New Skirt

I made this skirt a few weeks ago, and it was too big.
Way too big. It is from the September 2009 BWOF (the number is 131, and I originally made the size 42.) I don't really approve of big pockets on my skirts, so I left them out. Without pockets and belt loops, this was a really easy skirt to make.
But I seem to have the problem of always making my skirts too large, and this time there was some drama involved. I decided to wear it on a Sunday to Church, and discovered about half an hour before we had to leave that it was not going to stay up. So, being the determined woman that I am, I got out a needle and thread and made the darts bigger, opened the waistband, and did a major taking in operation. I took in about 2 inches total in the darts and went off to Church. It kind of developed that "home made look" through the whole process. I like my clothes to look like someone skilled and highly paid made them, not a frantic mother-of-two trying to get out the door.
So, since I finished that jacket, I once again whipped out my trusty seam ripper and got down to business. Here is what the inside looked like before:
Once I ripped it apart, I took in 1/2 inch on each seam, for 2 inches total, serged the seams, re-hemmed it, and put the whole thing together again.


Here is the final result:
Now I am off to help cook for about 500 people because a friend of mine is getting married today. This has been a very busy October.

Plaid Jacket

Well, it's fall in Chicago. And this is not one of those sunny, warm falls we have gotten used to. (A few years ago, the roses started blooming in December because of the weird warm weather.) So, I realized I had been wearing the same jackets and sweaters since I was pregnant with my youngest son. Does this mean that I pick classic styles that last a long time, or that I am in a fashion rut and need an intervention?

I found this in the October Burda, and I decided to make it. It has a hood and 3/4 length sleeves.

The pattern looked easy (famous last words).
I found a great plaid at Vogue and bought it before realizing that it is a stretch fabric, which meant I had to fuse it to other, non-stretchy fabric.




Here's a close up of it and the flannel from my stash that I ended up lining the jacket with:



I lengthened the sleeves and ditched the fake fur collar. This turned out to be the longest I have ever sewed anything except for a wedding dress for a friend of mine. I ended up making up my own directions because I couldn't make the given directions work. They weren't really bad, so much as evil and incomprehensible. I had to rip out almost every seam at least once.
Here is a portrait of the tool that saved my bacon on this project, the lowly seam ripper:



My room was covered with nests of red thread and snippets of fabric. My kids were living on apples and t.v. The extent of my conversation with them was "Be careful, the iron is on!" (My husband was off on a paintball trip, so there was no one to make me see sense. ) After a blur of sewing and cutting and ripping seams out, trying on and re adjusting, I am finished!
Here is the front:









Here is the back:





Now I can toss all of those old jackets and be toasty warm in whatever weather this crazy city decides to send our way. Chicago is not known for playing nice, but I am prepared!

Somewhere in the mayhem, my youngest son managed to lose another tooth. Once I remember his name, I'll make sure the tooth fairy visits him.

Bob Dylan

OK, quick random rant this morning. My husband took the camera to camp, so I have no photos, but here goes:
1. Bob Dylan is releasing a Christmas album, the proceeds of which will go to charity. Great.
a. Can you imagine his voice wheezing "Drummer Boy"? I really like his music - a taste I must enjoy on the sly when my husband is not around - and I think he's a genius. But I don't think I will be able to hear him singing "Here Comes Santa Claus" without laughing.
b. The statement they wrote for him to announce the release sounds so unlike him, it's comical! They should have had him do his own. Even if totally unrecognizable as a plug for the group the album will benefit, it would have been BOB DYLAN, and people would have tried to figure out what on earth he was talking about!

2. Bob is working on a deal to be the voice on a car GPS. Can you imagine hearing that voice for hours on end on a road trip? Wouldn't you wonder if he would get you lost on purpose to help you come to an epiphany of some sort? And, what if he was being ironic, and when he said "Go straight" he meant "Do a u-turn to save yourself from the giant cliff ahead of you"?

For me, music is all about the lyrics, and Bob Dylan is a master. He shouldn't waste his time on songs with lyrics like, "We'll sing a love song as we go along, walking in a winter wonderland."

Come on.

Burda !!!!!

Yesterday I went to Vogue Fabrics, and checked at a magazine store up there for Burda, since Amazon said I wouldn't be getting my Burda subscription until October 1st. Well, they do carry it up there, but hadn't gotten the latest edition yet. Sadly, I went to Vogue, bought some fabric, and came home. At home, this was waiting in my mailbox:

Woooo Hoooo!
I scoured it for ideas, and decided to make this skirt in a dark denim, without the pockets. I traced it, added seam allowances, and cut out the fabric around 10 p.m. last night. (Fingers crossed that I traced the right size...)












I also want to make this jacket.
It is August in Chicago, and we should be sweltering in 100+ heat and 90 % humidity, but it's in the 60's and I'm wearing wool slippers and a long sleeved shirt! Hence the fascination with jacket patterns, I guess.

I also had to show this:

I love how non-English speakers can make their English perfectly correct, but somehow wrong. It cracked me up!

So.... Burda, thanks for coming! I look forward to all of your issues and I plan on making a "suitable outfit for a pleasant evening" very soon!

Birthday Bags

Last week was my son's birthday. He turned 9, which seems like a milestone- we're halfway done! I have a feeling the next 9 years will be somewhat trickier than the past 9, but hopefully cleaner. He's off to camp soon, and so I decided to sew him a camp bag for his toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. I figure he will probably not actually USE the toothbrush or toothpaste, but we mothers comfort ourselves by gamely sending things along in case our children are magically transformed into sanitary people when we are not around. Right.
Anyway, it is a basic box bag pattern, and it opens really wide in case he needs to get at some personal hygiene products in a hurry. (Because he will surely be thinking about keeping his teeth and armpits sweet smelling at camp!)



The next bag I made is for my friend and neighbor who has a birthday Wednesday. Where do I even start describing her? She is the fittest, tidiest person I have ever known, and not real into frills. She commented on another of these purses I'd made and I thought I should jump at the chance to make her something. The colors match her favorite Keens. The nice thing about this purse is that the wide gusset makes it hold tons of stuff. (What impressed my friend the most was when the owner of the other purse spent all day shopping, and at the end of the day whipped out a Diet Coke from it. It holds A LOT.)
So, that's some of what I've been sewing lately, and now I'm off to the library to pick up a craft book that's waiting for me.

Waiting For Burda

Oh Burda, where art thou?
Here is what I'm up to as I wait for Burda to send me their magazine:

1. Watching my window box grow. Pretty but boring, and yet soothing in a way.

2. Making yogurt.

3. Making yogurt cheese. Wow, this is good! Put some plain yogurt in a strainer lined with a coffee filter over a bowl to catch the whey. Leave it, covered, in the fridge overnight. Amazing.
Here's a close up.
4. Make hummus.Here's the recipe, stolen freely from America's Test Kitchen and changed a bit:
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 Tablespoons water
3 Tablespoons lemon juice from a lemon
2 Tablespoons tahini
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 small clove garlic, pressed through a garlic press

Put it all on a food processor and process until super creamy. 1/4 cup has 100 calories and 5 g of fat, as well as 3 g. of fiber. But honestly, it's the taste and texture that I love.

So, until Burda gets here, I will keep cooking. Good thing their patterns are multi-sized!

Recent Projects or How Many Shirts Does One Girl Need?

I have made 4 shirts so far out of the knits I got at Vogue last month. I am pretty happy with them, because they don't immediately jump out at you as "homemade." They aren't very fancy either, but mostly I was trying to make things I could wear in the heat. Then, Chicago's temperatures dropped to the 60's, so maybe I should have made them earlier...







I made two of each, in different colors. I copied the one with sleeves from a Gap one I had that was falling apart, and the red one is from a Vogue pattern by Issey Miyake. I lengthened the red one an inch, and took it in because I was already making the smallest size. I like how it turned out because it's an interesting tank, not an "I've given up on the world" tank.
My photographer is six years old, hence the strained expression on my face. ("Am I even IN this picture?" I was asking myself.) Also, I had just finished my run, so I am not normally this red in the face.

Honestly, I am not a fan of sewing with knits. I have all of the ballpoint needles you could ask for, but the way this stuff rolls up after you cut it is ridiculous. It's like trying to sew around a slinky.

In other news, I've been making more yogurt, and the boys have been lapping it up like starving kittens.
I also got a subscription to Burda, but have been informed by Amazon that my very very expensive magazine may not actually ship until October. October is a long way away. You'd think spending that much money would get you a wee bit of speedy delivery, but until then I'll have to settle for other things, like making hummus and cleaning. Hooray.