Sewing Christmas Presents......Scarfs

I have decided to sew most of the girls at work these great scarfs for Christmas gifts. I got the pattern awhile ago on Etsy and made myself one. They are gorgeous and can be made in a variety of fabrics to suit the style of the recipient. They also are one size so they are perfect for gifts. I like to use a wool coating on the outside but you could line the hood with any type of fabric from fleece (warmth) to cotton (stylish). Well they are all stylish no matter what fabric you choose! I have used a variety of linings for this years presents.

Here is a picture of the hot pink one made for my friend Jody. She is pretty vivacious and would suit a bold colour. The lining is like a pretty batik pattern. This one is not the warmest scarf but very stylish.





Another pic.....I am having fun with a new iPhone app, so the colours are a bit off.




The tags I made to go with the presents.





My daughter modeling the three scarfs made so far.

Sureau Muslin

I have now up sized the Sureau pattern by 1 inch after my failed first attempt. This was quite easy to do and the fit is pretty good. I just cut each piece into 3 pieces vertically and spread them very slightly and traced this as a new pattern.

I decided to use a piece of pale pink linen I had sitting around for ages. I had 3 meteres of the stuff and never really loved it. I didn't want to make a dress that looked like it was meant for a wedding so I stashed it away. The styling of the Sureau dress though is so nice and casual that I thought it might look nice in pale pink. I imagined it with brown tights, a cardigan and my brown Fluevogs Frankie boots. In other words, I am hoping this will become a wearable muslin. The bodice does fit well and since I am much smaller through the hips and legs, it should fit fine overall.




Yesterday I stopped by Fabricland and saw they had broadcloth on sale for half price. This could work for a lining/underlining. I want to challenge myself and try lining this dress. I bought 4 metres of the light cream colour. Now to decide on a lining or underlining. I researched the reasons for each. Underlining seemed to fit for me as I really wanted to make the dress more opaque as well as have it last longer. So that is what I have decided to do.




This is the underling sewn to the back bodice.

Sureau Sew-along Fabric

I have chosen the fabric for my Sureau dress. My husband helped pick it out and I am very happy with it. It is yet another Jay McCarroll fabric called Los Angeles in Downtown, I have again been playing with sketching on the iPad, it is so much fun.



Here is an actual picture of the fabric.



Even though it is a cotton as well as lighter colour tones, I am hoping this will be an all year round dress. I figure with some nice tights and a cardigan that I should be able to pull it off.
I am so excited about this sew-along, I can hardly contain it. I have traced off the pattern and cut the bodice out of some shirting from my stash. I like to do a muslin of the bodice due to my large chest. Time permitting, I will work on this over this weekend.
Yay, the Sureau Sew-along starts this week!
Update: I put together the muslin and it definitely needs more room at the bust. To solve this, I redid the centre panel but made it an inch wider. This is pretty much a perfect fit. The question is, do I do the same on my "real" Sureau (remember I will have to draft a larger front facing also OR do I redraft the whole bodice pattern to fit an inch larger OR do I wait and try a FBA????? I am leaning towards a full redraft adding an inch throughout the bodice. I will just have to work on my math the get the individual pieces right. EEEEK. I really want to try more of these patterns but I hope they will be easy to adjust as I think they will all be based on the same sizings.

I am going to use this tutorial and grade the bodice up by an overall 1 inch or 2 inches for a comfortable fit.

Sewaholic Alma ideas

I have already made several Alma blouses. I just love This top and Sewaholic patterns in general. Here is my favourite one in progress, using Jay McCarroll fabric.




I was playing around drawing on the iPad and now have 2 more Alma ideas. I like the capped sleeve version the best as it is the most flattering on me. I have a plan for one in a cream batik cotton that I have stashed as well as a cotton grey and black floral.
They are on my list of to dos but will have to wait until my Sureau dress is complete.

Dog Walking

We have had our rescue dog, Suki, for 5 years now. She is such a good dog and loves to give kisses constantly. I often call her licky looloo. Two weeks ago we got a new puppy. A guy in our neighbourhood breeds half Malamute and half wolf puppies. We have always wanted one but we couldn't shell out the 1000.00 dollars for a pup ( at least not until Molly's braces are paid for). We ran into him on a dog walk and he mentioned he had a pup that has cerebral hyperplasia and if we are interested in him, he would take 100.00 dollars. We immediately did the research and found that these dogs or cats develop this in the womb and it is a brain development issue due to a variety of reasons. It can be mild to severe but it does not get worse and it does not effect the lifespan or health of the pet. We were meeting the pup the next day and decided to wait and see how severe his case is. Well he has a very mild case and can go up and down the stairs without any issues. He does look like a jack rabbit when he runs! We as a family, chose the name Hatchi. The name comes from a famous japanese dog story of loyalty. Hatchi is super cute but is almost as big as Suki at 14 weeks!




Suki and Hatchi together. The puppy just adores Suki.
Here are the two cuddling.




We are just loving the fall dog walks. The park is empty by 7 in the evening and we have the whole few acres to ourselves along with our neighbours. A real dog pack!
My choice dog walking footwear for the wet chilly fall weather are my Blundstones. They are really waterproof as well as quick to get on and off.

Robe Sureau Sew-along

I am so excited to begin my first sew-along. I feel like it is an international get together of like minded sewers. I sent away for my pattern immediately from Deer and Doe. It is all in french but I think my skills will be able to handle it. I can not wait until she publishes all her patterns in English as I will buy lots more for sure.

My husband, who has an awesome sense of design is going to come with me this week to pick out the fabric for the Robe Sureau. There is a cool new fabric shop that has opened up in my town called Needlework. It not only sells lovely fabric but their whole store identity is awesome. We will go there first to check out the selection. I am sure I will come home with something for my Sureau. I will post a picture of my chosen fabric when I get it.

Can I Keep This Up?

I love blogs. I love sewing blogs. I love sewing. Yet, can I find the time to create my own blog? I am a full time media arts teacher, mother and wife. I sew every free minute I have.  Well, only time will tell if I can keep this up.

I used to sew a lot back in the 80's. I didn't sew from patterns but made crazy costumes for my indie punk band, The Dik Van Dykes. Usually materials consisted of bubble wrap, shower curtains and old vintage pillow cases. There was lots of tulle and heavy elastic waistbands in the style of Cyndi Lauper. Today, my sewing wants and desires are quite different and I will explain this journey as it unfolds.