Holy crap I am getting (a tiny bit) organized

It seems there is still some sort of blockage between my sewing machine and my blog ... I've made a few more things and not posted about them since I last posted about the things I haven't yet posted about.   Part of the problem is that once a project is finished, my enthusiasm is instantly transferred in its entirety to the next project.   As a life habit it's both a good and bad trait, I suppose, but for blogging about their sewing I'm failing to see an upside.   I think another part of the problem may be that my own posts bore me.   Obviously that's nobody's fault but my own!

Anyhow, I was struck with a very unusual desire to organize stuff over Memorial Day weekend.  I decided to tackle my jewelry collection, which lives on a shelf in my closet were things just get dumped into little piles. ("Jewelry" is actually a high-fallutin' word for what I have.  I don't have expensive tastes, thankfully!)   I also have several compartmented plastic trays of old jewelry dating back to the 1990s and before, which wasn't seeing any use at all because it was all way in the back of another shelf, behind shoes and piles of clothes.  But the organizational tipping point came when we finally started watching "Glee" via Netflix (yes, making us extremely late to the party).  I decided to eBay up some Emma Pillsbury-style jewelry, and once it arrived it became clear it had nowhere to go other than on top of the piles of other jewelry.  Which clearly would be unacceptably un-Emma Pillsbury-ish.

Anyhow, off to Container Store I went (twice -- didn't buy enough the first time) and came back with these clever little stacking compartmentalized trays made by a company that (also cleverly) named itself Neatnix.   I was able to tidy up the shelf, stash the new "Emma-esqe" necklaces, and unearth some of the ancient jewelry collection.    I also eBayed up some necklace extenders, because apparently I liked choker-like necklaces in the 90s.

I also have a nice little collection of brooches, some of which had been in a hard-to-reach Rubbermaid container that really needed to return to the kitchen where it belongs.  There were also others that were in a little metal box in the back of the closet:  those I had mostly completely forgotten about.   The ones I had not forgotten about were presumed lost to the ages so I was pretty thrilled when I dragged that thing out from behind a dusty pile of cardigans!  However, I was out of room for nifty stacking trays, and besides, I wanted to put my pins on display so that I wouldn't forget them again.

So, I made this:

It's hanging in my sewing area here, because there is no decent light near my closet.  Basically, it's a three-foot long rectangle of cotton velvet backed with quilting cotton with some interfacing sandwiched in the center.   It ain't perfect, but it gets the job done, and I rather like getting to see all my pins.  

Here are the things I'd do differently if I decide to make a second version -- I may, since this one is pretty much full up now.    I like the length, so I'd add enough width to permit two big flower pins abreast.  Also, it really needs a layer of cotton batting in the center to make it easier to pin to.  I thought of this as I was making it, but I didn't have any handy (all this material was stuff I had lying around) so I just forged ahead.

Finally, the top edge needs some twill tape reinforcement.  You can see where the loop of bias tape I'm using for a hanger is pulling from the weight of the pins.

The finished item is hanging in the space between my closet and my other organizational product from last weekend, a new belt and tie rack that holds all my scarves.  (OK, most of my scarves -- I left the very wintry ones off because we won't see cold weather here for another six months at least.)  The scarves were jammed on another shelf and you couldn't pull down one without ten others coming along for the ride.  Now I can enjoy them every day.

An unlikely pair

I got a fair bit of sewing done over the weekend -- four items made!  Well, three of them were Renfrew variants (aka two-hour projects), and one I started on the weekend before, but I'll be impressed with myself nevertheless.   You probably won't be, because of my lazy documentation of said work:

When poorly styled dress forms attack.

There are two of the four finished garments.  Didn't get a shot of the other two.   Maybe later.  Or maybe I'll just let you use your imagination:  one is a white sleeveless Renfrew, and the other is lavender, with a white neckband to keep it from being totally boring.  It's sleeveless too.  Both are made of rayon-type knits.  I tried making the bottom band half the usual width on the white one, and I think that'll look nice for wearing with skirts.  (The pants that fit me best  tend to be lower-rise styles, like it or not, but skirts are more accommodating, not least because I make them myself.)  You may ask why I didn't pair the skirt with the white top: it's because at the time I took this it wasn't made yet.  And by the time is was made, it was dark outside.  Anyhow, seeing the black and white one tucked into the skirt like this gives me some confidence that my underwear won't show through this flimsy white fabric!

The black and white sleeveless Renfrew haphazardly pictured above was made from a remnant purchased at JoAnns a million years ago.  I'm not sure of the fiber content, but I'm guessing polyester tops the list.  It's not so bad, though -- it has a slinky feel to it but isn't shiny.

To make the sleeve bands, I just made strips the same width as the neckband, and a little shorter than the armhole size.  On the white shirt I made a 1/8" deeper seam allowance for a narrower band -- I like the look but it barely covered the serged edges, so I sewed them down in the same way the pattern instructions have you do the neck seam allowance.   I might try just trimming it really close next time -- serging is probably overkill anyhow.

The other thing on the dress form is yet another version of my "New Moon" skirt, this time made from fabric I bought at Roop Sari Palace.  Houston has a small row of Indian fabric stores, which I visited a couple of years ago -- I should really go back!  Anyhow, the fabric is very sheer, so I lined/underlined. What I did is a mish-mash -- I probably should have just underlined since the pockets show through since they are sandwiched between outer fabric and lining.   I made the back pieces a little longer so that the hemline would hang straight -- adding the length to the top of the pieces works just as well as adding it at the bottom ... maybe better.   I intentionally made the fit sit close to the waist -- not my usual choice, but I added some fullness to the outer layer (an extra 12 inches more than my "stock" New Moon) and some proof of a waist will make that poufyness more flattering.  The lining is not as full, which helps the fabric to be all airy and sorta float away from it.  And yeah, with all these white sewing projects, I had to re-thread my serger with white.  No more rainbow serging for a while -- bummer.

The fabric's a bit on the cheap side, and has some imperfections in the weave.  I'm not sure how long it will last, but in my experience white clothing seems to have a special attraction to calamities so this skirt is almost certainly doomed in some way anyhow.  But while it lives it certainly oozes summertime, and despite its Indian origins has a bit of a Greek feel to me.

Uh, is this thing on?

Hello there.  I've been having so much fun, I forgot to post.

OK, not really.  I've been kind of caught up in work and life and stuff, and while I have been sewing (because sewing is great therapy, as I'm sure you know) I haven't made time to write about it.    But I am ready to fill your newsreader with mindless babble catch you up on the output from my sewing room.  Which is not insignificant -- five shirts and five skirts!  I must have needed a lot of therapy.    

When I last posted, I had just finished up a new Pacific Moon skirt for schmeebot.  It took me fully another month to make traveling companions for that one, but I finally made two more Pacific Moons and got them in the mail last week.   I forget how many of these I've made now, but I have it pretty much down to a science, and they're quite Zen to make.

The fabric for all three Pacific Moons (the two below and the rainbow one in my last post) all came from a big box of Ikea fabric that schmeebot sent.  She was eager to have a skirt made of this creepy face fabric, so I tacked it next:

The waistband facing came from leftovers from this dress.  I'm pretty pleased at how well it coordinates. (Scrap-hoarding: justified.)   Though I am not as sold as schmeebot on the wearing of large faces, I had a lot of fun working out the positioning of the faces on the skirt.  

The final Pacific Moon was made from my favorite Ikea fabric -- is it any surprise that it's a bird print?

I tried not to decapitate any birds -- I mostly succeeded, except for the greenish guy on the front waistband.   I will make myself a skirt like this eventually too, with a different selection of birds from the print.  There are so many great ones, and it's such a shame that they don't all fit on one skirt.  (First world problem, I know.) The waistband facing is a leftovers scrap from a dress I made just a few months ago.   In this case it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it'll do.

I'll try to post more later about what I'm making today, which is as many sleeveless versions of the Sewaholic Renfrew as I can possibly manage.   And here I thought sewing basics held no interest for me!  (In related news, a pair of pigs were spotted soaring among the clouds along the Texas Gulf coast.  Eyewitnesses said it was not clear where the pigs were headed, but they seemed to be having a lovely time.)

Pacific rainbow moon

I recently finished another "Pacific Moon" skirt for schmeebot, using some of the boatload of Ikea fabric she sent.  I made this one about four inches wider in hem circumference than the previous ones, since she had mentioned that sometimes she has to hike up the hem a bit when scaling large boulders or hanging from sheer rock faces.  You see, while you and I might wear a skirt to work or a dinner party, schmeebot wears skirts to climb mountains.   Anyhow, hopefully the extra four inches will give her a little more reach without becoming a victim of the wind.

The material is a sturdy home decor fabric, and the stripes are actually wedges:  you can see the fabric laid out flat here on Ikea's site.

Coming ...

and going.

 I like to choose something fun for the waistband facing:  however, it is very tough to compete with rainbow fabric in the fun department.  I ended up going with a scrap from one of my all-time favorites, my first Butterick 6149:

Poor schmeebot will not get her skirt until I make it a traveling companion, so expect to see another Pacific moon soon.  But first, I have a few other projects in the pipeline!

Who's versatile? Not me really ...

I've been awarded the Versatile Blogger award by Cecili of Sewing and So On!  I'm not sure how versatile I really am when it comes to blogging, as I don't even attempt to blog when things get busy, but I'll accept anyhow.  :)

The award "rules" (only in blogland do awards have rules!) are that you should list seven things about yourself and then nominate 15 other blogs.  Like chain mail, back in the day.  

So here we go, my seven rather haphazardly-selected things:

1.  I hate Mad Men.  Yes, the fashions are lovely, and with the Mad Men sewing challenge going on, I've enjoyed seeing the screenshots folks have been posting on their blogs.  But the show itself?  A turgid hour of people treating each other horribly and learning nothing from it.   I just don't see the appeal.

2.  I do however love violent high body-count shows like The Wire and The Shield.  What could be more horrible than killing scads of other people?  Seems a little hypocritical, but there you go -- I guess there are different kinds of horrible and I like some better than others.  Anyhow,  lately we've been working our way through Justified, which is basically the Kentucky hillbilly variation on this theme.  I read a lot of novels in this genre, too:  my favorite author is Lee Child, and I just finished Craig Johnson's series and wish there were more of 'em.  

3.  While we're on the subject of TV ... HGTV house and home-themed shows are a guilty pleasure of mine.  When I was in grad school, my Friday night indulgence was to watch Trading Spaces and While You Were Out.   We dropped cable service when we moved after grad school, so I kind of forgot about these shows.  But recently I rediscovered HGTV online, and have been watching Property Virgins and other home-buying shows.  Mind you I have never owned or decorated a home.  I'm sure I will someday, but it hardly feels like a pressing concern, so I'm not sure why I find these shows so fascinating!

4.  I've talked about my dog and my birds here, I think, but I also have some other pets that I don't think I've mentioned.  Mainly because they don't do anything worth mentioning!   My dozen land hermit crabs chill in their 75 gallon terrarium and don't bother nobody.   Most of them I've had for six-plus years (two were adopted from a co-worker about three years ago).  It's believed that land hermit crabs can live up to 50 years ... there's a woman out there who bought two land hermit crabs in the late 70s and still has them!   

5.   Last time I went to the doctor for a physical, I measured a half-inch taller than I ever have before.  Am I growing at the tender age of 39??   They measured me in multiple exam rooms just to be sure the ruler attached to the wall hadn't gotten out of whack.  I have been trying to stretch my upper back and neck because I've had some pain  from being super tense there.  I guess it is working!

6.   My husband once commented that I wear all clothes like pyjamas.  He's not wrong: I like things to be loose and comfortable!  Ironically, I sleep in old shorts and a t-shirt, not actual pyjamas. 

7.  I love sugary frosting, like you find on really good birthday cakes and wedding cakes.  The stuff that makes other people recoil and say "oh, that's too sweet"?   That's what I'm talking about!  As you might imagine, I love the current cupcake shop trend.

Now, for the tagging of others ... I hereby tag anyone who won one of my giveaways!  As always, I am not offended if this kind of blogging game doesn't amuse you and you decide to pass.  Because we had some duplicate winners, that only brings us to 14 but eh, good enough.  If you want that 15th slot, consider it yours!

Jubejue of Petite Republic

Wylde Hills Costuming

Jillishness

Samm 

Jane of Handmade Jane

Carmen of CamencitaB

Gail of Today's Agenda

Fraulein To You!

ReneeG

KittyMeow of Kitty's Drawings

Njeri

Lynn

Kat of Krafty Kat

Mariana (who still needs to send me an email to claim her prize!)

If I've listed you above sans blog, it means I couldn't find your blog, not that I don't love you.   :D  If you DO have a blog, let me know and I'll update my post!  And FYI, I mailed the last round of giveaways (for which I had addresses, anyhow) last Monday ... a week later than I expected, but hopefully the ones going to US addresses have reached their destinations by now.

I have been doing some sewing too, and I'll post updates on that soon.  I'd hate for this post to be photo-less, so here's an iPhone shot from our trip to Miami Beach last May.  I wish I was there now!

Finally, here are the rest of the giveaway winners!

Sorry for the delay in wrapping up the final giveaways ... it has been a heck of a week and I just didn't have the spare cycles.   But I spent some quality time with random.org this evening, and here's what I came up with:

The winner of giveaway #14 is Lynn!

#15 AND #16 are for Kat of Krafty Kat!

Mariana is the winner of #17!

And last but not least, the final giveaway goes to Wylde Hills of Wylde Hills Costuming!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to take a look at my giveaways -- I wish I could have a fistful of patterns for each and every one of you!   I'm so happy to know that these patterns are heading off to good homes (or have already reached them!)   And, incidentally, the patterns for giveaways #8 through #13 were mailed on Tuesday, so if some of those are yours, keep an eye out.

Happy weekend everyone, and good sewing!  I hope to get some in myself.

Renfrews, Renfrews, Renfrews!

Folks, I have a new favorite pattern.  And it's not a 1950s dress or a even a full, flouncy skirt (though I do love those things!)     I'd ask you to guess, but you already read the post title.  Yes, it's the new Sewaholic Renfrew.  I've already made it four times, and I could make a million more.

Typically I wear a lot of sleeveless knit tops (usually under cardigans or hoodies) because finding a knit top with sleeves that fit can be a bit of a challenge.  I don't think I truly understood the problem, though, until I tried on my first Renfrew.  The sleeves fit.  The armholes are the right size, and in the right place.  When I raise my arm, the shirt doesn't hike up to my ribcage.  It's awesome.

My first attempt was the cowl-necked version (with short sleeves ... maybe a bit strange!)  It's not perfect, because the fabric I chose was not quite drape-y enough for the cowl, and because I second-guessed the pattern and made it longer and a little wider at the bottom -- I always have problems with shirts being too short and/or riding up.  (And, when do you not have to adjust a pattern, right??) After I had it together, I realized my mistake and took out the two inches I added to the length, but the bottom band's still a bit loose.

Yeah, I still hate photographing myself ... but it's a lot easier to see what a garment looks like on its intended wearer, so I did my best!  Incidentally, the jeans shown here are my favorites ... Gap wide-legs circa 2008.  They're about to wear through in the seat, so I have to savor their last few outings!

I made a scoop-neck next, with the 3/4 sleeves. I used a lovely remnant I got from JoAnn's a couple of years ago:  there was just enough to squeeze this project out.  This time I made the size 4 straight out of the envelope, with the only change being making the scoop a hair less deep in front.  (I should have shortened the neckband slightly as well, but it was such a minor change it was okay.)  This time around, it came out pretty much perfect!  The instructions are very easy to follow, and I was able to sew the seams on my sewing machine.  I chose to finish the seam allowances with the serger, because apparently if I can find a way to make a project take longer, I will do it.  Even so, I can finish one of these tops from cutting out to final stitch in under 2 and a half hours, which is lightning fast for yours truly.  A few minor things I did differently than the instructions were using fusible stay tape to stabilize the shoulder seams instead of twill tape, and sewing down the shoulder seams in the same way that the instructions have you do for the neck seam.

My third Renfrew is also a 3/4 sleeve scoop-neck, but this time the material used was extra recruiting t-shirts from my job.   I love me a good floppy t-shirt for sleeping in or relaxing on the weekend, but at work it makes me feel like a slob, and sometimes we wear these shirts when we're representin' for the company.  I took the front and back of the top from one shirt, the sleeves from another, and the neck and waist band from a third, so it was a bit wasteful of shirts, but I think the final result was worth it!

Renfrew number four is a cowl-neck with 3/4 sleeves, made from a lightweight striped rayon knit ordered from fabric.com last week specifically for this purpose.   Wow have I not mastered getting stripes straight:  the sad thing is, I did try!  The bottom band looks the worst, but that's partly because I sewed it on wrong the first time and had to pick it off and re-do.  I don't feel too bad about it, as this was clearance fabric and I don't expect it to be super durable anyhow.  It arrived with a rip and a hole in   it already, in fact.  Like it was trying to warn me or something.  Anyhow, this lightweight fabric was just the thing for the cowl neck, and it drapes very nicely.

I see a fleet of scoop-neck Renfrews in my future, plus several more cowl-necks.  I'm not a big v-neck wearer, and with it being effectively Spring already here on the Gulf Coast, I may not do a long-sleeve version anytime soon.   I love thinking of all the variations one could do:  like using a contrasting color for the neck, arm and waist band, and I've thought about a cowl-neck version where the neck part is made from a drape-y knit while the body's made from a sturdier cotton knit -- kind of a shirt-under a shirt look.  I'd love to see a tie-neck version or (ooh, ooh!) a hooded version.  Not sure I have the drafting skillz for those, but who knows, I may try it one day!  But for now, I'm going to let the Renfrew pattern cool off for a bit and move onto something else.