FO: Crepe Dress

I finished the Crepe Dress! It was done a few weeks ago, but it took me a while to hem it. Here I am modeling it while wearing my new Franco Sarto pumps (I finally found black all-purpose pumps!) and red lipstick (which I never wear but this dress was calling for).

I really like the fabric and the colors, but unfortunately, I don't think this is the most flattering style on me. I'm apparently an "I" shape, and the red sash just draws attention to my lack of waist. It's really too bad, because it's a fun, feminine dress (while the pinstripes keep it from being too girly). And it has pockets!

Inside shot of the dress. The fabric was a cotton/linen blend that was really simple to sew and easy to press as well. I used a combination of French seams and zigzagging to finish the inside of the skirt (whatever was easiest in the situation). And I hand sewed the hem and finished it with red lace seam tape from my now extensive collection. I'm pretty happy with how all the sewing turned out and a bit more confident in my sewing skills too.

Close up of the fabric and the fun red lace seam tape on the inside of the hem.

I definitely learned a lot through the sewalong process. Many, many thanks to Gertie for hosting and for sharing so many tips along the way!

This week: FO Parade

I'm back from my parents' home and spring break is over. Back to work tomorrow morning, bright and early! I'll be heading out of town again on Thursday, but in the meantime, I'll be posting three finished objects this week (one each evening before I leave, hopefully). I've been a busy little bee, but I still have a few finishing touches to put on each project before I can post pictures.

So instead, here's a photo of my hometown, where I spent the better part of this week (although the photo shows much nicer weather than we experienced during my visit):


Be sure to check back often this week! I have lots to share!

Zippers and tapes and threads, oh my!

I'm visiting my parents right now, and I had asked my mom if she still had any sewing stuff laying around that she would be willing to part with. She used to sew, back when I was little, but has long since stopped. So she said she'd look around.

Lo and behold, here is what I will be taking home with me! Apparently, someone in the distant past (my parents can't remember who) gave my mom a huge stash of sewing notions, most of which are still sitting here in their original packaging. I remember using some of the seam lace for random craft projects when I was little, but didn't realize how much there was. I'm already inspired to use some of the red seam lace on the inside hem of my Crepe dress, which I conveniently haven't hemmed yet. I'm sure I can put some of these other fun colors to use on projects that I have planned for the near future as well. I may have to get creative with the use of some of these other pieces (orange zippers and thread anyone??) but that could be a fun challenge for me to take on as I plan my next projects.

I've almost finished the shawl collar on my Blackberry cardigan. It's been duly admired by my mom and my friend Jodi, so it's time for it to be finished so I can have it be admired by the rest of the world. That's my goal for today (the last few days have been pleasantly goal-free!) so that I can soak it and lay it out to dry so it will be finished when I leave tomorrow afternoon. I need to stretch the sleeves a bit when I lay it out, but other than that, I'm happy about how it's coming together. I'll need to find some nice buttons for it when I get home. Maybe some wooden buttons...

When I go shopping for buttons, I'll also be hitting the JoAnn's $1.99 Simplicity pattern sale this weekend, and I plan to pick up these patterns at the very least:
Simplicity 5914. I already have a khaki twill with a bit of stretch that I'll be using to make the short tulip version, or something similar anyway. I think it will be a nice casual skirt to wear to work over the summer when I don't have to dress up as much. And I have a really pretty black and gray light suiting to make the short A-line version.
Simplicity 2208. I really like the hooded version, not so much the other two. I wear fleece jackets often when the weather is cold, especially for just bumming around the house in the evening or on weekends. So I might as well spend some time on something I know I will wear!
Simplicity 2206 (won't be on sale, but only $3.50 anyway). Also in keeping with trying to sew things I will actually wear. I wear a lot of knits but have been a bit hesitant to try to sew with them. Since this is supposed to be an easy pattern, maybe it's a good place to start. And I always need little cardigans and jackets when the weather starts to warm up because the air conditioning in businesses tends to be turned up higher than I can handle. I'm thinking gray, because it would be a nice neutral color.

It's really too bad that the pattern sale doesn't include New Look patterns, because I've just discovered them and have my eye on several! Maybe I'll toss one or two in since they're not too expensive. In particular:
New Look 6375. I like the modeled version (though not for work), but I especially like view D with the draped bodice. I could see making several dresses from this pattern to wear during the awful Georgia summers. Might as well get started on some soon so I have them when the humidity and heat arrive.
New Look 6643. A nice cool linen would make this great for work during the summer too. I could stretch it into fall with cardigans or jackets. I could also see myself making multiple versions of this dress.

That's probably enough planning for now. I have a lot of sewing to do to catch up with all my plans! I'm headed home Thursday and should have a bit of time over the weekend to hem my Crepe dress (and possibly take the side seams in a bit more on the bodice) as well as start a new sewing project. I haven't yet decided what I will make next, but I have lots of fun options.

Spring Break!?!

I'm headed home to the great Pacific Northwest for the week of spring break. The picture above shows you what kind of weather I can look forward to. There won't be any lounging on the beach in store for me, but just having some time away from work and from my students will be much appreciated. And I'm looking forward to spending some time with my parents.

I'm taking lots of knitting projects to keep me busy, but obviously won't be doing any sewing. I will try to fit some of that in when I get back. I'm hoping March will be less crazy than February, but I guess we'll see how it goes! At least I have some breathing time now. Thank goodness for that!

Happy spring break everyone!

Quick weekend trip

We got up Saturday morning and drove 2 hours to visit C & J this weekend. It was fun to see the little ones and play with them, although they alternated between having fun playing with us and acting shy. James hadn't met his niece or nephew before, and it had been about 10 months since I had seen them. Luckily, now that there's only a 2 hour drive between us, we should have lots of chances to spend time with them. We got home about 3pm this afternoon, which gave us a bit of time to clean up the house a bit and for me to run a few errands.

I was able to do a little sewing a couple of evenings this past week. I sewed the seams on the skirt on my Crepe dress and attached the skirt to the bodice. I just need to hem it and I'll be finished! I think it turned out well, although the bodice still seems a bit large even though I spent a lot of time messing with the fitting on the bodice muslin. The skirt is an unflattering length right now, a good 5" past my knees, so I'll have to shorten it, but hopefully I can do that one evening this week.

In the car on the way home, I finished seaming my Blackberry cardigan. I'll need to re-block it once the collar is finished because the sleeves are just a bit short at the wrists and there's a bit too much fabric where the sleeve meets the body. I just need to stretch the sleeves a bit when I block it and hopefully it will fit perfectly. I've picked up the stitches around the edges to knit the collar, and the collar knitting should go pretty quickly now. I should finish it just in time to put it away for the summer...

Since every blog post should have a picture, here's what Cal spends the majority of her time doing:
She loves that blanket. There are many days when I wish I could join her for a quick nap. February has been busy and exhausting at work, and I'm looking forward to Friday evening, when my big deadline has passed and Spring Break has started.

Domestic weekend

We were quite the picture of domesticity here today. While James was out in the garage changing the oil in the car this afternoon, I was busily employed inside with my sewing machine. I had fallen behind on Gertie's Crepe sewalong, since last weekend I used all my sewing time on my Pendrell blouse. I didn't think I would completely catch up on the Crepe dress today, but I am a bit amazed at how far I did get. I sewed the waist ties, attached the neckline facing, sewed several of the skirt panels together with french seams, and finished the edges of the pockets. Really, all that's left is to sew the side seams and pockets on the skirt, finish the back edges of the skirt, and then attach the skirt and bodice and finish the hem. I'm wondering if I'll have the energy or brain cells left one evening this week to work on it. Chances are, the answer will be no. But we'll see.

I've found that Sunday afternoon is the best time for me to sew, because I've generally had a chance to get a little rest on Saturday and I'm not feeling so entirely fried. Unfortunately, though, Sunday afternoon just never seems to last long enough!

I've decided I want to make a gray wool plaid skirt, something a bit like this but in a beautiful dove gray color:
I think that it would look very cute with the vintage 3-hour sweater pattern that I plan to knit up at some point in the near future. All the reviews on ravelry say that it takes more than 3 hours, but even if it takes 6 that will still be a lot fewer than my recent knitting projects have required. Here are a few of the finished versions I've seen that I really like:

blomsterbona's sweater

sweetbeanbag's sweater

I have two hanks of Cascade Yarns Sierra that I recently ordered and are now just sitting around waiting for me:
I don't normally wear much pink, but I've been choosing red yarn and purple yarn too often and I needed a new color in my wardrobe. I thought the pink was fun and cheerful and would be nice for spring. Let's see if I can actually make this sweater in time to wear it before the Georgia summer arrives with all its awfulness...

Congrats Packers!

Around here, we're not very fond of the Steelers. So even though we wouldn't normally care too much about the Green Bay Packers, they were definitely our team of choice to win Super Bowl XLV. Even Cal was sporting some Packers flair.

I finished my Pendrell blouse today, right before we left for a SuperBowl party. It's wearable, although I can tell I still need some practice on my sewing skills. I might rip out the neckline binding and try it again. The pattern has you cut two neck bindings, even though you only need one, and after doing the neck and both the arm bindings, I think I could do the neck binding a lot better now. Then again, I may just leave it as it is since no one will be close enough to me to tell. Well, except James, but he has to like all my craft projects! And with the recent weather, I'll be wearing my blouse under cardigans and jackets anyway. Here's a photo:
The neck isn't actually misshapen like the photo shows, I just should have adjusted the blouse so it was hanging straight before the picture was snapped. It's definitely not perfect (notice I'm not showing any close-ups of hems or bindings or finished seams), but then again, not too shabby for my second finished sewing project ever. And as I said before, it's wearable.

I spent all my sewing time on the Pendrell blouse this weekend, and have some catching up to do on the Crepe dress. I haven't spent too much time on the seaming of my Blackberry cardigan either. But I did start on my next knitting project, the Pleated Blouse. I cast on last night and knitted all through the Super Bowl today and have about 3 inches of the back finished so far. It's going to be slow going with lace weight yarn on #3 needles, but the plain stockinette stitching is nice after cables and more cables.