crawlies.

The Museum is located in the middle of a Saguaro cactus "forest" in the mountains outside of town. So the drive was interesting as well as the destination.

Dining was also a feature of our trip. Surprisingly, the hotel had an excellent restaurant where we had breakfast every morning, also a lunch. The ingredients were locally sourced where possible and well prepared. We later found out that the chef is a Culinary Institute graduate and one of the top chefs in town.

We also had an Italian dinner at Tavolino. The food was excellent there as well.

After our trip to the Desert Museum, we headed to Allegro for gelato, some of the best I've had anywhere. It's a tiny little shop located right by the University but definitely worth a visit. I am craving the canela (cinnamon) gelato even now.

Our last dinner was within walking distance at the Old Pueblo Grille.

It's in another old hacienda that's been converted into a restaurant. I was a little disappointed in my dish, but I suppose that's to be expected when you're used to New Mexican style southwestern cooking. It was pretty mild in comparison. The restaurant itself is beautiful with a large patio space. Perhaps next time, a steak... One nice feature, though--the bar area had a really great jazz band and that was fun.

All in all, a relaxing trip, exactly what we were looking for. We're looking forward to future visits and more exploration in the area.

(smaller photos courtesy of Lodge on the Desert, Tavolino, and Old Pueblo Grille. The larger ones are ours. )

Next Up: the Loes Hinse Boat Neck Top

I was at a loss for what to sew next after completing the last three projects in record time. Then I remembered this top, which was lost for several months in the Sewing Cave until I unearthed it.

I hope my heavy silver chain turns up the same way! But I digress...

I found this pattern all traced and everything, and I also remembered that I had ordered this sweater knit from Casual Elegance last fall (sorry, but it's sold out):

And so a project is born.

I have a mixed history with this pattern, having made it before unsuccessfully. I think that was a matter of poor fabric choice combined with failure to mark a match point. This is seldom needed with Loes Hinse patterns, but I've learned. When she places a match point on the tissue, pay attention.

I'm still in the planning stage now, but I'm hoping to cut sometime today.

Loes Hinse Boot Skirt--Pictures!

I got home early enough to throw off my work outfit and throw on the skirt, so you can see what it looks like on me.

Also I took a couple of detail shots. The first shows why it would have been kind of useless to show it to you without a body. It doesn't look like much, does it?

The second shot shows the interior detail. Instead of a traditional lining, I underlined it with the poly charmeuse.

It was all done on the machine and serger except for the hem, which I did by hand while watching the final wild card game.

Because I shortened this version quite a bit, I lost some of the shaping that's built into the skirt. I fixed that on my pattern pieces, so the next one will be better. Oh yes, there will definitely be more of these. I grant this pattern TNT status on the basis of this first attempt!

Loes Hinse Boot Skirt

I had a large piece of suiting fabric left over from my fleece vest, so I decided to make a skirt from it.

I've had this Loes Hinse pattern for quite some time but never actually made it until now.

It's a classic and simple style, so it was a good choice for a basic wardrobe piece. I made View C, a shorter version which isn't pictured on the pattern envelope for some odd reason.

Still, I needed to shorten the skirt by 5" to get a decent length for me, just above the knee. This view is designed for a 26" length, which hits me at the top of my calf. Not a good look...

Because Loes Hinse designs her patterns with minimal ease, I decided to add an inch of "fit insurance" at each of the side seams. Good thing too--even though I thought I'd traced off the correct size for my measurements, my test fitting indicated that the skirt would have been too snug. Arrrgh!! Hopefully, my morning walks will eventually fix that issue. I've been walking 1 1/2 to 2 miles every weekday morning since October! I'm not seeing much exterior progress as of yet but I do feel in better shape.

I also added an underlining to avoid "velcro leg syndrome." I know I'll be wearing the skirt with tights because it's winter, so I used the poly charmeuse that was also left over from the fleece vest project. The underlining adds a little weight to the skirt, which causes it to hang better. It also helped in stitching in the hem. There isn't a single visible stitch to be seen.

Even with these changes, the skirt was quick to put together. It has an elastic waist, but the skirt's fit is body skimming so it really doesn't look like one, especially if worn with an untucked top (and really, who tucks in a knit top or sweater anyhow?).

This is an excellent stash busting pattern and one that I'll use again. There's always a need for a good straight skirt, and this one takes minimal time to make once the fit is worked out. This is not a skirt that looks all that good on the hanger, and it was dark before I got it done. Hopefully, I'll get a few moments of daylight for a picture on me sometime this week.

Now that this is complete, I've finished all three of the projects that were on deck at Christmastime, which is pretty amazing given my typical output. But what to do next?

Kwik Sew 2565 (OOP)

I've already made this pattern a bunch of times, but I recently re-traced and re-cut it again due to (ahem) changes in my size. This is another project started at Material Girls. Thank goodness for all the space and sturdy, height-appropriate cutting tables at our meeting place!

This t-shirt went together ridiculously fast even with double layer front and back pieces to contend with. The fabric is a thin, textured jacquard knit so I doubled the layers to avoid show through. The sleeves are just a single layer. I bought it at Fabrix when Linda Lee was still having her Sewing Workshop getaways in San Francisco.

Here's a detail shot so  you can see both the tie dye effect and the jacquard pattern of the knit. I think it's some kind of poly. The colors are various shades of purple, but less vivid in natural light than they appear with the flash.

The most challenging part of this project was the coverstitching. It's a capability that I haven't used on my Babylock lately, and I've decided that it's silly not to. There's definitely a learning curve but this is the second project I've coverstitched this week. The McCall's 6069 dress was the other one. It's getting easier each time to troubleshoot the samples, then apply the adjustments for the best looking stitching.