Progress Report

So I finally got around to finishing the toile for my current project and I must say it fits pretty well, needs a few tweaks. I may have to add to the seam allowance from waist to hem but that's minor. Slowing is still slow but hey I'm actually sewing... now for the pics.

More Fun with Lekala

So I completely forgot to post photos of the finished Lekala 5821, I will do that soon.


Sewing has been slow because when I get home I'm beat from both work and the gym but I've started my toile for Lekala 5767. Shall we see how this one goes?

Fun With Lekala - Blouse 5821

This pattern site made its way to my browser courtesy of Tanit-Isis. I had high hopes when I saw the pattern choices, but those hopes were quickly dashed when I realized the patterns were all one size which was no where remotely close to my size but I saved the patterns anyway dreading the day I would try to make something from them. Fast forward a couple weeks later; I've decided to try my hand at grading (what's the worst that could happen), printed the patter I wanted and remembered this post that Sunni (the Cupcake Goddess) made on pattern grading. Fast forward some more and I have a toile plus a brand new cam with which to take pictures.


Here's the technical drawing

And here's  how my toile turned out (these pictures are why I love my new camera; they were taken in my pitch black bedroom):

Overall the grade was good, I actually expected the back, bust and waist to be too narrow but they were not. The waist is a touch too snug for my taste but that will be solved by letting the seam allowances out a little.
I also fudged the bands at the front, forgot to shorten the bodice before cutting the pattern and I'm not too sure what I'm going to do about the sleeves just just yet. Gathers on the sleeve hem and adding band are looking like my options; we'll see.

It's' Here!

My new camera has finally arrived and I am pretty excited. The flash is pretty bright but I don't mind. I'm still fiddling around with it and I love the fact that it comes with it's own remote.

Here's posting sometime soon :)

Finally and Some Confessions

I've finally order a replacement camera. I got a Nikon Coolpix S1000pj, Yay me!

I know it's the older version of the Coolpix S1100pj but the thought of having a touchscreen LCD didn't sit well with me, neither did the over US$300 price tag. Sadly it won't be here till about next month and I had already sent in the other one to be repaired; return date:????  So I am currently camera-less and still not much sewing to show. It's really hard to sew at nights after work since I'm so tired.


The confession part: Last week since leaving work early because of the storm threat I stopped by a fabric store and dropped about US$81 on fabric (forgive me father for I have sinned) this is after my first splurge is still mostly un-used but my excuse is this purchase is to make stuff for work.  As if that wasn't bad enough, I recently vowed to make myself some stuff to work out in - enter another trip to the fabric store but I spent significantly less. This time with around 4lbs of assorted lightweight knits, 2 for me and my pants and 2 for a friend who will be getting an infinity dress for our night out next week (she paid for her share). Sewing shall commence tomorrow night.

Simple Things: The Tale of Two Blouses

It's funny how a simple thing like changing some button, shortening a sleeve or adding a dart here or there can really change a garment. The pieces I've re-fashioned were just not working for me, the 1st was a dress and I have a thing against dresses so I always wore it as tucked into my jeans.

The day came when I finally decided it was time to cut and took of approx. 8 inches. Since I hate doing really small hems and don't have a rolled hem foot, I cut a band with the original hem and just sewed it on and voila I have a new top. In reality the blouse is a very pale yellow and  i don't like how the colour looks so I'll be doing a re-dye with a brighter yellow.


The other piece was already a blouse but a very ill fitting one...where to begin! It had no darts, the sleeves were too long, there was shirring details at the waist (well; where they put the waist) that was always right under my bust looking like an empire waist, the collar was two big (all  of 5 inches, I don't know which giraffe necked women these people were sewing for) and pockets right on the bust. I only wore it because I was too lazy to fix it but when I made the decision to take clothing fit and having a nicer wardrobe more seriously it had to go!

First things first, I ripped the pockets off the bust. I'm a D-Cup I do not need added attention drawn to my bosom. Next went the huge horrid collar, shirring and sleeves. The shirring left a lot of needle holes and the section very crushed.  I was able to get most of it out but the holes are still a problem for me....we'll see how  it goes.

Looks so much better already

So far I've put in 4 front darts and two back ones (I still have to put another two after trying it on last night) and taken in at least 2 inches from each side (I really wish I had a before picture). I thought long and hard about making a small sway back adjust by inserting a back seam but the mere thought of having to pull apart the shoulder and yoke was enough to deter me, the two extra darts in the back will just have to do. This blouse will also be dyed (colour unsure) since I have a love/hate relationship with all things white.

JJ Progress and a Knit Blouse

I've been making some head way with sewing these past weeks. I'm actually almost done with the JJ I started some 3 weeks ago. All that's left is for me to put the buttons on it and it's officially wearable....more on that when it's done.

Last weekend was long one since we celebrated National Heroes Day here and I made up my mind to get some sewing done. The simplest thing I could find in my stash of already printed patterns was the Batwing Top from BurdaStyle. It's simply a v-neck blouse with bands around the sleeves.

Technically it's a toile, but it's wearable. It set me back a couple of hours since I was reading the instructions as I went along, which in hind-site I could have done without. It was done completely on my serger with my biggest problem being the V-neck. The instructions given were ok to a point but after that point I gave up and looked up the tutorial someone did for the assembly of this blouse. I used the large with the exception of the neckline where I used the small. Based on pictures I've seen, most persons who appear to use the bigger size always had on something underneath and I'm a very busty gal so the smaller neckline worked just fine. Since it's so loose I had no need to do a sway back alteration.

 Instead of a regular hem, I used the rolled hem feature on my Brother serger. That took a lot of thread and I had to do it twice since ends of the fabric kept peeking out during the test run. This feature is best suited for woven fabrics but I liked how it made the hem sort of wavy.

After wearing it I realised a couple things:

• the shoulder seams pull back; I have this problem a lot with tops -even with some button downs
• the sleeves are also too long
• The curve under the arm and boxiness are too much for my shortness

So these (especially the shoulder pulling problem) will be rectified and other than those 3 things I have no complaints.

Rainy Days In J.A.

For the past 3 or so weeks, this has been the daily sight in JA. Take not of the water drops and the very black sky. My friend who took this said it reminded him of a scene from one of those apocalypse movies, and I totally agree with him.

Since the beginning of this week our roads now look like this

And this is just one area in the city, reports are that roads are blocked in rural areas  and there is also a major bridge down just on the outside of Kingston.

All this is quite funny, not haha funny but ironically funny. This time last year we were in the middle of a major drought and not many people realized until about 2 months after, when there was a serious water crisis in Kingston. A friend of mine brought it to my attention about June/July that we haven't had any rain in April/May and as the months went on most people were excited that we had no hurricanes at all last season; I was worried. The drought continued until about May/June of this year and we have literally gone from one extreme to another.

Since I am home today, I'm going to see how much progress I can make on my JJ