Simplicity 4076

Simplicity 4076 is a great pattern. This is the 4th shirt I have made with the scoop neck and gathering in the front.  There are only 5 pieces (two of them are the sleeves).  I couldn't find my directions but after sewing up four other shirts from a different pattern before this I was not afraid.  Well, not afraid of anything except the neck binding.  

I used the technique in this video from the Threads website and it came out better than the shirts I had the directions for.  The fact that the fabric cost $1.99 and the shirt was created in less than an hour makes it even better.

Wanda is modeling my shirt since my sewing room is 83 degrees (up in the attic / no air conditioning) and I can't even imagine how big my hair is or how red my face is and do not want to subject that image to any of you reading this blog.

4 for the 4th

Since it is finally warm in New England I decided it was time to sew up some short sleeved shirts. 

 
For Christmas I bought myself some $1.99/yard knits from Fashion Mart Fabrics.  I bought one yard of five different knits. 

 

Four of them I sewed up into Jalie 2794, a sweetheart top with cropped sleeves.    



I doubled the size of the neckpiece / binding. I won't do that again. I thought it might look cool.  It's just annoying me how the back of the shirt lays - so, back to the original size for the next time I sew this shirt.

 

New Bathroom Curtain

In July we will celebrate owning the same home for 11 years.  Since I am 99.9% positive we are never moving (until we retire or I win the lottery) I decided to finally start making curtains.  I started in the master bathroom.  As you can see - the curtain that has been hanging in there is, um, gross?  grody to the max?  has outlived it's usefulness?  

And - *tada* - here is the new version.  

Love it. Love the pop of color. Love that there isn't a water stain running across the middle of it.  Love that there isn't lace falling off of it.  

I did raise the lower curtain by 3.5 inches - just to make sure that anyone that walks by the window indoors is covered by the curtain and not giving a free show to the neighborhood.

The stripes are busy and bold so I was unsure if I should add a trim.  Thoughts?  Leave the curtains as is or search for a just right trim?

I am making roman shades for the majority of the other rooms and need to shop for supplies tomorrow (oh - and Joann's has Simplicity patterns on sale for $1.99 starting tomorrow. Yee Haw). 

Jalie Fleece Jacket - arm embroidery

Jalie Fleece Jacket - arm embroidery
Originally uploaded by bethvanduzer
For Christmas I made my sister and my niece Jalie #2795 Jackets. I made a muslin for me first - to see how well the pattern fit, etc.

The pattern is awesome. I used an old blanket as the main fabric (The gray fabric was a blanket I received  years ago when I worked at a large pharma company. Milk Street Cafe would give the admins 'points' for ordering food through them for meetings. Once you earned a certain number of points you could redeem them for products.) and a remnant from JoAnn's for the 'pop' of color. It had a lot of pieces but the directions were super simple to follow and it really sewed up in a flash.

Front of Jacket and a dog to boot. She likes to have her photo taken.

Back of Jacket.

My sister's jacket. She's a Jets fan. NOTE - Jets fabric is not easily found in New England. Had to order it online.

Jacket for my niece.