Tuesday, May 27, 2014

I Forgot the Pockets!


It's the day after Memorial Day and I have finally wandered into the sewing room. I never once set foot in it over the weekend as I've been busy with gardening. But as you 50 or 60 somethings know you can't garden several days in a row and still be able to walk. So I'm taking a break today.

I've been wearing my new robe now for the past two weeks and it's been driving me crazy! Why? Because as the title of the post says, I forgot to add pockets to it. So I dug up the scraps of facing, some interfacing and lace, and made two pockets. They are 8 inches (20 cm) wide by 7 inches (18 cm) tall, with facings of 8 inches (20 cm) by 4 inches (10 cm) tall. I interfaced half the facing, so it won't wrinkle so much. My current winter robe does this as it also has patch pockets and I find it really annoying.


So there it is! Perfect for my Kindle. I kept trying to put the Kindle in the pocket when there wasn't one there and catching myself just in time to keep it from dropping to the floor. Now I'm all set.

OK, no more robe posts. This thing is done! Now on to my son's shirt, which has its own challenges.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Blue Gingham Robe is Finished!


When we last left the Blue Gingham Robe project, I was contemplating smocking the skirt where it meets the bodice. Unfortunately, the skirt just isn't full enough to be able to pull the smocking stitches even moderately tightly. This is how it looks, UGH! So out it went.


The completed robe! To make the bodice look just a bit more finished, I added some of the Swiss embroidery to it, by cutting off the batiste and topstitching right through the entredeux.


Love those buttons! They really aren't sewn on that wonky, they just twisted a bit when I buttoned the robe. I'm so glad this is finished with summer on the way.

Next up: a shirt for my son, and guess which color! Right you are, it will be blue. We are also starting a nightgown project in our SAGA chapter, and I want to figure out how to incorporate some of the blue gingham into it. I would also like to get the Celtic Hearts Blanket out, but the temps are in the high 90s all week and just the thought of handling wool makes me reach for the iced tea. This is our second heat wave already in May. I hope the rest of the summer won't be like this.