I Went to the Animal Fair

Ok, the Howard County Fair(grounds). They were having an Alpaca fiber exhibit. And since it's only a few minutes from my house I took a short roadtrip up. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I have no photos of the really cute critters. They're much smaller than I thought they'd be, and much softer. They make noises similar to sheep but softer and quieter. I hear you can even housebreak them. Really? So I'm re-thinking my post retirement activities. Wonder how they get along with chickens? I did buy a couple of skeins of yarn. This one's hand dyed and 100% alpaca. I also bought a pattern to make it into a lace cowl from the same vendor.

These 2 are 30% Merino and are natural colors - not dyed. I have a 2 color pattern planned for them. Though, with my knitting speed, I don't recomment you hold your breath waiting for the results. But it should be really pretty when it's done.
In other news. I see a lot of pattern matching in the fashion mags but am scared to try it. What do you think: Too much? What the hell are you thinking? Go go girl, wish I had your fashion sense? Stick to solids and let Mondo do the mixing?

And finally, more serger woes. Seriously? WTF? See my nicely finished pink sample? Looks fine, doesn't it? Now look at my real garment. These were done at the same time - in fact I didn't even cut the threads between the sample and the shirt until I was done stitching. I really just don't understand. Really. I ended up actually overcasting this mess on my Viking. Pah.

And in closing, don't forget you use your JoAnn's 60% off + dollars off coupons. Best sale in a long time - I got a whole bag of stuff I didn't need for the price of the cutting board I've had my eye on for some time. I do so love me a good sale.

Success!

After a couple of attempts last week using a Simplicity and a New Look pattern that gave me results that just hung off my shoulders, I went a different direction this weekend. I pulled out Vogue 1247 for a quick skirt. I'm going to New York for a quick weekend with my husband next Friday and wanted something cool but not so casual as shorts. This seemed to fit the bill. I used a 100% cotton from G Street that reminds me of that old stable, kettle cloth. Remember that fabric? I used to love it. But anyway, I found this 1.5 yard remnant a couple of months ago and immediately thought "summer skirt". And I realized yesterday that it wanted to be this Vogue pattern. I added about 7 inches to the bottom, as I'm no longer 17 and skinny. I needed a zipper for this (I realized how little red I sew when I looked for a zipper) and found this CUTE button for the back. I thought about using these (I have 2) on the pockets but decided not to when it came time to do the button holes. It just didn't feel right for the skirt. But I think it's quite nice on the back waistband. If you haven't looked at this pattern, you should. It goes together nicely, has those bitchin' front pockets and only takes about 1.5 yards of fabric after making it long enough for a real human. A bit of head scratching for a minute to figure out how to put the front together to make the pockets, but after that it went FAST. I didn't do the hong-kong finish in the interest of time and patience, but I did serge all the insides except around the pockets - sergers and curves don't mix. I just did a machine overcast there. Of course my Viking wouldn't do the buttonhole. It did the sample beautifully and then wouldn't feed the fabric for the real one. So after unpicking that mess I hauled out my Singer buttonholer and made it on my 201. THANK YOU SINGER, you RULE! One try and done.

You can also see the wonky stitches my serger started doing again. WHY? It was fine and then it wasn't. This was a test scrap for both serging and buttonholes. Buttonholes went better than serging.

In other news... my son and I went to the early-bird showing of the final Harry Potter this morning. It finally happened - I spent more on the food than on the show, the first showing in each of the theatres is only $6 and the popcorn, etc. was $19. Erg! But the movie was great - all the HP's have been. We didn't see the 3D version, but kind of wishing we had. We may go back in a couple of weeks - after NYC.

Well, I'm off to finish some laundry and think about what to take with me next weekend. I'm taking the train up to Penn Station and husband will be taking the train down from Connecticut. I don't suspect I'll get in any time for fabric shopping this trip - just can't convince my husband that it's fun. Must keep working on that.

ETA: Kuby, if you're still around, I'm not sure if you're asking about the shirt I'm wearing in the picture or the one included with the pattern. I DID make the shirt I'm wearing - it's a Kwik-Sew tee-shirt pattern. No, I didn't make the top incuded in the pattern - I'm not a huge fan of the huge shirts. HTH.

Serging again

YEA! I picked my serger up from G Street on Wednesday after a doctor's appointment nearby (ish). They cleaned, oiled and adjusted (?) it. Didn't say what they adjusted but it seems to have turned the trick. And it's much smoother and quieter. It's around 5 years old, but saw very action in those years, so I didn't think it should need much oiling, etc., but it appears to have enjoyed its time at the spa. I finally finished the napkins I started about 3 months ago - took me about 5 minutes to serge - rolled hem - the rest of the fabric into everyday napkins to use with the table I runner I made and never showed you. (I KNOW, I promised you more pictures. I KNOW!). And then started looking around my room for more things to serge. I made 2 safety glasses cases (just pouches, really) for my husband, made a pillow case for my son to go with the quilt - that's all the UT fabric I had left after all that I bought! And a throw pillow for my son with some more of the scrap - a wonky patchwork on one side, I didn't want to keep tons of scraps around. The glasses cases are UT fabric, too. And did a tiny bit of hand stitching on a skirt I made months ago, too. Seriously, that thing sat there for 3 months for want of 10 minutes of hand sewing. I'm pathetic.
It's just too hot to do anything outside today. The past few days were BEA-U-TI-FUL! Sunny, warm and loooowww humidity - really, when does DC ever have 20% humidity? But typical summer is back today with highs in the 90's and humidity creeping back up. So we rented a carpet cleaner to get rid of the Kacy spots in the bedroom and then I SERGED and cleaned up the sewing room. Next weekend I hope to make a couple of T shirts or a knit dress - I have fabric piled up everywhere with idea in mind. We'll see what come out of the room next weekend - it's another 3 day-er for me.
I hope all my Canadian readers (do I have any of those?) had a nice Canada Day - didja get to see Wills and Kate? And that my fellow Americans (US, that is) are having a great Forth of July weekend. I think we need to watch "The Patriot" tonight.

The Weekend

Sorry, still no pictures as my camera is in my purse, the cable is in the sewing room and my computer is on my lap. Someday they will all magically appear in the same room and there will be photos for all. That day is not today.
I spent all day yesterday running errands. From about 9 am until I pooped out at about 3:30. That included taking my serger to G Street. I'm going to "bite my tongue" and not comment on service I received there - and it ain't easy to do this. But it should be back weekend after next making a nice chain and all oiled and cleaned. And, are you ready for this? I bought NOTHING while there. I just didn't see anything that couldn't live without, not even on THE WALL. I wanted a white, not cotton, knit for a tee shirt. No go. Nothing. Pah.
I finished quilting my son's quilt. Whew! What a job that was. I will bind it next weekend and be done. Then, assuming the 3-way required for posting pictures occurs, I will show it to the world. It's much larger than I'd started off thinking it would be. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
And did I tell you my glasses broke? Just broke. In two. At the nose bridge. I put them in my purse in one piece and took them out at the office in 2 pieces. Now I was due for an exam and counting down until I could get new frames but this really kicked up the timeline. I got lucky and there was a cancellation that afternoon and I should get new specs this week. I actually sprung for 2 pairs - a full vision pair and a computer pair that just has close and mid-range vision that should make working at my computer much more comfortable. I'm looking forward to being able to see again. Meantime I'm the world's biggest geek - my glasses are glued together with Gorilla Glue. That stuff rocks.
So the weekend is over and it's back to work tomorrow. Later, gators.

Ok, so I tried to post this last night (Sunday) from home and Blogger wouldn't post it. But NOW I can from work. Go figure?

Nothing much...

Just a quick update, gotta keep up the readership, no?

We were up early this morning as there was a house showing from 10:30-12:30. I cleaned last night and finished this morning and we left and had a leisurely, early lunch. It isn't the custom for agents to leave their cards in this area but I know they were here: one of the males used my bathroom. Is is weird that this really bothers me? He could have put the seat down and I'd've never known. hmmmfffff.

I have my serger class this afternoon at G Street. The class is $85. How much for the fabric I find on THE WALL? Well, a girl's got to have something to sew on her new serger, doesn't she? Doesn't she? I need a loud "Hell, yeah!' here. Let me hear it!

And a sadder ending for the day's posing. My BFF's dog passed away this morning. She (the dog, not friend) hasn't been well this summer/fall and then slid fast this last week. She was much thinner and calmer when I visited earlier this month. It used to be hard for me to tell the difference between her 2 corgis, but this time it was sadly easy to pick Bridgett out. She still ran to the door to great you, but within a few minutes she was back under the bed. Then she was sick all night a few nights ago and has been with the vet since then. Karen had to go out of town so she was due to be boarded. My heart is with my friend who didn't get to say good-bye to her pet. I'm sorry, she will be missed.

Instant Gratification

I just want to start by saying, again, how much I like my new serger (SQUEEE!). This thing is an absolute blast. I never understood how people could sew so (ha-ha, get it? so-so?) fast and get so many items done in a short time. NOW I understand. It's 4:30 on Sunday and I've made 4, count 'em four, garments! 3 tops and a pair of PJ bottoms. Including tracing out the Burda turtleneck and working through a minor serger breakdown. So here's the output:

First, the T-neck from yesterday. The one where I didn't smile. If you want more on this one, scroll down a bit to yesterday's post.

And since I had that lovely extra hour today and the turtleneck already traced I slept in and still produced 3 more items.

First I hauled out my Jalie tee-shirt pattern and some knit scraps of unknown origin (though if you're a bettin' women, bet on G Street but maybe New York?). I'd cut something out of this once before but my machine didn't like this thin, stretchy knit and it got wadded up and tossed down the trash chute at the apartment. Serger just said "Bring it on", and so I did. In about an hour and a half, including cutting out. I know it's short sleeved, but that's all the fabric I had and I'm planning on wearing under sweaters this winter. See, I'm smiling about this one!

Then I decided to try my hand, um, serger on a woven. Again, I already had a pattern traced (thanks, Wendy!) for some PJ bottoms and some fabric that I really had no clue how to use. So clown PJ's they are. Again, about an hour and half start to finish. I did everything but the waistband on the serger. I folded over the waist and stitched it on my Topaz. Used some of the elastic I got from FabricMart in the mystery bundle. As a matter of fact, that's where the fabric came from, too. A couple of years ago. I love the colors but not so sure about the overall look of the print. But it's a nice soft cotton. I choose not to model these for you - I couldn't find my red nose or squirting flower.

And last, but not least, I pulled the turtleneck pattern back out again. And dug through my stash and found yet another knit scrap from yet another failed knit attempt. Also of unknown origin but I'm thinking Hancock's. And again, the original garment is in a land fill. This is a very thin knit, not much stretch but it turned out well. Not as great as yesterday's - the lack of stretch matters. But it works. Glad I added the 2" to the bodice length or this would be too short.

Saturday

After I did my grocery shopping this morning, I had the rest of the day to do as I pleased. And it pleased me to play with my new serger (SQUEEEE!) and make the Burda turtleneck #120 from September that's all the rage on the sewing scene right now. I will say that this truly is a great little pattern. It took exactly hour on the machine. I serged (SQUEEE!) the shoulders/neck and side seams. I put the sleeves in flat on my sewing machine which took longer than all the rest together. My Topaz really hated this fabric. Really. Even ate a whole in it at one edge. I had to do the sleeves from the center out and then center out again. PITA. I don't have the accessories to switch my serger to do a coverstitch so I just Steam-a-seamed the hem and cuffs. Fabric is from THE WALL at G Street and was actually in my "what was I thinking box" until I drug it out for this first serging attempt. Ok, that was the good part. Remember I said one hour on the machine? Well, it was 2 hours tracing off the horrid new Burda sheets. Maybe that's why I look so sad in the picture? These things seriously BITE. This was 3 lousy pieces with no pleats or placards or other fancy-schmancy markings. 2 HOURS! Though that does include laying out and cutting this springy stretchy as all get out fabric. I'll definitely use this pattern again, though. Not just because it's great but because of all the work it took to trace the dang thing out.
Ok, next up. My quilting project. Tell me what you think. Please.

The center piece is a cotton kimono I've been dragging around for 40 years (at least). It's a large child size and I love the fabric but will never wear it. I found the fabric on the left and really like it with it. The fabric on the right? Not so sure. I love it, but just not sure I love it with the other two, I may be putting it there just because it's Japanese. Comments? Please? I do think I need 3 fabrics, but not sure what #3 should be.

Acquiring, part deux

I told you, when we last visited, that I had more to share. I've been holding on to a surprise for as long as I can stand it. When I returned from visiting Karen last week I brought something else home with me.

A SERGER! SQUEEEE! Did I say SQUEEE?!? Yep, I did. I've actually serged, in my house, in my kitchen, on my table. My son wanted to see how it operated and I was willing to hang out in front of the TV while I played around with it a bit. I had to get some serger thread and then I tied it off to the threads still in the machine. I think it's not quite right, but it sews, um, serges! SQUEEE! I still need the manual - it didn't turn up in Karen's loft. I ordered one from a local dealer that I expected to come in this week but didn't (no squeee, there - 'ja notice?) And I'm going to take a class at G Street next weekend. Another week is a long time! I did download an older model that's close but no cigar. Mine is computerized and the manual isn't. Among other differences. But it's helping.

Now, remember I had to get serger thread. Well, no trip to Joann's is complete with a run through the fabric department. I really was going to be a good girl. Really I was. But, I wasn't. This just jumped out at me, ran up to the cutting table and out to my car. It's a wool/poly blend, and the check is as large as it appears - I should have put a ruler on it for photographing, it's about a 2" square. I'm not sure which side I like best. The houndstoothy side or the plaid side. The hounds tooth was showing on the bolt and I've developed an unhealthy obsession for hounds tooth. Seriously, I may need a program. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

And, in closing, the complete haul. And a dog.