Daddy-Daughter Dance 2010

Little Miss Princess is wearing Butterick 3714 in "Barbie Pink", and the jacket is Simplicity 2683 (bamboo knit).  The pink is from Joann's, which makes it machine washable (priceless for a 6 yr old!).  I found a tutorial online for the flower embellishment, and I'm so glad I made the jacket, since it's 30 degrees outside today (1st day of Spring, yeah right...)

Daddy is wearing Simplicity 7030, in black Ralph Lauren shirting (from Ressy's co-op).  It's the umpteenth time I've made it, but he loves having shirts that fit correctly.  I was supposed to make him a matching tie, but there was no time.  I started the shirt last night and finished it this afternoon! (I know you can't see it, but isn't this a great picture?)

When I saw that belting, my mouth opened before my brain could stop it.  "Check this out! It reminds me of Hannah Montana!"  Those were really the only 2 words she heard, and immediately clasped her hands in front of her and assumed the begging position.  "Please. Please. Please. Please. Pretty Please. It will look so awesome, Mom.  Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssse?"

Oh, and she also wanted her hair to look like Taylor Swift.  OMG.  If she's 6 and like this now, what do I have to look forward to???

Here's last year's dress.  Still my all-time favorite!

So, that's 3 things I made in this post.  None of them for me.  Neither was my last post.  I think I'm overdue for a little "Selfish Sewing Time"!  And there is a fun new blog/sew along called Friday Night Sew-In and it's hosted by Handmade by Heidi.  I usually find myself inside and sewing on a Friday night, so why not?  Last night I was able to get DH's shirt all cut out and the front/back/button/yoke parts assembled by 11pm.  Not bad for a Friday night!

Belle of the Ball (in Blue)

My best friend chose dress #107 from the Nov. 2009 issue, but wanted it shorter and slightly A-line.

I chose navy blue crepe back satin and china silk from Fabric.com
It went together easily, except for trying to figure out the pleating and assembly of the folded band, and by the time I got to the neck drape, I just did it my own way.

I had to make a few minor adjustments, but it now fits her perfectly and she absolutely loves it.  I'm excited for her to enjoy the cruise, and she described the dress as "very, very special".  That what friends are for, right?

Next up: Little Miss Princess put a request in for a new skirt.  To wear to school.  Tomorrow.

No rest for the wicked... (or is it weary?)

The Un-selfish Seamstress

The Prom Dress fabric has been ordered (crepe back satin). The Daddy-Daughter dress has been done since February, and is all set for Saturday.
Daddy still needs a dress shirt, though.  Will cut that out tonight...

Saturday was spent making a gift for a dear friend.  I'll give you a sneak peek now, but you'll have to wait to see the finished product. 

 A few alterations have to be made, then it's getting picked up on Wednesday and packed to cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman.  Lucky dress... and lucky girl!

Yes, I did say "gift".  She's my best friend, has been for 15 years, and I love her dearly.  I'll have more Saturdays to sew, but when will she get to go on another cruise, ya know?

Time to get back to work, check back Wednesday for the "Final Reveal"!

**p.s.  I love The Selfish Seamstress, and mean nothing disrespectful when I refer to her title.  I really don't want to get on her bad side... to become a nemesis would be absolutely terrible.  (Can I campaign for that?)

Sewing Anger Management

If only he was holding a seam ripper...

So, I have a temper.  The first step is admitting there's a problem, right? RIGHT????

Sunday found me working on a new fire dept. logo for St. Patrick's Day...

Really cool, huh? One guy's idea has lead to multiple orders, so that's the bright side.

The down side is that this baby has a million stitches, and takes 40 minutes to stitch out.  Ok, less than a million, but it really does take 40 minutes, on my super big fast 6 thread machine.  No kidding.

So, when I realized that I had (stupidly) forgotten to rotate the design on a sweatshirt this weekend, I was angry.  Really mad at myself for forgetting to rotate the logo, and really really mad that I was going to have to rip out half a million stitches.  Really. Really. Mad.  The only thing worse than ripping out stitches, is ripping out really tiny stitches.  Out of a lofty fleece.  With multiple layers of stitching.  (Here comes the bad part...)

My sewing space is in the basement, which also houses some exercise equipment.  Like my punching bag.  So, I threw a few punches into the bag.  And a few kicks.  And some more punches.  At that point, I felt that the rage was gone, and I could handle some quality time with the seam ripper.  When I came upstairs, my son looked at me and said, "Mumma!  What was all that noise??"  Oops...  I removed the necessary stitches (not the whole logo, and it wasn't too awful [Yes, it was.]), and continued stitching out the logo, and ended it ended up looking pretty decent (except for the F on the right).  Decent enough to lead to more orders, so it ended up fine, I thought...

Monday I was a little sore, like I had a good workout.  Tuesday I was a little more sore, and thought "Geez.  I really must've been a little more aggressive than I thought."  This morning (at 4am) I woke to an awful pain in my back, and couldn't get comfortable. 2 doses of Ibuprofen later, it still feels like someone is constantly sticking their finger into my shoulder blade really hard, and deep breaths bring on slight chest pain. The knot has stayed with me all day, and I'm hoping a hot shower will help make it go away.

The moral of the story is: when you screw up while your sewing, fighting isn't the answer. Punching bags don't belong in sewing rooms.  Oh, and don't make me angy when I'm sewing.  You won't like me when I'm angry...

Embroidery has kept me very busy, and this week has been a real bugger at work, so I will update you Sunday on the Prom Dress and other Pretties, m'kay? Kay!  Hope all of you are finding nothing but success and happiness in your current sewing spaces.  Play nice with your projects, now...

Muslin, anyone?

I feel terrible.  All of you have goodies and fun stuff to show me, but I came to the party empty-handed.
No, wait... I have something in my pocket here... but it's boring, so prepare yourself!

Cotton muslin. Don't hurt yourself ooh-ing and ahh-ing.

We had our first fitting yesterday, and she is beyond excited, which is always good!  I've got to take the corset foundation piece in quite a bit, but that's no big deal.  We've got until mid-May, and she hasn't picked out fabric yet, so we are doing fine on time!

The skirt is cut on the bias and is more fitted than the envelope shows, so there's no "maternity look", which would be tragic at prom.

The bodice has a foundation corset underneath that is boned and fitted to hold the dress up.  I'm using the Threads issue from this summer/fall about strapless dresses and Susan Khalje's "Bridal Couture" book for guidance!

She wants a "non-shiny" fabric.  In the formal wear arena, that should be tricky.  The skirt pieces are HUGE, so much so that the pattern envelope only offers yardage requirements for 60" wide.  So if anyone should know of a non-shiny and wide fabric, please let me know!  Actually, my swatches from Fabric.com came today, so I'm hoping she likes the crepe back satin...

Meanwhile, I am going to re-do the corset in a double layer of red cotton, and make it nice and snug. I'm going to re-fit her again to make it perfect before attaching it to the dress.  Can't afford any "wardrobe malfunctions", ya know?  There's also too much fullness in those front gathers (under the knot), so I'm gonna mess with that, too.  Still working on good ole Martha, and she's doing a great job.  No new part yet.

I've got a few other irons in the fire, but am just too tired to type another word tonight! So, check back Sunday... I have something pretty to show you, I swear!  I've got a knit dress that's going to be wonderful...