July 31

I got a good bit of work done on basting together the blazer for my brother. The reason for hand-basting it together before stitching is so that if you have to adjust anything when you do the first fitting, there aren't any creases or holes left from the sewing machine.

You can finally see what it is going to look like!

I mentioned in one of my earliest posts that I will not have internet access for these next two weeks, so I am going to officially call this my last day of summer posting. However, I want to keep updating on these particular projects that aren't yet finished, so I will be doing so periodically until they are done!

With that, adieu and bonne journée!

July 30

July 29

The project of the day was to lay out and cut my black cocktail dress.

First, I finished altering the pattern. I then pinned it out on the fabric, chalk marked around it, and cut out the pieces. The finished product is going to look much like Audrey Hepburn's dress in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

July 28

I did some more serious work on the blazer today. The first picture is of the pattern after it has been fully altered to fit Jeremiah and look the way we want it to.

A close-up of the fabric. The pattern is actually a really tiny houndstooth print!

A less close-up view.

July 27

I started work on a tailored blazer for my brother. It is going to look somewhat like this:

Today I worked on adjusting the pattern to his measurements. Hopefully tomorrow I can lay it out for cutting!

July 26

yeeeah, I did it again. I forgot to post what I did yesterday. So, here it is:

This is the detail on the side:

It will basically be a really simple, muslin tunic gathered around the neckline and with a sash around the waist.

July 25

Today made my first pattern at work! For those of you who don't know, I work for a small company making custom covers for kiosks, carts, etc. when they are not in use. I didn't mess up on the pattern, so I felt pretty good about it :)

I was going to do some more interesting stuff once I got home, but I've been so tired I decided to just forget it.

July 24

Today I made another bound buttonhole. I'm getting better at it! This one is not ironed yet, but I tried to pull it taught so it looks right.

July 23

This post is also a day late because, again, I was house-sitting and forgot to blog before I went over there.

I managed to finish my African skirt! Pictures to come soon :)

July 22

The African skirt is almost done! Today I added a grosgrain ribbon to the inside of the waistband to reinforce it.

(This is posted a day late because I was house sitting last night and didn't have internet. I did this yesterday though, I swear! ;) )

July 21

A dress idea:

July 20

Today I worked more on my rolled hem skills. The detail is too small to see in a picture, so that's why I have not included one in this post! It is still difficult to really make the hem look good, but I think I am getting better at it.

July 19

More work on my African skirt today. It's almost finished!

This is the inside, where you can see the serged finish on all the seams (that took forever!) and the zipper.

This is the outside of the zipper. You can't even see it at all, and I got it perfect on the first try! Hallelujah! It used to take me about 10 tries to get it right, but after learning the Swiss way, it is so much easier. :)

Pleats in the center back.

July 18

July 17

I spent the evening with some wonderful people, and together we made spaghetti and truffles for dessert. My part in the process was to chop the mushrooms for the sauce, and then some fresh mint for the truffles. It was all quite delicious, and if Italian food wasn't my favorite before, it is now!

Friends, Italian food, wine, chocolate, and scrabble all make for a very enchanting summer night.

July 16

One of the projects that Clara gave me to work on is bound buttonholes. I still need to perfect the skill, but I already like how nice and clean it looks!

July 15

Today I finished altering my friend's dress. In time for the wedding, too!

July 14

A friend bought a dress that was too big for her, and she asked me to tailor it for her. She wants to wear it to a wedding on Sunday, so I went ahead and got to work on it today!

July 13

I found some cool antique keys somewhere in Kansas, and decided to make a few necklaces with them. The rest of the materials are muslin scraps, chain, and pearls.

July 11

Today I took scissors to a pair of jeans. I now have shorts. (And they actually fit me! I know right, unheard of. And they are long enough to pass the dress code for Summit)

Before:

After:

July 10

This was so interesting. It was a warm day out, but it looked like the sprinklers had been stuck on for a while (probably over night), so just this one branch on the tree was coated with ice.

July 9

Today I made a cherry pie, using small sour cherries from Turkey. This is all that's left of it, as we ate most of it while we watched the finale episodes of Twin Peaks (appropriate, no?)

July 8

Before:

After:

In this picture, it just looks kind of like dirty nail polish. But let me tell you, it is awesome. I used alcohol and newspaper to put newsprint words on over my nail polish.

It looks very similar to this:

July 7

I worked a little more on the African skirt this evening. So far I am just basting it together for the fitting.

My basting stitches up close: (very blurry)

A little bit of an idea of what it will look like:

July 6

Well, I made some cookies with a friend. They were pecan, oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, and they were delicious. And we ate them all before I could take a picture.

There's still some batter in the fridge though, so maybe I'll take a picture of the next batch for you all..

July 5

One of the projects I have been working on with Clara (my sewing instructor) is this A-line skirt with a yoke in front and pleats in the center. Today I did a little work on stitching it together after the basting and cutting out facing pieces.

The front:

The back:

And this is my topstitching sample. I am still deciding which one to use on this skirt. (I had a hard time getting the camera to focus on that small of an area, but hopefully you can see something)

It looks much better on a person and in better lighting, I swear! haha!

July 4

Working on Inspiration

First of all, yes I did skip yesterday. I mostly just forgot, as all of our 4th of July celebrations took place yesterday! But, to make up for it a little bit, I am going to do 2 posts today.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do for this project. A good friend bought me this beautiful fabric at a store in Denver called The Fancy Tiger

And then I decided to go in and find some other fabric that would compliment it:

And I figured that a good base fabric would be muslin or linen, so now I have all the fabrics I need... just not a solid vision for what to do with them.

I always like sundresses, so my original idea was a knee-length dress with a sweetheart neckline, and ruffles of the two accent fabrics along the neckline. And also pockets in the two accents. Something kind of like this:

If you happen to have any ideas, I would love to hear them!

July 2

Last summer, my sister brought me some fabric back from Niger. There is a lot of it, and it is not a print that I would usually wear, but with all the long skirts in exotic prints coming back for summer, I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

This is my workspace where I laid out the pattern today:

You can faintly see the lines where I chalked the pattern onto the fabric.

July 1

Earlier today I was just happily making a pie, thinking about how I still needed to do something for my blog today, when my subconscious went "Rebecca, you're making a pie." (very sarcastically) and I went, "I know! It's going to be delicious! ...oh. Oh yeah. Cool."

So today I made a pie. A Missouri buttermilk pie, to be exact.

This is the batter:

The recipe:

The pie.

And the hummus I ate while I was making it: