Tagged

I was tagged a while ago by Melissa and then recently by Christina.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

• Living in sin with my to-be husband.
• Just graduated with my BS in BS. (Biological Sciences)
• Starting my MAT in Education
• Debating whether to continue my summer job as an Aquatic Entomological Taxonomist (read: water bug classifier)

What are 5 things on my to-do list today?

• Finish up order for the hospital -- DONE
• Finish up sewing for MIL (short, quick sewing task) -- DONE
• 1 load of laundry -- DONE-ish. It's washed and dried but not put away.
• wash new fabric and test wool swatches with topstitching -- DONE
• get birthday present for birthday girl on Sunday -- eh . . . not yet?

Snacks I enjoy.

• Salty snacks. Salt and vinegar chips? Yum!
• Fresh fruit
• Nuts
• CHEESE (and most things dairy)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

• Buy land -- not sure where
• Set up education funds for my kids. These funds would not pay 100% for their tuition but would pay 50% of something like that.
• Play
• Sew

Places I have lived.

• Dillingham, Fairbanks, and Anchorage, Alaska
• Clemson, South Carolina (working at the Savannah River Plant, YIKES!)
• Tramway Bar Mine, Alaska (middle fork of the Koyukuk)

What are these and how do you use them?

When my husband's grandmother died last year, I inherited a bunch (a ton!) of different things. Most of the things are no-brainers; ribbon, fabric, beads, rickrack, etc. But there are some things that I just don't know how to use. For example, these snaps. Are there parts missing? I have lots of them but don't know how to apply them. Do I need a certain tool?

Then I have this set of tools. I think they are for setting snaps but I don't really know. They were all in a medicine bottle along with the wooden spool. It seems that she used the spool with these tools but for what? And what are those hook-things for?

Here is a close-up of the ends. They are concave to differing degrees and the male ends are different diameters.

Got 'er done!

These are the same photos from PR. I like to post them here also so you can see them without going through all the links on the review.

I love it.

Oh, and to those who are amazed at my speed. You know all that other stuff you guys do? Like housework? Bills? Grocery shopping? Spending time with spouses? Running kids around? I don't do it. My husband does all the bills and shopping when he is in town every two weeks (hence the blog title), my kids aren't old enough to go anywhere yet, and I have this 15-mintue rule about housework. You will notice that when my husband is here for his two weeks that I sew less because I like to spend some time with him. But when he is gone, watch out (he's currently gone). I only clean my house is 15-minute increments. Usually I do it twice a day. If you set a watch, you would be amazed what you can get done in a solid 15 minutes. I do spend one day a week doing deep cleaning (that's what I tell myself). That being said, I have three small kids so my house is always a mess. Sewing is my sanity.

Burda - 05-2008-105 Jacket in brown wool

I love this pattern. It really reminds me of this Threads pattern that got so many reviews last year. I didn't think of that until I was looking at these pictures I took this morning. But, replace the elastic with a belt and you've pretty much got it. I didn't like the HUGE sleeves of the Threads version. It is even the same(ish) color.

I love it in this wool. I'll get a lot of wear out of it as a light jacket. In the fall, it can just be a beefy blouse. This wool is so soft and non-itchy it would be fine. I am almost done. This thing calls for three decorative buttons and five sewn-in snaps. I don't mind sewing in snaps but I'm a s l o w hand-sewer. I'll update my review on PR when I get it accomplished later today. I will be taking the elastic out of the back and making a longer piece so it isn't so tight. If feels fine but I think it would look better a little looser. I can't for the life of me find the elastic measurements in the BWOF magazine. I just guessed at how big the elastic should be. Following Lindsey T's advice, I covered my buttons with the wool fabric. Love it. I should have gone one size larger though.

Burda - 05-2008-105 Jacket

This is a super cute pattern. This is my "muslin" for my real wool one I want to wear over my party dress next week. This thing is so comfortable and nice-fitting. I'll give it a real review tomorrow on PR but thought that ya'll would like to see the progress so far. You gotta love pleats, raglan sleeves, bias center band, and cuffs.

I used the same cheapy (but cute) fabric as I used on this Burda WOF skirt. BWOF says to use lightweight blouse fabrics with some body and this fabric seems to work create. My wool is a twill that had a soft hand. I think it will be perfect. I put the center band on the bias for some interest.


It is the details of BWOF that I love. This jacket has 4 pleats up top and elastic inserts in casing that give it shape in the front and back. The buttons that are on it are not the real ones. If you noticed, they are all different versions of white/bone buttons. I think I'll use a neutral bone colored button but use a bigger one. BWOF isn't any help they just say, "three large buttons."

Burda - 05-2008-104 Dress

Pattern Description: Need an easy-care travel dress that can be worn day or night? Then pack this style in your suitcase! It has a sexy cinched waist, a plunging V-neckline and extravagant waist gathers that are accentuated by a buckle.

Pattern Sizing:34-42. I made the size 34. When Burda uses a knit, I'm a 34 and with a woven I make a 36 for my shoulders.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Yes, except I used a tab instead of a buckle.

Were the instructions easy to follow?Actually, yes. I don't know if I'm just getting used to them or if this is better than average. I love the bodice facing/lining pieces. I am using this technique on my other lined bodices. If you made this and skipped that part thinking, "I hate facings on a knit" you should glance at them so you have this technique. I almost skipped it and just did a knit binding but I'm glad I did it their way. Here is the inside. You can see all the serger tails. Oops. I did not finish the bottom on the lining because it will not ravel and I didn't want it to show through on the outside.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I love this style. I'm not sure about this knit for this dress. I really like the belt draping part and you can't really see it with this fabric.

Fabric Used:A Gorgeous Fabrics poly/lycra knit. I really like this fabric.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:I made my usual high-bust tuck of 1/2" between shoulders and bust. I chopped about 2 inches off the hem so it is just knee length. After I put it all together I took out another inch off the side seams tapering to nothing at high hip. I also made this little tuck right above my butt. I am thinking more and more that I should be doing a swayback adjustment for dresses. What do you think? See my profile here. Isn't this basically what I did on my dress? I'm asking because I'm not sure. I raised the neckline by an inch and a half after reading the other reviews. After wearing it, I am thinking it would look better a little lower. I can go back and re-sew that part if I decide to later. I could go down the entire 1.5" and it would be fine on my "non-girls". Here is the back. I made a pintucked/topstitched woven tab to pull the waist drape together. The jury is still out whether I like it or not. I wanted to emphasize the waistband and I figured that the same busy fabric would not work. My JoAnn's only had crappy buckles.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?Yes, I would love to do a print with a dark contrast band across the stomach. And yes, make this dress!

Conclusion: Another Burda hit. Love them! Oh, and my husband did get me a subscription for Mother's Day. Wooot!

Coat Sew-Along Muslin with Tweaks

Here is the muslin tweaked a bit. I'm not sure why the pictures are so dark.

• I took in the back, right above my butt, about two inches and tapered to nothing at the hem and mid-back. I think this is similar to a sway-back adjustment but I'm not sure about that either. That way, it is more snug around my back but leaves ample room for my backside too.
• I shortened the length by two inches. You can see the horizonal line running behind the bottom set of buttons. Obviously that line will not be there on the real version. I left the belt loops alone since making that two inch tuck made the loops higher. I really like where the belt is now. The belt is at high hip.

I wanted to make sure that the "butt-grip" factor was not an issue today. This is unlined because it is a muslin and it kept bunching up. Today I wore a long tricot slip to act as a lining. I pulled it up to my armpits and let the bottom act as a "lining" for my coat. It seemed to work well except it was too long and kept hanging out the bottom.

I really like this fabric. It is a cheapy Joann's acrylic/poly blend. I may try to get some tweedy wool to make this coat because I like how the striped chevron on the back and princess seams.

Now, I am going to leave this project a alone for a while and sew along with the Coat Sew-Along folks. I have a hard time stopping when I get going on a project.