Waiting for a sunny day

Not that I'm fond of sunny days, but I can't do a "photo shoot" of my new skirts until the sun comes out.  Since I got my machine back, I finished the striped linen skirt, a rayon crepe skirt, and a brown embroidered cotton skirt.

Hemming the striped skirt with a Sewing Bird!

I bid on a buttonholer which Goodwill was selling, and I won the bid!  Only $5 plus shipping.  And it's just like the one my mother had (now in Sis's possession).  Now I just need to get my old, old, old machine reconditioned and I'll be able to do the buttonholes on the embroidered blouse.

Minkie says hello!

Argghh!

Well, my machine is back!  Unfortunately, the machine and the embroidered blouse detest one another and I'm caught in the middle.  I finally got the collar band stitched, but the machine drew the line at buttonholes.  I picked the first one out twice.  On the third go, the thread snapped, and then I stuck my finger with a pin and bled all over the collar band.  Soooo...  This blouse is just going to have to wait until I make Other Arrangements.

This morning I started on the striped linen skirt and I am enjoying pure sewing heaven.  The stripes match, the serging went beautifully, and the sewing machine loves it.  Why can't it always be like this?

Views from the sewing room window:

Working on the Burda pattern

Well, my machine is still gone away being repaired, so I'm working on non-sewing sewing.  This morning I decided to tackle the Burda pattern, and it turned out to be sooo easy!

First I decided on the size, and marked the box showing the pieces I needed to find.

Then I got out the supplies I would need:  Swedish pattern paper, tracing paper, a knitting needle (to use in place of a tracing wheel, so I wouldn't ruin the pattern) and a straight edge.

Now to find the pieces.  The box tells me I need pieces 1 - 6, that they are marked in black and that I'll find them on sheet D.  So far so good; D is hard to miss.  To find the individual pieces, look at the numbers printed along the top and bottom of the sheet.  They tell you exactly where the pieces you are looking for are located!  A miracle!  Then you just have to concentrate on seeing only the lines you're interested in.  I am so impressed.

And here's Annie's new pattern!  Well, it is kind of hard to see my markings, but they are there.

Now I'm going to rest from my labors, and read through the instructions.

The good life (Minkie version)

Almost forgot, I need to add one more thing.  What more could any little girl cat ask for, than a freshly laundered table cloth and mommy's purse to lie on, with fresh flowers and the newest Vogue pattern magazine to paw through.  Looks pretty pleased with herself, doesn't she?

Pure heaven!

Jack, of course, has his own idea of heaven, but I don't want to know what it is.  (Don't click on this picture, it's even worse close up.)

Oh crumbs!

So there I was, happily stitching the collar band on the embroidered blouse, when the machine went on the fritz!  Oh, well.  I guess I can use the time the machine is off being repaired to hunt for the jacket pattern.

It's such a pretty collar!

More planning

Sis and I went shopping at Nancy's yesterday for "findings" for the Burda jacket. What a lovely way to spend Sunday! This is what we found:

I had run into a problem with planning the jacket.  The pattern calls for twill tape for binding the neck edge, the piping on the pockets, and to cover the zipper tape.  Well, after a lot of rummaging on the web, I realized that finding a coordinating twill tape was not going to happen.  Not in this country!  So I bought a length of a lovely brown cotton/linen for the bindings (and also the pockets themselves).  It's beautifully soft and "moldable" and should be easy to work with.  Then Sis made the real find.  An inch wide hefty brown "ribbon" to cover the zipper tape.  It's going to be stunning!

So, goals for the week:

1.  Finish the blouse.  It's all cut out and marked, and since I just made the same thing in another fabric, there will be no surprises!

2.  Finish the skirt.  Just need to finally decide on the pattern.  It will be a straight skirt with no waistband.  I'm going to use the cotton/linen as a facing.

3.  Begin the hunt for the jacket pattern in that welter of lines.  But, hey, it's German!  That means it will be totally logical.

BEES!

The other big news at our house is that the bees swarmed on Friday!

And zippers!

Aren't zippers becoming fancy.  I just bought this one, a 22 inch separating zipper in neon green:

Planning a new project

Now that I'm retired (ahem), I no longer need to sew jackets, suits and things for work.  And my wardrobe has always been poor in off-time clothes.  So here's the first ensemble.  Top (the jacket) is a glazed linen in natural (it's hard to see in the photograph), which I bought from Emma One Sock.  In the middle (the blouse) is an embroidered cotton from Sawyer Brook.  The blue spots are faceted buttons I bought recently at Nancy's Sewing Basket.  I had no idea what I would do with them when I bought them, but they were so pretty!  So see!  It does pay to grab things when you see them.  The last (the skirt) is a gray and natural linen from Nancy's.  It's nice and heavy, and it hardly wrinkles!

For the jacket, I plan to use this pattern from the April Burda

That's if I can find the pattern in the welter of lines on the pattern sheet, and if I can alter it. The blouse will be the same Louise Cutting pattern I used for Orange You Glad.  But what to do about the skirt?  I can't decide if the stripey stuff will look good in a straight skirt.

Hmmm, I know there's a pattern in here somewhere

Finally! Another project finished

This is my Orange You Glad blouse, which I am very proud of!

I used Louise Cutting's new pattern, Relax A Little, which I picked up at the Puyallup Sewing Expo, autographed by Louise!  It's a lovely pattern, easy to make, with Louise's usual very helpful tips.  The fabric is a semi-sheer tangerine silk shot with an orange metallic thread.  I bought it a couple of years ago at Nancy's Sewing Basket.  It's sans pockets.  I'm not wild about non-usable pockets.  A couple more pictures:

Isn't it a gorgeous fabric?

I've never before been interested in Spring and Summer sewing, but this year is different, perhaps because of Sis's inspiration.  So lots more things coming soon!