Pavlina: Life is Not For the Living

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Installing an invisible zipper part II!

August 17th, 2010 by Pavlina
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A brief note before the post of the day. I was going to say that in French, but then I didn’t want to Google it, hey! It’s late and I just spent 3 hours fixing this site so give me a break already! Yes, the site is back up, whew! Let’s say I now know more about MySQL, databases, WordPress and GoDaddy hosting than I ever hoped or wanted to. I did battle and I came out victorious. I cannot help noticing however that the website looks old and tired. I assume most read it in a reader, but I am sure some of you still cruise by the site so maybe I’ll take some time to spiff it up. I still have LOTS of cleaning to do in my directories after that patch job! Enough chitter chatter, time to get on with part two of the invisible zipper tut!

You’ll recall from months ago, oh wait, it the post just before this one. Well, while the posts are separated in time, they are adjacent to each other in space! He he he. Okay, so if you look just below you’ll see that invisible zipper was simply put in the back of a dress, but what happens if you are making a skirt with a yoke, or if your dress has separate bodice and skirt sections? How on Earth does everything line up and not look crooked or wonky. Indeed.

Step 1
Gather all the supplies, your zipper, pins, a tailor’s ruler, chalk.

Step 2
Measure from the top down. Since this bodice is lined, I SHOULD HAVE measured down so the zipper stop will be right at the bodice/lining seamline. This is for my daughter and I don’t want to fuss with a hook and eye.

Step 3
Now, pin the left side of the zipper to the right-right side of the panel. Making sure the zipper teeth are facing into the garment, the zipper tape should be ~2/8″ from the finished edge, the zipper teeth should be on your seamline, in this case 5/8″. I don’t measure this since my serged finish is 2/8″ wide. :)

Step 4
Now sew it in, using the appropriate zipper foot. I can’t say it enough. I use YKK zippers, so I use a YKK zipper foot. The opening in the foot fits the zipper coils perfectly, leading to a fusion of form and function that is truly beautiful. Note also how I place the pins so I can easily remove whilst sewing. ;)

Step 5
Now, this next part is key. You see how when you zip the zipper, the zipper tape is against the panel (well, DUH!), take the chalk and mark this! Just draw a line on the zipper tape where the seam/join is on the panel.

Step 6
Now, unzip the zipper (you can re-iron the zipper tape if you want, but I never bother) and starting from the chalked line, go ahead and pin in the zipper.

Step 7
There it is, all pinned in. Don’t be scared to use a lot of pins!

Step 8
Go ahead and zip it up again (see why I never bother re-ironing the zipper?), and check that the tops are even…
Step 8.5
and check the join meets up evenly. You see here I won the Lotto and everything looked good, but if the top and/or the join is off you’ll need to shift and re-pin. This is very important and I would rather move pins that rip out zippers!

Step 9
Sew in the other side of the zipper. then I always zip it up just to make sure nothing shifted. Lots of pins helps with that.

Step 10
Press and recheck. Ask yourself, why didn’t I make sure the zipper stop was closer to the top? *sigh*

Step 11
Nice job, eh? The top is even, the join lines up perfectly.

Done!
Then go ahead and finish the rest of the seam using the tip from the previous post. Can you see the end of the zipper?

This is the end of the zipper
There it is! Dang….I’m good!

That’s it for now. At some point I’ll take a picture of all the ribbons I been winning and the costumes that go with them.

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Invisible zipper tutorial, part I

February 5th, 2010 by Pavlina
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I was perusing my sewing blogs via my RSS reader and came across a post that vilified the awesome invisible zipper. Truth be told, when I returned to sewing with a passion ten years ago, te humble lapped zipper terrified me. I discovered the invisible zipper and liked it so much I went on ebay and bought a huge lot of them. I already had bought the invisible zipper foot at Vogue fabrics in Evanston, IL. Since then I’ve done a handful on non-invisible zips, only when the design demands it.

Honestly, invisible zippers are soooo easy, and they look soooo good, I don’t understand all the hate. Putting one in is very easy, but there are two critical steps that if left out, will turn your invisible zipper into a hot mess.

  1. Iron the coils flats
  2. Use a regular zipper foot to put the rest of the seam in under the zip

If one does not do the two above steps, one WILL end up with an invisible zip that is visible and will be nigh impossible to zip up without breaking it.

enjoy!

  1. First, dump all your zips out and admire them:
    Pick a zipper
  2. Then, separate all the ones you want by color:
    Narrow the selection by color
  3. Then narrow the selection by size:
    Too short!Too Short!
    Too long!Too Long!
    Just rightJust Right!
  4. Put the pattern pieces right side up, edges to be joined together:
    Put back pieces right sides up
  5. Put the zipper on the ironing board, and unzip it:
    Place zipper on ironing board
    Unzip it
  6. Open it out with your fingers and iron the coils flat with a HOT iron. It was kind of hard for me to get a good photo of this bit, but I am sure you can imagine how to do it:
    Get ready...
    Hot iron
  7. When I say iron it flat, I mean FLAT baby! Get those coils flat as can be!
    See the difference!
    The coils on the right have been ironed, the ones on the left are still all curly.
    Both sides ironed downBoth sides ironed flat.
  8. Now, place the zipper on the right hand side garment piece. The zipper coils should be facing the garment, the zipper tape should be in the SA. The coils should lie right on the seam line, in my case this is 5/8″.
    Now place zipper
  9. The top of the zipper will vary depending on the garment. In this case, I put the zipper stop on the seam line, 5/8″ below the top.
    Measure from the top
  10. Pin the zipper all the way in, make sure to measure the SA so it is constant:
    Pin zipper down
  11. This is what it should look like:
    All pinned in
  12. My invisible zipper foot. Bought for ~3 dollars, it is the perfect tool for the job. Made by YKK for YKK zippers.
    The secret weapon
  13. Put zipper under the foot. See, this is why I place my pin heads down, I can pull the pins out easily while I sew down the zipper tape. Notice how the rollers perfectly fit the zipper coils:
    Invisible zipper foot on zipper
  14. Admire the perfect stitching right next to the coils.
    Nice stitching!
  15. Now for the left side. Place the right hand side of the garment next to the left hand side, ensuring the zipper is still face down and nothing is twisted. The coils should be facing into the garment, the zipper tape should be in the seam allowance. Carefully measure from the top.
    Time for the other side
  16. Pin in well. You can also baste or use wonder tape, but I prefer pinning as it is easy to move the pins in case of an error.
    Pin it well!
  17. Do a test zip and make sure the top is aligned. This also works to make sure nothing got twisted. :) :
    Zip it up!
  18. At this point, once I am happy with my zipper placement, I go ahead and pin out the rest of the seam. I make sure that my notches and edges are lined up.
    Pin the rest of the seam
  19. Go down the other side:
    Now we use the other side!
  20. Now, switch to a regular zipper foot:
    Switch feet!
  21. Snug right up to the bottom of the zipper seam. I can never get right on the seam, but I can get pretty darn close. Go ahead and sew from the bottom of the zipper tape, finishing the seam:
    Sew the seam!
  22. This is what it should look like:
    The seam should be right here!
  23. Now, press everything, then admire the invisible zipper perfection!
    Turn, press, admire!

I’m sure some eagle eyes is all nitpicky thinking, well I can see where it ends, but really! There isn’t a dimple, or a pucker and that is why it is so important to use a zipper foot beneath the zipper to get as close as possible to the seam. Like wise, the coil ironing will allow the stitches to form right next to the coils, right where they should be.

This is the easiest zip to put in, just in one garment piece. The next logical question is, how do I put an invisible zip into a yoked skirt or a dress? Stay tuned, that will be in my Invisible zipper tutorial, part II. I’ll give you a hint, chalk is your friend! :)

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February goals

January 31st, 2010 by Pavlina
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So, I have been quite the busy bee, err, seamstress this month. I was able to make that entire big list I had made out earlier which was:

Complete blouse – Simplicity 2501
Complete Martin’s fleece hoodie – Burda 9822
Complete Emma’s pink velour – New Look 6770
Complete Emma’s diamond dress – New Look 6846
Start Emma’s grey flower dress – Simplicity 2483
Resume costume work – Truly Victorian TV101 (bustle), TV110 (corset), TV362 (overskirt), Butterick 5232 (jacket), Simplicity 2556 (vest), LM100 (Chemise)
Measure/prepare the patterns for the saffron silk ensemble New Look 6799 and Advance 2878

and then I had the nerve to add making a slip and a Burda Style print out pattern. Yeah.

The blouse and Martin’s fleece hoodie are both done, no photos, sorry. Emma’s diamond dress and the pink velour hoodie/skirt set are DONE!!!

New Look 6846

kdk_0324

I finished the corset and the chemise…

Laughing Moon 100 Chemise

Trulu victorian corset, one half

I never did take a photo of myself in the corset…it’s a b**** to get in, but it looks great, Maybe this weekend I’ll have Jason take a photo of me in it.

The slip I made for this crappy skirt…but I never did line it and I was having quite an issue with it clinging to my tights. I thought it would hang better with the slip, but it didn’t and I think I am going to have to rip it apart to fix the fit issues. *sigh*

kdk_0320

I am currently working on the skirt and the pattern for The Saffron Ensemble. Like how I made that in caps? I was hoping to get that done in February. I haven’t really “prepped” the patterns. The Vintage Advance 2878 pattern is a size too big for me, so I went ahead and traced the pattern and cut it out in Muslin. I was hoping by simply trimming 1/4″ of selected seam allowances and tweaking the bust dart I would be able to get it to fit okay. The dress pattern is a New Look 6799. I love New Look patterns and they usually fit me quite well. The pattern is cut up and I am going to go ahead and make a muslin of that.

So my February Goals are:

  • Finish any January projects :)
  • Jennifer Stern 0051 A top with two collars and a peplum in a white heavy cotton with Lycra that has been living in my stash for over 5 years.
  • A vintage Simplicity 4106 pattern for a pencil skirt with a side opening again with a fabric from my stash, a printed moleskin with a funky vintage-like feel that I bought like 8 years ago! (that’s old for me, that would be like when I started stashing fabric)
  • Costume work: Bustle (laughing ,moon 112) and vest (simplicity 2556)
  • Then I finish the gray jumper for Emma, The Saffron Ensemble and the Burda skirt that will be known as the tan corduroy pencil skirt.
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I need to clean up my act!

January 8th, 2010 by Pavlina
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So, I have been doing quite a bit of sewing lately. While I do like to keep all my “sewing crap” organized, I have so much of it (a new notion? I must have it!) and the very process of what to do with extra needles, buttons, thread, elastic, zippers, interfacing, seam rippers, bobbins, extra presser-feet, thimbles, wax, chalk, snaps, closures, trim, seam binding, scissors, pins, cutting boards, irons, ironing boards, etc become quite the chore indeed. Right now, I feel like everything is a delicate balance. Like,m if I remove this before that, the whole mess will come crashing down. The only benefit is that I know where almost everything is, except for when I don’t. Last weekend my sewing came to a crashing halt when I was unable to find a pattern! So I did a stop-gap measure where I did a mini-clean, but look, these pictures really do speak for themselves!

First, the obligatory machine photos

Platinum 730
My Platinum 730, which I love dearly and hope to have the rest of my sewing life.

Huskylock s15
My new, cute wee serger. I have heard it debated that this one doesn’t even “qualify as a serger” because it doesn’t do the coverstitch, but I don’t need a coverstitch. This s15 does exactly what I wanted it for, to finish my seams and it does it beautifully and I only had to spend 340 USD to do it. If I decide I need a coverstitch machine when I grow up, I’ll buy one. :)

So, as you see mu sewing machine and serger sit right next to each other on my work table. While I notice that most people seem to have their machines adjacent to each other or across from each other, I really like this setup. I have a bit less space on my work table, but the serger sitting on the front corner leaves room (as you can see in the pic) for all my iron supplies to fit right behind it, out of the way.

Behind the serger

As you can see from this picture. the basket holds my machine manuals, and my pattern holding area. The pattern holding area contains patterns that: I am currently working on, want to work on “next”, want to work on but honestly will never get around to.

thread storage
This is where I store all my thread. Yes, that is all the thread I own. I am now officially at just-over-full capacity and I am banned from buying anymore thread. :)

behind the 730
So this is just behind my sewing machine. I bought this big, divided box to hold all my smaller sewing notions. It stores all my machine needles, my needle stash, patter weights, thimble, wax, chalk, fray check, seam gauges, rulers, seam rippers, presser feet, and empty bobbins. I have a wee tray inside my sewing machine that stores feet and bobbins, but some of my feet are too big and I only store threaded bobbins in the sewing machine. I really love this box, but I have a hard time keeping it tidy. I love that it keeps my heavily used notions near, and I don’t have to scramble around to change a needle or whatever. I could get rid of a few things in it, like those pattern weights that I never use.

work table

This is a scary picture! This is the rest of my work table. Ugh. If we just restrict ourselves to the surface only, there is my “dangerous box” which is the black and white open box, where I store my scissors, rotary cutter and pins. The white basket is where I store my current project notions, things like the right thread, my silk tracing thread, buttons, zippers, trim, etc. Then I will have other stuff on there also. Like the mending I need(ed) to do, a small jar of hand cream, my crotch/waist curve, fabric scraps, princess tiara, pincushion, trim bags, etc.

Now, for the really scary, before and after photos. I was really going to go all out and move everything around, but then I realized I was planning on moving my sewing area into the “cold” corner of the room, I quickly changed my mind and did light duty moving. :)

First, the mess

Are you horrified? I am and was! I cannot believe I was in that for so long. Like I said, I didn’t really get as much done as I wanted, hopefully this spring I’ll still have some of this manic energy left and I can finish the job!

After the purge:

So much better!

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The dress is done!

January 5th, 2010 by Pavlina
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Rather, it was completed a few weeks ago, but I just got around to updated the blog. You’ll recall, the Simplicity 2828, pink dress for the wee one.

P1000438

There she is, hamming it up for the picture.

P1000439

and a view of the back.

I was able to get everything lined up pretty good. I tried to pay close attentions to the growth aspect, and I stitched my side seams in the same direction. I still has about a 1mm mismatch for the zipper install, luckily the sash hides it very well. I can never get the sides to line up perfectly on my zippers when i have a join (ie a yoke and skirt panel, bodice and skirt, etc) the join never lines up, but the top of the garment does? WTF? What am I doing wrong? I am getting better though. *sigh*

Anyway, I made a few changes to the pattern, but it came out quite well. I’ll post a review of it over at PatternReview.

What else have I been sewing? Well, I tried (and failed) to make myself a skirt for Christmas. I did finish it a few days later and I’ll put up a few pics of that. I also (almost) completed a corduroy pencil skirt. I just need to tack down the waistband. You’ll see what I mean when I post the pics of that one, but I need to really think about the fabric and the pattern design. That’s all I’ll say for now. I also completed my shirt muslin, but I’ve been calling it a toile because I like the way it sounds :) . I made the necessary adjustments taking careful consideration to what I learned in my class at the Sewing expo, and I think I will actually have a lovely top for once that will actually be fitted and shall not slip around! I went ahead and transferred the adjustments to the pattern and got that all cut out over the weekend.

So my January project list is:

Complete blouse – Simplicity 2501
Complete Martin’s fleece hoodie – Burda 9822
Complete Emma’s pink velour – New Look 6770
Complete Emma’s diamond dress – New Look 6846
Start Emma’s grey flower dress – Simplicity 2483
Resume costume work – Truly Victorian TV101 (bustle), TV110 (corset), TV362 (overskirt), Butterick 5232 (jacket), Simplicity 2556 (vest), LM100 (Chemise)
Measure/prepare the patterns for the saffron silk ensemble New Look 6799 and Advance 2878

Hmmmm,,,,,not so much me sewing in there as I would like. Martin is already demanding a fleece robe the cheeky monkey!

Also, the costume. it has been sorely neglected, but I practiced my sketching with some help last night and I think I came up with a fairly good portrayal of what I want to do. The sketch, I think, does not look too bad for a second effort. I even came up with a name, The Odyssey.

OdysseyI have not made much progress yet on The Odyssey, I am afraid. I really need my foundations before I can even fit the rest of it. My corset is still far from completion. I need to trim the bottom (or is it the top?), bind one edge (top or bottom), insert the boning, try it on again, then adjust boning/length if necessary, finish the binding AND then I will be done! the I need to complete the chemise, which has been cutout and that’s it. Then I need to make the bustle petticoat. Then the overskirt. Then the vest. Then the jacket. Then the only imagined pleated underskirt. Then I have to find the perfect tights/stockings, jewelry, accessories. I wanted a walking stick, a monocle, a leather pouch…ai yai yai I have a lot to do! When is Balticon 44 again? Good grief.

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A Moment of weakness

December 15th, 2009 by Pavlina
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Vintage patterns!

I can’t resist! I just can’t. I was over at A Dress a Day and she is posting about a couple of pattern sales. The first that caught my eye was a new site for me, Out of the Ashes and they have some lovely patterns there and GREAT prices. They have a sale that ends tomorrow, 20% off! Go to the Dress a Day link for info. I love me some vintage, as I was saying and picked up these beauties…

Simplicity 4106 “Sassy side fastened pencil skirt”
Simplicity 4106
A girl/woman can never have too many pencil skirts.

McCall’s 2948 “Delightful dress with bias skirt”
MaCalls 2948
I have noticed that lately I have been looking at more 70′s patterns, and this lovely just reached right out and grabbed me! I love view C with the patterned fabric and the tie, but high necks just don’t look good on me so I like instead view B, with a contrast band or maybe the tie, shorter skirt (as I am short). Funky!

Simplicity 5091 “Flutter Sleeved Blouse 1981″
Simplicity 5091
Now this is a lovely top! I have a few sheer fabrics so I will be making this next spring with maybe a white mini skirt (maybe denim) and I think this will be perfect. Pair it with a simple cami top and I’m off! Awesome.

So I just wanted to share my latest vintage pattern find.

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12 days of cookies, blah humbug!

December 14th, 2009 by Pavlina
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Used to be, I would look forward to the Food Network’s 12 days of cookies. Now, well, now they are all just awful, boring cookies. I refer you to One year and two days ago when I felt a similar outrage. I guess the fun is over, the check has been written and now we are propagating crap cookies to the masses. Curse you, Food Network!!!

    The 12 days of (crappy) cookies

  1. Gingerbread Cookies for the Holidays : Verdict? OK. s’allright, kind of a variation on a Gingerbread cookie. If you don’t already have a decent recipe, this one is probably worth a try. Personally, I use the one from King Arthur flour, but that’s just me.
  2. Dried Cherry and Almond Cookies with Vanilla Icing : Verdict? Maybe. My family is not so great on the fruit and nut combo so this is not for us. I checked over the recipe and it does look okay, and the cookies do look pretty.
    cookies
  3. The Neelys’ Butter Cookies : Verdict? OK. s’allright, yet another sugar cookie recipe. I’m sure they are fine, the most important things with sugar cookies if more technique than recipe. Make sure the oven is at the right temp, don’t use hot cookie pans, make sure the dough is chilled, try not to re-roll the cookie dough more than three times, etc. I already have a sugar cookie recipe so I won’t be trying this one.
  4. Hazelnut-Chocolate Linzer Cookies : Verdict? FAIL. Food Network, stop trying to pass off non-Linzer variations as Linzer! Linzer MUST have hazlenuts and raspberry. Period. Accept no substitutes. Call these Nutella cookies instead.
  5. Cinnamon-Spiced Hot Chocolate Cookies : Verdict? Nope. If I wanted spiced hot chocolate I would go make some. Come on, this is the HOLIDAYS! Spiced hot cocoa is a dime a dozen, why do I need to make these cookies to fill a gap that is already filled?!? They even loook…strange…a waste of yummy Dulce de Leche if you ask me (and I think you just did).cinnamom cookies
  6. Citrus Trio Butter Dipping Cookies : Verdict? OK. s’allright I guess. Actually they do look quite nice…Trio cookies. I couldn’t figure out the trio part until I read the recipe, then discovered one is meant to add the zest from a lime, lemon and orange. Phew! I’m sure these are good and yummy, but I don’t think they are “special” enough for Holiday cookie season.
  7. Oatmeal Cream Cheese Butterscotch Bars : Verdict? Yummy! These look quite tasty, I love bars of this type. Unfortunately no-one else in my family does so it usually means I end up throwing half a pan out and I no longer makes bars :( . Tell me how they were.
  8. Johnny’s Impossible Tawdry Mexican Wedding Cookies : Verdict? Strange. Really, I just don’t understand these. Why are they tawdry? They do have rather unconventional ingredients, like tapioca starch and maple syrup. Well, okay, Whatever. Wow, this is the third recipe this year that falls into the “if you already have a tried and true recipe no need to change but if you really need one, here it is”. Ditto. What she said.
  9. Orange Currant Polenta Cookies : Verdict? Neutral. I read this recipe and it just does not speak to me, I have no interest to see what a orange, currant and polenta cookie would taste like. They don’t look terrible interesting…orange cookiesActually they look a bit like chocolate chip cookies.
  10. Sunny’s Crunchy Peanut Butter S’more Bites Verdict? *Yawn* No interest. No thanks.
  11. Classic Shortbread Cookies in 4 Ingredients with added 1 ingredient Variations : Verdict? Ok. S’allright, I guess. Maybe they should rename this 12 days of familiar cookies, or 12 days of easy and fun cookies, or 12 days of old standby cookies. For the fourth time we have a standard shortbread recipe, the “classic twist” is they have added 1 ingredient variations to get a whole new taste experience! actually the chai sounds quite yummy. This could be added to the possible list, but my holiday baking card is full and this just isn’t unique enough for me.
  12. White Peppermint Snowballs : Verdict? FAIL! I suppose it just can’t be 12 days of cookies without the addition of a recipe that revolves around store-bought cookie dough. Oh you didn’t know? I am a full on baking snob and I can’t remember the last time I bought refrigerated dough. Yuk. Yuk. Yuk. Please don’t tell me that not everyone has the time to make homemade cookie dough and etc. Listen, if you don’t have the time to get off your butt and prioritize then just go to the bakery, but you’ll probably just go to the bakery section of the grocery store (cuz’ you ain’t got the time, yo!) and buy some cookies. They will be nicer than these. Sugar cookies with crushed candy canes. At least the list finished off with a bang, or a fizzle.

What can I say? Lets tally the votes! We got 4 Ok, s’allrights, 2 FAILS, 1 maybe, 1 yawn, 1 neutral, 1 nope, 1 strange, 1 yummy. That’s a bit discombobulated. We’ll call it 4 Oks, 4 neutral, 2 Fails, 1 strange, and 1 yummy.

Overall, Pass.

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New sewing projects, Simplicity 2828

December 8th, 2009 by Pavlina
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I have a few more projects to finish from November. Oh, is it December? Oops. I still have a skirt for me, a dress for Emma and a shirt muslin for me to finish…in November. Oh well. Luckily they are all winter appropriate.

Anyhoo, I got it into my head that I wanted to make the daughter a dress..for Christmas. So a bit of a fancy dress, but maybe not too fancy. I looked at the patterns and saw this Project Runway thing, anyway Simplicity 2828.
Simplicity 2828 pattern envelope image

I know what you are thinking, it’s kind of blah. Kind of boring. Well, I never trust the pretty pictures, those will get you into trouble, so true to form, I looked at the line drawing and pretty much liked what I saw.
Simplicity 2828 line drawings
I really liked these, there was the sleeveless component which Emma loves, a nice puffy skirt, a pretty sash. Lovely. and simple. I had the perfect fabric even. last fall, I found this lovely brown velvet with a beautiful border design on it. I had meant to make Emma a dress from it last year, and I would make a matching skirt, but it just never happened. Well, little miss opinionated didn’t like the brown, so I rooted through my stash and managed to find enough of a pink patterned poly fabric, and the leftover last piece of the horrible cotton Lycra (good riddance) that I used on her renaissance dress (I know, it’s coming) and the ivory faille I was going to use for the sash originally. She also liked the look of the ruffly sleeves (argh) and the bow on the front (whatever).

This is why I don’t sketch.
Sketch
This was my sketch using all the help in the world. Looks awful. Emma was pretty skeptical, but she liked all the fabric so that was okay. So the bright yellow is meant to be the ivory faille. I was originally going to add lace around the neckline, but I found some pink trim(s) and will use that instead. Also, I wasn’t sure I was going to have enough of the pink patterned fabric for the bodice, but I did. A pretty bad sketch, all in all. I usually just have an idea in my head, then make up the project. Of course, that doesn’t help you to visualize my project does it? Well, I think this horrible sketch is pretty bad, and you are probably thinking, “what little girl would want that hot mess?” Indeed.

I did all the cutting out this past weekend. I started sewing it last night. Actually I did the stay stitching of the bodice and one ruffle baby hem. I only had 30 minutes!

Simplicity 2828 ruffle hem

Then just tonight, I flatlined the organza to the skirt panels…
Simplicity 2828, flatlining detail

I finished the other ruffle hem, gathered them and sewed them to the bodice…

Simplicity 2828, ruffle pinning

Simplicity 2828, ruffle detail

You can see here the faille is really a nice color, not bright yellow! So that’s s far as I have gotten. of course, I made some design changes to the pattern. :) I decided not to pleat the skirt panels, but wanted to gather them. I just didn’t like the look of those crisp pleats, I figured with the soft pinks and ivory a soft, gathered line would look better. It’s in my sketch!

Since I honly had a scant yard of the faille, I was only able to cut out the sash body and the two ruffles. I decided to purchase some wide, ivory satin ribbon and I also picked up some nice hem tape.

Supplies!

You can see the ribbon is a prefect match for the faille. I probably won’t show much more construction. I’ll add a snap or two of the zipper. I’ll be putting an invisible zipper in, and I’ll have to add it to two gathered sections, so it should be fun. I’ll post those, but I hope to have this done this weekend. I decided to go ahead and make the brown velvet skirt. It is an OOP Vogue pattern. More on that later.

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I just couldn’t stay away

December 2nd, 2009 by Pavlina
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I tried, I really did. My twitter feed just couldn’t deal with my need to say inane things. I found myself limited by the 140 character limit. It was hard to get the entire thought out. So I’m back. For now. I won’t promise anything like timely updates. That was just stressing me out, and not at all in line with the laid back attitude of this blog. I would generate posts then would hate them because they were crap, but I felt I had to publish man! I had to get the word out!

So, what have I been up to?

I been chillin’

Me and the fairy

Did some sewin’

Got a new serger :)

Did some drivin’

A pretty view

Did some dance watchin’

Sugar plum Fairy

Playin’ some games

Reading some books

7th son - Descent

Watchin’ some TV

See you later.

Me and new hair

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Coming attractions

October 5th, 2009 by Pavlina
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i haven’t been here in awhile. Sorry about that. As you know, my poor kitty came to the end of the road. This blog was just one thing I could not seem to work up the energy for. The energy for me to spend here is gone. More things take my time and energy from writing here. I’ll keep you all updated here, but I think for now we can all say goodbye to Life is Not For the Living. I’ll be sad to see it go.

Goodbye.

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