gloriastitches

Thank you to all who commented on my blog entries. I don't blog as much as some do, but do quite a bit of reading of others' blogs. I understand that it takes time to read blogs, and more time to comment on them, so I really appreciate it when readers do. I try to also post a comment so show my appreciation of the person's time. Someone mentioned that people are commenting less which could be as some people have dozens of Followers or even over a hundred and I notice that they may get only 2 or 3 comments. This makes me value it even more when you comment on my blogs. I'll try to post more entries in 2011 than I did this year as I have been asked quite often about when my next entry will be. (Glad you're interested.) Thanks again. Edited to add: I just thanked my readers, (Followers and others) and those who comment and all the pics of my Followers disappeared! Yikes. I then checked and it appears that pics of Followers on others' pages are also gone. I hope...

Thanks to Firephrase for introducing me to these sites. When you want a good laugh or are just plain bored: http://whatnottocrochet.wordpress.com/ http://whatnottoknit.wordpress.com/

Aren't all pants pullon? LOL. TNT pair? Tried and true. Are these the elusive well-fitting pants I've been stalking for years? These are not the way I would have wanted my pants to fit years ago. About thirty years ago a middle-aged friend of mine told me that pants should hang straight down in the back from the fullest part. I thought Hey, that's for old people and I'm not old. I want some definition in the back! Well, I had my definition and probably many fit wrinkles. At that time I don't think I checked for wrinkling; I checked for fit. Time has passed. I have made my pattern larger over the years for three reasons: 1) I have expanded 2) pants got looser fitting (although slim again in the last few years) 3) I have aged--I have aged?!--and want a little more ease, especially to hide the "bumps". numbered this pattern 92508, the day I made them. I'm guessing it is a poly linen blend, possibly with some silk. It was part of a stack of fabric purchase...

This is the first one I cut out--the one where I cut too much from the corners (see previous entry); thus, making it too snug when the darts were sewn in. I needed a wedge (guess it could qualify as a godet). To make it as simple as possible, I: --stitched about 1 1/2" of each "dart"; it would be more difficult to turn under the part near the point --turned under the rest of the sides of the "dart" --placed the piece which was the original cut-out square and pinned it in place --topstitched the "dart" sides, catching the wedge piece Then hemmed it and it's done.

Others doing Home Dec got me to pull out my fabric for two ottomans. The spots and one large burn hole need to be covered. I bought the fabric two years ago when a Hancock's was closing. It was an unplanned purchase so I got a color I thought was close. I wanted two yards. The clerk said the minimum was five yards. I hesitated but got the five yards---good thing. I had a plan as to how I wanted to do them, then went to Plan B and Plan C. I wound up with Plan A. Plan B was to stitch the bottom part to the top. Problem: would involve too much excess fabric of the top part at the corners. Plan C was to make the cover in one piece. Problems: fabric wasn't wide enough. (Though I am good at estimating the fabric width of those folded on a bolt, I am not so good at ones not folded on a tube.) I thought this fabric was 60"; nope, it's 54". (But that wouldn't have caused me to buy more.) Thus, it would have to be seamed. Another problem with a one-piece top falling str...

Ah, see, I have been sewing. I cut out this large cosmetic bag over a year ago. (darn internet). It certainly was time to complete it. I made many, many pieces to my set of travel bags: the bags, smaller bags to go inside, lingerie bags, lingerie laundry bags, and a variety of others, including cases for my purse. I first began them in the 80s, a large cosmetic bag being the first. It certainly had shown its age, so badly that I wouldn't even dream of picturing it here! Good thing I purchased a lot of fabric and trims at the time as this color combo isn't very popular now. There are quite a few pattern pieces to this: the front/back, sides and bottom, top, zipper pull, tabs, plastic pockets on the inside with bias bindings, plus the bias binding around the outer edges. The layers include the fabric, backing, batting, and plastic. The original size is 2 1/2" x 12 1/4" x 9 1/2", a good sized one. However, I found that items fall to the bottom and give it a fat loo...

Remember this outfit? It's from my first blog. I wanted to update it because it screams the 80s. I do like it but didn't wear it often, so it is still in very good condition. I haven't done anything with it, but I did have good intentions. I had asked for suggestions and many were given, here and in e-mails. Sew(very)Creative and FirePhrase said that the 80s were back and I might want to think twice about this. Last week I found proof of this. Here is a blog entry showing a new McCall's pattern which has similarities. Note that one view on the pattern I used even has a tie collar. Note that this McCall's top is also in red! http://theslapdashsewist.blogspot.com/2010/05/mccall-5708-hilary-duff-tie-neck-blouse.html

Finally got some sewing done! I couldn't get my sewing mojo going, so I stole some from another sewer. I prefer to say that she is sharing hers with me. It is a simple pair of elasticized pants in a lightweight denim in black. Nothing exciting, but I am in need of pants, especially casual ones. I won't be posting a pic of it since it is black and will not show up well. You're just going to have to trust me that I am sewing.

As promised---months ago--a little more detail on the doll clothes. I had to wait to borrow someone's camera in order to have a macro capability. These aren't the best, but the photographer wasn't paid. It's not too easy to describe my exact steps in making the clothes because once you get "her" diminsions down, you "just work" and try the garment on the doll every so often or measure to make certain it will fit. Once you know your stitch and row gauge you can calculate how many stitches to chain or cast on based on the necessary dimensions. This is just like any item from yarn. All the directions are doing for you is saving all the calculations (which is a good thing). The knitted sweater and skirt outfit is made from a Bucilla yarn on size 3 needles. I love the stitch pattern. I tried several color combinations until I found one I liked. One thing I did was to make certain that the stripes match across the sweater when the sleeves are down. ...

....of paper work---that's where I've been. All of my great plans for January just went by the wayside. I haven't been able to work on updating the red dotted outfit, but I have worked on getting some of the better fitting patterns made into "basics" from which to design or update. I thought that by posting that outfit and making that commitment, I would get to it sooner. Ha! I'm still trying to get some good, close-up shots of the doll clothes to show details. Our digital camera is old so the pics aren't great. Someone with a new digital tried taking photos of them, but I don't think he understood just what it was that I was trying to show. Thus, we will have to re-shoot. Heck, it took us about three hours to scan a photo! While the manual is good with detailing how to put paper in the machine (several pages), it is grossly lacking in "How to Scan Photos" and with what to do with them afterwards. Besides having to figure out how to c...