Saturday, January 13, 2007

catch up

I haven't posted in a while, but I have been sewing. Even a few minutes a day beats nothing. So far, my favorite things I’ve made are the black Madison Avenue Dress, the brown New York Dress and the multi-colored long sleeve tee. I really like the looks of the gray sparkle top, but had lots of struggles with what should have been a very simple top. I thought I needed to line it, so used a black georgette to line. Being a novice at choosing linings, I didn’t realize that the georgette would have no stretch and would end up way too tight. I tried putting gussets in the side seams, but that was still not enough. So, I ended up cutting the lining out of the top and just leaving enough for facings at the neck and armholes. Then, of course, they kept wanting to flip out, so I had to topstitch the openings to keep them in. The top does look good and I have still the jacket to make, but didn’t finish it in time for Las Vegas.

I’m wearing the green crop jacket a lot, but it’s getting colder, so will probably have to wait for spring now. I made 2 pencil skirts, the first from a wool blend and the second from moleskin. The moleskin skirt fits perfectly. In the store, it looked like a very good match for the green moleskin jacket, but in natural light, they are not the same shade at all. The fabric was slick on the backside, so I chose not to line it. Mistake. Every-time I wore it with stockings, it would stick to my legs. I ended up cutting a lining and attaching it by hand to the underside of the facing. I’m much happier with it now and am sure I will make several others like it. I have some beautiful cuts of wool in black, blue and red, that I am planning to use.


I made a purse for my son’s girlfriend, and it turned out pretty cute. She works at Star-bucks, so I chose some coffee bean and coffee cup fabrics. I don’t really like the construction of the purse, so if I make it again, I will assemble the purse and then line it. The instructions have you line the sides before you put them together, but this makes for bulky seams and I think it looks unfinished on the inside. I really liked doing the stipple/ meander quilting on the faces and would like to do that again.

I've made two other bags as well. One was a duffel bag for my daughter,

From Sewing Projects
and the other, a shoulder bag for one of her friends.
From Sewing Projects
I have leftover material from the duffel that I'd like to use to make a purse for myself.

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