Homework.

More test blocks for class....

PINWHEELS IN CORNERS WITH 1/2 SQUARE TRIANGLES

CHURN DASH

NINE PATCH IN CORNERS

Holla!

ObFabric Compulsive

I've come to the realization that I have developed a bit of a fabric fetish... here lately, I can't seem to see a fabric that I like and NOT buy it... I somehow convince myself that if I don't buy it I will regret and suffer later for it.... It's funny (... funny ha-ha AND funny weird)

So today, I visited the facilitators of my latest new favorite thing, and came across these cute cuts... Heart the peacock!

.... and who doesn't love a good spiderpig?

Then, because I was in the area (wink/wink) I stopped by my local cheapy fabric shop. I'd already made my rounds about the store, but, as I was leaving, I saw this...It's almost like a cool mix between charmeuse and sheeting, drapey but with no slip. It made me think it would be a nice fabric for my Vogue 1086.

Then... I swear, it's as if the Fabric Fae were conspiring against me... the woman in front of me at the checkout pulled out this lovely hand-done African batik print...
She was going to back it and use it to recover a chair. I thought about washing it then using it for s2584 by Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity.... there were only 8 yards in the cut. She took 5. There were 3yards left.... as SNL's Church Lady would say... "...how convvvvenient..."

It's a tad bit see through...
But, I think if I do the same thing I did with the Derby dress and back it with some sheer lining, it should solve that problem.



Anyway, let me go make an offering to the fabric gods so maybe they'll leave me be...

Holla!

It's a 'Block' party up in here!!!

My City Quilter class started this week..... LLLOOOVVEEEDDD it!!

We started out talking Quilting in general. The instructor is very nice and stressed that quilting was a hobby and there was no such thing as a bad quilt.
She went on to talk about the most basic aspects of truing up your fabric and cutting strips (most of the blocks we will be building in class will consist purely of strip cut fabric.)
We practiced strip cutting and sewing the 'scant' 1/4" seam... which is harder than I'd thought it would be... I'm a notorious 'wavy seam' sewer... so I'm thinking mastering the tiny straight seam will actually end up helping me in my garment construction too!
Eventually, we went out into the store to make our fabric purchases for our blocks... our finished quilt will consist of four 8" square blocks of varying designs.... variations on the 'Log Cabin' and the 'Puss in the Corner' (...I've already decided that, as I want my quilt to be very symmetrical and a bit subdued, I'm going to do all 4 blocks using a 'Log Cabin' design.)... Anyway, I'll spare you the gory details of losing 30minutes of my life trying to pick out 1 1/2 yards of fabric, but I did finally settle on these three monotone grey, black and 'dirty bath water' white (I know, I know, but somehow it works...) prints. I'm going for a kind of Asian-inspired look, so I shyed away from really high contrast color combinations within the blocks themselves. As I said, I want it all to look kind of monotone and symmetrical, but I think I will add pops of color with the borders and the back ground fabrics...
Anyway, this is the result of my first attempt at Block building...

.... Its not EXACTLY square and, now that it's put together, I'm not 100% in love with the print placements. I think the center print is n0t quite intense enough to compete with the grey ground fabric... but for my first actual block its not TOO bad.

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Since I had a half day this past Friday, I decided to head over to B&J Fabrics in the Garment District.
I've been thinking about new sewing projects that I want to tackle this summer. After doing some research on what fashion and color trends are coming around this summer, I've focused on Color Blocking. I'm really loving these print blocked pieces...
.... these two are Jean Paul Gautier

This one is from Micheal Kors...

Love it!

Then I saw this cute little number from Missoni...... and thought about B5211 that I made, like, 3 times last summer!

With the summer color trends of neutrals and greys, falling right in line with my own preferred color choices, I found cute set of prints...

And since I have quilting and fabric piecing on the brain, I had the bright idea of piecing the fabric together BEFORE I cut the pattern pieces.

Then I could layout the patterns in the optimal manner, instead of trying to dissect the pattern and cutting out all the individual pieces.... But, past as prelude, my 'bright ideas' don't always pan out the way I'd like... But its not like THAT ever stops me!

Holla!

New Friend in my head....

Earlier this week I got a very nice mention from The Stylist over at The Style that Flows…

I'd seen a few comments from her over the months, but I admit this week was my was my first visit to her new site.

Loving her pattern and fabric choices… seeing as that I have some of the same patterns that she seems to have, LOL… But she had me at her DTD… yyeaahhh… looks like I have a bit of work to do…HA!

And on a (wwaayy to the) side note, any friend of Adele is a friend of mine!



Holla!

Pattern Maker Sloper ... Revisited

I put together the second version of the PM bodice this afternoon.... I think the overall fit came out better this time, but there were two major fitting issues that must be addressed in the next attempt...

The first of which being the Bust Dart....

... the second issue being the Shoulder line.... the way its calculated, the front bodice is pushing too far past the mid shoulder point.

But the neck was perfect this time. And the sleeve actually fit quite well... better than any fitted sleeve from a commercial pattern that wasn't adjusted first!

.... I still have to say, for a free piece of software, its a major score!! I'll keep you posted on the next version.

Holla!

... no wonder it felt so familiar

Thumbing through my copy of this....
.... and I see this...

I thumbed through this copy a few weeks ago, when I first picked it up, and I swear I don't remember seeing this in there... HA!

Holla.

Knock Knock... Who's there?

.... FED EX with your new Baaayybbbay, that's who!!!

No sooner did I get the email alert that Amazon had shipped my serger, I get buzzed by the delivery man with the package in question!

YYeeaahhh BBoooyyyy!!

.... and Love is already forlorn at yet SOMETHING ELSE that takes my attention away from her...

.....aawwwwww..... And its not even out of the box yet!!

Holla!

What tha....!?!?

... sooooo, I was traipsing about the interweb today looking for help (((again!!))) on getting a better fit with my store bought patterns, when I came across this gem of a site....

Pattern Maker Software

PatternMaker is a CAD-based program that allows you to make custom clothing patterns from any computer. Easy to use, type in your personal measurements into
the interface, and from that, produce a custom clothing pattern designed to fit uniquely you!

.... and then I saw these magic little words.... Try. Before. You. Buy...... ((please hear Kyle's from mother, SouthPark, when I say))... What? WWhat! WWHHAATTT!?!

They actually have a basic fitted bodice and pant sloper in their free trial version! With a long sleeve! And a choice of bust darts or princess seams!! And multiple collar choices!! Again I say, WHAT THA?!?!

Now, some of you may know by now that one of my favorite things in the whole world is the word FREE, so I came right home and downloaded the software.... and finished the evening with this:

... amazing.

Upon further inspection, the site offers these groupings of very basic pre-designed (...and I use this next term in the broadest sense possible) 'fashion' patterns for women, men, kids and they're all about 30bucks a pop. Seeing as most of the sets have 7-10 different bodies (the women's bottoms pattern set as something like 15-20!) Its kind of a bargain. Especially when you consider that most styles out now are just nicely embellished versions of the same basic shapes.

I have to tweak some of my measurements and adjust the seam allowance, but for the most part.... SCORE!!

Holla!

Would you believe....

.... I got all the way to the Derby and forgot to take any REAL pictures!?!?... I walked away with only two passable pictures from my phone!! I can hardly believe myself...

Anyway, the dress was a success! Everyone was thought it looked store bought! That was great, especially since it was probably my first completed project this whole year!


I got a lot of complements on the hat as well... some of you might remember my accessory dilemma from this post.... I loved the pink and black feathers, but the peacock feathers worked really well with my shoes. And well, sometimes more is more... I went with BOTH OPTIONS!

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Well y'all, I bit the bullet... AGAIN... and I bought a serger yesterday!!!!!

I opted for the Brother 1034D. Largely due to the multitude of good reviews it got on PatternReview (...the first place I go when I have any questions about a machine) and on HSN (....where I was originally going to buy it... I mean, who doesn't love flex-pay??)

I actually ended up going with Amazon.com because it was almost 100$ cheaper than HSN and still about 40$ cheaper than AllBrands.com (... the first place I go to cost compare any equipment)


I really had to fight the urge to go with my 'better to have more than you need than less than you want' mantra and pick up this Singer Quantumlock that was also on flex-pay at HSN.

But, I said that's how I got Em (.... just about this time last year, if I don't mistake the timing) and I only use about 1.724% of the stitches she comes with!


So, going for a 5 thread machine at 600$, when all I REALLY need is a basic machine that will add a finishing touch to my projects, seemed like a reach.


When it was all said and done, I got it for 238$ with tax and free shipping. But that was with a 5-9 day shipping window, so it will be at least next week before I can play with it.....hmph!

Holla!