Time to sew . .

So as I said I got my machine back; so I've been doing some quick test projects to make sure all is working (or at least appears to be). I had this little pattern in my stash:

Click on Photo to go to Atkinson Designs URL

I made two bags to put my machine needles in.  Since my goal was to test out my embroidery also, I added labels that could be seen in the windows. Also rather than buy vinyl,  I just cut up a bag I had gotten some bed linen in.  Here are the finished bags:



I did run into a problem while switching between embroidery and sewing mode, and think I've got some more testing to do in that area. But I'm GOOD TO SEW!!!

I did finally finish up the outfit from this post:Work In Progress. I'll post the completed picture soon.

- Posted from my Ipad

My baby (Bernina 830) is home from the hospital!!!

Well as it turns out whenever you are sewing on something you really want to finish, your sewing machine decides to take a holiday. After the last software update, my machine tension would not get right. I took it back to my dealer. Did I tell you my dealer is AMAZING!!!!!!

They attempted to get it correct; but when it still didn't sew correctly they worked directly Bernina to get it resolved! They are keeping it in the shop for a couple of days and I'm going to go there and sew on it during sewing studio. The owner wanted to do this to ensure it was Ok before I take it back home!

I had one of the first 830 machines and never had any problems with it. I'm pretty excited to get my baby back. It's all about the dealer when you buy your machine. The 830 is a pricey machine, and my dealer has always given me the support that I would expect for this machine. So far I have not regretted the purchase.

If you live in the Boulder/Denver CO area I highly recommend them. The shop is called Studio Bernina.  The staff is great and they offer some awesome classes in addition to the sewing studio. 

WIPs (Works in Progress)

So time to fill you in on what I've been working on and completed.

First my WIP. I got the following pattern at a vintage sale, and found this really nice African fabric to make it from.

The pattern is Advance 6956. I'm making the Peplum blouse with the wiggle skirt.

The first thing I did was to resize the pattern. The pattern was a 34 bust, and I had to size it up to a 36 bust. Sizing up is what I hate the most about using most of my vintage patterns. This meant I had to add an additional 2 inches. I re-size my patterns based on the instructions from Sensibility.  Using this method, I resized my pattern with a 3/8" addition at the neckline area, and underarm area, and a 1/4" addition at the shoulder area.

I added this to all of the pieces that attach to the front and back bodice peices: neck facings, sleeves, and peplum skirt.

 I chose not to use the boarder on the peplum top. I only had a limited amount of fabric (~3 yds); so I had to figure out my layout accordingly. I've learned that when in these cases I layout the fabric and patterns on the floor and take a snapshot. Then when I am ready to cut the fabric. The picture acts as a layout guide:

 The pattern presented an option of a lined vs unlined peplum skirt.  I chose to line it with a black cotton.

The top is completed and I have only buttons left to put on.  I'm hoping to post the completed picture of the top (inside and out) on tomorrow.

Happy Sewing . . . . .

Yes, I'm still here . . .

Hi all,

I've been a way for a couple of months, but I still got a lot of sewing done.

Work wise, things have been so hectic/busy with streamlining etc. I've been doing tons of overtime; but I thank God everyday for it.

The network news creep-ed into my extended family, in that I had a close cousin who's husband decided to commit suicide and tried to take her with him.  (Praise God he wasn't successful!!!).  She is recovering physically  and has only begun the mental journey (Please say a pray for my family).

The kids all came home for the holidays.  The first time we've had them all home at the same time in a couple of years.  I'm still learning my role as the parent of adults (Hey I had just gotten the hang of being parents to teenagers; when things changed on me - SMILE).  It was great, noisy, crowded, and made for tons of future memories!

As for the sewing, stress makes for amazing sewing inspiration!  I'll be posting pix of my sewing over the next couple of days.

I've been catching up on my blog reading, and just saw where Tee of "Dressed to a Tee" blog, had given me a blog award back in late December (Thanks so much!).  Sorry for seeing it so late; I thank you so much for thinking of me!

Rules for the Award:
The rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you
2. Add the One Lovely Blog Aware/Very Inspiring Blogger Award to your post
3. Share 7 things about yourself
4. Pass the award on to 10 nominees
5. Include this set of rules
6. Inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs.

        
Seven things about me: 

1. I've learned that there is nothing impossible for God, and therefore nothing impossible for me as long as I keep God in my heart.
2. My family is my world!  I always tell folks the 3 most important things in my life are the 3 F's: Faith, Family, and Finances!  Their magnitude of importance is in the order listed.  
3. My gratitude for folks that give me their time can never be expressed!  The most valuable gift I can give to a person is my time; it's something I can't get a refund on nor can it be returned. I discovered this as I hit 50 last year, and realize how true it is! 
4. I spoil all of my friends kids as if they were my grand-kids/nieces/nephews (We have no grandkids, yet).  My husband and I are called aunt/uncle by a huge number of kids that aren't blood relatives!!
5. I LOVE my height!  It has taken me years of insecurities and shyness to get comfortable with my height (over 6 feet tall).  
6. I've been teaching a 7 year old to sew for the last 3 months!  She has diabetes, and we are working to design clothing that will accommodate her insulin pump.  (When she's ready, I'm hoping she and her Mom will let me post some of her creations on here).  We try to meet twice a month.
7. My one material weakness is my sewing machines!  I love them almost as much as I love my kids (although they might say it is the other way around.)

Blogs worth paying a visit:  (Below are some of the blogs that I visit regularly.  If you're interested in participating then please feel free to do so; if not that's fine.  Just know that your blog is one of the many that I get lots of inspiration and encouragement).

• Stitched by Janay - re-sparked my machine embroidery interests
• MimiG - amazing inspiration for garment sewing
• Rhonda's Creative Life - tons of tutorials (Sewing/non-sewing) such as Sleeves on Saturdays, Fabulous free Pattern Friday, Sunday's Soup
• J.kaori Sews - inspirations for sewing and knitting 
• 10,000 Hours of Sewing - has started the Fearlous February Sew-along, in case you want to join
• Faye's Sewing Adventure - followed her Carnival of Skirts postings, can't wait to see what this year has in store.
• Lower your presser foot - from Australia   Love her clothing, and the adorable outfits she makes for her daughter and son
• Molly Sews - I've followed her since her "Southern" days; can't wait to see final dress comes out
• The Overflowing Stash - A Fabric/Pattern/Notion Hoarder
• Dibbs & The Machine - A new seamstress that's becoming acquainted with her sewing machine

In closing I have to leave you with this.  I was making snugglies for my daughter's room-mates.  Well one was too short (all of them are 6 feet and taller).  So I decided to give that one to one of the fans.  He is an older gentleman and goes to all of their games.  I embroidered the back of it, and presented it to him at a game.  He was so excited, and even wore it to a game (yes it is a snuggly - aka blanket with sleeves).  He wanted everyone to see it!  He was so proud of that gift!  But little does he know he blessed me more than I blessed him.  This is one gift that will always bring a smile to my face and my heart.  The ultimate form of appreciation for a seamstress, is for the recipient to wear what you've given them.  That is so-o-o-o TRUE!!!!

 Happy Blog Surfing and Sewing!

Tops To Go With Those Jeans. . .

So like I said, I've got 3 more pairs of jeans to go.  I just got this fabric from Moods.  I think it should make a nice pair of jeans.  I can't wait to get started on them.  Its an Italian Printed Denim.  I've got to pre-treat the fabric and hope to start them this week.



Picture Courtesy of Mood.com

Until theses are done, though I've been thinking that I'm going to need some tops to go with all these jeans.   About two years ago I made a peplum top from the Patrones Issue 292, pattern number 32.  I've made this up twice in a skirt set.  The 2nd one was out of  African fabric that I found at a local store called Akente Express in Denver, CO. It has been around for over 20 years.   (For a quick virtual tour of the store, select this link - This is so cool! )

Picture courtesy of Google Maps, select virtual tour link above to see entire store

I made this top about a year ago.  I have a matching skirt for this top. I thought it would be nice with my black denim jeans that I just completed.

I figured I'd make another top to wear with the acid wash jeans. The fabric uses is a white cotton with mini polka dots in navy blue. I had a blue faux-leather belt that I had made sometime back to pair with the top. I also underlined it in w/ imperial baptist.

My next sewing stop is a vintage dress pattern made from this "stash" fabric.  I just finished it today, and can't wait to wear it.

Jeans, Jeans, and more Jeans

So lately I have been working on Jeans. When the cold weather approaches, it motivates me to do pants. As you recall, I had the desire to make a pair of jeans from printed denim after seeing this picture in Instyle Magazine 7/2012:

Photo Courtesy of Instyle Magazine, July 2012

Well try as I might, I wasn't able to find denim in such bold prints, so instead I went with these prints:

All of these were purchased from JoAnn's. Well when I got ready to sew that's when I discovered I had misplaced my jean pattern. After all of those months of getting the fit of the Jalie 2908 jeans pattern just right, now I can't find the thing!

Well thank goodness for Craftsy.com, and Kenneth Kings class "Jean-ius". It took me about 2 days; but I made another Jean pattern from one of the earlier pairs I had made. I only had to do very minor tweaking, and I was ready to go. He has so-o-o many helpful hints, and his directions are very easy to follow. This was definitely worth the money! And if you are like me you can catch one of the class sales and get a discount.

I decided to do some topstitching using a the triple stitch on my machine on 2 of the pairs, and using buttonhole thread and my Singer 99K on the other 2 pairs.

After discovering the convenience of having a separate machine already setup with the topstitching thread, I will never again sew jeans on a single machine. It's so convenient to just turn to the other machine rather than having to rethread the machine constantly, as I alternate between seams and topstitching.


  The first pair was made from "paint-splash" denim.  It had a little bit of lycra in it.  I always make my jeans with some extra comfort space.  I'm originally from the south, so anything close to freezing, and a sister will put on thermals in a heartbeat! I love to wear heals with my jeans; so I typically make my pants one to two inches longer than needed















Then came the Acid Wash jeans. I got was so pleased with the waistband. (A little thing that Kenneth King mentions is to cut the waist band on the crosswise grain, and this will give it some stretch). I As you can tell I got the fit over the rear without the use of darts! These were topstitched using white thread, and the triple stitch on my machine.



 


















Next were the black pin stripe jeans; on these I added 2 inches to the hemline, and decided to drop the waist about an inch. I've topped stitch these using a black buttonhole thread, so the topstitching is as noticeable on these as they are on the white ones and the final ones. Also, on these I decided to do the top stitching on the inseam; just to try something different.











The final pair was made from what I call"holey" denim. I chose to use a tan topstitching thread for these. I also went all out and did the rivets on the pockets, etc. I topstitched these on the inseam (hence, the reason for the awkward stand, so you could see the stitching). I kept all of the stitching on pockets very simple.  I figured the fabric was the eye-catcher.

I also decided to use my Singer 99k to do my buttonhole on the waistband.  It was so easy.   Sometimes these older attachments are great.  It handled the bulkiness at the waistband without problem:

I used my largest keyhole template and stitched around the buttonhole twice, but of course I had to do my sample stitch out first.

 The final touch was to use the buttonhole cutter to cut open the buttonhole, and a little fray check to seal the opening.

This is one of the many projects I've got finished during my blog absence.  So now I have 4 jeans completed and 3 more to go.  Hey, I need to have at least a weeks worth of jeans, you never know when a good old fashioned snow storm may hit.
  

Creative Expressions/Quilt Down Under

So folks this morning I got an offer for a free 6 month digital subscription to Creative Expressions with Jennny Haskins, Quilt Down Under, and Down Under Textiles.  All 3 are embroidery, quilting, sewing magazines out of Austraila.  This is being offered by Creative Living Media, who is the publisher of these magazines.  I think I got the notice because I have a subscription to the Austrailian Smocking Magazine.

I've subscribed and was just browsed thru some of the Creative Expressions magazines.  (Did I mentioned that you also get access some of the archived issues for this period?)  I am going to definitely enjoy this subscription for the next 6 months. 
Here's a snapshot of the URL:

The link if you are interested is: http://www.creativelivingmedia.com.au/
Happy Sewing!