Judy's Garden Party Test Tank

I found this fabric at one of the fabric outlets down off Harry Hines in Dallas. I go with my daughter about once a year to have fun spending money on lots of unusual fabric. There are many shops with designer left overs or over runs and lots of cheap fabric mixed in. This was a rectangle printed on white fabric that the man running the shop said was test to see if they wanted to print a whole fun. I wish they would have had more than one test of it but bought it because I thought it was so pretty. Took me awhile to find something to match it. But finally found this coral knit at fabric.com. This is an OOP pattern Simplicity 4192 . This tank runs really short and Judy runs really tall. The first time I made it for her I added 4" of length. This time I added 8" of length. We both love it. Been so busy with work and the grandkids visiting been a little naughty about blogging this past week. I made four skirts this weekend. Two for my daughter in law. One for my daughter Nicole and one for my newly pregnant daughter Megan. Looks like we've got a honeymoon baby. She couldn't believe she could be pregnant and she did 5 pregnancy test. But a trip to the doctor and a sonogram showed a seven week fetus. She's due March 10th and this will be grandbaby number nine. We've so excited for them.

Connie Crawford T-shirt not so great fit

I made the t-shirt with no changes except for a high round back adjustment to see how it would fit. It's better than most about being smaller in the shoulders but is still way to big for my narrow shoulders. I love the fit from the bust down. It's the perfect amount of ease for me. I just need to figure out the best way to make an adjustment for the narrow shoulders. I'm not sure when the difference is so extreme if it's easier to start with several sizes smaller in the shoulders and size up the bottom or the other way around. Will just have to try both ways and see. Most things I've read say to use small size and add for the rest so will try that method first.

Judy's Evie Dress Kwik Sew 2517

Judy got this fabric as a gift from her friend Evie. It was a small piece and never could find a pattern for it. I got this off ebay and thought the mock turtleneck tank in the short length would work. The material is kinda like a cut velour knit. I cut it out inbetween the x-small and small but ended up taking it down to the x-small size. I added an 1 1/4" to waist length to adjust for height. and cut it three inches longer. It looked cute with the mock turtleneck but she just couldn't stand having something around her neck. So cute it lower and used self fabric to bind edge. She's not in love with it but she liked it. I think it was just a little to dressy for her college student/ cheerleading coach lifestyle. But at least we finally used the fabric Evie gifted Judy. This is a real easy quick pattern.

Shopzilla -Eats the Budget

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Okay I need a twelve step program- Fabricohlic completely out of control. I finally worked on cleaning out my stash some this week. Got rid of lots of fabric but what good does it do if you replace it all. But who can resist "I Love Lucy" fabric. Not this girl, that's for sure. And the cute flannels on sale- I mean the grandkids have to have pj's. And I need some black pants so had to get the linen/cotton blend and black knit that was on sale- I'm I right. Now Lucy needed the princess panel fleece because her sister Ella doesn't want to share her's with her. I really couldn't let Lucy down. Of course the seersucker w/ watermelons and strawberry's would be adorable on Hailey- light weight and cool for this 100 degree weather. I'm she couldn't go without some nice cool dresses. And how often can you find Michael Miller cottons on sale. So it goes I can always rationalize buying fabric. It's really all my daughter Nicole's fault because I never go to the fabric stores if she's not visiting. I do better to stay away from temptation. She practily twist my arm off to get me to go fabric shopping with her. No really it's true my arm is still smarting from the twisting. Okay okay I might just win the race to die with the most fabric. I wish I wasn't a stash monster but I just can dream of so many things to make. I just wish I could make everything I dream of.

Maxi Dress and Police kick door in

Judy loves it. Such a quick project and she's totally in love with it. Enjoyed the fireworks and a great Texas Ranger baseball game last night. My oldest daughter drove in from Arkansas yesterday so we took her son to the game with us. She stayed home with her two daughters and another granddaughter. The two year old falls asleep and she decides to take the two older ones out in the backyard to watch the fireworks. They enjoy the fireworks and when it's all over go to go back in the house and one of the girls had turned the lock and they were locked out. So she is outside in her pj's with two little girls in thier pj's (no bra- and for Nicole that is a big.... problem)and her baby in the house asleep. She goes to all the neighbors houses and can't find anyone at home because it's July 4th. Finally finds a man down the street and uses his phone to call everyone at the Rangers game. Of course it's loud and no one can hear thier phones. She calls 911 and a very nice police officer comes out and tries to get in the house. I lock everything and nothing is unlocked. So he says sorry I can stay here with you until someone comes home or I can kick the door in for you. So she tells him not to kick the door in because her Dad is a cheapskate then Hailey says I gotta go poop and Ella says Mommy I really gotta go pee-pee. So Nicole has the policeman break the door in so the girls can go potty. He was so nice he told her to shove the couch in front of the door until her Dad could fix it and said he would check the alley every twenty minutes until the morning to make sure they would be safe. Which in our city is real funny because nothing ever happens here. How sweet is that. So alls well that ends well - a few nails and some paint and everything will be fine. Is she a mess or what. So hope you all had a happy July 4th. Love my country.

PS- If you think Judy was blond last week she was. One of her best friends is a wonderful hairdresser and she is always doing Judy's hair for her.

Butterick 5215- T-shirt Trial

I traced and cut out a T-shirt for myself out of a dark raspberry cotton knit from fabric.com . I've never tried one of Connie Crawford's patterns but I think I've bought most of them. Being plus sized I'll buy most large size patterns. I've seen mixed reviews of her patterns but hope that it will work for me. I only made one change to the pattern and that was a high round back adjustment. I'm really just making a hopefully wearable muslin. I'm determined to start sewing for myself. I've spent most of my life making things for my kids and grandkids. Now I'm going to sew for myself and learn what adjustments to make as I go. I now already know to do a FBA, high round back and narrow the shoulders . I didn't narrow these because her patterns are suppose to be made for someone like me. With my very casual life I don't need any dress clothes so it use to be easier to just buy clothes. But as I've gotten older and obviously heavier I find it even harder to find clothes that fit.