Various and Assorted Catching Up

I have several pictures this time.  First, let me apoligize for the poor picture quality.  I seem to take better pictures using ds's camera, but I know he is tired of having me ask to use it all the time.  Dh generously loaned me his, but the user obviously needs more practice:(  Sorry!  Here goes!

My son finally finished his scarf he began this winter!  He would've been finished much sooner if I could've found my crochet hooks.  Where did they go???  Here it is--didn't he do a great job?

Here is Vogue 1091 all completed!  Well, not quite.  I took this before hemming.  I'll see about posting some construction info later this week.

And here are some challenges.  sigh.  Really, what was I thinking when I decided an Ugly Fabric Challenge for our sewing guild would be fun???  Here is my challenging fabric:

And here is what my dd got:

Overall, I think I can deal with mine (and am secretly glad I didn't get something shiny and shifty!).  I got 3 yards of a very fluffy flannel that's 60" wide.  Our challenge results have to be completed by our August meeting.  The colors are definitely not me, but they would work up well for the guys in the family.  Matching shirts?  Pj bottoms?  Those are my first thoughts and this flannel is just so soft and fluffy after washing I think I'll have to do one of those for sure!  Plus, there's a lot of fabric so I want to use it up!   I still can't believe how soft and fluffy it is!  I wonder where you'd find more?

Planning and Vogue 1091

I have actually finished Vogue 1091!  No pics yet though.  My camera and I don't seem to get along of late and borrowing one can be a challenge.  Perhaps this weekend I can do photos.  I knew this dress would be loose fitting, but not as loose fitting as it turned out!  Wow.  The love is just not happening.  It will be cool for summer--great for throwing on after a day at the beach or something like that.  Maybe I'll put even a little beach-type embroidery on one side of the bottom.  The elastic at the top on both the back and front pulls away from my body a little bit, too.  sigh.  Well, a cool beach dress is fine and not a lot invested in it since I'm still experimenting and learning about knits!

However!  The Little Hunting Creek blog had a post last week about menu planning and sewing planning.  What an aha! moment for me.  Coincidentally, I was preparing my own menus for the upcoming seven days when I read this post.  It is exactly how I do my planning for meals and it made perfect sense that I should be planning my sewing that way as well.  I guess since I have not sewn for myself in years I had not thought about planning my sewing to fulfill needs and wardrobe gaps. 

I have several little girl garments to work on for now, but I think you'll be reading more about my plans for my sewing for me!  I have some serious fabric gaps since I am mostly stocked with fabric more suitable for children's wear.    Pattern choices seem to be okay, but I'll definitely need to look them over and decide if they will help wardrobe planning.  It sounds like the closet needs to be tackled and cleaned out first!  Lists to be made, cleaning to be done!  This might be fun!

Vogue 1091--progress

I was excited to get my dress cut out yesterday and unexcited that I'm having a Serger Threading Challenge.  haha  Well, I hope a little break will solve that and then I can start stitching!

Idea on Knit Dress

I am waiting on the knit fabric that I bought yesterday to dry...and I'm going to wash it yet another time or two and let it air dry to make sure it won't shrink!  I think my new t-shirt shrank a little and I'd prewashed, line dried it.  Oh well, it did look cute w/ a white tank undernearth which is how I planned to wear it anyway!

It is dangerous to make me wait too long since I was all ready to go on the Vogue 1091 pattern.  I get ideas!  First, I checked out all the reviews and blogs to see what other people said (did I mention I also over-research, too?).  Then I got to thinking...  Several people had commented that it needed a print and I bought a solid.  I'm not a print kinda gal except on occasion, plus there weren't any at all at the store yesterday that were likeable:(  One thing that I really liked about the pattern was the gathering at the top and then I thought it reminds me of pencil pleated draperies or smocking!  Perhaps I will try to do a little smocking like you would do on a drapery or just even sew a bead on top of each of the gathers to draw them up more distinctly almost like smocking a beaded dress, but not having the embroidery show just a small bead.  That would involve a little extra work (like measuring and getting that gathering to be even once the elastic is in), but give some simple, interesting detail.  What do you think?  I might not have explained well, but I'd love to hear any thoughts on that!

More Knits

I took a run to Joann's and picked up some of their sale patterns.  I wanted one more Vogue pattern but they had this HUGE gap in pattern numbers.  When I asked about it thinking that they might have them in the back, I was told no they just don't have them.  I've read on other sewing blogs about having a hard time finding patterns in stock at Joann's and the value of mail ordering them.  I might need to ponder that some more!

Here's what I picked up:

First up, this looked like a great everyday summer top pattern with lots of variations.  It's McCall's 2818, a Palmer/Pletsch.

This is Vogue 8182.  I liked it as a summer church dress and for those all too seldom date nights!

Vogue 1091--Yes, for knits!  It looked cool and comfy for hot summer days.  I used to wear dresses a lot more than I do now.  I think it's time to enjoy them again.  And it's a knit!  Here's what I got to sew it up, a rayon/lycra in a deep teal (the pic looks more turquoise to me):

They really don't have much for knits there and the quality is poor--I noticed this one had holes in it before it was cut.  I just hope there aren't more that I had not noticed!  I definitely need to explore other fabric shopping options. 

Finally, an insane moment.  The kids' piano recital this year features Disney music.  The teacher suggested it might be fun for the students to dress like a character in their song.  Well, it seemed like a great idea at the time and now reality is looking me in the face.  We'll see if I can pull off a blue Giselle dress from the movie 'Enchanted'.  Roger from '101 Dalmatians' will be MUCH easier!

Now, off to hem that lavender t-shirt!