Simplicity 2508

 Simplicity 2508

This is a great coat pattern. The raglan sleeves and princess seams give it a flattering line. I made one in heavy cotton twill for my daughter last spring, and she has been wearing this, oh, only just about every time she goes out. The one pictured below in navy is mine, finished a few weeks ago. I love having a coat of this length. In Oregon, we don't really have a need for longer coats. They would just be cumbersome. For more info check my review.

Jacket version

Isabel likes to wear her jacket with everything!

Down Comforter Fix

Have you ever had a comforter that went flat in the middle, and wondered where all the feathers went? That's eventually what happens with the ones that have channels sewn in a way that allows the feathers to go whichever way they want to. The problem is, you will end up with all the feathers migrating to the four corners of the comforter. I decided to put an end to this, and sew those channels shut. First I had to hold on to each corner and shake (like crazy!) the majority of the feathers to the middle.

Then I started with each corner square and made sure each box was closed with stitching. I did the same down rows near the edge, and then moved to the next inside row. I allowed the outside rows to have access throughout the row, but not to the next row. I made sure most of the feathers were limited to the middle section. Took me over an hour to do this, but, Hooray! Sure beats buying a new down comforter! 

Sunday Afternoon Sewing

My sewing time this weekend consisted of a few hours this afternoon. Not enough time to finish anything, but I got a little done on a few things.  Below is some brown wool basket weave fabric from FabricMart.com, to make a coat for my older daughter. I used this same pattern to make her a jacket of cotton twill, which she wears all the time. But she will need a nice warm, dress coat for winter, so why not the same pattern. However, I will somehow have to find 18 buttons of the correct size (7/8"), similar to the one in the photo. Last time I did this I had to go to Hancock Fabrics three times and buy all they had of the right button because they only stock 6 of them at a time!  It just figures that of all the hundreds buttons in my stash, I found ONE that I would use with this coat.

While the wool was being pre washed, it's on to the next project, a flannel dress for my younger daughter. She asked for a warm winter dress, but is it close enough to Christmas that I can save it to put under the tree?

The pile of cut pieces

I would have found more garments to cut out but I was feeling my legs from yesterday's humongous workout. So I pulled out these pieces I am saving for a charity quilt, with a pirate theme, and soaked and ironed them to preshrink.  The squares were part of a layer cake, and the top two in blue skull design and bright green batik I found at Hancock's, for the back of the quilt. It doesn't look like a very pleasing color coordination to me, but I'm thinking that the kid who ends up with it will only be looking at pirate-themed prints of the fabrics.

Two Mini Cardi's

 So here is the pocket which hides the spot I melted with my iron! I probably didn't have to cut an extra piece as "ribbing". I could have just turned down the upper edge, since the pocket is interfaced. And, as you will see in the lower photos, the pocket should be shorter or the tie belt overlaps it when worn. Ah, well. I'm not going to worry about it.

The version in cotton knit, very comfortable!

And in the gold metallic knit, which by the way, should not be ironed! Let the seams do what they want...  I have NEVER melted anything else before! The metal threads get really hot, and melt the acrylic or whatever the other fiber is.  I used casual buttons so this can be worn as casual wear as well as to a party. A very unusual color, too. Out of my many, many thread colors I've acquired, nothing matched this fabric! What color is it? Not brown. Not red. Terracotta! 

Swimsuit, in December?

For some reason my 10-yr old daughter started browsing swimsuits on her iPod. (Yet another disadvantage to letting your kids have electronic devices!) She started getting more obsessed with these swimsuits and was emailing me photos of the ones she wanted. I pulled mom-rank and ruled that if she really had to have a two-piece, it should not expose her belly-button. For now, she is accepting that. Whew! We'll see about next year...

Anyway, this is one of the suits she liked, that I didn't have a strong negative reaction to (which she still cringes at.

I pulled out this old pattern from Stretch N Sew and told her I could modify this and that and... she looked at the pattern envelope and said she liked it AS IS! Except, could you add cups? She asked. Um, No. No.

Okay, great! So I used the smallest size on the version on the right. Made a muslin, which she thought was great, wanted me to finish it. (Ha!) By now, I know the difference between cheap swimsuit fabric and good swimsuit fabric, as in, Patagonia.

 Here it is! Doesn't she look happy?