Sunday Sevens – Week 80

Happy Sunday everyone and welcome to this week’s Sunday Sevens. If you’re unfamiliar with Sunday Sevens, hop on over to the lovely Natalie’s blog, Threads and Bobbins and check it out. You might want to join in. It’s fun and couldn’t be easier as there are really no rules.

One big event happened this week: Meeting my daughters in New York City for wedding dress shopping! They came from California, I came from upstate and we met an old friend who had recently moved to Brooklyn. What a great 3 days we had; but it went so quickly.

We’ve arrived!

Winding our way to the hotel, we passed the Empire State Building.

Here Comes the Bride

First up, a visit to the wedding salon. Here we are anxiously waiting for the bride to model her first gown. She tried on only three dresses, because number 3 was a winner! No pictures allowed. Suffice to say her sisters and I were all crying.

Art on the streets

While on a walk, I was impressed by the random artistic patterns on this building. It wasn’t until we were very close that I determined the patterns were really open windows! It’s rather unusual to see open windows on a contemporary building, especially ones that open out from the bottom up.

World Trade Center

We visited the 911 Memorial at the World Trade Center. The new WTC is astonishingly beautiful, and the Memorial is a very moving experience.

In the Mood

On a narrow street in Manhattan, unassuming signage directs you to a side door, which takes you a drab entry, to a tiny elevator with a handsome operator in black suit and gloves, to this main display as you enter….Mood Fabrics!

I was reminded that I really would love a dressmaker’s dummy.

Stripes, anyone?

My youngest daughter has watched Project Runway for years, and she wanted to see the Mood mascot, Swatch. We saw portraits and photos of Swatch, we saw Swatch’s bed, we even noticed a Swatch fabric, but alas, no Swatch. We gave up. Then, as we exited the elevator on the ground floor, who should enter after us but the one and only? I was so startled I nearly missed him.

Cheating

This might be cheating, as it happened today (Monday) while I was typing this post a day late. I’ve said it before, but must say it again – we have the best neighbors! My next door neighbor just discovered that hubby had been injured; she and her two little boys came over this afternoon with dinner! A cheesy pasta dish accompanied by a loaf of Italian bread and a giant pan of brownies covered thickly with chocolate.

We elected to abandon our original plan for burgers out and eat dinner at home. Yum!

That’s all for now, stitch on everyone! May this be a marvelous week for you.

 

The Saga of the Sad, Saggy Skirt….A Summary

Is anyone still with me and that red skirt? If so, read on!

Obviously the skirt won its share of battles (the zipper, the fabric vs style, the embellishments, the fit), but I won the war. It is finished.

It is finished!

My worry was that this skirt would be a big disappointment after my grand idea met with such frustration. So, here is the takeaway: although not the garment I envisioned, I do like it, with one caveat: if the fit had been right, I would like it quite a bit. The blooming thing just continues to grow and stretch! (You will never see the picture of the skirt as it was hiked up nearly to my bosom — frightening!) But my new unadorned skirt is a lovely color and has a nice “swish”. The fabric was stretchy and a pain to press, but very easy to sew. It’s a good weight, and the two front godets provide very nice movement and interest. I’m sorry that doesn’t show up well in the picture. My vintage-style pattern was a breeze to stitch up, zipper issues (operator error) notwithstanding.

What did I learn?

A picture may speak a thousand words, but that is not necessarily helpful in recreating a garment with no clues or description. That requires some imagination.

Make sure the all your materials play well together, and actually fit the pattern and the planned use. Imagination only goes so far, then reality has to take over.

Before hemming let the garment hang for much, much longer than you planned – this silly skirt dropped 1/2 inch in the godet portion just overnight!

Sometimes sewing doesn’t come first and a garment will sit, and sit, and sit some more…..and that’s okay, too.

Will I make this pattern again?

Yes!

Something like this…

In fact, I’ve already selected a lovely wool blend – taupe with a bit of light blue and a tiny, tiny hint of pink. It is quite similar to this selection from Mood Fabrics.

My next question is, do I go down another size (oooh, that sounds so nice) or will the wool fit more true to size than the polyester since it has no stretch? Of course the answer is obvious — make a muslin first! Yes, I promise to do so. Honest.

What about those lovely embellishments?

While I still love that original skirt, if the need arises for a skirt with fancy doo-dads, I’ll certainly chose a stiffer, dressier fabric. Perhaps a MOB rehearsal outfit?

This lace overlay is pretty…from The Sewing Rabbit

And a different pattern; possibly this one pictured above, which is actually not a pattern at all, but explained in a handy tutorial I found on The Sewing Rabbit. Those box pleats are so pretty, and they would do nicely with a bit of frill. Maybe? Maybe not? What do you think? Perhaps I’ll just use a pretty patterned fabric and leave the doodads to a necklace. Oh, and should the pleats be stitched down a few inches, or will that cause poofing at the hips? Can a person with hips even wear a box pleated skirt? hmm. Too many questions.

Have Machine, Will Sew

I do have projects in the works….or at least in my head. And I have a slowly growing pattern stash, both paper and printable. Sadly, my fabric stash consists of only remnants, time to shop! And Stella is ready and waiting for our next assignment.

At the ready….

The agenda includes, in no particular order: my first pair of pants, pattern courtesy of Teresa’s giveaway at Navy Blue Threads; a dress from Gavanna Patterns; the skirt pictured above from the tutorial; a sweet peasant blouse from a pattern given to me by Sharon at Maven Patterns; a pair of pajamas (or nightshirt or robe); holiday gifting and decorating; possibly December’s The Monthly Stitch and Make a Garment a Month; and Linda’s Designin’ December; and designing a capsule wardrobe for the SWAP 2016.

Oh, and let us not forget the cello lessons! A bit optimistic, perhaps? I could very possibly be out of my mind.

Afterward:

Much has happened since I wrote this blog and took the final photo, and a rather significant change seems to be on the horizon. My sewing and blogging have been impacted, but as the dust settles, I’m hoping to get back on a slightly “adjusted” track. More on that at a later time.