What Am I Working On....

I seem to suffer from chronic sewaphrenia. I start one project, then am completely dazzled by something else then take a break and work on another hobby. I wish I could organize myself better. I still have a ton of fabric purchases left over for the Summer 2011 wardrobe. Oh well, I will have to find room in the closet for the now Summer 2012 fabric. Thank goodness I don't buy too much trendy fabric!
Below is a list of projects I'm currently working on:

1. Riding Breeches
I made a pair of full seat breeches last year using Suitability pattern #2038. It doesn't seem to be available on their website anymore, but it looks like they repackaged it as #2300. These breeches have lasted me longer and are the most comfortable than any that I have bought! Here is me riding in them with my horse Jasper (that's me on the left). Isn't Jasper handsome?

I made them out of black doubleknit and synthetic suede for the full seat. I never showcased them on my blog because I did a terrible job on the welt pockets! Riding in a good quality doubleknit is heaven. It is like wearing heavy control top panty hose, which means no jiggle when trotting or cantering! That being said, I am making another pair out of navy blue doubleknit and a gorgeous blue ultrasuede and I did a much better job this time with the front welt pocket, made out of the ultrasuede!

I would LOVE to find some better zippers like the ones used on activewear, with interesting zipper pulls, so if anyone is actually reading this blog and can recommend somewhere please let me know!

Although pricey, I do love the quality of Sawyer Brook fabrics compared to my local crappy Joanns, which is becoming more and more like a craft store. However, I have to say I'm a little disappointed in the inconsistency. I bought black, navy blue and red, all listed under the same doubleknit fabric - yet the navy blue is slightly less meaty than the black and the red is stiffer than the black and navy blue. All are nice and 4 way stretchy - but I specifically went back to the site to buy the navy blue and red because I was so happy with the black I received.

2. A Reupholstery Project

Since we bought the house in Napa, I've been pouring over architectural sites, furniture sites and design blogs for how best to design the interior of this mid century home. I was instantly drawn to Danish modern furniture. A lot is made from teak and come from the 50's era, when the house was built. Alas, a particular dining room chair I had been eyeing came up for sale at an antiques store in San Francisco. 6 to be exact, with a teak table.  We probably paid to much, but I just had to have those chairs! The dining area will be the main focal point when someone walks into the front door so I wanted something funky and interesting - but comfortable.

These are called either compass chairs or flap back chairs, depending on what site you go to, designed by Kai Kristiansen for SVA Mobler. All of the chairs are in great shape but the upholstery is plain - and a little smelly. I am not entirely sure if this is the original upholstery.

I am going to reupholster them myself. Crazy, maybe, but it will cost an arm and a leg to have it done professionally. I have reupholstered chair seats but not one with a fabric back such as this. It doesn't look too complicated - if I choose a solid color! There is piping where the back meets the arm that appears to have been nailed in underneath:

And there is a lot of staples under the chair back where it appears the fabric was tucked in:

From what I am learning, and from deconstructing clothing, I am taking lots of pictures of the original chair, then will take pictures when I am taking the original fabric off so I don't forget how everything went together. I can then use the original fabric as pattern pieces.

One more hobby to add to the list - oh dear!

Sweet Satisfaction!

Five years after I ventured into designing a competition ballroom gown  I finally got to see it in action.

Palm Desert Dancesport Championships July 2011



Watching the video made me remember the long hours spent researching, designing prototypes, the frustrating failures before I finally created a competition worthy dress.

It was all worth it to achieve that goal, creating something I never thought I could. I hope this is a lesson to all sewers out there who think they cannot sew something difficult. Take it from someone who knew nothing about ballroom gowns. You will make mistakes. The stitch ripper will become your best friend. Don't give up. With perseverence, you WILL become a better sewer.

The Ubuntu Top - New Look 6149 And MY new look

I just finished redesigning my blog and moving it back over to Blogger. Yep, I designed it all myself!! I had to change the cartoon of me a little because 2 weeks ago I got my hair completely chopped and she originally had long flowing hair!

Do you always have the urge to wear something new everytime you go out? I certainly do, and of course most of the time, I will end up making it. Sometimes I give myself a ridiculous time window to complete and that was the case with this evening out. Luckily I had this New Look pattern in my stash and a remnant of ITY print fabric that I had been dying to make something out of.

I felt like calling this 'how to whip up something in 2 hours' but since I seem to be going with restaurant themes, I decided to keep the theme going. Since we are moving to wine country, we are starting to explore restaurants in the area. Our goal is to eat and drink our way through Napa!
Last night was dinner at a vegetarian restaurant called Ubuntu in downtown Napa (delicious!!). Then it was off to see Ottmar Liebert at the Napa Valley Opera House. He's a flamenco guitarist concert so all I could think of was that I must wear something bold and what is more bold than red?

Unfortunately, there was not enough material for a dress and barely enough material for this top! I had to shorten the arms considerably. Luckily I could lengthen it 2 inches for my long torso. Very easy to put together and I used my serger cover stitch for all of the hems. It still ended up feeling a skosh short on me, but atleast I could finally do something with this fabric!

After my long and arduous previous project, it was nice to 'whip something up'!