All Good Vacations Must Come to An End……(Even When They Are At Home!)

Good Morning!!

Whew! A good sewcation can wear a body out!

I know you are dying to hear about the end of the Sewingjourney sewcation………It was AWESOME!! Let me give you a brief rundown of the final day and a half.

• 

  So, I liked the diagonal neckline and sleeves…..

• 

  But, this is wa-a-a-y to much fabric!

Fitting, fussing and finishing…..

The last time we were together (see previous post) I had taken a stretchy skirt and a yo-yo quilt and attempted to make a top out of it. I had the sleeve/strap and neckline worked out. But there was a big drape of fabric on the side that reminded me of a “Super Hero Grandma Cape.” It was not a good look.

So the next day, Sewing Sister came over and worked some magic. I wish I could explain what she did with greater details…..but mainly the process was snipping and pinning. It looked like this….

SS would snip off some fabric, pin it back together, snip off more fabric and pin it some more. This process reminded me of an old (old) quote from when I was a kid:

“How do you make a statue of an elephant? Get the biggest granite block you can find and chip away everything that doesn’t look like an elephant.”

Boys Life Magazine, December 1963

SS snipped and pinned until she had snipped away everything that didn’t look like a cute top. Then I stitched.

• 

  I am very intent here, can you tell???

• 

  Mitzie is offering moral support…

• 

  And Sewing Sister is working on something adorable!!

If You Don’t Rip Something Out Then You Aren’t Really Sewing……

I wish I could say, “Tah-Dah!!!” and tell you everything turned out perfect, but that would be a big-ole lie. Instead, I encountered a minor/medium issue and had to back up the sewing train. Here’s what happened: When I stitched the snips and pins together I thought it would be a good idea to attach the outside part of the top to the lining. (Those of you with actual sewing experience are gasping right now.)

Yes, it was a huge mistake. When I tried the top on, the inside fit perfectly, but the outside bunched and buckled and looked really weird. Big sigh.

• 

  You can tell this isn’t going to go well, huh?

• 

  So there was another process of ripping, pinning and stitching to get the top right. A little tedious but totally worth it!

So, I spent an extra half day ripping out teeny tiny stitches, re-pinning the yo-yo pieces together and re-stitching the outside section so that the yo-yo pieces held together while staying separate from the lining. I’m not going to lie, it was a pain. But it was a totally-worth-it pain. Because this is what I ended up with………

• 

• 

I added lace to the bottom of the lining, made the straps out of the extra yo-yo pieces and even made a pair of matching earrings. This top was a creative stretch for me and I am super pleased with how it turned out.

I think I can officially say, “Tah Dah!!” now.

Okay dear ones, it is time for me to say “Good bye”. Take care. Stay safe and healthy and I love you.