2009 Wrap Up

Well I had planned to put this up yesterday, but had trouble with my computer and then we lost power at 6:15 last night so it had to wait until this morning.

I was inspired by a few graphs I saw so I did a little tally of what I sewed in 2009. I have been keeping track of what I sew for a little over three years in a spiral notebook. It has come in handy so many times and it's also fun to look back and see what I've made.

In 2009, here is a breakdown of "who" I sewed for. As you can see, I wasn't in first place, instead it was all about the kids (go figure). The gifts were things I made for extended family members (ie not my own kiddos), mostly for Christmas gifts but some where birthday gifts and baby gifts too.

Here is the breakdown of pattern brand used. There are repeat patterns on here and KS is dominating because that is my go to PJ pattern. Also the "That Darn Kat" is the undies pattern I use for my youngest ~ you can see which ones in this post.

Another thing I notice is that I need to suck it up with my BWOF and Ottobre - seriously those magazines are expensive and if I'm not using them, then why the heck am I buying them? I have 5 years worth of BWOFs and 10 years worth of Ottobres - I should never be sewing anything else (or buying anything for that matter!). My Ottobre is up for renewal and I'm considering dropping it, but breaking up is so hard to do. I really look forward to getting the magazine, but with 10 years worth, can there really be something different and new making it worth the price each year? I still have a few weeks to ponder it. Have you had this struggle? If so, how did you decide?

Now on to my Christmas sewing. I sewed like crazy for the entire month of December and am so glad that is over. It was fun and a great idea, but it was so time consuming and overwhelming at times. A few of my favorite things I made are pictured below.

This is a pillow I made my sister. Why I like it so much is that she and my BIL acquired a business in 2008 called Acorn Uniforms in the Seattle area so it's rather fitting for them. It's a free pattern at YCMT if you want to make your own.


I also made three of these door hanging pillows to give as gifts. I wanted to make myself one, but ran out of time. I'm sure I'll make more of these, they are super easy and so cute. You can get this pattern free at YCMT too (can you see I have been using this site lately - it's really great!).

I always make the kids special pjs for Christmas Eve and really liked the prior year's matching snowman pjs. When I looked for matching fabric online this year, I didn't find anything that jumped out at me plus a lot of the Christmas knits were too girly. I really wanted to use fabric I had stashed and then it came to me - M&M pjs! My MIL collects all things M&M and all the kids have their "own" color so I decided to make them pjs in their M&M color! They were a hit and looked so cute IMO. I used this freezer paper stencil technique for the M's.

Up for 2010, not sure. I am not really a resolutions girl. I don't like making goals that I don't know if I'll keep. Heck, I have "to do" lists in my head each morning and most of the time I don't even get those all the way completed. I do know I really want to make myself a nice coat. I purchased some gorgeous wool coatings from Fabric.com in the fall so I have the supplies. I also want to make a trench with the Burberry fabric I purchased at PRW. Another pair or two of Jalie jeans are in order too. Lots of "wants" so I'll just keep plugging away and do my best while still enjoying my hobby. Oh and definitely using those BWOF (it will always be BWOF to me by the way) and Ottobre mags!

Wishing all my readers a healthy and happy 2010!

Disney with Yvonne (finally)

You know how it goes, you have the best of intentions, but life just gets in the way. Last week I decided to buck up and weed the flower beds. What I'm not telling you is that they were really "weed beds" and any sort of plant/shrub was sparse. So my little "weeding" extravaganza turned into a full fledged yard makeover that is still in progress. It has needed to be done for a long time - we moved into our home 8 years ago and my recommendation is put a landscape budget in if you're building a home. We didn't and here we are still working things out plus we still don't have a deck (hopefully this summer, but that is a whole different story that requires engineering and a whole lotta $$).

Anyway, finally here are a few pictures from our recent trip to California. My family had a wonderful time and the icing on the cake for me was finally getting to meet Yvonne. We've been emailing each other for about 3 years now and I knew we'd just get along wonderfully and enjoy each other's company. So our two days in Disneyland were spend with her and her fabulous hubby (whom my family also adored and my boys were constantly grabbing his hand and pulling him along in the direction they wanted to go). The only downfall was we only had two days to spend together. We were all sad when they had to leave for their flight back to Australia, but were so happy for the time we had together. Thank you Yvonne and Robert for sharing your vacation with us - we enjoyed your company more than you'll ever know!

Me & Yvonne

My Darling Hubby & me

Mickey and friends!

Sharing a drink

The entire family on the Pier in San Francisco

I wish I had a few more group pictures to share, but photographing four kids together and having them all looking at the camera is next to impossible.

I started a sewing project last Friday, but of course it was interrupted by *Project Landscape*, so the pattern is still laying on my cutting table. I was really inspired when I saw Christina's blouse at PR weekend. It's such a cute and unique blouse, so I decided that would be my next project. It's #106 from the 3/2009 issue.

During the Pati Palmer seminar at PR weekend, I was inspired to really try to address my fit issues when sewing. So for this top, I have graded down to a 34 (hello Burda, would you start making all things start at a 34 - it's just dumb that not everything starts that small). I had my hubby measure my back width and found my back is 14.25" wide so like Marta shared with me last fall, I need to do about a 1/2" broad back adjustment and that is true with Burda's size chart too. So I made a broad back adjustment and tried on my pattern. I found that I still needed to go out in the hips (I figured I would), so I graded out to a 36 in the hips and also implemented a forward shoulder adjustment. The pattern appears to be fitting well, so I'm going to cut it out in fabric and see where it gets me. Fingers crossed I'm happy with the result.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ahhh, *the* day of love is upon us again. Actually every day really should be a day of love where we celebrate those who are near and dear to us. Yesterday I decided to share the love by making a big batch of sugar cookies. With the help of my youngest we rolled dough, cut hearts, baked, and then frosted a HUGE plateful of cookies. I'm sure you can imagine the smiles we got when the big kids and daddy came home in the afternoon. And boy are they good, I've already ate WAY too many!

Also, I made myself another boat neck top. I just love this pattern! There was more stash busting too - it's a poly knit from Joann's that I've had for eons.

Lastly, I had a fellow sewing mama pass along a "Thank You" award to me on her blog ~ thank you Sabrina!!!

I hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day!!! :-)

Burda Boat Neck Top Review

Wow, two posts in two days, I'm on a roll! I was very excited to get the boat neck top sewn up from the February 2009 issue of BWOF. I'm pleased as punch with the result too. It went together beautifully and when I showed it to my hubby for his approval I got the "that isn't a new shirt" comment. Well actually it is honey, but I used the remaining leftover fabric for this top and I do have a summer shirt in the same fabric. Love the fabric tho. It's such a yummy knit from Lucy's Fabrics. I've had it for at least 3 years and was happy to do a little stash busting and get myself a new top.

Pattern Description: Fitted boat neck knit top with long or 3/4 length sleeves.

Pattern Sizing:36-44, I made a 36

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, tho I didn't follow them exactly. More below.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I've been wanting a boat neck top of ages and so I knew I had to sew this pattern up right away.

Fabric Used: A leftover piece in my stash from Lucy's fabrics - it's heaven to work with!

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I found the sleeve cap to be a bit too tall. Burda wanted you to sew it in in the round and use a gathering stitch to fit it in. That is such a stupid way to sew a knit top IMO, so I planned to sew it in flat. I found the sleeve to not fit right so I ended up reshaping it a bit and removing about 3/4" from the top sleeve ~ picture of pattern piece. After my alteration, it went in like a dream.

I also stabilized my neckline by sewing clear elastic to the edge at a 1-to-1 ratio. I just wanted to make sure the neck didn't gape open.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I'll definitely sew this again. I actually started on a second top, but due to a cutting error, I didn't haven enough fabric. I made the body of my second shirt with a rayon/lycra jersey and it's WAY too thin and clingy for this top - oops! Guess it's going in the thrift store bag.

I definitely recommend it to others.

Conclusion: Super cute and easy top! Also worth noting, I only used 3/4 yd for my top and the directions say 1 1/4 yd so you might want to lay out your pieces before purchasing so you don't end up with a little unusable piece of fabric.

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This picture is for Reethi. She asked what the side view of Burda 10-2008-114 looked like so here is a picture. It's hard to take a side view because there is no place to put my arm. You can see I have a swayback and the shirt is caught on my tush a little. My photographer hasn't learned she must look for these things so her mama looks good! lol Hopefully you get the idea Reethi.

Before I put the boat neck pattern away, I might try to make just one more. I really love this top!!!

Burda Gathered Front Top

Do you ever have one of those projects that is simple but seems to take forever to get done? Well this was it for me. I felt like such a simple top should be a breeze, but I only had small chunks of time to work on it and then the fabric was just giving me fits. I finally finished it yesterday morning, thank goodness.

Pattern Description: From Burda, "The clever front gathering will really make waves, the raised waistline providing a very slimming effect, particularly flattering on the women with a long torso."

Pattern Sizing: 36-44, I made a 36

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, tho the picture in the magazine appears to be more gathered in the center front than mine is. It might be a little more snug fitting too.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, they were easy (either that or I am starting to *get* BWOF instructions).

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I loved this top from the moment I saw it. I was drawn to all the gathers and the uniqueness of it.

Fabric Used: Rayon/lycra jersey from Joann's (this fabric was a royal PITA to work with). Maybe it was just my bad luck, but we didn't really get along too well.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I traced off the pattern as is, but ended up sewing the front neckline up about 1.5" higher than Burda tells you to. My bra was showing so I figured that isn't a good look. I also didn't hem the sleeves with a 2" hem, instead I used only 1" because I couldn't get my sewing machine foot in there, pretty tight space. Also, as mentioned in other reviews, the lower part of the arm is pretty narrow so I let that out about 1/4" or so on both sides and it's much better.

Another thing I did which I haven't done in the past was interface my the hem and the sleeve hem. The fabric was so drapey and needed the stability. I used Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Fuse sheer in both places and I cut the strip 1.25" wide for my 1" hem so it stabilized the fold too.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? This is a pretty unique top so I don't know that I'll sew it again. I am pretty happy with the end result even tho it has taken me days to complete this simple top (small bits here and there, not big sewing session). Looking at it on myself, I think that I would have been better off grading down to a size 34. I am right in the middle of the size 34 and 36 for my bust measurement and since this top is not super fitted, to me it looks a little big. I might take in the side seams a smidge in the waist to bust area, we'll see how I feel after wearing it around for the day. It's definitely a comfy shirt.

If this style is your cup of tea, I'd wholeheartedly recommend the top, it's really cute. Beware of the sleeves being a bit on the tighter side from the elbow area down to cuff. And if you're in between sizes you might consider sewing the smaller size.

Conclusion: If you're sewing with rayon jersey, you should use a stretch needle. I had no idea and had many fits with skipped stitches until I looked in my Fabric Savvy book. I was originally using a ball point needle but my machine and fabric did not like that combo whatsoever. Live and learn.

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Now I would like to answer a question that was asked in the comments of my last post. Most of the time I can't reply to comments that are left because your email addresses don't come through. If it's something you'd like answered right away, please either email me directly, pm me through Pattern Review, or leave your email address when you leave your question in the comments otherwise I'll most likely answer it in my next post.

Anyway, Kim had asked where I took the Palmer/Pletsch fitting class at. Last fall I actually drove to Portland for four weeks and took a 3 hour class from Marta Alto at their studio in Portland (it's located inside Fabric Depot). Here is the website for the local sewing school, but they also have sewing vacations for those outside the Portland area.

For my next project, I cut out the boat neck top in the February issue of BWOF. I'm sure it will be simple so hopefully I'll have something to show for more quickly than I did with this top.

More sewing

I feel like I've been making good headway getting things cranked out lately. I'm using up fabric I have and getting different gifts made.

First up is a garment for me. It's one of my favorite patterns, BWOF 10-2005-114. I actually purchased the fabric in November when I was taking my pants fitting class. I can't remember the blend, but it's a sweater-y knit of sorts. Not that stretchy, I guess more like a fancier fleece. It has a nice texture to it and the colors are berry. The photo is a bit dark, I think it's prettier in person. So cozy and a welcome addition to my wardrobe.

I also made one for my sister out of a sweater knit I got from Joann's a long time ago. It too is prettier in person (Is this a good enough reason for a new camera since I have such crappy shots??? If so, please email my hubby and tell him! lol). I was going to get rid of the fabric, but when my sister saw it in the pile she really liked it so I decided I'd make her a sweater too for a Christmas gift. We're the same size and she'd tried on another one I made so I'm sure it will fit her. The fabric is definitely her colors and not mine. This is a "what was I thinking" purchase.

And a few box bags from this tutorial ~ thanks to Stacy for pointing out the tutorial on her blog. I will post a review on PR of this pattern very soon. The directions are a little confusing, but the pictures help. I also found a helpful post on this blog about how to do the corners in an easier manner. Below are the fruits of my labor. I made the black one larger for my SIL - you can see it matches the Weekender Bag she'll get for graduation in March.

More baby bibs! I just love the Valentine one.

And another throw pillow for my couch from some leftover fabric (ivory chenille on the back side). I got smart this time and put a zipper in it. This is soooo much better than hand sewing the pillow shut because it's faster, plus I can take the pillow out and wash the cover. I might go back and redo the other pillows I did earlier in the year.

So that my friends, is what I've been sewing. Actually I also made two more aprons from my Grandma's apron pattern to put in my "ready to gift" box. I forgot to take pictures of those, but I surely don't need another apron right now since I already have three in rotation plus a Christmas one. Oh and I made my youngest a pair of pants from Ottobre too, but they are set aside for Christmas. Nothing exciting, just blue twill, very cute nonetheless.

Today the kids are home for a snow day. The Pacific NW is getting hammered with Arctic air and now snow. In the Portland area the kids have been out all week, but we didn't get the snow they did over the weekend. Now we're all getting it and it's just beautiful out! It rarely snows here anyway and when it does, it's here for a minute and then gone. The extended weather report is snow off and on and below freezing temps through Tuesday (as far as the weather forecast goes). We might be in for a white Christmas afterall!!!!

What I've been up to (pretty much a book!)

Wow, it's already September (well almost mid September) and life is just flying by. The kids went back to school on the 2nd and I panicked on Labor Day because the two boys didn't have any new tops to wear on the first day. Yep, I'm one of those moms that want them to have new clothes for their first day back. Ottobre to the rescue and I had two top finished by bed time. The green one shown in the picture below is one and the other was for my older son, but it was a smidge too big so he opted to wear a RTW shirt I had bought him. Here are the kids right before we left for the first day back.

Then we celebrated our daughter turning eleven-teen! I can't believe she's 11 - where did the time go? She really wanted a Hannah Montana cake from the bakery, but after learning it was $25 (yikes), she said it was fine to make a homemade cake with sprinkles on top. What a gem, it looks like she might be coming around to the value of a dollar. Hey a mom can hope!

During the last week of August I worked on pants for the three boys. I got four pairs done total. All from Ottobre, but I have to go dig for the pattern numbers (I should do reviews and maybe when time allows I will). Here is a pair on my youngest. He was very pleased with them and loves the side pockets.

Side view~

Close up of pocket (there is one on each side)~

Here are one pair of my middle son's pants. I lightened the picture since they are black. This is one of the pairs I did the reinforced knee on. You can see it a little in the picture, but it looks way better than holes in the knees!

Back side~
My nice neighbor up the road asked if I wanted some apples and I jumped on the opportunity. I love home made applesauce, so last weekend the birthday girl and I made two batches. Here is a little work in progress. We ended up with 3 quart jars and 11 pints. I still have some apples leftover and plan to make some apple pie filling.

Here is she washing apples~

A box and bag of apples~

On the stove ready to cook~

Running them through the food mill~

And a bonus treat, apple crisp ready to pop in the oven. Boy was it tasty!!!

I finally have a picture of the top I made from BWOF 4-2008-116. As mentioned in my earlier post, I used the leftover fabric from the NL twist dress I made. The top was too big since the smallest size was a 38 and I usually wear a 36, but after taking a drastic 1" alteration on each side seam, it seems to fit. I have worn it a few times already and really like it. When I make it again, I will size the pattern down, that should surely work a lot better. It's a bit plunging too, so I will raise the neckline as well.

Another time consuming project I've been up to is redecorating the kids' bathroom. It is actually the main bathroom and is used by guests as well as the kids. It has always been the "ducky" bathroom because it was decorated with rubber ducks. After 7.5 years, I'm was more than sick of it. I decided I was going to find a lovely shower curtain and that would be the base for my new decor. While shopping with birthday girl and my mom last weekend at Kohls, I found *it*! The picture honestly doesn't do it justice. It's WAY more beautiful in person, I promise. So on Sunday, my daughter and I set out to find fabric to make a coordinating window valance and curtain to cover the linen area in the bathroom.

I found the absolute perfect fabric at Joann's, but they only had 1 yard and I needed 3. The guy looked on his computer and said the Vancouver store (about 30 minutes from my home) had 64 yards in stock. Great, I'll go after it once the kids go to school on Monday. Long story short, I went on Monday morning and couldn't find any - the nice cutting counter lady told me because it's remnants they get in from home decor manufacturers and they all have the same SKU number!!!!!! OMGosh, I was so annoyed that I'd drove all that way for nothing. Plus the paint I bought at Home Depot went with that and the shower curtain perfectly. All was not lost tho, I found a solid and went back to my local Joann's and got the 1 yard of stripe and will make a band at the bottom of the linen closet curtain. I am on the fence as to if the valance will be solid, stripe, or both with a band on the bottom.

I did get the painting all done over Monday evening and Tuesday. Now I'm waiting on Mr. Homemaker to help me hang the mirror back up and do some other "handy work" that I need help with. As soon as it's ready for a showing, I'll post pictures.

I guess that is all the news for now. As you can see, I've been busy, just not blogging about it. I've also been doing some fall cleaning trying to weed out clothes and such the kids have outgrown so I can eBay, Craig's List, or Goodwill stuff - ugg I hate clutter, it makes me batty!!!

P.S. I almost forgot to mention Hubby & I celebrated our 12th Anniversary since I posted last too! We actually didn't have a babysitter since it was over Labor Day weekend, so we took the kids bowling instead. It was a lot of fun and really we can go out to dinner any old time. And yes, do the math, our daughter was born three days after our first anniversary. Apparently we didn't know what caused that back then - young and dumb, you know how it goes! ;-) The great news is we will still be so young when the kids are grown and gone. :-)

The Dress

I had my daughter snap a picture of me in my new New Look dress on Saturday before we headed out into the 100 degree heat to a BBQ. What a classy, yet comfy dress - I LOVE IT!!! Just wanted to share it with you. It's really a great pattern, so if you love twist tops like me, you'll surely love this dress. It's NL 6802 - you can click the picture to make it bigger if you'd like to see the the details a little better).

Thank you all for the comments you posted to my last post. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who suffers from Analysis Paralysis. :-) I did trudge forward and made a top from BWOF 4-2008-116 (a dress - line drawing below).

The only problem is I didn't realize the smallest size was 38 until I finished tracing it off. I wear a 36, sometimes 34 in the top depending on the ease. I decided since it was a top and I was just using a remnant, I'd just go forth and see what happened. I did a SBA and had my fingers crossed it would fit. Well no such luck. I had to take almost a full inch out of each side it was that huge. I still need to hem it, but have tossed it aside for now because it's stormy and cold out for the next few days (I made it sleeveless).

Well yay me, I made a step forward. No AP is going to defeat me. ;-P

Up next, I think some misc school clothes. I need to thumb through my Ottobre magazines and see what grabs my interest. I'm so thankful the boys like pretty much anything still.

A little less talk, a lot more action.

I'm a country girl (yes I really live in the country) and love country music. Last weekend while my hubby was away on business, the kids were up late listening to a Toby Keith CD while playing Legos. On a whim I thought it sure would be fun to see him in concert (I've only been to two concerts at the fair and then one when I was little with my dad which I don't really remember) so I decided to hop online and see what his tour schedule was. Low and behold he was coming to the local Amphitheatre in a week. So I decided to look and see if I could find tickets so I could surprise my hubby with a special date night. Lucky me, I ended up getting tickets in the center section 14 rows from the front!!! I was so pumped and kept it a secret until yesterday afternoon divulging clues to him via email. Once he guessed the "who" I told him what we were doing - needless to say, he was very impressed with the surprise and my creativity (can you say "awesome wife" points for me??? lol).

So with an upcoming date night upon us, I had to make something new to wear (of course!). Flipping through my BWOF mags this past week I found the perfect little top to wear to the concert. It is from the June 2008 issue - #123. It was actually super simple to make thanks to some tutorials that have been posted. I ended up following the one posted by Christina of Assorted Notions, but both Dawn of Two On, Two Off and Angie of Quality Time both had helpful info on their blogs too. Thanks ladies, I'm so appreciative of you taking the time to share how to do something, especially when the directions are pretty murky! I posted a full review Pattern Review if you'd like to know more about the top. The verdict: DH loved the top and we had a B.L.A.S.T. at the concert last night. I think that was actually more fun than I've had in a very long time. The group Montgomery Gentry opened for Toby Keith and they were wonderful to see live as well - it was just a night of pure fun!!!

Next up is a dress I made a few weeks ago - New Look 6802. I love this dress. I loved it the minute I saw it in the pattern catalog, but I'm a sucker for twist tops and wrap tops/dresses. Well I was not at all disappointed by this little number and have already worn it twice. I have another one cut and ready to sew up. I highly recommend this pattern, the instructions were super easy and the results are fabulous! Review on PR

This last top is one I whipped up because I realized I really needed more solid colored pieces in my wardrobe. It's from Ottobre Woman 2-2007 #4. Super easy and a TNT (tried and true) pattern for me. I also made four tank tops from the same issue this week too, pattern #1. I love the tank top pattern as well and it's very quick to make since I use my coverstitch machine and binding attachment. I don't have a picture of the tank tops, but I made one in turquoise, hot pink, plum, and red.

Currently I'm working on a jacket in turquoise linen. It's the Project Runway Simplicity 3538. I'm not sure if I'm in love with it or if it's looks too Becky HomeEc-y. It's almost done, so I think I will put it away for a week or two and bring it back out and see if I'm liking it a little better. I hate it when I'm not in love with something right away. I'm a jacket novice so I'm sure there is lots of room for improvement. DH doesn't know if he likes it either, so maybe that is swaying my feelings right now. He said he's not sure about the color and the color is definitely what I love so I don't know.

Some new garments!

Happy First Day of Summer!!! Today is summer-like weather here in SW Washington (finally), tho tomorrow is bringing cooler weather and the possibility of rain - rats!

I've been so darn busy lately, but managed to squeeze in two things for me in the past week - yippee! First I made a new top for me last weekend from BWOF 02-2008-122. I decided to use a knit instead of a woven fabric (what the pattern suggested) and am pretty happy with the results. The top was super easy to make and because I used a knit I omitted the back zipper so it was even quicker. I did have some issues with the front gaping open, however I did neglect to interface the upper front and back pieces. As you know too, I'm not too well endowed, so that could have been part of the problem of it being too big in the upper chest. I fixed the issue by sewing some clear elastic on the seam line which I gently pulled to make a gather. Viola, all fixed! I forgot to take a picture of this fix during the construction process and now it's all enclosed, sorry! Also I brought up the back neckline as I knew I'd wear it more if I was more covered up and took 5" off the length. All in all, I'm pleased with how it turned out. Here is the review if you'd like to read more.

It has been so cool out the last few weeks that I'm having a hard time believing summer really is coming. I decided to make myself a new fleece hoodie to wear around the house. I used Kwik Sew 2993 and it was super easy! The best part is I used up some fleece that has been in my stash for eons (actually I used all of it because I had to recut some pieces due to the fleece being too lofty and the front pockets looking terrible - must faster to recut than rip stitches out). Because of the trouble I had with the pockets looking terrible, I decided I'd just omit them. When I tried my jacket on during construction, I decided that I really did need some pockets, so I opted for an inseam pocket. I felt so clever thinking of this solution on my own! lol I used a pattern piece from another pattern in my stash and it worked great! Here is the jacket review on PR.

And a close up of the inseam pocket.

And last, but no least, I finally wrote a review of a top I made for my daughter a few months ago. She seems to really like the top so that is good since she's creeping up on 11 and those 11 year olds can be so fickle! It's a Ottobre 04-2007-31 ~ my review.

Well I'm going to go enjoy some of that glorious sunshine we have. Hopefully I won't be so long between blog entries, but now that the kids are home, who knows how much sewing for myself I'm actually going to get done. Have a great weekend!

The fruits of my labor in black & white

Who doesn't love black & white? Well I sure love the combination! I purchased a wonderful black & white cotton/lycra woven fabric at Mike's in LA during the PR weekend. I knew I was going to make a skirt with it, but which one was to be determined. When we had a hot streak a few weeks ago, I wore one of my favorite skirts I got at JCPenney a few years ago. It's a very mild A-line skirt, nothing too exaggerated. Since I love that skirt so much (I actually have two), I decided that was the perfect skirt shape for this fabric. Low and behold, the March BWOF came to my rescue (#122). The shape is nearly identical to my JCP one and I couldn't be more pleased with the end result. Including the cost of the fabric ($2) plus my lining and zipper from Joann's, my skirt was under $5 to make! Without further ado, here is my final result! And yes I know it's May, so you probably are wondering what is up with the boots. Well it was raining outside and we were on our way to church when DH took my picture - hopefully summer with come soon.

The shirt I'm wearing with it is also something I made this past weekend. It's another Ottobre Woman gathered from t-shirt (2-2007-5). I used a black cotton knit from my stash. I have no clue what the exact content of the fabric is, but it's so darn soft and yummy! I do know I got it at Fabric Depot in Portland, so next time I go, I'll have to see if they have more of that and in other colors.

Here is a close up of the skirt so you can see the general shape without my shirt covering up the top. I'm really pleased with the outcome and will definitely make more. The changes I made to the pattern were some minor tweaking to fit my body and I did decide to put the zipper in the back like my other skirts. Here is my review on PR if you're dying to know more. ;-)

I got so little sewing done this past weekend. I had high ambitions going into the weekend, but hey that is how it goes. Three things done (a black tank top I neglected to mention was also finished), so that isn't too shabby.

Reviews Posted!

I got some reviews published on Pattern Review tonight. I'm not going to reiterate all the details of each garment here, but if you're so inclined please read the reviews. I will say I love everything I posted tonight - all great patterns!

First up is blouse #114 from BWOF 8-2007 ~ review


Next is wrap top #107 from BWOF 4-2007 ~ review

Then #108 wrap dress from BWOF 4-2007 ~ review

And lastly is Jalie 2793 ~ review

Sorry this is so short, but thanks for peeking!