No pictures in this post.....

Peace,

Just wanted to give you a heads up....

I have plenty of mojo these days. I've needed to redirect it. I have begun a diet that promises me I will lose goo-gobs of weight. In the 1st week I lost 11lbs. Not bad. But I don't want to make clothes that will need to be altered. Because I prefer creation over alteration any day. So where does that leave me? Sewing crafts and for others...

I made my honeydo a nice pullover in a corduroys stretch fabric. He picked the fabric out himself. Go figure. I haven't showed it to you because he wants to put some Universal flags on it before he He said he was going to a bunch of fabric stores to get some camouflage. Well alright then! yesterday he asked me if I wanted to go to Hancocks before we went to the rally. I looked him clear in his eyes and said, "Sweetie... I ALWAYS want to go to fabric/craft stores!" Also I picked up some vintage men's patterns. I'm gonna experiment with them for him. Older patterns have more options for men than current ones.

This break for me will give me an opportunity to tackle my fear of men's clothes. A male friend of mine asked me to replace a zipper in his dress pants. I was slapped with fear upside my head. But he encouraged me to try. Well, they were his pants... Did y'all realize in order to replace a zipper you have to remove an excessive amount of stitching? I was completely dumbfounded. I ended up with a strip of fabric that I didn't know where it came from. Thank white Jesus I have a man in the house. I had to study his pants to see what was needed. I was able to replace the zipper... and rather neatly might I add... By half machine sewing and half hand sewing. Hand sewing kept me from having to completely disassemble front of the pants. He was happy and I was relieved. So now I can add that on to my list of abilities!!!! Yay for me! I love to learn new skills.

Another project I have, is a sweater coat I want to crochet for my mother for Christmas/Solstice. I'm not a Christian but she is. And I won't accept gifts from her. But I want to make sure she has gifts from me because she is my mother and I love her when I'm not hating her. Also, she doesn't like "homemade" items. But at her age, she has EVERYTHING and doesn't need things. Gadgets confuse and embarrass her. She has been wearing the same bracelet for 10 years, because she can't figure how to take it off. I offer to remove it but she says she won't be able to get it back on when I'm not there. You cannot argue with the logic of the elderly. Clothes are best. I've made things for her before and she has begun to come around. As long as folks don't recognize that's it's homemade she is cool. And if it's unique, even better. I picked up an old crochet book with a patter fro the sweater. Her favorite color is orange (again, go figure...). So my ambition is to make this unique sweater in her favorite color and show her how to style it. All I need is for 1 stranger to admire it and it will be a keeper. My issue is it takes 12 skeins of yarn. DAMN! and that soft yarn ain't cheap. So I'm stalking a sale.

There is also a quilted table runner for my kitchen table that needs to get made. I have the block pieces all cut out and the fabric ready. So it's just a matter of sewing it up.

And there is my coat for the fall. The patter is out and cut. That's all I've done. I think I will work on that project while I'm dieting. My boobs never go anywhere and I'm not going to shrink. This is enough to keep me busy and the mojo pumping. If I get lazy, I'll want to eat. Gotta keep it pushing!!!!

Peace Y'all!!!!!

M6287

Peace Y'all,

It has been a minute has it not? I had a festival that I vended for. It took a lot of my sewing time. I broke even for the supplies I purchased but I don't feel compensated for my time and energy. A lesson well learned. And I still have product to vend at the next opportunity. I plan to blog on the items I sewed for the festival, but I have a LOT of catch up work to do for some 'clients'. (I take on clients, but not everyone. I don't particularly like sewing for others and am really, Really, REALLY discriminate who I take on.)


I got this pattern at a 99 cent sale at Hobby Lobby. The picture looked cool and funky. It was hot when I bought it so it is truly a summer garment. I’m not supper crazy about how it turned out. But every failure is a learning experience, right? It will probably end up in the donation pile.

First of all, this pattern was deceptively easy. I made the B view. It had 2 pattern pieces. That sounds really easy does it not? Once I got everything sewn as the directions said, it looked very unfinished. That may have been the look it was going for, but I didn’t care for it.

Now I did make a mistake. The fabric has these subtle stripes on it. Instead of paying attention to how the fabric should have been oriented, I oriented it how I want to. That resulted in a top that stretches up and down but not out. So it’s hard to get in and out of. I don’t really like that the way this garment is designed, you cannot wear a bra with it unless you are wearing a jacket.

This just isn’t the pattern for me. I’m going to give this pattern away. I teach a Home Ec course to girls in the local cipher of my Nation. I will use it for them and all the other flat chested newbies I teach. That last sentence was not meant to be offensive, but I can’t think of another way to put it.

Pattern: M6287b

Description: A tunic

Size: XLRG

Did it look like the pattern envelope when you were done sewing it?
Yes?

Fabric: stretch cotton

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes and no. See the next answer

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I followed the directions exactly as they were given… That resulted in a crazy unfinished look to the top. I had to make some bias tape to finish the collar and they never discussed how the sleeves were to be made. I eventually had to just freestyle it.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made?
I added a (homemade) bias tape finish to the collar, I closed off the end of the arm and hemmed it. I finished the open parts of the sleeves

Would you sew it again?
Maybe. A very slight maybe. I will always try anything twice; just to make sure. The pattern has only a few pieces, so it’s good for teaching others how to sew and I do a home ec class for girls in my Nation so it’s good for that, but for me, probably not.

Would you recommend it to others?
It’s an easy project for a newbie, but you have to have a more experienced person showing you the ropes



Peace