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Me Musing .
. . January
4, 2007
Moving right
along!
I seem to be
on a roll the last few days . . . so am sticking with it.
What a hoot
yesterday was!
I was soooooooo
excited about my new 'rain' swing jacket that I called two friends
to share it with . . . only it was raining so hard when I left home
that I put it on a hanger and covered it with a plastic bag, not
wanting to get it wet!!!!!!!!
Aren't we humans
the limit!
The verdict
was . . . it's beautiful . . . even if it may not be 'downpour'
proof! And it was determined that a few black 'coat size' hooks
and eyes hidden from view would be the best way to keep the jacket
closed, without overlapping the edges.
I was so excited
with THAT project, I decided to use up some left over fabric from
a dressy top I had made last week. We had a dinner engagement with
friends for 6:30 on Thursday evening and at 4:00
I decided I'd cut out the top and see if I could finish it to wear
to dinner. At 6:15 I was finishing the last stitches and I had to
laugh as it reminded me of high school years. I would be standing
on a chair in the kitchen while Mother was marking the hem on a
dress just as someone was driving in the driveway to pick me up!
Everytime that happened, I swore I would NEVER do that again . .
. well, never say 'never'!!!!!!!!!
I decided the
fabric, which is a stretchy velvet-look (but not really velvet)
that has embossed words/phrases on it (you guessed it . . . in French!!!!!!!)
would be great for binding off the edges of a vest.
I'm not much
of a vest person, but they are nice for something just
to keep your torso warm without all the bulk of sleeves, etc.
I looked in
a few of my 'mentor' sewing books for ideas, dug out a pattern and
cut it out of some Walmart $2/yd. upholstery weight fabric which
I had washed to make it softer. I cut it bigger than needed so I
could adjust the fit, not wanting to ruin even a cheap piece of
fabric! I like doing it this way rather than using muslin . . .
if it fits and looks good, then I can pizazzzzzzzzzz it up, rather
than just having something made out of a thin piece of cotton!
I sewed the
shoulder seams and side seams narrowly with French seams (the French
stuff sure keeps coming up!), then tried it on. It was waaaaaaaay
bigger than I thought it would be, so I pinned it for a better fit
(while wearing it as LeChusa was resting). The design was sort of
rounded at the bottom fronts, but they looked like big flaps, so
I pinned them back down the front, then re-seamed everything. I
liked the way it looked, so I even cut the pattern to match
the vest I had just altered!
I think the
reason I got so bold about doing all that was that I had just read
in one of the books this suggestion:
"After
you pretest a pattern (out of muslin), ask yourself: is it worth
making????? Are you really excited about it? Unless the shape and
style thrill you, don't waste time on this pattern. Never feel guilty
about tossing a pattern. Only 50 percent or so are worth making."
That got my
attention!
Isn't it amazing
how differently we may respond to situations, having more information/permission/instruction!
I had even
saved the selvedges of the velvety fabric as they were also beautiful
AND had the same stretch to them. I used those for the armholes
and then did a binding technique I had learned from one of my favorite
books: KOOS, Couture, Collage, Inspiration
and Techniques.
These
photos give you an idea of how it turned out . . .
binding shows a little better against the darker background.
Part of what makes all of this soooooooo fun is my (new) vintage
70's Bernina sewing machine. It sews like a dream through all kinds
of fabric. And as with everything, life is much easier when what
you are working with isn't fighting you!
Until
soon,
Che'usa
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