The Real Washi Dress

Here it is! The real Washi Dress, not from muslin this time. Though I do love the muslin one. This beautiful dress has the feel of a super casual dress but looks like a million bucks! This one will work for a wedding, interview, or just everyday. I loved this fabric when I walked into Bolt, it just lended itself to a dress and to be a true any occasion dress. The vertical vines just pull the eye down the dress

I spent a lot of time testing out the pattern on my "muslin" and was able to get the fit just right before chopping up my good fabric. I was so glad I spent all that time and waited for the tracing paper.

The fit of the original pattern Washi Dress from Made by Rae was very good. I just added in lower bust darts and moved the pleats out so it hung straighter down the front. I hope to try more of her patterns.

So glad it finally looks and feels like spring here in the Pacific Northwest. I've had enough of the grey rain for now.

Those sweet tiny sleeves and bit of shirring are the best details of the dress!

Kuma approved of those pockets in hopes I will fill them with her treats!

Such a cute little keyhole neck, I loved the simple ease of creating this detail and the yoke behind it so it will stay smooth and crisp.

I am now thinking this pattern would make a fabulous skirt with some altering. Well, now that I have successfully made my first clothing item from pattern after following every instruction, its only fitting that I would want to make it my own! Oh well. I loved the techniques this pattern forced me to learn. I stepped out of my comfort circle and I love it! Even if I make this exact dress again it will always be different fabrics and handmade by me!

Washi "Muslin"

 I decided recently I wanted to make a dress from a legit pattern. I was in Portland a few weekends ago, and found myself in Bolt fabric store on Alberta.

I flipped through patterns of all kinds. In my heart this is the pattern I've always wanted wanted to make. Simple dress with nice details that fits well. I sold formal dresses for years and know what looks good on my body. Empire waist. Lower neckline. Darted short bodice. Loose skirt, but not too full.

The Washi Dress Pattern is from Made by Rae. Before seeing it in Bolt, I had seen many originals and improvised Washi dresses in blog-land and knew that the pattern was well-made and had some options open to adding in my personal style. After being treated so warmly in Bolt, and getting beautiful black with vines fabric, I was giddy on my ride home. 

I read the pattern the next day. I have never made a quilt or clothing item from a pattern, as you know I am a "do-it-my-own-damn-self" kinda gal. I set out to cut out my size and then decided to read some reviews and tips. I set off starting with her website. Then, I ventured into the world of the internet. It is amazing to me how much crafty folks like to share their experiences.
One tip suggested not cutting the pattern, or any pattern ever, for that matter. Instead it instructed to use Swedish tracing paper so you have a sturdy pattern that can be altered. All the while, the original pattern stays intact for making different sizes later. Against my normal tendencies, I ordered the special tracing paper and decided to wait. Waiting is hard for me and has been the downfall creative nature of quite a few projects. I knew I wanted to make the pattern more than once. I wanted to do it right. Not just fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants like I normally do. 

I waited a whole week while bursting at the seam, no pun intended, wanting to slice up my fabric and pattern and get to the sewing already!

When the tracing paper came, I carefully measured myself and fell between two sizes.  So I traced the bigger size carefully and cut out my pattern from the waist line up only. Focusing on making a muslin of the parts where I needed it to fit the best in the bust area instead of the whole dress, is a must! Another great suggestion. Then, I traced again and made a "muslin" out of super sale blue scrap fabric in the bigger size. The muslin was way to big everywhere, even with my awesome push-up bra on, so I ripped out my basting stitches. I lined up my patterns again and then traced and cut my tracing paper down to the next size and re-sewed the muslin. Still a bit big but under the bust, so I decided to deviate a bit and add in darts in the waist up to the bust. Another rip apart, tracing of a pattern and trimming and re-sewing.

Again, I was glad I reviews suggesting darts under the bust apex. I put on the muslin again and it looked pretty good without the shirring, that would eventually make it fit well.
Then I grabbed the pretty flower vines on black and I cut all the pieces and went to bed. 

The next morning the blue muslin was put on the table when I cleaned up my sewing area. I realized I really really liked it, I only had bit of the blue cotton I got on super sale. So all of it was used to make the top "muslin" of the dress.  It worked well with my Kaffe stripes, this was this by far the best choice. I loved the pairing and knew this would be a great go-to casual tunic dress

Quickly, I found myself making two Washi Dresses.   I put the black one aside and decided to test out all the fittings on the "muslin". 

All in all. 

I love this pattern. I intend on making many more. It fits very well with out a need for major adjustments. Super glad I read the comments and reviews on her website. I hope to buy the expansion pack soon. Lesson of the day: It pays off to make a muslin and if you do it out of super sale fabric you get two dresses!

Woah watch out...its me who you never see!

I was initially daunted by even trying a pattern and then attempting shirring.

The shirring is an easy way to make an elastic area that doesn't need to be encased. It also enticed me to dream up many more items so that I can do more shirring. It makes it the dress comfortable and easy to get on without zippers or buttons. 

I chose to only do every other shirring line so it would be more loose on this casual tunic.

A little stripe binding on the sleeve to make it sleeveless and give it more detail.

Of course this pattern has pockets which was a major selling point. 

Stay tuned for the other one. It's a beauty. 

Kaffe Scrappy Log Cabin Top

I've been fighting a nasty bug for a few days. I would have much rather been behind my sewing machine than on the couch.  I have have felt a bit bad passing this beauty hanging on the curtains. Today the sunshine came out and backlit my beautiful Kaffe top. I felt inspired to get up and get sewing. I first had hubby take it outside so I could get a proper photo.

He loves crazy socks and can't wait to play in his now super muddy garden.

It needed a bit of yellow. So border went on with mitered corners.

I think I need a bit more energy to tackle the batting, backing and binding. I am exhausted just thinking about it. Thanks for coming out sunshine, its been along while.

Snow Makes Me Want to Crochet

Over the last 4 days the PNW got about 6-9 inches of snow and  1-3 inches of ice, all depending on where you live, of course. I love the snow, however, I HATE ice. I have been seriously injured in the ice. Therefore, I choose not to leave the house when there is even a threat of ice. For two days I didn't leave the house and instead choose to be crafty.

Kuma, my precious one, loves the snow. She, like her non-furry mom, also hates ice. This is her on the second day of beautiful fluffiness. All she wants to do is play. She did not understand the picture taking. She just wanted me to find her bone for her that was buried in the snow and play with her. 

Snow doesn't really make me want to play anymore, maybe I am too old or jaded, instead it makes me want to pull out beautiful bright colors and be super crafty.

When the freezing rain started, I settled on the couch to make something pretty. Kuma followed suit, napping under my feet.

 I ve got a large bag of clothing donations next to the door and tub of yarn next to the couch, so the rug seemed natural. I have recently drooled over handmade t-shirt crochet rugs I have seen on Pintrest. I cut up a few t-shirts from the donations bag into long strips. Then started sorting through the HUGE stash of bamboo yarn I have hoarded for years. Most had been used for an awesome crochet granny square blanket. I have long since decided I don't want to make another crochet blanket and need to use up the left over yarn somehow.  So the crocheting began. I love the mindlessness of crocheting, especially the single stitch. I watched a movie and a few hours of Olympics and determined that the scrappy looking rug is exactly what my colorless dining room needed.

Obviously, Kuma thought otherwise.

I worked on this rug all morning and left it on the floor while I made lunch. I came back and Queen Kuma had claimed it as hers. Out of all the space in my huge house to lay on, she picked this rug, seemed very very intentional. I might have to give into that sweet face. The rug still has a long long way to go, but I love love it!

Snow Days

Here in Oregon we had some amazingly cold days where it actually got to -4 degrees. 

It is not at all what Iam used to but, I secretly love it!

I love the pattern that ice crystals create on my windshield, even if it takes 30 minutes to defrost the car to go anywhere.

Kuma certainly loved the 6 inches of snow that came and was still around 5 days later.

I enjoyed the first two days when I wasn't working. The other days were just a pain! Eugene is not prepared for this weather and the roads were a nightmare. Coming home to my sewing machine and this sweet bear's face made it so much more enjoyable!

The shut down of town allowed me the time to feel like I could stay home and finish christmas gifts like the Love Love pillow.

I think I love loved the inside of the pillow more after all the embroidery I did.

My beautiful Bernina did a lovely job on all my gifts.

Including this scarf for my sister In-Law.

I also finished my snowmen in assembly line fashion. These guys just needed faces and buttons.

Blue Inspiration

Here is Oregon people talk a lot about it being so green. I on the other hand feel like Oregon is truly land of Blues. Especially, West of the Cascades. In the summer the sky is blue and vast. In the winter, it is the fog and rain that makes the mountains blue. I personally love blue and find myself wearing blue, or some shade of blue almost everyday.

I wear jeans everyday to work. I adore my chambray shirt with Navy Cords.  I recall always loving blue, even as a young girl, where the norm was pink and purple.

I participated in Small Business Saturday, by doing a bit of shopping in Portland after taking the In Laws to the airport. In a cute shop, this denim chair was in the fitting room.  I just about lost it, I would have stolen it if fit in my purse! 

This gorgeous hat was out of my price range, but was such a lovely shade of turquoise.  

Sewing Loves

This is the tree right down the street from my house. There are a lot of beautiful trees in town right now. I love this one in particular. The blue sky against the orange leaves. Very nice indeed. As long as the Oregon rain is holding off, I am enjoying this fall weather.

I am planning ahead for the rainy season and purchased a beautiful vintage Bernina 930 record. I have dreamed of owning a Bernina mechanical machine and this is about as expensive as I can go in the Bernina world. Its amazing to think, a 1984 is consider vintage and it is still worth a nice chunk of change. She was serviced regularly and had one owner.

I found this beauty on craig's list this weekend and jumped on it. The purchase included 12 feet, the manual, original bobbin case, a walking foot, table extension and so many other goodies. The machine was 6 blocks away, the whole time!  The slightly dissapointing items missing from the sale were the case and knee lever, which I may have this welder guy I know make for me. It would cost over $200.00 to replace these missing items through a dealer, so I think that will have to wait a bit. This is a very expensive machine for me but, I think it is a true investment.  I feel if I keep it in great running condition it will hold it's value, if not continue to rise.

Stay tuned to see what projects I come up with. I have quite a few planned. I love the way the machine sounds, much like a ticking clock. I still cant believe it is mine. She is so strong and lovely. 

Ahhh Oregon...so beautiful...

A little camping never hurt anyone...

 or a morning sunrise....

Earth Day

Iam a huge fan of Earth Day, I love natural sciences and enjoy digging in the dirt. I have tried to make it a tradition in the last few years to plant something for the awesome day.

This year we did more digging in the dirt than normal. I planted two heirloom versions of tomatos. I found the rosemary in the half off section of a small garden shop down the street. They also had free japanese maple saplings for Earth Day celebration. I weaved they two together. I really really hope they take root.

Strawberries in a hanging basket should sprawl well. We wanted all of the outdoor items in containers because we expect to move mid summer.

We also purchased three bio-degradable containers. They wont bio-degrade in 10 years but, if it they do end up in a landfill they wont take as long as plastic.

I love the ridges in the low ones for succulents. I already had the succulents they just needed to be spaced out better. Love your mother.

The Atlantic to The Pacific

Today, the cross country trip has officially ended. I really wanted to do the atlantic to the pacific. We started at Litchfield beach, SC on a family vacation before we left the East coast.

So, today we made it to the Pacific, it has a different feel, a different vibe, but it was still absolutely beautiful. It had been a bit grey recently, this morning the sun was out at full blast and so we took advantage of it. We went to Heceta Head, OR from Eugene it was about an hour and half drive. The coast has very few houses on it, in the area I was in, so it was kept wild. 

 In most areas it seemed that the mountains just went straight into the ocean.

 This was near an attraction called The Sea Lion Inn it seemed rather cheesy and expensive so we didn't  go in.

 Other areas were more beach like. The water sure was cold though. the Inn Keeper's home is up on the hill here but, the lighthouse is around the bluff. It was under major renovations and not really picture worthy.

This was a bit farther North in the National Park. It was not very crowed, but you can tell that a storm was rolling in.

It was truly amazing to find such beautiful amazing scenery so close to home, but honestly I think there is so much to explore that we havent discovered yet. Fall is fast approaching so, I was very excited to get out to the ocean before it got too chilly. We hope to explore more, hubby starts his first week of Phd  school tomorrow, so I am not really sure how much time we will have to travel at first.