tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47115727450434630072012-01-19T18:27:19.559-06:00Sewing, smocking, and other projects from my sewing roomMarshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.comBlogger201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-9473894651299543902010-02-21T14:53:00.001-06:002010-02-21T14:53:10.386-06:00

I have contemplated this for over a year.....I finally made the commitment a few weeks ago and I have no regrets!  I'm proud to announce the addition of two new babies to my family (my sewing family, that is!)...Baby Lock Eclipse SX and Baby Lock CoverstitchI've had a high-end Bernina server/coverstitch combo machine of almost 8 years.  It does it all--serging and top AND bottom coverstitch. 

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-47598598438560325172010-01-11T20:39:00.003-06:002010-01-11T20:41:59.395-06:00

Big surprise--another pair of Kwik Sew 3234.  My kids love these jammies.  Megan picked out the ducky knit fabric from JoAnns.  I really do love sewing these...quick and easy! My son has requested "a pair of pajamas with fish and a zipper".  He's 5.  We did look through my Kwik Sew pattern book (special offer from Kwik Sew a few weeks ago) and picked out these.  Now to find some lightweight

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-67154869588630234072010-01-05T21:38:00.003-06:002010-01-05T22:02:31.135-06:00

I've been hanging on to these way to long...it's good to have the finished.  I'll turn them in at our monthly SAGA meeting this coming Sunday. On the first, I tried to mimic the trim with my stitching.  I tend to try new techniques and stitches on WeeCare gowns.  It turned out well right next to the neck binding, but not so well farther down--it looks best when the stitches remain close together

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-66453889559340565582010-01-03T20:59:00.001-06:002010-01-03T21:07:44.922-06:00

I read a lot of sewing blogs, and everyone seems so productive compared to me...especially Dawn--95 items!  Holy crap!  So I thought..what the hell...I'm going to open a spreadsheet, try to remember everything I made, and see what I really accomplished in 2009.  Turns out I was more productive than I thought, making or working on 69 items total.  Honestly, I had no idea I had made so many pajamas

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-7619764147618947072009-12-24T19:14:00.003-06:002009-12-24T19:19:44.869-06:00

So I haven't been so good at blogging the past few months. I've been good at reading blogs, just not posting! Just a quick note to wish a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-78419738589033089962009-07-27T20:50:00.006-05:002009-07-27T21:10:12.698-05:00

That's what if feels like when you get a shock from your ICD. For those of you not familiar with common cardiac acronyms, that stands for implantable cardioverter defibrillator. My device was implanted just short of 5 years ago. A few months ago, I was told there was a "recall" on my lead...the wire could crack and cause "noise" that the device interpretted as an abnormal rhythm, resulting in

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-60027010326423110162009-05-16T15:33:00.001-05:002009-05-16T15:33:49.919-05:00

It's been two weeks since my daughter's First Communion, so I'm a little late in getting this post up.  However, we're also building a new house, and thing are in the hectic stage right now.  We should be moving within a month, so it's a very exciting (but hectic and stressful) time.  Anyway....here are the photos from my daughter's special day.  In the next post, I'll provide more details of

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-48118986835488354202009-04-29T20:07:00.004-05:002009-04-29T20:41:56.753-05:00

It's done, and I'm very pleased.Julia asked about the pattern I used for the first dress. I'll go into more details of both dresses (patterns, materials, etc.) after the dust settles from this weekend. In a nutshell, my daughter's dress is Princess Charming from Australian Smocking & Embroidery (AS&E) #58--minus the tulle overskirt.A large chunk of time yesterday was spent on creating the

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-11041702958400056792009-04-27T19:57:00.006-05:002009-04-29T20:42:16.624-05:00

Yes, safety glasses! Read on to see where they come in....Here's the status of my daughter's First Communion dress (from a few days ago).I blocked the bodice and traced around the bodice template (this dress has a full smocked bodice). It's a little hard to see the purple marker line in the second picture:I then stitched on the markings--first with a straight stitch and next with a tiny zig-zag

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-87728498788667094652009-04-16T23:46:00.005-05:002009-04-16T23:58:21.740-05:00

The dress is finally done for DGD! She picked it up last night. I ended up doing a machine hem with a tuck because I knew a hand hem would be too time consuming. After all the hand work on the smocking, it seems wrong to hem by machine, but I like how it turned out...it gives some body to the bottom of the skirt. Here's the full length view:Some close ups of the smocking and back:And one

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-85938472750593354902009-03-27T11:07:00.005-05:002009-04-29T20:42:37.005-05:00

Here's my start on the FIRST First Communion dress--this one's for DGD. The smocking is done. I haven't blocked it, nor done the bullion roses yet. I made a bodice muslin and tried it on DGD....it fits well! So I took today off to get a good start on the construction of the dress--so far I've spent too much time on the computer! Here are a couple of photos of the smocking....the second is a

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-87778141388614094312009-03-16T20:36:00.004-05:002009-03-16T21:01:58.712-05:00

Yikes! It's been a month since I last posted! This blogging thing is harder to keep up with than I thought. I have been busy though, working on SAGA Wee Care gowns and getting started on the first of two First Communion dresses. Here are some photos of the Wee Care gowns. A couple of them show up close detail of the smocking stitches---for those of you who may not be familiar with

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-47371535598127956092009-02-15T21:32:00.003-06:002009-02-15T22:45:20.864-06:00

This was supposed to be a quick knit top. I think I spent more time practicing hem stitches than it actually took me to complete the top once I got everything worked out. The twist kind of gets lost in this print--the photo does not do it justice...it looks much better in person. Here's the finished result:I like to get all my stitch settings worked out before I sew the first seam. I think I

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-18394498271832372302009-02-13T20:32:00.007-06:002009-02-15T22:45:04.857-06:00

I finished it Wednesday night and wore it to work on Thursday.Overall, I'm pleased with the results. My main regret is not interfacing the collar. It could have used a bit more body to make it stand up. And I lengthened the bodice just a bit too much. Full review here.

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-57777778784669492552009-02-10T20:27:00.008-06:002009-02-15T22:43:56.542-06:00

Ripping the zipper out was not quite as time consuming as I thought it might be. I used the ripping method in the picture below.I added a 1/4" strip of Fusi-knit to the existing strip and re-inserted the zipper.Much better! I now have a nice smooth zipper and my waist seam is still perfectly aligned.I'll do a post on my technique for lining up a seam with an invisible zipper when I post the

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-83800579388302940102009-02-03T22:36:00.010-06:002009-02-15T22:44:35.988-06:00

I'm currently working on Vogue 8413 in a charcoal ponte roma knit I picked up at Joann's. The pattern calls for a regular zipper, but I prefer invisible zippers. I have an invisible zipper foot for my machine which makes insertion of invisible zippers incredibly easy--I mean, super easy! Plus, I think it looks much more RTW. I interfaced the seam allowance along the back, but don't think I

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-47691451559884827102009-01-25T20:15:00.010-06:002009-01-25T20:43:58.910-06:00

I'm happy and a little disappointed at the same time. I've seen several rave reviews of BWOF 10-2005-114 and I love cowl neck sweaters. I was lucky enough to find the back issue on eBay. I traced a size 38 and made only one alteration-adding 1" to the waist (I'm long waisted). I tried it on before setting the sleeves and it looked great. However, after setting the sleeves, I'm not overly

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-89383547785944232362009-01-20T22:58:00.029-06:002009-03-16T21:03:57.207-05:00

Several weeks ago, Lindsay T asked about sewing back stories. Here's mine (I'm borrowing Dana's format):My Pre-Sewing Days: I'm the youngest of 5 children and grew up in a farm family. We weren't poor by any means, but we weren't overly wealthy either. My Mom sewed because it was economical. I remember many of my outfits in vivid detail. A navy blue top and pants with a red apple pocket. A

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-60281081212862065062009-01-07T21:00:00.002-06:002009-01-07T21:02:31.513-06:00

Finally! I've finished up the last obligation of the holiday season--the holiday letter/photo. I have about 80+ to send to family and friends, and the last batch will go out in the mail tomorrow. Look for some sewing projects to be posted in the very near future!

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711572745043463007.post-70450659023478296122009-01-01T12:40:00.000-06:002009-01-01T12:41:22.367-06:00

2009 New Year's Resolution #1: Start bloggingDone!

Marshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074945118863137309noreply@blogger.com0