Checking In!

It has been a couple of months since my last post.  Many changes have occurred and that is a good thing. I have been busy sewing for others including my youngest daughter.  She is my perfect model and I am having a blast sewing for her.  Here she is in New Look 6391, view D.

I really loved her many poses on the back deck of her new townhouse.  She is doing great things at the ripe young age of 29 and I am so proud of her.

I like the fabric she chose which is one of Nicole Miller's designs at JoAnn Fabrics.  The dress was so simple to make and she wears it well.  She has become my new inspiration.  This should help me clear some of my stash and help her add additional items to her walk in closet.

As always, Happy Sewing!

Hello Spring 2016

Hello Spring 2016 is what the calendar says but the temps in north where I am currently say 23 degrees and it is cold.  Nevertheless it is still a wonderful day.  I have been quite busy doing a little of this and that.  Blogging has certainly been on my mind but has been pushed to the bottom of the list of things to do.  Trying to get better but stuff happens on a regular basis that always interfere.

There has been a great deal of sewing going on, mostly for others as well as many alterations. I have been teaching a number of people how to sew which has been very interesting as well as a number of fashion shows at high schools and colleges. Those events were great fun.

A number of positive things transitionally have occurred and will occur in the next couple of months and I am excited for that.  Moving in April and looking forward to that. I have been living in this state for 34 years and am looking forward to the move as it is necessary and definitely time for a change. Change can be difficult but if handled correctly can do wonders for the soul.  I am excited for this next chapter in my life.

I think I posted a while back about my love of  African or Ankara prints as it called.  I have a few pics of items that have recently been made from these prints. I am still in love with the prints and will always incorporate them into my wardrobe some way.

 Love the way this jacket came out.  I wanted to mimic the topper look that seems to be popular this season. It came out the way I envisioned, had to match the pattern in the fabric but that was pretty simple.  Wish I had gotten a back view of the print as well.  The pants were also made from a pretty print and I was able to match them the way I saw them in my mind.  Very happy the way both translated into garments.

This last pic is of my youngest daughter who opted to do a selfie in her bathroom and not have someone take a better photo of her in the jacket and pants.  I do love the look on her and hopefully she will get her mom a better picture.  As always Happy Sewing, until next time.

Happy New Year 2016!

I have been reading the blogs I follow today and seeing what everyone is posting.  My only plan as it relates to the blog is to be more productive.

Praying each everyone of you a Happy and Productive New Year and as always Happy Sewing!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Leaving in the early am to spend the holidays with my family. Sooo excited and can't hardly wait.  Thanking a gracious Heavenly Father for allowing me to live this year. Have experienced some challenges as well as some accomplishments but yet thankful in spite of.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and Happy New Year.

Just wanna sew for me

I have been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off for the last number of months.  Have done two fashion shows and alterations for clients. I really just want to sew something for myself.  Nothing to complicated or self drafted, just a plain old pattern from one of the Big 4 companies.  

I sat down and looked at my stash of patterns as well as fabrics and decided I wanted to do something with a monotone look.  After looking a quite a few patterns I made my choice.

The fabrics are a quilted knit for the skirt in a teal and light weight double knit in teal for the top.  The double knit was purchased from Fabric.com a while ago and the quilted knit from Jomar Fabrics in Philadelphia September 2015.  You might ask how I remember that date, it was part of a trip I took to Maryland, that led me to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and NYC for the US Open.  A wonderful birthday weekend courtesy of my 3 children.

Now back to what I was posting about in the first place, fabric.  As you can see from the pic below the fabric is quite pretty and I wanted something fall/winter but not black.  I have been wearing a lot of black and wanted to add some color to the fall wardrobe.

I really hope you can see the color clearly as it is really pretty.  Teal is a very nice color that can be paired with browns, reds, and yellows and I can't wait to get this project done so I can add some nice accessories.

My patterns are V8956 for the skirt and V8670 which appears to be OOP.

I will post the pics as soon as I am done.  Can't hardly wait to sew for me.  

As always, happy sewing. 

Fashion Show, Ankara Fabric and Dogs

You might ask after reading the title of this post, Fashion Show, Ankara Fabric and Dogs, what does that mean?  I was asked to participate in a local fashion show in the city where I live.  I did not know at first that the shows theme had to do with dogs but nevertheless I said yes.  I did a fashion show for this same organization back in 2013 and of course I had forgotten that as well.

I had a number of pieces already made out of Ankara Fabric sitting in my studio waiting for someone to purchase or model at any rate I decided to continue with making the additional garments out of Ankara.  I had only 5 days to complete the looks for 12 models. I must tell you I sewed from about 7:30 am until 1:00 am about 3 straight days.  I completed the garments and the fittings, with 5 items being completed the morning of the show.

 To say I was tired was an understatement.  I am not as young as I used to be when I could sew all day and bounce right back with energy from I don't know where.  I am still feeling it and the show was November 19, 2015.

I did not have the option of choosing my models, they were chosen by the show but these women were a joy to work with.  They are various ages, sizes and ethnicities, which was great considering the expo caters to all women.  I met most of them for the first time and had worked with two of them previously.  I will definitely work with them again.  It is so rewarding to meet people that you automatically bond with and began new friendships.  I find that to be the case all the time in the sewing world.  As I meet new clients and take on different projects I find myself meeting some wonderful people.

Enjoy the pics of the show.  I really loved doing this.

 All photos courtesy of Hayle Photography in Rochester, NY.

Fall Sewing, family sewing and boutique crawl

Some sewing has been going on over here.  I have made two dresses and a jacket for my granddaughter and three dresses for her mom. Currently working on Vogue 8780 out of a wool knit I purchased from Mood Fabrics sometime last year. I will complete that today.

I participated in Rochester, NY's version of fashion week on yesterday. I had some of my designs at a shop called California Closets and the shop was part of what is called the Boutique Crawl.  This consists of different boutiques and shops that are visited by persons who purchases tickets and go from boutique to boutique to shop and hopefully shop for about 6 hours. We had a great time at the shop. I had two friends that modeled my wears for me and great fun was had by all. See the pic below.  All items in the pic were designed and made be yours truly except the T shirt.

The temps are dropping here in western NY but they are very inconsistent. Yesterday begin in the 30's and we had snow flurries, currently it is 48 and expected to go up to 55. This is typical Rochester, NY weather.  I am in the process of sewing some fall items and plan to continue to work on my own designs.  Hope to post more pics soon.

As always, Happy Sewing.