Bits and Snippets

Another weekend, although retirement does kind of make weekends irrelevant. I've been doing a lotof sewing lately, so maybe I'll just take some time off for a bit, trace a Burda WOF or something.

PROGRESS:

Yesterday my 8-year-old grandson and I finished his flannel shirt. He's "student of the week" next week (whatever that means) and he is going to show off his handiwork. He chose the fabric, and chose and traced the pattern, stitched most of the straight seams, topstitched the pocket on, and sewed on the buttons. He even supervised the buttonholes - which mostly involved keeping his foot on the 'gas' until the machine finished its job. His next project: "comfy pants" which are just elastic topped pyjama pant kind of things. I think he should be able to pretty much do the whole thing himself.

Yesterday I also made a wearable muslin of a Saf-T-Pockets reversible jacket. It's not finished yet, but I needed to check the pattern for size before a class last night. We are making stippled reversible jackets. My muslin is a lovely garment (so far anyway). I used a piece of Malden Mills 100 ivory fleece from Wazoodle. I first sized for a Medium, sewed it half together and found it way too big. Then I notice that the finished measurements are on the pattern envelope....if only I had looked first. I had to take the whole thing apart of re-cut for a Small, which fits my definitely not-small body perfectly.

The Reversible Quilted Jacket class was a fun event, and we got our fabric pieces cut and did a little practice stippling. I have not done this before, and I am sure there are way too many options for me to make a decision about what sort of pattern to use. I still need to buy my flannel for the inside layer, and will do a few practice runs before moving into my very expensive cotton. The jacket will coordinate with my SWAP, as does my ivory muslin. Wow, a surfeit of stuff is piling up.

This morning I finally sewed the buttons on the beige Burda WOF blouse, making a completion of SWAP #8 if you don't count the items that will be changed for something else.

Next on the agenda is to finish the black crossover top, so I can change my serger thread to finish the ivory jacket seams. After that, hem the bamboo skirt. My sewing mentor did not think it wise to try to do a decorative stitch all the way around the light-weight knit, so I will machine stitch a 1" hem, or possibly do a cover stitch (another new experience) on her serger next week.