See you all on Thursday! That’s two months in a row-wonder what April will bring??

Have a cozy day! The sun will take care of the snow tomorrow, right?

Here’s what we saw at last month’s meetings-and BTW-March meetings begin next week!

Wednesday, March 5, 10:30, at Lakes Makerie, Minneapolis

Thursday, March 6, 10:30, at Creative Sewing, Apple Valley

Saturday, March 8, 10:30, at The Sewing Lounge, St. Paul

I’ll try to get to the surveys very soon-if you didn’t get to fill one out and would like to, let me know.

The snow has convinced us that we should stay home this morning! Sorry, Lakes Makerie 😦

But there are still two opportunities to come and share you makes!

Wednesday, February 12, at Sewing Lounge in St. Paul

Thursday, February 13, at Creative Sewing in Apple Valley

Hope to see lots of you next week!!

Happy Snow(Sew) Day!

Or should I say “sewing for small dolls”?

Someone handed me 3 kits for American Girl dolls at the fabric swap and said she thought I would like them for my granddaughters-sewists are amazing!! So I got busy-actually watched some pretty good movies-and sewed up the garments. It meant I didn’t have to deal with my upcoming sewing queue 🙂

The patterns and instructions were printed on the fabric. Easy to cut out and pretty easy to sew-except for the “miles” of gathering and the tight curves. The pockets didn’t make the cut!

Thanks, Liz!!

On a more adult wardrobe note, I listened to Everyday Style School podcast, “10 Ways to Boost Your Style in Under 10 Minutes“.

More than a few of them resonated with me so I thought I’d share, in case you need inspiration-

1. Plan your outfits ahead of time
2. Incorporate texture into outfits
3. Add a belt
4. Swap your shoes
5. Add one expected accessory (the post Covid version of “Take off one piece of jewelry 🙂
6. Cluster or layer accessories
7. Spend two minutes styling your outfit
8. Add a third piece
9. Freshen up your clothes
10. Boost your beauty routine

She does a great job of elaborating so here is the link if you’d like to listen-https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-everyday-style-school/id1464962252?i=1000685132503

Happy dressing!!

Debbie’s Garments:

Fitting adjustments included petiting between shoulder and bust, narrowing shoulder and shortening body and sleeve length.

Unfortunately I read an article in the Winter 2024 Threads magazine titled Pattern Potential – A Guide To Evaluating and Choosing Wisely after I completed the jacket. The biggest problem with the pattern are the construction techniques. It would have been so much better to have a back neck facing and then sandwich the completed collar between the facings instead of sewing under collar to jacket and upper collar to facing and then sewing the two together. Also pressing under the facing shoulder seam and slip stitching to shoulder never a good idea – in my opinion!

The fabric was not fun to work with. It wasn’t ultra stretchy or forgiving. It was necessary to edge stitch the pocket to the jacket but any other topstitching just didn’t look good.

I like the end result of the jacket and it will get some wear, however I won’t be using the pattern or type of fabric again.

This is a TNT blouse pattern. The placket is a separate piece which makes it easier to use contrasting fabric or design accents like putting the fronts on the bias.

Other design changes I made were eliminating the back gathers and using a pleat instead and softening the shirt tail hem.

This pattern works well to sew the garment as flat as possible by changing the order of construction – before putting in the sleeves construct the placket, yoke, collar stand and collar.

I used the shorter version and still needed to shorten length 1 inch in body and 2 inches from sleeves.

I needed to do lots of basting to determine the length I wanted due to the method of constructing the band before adding the back sleeve.

If I made this again I would adjust the back funnel neck by removing it. This would allow me to sew sleeves to front and back and then add one continuous band.

I feel the pattern runs large so I recommend going down a size.

I love sweaters – I have knitted them and purchased them. I do not enjoy sewing them!

Kristin’s Garments:

Silk (?) Jacket

This is a versatile pattern with many options-lined, unlined, quilted, etc. Well drafted and lots of instructions.

Love the fabric. The big pockets could get saggy. Underarm curve was tricky.

Sleeves are narrower than a kimono. It grows on you 🙂

This is a TNT pattern for me. So fun to do variations with fabric, etc.

I made a size small, sleeves were 2” too short. Great instructions for mitered corners and hems. All raw edges taken care of and no hand stitching.

This pattern features her one seam collar. Turns out so nice.

This pattern has been calling to me for some time now so I gave in. Construction went well. Omitted front pockets.

Other Closet Core pant patterns have fit me well. This pattern is a bit short in the depth of the crotch and I let out the hips as much as possible. In looking at the versions on the website-the pattern delivered! They look the same on me as on the models-close fitting through waist and hips and wide legs.

February Garment Sewing Group

Saturday, February 8, 10:30 at Lakes Makerie, Mpls.

Wednesday, February 12, 10:30 at The Sewing Lounge, St. Paul

Thursday, February 13, 10:30 at Creative Sewing, Apple Valley

It never fails to surprise me when I look back at the pics from our Garment Sewing Group meetings-so much fun and creativity!

Well, maybe just Debbie and Kristin in their cars but…see you this morning at Lakes Makerie for Garment Sewing Group!

It doesn’t end!! So glad to be part of such an inspiring group!