Voila! She reappears!

I'm still here, but have been really busy this year. I didn't realize that I hadn't posted here since the summer. I really need to get some pics up here soon of some projects. I finished up the tunic dress. It's not perfect, but for a first attempt, it turned out okay. I also made some little dresses for my niece/cousins (they are my husband's cousin's daughters, old enough to be my nieces, so I kinda call them my nieces). They were easy to make. I got that premade rusched (sp?) fabric, where it's all stretchy at the top, and made little sundresses for them for their birthday (they are triplets). They were a big hit, and their mom appreciated that I made them something homemade. Drew chose the fabric. I was going to make another one for their other cousin, but they didn't have that kind of fabric at ye ol' JoAnn fabrics, not even the velveteen ones they usually have for the holidays, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for the holidays, perhaps. The other project that comes to mind, in which I was VERY grateful that I had my dressform, was that I had to alter a costume for myself. I was dressing up as Batgirl, and the costume that I bought was WAY too short. It's supposed to be a mini dress, but I don't think it's supposed to be so short it goes up to my hoo-hah. (If you catch my drift.) I went to the fabric store, bought some black spandes, and then added another layer of skirt underneath, so that it was still a short dress, but I wasn't giving away the goods! It was hard, because the seams of dress were vertical. My solution, difficult as it was, was to make a tube, and then attach it by sewing it on the seams that were there, using the current seams like anchors. Then, I put it back on my dressform and hand cut the points (think Batman/Batgirl) so that it wasn't too long, but not too short either, and reflected the style of the costume. Most people couldn't tell, which is good. I mean, *I* could tell, but hey. I was happy that I could fix it.

I'm hoping to do some more projects. I lost my job about a month ago, so theoretically, I have more time on my hands, once I get my house cleaned up. ;-) I'm hoping to do some Christmas dresses, maybe a little quilt or something like that, not that I've ever made a quilt before. I've got my quilting guru, if I need to do that. The point is, I'm still very interested in sewing, even if it seems like I haven't done a whole lot of stuff lately. I bought more fabric for my birthday, and bought an Amy Butler bag pattern as well, which I hope to make at some point. I still buy the sewing mags when I can. I am still determined that I want to learn how to get better at sewing, and make my own clothes and make things for my family as well.

Stay tuned-- I hope to have more projects described and shown in the near future!

I'm still here...again. Happy 2009?

Wow, it's already the end of June, and I can't believe I haven't posted here. This isn't to say that I haven't been testing out my machine. On the contrary, I'm still learning and sewing. I have photos, but I'm a little lazy to post them today, because I just want to post something here.

The last few months have been crazy. I've spent most of that time working on knitting projects, to be honest, so sewing took a back seat for a bit. But, I've done a few projects. I made sheer curtains for my entryway, finished a dress for myself, and I've also started 3 girls' dresses. Okay, I'm cheating a little with the girls' dresses. I bought that fabrice where the top is already puckered with the elastic in it, so all I need to do is sew the hems, sew up the middle (after cutting it to size), and sew on ribbon ties, and voila! Instant dresses! I also bought stuff to make a homemade guitar case for my son, but I haven't started that project yet. I've also bought material for a guitar strap, and there's still the blouse I never started. Oh, and I made a Hot Wheels car case made especially to keep my son's Speed Racer cars in (not that he's into Speed Racer anymore, but at the time, he was). So, I've had quite a few projects here and there.

In between, I also got my machine repaired. The LED light was fixed, and I found out that all the soldering internally needed to be redone as it was done poorly. The machine seems pretty solid now (the LED doesn't flicker anymore or turn off unless I turn off the machine), so it was worth the $60+ to get it fixed.

I am anxious to learn more about sewing. It's just finding the time these days! Between knitting and sewing, it's hard. But I do try. After the dresses, I might work on the guitar strap next, as that should be relatively easy to make, even it's a free form thing. My son chose the black fabric with flames on it (because it looks like rock n roll, natch), so I'm looking forward to making it. He just got his first electric guitar which is black with white as well, so it should look really sharp.

So, there will be more to come, once I have some more time. Toodles!