This and That

I didn't want another day to go by without letting everyone know how much I appreciate all of your daily visits to my blog. For those of you who continue to comment, I'm especially grateful to you. Your comments make me smile, laugh, and sometimes cause me to think about how I can improve on my sewing ability.

The past few weeks many of you sent notes and comments congratulating on winning the Palmer/Pletsch "Win a Workshop Contest". Honestly, I didn't think I'd win first prize. There are so many great sewists/designers out there. So you could imagine how thrilled I was when I got the news.

My DD has seriously taken up sewing. She made her first complex skirt, McCalls 6402. It was a big challenge for her, but I was at her side helping every step of the way. Fitting is not a big issue for her. She is a little curvy with almost no fat. We only made an adjustment to the front center panel of the skirt. We removed some of the length from the top of the panel because her stomach is so flat. The biggest challenge for her was piecing together the various sections of the skirt. That's were I came in, teaching her how to preserve the shape of the skirt while making sure to sections intersect as designed. She plans to make this skirt again. It's perfect for a color blocking.

The Haute Couture Fashion show is fast approaching and I haven't completing all that I want modeled in the show. With only a few weeks left before the final garment review, I need to finish the top and pants for the striped jacket. And I want to include at least one more dress and something for the travel segment. I need to get busy.

So what's keeping me from sewing and blogging? School and work. My studies for class are starting to get intense. So it's taken up a lot of time that would be spent sewing. Work is picking up as well. We are in the process of selecting a new application for Research Administration. Also, we have some new initiatives at UI that involve training and participation. All great things, but they are pulling me away from sewing and crafting.

American Sewing Guild - The program for January 2012 was all about silk. We learned about various weights and textures as well as how to treat and sew it. There were a few sites shared. More on silk later. I'll probably incorporate some information as I sew more silk garments.

What I'm working on now. On Tuesday, I finish a dress made using M6433 (bodice) and V8555 (skirt). I wanted to do another hand-picked zipper. This dress was perfect for that. It's dark navy or midnight blue. So I thought a beaned zipper would spruce it up a bit. This dress was inspired by a Cadena dress in the fall 2011 issue. Saturday I made a matching belt using a pattern from "Making Vintage Accessories".

Upcoming client projects: Three clients on the horizon: 2 prom dresses - my niece and cousin. 1 evening dress for Ms. Paulette. Last week she purchased a beautiful matalasse fabric for it. My niece selected a bright yellow dutchess satin for her Vogue gown. My cousin is still undecided. All are great projects. I'm glad they chose me to make their dresses.

So that's all for now. More later this week. Have a fantastic Monday.
C