TSW Stella Top and Eureka Skirt

So here is the project I worked on all day yesterday--a Stella Top and Eureka Skirt  from a mystery knit that's been aging in the stash. It has a cotton-y feel but I'll bet there's some poly lurking in it too.  And the color is an even darker shade of purple than in the photograph.

The skirt is a fabric hog, but it came out nice. The skirt has an attractive drape to it, and the hem dips at center front and back. The guide sheet had specific instructions on how to assemble and trim all the seams, which was helpful as both pattern pieces were trapezoids.

This is the third time I've made the top and it was an afterthought that I cut in the afternoon and finished in early evening. You see, I have a friend who is on the committee for Fiber Arts Fiesta and she's really pushing hard for entries. As a top and skirt, it fits into one of the categories.

I'm still looking for a couple of other items to enter; we'll see what I can do "for the cause."

Santa Fe Weekend

We had another opportunity for a getaway for Presidents' Day weekend, so we went an hour north to Santa Fe to soak in some Northern New Mexico atmosphere. We had gorgeous weather, sunny but not too cold.

As we often do, we stayed at the LaFonda Hotel right on the Plaza, which meant we could park the car and walk to whatever we wanted to do. The hotel is undergoing a renovation right now, so prices were much lower than usual. Delicious food and drink were still available though!

Except for Bill Maher in concert, we didn't do much scheduling. He was hilarious, by the way. We had a lot of time to just hang out and explore. Of course, that's an opportunity for window shopping. Lots of jewelry! I liked the necklace below, with its heart motifs:

One of my sewing goals is to eventually make a Pendleton coat, so I always like to see examples:

Santa Fe has many arty clothing boutiques. I was quite taken by this ensemble, especially the scarf:

I also liked the top featured in this ensemble. Fortunately, it's pretty similar to this Vogue pattern, so I will be making one.

Sandra Betzina and Marcy Tilton favorite, Babette, has established a Santa Fe outpost. Interesting clothes, but I couldn't look much further since I walked by before the store opened on Sunday:

In the end, I did do some actual (sale) shopping. I purchased a slate blue cardigan, a skirt, and these shoes by a new-to-me brand called Fly London. Oh so comfortable, but with an edge!

On the way out of town on Monday, we also stopped by Santa Fe Fabrics where I picked up several items while DH relaxed at the bakery next door. I bought some basic black ponte for separates, a textured knit, and a couple of separating zippers.

This weekend has been at home, and I spent all day yesterday in the Sewing Cave working on a couple of items. Stay tuned for that! I'm not sure I will have them posted today but hopefully soon.

Loes Hinse Boat Neck Top

I was able to work in the Sewing Cave yesterday and put this top together in a fairly short amount of time. It's not perfect, but close enough for wearing. Also, I was able to come up with some ideas for making it better next time.

The sweater knit was not the easiest to work with--very soft, thin and without much recovery. The very factors that make it so comfortable to wear made it hard to sew. I definitely needed to stabilize the front and back neckline. Now I know, in case I work on a similar fabric in the future. Also the best way to mark all the seams coming together (2 raglans and a sleeve dart) is not a dot, not even with tailor tacks. No, I think the best way is to actually sew in a basting line along all the seam allowances in that area. And I probably need to take out a smidgen of width along the front neckline.

All that being said, I will be trying it again because I do like the top, and the fit through the neckline and shoulders is pretty close. And that's saying a lot for any raglan style.