Simplicity 7181 Finished

I was not particularly happy with this dress when I finished it last night. It was huge on me and reminded me of a night gown. How could I wear a thing like that in public?

As I was lying in bed, I thought about how to fix this "mess". I decided the quickest solution was to make a long self tie belt and wear it just under the bust, the slimmest part of my anatomy. Well, what a difference a little belt makes. Now I love this dress and wore it proudly all day.

This has happened to me many times. I finish a project and I don't like it. Then I give it a day and see it in a whole new light.

As long as the pattern pieces are still out, I will definitely make one more and then move onto something else.

Simplicity 7181

The silhouette floral skirt I wrote about a few days ago is almost done. It needs a hook and eye closure on the waistband and a hem. I have the ruffle ready for the matching black petticoat but discovered I don't have enough black broadcloth for the skirt part. So, a trip to the fabric store is required before I can make the petticoat.

In the meantime, I've decided I want to wear a dress to an event hubby and I are going to tomorrow. There isn't much time, but I'm pretty sure I can get it done by noon. I've had the pattern, Simplicity 7181 for a while and my friend, J, gave me 3 metres of fabric that she got for next to nothing in a thrift shop. If it turns out OK, then I'll whip up another one with some fabric that I've actually shelled out some bucks for. Pictured above is the view I am working on and the fabric.

I'll be wearing the dress with bare legs. This morning I got out the self tanning lotion. Already my legs are looking orange which is far better than the usual white. Perhaps another application tonight and I'll be good to go.

More about the dress to follow and if it looks good on me (with sewing you never really know ahead of time), I will model it for you soon.

New Greeting Card

Pictured above is the image for my latest greeting card. I had to take a lot of photos to find some decent light. This was taken outdoors under the huge pine tree in front of my house. I love the way the sunlight filters through the branches. I may have to try for another shot under different lighting (maybe early in the morning) as I'm not sure this image is clear enough. I'll have to get Wal-Mart to print it out for me and see how it looks against some really cool cardstock that I recently purchased.




















The silhouette floral is from some fabric I bought a while ago. I have almost finished an A-line four gore skirt out of this fabric with just the waistband and hem to do. Instead of lining the skirt, I am going to make a half slip/petticoat with a black ruffle. I'm looking forward to sharing that with you in a couple of days. I am targeting to get it all done by the weekend.

Broken Tree

Today was supposed to be a day devoted to working on greeting cards, however, have you noticed that things do not always go according to plan? In the morning, I had to help hubby with some business stuff. Then a storm hit and before I knew it, a huge tree in my neighbour's yard broke off at the top due to heavy winds.

Fortunately, it only blocked my neighbour's driveway and the street. We're thankful that the two parked vehicles nearby were far enough away to avoid damage. And no person was hurt. And our favourite neighbourhood cat, Lucy Maude, was away from the site (she dropped by later to check things out). Just a mess to clean up. Hubby got out the old chain saw (guys do love their chain saws) and cut the branches and limbs into manageable pieces while my neighbour and I hauled them to the side of the road. We cleared the drive and road but a pro will have to come in and take down the tree.

Afterwards, we sat down and had some beers and traded travel stories with my neighbour. She was away visiting family in Birmingham, England while we were on our trip.

So that was a little bit of excitement in our neck of the woods today.

Tomorrow is another day and I will try again to work on some cards.

Red Calico Top

I stitched up another simple top from New Look pattern 6362, the same top I made before I left for my trip. The pattern pieces were still scattered on my sewing table so I thought before I put them away, I would make another one and then move on to a new project. I used a lightweight cotton calico from my stash.

Tomorrow I will be working on "Thank You" cards to send to all the folks who were so kind and generous to us while we were in Estonia and Scotland. And, if I have time, I may cut out a skirt.

Cotton Fabrics Purchased On My Trip

Above is a heavyweight cotton manufactured in Estonia. Because of our busy schedule, I was lucky to find time to seek out two fabric stores. I tend to favour smaller prints. This print is very large. In fact, I didn't have very much choice of small prints, so I went with this one because I love the bold colours and floral design.






















Same print as above but in a different colour configuration.




















This is a heavy cotton duck I bought in Estonia. I'm not sure if it was manufactured there. I forgot to ask. I love the sailboats and see this as a possible spring jacket.






















And now on to the purchases in Scotland. These two beautiful lightweight cotton tartans (Dress Stewart on the left and Royal Stewart on the right) were really expensive, at least for a bargain hunter like myself. But authentic tartans in cotton are hard to find in Canada, so I thought I better snap them up while I had the chance. Hubby thought they were a good buy but then he's Scottish and subscribes to the "If it's no Scottish, it's crrrap" philosophy.






















This is a quilting cotton manufactured in England. I am currently into the colour brown.






















And another pretty delicate cotton design in brown. I think this was made in America.

I also bought some printed linens by the metre in Estonia which I didn't photograph for this blog entry. I will be making tea towels from them. I still wash my dishes the old fashioned way (I don't like dishwashers) and linen towels are the best for drying dishes.

My next projects include another top and a thank you card to send to all the wonderful folks in Estonia and Scotland who did so much for us and made us feel so welcome.

I will be posting a few photos from the trip as soon as I can get them from my sister. She and her hubby took hundreds of pictures and she said I could share a few here.

Back From Estonia and Scotland

Just a brief entry to let my reader's know that I am back from my trip to Estonia and Scotland.

I am too tired to write much today. I bought some fabric from both countries which I will write about soon.

Pictured above is a photo taken at my family's burial site in Estonia, where my younger sister and I delivered our father's ashes back to his native country for burial. This was his wish. From left to right is our Estonian born half-sister, yours truly, my Canadian born sister, and my aunt, dad's only surviving sibling.

(Vasakult paremale, surnuajas, Kaarel'i kolm tütrid ja õde Helmi.)