Sewing for Others

I've been silent lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been sewing.

I will be the first to say that I don't often sew for others.  Sometimes, though, it's a lot of fun.  Especially when you get new tools to try out.

After the initial top I made for my mom, she asked for another one, in black, for an upcoming trip.  She liked the cowl neckline, but asked for a couple of changes--namely, the armscye needed to be raised.  

Honestly, no one wants to flash bra band in the armhole.

So why isn't this shirt black, you're asking?  2 reasons: 

1.  Black is boring classic, but it doesn't photograph well.  

Read: I forgot to take a picture of it.  

2.  I talked her into this fabulous raspberry color, too.  

And, I added short sleeves to this one.

And the new tools?

Well, I bought myself a coverstitch machine.

It's AMAZING.

The hemming of the sleeves and body was lickety-split quick, and the neckline is just incredible.  My double needle never looked so nice, even with all the additional time spent adjusting the tension on the bobbin case.

After reading Andrea's review of her's, here, and Sunny's post about her's here, I hemmed and hawed, and hemmed and hawed, and talked myself into.  I justified it in every possible way, and it is a luxury purchase, but I'm really happy I finally did.  If you need justification, too, let me know, and I'll get you going, too.

Long story short, my husband said yes, my local sewing store worked with me, and I decided to go with the Janome Coverpro 1000cpx.  It has 3 needles vs the 900cpx, which has 2. 

But, before you think me too selfless, I did actually run-through the sleeve changes on this one first:

Details:

Pattern: Maria Denmark Day-to-Night Drape top + Renfrew sleeves (minus bands)

Fabric: black (not pictured) and raspberry modal; polka dot bamboo knit; 1 yard each, all from Hart's Fabric

Notions: clear elastic to stabilize the back neckline

Time to complete: an evening for each, a month to blog about it

And because I like the coverstitch so much, I've got a stack of knits waiting to be made into t-shirts.

Especially now that my Halloween sewing is done.  

(I may have a slight turqouise problem.)

Sew Weekly Reunion Pantone Challenge

Thank you, Picmonkey!

Whew! My Sew Weekly Reunion project is complete!  I'm so glad we had a month for this instead of just a week.  I have much more appreciation for the hard work everyone did!

All apologies for the wrinkles...we're blaming wind, drinks, and a sloping driveway.

The Facts
Fabric: blouse: cotton voile, skirt: wool (from inherited stash), cotton voile scraps for facing

Notions: blouse: thread, skirt: 9" zip (from stash), lightweight interfacing, navy rayon seam binding (from stash), dark turquoise seam binding for hem (from Suzy), 2  3/4" buttons, (from stash) 

Pantone Challenge colors:

blouse: vivacious, koi, turbulence,  a smidge of acai?
skirt: I'm going with deep lichen...but maybe my skirt is a bit  more olive-y

Patterns: 
blouse: Sewaholic Pendrell (gifted by Suzy of SuzyBee Sews), modified view B, skirt: Simplicity 2475 Amazing Fit skirt, view B

Year: 
blouse: 2010
skirt: current

Time to complete:
blouse: an evening or two
skirt: a week of evenings

First worn: 
blouse: to work on Thursday 8/22
skirt:  to the Kansas City Historic Garment District Museum

Wear again? Yep! (but maybe not together)
Aside from parent/teacher meetings, our staff is fairly casual

Total cost: about 1 1/2 yards of fabric @ $6.99/yd, and skirt thread, so we'll say about $15.00.

My mom and dad and I spent Saturday with a trip to the River Market and the Kansas City Garment District Museum, followed by lunch and a trip to Bob Jones shoes.  I was so excited to finally go, and I swear I took lots of great pictures.  Unfortunately, when I got home this is all I had: 

Hmm.  I don't know why my camera ate the pictures, but I'm pretty sure my sister's laughing.  We went on a trip to Panama City together a couple of years ago, and came home with a million pictures of me, and exactly 1 picture of her feet.

I did get this great picture of my parents, though, in front of the giant needle & button statue.

Aren't they great? In solidarity, my mom wore a shirt I made for her from the Maria Denmark Day-to-Night Drape top pattern.  

Both Mom and Dad declared that the skirt was something my grandmother (my dad's mother) would have loved.  That olive-y green was her favorite color, which would explain why I had matching buttons, zipper, and fabric in my inherited stash.   It is a good color; I think it will go with pretty much everything I own.  For the blouse, I just serged the seams, but on the skirt, I kind of felt that the green wool deserved more attention, so I used bias binding on each seam and on the hem.  

In any case, my husband took some pictures for me at home that evening after dinner. 

Apparently, my kids think I'm wide enough to hide not just one, but two...