the week in review...

Well... First I watched the entire first season of Downton Abbey.  How have I been missing this all this time??  PEOPLE.  You're supposed to CLUE ME IN.

I love Mary.  I loved to hate her at first...then I got to know her better and now she's my favorite.  I can't wait to see Season 2!  More on their fabulous fashions after I've had a chance to collect images of my faves.

Then I watched some Project Runway All Stars.

Kenley

Mondo

Michael

Austin

Yup, I broke my PR abstinence because so many of my favorites are there... Mondo, Michael, Sweet P, Kenley, Austin, Jerrell.  You know, I always loved April before, but I dislike her immensely in the 2 episodes of this All Star season.

Then I rewatched this season's episodes of Fringe because...  Peter and the gang return tonight!

Oh dear, how I've missed you.

It's the weekend!  I hope to do something productive this weekend.  Including working on a dress I've had in my head for a while, maybe one of these:

Butterick 5600

Butterick 5598

I've also been wanting to make some jewelry.  And I haven't written on my novel-in-progress in a few weeks.  The characters are starting to have conversations in my head throughout the day, which usually means they need to be taken for a spin.

That all sounds pretty ambitious though, so we'll see.  I'll be sure and keep you posted!

Vtg Butterick 7762 - in progress

Sorry for the MIA-ness this week.  I had a school trip last weekend, and Saturday school, and new classes, and general running around trying to catch my tail.  Very little sewing going on, but I did do some handstitching on a nautical knit top from this vintage Butterick 7762:

I have had this pattern for YEARS (like, more than 10!)  It was one of the first vintage patterns I ever bought.   I don't know why I waited so long to try it. I was prompted into it by the super cute Sarah over at Rhinestones and Telephones, who has been using this pattern the past year for all sorts of cute things.

I made the top in a navy/white stripe poly-something knit:

 

Love the print, hate the fabric.  It's HOT.  

It's not hemmed yet, and if you look close you can see the serged edge of the sleeves.  I still need to finish tacking down the boatneck facing too.  I typically hate boatnecks ON, but I love the look of them.  Why is that?

Here's a much less flattering shot, hehe.

Gah.  I could have sucked it in, right?  I will comfort myself that it's just a bad angle.  Ahem. You can see the hem rolling up too. I never noticed, but it was that way in every single shot.  You can sort of see the cool chevroning that happens when you stitch this top in a stripe.

Those red pants are about to fall off my butt too.  They're actually the ankle-length pants from this pattern!  I haven't put in the waist stay or facing yet.  I was trying to decide if they needed a bit taken up at the waist (and now I 've decided YES, or I'll have saggy crotch.  Ew.)

That's it.  I was gonna show you the pants too, in progress, since they fit pretty darn well.  But, saggy crotch prevents me. Let me get the waist taken up a tad, and a stay in place, and then I'll show you!

Green plaid dress is still waiting for a zipper.  Why do I procrastinate on these??  It's so cute too, and the weather is PERFECT for wearing it right now.  Maybe this week. 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

goodies.

I ♥ you all.

Today, I had a little retail therapy. It's been a while since I hit the fabric stores & pattern sales. Although I started out looking for Christmas present-makings...I ended up buying stuff for me. ALL of its for me, in fact. Oops.

Buttericks & Vogues were on sale at Hancocks! I limited myself to two each, because really...I have PLENTY of patterns in stash! I am lacking some jackets though, so I chose Vogue 8547 because I love the cool retro-vibe of the jacket. The pants look like a keeper too, I'm interested in trying these!

I also picked up Vogue 8305, another wardrobe. I really want this wrap around, multi-wearable jacket/cardigan thing. Of course I couldn't find a decent grey interlock anywhere today. I did get some black, so maybe it will be black or a color would be nice too. Don't you want one of these for your next plane trip? I'm liking the tee in this package too.


There's enough 80's girl rocker in me to appreciate Butterick 5247. For 99 c (and 1 hour!) I couldn't resist.

Last pattern is Butterick 5104 , again for the jacket. I LOVE the cropped jacket length, the sleeves, the invisible closures. I'm all over this jacket. I even picked up some black & cream houndstooth check to recreate it. The coat is pretty nice too, and the package includes a raglan sleeve tee/dress.


What's a fabric shopping trip without fabric? I picked up these really great finds: A black & cream houndstooth, and a taupe/grey/cream/pink Burberry-esque plaid:


and a black with red windowpane check (this one is a nice doubleknit) & black interlock:


a fabulous shirting with 2% lycra, in dark red & white stripe, with a single navy thread. This is a really closeup view. The stripes are only about 1/16". Won't this be fabulous as a tailored shirt with white cuffs & collar??


And even though I talked all about the jackets and the fabrics for the jackets...I'm most interested in the black & red doubleknit, for this jumper in BWOF 9/2007:
And since I'm trying to strike while the iron is hot, I'm off to trace!

Listening to THIS while I trace