Sew Tall Soprano

Love this new casual top from Butterick. It is not a new pattern, but the style is pretty new. It combines an on grain upper with a bias lower part.  I used a lightweight tan plaid shirting. It is soft, but with a little bit of body. You can see the lightweight fusible interfacing adds just the right amount of stiffness to help the collar stand up without being rigid.     Tip: I topstitched the collar edge ever so slightly rolling the         seam toward the under collar before topstitching.  Finally, I had to rip out the bust dart a couple of times. The one on the pattern is so short, about 2 inches long, and really big. So, I had to rip out the dart and re-pin it while I was wearing it. I ended up lengthening it about 2 more inches so it landed 1 inch away from the bust apex. After I sewed it, I kept getting awful points at the end of the dart! So I started researching why this was happening. Apparently, because the dart ...

I was going through my closet on Sunday and decided to re-vamp my summer skirt. I think it looks pretty good. I could even see it with black booties in the winter. But. seeing as it is still in the upper 80's here in Texas, I'll keep to the short sleeved sweater and sandals. It was an easy skirt I found on the internet that has a fold over yoga style waistband. So comfortable and best of all it's long enough!

So, my abuelita from South America would come visit us when I was little, She could not speak even a little English, but she taught me how to knit! I was probably 8 years old. So, I've known how to do the knit stitch all these years, but never applied it. Recently, I found a class on Craftsy called My First Sweater. It takes you step-by-step through the process of knitting a sweater. I had to try it! Here is my first sweater! I used a Lion's Brand wool in this cool butterscotch color. I had to lengthen the sleeves an inch to accommodate my wide shoulders and longer arms. But the pattern could be altered to widen the sleeve cap, which I would do next time. You can see the lovely little eyelet detail along the raglan sleeve that adds interest to an otherwise plain sweater. I think I would like to knit another one day. I have a friend that spins and dyes wool. Maybe I can talk her into parting with a few skeins. And maybe a new neckline, or cardigan style..... ...

 Hiked up to see the 1200' IAO Needle.  The park is just fabulous and solo green. We were lucky that day as there was a clear view of the needle. But, every inch of the park, that we saw, was beautiful! Here is the famous needle...                Another beautiful shot... This is what I wore: Burda Magazine  Cute detail gather at the neck on the lightweight cotton. I think I will lower the neckline next time.

So, I have been going back to my closet lately to find old pieces and giving them a new look. Here I have a floral straight skirt I made using my pattern software. I paired it with a men's look tailored striped shirt and pearls. I think it gives a rather modern look.                                           Tip: I created a 1" waistband so I could wear it with                                           a top tucked in or over the top. Makes it very comfortable                                          (especially for singing;-) It is a cotton twill I found at Hancock's years ago, but I loved the print. Not quite floral and not quite abstract. I put in an invisible...