Not Wearable

Sorry, nothing finished to show here...

I loved Burda 6/2010-139 when I saw it and yes, I noticed how low it was in front. Unfortunately, the bodice shown in the picture is modest compared to the pattern. It is LOW. It is scary low. It is awards show breasts everywhere low. I think it actually ended past my bosoms.

I attempted to make it from fabric that I purchased from the G Street $2.97 table. It matches a teal jacket I own.

You also need to be very careful matching the gathers on either side of the bust. I stitched about 4 inches from the top of the V in the center front to make it a little more reasonable. I tried it on before sewing on the sleeves. It was not good. Maybe gathers down the center front are not a good idea on a plus size girl.

I am currently working on a brown linen version of Simplicity 5914. Since I have successfully made it before, I'm hoping for a happy wearable ending.

Trip to Baltimore

We normally take a big summer trip to Disney World every summer. This year we are planning to take a couple short weekend trips. This weekend we went to Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore is only about an hour and 15 minutes from our house so at least the whining in the car was limited. Our first stop in Baltimore was Ft. McHenry.

This is the place where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the poem that became our national anthem after seeing the flag still flying over Ft. McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in September of 1814.

A park ranger brought out a replica of the flag. The original flag is in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Here are Bonnie, Bill and Carl helping to unfold it.

Here is Carl on the ramparts.


Here is Bonnie playing Mary Young Pickersgill during a children's program at the Fort. Mrs. Pickersgill is the seamstress who sewed the Star Spangled Banner that flew over Ft. McHenry. (Thank God for the seamstresses of history!)

After Ft. McHenry, we checked into the Embassy Suites. We are big fans of this hotel chain because they have suites and free breakfast. If you have more than 2 children, it is difficult to fit in a standard size hotel room. The kids played in the pool for around 3 hours.

While Bill and the boys watched the soccer (futbol) game, Bonnie and I slipped out to find a fabric store. I used the GPS to find A Fabric Place.

This fabric store has beautiful fabrics - lots of wool, silks and linens. It is a bit of jumbled mess - but well worth the trip. When I was first looking around, the prices on the rolls were very high, everything was in the $30 - $40 range. I was about to walk out when I asked a manager (Michael) if he had any specials or anything on sale. He told me to show him what I liked and he would give me a good deal on anything. I picked out fabrics and he give me each for $14/yd, which seemed quite reasonable for the quality. It pays to ask questions at family owned fabric stores.

I got the following:

Airy black knit with floral embroidery

Deep berry colored wool suiting with chevron pattern

Berry and off white floral silk charmeuse - very very yummy!

On Sunday, we took the kids to the National Aquarium in the Inner Harbor. Here is a picture of the kids in the rainforest exhibit spying a bird.

If you are going to the aquarium, get there early. We got there when it opened at 9:00. The crowds were reasonable until about noon. About noon, it was too crowed to be enjoyable.

Another 2369

I finished another Simplicity 2369. I previously made a teal version. This is the miracle pattern that didn't need any alterations.

I love this fabric! The fabric is from Michael Levine's in the LA Fashion District. I think it cost about 2.99 a yard so it is a $6 top. It is a poly knit with a paisley pattern that is accented with gold paint. It definitely has a fall vibe to it, but it is very lightweight so I think I can wear it for summer.

For this version of 2369, I added an inch to the sleeve length and added cuffs. The pattern includes cuffs, but I was too lazy to find them amid all the uncut pattern pieces, so I just measured two cuffs and sewed them up.

Everything is serged. I finished the hems with my coverstitch. I am getting better at the coverstitch and much faster at the re-threading of the machine. The only problem I have with the coverstitch is sewing over side seams. The bulk (even though I trimmed it down) makes it hard for me to control the straight line. Any suggestions? Maybe loosening the tension?

The skirt I am wearing is from Lord and Taylor.

I flipped the facing up again. I like the clean line it makes.

I Have a Good excuse

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I do have a good excuse. VACATION! Yaaaa!

We took a great vacation this month to Sandusky, Ohio. We have driven there on the way to visit relatives in Detroit, but we have never stopped. We spent a day on Lake Erie with the kids and friends. We got to ride wave runners - very very fun! Here is Bill and I going FAST!

The kids were deliriously happy.

They all want to move to Ohio.

After Lake Erie, we went to Cedar Point. Cedar Point is the "roller coaster capital of the world". Once again, the children were unbelievably happy. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures. Cedar Point is HUGE. There is absolutely something for everyone. Gus wants the biggest and fastest. I went with him on at least 7 or 8 roller coasters (I think my ability to do this is quickly coming to an end...) including the Dragster which shoots you out at 120 mph. It was something!

Carl wants a medium roller coaster and Bonnie is still happy on the kiddie rides. Lots of juggling, but a good time was had by all....

It's a Miracle

I believe this is the first time EVER that I have been able to make an article of clothing for myself straight out of the envelope with NO modifications for fit. I cut out the the pattern, basted the seams and tried it on. I used $2.97 fabric from G Street , so if it didn't fit, I wasn't going to be traumatized. It fit! Shocking. Truly shocking.

I used Simplicity 2369.

The only thing I changed was to press up the neck binding instead of pressing it down and top stitching. I liked how clean the finish looked. When I make the top again, I will cut down the neck edge a 1/2 -1 inch. I think I will also shorten the hem by another inch.

I serged everything except sewing down the ties to the front bodice overlay. The hems were all sewn with coverstitch. I'm starting to get faster at changing the machine from overlock to coverstitch.

The fabric is a teal cotton lycra knit with a shimmer surface heat bonded to the right side (I think?). It's pretty cool fabric.

I really like this pattern. Unfortunately, my guess is that if it fits me perfectly, it will fit no one else in the universe.

Oh the Humanity!!!

Oh, Burda, you morons. The English Burda Fashion site (the magazine) is now being directed to the Burda Style site and the English Burda Fashion site has been REMOVED. I would understand this action if the two sites were COMBINED, but that is apparently not the case.

I first read about this on Celie's blog. The impact of it didn't quite sink in until I got Burda Style's email notice today. Apparently Burda thinks the removal of the Burda Fashion site is a good thing. Maybe they figured if they talk it up we might not notice that the archives are gone.

I hope Burda realizes that the archives and excitement of perusing the upcoming magazine is part of the allure of the Burda mag! This appears to be the case for many of the sewing bloggers who regularly pick their favorites every month.

The discussion thread on the redirecting was 100% negative. Burda's response :

"We definitely understand your concerns. In the upcoming months, we are going to migrate some of the content from burda fashion to BurdaStyle. This will include many of your favorite burda patterns and how tos."

Notice there is no mention of the ARCHIVES. I have sent an email to Burda directly asking when we will have access to the archives again. I'll share with you if I get a straight response.

So far it looks like you can still access the Russian archives and German archives, though the German site is really flaky. Looks like I'm going to have to learn Cyrillic...

UPDATE: You can still get to the English archives here. Not sure it they are going to maintain this site or not.

Oh Lordy... I hope this is not the beginning of the end of the English Burda mag. It doesn't look good....

Trumpet Skirt

I've finally finished something. It's not horribly exciting, but it is wearable. I made a simple trumpet skirt.



The blouse in the photo is one of my favorites. It is from Macy's. I tried it on and had to have it. It is rare I find something that fits perfectly. I bought it on the spot, even though it wasn't on sale.

The pattern is Simplicity 5914. The only change I made to the pattern was to take in around 1/3 inch between the hip and top of each flounce. It was baggy instead of swishy without this alteration (how is that for technical terminology?).



The fabric is black rayon with fine white polka dots. I'm pretty sure I bought it from Fashion Fabrics Club at least 7 years ago. I must have 8 yards of this fabric - maybe I'll make some pants.

I stabilized the waist with clear elastic that I slightly stretched as I sewed. I also installed an invisible zipper.

I lined it in pink poly lining.

And...on a totally different topic, here is your glamour parting shot. The boy scouts had an overnight camping trip. Bill's idea of roughing it is a Motel 8, so I was the responsible adult. This is me and the boys after a 3 mile hike (uphill both ways...) on the Appalachian trail. Thankfully, I was able to keep up and didn't embarrass myself or the boys.