Sew Along Updates...

I have been busy. Not so much sewing, but busy none-the-less. My parents came to visit for two weeks and left for the cold Northeast last Saturday. It was great to have them visit, but it left me no time for anything else. We did a lot of traveling; a southern Italy trip: Pompeii, Herculaneum, Positano (on the Amalfi Coast), Ravello and a northern trip: Sienna, Florence, Orvieto. Phew. No wonder I was exhausted when they left! I had a great time and even got to show my mother the fabric store, and of course we didn't come out empty-handed ;)

Sleeves.

When I get to the part of a garment where I have to fit the sleeves in, I always start to sweat. It is nerve wracking for me. Setting in sleeves always gives me major problems. There is always way to much ease, and I always tend to get that gathered look as opposed to a sleek sleeve. Well, I assumed this time for the swing dress was going to be no different, except Casey did a tutorial on how to get rid of sleeve ease on this dress pattern. It was super helpful, but then I made it more difficult for myself. Let me explain.

Midnight Pocket Madness & REAL Swing Dress Progress

I have been true to my word and have been working extremely hard on this thing. I have been by myself for four days (my husband is away in Sicily) and two of those days have been spent mostly sewing. There was some work I had to get done and I had to feed myself, but very productive!

The Blog World: Sewing et al

I intended today to post about my progress on my Swing dress, which is coming along nicely, but instead I find myself slightly teary eyed at the situation of a woman I have never met. If you have never been to the site Bakerella, and you like anything cute, sweet or cake-like in any way, you should head over there. Unfortunately the Queen of Cake pops has been very sick with a failing donated kidney. For some reason, this brought me to tears this morning. Again, I don't know this woman nor will I ever get to meet her. But I feel like I know her, which is a strange and unusual; this woman has let me (and thousands others) into her life through lollipops made from cake. This is the way we live our lives now. A family of strangers.

Muslins for the whole family!

Lately I have been busy more with visitors than with sew-alongs, which is why I haven't posted as much as I would have liked. And there are many more visitors to come, too! I need to get my act together, I had such a strong start, so that I can wear some of these creations here. Okay. Here is where I am with my swing dress:

Negroni: A Drink, not a Shirt (not yet, at least)

The Negroni. What I should be hearing is the lulling sound of crushed ice swimming in dark booze in a cocktail shaker waiting to be poured into a nice willing martini glass. Instead of those lovely sounds, I hear the puffing of steam escaping from my sad iron. Let me say, pockets are hard. Actually, let me rephrase, *round* pockets are hard. Even with a template. If you look closely, my round pockets are not very round.

Swing Dress: Muslin #1

Well. It was a productive weekend, I believe. Friday was the day that I revamped my bodice pattern with the sba tutorial that Casey had put online for everyone. On Sunday, she posted a note about her measurements being a little off, and I think I need to take out a bit more (maybe another half inch) from my bodice. But her instructions were great and I am not as hesitant to try my hand at this again. I cut out my muslin with extra seam allowance and then I was off.

Swing Dress: Taped and Traced

This is what my day looked like yesterday afternoon. The top photo is just the first page paid out togther, but not taped yet. The first page had twenty pages to tape together, the second page had 25! It took my about an hour and a half to complete both pages. Although I did have a cheese break in the middle :)