A Skort for San Jose

Last week Prof. R. and I attended a friend's wedding in Cabo San Lucas.  During one of our wedding event free days, we drove to the town of San Jose del Cabo.  Unlike Cabo San Lucas, this is the less touristy of the "Los Cabos" or the two Cabos.  It's a bit sad because many of the buildings and business were destroyed by Hurricane Odile.  However, there were signs of businesses coming alive again, and I just hope this trend continues.

Even though we're in the dead of winter here in NYC, I made the skort I've been dying to make - one that I saw everywhere in Spain this past summer.

Me and my skort in the zocalo in San Jose del Cabo.

Rear view

Lucky for me, I found a pattern for this skort, Simplicity 1370, when I returned from Spain and was able to snap it up during one of the 99 cent Jo-Ann sales.

I sewed my usual size 12, and it fit practically perfect just out of the envelope.  I pulled it together in just an afternoon so it was one of those "instant gratification" types of projects.  Love those!

I used a black stretch denim from my stash, and it sewed very easily.  I love that the front has pockets and the drapey flaps are really nice.

Also, I learned a new technique while sewing this: inserting a lapped zipper.  In the past, I've never quite been able to master this.  Although I don't often find the instructions given in commercial patterns to be very enlightening, the directions for the insertion of the zipper that came with the pattern definitely helped me to achieve a good looking (to me, anyway) result.  I was also happy that the pattern called for a lapped zipper since I didn't have a black zipper on hand and had no time to go out and purchase one.  Instead, I used a navy blue zipper from my stash.  Because of the overlap covering the zipper, the blue zipper cannot be seen.

You'd never know there is a blue zipper under there.

My serger has been in the shop lately, so I was happy that I was able to sew this with a knit that didn't require finished seams.  I used a double stretch knit needle to sew the hem on the two over flaps, and this also worked well.  I don't believe all twin needles are equal, meaning that if you're sewing with a knit, it's important to find a stretch knit twin needle, as opposed to a twin needle intended for woven fabrics.  I found mine in the Berlin fabric market a few years ago.

All in all this was a quick, fun make.  Too bad I've had to store it away with my summer clothes, but I look forward to wearing it when the weather turns warm and to sewing another in white.

Now that my beloved serger is back from the shop, it's on to finishing some winter projects.  What's on your sewing table these days?  Are you sewing for winter or preparing for spring?

Hasta pronto!

Goodbye My Little Man.

This past weekend Prof. R. and I lost a member of our family, our kitty, Timothy! What a joy he was and what a big part he played in our lives. He loved helping me work my day job, but enjoyed assisting with sewing even more. Everyone who spent any amount of time with Timothy, just fell in love with him and agreed that he was one special kitty.

Here a few photos of my sweet boy during sewing time:

Helping make Papa's PJs

Serger fun

Which one are we gonna trace?

This is fun.

Asleep on silk.

Goodbye my sweet boy. You gave us so much, I just hope we did good by you in return. Always I will miss you, and never will I forget you.

Rest in Peace my sweet boy.  Timothy: 2001 - Jan. 24, 2015

Posted with Blogsy

Cabo Boda

 Last week my friends Erin and Chris got married in Cabo, and Professor R. and I attended.  Congratulations to the happy couple!

Well, I couldn't resist sewing up something special for their big day, and here's what I created:

Lately I've been taken by the Dolce and Gabbana lace dresses from fall/winter 2013, I believe.

Photo found on: imgkid.com

Photo from Etsy via Pinterest

This fuchsia lace (yeah, it looks a little red in the pics.) has been living in my stash for some time, and this was the perfect opportunity to break it out.  What's special about this dress is that it's the second dress I've made using my custom sleeve pattern which I created from Suzy Furrer's Craftsy class.  If you haven't taken her classes, I can't recommend them strongly enough.  Given that the entire dress was drafted according to my measurements, it fits like a dream and is muy comfortable.

View with accessories and Dolce & Gabbana inspired, me made sunglasses

Baby got back!

I finished the neckline with silk material that I used for the slip and simply turned up the hems on the sleeves and bottom of the dress and hand-sewed in place.

The models in the Dolce and Gabbana runway photos just wore bras and chonies underneath the dresses.  That's just a leeettle bit too much skin for me.  So for underneath, I made a slip using Kwik Sew, 3554.  Although this pattern calls for knit fabrics, I used silk charmeuse.  This fabric turned out to be a little diablito (yes, that's redundant).  The fabric is fairly slippery and gave me the business during the cutting phase.  In fact, I think there's a bit in the back that may have been cut a little off grain as the fabric ripples mid-back.  However, since I'm going to wear it as an under slip, I'm not too bothered. 

I sewed the slip with half an inch seam allowances as opposed to the one quarter seam allowances which are included with the pattern.  Also, because I used a non-stretch fabric, I inserted an invisible zipper for easy on and off.  I remember seeing vintage slips in resale shops several years ago, and they were all sewn with zippers - perhaps because there weren't as many stretch fabrics then as there are now.  Sorry I don't have a pic., but I'm pleased that I now have a well-fitting slip pattern!

In keeping with the Dolce and Gabbana fall/winter 2013 theme, I accessorized with gold cross jewelry that I purchased on Etsy.   The Maltese cross pendant came from OneCharmingTreasure, and  the cross earrings are a creation of GraceYinglingJewelry.  I think both are just gorgeous.

The wedding was so much fum, and it was so wonderful to have some warm weather in the dead of winter!

Prof. R. and me at the sunset cocktail hour

Hasta pronto!