Merry Christmas to all!

Away in a manger...

Merry Christmas Eve!

More memories of last summer: leaving Miami

New Jacket - Butterick 6244

The new jacket is a knee-length, drapy, cardigan-ish coat, with no closures.

The fabric is a scuba double-cloth from Nancy's Sewing Basket.  It's a smooth black poly-rayon blend on one side and a gray brushed rayon-wool blend on the other. It's very thick and has a lovely silky drape to it.  It's...odd...but beautiful!

The pattern is pretty straightforward, but because of the thickness of the fabric, it was not easy to get the shoulder/back neckline seam done smoothly.  Happily, the collar covers the bit of trauma that shows on the outside.  Also, you can't see it on the pattern envelope, but there's a beautiful vertical dart that originates at the shoulder line and is hidden by the collar.  It's a nice touch that helps control the fullness and make the fit not overwhelming.

I love fall/winter sewing!

The collar is endlessly re-arrangable, but stays put...

The back fits well across the shoulders and drapes nicely

 I love the vertical dart!

Winston's Thanksgiving

My friend Pam served her favorite crow, Winston, his very own Thanksgiving Dinner.

Yum!  Turkey, stuffing, corn and carrots!

The taste test

Thanksgiving Dinner is meant to be shared!

The verdict:  turkey is best, followed by stuffing and corn.  But you can keep the damn carrots.

While We're at it..

.....two more things from last month.

A double layer tank from Sewing Workshop's Mixit pattern.  It has french seams and is joined at the neck and armholes, floats freely at the hem edge.  I'm particularly proud of the rolled hem...I finally figured out the rolled hem foot! The fabric is a silk and lycra charmeuse from Pacific Fabrics.  It really started out just as an experiment, but I love it and wear it under lots of things,  especially the knit top below.

This is Vogue 9057  a Marcy Tilton tunic...mostly view A.  The fabric is  a wool doubleknit from Pacific Fabrics.  It has a  smooth face on the inside and a lovely brushed wool on the outside, in an odd, sort of tobacco-ish brown/green color. It's one of those colors that changes depending on what you wear it with and looks good with most everything.  OH...and that neckband is perfection, if I say so myself....

Fall Sewing

I (Sis) made a couple of things for fall wearings!

First up:  Butterick 5473 in a stretch cotton from Marcy Tilton.

I shortened it by about 7 inches, so that it hits at lower-thigh; perfect for wearing with a narrow pencil skirt or leggings

We're calling it "Lambs to the Slaughter"  It's a perfect piece for the Day of the Dead wardrobe.

Also, a long sleeved cotton knit tshirt, McCalls 7018 in a burnt orange cotton knit that's been around so long I've forgotten where it came from. Maybe Fabric Depot in Portland?  I lengthened it by 2 inches and will lengthen it by 3 the next time around.  I also interfaced the front band...it makes no sense to me NOT to do that when there are buttons/holes. Jeez McCalls.   The fabric rolled like crazy when cut which was annoying, but other than that, a pretty easy sew.  "Bittersweet" is the name of this one.

Hedy modelling the new clothes on the front walk-way

       

Lambs. Unknowing Lambs

Square buttons from Nancy's Sewing Basket.

I really like the yoke in the back.

Not the best pic...the jacket looks a little boxy, but it has a nice swingy movement.

Dead things and crows...the perfect accessories.

An experiment in making jeans

I don't much like pants, but I finally decided that it's sometimes necessary to wear them.  And the white jeans I bought for our trip to the Caribbean fit really well, so when I saw the article in the September issue of Threads magazine for copying a pair of jeans, I thought I'd give it a try.  And it worked!

The method calls for first making a chalk tracing of each piece on muslin.  Here's the pocket:

Then you true all the lines up with a straight ruler and hip curve ruler and transfer the pieces to swedish pattern paper and cut out all the pieces.

Of course, it wasn't really all that simple.  There are all the fiddly bits that make up the fly zipper thingy and were a real pain to figure out.  But I did it and they are wearable.  Also some of the worst sewing I've ever done.

The fabric is a lovely lightweight stretch denim from Emma One Sock, and was a joy to sew on.  Next I'm going to make some gray cords, which should turn out much better, now that I know what I'm doing.

A day in the Everglades

With thanks to my brothers, Jeff and Sam!

We saw lots of alligators, turtles, geckos, herons and assorted bugs.  No snakes!  And it was hot.

In memory of Miss Skippy

Goodbye, little princess.

Puyallup Sewing Expo 2015

I didn't buy a lot this year, but I love what I did buy.  These are from Marcy Tilton:

Railroad stripes!  A nice heavy linen

I think this is linen, but it feels like a silk matka.  I'm planning to use it for a blouse over white pants.

Very heavy linen.  Joanne suggests making a big shirt out of it that can double as a swim coverup.

Winter walking in Tacoma -- Wednesday

Point Defiance Park

Western hemlock growing on an old red cedar nurse

Alder tree covered mosses and ferns

Yacht club and Vashon ferry

Avoid huge ships!

Vashon Island (I think)

Little bits of art.  They seem to have been here a long time.

All very well, but when you look up ...

there's absolutely no corner in sight.