bodner052

Frankie is done! Here are some of my final steps in my first journey with the new Frankie pattern from the Sewing Workshop (TSW). Buttonholes and buttons, done. I'll live with these for a while. They were in stash so they needed a showing. As Elaine on FB pointed out, the exterior of the sleeves is just right, but there is a remaining raw bit on the inside, right at the top of the vent. My French seams didn't help. I find it difficult to smoothly transition from a French seam to another seam finish. In the end I tried to fold under the raw edge and slip-stitch in place but it is a bit of a kludge. The deep inverted pleat in the back is so pretty, I think. I decided to edge-stitch along the inside fold in the hopes of keeping it pleated as I wear and sit in it. DH was sweet enough to take a picture of me. I guess this is how he sees me (he's quite a bit taller than I am). So I did a selfie that may be a more accurate read on this shirt, or at least its proportions on my 5...

Please excuse that fold across the left front - just a random mis-press. Progress continues on my first Frankie, a new pattern from the Sewing Workshop . I'm using navy-blue silk charmeuse that has a slight pebbled texture. At this point, it looks finished but it's not. After hand-basting, I inserted the sleeves by machine. And I made a decision about the finish on those raw edges. I found some very light weight silk remnants in stash to use for binding them. I cut strips on the bias and machine sewed them to the raw edges of the set-in sleeves. I placed the bias strips up against the feed dogs so that the bias would not stretch too much. Now I'll wrap the binding around the raw edges and slip-stitch in place. I also decided on a 3" deep hem on the body of the shirt. The pattern calls for a standard shirt tale finish which would have resulted in a 3/4" hem. This shirt is long - long even for a tunic. There was a time in my life when this would have been a dress. S...

My ten-year-old grandson spent part of today with me. He had to miss school for a cold. He asked me, "Grandma, what do you DO all day?" I told him I read, I sew, I do laundry, run errands and cook sometimes. Mostly I sew. He said, "But don't you get bored with that?" No, I said, I love it. "But why?" Well, it's like when you get a new Lego kit. You cannot wait to work through the instructions and make it. That's the way it is with me and a new pattern. He rolled his eyes and smiled. After he went home I had a few hours to sew and made progress on the Frankie shirt from the Sewing Workshop . Because it is made from silk charmeuse, I'm taking it nice and slow. Here is today's result: That is correct. I made two sleeves. And I had a blast, Lego-boy! Beyond the challenge of the fabric, these are somewhat intricate sleeves. It is a two-piece sleeve (hooray!) with an uneven vent. The vent mirrors the design of the overlapping seams on the bod...

Today I had the extreme luxury of a full day of sewing. That really is as good as it gets. Quiet time in my sewing studio with no sound except sewing sound. silk charmeuse for Frankie; maybe pants with the wool plaid It was a good day to start the new Sewing Workshop pattern, Frankie . There is a sew-along going on via Facebook with tips and hints on the Sewing Workshop blog , so I have virtual sewing companions. Wanting to use what I have in stash, I finally settled on a piece of silk charmeuse. It is solid navy with a pebble texture. Let's just say I am flying without a net. No experience with the pattern. No toile/muslin to make sure it fits. The worst possible fabric to sew. I do like a challenge. Kenneth King once said he'd rather chew broken glass than sew with charmeuse. And I get that. It is like sewing on jello. But look at how luscious it is: Yum! Really, it will be worth it, right? Using pressing templates for center fronts The pattern has interesting lines and I scr...

White linen is wonderful to cut, press, sew. This one started life as a large man's shirt - lots of potential. And it is currently a woman's linen shirt. It's like full circle. But the ride was such fun. The MixIt top from Sewing Workshop is often my starting place with upcycled items. I like that it fits throught the shoulders and bust and then there's plenty of room below. The original shirt was plenty large for cutting out the MixIt Top. Above I have the MixIt Front piece on top of both the left and right fronts of the original shirt. I aligned the fold line on the tissue with the buttons and buttonholes on the shirt. That is, I aligned the Center Fronts. So I did not disturb the buttons or button holes on the original shirt at this point, figuring to make my shirt button up the front too. The back was cut on the fold, using the fabric below the original yoke. This was a BIG shirt. I rather like the shape of the man's shirt tail and so decided to keep it, removi...