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Thursday, July 24, 2014

Unselfish Sewing

I don't know if you've noticed but I did take vacation this week. Usually I hype these days up in my mind and here on the blog, because they're 7-8 days of uninterrupted sewing bliss.  Not so this time...

Somehow, I've become uninspired to sew for myself.  I have ideas but nothing that's driving me to want to spend quality time with my sewing machines.  I actually thought that I might not sew at all this vacay...but then The Little Prince needed some shorts and my Mom asked for a nightgown from some fabric that she must have cut out years ago.

So Tuesday and Wednesday I did spend time sewing the following:

Five pairs of shorts for The Little Prince ~


Five pairs of shorts - denim, sweatshirt, ltwt. linen, medwt. linen, 
seersucker leftover from this outfit

Seersucker shorts with cuffs

Sweatshirt shorts used twin needle 
sewing  for embellishment

To note the backs of some shorts added a rectangle of stitching
instead of the ribbon that I normally add

The first pair were fitted and sewn on Sunday and blogged about here

Since I was already in the "sewing for others mood", when my Mom shared the cut fabric and pattern with me, I told her that I would finish it up.  No modeled shots but here are some hanger shots for you.  

The fabric is cotton and my Mom just wanted a "house dress" from it.  So I enlarged the neckline...omitted the zipper...and stitched the entire thing together on my serger.  The neckline, armholes and hem were pressed flat and stitched down.

Out of print McCalls Pattern


Dress with enlarged neckline so that my Mom could just slip it on

Full size pic of the dress

The Burda Seminar was this morning and if you attended, I really appreciated it. I have 3.5 more days of vacation before I head back to work...don't know if I'm going to sew for myself yet or if I'm going to watch a lot of movies or read a book.

...as always more later!

19 comments:

  1. You sewn a lot of great garments this year, so maybe a break from work and sewing will re inspire you. I'm sure you'll be back to sewing for yourself before you know it. There is definitely going to be something to inspire you out there!

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  2. I love your stitched-rectangle idea to note the back of the shorts! I usually just do a make-shift tag out of bias or twill tape for my daughter's pants/shorts/leggings/skirts, but I like the rectangle idea a lot better--I'd think it would be more comfortable.

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  3. Sounds like some good pallet cleansing sewing!

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  4. I think the time was well spent. I'm sure the little prince will get a lot of wear out of his new shorts. And your mom is probably happy too. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.

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  5. My son has me put a button on the front waistband of the onepiece bottoms for him. I've been doing it on mine now, an easier find for bad eyesighted me.

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  6. Those are some snazzy shorts! He's going to be the best dressed young man on the beach. And the dress for your mom is really nice as well. I think everyone eventually needs a break so they can recharge their batteries, so enjoy your vacation whatever you do.

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  7. I loved the webinar. I wish you would hold a sewing retreat/ conference.

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  8. Silly me forgot that the webinar started at 11:00 and not 11:30.... so I heard half of it - but the half I did hear was good! Looking forward to getting a copy so I can see the entire presentation.

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    1. First, thanks for attending! Second, I'm glad you got to hear some of it but you will receive an audio version of it so you will get to hear the seminar in its entirety. Glad you enjoyed what you heard!

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  9. Well it seems to me you have been rather productive during your vacation! But that's my idea of a fun vacation - time to sew. Your mom and The Little Prince are very lucky to have received those fabulous garments.

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  10. The little prince will look great in those shorts. Lovely dress for your mother.

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  11. How awesome of you to have sewn all these items for your family. Everything looks great!

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  12. I stitch the family name tags on the inside of the back waistband. I had a set of "made by Grandma" labels created for a close friend. Her grandchildren think they are super, mostly because that's how they can tell front from back...
    Enjoy the rest of your holiday, whatever that entails.

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  13. Great shorts and lovely dress. I'm reassured that you loose our mojo too when on vacation with plenty of time to sew. I thought it was just me.
    -sewingelle

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  14. Love your productive acts of kindness. Enjoy the remainder of the vacation!

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  15. Those little shorts are just so cute. I wish I had a little one to sew for. My husband just doesn't quite cut it for a project like this :)

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  16. Those shorts are too cute!

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  17. I don't know how I missed this one. Guess it was posted during one of my crazy busy weeks.

    Your mom's housedress is adorable. No doubt, it is one of her prized possessions. I notice that I'm making more of these for myself. I guess working and writing from home has increased my desire/need for being comfortable. The cute clothes are for going out, not sitting around the house.

    I love the shorts you made for your grandson. Be on the lookout for when he demands more from Grandma. My son was 4 when he saw me sewing one afternoon and yelled as he was running by, "If you are making pants for me, would you PLEASE put a zipper in them." I was tickled to death. At that very moment, I decided it was time to start buying the boy's pants. I simply didn't want to be bothered with the work involved in adding a 2" zipper and a fly to those little pants. :)

    Enjoy the little ones while you can. They grow up way too fast.

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