[Tamara]

A very cute little sailboat skirt in khaki drill sits on my dining room table. Meanwhile the hopscotch top is still in pieces😕

[with love Heidi]

That’s sad Tamara 🙁 I hope it was general busyness not something going very wrong.
I finished up the jacket i was making with all its alterations. McCalls M7254,http://sewing.patternreview.com/Patterns/74711
Despite it saying no changes above the waist I successfully did a FBA and added length 🙂 I would still like to make some tweaks but the first jacket is very wearable 🙂

[with love Heidi]

What about sewing the velcro through both layers and adding some nice buttons to hide the stitching? Giving the look of a button front jacket.

[Tamara]

Oh no nothing wrong there just general busyness. We had a friend come and help Murray with a mill (and do some sheep) so I had this as a delay, not to mention the other runnings of the day. I don’t usually sew in the dining room so Chloë has free reign to the power cables. I actually reduced the sewing time yesterday due to the safety issue – my sewing room still looks like a bomb site which I guess is another safety issue. She wants to sit on my knee when I am sewing but touches the machine which also isn’t safe. The only time I let her “help” is with the buttonholes because she just watches.

I did manage to sew the shoukder seams and the nackband. So after pressing that, I can get on with finishing it. I am actually looking forward to this shirt being done as it is made from a scrap of Hilco knit I made a top for Noah out of. And I am thinking of how well it will team with the navy sailboat pants that still need buttons.

After this top though, I have two butterfly tops cut out and ready to sew so it is just a matter of changing threads and sewing them up. Fingers crossed I can get going on them today.

[Susan]

This week I finished a Sailboat Top in fancy schmancy satin for my daughter. She requested something nice for a piano recital next month (and she doesn’t wear dresses or skirts!)

Attachments:

1. 

   DSC01760.jpg
   

[with love Heidi]

She looks so elegant! What a great idea 🙂

[with love Heidi]

I’m enjoying having long days to sew at the moment. I made my first go of M7254, it was a success 🙂 I will still need to make a few tweaks but I’m very happy with the overall fit.
I’m making another messenger bag, last much I did some curved improvised patchwork to make an interesting background a for my applique BB8 droid 🙂

[Tamara]

All I can say is enjoy the long sewing stints Heidi. It will be a fair while before I can indulge in all day sewing again.

Today thought, I managed to work on the playtime dress I had cut out in a piece of pink and white chevron knit left over from the playtime dress I made Imogen when the pattern was newly released. She still wears hers but it is very different to look at now compared to when I first made is as her figure has changed so much. She doesn’t wear it as a dress but has a t shirt over the top which tells me she is rather self conscious but still loves the fabric. I plan to rehash it and make a skirt, possible the liesl and co everyday skirt for her so she can wear the knit and still enjoy its.

So this playtime dress I made for Chloë is in a size 6-12 months and because it is in a knit fabric, should still be roomy enough as she is technically in between sizes on her top. I have the buttons still to do and had a merry battle with the buttonholes again until I changed to the now amazing purple tip needles from Janome. The result was three marvellous looking buttonholes.

I am yet to do it but I have to change the thread on the coverstitch machine so I can hem the hopscotch top. This is the next thing. But first I need to do the neck and arm facings on the two butterfly tops that are also in production.

[Sarvi]

Thanks for the tips, folks, I’m mulling it all over.

[dubhels2003]

I have just cut two swingset skirts. The pattern wasn’t near the top of the pile for me to make, but I have been asked for a twirly skirt, and it pretty much fits the bill! I’ve cut one in a black fleck fabric which I might do some folk style embroidery around the bottom of, and one liberty lawn one. Tomorrow night needs to be about the sewing machine rather than the sofa!

[Tamara]

They both sound awesome @dubhels2003. I have decided to wait to make the swingset skirt for a little while until the toddler is really toddler-ing😜. The swingset top though is on the the to do list as it is going to get fiery again up here. We are enjoying three cool (for us) days and the sewing machines are still taking up the dining table. I have all three on here now😳. But it is a productive situation nevertheless.

Last night I finished the hopscotch top and playtime dress (without the sleeve piece) and I went to war on the flutter skeeve facings with the butterfly top. I am wondering if a 1/4 inch seam is a mistake because I took it in further to a 1/2 and it fits soooo much better.

I am still yet to sew on the buttons for the blue sailboat pants I made prior to nee year and really I should focus on them but I am still at war with the sleeve facings.

[thejennigirl]

Last night I made up a black peplum blouse in stretch cotton shirting for myself, complete with a monogrammed “J”. Today, it’s clean the sewing studio, since I went to JoAnn’s yesterday and bought a storage box for my excess embroidery threads, picked up a few big spools of black and white guttermann, and robbed them of any spare bolt boards they had shoved under the cutting counter.

I don’t know why, but it always amazes me just how many unfinished projects I really have until I dump my UFO basket. Oops. I’m sitting in the middle of my floor, staring down 16 or so partially completed garments. And then there’s the mending. And the stack of uniform shirts my husband has dropped off for alterations and rank patches. Perhaps I should spend this week eliminating the mending, uniforms, and several UFOs. So I have actual room for the big projects I have in mind. I might even start on the completion of the living room drapes, this month, if I should feel so motivated…

What I would like to be doing is sewing myself a new winter dress 😉

[Tamara]

I managed to sew on the sleeve facings this morning and also the buttons on the sailboat pants. Chloë wore her chevron playtime tunic and sailboat skirt to town shopping but got soaked with her attempts to drink water from the sippy cup. So of course I had the hopscotch top and sailboat pants ready to go. Both sets of clothes are now filthy and need washing but then I will just have to prove my work and take photos.

Tomorrow I hope to complete the butterfly tops in order to finally get on with the white hide and seek tunic I have had cut out since before Christmas. I don’t know why I procrastinate with this pattern. It is just so cute and I can’t wait to actually get it made.

Once it is done, then I have to turn my attention to all things Imogen. I have some Megan Neillson patterns being sent to me and I have some big 4 patterns sitting there waiting to be used also.We will have a go at making a few items before school begins and anything that is lagging can be care packages. I am also waiting for my new labels to arrive.

[thejennigirl]

Since I made up my mind to clean my studio, I opted to clean, oil, and service all my machines (The 6 that I use regularly, not the others, since I serviced the entire collection within the past 6 months). But, having completed the task, I’m glad I decided to do all of that. There’s nothing quite like sitting down to a freshly oiled machine to sew!

Hubby’s uniforms are altered, ranked, hemmed, ironed and left with him to go to work about 10 minutes ago. I finished the torn knee repairs, seam and hem repairs, and now it’s on to replacing elastic in a skirt and a pair of shorts, then remaking the neck & armhole seams of a rollarskate dress I clipped a little too close and the washing machine encouraged some fraying. Zipper replacement will have to wait for another day, as I do not have the necessary size or color replacements in my stash. I’m very pleased with myself for actually tackling the pile instead of procrastinating any more than I already have.

I have made it my goal to finish no less than 2 unfinished sewing projects before bed tonight, after I finish the mending. I have a music class skirt in charcoal wool that requires only hems and waist completion, a pair of cotton/linen blend vintage patterned girls pants that, again, only require a hem and the waist completion, and lunch box gauchos that simply need a hem and the elastic threaded thru (sensing a theme anyone? I’m almost embarrassed that I was that close to done with some of these garments, and for whatever reason, work? kids? remodel?, I set them to the side for “later”).

There’s a 2+2 blouse that needs the sleeves attached and then finished, and a vintage patterned wool dress that I started 18 months ago, but discovered during a bodice fitting that it was going to be far too big for my girlio, so I shelved it so that I could try fitting it to her again once she’d grown. I counted 2 vintage patterned blouses for the girl that are cut out, interfaced, and pinned, that shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to turn out, especially since they use the same thread color. Lastly, I finally bought more fabric so I can finish the seashore dress that I screwed up cutting out last summer, but it’s definitely not a quick finish contender. (I’m focusing on the kid UFOs before I tackle the stuff for me. One bite at a time, right?)

[Tamara]

Finished! One Butterfly top with flutter sleeves.

I need to clean up the sewing room as we have guests (again) so this is the job for the rest of the day. Then I will finish the other butterfly top and the hude and seek tunic before turning my attention (finally) to something for Imogen.