Sunday, April 24, 2011

What is it that i'm doing...?

Oh, yeah, procrastinating. That's it!

Years and years ago, my mother gave me a bathrobe for Christmas.  Well, the robe is starting to rapidly deteriorate.  There is almost nothing left holding the left shoulder seams together on the current robe i'm using.  I NEED a new one.  About 4 months ago I bought the Jalie robe pattern.  I made DD her robe and thought that I would knock one out for me.  Well, apparently it didn't happen that way because I still need a robe.   

I now realize that I hate utilility sewing.  I could probably sew this up, from trace, serge to finsh in about 2 to 3 hours.  Clearly i'm waiting on an invitation! lol  I WILL get to this tonight!

...Or tomorrow.

Also, don't forget about the PatternReview two week challenge.  I'm the manager for this one, and I would love to have you.  This time around the challenge is aprons.  Join us and have fun!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

What is so hard about shipping?...

...And why do some places get a free pass?

Some of you may remember a few months ago me bitching that it was taking forever to get patterns that I ordered from SewingPatterns.com.  This seems to be a common isssue with them and the whole world seems to know it.  No one is suprised when someone makes a "where are my patterns?" thread on PR when it somes to SewingPatterns.com.

Well, now i'm having a simular issue with everyones beloved HotPatterns.  Last month I ordered a pattern from their Esty site.  Three emails later, i'm still waiting for the pattern. You know, just by reading their feedback and from some of the threads on PR, this seems to be an issue with HP too.  Why is it ok for HP to be all slow to ship, but not for SP.com?  I understand that the owners of HP seem to be really nice people, but is that a good enough excuse for shitty customer service?  And yes, I consider a month to mail goods shitty customer service.

I have only made one HP pattern (I have 5 of 6 in the stash) but I know that it took a while to get that pattern.  And when I finally did get it, it was drafted poorly (another gripe for another post).  I know i'm not the only one to ever have this issue with them.  But yet they seem to get away with it. I don't get it, why is it ok for HP, but not for SP.com.  And let's be realistic, if Fabric.com took longer than 4 days to ship, we would be all over that too.  So, why so much love for HP?

Friday, April 15, 2011

FNSI

Friday Night Sew In Sign-Up

The FNSI is tonight.  I'm not sure how much i'll get done because the in-laws should be in from Michigan.  But I have a skirt half done that I might be able to finish.  Wish me luck!  And enjoy your project!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The vintage pattern contest

So, as most of you probably already know, Pattern Review is having a vintage contest in May.  I have decided that i'm going to join in on this one, and I might actually make an attempt to win this time.  I have a few lovely patterns picked out, but I can't really decide for sure which one to use.

First up, and so far, my first choice is Anne Adams 1625.  The fabric I chose to go with it is from FashionistaFabrics.com.


















My other three choices are:

Mail order 2684:


















Mail Order 2827: Honestly, I just love this design. BUt like I said, I might be actually making an effort to win this thing, and I don't think this design has what it takes.



















Mail Order 4792:  Another of my favorites, and I HAD the perfect fabric picked out for, but some sneeky ass stole it from me!! (It was listed on Etsy for like 15 hours.  Nothing ever sells on Esty in 15 hours!)



















So, there are my choices.  There is a poll over there to the right.  If you have an opinion, go ahead and vote!

Monday, April 4, 2011

My Image M1106 Dress

Uh, yeah.  So I decided that I want to make M1106 from the spring/summer issue of My Image magazine. 

It's not really clear weither this design is made for knits or wovens, so I went ahead and made it in a woven.  Here are my observations: 

  • *I* need to go up a size (or even two).  This could be due to the fact that i'm slightly delusional about what size I am to begin with. 
  • Make a facing for the neckline cutout.  There is no way you're going to get a narrow hem in there.
  • This dress is short.  I added 3 inches to the dress in the picture, and I didn't hem this version -- so, we're talking mini skirt here. 
  • If you made this in a knit, you could probably get away with out the zipper.
  • My Image instructions suck. 
Needless to say that even with the few problems I had, I think i'm going to try this again.  Either in a bigger size, or in a knit.  I bet this would be really cute if it wasn't so snug.