Totally uninspiring skirt shots and better things

I am happy to announce that I have the Magic Skirt out of my system for the time being. 

I am restlessly ready for new projects.

Miss Scarlett is starting three mornings a week nursery school in September and she needs clothes. I haven't made much for her so far because her dad has a cousin with 4 little girls and the hand-me downs have been gorgeous and constant.

However Scarlett has decided she only likes dresses. A fashionista already:

And she is tall. 

She needs her own clothes. She needs fitting and extra length.

With a 5'10" mother and a 6'4" father this is no surprise. I have to admit however that I am getting weary of new people saying "My she's so tall isn't she?" the first time they meet her.

This is where girls get messages, because being tall myself I know that there is a pretty little thing going on. Not everyone was meant to be tiny and we had better be making that crystal clear to our little girls.

So I am on a campaign to respond to that each time I hear it with "I know isn't she lucky? I love being tall." 

And I do.

The words last. I have a friend who is plus size, always was, always will be. She has shared with me how long it took her to get her mother's voice out of her head, you know that one that was saying "You will look thinner in this."

We really have to pay attention to our words.

Back to sewing. 

Miss Scarlett as you can see is beautiful but so many dresses are just too short on her. I have tried to sew a little for her in the past but found toddler patterns hopelessly sized way too wide for the length, particularly in the sleeves - all the sizing mistakes I see in some adult patterns where every little piece gets over graded up - like those plus sized dresses with giant neck opening.

Back to sewing again.

So I am going to be making knit dresses (if anyone has a cool online source for fabric let me know) starting from a pattern I made this morning from a Landsend dress she likes.

I am ready to do this after three more Magic skirts.

A woven denim one that is OK for things like laundry folding or sewing room cleaning or walking around with a sponge trying to figure out where that spilt milk smell is coming from, never mind who spilt it.

Here is the back view of that utility model. I left out the front darts so I could get it over my hips after a brief period of thinking that putting a skirt on over my head made sense. 

You have seen these on me so use your imagination. Really scroll down these numbers are not so squat in real life. 

I hope.

A stretch cotton version - I think I like this pattern best in stretch wovens:

And finally a lace version, underlined I think successfully in tricot, the outside and inside views:

If you do this underlining thing remember to bag the lining out at bit- you know make it a shade longer and ease it in so the outer fabric doesn't pull up at all. Now how would I know that?

And finally, because I like to see these pictures myself, here is my youngest.

My entrepreneur/gardener/builder/landlord/surfer. The one of needle in his foot and skipping competition fame. 

The child I reference when some mother is telling me her own teenage son stories - the one I trot out in a you can't top this way, because of his long history of mishaps all of which he has survived.

Living evidence that if you can last through it all, they actually turn out. 

Flypaper thoughts

It has been a busy week. 

Anyone who teaches will know what I mean when I say the marks have to be in the end of next week. 

Some sewing happening, more on that tomorrow, but first flypaper thoughts.

• "Can I have a one week extension so I can get my apartment ready for my first cat?"

• "Sorry this is late but I am writing this with a bucket beside me. I have had food poisoning, same as Bethany, and I lost the power cord to my laptop, and I had to stand in my friend's wedding last weekend, and we had car trouble."

• Was this multiple choice?

• And who is Bethany?

• I could have called Syria.

• Am I the only one who took one look at that mustache and put two and two together?

• This we should have known.

• I took Miss Scarlett's measurements yesterday.

• 21" chest.

• 21" waist.

• 21" hips.

• Centre back to hem for a dress.

• 21"

• I think I can remember this.

• Quit my radio commentator gig today.

• Too many Magic skirts cut out.

• Something had to give.

• Wasn't going to be my sewing.

• Nothing is free in this country. Except healthcare and shipping from Canadian Footwear in Winnipeg.

• Love those guys. Good shoes if you are a walker.

• Anyone need a man who is great at starting home renovation projects?

• Baseboards in my lifetime.

• Anniversary tomorrow.

• Wouldn't trade him in for a million finish carpenters.

• Not tomorrow.

• Not ever.

• Speaking of which:

A good man is hard to find.

Sewing and cooking personalities

My goals for today are to get those two lace skirts cut out, do some more marking, and get ready for the family to come over for dinner. My husband always does the heavy lifting in the cooking department for these events and I try to streamline my end of the business into something that won't cut too much into my sewing time.


I am doing desserts, which have to be little kid friendly, so have made a lemon ice cream thing and a baked bananas with chocolate thing. Might do some cornbread on the side.


None of this is rocket science, none of it is Gourmet magazine.


I love to eat and as an offshoot of that cook. However I am always on the search for easy but tastes good recipes, while avoiding the can of mushroom soup culture of my mother's generation. I like vegetables, like spices, and like fruit. I like slow cookers and one dish things that I can get a couple of days out of. You know the reheat and back to sewing dishes.


My middle son and my his girlfriend and my husband are all the kinds of cooks that embark on major cultural experiments, fine print recipes. They stuff things, make rubs, purees, and use thermometers.


They cook Chanel jackets.


I am wondering, with my joy over the Magic Skirt, if there is a correlation between my sewing and cooking personality. What I like about that pattern is that it gives me good results in little time. I am always wanting to sew the next thing, try something new.


Now my question is this.


Do you cook like you sew?


Or vice versa?

A suitette and some housekeeping

The house-keeping first.


Thanks you all so much for your helpful comments under that last post. I have replied there and am going to experiment with your suggestions and post the results.


The comments are the best part of this blog so make sure you read them and my responses there when useful.


Of course this whole blog needs a big clean-up and redesign, but right now with all my courses this would cut into my sewing time, but I will get to it. One thing I did today was delete the comment sidebar because I couldn't figure out how to clean up the mess it made of punctuation, you know the $#%! stuff. If someone smart can tell me how to stop that, back the comments go, because as I said they are the best part of this blog.


Now onto the suitette.


The fabric was ponte knit from Fabricmart and lighter than I would have chosen except for a wearable muslin. I used Sophia knit from Fabric.com for the black knit skirt I made last weekend, and think that worked better. And I need to get my hands onto some wool double knit.


I used the Magic Skirt again and here it is without a belt so you can see how the elastic waist actually looks:

Yes those are tummy drag lines but what the hell. I earned that belly. I could wear Spanx, which I believe are somewhere in the back of the drawer, but probably won't.

The jacket for this suitette experiment was the StyleArc Cozy Cardi. I cut off the button overlap because I wanted to have it trimmed and closureless but feel I need more room. 

I am most definitely doing a FBA to that pattern, the rest of it fits very well, but you will note those are skinny sleeves, since I have no upper body strength whatsoever this is fine for me but may not be for other people - so I feel i should point that out.

When I first made this I thought to myself it should have been made in something heavier and I will file this under Good To Know. I interfaced the hem with a fusible tricot interfacing (I did this on all knit versions of this skirt) but even still the hems show more than I would like.

I did considerable trying this on in the bathroom and staring at it for long periods of time while people were waiting for me to do other things, and I slept on it last night.

In the end I have decided:

1. It is super comfortable and is a good semi-disguise for professional wear even though it feels like jammies.

2. It looked better than I thought the next day.

3. It really needs accessories. I am thinking a knit top with a bow at the V neck, a brooch, belt and I will wear this with black tights and heelish shoes.

Bottom line.

Suitettes have potential, particularly if you are time crunched like me (I needed to spend all yesterday morning with Miss Scarlett carrying stones in spoons and throwing them into a pail of water, I really needed to do that) and if you have become committed to comfortable clothes and there is just no going back.

Once I have figured this concept out, you know this is a one hour skirt and a two hour jacket. 

Think that through.

And to be totally transparent about this, it really isn't that I don't have time, as much as I am always thinking of the next project and don't want to be held up too much.

I already have an idea for the next suitette I am pretty excited about.

But first lace skirts.

Stretch lace

Flushed with the success of the Magic Skirt I detoured myself for a stop at the fabric store at the bottom of the street yesterday in search of some decent stretch lace to use for a fancier version of this skirt.


I like all the lace yardage I see around for fall.


I thought it might not be a bad idea to have something in the can in case my life gets unexpectedly more glamorous.


Of course all the lace sitting out for bridal season was not stretchy at all, and this pattern requires that, but I did find some ends of cotton, wooly looking stretch lace marked down to about $5.00 a piece.


So I got those. I think they can be turned into some lace skirts that I could wear to work, which is a place I go to more often than out on the town:

The one on the left is actually more purple than pink in real life and there is a bit more black thread in the more cotton looking one on the right.


My plan now is to line both with black something but I am torn about what to use to do that.


Here are my thoughts:


1. Light weight black knit of some kind but that might stick to these textured knits and ride up. That's the kind of thing you don't discover until you are on the bus or stand up at a meeting.


2. Nothing. And wear a black slip under them. Which might ride up. Or might not.


3. Underline with black knit.


4. Underline with black slip like tricot.


I have a ton of work to do today so I am going to percolate this huge issue in the back of my mind.


What would you do if you were me?

Magic skirt in a stretch woven

As promised here is the Magic skirt in a stretch woven. 


This is some $5.99 stretch satin I was astute enough to buy from Fabricmart last year with no purpose in mind when I was going through a phase of thinking since I was a big person I should wear more big prints.


I think I am going to stick with this idea until I decide it is a dumb one. 


Once again this is a wonderful skirt IMO as it doesn't look like an elastic waist skirt but feels like one. The elastic is almost 1 to 1 at the waist so even when it is on the hanger there is hardly a ripple. And of course with the high waisted version this belt stays put.


I also made a RPL stretch woven in black but I didn't get a shot of that - this black skirt would look about the same as the one in last shot.


This pattern has really got me thinking about simple sewing and definite fabrics. I really wonder if sometimes we, or I in this case, work harder than we need to with some of our projects.


This really is a one hour skirt and you know it just doesn't look to me to be 1/10 as nice as a skirt that took ten times as long.


I am definitely going to be making many more of these, in fact would like some heavyish stretch lace to make a lace skirt. Anyone know where I can find that stuff?


More sewing I hope before the weekend. Unfortunately the full time job is kicking back in and that is going to compromise my time for myself, but I always find some sewing to do.


I am dying to get going on the suitette.

Magic skirt version one

A couple of things.


No explanation necessary as to why this blog hasn't won any design awards.


First of all my apologies for the no make-up fact and wrinkly T-shirt. I actually think I started out with make-up but wore it off trying to get Mr. Rascal to drink out of the doggie water fountain thing we bought. I was trying to show him how it worked.


He needs to drink more but only likes running water.


Anyone want to come over to my house at 3:00 a.m. because there is a fox terrier standing in the bathtub waiting for someone to turn the tap on for him?


Didn't think so.


My photographic window of opportunity was short today - and I had to run to get it to happen - what with my photographer reading an extensive to-do list of things I have for him to do before he goes off to Goose Bay to be eaten by black flies. 


This tour of duty should be much better I hope, black flies excepted, as he will be coming home every couple of weeks for at least a week. This should be enough sewing time without getting to the lonely on Sunday nights part too often.


So here is the Pamela Pattern's Magic Skirt. Two darts front and back, a pegged shape and a very slim waist so really it isn't apparent at all that this is an elastic waist skirt.


I made the high waisted version so I could wear a belt with it. I am always very amused by those photo shoots that show a belt just sitting on top of a skirt waist as if the first time you move that belt won't ride up and the skirt won't ride down and you will look completely waist disorganized.


Really this pattern is an A1 work skirt.


Since I have a couple of complicated many piece skirt patterns in the pattern pile I am considering detouring to a few more of these. 


After all if it looks as good as, why not?


What really intrigues me is that this pattern says for stretch wovens too.


Now if that is true, ladies and gentlemen we may be in business.


Two of those units are getting cut out tonight and there are some Olympics on tomorrow.


Then I am going onto the cardigan which I am going to try and disguise as a suit top. I have been envying Carolyn's cardigans for years and this may be my year to come up with one.

Isn't it just wonderful when you find another TNT?