The Missing Burda Magazines . . .

When we removed the carpet from the entire house (now its all hardwood floors), I had to pack my sewing room. Oh My GOD!  It's when you pack up your sewing room that you literally discover how much fabric and sewing items you actually have.

I have determined that I am a "sewing hoarder"!  I am deeply attached to all of my fabrics, sewing machines, notions, patterns, etc.  My daughter asked me could she throw out some of my sewing magazines, as I was at the store getting Thanksgiving dinner ingredients.  (I think she did this on purpose).  I was trapped, inside I was screaming "NO-O-O-O".  However, I knew she was right, I needed to part with some of my magazine stash.  I told her she could toss out the old Sew News, Threads and knitting magazines.  All of the others, had to stay.  I've was fighting the urge to go thru the trash bag and protect my mags from imminent danger.  I'm trying to be a big girl about this!

Well my worst night mare happened! Most of my 2015 Burda magazines came up missing!  We searched in boxes, etc for over 5 months, and couldn't locate them.  I glared at my husband and daughter with that look of a child who had just lost their favorite toy!  They couldn't remember if my magazines were in the ones they tossed or not.  I informed my husband that they would have to replace them!  So off to GLP we went, calling them to see if I could get copies of the 2015 issues.

They were fortunate in that we were able to locate most of them.  Now lets fast forward to yesterday.
We are going thru some boxes in the basement and lo and behold: I FIND THE MISSING BURDA MAGAZINES!  Along with the missing DirecTV remote.

Augh!, so now I have multiple copies of some of the issues. (At least now I know my family REALLY loves me - they replaced my sewing magazines, even though they think I have too much "sewing junk treasure".)  Now THAT'S LOVE!

Some I gave to sewing friends in my FB sewing group.  I have the July 2014 issue available if someone reading my blog is interested please leave a comment, and you are welcome to it.

ISSUE NO LONGER AVAILABLE!

7/2015 - NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Happy Sewing everyone . . . .

Ankara African Fabric and M6706 Skirt

I’ve had this African print fabric in my stash for about a year now.  I purchased this print about a year ago from the Hancock fabrics here in Denver, CO.  It was on the clearance table for $2/yard.  Can you believe it! 

Ankara fabric from Hancock

I've had this skirt pattern for some time, and new this would be just the right fabric.

McCall skirt 6706

 

 

Line Drawing

This skirt also has a petticoat that goes underneath it that gives it that "full" look when worn.


Petticoat (View F): 
I had some green tulle that I had purchased back in March from Joann's fabric for ~$2.00 a yard from the Joann's clearance table.  Why did I purchase it?  Because it was on sale!

That tulle with a piece of black cotton for the yoke portion of the petticoat was all I needed.  

I added 6 inches to the overall length of the ruffled portion of the petticoat so that the petticoat is only about 6 inches shorter than the actual skirt.  Since I was using a tulle that didn't ravel, I just did a tiny zigzag along the raw edges of tulling.

Finished Petticoat

SKIRT (view D):
I added my usual length to the skirt (6 Inches).  Next, I also widened the waist band so that it is a finished width of 3 inches. and I also  put some buckram into the waist band as I wanted it to stand tall.

I cut the pattern out on the cross-grain so that I could keep from having a seam down the center front.

I did a rolled hem of 5/8" and hand stitched it; rather than topstitching (I didn't want the threads to disrupt the fabric design).  I also used a standard metal zipper using the centered lapped zipper insertion method  (Craftsy has a free class on mini-zipper installation if you are interested here).  Since the zipper is tucked in the center-back pleats, its can't be seen.

I love this skirt.  The pleats fall wonderfully over the petticoat. The petticoat truly makes a difference in how the skirt wears.

The one thing I would change would be add pockets at the side seams.

Every fabric and notion that was used in the making of this skirt was already in my stash.

Happy Sewing everyone. . . . .

Revisit of Vintage Simplicity 5185

So as you are aware I purchased the black/gray checkered knit fabric from Colorado Fabrics in January, 2014 (bottom piece in picture).

Well it was fiinally time for me to sew this into a garment. It is approximately 1 1/2 yards.  I wanted to keep the dress simple and let the checkered print standout.

Being that it was winter, I can never have enough turtle neck dresses.  So back to my vintage Simplicity 5185 turtleneck dress.

I've made this pattern twice before:  dress and top.
Here it is in the checkered print with and without a belt.  The knit is lightweight enough that it can be worn on cool spring/summer days (which we are still having around here).

On to more sewing . . . . .