Russell's Jacket

So, this is the Ottobre pattern I'm working on for Russell. There seems to be a certain lack of boy's patterns on the market. I invested in an Ottobre subscription for one year to try it out. I've never worked with patterns like this before. It should be an adventure to say the least. My eyes crossed when I pulled the pattern page out. Eventually, I ended up tracing around the pieces I needed for the jacket with a sharpie so I could see it better through the pattern fabric, that did the trick. I'm just hoping I have the sizing right. I WILL be making a muslin for this one, to make sure. I added 1/4" seam allowances to the pattern as I traced it. Converting the metric measurements over to inches should be fun when adding the zippers. The fabric saga continues though. Thinking I had found the perfect fabric for it, I buy it and bring it home only to hate what I had picked out. I'll find something to do with that fabric eventually but right back to the drawing board on what to make this out of. I've never worked with knits before so, a chance to gain new experience awaits me! Whoo-hoo! Let's hope this is not a total disaster, it very well could be.

More Flannel

Flannel, flannel everywhere! There's just something about flannel in fall weather. It's so snuggly and warm and perfect for shirts. I still have a shirt for myself cut out and waiting to be sewn up but I'm still lacking about 1/2 yd of the fabric to make the cuffs. If you look back a few posts, you'll see pics of it. If anyone knows where to find some of this PLEASE let me know, I'll be very appreciative and would be willing to throw a vintage pattern in on the side for the trouble. The flannel this tunic is made out of was end of bolt fabric. There was just enough to squeeze the tunic out of it WITHOUT matching. I've got to get better at that. I made view E without the ruffle for Alexis in this plaid fabric, she thinks ruffles make you look like you're from the 1700's. It's finished and in the dryer. I'm rather proud of it even though there are so many mistakes in it. She loves it, that's what counts. I'll post pics of the completed shirt in the next couple of days.

On a side note, I found a sewing guild chapter here in town! I'm going to sit in on a meeting in the next couple of weeks. I'm so excited. I've never had a group of people to sew with. I hope I'm not hyping myself up too much. I've been looking forward to something like this for a looooong time.

My New Book

Looking through the books in the craft section at the book store the other day I found this book. It was staring at me, calling my name. My boyfriend ended up getting it for me and paid around $25 for it. I'm so excited about some of the projects in this book, I've already made one of them for my son. I had just the right amount of fabric to make the small floor cushion for him. He's been dragging it all over the house since I finished. I was able to throw it together in just a couple of hours yesterday. This one will be tattered and well worn in a matter of time. Great book, practical patterns, easy to understand instructions.

I Like This Jacket

The picture arrangement makes it look like the cat picture is the jacket I'm referring to....

Just a useless observation.

I absolutely love the way this jacket turned out. Originally I was going to make the whole thing out of the blue fleece but, I ran short of this fabric (this fleece has been in my stash for almost three years...) The cream colored remnant with the hearts on it finished it wonderfully. I admit I was not paying too much attention while I was cutting the heart fabric and some of the hearts are upside down but, I'm o.k. with this as is Alexis. She's worn this jacket EVERYWHERE since I finished it Friday. If you notice the picture with the construction of the pockets, the buttonholes were not all that even. I ended up measuring and remarking them myself. These were my first real buttonholes on any project and I feel like they turned out well. I was, however, using a vintage machine attachment for buttonholes made by the Geist Co. that I found at an estate sale some time back. It worked wonderfully and now I don't feel I have to avoid projects with buttonholes. I have a limited number of size cards for the attachment, I'm o.k. with this because I found I do not like small buttons and most of these are guides for larger buttonholes. The pockets were some of my best pockets ever. They are straight and even and the machine didn't hitch up on the stitching to make a mess of the fabric. I would highly recommend this pattern to anyone wanting to make a fall jacket for a young girl. It went together easily and quickly. It definately boosted my sewing esteem.

The kitty in the picture at the top is Bones. He was a stray in our neighborhood who found us. Anyone who knows anything about cats knows that you don't find cats, they find you. He wandered up on our step a little over a month ago, when the weather was really bad. This is a picture that was taken after he was with us for about three weeks as before that the pictures would have been too disturbing to show. We are lucky he's alive. He was so far gone when we took him into the vet the first time we didn't have to use a crate. He sat calmly in my lap in the waiting room and did nothing buy lay on my jacket in the exam room. Every bone in his body protruded out from his skin and he did not even have the energy to play. It was determined we could not give him his shots right away because he was so unhealthy. Fleas, worms, ear mites, malnutrition, lacerations, the poor little guy had been lucky to survive as long as he did. His feline leukemia/FIV tests were negative, we were extremely happy about this. He was about 3 1/2 months old and weighed less than 3 lbs. His last visit to the vet was about a week ago. He received his shots and weighed in at a healthy 6.3 lbs, still growing and turning into a dear of a cat. He has quite the purring motor, once he starts he doesn't like to stop. We are still battling tapeworms and hopefully we can have this nixed soon. I'm looking forward to seeing just how big of a cat he's going to be. He got his name from two places, the first was the show Bones on t.v., and the second, he was a bag of bones when he wandered onto our step. It suits him wonderfully and hopefully he'll stick around long enough to make great use of it.