Holiday cheer and planning for 2019

               

                          I am stopping my holiday chores for just a minute to say to all of you...

Milestone year

I turn 65 in this coming June, and I am very grateful I made it this far.  6 1/2 decades of living, including a lot of ill-thought out experimentation, has left me with some scars and a whole lot of wisdom.   Philosophy aside, what I have been feeling is some discombobulation.  A bit of "...is this all there is?"  "...if I did this, what would happen?"    "...yes, I need more fabric"

No angst, just a tad unbalanced but that is always the case in times of change.

I'm happy.

With Christmas coming on so very fast, I have been sewing lots of little projects for family and riding buddies.  I've ventured into some piecing and applique for mug rugs, and have made some bit warmers.

For the bit warmers, I stitched a simple rectangle about 6" by 7" and filled one side with rice, made a center seam, and then filled the other side.  I then stitched the last side closed.  They go really fast if you have the fabric already pieced, or you can use fabric as is.

I have also made a number of sets of mug rugs in a variety of styles.  After experimenting, I now use the backing as a binding, wrapping it around and making mitered corners with a teeny fold.  As with the bit warmers, I pieced many of them ahead of cutting.  Of course, the applique ones are more labor intensive...I just love the little cat and yarn.

Besides all these, I WON the PatternReview Pattern Stash contest...finally!  I made 12 garments from old patterns in my stash.  Some will be keepers and a few hit the recycling as soon as I reviewed them.  It was a good exercise in choosing pattern and fabric and sewing without vacillating about choices.  I used all stash fabric too.  I'm thrilled, having tried this a few times in years past.  One year the winner made umpteen pairs of pj pants...come on!!  I will enjoy my prize-$100 from Grainline Patterns.  

Here are 2 favorites from my entries-I wear these often.  V1568 is a lovely tee and I used the pattern for a pj top.   The other is Sewing Workshop Urban Tee made in a rib knit. 

Happy Holidays to all!  Hoping Santa brings you candies and toys, and NO coal.  

Attitude and The Dude

I would love to have this attitude, but I am strung a bit tighter than The Dude.  There is a lot to love about this movie (The Big Lebowski) and this approach to life's challenges. Me, I sew. 

I absolutely LOVE this blouse by Love Notions.  It was a bit fiddly to manage in polyester but I have a colorful winter blouse which will go with jeans or slacks.  oops, where is my head?  I highly recommend the Rhapsody pattern by Love Notions.  My review can be found on PR.

I also completed the Walter pattern by Silhouette.  This is a take on a Walter Finley blouse sold in department stores for $$$.  It is a more upscale style of shirt than I usually wear and I think it will be great for Thanksgiving at the clubhouse-I'll wear it with jeans and boots.  

After shirtmaking (Walter's blouse) and teeny tubes of polyester (Rhapsody blouse), I needed something easy.  A tee, of course.  

This is a take on the Marcy Tilton pattern V9057.  Here I threw it on over some voluminous knit pants for a PR review...it is a bit more flattering than this.  I made changes in the drape by adding an inch as if for a full tummy. 

Another tee is in my closet-I tried the Urban tee by Sewing Workshop.  I really like the design and while my use of rib knit isn't perfect, I am happy enough to wear this tee for errands or cool mornings.  Reviewed on PR. 

I have yards of grey/navy scuba and my next project was fast and used up a bit of this fun knit.  Why I have scuba when I live in the desert is beyond me...I must have ordered it while sleepwalking.  Anyway, here it is made up as V8430, another Marcy Tilton pattern.  This took about 2 hours with the scuba since I did not hem any of it.  My only change was to add cuffs.  Reviewed on PR.

In the middle of this sewing frenzy, I started working on some collage papers in anticipation of a bigger project.  I'll update you as it develops.  Here are some snapshots of WIP:

See you later, and remember, The Dude abides.

Careful-this is a deadly serious essay

Hasn't the news been disturbing lately?   I have been titrating my news input in both print and video but last night I watched a bit of "All In with Chris Hayes" on MSNBC.  He included details from the Khashoggi murder-it is his job to report and I can choose to look away.  I did not.  I can also try to believe Trump when he says it might be a rogue band of outlaws. 

But I know better.  And so does he.

On this newscast, I heard a simple sentence, which would have been shocking in a spy novel and here it was, in real life, in my living room.  Those words indicated such a lack of empathy and such sadism that I lost my breath.

Without a word, I walked out of the room and went to the kitchen where I made dinner.  We ate, I sewed the continuous laps on my lovely Silhouette blouse while my husband read and Griffin snoozed.  I spent some time watching a horse training video and then we went to bed. 

In all this time, I was numb.  I felt very little but was aware that those words were circling my consciousness and then slipping away.  I just did my daily life while my inner self tried to organize what I had heard with my worldview. 

Snuggling in, I finally shared that I had crashed and thanked my husband for being such a great partner, knowing he too was reacting to the news.  We went to sleep, and I wish that was the end.

I woke 4 times.  Once to check a noise-nothing there.  Once to put medicine on three areas of my skin which were itching (an overactive immune response).  Once to drink water and baking soda because I had terrible indigestion.  And finally, once to get up at 4:15 for good...only to have diarrhea all morning.  Clearly, I was reacting to the news. 

I'm okay now and have just come back from walking with Griffin.  I'll sew a bit today and then turn my horse out with his buddy Black Hawk.  What I'm pondering is why some people ignore these stories or don't see the problem with our President not registering outrage.  In fact, the administration is now seeking a "mutually agreeable explanation".  WTH? 

Vote.  Don't look away. 

Four Seasons-Autumn

"And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep, and autumn was awakened."  Raquel Franco

It is my favorite time of year, especially after a long summer.  I am energized by the fall and spend lots of time changing up the house, planning meals, and refreshing my wardrobe.  

My current sewing involves blues, in all their glorious shades.  Teal, navy, turquoise, azure, indigo. Along with these shades, I am incorporating some greens, golds, and cream.  Here, let me show you my plan:

This peachskin in cyan, navy and sand was used to sew Love Notion's Rhapsody blouse.  Great pattern and good results!  I have not written a review yet but will get that posted on Monday.  

These are two pieces of cotton which will become Walter's Front-tie blouse by Silhouette Patterns.  This pattern is a nod to a Walter Finley design and those blouses sell for about $180.00.  Peggy hasn't posted the pattern yet (I received it in a fall collection) so I included the Finley blouse from Neiman Marcus.  

This is a fun rayon in beautiful fall colors, shot through with some metallic thread.  It will be sewn using McCall's 7284.  I'm still looking for a contrast fabric for the yoke.  

These two will become pants-the blue twill will be a slim ankle length pant and the cream linen will be either capris or a slim pant.  I am still dithering about what pattern to use.  I'll use McCall's 6930 or Collette's Clover. 

Finally, in the last photos, you can see my recent yoga pants in a brown slinky.  Slinky is the fabric from hell, but it sure makes nice traveling pants!  I used B 6494  (link->review)

They were made to go with this fun, though REALLY big, top.  The blouse is made using Cutting Line Designs 59269 My Heart's A'Flutter  (link->review)

I hope your sewing, and life in general, is going well.  We all need to take care of ourselves during this time.