Mornin'

I've been away from blogging for several weeks and my plan is to go back three weeks and catch up with what everyone has been doing!  Work has been busy, Passover came and went, and my mother was diagnosed with cancer.  She started five weeks of radiation this past Monday.  Her spirits are great, but she is exhausted.  She turned 87 last Sunday and her prognosis is very, very good.  Prayers welcome!

I did get to the Worcester Sew and Quilt Expo this week and took 3 classes with Cynthia Guffey.  What a wonderful experience.  I guess some of you have come across Cynthia over the years.  She is a gracious lady and a designer of beautiful patterns, books and DVDs.  She is all about precision and details and a believer in good old fashion touches like hand basting before sewing and tailor tacks.  We studied beautiful seam finishes that incorporated wrapped outside seams, piping, fabric insertions between seams.  I loved her techniques and I loved her approach.  Her garments are classic, yet edgy.  If you haven't looked into any of her classes or seminars, I would say treat yourself.  It will be worth it.  I came home inspired!

Slan

Three Glass Marbles

My mother-in-law passed away on April 3 last year.  Yesterday, I was in her apartment for the last time -- the place she and my father-in-law had lived for 28 years.  Ruth had been in a nursing home for five years before passing away, but the apartment had been left intact until this month.  My father-in-law is moving into an assisted living home and yesterday we took the last remaining items out of the small apartment.  I took what is, to me, the greatest treasure -- a Singer electric sewing machine, model 201-2.  The last copyright on the instruction booklet is 1947 and it's complete in it's cabinet, with four small drawers.

 I've been going through the  cabinet drawers with their myriad of threads, some of them very old and dusty and wound on spools of thick cardboard rather than the plastic spools we see today.  There were snippets of elastic in various sizes, packages of seam binding, little scissors, packets of needles, and many, many tiny plastic bags of buttons -- you know the ones that come attached to clothing and that we diligently put away in case we lose a button from that new blouse or shirt and must replace it.

By the time we married, my mother-in-law was not really doing a lot of machine sewing.  But I know that when her children were young, she made many, many costumes for them and did it with as much or more enthusiasm than the young ones they were for.

But, as I looked through her drawers with so many of the the things that we all stash away, I was struck by a couple of things.  The first was that I hope someone who loves sewing ends up going through my things when the time comes.  Only another sewer could be struck by the beauty of thread, or tailor's chalk, or the shiny black paint on an old sewing machine.  Only a sewer can know what thoughts passed through another's mind when they acquired a beautiful new pair of scissors.  Alas, I didn't raise sewers, but maybe they will understand how beautiful I think every stitch can be, or what possibilities lay in a yard of fabric. 

My other thought was how very fleeting all of this is.  We accumulate so very many things and in an instant it's gone.  We never do use the white button in that miniature plastic bag, attached with a pin to our new blouse -- such an achingly simple thing.  It's over too soon and I don't want it to be over.  I want to savor every minute of life there is.  We almost never do.  We are reminded and we vow to, but then we get busy.  Very busy.  And, we forget.

One of the last things I came across in Ruth's cabinet were three glass marbles.  I love glass marbles.  I don't think anyone knows I do -- I never knew I did until recently.  But, they are beautiful in their clarity, perfect shape, and simplicity.  Maybe we had more in common than we ever realized.  And so, thank you Ruth, for your sewing machine, your thread, and your three glass marbles.

Slan

Easy Home Dec

A little relaxing sewing to spruce up the family room.  Easiest pillow ever.  Flanged pillow, measures 22 inches when finished, but uses an 18 inch pillow insert.  Monogram and flourishes are machine embroidered and there is a 16 inch sipper in the back, that is prettily hidden by a placket.  I forgot to take a picture of the back before I brought it into work for a class I'm teaching at the end of the month. Decorative stitching separates the pillow from the flange.  

Sometimes the easiest things are can be rewarding.

Slan

Nine Lives Vest

 I have fallen so far behind in posting and in reading all of your posts!  I caught up a bit this morning and hope to stay on track now.  After the wedding, things geared up for fall and then  for the holidays both at home and at work.  But, I have vowed to get back to what I love. 

My latest is a very simple pattern called Nine Lives Vest from Shapes, by Louise Cutting and Linda Lee.  It is an unlined vest/blouse that I've seen made up as a summer shirt.  I liked the idea of it as a vest for the winter months and made it up in a black faille-like fabric.  I love the way the collar stands -- I think it's flattering and I also like the asymetrical shape with one side slightly longer than the other.   There is a slight capped sleeve and, though it is shown with multiple buttons, I chose to do one large one in the center.  The seams are bound with a black and brown brocade. 

 

It makes a great foil for the scarves I've been making -- the first in silk dupioni with odd 'shapes' attached at the bottom and the second from some vintage kimono fabric with a band of black on black silk at either end.

Easy and versatile -- has the structure I love!

Slan

Lacy Scarf - No Knitting

 I actually do know how to knit, but I was intrigued with this process.  I have many skeins of ribbon, eyelash, and other sparkly yarns that belonged to my sister.  I get tired of some of the standard scarves made up in these materials, so I decided to try something different - a process I've seen written up in a few magazines.  

  

I cut one yard of a tacky water soluble stabilizer (I used Aqua Magic Plus).  I cut many, many strands of yarn in 44 inch lengths and laid them on the stabilizer with 6 inches hanging over the stabilizer on each end for fringe.  You can use your imagination here and put them down in any order.  When you're satisfied with your arrangement, place another water soluble stabilizer on top (this one does not need to be tacky).

I then did free motion stitching throughout the entire scarf, making sure that I was close enough so it held together, but not so close that it was rigid.  I then soaked the scarf in cold water to get out the stabilizer and voila!

Easy, pretty, lacy, different!
 

SLAN

Jacket Finished - Jury Still Out

 The strange fabric jacket is finished.  There's lots I like about it.  The fabric was both very stretchy and the shiny dots were a little like plastic.  I really was afraid to press this much.  I did press my seams open, but with a press cloth and the tip of the iron.  The little dots also interfered with getting a really good seam, especially at the shoulder, since they were 'crunchier' than the body of the fabric and tended to stand out.  And, I didn't want to melt them with too much pressing.  The fabric was also a bit heavy which helps the drape.

 

The jacket and lining are constructed, sans sleeves.  The lining and jacket sleeves are then joined at the cuff, the seamline at the top of the lining sleeve is turned in and basted, the fabric sleeve is attached to the jacket, and the lining sleeve is then pulled over and slipstitched.

It's a very easy jacket and has potential for other options, such as making it as a vest, shortening the panels in the front, etc.  All in all, I like the pattern.  The pattern in this fabric?  I'll definitely wear it.  My son, who is a die hard vintage Brooks Brothers adherent, would say 'shiny' which would be his way of saying, if you can't say something nice......

SLAN

Muslin for V8756 - Why We Make Muslins!

Even though this pattern (see previous post) doesn't button and appears loose-fitting, I decided to do a muslin and I'm glad that I did.  The back has four darts, adding a lot of shape.  Two of them are in the shoulder area and two start mid-way down the back and go right to the waist.  I found when I made up my muslin that the back really wasn't flattering at all.  Where the hemline hit, it forced the jacket to buckle a bit, and the back just seemed to be a bit snug.  Keeping in mind that the purpose of darts is not just to take in fullness, but also to add fullness to other areas, and that patterns are guides rather than bibles, I decided to reshape the dart.  As you can see in the photo, I took out the original (marked with blue dots) and put in a new one that started slightly above the old dart, extended about 6 inches, coming in only about 1/4 inch at its center.  This kept the cinched look, but added flare at the bottom, which I sorely needed.

Here you can see the new dart transferred onto my pattern.  I simply marked the top of dart, bottom, middle and then measured out from the middle of the dart 1/4 inch on each side.  I then connected the markings with a French Curve Ruler.







Full photo (aren't washed out muslins so very flatterning???) here.  The back looks like it could use a tad more work, though I don't want it too streamlined since it is a jacket.

 

 
Also picked up the lining for the jacket.  The pattern itself is easy, so hopefully this will work up quickly and I can show photos in a more flattering color.

  
SLAN