Burda Skirt Complete!

I finished my first Burda skirt and I am so pleased with it. I reviewed it on Pattern Review here.
I made it with some old denim that I had in my stash. I wanted to do a muslin before cutting into my nice corduroy. I am going to make it in the cord but probably not until the fall. I don't want to spend the time on it when I won't get much use out of it right now.

I really enjoyed the process of making this skirt. I love the pleats (which you cannot really see in the picture). The directions and pictures were very clear. I cut out an 18 because that matched my measurements the closest. I ended up having to make my seam allowance huge (1 1/4-1 1/2") at the waist. I knew it could be a bit big at the waist but not that much. Yesterday I decided to measure myself again before I cut out my New Look fitted shirt pattern. I was a whole inch smaller in the waist. Go figure! What a nice surprise. I guess eating less cookies and junk has paid off a bit.

I was going to post my progress so far on my New Look shirt but I decided to do another post.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Until Next time (actually a few minutes)...

Fabulous Foot Friday (Well, close anyway)

I am amazed how quickly Friday comes and goes. One minute is is afternoon and then it is over. Well, I have to be honest. It flew by because I was throughly engrossed in finishing up my Burda skirt. And I did! I will post on it later today (if I don't get caught up in my New Look shirt that I am itching to get started on). Back to Fabulous Foot Friday.

For the next few weeks the feet that I will be showing to you are feet that I purchased because I thought they were so cool. I loved the effect that they created but I do not use them very often. These definitely are accessory feet. They certainly aren't necessary but are fun to have for options. This one today is one that I know a lot of people love (some couldn't live without it) but I have had a very hard time getting used to. I think I need more practice. Today's foot is the Narrow Hemmer Foot. I bought this because I thought it would make hemming so much easier and for many it does.

The Hemmer foot rolls and hems the edge of your fabric all in one step. How cool is that!! This one takes a little practice getting used to and you might have to slow down your sewing a bit. In the past I have had great difficulty sewing slowly. I bought this foot to make hemming easier and faster so I thought I should be able to sew fast, right? No. Slow and steady is the best method. Slowing down gives you time to make sure the the fabric is feeding into the guide correctly so the hem doesn't twist. Once you get the hang of using the hemmer foot at a slow pace I am sure that you will be able to speed it up later.

There are some great tutorials out there using this foot. Dawn at the Secret Pocket has a tutorial that is really good (I have so many of her posts saved in my bloglines). She gives a couple of links but I will also include them here. They are fantastic resources.

Threads Magazine: Mastering the Narrow Hemmer
Sew News: Fancy Footwork-Rolled Hemmer
Jan Andrea's Using a Hemming Foot Tutorial

Hemming Feet come in various sizes depending of the weight of the fabric and the size of the hem that you want. My foot is a 5 mm Narrow Hem Foot. It works for light-mid weight fabric. Cotton works great. I wouldn't use this size for heavier fabrics such as denim or corduroy. You would need a wider foot for those types of fabric.

How to use this foot:

To begin you must start your hem before placing underneath the foot. Use the hemming foot as a guide for how wide to begin the hem. It helps to pin the hem in place. Once you have it started place it under the foot and set the needle down to secure and check that the hem is very close to the edge. Your stitching should be very close to the folded edge. Stitch a few stitches to secure fabric and to insure correct placement.

Lift foot with needle down and place raw edge of fabric in the fabric guides. Lower foot and continue stitching guiding the fabric into the guide. It is very important the you keep the fabric curled even with the guide. Do not led fabric go under the edge of the right side of foot. The Threads article has some great pictures showing results of improper placement of fabric.


This is your finished hem on the right side.
This is the finished hem on the wrong side. Notice how close the stitching is to the edge.

This is obviously not a complete tutorial but I hope that it is enough to get you started thinking about Hemming Feet. They are a wonderful accessory to add to your sewing collection. With some practice I am sure that this foot will become a necessity.

Kat mentioned needing to get a special box for her presser feet. I thought I would show you how I have organized mine so that I know what I have and can access them easily. Originally this box was only for my accessory feet. All of my standard feet were stored in a box that was attached to my sewing machine. I recently removed this box from my machine to put a table to extend my sewing area. Now I have too many feet for this box and need to come up with a new solution.


Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Until next time...

Yummy Yummy Puppy Chow!

This treat probably has many names but we have always called it Puppy Chow. I was craving junk food this afternoon and I had the ingredients for this and it is soooo easy. It hit the spot!

Puppy Chow

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
6 cups Crispix cereal
1 cup powdered sugar

Melt chocolate chips. Mix in peanut butter. Pour chocolate mixture over cereal and mix until all the cereal is coated. Put powdered sugar and cereal mixture in a gallon size plastic bag and shake, shake, shake. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

This is what my kids thought of it...
(my daughter stuffed her mouth immediately :))



Your family might like this too. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Until next time...

I Am So Honored!

Thank you so much Jemima Bean for bestowing upon me this award:

I love reading Jemima Bean's blog. She is so much fun and creates wonderful things. Thank you so much for giving me this award. As part of accepting this award I get to give it out to 10 different blogs that I think are Excellent. This will be fun! I think that most of these have not received this award yet but if you have well, you're doubly excellent. :)

Here is my list:

Bunchkinknits: Not only is she a great friend she has an awesome blog. She is a fantabulous knitter and tries just about every craft she comes across.

Craft Apple: She creates amazing projects. She is very creative with her posts and has a ton of great informational stuff.

Domestic Diva: She is so much fun! Her Sewing Room Organizational Challenge is AWESOME. She is hard at work designing her own line of boys clothing which is going to be fantastic.

Phat Chick Designs: She is a wonderful seamstress. She creates beautiful clothing and she writes great tutorials. I learn a lot from her.

Sewing by the Seat of My Pants: I love reading about all the goings on here! She makes amazing stuff. She will try stuff that boggles my mind. You have got to see her leather jacket posts. I can't even believe them!

Artsy-Craftsy Babe: She is a woman of so many talents! You never know what she will come up with next and it is sure to be fantastic!

Susie Homemaker: I love reading her blog. I am in awe of how much she creates. I am inspired to make so many of the things she shows on her blog.

All Things Heather: What an enjoyable blog! She creates great stuff, knitting, sewing and other crafty stuff. I love her honesty in her blog.

Scribbit: She is a fellow Alaskan who has a great blog. She talks about so many different things that I wonder every day what she has in store. She is a ton of fun!

Our Journey to Becoming Super Healthy: This is a blog I recently discovered. I love it! We are a generally healthy eating family but she gives so many more ways that are so easy.

Thank you all for letting me into your world. I have throughly enjoyed getting to know you! Now you can nominated 10 blogs of your choice and let them know in their comments. Have fun!

I also have to thank all of you who read this blog. I really appreciated your coming to my little corner of the world. Thank you for all your comments and kind words. I try to email everyone who comments because I am so greatful for the time you took to comment. Some of you comment and I can't email you back because your address doesn't show up. I am very thankful for your comments also!

So, thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Until next time...

Burda Skirt Progress

My skirt is progressing nicely (I think). It was easy to cut out. :) I cut a straight 18 since it was closest to my measurements and I have not made a Burda pattern for myself before. I did shorten the front by 1 1/2" because I have short legs. I did not shorten the back since my back length (waist to knee) is about 3" longer than my front length (at least that is what my husband said). I was not sure how I would get the lengths to match but since I was using some "muslin" fabric if I messed up it would be fine. I stitched the pleats and back darts, and attached the pockets. Now for the tricky part. The pattern has you attach the waistband pieces to the skirt pieces before stitching the side seams. This posed a problem since my front and back pieces are 1 1/2" different. Here is my process to find the "perfect" fit:

1st attempt: I basted the side seams and the waistbands together. Then I basted on the waistband. When I got to the side where there was an 1 1/2" difference I just gradually basted the waistband on so that it bridged the gap. This made a slightly curved seam. When I tried it on there was a few strange wrinkles. This would work if pressed really well but I wasn't quite satisfied. I wish I had a picture but I moved on to attempt #2 without thinking about pictures.

2nd attempt: I removed the back waistband. I wanted to see what the back was like without the band. Would I need more/less dart? How does the shaping look without the band? Well, to my surprise it fit quite well. I now have some choices to make. Do I eliminate the back waistband and just make a facing (the front plus waistband and back side seams are now the same length)? Do I try to attach the back waistband but then this will eliminate the darts? What to do? What to do?

3rd attempt: Still trying to get a better fit. This time I basted the side seams so that they matched at the top. The back fit even better but my seams went forward and I still had a bit of extra room. Six inches below the top I started curving inward from a 5/8" seam allowance to about 1 1/4" seam allowance. This doesn't fully correct the side seam leaning toward the front but the fit is better. So far this is my best fit (aside from the back hem being quite a bit longer than the front). I think that I am going to go with this and see what happens. I might be doing a lot of ripping. I think I will baste it ALL together (zipper and everything). I hate wasting the time basting but it will be so much easier to rip out this way if it doesn't work quite right.

All this for a skirt and I don't even where skirts very often. Well, when this is finished I will make myself wear it!

It's times like these that I so prefer sewing clothes for my daughter. I just don't have these troubles making stuff for her. I guess I am learning. Right?!

ARRRRGH! I have to go pick up my kids now and have a busy evening. I probably won't get a chance to get back to this until tomorrow. I hope I remember what I am doing. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully I will solve some of these problems for next time. Have a great day!

Until next time...

Fabulous Foot Friday

This episode of Fabulous Foot Friday will bring to you the Fancy Trim Foot. This is another embellishing foot similar to last weeks foot.


This foot has a flat opening best for ribbons and such. It guides the ribbon so that it is perfectly placed on your project. I like this foot because it is clear and you can see if the ribbon is getting bent on the sides.
So, while this is a similar foot to last week I want to show it to you anyway. Everyone has different needs and I like to show all the different options. As I am showing you these feet I am inspired to use them. I hope you are inspired too. Hmmmm? What is the next project I can use this on?

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Until next time...

Pictures of Next Couple of Projects

I have told you that I am planning to make a skirt and a shirt. Well, I thought you might like to see the pattern that I am using.

The skirt: Burda 7861 (I unsuccessfully tried to get the technical drawing off the website. I love the technical drawings because they really show the lines of a garment.)
I will be making this out of brown fine wale corduroy.
And the shirt: New Look 6407
I am not sure what I am going to make this out of. I have two choices. One is a solid and the other is a really pretty lavender stripe. Eventually I think that both with be made into this shirt if I can get the fit right on the first one.

I am a little nervous to start the shirt. I have been reading about all the "fun" others have been having with their fitted shirts over at Pattern Review. I am hoping that this project does not totally frustrate me.

First though, I will start with the skirt. I think that it will break me back in slowly to fitting garments for myself. I am hoping to start tonight.

I wish that I had shirt fabric that would coordinate with the skirt. It would be so much fun to make a coordinating outfit. Up until now I have not purchased fabric with coordination in mind. I just purchase what I like or what might go with other things in my closet. After I get rid of some of this stash I will definitely try to purchase fabrics with more of a plan. Everything is a learning process!


Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a fantastic day!!

Until next time...

Easter Dress Complete!

Saturday was a crazy day. I spent all day sewing. That was so much fun. My husband took my kids out for a bit for and Easter Egg Hunt. It was nice to have some quiet. I finished my daughters Easter dress. The hand stitching took longer than I thought it would on Saturday evening. It was such a relief to have it done. I spent about 3 weeks consistently working on this dress. I don't think that my daughter appreciates me or this dress as I think that she should. She didn't bow down and hail my greatness when she put it on. What's up with that??!! LOL! I didn't get a great picture of the dress because she was busy on her treasure hunt and we were madly getting ready for church. I am going to take her for some more professional pictures sometime to get better pictures of the dress.

The pattern is from Austrailian Smocking & Embroidery Magazine #57. It is a combination of two dresses, Angelique and Field of Flowers (shown on cover). I used the smocking pattern from Angelique but I added the flowers in the middle. To lengthen it I added a contrasting band at the bottom. I hid the stitching for the band under tucks. I love how these patterns are written. They are easy to follow and they have you do some great techniques. I absolutely loved how this turned out. It is such a class little girl dress. To me it looks like that I bought it in an expensive boutique and not homemade.

On to Saturday Project #2 The Cape: I finished this also. It took me longer than I thought it would. I am such a horrible judge of how long a project will take. Anyway, I had it all completed it looked great. I put it on my dress form to steam it. I will not talk about what happened next. It is too upsetting. Next subject.

Project #3 didn't get started. I didn't have time to do anything with my skirt except look over the pattern and wash the fabric. I am hoping to get to it this week. I have been knitting the last couple of nights so I haven't started this yet.

Possible projects this week: Skirt and a fitted shirt. We will see what happens.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Until next time...

Posting to Say I'm Too Busy for Posting

This will be a very quick update on why I haven't posted at all this week.

Project 1 to be finished by Easter: I have been so busy stashbusting for Easter I haven't had time to post. I am almost finished with my daughters Easter dress. I just have a few minor finishing details. It looks great. I will take pictures tomorrow and definitely post them.

Project 2 to be finished by Easter: I absentmindedly told my daughter that I wanted to make her a cape. Ooops! I have some black and white wool that I bought a couple of years ago for this and just haven't done it. She is growing out of her winter coat so this will be great for the rest of spring and probably next fall. It totally doesn't go with her Easter dress but oh well! I have this all cut out and will quickly sew it up today.

Project 3 to be finished by Easter: As I was finishing my daughters dress I thought about what I would wear to church. I do not have very many dresses or skirts that I could wear and realized that I shouldn't wear pants. I have some brown corduroy and a Burda pattern that I could whip up and so that is on the roster for today also. I know that it is not very springy but it is what I have and it is cold here and so I think that it will work. The shirt that I will put with it is a little more springy looking.

So, that is what I am working on. If I get this all finished I will have gone through about 8 yards of fabric. That would be a huge accomplishment for me. I have to get going. I have lots to do!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful Saturday and a blessed Easter!

Until next time...

Fabulous Foot Friday! Braiding Foot

On to a foot that is for embellishment. The Braiding Foot or Couching foot tremendously helps keep your desired embellishment to stay inbetween the zig zag stitching. This is the top of the foot.

This is the bottom of the foot. Notice the groove that guides. You can use many different things to embellish your project with this foot. This one is better with things that are thicker. I use ribbon in the photos but you can use yarn, fabric strips or tubes, or flat trim. There are other feet that work better with thin yarns and threads.


Start with the ribbon (or whatever you choose) through the guide hole and under the presser foot. Select a zigzag stitch that is your desired width. You have some creative license here. You can have your stitches catch the edges, go off the edges or even be decorative down the middle. I chose to have my stitches go just beyond the edge of the ribbon.

As you can see in this last picture the ribbon is completely encased by the stitches. Another great application for this foot is a thread casing for thin elastic. This is an easy way to make an elastic cuff or waistband. Simply zigzag directly over the elastic before sewing up side seams. Make sure that your stitches do not catch the elastic. Once elastic is stitched in place you can pull it up to the desired finished width. Then sew the side seams catching the elastic.


I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about this foot. I am sure that there are many great ways to use it. If you have a favorite way that you use this foot please let me know. I would love to have even more applications for this foot.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Until next time...