Hello again, Alabama Chanin

Wow, so many topics to catch up on. I don't where to start, but let's go with the coat that took me 4 years to finish. I posted about the weekend at Alabama Chanin with my 2 sewing buddies, and here's the final product 4 years later.

I've worn it twice to dinner, once to Ruth's Chris over my tight black pants, and I forget the other place.

I love it, just waiting for colder weather, and I seriously might wear it as a dress somewhere!

I forgot the little codes to separate text from pictures but I'll try to take it up again because I wanted to post previous Christmas pics for the boys, who are grown men now. Happy Independence Day to you all!

Catch-up: Mardi Gras 2020

Yikes, I never reviewed McCall's 7047 and now I don't remember how I found it, other than I think I saw it at Pattern Review. I did find my comment on one lady's version from February 2020, so that must've been it. I remember that it was super-easy to make and my mom didn't have to help me rip or re-sew anything. I'm doing this now so I can keep track of the pattern and dress for future Mardi Gras's.

I do love that the huge drape can be styled as conservatively or boldly as you like!

It was super comfortable, not fussy, wearable with a strapless bra. Highly recommend! Here are some more photos from that Mardi Gras:

Dancing at Lafitte's is always a hoot.

We stayed in an AirBnB for the first time and I got to enjoy a hot tub during the down time - what a change from staying in a hotel!!!

My son Drew's BF Omkar's first Endymion extravaganza, and you should consider hard hats if standing close to the floats, as they throw those beads like they're Patrick Mahomes.

This is actual Mardi Gras day when everybody dresses up and Dean was in the Pete Fountain's Half-Fast Walking Parade. The most prescient costume I saw was a couple dressed as a beer and a lime with a sign that said, "I'll take my Corona with a Lyme."

Hey this posting was a lot easier than before - maybe I can finally catch up with posts. If anyone is still here, y'all have a great week!

Kwik Sew Shorts during call!

Blogging is different on my laptop but I'm trying to start up again and will go back and catch up as I have time so I can relive family events. This is my second week of call because I took so much vacation over the summer, but, amazingly, I had time to scratch the itch of sewing. I was going through drawers of fabric and I find that always sparks the mojo, so I looked for something quick and sure, and it was the KS 3614 shorts pattern that came to mind, since those still fit me 13 years later! These go well with my precious Fluevog shoes I bought in Montreal - yet another post to come!

The main draw of this pattern is the curved waistband that fits amazingly well. The only drawback is that the pockets reportedly gape so I used some from another pattern and just slapped them on. There are optional belt loops but I probably won't tuck too much.

Dean declared them fancy but they're also good with T-shirts - very versatile! I think this fabric came from Robbie at a GCGSW swap, but I'm not sure. I have about 4 or 5 yards of it!

And this is Dexter, our rescue Catahoula Leopard/Lab mix. Sweet Jakey left us the week before Christmas of 2020, so that's another terribly sad post for later. Maybe that'll be one big Covid post.

My First Alabama Chanin Corset

Well, I nearly forgot how to blog but a new comment popped up a couple of week ago hoping for a pic of the finished corset I handpainted with brown paint and a sponge several years ago, so I decided to add a pic and couldn't put it in the comments, thus a new post! Not sure where you found me, Vivine, but thanks for reading!

And this reminds me that I went with 2 of my sewing buddies, the electrophysiologist and the retinal specialist, to Alabama Chanin in September for the sewing weekend of a lifetime! Alas, I don't have the cable to upload the pics and have no idea where they're stored on the computer, if they even went to the Cloud....oh wait I found one that AC emailed me. This is the famous music studio we toured in Muscle Shoals:

We did our social distancing part and wore masks while sewing in the Factory, and an aMAZing time was had by all - I'll have to do a better post on the restaurants, the Gun-Runner Hotel which is a post unto itself, and seeing Natalie at dinner that last night at Odette's. Such good times. Anyhoo, I'll be back soon hopefully with catch-up pics of life, Hurricane Sally and its damage to the beach house where we have our own once-in-a-lifetime sewing weekends, etc. Have a good holiday!

Saved by the Cowl!

So remember in the last post how frumpy my London top was?



Adding a cowl just makes it look more finished and balanced, I think. The neckline needed at least some type of collar, so I went through my patterns and found the Silhouettes Ann Top had the perfect one. I actually tried to make that top out of white slinky fabric and the armscyes didn't look good, so it's been sitting in a drawer for years waiting to be redone. I dug out the pattern piece and it worked! I was going to trim down the A-line at the bottom, but I'm afraid it'll be too clingy and tight.


These are the leggings with some new boots I finally found that are thin enough for my stick ankles.


Now these are some leggings like hose, and I've decided they can't be worn to work, and probably not even out to eat!


Maybe if I made a tunic even longer and more like a dress, then I'd be comfortable wearing them.


And of course it's Mardi Gras time again, and I wanted to wear the one-shoulder column McCall's dress, but the fabric is just falling apart on me. This seam came undone from the serging, so I went back with a regular stitch last year, and this is what I saw when I pulled it out of the drawer today.


You can see all the stitches I've thrown in there, and the fabric is just unravelling. Any ideas? I thought about FrayCheck, but I don't know. There's another seam that's doing the same thing - so sad.


Okay, and so far, Tide is my big winner in Super Bowl ads, mostly because I love David Harbour from Stranger Things.


Okay, off to edit the most recent Dr. Fun video, which Lucas agreed to do since one of his friends is in it. He shadowed me in clinic over the Christmas holiday and had no idea what he was really getting into! What was your favorite Super Bowl ad?

A Little Styling Help for New Look 6071

So I've been working on the sock every night, but last night I had the disturbing revelation that 3 of my fingers were completely numb on my left hand, and I had an ache up the inside of my left wrist - not the dreaded carpal tunnel syndrome!!! I took some ibuprofen and went to bed, and this morning it was a little better, so I knitted while Dean cooked breakfast. (I've said it before - I'm a lucky woman!) Well, then I noticed that both hands had numb fingers, so I think this is more about my previous neck issue, and not carpal tunnel, but I decided to take it to the sewing room and give the wrists a break.

I had in mind to find some T-shirts for an Alabama Chanin project, but would you believe I ran across a project I cut out last year in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. I believe I got this fabric in New Orleans at Promenade, and I wanted the big drapey sleeves from Simplicity 3956 combined with a New Look dress I made before.


I can't tell you how nice it is to pick up a completely cut-out and marked project that's ready to sew - it's like a gift! Now I think the sleeves were too much with the wild print, and I'm wearing this to Dean's birthday dinner tomorrow night, so I was picturing dragging the sleeve through my plate while reaching for my wine, thus I cut the sleeve down to its original size. I think it turned out really nice - I LOVE this fabric! I need your help with jewelry and shoes. Crazy jeweled necklace from Front Door Fashion? Ivanka Trump gray heels? (I discovered a tragedy in my closet - apparently I gave all my black heels away. I had the ridiculously high peep-toes that I wore once in 4 years, so I donated those, but I'm afraid I also handed off 2 pairs of lower-heeled flats that were about 15 years old...Mad Cow moment, apparently...wait, maybe they're in the freezer!)


Now the pattern placement on the back is a little unfortunate, but at least the lighter color is closer to my waist.


And the swayback adjustment was perfect.


This is A more refined necklace with matching earrings that I think I prefer, and these are the Fluevog heels, which may be too wild on their own to coordinate with the print. Your thoughts?


So it was fabulous to be so productive as to get a full dress done in a weekend, but I also paid a visit to Mobile Yarn, to use my gift certificates, and have plans for a new 3/4-length "split-neck" sweater in a darker blue cotton yarn for the coming colder weather. And no, I haven't finished the sleeve on the black sweater, but that's up next after the sock. Back to work on that sock - numb fingers be damned! Hope your weekend and your fingers are okay.

Sewing Mojo Back in Action!

But first! The Century Plant, Agave americana, which only blooms once in a lifetime. Wikipedia says it can reach up to 6 feet tall...I beg to differ! Looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book to me.


Next, I love this little shrug I made, but it wouldn't stay buttoned and always hung awkwardly. Enter 2 buttons from Mobile Yarn...


Fabulous!


Next, I made a shirt in a day! I used the Alabama Chanin T-shirt top but changed the front neckline to a Jalie V-neck. My original plan was to add a peplum to it, but I didn't have enough fabric, and an AC "babydoll" treatment would make me look pregnant.


Very proud of this V-neck, since it's been a few years since I made one.


I couldn't give up on an individualized bottom, so I tried a new decorative stitch on my Brother and loved it!


Should've done that swayback adjustment for sure, and the hem gave a little waviness to the bottom of the shirt, so I have a pseudo-mini-peplum, I guess. (Brief Aside on Aging: Do you notice that you purse your lips more as you get older? I constantly find myself pursing my lips for some reason...age? Or early Alzheimer's?)


And I was Facebook'd that Dean's Japanese cousin had a new baby boy, so of course I have to knit him a baby blanket! Enter some baby-soft DK and a blanket pattern. Heidi recommended holding the yarn double to make it go faster, so I've learned yet another technique.


Who wants to come for a mini-GCGSW(KW) Saturday? Robbie, at the very least, maybe we can get together for lunch or coffee....whatchoo doing this weekend?

Saved by Dr. Homemaker!

Whew! Shout out to Susie Homemaker, MD, who resuscitated my binding stat! She emailed me a link to a great Threads video tutorial on applying knit bindings. It was stuff I vaguely remembered doing before, but it laid it out in easy steps and was a piece of cake. I'd repost it, but I don't want to pirate somebody's intellectual material if it's only for subscribers. We'll proceed with a slide show of some different pants pairings.


My only problem was I cut the binding with the grain to get the border I wanted, and we know the stretch was cross grain, so I couldn't stretch this nicely to get rid of gappage.


It did stretch a smidge, though, so is definitely better than yesterday.


You know I had to try the purple suede heels!


I like this the best. This is a Front Door Fashion tucking tip - just the front!


Okay, have a great weekend. If you get bored and want to see something cool, Google Mobile Fashion Week, Helen Legg (sorry I can't get a hyperlink to work on the iPad). Here's a sample of her work posted on AL.com, and you can even go vote for her - they're choosing 2 of 3 girls to compete, and her work seems the most creative, though I also like the other girl's vintage halter dress with red sash....