Stirring it up

I created quite the debate with my status on face book yesterday so I'm going to post the same thing here and see what comes of it. I'd really like to know your thoughts, even if they don't coincide with mine.

"Kelley will not be voting for McCain no matter who his running mate is."

Okay, let me have it!

Transferring a Pattern to Tracing Paper

Supplies: Pattern, Tracing Paper, Markers (I use a Roll-A-Pattern & Sharpie), Pattern weights (or anything to hold the tracing paper down to the pattern while tracing), Wax Paper, Zip-Lock Bag

Lay Pattern down on cutting board and then lay tracing paper over it. Use weights to secure. My tracing paper is almost like a light-weight interfacing but tissue paper works well too. The interfacing type paper is just a bit more durable and can actually be sewn should you want to make a muslin.

Trace around pattern. This is where I use my "Roll-A-Pattern". I trace anything that is a line. If you use a sharpie type marker for this phase be careful as it bleeds through. The wheel on the roll-a-pattern keeps the marker from getting too much ink on the paper and bleeding.

Use Sharpie or some other type maker to write any directions on pattern. I also use this time to mark any notches. This is where the wax paper comes in handy. I place it underneath the tracing paper so that I can still see the pattern but don't have to worry about bleeding. I don't use wax paper earlier because it does make the interfacing slip when rolling.

Finished product: a duplicated pattern.


Teaser

And finally, my sewing corner. Since I don't have a sewing room anymore I try to neatly store my supplies in the corner of our dining room. Should we have company I would of course move it but if it's just us, I leave it there. It's too much hassle to constantly put it up when I'm not sewing especially since most of the stuff goes in the attic.

Little Miss Ladybug

Dress Front

Detail on Front

Back of Dress

My latest sewing project. This one challenged me a bit as it required techniques I had never done before. The trim was a bit of a booger to put on because I didn't have the fabric glue stick to glue baste it. I ripped out the sewing on the trim several times. The other challenge was putting bias binding around the armholes. Not as hard as I expected and such a nice look. French seams were also new to me but oh so easy and give such a nice professional look. There are a few boo-boos but I don't know that anyone will notice except me so I won't say what they are. :-P My hand sewing on the lining of the yoke is much better than my last project so we'll call the ugliness on the jumper a fluke.

As I'm sure some will ask, the fabric is from Fabric Finders and I bought it at my local Bernina store. The trim and buttons came from Farmhouse Fabrics and the satin ribbon is from Hobby Lobby. The pattern is from Sewing With Whimsy. It features 3 different patterns with 3 to 4 variations. (See this picture for the exact dress I made, lower right hand corner, first dress in picture.) The dresses in this book are absolutely gorgeous and I plan to make all of them although my sewing skills will have to improve as some of the techniques look difficult. Please don't let the dress on the cover throw you. It's the only one in the book I wouldn't make in the fabric shown. To me it is just too busy but the idea is cute. All other dress are absolutely adorable and boutique quality. The kind of dresses you would pay way too much for.

Corduroy jumper

My latest project was a corduroy jumper for Greta. I used the Kitty pattern from Children's Corner. This was one of the easiest patterns I have used and I was very pleased with the results. The instructions were excellent, especially as compared to the frustration I have encountered when using some of the major pattern makers (McCalls, Simplicity, Butterick).

The ruffle fabric was the inspiration for this jumper. The jumper is made from chocolate baby weight cord and is lined with reddish/orange batiste that picks up the color of the ruffle.

The unique part of this dress is the back yoke. The straps are one piece of fabric that continues around the back and forms the yoke.

I plan to add to this outfit by making the Peter Pan blouse from the same pattern in white with red piping and also making pants in the same fabric as the ruffle.

I did have two frustrations with this pattern - first, I am not a good hand sewer and since this jumper is lined once I turned the jumper right side out I had to hand sew the seam left open for turning. Thankfully that is on the inside so unless someone decides to check out the inside :-D, no one will ever know. Secondly, sewing the back yoke on on to the jumper was a little tricky as the two curves are opposite with right sides together. With careful pinning and slow sewing I was able to get the two sewed together with no problems.

My tip to all you seamstresses out there is to buy pattern weights. I despise the pinning/cutting out phase of sewing. If I could skip that, I would. Using pattern weights made laying out my pattern so much faster and easier. From start to finish this pattern took me about 2 hours and the time was significantly reduced by using pattern weights. It also saves your patterns wear and tear since you are not pinning through them. I did transfer my original pattern on to tracing paper which makes my pattern more durable and ensures my original doesn't get messed up and is usable for years to come. Transferring is also helpful for multi-size patterns

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Answer to Liz's question:

If you don't have tracing paper to transfer the pattern to you can always use a different kind of "tracing paper" and a tracing wheel to transfer the pattern lines to your fabric. Once they are transferred you cut around the pattern where the sizes follow the same lines and then lift back the pattern to follow the line on the fabric where they aren't. I don't like this method because it can be very hard to see the pattern lines if you have a printed fabric no matter the color of tracing paper you use and the tracing wheel has little points used to transfer the markings which can quite effectively cut your pattern after it has been traced a time or two and that totally defeats the purpose.

I took my pattern, laid it on my cutting board, laid the tracing paper over it and used the little marker wheel (which was well worth the money, so easy!) to transfer the basic pattern outline for the size I was making. I also transferred any markings such as button holes, notches, etc. Once done I labeled the pattern just like the original (i.e. Kitty, Size 1 front, cut 1 lining, cut 1 fabric). I only traced out what I needed. Other sizes and pieces I left for next time. I also used my pattern weights when transferring the pattern to keep the tracing paper from moving around. Next I laid out my fabric as directed in the guide sheet, laid the pieces down, and then used the weights. I don't have enough weights to do all pieces at once so I laid each piece in the general area it was to go to ensure I had them laid out correctly and then used my weights and cut each piece, one at a time.

The batiste is hobby lobby - 2.99 a wonderful deal! The fashion print came from our local bernina store that has a wonderful selection of 100% cotton prints and solids. I love their fabrics just not the prices. You definitely pay a premium for good fabric but the quality = the price. The feel of this cotton is so soft and smooth. Kind of the difference between 200 thread count sheets and 400. The cord came from Farmhouse Fabrics and is such a nice corduroy. This online store is a well known supplier of great materials in the smocking/children's wear community. My mom gets a magazine that I love to look through called Creative Needle. They have such wonderful ideas in there and always reference patterns and suppliers. Many times the supplier for the fabrics is Farmhouse Fabrics. I was privileged to be able to go and shop in the warehouse. (The lady who owns it lives in the same unincorporated town as my Grandmother and is just a mile down the road. She's also a friend of my grandmother and I remember swimming in her pool as a child.) It was a huge building with floor to ceiling fabrics, trims, patterns, etc. Overwhelming but so much fun. I have to say the highlight though was seeing all the samples that appeared in the magazine. In fact, one of the samples was how I decided on the Kitty pattern.

And she still looks more like me!

If I'd had a Senior Picture . . .

Please swallow any drinks before continuing.


...Pomp and Circumstance playing in the background...

Presenting the graduates of the:

Class of 1960

Class of 1962

Class of 1966

Class of 1968
Class of 1972

Class of 1974

Class of 1976

Class of 1978

Class of 1980

Class of 1984

Class of 1988

Class of 1990

Class of 1992

Class of 1994

Class of 1996

Class of 1998

Class of 2000

And the most hilarious one of Graham:

A few more things

After posting Greta's 10 month update I realized that I had forgotten a few more noteworthy items.

• Greta talks a little bit now. She says Dada consistently - although she also refers to me as Dada. Graham thinks it's her word for parent. At least once she's referred to Julie as Juju and Jack as Ack. Not sure if she was doing this intentionally but it was cute. She also has on occasion referred to the dogs in a name that sounds very much like theirs. Sometimes she will say bye.
  
• She now points, sometimes with her pointer finger, sometimes with her whole fist, and sometimes with her pinky.
• Greta also waves but does not do it regularly. You kind of have to drag it out of her.
• She loves to be sung to at any time. Her favorite song is Ba Ba Black Sheep.
• Indian food was deemed very tasty last week. However taco soup, that was on the spicy side, was not. Her poor little face turned red.
• When Greta is fond of something she "loves" on it by holding it up to her cheek, or laying her cheek on it as the case may be. Things she loves on often are: Momma & Daddy, the dogs, her sippy cup.
• Greta loves to make noises and have you mimic her or you make noises so she can mimic you. Noises she likes to make are: breathing heavily (like a hee, hee, hee), blowing raspberries, & making smacking noises.