bodner066

So those simple plans I mentioned last post? Yeah. Well. I sewed about 2 seams. Life happened. Namely, the time I volunteered to help Alex work on his investment house this past weekend multiplied and wore me out. Alex was out of town this past weekend visiting his brother and nephew and I was to supervise the installation of new carpet on Saturday morning while also installing tile around the new bathroom vanity. One thing led to another ... namely, the carpet installation was pushed back a few hours, the tile saw I needed to rent from Home Depot hadn't been returned by the previous renters, etc., etc. So, I ended up just standing around the house a lot either waiting for or watching/talking with the carpet installer. Time not exactly wasted but not very productive either. And standing around on tile floors all day is tiring even if you do nothing. Sunday was supposed to be miserable weather-wise (turned out the storm blew past quickly) so I planned to "take off" from ...

I need a plain white blouse. It's something I often wish was in my closet when getting dressed for work, but finding fabric was more difficult than I imagined, mostly because what's available online seems to be too sheer or too fancy and what's available locally ... er ... isn't available. At least until a couple of weeks ago when I was in Hancock Fabrics to stock up on some thread. And, um, yeah, I also bought a couple more fabrics. I didn't want high-end fabric because I want the blouse/top to be a workhorse, which means the ability to throw it in the laundry every week and to take it from the dryer back to the closet without a stop at the ironing board. In other words, polyester. But nothing that felt too icky. I think I found a winner in this textured white woven poly. The photo below shows the texture (crinkling) a little closer up. (I may have also bought the same fabric in black. And 1 yard of the stretch woven destined to become a Magic Pencil may have flow...

Although technically I started this dress in December, I'm calling this my first make of 2016 since I finished, photographed, and blogged it today. Overall, I like my finished dress and it's a great pattern. But ... there are a couple of things I changed during construction and a couple more I hope to change for a next version. The main thing is I'm not sure how I feel about the boobaliciousness on display with the ties riding up right under my bra. The ties are just sitting too high for my preference. I'm pointing the finger at me on this one, though. Meaning, it's due to my belly growing over the last couple of years from indulging in too many goodies and not enough sit-ups coupled with the body changes that creep up with age and so the ties just ride up even though they actually start in the right place to hit my true waist. I'm thinking maybe I'll add some belt holders but until then, I will likely wear this dress with a light gray cardi to camouflage th...