I haven't been sewing since a big project finished about a month ago - I'm just burned out (will post photos at some point).
After a couple exhausting weekends of installing a new dishwasher because my 29 year-old mechanical stopped rinsing properly 😥, I was motivated enough to start reorganizating the rest of the kitchen. It's always a domino effect, and I'm still not finished, but I washed the curtain I made a million years ago and properly dusted/washed all the pitchers and decorations on the window shelves. (I even polished the formica tabletop!) So the window area was photo-worthy.
Back when made the curtain, I was smart and used velcro instead of a curtain rod. I put a male sticky-back strip on the top of the mini-blind housing and sewed a soft female strip of regular velcro onto the curtain. The curtain itself is all one piece gathered to that strip of velcro - easy to pull off and throw in the laundry (not that i overcome laziness and actually wash it regularly but whatever).
I got myself a couple houseplants to hopefully prevent us from junking out the useless window ledge that would make a nice seat if it were just 5 inches lower. The plant idea all started when I realized I had some ginger root on the counter that was trying to sprout, looked it up to see if I could grow it inside, and learned it likes bright indirect light - perfect for my east facing window. I made sure to research other plants that I could grow in an east facing window. The ginger has sprouted in its pot as of yesterday, so we'll see if I can keep things happy and alive for once.
Now that I've moved my instant pot to the shallow counter to the left of the table, I need to sew a cover for it because it's just too black and draws too much focus, which bugs me. I got a retro looking plastic table cloth I plan to use, which I temporarily folded and wrapped around to see if I liked it (I do!).
Anyway, that's what I've been up to. Anyone want a copy of an instant pot dust cover once I drape it and make it properly?
I spent the day priming things for paint and then I remembered to shoot a quick video. #SewingStudioBuild
I started cutting all the edges while Janet was away yesterday morning. When she got back after lunch, she pulled out a roller and started filling in. I'll put a pic below in the comments. #SewingStudioBuild
We broke for lunch and then came back with a portal ac unit plugged in to an extention cord from the house. Can't wait until they finished hooking up all the electrical and we have the mini split cooling the room for us - it was stupid humid today! #SewingStudioBuild
Why do you have to be so pretty, brocade? I love you, but you are so fussy to work with!
#derbydress
I made a rub-off dress... the only change I made was to increase the width of the waistband from 2" to 3", which I am more-or-less satisfied with. I'd do a few things, construction-wise, differently next time, but this is an easy, comfortable dress.
The original is from Talbots.
It’s been awhile since I’ve had something to show, but I’m finally getting the pictures up! Both of these were from the Paloma pattern in the Itch to Stitch “Sew Beautiful” book. I did the top first to test the pattern, and tried to add some length to the sleeves, since 3/4 length only works here about 3 to 4 days of the year! I apparently underestimated the length I needed to add, but I had to cut crosswise even to add this much, so I couldn’t have done more.
For the dress, I did add more sleeve length (slightly overestimated this time). I also added ties to the neck and pockets, though in retrospect, I probably should have put them in higher. Based on the shirt, I’d thought putting them in the top part would be too high. So I inserted them in the first ruffle layer and it is maybe a bit too low.
Overall, though, I think this was a worthwhile pattern to play with.
