Focusing on Enjoyment for 2013

Have you seen So I Sewed This blog?  She's funny, witty, loves sewing and is spreading her Enjoyment around too!

I really like this idea and it sounds so right for 2013.  The last couple of years have been challenging for me and 2012 started to turn that around.  There are many things I want to do and accomplish but the most important thing for me is to focus on enjoyment. One of the things I really enjoy is sewing and that was a hidden passion until I discovered it April 2012.   

So, how will I focus on enjoyment? some of them sound like goals

• I'll continue sewing for my pleasure and I won't feel bad that I mostly sew with knits.  
• go at my own pace ~ I'm not in a race to learn everything at once, that goes for blogging too
• plan my projects better so I don't stress about them
• experiment play with other fabrics and fitted patterns
• just remember to enjoy!

Would you like to join in Enjoyment?  Check out So I Sewed This or just take a copy of the image above for your blog and post a list of what you'll do to focus on enjoyment! Leave a comment with a link to your blog too!

Happy Sewing! 
 

Which one will it be?

This weekend will be busy - I'll (hopefully) make my Hollyburn Skirt, begin working on my Tiramisu and turn this lovely jersey fabric:

Into one of these:

Vogue 8663

Vogue 8379

 I haven't decided which one yet, but which one would you choose?

Wacky Fabric Choice for Hollyburn Skirt

Ever buy fabric online and then wonder what you were thinking when it arrived?  Well....

hmmmm, not sure about this now....

I'm shaking my head

I'm really not sure what I was thinking when I chose this but that's not going to stop me from making the Hollyburn Skirt!  After all, the fabric (it's a cotton lawn and very lightweight with a nice drape) and the lining is here so I might as well use it.  haha - I'm very curious to see if I'm going to hate this print when I'm done with the skirt.......

So, hehe, what do you think of this print ~ think I can "make it work"? 

I'm participating in Rachel from My Messings  sew along for Sewaholic's Hollyburn Skirt.  

Liebster Award ~ Discover New Blogs!

Thank you so I sewed this for the Liebster award!  It's always fun to discover new sewing blogs and there are so many out there with great content.  Of course, the most common thing we share is that we all love to sew and enjoy seeing what others have created out of fabric and thread. 

The purpose of this award is to bring blogs that have less than 200 followers into the limelight and increase their readership.  The rules are: 

• Post 11 random facts about yourself

• Answer 11 questions that your nominator asked you
• Nominate up to 5 other blogs for the award and ask them 11 questions of your own"

  11 random facts about me (this is making me squirm! it's like answering the most dreaded question - tell me about yourself ):

1. I began sewing in April 2011 and now love it. 

2. I lived in NYC for most of my life but never sewed when I lived there so never shopped at the Garment District!

3. I used to work on the mezzanine level of the Twin Towers (the World Trade Center)

4. I drive to work everyday now (which I enjoy so much more than taking the train!)

5. My favorite shoes are Miz Mooz

6. I've been to Guatemala ~ beautiful country!!

7. I do not like egg whites, will try to avoid them as much as possible.

8. I have a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology - because at one time I wanted to be an archaeologist.

9. I love riding my bike but I don't get to do it very often :(

10.I love chocolate and mangoes (not together)

11. My favorite zoo is the Bronx Zoo. 

well, that wasn't so hard after all

----

 My answers to the 11 questions from my nominator:

1. What's your day job when you're not sewing?  I am a Budget Analyst meaning I analyze budgets for a local government.

2. What's your birthday? My birthday is March 2.

3. What's your favorite fabric to sew with?  That's easy - KNITS!

4. What's the best sewing tip you can give me?  Use tutorials! Sometimes it's so much easier to follow a tutorial than a pattern instruction. 

5. What's your favorite notion? My favorite notion is my thread clipper - really, it's perfect.

6. what's your favorite project you've sewn (and include a link if you posted about it)? well, I have an A-line dress that I love to wear because it is so comfortable and very flattering on my figure.  It was made from a navy blue double knit fabric.  I normally wear it with a skinny belt.  

My favorite dress

7. What's a pet peeve of yours?  I don't like when people insist that there is only ONE way to do something.  It usually implies that only THEIR way is the right way.  NO.

8. What are your favorite tv shows or movies?  The Dark Knight Trilogy is one of my favorites, Bourne trilogy, the Walking Dead, the Tudors, there's more but too many to list.

9. What's your favorite type of music (name a specific band if you'd like)  I like all different kinds of music - my Ipod has reggae, old school rap (80's & 90's), r & b, rock, salsa, alternative, classical....

10. Why did you start blogging?   I started blogging as a way to connect with other bloggers

11. Why did you decide to start sewing? I decided to start sewing because I wanted to wear more dresses and I have a hard time finding RTW dresses that fit.  Usually in RTW - something that fits on top does not fit my hips.  So, I thought making my own dresses would solve that problem - and it has!! 

----

and my 11 questions for the new blogs that I'm nominating (this is a lot to write!):

1. How long have you been sewing?

2. How did you learn to sew (did you go to school, self-taught, mother, aunt, uncle, etc)?

3. What motivates you to sew?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Where is your favorite place to shop for fabrics and notions?

6. What's your favorite type of project to sew?

7. Will you sew a new challenge this year, if so, what will it be?

8. What's your least favorite type of garment to sew?

9. Do you have a sewing room?

10. Do you or would you teach others to sew?

11. How often do you buy patterns or do you draft your own?

----

and, i would like to pass this Liebster Award on to the following 5 blogs:

A Little of What You Fancy

Ten Thousand Hours of Sewing

Sewing in Style

Sew Silly

All the Whimsical Things

Reblogging :: paunnet ::: Happy Birthday!

Paunnet is celebrating a birthday!  Wishing you many happy birthdays, Paunnet! She's also hosting a giveaway of a Deer and Doe pattern.  I haven't tried any of them (yet) but I've seen a few around the 'net and I think I may have to try sometime.  I've never tried them before because they are written in French.  Well, not anymore!  Click on the link to follow to her blog or continue reading here:  

:: paunnet ::: Happy Birthday!: Hey! Today I turn 26 and it's also my blog's second anniversary! I just can't believe it's already been two years. I started writing here because ever since I started reading Gertie, I was so in love with the sewing blogosphere and I really wanted to be part of it.
I've grown so attached to this blog, to the possibility to share one of my main interests with other people and to the incredible support I've received since the beginning.

Thanks to this blog, I've been motivated to sew more, I've met some incredible people and I've been included in lots of amazing projects.

One of these, and definitely the dearest to me, was contributing to Deer & Doe. Ever since I discovered Eléonore's patterns, I was more than smitten by her talent and was a huge supporter of her work. We started emailing regularly, we decided to host a sew-along together and speaking of the huge request for an English translation of her patterns, she asked me if I was interested in translating them.
I'm a trained translator, and while I would usually refuse to translate into a language that is not my mother tongue, I am confident enough in my English sewing vocabulary that I accepted. And after some opportune proof-reading, the patterns are finally available in English!

I'm not a big fan of birthdays, I get embarrassed when I'm the center of attention and although I like to receive presents, I also love to give them! So, to celebrate little old me and my blog, and to show you all my gratitude, I'm giving away a Deer & Doe pattern of your choice.

To enter the giveaway, you need to be following my blog (please specify how) and just leave a comment telling me what present you'd like for your birthday. Please leave an email address for me to get in touch.

For extra entries, you can:

✄ Tweet about it (+1)
✄ Like me on Facebook (+1)
✄ Share on your blog (+1)

For each additional entry, please leave an extra comment below.
The giveaway ends on January 12, 11:00am GMT. Good luck!


Go enter Paunnet's giveaway!  Good luck!
...

Happy New Year and NL 6149 - I FOUND IT!!

First things first - I wish everyone a HAPPY and safe NEW YEAR! 

I'm not really celebrating this year due to scattered, working or not-feeling-so-great family members. :(  I wish they were all around but that's how it is sometimes.  At midnight I'll be driving back home after picking someone up from work.  Crossing my fingers for a safe drive. 


On to where my excitement lies tonight:


I searched high and low and searched again.  I checked out Ebay, Etsy, Googled and Googled and finally I FOUND NL 6149.  Yay me.  Seriously I'm excited, especially since it's out of print and not even Simplicity.com has it for sale on their website.  

Here's the blog post that inspired this desperate search:  NL 6149

 

The only drawback?  It was a downloadable pattern which meant using lots of paper, glue and ink. During printing I ran out of ink - ugh.  I ran out, got the ink and armed with the glue I set to work.  It took such a long time!  I think I watched listened to two movies while I got crafty.  There were so many pages and then I realized, silly me, that I didn't have to do the skirt portion since I wasn't planning on making the skirt - DUH!

I ended up with about three pages of 41 pages each.  Luckily I don't mind the smell of rubber cement.

At last, at last, I finished and I carefully cut out the pieces and sewed up a muslin to check my fit.
Almost perfect but not quite, but still freaking cute!!

After sewing this up, I can see why this pattern is probably out of print - the concept is really cute, in my opinion, but there are a couple of technical issues that need to be addressed.

Changes I need to make:
1.  Lengthen the torso.  I am not by any means a long-waisted gal.  I'm on the short side and I thought this was too short.  If I left it the way it is - there would a whole lot of muffin going on and that's just not cute, hence why the muslin is on the dressfrom and not on me.  
2. The neck facing is wonky - it needs to be interfaced and lengthened to actually reach the seam at the shoulders.  The muslin does not have the neck facing in place.  I may even consider not adding one.
3.  The ties need to be lengthened as well - I personally would like them a few inches longer.  I also interfaced the ties (a hint I got from Mimi G.) and I really like how that worked out. 
4.  I will probably take a little out of the sleeves at the armpit area.  I think I want the sleeves to be fitted more.  I can probably add a band at the bottom of the sleeve as well. 

Conclusion - this is too cute to pass up.  You will definitely see another version here soon - I just need to get some pretty bright jersey fabric. 

Happy New Year!  Be safe

I found a Wrap Top Pattern!

I've been obsessing over a wrap top for a few weeks now.  I HAVE to have one.  I've order the Pavlova wrap top that Steph C from sewingcake.com has coming out.  Today is the last day of the pre-sale FYI.  Unfortunately, I have to wait till February to get it! wah, I want it now.  So my search continued.

Welll, I found a pattern on Ebay that just might work.

 It's an 80's pattern I think but the polka dot view top is just what I'm looking for...maybe.  I really want something that will work with jersey or a double knit.  Maybe a  little longer on the hips too - kind of like a peplum look but wrapped.  Do you know what I mean?  I think it'll make a cute summer top.

Well, it's ordered since it was listed for a GREAT price.  It looks simple enough but I'm still going to make a muslin for it once I get it. 

I tried making one out of Simplicity 1880 - mmm yeah, not so much.