Finished Colette Ginger

Going in chronological order since I last blogged, I should begin with my first trip to Urban Craft Uprising at Seattle Center.  I've been hearing about it for years, first oddly enough from my husband, but last Sunday was the first time I ever went.  I got online to look up the hours and noticed an advert for swag bags for the first 100 people.  Free craft items from indie craft vendors?!  Of course I'm in!  The craft fair opened at 11, but online it said people line up as early as 8:00.  So, what time did we get up on a Sunday so we could hop a ferry to Seattle...wait for it...5am to make the 6:10a.m. ferry!  My husband thought we were crazy, but that's part of the fun.  My friend Jen and I went together.  Thankfully her husband gave us a lift to the ferry.

Knitting time while waiting in line at Urban Craft Uprising.

Grammy is still here and we took C for her 2nd big girl haircut last week.  I just love the fancy braids they do!  She'll sit still as an angel for someone else, but it's all squirmy and whiny when mommy tries something like this.

Western Washington is enjoying fantastically nice weather, and G and I made it to a Seattle Sounders soccer game on Saturday.  The mornings have been starting off with some marine fog, but consistently clearing out to full sun by lunchtime.

And finally, I FINISHED a pattern this morning.  The Colette Ginger skirt.  It's been cut and partially sewn for several weeks.  I thought I had to wait for an invisible zipper foot to arrive, but I instead found a nice tutorial for putting in my first invisible zipper with a regular zipper foot.  The skirt turned out a tad large, but I think it's because I'm still losing baby weight and I lost a little bit more while waiting for zipper insertion.  It's also a test run of this pattern for me, so not the end of the world.  Still very wearable.  I've got some flat photos, but will have to wait until I have a shower and am out of my jammies for a modeled shot!

Up close, small flowery print.

First invisible zip seems pretty invisible.

Her "guts".

Pattern: Colette Ginger, plain wasteband
Fabric:  hmmm...a mostly cotton woven with a little stretch in it?
Size: I'll have to run upstairs and look later.
Mods: shortened it by about 3 inches.  Finished length is 19".

Modelled shots to come.

Gonna try for a closer fit next time.

Grammy arrives!

And so begins the "Grammy period" of the summer!  We're lucky enough to have Grammy staying with us for a few weeks this summer.  Grampy is going on an adventure of his own to St. Petersburg, Russia, Finland, Latvia, and Iceland, so Grammy came out to the West Coast to visit us.  Yay!  Grammy arrived on Wednesday bearing gifts...pink robes for all the ladies.

Cozy pink robes for cool PNW mornings!

Too big Tofino's from afar.

As for sewing...I've finished the Tofino pants except for the waist tie.  Verdict?  Way too huge!  I did measure myself multiple times and consulted the back of the pattern, but I didn't actually measure my pattern pieces.  Lots of ease in this pattern, at least for me.  Plus, not sure I've mentioned this, but with how many pregnancies I've had in the last few years I have gone from a size 0, up to a 14, and back down currently to a  RTW 6/8.  I guess I'm a little hesitant to make things small and always seems to tend toward bigger.  I will absolutely make these again though, but in a smaller size.

What's up next?  I think Tilly and the Button's Miette skirt is next.  I purchased it earlier this week and spent a night taping it together.  That's the first pattern I've bought as a .pdf and taped...and maybe the last.  Taping is not for me.  I think I prefer to pay the extra (as I have with all my other patterns so far) and have it shipped to me as a printed pattern.  I got out the paper cutter and made a lot of quick trims, but NOT my cup of tea, and btw, I LOVE tea!  I am 100% a tea drinker and cannot stand coffee.

Finally, I have moved upstairs to the semi-finished sewing room!  The walls are drywalled and painted, but it's lacking any storage shelves so far, and any of it's permanent cutting/sewing surfaces.  I almost bought a 1940s huge teacher's desk earlier this week, which would have made a kick-ass cutting surface, but it's unlikely that we would have been able to actually get it upstairs :-(.  Plan B is to hit up Ikea for butcher block countertops and build a custom cutting table and sewing/serger desk.

Stairs to the left, sewing table up against banister.

Down the narrowish stairs...

Where the ceiling comes down is where the shelves will be built. 

Shelves all along low wall.

Half bath through the door to the left of the chimney. 

Empty right side of room.  Closets eventually the whole length of the room.

 Hopefully I'll have a completed Miette in a few days - although I've got a busy few days ahead.  This boy has his first birthday party tomorrow!

Then Sunday a ferry ride to Seattle for the Urban Craft Uprising.  This will be my first time, but I've heard it's amazing!  All independent crafter from across the Western U.S.  And then Monday a trip to Seattle again with Grammy and the kids to see Woodland Park Zoo.  Not too much sewing time in there, but maybe a little?

Butterfly Tofino Pants

Boo!  Just lost my last post somehow.  This will be a quick replacement.  Happy 4th to all, we're off to the beach shortly for fireworks and BBQ.

I almost finished a pair of Sewaholic's Tofinos this morning.  I had all the links in my first post.  I'll write this, then see if I can edit the links in after.  All that's left is threading the elastic through the waist casing, hemming them, and finding some black fabric to make the tie out of.  Woot, almost done!

Pattern: Sewaholic Tofino Pants & Shorts
Fabric: Enchanted Rainforest, Maywood Studios

I cut a straight size 10 based on my largest measurement.  They're pretty darn big on me.  Probably should have cut an 8, or even a 6.  I'm not too worried though, they're lounge pants after all!  This was my first time adding piping.  Not hard at all.  I am working on improving my finishing techniques - did pretty well on all my seams here, I think.  I will finish these shortly and add a picture of them in use.   A note about the fabric: I bought this in the sale section of Pacific Fabrics...I thought it was really loud and  obnoxious, but perfect for PJ bottoms.  It's grown on me a lot and I went back and bought enough for a skirt yesterday.  Did I mention that one of my science kits I teach in 2nd grade is butterflies?  I don't generally try to match my curriculum, but it's 2nd grade for pete's sake and the kids'll think that I'm the coolest in my butterflies!