DD's Career Wardrobe - Fall 2009

I'm almost finished cutting all of the pieces for the planned wardrobes for DD. The goal is to sew pieces of the wardrobe between the client projects currently underway. DD is pleased with the plan. Here they are.



This is the first of two Career Wardrobe. All items were cut out Monday, September 7, 2009. For the dress, I purchased a really nice cranberry wool suiting at Hancock's for $12.95 per yard. Brown/Beige Hounds Tooth purchased at Vogue Fabric's Remnant room (two pieces at $6.95 and $4.95) for the jacket and pants. And the Dark Brown Corduroy (skirt) also purchased at Vogue (stash).




Second Career Wardrobe for DD. The Violet Silk Cotton Blend is from Vogue Fabric which will be used for the dress. I think I'm going to underline it to give the dress a little more body. The jacket will be made from a wool blend that I purchased at the Textile Discount Warehouse (stash). I'm using a purple suiting (polyester) purchased at Hancock's on Labor day. Finally, the skirt will be made from a nice grey suiting gifted to me (Pauline).

I think this is a suitable wardrobe plan for a young college graduate to have. The jacket (second wardrobe) is a little trendy, but I think it will definitely work for the office. This is something that I want to do for my DD. She a good girl (lady). ;-)

So there you have it; two wardrobes planned for her among other things that I dare not talk about now.

Fall is here!!!

Happy Sewing!
C

Trying To Finish Up Summer Sewing - S2594

Pictured here with McCall's 5818 Pants




I rushed home from work Friday afternoon with great expectation to get some sewing done. I still have fifteen garments on my list for Summer 2009 projects. ...,don't think I'll finish them before the summer ends. So Friday I decided to at least make an easy knit top. Simplicity 2594 was already cut and ready to sew. So I sat down around 7:30 pm to make it completing everything except the hemming of the sleeves, neckline, and bottom. And of course, a nice hard press to complete the project.

I did finish it and was very happy with the results. Here's my review.

Pattern Description: Misses' top in two lengths with neckline variations and tie belt. Suggested fabrics were woven. I used a lightweight knit.

Pattern Sizing: 8 to 24. I purchased a size (16-24) and scaled down the 16 to what would be size 14; view A.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Pretty much. I was surprised at the amount of style ease in the top. I was able to make it without doing a FBA. My version does not have as much style/wearing ease across the bust area, but that's alright with me. I really like how my first version turned out.

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were really easy to follow. I didn't find anything difficult or confusion about them.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? There are so many likes about this pattern. The overall style is what attracted me to it. Specifically, the back yoke and the shoulder pleating. I also like the draped neckline. On the pattern envelope it reads, " easy to sew." That's always a like for me. Especially, when I need something quick to sew after multiple labor intensive projects.

Fabric Used: I used a lightweight knit purchased from Vogue fabrics (4 years in the stash).

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I used a knit fabric instead of the suggested woven fabric. No alterations needed. Quick and easy. The instructions say to cut two pieces of the belt pattern (sizes 16-24). Instead of sewing a 3/8" seam allowance, I sewed a 5/8 seam allowance. The belt looks fine with that minor change/accident (lol). One thing to note: the belt is very long. I doubled it before tying. Instead of machine hemming the sleeves, I hand stitched them. The knit fabric was a bit of a challenge to sew in certain angles of the fabric grain. Finally, while pressing the bottom hem I burned it. The moment I knew what happened I screamed. Good thing is it was close to the bottom and I had added about 1" to length (for comfort). So I made the hem wider to conceal my misfortune.



No dislikes. It's a winner.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and yes. I plan to make a few more next summer. This is a nice top to help build a comfortable wardrobe.

Conclusion: This top is easy to make and I recommend it to others sewists of all levels.

Yep ..., There is a Little Sewing Going On

I'm happy the weekend is here. For the entire week I have been suffering with a head cold. Good news is I was able to work from home three days. So I did not have to tackle rush hour traffic, coming and going. And the second good thing, the slow work day gave me a few hours to finish five pants for a client.

Well, today I delivered them. She was extremely pleased. This weekend I'll finish up the last two. I'm hoping to throw in a piece or two for myself. I need some knit tops and a dress or two. This week I was able to spend some time planning my early fall wardrobe and a few pieces for my upcoming cruise vacation. Still haven't made final picks for it. But I thinking that I'll make several knit tops, a couple of dresses, and a jacket or two.

Well, we'll see. Maybe this weekend I'll finalize my plans on what to make next. I do have another client though. Details on her project later.

Have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the holiday (US)!
C

PS - Christmas is around the corner. What gifts to make? Another burning (sewing) question!

Do You Shift or Sheath?

Fall! Fall! Fall 2009 Sewing is in the queue!


The shift dress can sometimes be mistaken for the sheath dress. Especially when there is a little more shaping in the waist area. The truth is they produce to very different silhouettes and more or less attention to the waistline.

Shift has no waist shaping or seam. In other words is comfortable to wear, kind to the waistline and very versatile.

Sheath is designed to tightly fit the body. Can be short and sexy.

I like both style of dress. But at times I find myself somewhere in between not wanting the dress to be too tight and a little more shapely than the average shift.

This fall/winter I plan to make two Vogue sheath styled dresses.
Vogue 1118


Vogue 8594


Which do you prefer? The shift or the sheath?

The Gifts Keep Coming!

Over the weekend I received an e-mail from Pati Palmer (Palmer/Pletsch) letting me know she had published a photo of me wearing my dress(M5818) on her website. You can imagine I had a smile from ear to ear and was very grateful that she asked if she could publish it.

Thanks again, Pati. It was so kind of you to consider me for your posting.

Happy Sewing!
C

Gifts From A Friend Who Sew

There was a time when it was hard to find women who didn't sew. Now it is the other way around. It's really nice to find people who love to make things. Nowadays, it feels like you've found a long lost friend. The lady above is that kind of friend to me.


Last Tuesday, I stopped by my place of worship to see if there were any orders for recorded services to fill. While I was there, I called Pauline. During the course of our conversation I told her I was at church. So she said, "I have something for you. I'm going to bring it now." To my surprise, she brought me eight very generous cuts of fabric (rayon/wool blend). What a great gift. I was over enjoyed to say the least.







Word on Ms. Pauline - She's not a blogger and doesn't plan to start any time soon. On occasion, she has asked me, "Where do you find the time?" Chuckle, Chuckle. Pauline is a designer/sewist who has enough clients to run her own business full time. That's not to say she accepts every requested commission. No, no. She is selective. The client, the job and price have to be just right.

It's great to have more fabric to choose from for my fall wardrobe. I do see at least a couple pair of pants for me and DD. Maybe a jacket or two.

Happy Sewing!
C

It's The Weekend - Try the Texas de Brazil

About once a month, the family "formally" gets together for an afternoon fellowship at one of our favorite restaurants. Last weekend a partial group went to the Texas de Brazil in Schaumburg, Illinois. Talk about good eatin'. Everything was over the top: food, ambiance, and service.

The Texas de Brazil is a brazilian steakhouse. But their salad bar is exceptionally delicious, which comes with a variety of fruit and vegetable dishes that are equally satisfying. So if you are a vegetarian, you won't be disappointed.

This is a chain restaurant with locations in most major cities in the US. There are two locations is the Chicagoland area: Schaumburg and Downtown (Ohio Street). Brunch is about $35.00 excluding beverage and dessert (half price for children 12 and under). The Schaumburg location is adjacent to the Woodfield shopping center. Woodfield is an experience in itself, great shopping. Anyway if you are in the Chicagoland area and are looking for a great place to dine, checkout Texas de Brazil.

I took a few photos with my Blackberry. Always forget to bring the camera. ;-)






Have a great weekend!
C