2015 in Review

Warning: VERY photo-intensive post. I'm doing a huge photo dump here of my last year since my blogging pretty much went south and unless you follow me on Instagram, this will all be new to you. I understand that not everyone is going to be interested in my mundane, boring year but I'm documenting it as much for my own recollection as to catch you up. Feel free to scroll down and move on. I won't be insulted :-)

All in all 2015 wasn't terrible and overall better than 2014. But it started out crappy because the house in the city I started renting in April 2014 turned out to have a major slumlord as an owner and I hated everything about it. I've never lived in such a horrible place and it really took a toll on me. (First world problems, I know.) But once I found a new place, moved, and (mostly) settled in, my mental state did a 180 and things have been rolling along ever since. (I'm still in the city, with a 7-minute morning commute. It's awesome!) Even the sewjo has returned and now that the holidays and my related travels are pretty much in the rear view, I expect some serious output to start happening. If for no other reason than I NEED NEW CLOTHES.

So here's some "highlights" of my last year, sewing- and family-wise, at least those moments documented via cell pics.

I think this is the first thing I started and finished in 2015. I still wear it (which you'll see below in the December pics).

My "baby" Alex turning into a man.

A visit to The Tattooed Moose and the Marine in Charleston, SC.

At the bar at Parris Island. Quite a different experience from boot camp there.

And then I wrecked my car on the drive back to Florida. No injuries and the car is now good as new. The damage was mostly plastic and the radiator and looks worse here than the bill reflected. Thank heaven.

Seeing the Blue Angels practice over Beaufort, SC on my trip back to pick up my fixed car.

Another sewing project. I wear the HECK out of this. It's comfortable, flattering, and professional looking. It's the Muse Jenna cardi over a Simplicity pull-on tank dress with an elasticated waist. I'm too lazy to look up the pattern number.

A work bathroom selfie and another Simplicity dress and I'm still too lazy to look it up. It's the faux wrap that was popular a few years ago, which took me a while to get around to.

One of the MANY reasons I moved house. Yeah, it's what you think it is. OMG.

A long weekend get-away to the beach with Alex, his then-gf, and the pups. Much needed.

Just sitting and chillin' at our fun little rental cottage.

Isn't it cute? We could walk everywhere, and did.

A quick maxi tank dress I made for the beach trip and which subsequently got a lot of wear over the summer. I think this is the last of the cheap rayon knit from Fabric.com.

A rare (for me) blogger meet-up. Mr. Celie's Pants was there too but he was holding the camera. This was so much fun and I'm glad Renee and Jordan have an excuse (her dad) to return sometime. I want a repeat. They are SO nice!

Still enjoying my job and still very thankful to have it.

We "found" pup #3, Charlie, in July, the week before we moved. He's a Chi-Weenie and is adorable. I still can't believe I have 3 dogs again. Alex is a mean negotiator and it's all his fault. And they all love him more than me.WTF

The herd.

The new place, as of July. It's a lot smaller than my previous houses and I've had to get rid of a LOT of stuff, but I'm of that "downsize" age anyway and it's nice to not be tied to housework and ... stuff. Plus, it's so bright and pretty inside and I'm happy.

The new small sewing room. It's mostly unpacked now but it's very small and my cutting table lives in another room and my pattern cabinet and much of my fabric live in the garage. I'm slowly moving some of the best stash inside and will eventually get rid of the unloved remainder but for now, it's working.

New kitchen before we hung shelves.

The Great Tampa Flood. That's my street.

We spent a lot of time (and cash) at Ikea those first couple of months after moving in. That's Alex pushing the cart in the warehouse.

I bought Alex a new BBQ/smoker he had been eyeing and he's been perfecting his wings and ribs since. We've had delicious food pretty much every weekend since football season started. Momma knew what she was doing buying that BBQ.  ;-)

In November, we saw America at the 2015 Ribfest in St. Pete. A bunch of "old" people my age (hahaha) enjoying them and the Doobie Bros and Santana tribute bands. It was a great day with great music, but Alex makes much better ribs.

A treat for myself (and Alex) from Black Friday and the proceeds from selling so much of my crap that didn't fit in the new house. (Have you noticed how bright every pic of my new house is? Sigh.)

The Cook men, minus Alex who stayed home with the pups, from when I went to see Tyler's performance 2 weeks ago in a church Christmas production in SC. This was the first time seeing my ex in 4 years. It was ... interesting. We all just ignored him and had a good time. I'm not kidding. Hahaha.

Tyler at church practice the night before the Big Performance.

And the church band performing "Carol of the Bells," which you'll recognize as a Trans Siberian Orchestra tune. They rocked it, and the rest of their performance!



The infinity scarf I made (on request) for my soon-to-be stepdaughter-in-law. While in SC two weeks ago, my stepson Michael asked for this and also for my help in picking out an engagement ring!!! for his gf (and the mother of his son, which makes me a step-grammie OMG).

Here's me with the "boys" on Christmas Eve in St. Augustine ... it was about 400 degrees that night, so we felt as blurry as we look here ... and ...

... Michael proposed to Hannah (see her scarf heehee!) ...

... and Tyler filmed it all (bad language warning if you watch it).



Michael and Hannah's son, Dean, who will be 1 in January.

And, finally, the sewing project (Cashmerette Appleton) I started at the beginning of the month and which I WILL finish this weekend.

Happy New Year!!

Pattern Testing and Review: Muse Natalie

This is the pattern I mentioned I was testing, the latest offering from Muse, aka what is becoming my new favorite indie pattern company. Not because I received two patterns for "free" (quotes because testing isn't really free to me, or any tester, when you account for time, materials, etc. but I know that and volunteered with eyes wide open) but because I really like what I've seen and sewn from Muse so far. And I did buy the Jenna cardigan pattern with my own money so it's not all fluff and unicorns here. :-)

This dress is Natalie. Side note ... although I've heard/read grumblings around the interwebs about the practice among indies of naming patterns instead of or in addition to numbering them, I actually prefer the names. I can NEVER remember a pattern number (especially if they've been reissued), but I always remember the names. So names over numbers gets a thumbs-up from me and my forgetful brain every time. (You can also read about the inspiration for the Muse pattern names when you click over to the Muse site.)

This pattern testing cycle was pretty much like the last testing I did for Muse. I was given a preview of the pattern to see if I would be interested, along with a schedule of when to have my testing finished. No photos were required but I caught a nice day on a weekend after finishing the dress so I've had these waiting for this post. At first, I wasn't sure about this design for me and volunteered to only review the instructions, PDF print-out, cutting layout, and pattern pieces. But then, being the fickle sewist I am, I decided to just go for it, figuring nothing ventured, nothing gained. And I'm glad I did. I like the final dress a lot.

 

It's definitely a very feminine dress and my curves probably make it a little more so, but, hey, I've got curves. I have worn it to the office and while the vee is low, it's not work-inappropriate low. I also wore a black cardi over the dress in the office. Because office air conditioning.

The dress falls like an empire waist but wrong side out on Zillie below you can see that it's not really an empire at all. There's a triangle inset, gathering at bust and CF (optional at CF), and diagonal seaming down the front. The neckline is finished with a mitered attached band and was sized perfectly to fit the neck opening and lay flat on the body underneath. The back is cut on fold. Truthfully, I kind of wish there was some cool seaming at the back too and I contemplated adding at least a CB seam when sewing this, but laziness over pattern matching won over. And this print is cool/busy enough so any more seaming would've been lost anyway.

I cut a straight 44 with no adjustments except to square the shoulders (my usual) while cutting out the pattern.

It fits perfectly, no FBA needed due to the gathers and diagonal seams. For a next make of the dress, I will add 1-1/2" to the length because while the pattern is drafted for a 5'10" woman (yes!), it would have been shorter than my preference on my 5'5" self if I had hemmed it more than a smidge. So I cut a shaped hem facing instead. I could have just turned up a 3/8" hem but I prefer a deep hem on drapey knits so they have some weight. The sleeves, on the other hand, were much too long for me. I cut off about 2" and still hemmed them with a 1-1/2" turn-up. But that's to be expected if the fit model is 5'10", no? Better too long than too short anyway. The dress was cut out and sewn in one day. It's a fast project.

While testing, I noted some corrections and slight improvements to the pattern markings and cutting layout and I think every one of them was incorporated into the final. I thought the pre-release instructions were fine as-is, with no corrections needed, although other testers must have had suggestions since the release notes mention those changes being included too. This tells me that again Kat, the designer behind Muse, listened to her testers and adjusted her pattern and release schedule to make necessary changes. As a tester, it's gratifying to know that the testing does matter and we're not here for just a happy shiny blog tour to sell patterns.

I'll state it again, I was NOT asked to post this review or any photos. What I'm writing and showing here is by my own choice. I like the pattern and my final dress. If you like it too and want to buy it, that's your choice. I get nothing if you do, or if you don't.

Now if you do decide you're interested, the full sale price, less transaction fees, of all Natalie patterns sold during the first week of launch (December 8-14, 2014) will be donated to the Wellington branch of the Cats Protection League and you can get 15% off the Natalie pattern during launch week with the code NATALIE. A win for the kitties and a win for you.

I have a few projects running through my mind that I want to tackle soon so this will be it for me and pattern testing for a while. Stay tuned for my overly ambitious to-do list. ;-) I hope the sewjo holds up.

The mini SWAP continues

Lots of sewing has been going on but you'll have to settle for Zillie doing the modeling for now. And crappy nighttime indoor photography, which is doing horrible things to the colors.

I finished the next Jenna cardi. You saw a sneak peek of this one last post.

While I didn't use the gathered front version, I did use the shoulder yoke pieces for a contrast and applied them over top. Also contrasting is the neck, button, and sleeve bands. I have used what seems like a TON of this gray sweater knit in the last 10 days, as you'll see. It's been in my stash for so many years I've lost count. And I still have at least 2 yards left. Holy cow ... it must have been a really good deal whenever/wherever I bought it.

I also made another KS tank so the cardi becomes a twinset.

But I made this one with a little "twist." It's party in the front, business in the back. A un-mullet. Ha.

This way I get a plain gray-fronted tank to layer under the cardi and other things when the mood strikes. I'm a little proud of myself for thinking of this. I know it will come in handy.

Next in the queue was this Simplicity gored skirt. Trust me, it's purple, not red/maroon, and matches the new cardi. This pattern is made for a woven but I used a knit. I omitted the back zip and inserted some elastic into the sides of the waistband to snug it in when worn. I have no idea what this knit fabric is. It looks like a double-knit or golf/pique knit but it's really stretchy and drapey. It's also been in my stash for a long time. A. Really. Long. Time. As you can tell, I'm on a flippy skirt jag at the moment.

The skirt ... again, really purple, not red ... also coordinates with the other Jenna. Looks like Zillie is leaning like the Tower of Pisa. Weird.

I'm now in the process of making this HP Uptown/Downtown knit dress, with yet more of the gray sweater knit. It's my plan to have it finished tomorrow night so I can wear it Wednesday, when it's supposed to be quite FRIGID here. What the heck northerners ... keep that stuff up your way, OK? It's not even Thanksgiving and we're dropping into the 30s?? Yikes. Good thing I've been sewing (and buying) cardigans.

I still have to add the waist elastic and sleeve bands, plus decide on either a hem or hem band for the bottom. I wore the heck out of my summer version of this dress and decided I definitely needed a winter one. The plain gray is going to be a great blank canvas for layering. Obviously the new Jenna matches perfectly. I kept the neckline lowered per the last make and didn't add length to the neckband even though this knit is a lot less stretchy ... which made for a bit of gathering which I actually quite like. Happy accident.

Here are the patterns, for anyone interested.

Muse Jenna for the cardigans.

Kwik Sew 2759 for the tank underlayer.

Simplicity 1697 for the purple-not-red skirt.

Hot Patterns 1090 Uptown//Downtown Knit Dress.

The new job is going well. Thanks again for all the good wishes. I'm working with a really great and fun group of people in a really great firm. I'm so thrilled that a permanent position opened up at just the right time. And I really, REALLY hope this is the last job I have to get for a good long time. It's going to take a little while to get my finances caught up but it's so nice to finally know it will happen. I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and your virtual support is truly one of the things on the list.