Looks like its catching....

Many thanks to both Alviana over at Sewn by Alviana and Jackie at Jackie's Sewing for nominating me for the Kreativ Blogger award!!
WOWSERS!

And, as the rules go....
I have to do the following:
Copy the award to your site.
Link to the person from whom you received the award.
Nominate 7 other bloggers.
Link to those on your blog.
Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

And the Nominees are.....

1 - Nina at NeoSewMama... she's an all-around talent!
2 - Peacock Chic... again, she has her crafty little hands in all kinds of cookie jars!
3 - Ms. C Dishmey at Wall St. by Day...... One of the many uberChic crafters I have found since I came out of the Crafter Closet.
4 - The Clever Girl, Antoinette... (yes, I know she's been nominated already, but she's so nice I'm nominating her twice!)
5 - Teasa at That's Sew Live. This was one of the first sewing blogs I found... I had no idea this world even existed! Where WAS I!?!?
6 - Geri at Sewable... she is a must read. Every Post.
.... and last but not least...
7 - My fellow New Yorker, Lashell at Starting from Scratch. She's got great style... and I should know, we shop at a lot of the same places... heehhee!

Check them all out.


HOLLA!!

... Guess I should have kept them separated, huh?

Just found this good little article on Threads...

A Pin for Every Purpose

...and here I am just buying the 'pretty' ones... ha!



Holla!

Strike a pose, there's nothing to it...... Vogue!

.... loving these two new patterns they just released.

...V1090 from Michael Kors and V1086 from Tracey Reese, respectively! But you know me... I'll be waiting for my mom in Atlanta to let me know when JoAnn's has Vogue Patterns on sale... 18$ a pattern is NOT the business!!

..............And...And... AND!!!.... I successfully installed my first invisible zipper yesterday... (the term 'installed' may be a bit grandiose since I used two scrap pieces of muslin and all....)
All thanks to this handy dandy little How-To I found cruising thru YouTube the other day....

Holla!!

OMG!!

... I can't believe its been more than a month since I last posted... wwwwwell... I CAANNN.... I just rather pretend that I can't....

The last few weeks have been... well.... they've just been.... and I've just tried my best to simply stay afloat.

Needless to say, I haven't been doing that much sewing these last few weeks. But, I did manage to pull out of my winter doldrums to make this little dress for my niece for Christmas...
It turn out to be a score, since I used some fabric that I bought several months ago, but never could find a use for... too expensive to use as a wearable muslin/not enough yardage to make anything my size.... Anyway, I think it came out nice and it was basically cost free during this financial crunch time.

I did take the chance to do some new things that I hadn't done before on a quick and small scale... like these flat felt seams....

... and this double stitched ribbon trim I used on the hem.

I also used a contrast color lining for this patch pocket...

...and added these buttons to tie in the pink from the lining....

*note to self.... and others... if you even THINK you may want to add a pocket to an item, try to THINK of it BEFORE you sew it up............. just a thought...

Happy Holidays!!

Holla!!!

B4469 part deux... Thanks Mom!... and the "1 hour" Skirt

Still busy. But, Still here. And, still sewing!!

I really did like the b4469 blouse so I made it again... Its pretty much a carbon copy of the first one, but in a heavier weight stretch cotton broadcloth. I did make a few changes...

In addition to taking about an 1/2" off of the bust dart points, I made clean finish two-ply ties instead of the single-ply tie with the narrow hem.
I decided that instead of the wrap-around the extended tie, I just added a new tie at the other side seam. I expect this to keep the fab from bunching up in the back. I used light weight elastic as inside ties... Next time I think regular twill tape will do.

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A few weeks ago, my mom called and told me that her local JoAnn's was having a 99c McCall pattern sale. So I gave her a list of possibles and wished her luck (... this was her very first time going pattern shopping... during a 99c SALE, no less!)




Not only did she come back with every pattern on the list, she also started her own so called "... Oooo, Mica can make this for me!!" stash.

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As I was cleaning up my sewing space (after having let it take over since LAST weekend) I remembered I had pulled out this skirt pattern to supplement my fall wardrobe. As its called the '1 hour' skirt, I thought, let me just knock this out right quick. (...I made view C, but without the patch pockets)

I used a medium weight stretch denim fabric in soft black, with a slight sateen finish.

While it took me more than an hour (... I tend to sew like Ms. Daisy, especially when I'm trying to catch up on all the TV show's I DVR'd all week...) but it was really quick.

Holla!

'Nuff said.

Holla.

... sunny Sunday afternoon

I finished the top this morning ((... and the audio book 'Already Dead' by Charlie Huston, that I used as 'background noise' for this project...))

All in all, a nice garment. I will be making it again.

Mainly because of all the different sleeve options and how easy it really is to put together.

..... But mainly because once I started sewing this fabric, I realized just how much it looks like hospital scrub fabric (lol). ((I also took note that while the bust darts are placed okay, they are way to long... Next time I think I'll take at least a 1/2" of the tip.)) I almost dumped it, but I'd made a promise to always finish any project I started. Even if it's obvious its not going to be a keeper, at least I will still have learned what NOT to do.

After I finished the top , I decided to take Love and make our annual trek up the street to cheer all the runners in the NYC Marathon. It passes just a few blocks up from our house.

I got there during the thickest part of the crowd...

... even the runners were in on the picture taking action.

Holla!

.... baby steps

The past few weeks have been ... tumultuous... to say the least. But things seem to be finally seem to be settling down, so I thought I would take a turn back at The Machine.

I figured on something easy, so, like I said... baby steps.

The sheer fact that I cut the pattern itself instead of my usual trace and cut procedure is a telling sign at how I had to push myself to get back into the swing of things.

But like they say... each step is the start of a journey.

Holla!