Another Wax Print: Skirt for Uganda - S1717

I've been sewing like the wind the last few days, but not taken time to take any pictures.  However, I did get these today since I wore this to church.  Today we were commissioned out into the mission field by our church.  We leave on Saturday from San Francisco, fly to Dubai, and have an overnight layover.  The next morning we will fly into Uganda.  We will be spending one week with the ladies from the villages and the next week in the city of Kampala.

I made this skirt from Simplicity 1717.  My pattern only went up to a 14, but since I've gained a little weight, I needed to increase the side width even though this pattern has 1" seam allowances.  I don't really think the pattern DOES have 1" seam allowances, because my other skirt was a straight sixteen and it is more fitted than this one.  I love that this skirt has pockets, but next time I would make them higher.  I tried to match the pattern on the skirt and the pocket, and I'm really pleased with how that turned out.

The yoke facing is finished with seam binding.  I was super excited to find this packet of vintage seam binding in my stash.  I think I picked it up at a church rummage sale a few years ago.

I did a lapped zipper,  Unfortunately, I did not get the seams lined up perfectly.  But, this is POWER sewing because I have so much to do in so little time, so it's staying the way it is!

Thankful

Just found that this post had never been published.  It's late, but here it is

At this time of year, it seems I am more aware than at other times of all the things I am thankful for.  I have been blessed with a wonderful husband, a beautiful home, great kids, and so much more.  Above all, I am thankful for salvation and Jesus Christ.

I have not been posting much, but have been very busy!  Recently returned from a trip to Greece and 3 weeks ago had knee surgery.  Before that, I have gotten some sewing done.  Currently, I am doing a lot of knitting and crochet, since I can sit around like a lazy person (or invalid) and do that!  Here are just a few highlights. Some things I have not even taken pictures of :-(

Here is the Bolero Jacket by Loes Hinse



Made some placemats


And - Had a few fails.  This is the CLD A Subtle Twist.  This style is not for me.

Skirt upcycle

The other day (was it yesterday??)  I had to go to ATT to ask some questions about my phone.  Right across the parking lot is the Goodwill.  I need another skirt for my trip to Uganda, so I thought I would take  a look.  I love how the good will has everything separated by item, color, and size.  It makes it so fast to see what you're looking for without having to plow through piles of stuff.  Well, I scored 2 shirts, a tank, a Tee, and a skirt for less than $20!  Everything looked like new (except the skirt) and will work perfectly for my trip.  The skirt had 1/4" elastic sewn between the lining and the skirt and was all stretched out.
The first thing I did was try to take out the elastic.  This would have been a nightmare because the fabric is really loose weave and thin.  The thread is completely embedded into the fabric and almost impossible to get out.  I decided to just cut it off completely.



Next, I got some elastic and cut it to fit a little below my waist.  I sewed it in a circle and divided it into fourths.  I pinned it onto the skirt lining up the Front, back, and side seams with the 4 marks on the elastic.  I zigzagged this on while I stretched it.  That's why the zigzags don't look very even.













Then, I folded the elastic to the inside and pinned it. I used a lot of pins so that the fabric wouldn't get off. Both the skirt and lining are cut on the bias, so it's easy for it to warp.
I stitched this down only about 3/8 inch down, leaving the rest of the elastic free. I learned this little tip from Loes Hinse. She said that it works well for those with a much smaller waist than hips, I usually use 1-1/2" elastic for this, but this one is only one inch.

This skirt is really comfortable, and I think I will be wearing it a lot!

First Uganda Piece finished!

I've been working on McCalls 3129 and am finally finished.  I actually finished last night, but ended up taking out the princess seams in the front and doing them over.  I just couldn't get all of the wrinkles out of the upper bodice.  I finally did today and am much happier with it.  It is still a big large (OK, quite a bit large) but I'm going to wait a week or two before I take it in.




There are a lot of things I don't like about this pattern, and I changed as many as I could.  For one, it's just not that pretty.  (Maybe it's this more matronly figure that still expects to see the younger figure in the mirror!)  The neckline was way too high, so I lowered it.  Another thing I do not like is that the princess seams run directly over the bust point.  I prefer them to be off to the side.

Now, perhaps some of the problems I had were due to the fact that I had already cut this pattern out a few years ago and was trying to make adjustments from there.  But, I gave away the last dress I made from this pattern because I did not like the way the bust fit.  That could be the pattern or it could be that the way I did the FBA just did not come out right.  But, even after I made a muslin this year and tried to make sure it was right, it still came out with a significant curve above where my natural bust is.  Again, this could totally be my fault.

I'm not a big fan of facings, so I found some wide bias tape and used it on the neck.  I used regular bias tape to bind the armholes.

I didn't want this dress to be floor length, but it was still a little shorter than I wanted.  I didn't want to just do a narrow hem because it would keep flipping up.  I had EXACTLY enough wide bias tape to bind the hem!

Another thing I did was to narrow the width of some of the panels.  I just didn't want it that full.

I think I could make this look better by tweaking the fit some, but at this point, I'm just glad to be done with it.  What I love about this?  The fabric!!

Wax Print on the Table - SWAP 2016

This morning I finished altering McCalls 3129.  It doesn't look like much on the envelope, but I needed something that would work with the wax print (they're kind of stiff), would be long and comfortable.  AND I have this pattern in my stash.  So, this afternoon, we'll give it a shot.  Originally I was going to do sleeves, but I'm going to make it sleeveless, and I'm going to use seam binding instead of facings.  I spent a lot of time on the muslin, but since I don't want to make a second muslin, I'm hoping for the best :-)




















This will be the first thing I am making for the trip and the first item in my SWAP!

Marathon Sewing to make it to Africa!

I need to get busy and sew some clothes for my trip to Africa.  I cannot take what I have taken in the past because I have gained too much weight.  I was planning on making a couple of dresses and skirts. I have some wax prints that I have purchased on past trips to Uganda, so I wanted to use those.  I also purchased a couple of fabrics to coordinate.  In the picture on the left, I purchased the brown and the bright green.

Now, it is JANUARY, and that means that the SWAP over on Stitchers Guild is in full swing.  I always forget about this until after the holidays.  I went over to check it out, and decided that I'm going to participate.  I was going to wait and start after I return from Uganda, but then I decided that that was not smart since I have so much sewing to do for my trip.  I knew there would have to be a way to combine the two!

Next, I decided to pull out some solids to see what would work.  The brighter of the greens in the picture below is the same as the one in the previous picture.  Everything else is in my stash.





On the right we have

• white rayon jersey
• orange cotton jersey
• maroon rayon jersey
• peacock silk noil
• green cotton Kona solid
• green linen

I'll be posting my plan and more later.  Right now I'm posting this to make myself even more committed to do it.  Also, I want to start working on my blog again.  I'm so frustrated by the blogs that you have a zillion ads and pop ups that keep you from even reading or finding out what is there.  I don't blog to make money.  I blog because I enjoy it and to share my love of sewing.

This is an African Wax Print that I bought on one of my first trips to Uganda.  I've been wanting to make a maxi dress out of it for years.

 

I made a handbag out of this wax print and have enough left to make a skirt.

I bought this blue multi print rayon challis a few years ago.  The solid silk noil will work well with it.

The good thing about dressing in Uganda is that everyone mixes prints and wears the brightest of colors.  I'm really getting excited about my trip!

Preparing for Uganda

At the end of this month I am making another mission trip to Uganda. It has been over 2 years since I've been there, so I'm anxious to go! THis year I am going with another friend named Kathryn. I've been trying out different things to teach the ladies to sew. The challenge is always that I never know how many women will be there, how many days each one will be there, and the fact that the treadle machines don't work half the time, if we have them at all! So, I decided that we need a project to make with just hand sewing while they take turns using the sewing machine. On the machines I think we will be making this bag.

There are a few things I will change, but it's a pretty simple pattern. I added a pocket on mine, and if I make another one for myself, I will make pockets on the lining. Kathryn is not a sewer, so she will be my guinea pig as to whether this will be a good project to make!










I'm not really happy with the way the handle is put together, I didn't do the best job, I've done shoulder straps like this before, and they never look very neat.  But for our purposes, I think it will be good enough.


The lining has a velcro closure, which is fine.
All in all, it's not too bad of a bag.  I'm thinking it will be great for carrying around knitting projects, but I will have to exchange that velcro for a snap.  Yarn always snags on velcro