I really need to post some pictures

There is so much going on and hopefully I'll soon have time to share some of it with the world! Over the past week, while I have been slaving away at work and school, my husband has been revamping the front yard. Our house is now 4 years old and we still had the original "dry" or "natural" landscaping. Because Reno is considered high desert, most of the landscaping consists of sagebrush and other native types of plants. The problem is that the landscapers hired by the builder were not paid to make it pretty, just to plant the plants. Half of them died the first year and half of the remainder have died over the past 3 years. There are three houses in our cul-de-sac and the other two have fabulous yards. We decided this year we would join their ranks. Here are some pictures of what he accomplished in just a few short days.

Here is the front porch - that's honeysuckle on the lattice and tulips in the planter boxes


A couple views of the strange triangle-shaped planter in the front of the yard. Our front yard is long and skinny since we are on the edge of a small cul-de-sac. He put a little brick wall up along the edge and we'll probably plant some shrubs in the little area behind it



In fiber-related news...I am now the proud owner of a Speed-O-Knit knitting machine by PASSAP. I don't have a picture of it yet, as it is still sitting in pieces on my dining room table, but as soon as I get it set up in the sewing room I'll post a picture of the actual machine. For now, if you click on this link, it will take you to an eBay auction of the exact same machine (although because mine was purchased by my pack-rat grandmother in the 1950s, I still have the book and the original receipt!).

I have also been practicing my knitting and doing some planning. My mom is getting re-married in mid-June and she wants her sisters and me to wear purple. I found this really pretty purple floral chiffon burnout at Joann's over the weekend and I'm going to underline it with a lavender matte satin. I still haven't figured out what dress I'm going to make, but it's going to be sleeveless or strapless and I plan on knitting a lightweight shrug to cover my shoulders. I have a few ideas, but I need the dress plan finalized before I decide. In the meantime, I have decided to practice my knitting skills. I'm halfway done with a cable scarf and then I want to do some swatches of some different lace motifs that I found on the internet to practice more intricate work. It's been more than 10 years since I last attempted to knit, and this time I think I finally got it down...we'll see if I'm being overly-confident. I'll post pictures of the fabric as soon as I figure out what dress I'm going to make.

I also realized that I never did post a picture of me in my Galaxy dress. I will try to post those pictures soon too.

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!!

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:

Denver Fabrics is back up...

but is it just me or do they carry the EXACT same inventory as Fashion Fabrics Club?

See for yourself...I did a search for coating fabric at Denver Fabrics and got the exact same results as I did from the same search at Fashion Fabrics Club

Curious...

fabric, fabric, everywhere there's fabric!

I got a package from UPS the other day containing the coral chainlink fabric I bought from Gorgeous Things!! It is so fabulous. I'm thinking of making a dress with it. While my original inspiration for that fabric was the Hot Patterns Cosmopolitan dress, after seeing that Ann had made the exact same dress, I decided to find another pattern. I have several weddings to attend over the summer and into the fall so this fabric would definitely fit the bill for one of the late summer weddings!

On another note, I also ordered several more yards of fabric from Gorgeous Things. First, if any of you don't recall an earlier post where I had talked about not only buying the chain link, but also the Stylized Floral Knit and the Bright Floral Cotton Stretch. Well, the next post discussed how I ended up not getting the Stylized Floral. This is OK, I replaced it with the Hot House Flowers Knit Print in blue

I also took full advantage of Ann's Wild Wednesday Sale she had yesterday and bought:
3 yards of the Black,White&Yellow Floral Stretch Woven, 2 yards of the Cabana Stripe knit in pink, 2 yards of the Cabana Stripe knit in turquoise, 2 yards of the Aqua Mesh and 1 yard of the White Sheer Ottoman Knit

I should have these sometime next week.

update to previous post

It looks like I missed the boat on the Stylized Floral Knit Jersey - those are the breaks. I'll post what I replace it with as soon as I figure that out!

I must say, Ann at Gorgeous Things is SO quick to respond in letting me know it was sold out. Thank goodness I'm not that high maintenance when it comes to purchasing fabric. The way I figure it, I don't *need* the fabric, I just want it. I can live with wanting something and not being able to get it.

This experience made me realize that I have a terrible habit of waiting until something is almost sold out before I buy it. I lucked out with the coral chain link I purchased earlier in the week...now I realize just how much I lucked out!

new fabric on its way!

Earlier this week I had ordered what I believe to be the last 3 yards of the Coral Chain Link from Gorgeous Things. I expect it to arrive sometime next week.

Today, I just ordered more fabric from Gorgeous Things. I got three yards each of the Stylized Floral Knit Jersey and the Bright Floral Cotton Stretch

The current plan is to make dresses with both fabrics, although the patterns are yet to be determined. Woohoo, I'm so excited!!

Gorgeous Fabric...

One class down, one more to go and then I'll have time to SEW SEW SEW! OK, so that was a really cheesy rhyme, but what can I say - I'm sleep deprived!

The topic for today's post is:
I just found one of Ann's Gorgeous Fabrics on the Simplicity/NewLook website. I'm sure I'm not the first to see this, but the "Vintage Floral Knit Print" that is part of the "Changes in Latitude" collection is featured on the pattern envelope for New Look 6571. If it's not the same, it's VERY similar!
The New Look Pattern:

Ann's Gorgeous Fabric:
(This link was taken down or moved)

What a co-inky-dink :) Personally, I love just about everything on Ann's site and if I was made of money I would probably buy a little bit of everything...so far the only thing I've been able to justify was the last 3 yards of the coral chain-link (I can't wait for it to arrive!!), but for now I need to finish this last really tough class so I can have some time to sew up the projects in my queue.

I love gift cards!

My birthday was this past Sunday, and one of the gifts I received was a gift card to JoAnn's (much thanks to my wonderful in-laws!). So on the big day I decided to stop by my local store and see if they had anything I couldn't live without. Here is what I found:
2-1/4 yards of this great white cotton/spandex twill with a bold aqua and lime green poppy pattern (I got all that was left on the bolt, and it was on SALE).
I plan on using this to make Simplicity 4698

which I LOVE and found out it just went out of print!!! I plan on modifying View E (is the green and white one in the picture) and putting either the 3/4 sleeves or making a shorter pleated or cap sleeve. I am not sure how I plan on finishing this. The first time I used this pattern I ended up drafting a full lining because I didn't like the partial back lining and lack of sleeve lining. However, because I plan on this being a lightweight summer jacket, I think I may just bind the seams and facing edges and keep it unlined - or just line the front. I haven't really decided how I will finish it, but this one will be an experiment anyway because I have some trim ideas that I plan on playing around with.

I also found 4 yards of this heavenly poly sheer. It is ivory with vines and flower buds in shades of brown, green, mauve and aqua.

I also got the remainder of the bolt on this one (and it was 30% off). The picture doesn't do it justice - you can see that it was folded a few times prior to taking the picture. I plan on making a dress to wear to a wedding in August up at Lake Tahoe. I'm thinking New Look 6557.


I may pair it with a shrug made from the same ivory matte satin used to make my wedding dress - I'll have to make sure I have enough leftover fabric. Otherwise, I may choose a different type of ivory fabric or use one of the other colors from the pattern for a simple shrug (maybe a slightly lighter shade of aqua to brighten it up?). I may also just make a lightweight cardigan-style jacket to wear with it - the weather in the Reno/Tahoe area is so unpredictable.

After stocking up on these two gems, I still have money to buy the remaining notions I may need to finish both pieces! What a great birthday!