Volunteering, makes me feel so WWII

It is strange to think that our country is currently at war. It does not affect most of us in our daily lives. I know it does not me, except that I do think about it for some reason. The only way that I have been able to come up with that I can help is to be a volunteer for Sew Much Comfort. Basically volunteers make clothing that is adapted for wounded soldiers.  It is not an easy project. It takes patience and exactness that I do not usually put into my sewing. This is part of why it took me so long to get into quilting because I think these same qualities are needed to quilt.

Must measure 7/8 of an inch.

But it has been good for me for two reasons. One I do need to learn to slow down and be exact a think things through once in a while. And two it makes me feel a little better about the world that there is this large group of women (and maybe men I am not sure) offering up their unique talent and their time to support these wounded soldiers. Since in fact we may not have all the freedoms and privileges that we do were it nor for their brave sacrifices and amazing effort. 

My goal for this year is to make at least one item for them per month. Yes it is the 31st and I am not quite finished with my January piece but I will be by the end of the day. If you think you are up for the challenge, go to their website and sign up to be a volunteer. You will need to submit a sample so that you can be approved as a volunteer and then you can do as many or a few as you have time to do. If this is not your thing, then think about what is and volunteer your time and effort that way.  I am not a religious person, but I do think that we are all we have got, we need to make more of an effort to help each other out.

Later today I have to take my computer into the shop. The built in camera is not working so they have to replace the whole laptop lid to replace it. Not sure how long it is going to take. Maybe it will encourage me to fire up the old desktop or maybe you won't hear from me for a few days. Not sure yet but, just in case.... I hope you have a great week!

Peace Out - C

Baby Quilt? I have never really made a quilt before......

Ok so I have made one quilt before. But it was years ago and I really had no idea what I was doing at the time. I made a t-shirt quilt for my sister. And it probably fell apart and she probably threw it away. I have said many times before in my life, "I do not quilt". So why am I making a baby quilt?

I don't know why but for some time now I have been itching to make a quilt. My mother in law makes AMAZING quilts. And I know I will not match her ability any time soon. But I have been itching to try something new. 

My best friend from college recently had a baby and I decided to make her a gift. (Lindsey if you are reading this act surprised when you get it.) After I disappointed my sister with a crappy quality quilt years ago I am a little afraid to make her another one until I get in some practice. And I do have BIG plans for quilts for my nieces as well as my daughter. But baby Sydney is my guinea pig.

Also baby quilts are small. So they are less work. Its like making a tiny little practice quilt. And I am cheating. I did not cut those lovely squares. I bought them pre-cut. Since this whole quilting thing is an experiment I didn't want to invest too much into it. But I also wanted to make something that would get used and hopefully loved. But it is ok if she barfs on it, she is a baby, it will be washable.

You can buy these cute little things called a "Charm Pack", and it is 5" squares of fabric from an entire collection, 27 different fabrics, this is Blossoming by Free Spirit.

I took all the squares out and lined them up on the floor. My 3 year old daughter was a big help. She lined up the squares she liked and handed them to me as I sewed. She had to turn the wheel every now and then and sew because apparently me and my sewing ability fascinate her. She actually stood behind me on my chair with her head next to mine watching my every move. I am trying to figure out how to involve her more in sewing. 

I sewed the squares into stripes and plan to use jellyroll pre-cuts between the stripes of squares. A jellyroll is another type of pre-cut fabric you can buy and the pieces measure 2.5" x 42" and will make lovely stripes I hope.

It was so cute when I got it all bundled up in its little ribbon. I love fresh supplies. So full of hope and promise. I am hoping to have enough stripes left off this jellyroll to work on the curtains I have planned. But we shall see, and maybe I will even enter the Moda JellyRoll Challange! Nothing like a contest to get you motivated.

But first I must finish this quilt and the other gazillion projects that I have started both in reality and in my head.  Not sure yet how I am going to back this quilt. Maybe in 4 big squares to do a little reversible action. I love anything reversible since it gives you a 2nd chance.

Have you ever made a Charm Pack quilt? Got and suggestions for me? I have been doing some reading but I will admit I am pretty much winging this, that is just how I operate.

Have a good weekend! And I challange you to try something new.

Peace Out - C

It looks like my sewing room went on a bender.

Have you heard the saying "cluttered house, cluttered mind"?

Well it is true! My mind is totally cluttered with project ideas and life in general. And my sewing room is a disaster right now. 

Right now I am supposed to be cleaning the house. I have to get the "public" areas clean for tonight because some of the moms from M's preschool class are coming over to be "crafty". Basically one of the other moms is going to teach people how to knit and I am going to crochet since I already know how.

AND my in-laws are coming this weekend so I have to actually get the whole house clean. I hate cleaning which is why I am writing this rather than working.

Now why is my sewing room such a mess? Well that is a good question. Part of it is that I am procrastinating!

I am procrastinating on deciding how to "fix up" my sewing room. Read here about the damage and drama. The walls are back in. But I have not made any further progress on this.

Here are some of the main things I need to decide:
1. Do I replace the flooring? And if I do, with what? I am sort of leaning towards wood floors. But it is already COLD in this room would that make it worse? But I don't want carpet, it will be covered in thread all the time!

2. What color should I paint it? I have to re-paint the entire room. And I might as well do the bathroom in here while I am at it. Do I Paint myself or hire someone?

3. I am supposed to be sharing this space with my husband, and I told him I would get him a desk area and get his computer set back up. So I need to get him to help me pick out a desk for him and increase our storage space.

4. Deal with all the crap in this filing cabinet. Needs to be cleaned out and we want a "permanent" files in the garage and a "daily use" files in the office.

See I could go on and on. So "fixing up" my sewing room sounds all well and good until I get into actually doing it. And being without my machines and my space just does not sound like fun.

But I HAVE to pick a date. I have to bite the bullet and do it. So here is my official fix up starting date: WEDNESDAY FEB. 16, 2011. This is the day I will call floor people and pick out paint colors. Then move on from there.

Why so far out. Well basically it is after Valentine's Day and that is my next hard deadline for getting gifts done. I figure after that I will be able to focus on the fix up project. Maybe?

Anyone out there fixed up their sewing room? Have any advice?

Peace Out - C

"The Next Sewing Star!", Audition video has been submitted!

Will Chrissy Weeks be "The Next Sewing Star!"? I do not know. But I have sent off my submission including this video.....

Since it had to be submitted on You Tube I am assuming it is ok to show you the video. And I watched a few other people's videos. There is some stiff competition. But they all seemed really different from me so it really just depends what the folks at Burda are looking for. They are supposed to make their decision the week of Feb. 7 so should hear something soon.

Thanks again Lee Anne for helping me with the video! You Rock! 

Hope you had a great weekend and get to start your week fresh tomorrow. I have plans to hit the gym in the morning!

Peace Out - C

Vintage Vogue will be done in time for the event!

Hi Y'all,
My mom said to me, "you haven't done your blog in a while, how is your dress coming?" And I am not sure if I am happy she reads my blog or bummed that this is the way she finds out what I am up to ??? Either way she is right I needed to do an update and I have been bad about blogging lately.

I have good news to report. First I FINALLY got a real camera, a Nikon D3100. I went to the camera store talked to the guy and looked at cameras for about an hour, then bit the bullet and bought it.

But you don't want to hear about the camera, you want to see the pictures of the dress that I took with the camera......

 The dress is almost finished. All I have left to do is to hem the sleeves and do the hem. I am doing all the hems using satin bias binding. I finished all other edges on the inside of the dress on the serger.

The neckline is VERY modest, which is not really my style normally. But I think it is interesting and adds to the retro quality of the dress without sending it into being too much like a costume.

Here is a close up of the lovely S curve that makes up the bodice of the dress.

The velveteen ended up being really easy to work with. As you can see in the detail shots it hangs nicely and really shows of all of the gathering that the dress needed.

The way that the fabric looks different in different light will accentuate the gathers and show them off. If I had done this dress in another type of fabric I am not sure it would have worked so nicely.

I ended up making more adjustments to the real deal than I did to the muslin. I took in the arm pit / chest about 2 inches on each side. I think that since the velveteen has so much more body than the muslin did there was just too much bulk in this area when the dress was on me.

I also ended up taking in the waist about 4 inches. First I cut in on the side seems about an inch the I made the two darts in the back of the dress about an inch deeper each and made them longer to compensate for being deeper.  This was an interesting learning lesson on the muslin vs. the real dress. I do think it was worth the effort of doing the muslin because I knew I was close to how I wanted the dress to look. I was much more confident when making the real dress than I would have been without doing the muslin.

I just wanted to show you a close up of how nicely it draped on this section.

I am not showing you the back on purpose, so you will have to guess on what type of closure I did. But the party is on 1/31/2011 and I am hoping my husband will get home in time to take some pictures of me all dressed up before we go so you can see the full effect. I am planning on wearing some vintage jewels (fake but fab!) and wondering if since the neckline is so demure I can pull off fishnets? And very high patent leather heals?

Any one have any other accessory ideas? Any ways to make this a modern outfit without loosing the retro flair?

I have lots of projects on the horizon and in case you are interested here is a list of a few:

- my audition for the Burda Style  "The Next Sewing Star" contest. The video has been shot - Thanks Lee Anne!!! It is edited and uploaded to You Tube. But I am planning to feature it tomorrow, can't overshadow my dress ;)
- baby quilt
- men's shirt sew along (participating not leading)
- reversible wrap skirt (this is a craft exchange with a friend)
- more clothes for me!
- fixing up my sewing room
- projects for Sew Much Comfort
- re-visiting a Burda Style magazine pattern I used last year to make a dress. I plan to repair the dress and make it wearable. I messed up a little and gave up on it but it deserves a 2nd chance.
- making an "eye spy" quilt

If any of these sound more interesting to you let me know. I always have trouble picking what to do next.

Peace Out - C

Got started, yeah!

I am surprised to report that I actually got a little sewing in this afternoon. Spunky 3 year old fell asleep on the couch and I got to kick hubby out of the office and get some sewing done.

As you know I am working on a fancy party dress for an event at Emory University on the 31st. And I have never used this pattern so I am going the safe route and making a muslin. I measured all the pattern pieces and such but there are so many gathers in this dress that there was no way I could figure out the measurements.

This is a vintage vogue pattern. Which is a re-do of a pattern that Vogue first published in 1948. When pattern companies do re-releases of vintage patterns they typically make adjustments for modern fit standards. I still think this one runs a little small.

I have been doing research on this pattern and there are varying and conflicting reviews out there. But I have to say so far the muslin is going remarkably well.

The pattern suggests that you put in both an invisible side zipper and a small zipper with buttons over it at the back. I am contemplating two options. Either just buttons at the top back and make it longer so I can get onto it. Or add a modern touch and do something funky like and exposed zipper?

Example of an exposes zipper

For those of you not following fashion the exposed zipper trend may be trending away. But I like it because it adds a modern touch and is super extra easy.  Plus I have some really cool black and silver zippers. Since it is one of the last steps I will hold off on deciding and keep you in suspense.

Today I managed to get the main pattern pieces cut. I am still trapped in the house by ice and snow so I had to use what I had on hand for the muslin. I had a fair bit of actual muslin so I used that as well as a piece of cotton.

I am going to only put together the main pieces to ensure basic fit of the dress. I am not going to do all the finishing stuff that the real dress will need. So far the biggest adjustment I have made is that I shortened the dress by 5 inches. It is supposed to be mid calf but based on the pattern pieces it would have been closer to upper ankle on me. So I am shooting for a little longer than below the knee.

Another change I am going to make is the way that the pieces go together. The pattern calls for some top stitching of the S shaped bodice and I think that in the velveteen I plan to use on the real dress it would look weird.

In the picture below you can see that I am using red thread for the seams so that I can see where they are and determine how things are working.

Once I have everything planned out I am going to trace the seams with a sharpie and take it apart so I can use the muslin pieces as my pattern pieces when I do the real deal. I hope this works. If I don't have to make too many adjustments I will be super happy.


I hope to get a chance to work on it some more tomorrow. And I hope even more that this whole week will not be a total wash! Everything is closed tomorrow and no plans for a warm up so ...... CABIN FEVER!!!


But I already have big plans for some upcoming projects, including participating in a Men's Shirt Sew Along and auditioning to be The Next Sewing Star, should be pretty cool.

Hope you are doing well!
Peace Out - C

SNOW DAY!!! Decided which design & New shirt

I am sitting here with my daughter "watching" Mulan for the second time today. We made pancakes "with scratch", played in the snow, did some art projects and there is talk of making a chocolate cake. We come up with silly time fillers when we are stuck in the house.

In my last post I asked you for help in deciding which dress pattern I should use for my new fancy party dress. The vote was overwhelmingly for option 1, the vintage vogue.

So I started reading the back of the envelope, I even bought the shoulder pads that it calls for in the design. The fabric arrived and has been washed and is ready for cutting. But I am nervous. I have made a few dresses for myself. But this fabric is more delicate and will not take kindly to being taken apart multiple time. So I am thinking I may be to make a muslin. Which is basically making an entire dress just for practice. But I am thinking that I may do it in a fabric I like and call it a "muslin" so that I can wear it if it turns out alright.

I plan to get started on the muslin in the next few days. And then I can cut the actual fabric and make sure that I have enough to make the dress.

I have other projects waiting in the wings so I need to get my butt in gear. I also need to do some more research for finding a new camera.

Here is the shirt that I finished for Eric.

Yes he is making sort of a goofy face, he does that for pictures. But he still looks pretty cute to me.

I used McCalls M6044. It was a fairly straight forward project. The sleeves did not match up with the shoulders completely but they never do.

The fabric is phases of the moon and the shirt fits pretty well. When I make another one I am going to make the body of the shirt a little longer and wider.

Also I made one mistake, the buttons and holes are on the wrong sides of the cuffs. I think I was just not paying close enough attention. But no one will really notice except Eric. And the next one will be better!

Marion really wanted to be in the picture so here she is.

Hope you are having a good snow day! Or if you are in a city that has more than 8 snow plows you might be having a regular day today.

Peace Out - Love C

I need to decide!

Today I am still feeling sick and moving slower than I would like. But I did manage to get the sewing room cleaned up enough to do some sewing today. While I was cleaning up I found a little pile of clothes my cousin left for me to do repairs. I did the repairs just so I could say that I actually accomplished something today. But I also did some more work on Eric's shirt, the one that I did not finish in time to give to him for Christmas. I got a fair bit done but now all that is left is the hard parts, the cuffs, collar and placket.

I have also been doing some planning of projects for myself. I think I have mentioned before that I have a fancy party to go to on January 31st. I decided it will still be winter so I ordered myself some lovely black velveteen. I went with cotton velveteen rather than traditional silk velvet, because cotton velveteen is "washable".  I know it still can be tricky to wash but I think it will work better for me. And hey it is cheaper as well.

Now what style of dress am I going to make? Well the occasion is dressy but not formal and I want it to be something I can wear again say on Valentine's day. Or on some other nice date night (hint, hint) with my handsome hubby.

Here are the options I am considering while my fabric on its way here.

Option 1
Vogue Vintage V2787

I bought this pattern last year and have been waiting for the right occasion and the right fabric to make it. I like it because it is retro and amazing without being costume-y.

I have seen people over do the retro and look like they are wearing a costume, all the time. Not what I am going for here. And since it is from the 40s and not the more popular 50s most people will not be able to place it so squarely in an era.

According to the figure flattery chart on the envelope it works on both triangles and hourglass, which I am somewhere between the two right now so it should be flattering.

Option 2
Simplicity 2591
To see the pattern check out the link apparently Simplicity does not want their pictures copied from their website. I have made view D before. But I think if I use this pattern with the black velveteen I will go with view C, I like the litte cap sleeve.

Here s a picture of me wearing my summer version of this dress. The side panels and pockets come together very nicely to make a very slimming effect. And the pockets are super handy.

I did have to make some major adjustments to this dress to get it to fit me. But I did it before I could do it again if I decide to go this route.

My one concern is that using a solid color might make this dress style less special. I chose solid black because it is classic and elegant. But I still want it to be somewhat interesting as well.
  
I have been wanting a new little black dress for a while and I know I am limiting the wearability of it by my fabric choice. But I am still feeling wintery and I love velvet.

Option 3
McCalls 5619

This is another one that I have made before. But since it was a Halloween costume and a little silly I am wondering if I would like it as a more serious dress.

The sleeves are a little on the puffy side. I have to say it was very very comfortable and that is really the main attraction of this dress.

I think that 2 of the 3 patterns I am considering are dresses I have made before because I have never worked with velveteen and I am a little nervous. What if I screw it up? I guess I will have to keep in the back of my mind the fact that I can always run to the mall and get a dress in a pinch.

But I really hope it works out to make my own dress. I have been wanting to make a dress for a while. I always have these silly fears before I start a project. I think that I am only more nervous than usual because there is a deadline and it is a sort of short one.

On the right are the pictures from the envelope of the dress pictured above. Just imagine the yellow one in solid black. It might turn out truly lovely. And this dress by far would be the easiest. But easiest is not always best.

I guess I will just do what I always do when planning a project. I will make this dress in my head about 15 times before I get started on it in real life. I actually have a 4th option in mind as well. But it is a pattern from an old Burda Style magazine and I am too lazy to scan it in to show you. But it would be super easy too. Raglan sleeve and elastic waist. But I would totally make a belt to cover the elastic waist. I cannot concede to being an old lady completely.

Anyone have any thoughts on these dress style options? Or suggestions for a pattern that I may not have considered? I was trying to use what I have and not by another pattern, but .... if something speaks to me.

Hope you are having a great 2011 so far.

Peace Out!
Chrissy