Mail Call...via Jo-Ann Fabrics

My goodness...it has been almost two months since my last post. I must say that I have not been too inspired as of late and just haven't felt in the mood to blog. Plus I think I kind of fell into one of those ruts that went along with the icky spring weather and it has taken me a while to dig myself out. Having climbed out of that hole I am now ready to get back to being artistically inclined and get my "MOJO" back on....

To aide me in my recovery I took a drive down to the Jo-Ann Fabric's store in Albany. My true goal was to see if perhaps, on the off chance, that this larger fabric outlet would carry Burda Magazine...it saddens me to report that NO, they did not. They of course had the Burda Knitting magazine but they didn't have the one that features sewing.  Kind of strange considering their main stock consists of fabrics, machines, notions and patterns. One would think the magazine featuring sewing would be a mainstay in their store. Go figure!@#$%. They had the usual Threads and Vogue but those really weren't of any interest to me.

My daughter and I wandered the store aimlessly for close to an hour trying to find something that would inspire us to part with our hard earned cash. Being as this was the last day of the "Daffodil Dash" sale and we each had a 50% off coupon finding something, of a hearts desire, was taking a monumental effort on both our parts. Nothing and I mean nothing caught our eyes. We circled with our shopping cart, a minimum of five times around the store and Nada....must be that we each had a set idea of what we wanted to purchase and weren't going to be satisfied by just anything!

Not wanting to circle one more time I finally gave up and had the clerk cut 20 yards of drapery cord to replace the frayed cording on one of my roman shades. We then wandered over to the notions wall where I came away with the WashAway Wonder Tape that I love so much when it comes to installing zippers. This was 50% off without a coupon, a great deal.  Turning around my eyes fell upon an end-cap of books that held a book that I wanted to purchase for a long time, "Making Trouser for Men & Women" by David Page Coffin. Yeah...finally an item worthy of my 50% off coupon.  With book in hand my daughter and I made a beeline to the checkout and paid for our purchases. Her major purchase of the day...a really cute iron-on for a onesie...bargain price with 50% off coupon...$1.80

My purchases...

• $ 33.00 One tank of gas
• Trip to Plato's Closet so daughter can shop
• $ 4.95 Two, Iced Vanilla Coffees (light & sweet)
• $23.25 Jo-Ann Fabrics
• $19.80 Lunch at the diner
   
• spending time with your 22 year old daughter...PRICELESS <3 <3 <3

Looking forward to getting the chance to sit down and read the book as well as review the DVD that came with it. There is more information on David Coffin's website DPC On Making Trousers that is helpful as well.

Happy Sewing.....

Mail Call…$3.99 sale at Vogue

Note: This post was created on 2/6/10 right after the online sale; I must say the past few weeks I just haven't felt like being on the computer so my lack of enthusiasm for technology has left me not wanting to go near the laptop being as I'm on the computer at work all day as well. This lack of enthusiasm probably has something to do with the winter dragging on too!!! So with a cup of coffee in hand and Martha Stewart on FLN I am finally getting the chance to get it up and posted...all be it a little late. Enjoy!

This week’s mail call comes to you courtesy of Vogue Patterns and their $3.99 sale that took place last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I normally don’t order patterns through the mail unless they are for a company I can not access locally or it’s a good buy. For me ordering three patterns online from Vogue equated to what I would have spent in gas and sales tax if I had purchased the patterns at Joann’s considering I have a 30 minute drive to the nearest Joann Fabrics store. The patterns I selected were V8146, V8615 and V1160.

First up is the V8615 which I had seen in the December ‘09/January ‘10 issue of Vogue Patterns (pg. 65) but hadn’t really given much thought to until a post made on Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing blog made me rethink my ideas about this particular pattern. What drew me to the pattern was the fact that Vogue was introducing their new Custom Fit for A, B, C, D cup size collection but I believe my dislike originated with the fabric choice for the dress that was featured in this issue as well as the artwork on the front of the pattern envelope. Black and white houndstooth is not one of my favorites so seeing it on the model was basically a big turn off for me and in essence colored my vision towards this pattern. But through following Gertie’s blog my thinking on this pattern has been reversed for she made a lovely wine-colored silk shantung dress from this pattern.

Gertie also offered some very helpful video tutorials on tissue fitting and finally finishing off the dress with a circular hem. Please check her blog out for you will be pleasantly surprised by all of the helpful information and posts you will find there.

Left: Photo courtesy of Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing

Moving on to the V8146, a Very Easy Vogue, Misses Jacket and Dress; this pattern features a basic sleeveless, straight dress but it is the jacket on this pattern that I fell in love with. Made up in the right fabric it will be a great jacket to go with the V8615 dress for a night out on the town. I can’t wait to make that duo up. As for the sleeveless dress, I have future plans to utilize the basic pattern in making a knock-off of an L’Wren dress that I have just fallen for.

Last but not least is the V1160 pattern. This pattern I think is to die for because it has a very fun and flirty look to it for spring. It is a DKNY (Donna Karan New York) designer pattern for Vogue. I’m not totally into the black and white polka dot fabric but the dress itself is great and I have already purchased the chiffon fabric for it. I will approach this pattern with trepidation being as sewing on chiffon can present its’ own set of issues. Wish me luck on this one!

Well…those are my latest editions to my pattern gallery and I can’t wait to work on them once my Chanel jacket is complete.

As always….Happy Sewing!!!

For the men in my life...

McCalls's 4244

Having spent a considerable amount of time on making gifts for Christmas this year I decided that the men in my life needed to be taken care of as well. So...my husband and my daughter's boyfriend were recipients of flannel pajama bottoms.


On my first trip to Joann’s I was sadly disappointed for they did not have any “man flannel” and I was then relegated to choosing something from the snuggle-flannel line. Needless to say this did not include anything really meant for a man. The closest I could come to anything a guy would wear was a “flame” flannel. I thought it was kind of cool and being my daughter's boyfriend races snow machines I thought it would go along with his need for speed.

I whipped those up in no time but they just didn’t do it for me. I wanted “man flannel” so on my next trip to Joann’s I made a bee-line to the flannel shirting section and this time they had an over abundance of it. I quickly picked out a lovely hunter green plaid for my husband and a red/white/green plaid for my daughter’s boyfriend.

It took me a little longer to complete these than the flame bottoms being as I took the time to match the plaids. I think they turned out well and I will definitely use this pattern again. I did modify the pattern’s casing for the waistband. I tried making them the way the directions suggested but it makes the pattern more difficult than need be. Instead I converted the waistband to fit 1” elastic and I added buttonholes on each side of the center front seam and ran a drawstring through it.

Here are some pics along with my review.

Didn't do too bad on the plaid matching.

Pattern Review

PR: M4244

Pattern Description: Men’s Robe, belt, tops, pants and shorts I made the pajama bottoms

Fabric Used: Flannel

Pattern Size: (Small, Medium, Large) I made both a medium and a large.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I did not care for the directions in regards to the making of the casing for the waistband. I totally scratched the pattern directions and created a simple casing to hold 1” elastic. Prior to sewing the casing down I put a buttonhole on each side of the center front seam to run a waistband drawstring through. Once the casing was sewed I ran the elastic through having left an opening in the back of the casing then stitched the elastic together and closed the casing. I then ran my purchased drawstring twill tape through the casing using the buttonholes.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I shortened both the medium and large by 2 inches.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes

Conclusion: These pajama bottoms went together quickly even with matching plaids. I would recommend the pattern with the waistband modification.

Happy Sewing!!!

A Christmas Present for Lola

Lola...L-O-L-A...Lola

Who exactly is Lola?

Well...Lola is our Beagle-Lab mix that we adopted eight years ago.  I work for a local highway department and on a very cold January morning one of our drivers came across Lola's mother in a snowbank. Someone had just dropped her off and left her there in the bank to fend for herself.  Being the caring person that she is, the driver brought the dog back to the highway department to warm up and give her some food.  To make a long story short Lola's mother (Hilda) was found to be pregnant and she gave birth to a litter of ten puppies right there at the highway department.

Everyone took their turn at caring for the puppies until they got to the stage where they could be adopted out.  This is where my daughter comes in for she had fallen in love with these little balls of fur and energy; in particular she had fallen for Lola.  Slowly, each and every puppy found a loving and caring home with Lola being the last.  She had worked her way into our hearts and our home and  we are so glad she came to live with us and are thankfull all the other puppies were adopted out as well.

So...this Christmas...we wanted to give Lola a new, comfy spot to lay her head down after a day of chasing squirrels and barking at the deer wandering our woods out back.

McCall's M5410

I didn't like the fact the bed didn't have a removable liner so I used some left over denim and an upholstery zipper and whipped one up to fit inside the large dog bed.

This pattern is a "no sew" project but I modified the pattern by sewing part way around the bed prior to stuffing. On the edges that I left open I also stitched along the remainder of the bed to give a point to cut to for the ties.

Denim bed placed inside fleece.

Tying the knots around the bed.

Plaid Top

Solid Bottom

Lola enjoying her new bed!

Pattern Review

PR: M5410

Pattern Description: Pet Beds

Fabric Used: Fleece

Pattern Size: (S-M-L)  I made a large bed for Lola.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? This pattern is a no sew pattern but knowing that I would want to wash this pet bed at some point I sewed it prior to tying the knots. Also they have you directly stuffing into the fleece which I did not like either so I made an inner liner out of some left over jean fabric and stuffed that with the stuffing and then stuffed the jean liner into the fleece bed.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I sewed the bed together about three quarters the way around and left a quarter open. I placed the stuffed denim liner into the fleece; I then tied the knots closing the bed up around the denim liner.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes

Conclusion: I think this is a great project for both the sewer and non-sewer. Pretty simple and quick!

Happy Sewing!!!

Mail Call…Part Duex

Oh my goodness…ask and you shall receive. In today’s mail is the elusive Vogue pattern #8369. WOW...the lady at Pattern Mania is fast and the item was so nicely package in a cellophane sleeve and shipping envelope. The UPS man was here as well with my Boucle fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics. I am thrilled to death for now I have some of the components and can now start making the jacket. At the very least get a start on adjusting the pattern and cutting and sewing a muslin mock-up. There are still a few other items I require like the lining and some good sewing thread but that is for another day.

TTFN... Happy Sewing !!!

Mail Call…via Santa Claus aka DD

In my ongoing lust for a Chanel jacket I am slowly acquiring the resources and references that one needs to construct a jacket of this nature. As in my previous post Mail Call...Another Sewing Goodie I have already acquired "Great Sewn Clothes" from Threads Magazine in which there is a small section on the construction process. My latest acquisition, via Santa Claus aka my daughter, is "Couture Sewing Techniques" by Claire B. Shaeffer. This is truly a fabulous and informative book and one of my favorite gifts to have received for Christmas.

Now I am waiting for that elusive Vogue pattern 8369. The Vogue website still offers this out-of-print pattern but not in the size I need and at a price that is reasonable. While clicking around the other night I was lucky enough to come across a shop on Etsy called Pattern Mania and low and behold she had one pattern and in my size and at a great price! So I am anxiously waiting for this pattern to make an appearance for then I can begin my jacket and participate in the Go Chanel or Go Home blog.

Happy Sewing!!!

Wandering Aimlessly....

Christmas has come and gone and the New Year has begun. Where have I been? Being as I haven’t posted in over a month, you could say I’ve been wandering aimlessly in the wilderness of what I call my life. Which…isn’t a bad thing.

As always Christmas brings with it the hopelessness of frantically trying to complete each and every project that was planned for presents. This year was no exception with my working right up to two days before Christmas. YIKES. I tell myself each year that I am not going to do this to myself…and each year; the inevitable scrambling to get it all done.

Note to myself: Do not make any more resolutions to get presents done in a timely fashion…it just isn’t happening so why stress yourself out trying to make it happen.

I am satisfied with what I did accomplish and will start posting the projects that were completed after that last DD Christmas Quickie.

As to my lack of posting…I haven’t made anything so why post! I guess that is a good enough excuse. Yes…yes…that has to be it.

Seriously, I just haven’t had the time and kind of stepped off the sewing machine carousel for a month, plus the fact I had to tear down the room for my daughter visiting over the holidays and just the thought of dragging everything back out and resetting the room up was enough to stop me in my tracks. I finally mustered up enough ambition to bring the table and machines back upstairs this past weekend so there is some progress! Maybe I should blame my lack of enthusiasm on the winter and this crappy weather we have been having. Sounds like a plan…

Any whooo….I am anxiously awaiting some boucle fabric I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics along with an out-of-print pattern from Pattern Mania on Etsy. Maybe once those items get here the creative juices will begin to flow anew. In the mean time I think I will just sit here on the couch, watching the birds, squirrels, turkeys and deer and ponder the meaning of life. Mmmm...that isn't working for me...I think I will go sew.

Happy Sewing!!!