bodner066

I still haven't scheduled my sewcation, but it will have to be sometime after the first week of March as per the Big Boss because we have a LOT going on between now and then and apparently she can't live without me. ;-) And my official 1-year anniversary is in about 3 weeks so my review will be between now and then. I hope the can't-live-without-you feeling plays into that. (Read: raise!!) My unofficial anniverary is September 12 (when I started as a temp) so I will have been there almost 18 months by the time of my review. Time flies! Update since I first wrote this : My review was today! It was glowing, and I received the highest raise percentage being given. It's not a huge number because of the current economy, but it's not terrible either so I'm good with it. The best part is my "hourly rate" goes up and with all the OT coming at me, that will make a significant difference. Anyway, on the heels of my two/three wadders, I started going through my ...

Yeah. Two weekends of sewing. Two wadders. To be honest, I didn't have high hopes for this shapeless shift style (V8805) working for me. I was just lured in by the colorblocking and thought I'd try something outside the wheelhouse. I really should've known better. I know me. I KNOW what works on my body, and shapeless shifts are not it. To make matters worse, I also got a wild hair this morning and decided to line the thing. Or rather, partially line it. Because if by some chance it did work, it was going to be Velcro butt to the max and n aturally I wanted to avoid that. I also substituted a better green for the green that came in the mail the other day. I do like the color combo, but that doesn't help the shapelessness even a little bit. I shouldn't have bothered. I'm thinking I *may* go ahead and hem it and then shorten the sleeves and call it a summer house dress. But I've got to cut out the lining for that because this dress is WARM and HEAVY, neither ...

It's going to the Goodwill pile. It makes me look like a tree trunk. A wildly patterned tree trunk, but a tree trunk nonetheless. Wadders happen.

... how did this happen? ;-) Mr. and Mrs. HotPatterns live/work about an hour south of me so I'm hoping the fruits of my fall leap off the wagon will be here by next weekend. In the meantime, the dress from last post still sits. I haven't been back to the sewing room since last weekend to even look at it. But my knits for the colorblocked dress arrived and are prewashing as I type. I have to say I'm NOT happy with the color of the green since I was expecting a more lime than I received. It'll do and is probably a better winter color, but it's not one of my favorite greens. I hope I'm not about to make another Zillie squatter. Off to bed so I can get up early and start cutting tissue and fabric.

I've nearly finished the dress (V8825) -- everything done except the hem -- but I'm stopping. I got to the point of trying it on and I wasn't loving it. It's a lot of dress. And the sash weighs a TON and doesn't want to stay in place at my waist so I'm going to have to come up with some sort of security/belt carriers. Technically, it fits perfectly except the sleeves could be a smidgen shorter. When "researching," I noticed all the sleeves in the PR reviews were on the too-long side so I already shortened the pattern 1/2" before cutting out. I think another 1/2" would've been perfect. But I'm not sure if I'm even going to keep the sleeves. I love the *idea* of the bishop sleeves but in the print and on me and with the high-in-the-back neckline, I feel kind of swallowed up. (Plus it's that puffy time o'the month, which is NOT the time to be trying on new clothes. Argh. I thought turning 50 last year was supposed to put an e...

After spending all day yesterday doing absolutely NOTHING more than 10 feet from my bed (reading, napping, catching up on the DVR) , I was wide awake at 6 am this morning. After last week, I needed to recharge the batteries. Thankfully, I still have 2 days of weekend left (and a nice paycheck coming soon) . Although most of the rest of today will be spent watching football,  I do plan to get into the sewing room in spurts to cut out the next pattern. More on that later. Meanwhile, I did finally finish the dress. It had been collecting dust on Zillie for two weeks waiting for the sleeve bindings and hem, but it's now done. I will probably wear it as styled below, with this RTW blouse.When I do, I'll snap a pic of me in it. The zipper everyone commented on is just a basic brass zipper with a "leftover" earring put through the pull. Without a jewelry ring to hold it place, it doesn't really work to actually pull the zipper without opening and coming out of the pull b...

1. I'm tired. 2. Almost too tired to even write this. 3. The dress remains on Zillie waiting to be finished. 4. I thought I would get in some sewing time this past weekend but my time was instead spent working Saturday and then FINALLY clearing away Christmas, cleaning the house after, and vegging in front of every football game. 5. I worked a LOT last week (c'mon OT paycheck!) and stayed up too late last night which is why I'm tired today. 6. Wait 'til I spill the beans on that zipper so many of you commented on. 7. There are finally some Style Arc patterns I might be willing to plunk down the bucks to buy. 8. But I hate the freebie for this month. 9. So, to wait or not to wait? 10. I'm taking a week+ off in the next 2-3 weeks. 11. Exact dates yet to be determined while we are in semi-crisis mode. 12. Not really a crisis but I'm too tired to think of a better word. 13. The last of the firm's "founding fathers" passed away this past Friday and the...

Is this a lovely sight ... seams all lined up as they should be. I made a lot of progress on the dress today. None on the Christmas decorations though. You all are a BAD influence. ;-) All that's left is binding the armholes and the hem. I did try it on and I'm happy to report that it fits like it was made for me.  While working on the dress I was reminded again of something I keep meaning to talk about since it's a topic I don't see mentioned a whole lot on sewing blogs. Glass head pins. One of my favorite notions. A little expensive for pins but worth their price. I also have regular sewing pins (quilting pins, actually, because I like the extra long length) that I use when actually sewing but when I'm near the iron and have a need to keep something in place without burning my fingertips, I reach for these special pins I keep within reach of the iron. In case you don't know why they're so great at the ironing board, it's because you can iron right over...

But I'm betting you knew it would. ;-) The invisible (magenta!) zip is in, the hem is complete, and the skirt is finished. I cut out a black lining and then decided not to use it. First, I wanted this done already so impatience won out, and second, I was thinking with the poly, it was just gonna be hot and static-y and my impatience didn't want to find out if that would be true. Since the lining is pretty much ready to go, I can always go back and add it if I change my mind. Or, I have a lining waiting for another skirt. The scrap around Zillie's neck is all that my friends Polly and Esther left me (BTW, P&E is not original, I think I stole that from Rachelle) . I think I might serge a rolled edge and have a cowl/scarf, which I probably *won't* wear with the skirt. Next up is another make of McCall's 6397. I wore the first make all summer but it's definitely a summer dress and I've been missing it now that "winter" is here. If you were followi...