Only in America

So if you were wondering what I was doing besides sewing...

Demolition derby! Yes, in America you can go to a county fair and watch drivers crash their cars into each other until only one car is still moving. That car is the winner.

It is loud and funny and my kids adore it.

I guess it satisfies that need we have to be destructive without having your insurance go up a couple hundred dollars a year.

Leftovers

I had just enough fabric left over from this disaster to make yet another Burda Plus 2009 F/W - 403 Cowl.

The fabric is a black and teal poly knit that I got from the $2.97 G street table.

For a more summery look, I eliminated the back collar stand. I finished off the back neck by creating binding and stitching it down.

You can see the collar stand in the figure below.

The entire outfit is serged except for sewing down the binding at the back neck.

I finished the hem using the coverstitch. I am getting pretty good at converting the serger from the overlock to the coverstitch. I can do it in about 3 minutes now.

I changed the sleeve hem from long to elbow length. I decided to finish the sleeve hems using a rolled hem. This is the first time I have tried to create a rolled hem using my new serger. I spent an hour trying to figure out how to thread the machine and what levers and knobs to push and pull. I used rolled hems to finish ballet skirts when I worked in a costume shop 20 years ago. I don't think I have done a rolled hem since. My attempt was just OK. I'll need to practice some.

I used wooly nylon in the upper looper. Threading a needle with wooly nylon is almost impossible. I have a little trick. Thread the serger with regular thread. Tie the wooly nylon to the thread at the thread stand. Set the tension to zero. Pull the thread and wooly nylon through the serger. Ta Da!

I bought the fabric to match a jacket that I got from Lane Bryant.


The skirt and shoes are from Lord and Taylor. The necklace is from Ebay.

Fun on the 4th

One of the advantages of living near Washington, D.C is being close to the 4th of July festivities held on the mall.

In the past, the kids have been too young to take to the fireworks downtown. I really didn't want fight the crowds at 10:00 at night on the metro (subway) to get home so on a whim, I called a hotel near the mall to see if they had any rooms. I called on Friday so I wasn't expecting much. We were in luck! A hotel about 3 blocks from the mall had a room.

We got there around 3:00 and the kids played in the pool for a couple hours.

After dinner at McDonalds (yuk!) we walked 3 blocks to the mall to catch up with 500,000 of our closest friends.

We found a nice spot halfway between the captial and the Washington monument and got to know several of our fellow Americans.

Bill got the kids glow sticks and the hotel gave them pinwheels and flags.

We were able to walk back to the hotel and the kids were in bed by 10:15. Awesome!

The only problem with watching the fireworks on the mall is that you are spoiled for all other fireworks displays. It is the best!

No Seam Rippers

I have a confession. I don't do seam rippers. I use these little Gingher snips to cut threads. The snips offer a lot more control than seam rippers. I have had some unfortunate accidents in my sewing career with seam rippers.

This is probably my most used sewing tool. I also use them to clip threads after sewing and serging.





I know Martha Pullen also uses snips. She is always inviting people up into her attic. Supposedly to view antique clothing, but... well you just don't know...

A Brown Trumpet

I finished another trumpet skirt using Simplicity 5914. I previously made it in a black and white rayon. This version is made from brown linen that I got from G Street last summer. I bought almost 7 yards with the thought that I would make pants, a skirt and a jacket. Here is the skirt. Hopefully, I'll get the pants and jacket done in my lifetime.

I see from these pictures that I need to shorten the lining.

The top is Simplicity 2369 previously discussed here.

I used an invisible zipper.

I made a thin waistband that was attatched by stitching in the ditch.

I finished the inside of the waistband by cutting it out on the selvage. I used pink poly lining that I got from a long closed Vietnamese fabric store in Arlington, VA. I hand stitched the lining to the zipper.

Here is a picture of the skirt with McCalls 5522 that I blogged about here.