Millinery 2018 my journey

As I infrequently post about my hat-making I decided to do it this year as I am heavy into making new hats for my upcoming shows. The first show is May 5&6. I like to start the season by un-trimming hats from the prior year that did not sell. I try to figure out how to re trim or re block them to improve their appearance or just fix something that was "off" to my eye.
Here are some of my my 1920's themed cloche hats. They always are popular. I wanted to develop some machine embroidered trims so I could combine my hobbies of sewing and using my embroidery machine with my millinery.

The next type of hat I like to make are in the tea hat category

The final category are Percher hats here are two new ones I made.

Percher hats are a big trend in Australia and England. I hope they catch on here soon. They are great for the gals that complain about 'hat-hair', there is no head size so they truly fit all, and they are not hot to wear like hats can be in the summer humidity. Hope you like them.

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Winter Retreat and Sewing continued

This blouse is Simplicity 1779 I really liked this pattern. The directions were great and it gives you many options. I had to do a full bust adjustment on this one as well.

The final photograph is the Sew Simple which are manufactured by Simplicity. The pattern had only 3 pieces front, back, and hip band. Since this is a very loose fitting top I didn't do any pattern adjustments and it came out just fine.
Hopefully you are enjoying my sewing projects. what have you been making lately?

Winter retreat and sewing

I attended a Sewing Winter Retreat at the George Washington Hotel in Winchester, VA this past January. What fun to see all of my Northern Virginia sewing friends. It was sponsored by the American Sewing Guild a national organization.
The tops and jacket that I made in the three days I was there were all fitted and cut out prior to the event. I am not a wizard fitting always takes me time as I have many fitting issues.

I like to make jackets. I made one out of upholstery material a while back and it came out really nice. The body of the fabric really suited the patter that was designed to be used in this way. I am talking about McCalls M7288. I made view A this time with the squared off collar.

McCalls M7288

back view

The next project was to make a simple knit T-shirt. I had this Connie Crawford pattern B5215 for a while and I decided to try it. I had to alter the pattern for room in the bust area. I did not have enough fabric for sleeves so I just used a complimentary neutral knit for the sleeves and neckline trim.












 The next knit top used a combination of different fabrics. I bought a "bundle" at a Sewing event from a well know sewer, Rae Cumbie. She often sells off-cuts of projects she has made. I really liked the fabrics so I added the plain purple knit and Viola I had a top. There is a very splashy print fabric that is under the purple section of the top. I didn't get a good picture of it here.

McCalls M7247 back