Bathing Suit

 I have never made a bathing suit before and I decided to take on the challenge. I used this pattern which I think came out well. I used bathing suit fabric and lining. Put in bra cups and a piece of power mesh across the stomach area. The suit feels very comfortable. My suits are often short and I have to keep pulling them down. This one will not have that problem.

I used the article that Katherine Brenne wrote for the Vogue Magazine June/July 2016 on constructing a bathing suit. It is excellent and covers everything you need to know to succeed. The real challenge was making the stripes angle from the center out. The pattern was on the fold and it took me some time to line up the stripes and then make a seam down the center front and back so I could line up the stripes. I had to baste the fabric so the stripes would stay while I sewed the fabric on the machine.

Another one Done

You can see that I haven't been sewing. This is my second completed project from the Bead Retreat that I attended this summer. It is a bracelet designed by Laura McCabe. This was definitely a challenge. I am enjoying doing something other then sewing. I guess I needed a vacation. I do have a bathing suit cut out for the future. This should be a challenge also as I have not ever made one before. I have one more project from the Bead Retreat to complete. So we will see which wins out.

I will be taking off tomorrow for San Jose, California to attend the PenWAG wearable art group. I will be attending a 2 1/2 day workshop with Kathryn Brenne making our own pants pattern. I am looking forward to seeing how to make pants fit.

The group always has a sale of donated stash fabric in December with a potluck. I have really cleaned out my stash this year and have 13 plastic bags to take up for the sale. I still have many more pieces left for my creative spirit to take on in the future.

Back from my trips

 First I went to Ireland and was able to stay with my friend Fiona's parents on their farm. This is one of the old buildings that was along the coast on a drive we took.

 We climbed up to a old burial site and you could see how green and beautiful Ireland is.

 We took a trip into Dublin and spent a day touring the city. These are sculptures that are done to remind people of the times that Ireland went through starvation.

 Then I went to Edinburgh, Scotland for four days. Of course, I was quite delighted that I could find the local fabric shop.

 I was home for four days and then I flew to Minnesota to spend sometime with my family. I was a little early for the autumn leave, but saw a few.

 Then I joined my friend Fiona and her family who were mostly from Ireland and watch her run in the Twin Cities Marathon as a Global Hero. She won along with 24 other Global Heroes around the world that Medtronics flew in for the race. They all have devices that help them control some health issue and so it is quite a feet to be able to run a race. Their stories were so inspirational. It told us that you can do anything against many odds if you don't give up.

 Then in a week I attended a beach retreat. It was the perfect time to have this come in my life. I needed a little rest and time to get my energy back. All of my trips were so wonderful and I feel blessed to have been able to go on them.

 After that heavy schedule I have needed some down time. Beading seemed like a good relaxing creative adventure for me. I am so happy I have now completed my first project that was introduced to me in the bead retreat that I attended in July.

 These are the squash that I picked from my garden. It is the first time I have tried squash and it looks like it is a success. This should hold us for the winter.

New Pants

 I made Marcy's new pants pattern. They fit nicely.

 You can't see much since it is black fabric.

 The front pockets are not functional. I shorten the pants 2 inches.

I made these pants for travel and I think they will work well. I leave tomorrow for Ireland and then Edinburgh, Scotland for a couple of weeks.

New Pants

 I had a good time making this one. I bought a old linen table cloth at a estate sale and dyed it blue.

 I love how the dyeing made the design in the table clothes pop.

 It has pockets on each side.

 The upside down pocket with draw string adds a interesting pant leg on the pants.

The skirt on this pattern looks interesting too. Perhaps I will give that a try next.

Jacket

 This is the top on V9193 done from Marcy's blog. I followed the directions from her blog to make the top into a jacket. I also used her fabrics that she suggested. So it has a knit on the top and a linen on the bottom. I added extra width through the sleeves so that I could wear it over another top. I had gotten some trim in Paris which worked well to add some detail to the jacket. I found some grosgrain ribbon which worked well to run down the front for the buttons.

 It has the pocket on one side which I think adds some interest. It made up as a nice light weight jacket.

You can see that the linen does wrinkle, but it doesn't bother me. Like how this jacket turned out. It was fun to see if I could follow Marcy's directions and convert the top to a jacket.

V9193

 I got going on the pants from Marcy's pattern after she published what she had done with these pants on her blog. They looked nice and cool for summer.

 The first pair I shorten five inches as Marcy had done. Then decided I would like them to be shorter so I went to seven inches. I really like these pants. They are comfortable and very easy to make. I went through my stash to see what would work. The blue ones is a light weight cotton fabric I was saving for a shirt, but works very well for these pants. Then the black pair is some rayon and look a little bit dressy.

I have had some red hat cotton fabric that I have been going to make up for about ten years and never get to it. This being fast fit the bill and I was able to wear them to our last meeting. Then the green is a old vintage linen that I got at a estate sale and I tried adding the top part in a piece of knit as Marcy suggested and it does make them even more comfortable. I would definitely recommend making a pair of these and see if you can only make one. I bet you can't.

Little Bags

 I found this pattern at the Sewing Expo.

 I like the slider clasp. They easily can be out of remnants. There were two different sizes in the pattern.

Katherine's Vest

 This is Katherine Tilton's long vest.

 A friend gave me some silk taffeta. I washed and twisted the fabric so it looked wrinkled.

 I love how it turned out. I ran some black piping in a few places to show a few of the style lines. I did a size 16 and it worked well for me with a 38 bust measurement. I added a 1/2".

New Top

 I really like this top. I put a thin layer under the top layer and that worked out well. I think it would of been too heavy if I did all the layers in the same fabric. I actually didn't intend on doing it that way, as I didn't buy enough fabric and had to come up with a way to add to the fabric that I bought. Our mistakes often push our creative spirit to a better place.

 The neck is designed somewhat low, so I brought it up a 1" and I think if I make this again I would bring it up more.

You can't see it very well, but there is a second layer under the back too.

Back From Paris

 Here are our fabulous leaders. Marcy and Katherine did such a good job of introducing us to Paris. We shopped our hearts out and ate all the best foods.

 This was my first t-shirt, thinking this would be it.

 Then this one just talked to me and it was just needing to go home with me. The hat is a Stetson and made of linen. I was used to seeing men's hats in that brand but never one that was so much my style.

 Some cool socks and Trippen shoes.

 Some more shoes.

 Some leggings.

 Some poke-a-dot socks.

 More shoes.

 Leggings.

 This beautiful silk and cashmere tye dyed sweater.

 A shibori scarf.

 A French pattern.

 Some notions. Glass buttons from the flee market from 1920's.

 A piece of denim.

Some more fabric.