Battle Scars and Thursday Thoughts 8/23/2012

I've been doing quite a bit of sewing and I have the battle scars to prove it!

I was pressing a seam while using a sleeve board. I must have zoned out for just and instant and "Yow." WTH. Now I seem to bump, rub and scratch constantly. Add to that I must have slept wrong Sunday night and my back has been hurting every since. But that's not all. Sunday while getting ready for church I stumped my toe, the one next to the little one, so badly that I haven't even been able to put a flip-flop on! I'm thinking of trying to get in to see the doctor today. I celebrated my 55th birthday exactly one week ago and man, it's been down hill every since. LOL.

Since I last posted I've made six pairs of panties, a peplum blouse and two pairs of pants. Pictures will come eventually. I think after a little more than a year I am over my dress phase. Now it's pants, pants, pants. There is a pair of slacks in the August 2010 Burda magazine that Carolyn of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic so generously gifted me that I would love to make. How in the HELL am I supposed to trace the pattern without going blind?? If there is a secret I need it and I need it now!

Thursday Thoughts

• Reality shows are getting dumber and dumber..if that is even possible.
• "Here comes Honey Boo Boo"
• The bowling season has started!
• One week until my 3rd wedding anniversary.
• I love my husband.
• He is a handful.
• I'm currently reading John Grishams "The Litigators."
• The actual book, not on a reader.
• I need to take my embroidery machine in for repair
• Wish me luck!
• I think there will be lots of sweater in my future.
• Yes, I'm going to make them myself.
• I need to make some dishcloths first.
• I need more patterns and fabric like I need a hole in the head!
• I love windchimes!

Bye for now!

Another golf dress - Burda 8072

I've finally finished everything that was lingering on my sewing table. A pair of slacks didn't make the cut but I did salvage the zipper. The main thing I had to finish was this golf dress. The season is winding down and I didn't want to wait until next year to wear it!

I've worked w/very few Burda patterns and none from the (in-store) pattern books. I took a few flat pattern measurements and started with the size 18 which, by the way, was the largest size. As with the Big 4 I started with a 3/4" FBA a 1" wide back adjustment and lengthened the bodice 1" and added 1" just in case side seams.

Once basted together, it was obvious that Burda allows for a much larger bust than the Big 4. Luckily I used a fabric purchased from Fabric.com which I had 10 yards of. I removed the bodice front and made a SBA back to the original size and lowered the bust dart 1".  I didn't need the additional 1" just in case seams at all. Because I'll only wear this for golf and maybe for bowling I didn't need to lengthen it. If it were a dress for everyday I would add at least 3" to the skirt.

I used pink piping to match the shoes I intend to wear golfing in this dress. My husband is a huge Paula Creamer fan and insisted on buying me these shoes she designed. I also decided to try the exposed zipper trend.

Sorry I wasn't able to get a better picture of the zipper. I'm not in love with it but I think the idea was a good one. I used a separating zipper that has been in my stash for years--maybe like 10 or 15! I sewed a bar-tack at the end to keep the zipper from coming "undone." I used the instructions from the latest "Threads" magazine. My husband says I should have top-stitched the zipper in black thread but I didn't because sewing into the bottom of it got kind of "squirrely" and would have looked awful in a contrasting thread. As it is I'll wear it but not sure this is a trend I need to revisit.

I omitted the sleeve facing but instead serged then turned under and sewed with a double-needle on the regular sewing machine. For the neck I added a self-fabric bias binding which I finished w/top-stitching. Finally I added golf embroidery which to my dismay jammed my stand-alone embroidery machine to the point that it now has to go back in for repairs!

I also stitched a couple more pairs of panties and can foresee some bra sewing on the horizon!

Jump started my sewing

I must admit that I haven't been very productive lately. The same top, dress and slacks are still on my sewing table. It's not that I'd lost my sewjo, it just that I've been doing other things and I was once again having computer problems. The computer problems ar totally solved thanks to a super new computer! I been spending most of my time making cards and golfing. You really should check out my other blog, "I'm Black Martha", where I post my card creations.

So how did I jumpstart my sewing? With panties! That's right. I whipped out my bag of panties where I keep the scraps leftover from my knit dresses. Whenever I cut out a knit dress, I also cut out as many pairs of panties as possoble with the leftovers. I precut the elastic and the cotton crotch as well. Whenever I get an urge for a quick project everything is ready to go. After stitching two pairs of my favorite panties, I proceeded to work on the blouse which now only needs the neck facing. By the end of today I hope to have all the WIP (works in progress) finished so that I can get my sewing table cleaned off and move on to other projects.

I'd made two more maxis before my sewing stalled. Only taking about 30 minutes to sew,  I'm just lovin' 'em.

Someone asked how I was finishing my neck and armhole edges. With my differential feed serger set at 1.0, I serge around the opening. I turn under only the serged amount and stitch with a double needle on my regular sewing machine.

This fabric was part of my New York shopping. I think I picked it up in Brooklyn when Shelia took me to some of her haunts.

This fabric was from the 1/2 clearance from JoAnns. BTW George Clinton just called, they are reviving the P-Funk tour and he wants his glasses back! LOL