The thoughts, sewing projects, and fabric oglings of a dedicated sewist.

What's Up: Work on Skirts, MaiseyBelle Reversible Bags, Flower Scrap Pins, Yet Another Cowl Neck Jersey Top

5/8/12
Greetings and Salutations!  I'm in the middle of finishing items for the Urban Crafter's Trunk Show on Saturday, so today's post is going to be fast and furious so I can get back to getting things together.

Marides' skirts are next on the list for client work.  The first skirt is one of my bias trim skirts and it is coming along nicely.  Marides chose navy twill with Amy Butler Midwest Modern II Fresh Poppise in sky, and the colors work well together:


Marides' second skirt is a yoked a-line from Joel Dewberry's Tile Flourish in Amber.  As the print is large and striking, I wanted to match the print across the center back seam and join it in a thoughtful way between the yoke and the skirt.  Everything was going well until I forgot to fold back out the center back seam allowance after matching the print so one half of the back was 1/2" wider than the other.  If you had been in my neighborhood you would have heard the long ARRRRGGHHH I let out.  I didn't have enough fabric to cut a new piece so I had to order more.  I tried to console myself with the knowlege that this is only the second time I've had to go out-of-pocket to fix a mistake, but it's still frustrating - especially since my mistake was so, well, dumb

Devon's aunt ordered another MaiseyBelle Reversible Bag for a friends' birthday (she's a great supporter - see my Seven Bags in Seven Days post) and since it only takes a bit longer to make two v. one, I made a second one for the show.  I still love this bag!




I've also been putting together some flower scrap pins to have a small, less pricey option on offer at the show.  These are easy because I can work on them at the kitchen table with the girls while they are doing crafts. 




One of the things I've learned about myself over the years is that I'm not very good at keeping a slow-and-steady pace.  I tend towards more of a go hard-crash-go hard-crash pace.  For a long time I thought that this was a flaw that I should fix, but I've learned that I'm much happier and more creative this way.  I have learned to see the crash coming so that I don't completely run myself into the ground so that it takes a whole week to recover.

And that's what I saw coming as I contemplated what projects to do this past weekend.  I wanted to do a corsetted pencil skirt - I want one for myself and it would be a good thing to have as a sample at the craft show - but it requires a level of effort and concentration that would have just sent me crashing into a pit of exhaustion.  So instead I did some mindless cutting out of wallet pieces and a couple of quick cowl neck tops (one for myself, one for a friend's birthday).  I changed things up a bit by adding a 6" band to the bottom of one top and contrast thread on the other:





And then I went out on the town with my friends Candice and Kristen for an evening of cocktails and laughter and stories.  Here I am posing with Cora and Maisey in my handmade outfit (and the girls wanted to get in on the action by also wearing things that I've made) as I head out the door:


I'll post later this week with more info on the trunk show and pictures of the set up.  Have a great week!
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