There are two gifts that I receive each Christmas and value tremendously. The first is time together as a family with nothing to interfere and nothing else to do but move slow, relax, and have fun. The more that I've simplified Christmas, the more wonderful the day has become. This year would have been absolutely perfect if our daughter and son-in-law had been there as well. Thankfully, we were able to talk to them several times during the day. The phone is a marvelous thing. It brought us together.
This gift of together time is especially meaningful to me because my primary love language is quality time and Christmas is doubly wonderful because my secondary language is gifts. Now isn't that the perfect mix - LOL. If you don't know what I mean by love language, you might be interested in The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It's an eye opening read.
The second gift is time alone, all by myself, with no one else around. That might seem contrary and rather strange since I spend a lot of time alone each week but it's different. It's time alone without responsibilities. At some point during the holiday, my husband takes the kids to his parents for an overnight while I stay home, sleep in, eat when and what I want, and do whatever I want. It's a HUGE gift to have space in which to just be and not think about anyone but myself - made more wonderful by when they return.
This year, I SWAP-ped (sewing with a plan) - or at least I started swapping first by cleaning up the fabric closet and pulling out a variety of knits and second by cutting out another version of the New Look 6735 t-shirt in the same flocked knit from last week. This time, I drafted it with long sleeves and a v-neck. Since it was the same fabric and the same pattern, you can imagine my surprise when I tried it on and the hem was SNUG SNUG SNUG. I'm pretty sure I didn't get that stuffed over Christmas - VBG.
It turns out that the interfacing I bought is different. It only stretches in one direction and will be perfect for woven garments but not at all useful for hems on knits. It over stabilizes them to the point of no stretch. Darn - LOL - there's a trip to Fabricland in my future! Maybe even today. Luckily, I like the bottom half of last week's t-shirt and the top half of this week's one. I'm debating how to cut them both off in the middle and join them together, perhaps with a plain black flange in-between.
While I was thinking about that, I cut out and stitched the t-shirt in this blue/grey/black knit. Sewing this t-shirt is quick and easy; it takes a couple hours. Luckily, there were some strips of the previous interfacing left to use for the hem and it fits nicely. With this version, I extended center back by 1 1/2". When a top follows the curve of my back, the hemline is pulled up by my high hips. The extension allows the back hem to pull up even with the front hem. The side seams are the same length and 1 1/2" is added to center back with a curved hemline to blend in the difference. It works like a charm.
This Burda 8213 skirt is one of my favourite patterns. If there's a style that I'm drawn to far more than any other, it's a trumpet skirt which thankfully is very flattering on my figure type.
A few years ago, I sewed this pattern using an black linen embellished with raw edged, bias cut strips roughly stitched in rose shapes. When I cut out the skirt, I deliberately staggered the design for an impression of roughness rather than roses. I love this skirt only...
... it's now way too big in the hips. After I finished the t-shirt, I started taking apart the skirt. It's now ready to be re-done in a smaller size. That's what I'm working on today. And sew it begins... swapping!!!!!
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - that I used the same fabric and the same pattern to make that t-shirt and realized it was the interfacing that was the issue. Otherwise, I may have gone around in circles thinking it was something entirely different.
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