Sewing Retreat, Vogue 1263

First of all, let me give tribute to indomitable blogger and superb seamstress, Audrey,  Sewtawdry Blog  for getting me back onto a blogging schedule, erratic as ever but at least present once again.  I was surprised and happy to see her attend this summer's sewing retreat and thrilled to see some of her projects in person.
As I mentioned in my last post, Mr. Lucky and I have had a marvelous summer taking big and little trips to visit family and friends.  But between you and me and the rest of the blogging universe, we both need some time with our own tribes.  Mr. Lucky has played lots of golf with some regular golfing friends this summer (and had some wonderfully great scoring days, which, I suppose, would be like making a perfect double welt pocket in a difficult fabric for me.) But I haven't had anything like the equivalent with sewing girlfriends.  So I was thrilled to see that the Northern Virginia American Sewing Guild summer "Taste of Retreat" (called that because January is our greatly numbered attendee retreat) was scheduled to fit perfectly into the summer schedule .  
So I packed up more projects than I could complete... even if I didn't interrupt myself to talk to everyone (and talk and talk and talk....I was lonely for girlfriend company after all) and headed to a new venue for this retreat, the National Conference Center NCC  in Leesburg, Virginia.  
Small aside....decades ago my former employer used the sales training materials from this former Xerox training site and I came on board just after they stopped sending sales people and managers there.  So I had heard stories about its isolation and almost monk-like experience.  Not true anymore.... the center is located in the midst of suburban sprawl and there's a bar and cool outdoor fire pit on site as well as an amazing food array for each meal.  Now, back to the sewing content.  
Here are the projects that I worked on and mostly completed except for some hand sewing that I have been finishing while watching TV.

Vogue 1263

My major sewing accomplishment from the retreat was this Vogue 1263 pattern.  I received it as the free pattern in the Craftsy Hand Embellishing Knit Fabric Natalie Chanin class and originally I didn't think it would be me at all.  I'm more a sporty or classic  type gal and this had an arty edge that I didn't think I could carry off easily. I have not done anything with the class knit embellishing technique nor the three Natalie Chanin books but, hooray, I did sew up the included pattern.

There are a many darts in this jacket.  Three in the collar and the collar facing, six along the bottom hem, two waist darts and then the side pockets are built into a side seam dart that must be slashed open.  Last fall it was one of four coat designs that I took to Sarah Veblen for fitting help.  She strongly encouraged me to take on this project and didn't make any fit adjustments on my mock up..  I sewed a straight size 14 and did find the upper sleeves a little too tight so added 1/4 to the two piece sleeve in about six inches of my bicep area since I will want to wear a sweater underneath.  I also don't love the back armscye but it is never really visible so I am not going to quibble or make any major adjustments.

It's a lot of jacket

I used a wool lurex blend that I "splurged" on by buying full price at Fabric Mart last winter.  Now those of you who know Fabric Mart's prices realize that meant maybe $12 a yard not my retail store $2-3 per yard. But I loved the mix of herringbone and the silvery lurex and the damask rose design.  And I love you enough, dear readers, to model it in almost 90F weather yesterday. 

Vogue rates the pattern as Easy but gosh, there's a lot of accurate marking and stitching happening all over this pattern.  The pockets were definitely a challenge for me....a slashed side seam dart with the pocket bag showing from the outside so you better get right sides and wrong sides correct before you pick up the scissors.  I did plenty of pinning and hand basting to double check myself and they came out wonderfully....but it wasn't done "easily."

Dart side seam pocket

The jacket is unlined (which might put it in the Easy category) but each dart and seam is flat fell seamed. It makes for a nice smooth finished effect, particularly on those six hem darts.  Don't know how well you can tell but the large cut out dart is stitched, one side trimmed down to 1/4" then the opposite seamed turned under 1/4 and pressed to enclose the seam and is top stitched. 

One of the hem darts stitched, trimmed then topstitched

My fabric was very forgiving for all that topstitching on bulky fabric, particularly on the upper back curved seam where you are flat fell seaming the edge of other flat fell princess seams.  I cheated by the time I reached the side seams and sleeves and used my serger to finish them and reduce the bulk.  

Inside pocket bag and unlined jacket

Turns out that I love the jacket and think I will get a lot of use out of it this fall and winter.  Just goes to show you, don't judge a pattern by its cover....and do make a quick mock up to give it a chance.

Kwik Sew 3422

My second completed project was this very overdue Kwik Sew shirt 3422  3342 for Mr. Lucky.  I am definitely not a skilled shirt maker like a Pam Erny Off the Cuff Blog but I am so touched that Mr. Lucky picks the shirts that I have made him from his array of summer casual ones.  One of the early versions needs to be retired so I used up the last of this lovely, heavy rayon to make a replacement.  My sewing friends certainly noticed the careful pattern cutting and he was both surprised and impressed when I brought it home finished for him.  
The retreat was just what I needed to get my sewing mojo and my blogging mojo back in gear.  I am the happiest person on the planet since I was able to retire early and pursue my hobbies and interests.  But I do miss the social part of my job and these get togethers remind me of how much I cherish connections.  So I leave you with some pictures of happy, creative, encouraging sewing friends....and a few of the great facility we used this year.

The end of a wonderful day of friendship and creativity.

Next up will be the scarf tutorial that a few of you requested and some more new kimono type summer jackets.  Hope your sewing projects bring you smiles and good times.

Back to School, Back to Sewing, Back to Blogging

In my little corner of the world children returned to school this week, there's a hint of autumn in the air and I am finally sitting down to post some sewing updates.  My summer has been filled with many miles of travel and lots of  fun activities and I have even squeezed in some sewing.  Let's start with the biggest event, our trip to England and Wales during the last two weeks of June.  It was fairly easy to find plenty of clothing combinations to select in my existing  wardrobe so I only stitched up a new Tabula Rasa knit tunic Fit for Art Knit Tunic  top to wear with black Style Arc Elle pants.  It is a border ITY print from Fabric Mart and I played with it a bit to get the layout I liked.  

Tabula Rasa Knit Tunic

Of course, since this pattern is so easy to sew up in about an hour, I made a Baltimore summer version for the far warmer temps and wore it to get my hair cut and colored before leaving on our trip:

I did sew up a simple infinity scarf to pull together a few pieces of previously sewn brown and black separates and also two versions of this Sholdit scarf that I had seen in a travel magazine. Sholdit on Amazon   I wanted an inconspicuous way to carry my passport and credit cards when we went out for the evening in London.  This worked out nicely although I would not really use it on a regular basis for something as big as an American passport, a little clumsy at your neckline.  (If anyone is interested, I will post a picture tutorial.)

Only one more England/Wales sewing project in this post so you can skip the mini-travel report that follows without hurting my feelings.  Just skim down and you'll see the sewing projects inspired by this summer trip.
Mr. Lucky and I had an exhilarating, exciting, simply wonderful holiday. We started with three action packed days in London.  We stayed near Hyde Park so loved walking through the Park to get everywhere since people watching is so much of the fun of traveling.  I first visited London in 1972 while I was back packing around Europe with girlfriends right at this same time of year so it was nostalgic  to feel how much things are the same and yet intriguing to notice the differences.  We loved the Victoria and Albert exhibits on clothing (seeing some fashions that would have been in the shops those four decades ago, of course)

Victoria and Albert Clothing through the years....and a theme for my recent sewing

and Shoe: Pleasure and Pain Shoes....especially since one of the first things I consider in packing is my shoe choice.
The World War I exhibit at the Imperial War Museum was engrossing and saddening.  Wars seem to be declared by the old but fought by the young, so very tragic.  It took far longer to view than we anticipated but I made sure I also saw the Fashion on the Ration exhibit about how ingenious people were with their clothing allowances during the war years.  I remember some older generation remarks about the re-fashioning part of the British Sewing Bee being a reminder of the hardship of those days so it may seem merely interesting and clever now but was probably demoralizing for many people at the time. 

Burda Twist top dress in black slinky and silk organza Vogue 8088

Each day we bought discount tickets for the the theater and saw three shows in our three London nights.  Monday night was the the marvelous Kristen Scott Thomas in "The Audience."  The Audience I had just watched the American Tony theatre awards go to Helen Mirren and Richard McCabe for their Broadway version so was thrilled we could see it in London.  Fantastic play that kept us engaged and discussing it over drinks afterward.  The following night we went in an entirely different direction back to America and "The Book of Mormon." Book of Mormon OMG we laughed and laughed and then laughed some more.  The last night we went for nostalgia and saw "Jersey Boys" which was light and fun and full of baby boomers like us....and maybe even some other former "Jersey girls" in the audience.  
In between we rode bikes in the Park one morning, 

had a tea in the afternoon, 

did some window shopping, including the famous Selfridge windows since we love the TV series, 

and had a great time back in a city we love. 

 Heather and Kathy, thank you so much for your tips for our trip.  We could not fit in the Dennis Severs house because of their slightly unusual schedule and location but we certainly wanted to see it after reading the reviews.  And the McQueen exhibit must have been wonderful but no luck with last minute tickets on our limited schedule.
It was hard for us to leave London but we caught the train that took us to Bangor, Wales for an overnight before heading to the village of Beddelgert and our week with HF Holidays hiking in Snowdonia.  Magic.  Yes, that's the word for this beautiful corner of the earth.  Green and dramatic and and striking and full of history and stories.  There were 24 of us and each day we could decide to take an easy, moderate or difficult hike.  Yikes, you Brits are mountain goats!  We were with experienced "Ramblers" and these were definitely challenging hikes for me but it was worth it to reach the tops of those peaks and see the views.  In five days of hiking, I did 8,200 ft. of ascents and 37 miles and Mr. Lucky did 10, 200 ft and 39 miles.  We have done six other group hiking trips in the last 17 years with other companies and this was definitely the most challenging but oh so exhilarating.  Here are a few of the happy moments:

After saying good-byes to our guides and travel companions we headed to the Shrewsbury area to visit with friends we had met seventeen years ago....and last visited 14 years ago when the footpaths in England were closed due to foot and mouth disease.  It was wonderful to see them in person, take a day trip in the area and to enjoy the village pub each evening.  I'm including this picture because I am wearing a travel souvenir, a kimono like  lightweight long jacket that I bought in London at Top Shop while we were strolling up Oxford Street.  

Lynn and I have tea in the garden in my new kimono jacket.

Back in my sewing room

I loved the print terribly and splurged on the garment even though it is about the simplest thing in the world to make.  But the fabric is just wonderful and I would rather have it for a souvenir than some little tchokte gathering dust.  And it turns out that I love the look.  I'm wearing the skinny jeans fashion some of these days but that means I need tunic tops and longer jackets in my wardrobe.  So yes, this long travelogue does end with a sewing project.  I decided to copy that simple kimono design and proportion and made myself two more kimono jackets that I have worn a few places this summer.  The first one is a handkerchief linen from Fabric Mart that I considered for a home dec project but seemed a good scale for this jacket/duster length.  

The second one is a rayon blend from Fabric Mart that seems to resemble a 50s bark cloth pattern.

I still like the TopShop one the most but it's a new fashion look for me and one that I am pursuing with some other versions in my next posts.  
Until then, I hope August is closing out as nicely in your part of the world and your sewing projects are making happy memories for you too.  And since school days are here, I thought you might enjoy this fun song that I think of at the end of summer: