Top from Silhouette Patterns, Sweater Set

I really have to learn to buy prettier fabrics.  I'm drawn to bright, wild and colorful, and then I feel like a clown when I wear them.  I promise to work on it.

I did the top from Silhouette Patterns #195, Sweater Set.

I pretty much did a straight size 4, and added 1/2" to each side seam (so a total of 2").  After I was done I realized I had not put the center front on the correct fold line, so the front was 1" too big.  I also ended up taking it in a little from the underarm and the bust.  I obviously made 3/4 sleeves which I prefer.

I'm really happy with how the french dart fits.  I've never made one before and didn't know what to expect.  My first try was wrong, and I tried doing it differently, and that made it worse.  I then went back to the original dart placement, and extended it up higher, about 1.25" inches higher and it was perfect.

I will definitely keep using this pattern, and learn how to use it with other Silhouette Patterns for tops.

Craftsy and Jeans Jacket

I bought a bunch of Craftsy classes a few months ago, and I decided I actually have to do one of the projects.  This is the "Garment Industry Secrets" with Janet Pray class and the jeans jacket from her pattern line.

I've worn it two days in a row, and will wear it tomorrow...not too shabby.

Oh, and I did it all on my new Brother Dreamweaver sewing/embroidery machine to test it out.  It works great.  The top-stitching is amazing.

An Embroidered Jacket

Don't ask how I did it, but the jacket totally doesn't fit.  I'm so stupid at times when I sew and forget to change certain things.  It will fit if/when I ever get skinny again.  It looks awesome though.

It's from Silhouette Patterns, Robyn's Jacket:
http://www.silhouettepatterns.com/html/patterns/p_1750.htm

I did the embroidery on the two front pieces before cutting out (I chalked the shaped and placed them carefully) and the sleeves were done after sewing the first seam.

The embroidery was from Embroidery Library, and I did it all in black.

The fabric is a lovely wool that I tossed in the machine and dried, 2 times, to felt it a bit.  The bias binding is also the same fabric, and the shoulder pads are covered with the grey wool too.

I would prefer to make lined jackets instead of unlined as  the amount of work is almost the same.

And how do you like my new ironing board cover?  It will definitely make me happy.

Super Exciting - my first digitized item

Okay, so I know it's not that exciting for most people, but for me it was a doozie. I digitized my first embroidery design, using FREE software.

I'm currently working on a quilt, using the embroidery machine to do the quilting.  I kept getting stumped, not finding the size I needed for the blocks I was wanting to use.

With my first attempt coming out this good, I think I might be able to figure this out just fine.

The free software is called SophieSew and there are YouTube tutorials out there that have helped a lot.

Now I just have to learn how to perfect it, but just getting my machine to read it was a big accomplishment and I had to share.

Lovely Ladies Quilt

My first quilt is complete, and I have to admit that the binding is PERFECT.  It's been a long time, but I haven't lost my touch.

I'm not putting closeups here, if you want to see the closeups, they are in the Picasa photo album I use, which I'll link to.  Just click the image I guess.

The "Art Nouveau Ladies" can be found at Embroidery Library.
The dragonflies were from Embroidery Designs (a freebie too)
The quilting patterns were also from Embroidery Library in the Quilt section under feathered quilts.

Just a SneakPeek....

I thought I'd be done with my little quilt top today...oh my, I'm so naive.  But it's pretty much done, it could have been considered done if I hadn't decided to add a few more doodads to it.

So what I have to show right now is a sneak peek at what I've been doing.

You'll have to wait for the final unveiling, but that shouldn't be long now.  Of course I say that before I've attempted to put on a binding.  Now...how many years has that been???

The concept of quilting ~ I'm not lost

Once upon a time, in the far far past, I used to quilt.  I loved quilting....it was what I did....it was my escape.  Then my husband died, and I was lost, and I never quilted again.  That's the short and sweet (not so sweet) story, and that was ages ago, over 15 years actually.  This is the last quilt I did:

This is not a good photo at all.  I took this before I even had a digital camera, so there is no detail at all.  Let me describe it, because all sewers/quilters can relate to what was actually involved.

Many of the blue sky fabrics were actually dyed by hand, by me.  The eagle is all done as hand applique, I used some awesome fabrics to get the tonal shades.

And I just realized in this photo you are missing all the mountains and lakes. I'll have to take a new photo.

It is also all quilted by hand.  Most of my quilts were hand quilted, though I was quite good at machine quilting...or what was considered "good" at that time.

Today I'm blown away by the quality of work out there, but it is what it is.

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So you might be wondering what I'm even posting about...ha ha..this new embroidery machine has got my creative wheels spinning again.

Like I said, I haven't quilted since my husband died, and that was in 1998, and that quilt above, was for him. So now what, I'm kind of interested in quilting on my new embroidery machine.  I have a small quilt top already done, but I'm not ready to show it yet as it hasn't been finished.  And now I have to find patterns. It's actually a lot easier to just plan hand quilting designs than working with what's already out there in machine embroidery designs, but I guess that's not the point now, is it?

So hopefully I'll be able to share a new project in a few days.

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Garment sewing has kind of faded away for now.  I do have plans on working on a new jacket out of a felted wool (it's in the machine right now) and I'd like to put some embroidery on it too...go figure.

So stay tuned.