Just wanted to share...

I have been working on a vintage dress for the past month made from silk dupionni. I underlined the entire dress, and have finally gotten to the point where I'm ready to make a custom belt to go with it. I found a 3" wide buckle, but then discovered that 3" wide belt backing is no longer readily available. The only place I found that had it, required me to buy 100 yards. I mean I do want to make at least 3 belts, but believe me 100 yards is WAY-Y-Y too much.

Well I finally decided to send an e-mail to a couple of sewing suppliers. Well guess what, G-Street fabrics called me directly and came to the rescue. One of the ladies in customer service called me and told me I could accomplish what I need using buckram or "lamp shade" material. She's sending me samples of each! She also gave me instructions on using either, and recommendations on the the best to use for a fabric belt from silk duppioni. I should get the samples by Monday.

She even gave me her direct phone number, so that if I had any questions at all I could call her. Now, HOW COOL IS THAT! I always go there when we go to visit relatives in Baltimore, and now they've just cinched me as a mail-order customer, also. I can't wait to get the dress completed (belt and all) and post the pix.

So if you have any questions about a hard to find sewing item, then I highly recommend sending a e-mail to G-STREET!

Baltimore and husbands (picture heavy)

Well, finally I'm updating you on what I did in Baltimore (besides getting a chance to visit relatives). Of course on my second day there I had to do the rounds of fabric stores! At first my husband kept trying to send a relative with me, but I finally convinced him that unless they were into fabrics and sewing, then it would just make the trip miserable for myself and them. All I had to do was remind him of the times he's tried to go with me on an all day excursion! Thank GOD for portable navigation systems! You can't get lost with one of those things, even if you tried to.

My first stop was Blanks. It is a quaint little shop, but most of the fabrics I saw were more geared towards home interior (but hey that hasn't stopped me from using a piece of silk I loved for a dress; I'm terrified I'll walk into some one's house and see a matching curtain or pillow).I didn't get anything from there; mainly because I didn't have home decor items on my list of to-do. My husband was very pleased with my decision; His biggest fear was that I would end up having to ship some stuff back home.

Then I immediately went to G-Street fabric in Rockville, MD. Of course the table that caught my eye was the $2.98 table. I got some awesome finds, once I was willing to dig. One piece I'm sure is a silk/wool blend. I've already got the patterns picked for each of the pieces (All of the fabrics are dark, so not sure the fabrics will show up well)

Vogue 1123 From what I and the fabric clerk could tell, this appears to be a silk/wool blend in a navy blue tone.

Vogue 1121

This fabric is a brown tone, sort of a herringbone with some spandex.

Vogue 8594

This a a brown tweed.

Vogue 2457 (OOP)

(This is two pieces a smoke gray cotton w/ spandex for the top, and a black wool for the dress).

I also found two pieces of wool in a black tweed and solid at $13.00/yd to make this Vogue ensemble from.

Vogue 8605

(I also purchased all of the trimmings, so all I have to do is start working on them.)

I was tempted to go to one of the other locations also, but had promised my husband I'd be back at a reasonable time.

Then on the way home, I stopped by a little Quilt shop in Glen Burnie, MD. Turns out it is going out of business (another victim of the economy). If only I had known they were there on all of my other visits. They are a Bernina shop, so all of their Bernina items were 40% off.

I found two pieces of fabric a Kona Print, and Hoffman; which I had to get.
Along with 3 differential feed feet for the Bernina 830: 1/4" piecing foot, clear foot, and open-toe embroidery foot.

By then it was time to go home (I'd been gone since 9am and it was now approaching 3pm).

When I got back, my husband was surprised that I only had the few items that I did (Although this may seem like a good size bounty to others, my husband has seen me do SO-o-o-o much more damage!).

I didn't get a chance to check out "A Fabric Place', but its on the list for next time.

Well that Saturday my husband decided to take me downtown, and guess what we walked upon: Gus Woolen shop! I got a chance to just browse through it. My husband kept encouraging me to go in and get some fabrics, but I decided that it was not good to be greedy. So we made a deal that next time we go to Baltimore, GUS WOOLEN HERE I COME!

Then we walked towards the Hippodrome theatre. As we were walking I spotted a hatmakers shop. Too bad they weren't open. I was so excited I had to take a picture of the shop window. This is also a MUST go in, and check out when we go back.

We'll be heading back to Baltimore in February, 2010 for a wedding; so I think I'll get there a day or so early! I gotta have time to go fabric shopping again, and add to my stash.

I must say my husband was extremely accommodating, and encouraging when it came to me wanting to go to the fabric stores, etc. You know it was one of the moments where you look and go, "who replaced my husband!". I guess it would be sort of a "Stepford Husbands" moment. Usually when I mention fabric or sewing in a sentence he and the kids would cringe, and literally run to other parts of the house. The empty nesting is pulling us closer, and we're learning new things about ourselves. "I think I've found my new potential boyfriend", but I call him my husband!

Well I'll be back to Baltimore in February, and maybe I'll get a chance to hook up with some of you in that area to do some Fabric shopping or just have lunch.

In the meantime "Happy Sewing!"

The dress that almost made it to Baltimore

Well, we completed our trip to Baltimore. I got a chance to go to G-Street; all I can say is I think they need to open a store in Denver! I got plenty of bounty from there, which I'll talk about later.

Prior to leaving though I was working on a dress that I was hoping to take with me but didn't get done in time, so I finished it up when I got back. (I only had the facings on the neckline and arms to complete).

There are quite a few things I learned but the most important is to ALWAYS DO A MUSLIM, no matter how simple the dress may seem. Just luckily I had enough fabric to make the dress twice!

I made the dress view starting with a size 14. The changes that I did to the pattern were:

1. Took in at the waistline
2. Added an additional 2 inches at the hip line.
3. Changed the hemline so that it was straight rather than asymmetrical
4. Used a serged rolled edge hem on the ruffle on the dress hemline
5. Removed the zipper all together and just had a slit opening, since the dress ties at the neckline. (The dress had a tie opening for the first 8 inches then a zipper which extended to the hip)

I used a fabric from my stash that was a Georgette, and a solid red Georgette for the lining. This was probably the most difficult and time consuming portion of making the dress. Since it was sliding I ended up cutting it on top of a layer tissue paper. (Another reason why I didn't want to deal with a zipper in this dress).

The pattern was only 5 pieces: front, back, bias trim for neck & armhole, ties for dress back, and ruffle on hem. At first I figured that this shouldn't be that big a deal as far as the fit so why do a muslin (famous last words as always!). Well I forgot that I am a woman with some stuff in my trunk so the first version was too snug through the hip line. Thank GOD I had bought 6 yards of this fabric when I originally purchased it. So now I got to do it over, but this time I did up a quick muslin.

Dress on my old dress form (time for an updated form, but that's a different posting at a later time):

The completed dress on me (Sorry, my official photographer is off to college, and my replacement photographer is watching a football game - SMILE - so in the meantime I'm doing my photos.)
So here is the fabric that I will make the 2nd go around of the dress in:

Look out Baltimore, Here I Come - so where are the fabric stores?

Well, I'm heading to Baltimore soon to visit, and of course will be hitting up G-Street fabric store in Rockville. But I was wondering if any of you in "sewing" blog-land, could recommend some other stores in the area.

Hey a girl's gotta feed her addition!

Empty Nest

Well, I dropped my daughter off at college. I am now an "empty nester".






It's strange not to have any kids in the house. Actually, it is way to QUIET! I never thought I'd say that, but it is. So now I'm trying to get a new schedule for my day, one not centered around kids.


In the mean time, the first thing I did when I got home was started digging up the yard. I have rocks along my driveway, and grass was peeking thru, so I decided now was as good a time as any to replace the lining underneath them. My husband thought I'd lost my mind; but I told him it was way too quiet in the house, and I wasn't ready to go inside yet. So each weekend I'll be working on a section of the driveway until the entire thing has been done.

After it got to hot to dig up rocks, I came inside and started sewing. I got my muslin done for my vintage dress (I'll have to include pics later). Then I decided to do something quick and easy. I came across the purse organizer, and decide it would be quick and simple. I had some upholstery fabric that a friend gave me, so I decided to use it. The fabric was reversible.





It was very quick and simple project. It took a total of maybe 30 minutes to do, and has been a real plus in making my purse look a lot nicer on the inside.



Organizer on its side, like it would be in my purse.


After I got all of that done, I decided to clean my sewing room. Its amazing how much bigger it looks when its clean!

I also started back on my pants. I figure since it'll be fall here soon, I'm getting in the right frame of mind for pants.

My First Patrones Pattern and My Next Sewing Adventure

Well I just completed my first Patrones pattern. It was a high waisted skirt from the Patrones Extra issue #272.

I had a black/white cotton print from my stash, that I used. It turned out nicely. I also decided to put some boning in the upper waist, to keep with the waist shaped, and standing tall. It was very strange making a pattern and not being able to read the instructions. It has got me thinking of

learning Spanish. (That's one thing I regret is that I required to learn another language in high school, oh well this is something for my future retirement - learn Spanish; At least all my kids took 4 years of a foreign language in high school).

The skirt actually has princess seams so it was very easy to fit. I decided to try the "sway back" adjustment just for the heck of it on the skirt, and it turned out very nicely.

Well, as to my next sewing project. It's a vintage pattern that I got from my mom. I'm going to make it up in a green Silk Dupioni (I'll have to underline it):

The pattern was a size too small, so I had to do some pattern grading. This was is my first attempt at it. I used some instructions I found at:

Sensibilty - Resize a Pattern

Burda - Grade a bodice pattern to a larger size

It actually wasn't too bad, and actually turned out good on the first go round:

Now on to getting the skirt part fitted. I typically have to add 4-6 inches to get the length right.

The Snuggle - Continued

I had a question about the snugglie, and some of the things I learned from the first go round.


The pattern I used was found at Snugglie. The first time I made the snugglie, I made the armholes too big. So the 2nd time around, I made a template for the armholes. I then measured the circumference of my armhole template and made sure that my sleeve pieces were only 1 inch wider than the measurement of my template. ( I allowed for 1/2 seam allowance on my sleeves).


The other thing I did was to put a serged rolled hem all around the edges using wooly nylon thread. My daughter wanted a "finished" edging on her snugglie. I did it in the same color as the polar fleece that I used. (If you zoom in on the picture you can see it).


That's all there was to it. It was very simple, the longest portion was doing the serging the edges