...But Just Don't Tell My Husband

Well, I was at the fabric store yesterday getting a zipper (which my husband reminded me of about 20 times before I left) and of course I looked at the other offerings.

Hey, there was a line at the cutting table, what could I do? Oh, yeah, I didn't need to get anything cut...

Well, the point is that I got some really lovely, creamy brown wool felt that I can't wait to use at the holidays. I love this type of fabric, plus the color is neutral so I can match it with vividly colored beads, fabrics and brac brac. Plus, I used my 40% off coupon and bought matching brown trim.

So, when I get these holiday items made up, I'll show you, just after I finish all the other projects in my sewing room...might not be for another 10 years.

Anyway, happy sewing to you all!

My New Pink Dress

Well, here it is folks. I finished it last night and wore it to work today, so it may look a little wrinkled, but I like it just fine.

Of course, as any seamstress knows, you need to be prepared for anything and be flexible. So here's some of the "challenges" I encountered last night while making my dress:

1) I needed to use a needle for stretchy fabrics. Apparently, this cotton fabric had enough stretch that it caused the needle to skip stitches with a regular needle.
2) This was going to be a summer dress and needed to be lined in the bodice. Did I want to be miserable and making the lining with a poly fabric? I don't think so! I had the most perfect, also berry colored, very light cotton fabric. The only thing--there wasn't enough of it. So I did a little creative fabric joining and voila--the bodice lining worked!
3) Even though I have 50 zillion zippers, I didn't have the right color or size. Even when I went to the fabric store, they didn't have the perfect matching color, but the zipper had fabric overlapping it, so it really didn't matter.
4) I did all the adjustments to this pattern to fit my figure now...wow I remember when all I used to do was hem it shorter. Now I adjust the shoulders so the bodice doesn't gape, I bring down the bust, a bring out the waist, and adjust the skirt in conjunction with the new bodice length.
5) By the way, to make your zippers really come out nice and even, I machine sew one side and then I handbaste the other side to match with it exactly, especially at the waist. And then I machine sew the hand-sewn side, and then take the handsewing out.
6) The other change I'm still thinking about is I'm not sure that the bolero jacket I had planned for the flower fabric will fit the bill. I mean, the bolero jacket is perfect for the large flower fabric, and I even have thin white cotton to use for a lining. The problem is, I'm not convinced that a different fabric will look right with my pink dress. I'm going to mull it over some more.

I've learned that if I'm not convinced about something I'm sewing, I stop and think about it for a while. This prevents a lot of ripping out, to be sure. Sometimes the answer just comes to me, and I always think it's my grandma giving me a hand.

I love the neckline on this dress and I think it's a flattering style. And it's comfortable!

Happy sewing to you all!

Sewing For Me

I love to make things to sell, love customer's reactions to my bags and feel so blessed to be doing what I love.

But I decided that this weekend is for me...so I chose the fabrics that most spoke to me and here's what I came up with:












I decided to use the hot pink cotton (it looks tie dyed) for a summery dress and the floral cotton print for a jacket. I think the fabrics look really nice together. Plus, I didn't want to make the floral into a shirt because I didn't want to launder it all the time--the colors are so bright against the stark white I want to keep it as fresh looking as possible.

What do you think?

I'll post later my results. I'm so excited!

Las Vegas Crafter's Guild Craft Show at the Sahara Libarary

Wow, we had such a nice time craft show--and lot's of sales too. I really appreciate my fellow crafters...You can see I really got into the JOYfulness of Carol Joy Fashions--I decided to dress up in a costume I made.



And the froggies were happy too, even though it's not easy being green.