Blouse and Corset

Here are some Halloween photos of me wearing items I've made, namely the purple blouse and the purple corset. I use them for both my pirate garb and my witch outfit. Also I made the headband with the coins out of stretch velour and decorated the hat myself.

Gotta Get a Move On

I need to start sewing again or I'm going to lose my mind. I suddenly fine myself with more to do than time to do it in! Ack! At the very least I have to make a lemur for a friend who's been very patient so far but I'm sure he's beginning to think I flaked out on him.
It's just that I'm having a wee issue with my sewing machine. Namely the tension isn't cooperating. The stitches are pulling out. I have to fiddle with it some more. Ultimately I may have to take it to a repair shop but usually I can solve my own problems. There seems to be a lot of slop in the tension wheel. I don't think that's normal. I was going to use my back up machine, but I think it's buried somewhere. I haven't needed it in four or five years and I'm just not sure where we put it when we moved. I wish I'd thought to finish the aprons before tomorrow, and then my daughter, who is going to visit from Central CA could have hand carried them back to Santa Maria for me. Now I'll have to mail them, which is both expensive and more impersonal. Oh well, unless I want to drop everything and sew all day straight that's not going to happen. I also have to work on my novel and I have a writer's meeting tonight. So many goals, so little organization.

Aprons

If you are one of my daughters, don't read this.

I'm suddenly in the mood to sew aprons. So today I went to M & L Fabric and bought enough for two aprons. I'm aiming for a retro look. For one apron I chose a reddish orange main fabric with chili peppers on it. The contrasting pockets and strap will be orange with yellow polka dots.

The second one will be a colorful swirl print. For the contrast I found a brown fabric with pink stars (two of the colors in the main fabric). I also got some ric-rac to highlight the pockets and bib. I'd show you photos but the fabric is in the washing machine at the moment.  I'm not usually a fan of brown, but my daughter's new kitchen has brown as the main color.

Whatever Happened to Culottes

For a few days I've been wondering whatever happened to cullottes, those half breed between pants and skirts. And I actually found an online pattern for making your own here: http://www.earnestlycontending.com/KT/Studies/living/culottes/culottes.html Since I don't look good in pants anymore, I thought maybe culottes would be the solution.

I've also been watching old episodes of the original Star Trek and I could swear what the women are wearing on the ship is a version of culottes.

Repairing a Gypsy Skirt With a Ruffle

One of my favorite gypsy skirts has a severe rip in it. I thought it was a goner. But I just figured out a way to make it a skirt with a ruffled side slit. I'm going to cut around the tear in a hair pin shape, and fill it in with a vertical ruffle. And now I see I inadvertently made another tear with the safety pin. But I should be able to eliminate that in the same cut. I told my boyfriend my clever idea and he said it would be much easier to just patch it. First, I disagree, as the rip includes 3 seam lines that touch it, and second, it will be way sexier the way I have in mind. He said it would be a lot more work. Maybe. He said I could patch it from the back, but I hate the way that feels when there is a big heavy square of 'iron on stuff' on a light flowing fabric. We'll see.

At any rate I can't do it today. I have a custom hat order I need to finish first.

Butterick B5100 Tunic Pattern

My daughter came down for my birthday and on Jan. 4 we went to Joann's craft store. I found a pattern in Butterick that I really wanted only they weren't on sale at the time. The retail price was $15.95. On sale they are usually $1.99 for Butterick. So I decided to wait until it was on sale again.
It's a tunic B5100 that I think will be the perfect backdrop for knitted or crocheted cowls, shawls and scarflets, like the leaf scarf I just finished crocheting. It would also be a little dressier than what I normally wear and I could wear it to interviews or meetings.

So then about a week later I was trying to move my bedroom chair when I realized something in a plastic bag was hung up on the chair legs. I finally got it worked loose and it was a bag with patterns in it. And one of them was the one I almost bought at Joann's. So I was really glad I didn't buy it. I know I'm not the only one that accidentally buys duplicate patterns.