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...).

I got to SEW again!

We got the sewing room usable yesterday! I was so excited; I couldn't wait to try it out! (Not to mention, I had/have TONS of projects in mind.) Mama, Claire, and I went on our annual Sir's pilgrimage a week or two ago, and, though we mainly went for (and got) fabric for new curtains throughout the house, I found some magnificent pieces for myself that I really just couldn't pass up. One of those pieces was a khaki corduroy, perfectly drab - just the way I like it. :P When I got it I had the basic idea of what I wanted to turn it into. I'd just read a post by a good friend, and fellow seamstress, who mentioned one of her staple skirt patterns, Butterick 3134. Now, I love, love, love a-line skirts, but I wanted a bit more flare. The question was... how to you add flare to an a-line corduroy skirt, and a drab one at that?!? I decided to add a flounce. I figured I'd want it longer anyway, so that was a perfect way to add length and flare at the same time! Somehow I forgot my solemn vow never to do flounces again, because of the hemming issues... Oops. Anyway, here's how my new skirt came out:

I like it a lot. :)

Before I show you a close up of the details, I have a little tip about adding to/altering pre-existing patterns: DON'T FORGET TO ADD/INCLUDE SEAM ALLOWANCES!!! I noticed that the pattern had a convenient little bit of information on the envelope which stated that the bottom width of Skirt C was 88". Wonderful! I didn't have to measure anything to get that info! Love that (don't love that the pattern didn't include a waist measurement...). Because of my fabric, and the angle I wanted, I ended up having to cut my flounce as four pieces. That's gonna be 22" wide at the top of each, right? WRONG! Or at least it should have been. It should have been 22" + 2(5/8") = 23 1/4" each. Thankfully, I realized what I'd done wrong before I'd sewn anything up, and was able to make it fit by taking the bottom of the skirt in a bit, and sewing the flounce seams a little smaller than normal. Still, seems like sloppy workmanship to me, and, when possible, I try to avoid it.

Lately I've had a thing against completely blank slates. Much to my own surprise, I've been paying much more attention to the little things, the details that give the garment a finished touch. I focused all my detailing for this skirt around the flounce. I really love the extra stitches one of our machines has. The one I used to hem the skirt kind of looks like rick-rack! I also added two rows of regular stitching above the seam line where I added the flounce. I wanted to sew down the seam allowance, and I just decided to include it in the detail work. I'm pleased with the result. :)

Crocheting

Well, howdy! I've got a sewing blog, don't I? Hmmm... The extent of the sewing I've done since we moved is just putting elastic in a skirt I bought at Goodwill. Not overly interesting, to say the least. However, this past week I've done an awful lot of crocheting (gotta do something while listening to boring lectures!). I thought that might not fall entirely out of the realm of this blog, so here are my projects:

Ummm.. Yeah. Not really sure what this one started out as, but it ended up as something that could be used as a doll dress, or perhaps an infant dress. I guess I was mostly just trying some new stitches I've never done before. Not bad for that sort of experiment. ;)

Okay, our camera is particularly awful at getting good pictures right now (and yes, I will blame the camera. This was a perfectly good picture before I hit the button!), so sorry 'bout that. Anyway, this poncho pattern is great! Two rectangles of equal length sewn together. I can do that! I think this one, and the next one, turned out rather cute too. They're about a size... the pattern says 12-24 months. I crochet pretty tightly though, so it might be somewhat smaller than that. This one looks a little lop-sided in the picture. It's not that bad, really; the black yarn I had on hand was a little lighter weight than the red I used. :)

I've got something against completely plain, at least for projects I'm in no hurry to finish. I couldn't stand this side of the poncho, so I decided to add a little flare. I like how it turned out! If you were going to name this poncho anything you wanted to, what would it be?

Here's the other side of that one.

Oh, and by the way, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Y'ALL!!!

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!

Quilt Give-Away!

Maybe after we move, and I start sewing again, I'll be able to post about something other than give-aways. For now, however, this will have to do.

Madeline-Marie Studios is giving away one of their pretty quilts! Isn't it lovely? Click HERE for more information about this wonderful give-away.

1828 Webster Dictionary

How many lovers-of-old-books do I have reading this blog? ... Not many? Hmmm... Well, I am, and since this is my blog, I'm gonna do what I want with it, even if that means blogging about something that really has nothing whatsoever to do with sewing.

Pioneer Beauty is doing another give-away! This time it's the 1828 Webster Dictionary! My family has this, but I'd absolutely LOVE to have it for my hope chest. This blog post gets me another 5 entries. :D

$100 give-away!!!

I HAD to jump over here and post about it. (Of course, this gives me more entries, but... ;)

Check it out HERE.

What would I do with a $100 Marie-Madeline gift card? What wouldn't I do! I think I'd order a quilt... or maybe fabric... or perhaps skirts... or... or... or...

You get the idea. :)