July in a nutshell

Hi there.

Yep, it has been a while.

We been enjoying the summer with a little swimming, a little gardening, a little reading, a little canning, and a whole lot of sewing.

There have been:

26 hours of sewing classes

44 hours of instruction if you count the time each student was here

6 pillowcases

3 little girls’ skirts

1 pair of sleep shorts

3 aprons (2 that I made)

1 messenger bag

3 shopping bags

1 Estelle bag

4 Wonder Wallets

1 little girl’s purse

87% of Lila Tueller’s Bohemian Bag (Note: Wow. Not a quick project. There’s some piecing and some quilting and some raveling and some lining and some binding…Mine still lacks the straps.)

Wow. That’s a lot of numbers. Here are a few pictures to go along with those numbers.

Anyway, we have about 2 1/2 weeks left until school starts with a trip and lots more sewing planned. I’ve got another girls’ class in a week and, all of the sudden, the orders for LSU and Saints fans have picked way up. Must be 35 days until kick-off for the Tigers and 41 days until the Saints start the NFL season, but really, who’s counting!

My first TNT (aka My Big Skirt Project)

After reading lots of blogs about having a TNT (Tried And True) pattern,

I decided to find one for myself.

I chose the easiest garment to make—A Skirt!

The idea was simple: find a pattern I liked, make it fit,

then add (or subtract) design details to create the skirts I wanted.

So, I started with the essential, flattering-to-everyone A-line skirt.

I started with McCalls 3341:

I measured my hips and traced that size onto freezer paper.

Then, I measured my hips, waist, waist-to-hip, and high hip.

I compared these to the actual measurement of the paper pattern (plus ease),

I added a little here and there and cut out my adjusted pattern.

Since my first skirt was to be a muslin

(a trial run for you non-sewists out there),

I hated to use any fabric from my stash.

So, I snitched the plaid from the skirt of this dress

that was handed to me “in case you can use the fabric”.

I made this skirt, just as the pattern instructed.

For a review of the pattern, please see my review on PR.

It fit beautifully and made a great wardrobe addition for the winter.

The easiest way to tweak a skirt is to take it from

fitted to an elastic-waist gathered skirt.

So, I traced my new TNT pattern onto freezer paper

leaving out the darts and

placing the center back on the edge of the paper

eliminating the center back seam.

I also added a little extra at the top so I could make a

casing for my elastic waist. Here’s skirt #2:

(sorry about the crooked picture)

Remember my spring wish list?

Well, skirt #3 is my knock-off.

This one was fun to create on paper.

You can get the details in my PR review.

One other exciting bit about this skirt:

I installed my first invisible zipper.

Y’all never told me how easy it was!!!

And it looks so pretty.

Much nicer than:

Moving on…

Skirt # 4: My Spring Fun Skirt

This one was made like Skirt #2.

I did add a little extra fabric by placing the

“PLACE ON FOLD” mark about 1 inch from the fold.

And then there’s the Dolce & Gabanna skirt

I saw on their site earlier this year.

You can read the process for Skirt #5

on the PR review if you are interested.

And yes, it has an invisible zipper.

Last, but not least, there’s skirt #6.

I’ve been drooling over all the cotton lawn in

the Liberty of London line that’s out at Target.

So, I hiked into Hancock’s to see what

I could find in a cotton lawn.

Not much. Anyway…

I loved the way the fabric draped, and

that inspired me to make the ruffle.

This skirt is lined with a rayon lining and

has an elastic, gathered waist.

So, there you have it,

my crazy skirt project.

Proof that I’ve been sewing.

I have more ideas and more fabric ready to go.

If you live in the Shreveport/Bossier Area

and would learn how to take a skirt pattern

and tweak it like I’ve done,

check out this class at LSUS.

Sewing Classes in the Shreveport Area

For folks in the Shreveport/Bossier Area, here’s a brief list of my upcoming sewing classes:

March 9 6-8 pm	Appliqué Class	email for details
March 15-18 1-4 pm	Kids Spring Break Sewing Class	email for details
March 23 6-8 pm	Appliqué Class	email for details
April 6, 13, 20, 27	Sew More (The Next Step for Beginners)	LSUS
April 8 6-8 pm	Funky Fabrics	email for details
April 22 6-8 pm	Appliqué Class	email for details

***Funky Fabrics: Learn techniques for sewing with minky, polar fleece, vinyl, and other fun fabrics!***