I Am Thankful For

Wet noses & wagging tails,
All the joy they bring

A soul mate,
Without you my soul would be empty

My son,
The greatest gift that was ever given to me

Mistakes,
From them I have learned

Friends,
How they have touched my life

Family,
And all thier love

Well thats odd............

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Social Nerd   You're interested in things such as politics, psychology, child care, and peace. I wouldn't go so far as to call you a hippie, but some of you may be tree-huggers. You're the type of people who are interested in bettering the world. You're possible the least nerdy of them all; unless you participate in other activies that paled your nerdiness compared to your involvement in social activities. Whatever the case, we could still use more of you around. ^_^
Science/Math Nerd
Anime Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Literature Nerd
Drama Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Musician
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Shopping with the girls........

Saturday was pure fun! The girls and I went to Belk's Charity sale and had a blast! We started at 7 am, hit every section, got some great deals and a few laughs. Just about everything was 40% off, and who can't appreciate that? We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel - YUM!

I picked up two cotton sweaters, one in black with a crew neckline and another in preppy kelly green with a 'V' neckline. We went to Ulta and I grabbed some OPI nail polish in -' I'm Not Really a Waitress' (a fabo red) and 'Significant Other Color' (a opalescent lavander) and of course a tube of Big Tease mascara by Bare Escentuals. I also ran by Brighton and bought an amethyst charm for my sterling silver wheat chain I got a few months ago. The heels are like a leather ombre of navy to medium blue back to navy, sexy killer heels by Paris Hilton!
After all the fun we hated to say goodbye, but our feet told us it was time to stop. I arrived home to find more fun waiting for me.




Two patterns from Hot Patterns were waiting for me. Weekender Jean Jeanius Trouser Jeans and Metropolitan Seriously Stylin' Jacket.

Altering Pleated Skirt Pattern

I have decided to use Butterick 4686, but want to remove some of the pleats. In a light weight fabric 7 pleats are nice, but I am thinking in Denim maybe they might be to much. I also wanted a less puffy look and more of an 'A-Line' shape.

Butterick 4686 uses the same pattern piece for the front and the back. I know my front is way different than my back so I am going to create a front and a back pattern and move the zipper to the center back.

So here is what I am going to do starting with the original pattern. I numbered the pleats to help in the example.

I will remove 3 of the pleats by folding out the pleats numbered 2, 4, and 6 (fold out completely). This will remove some of the volume at the pleat release to the hemline.

Retrace and then use this as my front pattern piece.

For the back I will draw a line down the center to create the new center back seam line.

Then add seam allowance and mark the zipper placement.

Next I will pull out my TNT pencil skirt pattern McCall's 3830.

Taking the new pattern pieces for the pleated skirt folding the pleats and pin using McCall 3830 as a guide for fit in the waist and hip area. I will alter using the pleats and side seams if need be.

Pretty Pleasing Pleats

Oooooooohhh, pleats are everywhere this season! Pleats on skirts, blouses, pants, dresses, shoes and even on handbags too. All you have to do is search 'Pleated' at Neiman Marcus or Saks and up pop lots of lovely things.

So next up is a inverted box pleated skirt in dark denim or black. The list of patterns I like so far are:

Burda 8034

view A has a wide waistband, 5 front pleats and 5 back pleats with a side zipper

Hotpatterns 1017

Has a small waist band, 4 front pleats and 4 back pleats top stitched down to hip area, deep hem and a side zipper

Butterick 5285

View 'C' and 'D' have a small waist band 6 pleats in front and 6 pleats in back that are stitched to hip area with a back zipper

Butterick 4686

View 'A' and 'B' have 7 pleats in front and 7 pleats in back, no waist band (pleats start at top) that are stitched to the hip area, and side zipper

I am leaning towards Butterick 4686, mainly because I already have this pattern in my stash and have sewn up a test, I also have Burda 8034 and love the waistband ............but I am still looking closely at the others.

For inspiration I found this cute skirt at Newport News

Should I do dark denim or a black twill?