Not Much Sewing -- Plenty of Work

I haven't been able to get much sewing done the last two weeks. We are busy at work testing the new upgrade from our vendor and evaluating features (new/old). On Tuesday, our project started another round the implementation phase roll out; Since April 2008, I have been designated the presenter for the Chicago campus. Tuesday's session was the first to combine three meetings into one. So I was up talking for about two and half hours, giving an overview of the project, modules, services, and processes. Halfway through it I gave a demo of the application and previewed the various services available to the end-users. The next session isn't until November 4th. In the meantime, routine testing and evaluation continues.

On a lighter note, I'm hoping to get some blogging and sewing done over the next few days. I've only had time to read a few blogs and very little sewing. Oh yeah, I received a call from Fishman's Fabric. The Cadena magazines are in and I picked up my copy. I still have one copy reserved. Hopefully I'll have time to post something from the magazine this weekend. The postman brought my October 2008 issue of BWOF; it has some great pieces in it. I especially like the faux fur designs. That's all for now.



Happy Sewing!
Cennetta

Nomination

It has been one busy week. I hoped to read more blogs and make a few posts to my own, but work has been exhausting to say the least. Before writing any posts, I wanted to nominate some fabulous people who blog about fashion, sewing, and/or other crafts. Ann and Paco, nominated me for the Brillant Weblog Premio-2008 award. Needless to say, there are so many great bloggers out there and many of them are already nominated.

There are some rules to follow and here they are:

1. Select 6-10 bloggers to whom you would like to give this award.

Amanda

Kim's Kouture

Kat

Karen

Jackie

Krystal


These ladies are phenomenal and have a keen sense of style. All of them have excellent blogs and have been a great source of inspiration to me.


2. Put the award - prize on your blog and indicate who gave it to you by identifying her/his blog. check

3. Paste these rules on your blog. check

4. Write 6 of your most important values and 6 negative points you condemn.
Okay, I'm not really good at this kind of thing. For the positives/values:

Family
Integrity
Loyalty
Faith
Hard working
Commitment

For the negatives: This part is hard. I guess I could expose a few of my weaknesses: I'm somewhat of a skeptic; can be a little matter of fact. Okay that's all on the negative side. I prefer to highlight the positive. ;-)


5. Inform the recipients by leaving a comment on their blog. On the to-do list

Bits and Pieces

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. ..., still celebrating my birthday. wink! wink! There are several things on the sewing table. Saturday, I starting putting together a Burda skirt (May 2008, Tulip 108). The instructions are so, so. It was easier to follow my own method for putting it together. I'm also work on B4984, view B. The plan is to wear these two as an outfit. We'll see how it goes. More on that later.

Both, Ann and Paco, nominated me for an blog award (big grin). Thank you so much for honoring me. This nomination means a lot coming from two phenomenal experts. I'll post my full response to the nomination later.

Happy Sewing!
C

Paul Newman

Paul Newman dies at 83.

Play Up Plaids and Stripes

More on Fashion Trends - This fall play up plaids and stripes

Straight Lace - New Look 6824

New Look 6824

I made this dress to wear on the climax of our annual Unity Conference (church) and to celebrate my birthday. Lace is all the rage this year. So I decided to incorporate it into my dress. For the conference, the women dressed in white/ivory and the men dressed in black suits. Hence my color selection.

Pattern Description: Misses Design Your Look Dresses. This pattern includes a variety of necklines, skirts, and sleeves style that can be mixed and matched. I chose the combination of B+C+E+G.


Pattern Sizing: 8 - 18. I made size 14 with my usual fitting adjustments.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? As far as the lines of the illustration, yes it looks like the drawing. I made a few changes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, they were easy to follow. I noticed that there was no instruction to stay stitch the front bodice. I did before clipping the allowance and attaching the side front bodice.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like the various options of this pattern, "mixing and matching pattern pieces. You can get a lot of use out of this pattern, creating several different dresses. The pattern also had the vintage style of the 60's, which I love. My dislike is that there were no instructions on how to incorporate lace into the design of the dress. See view B+D+G.

Fabric Used: Polyester lace,dull satin, and lining purchased from Hancock's Fabric.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I made my usual fitting adjustments and added lace to the design of the dress.

Fitting:
Front bodice - FBA


Back Adjustment- The necklines of most New Look patterns are too wide for me. So I folded out the excess and rotated the decrease to the waist dart. I also added to the shoulder and armhole seam for more move across my upper back. The one thing that I forgot to do was the sway back adjustment. It does not look too bad, but I recognized it was needed for this particular dress.





Added 2" to the length of the skirt.


Design:

I couldn't find adequate instructions on how to incorporate lace into the dress so I followed/created my own method. I also wanted to use the scalloped edge of the lace at the hem of the sleeves and skirt. So I cut the lace crosswise placing the lace even with the unfinished hemline. I finished the edges of the skirt and sleeves for the satin only. Next, I hemmed each portion of the skirt and sleeves before sewing the pieces together. Then I joined the lace to each piece of the dress, no lace on the collar. After that I constructed the dress following the pattern instructions.





My preference is to completely line my dresses. So I cut the skirt lining to match that of the dress, shortening it by 1 1/2", then attached it at the waistline after machine stitching the hem and back slit.

Dress inside out


I also made a sash, cutting a piece a fabric 5 1/2" inches wide and 55 inches long.

Dress and Sash


Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will use this pattern again as there are more design options. And yes I would recommend it to others. It's not difficult to sew and gives the sewers some creative options by combining various bodice and skirt designs within the pattern and with other patterns.

I bought these shoes to wear with the dress, but decided to wear the pair photographed.



Here is my flickr photo set.

Conclusion: I really like this dress. It suits me. My DD says it's very June Cleaver-ish and is not a surprise that I like this style or pattern. A beginner could sew this pattern with no problems.

Neue Mode Stil Young Collection J22928

This is my girlfriend's all time favorite pants pattern. I've used it at least 15 times. It's very versatile; I've added pockets, slits, and waistband to style them up a bit.






This time last year, DeeDee and I made a trip over to Vogue Fabrics during the lunch hour. In less than an hour, she had 10 cuts of raw silk basket weave fabric for pants and jackets. At that time she was in no hurry for the pants and said, "Just take my fabric home with you and I'll let you know when I'm ready." Well a few months ago she said, "I'm ready." I made five pair (Black and Purple and three multi-color) this time around, no additions (pockets or waistbands) and no belt loops.






Pattern Description: Wide leg pants with front and back darts, front zipper, faced waist and optional carriers.

Pattern Sizing: 8-18

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Pretty much. I omitted the belt loops.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yep. I just glanced over them. Typical instructions for basic pants.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Like: Everything. These pants go together really fast. I finished all of the seams and sew them together in two sewing evenings. I also like the versatility of the style; it's very easy to add pockets (patch or in-set), the zipper can be moved to the side or back seam, and slits can be added as well. Nothing to dislike.

Fabric Used: Raw silk, basket weave

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: This time I only added two darts to the back for better shaping at the waist.





Matching the pattern of the fabric side seam.


Matching the pattern of the fabric at center front seam.




Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and Yes, if you can find it or have it in your collection. Dee will probably have me to make a few more this winter. We'll see. ;-)

Conclusion: This is a great pattern that a beginner could easily put together. Great wardrobe builder.