A little help please......

I have a fresh dilemma and I wanted to take it to the 20 of you. I want to make a floral blazer! But I’m scared.

Here is the fabric. I am obsessed with light blue this summer. I don’t know why. But I scored 4 yards from Wal-Mart of this fabric. I love it. You can tell I love it because I paid full price for it.


The pattern that I want is V1296. The pattern itself says that it’s hard. And it even requires some boning! It was even hard to cut out. I have B5619 It calls for 41/8 yd of fabric to my 4 yards, but I can cut the facings in a different color if I need too.



Here is my dilemma…. Should I go ahead and try to make V1296 or should I just go with the safety of B5619?



I suppose a muslin would help…. I hate doubling back, but I hate wadders too….

Damn!

The God Laughed!

Peace Y’all,

My God sometimes reads this blog. He agreed that I needed to have a sewing space separate from my reflection on my life as Earth. He made a suggestion that I blog on my nail habits. Since it is part of my refinement. Wow. Even after years together, this man surprises me!

When I was a small child, I had 3 wishes: long hair, straight teeth and long nails. Well weaves supplemented me until I went natural. Now I have locs and you know locs will grow. So I checked off Long hair. I checked off straight teeth when my braces came off in the 11th grade. But the nail thing was tricky.

I have soft nails. Really soft. They will fold as soon as they grow past the fingertip. That folding causes cracking and loss of the nail. These nails are just like my mother’s nails. Skinny and sharp. As thin as they are, they are like razor blades and used to tear my skin up when I scratch. That is actually a big problem for me because I suffer from eczema. I have tried every hardener, every vitamin, every damn thing that reported that I could grow those long beautiful thick and strong nails. Even my toenails are thin and are prone to grow inward.

When I was 22, I went to a ball hosted at my dental school (I managed to graduate with long nails. I have the graduation pictures to prove it!). I decided to get some acrylic nails. I have never looked back. I have had some sort of acrylic on my nails since that day 19 years ago. Acrylic nails make life easier. When I get my nails ‘done,’ I’m done. Meaning I feel put together and since polish doesn’t chip off acrylic nails like it does natural nails, I don’t have to worry about my hands until my next nail appointment. That is a huge relief. Before acrylics, I would have to paint and repaint my nails every 4 days. That’s a HUGE inconvenience because of all the down time it takes to dry. It was like and additional hair washing day. And y’all know how long it takes a Black woman to completely wash her own hair from start to finish!

Folks act like this is an expensive venture. As soon as I hear that nonsense I KNOW it is coming from a place of frank ignorance. A full set is $20 here in GA. Fillins run between $12-15. I get fillins ever 2-3 weeks. For some reasoning the winter my nails grow more slowly. So there have been the occasional months where I only fill once. That’s maybe $12-25/month. You waste more than $25/month.

The thing that made the God laugh was all the rules and regulations I have set up for myself with regard to shapes and color. Nail techs think I’m crazy and I’m not far behind them in that appraisal. When I get a fresh set, I go with round nails and light colors. More than likely some sort of American. I won’t cut them down until my own nail grows back in. As my nails get longer, I will have them shortened to the actual nail but cut square. The reasoning is this… I prefer round nails, but they have a tendency to separate from the natural nail. That leaves sharp snags that cut me, pulls my hair, ruins stockings, etc. So as soon as the natural nail grows in good, I swap round for square. Square makes my fingers look longer. I have really stubby digits.

I will NOT wear frosted polish in the spring or summer. I just won’t. Makes me look ashy and looks like something that should be worn around the holidays. The ONLY exception would be for a special occasion or if it is a sparkle and not a frost. Meaning like a top coat with those big sparkly pieces in it. Pastels and bright colors for spring and summer only.

In the winter frosts and dark colors abound. After the autumnal equinox, that’s when I’ll entertain, browns, deep oranges and reds. I don’t think red looks good on me. But I will rock red and gold at the winter solstice. Just seems like the right time to do it then. I will only wear Black or dark blues in the fall/winter too.

On the toes, anything goes. I don’t generally tip my toes. I will admit that there has been the rare occasion that I have put tips on my toes. I don’t generally do this because it is uncomfortable to wear closed toe shoes. Don’t judge me. But I will wear ANY color on my toes I fancy at any time. I just feel that way about feet. I DO NOT like for my finger nails and toe nails to match. Nope. Don’t like that at all. It bothers me and I don’t know why.

I rarely do nail art. I feel like that’s for kids. I’m grown. I don’t need flowers and swirls on my fingertips or toes. I might add a sparkle color to the top of my color but that’s about as intense as I go. I pay attention to colors of the seasons. I bet you didn’t realize that nail polish companies come out with spring and fall lines of color. I know. I was blown away when I found out. But that’s why it’s hard to find a color that you always wear if it’s not in style. Those colors come and go.

So that’s my build on nails. You can call me vain… excessive…. High maintenance…. Whatever. But just know when you do it, my nails and hair will be perfectly on point while you’re talking.



Proper Education Always Corrects Errors!


My toes in Tiffany blue and my nails done "Stiletto" style.

B5709

Peace,

I like this pattern. It is a good mojo starter. I know I have been sewing a lot lately, but this top is what I needed. It is a “grown woman” top; meaning it’s not from Old Navy. It’s not knit. It’s is in my favorite color purple. Most folks don’t realize that purple is my favorite color because I don’t wear it. I don’t think lot looks good on me. But this top does and I love it. And lastly, it is printed! I have been doing the knowledge to indigenous Original cultures; and have come to realize that Original people love print and color. It’s in the blood. And you can recognize a person’s culture based on the prints they wear. I’m doing prints until further notice.

I have been desperately searching for a peplum pattern. V8815 isn’t in the stores yet and NL6130 can’t be found. I was getting a bit desperate. Shall we?



I have to stop making that face. I honestly was smiling and the moment I stopped to answer a question, she took the picture!

Pattern Description: Misses' Top and Belt

Pattern Sizing: 16-24. I cut the C-version of a 24… you know, for Cocoa and Puff. But I could have easily cut a 20. It’s very loose. But I like loose, despite what my mother says….

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes it did!

Were the instructions easy to follow? Very easy. The whole thing start to finish only took 3 hours and I paused to cook breakfast

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? The style of the top is very adult

Fabric Used: Rayon. Now this is wear I get mad with folk/ Why didn’t someone tell me how difficult it is to work with rayon? All the ironing… all the fraying… I would have pinked this. I have a bunch of navy blue rayon to use for a shirt dress….. I am very nervous

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Not sure if this counts, but I tacked the front closed. Otherwise, I’d have to wear a shirt underneath it. In the future, I will add an additional 1-2" to the bodice. The Girls take up a lot of room.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and yes. I am planning to make the A-version and I have fall/winter versions with the sleeves planned

Conclusion: A TNT top!

I made the skirt too…. Maybe in April? I don’t remember the pattern number. I’m annoyed because here I am thinking I’m stepping out of my comfort zone with this skirt and I had 4 others in the summer trunk in brighter colors. I wear the skirt a lot, but I am very ashamed.


Peace