ISO UFOs

Wow, it's been almost two months since I've posted. It seems like the blink of an eye, and also an eternity. Two months ago, our house has just gone on the market and the summer stretched out ahead of us. Today, the For Sale sign is gone, and our uncertain futures are stretching out in front of us.

It's been quite a summer. To give you some idea of what it's been like, I started this post two weeks ago.

You'd think with all of this I'd need a diversion and would maybe have been sewing and posting, right? Well, apparently sewing takes way more brain power than I have right now, because the few things I have tried to put together haven't gone so well.

I made shorts from Burda 06-2011-111. I had found what I thought was a super cute linen-blend with wild zebra print all over it. Perfect for a mini skirt or a pair of shorts, so I thought I'd have a go of the shorts pattern. YUCK. The pattern is fine, but I decided to include the front pleats, which I hated. The fabric's weave was too loose for clothing and too stiff for pleats. The combination was a colossal fail.

Then I fell in love with Amy Butler's new Soul Blossoms rayon prints, and ordered this pink border print from Fabric.com. I cut it out in Burda 07-2011-101. No big deal, right? Simple dress. Except that I somehow managed to cut the front and back all wrong, leaving my front six inches longer than the back and forcing me to cut the border print off!
Anyway, the moral of the story is I am not quite yet emotionally ready to sew again. So instead I've set about finishing some unfinished objects, with mixed results. So far I've managed to take off the uninterfaced waistband on these trouser jeans, interface it, and re-attach it. I still haven't hemmed them.

Thanks for your patience. I'll be back soon, hopefully with the Soul Blossoms rayon dress to show for my absence. **crossing fingers**

Does wishing count?

I'm not sewing right now. My recent trip to Vogue Fabrics was a bit of a bust. I was in such a mood, I only walked out with one piece of silk fabric to make the Vena Cava shift dress from Vogue.

For whatever reason, I struggled through the construction of that very simple dress. At one point in trimming seam allowances for the French seam, I cut into the body fabric. At every turn, my own mojo (or lack of) was pushing against me. Finally, I set it down and walked away.

See, we're going to be listing our house for sale in a week or two, and I kind of think this was God's way of telling me "Heather, you're supposed to be staging and de-cluttering, not sewing." Ok, ok.

So de-cluttering it is! No more new messes, cleaning up the old ones. I have a basket full of fabrics and patterns I need to give away. If I get organized enough, I'll just post them here for the takers. If not, I'll have to drop them at a Goodwill. Can't keep everything!

But you know what's a silver lining in all this lack-of-creativity? I was working in the sewing room yesterday, de-cluttering, organizing, packing things away into Rubbermaid containers. I stopped to lose myself in my back issues of Burda magazine, and there it was! While I can't sew for the next month or so, what I can do is trace patterns.

All of the designs that I hated when they came out? Now I love them! I must be about a year behind the Burda designers. What I thought was weird last summer I think is genius this summer.

So my roll of Swedish tracing paper is at the ready, as is my newly purchased tracing wheel (apparently my three-year-old's favorite tool of mom's to lose is the tracing wheel). Hopefully by the time my mojo returns and my domestic situation settles, I'll have all sorts of patterns to choose from. Wish me luck.

By the way, does anyone need a box full of silk scraps from old kimonos? They'd make an awesome obi belt. Email me.

Finland vs. Germany

I got home from a weeklong meeting in Nashville to find the Spring/Summer women's edition of Ottobre, as well as the March issue of Burda Style. I loved them both!

On the Burda front, once again, I loved the designs but can't see myself making anything from this issue.

Ottobre, on the other hand, has at least three designs I could see making up right away.

I'm taking my sons to Florida in April and at the very end of the magazine is a perfect tankini pattern! Ruching on the sides, halter top and bikini bottom. I have lots of swimwear fabric down in a Rubbermaid container, just waiting to be made up. I see this in a splashy orange and white polka dot! If I was bold, which I am not, I might even making the bottoms out of white lycra. Eek.


I also absolutely LOVE this cardi pattern. I plan to immediately make it up for myself, and one for my mom who is hosting us in April (lucky ducks are snowbirds). Even though Florida is warm, she and I are always cold in restaurants, and so my mom is smart and keeps a cardigan in her car at all times. I think this would be a lovely car cardi, probably shortened to hip level.


Last but not least, this cropped pants pattern caught my eye for some reason. Both the illustration and the photos make it appear to have a very current fit, which is sometimes hard to find in pants patterns. I'll give it a go and report back.


If I can get two or three things made up by the first week of April I'll be thrilled. My work schedule for March is already scaring me!

Burda Style trumps Spring Top Week

I got the April 2010 edition of Burda Style in the mail today. For some odd reason, most of the designs didn't really speak to me, with one gigantic exception.



Skirt 125 is to. die. for. The flounce! The bow! I love it. Love love love. So I think I'll probably lay the crazy tops aside after I finish this latest Japanese bias trim tank, and instead turn my attention to a lovely silk pencil skirt for work.


Have you gotten the April edition yet? Is there anything you think you're going to make? Honestly, March's issue had two or three designs that are on my list for spring/summer sewing.



With this one I can only foresee this skirt living with me, but maybe not...sometimes it takes a while to grow on me.