the next challenge:

Butterick B5500 is my next project:

 I will be making the jacket pictured in the center.  Using this beautiful fabric:

The photo does not do this fabric justice.   The fabric is very dark navy, almost black with tiny flowers in a lighter blue thread woven all over.  I also have two velvet ribbons, of which I plan to use one as a trim somewhere on the jacket.  The wider ribbon is a dark navy and the narrower ribbon is a bright blue that exactly matches the threads in the embroidery.

I will try to get a better shot of the fabric in natural light tomorrow.

One can hope for a sew day, oh, I mean, snow day tomorrow, right?

my sewing haven...

This is my sewing haven... or at least it will be when I am done.   I am in the process of organizing it and getting rid of fabrics I don't think I'll ever use.

 This is the view toward the north...
                                                                     and this....

                                                                                                        ... is the view toward the south.  

I snapped just two quick shots today and had to run.  I was in charge of the salad for our lunch on Sunday and there were two hungry men waiting on me whose hunger wouldn't have had much patience for a blogging seamstress who just needed a few photos.

I realized after I uploaded them you cant even see the antique sewing machine and dress form on the cabinet that I completely cut out of the shot.
I will take more shots as I clear things out and get it organized.  I also had a thought last night for a few posts called Guess the Gadget that I will hopefully get to soon.  There are some interesting gadgets in there!

I have been giving most of the fabric I don't want to my cousin's wife who is a quilter/crafter.   There will be much more.  I have another cousin who will get to share in some of our grandmothers stash as well as a cousin, by marriage, who I already have a small stash set aside for.

I have such visions of this room... I hope they all come true and soon!

Julie & Julia

... or is it the other way around?  Anyway, I just finished watching that movie (yes, for the 1st time - I know, I'm slow).

I thought it was an excellent movie.  I especially liked the parallel stories going back and forth between the two.
I remember watching Julia on TV as a child.   I never watched it religiously, but if I caught it on I would always watch it.  Guess it was the beginnings to My Inner Julia Child in the making.  She was such a determined woman who wouldn't accept that she might not be capable of taking on a challenge, head on, and conquering it with gusto.

It broke my heart a little when, in the movie, Julie got the call and realized she would never meet Julia Child, but I thought it was awesome when she and her husband took their victorious trip to see her kitchen in the Smithsonian. 

I think I need to go out any buy her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking... or just get on Amazon~!

Bon Appetit!

For the MOB...

My latest Cricut cover.  This one I appropriately finished for the MOB (Month of Becky for those of you who aren't in the know).

apple green solid, apple green gingham, hot pink paisley, and a strip of hot pink corduroy with apple green piping dividing the two green fabrics...

The nearly perfect shirt...

Well I finished McCalls6076 view C and think I am going to like this pattern.
Here's the finished version:

I have learned a few things as you do when working with a new pattern...   press here not there in the directions,  taper the sleeves for my liking, and figure out how to work the collar where it meets the shirt front so I don't end up with a bunched up mess like I did with the first one.

I do see this shirt in black with the 3/4 length sleeves in my near future.    I really need a white one too, but I'm going to have to find just the right fabric.  Perhaps a crisp summer weight linen...

...as I mentioned before I think it might make a nice jacket with some applique, or crochet flower applique...

...the possibilities are endless!

Sew Perfect....

In my quest for a perfect fit shirt I ran across this pattern:

...which ironically says "The Perfect Shirt" right there on the envelope...
I found this pattern on my mega-score weekend at Hancock Fabrics a couple months ago (more on this in a future reflecting on the past post later).

So I am in the process of this shirt.  Actually all I lack are the button holes and buttons.  I made view B, which if you can't tell from the picture, is the blue long sleeve version. 

Ironically, I made it from a light turquoise polished cotton. 
These are the buttons I chose:

These are adorable little black plastic vintage buttons with bezel set rhinestones.  I think it will be a nice pop on the turquoise.

I hope I love this pattern because I can see it with many variations.   It would even be nice as a jacket with a little heavier fabric, maybe with some velvet trim...

Watch for the finished shirt in my next post!  
Of cours

a study in vibrance

My last post of 3 in this series.  And my last post using previously shot photos.  Again most of these are SOOC... remember from my previous post what that means? 

Great! It means Straight Ouf Of Camera!

Bees,

Bees,

and more Bees!

♥ the splash of red in the center of this shot!

 

Something simple about daisys in the spring...

Notice the water droplets on the petals from the morning shower we had that day... I love drops on petals!

More Bees!

Farmers' Market

A little over exposed, but something about the kayaks all stacked up with their vibrant colors...

Ok enough of the retro look at my photos..

Now on to newer projects....