all I want for Christmas...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I certainly did!! Hubby and I took the baby to the lake cabin to spend the week with his family. We arrived Christmas Eve after I got off work and are staying through New Years weekend. It's nice to have something that resembles a vacation!

So Ann tagged everyone to list what they got for Christmas. This year was great despite the economy. What I got:

*A remote car starter for my Xterra (a gift from my husband - it's wonderful considering how much snow we've gotten)
*A pair of chocolate-brown Uggs (I've wanted these for a long time)
*A Swarovski crystal tennis bracelet and matching earrings
*$50 Barnes & Noble gift card
*$200 Walmart gift card
*8" Viewsonic digital photo frame
*$100 check from my grandparents
*An awesome white and silver snowman cookie jar
*Movie tickets and babysitting from a good friend
*Some really great hand-crafted Christmas decorations
*Stuff from my mom that I haven't even received yet since I won't see her for a couple more weeks

What's funny is that this Christmas the hubby and I expected far fewer gifts because everyone was making a big deal about this being Drew's first Christmas (which is what we expected). Then, to our surprise, we actually got quite a few wonderful gifts! Drew definitely got the most gifts - of the 6 of us at the cabin, Drew got more than half of the presents under the tree. So much for taking back less than we brought up!! To top everything off, we had a wonderful turkey dinner followed by the best prime rib (my mother-in-law makes the best prime rib ever) the next evening. This is definitely one of the best vacations I've had in a long time!

the dress is done!!

I don't have a picture of the finished dress yet, but I finished it in time to wear it Friday night.

After the previous post, I took off the sleeves and cut 1" off of the cap. I also attached the lining to the zipper, hand-stitched the flanges to the bodice front and finished the hem of the dress and lining. Right now, the lining hangs free and I put a thread chain on the vent to hold the lining in place. I will either add two more thread chains at the side seams or permanently attach the lining to the hem - I haven't decided yet.

The dress was a hit and the party was a lot of fun. There are several pictures of me in the dress and as soon as I get them from my coworkers I'll post one. I'll also post a photo of the custom-made jewelry that a coworker made for me.

progress!!!!!

I've made significant progress on the dress. Here is what I have so far:



I am really struggling with the sleeves - the sleeve cap it came with just doesn't cut it so I really need to figure out a better way to make it work. I am using the stiffest netting I can find, but I have a few ideas I'm going to try to see if I can get a poofier sleeve cap.

I also found shoes!!! I have spent every day this week working long hours at a property 30 minutes from home and haven't had time to really work on the dress or even look for shoes. Tonight was my last night of the off-site work and to celebrate I stopped at Dillards on my way home and found these:



Because the dress is a plain wool crepe, I wanted something with more pizzazz for the jewelry and shoes. These shoes are just the ticket.

I had 30 minutes yesterday...

and I was able to accomplish quite a bit! I got home around 10pm from my class and couldn't sleep so I went into the newly re-organized sewing room (more on that later) and began work on my Glaxy-inspired dress. I don't have pictures of my progress, but so far all I did were baste the darts. Because I made a few modifications, I wanted to make sure the darts were in the correct spot. They turned out pretty good.

I still need to press and cut out the lining (I'll do that tonight) and decide if I want to underline or interface (or neither) the bodice. I am going to play around with a couple of options tonight before I do anything more with the bodice.

I also still need to finish up some Christmas gifts - I have some machine embroidery work, some quilting work and a shirt that need to be made. So much to do and so little time. I've decided I'm going to devote as many evenings as I can to getting all of this finished.

I'm thankful for...

Among my family, friends and healthy son, I'm thankful for UPS and Allbrands! My iron, which was supposed to arrive Monday, actually arrived on Wednesday evening!!!! I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I plan on pre-treating my wool crepe today and getting started on my Galaxy-inspired dress!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving celebration. Because it was just the three of us this year, we didn't make a traditional meal. Instead, I made pork adobo (my favorite spicy pork!) with tortillas, rice and beans. It was delicious!!!

blasted holiday!

Ok, I love Thanksgiving, but because UPS doesn't operate on Thanksgiving day or the day after, I won't get my iron until Monday. So much for working on the dress over the extended weekend. I guess I could have paid the additional $60+ to have it here today or tomorrow, but I really didn't *need* it so the justification would be difficult.

So now to call my dry cleaners and find out how much to have them do it for me - watch I'll find out it would have been worth paying for expedited shipping...I guess I can always borrow an iron.

Merry Unbirthday to me!

So I started the process of pretreating my wool crepe for the Galaxy-inspired dress. After several swatches, my chosen method was to wash on the gentle, low-spin cycle in baby shampoo and then steam press until dry. All but one of my four 6"x6" swatches shrunk by 1/2" in the length and width. The fourth one shrunk by only a tiny bit less - and that was the swatch that was machine washed and hung to dry.

The only problem is that the steam function on my home iron is on the fritz. There is no way I want to steam press a 4 yard piece of fabric with my old home iron. As an early Christmas/merry unbirthday gift to myself, I bought a Consew Gravity Feed iron. It should be here on Friday (leave it to me to make a purchase during a holiday week). Because I really wanted to work on the dress over the holiday weekend, I will probably pretreat this length with my existing iron. I may even forego the spin cycle altogether and let the fabric generate it's own steam. One of my swatches used the soaking wet method and shrunk as much as it did in the dryer without changing the appearance or hand of the fabric.

So it looks like I have a plan B after all! But I can't wait until my new iron arrives, I've been putting it off for far too long!!

off to a good start

Since I had decided on the Galaxy-inspired Vogue dress for my upcoming company holiday party, I needed to make sure that the style would suit me. Tuesday after work I made my first mock-up. I need to make a few tweaks to the length of the bodice and the flanges, I'm also going to raise the neckline by 1". I don't like the straight skirt on my figure, so I am going to play around with some other skirt options.

Next was the task of finding fabric. I knew I wanted a dark blue of some sort, but couldn't make up my mind as to the exact type of fabric I wanted. I went back and forth over several choices (tafetta, a satin microfiber, stretch satin, wool) and because I want something more versatile than a party dress typically is, I decided on this wool crepe from Vogue Fabrics


I ordered it late in the afternoon last Friday and it arrived yesterday. It is an even prettier color than the picture suggests - darker and with more of an aqua hue. It's stunning. Tonight I'm going to play around with pre-treatment options.

Tomorrow, my mom is coming to Reno for the day and I hope to get the rest of my fitting tweaks onto paper so I can get started. My goal is to have the dress completed over the 4-day Thanksgiving holiday.

For jewelry, I've enlisted the assistance of a coworker. While I love making jewelry, I just don't have the time with all of the other projects I have lined up for the holidays. My inspiration was this necklace from White House | Black Market:

There are going to be an assortment of black, dark grey, light grey and clear Swarovski and Czech crystals and glass pearls. So the necklace and earrings are taken care of.

Now for the remaining accessories...I still need to decide on shoes and a belt. I have time, the party isn't for 3 weeks and I have some black patent pumps that I could wear if all else fails.

my mojo is returning

It's been SO long since I've been in the sewing room. So long, in fact, that it has turned into a temporary storage room for my husband. Not for long!! He is in the process of returning my sewing room to me as I type this. My family and his parents are all going to be visiting this weekend, so we need the room, but it also happens to coincide with my mojo returning!!

I have been slowly starting to work on Christmas gifts for the family. This year I decided to make good use of the three new machines (embroidery, sewing and serger) that I have purchased in the past year and make most of the gifts we are giving to friends and family. I have been ramping up that, but I also need a dress for my company's upcoming holiday party. The party is December 12th and this is what I am leaning towards:



I'm going to start working on a muslin of view E and see if it works on me. I'm leaning towards a sapphire blue color, but I have no idea of the fabric yet.

OR I have several strapless "party dress" patterns with fuller skirts that may work, and for something like that I'd be looking for a cross-dyed sapphire/black with a black velvet or faux fur shrug.

Any other pattern ideas??? I definitely want something fun and I'm just not completely sold on the idea that the Roland Mouret knock-off will look as good on me as it does on so many others.

Next, I'll have some Christmas gifts to share and some possible SWAP ideas - the extended timeframe might actually make it possible for me to complete and I need some new work clothes.

nothing new to show

Since Drew is getting to the point where he can almost sit on his own, I've been spending all of my free sewing time working bits and pieces on a shopping cart cover for him. I wanted to make it from Alexander Henry's Tattoo fabric, but the only quilt shop in town that sells Alexander Henry no longer had it. Bless their hearts, the ladies that work at Windy Moon Quilts looked high and low to find it. It probably didn't help that it was smack in the middle of Hot August Nights when I was looking and most of their really cool fabrics were already depleted.

So I did manage to find an alternative tattoo fabric that was similar to the Alexander Henry print I wanted and bought some of that, a bright red batik and some lightweight black denim for the bottom of the cover. The denim is more of a chambray type of fabric but the whole thing looks really cool! I have to finish sewing on the pockets and toy tabs, add the elastic and the whole thing will be done. I should have it posted before the weekend.

In the meantime, enjoy a couple of pictures of the little one from our 4th of July celebration at the lake!

is this too matchy-matchy?

I was browsing Smart Bargains today and found this shoe:

I love it!! It's the same colorway and a very similar print to my geometric skirt from my last post.

I doubt I could really pull off such a matchy-matchy look, but with a solid brown or even an ivory Cosmo dress that aqua would really pop!

Thanks to everyone who enabled me to discover online shoe shopping...like I need another addiction/obsession/passion/money sink!

I have a plan

But first, I have some completed garments to show off!!!

First up is my very first BWOF. I've had a subscription for a couple of years now, and haven't gotten around to making anything from it yet. I was especially inspired by a top in the July 2008 issue. Here is my version of BWOF 7/08 #118!

My husband - although I love him dearly - is not the best fashion photographer and this is really the best of all of the photos he took. Next time, I think I'll just go with the tripod and do it myself. It doesn't help anymore that I had just come home from work when this picture was taken.
Here is a picture of the top with the skirt made from the same geometric print. The skirt is New Look 6735:


Next, my first HP Cosmopolitan Dress. I love this dress, although there are several changes I need to make for my next version. I made this from a purple, gray, black and white floral from Gorgeous Fabrics. It's been sold out for some time, but I think she either has a red or blue colorway of the same print. I'd look to find out for sure, but I have an infant on my lap who desperately wants to type along, so I need to finish this as quick as possible :)


Friday was the opening of bow-hunting season so my husband left Thursday afternoon and is expected back sometime this evening. I decided to work from home Friday and got quite a bit of planning done in between projects. Saturday I cut out a dress from New Look 6779 in a black/gray houndstooth double knit from Gorgeous Fabrics, another New Look 6735 skirt from a black/off-white/green ITY, a New Look 6430 (apparently out of print and no longer on their site) top from the same ITY and I cut out and finished this New Look 6470 top:


I bought this ITY from Fashion Fabrics Club and they advertised it as aqua. It even photographs as an aqua, but in reality, it's more of a kelly green. According to Pantone, it's called Fir (18-5621). It worked out perfectly because I thought it was going to be used with my brown/aqua wardrobe but ended up matching the green in a black/off-white/green leaf print ITY that I bought in the same order. I made view A without the sleeves. Here is a side view of the tie for the band:


I also have the Vogue alice+olivia pants planned from a charcoal RPL from Gorgeous Fabrics as well as a really cool gray herringbone tweed with little metallic colored threads woven in that I bought at Joann's.

new Vogues

I was reading Carolyn's blog and she was showing off her most recent Vogue pattern purchases along with information about their $6.99 sale. I get the emails, but sometimes get too busy to look at them and because I don't really spend enough on patterns, have not joined Club BMV yet.

With that said, I must say some of Carolyn's choices *forced* me to go to Vogue's website and pick up a few for myself. Here are my choices that should be on their way to me any day:


The famous Alice + Olivia pants that I've been drooling over for months


I love this dress and already have a couple of possible fabrics in mind for it


I really like the style of this cardigan and I definitely need more of them for work when the A/C gets cranked up!


I like the jacket, but I LOVE the skirt!


I'm not sure about this jacket - I think it might make me look like I'm wearing football pads, but I like the details on the pants - and I definitely need to make some pants!


I like the pleats and while I probably won't make this as-is, I think it has a lot of potential.

operation wardrobe: episode 2

I have cleaned out the closet and now have nothing to wear!! To make my life even more complicated, in an effort to allow my husband to continue to stay home with our son, I have begun the journey of trying to get a promotion at work. I will be done with school in the next year or so and would like to use that time to begin the gradual overhaul of my work persona. From an experience and knowledge standpoint, I'm in good shape. Once I get the education part out of the way, all that's left is wardrobe!

I am considered an engineer although the nature of my job is not that of an engineer. My company is business casual, although in the past two years they've gone more beach casual. I tend to stay somewhat business casual, though I do love my jeans. I need to get away from that and move towards a more dressy/business professional look. Honestly, I would love to be the best dressed person at work! That's my goal.

I have taken a good look at what is currently in my closet and what I need. 90% of my clothes are on the more casual side. This is definitely going to be a transitional process. I am in need of slacks, skirts, jackets and dresses as well as tops (although I already have quite a few appropriate tops). I have a ton of fabric that I've been collecting with a work wardrobe overhaul in mind. Now is the time I need to implement it.

I got a serger (finally!) yesterday - I'll tell more about it in my next post. I am all set to get started. I will finish up my very first BWOF tonight (a great top!) and then I have three skirts that just need hems and then I can get started on my plan.

Up first will be a dress. I have a ton of really nice knits (and several more on the way). As much as I love wovens, with my body still changing and shrinking back down to my pre-pregnancy self, I love the versatility and ease of wearing I get from knits (and a nice pair of Spanx). I am FINALLY going to make myself a Cosmo dress from a black/white/yellow ITY that I got at my local Hancock a couple of months ago.

I am also going to finish up my aqua/brown summer wardrobe as most of those pieces are dressier and versatile and I'm also going to work on some of the pieces from my original Timmel SWAP that never saw the light of day. I have at least two suits and then my jacket from the coat sew-along if I can ever get to making a muslin of my coat (hubby's coat is coming along great though!).

So that's it for now! Next post will have some pictures and won't just be boring ol' text!

Happy Anniversary!!

Today is my 2-year wedding anniversary to my dear husband. We actually celebrated our anniversary on Saturday since I have school tonight, but he took me out to a very nice anniversary lunch today. Although he doesn't read this - Happy Anniversary Nate!!

Back to sewing-related topics, I'm throwing in the towel on my JCC. I have had no time to devote to it AT ALL since the 10th and while I have the shirts for Drew cut out and ready to go, I don't anticipate having enough time in the next 5 days to get them finished. Part of the problem (although not a problem at all, really) is the fact that my in-laws were staying with us for the past few days. I actually had quite a bit of sewing mojo and time, but the sewing room doubles as the guest room so it was occupied. I really enjoy spending time with my in-laws and the lack of sewing room gave me some time to figure out what was bothering me about the muslin for my husband's coat. I already posted it for all of the readers of the Coat Sew Along blog, but I'll probably repost it here tonight after school or tomorrow.

In addition to just a lack of time for finishing my JCC, I realized that I do not have the proper mindset to focus on a SWAP-style plan and not stray from it. While I have no intention of straying from the plans that I put together for both my husband and our son, the timeframe made me take all focus away from summer clothes that I desperately need. I am more of a "make a list and complete it in whatever order suits me at the time". A SWAP-style plan is too rigid for how my mind works and I find myself spending more time planning and daydreaming about what I'll start after I'm done with my current plan than actually working on the plan! Sooooo, from now on I'm not going to take on any more SWAP/wardrobe type of challenges. I might start participating in some of the single-item contests on PR though, they look like a lot of fun and are really more up my alley in the contest realm.

I'm also thinking about getting more involved in other sewing endeavors in my community and that will take up quite a bit of time as well - I haven't quite found anything that speaks to me, but I know that when the time is right something will.

another baby capsule item finished!

Here is item #2 in baby Drew's capsule:


This is the first of several father/son bowling-style shirts. The pattern is Simplicity 3852


I took the baby romper pattern and cut off the shorts part, leaving the perfect baby button-down shirt pattern! After I made the buttonholes I realized that the bottom buttonhole is really too low. I'll fix this for the other shirts, probably only using 3 buttons instead of 4. I also couldn't find any 3/8" buttons, so I used 1/2" - fortunately they don't look too big.

I'm IRRITATED!

TWO weeks ago I ordered several yards of the Burberry raincoat fabric in RED. TODAY I get an email from Denver Fabrics indicating that they have since sold out and cannot process my order. Now, I know that if the website isn't set up to keep track of inventory as purchases get made it's easy to place an order and have it sell out before you get your cut. I understand this; however, this fabric was still listed as in-stock on the website for a solid FIVE days after I placed my order. If it was sold out before they could process my order, it should have been marked as sold out much sooner, in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. In any event, I was stoked to think that I actually managed to get my hands on some of the red before it sold out. That's what I get for counting my chickens...

To top things off, my credit card had ALREADY BEEN CHARGED for the fabric!! I'll have to give a few days and see if they bother refunding my money. Generally, my credit card gets charged when an order is ready to be shipped. I know there are also exceptions to this, but I've ordered from both Denver (since they switched owners) and FFC before and it has always been my experience that the card was charged just before shipping.

Thanks for letting me rant. On a brighter note, the UPS man and the mailman have both been spending an awful lot of time at my house. This weekend I'll share all of the goodies that have come my way...

a big fat wadder...

Last weekend I made a skirt (I still need to photograph and post it) that was part of my original JCC plan (brown/aqua color scheme). I wanted to wear it to work earlier this week but needed some sort of top to go with it. Since I was short on time and even shorter on fabric, I decided to make a shrug. I used McCalls 5236


I made view E (lower right corner of the picture) without the ribbon tie. Well, let's just say I attempted. I'm not sure if I shifted something when I cut out the sleeve but there is way too much ease! I used a brown jersey and even with the strechiness of the fabric there was still too much ease in the cap!! I ended up having to gather the sleeve to fit it in and then it just looked silly. I'm not sure it's worth making a muslin for a basic shrug and since I have another 4 or 5 shrug patterns in my collection I think I'll go back to Hancock and pray they have more brown jersey (I used the fabric that was originally earmarked for trim on my Cosmo dress that has yet to be made) so I can make another one. Maybe this time I'll use one that is specifically designed for knits and not a "woven or knit". I am so disgusted I don't even want to take a picture...

JCC - baby cargo pants

These were originally intended to be cargo shorts (like hubby's), but I put the pocket on and then realized I didn't adjust it for shorts. At that point I didn't feel like taking out the two rows of topstitching and decided to keep them as pants.

Drew wore them to my mom's birthday dinner on Saturday and was positively adorable! I probably won't have pictures of him in the pants until I do final photos of his capsule for the JCC.

They are Simplicity 3765. I haven't done a PR review yet, but I will soon. I have a few more reviews to complete and will probably do them all at once.

Enjoy!

Great Coat Sew-Along

I decided early last week to join the Great Coat Sew-Along that Marji is hosting. Boy am I glad I signed up when I did - if it's not closed to new participants already, it will be very soon!! The response has been amazing and I feel honored to be a part of this project along with so many great sewists!

I had originally planned a post with my possibilities and was going to open up for suggestions. I wanted to use fabrics and patterns already in my collection so I started digging through boxes and drawers of fabric and found a bunch of possibilities. Patterns, however, I am lacking somewhat as I only had 4 coat patterns, including the Vogue Michael Kors that several of my counterparts are making. This was the coat I was most leaning towards, but (with some input from my husband) decided on this:


Wool blend purchased from Fashionista Fabrics. I'll be using McCalls 5247 View C (the version in red on the pattern envelope):


I also hope to make a coat for my hubby at the same time. I bought some charcoal melton almost 2 years ago with the intention of making him a dress coat for winter. It's still rolled up in the original package it was mailed in! I don't have a picture, but it's very dark - almost black - and heathered (good to hide dog hair). I plan to make Burda 8275 shortened to mid-thigh length:

operation wardrobe: episode 1

Although I got the Lucky Shopping Manual for Mother's Day, I didn't have a chance to really read it until today. I read it from cover to cover and it really got me to thinking. I'm an adult!! I realize that I've been an adult for quite some time, but now that I'm a mother, am working on turning my job into a career, preparing for graduate school and am *gasp* quickly approaching 30, I need to have a more adult-looking wardrobe (and I don't mean this in the Nevada brothel sense).

My husband has been getting on me to go through my closet with a fine tooth comb and purge at least half of it. At first I was put off by the idea of getting rid of the clothes in my closet (although 80% of them are "fat" clothes that probably look potato sack-ish if I were to wear them today). After reading the Lucky book, this no longer seems so much of a daunting task. In fact, I am now looking forward to purging everything that no longer fits and re-designing a wardrobe that works for every aspect of my life.

This is going to be a multi-part process.
1. I get rid of anything that is too big.
2. I go through the remaining and pull out those pieces that I just don't like or won't wear and get rid of those.
3. I set aside in one section of the closet the items that work. The remaining items will be put on the other side of my closet. I will get rid of these later, as I know I have very few items that work well for my new lifestyle, but I still need something to wear while I replace them!!
4. I will fill in the gaps with classic pieces first and then worry about trendier pieces after I have a good base wardrobe to work with.

I need dressy work clothes, casual work clothes, play clothes and going out clothes for winter and summer with transitional pieces for fall and spring. I also need a couple of coats in different styles. I know I have some workable pieces that will fit into these categories, but I definitely have a lot of holes. I'm in the process of compiling a list of the basic pieces I need in my wardrobe and a beginning plan of attack to accomplish it.

I need to finish the father/son capsule and then I'll get started. My next post on this topic I will have an update on the closet purge and a preliminary list of what I need to fill out my wardrobe. This is definitely going to take some time to complete the entire process, but I'm sure when I'm done I will never be able to say I have nothing to wear!

June capsule contest

I decided to officially enter the June capsule contest at Stitchers Guild. My plan is called "Like Father, Like Son" and will be a matching set of clothes for my husband and our infant son. A little bit of background: my husband and I are big fans of the TV show Two and a Half Men. Charlie Sheen's character wears these retro/bowling style shirts on the show (it's his trademark for anyone who hasn't seen the show). My husband loves that style of shirt and has a few, but has been asking me for quite some time to make him some more. I had been putting it off until this contest came along. Since hubby has been wonderful at taking care of the baby and letting me have some sewing time, I decided I should reward him by using some of that time to make something for him. When the contest was announced I made a plan for myself - which I will still make for the summer - but I changed my mind and decided to enter a wardrobe for him. Hubby came up with the idea of making a matching wardrobe for the baby.

Here is the storyboard for my plan:


Since the challenge for the contest is no black, I had to order new colors of fabric for the shirts. I'm going to make khaki cargo shorts and the colorblocked shirts will be in shades of brown/tan and blues. I'll also be putting my new embroidery machine to good use by doing some custom embroidery on the colorblocked panels. I will probably not do any embroidery on the baby's shirts, but the basic design will match. There is also an accessory requirement and I'm going to make hats from the same fabric as the shorts.

I'm very excited to be doing this for my boys. My "before June" item will probably be the cargo shorts to get them out of the way and then I can make the shirts assembly-line style. If I'm unable to get the hats done in time, those will be my purchased item and I'll just buy something that goes with the ensembles. I hope to get the fabric in the next week and by then I'll have the shirt patterns created with the different colorblock configurations. My hope is that on June 1st I can start cutting everything out and get started!

Wish me luck - I may have just gotten in over my head...again :)

happy Mother's Day to me!

This is what I got for Mother's Day:

The Lucky Shopping Manual. I have only skimmed through it briefly, but it contains a lot of great information on how to shop for everything and what looks best on certain body types. It has a lot of eye candy for inspiration as well.

I also put some of my personal sewing on hold temporarily to sew for my hubby. He has been requesting some retro/bowling style shirts for some time and that was part of the reason I got my embroidery machine for Christmas. The dog ate the Vogue pattern I usually use and I haven't replaced it yet (he was only a few months old, so it was over a year since I've even ATTEMPMTED to sew for hubby), so I'm trying out a now OOP Simplicity Threads pattern. I don't have the pattern numbers handy or else I'd post them, but I'll post all about it when I'm done with this first shirt.

ETA: I almost forgot!! Hubby and I went to Barnes and Noble after our early breakfast yesterday morning and they FINALLY have Burda WOF on their newsstand. Even though I have a subscription, it made me feel better to know that I won't miss out if I ever forget to rewnew on time! Reno is growing up...

another Simplicity 3881

I really love this pattern!! I have made this 3 times now and have a couple more planned. It's a very flattering style on me - slim up top and flared at the bottom. This fabric came from Gorgeous Fabrics. I don't remember what it's called, I bought it last summer, but I LOVE it! It's difficult to match up the flowers, so I did the best I could. It looked sort of strange at the seam where the top of the skirt meets the peplum, so I added a piece of 5/8" grosgrain ribbon that I had in my stash to break it up a little. I really love this.

On another note, today I purchased the Hot Patterns Weekender Jean Jeanius Trouser Jeans pattern. I've been eyeing this pattern for a while and on a recent trip to Joann's I found a couple of great pieces of medium-weight denim that I have in mind. I am going to attempt to recreate a pair of maternity jeans (only non-maternity) that I fell in love with.

Simplicity 4129 - military-style jacket

(it still needs a good pressing...it looks great on me, not so much on the dressform - I'll try to get a picture of me wearing it soon)

Pattern: Simplicity 4129, View D
Fabric: Tan faux suede-type fabric, chocolate brown Ambiance lining
Other: 10 antiqued gold buttons

This pattern is apparently no longer available even as an OOP from Simplicity's website. It comes in sizes 6-22, I made size 20 based on my high bust measurement and widened to a 22 at the hip.

Alterations:
- 1/2" FBA
- Lowered bust point 2"
- Lenghtened body by 1-3/4"
- Lengthened sleeves by 1-1/2"
- Raised armhole by 1/2"

Details:
As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted a military-style jacket and after seeing EricaB's version I decided to use the combination of the Simplicity pattern and the faux suede that I had in my stash. I found 10 antique gold buttons that went well with the fabric (the only gold buttons that Joann's had 10 of!) and some chocolate brown lining and I was off! I was doubly inspired by this Dolce and Gabbana jacket and really wanted to incorporate some of the other design elements into my jacket. The problem was that I wasn't able to find enough buttons in the right sizes to really accomplish this, so I ended up just making it based off the pattern.

The instructions were marginal. This is definitely not a pattern for beginners - the jacket itself isn't especially difficult, but the instructions are not very user-friendly. They have you jump around from view to view and then leave out certain necessary steps such as inserting the sleeve and when to attach the buttons! Although if you are intuitive enough to know that at some point you need to insert the sleeve before you attach the lining, you'll be fine. Ann from Gorgeous Things has mentioned before her disappointment in Threads patterns not having enough notes from the editors of the magazine and I have to say I was especially disappointed at the quality of the instructions for this particular pattern considering it is a Threads design.

The pattern calls for interfacing the front and front facing. I decided to only interface the facing because my fabric was thick enough that it didn't need the extra stiffness - even with a thin interfacing. I used knit fusible ala Tany to just give it a little bit of soft shaping. Because it's a more casual style, I didn't want it to be TOO structured. It also calls to only line the peplum. If I were to make this again, I would add more structure to the peplum and cuffs by using a stiffer interfacing. It is definitely wearable and I love it, just something I would recommend to anyone wanting to make this.

The fabric was a bear to sew and I had a heck of a time taming it, despite using a Teflon foot, roller foot and even-feed foot. Pretty much nothing made it cooperate the way I had hoped. In the end everything worked out and what few puckers I couldn't get rid of are all hidden by the lining anyway. The pattern calls to bag the lining and because the fabric was so difficult I only machine stitched the fronts to the facings and then hand-stitched everything else. Personally, I like hand stitching and this way I get the control I wanted.

Would I make it again? Probably not. I think a girl only needs one of these in her wardrobe unless she is really into the military style. I toyed with making a slightly different style in a navy microfiber I have in my stash and using silver buttons, but I think I'll save that for another project.

All in all, a winner - you can read my review here.

capsule wardrobes

The military jacket is finished. As soon as I get some pictures of me wearing it I'll post a review.

In the meantime, I've been thinking a lot about capsule wardrobes. After failing (miserably) to even really get started on the Timmel SWAP, I started thinking about tackling it in smaller chunks. I realized, while trying to decide on 11 pieces for the SWAP, that I actually think in 4-5 piece chunks. I would always end up with one or two pieces that did not completely coordinate with the rest of the bunch, but broken into two separate mini-SWAPs they worked perfectly. I decided to focus my spring and summer sewing on this concept - especially now that I have time, space and motivation to actually plan some and have it come to fruition!

Right now, I have two mini-wardrobes planned. One revolves around two floral prints for skirts (one skirt is completed) with two coordinating tops (one completed). The second is a darkwash denim skirt, tan faux suede military-style jacket (both completed), a pair of darkwash denim trouser jeans and a top.

Yesterday, while reading Carolyn's blog I saw her mention the June capsule wardrobe contest at Stitchers Guild. They are doing a similar contest at Pattern Review, but during the month of May. Without sufficient time to plan for a contest that had already started, I decided not to worry about a May contest and figured I would enter the contest they are holding in August. Then, after reading Carolyn's post, decided that a June contest is perfect. Make four pieces with at least one top and one bottom, and one accessory. One can be made ahead of the June 1 start date and one can be purchased. I don't want to purchase anything, but I think I'll use my faux suede jacket as the pre-made item and expand my capsule to include one extra item (since I can't use the skirt I've already completed if I'm using the jacket I just completed). The biggest challenge is that there can be NO BLACK! This is the exciting part for me. I have a lot of black in my wardrobe and much of my stash is black, or contains black, so this is going to be a good challenge to get out of my comfort zone and create something entirely void of black.

I'm thinking I'll use the jacket, a pair of darkwash denim trouser jeans (using Hot Patterns Weekender Jean Jeanius pattern), a t-shirt type top and a blouse. For the accessory I'm thinking jewelry since I have a pretty extensive handbag collection that would already coordinate well with a neutral color palette. The June 1st start date gives me ample time to plan and perfect the fit of the patterns I'm thinking of using.

Tomorrow, (or tonight if I get a chance to take pictures) you'll see the military jacket and the skirt that I promised to post a week ago.

military jacket part 2 - some progress

I've made pretty good progress so far on the jacket. I don't have a picture right now, as my sewing room is being occupied by one of my best friends who is visiting from Phoenix. Because of this, I haven't done any work on it since Wednesday morning. Right now, I have the outer shell and lining both assembled and ready to attach. It looks great on my dress form with the denim skirt.

What is left to be done:
- Attach sleeve cuffs to sleeves. I also decided to forego sleeve bands because I thought it would make the jacket a little busier than I had wanted.

- Set in sleeves on outer shell. I had originally postponed this because I wanted to make sure I could find smaller matching buttons for epaulets (which are not yet cut out and sewn). As it turns out, the smallest buttons in the design I chose are the 7/8" buttons that I bought...and I bought them all. I asked when they would get more in, and nobody knew and would not order them for me. This means epaulets and pockets are also both out, since they just won't look right without buttons.

- Attach the peplum to the outer shell. Again, I was waiting on buttons to determine whether or not I would have pockets. Since pockets are out, peplum can be attached as-is.

- Attach the buttons to the front. The way this is designed, it looks like the buttons secure the front detail (I don't know what it's called off the top of my head). Right now, it's attached to the front piece at the center front, but hangs free everywhere else. I need to do this before the lining is completed.

- Insert shoulder pads. I usually don't need, nor do I like, shoulder pads. I tried on the muslin with and without shoulder pads, and the 1/4" shoulder pads look better. I'm also playing around with sleeve heads, but it might be too bulky - we'll see how it works out.

- Attach the lining to the outer shell. The instructions call to bag the lining, but I am going to attach the lining mostly by hand. I will machine-stitch the facing to the front, and then take it from there. Even with a roller foot and an even-feed foot, this fabric tends to shift and pucker and I'm afraid that bagging the lining will result in unwanted puckers and shifts.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I haven't been able to work on it since Wednesday morning. My friend leaves this afternoon and I'll probably be able to work on it tomorrow (Sunday) and then my father-in-law comes to visit for a few days. I also start back at work on Monday, so it might not be finished until next weekend. I was really hoping to have had it finished so I could wear it to work on Monday, but things don't always work out the way we plan.

military-style jacket part 1 - the muslin(s)

I have spent the past 3 days working on muslins for Simplicity 4129. I originally fell in love with this Dolce and Gabbana jacket, but of course could never justify the price - even if it is $2200 cheaper on overstock.com. When I saw Erica B's version I was re-inspired and then realized I had a pattern in my stash that I could use to emulate the D&G version...enter Simplicity 4129 (which is apparently out of print and not available on Simplicity's website - I searched for it). I'm making view D (the green one in the upper-right corner of the photo) with some modifications.



I decided to use some fabric from my stash, a caramel colored sueded poly blend (it doesn't photograph very well in my dimly-lit dining room). It looks and feels just like suede, but it's more forgiving to work with than true synthetic suede (it eases better and doesn't show needle and pin marks like a true synthetic suede would). I decided to not get too crazy in the lining and settled on a chocolate brown Ambiance and then I found some antiqued gold buttons.

Because I didn't want to cut into my fabric without knowing this would fit perfectly, I decided to make a muslin. Three muslins later I am FINALLY ready to cut out the base jacket pieces. I plan on adding pockets to the peplum, possibly pouch pockets like the D&G version, but I haven't decided exactly what I want to add yet. This pattern has been a bear to get to fit properly. I went with my high bust measurement and decided on a size 20 for the first muslin.

Muslin 1: Basic fit was OK. The only alterations I made for this first muslin was lengthening the jacket body by 1 3/4" at the waistline. The bust line and hip area were snug and while the sleeves fit well, the movement was horrible. On to make some additional modifications for the next muslin.

Muslin 2: I did a 1/2" FBA, which only partially fixed the bustline. From the waistline, I widened all pieces to size 22 for extra hip room. For the sleeves, I originally questioned whether the sleeves were really too tight which might account for my movement issues. Not the problem - in fact, altering the sleeves made the sleeves worse!! Off to muslin #3.

Muslin 3: Wearing the second muslin and studying it in the mirror, I realized that my sleeve issue was because the armhole was too low. For muslin #3, I lowered the armhole by 1/2" (an alteration I NEVER have to make), using the method in Fast Fit - except because of the princess seams I decided to make my alteration at the dots on the sleeve cap rather than just above the notches...this way I didn't have to deal with making an alteration to the side pieces. I also needed to figure out what was wrong with the bust area. After looking through my Fast Fit book I decided to check my bust point against the bust point on the pattern - I needed to lower it by 2". I also lengthened the sleeve by 1 1/2" after adding the sleeve cuff. All of these modifications FINALLY made the muslin fit well...

I'm going to cut out the fabric and lining tonight.

Simplicity and a Hot Pattern

Before I get started on my latest projects, I have some exciting news (well, at least for me)...I can wear my SKINNY JEANS again!!!!! This is a big day for me. I still have the little baby bulge that is getting smaller and smaller as time passes, but it was super exciting that I'm now back down to the size I was before I got pregnant...

Now back to our regularly scheduled program!

I've made two skirts and a top this week. I have a whole pile of projects on the table waiting to be cut out, but I have a project due next week for school so in the meantime I'm going to show you one of the skirts and the top.
Up first...Simplicity 4076. I've made the scoop neck version three times now and the wrap version once. I really love both, but the scoop neck has become my TNT t-shirt. It's very flattering and looks great on me. I made it from some white cotton lycra jersey that I got from Timmel Fabrics.

I didn't feel like taking off my PJs to get a picture of me in the top, so you'll have to make do with my unnamed dressform. I added 3" to the length because I like it a little bit longer - especially now with my little bit of baby bulge. I also made a couple of changes specifically to this iteration: I widened the neckband by 1/4". I also redrafted the sleeves, adding some gathers at the cap and a band at the hem. Here is a closeup of the sleeve:

Pattern Review can be found here.

Now for the skirt, I did make another Simplicity 3881, which is my absolute favorite skirt. I'll show that in another post. Today, I'm going to show you my Hot Patterns Denim Diva Flirty Skirt. This was made with some awesomely gorgeous darkwash denim that I got from Gorgeous Fabrics.

I have to say this skirt is awesome. The only modification I made was to take in the side seams a little since my hips aren't as curvy as the pattern was made for. I shortened it by 6" after it was finished because the pattern says it is supposed to hit just at the knee and that's how much I needed to take off to achieve that look. The hem is still pinned up because I haven't decided exactly how I'm going to hem it yet. I did double rows of topstitching in white thread - since I couldn't find any white topstitching thread at Joann's and didn't want to drive across town to Hancock for thread, I used two strands of regular white thread in the needle. I really like how it turned out. I definitely plan on making this again, but next time in a drapier fabric that will allow the A-line to hang a little more relaxed. The pattern review for the skirt can be found here.

Next time I'll show you my 3rd iteration of the Simplicity 3881 skirt!

I'm sewing!

FINALLY!!!! I don't have any pictures to post yet, but I finished one skirt yesterday and I have another skirt and a top cut out and ready to sew. I'll make one big post when I have them all done since they are all patterns I've made before and posted on this blog...

After my two skirts and top are finished, I have a short list of garments that I would like to make next. They include a faux suede military-style jacket (I was inspired by Erica's faux nubuck jacket. I already have the suede and pattern and reading Erica's blog and review cinched the combo for me.

This weekend I helped my mom start a SWAP-style wardrobe plan. It's not complete and for her needs it's not going to be true to the challenge, but it's close. She lives in Northern California and the climate tends to have hot, humid summers and generally mild, sometimes rainy winters. She walks several blocks to the train that she takes to work and is not only in need of some new corporate wear for her new job, but she also needs some outerwear that can handle the elements. Because her new corporate look is going to include jackets and in the winter a warm coat, I decided that this will be her overcoat:

We are going to add a removable hood. Now to find some waterproof rainwear fabric. Mom says we missed the boat on the (Burberry) rainwear from Michael's even though it's still listed on their website. Worst case, we'll just waterproof some other fabric. Since we are entering the hot, humid part of the year we have some time before the cape needs to be completed.

Baby needs to be fed, I have a paper to finish up for school and then back to the sewing room for me! I go back to work in two weeks, so I'm hoping to get as much sewing done as possible between now and then.

up next...skirts!!

So I've lost all of my pregnancy weight, but I'm still not quite back to my pre-pregnancy size. My jeans *almost* fit, but they don't quite look good yet. What's great is that the weather is getting so nice and a couple of skirts I made last summer fit and look good. In honor of this, I'm going to make a couple more of my TNT Simplicity 3881 skirts. Here is the pattern:

and I'm going to make it first from a fabric I bought from Fabric Mart just before I left for my high school reunion (and consequently found out I was pregnant):

Then, I'm going to make it from this really cute pink, green and white floral that I also bought last summer from Gorgeous Fabrics. I don't have a picture of it handy, but I'll show the fabric when I post the finished skirt.

After the skirts are done, I am going to make another Simplicity 4076 t-shirt:

I have some really nice white cotton/lycra that I got from Timmel Fabrics that I had planned on using with this pattern for my now defunct SWAP. I'm going to make a modified version of the short-sleeved scoop neck version. Another TNT t-shirt pattern that will make a really easy transition back into sewing.

Then...I'll unveil my (hopefully not too ambitious) spring/summer 2008 sewing list.

Till then...

new sewing machine and 2008 SWAP

It was probably one of the toughest decisions I've had to make in a while to drop out of the 2008 Timmel SWAP. My sewing machine dying a week before the contest deadline made me feel only slightly better that I wasn't frantically trying to finish up 11 garments with nothing to sew them on! The broken sewing machine problem is no longer, though - thanks to my wonderful hubby, I am now the owner of a brand spaking new Janome HT2008!

I did quite a bit of comparison shopping online and testing at the various dealers in town before deciding on this machine. Of the machines I looked at, my favorites in my price range were the Brother Innovis 80 Project Runway edition, the Viking Emerald 183 and the Janome that I ultimately purchased. I also looked at some Singer, Pfaff and Babylock machines but wasn't as impressed with the models that were available at my local dealers - or the pricetags of some of them. I was most torn between the Janome and the Viking - the Brother was very similar to the Janome in terms of ease of use and available functions, but felt much more portable and not as sturdy as the Janome. The biggest reason I decided not to go with the Viking was that the electronic display wasn't as user-friendly as I had hoped, and it was $200 more than the Janome. If my old Viking feet were compatible with the Emerald, I would have spent the extra money since Viking feet are notoriously expensive...my walking foot cost more than $100! Since the feet were not compatible, I didn't think it was worth it and went with the Janome.

This machine doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles of the higher-end machines, but it also does not have the high-end price tag at $399. What it does have is 50 stitches, including 3 one-step automatic buttonholes and several different utility stitches. These utility stitches include several different stretch stitches, straight stitch variations and overlock/finishing stitches. It even came with a special foot for the overlock stitches. There are also darning, heirloom and decorative stitches - most of these I probably won't use...which is one of the reasons I decided not to go with the more pricey Brother or Viking models - extra stitches = extra cost that I just couldn't justify.

I have to say that so far I really love this machine!! I have only had it a couple of days, but so far it's great. I have only sewed the strap onto my Hooter Hider (nursing cover for baby Andrew), but it sewed through the 6 layers of fabric/interfacing and the rigelene boning like BUTTER!!!!

Now I have so much reason to sew. I go back to work in 3 weeks and would really like to have some new clothes to wear when I go back. Also taking into account that we have decided that hubby is going to stay home with the baby, I am forced to be on a budget - that means I have an even better excuse to sew since I do need new clothes and can't really justify a trip to the mall in my budget since I can sew and have the stash from my original SWAP plan...now to put that plan into action!

So even though I've missed the deadline (and only really completed 2 garments before the baby was born in mid-February), I am now going to work on making the SWAP garments. Instead of doing the original 11-garment plan, I'm going to make mini-wardrobes of 5-6 garments that consist of 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms and a jacket. I hope to have at least one or two new outfits to wear when I go back to work. We'll see how that works. Maybe I can get a full mini-wardrobe completed.

RIP dear sewing machines

(you can't see it, but the digital display now reads "666" when it turn it on...I'm sad)
Two down, no more to go.

Until recently, I had two sewing machines. One was a Singer Slant from the 1950s and the other a Husqvarna Viking 960 computerized from the early 80s. Both have stories and now both are dead.

Until about 6 years ago, I was using sewing machines borrowed from my mother or grandmother. That is, until one day when my brother found this old Singer Slant - in a cabinet! - outside his apartment waiting to be taken by the garbage men. He brought it to our mother - a master seamstress and mechanical guru - who oiled the heck out of it, got it moving and gave it to me. It came with EVERY accessory you could imagine, including an original packet of needles (which I have never used, but found interesting). That machine was a workhorse, making several suits and dresses, including my wedding dress! The automatic buttonholer attachment made wonderful buttonholes and I had just about every template for it that existed.

Fast forward to 2 years ago and my mom received a 1980s computerized Viking as a gift for helping a friend move - he was going to sell it in a garage sale until my mom showed interest in it. She gave it to me and that was the quietest, quickest, best machine I could possibly imagine. It came just as the Singer was requiring yet another re-oiling (which would cause fabric to become stained for several weeks if I did not take precautions...it just wasn't worth the work anymore). I retired the Singer and began to sew exclusively on the Viking.

Fast forward to yesterday - after 2 months of getting the hang of being a mom, and overcoming a pretty nasty case of the flu, I finally had some sewing mojo. I decided to start by putting the finishing touches on the hooter hider that has been sitting on my dining room table for weeks. I turn on my machine and it looks like it was possessed!!! All of the digital numbers were showing up as 8's, every LED was lit up (as if I had selected EVERY available stitch to stitch at the same time!). I tried to sew and it went along at a snail's pace - literally it did one stitch per second in this teeny tiny stitch length that I cannot lengthen. So, I decided to break out the Singer that had been recently oiled but not used - it stitched along fine for about 8 stitches and then SNAP - the thread breaks and I have a birds nest of bobbin thread. Tear everything out, put in a different bobbin and rethread...same thing - 10 stitches and then SNAP...this time the needle breaks. I go through this one more time, replacing the needle and have the exact same results. The only thing we can think of is that there is a nick in the bobbin case (something I just had to deal with on my embroidery-only machine last week). The problem is, it will cost $100 to have the local Singer/Viking deal look at EITHER machine - or $150 to diagnose both - and I just don't think it's worth it for machines that are so old and I have no real attachment to.

So...now that I have my sewing mojo back and am dying to jump in and take on some new projects, I am in need of a machine. Nothing too expensive, since hubby and I are on a budget now that we have decided he will stay home with the baby (the cost of daycare and the expense of his commute with the price of gas made that decision easy) but definitely something with some lasting power. Now taking recommendations. In the meantime, I'm off to research new machines!!

just checking in

I have been offline for several weeks now, and as things are starting to calm down somewhat, I felt that it was time to give anyone who reads this an update on what's been going on...
There has been absolutely NO sewing, planning or thinking about sewing taking place in the past three weeks. At 2:09am on February 11th, I FINALLY gave birth to our long-awaited new addition - a baby boy named Andrew Joel. He weighed exactly 9lbs and was 21 1/4" long. Needless to say, he's a BIG boy and I'm still recovering from the birth!! The past 2 1/2 weeks have been focusing on getting to know our son and learning how to be parents. Here are a couple of pictures:



So there you have it - what I've been up to for the past few weeks. As soon as little Andrew starts on a more regular schedule I'll be able to head back to the sewing table. In the meantime, I've decided that the 2008 SWAP just isn't going to happen. I'll definitely make all of the garments on my SWAP list, and will hopefully make a dent in my to-sew list for 2008, but we'll see how that goes...

to SWAP or not to SWAP?

That is my conundrum. I REALLY want to participate in the SWAP. I have a plan, I have fabric, I have patterns and I've made my participating purchase. What I don't have is the confidence to be able to pull it off. At least not now. I started out with a plan to make post-maternity clothing that I can wear back to work while transitioning from pregnant body to post-pregnant body. The problem is that the contest started January 1st, ends the middle of April and the baby isn't due until next month. My doctor thinks I might deliver late and that will give me really only a month and a half to make and/or finish 11 garments. I was going to try and make a primarily-knit wardrobe based on my pre- and early-pregnancy measurements, but it just isn't working for me. Add on top of that the fact that my sewing room is still a storage room for everything that was in the nursery (back when the nursery was a storage room). I can't sew well when I'm disorganized and while I may be organized in the fabric, pattern, plan sense, I'm definitely not organized in the sewing location and notions sense. I find myself digging through boxes looking for notions and not being able to find what I'm looking for...it's frustrating.

I'm still going to keep my name in the hat for the time being, as I haven't really made a final decision as to whether or not I am going to participate. I have a plan B SWAP idea in place that will consist of a baby or toddler SWAP and have preliminary patterns picked out for both boys and girls so I'd be ready regardless of what we have.

So now onto the next topic...my sewing goals for 2008. I sat down today to make a list of all of the things I would like to accomplish sewing-wise in 2008. The top of my list is to reclaim and reorganize my sewing room so that I can actually begin to accomplish some of these goals. I also plan to make a bunch of stuff for the baby, but primarily I would like to complete some of the following projects (not necessarily in this order):

1. A set of fitting garments using Pattern Master Boutique. I bought the latest version of this software with my annual bonus from work and have not been able to play with it since I've been pregnant this whole time. I would really like to spend time learning how to use it and make a set of fitting garments.

2. A SWAP wardrobe - regardless of whether or not it's part of the official contest. If I don't participate in the contest, I am going to heavily modify the wardrobe to be less transitional and more cohesive of the type of wardrobe I want for myself as a professional working mother. I would ultimately like the full 3-phase and will probably include all of the following garments into the SWAP plan (except for the items I plan on making for the hubby or baby)

3. At least 2-3 shirts for hubby. Part of the reason for buying my embroidery machine was so that I could make retro/bowling shirts for my husband. My husband has lost some weight and is back to the size he was when we met, and while he was heavier he got rid of all of his smaller shirts, so this is going to be even more important when his work schedule lightens over the next several months.

4. Make hubby a wool coat. He asked me over a year ago if I would make him a wool peacoat style coat. I have the dark charcoal melton wool and Burday coat pattern that he picked out all ready to go.

5. Make at least one coat for myself. I have several coats I would like to make, but I have recently purchased a gorgeous furry wool/mohair fabric that would make a fabulous dressy coat.

6. Make a Chanel-style jacket using couture techniques. I have 4 different boucle fabrics to currently choose from, and 2 different suitable patterns.

7. Make a tailored suit. This may not be feasible in 2008, but I would at least like to have this planned on the back burner for the end of the year if possible. I don't have a dire need for suits, but I can see a benefit for just about anyone to have at least one smart tailored suit. It may include skirt or slacks or both, and I may even include a vest - I haven't really thought this one through, but since my old suit is about 4 sizes too big for me even now that I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant I think it's time to rethink a new one.

8. Make at least one designer "knock off". This is to be determined and may end up being included with one of the other projects, but I would really like to refashion a pattern, or use PMB, to knock off one or more of my favorite designer pieces.

9. Make a pair of jeans. I haven't made jeans since I was in high school and would really like to revisit the idea of this. I realized the other day, when I was mending my maternity jeans, that my trusty Viking sews through several layers of denim like butter so I'm excited!

10. Make a handbag. I haven't decided if I want to make a diaper bag, purse or tote of some sort, but I would really like to try my hand at making a bag of some sort. This is something I have never done.

11. Sew something from leather. I'm not sure if my first attempt at bag-making will also include my first attempt at sewing leather, but we have a great leather source in town and I would really like to attempt something from leather this year.

So those are my lofty sewing goals for 2008. I can accomplish most of them as part of a 3-phase SWAP. Notice how I don't call them "resolutions"? I want to challenge myself to accomplish as much of this as I can, but do not want to limit myself to just 2008. If I can have some of these accomplished and others completely planned for 2009 I will be happy. Ultimately, this is the year that I want to spend really honing in on my skills and working on mastering new techniques and trying some things that I have never ventured to try. I think the idea of becoming a mom has made me braver when it comes to my sewing and now I relish in the idea of giving myself the ultimate in sewing challenges. Then again, maybe it's just the nesting instinct kicking in and all of this momentum will go away as soon as labor starts. We'll see how well I do...