Holy Mackerel! It's amazing how quickly over two months can whiz by in life. I no sooner started this blog than I have gotten way behind, although the lack of posting is indicative of the lack of personal sewing going on in my life for awhile. The mojo apparently took a holiday in some tropical locale without letting me know it was leaving. Things have been very hectic at work for the last several months and, although it didn't really translate into a lot of extra hours at work (well, some days were long!), it meant that most days when I got home in the evening the creative juices had pretty much been sucked dry. Not much more in me than to plant myself on the couch with the remote. I also had a special sewing project going on for a gallery show which was up in April--I'll try to talk more about that in another post. But special projects also can kill the mojo for me because I feel too guilty doing any personal sewing when I know I should be working on "the project."
Finally, however, things seem to be slowing down and my time is my own again. I can feel the desire to sew coming back to life. I eased into the process with a relatively quick project--making several pairs of cotton flannel pajama-type pants (or "comfies" as we call them around our house) for myself and My Guy to wear when lounging about the house. I made us three pair each, which should pretty well re-stock the supply for a good long while. From the right--bright colored lizards, funky green print and African masks for me, and African masks, cartoon monsters, and black/white skulls on red for MG. Not terrifically thrilling, but it's something!
Next, I think I will take a stab at several of the StyleArc patterns which I have been accumulating. I've made a test sample of the Adele Top and am ready to try another version, plus a couple other SA patterns--stay tuned!
Showing posts with label basics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basics. Show all posts
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
A WonTon and Background Basics
I recently obtained a piece of loosely-woven wool/poly blend boucle from Fabric.com in lovely shades of golden brown. I knew I wanted to make a tunic to wear as a top layer of an outfit, but couldn't decide on a pattern. Until about a week ago when I was scanning some of my Sewing Workshop patterns into the computer. (I am slowly scanning all my patterns into Evernote so as to have a nice, accessible record of my patterns on the computer and portable on the IPad--It's taking awhile to accomplish!) I have my SW patterns in alphabetical order, so as I came to the end of the stack, I ran across the WonTon Blouse pattern. It had just the sleeve and neckline style I wanted. When tracing the pattern, I simply left out the waist band pieces and extended the body to a tunic length. I also took a tuck in the pattern to take out some length through the area of the sleeve/arm openings, as the original sleeve openings are very wide when finished. I'm happy with the results. It looks a little bulky on the dressform, but looks better on me. (yes, I'm working on the self-portrait thing of me actually in the clothes. I'm not very adept at getting a good shot yet)
Underneath the tunic are a couple of what I call "background basics." Simple tops and bottoms in good colors that complement and set off a great third layer. For the top, I used Vogue 8536, which has become my TNT for a basic closer-fitting knit T-top. I use my pattern pieces from this top to compare to new patterns I'm trying for the first time when deciding what size to trace and what alterations may be necessary. The skirt is Vogue 8435 again--apparently, this is my new favorite basic skirt pattern. I made these pieces last Friday night and Saturday morning, and then promptly lost the sewing mojo for the rest of the weekend. I was bummed. Hopefully, this weekend will be better.
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