What's Wrong With Me?

I don't know what's wrong with me. I haven't been motivated to sit down and sew lately. I think about sewing, I buy sewing stuff like patterns and trims. I'm just not sewing. Ever since I had my Nephew and his family stay with me for two weeks, I haven't been able to get going again. Maybe it's the fact that my cutting table is covered with stuff I need to put away. Maybe it's that I'm working out how to make low-carb a part of the rest of my life. Maybe it's that I want so badly not to be this size any longer. Maybe it's that my sewing room is feeling cramped with stuff that I don't know what to do with. Maybe it's all these things and more.

Here are some new patterns I just bought and plan to sew just as soon as my mojo returns. Some of the images are quite large so you will need to click on them to see the whole image.


This is Simplicity 2619. I don't think this one will look very good on me. But it's a style I really like. I tried to make this style once before and I don't think it looked very good and it wasn't very comfortable.

I got a lot of compliments on the review of this blouse, but I never did finish it and I think I just threw it away or donated it. I think I'll try the style again in a knit with the new pattern. Maybe it was the band under the bust I didn't like. I guess I'll have to do a muslin to know for sure.

I like View A and View C. I don't know how well those pockets and pleats will look over my big belly and the collar would have to be downsized. I have some black and white houndstooth that would look good in this pattern so I may get to this one before the end of the year. It's just that the last jacket I made took three muslins and a lot of time. However, the jacket was really worth it in the end.


I love this little jacket. I also like that it has a princess seam over the bust which is quite flattering on me. I have some really nice printed stretch moleskin that would be perfect for this pattern. The moleskin has a slick back side that would mean I wouldn't need a lining. This one could be doable in the next few weeks. I also really like the darted shell. I don't have a woven pattern for a shell.

I just love the cardigan with the collar. It looks like a shawl collar but it isn't. It has a sewn collar attached with a facing. I'm not sure how that would work in real life, but I like it in theory. I'm still pondering this one. You know I have a fondness for twin sweater sets and this could be my next one. People will probably start to talk if I make one more from my other two patterns.

I hope you noticed my little runner at the top of my blog. Feel free to encourage me to keep at it. I think I'm doing really great. It's been just over three weeks and I'm down 10 pounds already. I'm expecting another big loss this week. I haven't even been tempted to cheat. Not having my blood sugar plummet has been reward enough. That and finally getting enough sleep. If I were going to cheat, it would have been today. My co-workers brought in a chips, lasagna, and a cake since one of them are retiring. I just ignored it all and ate my fake chicken and vegetables with Alfredo sauce. Yum!

Ahh, Sewing Again.

It was nice to sit down in front of my sewing machine again. I missed it. After making about a dozen garments over the summer, I took a break from sewing. That doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about sewing, I was. I traced out a couple of things which I may or may not get sewn and rearranged my fabrics in several different combinations while thinking about the next mini-wardrobe I plan to sew.

The top I finished is a knock-off from a Coldwater Creek top that I blogged about in my last post. I think it came out pretty close. I did manage to make the neckline almost too low and will have to alter that next time I make up this pattern. Click on the photos to get a closer look.

To make the v-neckline, I made a facing, then marked the shape I wanted. Since this is a poly jersey, I decided not to interface the facing since I wanted it to have all the movement and stretch of the rest of the top.


Once I trimmed the v-neck stitching, turned it and gave it a good press, I laid the inset on top of the facing and using my coverstitch machine, stitched around the edge of the V and around the edge of the facing, securing the inset. A glue stick came in very handy for this part of the project.

I'm not an expert cover stitcher by any means, and the corners could use some work, but I think it turned out pretty nicely. The only real problem was at the bottom of the V where one of my coverstitch needles fell off the blouse and stitched only on the inset. I don't mind my sewing mistakes nearly as much as I used to and this one is so minor that I decided to just leave it.

I like this top a lot and will probably make a few more, with a more appropriate neckline, of course.

Where Am I?

I'm still alive, in case you were wondering. I've just been preoccupied with life. Really, lots of things have been going on, except no sewing. I think I did so much sewing over the summer that I don't have a need to sew at the moment. That doesn't mean I don't want to sew because I do. In fact, I think I'll sew up a top today that I cut out last spring. It's a pattern that I designed using my TNT t-shirt pattern and copying this Coldwater Creek top.

I hope I can remember how I planned to sew it together. My sewing room is a mess so I'm going to have to clean up first. Since I didn't get any work today and there is a holiday tomorrow, I'm sure I can get it done.

Another thing that has me preoccupied of late is my weight. Remember this post last January about weight loss? Last January I had decided that it was time to finally lose the weight. So what happened? I gained 10 pounds this year. I've been doing some real soul searching and decided that low calorie, low fat diets don't work for me. I've been on them off and on for years and years. And I've been getting fatter and fatter because of it. After running into a friend at an ASG meeting and seeing how much weight she has lost, I decided to try something new.


The Metabolism Miracle is a book by Diane Kress that extols the virtues of a low carb diet. As a vegetarian I have always shunned these types of diets including Atkins and The South Beach diet. However, this author makes some very valid points about excluding carbs from my diet. The most important being that my body doesn't process sugar well any longer. I'm hypoglycemic which causes me to eat way too often and always high carb foods that cause me to crave more high carb foods. This is a pre-diabetic symptom and that's a place I really don't want to go.

Since I started following the Metabolism Miracle eating plan, the hypoglycemia has totally gone away and more importantly, I'm sleeping again. I haven't had more than five hours of sleep in about five years. After the first three days on this eating plan, I can hardly stay awake after 10 p.m. and I am getting 8 hours of sleep regularly. I'm even dreaming again! What a difference getting a full nights sleep makes in my attitude toward life. I also lost 10 pounds in first two weeks. Who knew that was possible? OK, I'm sure it was all water, but still, it feels great not to be all bloated and puffy.

Because I don't eat dead animals (nor live ones!) I am depending upon soy, wheat protein, and lots of Morningstar Farms and Boca products for my protein source. I'm having to learn how to cook all over again like I did when I stopped eating meat. For now I'm not eating potatoes, rice, legumes, breads of any kind, and all fruit. Some of these high carb foods will be reintroduced back into my meal plans later, after my body gets used to not being flooded with all the sugar they introduce into my body. This meal plan puts the body into ketosis, which according to research, is what burns body fat. And I'm all about burning the body fat at the moment.

As I lose weight, I'm going to be facing a new challenge. Altering my patterns to fit the new smaller, fitter body that I'm expecting. That's a challenge I'm looking forward to.

Limbo

Thank you everyone for the nice words about my blue ribbon jacket. I need to pull the pattern out and make more for fall and winter. I won't get this one back until October so having one I can wear before that might be a good idea, that is if the weather ever cools down.

I haven't been doing any sewing for myself lately. Don't ask me what I've been doing because I don't feel like I'm doing anything. It was so darn hot around here, just staying cool was the order of the day. With the California State budget being in such a crisis, getting work has become very difficult. I'm a long-term substitute middle school teacher and my bread and butter was long-term assignments and subbing for teachers in training sessions. Most all training sessions have been canceled for the school year and teachers are afraid to go out for a long-term because they're worried they'll lose their jobs if there is a drop in enrollment. That means in the last month since school started, I've worked a total of six days. The bad part is that the unemployment office denied my claim saying that I had reasonable assurance that I would return to work when the summer recess was over. Well, I didn't and now I'm in limbo waiting for my appeal to this decision.

Meanwhile, my nephew's wife needs a new wardrobe and she fits the clothes I've sewn for myself pretty well. She thinks they fit wonderfully. Of course, she is used to the horrible fit of RTW. Since I have the time and the patterns, she has been coming over and I've been helping her learn to use patterns and cut out her new wardrobe. We aren't using any new top patterns, just using my TNTs. She also fits my TNT pants patterns, just things fit a bit differently but in a good way. She did pick out a gaucho pants pattern that I've never used. She fills the legs in my pants and with her larger bust and smaller back, tops fit well too. Next I get to help her learn how to sew the new wardrobe. She doesn't have a serger or a coverstitch machine so most of the sewing will be done at my house with her 2 year old underfoot. Good thing I love the little darling because when she leaves, my house looks like a tornado hit.

I was sewing like mad on my stash and haven't finished my SWAP yet, but I don't have anywhere to wear my new clothes and it isn't the right season yet for them anyway. So, I think putting my personal sewing aside and spend time working with her on her wardrobe is a better use of my free time. I'll be posting pictures and sharing her success with you all because I know you'll want to see all her fab new wardrobe using my patterns.

A Blue Ribbon!

I only entered the one garment into the Los Angeles County Fair this year. I paid to enter three things but I didn't get anything else done that I'd planned on. It was so exciting to visit the fair and find a blue ribbon on my jacket. You may remember the trials and tribulations, including 4 muslins that it took to get the jacket to fit just right. Then I added the embroidery thread around the edges to make the design lines pop. All the fabric used on the jacket was stashed materials. I really took my time with this jacket. It's nice when your work is recognized. I had some pretty steep competition too, so the blue ribbon means just that more to me. Congratulations to my friends and fellow sewists that entered and won a ribbon. I can't wait to go back and look at each and every item on display. That'll have to wait for a day when I can go by myself. I don't want anyone rushing me through when I need to study and admire each and every item. Then I can come back and copy all my favorites!

Sewing Day

It's been hot here. 104 yesterday and maybe a few degrees less today. To make matters worse there are fires in several areas around Southern Califorina, one less than 25 miles away. Needless to say the air quality stinks and no one wants to go outside. It was a good day to stay inside and sit in front of my tiny window air conditioner and sew.


This is my TNT jeans pattern sewn in dark navy stretch denim. I hemmed them a bit too long since denim usually shrinks after sewing, even though I wash and dry the fabric on hot four times before cutting the pattern out. I decided to sew the corduroy pants after I finish these. I thought it would just take too long to get finished if I made them at the same time. If you haven't noticed I like to get garments finished quickly. In fact, I like to sit down and sew until I can try the project on. After that, depending on how it fits, I may continue until it's done, or I may take a break if I have to tweak the fit. These jeans fit every step of the way. That's the great thing about TNT patterns.


This pattern is an evolution of this capris pattern from the Burda Plus WOF Spring 2004 pattern magazine. I've since lengthened them and changed the pocket and leg shape. These jeans are very comfortable and because it's a traced pattern, I can always go back to the original and start over if I ever finally decide to lose weight. After seeing the photos, I've become very motivated to do something.

Tomorrow I'll start on the corduroy pants. I need some opinions. Do you think I should discontinue to topstitch the yoke. I think it gives me a horizontal line right where I don't need it, but it's traditional on jeans. What do you think? Sorry the photo doesn't show more details. In consideration of my readers, I thought a small picture was appropriate because some things just need to be covered. In fact, maybe the topstitching doesn't even matter since I always wear my tops untucked. It's tucked in the photos to show details and fit of the jeans.

SWAP Progress

To date I've completed five of my 11 garments. I really like a few of the pieces, especially the white blouse. I've never finished a SWAP before, but I've started more than a few in my lifetime.


The colors I picked out were navy, burgundy and white. These are colors that look good on me and I had almost all of them in my stash.


The first garment I made was this silk knit tie-neck Coldwater Creek knock-off top. I drafted the pattern from my TNT KS 2900. I've made this pattern four times now, but I don't think I'm ready to retire it quite yet.


I tried out a new pattern for the moleskin pants. It has a wider leg than I'm used to and I probably made them too long at least for these shoes. I may go back and alter them, but I may not. They won't be my first pick in the wardrobe, but they do work with everything else and several other things already in the closet.

The white blouse is my favorite of all the pieces so far. It's made from the TNT pattern I talked about in my last blog post. The fabric is a beautiful embroidered cotton. The embroidery puckered up the fabric and completely eliminated the need for ironing. I used white Kona cotton for the facing and didn't use any interfacing since the Kona cotton is so much heavier than the fashion fabric. I must have 200 buttons in my stash, but none of them would work for this blouse. Since I'm trying to not spend any money right now, I decided to buy the 90 cent a card buttons from Joann's. I think the plain buttons look good with this highly decorated fabric. Sorry I haven't washed out the buttonhole marks yet.


I don't have a long sleeve pattern for this blouse so I took the puffed sleeve pattern, folded out 3" from the center and cut it out adding length and narrowing toward the hem as I cut. I did have to true the cap after I cut it out. After sewing the sleeves in and hemming them, I discovered I didn't narrow the hem enough. To fix this, I just added two buttons folding out two inches which made a cute little pleat. The buttons are sewn on top of the fabric, no buttonholes were necessary. I really like the way these turned out. I must draft a real pattern for the long sleeve for next time I use this pattern.


The last two garments I've finished are the twin sweater set. For the top I used KS 2900, which is the same pattern used for the blue tie-neck top. Because the poly/rayon/lycra Sophia knit doesn't have any stretch in length and very little in the width, I added a dart and 1/2" to the side seams. I should have added more than the 1/2" to the sleeves as they are just a tiny bit too narrow. In this picture I have a decorative stitch on the neckline where I just folded the edge over. But, as you can see, the neckline was gaping some and even more with the cardigan. So today I spend about 3 hours unpicking the stiches and put on a binding. The binding mostly eliminated the gaping. I was afraid to pull it too tight which would have caused puckers. So, I'm going to live with the slight gape.


The cardigan is another pattern that I've sewn before. It's New Look 6735 which was a Best Pattern for 2008 on Patternreview.com. I shortened it two inches, but I'm only 5'1" tall. I didn't want to look like a little girl wearing her mom's clothes. I had to also buy new buttons for the cardigan. I'm beginning to think it's a waste for me to have a button stash. I never can find the right button in my collection.

There you have it. My Fall 2009 Sewing with a Plan so far. I have the denim jeans and the corduroy pants already cut out. Since my sub job for tomorrow was canceled, I'll probably work on them. I can't decide if I want to sew them separately, or in assembly line fashion. I'm using the same pattern for both and they are the same color, just different fabrications. I'm hoping the corduroy is more dressy than the denim but just as comfortable. This is a casual wardrobe, so both will fit right in.