Monthly Archives: April 2011

I just listed a new item in my Etsy shop. It is for some felt garland like I had posted about making quite a while ago. This garland is 6 yards long and has hand cut circles ranging from 1″ all the way up to 2.25″. For 6 yards it is $14.00. Check it out and while your their check out some of the other items available!

I also added a like button for the Facebook page of Mae’s Garden to my sidebar. Check it out too!

I have a few things on my project list that I want to make this week.

1. My trench coat muslin. I have had it cut out for 2 weeks now but have not had a chance to sew it up yet.

2. Eric’s vest. I just cut the paper pattern today so I will make this muslin tomorrow. I am using Simplicity 2870. I am going to to the version with the lapel with the v-cut. I am going to be using a black woven suiting cotton. I used the same fabric for my LBD, suit jacket and tulip skirt. I still have 3 yards left, so I figure I can get this vest for Eric and maybe another skirt for myself out of it.

3. Does anyone remember the Bitten line by SJP? Well, I do and I miss it dearly! It was launched at Steve and Berry’s shortly before they filed bankruptcy and closed their stores. Anyways, I loved the jeans in her line. They were by far some of the best fitting jeans I own. After losing 30lbs last year I found two pairs, one worn and one NWT. I was so ecstatic the day I found them!! I could not believe it. Now, a year later those jeans have become quite faded and need to be replaced. I tried searching Ebay for some in my size but the cost is almost 3X what they cost in the store. So, I have decided to try my hand a copying the ones I have. I don’t want to rip apart one of my pairs so I have been looking for articles on how to make the pattern without doing so. I know there is an article in one of my old issues of Threads that I am still searching for. If anyone knows off the top of their heads which issue that is please let me know. Also, if you have any good tips for how to do this easily let me know.

Oh my gosh. It is 9:30 and I almost forgot to announce the winner of my first ever giveaway! That would have been awful if I had completely forgotten! I wanted to thank each of you for your comments! I loved reading your answers to the question. A couple of you talked about inheriting fabric, which reminded me that I have done that too!! My BFF once gave me around 10-15 yards of different wools from her Grandmother’s stash. They are vintage wools from the 70’s and 80’s and I have to say they are amazing. The plaid skirt and vest I made came from that haul. I have also made a bolero out of a brown wool but I don’t have any pictures or a review for it. I may have to get some soon and put them up.

Anyways, now on to the real reason you are reading this post. The winner of 2 yards of fantastic teal and white brocade and Simplicity 4491 is…

Deborah said…
Hello! I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now and I just became a follower. Great haul at Joann’s! I went to Hancock Fabrics a couple of days ago to buy lining for a dress…just lining…I wasn’t going to buy anything else. HA!

They were having a great fabric sale and I added several yards to my stash. Notions were on sale for 40% off so I splurged on tools. I love, love, love that fabric that you are giving away. It’s beautiful. Congrats on your 100th post. I hope you keep posting because I enjoy looking at your creations.

Congrats!!! Deborah please email me your address and I will get your prize out to you this week.

Again, thank you to all of my followers. I appreciate you all and love following along on your sewing adventures as well.

I started the day by taking a trip to Jo-Ann’s to pick up some knit fabric so I can make another version of my TNT knit dress pattern. I decided to make a new one because I have a friend who tried on the red version I made and wanted to wear it for Easter. We decided that it should be a brighter more spring like color for this. So, as you can guess, it was really hard to twist my arm to want a new one. *wink*
While I was waiting for that fabric to go through the wash I got the muslin pieces cut out for my trench coat. I used a total of 3.5 yards of muslin and am using McCall’s 5525, view C. I will eventually be made out of a navy twill with a blue and red polka dot lining.

I took a break from those projects to work on the never ending double ring wedding quilt. I only worked on this for a couple of hours while watching Smallville and Supernatural. I still have a long long ways to go on this quilt and as you can tell by the date on it, I have been working on it for 2 years now! This will probably be the last time I ever decide to do this type and size of quilt again.Once the new episodes were over it was back to work on the dress. My TNT pattern is McCall’s 5974. I love the pink fabric. It is hard to tell the exact shade of pink from these pictures. It is kinda like a bright raspberry sorbet shade. Once I got all the pieces for the sleeveless dress laid out I realized that there was enough extra that if I rearranged them I could also get a new top out of this as well.
For this top I used Simplicity 2603 view E, which is the sleeveless top. This is also a TNT pattern for me as this is the 3rd time I have made it. Oddly enough, I have never posted pictures of the previous 2 nor did I ever do a PR review on it. I went ahead and finished the top first so I could test out some different knit stitches on my machine. I like the way this turned out. It will be great to wear under sweaters or jackets. Sorry, there are no pictures of it on me. Today is my lazy pajama day since I have absolutely nothing going on today for the first time in months. Eventually I will take a picture of it on me when I make something else it can go with.

My plan is to sew the dress today. Between the dress and the top I used a total of 2.5 yards of fabric. Also, don’t forget to leave your comment on my last post for your chance to win the giveaway!!!! Time to get back to sewing!

This is my haul:

2yds animal dot chiffon (50% off, $5)
1yd black w/ red pinstripe (50% off, $2)
1 yd black w/ blue stripe (50% off, $4.99)
4 cones of serger thread (50% off, $.99 each)
1 11″ remnant (50% off, $1.22)
10 McCalls patterns ($.99 each)
4 Vogue patterns ($3.99 each)
2-3 ceramic pot sets (50% off, $4.99 each)

I used my VIP 10% discount for my total purchase as well. All in all I paid $53.95 with tax. My savings are a whooping $254.90!!! I love it when patterns are on sale! I also love when the cashiers go to tell me how much I saved and start by saying “Wow!”

Because, I am in such a good mood now…

Because, this is my 100th post…

And most of all, because I want too…

I am having my very first giveaway!!!!!

Woohoo!!!! Thank you to all of my followers who have been reading my sewing adventures.

I am giving away 2 yards of a woven brocade cotton in teal and white as well as an uncut Simplicity 4491 (Sizes 14-22). The fabric has a paisley pattern woven into it. I purchased this fabric from the now closed Baer Fabrics in Louisville, KY with the intent of making a jacket of some variety. This is a sample piece for Sag Harbor.

To enter and win this lovely fabric and pattern you will need to be a follower of my blog and leave a comment answering the following question.

What is your best sewing related haul?

I will announce the winner on Sunday evening!

This was my project for this past week. I wanted to make a quick and easy top for myself before I start the trench coat. I used OOP Simplicity’s Project Runway 3535. I had previously cut this pattern in the size 20 before I dropped 20 lbs. The pattern has quite a generous amount of ease to it already, so it was a mistake not to grade this pattern down to the right size. While sewing it I took in at 2-3 inches on each side seam. It helped slim it down a bit but it would still need a tie or belt to give it more shape.

I wore this to a party this weekend and that will probably be the only time I do wear it. Since I didn’t grade it down the neck yoke is quite large which caused the shirt to constantly slip down my shoulder exposing the straps of my tank top underneath. This is currently the only picture I have of the top and it clearly shows my complaint. It’s a shame too! It is a really cute top. I love this fabric. It came out of my stash. I may have to give it to someone else.

Materials Used:
2 1/2 yards of polyester chiffon
1/4 yard fusible interfacing

I will try to get a better picture tomorrow and post my review of this top and DH’s dress shirt from last week on PR.

…from the perspective of a 2 year old. This picture makes him look like a super tall giant. Granted he is 6’3″, so he is fairly tall and pretty thin. This makes it extremely difficult to find well fitting dress clothes. This can be quite the problem as he now wears a suit and tie to work everyday thanks to a well deserved promotion. So for this promotion I decided I would finish his much needed dress shirt.

I originally had grand plans for how this post would go. I would start with a post about making the muslin and fitting it to my husbands tall and skinny frame. His biggest fit issue is finding dress shirts with sleeves long enough for him. First I finally finished the muslin for this as it has been a UFO for almost a year now. I used Simplicity7030. But when he put on the muslin it fit perfectly! I was actually a little disappointed by this. I really was looking forward to making fitting adjustments. I really wanted him to be involved in the whole process, not that he already isn’t. He did pick out the fabric and the buttons for it.

Materials:
3 yds cotton poplin
1/2 yd heavy fusible interfacing
9 3/8″ buttons

I love the way this turned out. At first I had misgivings about the fabric looking to girlie, but once it was cut and partially sewn together they disappeared. I even got the pocket to line up perfectly so that the stripes all matched up. The only real issue I had came when I was opening up the button holes. My seam ripper got stuck so I tried to force it and it went a little to far, about 1/4″ past the end of the button hole. Luckily, I was able to get some fray check on it and stitch it up from the facing side. You cannot really tell it was ripped unless you are up close, plus as he wears a tie, it will always be covered up.

He wore the finished version to work today. After all day in it there are a few things I will need to tweak for next time. For some reason the sleeves in the finished version are about a 1/2″ to short. After putting his tie on he also realized that the collar was about 1/2″ to high. So I will correct for those changes.

I am pretty proud of my first men’s dress shirt. It only took me 10 years to finally make something that was not a costume for DH. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to do so! We now have grand plans of many more of this shirt with different variations like making it more of a slim fit shirt and doing different color cuffs and collar on the undersides. But first I plan on making an emerald green one and a dark purple one. I am also going to try my hand a making him a tie and a dressy vest since I just picked up patterns from the latest Simplicity sale at Jo-Ann’s.

I also finished another UFO, a plus size women’s chemise, when I made the muslin of DH’s dress shirt. This will eventually go into my Etsy shop The Five Petals. I am still working on getting everything ready for this.

Next up is a trench coat for myself. I am participating in the PR lined jacket contest. I have been wanting to make this jacket for a while now and have all the material, except buttons, to do so.