Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas, and Some Sewing

Chances are by the time you're reading this, Alex and I will be in line at Universal, waiting to ride a rollercoaster. I'm hoping this will be as cool a Christmas as I'm thinking, as I type this on Christmas Eve. At the very least, it will be different.

Today was a ME day. I had nothing to do but sew and watch football all day. You couldn't pay me to go near a store on December 24. And the day was a great present to myself! It's been busy at work this week (although the non-traffic driving in/out of the city has been a dream!), so I haven't felt much like sewing or computering in the evenings. I thought about it and that's just as far as I went. Instead, I curled up with my Kindle and read or played some word games. Sometimes you just have to decompress.

But this morning I slept in, then took the dogs out (and for those who asked, yes, we still have 3), and then planted myself in my sewing room and was productive. I cut and finished both the Butterick top and another Magic Pencil Skirt, and here they are:


And with a cardi that also is in this same color family of weird greenish gold:


Pretty great match, right? I love it when fabrics spontaneously match themselves from different orders and different times. This one took a while, though. The print is a buttermilk knit (remember those?) from Emma One Sock and has been waiting in the stash for years. The skirt is a Silhouette doubleknit very recently purchased from Fabric.com. It's perfect for a skirt or pants, but Silhouette is not interchangeable with Sophia. It's more synthetic feeling/looking, but I can tell it will wear like iron. With the polyester content of these pieces, this outfit ought to outlive me by 300 or 400 years. ;-) I still have a couple buttermilk tops which look as vivid as when the fabric first arrived, even after many, many wearings/washings.

Here's a shot of the top from the inside, since the seaming and twist are lost in the photos of the print.





I did add to the neckline at the shoulder seams and just turned under the hem and didn't bind it as I thought I might. I used Wonder Tape to hold it down while stitching, and once that is washed out, the neckline will have its stretch/recovery back. As you can see, I didn't finish every seam, mostly to reduce bulk and partly because these seams lay best when open flat. I also changed the construction order a bit so I could turn under the neckline edge and loop/hole (where the twist happens) while they were still relatively flat. Like Barbara of Sewing on the Edge, I'm in line to be hired by a pattern company to write better instructions. Also like Barbara, I'm not holding my breath.

I added a CB seam and kick pleat to the Magic Pencil Skirt, which is just barely discernible in any of these photos, including this one below which was taken specifically to show the detail. Oh well. I also made the higher-waisted version of this skirt this time, because I wanted to use the elastic at full-width. I'm not wearing my gut-sucking-in pantyhose in these pics, or else I might have tucked in my top to show you. You'll just have to take my word that the waist is indeed higher on this one than the last.


I'm also modeling my new shoes. It's been a month or so, so it was time for another pair, right? Plus, I don't want to wear out my current favorites so I needed to expand the repertoire.


You can't really see them in my pic, so here's the Zappos shot.


I also ordered these for kicks. I wanted to see how they looked and felt, not really intending to keep them. They are actually surprisingly comfortable, but alas a little too tight on my pinky toe. Since I've vowed to not keep shoes that aren't comfortable from the instant I first put them on, these will indeed be going back. But I'm definitely open to try a similar style now. Or am I too old for another round of platforms?

* * * * *

Rebecca Grace asked, "since knits are all different in the stretch, how can you test fit a pattern using one knit from the Sorry Sale Bin and know whether the Good Knit that you really like is going to make up with the same fit as your "muslin?""

I wish I had a scientific, proven method for you but I don't. The honest truth is I just wing it. But I've been sewing knits for a long time now and wearing them even longer, so I'm reasonably experienced and, yes, good, at knowing how different knits will behave and what adjustments I'll have to make between Sorry Sale Tester and Good Don't Want To Ruin It fabrics. So I guess my best advice is to just try, knowing you will fail sometimes but from that failure will come experience and knowledge. It's only fabric. ;-)

* * * * *

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I hope Santa brings you everything you've wished for. Happy Holidays to those otherwise celebrating, and Have a Great Sunday to those who aren't. (Did I cover everything/everyone?)

17 comments:

  1. What a great outfit to wear to work next week! Glad you had a "me" day, they are so wonderful and relaxing aren't they?!

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  2. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and great outfit.

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  3. Lovely outfit - I like those colours. I've had a pleasant drunken christmas and wish you the same.

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  4. have a wonderful holiday! :)

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  5. Have a Merry Christmas, Debbie! Thank you for so many blog posts the last few months and hope you continue. I have enjoyed them and also learned a lot, which is a winning combo! :)

    ~Bev

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  6. I rarely comment but have to say you convinced me. I just ordered the magic pencil skirt and elastic. Seeing yours and then trying on a Ralph Lauren of the same type yesterday ($113) I am going to make one for myself. I have loved watching your sewing, weight loss, life progression over the last couple of years. Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself with us

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  7. Great Post and I love the 'wierd' colour on you. Happy holidays to you too.

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  8. LOVE the new outfit, love it. How are you with the drop shoulder; really hard to tell with the fabric pattern? It looks quite fitted under the arm.
    Have a wonderful day with Alex and Season's Greetings to you and all your family.

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  9. Love that gold! Have a great holiday, Debbie!

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  10. That is YOUR color Debbie. The whole outfit is so nice. I sometimes wish I was not retired so I could sew up cute office attire. weird, and just plain wrong! :-)

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  11. Looks like a day well spent! MErry Christmas to you, too.

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  12. I so wanted to get my youngest to Disney World when she visited me last week but it just didn't happen and I felt like a heel! She's such a good kid.
    I hope you and your son had a great time and didn't have to wait in lines too long all day!

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  13. Thanks, Debbie! One of my New Year's Resolutions (groan!) is to get over my fear of sewing clothing. This fear has grown out of disastrous early projects where I picked the size by the wrong measurement and didn't know how to alter the pattern. I like to hope that there's a really weirdly shaped woman with a massively thick neck out there somewhere who is wearing and enjoying the first dress I made and donated to Goodwill... So, you and the Internet are my witnesses: After I finish my son's quilt, the next project is going to be something I can wear, made out of one of the pretty knit fabrics that I've been hoarding but too afraid to cut into!

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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  14. That green-gold outfit is divine! I love it on you. You look good, girl!

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  15. Love this outfit! These greens are my favorites, and so flattering on you. I am not surprised you got an unsolicitation on it.

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Thank you for each and every comment. I appreciate them all, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm usually bad about answering questions. I hope you understand that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.

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