PR Weekend NY - What I'm Sewing

I have been super busy with work these last couple of weeks.  My job is really trying to take over my sewing time. But, I refuse to go down without a fight.  I have been sewing, but haven't have had the time to post.  So, I thought I would give a quick update on what I'm sewing.

I had to lay my white blouse project aside and get started on the items I wanted to to sew for PR Weekend NY.  Last year I attended PR Weekend Chicago.  I had a wonderful time, but didn't wear anything I had sewn.  So this year, it's important to me to wear some clothing I have sewn.  I won't bore you with the craziness that went on in my head on what to make.  So, here's the run down.  I decided 3 pair of trouser jeans/pants, 2 blouses and 1 dress. For my pants, I'm using Simplicity 2700 and  B5682.  The blouses I'm using V8649.  My dress is V1287 in a black/white mini dot.  This is very aggressive for me, but I'm determined to complete everything.  Surprisingly, I am on schedule with 2 days to spare.

 Stay tuned, pictures and details coming soon.



Thanks for stopping by..........until next time, keep sewing!!!!

I Should Have Serged!!!!!!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter.  I debated whether to post about my failed Easter jacket. This made me think about how much I wanted to reveal about my sewing journey on my blog. Should I post only my successes or both failures and successes?  I'm not going to bore you with the details of how I came to my conclusion.  I decided I want share the successes and failures of my sewing journey.  After all, isn't that what a journey is all about?

So, here's what happened.

It has been awhile since I made or brought anything special for Easter.  I had gotten out of the habit of this because for me Easter is not about special outfits, Easter bunnies, etc.  However, I decided I wanted to make something this year.  So, I decided on a Chanel-ish jacket and skirt.

I selected a pink/beige/taupe tweed and a pink silk twill I had in my stash for a very long time. So, I set out creating a muslin of the jacket. I made adjustments, for a full upper arm, sway back and narrow shoulders.  The fit was perfect. I underlined the tweed with silk organza.  Now, I didn't have enough of the tweed to cut out 1 inch seam allowances, so the plan was to sew the 'sa' down. Then it began....the unraveling.  The  tweed was unraveling really bad. It seems just to look at it, it would unravel. The more I handle the fabric to sew the pieces the more it unraveled. I realized I had to serge, but it was too late.  When I tried the jacket on, the fit was very distorted. I basically lost my seam allowances due to the unraveling.  At this point nothing could be done.  So, on 4/7 at 2:00pm est my jacket was a bust.

Now, I could have kept going by cutting out and completing the skirt. I could have easily paired the skirt with something in my wardrobe. But I didn't.  I was in what I call a funk. I didn't want to sew anymore on Saturday.  However, I began thinking about what to do with this unwearable jacket. I didn't just want to waste the fabric.  So, I decided to take the jacket apart.  The silk organza is salvageable, I can definitely use it for other things. I thought since the jacket fabric unravels the way it does, it would be perfect for creating trim down the road.  So, I'm going to add the fabric pieces to my trim box. Hmmmmmm, now I feel all is not a total lost.

So instead of beating myself up on why didn't you serge the pieces from the beginning, I'm just putting this under lesson learned. Now moving forward, this week I will be working on a white blouse and a pair of navy tropical wool pants.  Afterwards, I have to start the pieces I want to wear for the my upcoming trip to New York. I'm so looking forward to the fabric shopping.  It's been awhile since I've been to NY.  I hope I don't have to have a fabric time out. LOL!!

Until next time.......keep sewing!!!

My Mega Thread Rack Covers

My last post, I mentioned that I was working on thread covers for my mega thread racks.  Well, this weekend I managed to finish the covers.  I think they turned out nice and will serve the purpose.

I cut out a 29x20 rectangle from muslin and cut out 2 inch squares on each corner. I adjusted the fit.  One of mega racks is shorter than the other. (hmmm, never notice) I cut out the fashion fabric using the muslin as the pattern, stitched the mitered corners using a 1/4 inch seam allowance and serge the sides.  Viola, thread covers.

I'm a little tickled with myself. I consider this a craft project and I'm just not a craftsy person.  So to come up with this idea and implement it, is so very interesting to me.


Well, I have one more thread cover to complete for my cone rack.  But it will have to wait.  I'm working on my Easter outfit and still a have few decisions to make on my garment.  I'm making a jacket and a sheath dress.



Until next time......keep sewing