30 Mar DVF Cotton Lace Skirt
Just a skirt?...
Fashion Sewing
14 Mar Giveaway and a New Sewing Interest!
My obsession with sewing has led me to a new place – pattern drafting. I’ve become so interested in achieving the perfect fit attainable only through sewing (or having a personal tailor) that I enrolled in Patternmaking Basics: The Bodice Sloper with Suzy Furrer The end result of the class will be a bodice sloper adaptable for many uses. Suzy Furrer a most competent, serious, professional and well-spoken instructor explains how fashion designers work from a single sloper to create dozens of designs. I often attempt to customize a purchased pattern without understanding how ONE little change affects the entire fit. Additionally,...
01 Mar Hot Pink Boucle!
How do you like our six inches of snow? We get ridiculously excited about every winter storm warning in the South, wipe out the grocery stores and cancel events in anticipation of snow. This 'winter storm' I hit the sewing machine with a color hot enough to melt the ice off the patio. When the skies turned gray my eye turned to this bright pink boucle on the Mood Fabrics website. It is soft, it is happy and it is well-behaved :) My pattern is Vogue 9022 sewn last month in a color block style with Mood's black and white wool crepe. This time I sewed the pattern...
24 Feb Fantastic Guest Post: RTW Faster Cissie
Dear Readers, Last week I had a disastrous experience padding my new dress form...
11 Feb Sewaholic’s Granville II
Y I K E S ! How could I have possibly spent so much time sewing this shirt again? The answer lies in making it fit, but alas, it fits. Not quite ready to cut into the silk I planned to sew two garments ago, I bought a bolt of muslin and learned how to fit Sewaholic’s Granville Shirt to my body. My wearable muslin had several issues, namely tightness through the bust , misplaced darts and bunching in the back. Many readers suggested the fit was as good as RTW, which is precisely why I have avoided tailored shirts throughout my life. They...
03 Feb A Wearable Muslin – the Granville Shirt
While patience is a virtue, and a quality I attempt to pursue, I would not consider it to be my best attribute. Many sewists truly enjoy using the PDF patterns. I too love the instant gratification of downloading a pattern, but assembling 30-page patterns is an event in and of itself. I wanted Sewaholic's Granville Shirt enough to download the pattern late one evening. Online access to sewing patterns is certainly advantageous, especially for re-printing purposes, but printing and assembling a pattern adds additional responsibility and time. It takes patience for sure! After assembling and cutting my pattern, I chose to skip out on the muslin...
28 Jan Meet Andrea Birkan
Dear Readers, You must meet Andrea Birkan, a 2014 and 2015 RTW Faster! Andrea's garments display such inspirational creativity that I asked her to write a guest post. I'm writing very little to avoid spoiling the lovely text and photos to follow. Read on to learn more about Andrea, and visit her blog at: http://sewbusy.weebly.com Enjoy! _________________________________________ I discovered Sarah’s blog while searching for some fabric off the Mood Fabrics website one morning, and have been an avid reader of the blog ever since. I’ve always had a love for sewing, but she really inspired me to get back to sewing on a daily basis. By doing...
25 Jan Vogue 9022
How many times have you seen a ready-to-wear garment that you KNEW you could make… if only you had the pattern? That was certainly my reaction upon seeing this Akris Punto dress, and when I noticed some similarities in Vogue 9022 to the $995.00 dress, I couldn’t resist. True, the pattern is split vertically rather than horizontally, but I was feeling adventurous, and besides, I loved the pockets. How did I do? What I really like about the Akris Punto dress is its unstructured but not too oversized nature. I have avoided kimono sleeves because they appear so large, however, Vogue describes this pattern as fitted. After making...
14 Jan Supersize Me!
Maybe it’s just me but on January 2, I was craving an oversized shirt to hide my holiday indulgences…. and when I’m in an unattractive state of mind, the fabric I like to turn to is silk. This Famous Designer Black and Off-White Animal Print Crepe de Chine was the perfect antidote for my post holiday doldrums. I feel better already! My pattern of choice was Simplicity 2447, but it wasn’t just oversized, it was supersized! Before cutting into the silk I made a full muslin which required one alteration after another. The photo below shows the muslin after the excess is pinned out...
31 Dec The Kitchen Sink
Dear Readers ~ Many thanks for your enthusiastic responses to my last post! It was simply heartwarming to hear from you :) The end of the year roundup is not one of my favorite posts to write. I find it difficult to choose favorites with anything. I can’t name my favorite song, meal, movie, book or vacation spot, however I find it very important to review, reflect and learn from my experiences. Sewing during 2014 took on a life of its own with a second Ready-to-Wear Fast accompanied by a wedding. I bought nothing yet sewed fewer garments than I expected, which...