An anniversary of sorts

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis. It has been an interesting year to say the least. I thank God, my husband, my family and my friends (internet included) for being there when I needed them. I thank God for answering my prayer of giving me the strength to make it through that dark time. A college instructor once said that if you live long enough, you"ll get some kind of cancer. I do believe that but thought if I were ever diagnosed with cancer that it wouldn't be a total surprise. After all, both my mom and here sisters were breast cancer survivors. I wasn't prepared at all. I know exactly were I was and what I was doing when I was told. I remember exactly when I told my mother. I held off as long as I could as I knew she would not take it well.

Once the surgery was scheduled and commenced and the treatment after, I thought I would be back to my old self. Wrong. I feel as though cancer and the subsequent treatment has aged me 15 years. Some part of me aches all the time and wouldn't you know that while both my mom and my aunt had mastectomies and I only had a lumpectomy, I would be the one that would wind up with lymphedema. For the rest of my life I will probably have to wear this darned compression sleeve and glove. Does it sound like I'm complaining? I'm not. I am thankful I'm still here and hope I am here this same time next year to celebrate another year of being here!

McCalls 6035 -- Part I

This really should have been an easy project, but sometimes you have to literally beat a project into submission before it will work. It started out bad and went down hill from there. When I was pressing the attached facings, this is what I ended up with.

Thank goodness for this

More later! Gotta get to church.

Pattern Review --V1156 and M5894

It seems forever since I posted last. First my computer was in the shop then my camera was on the fritz. Don't think I've been idle. I've sewn three pairs of jeans and a blouse. The Sandra Betzina blouse pattern has got to be one of my most favorite blouses ever. Here I am with the blouse, Vogue 1156, and a pair of jeans McCall's 5894.

I love making my own jeans. I doubt that I'll ever buy them again. Click on my PR widget to get the full review.

McCall's 5694--the remix

Well I have my computer back but wasn't in the mood to deal with hooking everything back up. What I was in the mood for is another pair of jeans! Did I forget to mention that the first pair is finished? Yup. On the second pair I have the coin pocket, front pockets and zipper done. With the weather as nasty as it's been all winter, I might just play hooky from work tomorrow and finish them up. I promise to review both pair soon.
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Plain pocket jeans

Now that everything seems to be working, I forgot to attach pocket photo to last post.
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Plain pocket jeans

The pockets are done and I think they look fantastic! Although the instructions only called for edgestitching the inside leg seams, I topstitched them as well. Did I say I am loving these jeans? I'm going to sew the waistband today. Since I never tuck my shirts or wear belts with my jeans I am going to omit the carriers. I plan on doing an indepth review with tips I either from gathered PR, experience or other sources as soon as I get my desktop computer back. Stay tuned.
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What's wrong with this picture?

I can't believe I nearly had the pocket sewn, never mind that I glued it into place, before I realized that I completely forgot to edge and topstitch the top of the pocket! I know better than to try to sew after a long workday. I'm going to bed. I'll try it again tomorrow.
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Jeans nearly done

I can't believe my jeans are nearly finished! I just need to place my back pockets, do some topstitching and apply the waistband and stitch the hems.

Most of my fitting is finished. If you have junk in your trunk, this may be the jeans pattern for you. I got up at 3:30 am to work on my jeans and it was worth it. The front is perfect. The back crotch is nearly perfect. I've got some wrinkles that I may try to get rid of but on second thought I should probably just leave well enough alone. I wound up taking about 6" off the center back and am now extremely happy I waited to sew on the back pockets.

When I tried on my new jeans I was pleasantly surprised. I love my 'em. They are extremely comfortable and the dark blue color is so slimming! Since I rarely tuck my tops or wear belts, I think I'll omit the belt carriers. I'm trying to decide what to do about the design in the back pockets. I'd really like to do an embroidery design but need to decide just what sort of design I want. These jeans should be totally complete by the weekend.
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McCalls jeans 5894

I finally got my Brother ULT back from service. It cost $145. Ten dollars was for the part, $129 was for the cleaning, $1.25 was for a new needle and the rest was for tax! I don't have a problem with paying to have my machine serviced but I have two issues with my local Brother dealer. First why, no matter what you take your machine in for do you ALWAYS--and I do mean ALWAYS--do you have to have the machine cleaned? Even if machine hadn't been out of the case since the last cleaning you have to pay for a cleaning! My other issue is the $1.25 for a single needle. You always have to pay for that too. I don't know about you but if I need machine needles (I won't for another 10 years) I buy them when they are 1/2 off the notions wall at JoAnns! I have got to find another dealer.

On a more positive note, I did finally start working on my jeans. So far I've only sewn the front pockets. I'm going to wait until I've sewn the side seams to sew the back pockets. I'm using a stretch denim and by sheer accident the cotton I'm using for the pocket bags has a small amount of lycra. So far all is going well with the pattern except that the coin pocket is just for show. I can barely get two fingers in it! If the pattern works out, I'll certainly redraft the coin pocket.

Lastly my computer is in for repair again. This time I hope they do it right. While I love my Blackberry I'd rather post to my blog from my desktop!
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