Sewing With A Plan - what a concept

A wool melton double breasted coat. Looks very warm and cozy doesn't it. We all loved the sweep of this coat which reminded us of Anna Karina. Paula used some sew in magnetic snaps as the actual closure on this coat, as the buttons are purely decorative. The large snaps were found at Sawyer Brook, the wool Melton at Fabric.com and the lining at Sew True.

No doubt Paula will get some good use out of this coat, as we still have several months of winter left.

Ah! - The orange sherbet silk cami in all its glory. It does make one yearn for spring. Nice work Paula we will look forward to seeing you in it.






Here we have a few of Paula's "Sew with a Plan" items. All of these fabrics were ordered from Sawyer Brook. The Shirt is made from McCalls # 5522 and the fabric is a crisp cotton shirting with a creme and sage stripe. The skirt is made out of Tencel, which drapes so beautifully and is very comfortable for wearing. This skirt is a Williams Studio 2 pattern, and you can see another version of it under my recent projects made from a wool flannel. A very versatile pattern!



Great Work Paula!

Video of Lynne Tying a Proper Knot for Hand Sewing

In todays class

The weekend of the 23rd we settled into 2 whole days of sewing together! We planned cushions for Joanne, while Joel completed his first pair of pajama pants. The pj's turned out well, but Joel feels next time he will make them a little roomier. The best way to know if you are getting the amount of ease you like to have is by measuring a garment you have and like, then you can compare the ease amounts to your pattern. Elizabeth finished her robe, and some shorts, and then layed out a little silk jacket. Michelle worked on her "frayed jacket" a project she started this summer at a retreat. This required some quilting, and sewing up the lining. George has discovered that he loves working with stripes, and what fun it is to see him patiently match, chevron, and just play with them, all while learning the basics of shirt making! Paula finished one full length wool coat, and dug into another 3/4 length coat in a winter white cashmere. Kathy C. modeled her wool ensemble, and then did some pattern alteration and cutting. Kathy D. altered a jacket pattern and made a muslin to check the fit. Liz took a break from quilting to make her granddaughters some very cute corduroy jumpers. I run around and do a lot of "oohhhing" and "ahhing" and assuring them all they are doing the right thing. Thanks to Paula and Kathy C. for some wonderful treats.


There is never a boring moment with our wonderful sewing group. This Friday we sewed a quilt, a shirt, a coat, a purse, a robe, pajama pants, a slinky top, and fixed a zipper, and accomplished a tricky hem job on some ready made pj pants. All while laughing, groaning, encouraging and helping one another. Is there anything we can't tackle? I think not! All of this in -30 degrees!

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Livalips projects

The finished robe as promised! What is not pictured are the matching pj shorts. This ensemble a football game and some chips are all that's required for the perfect day off. Enjoy!

Elizabeth's current project is a warm and cozy flannel robe for her beau. Nice gift for anyone. She made wonderful progress on it this last Friday, setting her sleeves and applying the neck binding. I suspect she will have it all wrapped up by next Friday. While sewing she has been planning her summer wardrobe, and has located a wonderful simplicity pattern 2703 that is a wardrobe in an envelope, Jacket, dress, top, and slacks! She also shared a gorgeous silk and cashmere fabric she found on-line at www.manhattanfabrics.com with us that will possibly become a key component to this ensemble. Keep up the fine work Elizabeth, I am so impressed with the progress you are making!

Congratulations to Elizabeth! - for having completed her first garment project. This adorable apron has been trimmed in a sassy green rick-rack and embellished with a traditional pink poodle at the neckline. I just love her color choices. And a special thanks to Betty for modeling.

Several pairs of these pajama shorts were in the works this week for a beau. This pair are very special as of course they sport Olivia and her brother Ian favorite characters from Children's books. Elizabeth chose to make the waistband both elastic for comfort and with a tie for security, her first opportunity to use her buttonholer! I am especially fond of the detail at the bottom of each tie which was achieved by interfacing the back of the fabric, layering it with more of the same fabric and then using a very narrow zig zag stitch to outline the shapes. An opening was left at the top to insert the cord into which was then stitched over in the same outline stitch, then the excess fabric was trimmed away from around the shapes. I understand that Elizabeth took this same technique to makes ties on gift bags for the holidays. We all look forward to hearing how they are received.

Learn to sew silk camisole

This silk camisole is a Williams Studio 2 pattern, I apologize for the picture quality but our brave and industrious friend Paula is currently making this camisole, without ever having seen it! She has a lovely piece of orange silk to make it from, which will make a nice accent color for her "Sew with a plan" wardrobe. Today in class she got it all cut out, and at the rate she is sewing these days, we can all look forward to seeing it very soon.




To the right here we have a better and more recent view of the silk Camisole which was made 3" longer for a client who wanted the hem to peak out underneath her blouse.
The complete ensemble can be seem on the bar at the far right.This silk is 32mm 4 ply. An extremely beautiful weight and lustre don't you think?

Here we have the back view of the same camisole

Betty with Jacket Pieces

Betty once told me that, the better the job you do on your cutting out, the easier the sewing will be. Here we can see her jacket in its early stages, and i feel certain that the finished product will reflect such a wise axiom.

Betty's completed jacket is so charming, much like Betty!This jacket is from "A favorite Things" pattern called
The Frayed Jacket Pattern. It is made from fat quarters, is reversible and can have frayed edges, or bound like it is shown here. By the way beautiful fit!

Some of Lynne's Recent Projects

This purse is a project my daughter started a while back, she chose this fabric for a skirt originally and then decided a purse was what she needed. She got it all cut out, and did a nice job at that, but it has been sitting in her project box in the studio. I stumbled across it during a reorganization of the studio and for some reason amongst all the unfinished projects this one just felt like it needed to be finished. The fabric is simply a quilting cotton interfaced to help it hold its shape. The buttons are some old clear plastic and I could not resist the pom-pom on the zipper pull.

a cowboy shirt...note the stamping...











...and a skirt with felting...

And now a pair of pants from the same fabric





















...fabulous bedding worthy of a french chef... and the ensemble is complete!

A wool jersey top

Our Man George

1-30-09

George has made a lot of progress on his dress shirt. Stand back and be amazed! He appears to be having a great time playing with the stripe placement on his shirt. How fun is this pocket, did you notice it has a flap!



Check out the Chevron on the back shirt Yoke!



This Friday George learned how to make a french seam, a sleeve placket, and setting a shirt sleeve. Next week cuffs and a perfectly rolled collar. Can't wait.




1-2-09
Currently though he is tackling a mans dress shirt from a cotton stripe. He is learning about pattern alteration to fit his athletic form, having to blend between sizes to accommodate his new workout routine. His cutting and marking are all done and sew the fun begins. George has a great attitude toward his sewing, he likes to take his time, and is always looking to gain a new skill with each project. With all of Georges projects expect the unexpected, he always adds an extra dose of creativity and I am looking forward to seeing what he adds to this seemingly basic shirt.


Here is George with his vest and the famous welt pockets.

What about George? George finished his second vest this one out of a khaki corduroy. The corduroy had some spandex in it and this created a new challenge...learning how to manipulate and feed a stretch fabric under the foot.