Inspired by a Shirt

This post could also be titled the Bias Bitch, but I don't want my experience with the pattern to scare off anyone from trying it.  And to be honest, for as rough of a time I had putting it together I adore this skirt.

First, the shirt.  As soon as I saw this bold beauty hanging in the store, I knew it would be mine.  Yes, I bought a shirt.  A criminal offense, right?  In my defense, I've been losing weight for the last year and my wardrobe is bare of things that actually fit, which is why I've been pushing my way through the skirts.  So why not rock through a few shirts?  Fit is one.  My shape has changed so much even in the last few months, that as soon as I stitch up shirt it ends up in the 'no longer fits' pile.  Sure, I could adjust the fit, but while I love sewing up a new garment, I absolutely despise resewing that same garment a few weeks later.  Maddening.  So I bought a shirt.

While standing at the register, my bold beauty in hand with matching earrings no less, my brain is bubbling away at possibilities for a matching skirt. Surely there is a length of black bottom weight languishing amongst all the yardages.  Boy was I wrong.  Worse, there wasn't even a khaki.  The best I could come up with was a grey sateen, which next to the intense blue just screamed "oh please, not me!".  What I did find, hiding at the very bottom of the third bin was 2 yards of white brushed twill.  WTH?  I mean, seriously WHITE Brushed Twill?  Where the heck did it come from?  Why would I buy white anything in a bottom weight fabric?

Having splurged with the shirt, I was committed to using fabric from my stash for the skirt.  Well, that and the hubs has recently discovered just how much fabric I own.  His disbelief at my need for yet MORE fabric was evident.  Best just to buckle down and make the best of it.  I figured, if I really hated it, I could dye it.  Right?  Thankfully, it didn't come to that.  I can't begin to imagine the horrors that would have invoked.

Determined to use the blindingly white fabric, my next quest was for a pattern.  I had 2 yards of 60" wide fabric, so my choices while not endless, meant I wasn't limited to just or two patterns from my stash.  I sorted through my options and consulted my favorite sewing peeps, Becks and Denise via text.  Rapid fire phone texting shot down my option of a third version of my new favorite skirt pattern.  I settled for a bias cut a-line skirt pattern from McCall's, 4258 which proudly proclaimed itself a 2 hour bias skirt.  Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.

I opted for View B, the more streamlined style with a narrow waist band.  Laid out the fabric, carefully checked and double checked each piece to ensure I had the bias line of the fabric perfectly  in line with the pattern.  Have you ever done this?

Measure against both ends of the grainline on the pattern
piece, adjusting the piece until the measurements match.

Every pattern piece has a grainline marked, generally in the center of the piece.  Measuring tape in hand, I check and double check that line against the selvages of the fabric, making sure that my garment will hang correctly when finished.  My first year home economics instructor was a stickler on this.  She would even double check your measurements before you were permitted to cut.  How many pieces did I have to unpin, adjust and repin?  After the first garment under her eagle eye, none.  But every blessed piece of that first one, a couple of them twice.  Even now, years later, I never, ever, ever miss this step. It is 100% worth the extra time and effort.  There is nothing worse than a skirt that hangs just a bit off. Nothing says this garment is hand made than one that hangs wrong.

Skirt pinned and cut in the quiet time when Thing 1 and Thing 2 have drifted off to sleep for the night.  Notice how much of a fabric suck bias cut skirts are?  Oodles of waste there, thank goodness.  Little did I know I was going to need a bit of it.  Initially, the sewing went well.  I mean how wrong can things go with a skirt that consists of 3 whopping pieces?  The edges were serged, the non-zipper side was stitched up, the waist band interfaced and that's where things started going sideways.  The waist band, was 4" too short for the skirt.  WTH?  Yes, that's a theme here.  I said it a lot while putting this skirt together along with that four letter word that starts with F and rhymes with Yuck.  I pull out the pattern piece.  Yes, I cut the correct size, the VERY same size as the skirt pieces.  F word.  I wrapped the waist band around me and contrary to all my measurements it didn't fit.  WTF?  (see the upgrade?)  I checked the pattern again for the suggested measurements for size.  Yes, I picked the correct size.  I measured me again.  I matched the suggested size.  I had the hubs measure me, yep, still matched.  WTBleedingH? (I'd calmed down by this point)

Time to regroup.  The waist band was obviously not going to fit either me or the skirt pieces.  The pattern offered up an alternate waist finish, with a facing rather than a band.  I dug out my scraps, cut facings and interfaced them.  The facings did not match the skirt.  WTF? (yes, we were back to that.)  I swore at the skirt and the stupidity of the waist finishes.  I was done.  It wasn't worth it, no matter that I was planning on wearing the combination to work on Monday.  Stupid thing.  Fifteen minutes later I had the facing pieces back in my hands.  I refused to let the damn thing get the better of me.  I measured it.  I measured me (yes, again). I wrapped the facing around me and it fit.  Problem must be in the skirt pieces.  I measured them and found I was only off 3" now.  Somewhat better than the 4"of the waist band.  WTBH?

At this point, I figured I had nothing to lose.  The center front and center back were marked on the skirt pieces.  I measured out 2" on either side of those center points and marked 3/4 darts.  Taking out 1 1/2" from the front and the back should get the facings to fit.  The facings fit.  By this point I was feeling daring.  I stitched in the invisible zip, i tacked down the facings.  I stitched up the rest of the zip seam, chopped 3" off the length of the skirt not because I checked the fit, but because it sounded like a nice round number.

I stopped caring about how the skirt would look.  I wanted it done and behind me.  A narrow hem finished it off.  Done.  (See the clips?  I love them.  Very best thing ever placed in my Christmas stocking.  No more stabbed fingers when I'm stitching in a hem!)

Seriously cool clips aside, I wanted to take the completed skirt and toss it on a bonfire.  Celebrate the completion of what I was sure was a total wadder.  The only problem...the damn thing fit. Perfectly.  Even the length was spot on.  WTH?  I am the proud owner of a white brushed twill skirt.  One that fits like a dream and gets compliments every time I wear it.  I was told that I looked 'professional'.  That rocked.

I love the skirt. I hate the experience. I will never buy another inch of white brushed twill.  I mean, good came of bad, but I'm not stupid. As for the pattern, I came across a nearly finished version of View C when I was doing some cleaning.  Maybe the next time I'm feeling the need for a swear fest, I'll pull it out and finish it.  For now, I'm pretty content to let it hang out in a bin and mock me.

Before you judge me by the wrinkles in the photo, I ironed the skirt prior to going to work, but this is end of day.  Sitting around at a desk tends to encourage wrinkles in the best of fabrics.

Second Verse, Same as the First

Does anyone else go to "I'm Henery the Eight, I am" when they hear that, or is it just me?  It was the first thing that popped into my head when I laid out the pattern Simplicity 2655 for the second time. I am so in love with this pattern.  I will confess that there was a skirt in between the first and second versions of this.  I struggled a bit with it so I felt justified in trying to replicate the success I had the first time around.

I can easily say this skirt was a smash hit for me.  Just the right length and I have several blouses that go so well with the fabric.  The best part was using a fabric that's been lounging in my stash for somewhere around 10 years!  The fabric looks like an embroidered denim, but the colorful swirls are woven into the fabric.  At 60" wide, I started with over 4 yards of fabric.  A marathon ironing session with my favorite Faultless Premium Starch. Yes, I do launder, iron AND starch my fabric before I cut into it.  I love the smell of hot starched fabric.  It makes me antsy with anticipation.  I think that might make me a sewing geek.

A second round with the pattern confirmed that it's a breeze and a total hit with me.  I cut a straight 14 and the fit is perfect on my hips.  My only other alteration was chopping 3" off the length of the skirt.  I stand 5' 4" and the shorter length leaves the skirt falling perfect mid-calf on me.

For those of you wondering, no I didn't wear it with the ankle socks! That was just for the photo shoot, courtesy of the rockin' hubs.  He thoughtfully humors me and chops off my head for photos so I don't have to worry about how my hair looks after a marathon sewing session (it was horrible!).  A pair of sleek black heels finished off the outfit for work.

Mad Sewing Skillz

My friend Denise says I have them.  I'm not sure they're mad skillz, but skillz are skills.  Simplicity 2655, view b, no pockets.  While I'm constantly shoving my phone into my jeans pockets, I find that I'm not a big fan of pockets on skirts or dresses.  With this in mind, I am relegating skirts to Mondays, where I spend 90% of my day parked in my office.  It's not going to keep me from leaving my phone in someone else's office, but the odds are lower.

What I do have is a rockin' grey skirt to wear to work in the morning.  Skillz or not, I count that as a win.

The fabric is a recent stash addition by comparison to what's hanging out in my bins.  It's marinated in stashdom for a mere 4 months.  I picked it up in a moment of weakness when the local fabric store had a half off sale.  There is only so much this girl can resist when it comes to fabric and 50% off is not one of those things.  I bought it with no particular use in mind.  I just couldn't keep my hands off of the bolt.  I walked past it twice before toting the bolt around the store for a good 20 minutes then gave up and bought 2 1/2 yards.

The pattern itself requires little of the mad skillz, basic skillz will do just fine.  It has five pieces, all of which have to be cut twice. After laying out the pieces in the overly complicated fashion recommended by the pattern, I folded the fabric is half, selvages together and then in half again so that the folds and selvages were stacked. After that, cutting was a complete breeze, once per piece through 4 layers of fabric.  Each piece fit perfectly with about a quarter of a yard left over.  The pattern calls for 2 1/4 yards, so dead on with what I had and it makes me wonder why anyone would follow the complicated cutting diagram.

Sewing went fast.  Start to finish, not including fighting with the serger to get it rethreaded, I spent less than 2 hours behind the machine.  I serged all the vertical seams first, then sewed them up leaving the zipper side seam open.  Iron, iron,  iron.  Back to the serger to serge all the horizontals, which are curved, which means I had to resist the urge to plow through them.  Been there, done that, scrapped the end results because nothing lined up.  Curves can eat your lunch if you aren't paying attention.

Patience persevered.  Every single seam lined up,  Every edged matched perfectly.  The horizontal seams were pinned and sewn in record time.  Iron again then off to tackle what was probably the most complicated part of the whole thing, the zipper.  I always sew my invisible zippers in prior to sewing the seam.  It means I frequently have to ignore some of the sewing instructions but the zipper goes in so much easier and the final project looks just as good as if I'd followed the directions.  Nothing complicated here after all, the zip stitched in without a hitch.  After the zipper and waist band facing it is all down to the hand sewing.

Remember when I said all the horizontals were curves?  Yeah, hemline too.  That little fluttery bit on View B, all assembled, makes a full circle.  After much swearing and a trip to the store for a different color of grey that better matched the fabric, I did a very narrow rolled hem and ran it through the machine.

The facing on the waist band was hand stitched.  Really people, it's not a scary thing!  Try it, you'll like it.  The finish is so clean and tidy!

Will I make this again?  Absolutely.  I'm thinking view A this time, in this great embroidered denim that's been marinating in the stash for...um...years.  Probably best not to mention how many, because it's older than my first born.

Will I make any changes?  View A is longer, but other than dropping down a size, possibly 2, it's a pretty solid pattern.  This skirt has 5 1/2 inches of ease at the hips.  It's comfortable, without being figure hugging.  Sizing is a personal challenge with me.  I've been working at losing weight (don't call if you find it, okay?) and measuring is a constant challenge.  I measured twice and dropped a size after a measuring issue with a skirt I made last week.  I still need to go down at least once size on the next effort, but this one didn't require adjustments to make it fit.

The Amazing Fit

This post could also be titled something about being the first thing I've sewn for me in nearly 10 years.  I sew for Thing 1 all the time these days, but rarely do I sew anything for myself.  I'm trying to change that this year and sew a few things for me.  The pattern, Simplicity 1941.  The fabric, a cotton print from JoAnn's I bought when a new store opened up nearby.  Nearby being right at 30 minutes away.  Since the closest prior to that was a good hour, the new one is classified as nearby.  Overall, it's not that great of a store.  It is on the small side, but handy for sending the Hubs into for patterns and basic notions.  In general, I'd rather drive the extra 30 minutes.  The variety and selection is worth the extra mileage.  As an added bonus, it shares a parking lot with a Northern Tools store, which means the Hubs doesn't squawk when I need to drop in for a few things.

Pattern weights, pulling their...um...weight.

I stitched this beauty up before I stumbled across the Stashbusting Challenge, but since it was done this year and both pattern and fabric were out of my stash, I'm calling it as a win for the home team.  With 2 small ones running about and "helping" mom, I try to group my sewing chores to maximize my time behind the Harmony.  This means when I break out the pattern weights and cut fabric, I cut several projects in an afternoon.  Do you use pattern weights?  I love them!  I made mine up one day back in October.  I'll save that for another post, but I've come to the conclusion that I don't have enough.  I really like to lay out the whole pattern and weigh it all down and cut.  I usually end up with a couple of pieces hanging out with just one weight on it as a place holder.

Basting in the side seams

To be honest, I actually cut this pattern and a couple others out in November and tucked them away in my sewing space and pretended they didn't exist until after the new year started.  Once I pulled it out and got started, I have a couple of stumbles with the pattern.  I read the first three instructions at least four times, swore a bit in between each time.  Once I figured out what the pattern wanted, it was a breeze, but I had low expectations due to the poor start.  If you can get past those first three things, the pattern is actually a breeze and contains great fitting tips.  One step has you basting the side seams in wrong side out after doing the front princess seams and the back darts, but before sleeves and collar.  I was suspicious, mostly due to the rocky start, but followed the instructions anyway.

Adjusted darts prior to
serging off the excess fabric

Turns out, it was one of the better things to do.  I was able to see that the back darts needed to be deepened and extended upwards.  I was saggy in the back with lots of extra room in the shoulders.  I pulled the basting stitches out, adjusted the darts, serged off the excess fabric created by the dart adjustments and moved on.  The rest of the blouse was a breeze.

My cutting adjustments on this pattern were cutting the largest size for the sleeve.  I have chunky biceps, and tend to allow for that.  I shouldn't have bothered with this blouse.  I chose the option for the loose fitting 3/4 sleeve and they're a bit on the full side.  Next time I make this sleeve, I'll do so with the size that matches the rest of the blouse.  The other adjustment was to use the pieces for a C cup.  Thanks to a pro bra fitting, I happen to know I wear a D cup, but I wear what are called Minimizer bras, which arrange the girls so that I come off as a C cup.  I measured up, compared to their instructions and decided that the C cup pieces were going to fit me the best.  Some of that is the bra business, some of it is pattern ease.  Either way, the C cup was the right choice and I didn't have to make any adjustments to the front princess seams.

Pretty enough to not need extra top stitching

I also skipped the top stitching.  The print is so busy, top stitching would have been lost as a decorative element and after repeated wearings, I can attest to the fact that it isn't needed for structure.  All my seams are serged.  I love the flattering fit of this blouse.  It is comfortable and perfect for work.  I'm already planning on making this pattern again, next time with short sleeves for spring and summer wear.

No good deed goes unpunished

I was really looking forward to a weekend of sewing.  We had no plans or need to go out of town and beyond a trip for groceries, I had free reign to plan on sewing up some fabric from my stash.  My plans didn't even make it to Saturday before being turned upside down.  11:00pm on Friday night, Thing 2 has a fever.  I had no doubts how my Saturday was going to play out.  By 2:00am, he and I were camped out in a recliner in the living room.  It was like trying to sleep with a bad cross between a furnace and a Koala bear.  Clingy and oh so hot!  I managed, through a very cooperative hubs, to get in the trip to rescue this week's groceries, but that was the highlight of my day.  The rest of the day was spent napping/snuggling with my cranky little bear.  His fever finally broke around 4pm, but I was too exhausted to even work on the easiest of sewing projects.  The extent of my creative ventures was browsing Pinterest.

Not so basic math.
 Thank goodness for calculators!

By Sunday morning, Thing 2 was feeling much better and with the hubs at work, I got a surprising extra hour of sleep.  Go me!  After getting us around, I handled some of the basic household chores that were neglected on Saturday.  That out of the way, I knew my remaining level of concentration wasn't going to handle anything difficult, but I still wanted to get some sewing in.  Pinterest to the rescue.  One of the things I'd found on Saturday was a maxi/twirly skirt from a blog called Delilah Creates that I knew Thing 1 would love.  I pulled up the tutorial and groaned.  It required basic math.  I wasn't sure my brain was up to basic math, even with the assistance of a calculator, but I gave it a whirl anyway.

2 yards should be enough, right?

Calculations in hand, I rummaged through my stash and pulled out 2 yards of white on white print quilting cotton.  I couldn't even begin to guess at why I had it, much less when I bought it.  We'll say it's a good 7 years or better old and was probably bought for some quilting project I'd seen.  I ran the iron over it and having used up all my brain power to conquer the math problem, I knew cutting straight lines was asking for trouble.  I opted to clip the fabric every 6 1/2 inches down the length and tear the strips.

7 layers, edges serged.  Probably should
have pressed them at this point.

Following the instructions, I serged my way through creating seven bands.  It wasn't until I was stitching in the final band that I realized I had inverted one piece, so the top band has one half of the band sewn in inside out.  I considered redoing the strip, but I'd already tucked the Serger away and this was just a dress up box skirt, no one would be the wiser.  I'll get to regret that choice later.

Thing 1 demonstrating spin.
with the help of thing 2

On the same thought process, I stitched the layers together with bright green thread.  The plan was to go back and do a decorative stitch after I got the skirt together.  That changed the moment she tried it on and declared it wonderful, asking when she could wear it.  "No Mama, I want to wear, wear it!" means it gets an instant upgrade to regular clothes status.  It also means that the bright green thread and that backwards panel were probably not the wisest of choices!  The thread is easily fixed with some ric rac, which will give the skirt even more visual appeal.  A sprinkling of fun buttons should also detract from the backwards panel, which because the fabric is white on white, isn't at all obvious.  I know it's there, but no on else will short of close examination.

$10 in ric rack and flower buttons

I was surprised that the strips were more eased than gathered prior to sewing to the next band in the layer.  I think if I were to remake this skirt, and I expect to based on Thing 1's delight at this one, I will redo the math and make the skirt fuller.  Ric Rac is a perfect complement to the raw serged edges, keeping the skirt from being too fussy, so I definitely plan on adding that in again.  The ric rac overlaid the bright green stitching where the layers were joined, stitching in with a medium width zig zag stitch, and was the easiest part of the skirt.  I originally planned on orange but after discovering I had NO orange thread (seriously?), I substituted purple.  I also bought bright blue, but also didn't have thread to match that.  The buttons were applied randomly across the front of the skirt.

Flowers at random.

This is a delightfully playful skirt, even in white.  I can't wait to see what it will look like in a black bold graphic print that is hanging out in the bottom of one of the stash bins.  This was a double hit with Thing 1 and with Stash Busting.  For the trifecta, it meets this month's challenge of sewing for someone you love.  Go me!  Now I just need a matching shirt.

Sewing Chores - Pattern Cutting

The darling Hubs ventured into JoAnn's for me and successfully picked up four Vogue patterns for me.  I say Darling because JoAnn's is pretty far outside his comfort zone and he did it off the cuff on a text from me.  I'd say that rates at least Darling status.  In all honesty, it was four patterns, they were on sale and he was in the neighborhood.  From his perspective, I owe him big four times over.  From mine, well, he has a meeting near the store in a couple of weeks and there are 8 Simplicity patterns slated to be discontinued that I just know I need.  If he had any idea, he probably would put more effort into getting it wrong.

Why yes, those are a pair of Creative Memories scissors.
Awesome things for tackling tissue paper.

Four new patterns in the house means time to do my most dreaded of sewing chores.  Of all the various chores involved in getting from fabric to finished project, I have to say that I despise the time and effort required to free a pattern from its tissue paper prison. Because I dislike it so very much, I try to go through as many patterns as possible at one time and get it out of the way.  This means some up front decisions, starting with what patterns I expect to make next.  Of the four new patterns, I'm targeting 2 for immediate use, Vogue 8833 and Vogue 8747.  While I'm at it, I'm also going to work my way through a recent out of print acquisition, McCall's 5661.

Now I need to think about fabrics to match up with these.

The Stashbusting challenge for February is sewing for someone you love, which in this house means Thing 1 is getting some new dresses for her wardrobe.  I have a few staples that I can pull from patterns already cut out, but I figure I might as well cut a couple of new things for her while I'm stringing tissue paper around the house.  I pulled Simplicity 5234 and McCall's 6429 from my pattern stash, which should give me a couple of early Spring dresses for her to wear to school.

I managed to hustle the monsters outside but
couldn't avoid the assistance of my agoraphobic dog.
She looks as thrilled with the cutting as I felt.

Five patterns, plus one already cut out of fabric and another with fabric pulled puts me over half way towards my Stashbusting goal of 12 projects before new fabric.  I have no idea how I'm going to manage to hold off buying fabric until I meet my goal.  Fabric bought by others, say the hubs, and then gifted to me doesn't count, does it?

Welcome to my sewing room!

Seriously!

If your first thought was “It’s a big pink box.”, congratulations!  Give yourself a chocolate chip cookie (or the equivalent that you happen to have on hand).  Go on.  I’ll wait. 

Now that you have a nice snack (and perhaps an adult beverage, or some nice cold milk) we can get on with the tour.  The box is indeed pink, courtesy of Rubbermaid.  It lives under my dining room table, hidden away from prying eyes.  Should we have family/friends over for dinner, it can be slid off into the master bedroom without scattering my precious things along the way.  I have been sewing out of this box for going on 2 years now.  This just goes to prove you don’t need a room devoted to sewing to have a productive habit.  Not that I don’t dream of a space devoted to my creativity that doesn’t have to be cleared and tidied for the various daily meals.  I certainly do and before the year is out, I shall have that space.  In the meantime, this box does everything I ask and more. 

Ignore the mess.  I was mid project when I thought
to take a picture of my sewing setup.  Giraffe skirt in progress.

What’s in the box? My sewing machine, of course!  My Janome Harmony 8080 was purchased at Sears over ten years ago, after the untimely death of a Brother.  The Janome far outshines its measly predecessor. Beyond being a work horse of a computerized machine, it’s really not that fancy.  50 stitches that have held up under my demands.  If I were to replace Miss Harmony, it would most certainly be with another Janome.  Most likely, the MC6500. 

The box also houses my serger.  One of two I own.  I tried to kill the loopers on my beloved EuroPro serger.  The over the phone estimate to replace them and tune up the machine was a bit startling.  The hubs, being the awesome man he is, bought me an inexpensive Brother serger that serves me moderately okay.  He (it is most certainly male with its occasional contrariness) and I have had a few discussions on how each of us believes he should work.  So far, I’ve won most of the time.  I’ve learned lots about how a proper serger should work in the process and I’m to the point that I’m willing to pay a shocking amount to have the EuroPro repaired and back in service.  Because I despise threading him, the Brother stays loaded with white thread.  Since it is used for finishing seams that never get seen, what people can’t see, I don’t have to rethread. 

It's tight, but it all fits.

The machines take up considerable real estate in the bin, but there is still room for a stack of neatly folded fabric, usually pulled for the next project or three that I have planned.  This picture is from July and I’ve made a few changes to how I store my projects since then, but that’s another post.  The remaining space is occupied by my rotary cutting mat, 5x24” ruler and my small but growing collection of sewing supplies.

All packed up and ready to slide back under the table.

So there you have it.  My tidy little sewing space.  The little boxes are getting upgraded with a massive ArtBin storage box, but I’ll save that tour for another day.

I want to talk about me!

If you don't hear Toby Keith jamming in your head, well, you're not living in my head.  :)

Welcome to my sewing world!  I'm V, a full time mom, full time wife, full time production scheduling specialist and sometimes sewist.  I am not, nor will I ever be a super mom.  So how do I do it?  I have sacrificed sleep, sanity and the occasional Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie to sew.  Who needs sleep anyway and I'm pretty sure sanity is over rated.  Let's not talk about the cookie, okay?

So what can you expect to find on my blog?  Inconsistency!  Gosh, I'm not the best at math, but if you add up all the things I am already doing, there just isn't enough of me left for blogger of the year.  So I'm not going to make any promises about when or how often I'll post.  I have enough content to last a while at this point, so you should have a good run for a while anyway.  I've also joined a stash busting sew a long, more on that in a later post, so additional content opportunities there.  I will promise detailed photos of my projects in process and discussions about techniques I use.

I have been sewing for as long as I can remember, but my first wearable completed project was a red wrap skirt when I was 10.  Since then I have sewed in 4H and FHA, participated in County Fairs (even won a few ribbons), made my senior prom dress and more Christmas gifts than I can count.  I have yet to meet a fabric I didn't like and wasn't willing to horde.  I have a considerable collection of knits which is amazing since I have never sewn on knit and frankly, am terrified by the prospect of it.  Recent cheap-o fabric additions to my knit collection will hopefully change that.

As for actual content, I primarily sew for my oldest child, Thing 1.  I occasionally sew for myself.  I mend for the hubs and Thing 2, well I just haven't found the right project to sew for him.  Thing 1 is a demanding client, but recent fabric purchases have been all about me, so I expect to sew more grown up things this year.  In my next post, I will give you a star studded tour of my sewing space.  Stay Tuned to the same bat channel at the same bat time!

Questions?  Ask away!  I'll round them all up and answer them in a later post.  Go on, you know you want to ask!