Civil War Generals' Wives BOM - Month Three

Here it is, my last post of 2011.  This month's block of the month is in honor of General William Tecumseh Sherman's wife.  Since he was a Yankee general, there are no forts named after him as there are for the Southern generals.  I have no partiality to the North or South - I am neutral.  My mother is 100% Southern belle and my father is 100% Yankee.  General Sherman's wife, Ellen, was a highly educated, very politically active woman.  You go girl!

I must confess, I am not an accomplished quilter, so I have one thing to say about this block - tedious.  I find quilting more difficult than garment sewing because it is one dimensional.  Measurements and seams must be spot on or the whole thing ends up askew.  Garment sewing is three dimensional and easier to 'fudge' when something doesn't match up perfectly.  I'm learning patience every day.  :)

Have a safe New Year's Eve and a "sewcessful" 2012.  Thank you for reading my blog.



Infinity Scarves

Happy Birthday to me!!!  My sweet, talented daughter made three beautiful inifinty scarves for me for my birthday last weekend.

She used this tutorial.  Thank you my dear daughter, I love every one of them and I have many outfits with which they will look terrific.

Colette Patterns 1016 (Ginger Skirt)

This pattern offers an a-line skirt with three waistband versions.  I chose to make version 3, which has a straight waistband, but the skirt is cut on the bias.  Since this was my muslin, I used a very inexpensive suiting fabric that I purchased on sale at my local Hancock Fabric store.  I paid just under $10 for the fabric.  I did not need to alter the pattern at all.



This was the first Colette pattern that I've used and I have to say . . . . I am hooked!  I love everything about the pattern from the fit to the packaging.  The pattern does not have instructions to add a lining, but that's a really easy addition so I did put one in this skirt.  I prefer to line most of my skirts. 

Rather than hemming the bottom of the lining, I added lace to it and tacked it down at the front, back, and side seams.  I like the feminity that the lace adds.

Here's a picture of the how pretty the skirt hangs around the hemline.  I really like how the skirt is fitted in the hips and then flares slightly toward the hemline.  The concept kind of reminds me of the nice silhouette that bootcut jeans give.



I like this skirt so much that I purchased some very expensive, 4-ply, 100% silk fabric from Yellowbird Fabrics in SLC to make into a beautiful Spring garment.  I plan to sew it up in either version 1 or 2 next time.



Treat Boxes

This was my weekend project.  My boy is in the military and can't come home for Christmas this year.  These crafty containers are filled with homemade ginger cookies, chocolate-dipped peanut butter/ritz cookies, and fudge.

I purchased very inexpensive containers at my local craft store and embellished them with scrapbook papers and little items I had on hand.  Isn't that boot die cut just too clever?  I used my Silhouette craft cutter to cut the boot and the double-layered rosette on the bottom right container.  The rosette is from the Silhouette online store and the awesome boot is from Kerri Bradford. 

Okay, back to sewing.  I'm in the process of cutting a skirt for Christmas Eve.  The cutting is going slow because I'm using a plaid fabric.  The pattern I'm trying out is the Ginger skirt from Colette Patterns.

Have a great week.

Vogue 1275

I made view A (the brown, long sleeved view).  

It fits nice and I did not make any alterations to the pattern (since it is made from a knit, I knew it would stretttttch over my lumps!)  The neckline also sits nice.  I thought it might be a bit “gapey” because of how it fit before I applied the neck band, but when it was finished, it behaved itself nicely.

Here's a photo of the neck before I added the band.  I was concerned that it would gape like that after it was finished and I planned to take in the neck line, but I decided to wait until I got the neck band sewn on.  I'm glad I waited, because the neck band made the neck line lay down nice and flat against my skin.

I especially like the ruched effect on the sleeves, it is a nice design detail and very easy to sew.

Here's the inside of the sleeve to show you how the elastic is applied with a zig zag stitch and stretched to fit.

And here it is from the right side:

It is difficult to see because of the busyness of the print, but the front ruching detail is quite flattering for my small bust.  Here's a close up (under poor indoor lighting).

The fabric is a polyester/lycra knit that I purchased at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  It's part of a fabric collection by April Johnston (for those of you who are Project Runway fans, she was on season 8).  All in all, I really like this top and I plan to wear it quite often during these cold, winter months.