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A Big THANK YOU….
Posted by Paulette on Jan 29, 2009 in Sewing
To Cidell of Miss Celie’s Pants….for submitting the first post on my blog site!!
Random note….
Posted by Paulette on Jan 28, 2009 in Sewing
So, I’ve spent tons of time reading many, many, many sewing blogs the last couple days. I have to say…you people are AMAZING!!!!
Thanks for all your posts, I enjoy reading all of them!!
I came across wordle so thought I’d make mine….
Ooh, FABRIC!
Posted by Paulette on Jan 23, 2009 in Sewing
Um, yea so…as you can see by my Europe purchases, I was not really NEEDING more fabric so the WANT term came out today!! My friend drove in to town today so we got together to have lunch (SUSHI!) and “look” at what the local fabric stores had to offer.
I caved. I bought. I saw the Urban Couture by Basic Grey from Moda and just HAD to pick out some for a future project – I’m getting better – I have a project in mind to get done this year!!
After that purchase, we then went to another fabric store and found the Gotham line by Benartex!!! OMG!! OMG!! So there are 24 pieces in this collection….I am only missing 4. 
My friend is a bad influence because she saw Hancock’s of Paducah offering pre-orders of this collection some time last year so we bought yardage from what they carried – and today found more locally!! WHOO-HOO!!
So my rationale is this – I didn’t buy quilting cotton in Europe so I HAD to buy fabric today!
Maybe I should start tracking yardage in/yardage out….oh wait, that means I’d have to measure everything and not have time to sew. Yea, I’ll skip that idea!
Bernina Coupon
Posted by Paulette on Jan 21, 2009 in Sewing
I got a coupon for $10 off $25 or more!! Good until 3/24/09…
Here is the pdf link – http://www.bernina830win.com/public/pdf/CouponPDF.pdf
Fabric from Europe
Posted by Paulette on Jan 20, 2009 in Sewing
Found the camera….and here is what I bought!!There are cottons, silks, wools, wool – blends (wool/cashmere and wool/cashmere/mink), knit jersey, brocades, and lace. I know some are very hard to see but as I work on projects, you’ll get better pics!
I had WAY TOO MUCH fun shopping on Goldhawk Road thanks to Melissa at Fehrtrade.com. Her shopping review was what got me out there! I also shopped at Joel & Son along with Jason’s Fabrics while in London. Joel & Son supplies fabrics to the Queen which I did not know until I went there. The nice thing about Joel & Son was that you could find the designer fabrics you see in the magazines!! They are even oh so helpful to have some of the pictures right next to the bolt!!! Well, wish me luck finding just the right pattern for each piece on the table…and did I mention that I like to quilt too so I already have a closet full of mostly cottons just for that?!
To SWAP or NOT TO SWAP…..
Posted by Paulette on Jan 20, 2009 in Sewing
Oh, almost forgot….
Been thinking about this over the last few months and I am trying to decide if I should enter a SWAP (sewing with a plan) contest. Stitcher’s Guild has one in progress right now (tried to link to it) (11/1/08-4/30/09) where you make 11 items based on a week in your real life. The items are as follows: 4 bottoms (skirts, jeans, trousers), 6 tops (t-shirts, shirts, blouses, camisoles), 1 jacket (tailored blazer, jeans-style jacket, sweater, or shawl or it can be a coat). All items must be able to be worn together…so all matchy-matchy-ish or another way to look at it – a week’s worth of outfits.
I love the idea BUT….there is always a BUT…not sure I’ll stay focused long enough to meet the deadline. I have SO much I want to do. I still need hours and hours of play on my new Bernina 830 and I signed up for block of the month again this year but decided that I needed two colorways to work on instead of just one.
So that’s 2 blocks per month that have to get done along with trying to come up with patterns for all the fabric I just HAD TO BUY while in Europe!! I know…poor me. One suitcase was crammed full and overweight….it was almost 60 lbs of fabric. Of course that wasn’t all of it…we had to pack some in another suitcase, well, because we couldn’t get it all in one.
Will post pics soon….still on the camera….must find camera…..
Patterns I want to try….
Posted by Paulette on Jan 20, 2009 in Sewing
V 8548
V 2859 – LOVE this blouse!
V 7881 (Schaeffer)
V 1053 – I adore the detail on the jacket
V 2948 (Betzina) – cute pants but not sure they’ll work on my figure
Tracy Reese designs – looking forward to more of her stuff
Butterick 5314
I guess I missed the Vogue pattern sale….ah well…I’ll just keep these on my list and wait for the next one….
In the meantime, I have added a 2009 Project List of which will only grow as the days go by!! Also, I am thinking about adding a skills list..seems like everyone else has been focusing on skills and I just haven’t written mine down…yet. So that’s next…off to make my never ending 2nd list!
My PARTY Dress….
Posted by Paulette on Jan 19, 2009 in Sewing
Ok, so in 2007, I decided that I was going to make my Holiday Party dress. My company usually does a nice set up so I thought it would be nice to make something instead of buying off the rack. WOW…what a feat I had in store for me!!
I made Vogue 2964 – Tom and Linda Platt….
A few modifications later….and you have my holiday party dress!!!
I used a burnt orange silk chiffon layered over the same color silk charmeuse. I added the drape in at the shoulders so I had a “built-in” wrap. I don’t like to show off my back so this was a good solution for me. The godets are just a single layer of the chiffon for that see-thru effect. I added the charmeuse as an accent at the bottom and on the front bodice….
Here is another picture with the drape hanging down….
So…what do you think? Good rendition? I think so….I had tremendous help from a professional seamstress who basically held my hand throughout the ENTIRE process. She helped with fitting, cutting, sewing, etc., etc., etc. You name it, she was there with me all the way!! So as a thank you….I got her some antique buttons while in Europe last month. She has a nice collection so it was the least I could do for all the hours she spent with me making sure everything fit well. And did I mention the entire skirt portion (including lining) is on the bias?!
I wore the dress mid-December then dropped it off at my FAVORITE local fabric store…Seams Like Home for a display item. Stop by and take a look!!