One More Reason to Love Sewing....

I was surfing the Boden site for inspirations last night and found the lovely 'Tea Dress'.

A cute summer dress in lovely floral prints with lovely velvet ribbon trim and gathers. A few things I noticed - they don't have sizes larger than 18 and this dress would look very pretty on plus gals! The price tag is way more than most would want to spend at a whopping $128.00. This Boden dress has a close twin .......

Rebecca Taylor's Vogue 1152 pattern

Isn't Rebecca so lovely in her own creation of the V1152 dress in a deep sapphire blue. Just beautiful with her fair skin and blond hair.

This Rebecca Taylor dress retails for $320.00 - Now that is like my monthly car payment!! It is pretty and I would looooove to own it - but alas I am not infinitely rich. Which brings me back to the reason why I love sewing. The only difference I can see is the hemline, that's all  - and at the sale price of $3.99  on my last JoAnn's visit - Well thats much closer to fitting in my budget!

The line drawing is actually prettier than the photo of Vogue 1152. There is a side zipper and the pattern calls for crepe de chine, charmeuse and matte jersey fabrics, but i am wondering if it was made in a knit with a good amount of stretch the side zipper might not be needed. Doing a FBA should also be simple due to the princess seam. Designer clothes made for you with price tags that fit into your budget, you just can't beat that!!!

The Case of the Missing Skirt

Where is that blue dotted print skirt you ask.....

well it was last seen in the sewing room on the sewing table.

hmmmm...... I have the zipper in and the side seams sewn and even the waist band pinned in,
but (yep there's that word)
- it is a TNT and easy pattern and there can't possibly be a good reason it's not finished yet!!! Or could there be????

but (again with this word) I am trying to lose a few pounds and thought since it was still to chilly maybe I should wait to sew in the waist band just in case (cough) I lost some weight and had to take it up.

So is this a silly reason? Or am I really a slacker?

Cold toes......

My feet are always cold!! Hopefully it will warm up here soon, as you may have heard in the south we are freezing!! I know everyone is getting hit hard this winter and most of us are getting tired of being cold all the time. I can't wait for the temps to warm up so I can start dyeing fabrics for some quilt projects slated for tutorials. I want to show how I dye my fabrics and then how to piece the blocks for a few quilts. Now given this is a slightly larger task for me, but I think it will be very motivating for me and maybe a few others out there in blogland  ;-)     I am sooo excited to get my fingers dirty -my hands always end up with dye on them.

So in the meanwhile pop over and congratulate Jana at Lola...again on her Daytripper Bag being published in Quilt magazine. I ran out Saturday and got my copy as soon as I found out!!

Petals and Patterns

I finally decided what I wanted to do with the Moda Boutique Layer Cake.

Petals, petals and more petals. All inspired by Kellie's quilt along at 'Don't Look Now', she is sooo awesome!!! I wanted to join in but just couldn't. So after watching all the beautiful blocks being made it motivated me to try a smaller slightly different block. I pulled out my EQ Block Book looking for Joseph's Coat patterns and found the 4 petal vesion - that was it!

Using all the tips and helpful hints Kellie gave I started hand appliqueing (is that spelled right??). This is a project that I can keep next to the couch and do at night while watching TV or take with me and work on while waiting at the doctors office.

This past Friday I ran to Jo-Ann's and picked up two patterns, who can pass up a sale?!?!

Vogue 8547

"Loose-fitting, lined jacket A has dolman sleeves with inset, cuffs, collar, pockets in side front seams and snap closing. Lined top B or dress C has fitted bodice, princess seams, shoulder straps, back zipper closing. B: lined to edge. C: flared skirt. A-lined skirt D, below mid-knee length, has front and back darts with grosgrain ribbon waistband, back zipper closing and split opening. Semi-fitted pants E sits 1" below waist with front and back darts and fly front opening."

This pattern I have been eyeing for a bit, I know there are other great pants patterns out there but something about these I like - the skirt is a basic and the jacket is a cutie. Not to sure about the dress and top, but it does go up to a size 20 and the top might make a nice tank for under jackets and cardigans.

Vouge 1152

"Loose-fitting dress has front and back princess seams, front and back gathers, front insets with contrast piping, back elastic casings, self-faced yoke, left side invisible zipper, short sleeves with pleated cap and gathered lower edge into self band and curved hem. Length is 2" above mid-knee at center front."

This dress is lovely! It has a hint of vintage and the gathered details are very feminine. I think for me though I will make the hem one length instead of the curved hemline, the curved hemline is a more youthful look that would look faboo on a 20/30 something. A big added benifit is this pattern goes up to a 22 for us plus sized ladies! :-)

I also picked up some cotton/lycra woven fabric in a dotted print. I am wishing for spring and loved the aqua/blue/green/ combo of this print and thought is would make a sweet little pencil skirt from my TNT McCall's 3830 in view C (just below knee length). Then Saturday I went for my very first pedicure ever with a BFF, had lunch with friends and found a cardigan in a deep blue-green color (they called it boardwalk blue) in the mall. It was a good day!!

Today I will start on the skirt, even though it's still to chilly to wear, at least it will be ready when it does warm up.   ..... my mojo is BACK!!! ;-)