A Week in Review - Week Six

This is my latest week in review...

Let's start with a Coronavirus Update:
I've been home since March 13th...and I've had some good days, some bad days and some days where I just wanted to sleep the day away. Many mornings I wake up now not knowing what day it is because they're all kinda running together...and I'm still sewing less than I thought I would.

Now this is not to say that I don't realize how blessed I am. My family is still healthy which I say prayerfully since I have two daughters who are considered essential personnel and they go out to work.  One daughter is working from home more than she's out checking on the personnel at the warehouses but every time she leaves the house, I hold my breathe.  The other daughter is the manager of a stock-out crew at the supermarket and luckily she works at night...though two people at her store have been diagnosed with Corvid-19.

I'm still working from home, getting paid and have healthcare so I'm grateful and very thankful for this! However, I have NO idea when I'm going back to work in NYC since it's the epicenter of the disease right now.

Okay some sewing updates...
Let's talk fabric in and out totals since it's the beginning of a new month.

This month 9 yards of fabric arrived in the cave - 3 yards was a gift and 6 yards purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics.

Then I went on a cutting frenzy and cut a bunch of stuff for a cut pile.  This was before I was home bound and believed I would go back to work in 2-3 weeks. So I cut a lot of tops and cardigans to wear over jeans - my standard work outfit. I cut out 21.5 yards of fabric. I've made exactly three pieces from this cut pile.

I did well this month with balancing my in and out totals. This means my year-to-date totals are:  24 yards in and 35.5 yards out - I have 11.5 yards more out than I have in during this first quarter. So while not great, it's a good start.

Sewn Garments ~
Like I said earlier, I'm not sewing as much as I thought I would...three weeks in I'm still adjusting.  Some of it is that I don't like to wear jeans at home, I'm definitely a maxi dress, maxi skirt woman at home.  So my cut pile is totally unappealing since it's an outside the house wardrobe.

It took me a minute to realize that I could wear my Myosotis dresses and other maxis while I'm home. Once I spent a week getting dressed in maxi dresses and feeling more like myself, I shifted my sewing and pulled fabric for more summer maxi dresses.

I've presently got two Myosotis maxi dresses on the cutting table. Since this is what I'm wearing and feel like sewing these will be up on the blog soon.

Other sewing things ~

Lisa, the owner of Black Women Stitch and the podcast, Stitch Please recorded a podcast with me pre-Corvid-19 and it's now available to listen to here. I have a couple of things to say and yes, I rail about pdf patterns again. At least I'm consistent people! *LOL* I hope you will give it a listen, as well as listen to some of Lisa's other podcasts.

Finally, it's April...April in a time such as this...  I hope you and yours are safe, that if you have a shelter in place/just stay home order that you're making it through...


...as always more later!  

A Week in Review - Week Five

It's the end of the first week in March and Daylight Savings Time starts tomorrow! O-M-G! It's been such a mild winter here in the tri-state area that I'm so ready for spring! Sooooo ready! 

I can tell the weather is changing because my sewjo is low. I always seem to feel this way when the seasons change and I'm just riding with it. I had no plans to sew this weekend, was going to do a family thing, but coronavirus changed travel plans so I'm home in the sewing cave.

Another travel change due to coronavirus, I'm not heading to Europe in the spring. My travel companion and I have flexible vacation schedules so we decided to wait until fall to make the trip. I'm sure everything will be resolved by then and Europe will need my tourist dollars even more.

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Since it's cold here one day and warm the next, I've just been cutting out garments to sew for March and April.  Here's my cut pile:

There's a lot of blue in there! Which not only is the color of the year but is my favorite color.

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February Totals ~
Now that I look back at February, it was a pretty busy month.  
      
      * I did the 2-day Sew-In at Urban Sewciety
      * Went to the Dapper Dan Talk at FIT with sewing friends
      * Had a family party
      * Saw the "Black Lives Matter" Display at FIT with the same sewing friends and 
         then again with a work friend.

An Ankara Suit that reminds me of something Beyonce would wear!

Madame CJ Walker display - Netflix series premieres on March 20th

A sewing section that featured designers, sewing machines and notions

Black dolls - that American Girl doll resided at my house in the 90s

Made from bottle caps - it was stunning!

I blogged a few makes from January.  I was sewing faster than I was taking pictures ~

My TNT shirts and my Tester Version of the Fuller Cardigan

Also blogged were my February Makes ~

A sleeveless Pembroke tunic with a coordinating Fuller Cardigan

A Lace Shirt and a Simplicity 8687

  

This of course brings me to my Fabric In and Out Totals ~
If I wanted to buy every piece of yardage that wasn't nailed down last year, I have no desire to do so this year. I just want to sew from my collection. I've even taken to deleting fabric emails without looking at them (no I don't want to get off their mailing lists), and I've set some personal goals regarding fabric buying.

February Fabric In:  
8 yards from Urban Sewciety
(In all honesty, I won a $40 gift certificate that I felt should be used that weekend! LOL!)

February Fabric Out:
10.5 yards for the garments pictured above

My YTD in total is 15 yards and my YTD out total is 14 yards. So I'm doing good but I can do better. I plan to do better!
 

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The Right Tool for the Job ~
While working on my lace shirt, I found cutting the fabric out to be challenging.  I went through several pairs of scissors to get the pair that made cutting the thick lace easiest.

I tried my Kai scissors which usually work for EVERYTHING! But in this instance had challenges getting through the heavy fabric. A lightweight pair of Ginghers, an older pair of Wise and finally touched my silver 8" Ginghers which did the job! Two weeks after the shirt was done, I was still sweeping up black lace bits.

That's my weekly and end of month update. Today I'm sitting in the sewing cave, getting ready to alter a pattern and cut out one more garment. I may or may not sew today...probably will tomorrow...so it's going to be a minute before a finished garment shows up here on the blog.


...as always more later!

A Week in Review - Week Four

I didn't do a week in review last week so I have a lot to share! Settle in because there are quite a few pictures too...

Sew In at UrbanSewciety ~
I was really excited to attend the Sew In at UrbanSewciety last weekend and I was NOT disappointed. UrbanSewciety hosted a two day sew-in. Saturday from 9am to 7pm with breakfast, lunch and dinner served and Sunday from 9am to 5pm with breakfast and lunch served.  We only needed to bring the projects we wanted to work on and our enthusiasm. You could sign up for the entire weekend or for either Saturday or Sunday.  My friend Melanie and I signed up for the entire weekend.  I met so many local sewists and quilters and had a wonderful time sewing at their amazing studio.

I took two pre-cut projects to work on - Simplicity 8687 and a sleeveless shirt pattern. I spent my entire weekend working on S8687 because I added so many design elements to it.

A Few Photos from the weekend:

My sewing companion for the weekend. UrbanSewciety uses these sewing machines because they work for all of the classes they teach as well as the classes and summer camps for kids. By the end of the weekend she'd become my best friend!

One of the best things about the sewing studio is that it was well stocked with pressing, cutting and marking tools. Each table had a set of prewound bobbins in a multitude of colors that you could use and if a specific foot wasn't in your machine it was in a nearby machine.

The studio is well lit and each sewing table has enough space to work at. It is the perfect set up and if you forgot anything or need something, there's always the store in the front where you can purchase things.

Working on Simplicity 8687

My table at the end of the first evening

The goodie bag was loaded with treats!

Old & New Sewing Friends ~

Me and Melanie - met at Sew Camp been hanging ever since!

Betty & Margaret

Margaret drove all the way from Massachusetts to participate!

It was so cool to meet you both!!!

Meg

One of the owners of SewCiety with a project for the kid's sewing classes

...and a fabric purchase...well I also won a gift certificate so that helped facilitate the buy!

4 yards of a rayon knit and 4 yards of a rayon from Ruby Star Society

BTW, did you know that the designers from Cotton & Steel moved to the Ruby Star Society team? Meg told me when I asked why she was carrying that line instead of Cotton & Steel.

I will definitely do this again and will probably attend one of their Friday night sew-ins as well. It's a wonderful local resource that I hope all NJ sewists will visit - for the classes and the fabric.

Updating my Dressform ~ 
I've been meaning to pad my dressform out since I got it in December 2018. But me being who I am, the sewing takes precedence over everything...even though this is technically sewing, right!  

The Roxy Display Company made my dressform. I was on their Amazon site looking for a stand to add to my older dressform when I stumbled upon this "dressform fitting system."  I wanted a Fabulous Fit Padding Kit but every time I was ready to buy it, the extra large padding set was sold out. So I went with this one.

It was easy to pad my dressform especially since my shoulders and bustline are exactly the same. I just needed help from the underbust down.  So I pinned the pads on and added a layer of batting to the front and back enclosing the pads.

Then I forced the cover down the dressform.  At first I was kinda upset that it wasn't smooth...but in reality I'm not smooth either so I went with it. I will use it this way for awhile and see how I like it. To me it was an excellent purchase for $39.95 and helped change my dressform to look more like me.

Seeing Dapper Dan at FIT ~
Not only does FIT have the amazing museum with it's revolving displays but they also have monthly talks hosted by Valerie Steele.  If you want to know what the talks are get on FIT's email list. I've never been to one of the talks, signed up for one years ago but had a family emergency and was unable to attend.

This time Wanett asked if I wanted to go and it was an automatic yes! Dapper Dan's new book was on my to buy list so I really wanted to hear him speak. He did not disappoint! Found out that Syreeta was attending too so the three of us teamed up to attend.

It was a great evening! Thank you both for going with me!

Simplicity 8687 ~

I spent all of last weekend working on the topper. It needs buttonholes, buttons, to be hemmed and it will be done. Will definitely finish it off this weekend. I'm also working on a party outfit for a family event next weekend since it's a 3 day weekend. We're celebrating President's Day here in the US.

Hope you made it all the way to the end. I know this was a long one but I did combine two weeks worth of sewing events in one.

...as always more later!

Week in Review - Week Three

Yes, I finally put the buttons and buttonholes on the shirts and had some pictures taken.  The first shirt has already come to the blog.  The others will follow shortly.

I don't know why it takes me so long to make the buttonholes because it's not like I hand sew them. Or that my sewing machine doesn't make excellent buttonholes...I was just being lazy about it. But it's done now so next...

I also worked some more on Simplicity 8687 ~

...continuing on with my winter sewing. I haven't made a topper yet this winter and I wanted something a little unstructured and more top like. So far this is fitting the bill.

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I ordered Fabric last week and it arrived over the weekend. Five yards of this ltwt. polyester bubble crepe print. It was the deal of the day for $1.99 a yard from Fabric Mart. Even with shipping added for one piece, it made it $4 per yard. Still a great value. I want to use this fabric for a summer maxi dress. I may end up sewing it sooner rather than later. I want to wear it when the weather starts to turn warm instead of sewing it once the warm weather arrives.

Fabric In/Out Totals ~
I was restrained with fabric buying this month. Only purchasing this five yards plus 2 additional ones to finish the Purple Reign Shirt. Since all of the shirts I made were from the cut pile I assembled in December, my fabric out number is small.  

Just 3.5 yards - one yard for the Purple Reign Shirt and 2.5 yards for my next project. So 3.5 yards more in than out. I hope to do better next month.

I will still be using this fabric designation for tagging makes:
#deepstash - been in the collection more than 8 years
new - been in the stash less than 6 months 
collection - 1 to 7 years in the collection

Last year this time I bought 39 yards of fabric so I'd say I'm winning by only buying 7 yards this month with two of those yards needed to complete a garment.

I did complete 4 garments this month so at least there is that!

oooooooooo

In Sewing Community News this week, did you hear about the dust up with Tessuti Fabrics and the plus size sewing community?  Tessuti offered a pretty new skirt pattern that didn't have extended sizing. The plus size sewing community especially in Australia was upset because Tessuti has been promising to extend their sizing and it wasn't reflected in this pattern.

Here is what Tessuti had to say about their decision.

So what do I think?  I'd actually stopped purchasing fabric (yes I try to buy from everyone who sells fabric) when they extended some of their patterns but only had pdfs and a few hard copies to purchase. The shipping was a little expensive for a single pattern, so I walked away. There are other fabric stores in the US and pattern companies willing to make designs in my size that I don't need to chase an international company.

However, if this is the fabric store where you shop locally, I can see how you, as a plus size sewist is challenged by the situation. I understand why telling you that you should shop elsewhere for your pattern needs but oh don't stop buying our fabric is both annoying and an issue. I also understand why you don't want to give them any more of your money. Obviously, they don't believe they need your money to survive. Even more so, I understand how this hurts you.

What I really liked about the discussion, because I read ALL of the comments on both of Tessuti's and Sewverymuch's posts, was the support of sewists who could wear the patterns yet were standing with their plus size sewists. Here's the thing, I strongly believe that if a retailer doesn't cater to you, you should not spend your hard earned dollars there. If they believe they can survive and thrive without you buying fabric and/or patterns from them, then refuse to do so.

I'm a huge Lizzo fan and loved the interview she gave with Gayle King for her Grammy Special. When Gayle asked her why she wasn't on Twitter anymore Lizzo said that she doesn't go places where she's not wanted.  That's how I feel about pattern makers who don't want to extend their sizes. It is their right to run their business as they see fit, just like it's mine not to purchase their products or promote them.

So thoughts...cause y'all know I love a good discussion about what's going on in the sewing community.

Another shirt will be up next...

...as always more later!

A Week in Review - Week Two

I've gotten a lot of sewing done in the last couple of weeks.  It's probably the only thing I love about January, February and March - the extra days off and the time to wallow in my sewing.  I pretty much hate everything else about those months! LOL!

This week I want to talk about the almost finished projects in the sewing room.  I have four shirts - all hemmed just waiting for buttons & buttonholes. All buttons in the pictures below are pinned on. 

The Brownish/Black Embroidered Shirt

The Angel Shirt

The Purple Reign Polka Dot Shirt

A cardigan that I'm still trying to figure out closures for...

Simplicity 8992

...and with all of that waiting to be finished, what do I do?  I start a new project after I said that I was going to sew something simple. This is not a simple project!

Fabric from Marcy Tilton purchased at Sew Expo in 2016

Buttons from Pacific Trimmings

So this upcoming weekend will be dedicated to finishing everything. And if the weather is okay, maybe a few pictures.

oooooooooo

Like I said I started a new project Sunday evening. It's been awhile since I've used a new pattern and there was a mix of emotions when I pulled that neatly folded pattern paper from the envelope. Some excitement regarding the new sewing journey, a little dread because I knew I would need to make some pattern alterations and a feeling of ahhhh. You know that feeling of calm that comes over you because SEWING! Do you experience that when you start working with a new pattern?  Which brings me to the next thing...

ooooooooooo

The Big4 - Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls and Vogue Patterns have been sold AGAIN.  I found out on social media...

c/o of syreetabriana's IG Account

c/o dressmakingdebacles IG Account

Then a follower (thanks Renata!) sent me a link to the article here. Take a read because it's an interesting article and let me know what you think. I tend to agree with Abby about the fate of the Big4.

That's Week Two in Review - a progress report and a discussion of news in the sewing community.


...as always more later!

A Week In Review - Week One

I'm starting a weekly review of things that are floating around in my mind. These are all sewing related but are not enough of a thought to generate a blog post. I plan on doing these midweek so they will encompass the previous weekend and what I want to accomplish the next weekend. 

~ Status of Projects
I'm still in the middle of making shirts. It's finally projected to get cold here after days of 50 degree weather. Last weekend it was near 70 degrees all weekend and now snow is projected for the MLK Holiday Weekend. Shirts work in all of the temperatures I've been experiencing lately.

The blue/black plaid batik shirt just needs buttons/buttonholes and hems. The brownish/black embroidered one is in the same state. So what do I do?  Do I finish them?  No...I moved onto the next shirt in the cut pile! This is where I am with it now...

The two in the back are waiting for buttons & buttonholes and of course you know the saga of fixing the middle shirt. So nothing is completed yet and ready to share.

~ New Fabric
Before the year ended I bought a couple of yards of fabric from Fabric Mart, a blue/black/white boucle and a black guipure lace. Both were purchased for ideas that have been percolating in the back of my brain for awhile. 

The black will be a black lace shirt and the boucle will become a vest. Each have been paired with a pattern and now I just need to add them to the cut pile. It's 7 yards of fabric that were rolled into last month/year's totals.

I'm trying hard not to purchase more fabric...truthfully I just don't feel like adding more to what's already here. I'm feeling overwhelmed at having to remove several shelves of fabric to move it around and update the sewing cave. I hate to move. This is feeling a lot like moving!

~ Sewing Retreats/Sew Camp
I know I've gone on and on about the Sew Camps at Carriage Corner B&B and you know I love attending them.  Here is the listing of the Sew Camps for 2020.

I'm only attending the September Sew Camp and unfortunately that one is sold out. I know there are plenty of spots in the February one, only a few left in the April one, and quite a few left in the June sew camp. I mean if you're interested!

I am, however, attending the Sewing Retreat at Urban Sewciety on Saturday, February 8th and Sunday, February 9th. There are still spots available to attend this retreat so if you're interested, check it out. There will be another blog post soon about what I'm taking with me to work on.

~ Miscellaneous
o I have a bag under my serger to collect the clippings, bought it years ago from Nancy's Notions. I empty that bag about 2-3 times a year. It's always interesting to turn it upside down in the garbage bag because it allows me to reminisce about all of the garments I've made recently.

The last time I emptied the bag must have been in the spring because scraps of all my summer maxis are in there.

o  My sewjo is back in full effect because I want to sew all the things! I touch a fabric, see a garment and I want to make it! I've added a few more garments to cut out to go in the cut pile.

o  Have you read Bunny's last post on Blogging?  Bunny has been writing these thought provoking pieces on different aspects of the sewing community for the last couple of months. I hope you read not only that post but some of her others too.

o  One more this one from Heather from Closet Case Patterns on Quality Sewing is a must read also.  From beginner to advanced sewist, we can all sew with intent using the best techniques we know yet striving to learn more. I know there are things I could learn or practice and do better.  So I hope you will check this one out too!


Hopefully this will become a regular feature. I will try to post a Question of the Day every month because I like the discussions that ensue. Also I learn quite a bit in the comments section, too.

...as always more later!