Happy New Year! and I’m Back!

Hello, Everyone–

My apologies for being away so long, but the main reason (along with the standards “I’ve been so busy”, “It’s the holidays”, “I was sick for most of October and December”–all true!), is that I couldn’t figure out how to upload photos to my computer easily.  In the past, I would just email the pics that I took with my cell phone camera  to myself.  That’s how I put up the earlier photos.  But I knew that there had to be an easier way, like connecting my phone to the computer and downloading them.  But for some reason, my computer no longer recognizes my telephone.  I don’t know why.  So, I opened up a Picasa account (I wanted Flickr, but Picasa was easier to deal with), selected upload on my phone, and voila!  10 minutes later, my photos were uploaded to my web account!

Oops, I spoke too soon.  I wrote that last paragraph 30 minutes ago.  I couldn’t figure out how to move the photos from Picasa to WordPress.  It took awhile…..

So here’s what I’ve been up to over the last three months:

I made this to go with my blue interview suit. It fits….but its a tight squeeze. As I mentioned in an earlier post, in my mind and in RTW I am a size 12, but according to Vogue, McCalls, and Buttericks, I am a size 16 – 22. WAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!! I made this in October and I feel kind of ambivalent about this blouse because it was while finishing it up and taking it off the dress form that I broke both my dress form (it has been fixed since then) AND the flat screen tv in the guest room (aka my sewing room and R’s daughter’s room whenever she deigns to come over). SO…this blouse cost me a lot of money!!!!

This blouse was made in November.  I like it a lot, but it originally was supposed to be a working muslin, but turned out pretty nicely, so I wear it.  It looks better on the dress form than it does on me!

I made this blouse also in November.  I like it, but the t-shirt fabric is a little too lightweight, so it keeps falling off of my shoulders.  As you will notice, I didn’t have the skills to hem such a lightweight fabric, so I’ve been wearing it as is (we can get away with that here in Southern California!).  BUT (and more on this later), I have a new machine and I will be working on finishing up the hem within the next week or so!

This blouse is one of the first things I ever made (last year, when I started sewing).  However, I never finished it, because it turned out to be sooooo big (a first for me, I can assure you!).  It still needs the bands on the neckline and the elastic on the arms and needs to be hemmed.  I also figured out how to take it in, so that will be happening soon, too.

These are a couple of the socks I have knitted on my circular sock machine.  The toes still need to be closed (when it is closed, the light blue waste yarn will be removed and it will look like a sock).  I have a bright pink pair that I haven’t yet photographed, as well as a blue men’s sock that is still on the machine.

I forgot to take pictures of the travel blankets I made for R’s daughters for Christmas, as well as the nap mat I made for my granddaughter, Mila.  I will see if I can take a picture of one of the blankets, since his daughter is home from college and is staying with us.  Mila LOVED the nap mat, and I will see if I can take a photo of her snuggled up in it when she and her parents get back from visiting her other grandparents.

That’s all for today!!!!  I will look up the pattern numbers of the blouses I made and post them later today (I hope!).

And the post and the picture of my new coverhem machine will have to wait until next year! (that is, probably later in the week)

Happy New Year, Everyone!  May the coming year be full of love and peace and prosperity for you and yours!!!

xoxo

Joy

Yoga pants and my re-padded dress form

Well, I made the yoga pants, as promised!  Here it is:

My new yoga pants. On a scale of 1 – 10? 4. I will still wear them to yoga, but only because they are functional.

I used McCalls 4261 and I have to admit, I am not crazy about the pattern or the look.  The pants were way too  baggy.  I took in at least 1 inch on each leg.  I also went serger crazy and serged the bottoms  of the pant legs to give a more finished look.  I’m not very good on the serger, so the legs were uneven, and I kept sergng them until the legs turned out too short!  But I’m still wearing this pair of pants because they are functional and comfortable.

And while you have the image of my yoga pants in front of you, take a closer look at my dress form.  Wonky, isn’t it?  I bought it off of craigslist from a young woman who was moving.  It was in PERFECT, BRAND NEW condition and I only paid $200 for it!  BUT, it is a size 8. I’m not a size 8 and I figured I would just pad it up to get to my size (NO, I will not tell you my size.  This is a public blog, after all!).  So I took some batting and wrapped it around the dress form a few times, put a bathing suit on it, then a tight shirt, then a size small Under Armor shirt and called it a day.  I figured it was good enough.

Then last week, I spied a brand new, never-been-used Fabulous Fit system for sale on one of the sewing groups and bought it from my new friend, Pat.  Oh my goodness, what a difference the right padding system and covers make!

This is my new-to-me dress form the day I got it.

 

this is my dress form with the lumpy and uneven batting padding that I was satisfied with until recently

With my new Fabulous Fit padding, courtesy of my new friend Pat!

 

Side view

Back view. I think my back is much wider than this. And I HATE how shapeless my body has become!!!!

And this is how my dress form looks, all dressed up! This is my Mother-of-the Bride dress I wore 10 days ago, and I guess my body looks like this, much to my chagrin! I think that I am all-around wider, but the measurements match, so I’m okay with this form.

My only concern is that I am wider with much bigger boobs, but my clothes seem to fit this dress form, and after all, there is only so much I can do to puff up my form several sizes!  My goal, as it has been for the last 15 years, has been to get back down to a size 8…but seriously, I would be happy to get down to a size 10!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Of Birthdays and Christmas Presents

Here we are, right smack in the middle of October already!  Where has this year gone?

So, today is my darling first grandchild’s first birthday and I realized that with being busy and preoccupied with the wedding last weekend, I have no present to give her.  FORTUNATELY, I have a small, but growing, stash and I bought some baby patterns when they were on sale this past summer.  So this is what I plan to make for her tonight after I return from a quick trip to Pasadena:

I have a few cotton knits (leftovers from my first skirt experiments earlier this summer) that would be great for these.  I wish I had some little-girlish cotton knits to sew, but I guess I can buy those for her Christmas outfits.

Also, I have this fabric in camel:

I made ugg boots with this fabric for her when she was born, and I have more than enough fabric left to make the jacket and hat…I THINK.  I don’t think my daughter (the mother of my beautiful granddaughter) would be too thrilled with this outfit because it is just not her style, but oh well…

Looking forward, I have also been thinking about Christmas presents, and I think I will make dinner napkins for my daughter (again, she won’t be thrilled, but I am trying to stay within my budget!), as well as socks for her and her husband.  Socks, did I say?  Why yes, I did!  I have an antique sock knitting machine that looks like this:

and these are the socks that I made the first winter I had them:

My first sock.  I was so excited, I never got around to knitting the other sock. 2007

My first PAIR of socks.

Then, the weekend before Christmas 2007, I panicked because we had a family Christmas party fast approaching and I had no presents to give.  So in one weekend I made these:

I was exhausted!  So much so, I never knit another pair of socks again!  Soooo, since joining this RTW fast challenge, I realized I CAN make my own socks!  I remembered how soft and warm and wonderful handcranked socks are, and I have missed wearing them.  I will have to teach myself how to use my machine again (and also to see if I still have all the parts of my vintage early 20th century Legare 400 machine), but I think I have time to learn.  Goodness knows I have 10 bins of yarn to practice with!

As for sewing for myself, next up will be some yoga pants from McCalls pattern 4261:

After that, I will give McCalls 6163 another try in a rust-colored knit.

Well, it is 1:27 in the morning and I have to go to sleep because I have a long and busy day ahead, including a round-trip to Los Angeles, but before I go, I would like to leave for your viewing pleasure 2 (make that SEVERAL) gratuitous shots of the love of my life, the birthday girl, my darling Mila:

2 days old! I’m so excited to be holding her!

2 weeks old

Mila and her Lola (Filipino for Grandmother) on Mother’s Day 2012

My little mermaid June 1, 2012

Mila–9 months old with her first tooth and enough hair to finally hold a ribbon.

Hello World!

I am beginning my official RTW fast today, inspired by Goodbye, Valentino, although I have pretty much been fasting from shopping for years.  I am a new sewist, having sewn for less than a year now.  I have made several skirts, blouses, a couple of dresses, and lots and lots of napkins and pillows, so far!  Last week, I made a dress to wear to  my daughter’s wedding rehearsal luncheon, but I was delusional and made the dress a size (or two) too small, so I couldn’t wear it. Oh well!  Maybe I will wear it when I lose 20 or 30 pounds!

I was delusional to think I could fit into this dress! Now wearing it will have to wait until I lose 20 or 30 pounds!

I bought the knit fabric from the clearance rack at JoAnns a couple of months ago, so the whole dress cost me less than $6.  The pattern is McCalls 6163.  I traced the pattern and cut the fabric last Tuesday night, then on Wednesday night I sewed it all together.  It is a great pattern….simple directions, very easy to sew together.  I loved this whole experience!

I thought I could count on the stretchiness of the fabric to give me some wiggle room, but nope, the sizing is pretty accurate.  I may try this pattern again soon, since I will be needing work dresses when I start doing the research for my dissertation.  My first meeting is on October 30th, but I think I will wear a pantsuit to that meeting.  But, we’ll see.  In any case, I have a couple of knits in my stash that would look great done up in this pattern, so I guess I had better get sewing!