A month has passed...

I fell off the face of the planet over the holidays, many apologies for my extended absence. I have been busy though!

Just this past weekend I finished up my "Beginning Alterations" class at Sew-LA. I learned a lot of fabulous new things. Some great hand stitches to use (blind hem stitch is my new favorite) and great ways to use the machine to finish off hems.

On our second lesson (this past Saturday) I took in two things that I needed to fix. One project was a lovely pencil skirt, that upon my first wearing.. split all the way up to my unmentionables in the back. Really wasn't work appropriate, but I made it through the day with a lot of safety pins and the help of my co-worker (Nancy). It appeared as though the stitching tore, but there was only a small tear in the fabric. I added two small pieces of black interfacing (1cm square) to fix the hole, plus add stability to the bottom of the seam. I sewed it back together using a straight stitch on the machine, with a triple reinforced end of the seam, also stitched across ways.
If it doesn't hold now I'll be shocked!
My other project was a pair of pants I bought from Old Navy. I loved the fit of the pants, but the cuffs at the bottom were a disaster. After washing them the first time, the cuffs never sat straight again. They were stitched in such a way that even with pressing them after each wash, they were never straight! I decided to unstitch the cuffs completely, measure against me wearing heels, and do a regular hem. I ended up doing a blind stitch on the machine, and they look fabulous! (and straight). I'm half done on removing the back pockets on these pants, and am starting to wonder if they were worth all this extra work!

I bought this darling pattern at Sew-LA a couple weeks ago, and this weekend made a muslin of it.
I love almost all of the decades of style patterns, and most of them I can get in my size.
After trying on this dress, I was able to take in the side seams a little and it fits great. The only part I really don't like is the neckline. In the drawing it appears to be much lower than it is when it's worn. I have a large chest, so it just ends up looking like a long shelf from my neck to my ... you know. I think I'd like to make it a small V neck instead (more flattering to my chest size) but I have absolutely no idea how to actually do that. I was thinking perhaps I'll just cut/fold the muslin til it looks how I want, then unstitch the top part to create a new pattern? I'm just guessing. This Saturday I start my "Fitted Skirts" class at Sew-LA, so perhaps I'll take the muslin in and ask my teacher, Shaerie (who is fabulous BTW, as well as Alicia).

I would post pictures, but it sort of looks like nothing as a muslin, and I used matching thread (seriously it just happened to be in the machine) so cream on cream doesn't come out well in photos. Anyhow.. projects galore!

BFN