Lost motivation?

Thanks for the great comments on my t-shirt! I certainly can't take any credit for the beautiful print fabric - but I'm glad I chose it, because I love it too. And to think, it was a last minute impulse buy!!
I had a busy weekend and wasn't able to sew, and now I feel like I've lost my motivation. The community college where I take gym classes is on spring break, so I actually have my evenings free this week. You'd think with the extra hours after work I'd be churning out garments, right? Not happening. I'm actually not sure what I want to make next. I'm thinking another jacket - slightly more fitted this time - but I can't decide which. Right now it's a toss-up between these three:

Simplicity 3628
Simplicity 4275
Simplicity 4302

Choices, choices. None of them is particularly difficult. I looove the details in the different views of 3628. I'm not sure why I'm having issues... sigh...

Simplicity 4076 DONE!

Wow. The folks over at PatternReview aren't joking when they say knits are quick and easy to sew. Whaaat?! I didn't have to press anything, and I made a muslin and the actual garment (Simplicity 4076) in less than a week. I'm ecstatic right now. I'm slacking on my pattern reviews, but I'll get round to putting the full reviews on the site - sometime soon. Here are the pictures of the finished garment.
Using the serger made for quick and easy seam construction. I DID remember to use a ballpoint needle and ballpoint pins. I also managed to (completely by chance) center the pattern on my body. I even have almost perfectly matched seams on the side in the picture - yaaay (pure luck!). I really like this top. Will probably be making it again sometime. Till then... I wonder what I'll make next...

Simplicity 4076 progress

I finally got round to working on this tonight. However, bedtime came too soon. I've just got the hem and the sleeves to do. Hopefully will finish tomorrow night. I'm so excited! This truly is a quick top - and I like it!
The fabric is one of the ones I got for $1/yd at the little store in Rosemead on Friday. It's so cool to have bought and washed the fabric just two days ago and already have something to show for it! Hmmm... should have taken Monday off too...

Inclement weather and t-shirt muslin

It was chilly on Friday. Saturday it actually rained for a few minutes. I remember thinking (as I drove to my brother's place) how ironic it was that I now had a light jacket to wear, and now it was too cold to actually wear it. I mean, what's up with this weather?









Thankfully, we're back to blue skies today. I have a theory on the iffy weekend weather. Wanna hear it? I warn you, it's a tad crazy... Come closer...
I think the sewing divas who came from the east for PR weekend brought their weather with them. Don't tell anyone, it's just a hunch.
I didn't go downtown or anything, but I do hope all the ladies found tons of great bargains in the fabric district. If you're wondering why I didn't go to meet anyone, well, I have a perfectly legitimate excuse.
I'm shy.
That's it.

Okay, change subject. I took Friday off work just to get a mental break from it. I stopped in at a tiny fabric store in Rosemead that my friend Krazy Krafter discovered. It's such a small place that I actually couldn't remember where it was, and had to call her (and wake her up) to find out what the cross-street was. She was gracious enough to not mind being woken up, and I was there in minutes.
I don't have pictures of what I bought yet, I got 5 different fabrics - one silky (for lining my next jacket), one cotton/polyester for some new pillowcases, and three knits. Now the thing I loooove about this place is that all the fabric is $1 - $2 a yard. Perfect for someone like me who doesn't want to mess up a project and have it hurt my pocket as well. The real deal, however, was that I got 12 invisible zippers for $2. Take that, Joann's!
On that high note, I returned home and did a load of knit laundry. I then traced out Simplicity 4076 - which has been a favorite at PatternReview. By the end of the day I had a muslin made of view D. I used two different knit scraps. Of course, I mistakingly put my shoulder seams on the outside of the garment (this is why I need muslins!). The fit's not perfect, but I'm just trying to "get my sew on" right now and not worrying too much about fit.

The fact that I messed up on the shoulder seams meant that my sleeves didn't match my front - one was always reversed.
(and yes, I know, that mirror needs a good wipe)

I had planned to go ahead and make the actual garment yesterday, but didn't get round to it (with the cold weather and rain, all I wanted to do was cozy up in bed and read other people's sewing blogs!). Maybe today. Maybe.

A picture I forgot to post

I was cleaning up the pictures on my computer and realized I forgot to post this picture of the jacket on my dress form, so here it is.

Simplicity 4789... Done!

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to finally be done with this jacket. I'm going to start with some cheesy pics I had my hubby take once I was done. In these pictures, I am wearing the new jacket (Simplicity 4789) with the blouse (Simplicity 3789/3990) and skirt (OOP New Look 6159) .












It's an outfit I planned, but the skirt was a letdown because of my fitting issues and the blouse got a little wonky because I decided to skimp and not put in a zipper and also because it was a $1/yd cotton-like poly from Walmart.
Construction-wise, this was very simple. I expected my first jacket to be complicated - especially seeing as I've never done anything with long sleeves before.
It was surprisingly easy to put together. I didn't do so well connecting the collar to the facing or attaching the sleeves though. Inserting set-in sleeves has got to be my pet peeve. I always get puckers. It looks especially bad in the jacket because I have the tab at the shoulder seam, which makes the sleeve seam chunkier for about two inches, then the rest of the shoulder seems to sag. Sigh... I'll get it someday. Practice, practice.

I am sooo excited about the shoulder and arm tabs though! So, so excited! I've ALWAYS loved that design feature, but never been able to buy anything with it because all the cute stuff in stores never has arms that are long enough for me.
I don't own a single jacket with arms that are long enough! The only thing I own with arms that fit is an all-weather trench coat that my hubby has from the army, (and that I adopted into my side of the closet) but it's too long and bulky to justify wearing on a non-rainy/overcast day.

If it seems I'm too ecstatic about a jacket with arms that are long enough... try going through college winters in VT in jackets that are 5 inches shy of your wrist. You'd be happy too! The construction isn't perfect, but for once I finally am covered from shoulder to wrist. Oh, what joy...

I also have a confession to make.
I CAVED IN AND GOT THE 1034D SERGER ABOUT 1 MONTH AGO.
Yes, the frustration of not being able to find the part (stitch finger) I needed got to me. I did what I should have done to begin with - just bought it from Amazon. Didn't hesitate to use it right away either. I finished all my seams for the jacket. No more zig-zag finishes here!
What will I do with the 925D? Well, now that I have the 1034D, I have the detachable part that I needed for it. However, I don't need two very similar sergers, do I? I'm not sure yet. I may give it away to a friend, but I'm not sure how useful it would be to her without the stitch finger. Without it, you can only make rolled hems. I don't know. I'll think about it.

Whaaat?! 11:25 already? I have got to go to bed if I plan to be of any use at work tomorrow. I'll try to post my pattern review sometime tomorrow.

Simplicity 4789 Jacket Progress

Unfortunately, I had to spend most of last weekend working, and thus was only able to look longingly at the jacket every once in a while. It's friday night though, and I just attached the facing and turned up the hem. I made a mistake though - my collar tips ended up within the center front seam allowance, so did not form a continuous line. With all the prior setbacks, I don't really want to go back and work that out, so I decided to ignore it this time. Next time I'll have to pay better attention. I'm about to go to bed, but here is what it looks like so far.

Tomorrow I will add the tabs to the sleeves (at the wrist) and attach the sleeves and finish the hem. Almost done! (Um yah, just have the hardest part - sleeves - left to do)