Mission Accomplished

Let's review. I started with New Look 6071 (Project Runway!).


My first muslin using size 12 bodice (according to my measurements) and 18 skirt.



Second muslin - downsized to 8 bodice and 14 skirt, but armscyes and sleeves too tight.



Went to a size 10 at the armscye only and lowered it 1/2". Used a size 10 sleeve. Here's the final result. (Sorry, as usual, for the crappy pictures. Even sitting on a table with the timer, they still come out blurry. Maybe the 9-year-old child standing NEXT to it had more to do with it, since he was not present for the pictures of the back...)


I'll take it! There are some drag lines on the sleeves so I still have some issue there, but they're comfortable. There's also some wonkiness at the right back sleeve cap, but I really didn't see it till these pictures. When I was looking in the mirror and moving my arms around, it all looked fine.


When I wear it I will continuously windmill with my right arm. Problem solved.


And Junior, I'm wearing the necklace you gave me that's made out of magazines!


(I know, it's too blurry to see, just take my word for it - tightly rolled magazines.) Now, the problem is that I missed all the cold weather, so I'll have to wait for next Fall to wear this I guess. Question for you ladies - if it's cold in Chicago next week when I'm there for the big yearly meeting, is it wrong to wear this since it will officially be Spring? (I mean those are brown suede shoes, for Heaven's sake!)

Also, for anyone familiar with Chicago - best places to fabric shop? Robbie mentioned Vogue - I had no idea! I need your thoughts before Thursday...

Goodbye Heejun?

I WILL go upstairs and cut out the moss green sweater knit dress with sleeves eventually. I just wanted to jump on here with my powers of observation and declare my prediction that Heejun is going home tonight from American Idol. I predict that Joshua Ledet, Skylar Laine, and maybe Phillip Phillips will be in the top 5. On second thought, it could be the tall blonde teenager that goes home - she did not have a good night last night.

That is all.

What I Did This Weekend

Lucas had a campout at Fort Gaines Saturday. I'd never been there, and we got to DRIVE IN to unload our stuff. Have you ever driven across a moat? Now you can!



Here's where we bunked - the officers' quarters. Nice, right?


I was on that bottom bunk. No roaches or spiders got on me as far as I know. And I WOULD know, because I lay awake until 5:30 AM, when I fell asleep for one hour till the kids started waking up. There's a reason women don't go on Boy Scout campouts (well, maybe a few, actually) - men snore. And Paul Bunyan was in the bunk next to me, sawing away.


Here's our kitchen - is this not cool?


Here's one of the cannons....aimed right at an oil rig. No, seriously, this is at the mouth of the Mobile Bay on Dauphin Island, and on the other side is Gulf Shores and Fort Morgan. Ever hear, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead?" Yep, that was here.

Heck of a sunset.


So that was Fort Gaines - very cool that we were the only people in there. If your Cub Scout group is interested, it's $15/person to spend the night and you have the place to yourself.

And now for something completely different (Monty Python). This car passed me today. I very carefully and safely snapped a picture while stopped at a red light.


Do not adjust your monitor - it is painted with a tiny houndstooth pattern and has a University of Alabama tag. That is a dedicated fan.

2nd Verse, Little Bit Better...

Well this doesn't look so much like a granny nightgown! There are 3 men in the house, and one pointed out that stripes make me look quite hippy. (Horizontal stripes do that? I had no idea!) Seriously, this is a stash fabric that cost $2/yard and I knew it would look bad as a dress, but I actually feel really cute when I'm wearing it, like I'm headed to a tennis match.


I had asked everyone for their first impression. One said, "80's." That's all he had to say.


The other one said, "That makes you stand out. You look really young, like you're going to a prom. And you look really skinny." (Okay, we know who said that.)


I went from a size 12 bodice to an 8, but the sleeves will be too tight at the armscye, so I need to work that out. I originally cut a 16 skirt, but this time I cut a 12.


So the armscye is just a smidge tight, but the sleeve is ridiculous, so I've got to work that out before I do the REAL moss green sweater knit.


In the meantime, I will be wearing this to Publix and Target, and maybe out to eat at a casual place. And shout-out to SHEILA, who was the only one brave enough to comment on the granny dress nightmare - thank you, Sister!

Some Awful Pictures...and I Don't Mean Blurry

This is how it's supposed to look.

And here's my first muslin....


Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I'm pretty sure it's too big. And we'll ignore the color, because I know I shouldn't wear that shade of pink - it's too close to my actual color. Only a woman with a deep tan could pull that off. Robbie was right about my asymmetrical hips - I thought I was standing straight but it looks twisted.


Here's a different shot. You can almost see exactly where I took a 1" swayback adjustment. It stands away from my back with weird indentations at my hips...maybe a thicker knit wouldn't do this.


Or maybe I need to curve the center back a little more to get it to snug up instead of making me look like I have a pathologically straight spine.


I think I'll try a smaller upper bodice and lift it up to get the criss-cross higher so I don't look like Granny Pete from the front. (I have no idea who Granny Pete is - I think my grandmother said that, as in, "Great Granny Pete, she's as nutty as a fruitcake!")

Anyway, this went together REALLY quick, as evidenced by my finishing it except for sleeves and hem. I even tried to topstitch the neckline, but I didn't have another spool of the light pink, so I cheated with a dark pink in the double needle, and then that sucker BROKE for some reason - odd.

This shall be relegated to "swimsuit coverup" at the beach. The question is, should I now do it in a nicer knit (that moss green sweater knit) with the above adjustments and hope it turns out better? Or is the style just too awful for a pear?

Saw a New Show Last Night

Well I fell asleep halfway through, but this is what Dean found on TV late last night.



Yes, that is Oprah sitting in her PJ's with no makeup on apparently, and Paula Deen is in her nightgown with no foundation or blusher. (I thought it was NO makeup, but she definitely has on eye makeup.) This is Oprah's Next Chapter, which is a new series on her channel, I guess. I LOVED it! They're just sittin' there without their contacts in, drinking coffee in their jammies talking about Paula's issues. Now Gayle is wearing rainboots and regular clothes, but she looked makeup-less too. And nobody's using the clearest diction they have or trying to look glamorous - they just look like they're having a conversation where some surprising stuff comes out.

This reminded me of my yearly get-togethers with my college housemates where we just sit around in our PJ's and talk till lunchtime. Then after dinner we get back in our PJ's and sit around drinking wine and talking...unless there's a hot tub to sit in - then we'll have on our swimsuits.

It's like a slumber talk-show - you go, Oprah! But maybe the eyeglasses and PJ's were Paula's idea...you go, Paula!

New Patterns

Yeah, I'm knocking out the dresses left and right, so I really needed to buy these 2 dress patterns. But you know, it was the McCall's pattern sale at Hancock and I had time to kill before picking up the kids, so what the heck. This one was a favorite dress of 2011 I think, or it got great reviews, or it looked nice on somebody else at PR, so I wanted it.


This one looked good on a reviewer, so I made a note of it and grabbed it - $3.99!


And this Kwik Sew 3301 is just freaky, but I wanted a pattern for boy-short undies. My pattern envelope only has the drawings, not the full-size picture of those horrid underwear - ughhh! Those are just hideous - that poor model has probably been run out of model-town.


I actually made it upstairs this afternoon and adjusted the rise on my jeans pattern by 1" front and back, then started to cut it out of fabric for a pair to wear to work, but I realized it was upholstery fabric - it was from that church sale a few years ago. So I went through one drawer of my stash, and that was the end of productive sewing. Don't you love going through drawers and finding stuff you forgot you had and you wish you could use right NOW! This is what Sewista was talking about the other day - not buying new stuff because you have so much great old stuff.

Oh well, have a great weekend and stay safe in this weather!