Delicate alteration...

I was asked to shorten the shoulder straps of a lovely white summer dress. The material is an extremely light white cotton batiste and the straps are wider in the front, gathering into the back strap as they meet at the shoulder (rather like the dress Marilyn Monroe has on on that famous picture of the air vent!). I had to take out the incredibly tiny hemming on each side of the straps, then cut the straps off at the shoulder, press, run gathering lines on the front and sew the new seam between the gather lines as I gathered.Then redo the side tiny hem along the edges.

I have to tell you I was nervous about this. There was no room for error on my part. I planned ahead: I used the straight stitch foot for the gathering and seaming, I used a #10 sharp needle, I used the regular zig-zag foot for the edging so I could see what I was doing, and I used regular tissue paper as a stabilizer on the gathering stitches and the seam itself.I think it took me as long to finish this as it would have to zip up a tee (not counting the finishing edges on the tee). I did this all on the Kenmore 19233, which behaved marvelously, and only had a minute or two of impatience with me when I managed to break a needle - you guessed it - when I forgot to change to the zig-zag foot fast enough. Thankfully, the machine, the dress, and I are all fine, and so is the straight stitch foot!

Bobbins...storing bobbins...

After waiting for these bobbins for several weeks after reading about them on Sue Houseman's blog
I even looked for them on a recent trip to Seattle! After I came home with none from there, I tried my local Viking shop again and there they were! They are just a pretty as I thought they'd be. it's not like I needed more bobbins, and to tell you the truth my favorite Viking bobbin color is still the green, but now I have plenty of bobbins and some color on the subject!The winning feature of the new bobbins is also that there are twice a many in a bag for much the same price! 20 instead of 10! that's a good deal. Now I need a really innovative and clever way to store bobbins. After much searching, I found that Artbin makes bobbin boxes, and Joann's has them online, so I ordered four to try them out. There is no perfect bobbin storage. The rings are awkward to find a place for in my system of drawers, so I hope the boxes will work out.

Wardrobe sewing...in progress...

This is the plan. My first SWAP, yet it is not a pure SWAP because I won't be able to wear every top with every bottom. The jacket should go with everything though, as will a brown cord jacket I made a few years ago, and a top or two already finished. The skirts are going to be McCall's 4657, which I used in Making a Skirt Muslin taught by Shannon Gifford on PatternReview.com, and adjusted throughout the class. However, the skirt pattern is much changed. I do a sew, flip and sew elastic waist and make it more A-line than the fitted skirt in McCall's 4657. The tops are Ottobre Woman 2-2007, and the pants are Burda 2614, and the jacket (probably modified some) will be Kwik Sew 3531. This past long weekend, I finished a print skirt, the first one on the top row. The blouse last on the top row has been reviewed on PR, and the link to my reviews is over on the right. The pants on the middle bottom row are finished, and they are another color from the same pattern as the Burda mud green pants reviewed already and on the link on the right. I have cut out the blue pants bottom last, and they are the same Burda pants. I just bought gorgeous fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics! A lovely ecru for the ecru top, the ecru jacket fabric, and a lovely print of tan, ecru, and pale jade blue-green. The print is not allocated to a pattern yet. I am caught between wanting to make it a jacket and wanting to make it a skirt, and will probably do the skirt. As full a skirt as I can make it. As slow as I sew, I still hope this wardrobe comes to fruition this summer!

Pointy Kitty has a nice day...

Today while I was at work, Pointy Kitty found the door and hopped outside in the sun! The massive amounts of cat food were like manna to his little pointy soul. Then he frolicked in the grass among the tulips...a fine day. Good thing my daughter was there to take his picture having such a good time. Sometimes a less serious sewing adventure works to lighten the spirit!