Um, what have I been sewing?

I will post pics of the two shirts I've been sewing. I haven't sewn in a long long time.
This stitch lounge lets me have the room to sew and not have to put everything away. Plus it's the best idea I've ever had.

The first thing I sewed was a deceptively simple blouse in a slinky knit. And I have never sewn with knits. The blouse looks great, but the front wrap neckline was stretched a tiny bit while sewing on the facing, so it rolls forward and thankfully it's not easily noticeable. I re-learned that stretched synthetic fabric can't be steamed back down to shape.

The next blouse started out Easy but I upgraded it to Advanced. I chose a hot pink rayon. I replaced the darts with gathers. I kept the lining but replaced the front piece with sheer silk organza with woven patterns. Re-learned lesson: Delicate fabrics require stabilizer. I used Scotch tape. It's a real pain to remove itty bitty bits of scotch tape from under a seam line.

In sewing silk organza with a woven in pattern, if you press the seam over, the woven-in thread sticks out as if it were frayed or cut off at the edge. So I added bias bindings for the neck, back, and under the arms. I used a rotary knife and cutting board/straight edge to make the quickest most accurate bias bindings ever. Did I mention that the hot pink rayon shows hand stitches unless I only pick up a single thread? I'll be hand rolling the edges for the flouncy shoulder-attached sleeves, no bias bindings, I ran out of fabric. The blouse is cut on the bias so it will probably hang slimmer on me than the tissue pattern and measurements indicated. Are we laughing yet?

I thought I would jump into the deep end of the pool and come out looking good.
Big Lesson re-learned: Sewing requires fit and construction techniques, and knowing your fabric.

Play the Building, win valuable prizes

My husband's brother played at David Byrne's 'Play the Building' today.
Link here to visit his website. Very nice.

Flying Monkeys

The Flying Monkey is a vastly interesting oasis in this desert called the Tennessee Valley.
There are many types of activities sponsored here:
Film seminars, competitions and screenings by the Filmmaker's Co-op.
Absurdist burlesque written and performed by the Posey Peep Show
Incredible music from Crash Boom Bang Theater
Open mike poetry reading nights, aptly named Monkeyspeak
And excellent food at Tina's Cantina
Apparently, we have it all.

Sewing Sites

I like free patterns on line.

Here's a pretty scarf at Husqvarna Viking in their Sewing Room site. And I've never before considered sewing with fiberglass window screen, and certainly never pondered making a food cover with it. Very impressive, and a must-have for the back-yard socialite.
Burdastyle's Danielle dress looks great. Their 'open source' sewing model is refreshing. Burda actually wants to see your version of their patterns. Anyone can upload their fashion pics of a completed Burda pattern to this site.
The plush bird pattern from Spool is really cute and easy.

How do we do it? Volume...

Sew Brilliant is in an artists' co-op. At this time we only accept donations. You put in the jar what you believe is fair. In return, we offer the promise of perky craft projects and some company. The money is used to replenish supplies and service the machines.

Pics as promised

Lots of pics here: Sew Brilliant Flickr stream
And more pics here: Flying Monkey Flickr stream


This banner was designed by my wonderful step-son. I wish we had better names for family relationships.

Wait for it

I meant to post the new pics, but the camera's been eaten by the Lounge! So I'll post the new pics as soon as I dig it out from under those scraps I've been playing with...