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.

PRW Portland 2009

I think it's safe to say, fun was had by all! It was a whirlwind weekend that I wish wouldn't have flown by so fast. I got to reunite with some friends I'd met last year in LA and I got to make lots of new friends this year. It is always so fun to actually get to chat in person with people that dig sewing as much as you do. Well this weekend there were about 50 ladies that did just that and I sincerely hope that everyone who attended had as much fun as I did. If fun is measured by lack of sleep, than I definitely hit the mark (about 10 hours total is all I got!). I came home horse too, a sign that I talked WAY too much (I hope that doesn't deter anyone from coming near me again - it might be obvious I don't get out much! lol).

The weekend started out with a day long seminar by Pati Palmer in which the topics of sewing jackets and fit were covered. She is a very informative and fun speaker to listen to. She swears she's never worked a day in her life, that is how much she loves her *job* (it's not a job to her). That evening we all ate dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory - you could tell everyone was having a great time by the noise level in the room. After dinner we had a little contest with the ugly fabric we brought - everyone ended up being a winner, my prize was a book by Kenneth King.

On Saturday, the day started bright and early at 8am. We all boarded a big yellow school bus and traveled to Fabric Depot, downtown to Josephine's & the Button Emporium, and then finally to Mill End (my personal favorite in the tour). That evening we enjoyed a nice pizza dinner at the hotel and then showed off our favorite fabric purchase, mine was some Burberry coating I got at Mill End.

Then on Sunday, a small group met in the restaurant at the Monarch Hotel for a yummy brunch and one last gab session before we all parted ways.

Here are pictures I took (and a few I snagged from Flickr). I didn't really take that many, but so many cameras were flashing all the time that I figured the event was surely covered (you know the celebrity status we all have on PR is just like being in the limelight! LOL).

My roomies Cindy and Leslie

Me and Jacqui (we live only about 2.5 hours away - yay!)

Me & Deepika being "movie stars" at Fabric Depot

Jacqui & Deepika

Nancy, Me, & Cindy Lou

Jacqui & Emilie (from Jalie)

Cindy Lou, Nancy, Deepika, & Cidell

Leslie, Cindy Lou, & Cidell

Look, everyone is wearing a Jalie top!

Me & Emilie

The conference Friday during a break

Me & Jacqui

Cindy & Christina chatting it up

Cidell & Emilie

Brunch at the Monarch

Me & Deepika

Cindy shopping for patterns at Joann's

Me, Cindy Lou, Mary, Jacqui

Me & Mary Fran

Me, Cindy, & Laura (back)

Jacqui, Cindy Lou, Nancy, Leslie, & Jennifer (front)

Me with all my Jalie garments (it was part of a contest and I brought 17 items). My prize, $20 to spend at Jalie - yippee, thank you Emilie & Jalie!!!!!

I will add one more highlight for me of the trip. I really enjoyed meeting Emilie from Jalie. She is so darn sweet and absolutely adorable! It was so fun to talk with her about the company (her mom and aunt started the company in the early 80's, but now it's just her and her mom working together running the company). I've really come to adore Jalie patterns over the past few years. I've had great experience with the fit and the directions are wonderful - very RTW results in my opinion. And the coolest part was that she brought a whole bunch of Jalie garments and she let us try them on!!!! I was so excited! I got to try on the new jeans pattern and so much more. It was fun to see her enthusiasm about the company. My fingers are crossed that Fabric Depot will start carrying their patterns. But because I hate waiting for anything, I ordered a few I had to have now (all from the new collection - the jeans, pants, & crossover shirt).

Next year the weekend is in Philly - hopefully I can attend, these events are too much fun to miss! Thanks for making it such a great weekend ladies, I wish it happened more than just once per year.

Here are a few more pics I'd like to share. Below is a ham holder that my dear roomie Cindy bought for me. Thank you Cindy (tho you probably wanted to wack Leslie & me with it since we wanted to stay up so late! lol)!!! I know I will use it in good health and will always think of you when I use it. It's even made in the USA!!!

Here is my lovely Burberry fabric. I can thank Leslie for the inspiration because she brought along a gorgeous trench she made using the black fabric. She even let us all try it on. It was a gorgeous coat and totally worthy of the Burberry fabric.

3 yds each of both black & red Burberry (thanks to my sis too, she gave me a little $$ for babysitting my nephews so she bought most of it!)

Here is the rest of my loot ~ The Kenneth King book I won in the ugly fabric contest, then I purchased the jacket book and elastics, and the fabric.com box was a goodie we all got from fabric.com (we also got seam rippers from fabric.com too, but that didn't make it into the picture).

Sorry this was such a long post, but hopefully all the pictures make it worth the length it was. If you've never been to a PR Weekend, you must go if you have the opportunity. Everyone is so friendly and you're sure to have a good great time! Next up, Disneyland photos with the world famous, totally adorable and equally as sweet Yvonne!

Pattern Review ~ Jalie 2795

Oh my gosh, PRW Portland was soooo fun, I can't wait to share it with you. I need to finish getting my pictures uploaded and then onto the blog so hopefully tomorrow I'll have a post about that. For now, I'd like to share the Jalie hoodie I made myself for our Disneyland trip (which has been nearly a month ago).



Pattern Description: zip front jacket with or without a hood

Pattern Sizing: girls size 2 to ladies size 22 ~ I made my usual "R"

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, very much so.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes! Jalie always has such great instructions. I've never been stumped. They are short and direct and also they come with wonderful illustrations that go along with the instructions.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Well I more than like this garment, I LOVE this garment. This is my new favorite thing to wear! I'm always cold and my old hoodies from Old Navy were yucky so I gave to the kids to play outside in and decided to make myself a new one. I love the length on it too. My old hoodies were a bit on the short side (maybe they'd shrunk up after all these years). This hoodie has nice long sleeves and body - not overly long, but they provide great coverage.

Fabric Used: gray sweatshirt from JOS group (it's supposed to be from the Polo company)

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: None needed!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Oh my gosh, I'm totally sewing this again over and over. I know a girl probably only needs so many hoodies, but it's really quite chilly where I live for about 9 months of the year so having something nice to pop on around the house or for running out when it's not the middle of the winter is very much necessary. My sister was freaking out when she saw it and loves it too. Actually all my kids even thought it looked cool and my daughter made mention that she might like one (which is rare lately in the 'tween state she's in). I also got lots of great compliments at the Portland PR weekend - thanks ladies! :-)

I would totally recommend this pattern. It's really not hard. The hardest part for me was getting the zipper aligned properly. I used some Wonder Tape and had to realign the zipper a few times to get it to line up with the pocket stitching and the hem band. No biggie at all. Seriously, get this pattern if you like hoodies! :-)

Conclusion: If this is any testament, I wore it every day during our recent 10-day trip to California (even VonneVo thought it was pretty spiffy when we met up - miss you girl, wish you didn't live so far away!!!!).

Terribly Neglected

I know I have a few readers, so I want to apologize for my absence. I'm alive and well, but it's been two months since my last post - sorry!

To bring anyone who cares up to speed, the lovely cold I got for my birthday turned into an ear infection with a nearly ruptured ear drum. That took to the end of March for me to feel well again - what a drag. Then that followed with my children having spring break. Shortly after they went back to school, we decided on a whim to go to Disneyland so I could meet my friend Yvonne and her hubby. (For those of you that are on PR, that would be Vonnevo from Australia.) She was just as lovely as I knew she'd be and our families hit it off well. We got to spent two days together, but that time went by WAY too fast. My kids adored them and the boys were constantly grabbing her hubby's hand wanting to hold it throughout the park. They were sad when it was time for them to leave and fly home. I'll post pictures of the trip later because they are still on my camera. We were gone for 10 days and drove home going up the coast of California spending some time in San Francisco and Sacramento as well. We just got home last Sunday the 3rd so while doing truckloads of laundry, I feverishly worked on the biography book and weekend agenda for the Portland Pattern Review weekend that is this coming weekend. Oh and my nephews are coming early Wednesday as my sister has to be away from home for her business (so 2 full days/1 night). I am seriously strung out in too many different directions and honestly can't wait until Friday. I think once I'm out the door to the PR weekend all my worries will be flushed away and I will be able to relax. I just feel like my life has been non-stop for quite some time and I like more of a relaxed life than I've been having.

So that is my ramble. Hopefully I'll have some lovely sewn things to show off soon. I did make a great Jalie hoodie right before our Disneyland trip that I'm totally lovin' as well as a few other goodies for myself and the kids. Next week I'll also share my PR weekend fun and some pics from our Disneyland trip so you can all see the beautiful Yvonne.

I hope all you moms had a very Happy Mother's Day. I did and my youngest even remembered it was Mother's Day. I saw he was awake in his room and he looked up from his pillow at me and said "Happy Mother's Day Mommy". Talk about melt my heart that a 4.5 year old remembered it was Mother's Day - what a sweetie. I got lovely handmade gifts and cards the kids made at school, what could be better?

P.S. I can't forget we also celebrated two of my boys turning one year older too. This year's cakes weren't as exciting as last years, but they were just as yummy. Happy Birthday Jack & Will, how can you already be another year older???

Yet another trip around the sun

Picture courtesy of oh its amanda on flickr
Today I celebrate 34 candles on my cake. Unfortunately I won't be doing much celebrating because my wonderful, all loving family passed their creepy crud along to me. Gee thanks. I suck at laying on the couch, but here I sit today with my laptop, snuggled up to my youngest watching countless episodes of Curious George. While I can think of more fun things to do than lay on the couch, I do enjoy snuggling up to my sweetie because in the blink of an eye he'll be off to school and on days like to today I'll be suck watching Billy Mays, Jerry Springer, or some ridiculous soap opera.

Happy Birthday to me - my wish, to be feeling better tomorrow for my yummy chicken enchilada dinner my MIL is preparing for me.

P.S. Due to my funky system today, I forgot to thank you all for your wonderful comments you left last time. I'm feeling much better about the postal thief and am taking the necessary precautions to avoid that happening again (aka we have a lovely new mailbox).

The Good, Bad, & Ugly (and a long)

That pretty much sums up my life for the past few weeks.

First the good. I met a fellow PR member at the Puyallup Sewing Expo! Her name is Michelle. She told me she recognized me from my reviews, but said she hardly has time to post reviews and such because she's really busy with her job (she's a teacher). We chatted for about 10 minutes in front of the Simplicity booth and I told her she must email me so we can stay in touch. It's so great to meet other sewing fanatics - you know, someone who's eyes don't glaze over the minute you start talking about sewing. ;-) If you're reading this, "Hi Michelle"!!!!! :-)

I had an okay time at the expo. It was a bummer that my good friend and I didn't get to go together. Her boy is stilling nursing so she can't leave him all day and it's an all day event when you have to travel 2 hours to get there. I did run into a gal I met in my Palmer/Pletsch fitting class so we hung out for a few hours and looked around - that was fun. Also, maybe it's just me, but it seems like it's the same old stuff every year. I'm tired of the same old thing and wish they'd mix it up a bit. I would also love it if they'd organize the event so all the garment booths were together, quilting together, embroidery together, etc. It would make it so much easier and maybe the traffic would flow a little better.

I didn't come away empty handed, tho I only spent $14 (yep, I'm a cheap date!). I got striped knit that reminded me of an Ottobre shirt for my youngest son. I'm not sure if it's too pastel-ish now that I have it home, maybe it is, we'll see once I get around to making the shirt. The red is supplex for swimming trunks (a $2 remnant), and then the black is a poly knit to make myself another New Look twist dress.

Another "good" is that Lori nominated me for Sisterhood Award - thank you Lori, I appreciate it so much!!!! I know I'm supposed to nominate others for this, but I'm bowing out on that part because the "bad & ugly" part of my post and I honestly can't think right now (sorry Lori, please forgive me! lol).

So now the bad, I just learned today my mail was stolen on Monday. Apparently it happened to the whole block of mailboxes in my neighborhood, but still, don't people have anything better to do than cause trouble? In the mail was my new Driver's License that I just went to get last week (I went on a "good hair day" in hopes it would be a decent picture - yes I know it's not "Glamour Shots" - right Leslie?? - but still I have to look at the picture for 5 years). Also taken was something I ordered for my friend, my phone bill, and most likely my BWOF mag since I haven't gotten the March issue still. Tomorrow I'm off to Home Depot for a locking box. I feel so violated and I'm angry about this. So I've spent the entire day worrying about this and cleaning up the mess. Needless to say I have gotten nothing done. :-(

And now the ugly, my kids seem like they've been sick more than they have been well. Two are on their second round of antibiotics for ear infections and one is on his first round for an ear infection. They all have colds that won't cease. Hubby is now sick with some sort of cold/flu thing. My youngest ran a fever all day Wednesday and threw up all over his bedroom right at bedtime (thankfully it appears to be an isolated incident, tho I'm still being very cautious). I'm saying my prayer I will get me through without any of this nasty crud. I hope this is the end because I've shelled out $400 in doctor's office copays, rx's, and OTC meds since January 1st.

Now on to sewing. In an effort to reduce some knit scraps, I made my youngest a few pairs of undies. The picture is missing one pair - they had M&M's on them, but I managed to get the rest in a quick snap-shot. I made them using a great undie pattern you can get here ~ ThatDarnKat Etsy store. My son loves his new undies and it makes me feel good to use up my knit scraps and that they are made in the USA.

Two of my boys were invited to birthday parties (one was actually yesterday). I'm sick of buying cheap crap at the store and really most of the time I have no idea what the child even likes anyway. I'm also sick of everything being made in China, so I decided to get the boys some "Made in the USA" gifts. I inquired with the older of the two party goers to find out if said birthday boy likes to cook with his mom in the kitchen and maybe an apron with his name on it would be cool. My son didn't know, but informed me he really likes football. I thought a personalized pillow case might be cool and my son really liked that idea too. When I picked him up at the party yesterday the mom and a few other moms were so impressed with the gift and couldn't believe I could "just whip this up". It actually was pretty quick to make. The embroidery puckered a little on the football one, but the second one I used three layers of stabilizer and it looked perfect. The other recipient likes Curious George so I hope it's a hit with him too. My youngest wants one for himself and keeps pulling out fabric for me to make him one. I think I shall do that project right away for him. It's a good way to reduce stash and use up smaller pieces. Here is a little tutorial I found to follow. Sorry the picture is going the wrong way, dang Blogger (guess you get what you pay for).


Also I made a super hero cap for my youngest for tomorrow's birthday party. I have yet to take a picture of it, but will for my next post. It's from Ottobre 4/2004.

Okay, whining is over, I'm off to make dinner. :-)

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.

Jean Jacket Review

I've had this jean jacket in my UFO pile since late September. I had only cut it out and then set it aside because I was starting the Palmer/Pletsch fitting class at the beginning of October. Then came the pants class followed by Christmas sewing so there it sat patiently waiting for me to return to it. I think it would still be sitting there, but I decided to get busy so I could enter it into the Pattern Review UFO contest. I finally got enough motivation up yesterday to get it finished and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. It's your basic unlined jean jacket made with Kwik Sew 2895. I like that view A has a bit of waist shaping so it's not as boxy as your typical jean jacket.

Topstitching Details and SnapSource snaps

I received feedback from a reader that she would like it if I posted my reviews on my blog too, so here I go with my first review (yep, it's copied from my review on PR, but it's all the pertinent info).

Pattern Description: Misses jackets with front and back yokes, three panel front and back, pockets in the yoke seams with flaps, and topstitching details. View B is shorter and has a waistband and cuffs while view A is longer and has no waistband or cuffs.

Pattern Sizing: xsmall - xlarge, I used the xsmall and made version A.

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, they were very straightforward and easy to follow.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really liked the styling. I've seen many great versions of this jacket on PR and purchased the pattern a long time ago. I know it has lots of positive reviews, but I couldn't help adding one more.

My only dislike is in myself and how long it took me to get this jacket made. I cut it out at the end of September when I was on a cutting spree and then never got around to sewing it. I guess my slacking allows me to enter this into the UFO contest that is currently running. There is really no reason this became a UFO, just the lack of time and other things got pushed ahead of this item. Unfortunately it's a little too cold for me to wear it now, but I am sure I'll be wearing this a lot once the weather warms up.

Fabric Used: Red stretch twill I had in my stash - I am sure I purchased it at Joann's. I also used size 16 SnapSource snaps for the closures instead of buttons. I might have opted for size 20 if I had them, but I didn't have any on hand so I went with the 16
s and am pleased with how they look.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I made no pattern alterations and sewed a straight xsmall. It is actually pretty generously sized and am glad I didn't grade up in the hips like I contemplated doing.

Next time I make this jacket I will omit the chest pockets. I will put the flaps and just not sew on the pocket bag. I will never use the pockets, so what is the point in sewing them? I guess they might add a little more padding to bust! lol I also might lengthen the jacket a smidge too.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I'm quite sure I will sew this again and I definitely recommend it. Just think of the multitude of fabrics that can be used for a variety of looks - denim, twill, linen, corduroy, etc. There is a fair bit of topstitching to do, but I don't mind all the topstitching and like those sort of details. I even got very nice approval from my family on this one. I have some pretty embroidered linen that I think I'll make another version with and also some velvet corduroy that would be great too.

Conclusion: Great basic jean-style jacket that is a classic wardrobe piece.

Hopefully this jacket is the start of my sewing mojo returning. I think I worked myself too hard at the end of the year and burnt myself out.

P.S. I really want to see your garment label, so please email me. I made it a clickable link in my last post, but maybe you didn't realize that. Email me at noboty at gmail.com ~ thank you! :-)

Garment Labels

I'm soliciting your help. I won 1st prize on Pattern Review for the holiday/gift sewing contest and my prize is 250 labels from ClothingLabels4U ~ thanks Lisa for such a generous prize! I'm super excited to finally have labels to put into my garments, but I'm stumped as to what I want them to say and look like.

So here is where you can help. Will you pretty please email me a picture of your sewing label(s)? I need some inspiration on how I'd like them to look and I'm not even sure what I want them to say. In a perfect world, I'd love something I can use in everything I sew (myself, the kids, and anything I gift), but I'm not sure I can figure wording that would work well for this (you know chic enough for me, yet cool enough for my kids). I made this mock up to get me started, but obviously this would be for me only. I might put a black border around it too.

If you wouldn't mind sharing your label with me, please zap me an email. Also, what size are your labels? Are you happy with that size? My labels can be as big as 2"x1", but that seems awfully big to me.