Sunday, December 26, 2010

Caped Cru-SEW-ders

I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas day.
Plaid-ly Speaking

A few days before Christmas, I was on the quest for a pattern that is suitable for fleece.  I found these nearly forgotten patterns in my stash. 
Simplicity 4026 




I thought it would be fun to sew a "Charger" football fan jacket for my daughter's godmother in printed fleece.   She, her husband, and her children are ardent fans of the team. I sewed Simplicity 4029's short or bolero looking jacket.  I hope that the size 8 will fit Heather's godmother nicely whose petite frame seems to qualify for junior sizes less than a "5".  After cutting and interfacing the front and back facings, I decided to topstitch a narrow hem along the front and neck edges which was somewhat more tricky than what I anticipated.  Attaching the facings would have seemed easier, but I did not want my recipient to have to fuss with them.  


 Bolts of Fabric


I used Simplicity 4026's hat pattern and a long rectangle for the scarf, that was sewed into a tube and turned inside out via a small aperture. Heather assisted me enthusiastically in this project.

Bolts of Fabric

With the remaining fabric, I sewed Heather (she pleaded to make her one after seeing my cape) and myself matching Charger capelets using Simplicity 4026. It took only 2 pattern pieces (I omitted the flounces).  For my cape,  I  added approximately 6" to the lower edge.   For Heather's cape, I kept the same length.   I lined the capelets with cheetah lining fabric that I used recently for a Vogue ruffled blouse. To secure the neckline, I sewed a large snap at the top corners.   

It is a very easy piece to make in which each front piece is sewn to the back piece along the shoulders and upper arms.  So this is an ideal project for beginners, especially those lining a garment for the first time.
Caped Cru-sew-ders

With one flick of our blue cloaks, we transformed from "Charger" to "Cheetah", like magic!
Caped Cru-sew-ders


I know this is irrelevant or just bizarre, but HOWL-Y Batman or Catman, this is definitely one "caped blunder"! This is not cute at all.  Goodbye, Kitty to this one!



Heather gave me this card on Chrsitmas morning.  Gifts from the heart are ones I treasure the most.  

For My Mom







Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Wishes

One more day before the birthday of our Savior.



Heather's official first sewing project (with a little help from me). Poor kitty...



Voila, Heather's completed scarf. She and I were very proud.




Christmas 2003.  Heather at 9 months. Her first picture with Santa.  We kept this tradition for five years. 



Heather, getting ready for this year's holiday ballet recital.


The ballerinas just before the performance.


Heather and a snowman decked out in football fan attire on October.   Christmas decorations or simply "going commercial" just before Halloween?  The message is clear: buy, buy, buy.... 


(If is any consolation, we did not buy the hat and the snowman at our local K-Mart.  We found the opportunity for a "Kodak" moment).


We hope that you have more time in the upcoming year to be SEW happy. 




The best gift is that from the heart: love....

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Maligayang Pasko, Joyeux Noel, God Jul. 



The message of love, peace, and joy is universal in any language.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Tangerine Seams

Two weeks ago...

Pattern Description: "Girl's jumpsuit in two lengths, dress and shrug.  I was set to make a jumper/shorts dress for Heather that she kindly asked me to make.  However,  I made first a shrug or bolero, view "D"  to complement Heather's dress that she would wear at an upcoming yearly church event.
Fabric:
Milly eyelet from EmmaOneSock.com  for the outer portion and a stretch charmeuse from fabric.com as lining.


I traced a size "8" of the front and back of the shrug/bolero onto gift-wrap tissue paper, extending the fronts to bypass the use of a front band.  I also created a matching ponytail hair accessory of the same fabric and three flowers. 



I omitted the center seam for the back in order to not interrupt the petals.


Here's the bolero with the RTW dress. I attached a transaparent "flower" button at the center front.



Showing the lining:


Heather wearing her dress at a yearly church event on a Saturday afternoon (with the odd makeup she had on during a  little ballet performance).  She could not wait to get into her sweater and jeans after the festivities. 

Heather and me (in my Butterick 5454 wrap dress). She looks taller than me!

I started working on Heather's jumpsuit (view B in Liberty of London fabric) the next day. I was able to complete the entire bodice.  In the picture below, I had completed sewing the bias finish/shoulder ties onto one of the armholes. 

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

The INC Spots

While shopping at our local Macys,  I "spotted" a dress with a familiar looking fabric.  The first thing that I said aloud to myself was " Hey, I have that fabric! " I had purchased the same fabric from Gorgeousfabrics.com and immediately made Heather another Jalie twist top and myself a Vogue 8451 top and a New Look 6940 top.  Next to the mannequin is Heather, being silly with her "dozed" expression.

Excuse my fuzzy camera pics from my "time-to-update-my-camera" phone.





Here is another view of the cheetah spotted shirt dress.  I like the ruched front and the  button tabs at the sleeves.
From Macys.com, the INC shirt dress with an original price of $79.99.