Free Patterns

Free patterns. If you are interested send me an e-mail. Please write " free patterns in the subject box. The winner get it all.

This Is It- Gone Too Soon

http://www.telegraph.co.uk has a great review of the Master " Michael Jackson".
This was 2-hours of the creative genius at work. I grew up with Michael's music and he's gone too soon.

This documentary gives the public an opportunity to see the master in action; also he was such a fashion icon. In the rehearsal he wore a black leather jacket with exaggerated shoulders, just beautiful!

In my opinion he was an American treasure; Yes he was imperfect, hey who isn't?

All I know is that He's gone too soon!

Window Treatments

This was a great project. Now back to my pants muslin.

Pants 2 of 4 (posting 2)

In my last post I wrote about removing too much fullness from the back pant leg inseam and not adding what was removed to the hip area. Consequently the front side seam was pulled to the back and the grain line became distorted. See the image below:

This is the view from the back ( I went to the mall last week to buy pants for work. I wish I had someone with me to take pic of the fit. There was no problem with the front, however the back was horrible. It look exactly as the photo below).


Sometimes you have to walk away. This is going to take some time but I am going to get pants that I can live with. I also realize that the changes in my body are part of the problem. Back to the drawing board

Pants 2 of 4

I am getting physical therapy for my injured right shoulder. So working on my pants has been a very slow process.
Below is muslin #5. This was the results of the last changes Kenneth King made to my pants pattern. As you can see there was still some fullness in the back leg.


Below is another view



Here I attempted to remove more of the fullness from the back pant leg and in the process I threw the grain line off. I did not add the amount I remove to the side seams, therefore the front side seam was pulled to the back. Needless to say it went downhill from here

The lesson learned here was: instead of trying to remove more fabric, I should have made another muslin out of a fabric that is similar to the actual fabric I plan to use and tweak it. That was Kenneth's last advice to me. That is why is the master.

I went back to the beginning reading as many resources as I could and using what I learned from the class. I started with a clean slate and added reference line to the original pattern. These lines will make it easier for me make changes without altering the grain line.

More later

Pants 1 of 4

Since the completion of the class in NYC, I have not work on my pants muslin because of an injured right shoulder. The times it take for me to complete a task has tripled. I am getting ready to sew a few pants that will be incorporated into my work wardrobe. I embraced the concept of a workable wardrobe 2-years ago after reading an article in Stitches magazine ( one of my favorite Australian magazines). My DD does not sew, but since I injured my shoulder she has become my assistant.

My plan is to write about my progress in four parts.

Part 1- planning and gathering supplies needed for the project

Fabrics:
1. 5-yd of summer wool purchased in NYC. I cannot wear wool, but this fabric is so beautiful, it has a small percentage of wool and it should be OK with a lining.

2. Black fabric from Metro Textile. Kashi said it was appropriate for pants, skirt or jacket and it has a nice weight and drape.

3. Lining from my stash. The pants will be fully lined since they are going to become the workhorses of my working wardrobe.

Notions:
threads
zipper
waist stay
Serger threads

Here are the underlinings and the fabrics. I choose several underlining, once I start cutting the fabric at that point I will make a final decision.

Part 2
1. Sewing-up muslin #5 ( hopefully the last one). It was not completed during the class in NYC. Additionally I will be making changes to the pattern if needed (hopefully none)

2. Sewing muslin #6 out of a fabric that resembles the actual fabric. Kenneth King explained that muslin was a great fabric to work out major fitting or pattern issues; however fabrics behave differently, so before cutting your fashion fabric, make a pants out of fabric that is similar in weight and feel to the fashion fabric.

Part 3- sewing a total of 6 pants- two out of the summer wool and four out of the black fabric.

Part 4- sewing 3 pants - the same

Strapless Maxi dress

This was one of the fabrics I bought at Metro Textiles in New York. I found this in the $1.00 box that Kashi has in the back of the store. This was easy pezzy sewing. My DD posed in the dress so I could take a picture.

Some stats
large piece of jersey knit - maybe 2 yd
light silky lining fabric- 2yd

Notions
Gutterman Orange thread
All purpose Black thread
1-inch elastic

When I saw the fabric I knew that it only needed something very simple to make it sing. I use the hip measurement and I made a simple rectangle. It has only one seam (at the side). I added a lining to keep it from clinging. I used my serger to attach the elastic and sewed it down with machine stitching ( Sandra Betzina's tip). The hem was not done when I took the photo.
I plan to wear it with a short black jacket