New Slacks and New Shower Faucet!

October 28, 2016October 28, 2016 Sewtropolis2 Comments

This week I spent a LOT of time fixing up Athena! After our “storm” last week I discovered that moisture has been making its way into the trailer though a side hatch door. The storage area accessible by the hatch door is under one of the twin beds in the back Well, moisture had no where to go except up – into the mattress. (I discovered it looking for one of the dogs toys).

One of the renovations I’ve been wanting to do is pulling out one of the beds and adding in more storage – so that is what I did. I pulled that sucker right out of there and put in a portable closet so I have more room to hang my clothes and one of these days I’ll make it to Ikea or Target to see if I can find a dresser or some other storage unit that is tall enough (counter height) so I can cut out fabric. Right now if I want to cut out anything I either do it on the floor or go to the ‘TV room’.

Anyway, once I pulled everything out, I had enough energy left over to put in a new shower faucet. What a FIASCO!!!!! It took me forever to pull the old faucet out – I swear that thing was welded in! I ended up having to cut the plastic pipes and reassemble the whole thing with ‘up-to-date’ fixings. But, four hours and three trips to Home Depot later – I have a new shower faucet and shower head! BOOM!

So remember when I was telling you how I have been working on using up my fabric stash. Well, I had this knit fabric that was kinda heavy that I can’t remember what project I had in mind when I bought in. After weeks of thinking about it I decided to make slacks since I can always use work and weekend slacks. I used Kwik Sew pattern 3115 which I’ve made plenty of times before – so much so that I’ve already added length and widened the band. All I had to do was cut and sew.

Turns out that for years I thought this fabric was black when actually it’s a deep dark blue! Ha!! I normally wear either black or gray pants (minimalism technique) so adding blue gives me one more option – and it’s a deep enough blue that I won’t have to try and mix and match tops.

I am really happy with the way these slacks turned out. I widened the waist band so it sits a little higher on the waist… and work appropriate. I’m tempted now to find more of this fabric and make another pair… but I have so many OTHER projects I want to get to. More next week!!!

Nikol

Projects · RV Living

Sewing and Quilting up a Storm!

October 24, 2016 SewtropolisLeave a comment

This week I managed to make quite a few things – because it pretty much rained all week! Last Friday the weather reports for the weekend said to expect the worse storm in 50 years! So I went home and battened down all the hatches on Athena, rolled up the awning, made sure the propane tanks were filled… And then waited and hoped that the storm wouldn’t blow all these trailers over like dominoes!

While I waited I made a sleeveless tunic for work. I’ve been trying to use up fabric that I have had for YEARS including this black with white polka dots- almost sheer knit fabric. I had to buy a lining fabric to line it with, because it was just a little too sheer!

(Once again I ask for forgiveness with the pictures! I recently took up running again and well – this is how I look afterwards.)

Because it is fully lined, I had to alter the pattern to compensate for a full lining instead of just a neck facing. So basically I made two tunics and sewed them together.

I like the asemetrical design, but next time I will make it all the same length so I don’t have to worry about it being ‘off trend’.

By the way- the storm of the century never did show up. It rained and the wind blew – but it was just another PNW day!

Sunday I rented time on a longarm and started quilting my Gypsy Wife quilt. After 3 hours of working on it – I am not even half way done. So needless to say I’ll be working on it again this coming weekend.

Adventures · Projects

Fifty Years and a Jacket

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 SewtropolisLeave a comment

This past week I flew out to Minneapolis to celebrate my 50th birthday with my friends. I normally don’t care to celebrate my birthdays. Not that I’m against them, but they are a reminder to me that time flies way to fast…. and I’m kind of obsessed with the concept of time. (don’t get me started).

I wanted to celebrate this birthday because I was in a new city and I wanted to ward off those sad feelings of turning older and not celebrating in some way. I haven’t met too many people here – so, I flew to Minneapolis where I knew enough people who I knew would celebrate with me.

I stayed with my friend Jennifer and on Saturday Jennifer, her mom, and I spent the day in Stillwater, MN at their Fall Festival (which would not be a big deal were it not for the biggest pumpkin contest!)

We couldn’t have asked for a better crisp Fall day! We walked the vendor catwalk -I bought a pillow made with bamboo fibers and let me just say – YES!! We stopped in at Darn Knit Anyway and had lunch overlooking the St. Croix River. It was such an enjoyable day with two of my favorite people!

My party was held in a small Irish Pub near my old neighborhood. The party was small, but my friends who were there laughed and talked and had a good time…. and that’s all I ever want for my friends. I was amazed that friends who had never met – had other friends in common. Everyone sews or quilts so I guess that makes the connections even easier.

I want to thank my friend Jennifer for all that she did to make my day so enjoyable! I love you girlfriend!

Okay, onto what I’ve been working on. First, let me say, so sorry for the very poor lighting. I had no way to take pictures of myself outside so I bought a small tripod… and since I received it it’s been raining when I want to go out and take pictures.

Anyway, here is the jacket!

The pattern is McCalls 7199, I started out making version C with the toggle closure, but when I tried it on for toggle placement, I decided I liked it better without the toggle. The fabric is a sturdy ponte knit which I love, but the front is self facing so having 4 layers (6 if you count the pockets) makes it a little front heavy. I obviously don’t care – there’s so many other things I like about this jacket: it’s longer in the back and almost covers my bumm, it’s comfortable, it has pockets, and it’s versatile! I’ll definitely be making this jacket again.

Uncategorized

Happy Birthday, Miss Grace

October 7, 2016October 7, 2016 SewtropolisLeave a comment

It’s been one year since I adopted this sweet girl. Even though she’s 5 years old – she’s officially one year with me.

After Leo and I moved to Seattle I felt really bad leaving him in an apartment all by his lonesome self. Before we left Minnesota my house was full with 2 dogs, 2 kids and cat! The Fat Cat died, then Skilos died and both kids moved out. So, I’m sure Leo was lonely after moving here and it broke my heart. So, I decided to adopt another dog to keep him company – enter Miss Grace.

I found her on Craig’s list. Her family had decided that she needed a better life than the one they were giving her. There were two kids in the family, but they ignored her, she never went to the dog park because, as I was told, she didn’t know what to do – other than bark at all the other dogs. She was heavy and full of hives, but she was part lab and I thought would be a good companion for Leo.

After I brought her home Leo decided he wanted NOTHING to do with her – NOT A THING! In fact, for the first few months they fought a LOT. Mainly over toys, or seats on the couch or if she got to close to anything he was looking at… as long as there was no blood shed I would let them work it out. Most of the time she got her way.

Over the past year Grace has come to love dog parks, in fact her favorite thing to do is play with the other dogs – especially the ones who will chase her. She has lost a lot of weight thanks to our many hiking trips and (almost) daily walks.

Leo won’t admit it, but my guess is when I’m not around he’ll play with her. Every once in a while I’ll catch him running beside her and not minding that she’s jumping all over him (in a playful way).

She’s a completely different dog now than when I first brought her home. The first six months I spent a lot of time second guessing my decision, but these second 6 months she’s really come into her own and found a place in my heart.

She is a sweet, sweet girl who loves nothing more than to cuddle up with me at night. One of these days I’ll get her to completely stop barking at the wind.

This week, I finally finished my quilt. (it’s quilt and bound and ready to ship)

You can find it for sale here.