Sewing? "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

Wow, I'd almost forgotten about this poor little blog in the midst of the craziness that has been the last 6 or so months of my life. Let me tell you, A LOT has happened. I don't even know where to start...

I noticed that I had just finished sewing a t-shirt tunic in my last post. Well, that was right before we took a family vacation to Disney World! I posted about that trip on my other blog in THESE POSTS. That was such a fun trip, and I'm so, so glad we did it!

Almost immediately upon our return home, I headed to Illinois to help a wonderful family. I didn't really have time to sew in the few days I was home. My trip to Illinois got extended a couple of times, but, after a month, I did finally make it back home. I posted about my time in Illinois in these posts on my other blog: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

I'll wait until you've finished those to proceed. Pay particularly close attention to part 5.

Done?

How about now? You are? Okay. Then you'll have notice that I got engaged at the end of my trip to Illinois. I swear I didn't plan it. We recently wrote out our story in this post, this post, and this post. Anyway wedding planning, life changes, and just the joys of being committed heart and soul to someone (who, unfortunately, lived 8 hours away) took over my life starting... immediately.

We both wanted a short engagement, so about 7.5 weeks later, on December 28, 2012, we were married. You can read about and see pictures of it here, here, and here.

Then we went on our amazing honeymoon (yes, there are posts about that too, but I figured by now you can use your own skills to find them.), and from there I was transplanted in Illinois. And I haven't sewn a stitch. At all.

How's that for a more legitimate reason for not posting in forever? To sorta kinda stay tuned in to my life, I suggest that you follow my other blog. If I ever get around to sewing again, I will try to remember to post it here, but I guarantee nothing. :)

Been a while...

Heh. No excuses really, except that I've been busy with farm work and THIS project. I've got a whole stack of projects to work on now though; I just went through my closet! Whew. It's a rather discouraging pile of alterations/adjustments/changes/re-purposes/repairs. I suppose I'll get through it somehow...

I've put this off for way too long... :-/

A little lesson learned the hard way...

*Sigh* I was all pumped and ready to begin my next sewing project this past Friday, Christmas Eve. I cut out my pattern the evening before, got up relatively early Friday morning (c'mon, we're on Christmas break!), washed and dried my fabric, and shook it out only to find that there was NO WAY that piece of fabric could have shrunk from 4 yards to maybe 2 yards! Still, a scant 2 yards was all it seemed to be.

Okay, let me elucidate. The pattern was Kwik Sew 3472. The fabric: lovely, soft, black cotton interlock which I ordered from Marie-Madeline Studios when they seemed to be having a most excellent sale. Those of you who have studied M-M Studios might just be snickering at me and guessing where this is going. That's where I made my mistake. I didn't study the site. We were in the process of moving (y'all know how crazy that can be, and how crazy it can make a person.), and I just quickly found what I wanted and ordered 4 units. Uh-huh. Now the rest of y'all know my mistake. I thought I'd gotten a pretty good buy! Getting 4 yards of black cotton knit for just over $13. But no. I got 4 units, which is 1/2 yards, for just over $13. Ever since I realized that, I've been kicking myself and repeating the phrase "I bought 2 yards of fabric for almost $14?!?!!!!!" Not a good feeling.

I thought that if I shared my not-so-good-experience with y'all, I might save some of you from making the same mistake. Trust me, it's really disappointing when you've had your heart set on that certain project made out of that certain fabric only to find out that you don't have enough of that certain fabric or they no longer make that certain pattern. (Can I make that sound more confusing?) Anyway, there's another story in the life of a Tennessee seamstress (who probably ought to start working on curtains...).

Schizophrenic about moving... Not really.

I love it. I'm glad it's finally happening. I can't wait until we're there! I can't stand it. I can't wait until it's over. I want to sew again!

I seem to be of two minds about this newest chapter in life. Really though, I don't think I am. I am gloriously joyful that we are actually moving; I just really want to handle some fabric right now. Knowing that I have a lovely piece of black knit downstairs just waiting for me doesn't help anything either. Then there's the knowledge that as soon as we're relatively settled, I fully intend to cram like crazy for the biology CLEP. Cramming always delays my sewing. Can't wait to have that CLEP behind me though. Of course, if I fail it, then I'll most likely spend following couple of weeks cramming for the Natural Sciences CLEP. So, sewing has been put rather low on the priority list for now. :(

Our sewing room is full of mattresses and broken down tables. The things that used to be there are now in a (large) pile of boxes in the big room awaiting the day, in a little over a week, when they'll be transferred to a different, and much smaller, room.

Once we do get settled though, there may be stories, maybe even pictures, of curtains and clothing again! Happy day! Oh, yeah, biology first. *sigh* I think I'll go stare longingly at the sewing machine; it's better than studying all that unpronounceable stuff any day!

Tomboy Toddlers' Denim Jumper

Yesterday I was doing some minor repair/adjusting work on a few of my clothes. I didn't take long, so after I finished, I was dealing with some old overalls that Mama was getting rid of. I'd already taken the hardware off of them, so pretty much all that was left was the denim. I don't know about y'all, but I really can't stand getting rid of perfectly good fabric, especially if it's denim. So then I had this crazy idea: Why not make a little girls' gored skirt? I set about doing just that (terrible timing on my part; we had far too much going on for me to start an unnecessary project!). Once I'd sewn several gores together, I realized that, for the length, it was going to be pretty heavy for a little thing to keep on with only elastic. I didn't want to get into buttonholes, and all the zippers we had on hand were too long. So, I turned it into a jumper!

I was thinking of myself as a young(er) girl. I was usually tomboy, through and through. I figure I wasn't the only one out there. This jumper is for those little tomboys, and for their mothers who have to wash all their clothes. ;) It's cute in an attempt to cultivate the girl in the tomboy, but at the same time it's comfortable and hardy so as not to restrict that vigorous energy she exudes every healthy, waking moment!

A New Venture

Howdy! I just realized that I hadn't blogged about my most recent, and thus far most successful, business venture! Allow me to introduce it now:

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Sew You!

Pre-made and Custom Creative Sewing

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And guess what?! This is going to be my "website"... for now anyway. If this venture goes somewhere, then perhaps I'll get myself a legitimate website, but until I've got too much $$$ to know what to do with, I'll probably operate from here. :D

That said, I'm going to be making a few changes here. I'll still be blogging about the things I make, but I think I'll make a new page for the things that I've made that *sigh* have no home but my already overflowing hope chest. The things found on that page will be for sale, but I don't know that I'll put a price on them here. I'd rather be contacted, and we'll work out a price via email or phone (preferably email). Obviously most of these things will be little girls' outfits. I guess I prefer to let my creativity overflow in that area. They aren't embarrassed to wear the bows, gathers, pleats, and pearls! Me, I'm a simple-loving girl myself, but I enjoy making those things that aren't always as simple as I would be comfortable wearing, especially if I know those things will be thoroughly enjoyed. :)

Secret Service Skirt

This skirt has kind of a funny story connected with it. My sister is a rising star in bluegrass. She's a member of the new band Missionary Ridge. So anyway, I decided to make a "secret service" outfit in order to ward off any undesirables and paparazzi. This is the skirt to that outfit. Hopefully I have enough of the same fabric left over for a jacket. We'll see.

I don't know if I'll get around to making that part of the outfit soon since WE'RE MOVING!!!! To explain that bit of over-enthusiasm, we've been trying to sell our very unique house and property for 3 or 4 years now (it's been so long, I can't remember exactly!), and now that it's finally happened... I just don't know what to think!

Anyway, about the skirt. I used McCall's 5481. It was a very easy pattern to follow. Or, I think it was. Once I cut the pieces out, I just kind of went at it, glancing at that instructions every now and then. I love how all the gores flare out extra at the bottom. It just makes me want to spin. :D

It had to happen sometime...

I've read that it happens to every seamstress or tailor at one point or another. The only question is when, and wouldn't you know it would happen to me right before I start sewing my first custom garment for a customer.

Well, the other night I was beginning to sew my New Look 6823 dress while listening to some European history lectures as last minute study for the CLEP I was taking the next day. Surprisingly enough, everything was going pretty well. Until I somehow managed to sew through my left middle finger. Yep, ouch. Getting the needle out took my entire family. I wasn't any help, I know; I was just a breath away from passing out. :P I posted more about the incident HERE, but since it was a sewing accident I figured the story fit pretty well on this blog.

First Custom Order!

I'm SO excited, though very nervous at the same time. A little over a week ago, I wore THIS skirt to an event that my siblings were part of, and a woman approached me about making one for her! She wants hers pretty much exactly like mine, except that the godets will be out of only red toile instead of red and black. Yesterday Mama, Claire, Luke (poor boy), and I went fabric shopping for the things I'll need to make this skirt!

We started at Sir's. Though I wasn't able to find the right toile OR denim, I did get 3 other pieces of fabric for myself, 2 of which I was hoping to obtain before October! From Sir's (our fastest trip there ever, btw, just over one hour!), we went to Hancock's in Murfreesboro. Thankfully I was able to find both the denim and toile there! The denim was a wonderful price too! I'm very happy with the trip.

While we were at Hancock's I also grabbed Kwik Sew 3472. With that one and New Look 6823, I'm hoping to increase my knowledge of working with knits. I had fun looking through the trims at Hancock's too! Who knew there was so much available! I've really only recently started working with trims, and, obviously, piping is still my favorite, so I don't really know what's out there. :)

Well, I just wanted to bring this blog up to speed (not that hardly anyone reads it; I know this now 'cause I installed a sitemeter counter-thingy!) about what was going on in my sewing life. Be back soon ... hopefully!

Unusual Incident

I got myself into an interesting position this afternoon while trying on the dress I'm making. I'd sewn over the zipper as I was putting it in, but I fixed it to where it slid just wonderfully. Unfortunately, when I put the dress on... the zipper wouldn't go above or below the spot where I'd sewn over it. That spot happens to be in a position where I couldn't get the dress off. So, I had to do something I've never done before: rip the zipper out while I was wearing, or sort of wearing, the dress.

Anyway, it was an odd and rather frustrating, though kind of funny, incident. I hope I never have to do that again...

Other than that though, the dress is coming together wonderfully! I'm looking forward to obtaining another zipper and finishing it, hopefully this week!