Sewing On My Mind

Here is some of the fabric that I have in mind to sew up in the next few months. I wouldn't call this an actual commitment but, somehow, when I go public with what I'm thinking it gives me a tiny bit more motivation to actually do it.

Winter/Early Spring

I don't have a lot of fabric in my stash that I plan to sew for winter. These are all destined to be long sleeved shirts and I could easily get them done in the next month. I was originally thinking of the fruit print as a fall thing because, fruit, but I'm not all that strictly seasonal. I will probably make the pink check next. The green with tiny floral print is going to be another Granville shirt. (I think.) I'm not sure about the batik. I might put that off until fall. I'm not totally thrilled with the light purple I got to go with it and I've sort of been on the lookout for something I like better.

Besides the pieces in the photo I have some polar fleece for more slippers and some stretch denim for another pair of jeans that I'm thinking I really should make soon even though they're not as fun as some of the other things.

Spring/Summer

Of the next two photos I was going to call the first one "Priorities" and the second one "Maybes" but then I got to thinking stuff like, "Oh, that one should really go in the Maybes and that one in the Priorities," and "Wait, there are a couple more pieces I should have included in one of these pictures because I definitely want to sew that one soon." So these are just two pictures of some of the stuff I'm thinking about.

Top row: These three fabrics are all destined to be what I think of as "cute little blouses" even though in my size they are certainly not little and probably not all that cute either. The sky blue with the tiny rosebuds is probably the oldest piece in my stash.

Middle row: I think this insect journal print is awesome. It and the yellow and gray next to it are going to be tunics. The one on the right, the music and floral print, is going to be a dress. I'm making it one of this year's priorities because I was going to sew it last year and didn't. I want to do a scalloped hem. I've never done one before so I'm hesitating about that as well as some other design details and also not wanting it to be too fancy, or "too pretty to wear".

Bottom row: More summer dresses. I'm pretty confident about those two.

And the second summer group...

Top row: I love the silly bird print. It's going to be a dress but I don't know yet what pattern I'm going to use. The plaid, an Indian cotton, is going to be a summer shirt. The last one in the this row is covered with antique sewing and corset advertisements and I love it but I can't settle on a pattern. I've changed my mind several times. It's a fairly hefty, stiff quilting cotton so I'm thinking it will have to be something without too many gathers or other fussy stuff.

Bottom row: I had been looking at the pink with the antique trucks for a while but I was going through a penny pinching phase and told myself I didn't need it. Then I saw it was down to the last 3/4 yard and bought the last of it. Now I have to find another fabric to go with it. I have no idea what it's going to be. The gray floral - what is that doing there? Just recently I was saying something about practically being on a crusade against gray and grayed out colors and here I am with an all gray fabric? But just look at it! With its little roses and tiny dot background it's very cute and cheerful even if it is just gray. Pink, yellow, or red accessories will liven it up even more. Besides, I find that even I don't always want to look like I was in an accident in a crayon factory. The last fabric, an old-fashioned tiny floral print in old-fashioned colors, is sweet. Another dress, maybe a retro or vintage pattern. I have some little red buttons to go with it.

Comments are welcome, as always.

Partial Fail In The Jungle

Hello everyone and welcome! It's Jungle January!

Okay, here's what happened. I found this awesome fabric. I try not to overuse the word "awesome" but let's be honest, there are lots of awesome things in the world and this cotton fabric is certainly one of them. There is so much going on on this fabric it would be impossible to capture it in one photo but here's one anyway.

It's a little scary, having a great piece of fabric. You don't want to screw it up. You want to make the right thing, something you will wear and love, not something that will just hang in the closet because it's not right for you or your lifestyle. So I thought about the chicken dress. I had misgivings about it at first but I actually wore it a lot, about once a week all summer, so it seemed the perfect thing to do with this lovely safari fabric. (The neckline is a little different.) Easy to wear, few seams to interrupt the gorgeous, huge print. But, sadly, I don't like the way it turned out. What sort of works for a dark print won't necessarily work for a lighter print.

I wish I had made a more fitted bodice. I decided to try it with a belt and that's a slight improvement but I don't have one that really goes with it. I don't wear belts a lot so I don't have many. Now I'm thinking I should take it apart and re-do the bodice but my inner lazy person is saying, "I fricking hate to take things apart; let's just add some belt loops and go find a belt that matches it better." I'm actually sort of leaning toward, "take it apart and re-do it" though.

I have a confession to make - I actually made this back in late July but I never blogged it. As you can see I had plenty of time to fix it but I haven't yet. Since it's now January I tried styling it for winter.

I'm not sure but I think I like it better with the gold t-shirt. But I doubt I will ever wear it this way. It's a summer dress. Here is how it looked last summer.

I have conflicting feelings about this dress. I love it but at the same time I don't love it. I love what it could be so I'm going to work on it.

The Laurel Burch Tunic

Back in October I blogged about being tempted by this Laurel Burch fabric. Well, not long after that I bought it and another Laurel Burch fabric.

In person the floral fabric doesn't seem as insanely bright as it does on the eQuilter website. Bright colors always look brighter on a screen and I knew that but I was so dazzled by the image that I didn't think about it. It's also a lighter weight fabric than typical quilting cotton so I thought about buying more of the floral and making a summer dress with the dark fabric as trim or a collar or border or something. But I decided to go with my original idea. (I hate flash pictures and I really freaking hate timer pictures.)

I did a bit of pattern hacking to get this look. I used McCall's 6076 shirt pattern, laid the center front line on the fold and lengthened and flared it out a bit and I used the sleeves from an entirely different pattern. I gave it a seam down the center back, a single button in back and a side zipper. And, of course, dresses and tunics must have pockets.

At first I wasn't sure about the result. Is it too weird or goofy looking? Did I make a fashion faux pas? But I wore it on Christmas Eve, with black leggings instead of the purple ones you see here. I think I liked it better that way - with the black leggings. I got compliments from my sisters-in-law and they're more fashionable than I am and my husband liked it a lot so I guess it's okay. Actually, I like it too. I hadn't worn leggings before, mainly due to the lack of tunics with pockets but now I'm planning more tunic and legging outfits. Mostly for warmer weather though. I was slightly cold all day when I wore this even though it was nearly 60°F. "Fleece lined" leggings are not as warm as advertised. (Or maybe it was just me; I was just having a cold day.)

2016 Colors

Hello and Happy New Year everyone. Surprise! This is not an abandoned blog. I have been sewing but the real challenge is in getting around to photographing the stuff I want to show off. But I will. I must. The lovely Anne's Jungle January is upon us. But that's not really what I wanted to talk about.

I take pride in being a bit of a fashion rebel, or to be perhaps more honest, simply unfashionable. So when I talk about the Pantone Top 10 Colors it is usually to declare that I will not be jumping on any fashion bandwagons and that I will continue to wear what I like, fashionable or not, or to make fun of the color names, like a few years ago when the color of the year was a lovely pink that for some reason was named after a yellow and white flower, the honeysuckle.

But anyway, this year's colors...

I actually like most of these. I might have to risk being fashionable by buying fabric in some of these colors. (Of course, by the time I get around to making something of it it won't be "in" anymore.)

I like almost any kind of pink from insanely bright to something very delicate like this year's color of the year, Rose Quartz. Delicate pastels usually don't look that flattering on me but I think I might need something in this color anyway. Perhaps I need a pair of Rose Quartz color shoes.

The Peach Echo is nice too. I used to have a dress that was almost that color and I think I already have some t-shirt knit that is close to it.

Serenity - not really a fan. (of the color, that is. Of the movie, a huge fan but that's not what we're here for is it?)

It seems like Snorkel Blue is just a new name for a color that's been around a long time. I like it a lot and I definitely want something this color.

Buttercup - Yes! I love yellow. It's a sort of scary color and not particularly flattering on me but I often wear it anyway.

Limpet Shell - I have been loving aqua and seafoam and similar colors in the past couple of years so I am very attracted to this lovely color but it's more something I would paint on the walls than something I would wear. It's another delicate pastel that probably wouldn't look that great on me.

Lilac Gray - I have practically been on a crusade against dull, grayed out colors so, no.

Fiesta - Yes! Orange is still in!

Iced Coffee - It's okay as a background color, I suppose.

And finally, Green Flash. I can't decide how well I like this color. I do like some greens - most greens, actually. I'm just not sure if I like this one a lot or only a little.

What about you? Are you considering adding any of these colors to your wardrobe?

Somebody Stop Me

Life as a seamstress (or sewer or sewist or whatever we're supposed to call ourselves) can be hard. Challenging. Yeah, that's better. It's not hard - really, it's not - it's challenging. It's December and I've been spending money like I've got a money orchard in my back yard. (There's a weird old movie about a family with two money trees.) So, I had decided that I am not going to buy any fabric in November and December. Well, except for those two pieces from Girl Charlee that I had to go ahead and buy because they were down to the last few yards. And that other piece that I couldn't resist. But really, I've been very good the for the last month and a half. But eQuilter sends out a weekly email of their new fabrics. This week I looked, even though I knew I shouldn't, and there are something like 15 fabrics that I want. Not just want but WANT! WANT! WANT! with a powerful WANT.

There is a good thing about buying fabric in December. I'm getting so many packages anyway, it's easy to sneak some fabric in without the husband realizing that I'm buying more fabric. Not that I have to sneak fabric in. No really, I don't. It's just that maybe I'm a little bit embarrassed about how much fabric I have? My stash isn't anywhere near as big as some stashes, and I can easily afford more, but I grew up in a penny pinching family. My mother sewed but she never really had much of a stash, just maybe half a dozen or so pieces at a time. The habits and standards of childhood stay with you your whole life.

By the way, speaking of packages, I would like to say to all the companies I buy stuff from, please stop sending my stuff in bags and giant envelopes. I need more boxes.

I have been sewing. I was working on a thing that I had planned to wear this past weekend but it took longer than I expected and by Friday I was just burned out over it so, even though the only thing left to do was three buttons and buttonholes, I just quit. I will try to finish it today and maybe photograph and post it tomorrow or the next day. It's funny how sometimes the last little thing is just too much.

Happy Thanksgiving

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.

Fall Leaves and Critters

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.

Blue Granville Shirt - Finally Done!

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.

The Reason Why I Must Have Pockets

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.

From the Netherlands For Africa

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.)