Jalie 2804: A Spontaneous Creation

What a fun sewing weekend I had. My kids were gone camping with their grandparents and I spent Saturday finishing up my Burda blouse and made this one up Sunday afternoon. It has been a long time since I finished so many garments in such a short time. I should have been working on my daughters school clothes but I wanted to make one more thing for me.

Boy, this is a great shirt to just whip up in an afternoon. It was so easy. I think that I might have made it a little small. It could be because my fabric is too stable (it passed the stretch test but had to be pulled). I will still wear it but next time I will make a bigger size.

My full review:

Pattern Description: Empire crossover top with banded neckline and modesty panel. View A has a double layer lower bodice with gathered top layer. View B (one I made) has a flat single-layer bodice. Choice of cap, short, 3/4 or long sleeve. Sleeveless version has a casing at shoulder seam for adjustable casing.

Pattern Sizing: child 2-13 (F-Q) women's 4-22 (R-FF) I made size V tapering to Y at the hip. This is the same size that I made last time I made a Jalie pattern. I feel like it was a bit too small. I can wear it but I think a bit bigger would have been better. My measurements fit size V but I think I would like a bit more room. It could be that I needed to use a stretchier knit. The fabric I chose stretched the amount needed but I did have to pull it a bit.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes. Mine looked just like the picture.

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were pretty easy. I did have to look at the pictures to get a better idea of what the instructions were saying.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked how easy it was to put together. I made this shirt (from tracing to completion) in just a few hours. I like how the modesty panel extends across the whole front and isn't just a small v of fabric.

Fabric Used: Polyester knit from Joann's with quite a bit of recovery. It stretched the required amount but I had to pull it a little.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I didn't change the design at all. I did try to make the sleeves larger. I tried starting at the V size and tapering out to the y and then back in. this didn't work that well. I think that I would need to try something else next time.

I didn't attach the neckline as they did. I bound it with my coverstitch machine and binder attachment. I also did this on the modesty panel instead of turning elastic. I think that this made the seam in the armscye a bit bulkier. The bulk seems to cause a little pulling at the arm seam. I think I would try the elastic next time.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will definitely try this again. My daughter wants me to make her one and I think I have enough fabric left.

Conclusion: This is a great staple. Once I get the fitting quirks worked out it might become a TNT pattern.

BTW, I LOVE my binder attachment. Belinda and Debbie Cook have shared so many garments with awesome binded edges. They use binder attachments and have such marvelous, professional results. I have been wanting a binder for quite some time but wasn't sewing enough knits to warrant spending the money. I decided to bite the bullet and get one because I knew that I was going to be making quite a few knit shirts for my children for school clothes. This was one of the best things I have purchased for sewing. It is so easy to use! I thought there would be a learning curve but for me it was fairly easy to use right away. One thing I have to figure out is how to stretch the binding a bit to get the neckline to hug the neck. I will just have to play around until I get it right.

Here are some links to Debbie Cook's coverstitch tutorials and also Belindas coverstitch tutorials. Their information is fantastic!

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

I Just Want to Sew!

My kids are home. My youngest son is sick. I don't feel so well. The house needs to be cleaned.

BUT, all I want to do is hole up in my sewing room and sew, sew, sew!

Oh, the tortured life of a seamstress!

Until next time...

Burda 8-2008-103 Blouse Finally Finished!

This project, while enjoyable took a bit of time. Not something I could just whip out in a day. I really like the fabric I used. It is something totally different than I have sewn with before. I have always steered clear of slippery fabric. Sewing with polyester silky was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Cutting it out had its challenges. I started cutting the pieces out with two layers. My front peplum pieces came out very different so I changed to cutting out single layer. This worked much better.

My full review:

Pattern Description: This blouse sports a peplum and short, puffed sleeves as well as true-to-style self-fabric button loops and pretty little buttons.

Pattern Sizing: 34-42 I made size 42.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? My garment looked very much like the picture.

Were the instructions easy to follow? They were pretty easy to follow. This shirt doesn't really have any complicated design features. Even though the instructions are typical of Burda (not much extra info) they are clear enough if you have made shirts before.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I liked how the neckline was finished. The binding finishes off nice and cleanly with the facings. I also really like the button underflap application. I have made other patterns with button loops that didn't include this. This just shows how much attention to detail there is in Burda patterns.

Fabric Used: Silky Polyester from Fabric Depot in Portland, OR. This was my first time to use this type of fabric. I tested different seaming methods to minimize puckering. Sandra Betzina, in More Fabric Savvy, suggested french seams for this type of fabric. This didn't work very well for me. I had very good luck with serging.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I added 1/2" to the length so the shirt was a little longer. Other than this very minor adjustment I made the pattern as drafted and written.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I probably wouldn't sew this again because it is distinct. I would definitely recommend this to others. It was easy and fun to sew.

Conclusion: This was a great shirt to make. It has great style without being too complicated to construct. A very rewarding project.

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

Until next time...

Road Trip: Black Hills, South Dakota Part 2

The Black Hills in South Dakota were so beautiful. I was glad that we were able to explore them for a couple of days. I found out that the Black Hills (which look very green when you are in them) were named because they look black from a distance. Interesting, I thought.


The other interesting thing we saw was all the little piles of wood and brush. They were everywhere. Finally we found out that all the piles were made to clean up downed trees and brush that are potential fire hazards. Then in the winter they would burn up the piles.

Here is a list of the other fun things we did while in the Black Hills.

1. Custer State Park--We would have liked to camp at one of the campgrounds in Custer State Park but we froze the night before (it got down in the upper 30's) so we didn't. While in Custer State park we drove the Needles Highway (SD 87) and it was AMAZING (well, my kids didn't think it was quite as fun as I did). The rock formations were fascinating.

Notice my children at the bottom of this picture of the Needles Eye for size reference.
There were some really neat tunnels that we got to drive through. At this tunnel we got out and climbed around on the rocks a bit. It was so much fun to explore the nooks and crannies of these rocks.

The highway is not many miles but it takes a while to drive. It is very twisty and curvy and very beautiful. There is something gorgeous to look at around every corner.

We also drove on the Wildlife Loop Road. This drive was more on the plains but still interesting. While driving on the road we saw a few buffalo but not as many as I wanted to see and they were quite far off. We kept hearing how plentiful the buffalo were and I really wanted to see some. We also came across a donkey at the side of the road. He was quite cute.

As we were leaving the park I finally got to see a LOT of buffalo. There was tons of them and they ran right across the road in front of our car. It was GREAT!


After all of the buffalo passed us we kept driving and were able to see the exact path they took. It was really cool to see the trodden ground. Such little things can fascinate me.

2. Highway 16A--We drove this road up to Keystone. There is some awesome tunnels on this road. I love tunnels. They are so much fun. I loved that these tunnels were one lane so there was some element of danger. One tunnel framed Mt. Rushmore. Much to my husbands dismay (he got pretty exhausted driving on all the curvy roads) we drove this road a few times because I loved going through the tunnels. He is so wonderful to put up with my craziness.

We ate dinner at a new sandwich place in Keystone and then we drove on to Rapid City. I know that Rapid City isn't technically in the Black Hills but I am going to add the stuff we did in Rapid City to this post.

3. Storybook Island--In Rapid City, SD. My kids loved this stop. They really appreciated being able to run and play after a long day of driving. Storybook Island is a large playground with all the things to play on based on storybook characters.


I was amazed at all the fun details in this park and it was free (you could give a donation). My kids could have played here all day.

4. Thunderhead Falls--10 miles west of Rapid City, SD. We were told in Keystone that this was something we shouldn't miss. The area getting to and around Thunderhead Falls is beautiful. Thunderhead Falls is a pretty tall waterfall that is inside a cave. The cave was fun to walk through. We saw some interesting mining remains and how different minerals showed up as different colors in the rock. The actual falls weren't that fantastic. We could really only see the last 10-15 feet of the waterfall. The noise of the falls inside the cave was kind of fun. So, this is one attraction that had its good points but we could have missed it.

5. Chapel in the Hills--In Rapid City, SD. This stop was an afterthought. We passed the sign for it on the way to Thunderhead Falls. The picture on the sign looked fascinating so I thought we should check it out.The chapel itself is an exact reproduction of the famous Borgund Stavkirke of Laerdal, Norway. The architecture was gorgeous! It was beautiful inside and out. They actually have services in the chapel. Unfortunately, we weren't there at the right time. They also have a small museum showcasing items brought over from Norway or made by Norwegians here in the 1800's.

Boy, we sure were busy on our trip. I think that I have blocked some of the craziness out. My next Road Trip post will bring you more things we saw in South Dakota.

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

Until next time...

Simple Silk Screening

I have been wanting to do silk screening for a while. I almost purchased some stuff to do it while I was at the Sewing Expo in March. I didn't buy anything then because I didn't want another project to figure out. I think that the Yudo machine that came out is really neat but I am not going to pay over $200 for something that I am pretty sure I will not do all the time.

Just the other day the Crafty Crow linked to an awesome easy silk screening idea on One Golden Apple. I can't wait to try it out. She made it look so simple. These are some cute t-shirts that the Golden Apple showed on her post. I think that I might even try this with my kids. My daughter is having a friend over to celebrate her birthday and this might be a fun thing to do.


Now I just need to find the supplies. Good luck to me!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day.

Until next time...

Road Trip: Black Hills, South Dakota Part 1

This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. This also began the tenting portion of our adventure. After we drove for a few hours we camped for the night in Lusk, Wyoming. This was our best tenting night even though we were at a "campground" sandwiched in between the highway and railroad tracks. We stopped early enough to set up the tend in the light and when we woke up the sun had warmed up the tent. Little did we know what was to come or we would have enjoyed that nights sleep much more.


Now on to South Dakota. I really knew nothing about this area before planning this trip. Sure I had heard about it but that was about it. I just knew that I really wanted to see Mt. Rushmore since we were going to be in the area. This area was so beautiful and fascinating!

Our first stop was Jewel Caves outside of Custer. All I can say is WOW!! We were able to take a 1 hour and 20 minute Scenic Tour of the cave. It was amazing! My children loved it. They have constructed a path for the entire tour. You walked on either raised metal pathways with railings or on what looked like cement walkways. There were lots of stairs but I didn't mind since the surroundings were so fascinating. After the tour the kids got a junior ranger book to fill out. They learned a lot about the caves doing these books and really took ownership of their adventure. After they finished they were "sworn in" to become junior rangers and were given a badge. This was an awesome experience that none of us will ever forget.

The picture was taken from here since I didn't take any pictures while touring the cave.

When we went in to the caves it was nice and sunny. When we came out it was pouring buckets of rain. The day was full of surprises. After Jewel Caves we stopped for a bit in Custer, SD. It was a small, cute little town. We ate lunch at a brand new bistro that had awesome pie.

Then we were off to Mt. Rushmore hoping it wasn't raining there. I was so excited and I was surely not disappointed! I was in awe from the first spotting of the face of the mountain driving by.


I wasn't expecting the huge parking garage when we drove in. It was shocking. We went up the stairs out of the garage to see this...I don't know what it was about this memorial but I was in awe from the very moment we stepped in. I loved every minute. I thought it just got more and more impressive as we went along the path through the Avenue of the flags and got up close to the mountain at the Grand View Terrace. Thankfully it had stopped raining. You can see the rain on the faces. It almost looked as if they were crying.



My kids picked up a junior ranger book here also. It had a lot of fun activities to do while at the memorial. One of the activities was a bingo board with lots of different facts they were to find out. We went on a ranger talk to learn about the mountain. My kids were fascinated by all that the ranger had to say. They learned a ton about the artist and the 4 presidents. They could still tell you who Gutzon Borglum was and possibly which president had the Panama Canal constructed. What an educational experience!


Down the elevator, under the Grand View Terrace, was the LincolnBorglum Visitors Center. There was so much to see and learn. My children loved the exhibit where they could push buttons and watch the mountain blow up on the tv. Oh, so easily entertained. They were "sworn in" again here to become junior rangers at this park and picked up another badge. They were lovin' it!


We spent about 3 hours the first day and then went back again the next day to see the Dakota, Lakota, Nakota village and spent a couple more hours looking around. I was sad to have to go. I thoroughly enjoyed this visit and would like to go back someday.

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

Stay tuned for more travel in South Dakota and some crafting coming up soon.

Until next time...

My Favorite Girl is 9 Today!

I can hardly believe that my firstborn child is 9 years old. Time has gone so fast. It has been quite an exciting ride. She is such a blessing from God and I am so thankful to have her!


She decided on a ballerina princess party for our extended family gathering. On Monday she asked me to make her a tutu to go with the theme. Of course I said I would. Armed with Joann's coupons we went to purchase pink and purple tulle. My original idea was to make the no sew version. But time became and issue and I decided that I could sew them up faster than I could cut 100's of strips (the plan was to make 3 tutus-one for her and her 2 and 5 year old girl cousins) and tie them on to the elastic. I was right. I was able to make each tutu in about an hour.


The skirts for my daughter and my 5 year old niece (not pictured) were made of about 4 yards of both pink and purple. The skirt for the 2 year old was about 2 1/2 yards each of pink and purple. I cut the tulle different for the 2 year old's skirt and I didn't like it as much so I will give directions for how I made the skirts for the older two. Construction methods were the same for all three skirts.

Tutu Tutorial

1. I cut the tulle in half lengthwise and then in half lengthwise again so I had 4 long strips of pink tulle and 4 long strips of purple tulle.

2. I stacked all the tulle on top of each other. I put all the pink on top of the purple for one skirt and then all the purple on top of the pink for the other. I found that the best thing was to pin the edge that I was going to sew together. It was easier to get the edges together before going to my machine.

3. I put my binder that clean finishes both edges and makes a 3/8" binding on my coverstitch machine. I used 1 1/2" strips of satin to bind one long edge. I decided on binding the edge to keep the tulle from scratching the girls.


The edge looked like this when finished.


4. I sewed a line of stitching about 3/4" under the binding. This became my casing for elastic.

5. Half inch elastic was threaded through the casing.

6. Lastly, I serged the sides to close up the skirt.

My daughter and her cousins loved the tutus. They were quite the hit.

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

Until next time...

August 2009 Burda

I received my new Burda mag in the mail at the end of last week. I was thrilled to see it. I wasn't expecting it so it was quite a fun surprise. I flipped through it immediately and saw some things that I just loved. A few I will definitely make.

Jacket 119--I loved the unique styling of the collar. I am not sure what I have to make this out of but I would really like to make this one.




















Blouse 104-- I will definitely make this one! I have been wanting to make a shirt like this one and was thinking I would have to change up a pattern I already have to add the ruffle. I think I may make this out of a stripe fabric that I have had for a while but waiting for just the right pattern. I liked it in the denim also but I currently do not have any lightweight denim appropriate for a shirt.
Skirt 107--I love the pleats and the buttons and the belt. I guess I just love everything about this skirt. I am not sure what I will make it out of or what I will wear it with but this a must sew!





















Up until this magazine I have never been impressed with Burda's childrens clothes. The are never sized big enough for my daughter and I usually didn't like the styling. That all changed with this issue.

Jacket 139--When I turned the page and first saw this jacket I about dropped my teeth. I LOVED it so much. I couldn't wait to show it to my daughter who would look absolutely adorable in this jacket. Much to my dismay she wasn't as impressed as I was. I am going to make it anyway and make her wear it!


Skirt 145--This one I was a bit unsure of. I think it would look really cute with the jacket. Maybe in matching material. This one is a possibility but not certain.


Dress 141--I wasn't lovin' this dress when I first saw it. My daughter on the other hand loved it. So I will probably make this one to match some of the fun tights she already has. But it will be without the buttons since my daughter didn't like them.


I already have so much to sew and so little time. I have just now added quite a few more things. Such is the life of a grand planning seamstress. :)

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Until next time...

Burda 8-2008-103

I purchased the Aug 208 Burda mag last year mainly because of this pattern. I loved it immediately. Since I bought it in the fall it was too cold for such short sleeves so I put it off until this summer. Well, this summer has been so busy that I am only now getting around to making it. I know that summer is almost over for us but I wanted to do this anyway. Maybe I will get to wear it once or twice before it gets too cold. I got this fun polyester silky polka dot fabric back in March from Fabric Depot in Portland specifically for this project. I love using fabric that I got while on a trip. The actual fabric is a little more burgandy than red.


I have the pieces cut and I am hoping to get some time to start sewing this up soon.

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

Until next time...

Road Trip: Denver, Colorado

Next on our route was Ft. Collins, Colorado to see my husbands family. As usual we took some day trips down to Denver to do stuff with the kids. Naturally one of my favorite stops was Denver Fabrics. I got quite a few nice fabrics. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures. I was too busy fondling fabric to remember pictures.

We took the kids to a few fun places. Most of which we had been to before but had so much fun we made sure we did them again.

Overlooking Denver from the foothills

1. Denver Children's Museum

We visit this museum every time we are in Denver. When our kids were younger they LOVED the downstairs young child exhibit. This area was so much fun. There was a tree with all the things need to play house. There was costumes, a boat that rocked, and many other things I cannot remember. My kids were very disappointed that they were all over the age limit of 4 (I think) for this area. There was still plenty for them to do. There is a nice fire truck exhibit where my boys dressed up like firemen and pretended to fight fires.

We spent most of our time upstairs. I tried to get my kids into the art area but they weren't interested. They wanted to go to the invention area. This area has a bunch of cubbies with an assortment of tools. The children take recycled materials and can fashion them into anything they want. They do have some idea sheets to give ideas but the children are free to do whatever they want. My children started to make some things but were really just interested in sawing wood.
The next area my children loved (and remembered from the last time they were there 3 years ago) was the grocery store/diner. They loved shopping for groceries with their little carts, buying them from each other at the cash register and putting them back. They also really enjoyed taking orders and making food for mom and dad.


They spent some time at the small basketball court shooting baskets. Their other favorite area was an animal habitat playscape. They put on different animal costumes and then ran around up hills, through burrows, under trees, in and out of nests. This area was all about learning about different woodland animals' habitats, food and predators. They had a blast!


2. The Butterfly Pavillion

My husband and I had been to the Butterfly Pavillion years ago before we had children. We remembered that it was quite fun so we decided to take the kids. It was judged great by 2 out of 3 children. We didn't know that our oldest son would be terrified of the butterflies.

The first stop is a really neat room that has all kinds of different bugs. There was so many to explore that we do not get a chance to see. Seeing all the different ways that bugs camoflage themselves was fascinating.

The next room had some ocean creatures. The kids loved touching some starfish.

After the ocean room you can go into the butterfly pavillion. I LOVED this part. It is so fantastic! It is a beautiful pavillion full of trees, plants, flowers and of course butterflies. Butterflies from all over the world, in so many different beautiful colors fly everywhere. My daughter tried very hard to get one to land on her. This was so much fun!


The last room at the butterfly pavillion is a fun area for kids to climb, and play and learn more about different bugs. They also have hundreds of real (but dead) bugs and butterflies behind glass so you can get a close up look.


3. Hammond's Candies (featured on HGTV "How's It Made")

We toured this candy company a couple of years ago and wanted to go back again with my husbands family and when my children were a little older and could enjoy it a bit more. This is a fun step back in time. They make old fashioned candy with old fashioned methods on old fasioned machines. They make ribbon candy on a little contraption that is over 100 years old. This picture shows how they aerate the candy before it is shaped into candy canes and lollipops. This is a fast tour but it is fun to watch (and it's something free).

Of course the trip isn't complete without a stop in the candy store. :)


4. Red Rocks Park and Ampitheater


We decided to go to see Red Rocks as we were driving by on the highway. We were headed to Denver Fabrics so we decided to go after (couldn't take away any precious shopping time since they were going to close soon). I didn't really know what to expect. It was fascinating. The rock formations were beautiful. There are some hiking trails through the area but we unfortunately didn't have time to hike them. We drove up to the ampitheater but couldn't actually go in and see it because they were getting ready for a punk rock concert. We walked down a path from the top around the side to the bottom of the ampitheater where we could see in a bit. It was quite an amazing sight! In the picture you can kind of see the rows of stairs. These are the seats that look down onto the stage. The stage is backed by a huge rock as well as the sides. The rock formations make a natural ampitheater. It was really fun to see. I think going to a concert there would be awesome. Oh, here is a cool picture of part of the road up to the ampitheater.


I didn't really intend for these posts to become a long travel guide. Well, I hope this helps someone out there with a little trip planning. There are so many other fun things to do in Denver. These were just the ones we hit on this trip. Next time we are going to plan ahead to go on a tour of the Denver Mint. I think that would be really fun.

Hopefully my next post will involve some crafting.

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

Until next time...