July 24, 2010

THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER...AND A BOOK REVIEW...

...the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere.
In the middle Georgia or (The Heart of Georgia), we have started using our "Dog Day" vocabulary: heat advisory (stay in the house); he
at index (the temperature is this, but it really feels like this).

Well, yesterday the heat index in Warner Robins was a sniffling 117 degrees! Can you imagine that! I really, really can't remember it EVER being as hot as it was yesterday. Wet hair, wet clothing, and forget trying to have a hairdo! Well, that's
what happens during the dog days of our summer ya'll.
My summer traveling is all finished except one out of town- one day meeting on Monday; and the one day I've set aside to attend the Bronner Brothers
Hair Show in Atlanta in August. Yesterday I started setting up my BRAND SPANKING NEW (totally renovated and expanded) high school classroom. Our entire school has been renovated; talk about BEAUTIFUL!!! I had to physically move my entire classroom twice before the end of the school year in order to facilitate the renovation. Needless to say stuff is all over the place and I can't find anything. It will probably take a week and a half to get it looking like a class room. But this is so exciting! Pre-planning is the first week of August with school starting on the 9th.
I still can't believe that it's been a full month since I've touc
hed my baby:
I have not worried the least about my little sewing hiatus. I've had so much going on since the beginning of June that I just went with the flow as far as sewing was concerned. I was starting to think I needed a little something to jump start my enthusiasm when I read about this virtual sew-in.
I planned on choosing a pattern to get something started for this, but decided instead to refashion two to of my Lilly Pulitzer knock-off skirts that I made two years ago. Dropping 10 pounds and 7 inches seems like such a little accomplishment, but it has really made a difference in the way some of my clothes are fitting. These two skirts were a little too big in the waist, and a little too a-lineish and long for my taste right no
w, so I decided to make some changes.


I hope that refashioning these two skirts count for this Sew
In. After all during Dog Days I still need to wear things that scream summer - like these prints (LOVE THEM). Let's see what else I can come up with today.....
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Lastly, but certainly not least, I have a new book! The author is someone that many of us are already very familiar with - Deepika Prakash, founder of Patter
n Review.com.

I became interested in sewing again after a 13 year hiatus, and to me sewing was not "like riding a bicycle". I had lost or forgotten many of the useful techniques that I had once used on a regular basis. I was like a fish out of water floundering
around trying to make garments that not only looked decent, but also fit well. That is when I started my Internet search for sewing information and help. It wasn't very long before I found Pattern Review.com with it's wealth of resources. The founder has now compiled "1000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts & Tips" from hundreds of the site's members under one convenient umbrella - this book.
What a neat, "I wish I had thought of doing that" idea. I really love reading books like this, and have often found many little nifty techniques that make my sewing easier. Why work hard when you can work easier? The book's nine chapters are neatly categorized so that sewing information is easy to find.
It includes chapters on:

  • Sewing Gear
  • Setting up Your Sewing Room
  • Design & Pattern Prep
  • Fabric, Thread & Notions
  • Layout, Cutting & Marking
  • Fitting
  • Sewing
  • Finishing, &
  • Embellishments
In addition, some very well known masters teachers, such as: Sarah Veblen, Susan Khalje, Kenneth King, Shannon Gifford, and Ana Mazur have made valuable contributions to the book. One of the best things about this is that the author has donated all royalties from the book to breast cancer research. How amazing is that?

I even recognize many of the members who contributed to the book, many are fellow bloggers. The book has not actually been released yet, but can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com. I am happy to add
"1000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts & Tips" to my sewing resource library.

July 15, 2010

ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN ISP...

First it's on, then it's off, on again, then off the next day, now it's back on again! I guess I'm officially addicted because I want to scream when I'm without my internet service! All I could do was grit my teeth because I'm certainly not going to pull out my hair (took me too long to grow it back). When the service is out, all I can think about is what I want to google but can't!

For reasons unknown to me my sewing hiatus has been extended. Since before my vacation the only sewing has been to finish the off white linen pants that were so close to being completed before I left. All I needed to do was sew on two buttons and hem the lining and the pants. I really love this fabric and wish that I had gotten more of it. It has such a smooth and creamy feel to it. I battled with the fact that the pants needed to be lined, but they turned out nicely and wore pretty darn good to boot. Here's a little self photography just before going to work . (I must have gotten up early that morning since I had time to do this.)




I think I could have hemmed them just a bit shorter. My TNT pattern still needs a little more tweaking because I am losing weight, and plan to lose quite a bit more-Lord willing. As I said, the pants wore nicely, but are just a bit large through the hip and leg area - (feels really good to say that). Since I started them a few weeks ago (I've lost 9 1/2 pounds & 5 inches overall). I might go under that lining to make adjustments - notice I did say might. All in all this slightly vintage pattern is working out for me. I do however feel that it's time for me to experiment with other pants patterns though. But I'll keep this old Simplicity pattern close by as my go to pants pattern when I need a pair in a hurry.

Got to make another trip, but hopefully I'll be really revved up to sew when I get back. Normally I get really concerned on the rare occasions when I'm just not in the mood to sew - but not this time. I have more than enough fabric, patterns, equipment and inspiration stored up in here to make major wardrobe impact as soon as the mood shows back up. I've got another month for summer sewing, and with high school starting in just a few weeks I really need to garner up some motivation. But for right now, I'm just going with it. Thank God that when He created EBB tide, He also made provisions for FLOW...

July 5, 2010

A SEWING HIATUS...

I really thought that I'd go out of my mind if I couldn't sew or do something sewing related for 11 days - but to my surprise I did! I tried my best to get my sewing case in my suitcase, but with the 50 lb limit I was sure that the thing was already too heavy. So I left the sewing case at home only to get to the airport and find that the thing only weighed 37 pounds - man was I off. So admiring other peoples clothes, a little snoop shopping and fabric shopping was the extent of my sewing related experience for those 11 days. Boy did I enjoy being with my family!!! I was pampered and got some much needed rest while there. Once a year is just not enough. So taking some time away from sewing was well worth it.

I did find some wonderful pieces to add to my fabric stash - mostly knits - because as you are aware that is where my love lies (lol). All in all I added 45 yards of knits, woolens and wovens, plus 12 yards of a gorgeous lining to my stash.




So do I have all of the fabric I want? Heck naugh! I'm a greedy seamstress I must admit. But I do have enough to make some lovely pieces, and probably more than I can actually sew up in a year. There's still two months of summer left and countless fashion inspirations floating around in my mind before I'll need to start fall/winter sewing.

I did get to wear my zebra jacket and it fit perfectly! No pulling anywhere, the front closure was just right, and I am quite proud of it too. Oh yeah, and I'm also wearing the white pants with the zipper opening on the wrong side. Zipping and buttoning them is a little weird, but other wise they are fine. Now to figure out what the next project to work on...

Paying Homage to Black Pattern Designers...

...for years February has been set aside as a special time to learn about and recognize accomplishments of African Americans and other peopl...