Survived the Deadlines and Ready to Sew!

I'm see a trend here--when deadline approaches, I disappear for three weeks. I guess that's the price I pay for not figuring things out until the last minute. This time I had a double deadline--the revisions for Cowgirl in High Heels were due on May 27th, followed one week later by the first three chapters of my next book. I pushed send on the chapters today and now I can relax my brain for a few days.

In addition to double deadlines a week apart, the last day of the school year was last Friday--for some reason I always have a major deadline when school ends, just to add to the general chaos, I guess. It was a crazy few weeks--in fact most of May was a blur, but now the summer stretches before me with no immediate deadlines and no students. I, of course, think that I can write at least four books and plow through my sewing stash in that time. Summer lasts forever, right?

I'll be thrilled, however, to finish the book I just started and perhaps make a dent in my sewing stash, which is getting out of control. In fact, I've decided to commit to finishing at least six projects I have on hand before buying any more patterns or fabric. I've even picked out my first three projects:

Vintage Vogue 1136 which I'm making out of red and black rayon challis (dress) and red crepe (jacket). I've already made a muslin of the dress, which fit well, and I'm going to assume that the jacket will fit, too. Don't those sound like famous last words?

Vintage Vogue 2787 out of black and white charmeuse. I have long black gloves and a great black hat, so I'm set once I get this made.

New Look 6514--I'm very excited to tackle this one. My daughter bought me some Italian cotton at Britex and it's gorgeous!

I noticed that the red crepe for the Vogue 1136 jacket matches the color pallete nicely. I don't think the 1940s style jacket is going to work with the New Look pattern, but you never know. And perhaps I can squeeze two jackets out of the crepe.

Now that should keep me busy for at least a week, right? That and writing those four books. Summer stretches on....

Sewing For Victory 40’s Suit ~ Flashback #2 The Reckoning

The Sewing
As you may have guessed from my previous posts, I did a lot of sewing in not many days to make the Sewing for Victory Challenge deadline. If I hadn't had to go to work, it wouldn't have been such a push, but I did and it was. I found that there are two things that one cannot hurry along and do slap dash--color blocking and bound buttonholes.

Color Blocking--or how to beat a corner into semi-submission
I have a thing about precision--must have something to do with all the engineers in the family--and one thing sewing has taught me is that sometimes I'm going to have to live with results that aren't as precise as I'd like. But that does't mean I have to like it, or that I won't beat my project to shreds trying to get the results I'm aiming for.

The color blocking on my suit made cool square corners. To do this, I had to clip to the dot 1/2 inch from the end of the seam then sew from the garment edge to the clip. At the clip, I then had to start a new seam going in a perpendicular direction to make the 90 degree corner. And the first time I did it, it went slick.

It went slick two more times. I had three perfect corners. And then came the last one...the one I wanted to finish before my husband and I went running that day. Let's just say that I spent my running time wondering how I was going to pick all of those stitches--because I sewed over my previous stitching about fifteen times trying to true up that corner--out of linen. Yeah.

Eventually I got the corner to where it was acceptable by removing all stitching and starting over. The linen was beat to death and the organza wasn't looking much better. I couldn't stand to look at it, much less photograph it, so there is no record of the carnage. But I ended up with a corner I could live with.

The underarms went perfectly though. I started stitching right at the point of the underarm seam and sewed up one side, then went back to the point and sewed up the other side. I'm a huge fan of breaking up seams to accomplish what I want.

At the last minute I decided to color block the facings, even though the directions didn't call for it. I just cut a purple piece the same size as the purple front and cut off the gray top--allowing for seam allowance of course--and sewed them together. It didn't add bulk and it made me feel better.

Shall we move on to bound buttonholes?

First of all, due to time constraints, I considered just putting in buttonholes with my beloved 1955 Singer buttonholer--which makes perfect buttonholes every time. However, the pattern primer rather casually said, "Make bound buttonholes." That was the end of the instructions. I decided that I could at the very least make a practice bound buttonhole and see how it goes. After all, the coat only has two buttonholes. How hard can it be?

Of course the practice bound buttonhole worked like a charm. I literally made it in less than 10 minutes--probably closer to 5. So the next step, of course, was to attempt to destroy my jacket with my new found skill. (There are several excellent tutorial on making bound buttonholes online. Choose your poison.)

Jeannie's Guide to Bound Buttonholes

Step 1--make gaping rectangular hole. Do not do this in the waist button area, where it won't show. Start at the neckline, where everyone will immediately look.

Step 2--Sew the little lip deals in crooked.

Step 3--Cringe as husband says it's time to run. Yell back that you need a minute.

Step 4--Attempt to remove little lip things. Pick out the wrong stitches, so that organza is now loose.

Step 5--Tell son who calls to say Happy Easter that you can't talk now.

Step 6--Tidy up gaping hole and try again. Sew in crooked again.

Step 7--learn to live with less than perfect lip thingies.

Hey--it doesn't look that bad with the button in it.

Need I say that the buttonhole at the waist that no one will see went in easily and looked fine?

Of course it did.

Well, husband is saying it's time to go run and for once I'm not in a trauma spot, so I'm going to go run before I get myself into trouble again.

Sewing For Victory 40’s Suit ~ Jumping Ahead to the Last Chapter

The Writing

I handed in the first draft of my book on Tuesday after finally hitting the proper level of desperation. The first draft is always difficult. I'm concerned about pacing, concerned about being too predictable, concerned that the story won't come together. But it came together and now it's in my editor's hands. I'm revising as I wait for her notes, and since I have a framework in which to operate--as in a completed story--I'm now a happy writer. I also have time to sew. (And do laundry.)

The Sewing

This is what my Sew For Victory 40's suit looked like on Tuesday:

And, with a little help from the cat,

this is what it looks like today, Sunday, the final day of the Sew For Victory challenge:

I learned so much making this suit--I used silk organza as an underlining for the first time, make my first bound buttonholes, discovered that color blocking is unforgiving. But more about that later. I made deadline on my suit, as well as the book, and I'm going to celebrate with a cup of tea while I plan my next dress. I'm thinking 80s summer dress.