Jalie 2794 and some Q & A

Thanks for all your feedback on Sophie's Halter Dress. It is in the mail, along with some cupcake flavored "Magic Shell" for her ice cream and some treats for brother Jack. The package should arrive today. DH and I will not be able to visit for some time which breaks my heart but I will keep sewing and sending out these care packages.

Now for the Q & A as well as some comments:

Thanks, Diana, of djStoreRoom and We Love to Sew, for adding me to your blog roll. Diana is trying to put together all the sewing blogs she can find and have them roll by most recent, neat concept. If you want to be added to her list give her a click.

Many of you commented on the sweater clips. Yes, they are gorgeous. At one time they had the back clips and I actually used them once clipped on to some plain black satin heels. Somehow in moving over the years the clips have disappeared. A few years back I needed a swank holiday dress and made a simple royal blue velvet sheath with a deep V back. I stitched one of the clips on at the bottom of the V. That one knocked it out of the park.

Design Dreamer asked about my use of Wonder Tape for the hem and thought surely I meant Wonder Thread. No, is is definitely Wonder Tape. The tape is a two sided sticky that is wonderful for lining up piping and you can get an idea of it in the piping tute. There was so much hemline that it would have been v. costly to Wonder Tape all that piping to the hem band so I did not used it on the hem band. The shape of the hem band was so ever slightly curved that it was easy to stitch in along the edge. That edge had been achieved with a Madeira applique technique.
Wonder Tape is one of my absolutely favorite notions and with all the piping I do, I would be lost without it.

Also to Design Dreamer, DH and I are semi-retired and have a seasonal business that will keep us straight out until mid October. I do still manage to get some stitching in, particularly hand work as we have occasional down time where I can pick up my ziploc full of smocking and get a few stitches in.

I would also like to welcome new blogger and passionate sewist, Emily. Emily loves to sew, loves to blog about her creations, and is 8, yes, 8 years old. She makes some really cute things and her blog is a delight to read. I would love to do everything we can to inspire Emily along her sewing journey. If you have a moment, stop by her blog and give her some words of encouragement. Emily, I am going to put you on my blog roll so all can access you from here with just a click. There is a wonderful camaraderie in the sewing blogosphere that you will enjoy and welcome aboard!

On to Jalie 2794 - I started stitching this at 9:00 last night and worked on it one hour. I woke up this AM and by 7:00 was back in the cave. Within the hour it was completely done. I was so excited I just put it on and started shooting. No makeup and hair so no face! Had the comfy old "house bra" on, not the perky one I would wear with this in public, but dang, I was done this top in no time and it's cute as the dickens.

The fabric is from the bowels of Joann's clearance. It was the last 1 1/4 yards, just enough. The board said 100% poly, no way. This was lycra and it sure felt like swimsuit fabric to me. The print was great and I had been looking for something like this for the top. This is the first "snug" top I have ever felt comfortable in. I usually run from such tops but I really like the fit on this one. I cannot wait to make this over and over and over. The sweetheart neckline is flattering on everyone. I did have one screw up. I tops stitched the band on the seam edge all around the neckline, which does make it lie better. But the pattern did not instruct you to do that. It says to topstitch the "free" side of the band only from the underarm seam to the start of the neckline. I misunderstood and had this flap now sticking out. So I went back and topstitched that area as directed. Now it lay nicely but I did seam to have a lot of unnecessary stitching with all that topstitching. I will do the next one differently. I love this. Did I say this already? This has been reviewed a skillion times on PR but I think I will do a quick review there so I can get it to show up in my widget.

I needed this quickie project mentally. With our business started, I am not sure I will have the time to dedicate to my trench. It is not cut out yet. I may just keep with some small children's projects. Although, you know how those have a way of turning into major productions! LOL...Bunny