Swiss Dot and Triple Stitches

 

 

My sew-jo has disappeared, friends.  I lost it somewhere on vacation, I believe.  I think I may have left it where I left my fancy, ergonomic seam ripper (yes, I really did leave my seam ripper in St. John- sigh).  Since I've been back, life has been crazy.  As I'm sure it is for everyone, so I won't complain.  Only I haven't been feeling the urge to sew like I was before vacation.  Maybe I burned myself out.   I don't know.  I think I'm just going to take it easy for a while and let it come back on it's own.  My new job is fantastic and I've been dedicating most of my time to work.  Which is probably what I should be doing anyway.  You know, instead of bemoaning how work is getting in the way of my sewing time ;)

I finally finished this blouse that I began almost three weeks ago.  I sewed in tiny increments.  A half an hour here, a few spare minutes there.  It was slow going.  But I'm pleased with it in the end.  It seems especially groovy to me.  And art teacher-y.  The shape is not the most flattering.  Looking at the pictures, I think I should shorten it a bit.  The hem hits at my widest part.  The top is a little maternity-ish.  But I knew it was going to be smock-like from the beginning.  I'll definitely wear it to work.  I do love a kimono sleeve.

I used Simplicity 2254.  I've been trying to bust through some of my old pattern stash lately.  This was one I purchased a while ago and never got around to making.  I used a pretty carrot colored swiss dot I found at Hancock.  The mannequin photos are the truer color.  I'm not sure why the others are so saturated.  I really liked the top stitching on view A and wanted to do something fun with a contrasting color.  I used my triple stitch for extra fat top stitching.  I used three different shades of turquoise thread.  I quite like the bit of color, but I kind of feel like the top stitching just screams homemade.   Which is okay.   I kept my stitching as straight and even as possible but there are some wobbly places. I'm not too fussed about it.  It is what it is.  I unpicked one row of triple stitching to fix and decided that was enough.

It's a nice pattern.  This is a good pattern for a beginner who has a few projects under her belt.  I struggled a bit with sewing the back neck band to the back bodice.  I would recommend not stay stitching the back neckline.  I had to do a fair amount of clipping to make the curve fit.  The back bodice/skirt seam line has elastic inserted in to the seam allowances.  I think that helps with the fit a bit but it sure does make for a wrinkly back.  I probably could have made a small instead of a medium.  Also, if I make this again I'll cut the back bodice on the fold.  No need for that seam there.

And that's all on the sewing horizon for me for a while.  I'm working on another blouse, but I think it will be slow going like this one.  Just little bits at a time.  What about you?  What do you do to get your sew-jo back?  Any particular project you like to work on when you're feeling uninspired?