Classes - Winter 2013

I knew that I would have to step up my blogging if I was to make up for lost time, but somehow a post a day to bring you up to the present just isn't happening.  How about highlights over the next few posts?  I'll skip the boring stuff - does anyone really need to see each and every pair of boxers that I send off to my son?  (I even forgot to take pictures of the last two pairs.)  So we'll back up to January's marathon of sewing when class samples were made in two weeks flat.  I really wracked my brain to come up with projects that would interest people, and here's what I came up with.

My "Sewaholic display".  The ever popular Minoru jacket, which I made in denim.  The fabric was a tad heavy, but it all worked out.  It was interesting to see the variety of fabrics that my students chose for their jackets - from a very plain khaki (with a rather wild lining) to a spectacular floral.  Makes me wish that I had picked something a little more "wow".  Under the jacket is the Renfrew top, which was one of the choices for the t-shirts class.  ( I absolutely love that cowl neck!)  The skirt is the Hollyburn.  I lengthened it a bit, because I'm the one who's going to wear it once it comes home.

I was attempting some sort of co-ordinated look for the display, and I was asked to showcase at least some fabrics from the store, hence the excuse to finally use the batiks that I'd been drooling over for a while.  One note about the skirt...  the large-scale print was not a smart choice.  I attempted to line up the designs, across the skirt, but batiks are not a "perfect" print, and it turned out to be a rather daunting task.  Several months later, now, it doesn't seem to bother me anymore that the placements aren't so perfect.  Batik is batik.

The back view - just because.
On to my "Pamela's Patterns" display.

This mannequin is extremely tall, and it really bothers me that the outfit is all out of proportion, but - what can I do?  There's the Perfect T-shirt, the Bias skirt (in purple, for my daughter) and the Draped Cardigan.  I used ponte knits for the cardigan and the t-shirt (and for the Renfrew, for that matter).  I know that everyone is raving about this fabric, and though it was easy enough to sew, I haven't had a chance to wear these yet, so I still don't have an opinion.  I did choose ponte that had rayon in it.  It seemed softer to the touch than the polyester.  Can't wait to bring these things home so that I can actually wear them!  And I guess that would mean that other samples would have to be put in the store .. so guess what I'm sewing at the moment!
I'll call it quits for tonight, and I'll show you more later.