Miss Me??

Holy smokes am I ready to settle back into a routine. Week-long trips with the kids are fun but maybe we shouldn't schedule three week-long trips in a row. The kids are a bit out of whack and I'm a bit cranky from sewing withdrawals. It was a fun trip and I'm minus one child (stayed with grandma an extra week) but wow am I ready to sleep in my own bed.

So I did manage to make a running top right before we left for Fairbanks. I mean just before we left. I coverstitched it the morning of the car ride. I knew it would be hot there (in the 80s and 90s!!) and I didn't have anything for hot weather like that. Remember way back when when I wrote the 600th Jalie review and won a free pattern from Jalie? Well, I bought Jalie 2215. It's this top, this top with long sleeves, running pants, and skirt with underwear panel. I plan to make all the versions. It's the perfect pattern for me. I made this top out of some of the bamboo/cotton/lycra knit I don't like. And actually, I don't hate it here. It's really light so it works well as a running top. The accent panels are from Paulette. She's a blog/internet friend who turned into a real friend. She's the one who convinced me to take the Couture Jacket class. She had cut out a top incorrectly and thought I might be able to do something with the pieces. She was right.

Yea, yea, I could do a swayback adjustment but it's fine. I ran 12 miles this morning so excuse the hair and un-bathed-ness. And I know the hat is nasty but it's my Running Hat. You can't run without your Running Hat. Someone has asked what I'm gearing up for in a previous post. There is a half marathon in August I like to run and I'm doin' it again this year.

A little close-up of the collar and shoulders.

I think I'll make a version with no polo opening. I like it but it'll be nice to have some without it too.

I'm not impressed with my topstitching but, like I said, I was in a hurry.

I had so little fabric that I had to slice and dice it to make it big enough for the undercollar. With this busy print, you'll never notice.

I am planning on sewing a lot the next week or so so my blog should be hoppin' the next little while. So. Glad. To. Be. Back.

Runners Unite!

So I did a tiny bit of sewing right before my Homer trip. I have had an iPod for a long time. I mostly play podcasts and audiobooks while I run. Weird, I know. My absolute favorite is PodRunner. If you are a runner/spinner/exerciser you should check it out. They publish a new mix every week at a specific BPM (beats per minute). It really helps keep your pace through the entire run. My pace is about 158bpm so I have downloaded about 10 mixes for that pace. I wouldn't really call it music. It's kind of like techno music but it lasts for an hour. I don't even really listen to it. I turn it down way low, just so I can barely hear the beat, and let my mind wander. Anyhoo, my girlfriend bought the Nike+ thing that attaches to your iPod. After looking at hers, I had to buy one too. They are super cool and not that expensive. There are two parts. One part goes in or on your shoe. Nike shoes have a special pocket in the shoe for the transmitter. If you aren't a fan of Nike shoes (too narrow of a toebox for me) you can buy this little pouch that straps to your rebel non-Nike shoe. The other part is a little white receiver that attaches to your iPod. You can see it on my iPod below. I usually keep my iPod in one of my butt pockets along with my Gu (I have goo in my butt, ha!). But, this little gadget shows you your pace, distance, time travelled, etc. so you want easy access to it without fumbling in your butt (hee hee). I looked at the armbands that they make for your iPod. Those things are $30 or $40! Can you believe it? That, and they probably wouldn't fit my tiny biceps anyway (child's blood pressure cuff here). So, all this background just to tell you about the elastic armband I made. Whew.

Here are the components together.



Here's the sensor in the pocket. And yes, my damn Puma shoes are pink and glittery. Not my first color choice but they are pretty damn comfortable.



I usually wear this sleeveless but you get the idea. I wear it upside down so I can pull my arm up and see it right side up.


Here's the nitty gritty. It's pretty easy obviously. I put several rows of loop-side velcro so it can be adjusted. You just have to be careful because the velcro doesn't stretch. No use putting non-stretch things on an elastic band, right?



You can see the metal buckle I found isn't quite wide enough for the elastic. I made the 1" strap very tight so there is no chance the iPod will slip out.

Here's how I put on the smaller elastic so I had all finished edges.

It's not much but I did sew something.

Homer - Non-Sewing Photos Ahead

Well, it's no-sew time for me again. We've been in Homer for a week camping, clamming, fishing, and hiking. There is nothing to rev up your sewing mojo like a lack of time to sew. I'm feelin' the itch bad.

We spent several afternoons on the Homer beach. Yes, my kids are wearing coats and long pants. It is warm by Alaskan standards but wet kids, wind, and temperatures in the sixties make for cold little kids. They had a ball trying to stay out of the water and picking up random beach things.



We spent a day fishing for halibut. I need one of those grandpa shirts. You know, the ones that say, "My grandparents went all the way to ________ and all he brought me was this damn t-shirt." You've seen those shirts right? Well I went all the way to Homer and all I caught was damn cod. They are good to eat but wormy. They are so parasitized that several of the fillets were reduced to thumb-sized chunks. Eating roundworms is not one of my favorite things. We know, of course, that we didn't get all the roundworms out of the meat. You just try not to look too closely when you eat it. It's the same with all cod, even the stuff you buy at the store. Cod is a heavily parasitized fish. Period. Next time you eat cod, try not to think about it. So, this is girl #2 with her first cod catch. We caught about 25 of the things. They wouldn't stop getting caught.
ETA: Sorry to make you guys not want to eat cod. I shouldn't also tell you that halibut is heavily parasitized too. Well, salmon too. Parasites are a part of life. You, in fact, have parasites all over you. As long as you cook it well, you'll be fine. Any game meat can be subject to worms too. That's part of the reason why you cook them to a certain temperature.



This is girl #1 with her cod. It's almost as long as she is.


We spent a day inside of Halibut Cove and rented a Forest Service cabin. Only about 5% of Alaska is owned by private individuals. They other 95% is owned by state and federal governments. Much of this land is parks, preserves, and national forest land. While you can not buy this land, the Forest Service has set up a cabin system over much of Alaska. You can hike, bike, or fly into remote regions and stay in these cabins. They are very basic but in places you could not stay otherwise. The cabins I have been in have a wood stove, table, bunk beds, and benches in them. You "rent" the cabin by signing up on the web and paying your $65/night. You can barely see the roof of our cabin if you look closely.




We took a .25mile hike to this rocky beach. My son fell in the water, of course.

He's about to go in. I didn't get a picture of him falling into the water but it was pretty funny. We made him get naked on the beach and we wrung out his clothing. Thank goodness for microfleece. It dries quickly and keeps a person warm even if it's wet.

Oh, oh! Sewing! See that pink top? It's a Jalie.

Rock climbing boy.

Daughter #1 enjoying the chilly bay water.

Here's our cabin. It was quite a task hauling our gear up and down this ladder set of steps.

When we left the cabin we found this fantastic little beach that was swarming with starfish and clams. What is my son doing with his face?? Sigh.

Daughter #1 was in love with the starfish.

Me? I was in love with the clams.

We boiled and cleaned these puppies that night. We bagged and froze them for clam chowder. Well, not before we ate a few.

This was after clamming. My favorite part of this picture is that she fell asleep while playing with her toy. Her sister fell asleep the same way about an hour later. It was peaceful.

So, I wish I could say, "I'm'a gonna whip up some sewing tomorrow!" but I can't. I have to run 10 miles, unpack the boat and car, finish my handsewing on my collar, do 78 loads of laundry before packing the truck again. Monday, I'm leaving to go to Fairbanks for a week to see family. Ugh. Maybe a fast knit top is in order. Maybe I can sneak it in. My husband says I get ornery when I don't sew. Maybe I'll convince him it's better for him if I sew something.

Whittier - Non-Sewing Photos Ahead

Nothing sewin' going on. Skip this post if you aren't interested in Alaska eye candy.

We went to Whittier on a whirlwind camping trip. The girls were with the grandparents so it was me, my husband, and the son. We were visited by several orcas. I think we kept running into the same pod of whales. There was this big male that had a crooked and bent dorsal fin. You can't really see it well in this photo.



Here are his lady friends. They are much smaller and have shorter dorsal fins. We think they were chasing the sea lions. There were several sea lions that were just acting crazy. They were leaping out of the water and staying close to the boat. Usually they don't like boats.



We dropped some shrimp pots and pulled up a small octopus. He's our dinner tonight. Yum. My son named him Kit. Tonight we'll be eating Kit.


Some of the shrimp we pulled up and a very small yelloweye caught by yours truly.

My son, the shrimp master.

We also pulled up a bizarre sea star. I've never seen one like this. The pots were in about 500 feet of water. I would guess this thing would be a square yard if he spread out all the way.

This the tunnel entrance to Whittier. See that mountain? We're going right under it. It's the longest tunnel in North America. It's only the width of a rail car so everyone comes out of Whittier and then, a half hour later, all the people go into Whittier. They have to suck out all the carbon monoxide and vent it to the top of the mountain otherwise it builds up to unsafe levels. Oh, and a train go through it a few times a day too. It carries the supplies into Whittier. They have a small gravel runway for bush planes but this tunnel is really the only way in or out.

In the tunnel . . .

My son looooves to fish. This night he captured a jellyfish in a bucket and some kelp.

Here's our boat. She's 26' long. And yes, she has a bathroom. Really, that's all I care about.

We leave tomorrow for a week long trip to Homer. We'll go clamming, fishing, camping, and visiting with all the kids.

Simplicity 2922 Take Two

I think I got all the kinks out of the pattern. I wanted to do another test before cutting into my silk. The weight and drape is similar to this polyester (?) gauze. It was one of those donated fabrics so I wasn't worried if I destroyed it. It's not particularly fantastic. And the color is exactly the same as surgical scrubs. I only had enough to do the tunic length but I'm only worried about the shoulder area anyway so that's okay. The only thing different from the red dress is that I topstitched the yokes.


These pictures will get bigger if you click on them.



I can't ever hear when my new camera clicks. This time I was turning around as the self-timer was doing it's job. Whoops.


Look away pattern drafters. I don't know what I'm doing. This may look ugly to you but it worked. To remove the gathers in the back I made three slits in the tissue and overlapped it until the notches matched.

Here you can see the bodice and the bottom piece together.

This is really a simple pattern. I added the neck band to the top of the bodice piece for the red dress and didn't change that technique for this version. There are only four pieces for the whole tunic/dress: bodice front, bodice back, lower front, and lower back. Waaaaay easy and no fitting issues because it's a loose and easy pattern. I'll post a proper review later on Pattern Review. I plan to cut into the silk Monday or Tuesday. I have to run eight miles tomorrow morning and then we are going boating/fishing/camping. We'll be back late Sunday and we'll have to unpack. Kristine, this is your chance.

Simplicity 2922 Muslin

So, here again is the dress that I like. I decided on Simplicity 2922 as my base pattern. I made up a muslin today and I think it's coming along nicely.


I had already decided that the belt would go all the way around instead of the buttonhole belt holes. I may or may not add sleeve cuffs. I kind of like them how they are right now so I might now add the cuffs. I cut off about three inches off the top of the sleeve. I'll show all the alterations in a later post when I figure out everything. I'm usually an above the knee kind of gal but I like this length too. This is the first Big 4 pattern that I've ever worked on that really has potential. Maybe I'm just getting better at fitting my body and figuring out what works for me.



The original Simplicity pattern has quite a bit of gathering in the back under the yoke. I did that originally but then I took most of it out. I had to take a 1" tuck in the back yoke. But I realize now, they added seam allowances because they put a zipper in it. I should have taken out the seam allowances on the pattern pieces before cutting it out. Duh. I also took out most of the gathering. I may take out a little bit more. I know the Hot Patterns dress does have gathers but I like this better.


You can see how the the gathers puff out a bit.

It was my birthday yesterday. Not only does my husband buy fabric, he buys me shoes for my birthday. Eat your heart out ladies. He bought this pair and the red patent leather pair I've been coveting.

Couture Jacket Class -- 5

So, when I last left you, the wool was being thread traced. I finished all that on all the pieces. Then, I cut out the interfacing for all the pieces. This is a thinner, drapey wool so all the pieces are interfaced. After I cut out the interfacing, I had to quilt two pieces of interfacing together. This was done by machine. There are two pieces of interfacing on the upper back and upper shoulders. I basted my interfacing to the wool and re-thread-traced the seam allowances and roll line. After I attached my interfacing, I started pad stitching the lapel. I also added a woven tape to the roll line. It's not a twill tape even though it looks like it. And it's not a bias tape. This tape has a slight stretch and recovery to it. That's important. Twill tape does not stretch and bias tape stretches like crazy but doesn't recover. So, you put your woven tape on the roll line and keep it just shorter than you need. I pinned both ends, stretched it to fit, and found the middle. I used a fell stitch to attach the tape to the roll line.


Here's a close-up of the fell stitch. Threads just did a little online tutorial on it. Perfect timing Threads!


Then you get ready to prick your fingers. You roll the lapel like it will be when you are wearing it and start pad stitching. It's an easy stitch and it goes fast. I made 1/4" lines on my interfacing so they were straight.


See how nicely it rolls? The corner of the lapel has smaller, denser padstitching that is almost perpendicular to the other padstitching. This is so the corner really hugs the body.


Now, when I lay the lapel flat, the fabric bubbles. This is exactly what I want. The padstitching creates subtle shaping. The stitches do go all the way through the fabric but the thread is exactly the same color so you can't see it.