My Week in Pictures - Storm Edition

At the beginning of the week it felt like my world was getting back to normal...internet came back...crane got tied down so I could work in peace...so here are a few pics of my week...

Monday - the crane has been secured...

Tuesday - an election was won!

Wednesday - 4+ inches of snow fell...

Thursday - some fabric arrived...

3 yards of a faux leather

5 yards of a suiting wool

3 yards of a silk/cotton blend border print

3 yards of a rayon/wool tweed

Friday evening - an event for work...

Saturday - choosing some buttons for the B5760 cardigan

I'm moving garbage bags back into the sewing cave and unpacking them between sewing.  I've got the fever and want to get a few pieces made!

...as always more later!

The Next Piece in the Collection...

So Sunday night I finally got the urge to sew...yeah, I know right before I had to go back to work...but in my defense I wasn't sure I was going to work on Monday because the building had no heat...there was a chance that I would be home with the ability to sew.  However, that hope was dashed late Sunday evening.

Anyway, the dresses that I'd planned prior to Hurricane Sandy had no pull. I wanted something quick and easy.  So I went looking for the lightweight knit that I'd wanted to use for Butterick 5760 but there are ALOT of garbage bags full of fabric in the dining room...don't believe me...see for yourself...

It was just easier to put my hand in a bag and pull out a piece...this is what emerged...

It was the perfect piece because not only does it go with my current wardrobe plan but it uses the pattern that I wanted...Butterick 5760.  Here is where it stands now...

I've decided to use large snaps to close the cardigan especially since the fabric is thick. Then I will sew buttons on the top of the bands for a fancy finish.  I've yet to go through my button collection to find an appropriate button...but I know that I want something sparkly and fun...jewelry like.  This may mean a trip to the garment district but I'm hoping that there is something in the collection.  Okay I'm really hoping there is something in the collection...*sigh*

BTW, my internet service is on again so everything is back to normal...just in time for the nor'easter that arrived tonight. I trudged home in falling snow and blowing winds and they're predicting 3-6" of this stuff.  I guess I can live with it as much as I hate snow...because at least it's not rain!  I'm hoping that I can get those garbage bags full of fabric back into the sewing cave, soon...and it will be easier to do without alot of rain and flooding!

If everything remains the same, I will be sewing this weekend...here's hoping!

...as always more later!

Four More Years!

It was close but thankfully we are blessed to have President Obama for FOUR MORE YEARS!!!!

...and a few of my fellow Americans cheered with me...okay actually I screamed and jumped up and down...

Finally, I'm closing the comments because I'm sure that there are some of my fellow Americans who aren't as pleased with these results as I am.  Out of respect for their opinions, there will be no discussion.

My next post will be on sewing...but right now I just need to jump around and shout ~ Four More Years!

...as always more later!

I did it!

You should too!

That's right - VOTE!  It is every American citizen's right and privilege to vote.  So please make sure that you head to the polls today and VOTE!

...as always, more later!

More Updates...

A few more updates...

Crane on W.57th from the conference room next to my desk

• It's a funny thing...right after I wrote that last blog post, my internet service went out again and IS still out!  Last night they told me that it would be on in the next 24 hours, so we shall see.
• I'm at work today, that's how I'm posting this but we have no heat in the building since they finally lashed the daymun crane down yesterday. Even though I dressed warmly, it's still rather chilly in here...like I'm wearing gloves and a scarf!
• We got cable back last night so I now know that there's a Nor' Easter coming to town on Wednesday, well truthfully I'd heard it on the radio on Thursday so I didn't put anything besides my sewing machines and ironing board back into the sewing cave.  Who knows what this one will bring?
• I'm definitely not complaining...it was bad in my world for a few days but not as bad as for a few friends who ARE still without power, heat & hot water and access to their streets because of trees and wires down...or the people in Lower Manhattan or Staten Island.
• I never sewed this weekend.  It didn't seem like vacation days and the atmosphere just wasn't conducive to sewing.
• We went to the Mall Friday evening and out to dinner because the food stores are just starting to be restocked.  I shopped.  I never shop but I bought stuff...*sigh*
• Hopefully I feel like sewing this weekend, but who knows!

Just wanted to provide another update for any who are wondering...

...more later!

Hurricane Sandy Update

Hello Everyone...

...and you don't know how glad I am to be able to say hello again.  Hurricane Sandy hit us hard on Monday evening...power left us shortly thereafter.  It was a very harrowing experience because I've never experienced a hurricane before. Tropical storms, Nor'Easteners yes, ferocious snowstorms that leave us buried in snow...definitely...hurricanes no friggin' way.

So power returned yesterday evening around 7 about the same time it left on Monday.  Internet accessed just came back a few minutes ago.  I still don't have cable so can't watch the news.  Thank God I pay that monthly fee for 4G access on my iPad because without it and the transistor radio we would have no idea what was going on.

To be totally truthful, I hit a wall yesterday and just refused to get out of bed where it was warm.  I've read two books in four days, remembered how to set a fire in the fireplace from my Girl Scout days which kept us warm and cozy in the evenings.  Our hot water heater never went out nor did the stove so we were able to feed ourselves and take hot showers but all the food in the frig had to be thrown out yesterday.

Power outages are so arbitrary that my sister who lives across town had power (and lots of company the first day!) but my daughters who live in the opposite direction from me didn't and still don't.  PSEG is promising today and since I now believe that they are doing everything they can, we are hopeful that they will.

There are down power lines & trees everywhere.  Yesterday, most of the traffic lights around me still weren't working, don't know about today because I haven't been out.  However, besides the fact that the trees pictured in my last post were full and colorful just last Sunday when I took those pictures, they are all almost bare now. There are no trees down by me which is amazing since the wind was BLOWING!  Nothing flooded in our home but some of the townhouses around me did take on a little water...nothing major though!

I haven't been to work this week because of 1-mass transportation into NYC is a mess and 2-there is a crane hanging off a building on 57th Street that put my office building into the evacuation zone.  They are saying we can come back to work on Monday, but we shall see.

So I'm now putting my sewing room back together...hoping to sew again later this evening.  I now have a new understanding and appreciation for my sisters in the Southeast who go through this yearly.  Y'all are some amazing folks...

Finally thanks to everyone who sent a note, text'd me or left a message here inquiring how I was doing.  I read them all and appreciated the concern...okay so now back to sewing.

...as always more later!

Inspiration

Many things inspire me to create...but nothing more so than the changing of the leaves.  I love it when they haven't all turned because the mosaic of color makes me want to run home and lock myself in the sewing cave to make beautiful garments from these luscious fall colors.

These pictures of trees were taken from my neighborhood....

This Talbots Sheath Dress...

...along with this claret wool crepe fabric will be the ode to my fall inspiration...

...as always more later!

Vogue 1250 as a top

I love Vogue 1250 as a dress.  It's comfortable and easy to wear.  It sews up quickly and can be made out of several different types of knits...I know because I've made it in everything from a ponte knit to a silk jersey.  So for awhile now I've been thinking of altering this pattern and using it as a top.

You would think that I would be concerned about the drapey neckline in a fall top but I've decided to add a camisole beneath it ~ layers are always great in the fall. I've also found that lately it has to be extremely cold for me to wear something close-fitting at my neckline...especially now that my internal thermometer is doing it's own thing!

So when I found this rayon knit and realized that the print would work with both the brown (already completed) and the gray (yet to be sewn) pieces for the CIW wardrobe, I leapt at the chance to make V1250 as a top.

I made new pattern pieces for the top.  I added a hemline 9" from the waistline curve on the front piece, then traced the top of the dress piece out.  I placed the back top and skirt piece together, then traced the back as one piece straightening out the curved hemline.

Otherwise the top was constructed the same way that I made the dress.  There is a center back seam.  I used the same stitch witchery tip for the back neckline as I did with the last two dresses I made from this pattern.

Front view with lace camisole

Close up of the neckline

Back view

Twin needled hemline

I topstitched the armhole seams and used a twin needle on the hemline.  It was a quick sew but it will be a great top beneath the planned jackets and my solid color RTW cardigans.  

So one more garment is completed in the CIW collection...which makes that six garments done.  Next up is a cardigan from B5760.  It will be a second cardigan in the collection but since I like a cardigan so much more than a jacket, I figured two wouldn't hurt!

...as always more later!

Breaking News...

Due to Hurricane Sandy the Sewing Cave has been dismantled...let's go to the photographic proof...

Sewing machines have been taken upstairs.  Two feet of space has been cleared, just in case and...

...here I sit...waiting...hoping and praying that it won't be as bad as the weather people are predicting...oh and I've scheduled a few posts for the week...just in case! 

...now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

...as always more later!

Butterick 6002 ~ A Knit Cardigan

The next piece in The City in Winter Collection, is a knit cardigan made using Butterick 6002 to coordinate with the brown wool crepe pieces previously sewn.

Pattern ~
Butterick 6002 - This is an out of print pattern that was issued in 1999.
It is a semi-fitted, unlined, above waist jacket that has shoulder pads, mock bands, long sleeves and stitched hem.

Fabric ~
Tweedy ponte knit purchased from Mood. Here's a link to additional pontes at Mood.com

Notions ~
Five 7/8" buttons
1/4" shoulder pads
black fusible interfacing

Construction ~
This is my third version of this jacket. My first one ended up going in the recycle basket and my second one became a treasured piece that I wore a lot this summer. 

For this version I made one fit change.  I added tucks to the neckline of the pattern pieces so that I wouldn't have to make darts to take in the extra width.  Here's what I did in my second version...

And here is a close up of the neckline on this version...highlighting how the excess fabric has been removed at the neckline...

The cardigan was primarily sewn on my serger, since it is a ponte and a stable knit. The most challenging aspect of this jacket occurred when I decided not to make regular buttonholes but to make corded buttonholes on the jacket front. You can read all about that technique in this post from my blog.

So a few more pics...

Jacket, RTW turtleneck

TNT pants

Jacket worn with

dress recently made

This cardigan/jacket will work well with the pieces currently in the collection and with future pieces too. Next up is tops. I have two tops planned for the collection...one more than the original plan...but I found an amazing knit from EOS that will work with both the chocolate and the gray bottoms because I need some simple sewing before I head into jacket territory.

...as always more later!