I just wanted to take minute to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and just a happy week and weekend to my international friends. I don't have anything new to show off so how about a cat picture.
It seems like an appropriate image for Thanksgiving. This is pretty close to the condition I'll be in tomorrow afternoon, though certainly not that flexible.
I don't have much to say about this other than, "I love it!"
I used the body of New Look 6078 and the sleeves, collar and front band of McCall's 4922. I have done this before and I think it might be my favorite frankenpattern. The sleeves are a little bit too long. I knew I needed to shorten them but I forgot to do it.
(By the way, I made the jeans too.)
Here is a closeup of the adorable fabric.
It seems like I've been working on this for a month or more. I finally finished it last week. I have been seeing the Granville shirt pattern everywhere and when I read that it was designed for pear shaped figures I thought, "That's for me!" I don't know why it took me so long. Well, actually, yes I do. There was nothing difficult at all about the pattern but there were several steps that the instructions said to do differently from what I was used to and every time I got to one of those steps I would procrastinate. I would have finished a lot sooner if I hadn't read the instructions but I actually like a couple of the "weird" methods so I'm glad I read the instructions and learned new ways of doing these common things.
Complaints about the pattern: The sleeves are way too long. I shortened them two inches and, as you can see, they're still too long. They are also too loose at the wrist. Another thing is the collar was way too long. Overall though, I like the pattern and I will try again. I have a piece of fabric in mind for the next one. Anyway, here it is.
There are some weird wrinkles radiating from the top button. (and a lot of wrinkles everywhere for that matter) I think that's because it's a very soft, drapey fabric. And I have to tell you about this surprising fabric. Several years ago I bought three sets of queen size sheets at a discount outlet store. One set was different from the others. The fabric was a very soft, smooth micro-twill, about twice as thick as normal sheets. I used them once. After I washed them I tried to put them on the bed for the second time and discovered that the fitted sheet was about a foot too short! Most people would have seen a brand new set of totally useless sheets. I saw a heck of a lot of really nice fabric so I saved them.
I cut the elastic off the fitted sheet and used it for this shirt because I was going to use the flat sheet for quilt backing but now I'm thinking I really want to use it for something else to wear. I think this pattern wasn't the best for this fabric but it's wearable and comfortable. For the most part I like it.
The buttons are a shiny, translucent blue that, depending on how the light hits them, look to be either a perfect match for the fabric or slightly off.
I posted this on my other blog and it's not about sewing but I can relate it to sewing. This is why all of my clothes must have pockets, no matter what. (Here's a picture with pockets from April 2014, because sewing blog posts should have pictures, right?)
I carry my son in my pocket. He's nearly six feet tall but he's right there in my pocket so, at any time, he can show me pictures of his daughter or his dogs or what he's doing at work or we can talk about what we're reading or make fun of something we saw on TV or just share a silly joke. I don't get sad and lonely because "he never calls" because he's always right there in my pocket.
I also carry my other son in my pocket. He's a lot quieter but he does always tell me when he's going to be late. Their father is in my pocket too. It's so convenient having him there. And I have several other people in my pocket - my daughter-in-law, my grandson and my sisters-in-law. It may seem crowded in there but there's always room for more, if any of my cousins ever decide to stop being techno-phobic.
There are other things besides people in my pocket. There's my grocery list. I like having it there where I can update it anytime and I never forget it when I go to the store. And speaking of stores, I have thousands of those in my pocket too so I can read reviews or compare prices anytime, anywhere I might be. I also have all the world's libraries in my pocket so I'm never stuck somewhere with nothing to read.
Maybe you've seen my husband and me at a restaurant, both of us looking at our phones, and made assumptions about us. What you don't understand is that there are more than just two people at the table. We are not ignoring each other; we're spending time together with family and friends. And maybe you've seen me in the dentist's office or in a car dealer's service department waiting area looking at my phone and thought how sad that I'm not talking to you instead. What you don't understand is that I probably wouldn't be talking to you anyway. Without my phone I would be either reading a book that I brought with me or flipping through the world's most boring magazines wishing I had something good to read.
So you don't like my phone even though you don't even understand what it really is. I wonder, how is it any of your business? People going about their own business, not bothering anyone. How is that any of your business. Don't disrespect my phone. You don't understand what it really is, and it might be keeping me from biting your head off.
Vlisco, a company located in a small town in the Netherlands, has been making fabrics for sale to Africa for 170 years. It really has a very interesting history. I like the way the African women assign their own names and meanings to the designs.
These fabric designs are quite different from those sold as "African" fabrics here in the U.S. This fan print appeals to me.
And this one. Very interesting. I can more easily imagine it in a quilt than a garment.
I found a website where you can buy some of the Vlisco fabrics but they are expensive. Sadly, I don't think I will be buying any.
(Sorry, I can't get the images to fit no matter what size I choose but I'm just going to leave them. I know I could download them, resize them and then upload them but I'm not going to bother this time.)
