Craigslist Score: Necchi Supernova

Yes, I should have been inside sewing on a hot day today but instead I was cruising Craigslist and ended up bringing a new baby home with me this afternoon.  Reading Brian's enjoyable blog Brian Sews  (should that be Brian Sews and Enables?) had me thinking about a new vintage machine (an oxymoron, if ever I heard one) and then this listing showed up just a few miles from home.  It belonged to the mother of a friend who gave it to the local gal here in town who thought she might start sewing again.  Well, she never has taken up sewing so now that she's downsizing and is moving into a much smaller place.  There I was so proud of myself last week for cleaning out fabric and taking it to the ASG meeting....guess it means that I have room for a new machine.  I've never owned or even operated a Necchi but for $50, in a cabinet with a stool and all accessories, there's sure to be lots of fun in my future.  Once again, just like with my vintage Rocketeer, I'm so attracted to the styling on this classic machines.  I don't want to wear vintage clothes (at middle age I think I would just look frumpy, not chic) but I can at least sew on machines from the past.

McCalls 6201 in the Works

McCall's 6201  is one of their Made For You patterns which have bust cup sizing in the pattern.   I've made a muslin of view E's scoop neckline in a sleeveless version.  It fit relatively nicely out of the envelope....which used to mean that I would have settled for it in RTW.  But thank goodness I sew and can get a fit for my body.  My delightful sewing friends made some subtle but important changes to the six darts yesterday.  Now I'm going to make separate right and left patterns because of my asymmetry but it's not too difficult on a sleeveless sheath.  I have several printed cotton lycra blends that I would like for summer wear with little knit cardigans.

Muslin #1 of 6201

Now I'm off to make a decadent potato casserole for tonight's pot luck and movie discussion group.  It's an old one but thought provoking...Richard Dreyfuss in Whose Life Is It Anyway?  Mary Tyler Moore won a Tony for her Broadway version and more recently Kim Cattrell played the patient in the London show.   Among this group of friends I doubt there will much difference of opinion on the movie's main theme.   Those topics of medical intervention, quality of life and even doctor assisted suicide are ones that are discussed often in a region largely populated with retirees.   So not the most uplifting movie night but enjoyable surrounded by friends and good times...and isn't that the point of the movie anyway?

Shower Curtain....More Rectangular Sewing

Guest bath shower curtain, April 2011

I seem to need a deadline to get things like home dec projects done.  Last year, before I was blogging, I finished guest room drapery panels just a week before we headed up north.  Today I sewed up the guest room bath shower curtain above.  It's all rectangular sewing.  Bottom hem, side hems and then 12 small buttonholes across the top header.   So yes, got 'er done just a few weeks before we once again leave here for the summer.
I got a kick out of the tropical and quirky accent fabric in the guest bath and guest room.  It's from Calico Corners and is a retro barkcloth type print with flamingos and tropical islands.  Here are the panels from last year:

Guest room drapery panels, May 2010

Tomorrow back to fashion sewing.  I'm getting together with some local wonderful ASG friends and hope they will help me with the first fitting for a summer sheath.   That kind of sewing will require a lot more measuring, plenty of tweaks around the curves and fluff but the outcome will be something that fits me.  And I'll have a lot more fun with those girlfriends than I did man handling all of the fabric for these projects.

Swimsuit Weather

I've so enjoyed reading about Couture Boot Camp with Susan Khalje in the past week.  One of these days I'll try a lace garment of mine own....but today is not that day.  Instead I used up an inexpensive lacy knit fabric in my stash for this quick swimsuit coverup.  It's warm and sunny in SW Florida and the pool in our complex is heated so I'm enjoying an hour or so at the end of the day splashing around.  This fabric is years old....from whenever Hancocks closed their local stores and everything was 70% off.  The pattern is my  Chicos knock off   blouse poncho tutorial  slightly lengthened to make it more dress like.   Finished: 43" wide by 31" inches long.    Sort of looks good as a long tunic as well.   Sometimes you just need a quick sewing easy project.  Done.

JAM #3, Vogue 8136, Finished and a PR Confession

Well, I wore my latest JAM to my ASG chapter meeting on Saturday and got Mr. Lucky to snap a picture.  I really like this pattern and think it will be my wool doubleknit and boiled wool go to pattern.  That collar has lots of potential for different shapes as well so this is sure to be a standard in my TNT collection.  I did interface all the pieces and perhaps that was the opposite overkill for this particular jacket since it does feel and look bulky on my body.  But it's still very wearable right now and will be fun to make up for cooler autumn days.  I also think I'll like it in a woven, lighter weight fabric.

Collar dart cut open, on the left

Top of collar dart, not sewn all the way to the edge

Shawl collar details

It's not easy to see the construction details for this shawl collar but it is one of the easiest and most successful ways I've ever sewn those under collar corners.  Rather than pivot at the corner and work to move all the fabric out of the way before sewing the rest of the neck seam, you merely sew the shoulder seam up to the collar dart.  Then start on the other side of that collar dart and sew the neck seam.  Perfect result every time

No dimples or pulls on that shoulder corner!

PR Confession:  OK, I'll admit it.  I love reading PR and hate, hate , hate writing reviews.  I'm rather computer challenged and the external links and picture posting on PR make me crazy.  I know that people complain about posting and editing here on Blogger but they must be trying to do "cooler" things than I am.  I'm not at that level and probably won't be going there soon.  I'm thrilled with how easy it is to put a picture on my desktop, download it to Blogger and then put it in a post.   So, yes, I will get this pattern formally reviewed for PR but not soon.  So thank you, all of you great PR reviewers.  I bow to your commitment and expertise.  Of course, this aversion might also explain why most of my PR reviews are OOP patterns :-)


And now for some little diversions.  I have been reading and enjoying Gail Godwin novels for many years now.  I especially enjoyed Father Melancholy's Daughter and Evensong.  I picked up her novel, Queen of the Underworld, and found it readable but unfulfilling.  Wonderful concept....young girl reporter gets her first job in Miami just as the first Cuban refugees are fleeing Castro.  The newsroom scenes seemed authentic and gritty but the rest of it was full of slow, unresolved stories that left me wanting more.  So disappointing.  But like a sewing project, some books are lackluster as well, even from much loved authors.

Last picture...the summer haircut.  Every summer my brother would get the "buzz cut" for the hot weather season.  Lucky the rescue dog got his summer buzz cut last week and came out looking like an entirely different dog.  I was a little horrified at first but have gotten used to this new look....and it has cut down on his heavy panting.  Gosh, two dogs with entirely different body thermostats.  Sam the basenji is like a cat, following the sun everywhere, never pants and can't get warm enough.  Lucky is the total opposite, spends time on the tile floors to cool down and pants much more quickly with exertion and heat.