keelysews... sometimes

First up - a big thank you for the kind comments and support after my last post. I guess my 'Mommy' panic gene kicked in big time for a bit. But, once I caught up on some sleep, had another chat with the doctor and been sent a whole lot of stats by a friend who works in oncology, I was much calmer. Now we're just waiting and seeing (and crossing fingers etc). Today I discovered why some people (namely, me) should not be allowed to own modern technologies like mp3 players. To understand why, you have to know some background - for instance, that I am tone deaf. Can't sing for peanuts. No really - I'm awful. Just ask my family. If I busked, people would pay me to stop. (In fact when I sing at home, my kids do ask me to stop - once they've stopped laughing). On a funny aside - I was in the school choir for years. How you ask? Well I'm also a dab hand at lip synching. :) Anyways, I like singing along with songs on the stereo,..... and the radio,........ and my mp...

Well, okay.... this post has been sitting, all typed up waiting for photos, for 2 weeks now. So, lets just call it 'Last fortnight....' :) Week 1: What does 15 minutes at a time get you? The sleeves got sewn into the check shirtdress. When DD tried it on I found it was a bit tight across the shoulders so I let the back armscye out a smidgeon to provide a bit more ease. It's still sitting on the desk waiting to be finished... Oops, you can tell this has been sitting 'folded' on my desk for a while. It still needs the hem done, belt loops, belt, and buttonholes. All those buttonholes. I dug out and hemmed a UFO - Jalie 2682, to wear out to dinner on Thursday a week or so ago. (Sorry, the photo quality is a bit rough. That's what happens when my photo helpers are all tucked up in bed.) This top was sewn over a year ago and I blogged about it then. When I looked at it I realised that I'd shaped the sides after I'd taken the original photo. It only took me...

It's been a while since I posted hasn't it?! I've been busy studying and getting serious sewing withdrawal. Chocolate just isn't cutting it as a substitute, darn it. Shame too, because I have, ahem, had fundraiser chocolate bars sitting on my table, so you'd think I'd have been home and hosed . (as a side note, if you munch away on blue M&M's, be sure to check the mirror before leaving the house.... cyanosis is not a good look at all!) I've managed to squeeze in dribs and drabs of sewing, but nothing great. I whipped up a 'quick and dirty' tunic for DD2 to her own design. When I say 'quick and dirty', I mean it. Take a remnant of printed satin, fold in half and cut out a neck hole, fold in a small allowance and stitch, sew up side seams to armhole height, finish armhole edges and hem. It looks like a pillowcase with holes cut in it, lol. Then DD1 was in the school musical and naturally needed a costume. Luckily the only thing we coul...

One wearable, one not. First up, a big THANK YOU to everyone for their help and suggestions as to how I might save my wadd-ette from full wadder status. I tried most of the tips, from belt (yikes, not a good look) to pinning in waist darts as many suggested. That worked to some degree, but didn't seem to go with the 'style' of the cardigan and also seemed to just cause the front to sit open more. However, I think I have it to wearable status. It might never be a favourite, but it's made it to the wardrobe month-long trial that Belinda/Sew4Fun suggested. I left the cardy to languish on my desk while I blobbed on the couch relaxed in front of the television until I had a revelation. Dang it - I am a lollipop shape (I'm thinking ChupaChup here, lol). It's my current body shape and, short of liposuction, I can't think of a way to change that overnight. That didn't mean I was going to settle for the octuplet pregnancy look though! I grabbed the seam-ripper...

...so very close to wearable. I was even up to pinning to determine button placement. Then I noticed something was awry. Sigh, somewhere between the unpicking, cutting, and resewing, one of the front edges has ended up longer than the other. Well that would explain why the front was rippled. More frogstitching to be done :( Next post will either see it in the bin, or on me...

The sewing mojo hit yesterday. Not for the jacket that has been sitting cut out and waiting for sewing time since before Christmas. Nor for the trousers that have been waiting just as long. Nope, instead I decided to ruin start on a new piece of fabric. Without a muslin. In my defence, I thought I was safe because I had checked the pattern pieces would physically fit.... pity I didn't pause long enough to do a style check! I had to size the pattern up -hmmm, perhaps the Ottobre people were right to stop at a 46. So, I present Ottobre 2-2008 #10. With this view I could almost decide to wear it.... a bit baggy but maybe wearable.... then I saw this view - I could be pregnant with octuplets in there and no-one could tell! I'd like to hope that, because the fabric is fluid, there is enough movement to show there isn't. I'd really, really like to hope that. And I do like the fabric, a chocolate Ponti knit. I thought about shaping the side seams more but that isn't goi...

Well, I finished the cardy in time to wear out to dinner. Wonders will never cease, lol. Neither of my friends made any rude comments so I figure it's passed muster ;) (Hi J and M!). I'm quite happy with it and I'm going to leave the twist in after all. I am seeking feedback on the twist - DD1 thinks it should be about 5cm/2 inches higher. What do you think? To make this, I used the morphed Ottobre Tee pattern I created here but left out the inset. I totally forgot about my thought of binding the edge which would have given a nicer finish. It wouldn't have been possible this time anyway, as there wasn't enough fabric left over for bindings, but I'll make a note on the pattern for next time. Next up is those trousers.

Wow! Three weeks holiday just flies past! And I'm already most of a week down back at school. Naturally, the mojo decided to rear it's head the weekend before everything started again and demand some fulfilment. It must be something about deadlines and time stress that leads to a need to add more to the to-do lists. I managed to fit in some cutting out and then even managed to eke out a simple project to take most of a week (I'm following the 'one seam at a time' rule, Sherril - literally!). As a guide to you all - don't sew when you are really tired and trying to rush. I should have known better. Repeat after me - a twist cardigan should have the twist put in before having the shoulder seams sewn. Ahem. Insanity Stubbornness even led me to unpick said shoulder seam before I went to bed. I did, however, have the sense not to put the fabric near the sewing machine again that night. I now only need to hem the cardy but I'm also going to add some clear elasti...