No Go

Long story short. I made and scrapped the two pieces I made. Don’t have much time to sew these days so I think I am officially bowing out. I’ll try and keep up with everybody else’s blogs though.

Goodbye!

News

Hello! Just wanted to share that I got a new job. I will be leaving my current position on the 14th. On the surface it’s a real step back but when God leads you you go. He always knows better.

What this means is that I will not have a dress code anymore. I can live in color again! I suddenly feel the desire to create and have fun. I went to the fabric store this weekend to buy fabric for some pants and maybe a top. We’ll see. I’m having some back troubles so I’ll have to take it slow. I got the pieces pinned and cut out and I’ll do my best to show them to you as soon as they’re made.

Thank you God for all of your blessings!

 

This Will Have To Do

I am tried of waiting for it to warm up so I can go outside and have some pictures taken of me in the few things I’ve made. I need to show you all that I have been sewing. I am not super happy with everything I’ve made but that’s mostly because it’s all black for work. I do plan on making some more colorful pieces now. I have to. All black 40hrs a week and cold and snow in March is making me very unhappy. I need some happy. Quick.

So here are some pictures of what I’ve made so far. Nothing too complicated-

I hate this top. The only reason I haven’t gotten rid of it is because I hadn’t photographed it yet. The pattern is McCall’s 6652 and I’m sure I bought the pattern because I have always loved that whole hi-lo thing. It may have looked a bit better if I’d used colorful or printed fabric but I still hate the design of the top. I did wear it to work though to see if it would grow on me. I’m happy to be getting rid of it. Here’s the back-

The next piece I made was this sweatshirt-

Why a sweatshirt? Because they’re very “in” right now and they’re warm. My store gets pretty cold and I get tired of blazers and sweaters. It’s a fun way to sneak a casual piece into a professional environment. The pattern, McCall’s 6614, didn’t have a band at the bottom so I added one but didn’t think to shorten the length so it’s a bit too long. the neckline is also a bit too high for me but I do like the way it came out-

Looks like a braid, I have bit of the fabric left and would like to make a skirt.

Project #3 was this dress-

This is Butterick 5986. Here’s a picture so you get a better idea of what it’s supposed to look like on.

I actually like the dress I just don’t like it in black. I wish you could see it on. I raised the hemline in front a bit to show a little more leg. I think this would be fun in a printed fabric with Spring colors. My plan is to make it again. Maybe for an Easter dress. Here’s a close up of the bottom-

Not that it really matters. The fabric really is depressing. I’ve put it on so many times but have decided I have to wait until it warms up a bit. Then I can try it with fun shoes and funky jewelry It’s just too much with black tights.

My final piece is this pair of “jeans”-

I was testing out the pattern (McCall’s 6707) and decided to try it in denim. Thought I’d sneak a pair of jeans in to work. It didn’t work out so well. There was too much stretch in the fabric and by the end of the day they were a bit baggy. i did have to take them in quite a bit too because I like a more fitted pant. You’d think they’d be pretty slim from the picture on the pattern-

I do have slender legs so that might be it. I shortened the tab in front too. I thought an extended tab in denim would be too much. I’d like to make another pair just haven’t decided on the colors yet.

I also made a robe for my son and a dress for work. The dress is terrible. I needed something with red in it to show my support for heart health and bought some fabric I wasn’t thrilled with, threw it on the floor, and cut out a dress shape. Sort of like the Grinch in the cartoon. Sewed it together and wore it under a blazer. It was really bad. I will not  take a picture of it. It’s that bad. The funny thing is, I got a lot of compliments on it.

So there you have it. I would love to make something for some upcoming meetings but don’t want to put that sort of pressure on myself. I’ll be meeting our new VP in April at our nationwide meeting and I always make an extra effort to look good at these meetings. It’s got to be extra extra good this year. I’m also co-hosting an event for a major insurance company and want to make sure I’m looking my best. You never know who you’ll meet.

I haven’t started on anything new yet but will soon.         G

Colors and Photos

So I said I’d have some projects ready to share soon and I do I just don’t have a photographer anymore. My husband retired when I finished my run with Sew Weekly. So I probably won’t appear much in the photos. especially right now while it’s still chilly out.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that for the moment most of my pieces will be in  black or mostly black because they will be things to wear to work. I’m hoping to make other things as well but if not it’s cool with me. I’m just happy to be sewing again.

OK-hopefully I’ll have something up soon.

G

Hello Out There!

It’s been forever, I know. The last thing I made was that suit that I absolutely hated. Work and life took over and I find myself here again realizing that too much work is no good for anyone. I was so stressed about succeeding at work that I even spent all of my free time thinking about work, networking for work, shopping for clothes for work. I’ve got a year under my belt and I know now that work will sort itself out. Life is too short.

I contacted Loran over at Loransworld and asked her for some encouragement to help me get back into sewing. She was wonderful and gave me the big push I needed. It’s also really great to know that there is someone out there who has never met you that has been inspired by you and cares if you are using your gifts.

So for this month I will attempt some sewing. I went to the fabric store and bought a few new patterns and some fabric to get me started. I sat down and cleaned out my sewing area and found that I had quite a few projects I meant to start last year but never did. My goal will be to make these few things before I let myself go out and buy anymore fabric. It will not be a sewing marathon and I will try to be easy on myself. The important thing for me will be to do a little here and there when I have time. I want to be consistent through the year instead of an explosion that fizzles by mid February.

So….pray that you see a post here sometime soon.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Too Many Changes

Gosh it’s been so long since I’ve written anything. I have so little time. My life has changed so much I think it will take me a year to process it all.

I am starting to feel the desire to sew again and even bought some fabric. My question to anyone reading is: How do you find time to sew when your plate is so full?

After spending time with husband and kids, running errands and kids around, where do you squeeze it in?

 

 

Will I Ever Sew Again?

Dear Friends,

In my bio for Sew Weekly I said that every 6 months or so I swear I’ll never sew again. Something like that anyway. That’s where I’m at now. I know I’m being dramatic. I probably will sew agin sometime I just don’t see myself doing it any time in the near future. I don’t have the patience for it right now. So I hope you don’t mind if I take this blog in another direction for a while. Not sure of the direction yet but will try to post every now and then so that you all know I am alive and kicking.

See you all real soon,

Gina

Finished and Done

I finished the suit about a month ago. Do I like it? yes and no. Mostly no.

There are no close ups here. My photographer has set aside his camera to make room for work and night school.

For starters the pants were too big. I ended up using Vogue 1204. I’ve used this pattern many times and usually they end up a little snug. Since I’ve lost some weight I figured the fit would be just right. I was wrong. I had to remove part of the waistband in back and cut off all but a sliver of the back yoke. That helped. The front closure came out a little uneven and I don’t think it helped that I used sew in interfacing. I don’t like the pants as much as I had hoped but since I have so little black to wear to work I wear them anyway.

The blazer is a little better but I’m still not happy with it. It wasn’t until I was cleaning up that I realized that I completely forgot to use the interfacing. I put it all together without looking at the instructions so there you go. Going in I knew that the sleeves would be too short so I added length to the pattern. After attaching the sleeves I saw that they were still too short. I ended up using the extra little bit of fabric I had to cut out longer ones. It’s a love/hate here too. It’s missing something. Too plain.

I’ve worn the pieces separately a couple of times and as a suit once. To be honest, I’m ready to donate them. They just don’t excite me or inspire me. When I wear them to work I don’t feel great and I believe our clothing should do that. My job is hard enough as it is I want to walk in to work feeling confident and ready to conquer the world.

I’ll wear the pieces a few more times then move on.

 

What do you think?

Most of you know that the dress code for my job is “mostly black”. I am learning that every store has its own rules. My store is very strict. Add that to the fact that my store is in a wealthy conservative area so everything I wear must look expensive. I have no problem with that. I like to look put together and even though my clothes are thrifted or handmade I want them to look pricey not crafty.

So I’m still not sure how much time I will have to sew but I went to the fabric store today and bought several yards of this-

to make a suit. It’s a nice heavy fabric so it will hold it’s shape well and keep me warm in a very cold store. This is where I need your help  I don’t have a lot of time so making a suit will most likely take me a month. Do I go with patterns I already know? I’m not going to make a super fancy jacket just something simple.

I’ve not made many pairs of slacks or non-jean type pants so should I take a chance on a new pattern or design or maybe just remove the yoke back and back pockets to this Butterick pattern I’ve used a gazillion times in the slim ankle length?

There’s a trouser option so I can use that to help me out.

I’ve only made one blazer and that one had tails. Not really what I want. What do you all think of this pattern?

I’d make the blue one and wear it unbelted.

Let me know what you think.

Gina

 

2012 in review

You know, I spent the year thinking I was writing to myself. Sure a couple of friends stopped by every once in a while and I knew my new Sew Weekly friends were supporting me as well but I never could have guessed my site had been visited that much. It was because of the women I have come to care so much about on Sew Weekly that I thought maybe it was time to commit to updating my blog more often. This annual report is very encouraging so….I won’t say that I’ll write everyday or even every week but I will try and check in at least once a month. We’ll see.

Happy New Year everyone!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.