Sewing with Gratitude, Occasionally

My sewing for others usually follows the sentiments of Elaine at The Selfish Seamstress blog.  In my words, "I'm too slow, you can't afford me, you'll have to wait forever or no, not interested."  So I have to love you a lot to sew something for you.  And yes, that's why I made this shirt for Mr. Lucky this week.  He worked so hard getting my sewing room patched and repainted.  He spent forever installing ceiling lights which I now realize were a mistake and will probably be replaced next year.  Then he took me to NYC for a wonderful anniversary weekend.  I had cut out two Kwik Sew shirts for him this summer but never got around to making them so this was the apprppriate time, don't you think?   And besides, I wasn't happy with how my own latest sewing project was going so I needed a success.

I used a TNT pattern for him, KS 3422.  The fabric is another Fabric Mart find from years ago, a very thin cotton silk blend that feels light and airy.  I have no idea why I bought it for myself but I loved the touch and the price.  It's a very dense weave so even a new size 75 quilting needle was hammering the fabric.  I changed to a size 70 sharp needle and all was well again.  I follow the KS directions and have succes although I did deviate in two places.  I used the wonderful invention, Steam a Seam 2 lite, to fuse the pocket into place before stitiching it.  I also did the shirt hem treatment a little differently.  First I serged the hem at a slightly increased differential feed number...1.3 on my Babylock.  This slightly curved the bottom hem.  I pressed it 1/4' then pressed again before using my edge stitching foot to sew the tiny hem.  It makes the hem area look totally finished.  I believe both of those were useful tips from louise Cutting.
Next shirt I think I'll try the flat fell seams on the side and shoulders but I'll have to slightly adjust the seam allowance in those areas.  Pam Erny just republished directions on her webiste on how to do this at the sleeve.  Off the Cuff blog.   It's a lightweight sports shirt for up here in MD fro fall but he'll pack it and take it to FL when we leave in 3 weeks.

As for my personal sewing disappointment this week, I'll wait to blog about that later when I can get some pictures and ask for feedback.  I'm heading up today to visit a friend in PA.  Tomorrow we're going to a fabric sale of a woman from her sewing guild who has passed away.  From what I've heard she was a wonderful sewer as well as friend so although the stash that is left may be impressive, I don't believe it's sad and frightening like some of the craft and fabric hoarders I have heard about.
In the meantime, here are pictures of the new and improved sewing room.  We still have to install some Homesote boards on the wall behind the entry door.  I'm going to live with it for a while and see what I think about the wall space behind my sewing machine and sergers.

Sewing room from entry door

Rocketeer, felter, Viking 770, Baby lock CS, Babylock Imagine