It's De-Stashing Time....

I admit it.  I'm a collector of all things sewing related - patterns, fabric, books, magazines, tools.  However with the eye to the future, it is time to start de-stashing all the lovely things that I have collected.  So, with that in mind, I have opened a new Etsy store called "Darla's Closet".  It's only been open about a week but I have been added new things almost on a daily basis.  Check it out and remember to check back often.

I am having a little bit of a hard time with this. I don't really want to get rid of stuff but I do need to be realistic in that I don't want to move it across country when the time comes.  I don't know how I will be able to part with my growing machine collection.  Maybe I will get lucky and the new house will have the space needed to store them or maybe I will decide that I don't really need a Singer Featherweight with all of the attachments that I've collected or the potted motor Singer.  How could I possible get rid of Grandma's treadle?  Do I really need all those Viking machines?  There are going to be a lot of decisions that need to be made.

Have you moved across the country and had to make decisions about the stash?  How did you tackle the issue?  Any advice.

Happy Stitching!

Stitching Tools....

Do you collect sewing/quilting tools?  I recently purchased a couple of new items that are primarily geared toward quilting.  Here they are:

This is the No Hassle Triangles Gauge.  I purchased it in hopes that it would assist in marking the triangles for a quilt I was working on.  It didn't help me with that particular quilt but I'm hoping to revisit it to figure out how to use it.  This isn't an inexpensive item.  I do understand the concept behind the tool.

This is a Creative Grids quilting ruler.  So far, this has been a useful item to have on the ironing board when I pinned quilt blocks together.  It is 1 1/2" x 6 1/2".  The marking are very clear.  I can see this being useful in garment sewing also.

Do you ever purchase sewing tools that turn out not to be as useful as you thought they would be?

Happy Stitching!

New Yarn...

While I was in Tasmania, I decided to pick some yarn for myself and a friend.  Here is what I picked:

The yarn on the top is a local yarn from the farm called White Gum Wool.  The yarn is hand dyed by a local artist.  I can not tell from the website if the owner of White Gum Wool does any dying herself.  This yarn was for a friend.  It is 100% merino and very soft.

The other two balls of yarn are mine.  I'm sure it is destined to be a scarf of some type.  I don't think there is enough yarn for anything else but I do love the color.

If you're ever in Hobart, look up the Salamanca Wool Shop. It is a wonderful little shop with friendly people.  If you like wearing shades of brown, check out the cinnamon wool. Just gorgeous!

Happy Stitching!

Fall Vogues...

If you have been following along with me, you know how I love to see the new patterns each season.  I'm loving many patterns in the Vogue release.  Maybe it's just that I like fall.  Here are my picks:

This is V1514, a mock-wrap cutout dress.  I love all the gathering in the front with the flirty little wrap but not as crazy about the deep cutout.  Although cutouts can be cute, this just feels like it is too much.

This is V1512, a pop-over midi dress.  This is a very classic feeling dress.  If I can locate appropriate fabric, I may get this one.

This is V1517, a collarless jacket with pull-on pants.  This seems like it might be a work appropriate outfit but I have held a paying job in while.  Maybe someone will let me know.  The pants are too skinny for me but I do like the styling of them.

This is V9201, an inverted pleat shirtdress.  I am a sucker for shirtdresses.  This particular pattern has 3 views which could make it a good value.  I may get this pattern but I will think long and hard about it.  I know that there are several shirtdress patterns in my collection.

This V9209, a buttoned wrap skirt.  This is an adorable skirt and it would be in my hands in an instant if I thought I could pull it off.  I will have to watch and see if there are any reviews.  

What fun this release is.  I wish I had more time to just concentrate on sewing clothing but it takes such a long time for me to get on item made that I have finally stopped buying so many patterns.  My pattern cabinet is over flowing though.

Happy Sewing!

Thoughts on Pattern Alterations....

Do you ever get discouraged trying to figure out how to get a pattern to fit reasonably well?  I do.  This the spring I was determined to get the basic blouse pattern #600 from Silhouette Patterns to fit.  I didn't really accomplish my goal but I do have several muslins that I can still play with.  You can see my feeble attempts here: Muslin 1,  Muslin 2, and Muslin 3.  I was very discouraged after these attempts.  So, I decided to walk away for a while.

Next, I decided to just sit down and read all of the directions because sometimes you can miss something important when you skim the directions,  You know what I found, right?  I missed a little paragraph stating that if you're under a certain height to take xx amount out of the front, back, and sleeve.  So, after giving it a lot of thought, I went back to muslin #2 and carefully pinned out the noted amount all the way around.  Much to my surprise, some of the "needed" alterations disappeared.  The funkiness with the tightness across the back disappeared.   The shoulder slope and arm hole do not need altering.  Can you hear me jumping up and down for joy?  I pretty sure the muslin that I was playing with was the size 6w and I am thinking about making the same change to the 5w and seeing how it fits.

Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of changes that need to occur to the pattern.  Just not all the ones that I initially listed.  I need to make changes to the pattern before I make another muslin but as of this moment I am a little bit encouraged to move forward with the blouse pattern again.

Have you made the alteration shortening the area between the shoulder and the chest?  How did it work for you?  Hopefully, I will have another muslin soon but it may take a while as I have three projects running - a quilt, knitting, and the #600 blouse pattern.  It's hard to juggle it all sometimes.  The quilt has the highest priority of the three.

Happy Stitching!

Wilder West Lacy Scarf Completed....

I'm so happy.  The Wilder Lacy scarf is finished! It took many hours but it was a very good project to work on while I was flying between home,Sydney, and in the evenings.  It was completed the last day in Tasmania which was very good because the next day airport security took my scissors.  I'm not sure what caught their eye this time because those scissors have been through many airport security checks.  However, they were not expensive so it wasn't much of an issue.

Here's my version of the scarf:

Oops!  When I took the above picture, I realized that I haven't actually completed the project..  The yarn ends need to be woven in and it still needs to be blocked but the knitting part is finished.

Project Information:

pattern - Wilder West Lacy Scarf
needles - size 11 circular
yarn - Rowan softknit cotton  (loved this yarn)

Now, it is on to my next project.

Happy Stitching!

Spring, Fall, Winter, Summer....

What does that mean?  Those are the seasons that I have experienced in the last three weeks.  I know it sounds unbelievable but we just had the most fabulous vacation in Australia.  It was still spring when I left for Australia, fall when I arrived in Australia, then winter arrived, and I came home to summer.  Even though it was late fall and early winter, it didn't feel particularly cold in Australia until an Antarctic Blast hit and the temps fell into the 30-40F but it felt much colder.

We saw so many wonderful things while we were there - whale watching, Blue mountains, many museums, the coastal road between Melbourne and Port Author, a tiny bit of Tasmania.    Three weeks was just enough to want to come back for more.  Australia is a beautiful country.  I will share more pictures over the next few weeks but here's a peak at Sydney:

Do you recognize this?

Happy Stitching!