Inverse Polar Bear in a Snowstorm

Or something like that.


These are DS#2's black RTW dress pants. These are the same pants he wore Thursday to school, with collared shirt and tie because of a wrestling dual that evening. (The coach requires that the boys dress up on match days.) These are also the same pants that DS informed me (about 10 minutes before leaving for school of course) had a broken zipper. DS wore them anyway. He had no choice.

Fast forward to today. I was shopping at Target and saw a reasonably priced pair of black dress pants. I bought them, figuring $25 or so is well worth NOT having to replace the zipper in the pair at home. DS tried them on. Too small. Grrrr.

So I started ripping out the broken zipper to see what I would be up against, and before I knew it (yeah, right), I had the entire zipper out. The only black zipper in my stash was 18" long. I Wonder-Taped it in place, shined as many bright lights down on my work area as possible, and sewed the blasted black zip back into the black fly with black thread, trimming the extra length when it seemed safe to do so. It felt like I was mostly feeling my way along instead of actually seeing what I was doing. Note to self: Next time, wait until there's daylight outside.

They're done. And not too bad either, if I say so myself. Certainly more than good enough for a 14-year old who won't notice anything. And now I can return the RTW pants and spend that $25 on something better.

I still haven't moved forward on my jacket. Do you think by replacing that zipper I was stalling?? ;-)

Out with the Old, In with the New

Time to do some trading out in the sewing room.

First, Ye Olde Red Pin Cushion Tomato:


At Joann's last night this green tomato pin cushion caught my eye. How perfect for a green sewing room, right? And so much more fun and whimsical than the Ye Olde Red One.

Next up, sewing mats:

Before, and …


After.


Yes, it's going to need a day or so to flatten out.

I grabbed some stacks of sewing books from the nearby bookcase to help it along.


I'm tired of running off the edges of my mis-matched mats so I hope I like this new one. It's not self-healing and has a completely different feel to it, but it seems sturdy after a few trial cuts of nothing. My green Olfa mat has seen better days. The edges are chipped (not really chipped but I don't know how else to describe it) and there are a number of rough spots. The smaller gray mat was my first (sigh) and was more geared toward fitting on my cutting table when I had to store it closed at the other house. I bought the green mat because I was tired of sliding the gray one all around the place. The've done their job and have done it well, but it's time to spread out to the full width of the table now that I've got a real sewing room.

While at Joann's, of course I couldn't help but wander around the fabric department.


1. Crosshatched non-stretch denim, 5+ yds (remainder of bolt). This pic shows the denim lighter than the indigo it really is, more like in the pic below. There's enough here for jeans for me and jeans or shorts for DS. When I get to whatever is made for DS, I won't tell him that we're the Bobsy Twins.


2. Brown rayon blend doubleknit, 3+ yds and, again, the last of the bolt.

3. Green rayon blend doubleknit, 3+ yds and yes, the end of the bolt again. So someone besides me is buying Joann's good stuff. I hope they're paying attention. I'm thinking Yoga-type pants for both of these knits.

4. Brown RPL (rayon/poly/Lycra) woven, 3 yds and I left some on the bolt this time. I'll see how this launders before I decide if I like it or if it will be muslining stock.

All were $5/yd and under, plus my 10% ASG discount card, plus a 40% off coupon and the 10% ASG discount on the mat. I think I did OK. I would've done even worse but it was getting on 9 PM and they were starting to shoo us out the door.

On a semi-related note, I kept running into a cute teenage girl walking around with her pattern (and her mom), picking out fabric, notions, etc. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing and it made me smile to see a sewer in the making.

I also picked up one of the upcoming class brochures. It was full-color glossy, which makes it more expensive than the newsprint brochures I've seen in the past, which means Joann's is spending more to promote its classes. A Good Thing. But even better, is that their garment sewing classes are on the front cover. Not knitting, not quilting, but *garment* sewing.

Two classes in particular caught my eye. The first is really part of a series of 3, starting with very basic beginner. But the third set in this series is for what they're calling a wardrobe (jacket and skirt or pants) and includes more advanced skills (zippers, buttonholes, etc.). Usually, Joann's teaches making a pillow or pull-on PJ pants. That kind of thing. This series looks like it is actually building some skills and ending with something a bit more stylish than their usual fare and which someone might actually want to wear out of the house.

The other is a class for planning and sewing your own prom dress. How fun and what a great way to entice those teenagers. I should make a note of the class days and time and go spy on them. I bet that would be fun to see, and I mean that in a good way.

Now I don't know who the teachers are or how well they teach, but it does seem like Joann's is starting to listen. First with all the better fabrics I'm finding there lately and also by appealing to the younger set. Yes, the fleece was still in abundance, but at the store I frequent, the whole department has been rearranged and the fleece is not front and center in your face anymore. Instead, it's all on shelving in its own section and you don't even see it until you're deep into the other fabrics.

I was obviously more tired than I realized when I wrote yesterday's entry. I'm *not* going to meet up with my mom today. That's tomorrow. Sheesh. I knew that. So, maybe I'll get some time to start on my jacket muslin today. Around paying bills and sorting paperwork and meeting with our business attorney this afternoon.

A January Day at the Beach

On Sunday, we drove about an hour south to Siesta Key and met up with my mom and "Grandbob" (Mom's honey). The sky was overcast most of the day but the temperature was in the high 80s so it was definitely a beach day. Still, there's no way you could pay me to get into 65-ish degree January water as I prefer the 90-plus degree bathwater temperatures in July/August. My sons, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind it a bit.

We were standing on the beach when these two catamarans came gliding up in rapid succession. One of their passengers was a little Scotty dog who looked quite pleased with himself after his day's journey.

Silly "effects" photo.

Typical boy-type "swimming."

We finished the day with dinner at Sharky's On the Pier, a great seafood restaurant right on Venice Beach overlooking the Gulf. It was dark by then so the photos I took don't do it much justice. But just imagine tacky straw tiki hut tables, a steel drum band, tropical drinks, and the waves crashing in the near distance. Or, click on Sharky's link to see their better photos.


No further progress on the Burda WOF jacket, and I'm meeting up with Mom again tomorrow for a girl's day out so it's going to be on hold a little longer. I have decided, though, that before I cut any muslin, I'm heading to Joann's tonight to buy a big cutting mat. By Saturday, I hope to have the muslin cut. I was really wanting it yesterday as the temps suddenly dropped to the near frigid low 60s. (Yeah, I know, but I'm a Florida girl now.)

Seventeen tracings

Next, adding seam allowances while cutting out in muslin. On the bright side, most of the SEVENTEEN pieces were small and so I was able to use up quite a bit of my "scrap" Swedish Tracing Paper, and then I tossed the rest of the scraps. Now my STP is all nice and neat again. Tomorrow is a day out for the whole family so no more progress until at least Monday.

And so it begins

Since I'm only now just starting with the tracing, I won't be finished with a muslin anytime before I see my mom tomorrow so I'll be on my own for the fitting. That's OK. I'd rather just spend the day walking around on the beach and going out to dinner after.

I did finish up the latest pair of Simplicity 4660 jeans this morning. Life's obligations have kept me mostly out of the sewing room this week. I'm going to set this pattern aside for a bit now as the boredom factor has set in after 3 pairs of pants in relatively short order. Remind of that boredom factor when I'm whining about the jacket next week, OK?

Here are a couple of pics of the jeans on the table. I made them with a wider leg this time and I think I'm going to like 'em. I hemmed them at a slight angle, longer in the back, since I think the wider hem circumference calls for it.

I added deco stitching to the back pockets and topstitched the darts. No one but me will see these details often, as my untucked tops will be covering that area. But still, it's fun to add details just for yourself. That's one bonus with sewing, right?

Now onto tracing SEVENTEEN pieces while the NFL playoffs start …