Finally Finished! - Vogue 8726

I know, I know, I've been referring to this dress for quite some time.  It took me exhorbitantly more time than necessary.  But here is the finished product.  If it looks pretty much like the view the model is wearing here it is because I ordered the exact same fabric from Vogue fabrics.  I ordinarily steer away from linen because of the wrinkle nature, but in a momentary brain lapse, and with the ease of ordering on the Internet, I purchased said fabric.  Yes, contrary to what the photos reveal, I did press this dress before being photographed.  The lining is ambience black also ordered from Vogue fabrics.  







Here's a shot of the back:

A close-up of the embroidery on the back straps is in this post.  I stuck to the pattern instructions completely with the exception of adding embroidery to the back straps.  I plan to wear this dress to church and the embroidery gives the person sitting behind me something to look at!!!  No that they won't be paying attention to the preaching, mind you.  Just saying.

And lastly, my sewing companion wanted to be in the pictures.  He is my 80 lb. basset boy.  We're dressed somewhat alike wouldn't you agree?





Lovely Lavender

Everything about lavender is appealing to me.  The leaves - long and lanky.  The flowers - upright and slender.  And oh, best of all, the smell - subtle and clean.  Here's one of the lavender plants in my backyard:

I gave it a haircut and and harvested the flowers.  Here they are drying in my basement:

In about two weeks they will be ready for me to sew lovely lavender sachets.  What a beautiful and fragrant sewing project it will be!

What's Wrong with this Picture?

Are you kidding me??!!?  Okay, so I'm not in control of my life like I so desperately think I need to be.  But really!  Is it so much out of control that I can't even sew in a sleeve in the proper direction! 

To make a long story short, my parents live out of state but they have been living with us since the end of March while my dad had part of his lung removed and is now going to chemo treatments once a week and radiation five days a week in Salt Lake.  Yes, I am his taxi driver, cook, and laundress.  To add to that, I am my mother's primary caregiver right now as she is disabled.  I'm not making excuses, mind you, but a little justification for such a silly mistake helps me convince myself that I am a more competent seamstress than I actually am.  Just a word to the wise - when you're stressed and in a hurry, don't tackle any sewing that requires your full attention.  Thankfully the sleeve is basted in and the seam has not been pressed, so it should be a quick fix.  It did give me a good laugh once I got over the dismay.  I'm sure nobody else makes such careless mistakes?

One of these days I will have this dress complete and will write a pattern review.  It truly is any easy pattern no matter how difficult I make it appear.

Summer Goodness

I LOVE summer and all the delicious treats it holds!  A trip to our local farmer's market on Thursday evening yielded bing cherries, beets, zucchini, green beans, and fresh eggs.  How delightful to enjoy such fresh goodness from local soil.  Today was canning day for the green beans.  In case you're wondering, I was, 4 pounds of fresh green beans gave me 7 pints of canned beans and enough left over to prepare with dinner tonight.

Here's a little eye candy - a bowl full of cherries:

Simplcity 3790

I made this top (view B) about a month ago, but forgot to post it on my blog! I’ve worn it a number of times since completion and I really like it. I used ITY knit that I purchased about six months ago.  I purchased it either from Gorgeous Fabrics or Denver Fabrics, I don't remember which.  Guess I should start labeling my fabric stash.

The pattern sizing seems to run just a bit large.  I made it in my usual size 12 (for tops), but after wearing it a couple of times, realized that I should cut a size 10.  Perhaps I will make a sleeved version in the fall and will use the size 10 instead.  Oh well, it is not so big that I can’t wear it.  I just prefer my knit tops to be slightly more form fitting.

The pattern is labeled easy and it truly is.  With my serger, it went together quickly.  The most time consuming portion of sewing, was adding bias binding as a finishing along the front crossover piece.  Here’s a shot of what that looks like on the inside:

Basically because I'm impatient (making narrow hems on knits is time consuming), I used my serger to make a narrow rolled hem on the sleeves.  Here’s a close up:

Dress Update

Okay, so I intended to be finished with Vogue 8726 by now, but I ended up in Wyoming at my parent's house for two days last week and a third day was spent helping my dad take care of cancer appointments at Huntsman Cancer Center in Salt Lake.  So......I'm not as far along as I planned, but that's okay.  My dress was still waiting for me in my sewing room when I did steal away for a coupe hours of sewing time.  Since the fabric is a plain, black, linen, I determined that it needed a little something to add interest.  So I machine embroidered a black design on my black fabric.  How much interest can that add?  I'll fill you in on my thought process when I post the completed dress.  Here's what the embroidery looks like: