Ty Lee

Next up is a costume to be worn to Otakon - this is Ty Lee, who (I think) is a character in a video game. I beleive it is the sort of thing that I would not know about were it not for contact with younger human beings.
I am guessing my best bet is to draft up patterns using Wild Ginger Pattern Master Boutique for quick & dirty fitting as we go. No muslins- this will be a fast project and we'll solve any puzzles as we go.

Sounds like fun, no?

Leopard print mesh knit

I really wanted to sew my newest fabrics, but my patterns & notions are a little confused between Rockville and Baltimore.

Well, that's a good reason to have plenty of backup fabric on hand, eh? Isn't this a wild print? (for me anyway). I bought it from EmmaOneSock quite a while back and I wasn't sure if I liked it. Today I fell in love with it.
I am really starting to like wearing tank tops on the weekends, or layered during the week for work.

It was a fiddly bit of work because I had to piece it together in the front. Since I had enough, I went ahead and doubled the front panel. You can really see the shape of the piecing (like a reverse princess seam) when viewing from inside out.

When I tested my first seam on the coverhem, there was a pronounced tunnelling effect. I decided it was a happy accident - because it gave a bit more stability. This is some very stretchy fabric. The neckline, armscye and hems are just a simple turned over hem, but the tunnelling makes it look like I used a binder. Neato trick.

When I look at these pictures I think I might go get a real haircut. It's been over a year since a professional touched my hair and I think it's time :)

*Happy Independence Day*

what day is it?

Relief! I pulled a few all-nighters to get the job done and now I can relax. June 30 is my hardest time of year. I actually did some mending at weird hours of the night, while waiting to proceed with next steps in the workplan. I had a nice piece of silk, in case I felt up to some real sewing, but alas, did not possess the necessary attention span to do any real sewing.
That's cool. So glad I have a 3 DAY WEEKEND!!

Look how clean my home office is! I work completely with a computer now- I don't even have pencil & paper! This surprises me- I had doubts I would ever give up my paper. But I guess old dogs can learn new tricks.

update: yeah, karmapolice commented about my laptop (where is the computer screen?!) It's there! This angle is weird, the screen is sitting up in a way that makes it look invisible.

But it makes me think about a sewing idea. I would like to make a pillow-ish thing to put on my lap for the computer. But it has to include ventilation somehow.

Currently, I place a pillow on my lap, a board on top of the pillow and the laptop sits on the board. The white board is a shelf from the closet, actually. I heard that if you leave a laptop on a pillow for too long it will overheat and kill it.

Back to the fun stuff. Outdoors, sunshine, etc.

Happy Sewing!

Sewing for the Joy of It

Yesterday was a graduation party for my niece and I decided I wanted to sew a simple fabric envelope for the card I was giving her. One thing led to another. First I sewed a few different pieces together, then it needed a zipper and of course, it had to be lined! I just used the same thought process as if I were sewing a slipcover for a cushion. I made it the right size to hold pencils, or perhaps makeup brushes.DO YOU LOVE THAT PEN??? It says "Electrolysis Is Us" and it was part of a big bag of funny pens that Kelly got for Howie. (There was even one called "Howie's House of Hair" - it was a gag gift type of thing)

I felt so full of joy as I raced through this project - the fabrics are from Purl Soho. They are scraps from a bundle that I got for my birthday. Fun stuff.

Lizzy graduated from high school and got accepted at the college of her choice and we are all so very proud of her.

Happy Sewing!

Sewing through the stress

This time of year gets stressful. As we move from one fiscal year to the next, all kinds of data must be carried forward. It has to happen at night (while the users are at home sleeping!) or on the weekend - because the system has to be "quiet".

That means I have to be flexible. In addition to my regular Mon-Fri work week,
I was supposed to start year-end work on Friday at 5:30pm. Some dependencies weren't met, so we guessed I could start around 11:30pm.
OK, only that didn't happen. It turned out to be 4:10am. sigh.
OK.

Right now, there is one more job running that could produce errors and it's my job to resolve the errors (if they come up).
We should know around 2am. (five hours from now)
sigh.

And it isn't June 30 yet. I am preparing for some sleep deprivation over the next few days.
Only - how do you prepare for that?? You can't.
I am already cranky!

I have to work all night on June 30, and I WILL sew during the lulls.
And I have to remind myself that it is good to have a job and it is good to have teamwork. We do have good teamwork.

Yes, I will have some cheese with my whine.

Don't hate me cuz I live in Maryland ...

(click on the image to see a bigger picture)

I don't know where else, outside of NYC, a person has access to such amazing fabric. In Baltimore, I have A Fabric Place (which is the bricks & mortar shop of the same family that runs Michael's Fabrics) and in Rockville I have G Street Fabrics.

Of course, I am a familiar face in both stores! (not affilated, just a satisfied customer always happy to talk up my beloved fabric sources)

Like lots of my cyber-sewing-buddies, I sewed a capsule for the June Capsule Contest at Stitchers Guild. Originally, I was going to sew something to go with the tunic I sewed last summer and never wear. I used some dark blue fabric from my stash (down in Rockville) while the tunic hung in the closet (in Baltimore).

You guessed it, the blues in the tunic clash with the blues in my knit tank top, skirt & pants.

But, I found another orphan in the closet that is VERY happy with the new blue pieces, so it's all good.

I have a picture of my June Capsule that I will post on my blog as soon as the contest comes to an end.

In the meantime, I have bought a new set of fabrics (I took the tunic in the store to make sure the colors worked).

And this shall be my July sewing.

Happy Sewing!

Tank top, gored skirt, pants

I finished my 3 piece capsule. The fabric is a heavy, drapey 4-way stretch rayon from G Street. It is a very pretty shade of dark blue. It was really nice to work with - not all fussy the way jersey can be. All patterns are self-drafted. The pants and the skirt have wide elastic waist bands (I used 1.5" wide elastic - I like it for comfort.)



Inspired by the new Christine Jonson Travel Trio pattern, I inserted princess seams into my TNT pants pattern. I just got the new pattern in the mail and I plan to make the jacket soon. I got swatches of her fabrics and I like having them to look at and play with before I decide what to buy.
I went out and had my toenails painted blue today. It just seemed like a good idea. Archie agrees.

I hope you get a piece of the sunshine today,
Happy Sewing
:)