May
30
Things you learn when your husband takes pictures for reviews!
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A review for you today. And then one for you tomorrw. I wouldn’t want you to fall over in shock because I actually got around to reviewing something in a timely fashion!
First of all, I am standing up and stating-
“I have sloping shoulders”!! Really sloping shoulders. Okay, I’ll admit that I knew that before, but I never really saw the effect for myself until I saw the pictures on the reviews to follow. On the Jacket especially, you can see that the yoke line is not horizantal. Yuck. I will have to put some shoulder pads in, to see what that does. Both outfits look really good on “She, the dressform”. But then “she” has shoulders. Damm oh darn it! I could just cart her around so that I can say, “The clothes do look good on something!”
The first review is for the ever popular Butterick 4985.
Pattern Description: Top with gathered upper front. Lower section has princess seams, sleeve and collar variations. View B- which I made- has a gathered sleeve with a band and collar with a collar band.
Pattern Sizing: Multisized. 6-12, 14-20. I made the 12 with alterations
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, it did. I wasn’t sure if the fabric was too busy for the design, but it worked well.
Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes they were. It’s a blouse.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked the shaping. When puffed sleeves came back into vogue, I was not quick to jump on the band wagon. I am (*cough* *cough*) of an age you know! But, having decidedly sloping shoulders (oh- you noticed?!), I thought that anything to add width to that area would be a good thing. As well, the gathered bustal (hey new word!) area is enhanced by the slight gathering, and the panels give the illusion of a waist.
There you go - three factors to make this a winner!
Fabric Used: Some pretty cotton that I spied at Fabricland. It caught my eye!
Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I made a muslin first, and figured out that I needed a titch more room in the bustal (there’s that word again!) area, and I knew that I would have to give my hips breathing room. Although thinking back, if I don’t let them breath, maybe they will go away! I hauled (sidebar here- I just heard a Baltimore Oriole sing- so pretty!) um- oh yes. I hauled out Fit for Real People, and graded up a bit. Other than that, there were no design changes.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? This is a nice, staple pattern that will fit nicely in my stash of “tried and trues”. I would like to make it in a crisp white poplin, or eyelet. Get out your bike (well gas is expensive!) and pedal on down to your local/area pattern selling store and get one!
Conclusion: It’s a keeper!
Tonight I’m going to see my “other” guy! Don’t worry though, I’m taking my vintage guy too! We are going to see the new “Indiana Jones” movie. If I am mooning and swooning tomorrow it’s Harrison’s fault!
May
28
Fabric, patterns and fun. Whoo hoo!
Filed Under Jalie, Rucci dress, Uncategorized, fabric, sewing | 4 Comments
Yippee!
Friday I recieved my big box of GorgeousFabrics and this morning Mr Postman brought me my new Jalie patterns. Yup, 8 of them! Let me see if I can remember them off the top of my head. The three new ones- Tee, gathered tee, and empire tee- the sweatheart top that everyone at PR raves about, boxer shorts, undies, the longer coat, and, um um, um….oh yes- the multi sport skort ( I want to see if I can modify it for a cycling skirt).
There. That should keep me busy for a while.
Last night I was trying to decide what my next project should be.
I pulled out the Vogue Rucci dress pattern and thought that a muslin was in order. I HATE MUSLINS! Yes, I know that they are neccessary, but they seem to be so much of a time waster. Anyhow, I am slapping this baby together, and so far so good. All the basics are there- notches match, size looks good, yada yada. I haven’t gotten to fitting yet, and today is full to the brim with customers, pigs, golf, a ball game and a meeting, so sewing will have to wait. (it works trust me.)
The pigs have been dealt with and are all smoking cigarettes as I type, the customers are next. Um that looks wrong. What I mean is I am seeing customers next. No cigararettes involved! Golf is at 3:30- just 9 holes. The baseball game is at 7pm and the meeting is at 8:30. See-it is possible!
Today’s Postscript…
I looked out my back window yesterday afternoon and saw….. THIS!
Gosh, I even knew we were applying “natural, environmentally friendly” fertilizer too! We always drop a letter to our neighbours when we spread -I just forgot about myself. I should NOT have hung that laundry out!
May
27
Before you read today’s post- (this is to explain the first two, strange comments that are way too funny to delete- so read those comments before you read the rest of the post ’cause they are sooo indicitive of daughters the world over!) I am fairly much of a blogging neopyte idiot. That is, I embrace technology, but HTML is not my first language… or my second… or even in the top ten! So in this post, I had a few technical difficulties. But I learned new things too. Like a carriage return is not just “enter” it is “shift enter”. Like I can load pictures right from my computer, and not have to should not go through Picasa. I am getting smarter every day. See, you can teach an old dog new tricks!
Now on to our regularly unscheduled programming….
Niagara on the Lake was gorgeous. The weather was perfect, the cycling wonderful, the company couldn’t be beat - superlatives all the way around!
We cycled about 60km the first day and 40km the second. The roads in the Niagara region are good for bicycles and not too horribly busy - except for some “woah, that’s a busy highway” moments!
Cycling took us through wine growing county..
And along the Welland Canal…
…where we were lucky enough to see 2 ships pass through Lock # 3. See the ship entering the canal?
In the first photo it is about 30 feet lower then in the second.
The whole process of the ship entering the lock, the raising(or lowering) of the water level, and the ship leaving the lock, takes only about 10 minutes!
And we visited a couple of wineries - of course. And what do you do at a winery- you sample the various vintages of course. Just remember not to sample so much that you have to weave your way back along the bike paths!
Niagara on the Lake was crazy busy. We didn’t see any shows at The Shaw Festival- we have seen sooo many plays and orchestra productions in the last month, that we were content to laze around in the evening. Oh yes, I promised to show you the Floral Clock. Since 1950, I’ll bet 92 million people have had that exact picture taken of them!
When we got home, it was time to say a sad farewell to Leah- Bontje Baby # 4. She is off for a year or so of post-university adventure in Calgary. We had a few going away parties. I won’t bore you with all the details- suffice it to say that a lot of memories were shares, baseball played and entire herds of cattle were sacrificed so that we could feast on steak and burgers. The first photo is of all our baby girls and their respective men.
My God that is a disgusting amount of offspring! It honestly doesn’t feel like that many in person! Don’t we have a lot to be proud of though?!! And one last shot of the girls and their mommy.
My Mike had a Council meeting so missed the photo ops here.
So which one is Leah you ask? THIS ONE! with her boyfiend (whoops was that a slip or did I really mean FIEND and not BoyFRIEND!) Nah - we love him dearly, and we will definitely miss them both.
By the way- Lindsay T wanted to be on the list of “Connie wants to fabric shop and have coffee with you” Sorry Lindsay, but any trip that includes My Mike will not include New York City! Here is the story- A few years ago while driving home from a vacation through the Mid-western States, The family was discussing what the next vacation would include. The girls all wanted to go to New York City, and I quized them.
“What do you want to do when you get to NewYork City?”, I asked.
The answers poured out…
“see the Statue of Liberty”
“go to the MET”
“Ride the Subway”
“see Central Park”
Mike’s answer?…….
“What do I want to do when I get to New York City? GO HOME!” We decided that when the family goes to NYC- Mike won’t be invited! But Lindsay - I will meet you for coffee anytime!
May
22
A teeny little holiday.
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My Mike wants to get away for a couple of days. We have been so busy around the farm with building, planting crops and jobs, that we haven’t been away from home together for quite a while. We were throwing around ideas- mine were- Montreal (fabric shopping and maybe meet Rhonda for coffee), Philadelphia (fabric shopping and maybe see Karen for coffee) Baltimore (and maybe see Cidell for coffee) Boston (fabric shopping and maybe meet Ann for coffee), Washington (fabric shopping and I’m sure someone I “know” in my sewing world lives there and we can meet for coffee) See a trend there? The sweet thing is that My Mike would have gone along with it- “Yeah, I can always stand outside and watch the scenery“.
Sadly, all of those places are farther away than the less than 4 hours we wanted to travel this time. We decided on Niagara on the Lake in Ontario and will do mega cycling, wine tasting, and some hiking on the Bruce Trail (A friend and I want to hike the entire length of it- not in one stretch as it is 845km!) The most I have actually hiked is 100 kilometres in 5 days. That was some extremely rough terrain. I was with my husband and a friend of ours. Later someone told me that they asked our friend what they should bring along if they were to attempt that hike, and he said “Connie, definately Connie”! Aw what a swell guy- I realize that he meant that my Type A personaltiy pushed us along.
Sadly there will be no sewing involved. The best I can do is bring along my Jalie Jacket, finish the handsewing and get My Mike to take some photos- something he does grudgingly. That and sew some new buttons on a shirt that “sneaky girl Erica”s fiance asked me to replace if I got a chance. Oh by the way- the jacket looks stellar! You can see it soon.
Tomorrow I will show you how beautiful springtime in Ontario is. Think flowers, vineyards and (if you are lucky), a floral clock!
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Are You on the List?
