My Gram

Last week I went out for lunch with my youngest daughter and my Grandmother. My Gram turns 94 in 2 months and she's such a joy to take out. This time she wore an outfit I made her for Christmas in 2008.

Back home and sewing....

Last weekend I spent time with my brother before heading off to help my dad & his wife, my uncle and my aunt & her husband clean up my grandmother's house. I was given the task of going through my grandmother's sewing stuff. I threw out many partly completed sewing projects and recycled some patterns and magazines. I did send some completed but not hemmed items to charity donation along with some Threads magazines and some assorted unused patterns and notions. Unfortunately due to the remote location of the house, and time frame for emptying the house, more of the magazines could not be given to others who sew.

These tags were my great grandmother's - I have her Elna sewing machine from the 1970s (although its not working).... I did keep some patterns, fabric, and notions for myself and might get one of the Husqvarna sewing machines. My aunt currently has the older one and is deciding which machine she wants to keep. I left most of the fabrics, sorted in drawers or buckets so my aunt could decide what to do with them. I also left my aunt with an assortment of patterns, notions and other supplies as well as the knitting machine.



Quilting


Since I got home I've had a chance to get back into sewing again. I did complete some more squares for the Quilt Along.



Sewing for Me
I also found an OOP Burda 6157 pattern for panties, slips, teddies, camisole and tap pants at my grandmothers and decided to try it out with fabric & lace I brought home with me. I'm guessing the beige is a nylon-lycra and the lace is a 6" wide stretch lace. Before I started working with the lace it felt fine - not too aged, but as I worked along it seemed very rubbery. I may cut out the lace after a washing or two... I'm not sure its going to work.




Pattern Description:
Slip, Teddy, Camisole, Shorts and Panties

Pattern Sizing:
European Sizes 34 - 48

Older Burda pattern without seam allowances - remember to add them.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes. I made view D - and it looks the similar to the drawing but I'm not sure whether I should have used stretch lace (I did) or regular lace....

Were the instructions easy to follow?
They were easy to follow, but brief and missing some information. I didn't follow their elastic application method - but applied in two steps. I'm glad I've made panties before because there was no recommendations about elastic lengths - more below...

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I disliked the brief list of notions required and fabric suggestions. I'm guessing the panties were to be made in the silky knits listed on the instructions as I'm not sure they'd fit properly in a woven. And requirements for the lace was listed at "12cm (4 1/2") laced edging or band: 0.6m (3/4yd)" From this I'd guess they were using regular lace not stretch lace - I used stretch lace and they are a little large in the front, and the seams pull.

I also disliked that the elastic lengthens for the legs and waist were not included. The leg elastic is only applied to the front/crotch section and back not to the lace/side front piece. I measured the pattern pieces and subtracted 2" for the back of the panties. Because of the stretch lace, the side seams pull to the back when wearing. For the waist - I truly guessed on a measurement... I think I chose well, although may be able to make it slightly shorter next time.

I like the construction order - went together quickly.

Fabric Used:
Beige Nylon - Lycra and stretch lace
(ignore the grey crotch lining piece as I couldn't find any other light colours and these were just a muslin)

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
Used stretch-lace because I figured that was what was needed... but think regular lace would be better as it might fit properly.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes I will make these again. The front-side piece will need to be made shorter or with regular lace for a better fit. I might try both.

I would probably make the crotch lining the same size as the front piece instead of seaming it.

Conclusion:
The other items look to be in wovens (camisole, tap pants, teddy and slip) and I may make them at some point.

The panties are a great start and are drafted quite well even if the notions/fabrics listed on the pattern are hard to understand.

My Gramma

Here is a photo of my Gramma after the girls dance recital. She is wearing the suit I made her for Christmas.

Not sewing...

OK I haven't been sewing much this week... BUT thought I'd share... The family got together today as my brother is heading off for RCMP training on the weekend. Here are some photos of my Gram (she turns 93 this month) with my brother & with my kids.

And Hallowe'en....

First I must thank my husband for taking the kids out so I could get some sewing done this weekend.... Yesterday morning, he took the 3 kids to R's Taekwondo class, then they went onto complete their list of "chores" that involved hitting many stores on a SATURDAY. They went to Zellers, a dollar store, Michael's, Home Depot, and Fabricland. Yes! The 4 of them even went to the fabric store for me!!! What a wonderful family I have. They were out for over 4 hours, what peace and quiet.

So what did I do with my peace - sew Hallowe'en costumes while listening to Podasts!

This year I have Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). Tinkerbell is in pink, and her costume was designed by my 5yo and includes a short dress with petal hem and shorts. Peter Pan (my 7yo son) designed himself a shirt, shorts, belt, and dagger. Aurora has a ball gown, that uses more fabric than Tinkerbell's dress and is 4 sizes smaller!

All patterns were originally based on some of my recent creations - all Ottobre designs - although some were modified to fit my costume design specs as handed by my kids :) I love all the great patterns in Ottobre, that make it easy to create custom costumes...