Draft Number Four

May 22, 2021May 21, 2021 ~ Michelle

I’ve finished draft number four in the Bare Essentials method, and I think I’ve got it.There are still one of two little changes to make. I’ll want to move the apex in, and the strap attachment as well.

Other than that, I’m ready to start manipulating my sloper into a pretty bra pattern.

I checked and rechecked the bridge on this one to make sure it was fitting just right. I couldn’t find a gap anywhere. I even made the cups and frame in sheer cup lining so I could see everything under the bra. I know now that the bottom of the bridge is wide enough, and the top of the bridge is narrow enough now.

You can see in the above photo just how far over the strap attachment is. That’s way too close to the underarm area, so I’ll change my pattern on that next.

I don’t have any changes for the back, unless I decide to make the back strap attachment closer to the middle of the back.

The next part of the process is what I’ve really been wanting to learn – how to manipulate the sloper. This is completely different than anything I’ve learned so far, and I’m quite excited to get to this point. The next few weeks should be very exciting for me.

Happy creating!

A Little Sewing

February 22, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Michelle

I’m back with a short update. I’ve been doing a little sewing. Oh, it feels so good to sew again after a long time of barely any sewing.

Last year, when I was doing the BMS Challenge, I had to make myself sew. And I was really forcing myself to do it.

But my sewjo is coming back, and I’m so happy.

The first change that helped was I got a much better cutting table. Can you believe I was using a drying rack with peg board on top, and then my cutting mats. It worked, but it was starting to not work. The weight on the top was making the ends bend downward. Before it broke completely, I decided it was time for a table. It’s just a folding table, but I’ve got it up on bed risers. I saw this little trick at Emmaline Bags‘ storefront. It works great! And I’m loving the storage underneath.

Having this all set up just made me want to sew something, so I decided to finish the collage quilt I started last year.This is Laura Heine‘s Pasley Bear. I had this great woodland cotton I thought would be the perfect background. It’s like my little Pasley Bear is in the forest. I thought that would be the happiest place for him.

You can see, I’m not quite done. The quilting on this is done, but it’s not backed yet. That will be next.

As always, Happy creating!

Taking a Break

January 21, 2020January 16, 2020 ~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

If you’ve been following my blog, I want to say, ‘Thank you’. I really appreciate you joining me on my journey.

I’ve decided I need to take a break for the time being. I’ve been dealing with some life-changing events that seemed to happen all at once in 2019. I need to redirect my energy and focus for a season.

But I want you to know, blogging is a wonderful part of my life, and having ‘met’ so many wonderful people through my blog, I know I won’t be gone forever.

I’m looking forward to Happy Creating again soon.

Libelle Sewing’s Round 5 Pre-Order

June 29, 2019June 27, 2019 ~ Michelle

Libelle Sewing’s Round 5 Pre-Order is now open!

Do you remember me telling you they had the most adorable material I planned to use to make an apron? Well, I can now order it, and so can you. This is Retro Kitchen.Isn’t this adorable? I love it! They have it in Olive, Black, and Mustard.

Even though I didn’t take part in the sample sewing for this round, I love the quality and variety Libelle offers. And it’s a Canadian company. I like supporting local companies.

This round is Libelle’s biggest round yet. They really have something for everyone. Florals. Retro. And so much more.

Happy creating!

Revisiting my Croquis

May 11, 2019May 10, 2019 ~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Aprons

I was planning on sewing a couple of things for Libelle Sewing’s upcoming Round 5. One was an apron, so I started to look at apron patterns. I also decided I’d try those aprons on my croquis.

The first pattern I found was so cute. It’s from Sew Much Good.Isn’t this adorable? I thought so, but then was thinking about it. I was thinking about those horizontal lines and my hips and wondering just how well they’d play together. I got out my croquis again to see how it would look on me.

The apron is still adorable, but I don’t think the lines of this style flatter me. So I kept playing with other styles.

There were a few patterns I liked in this shop, so I kept looking and ‘trying on’ aprons. Here was my next apron try.

Unfortunately, this next one didn’t do anything for me. It’s cute, but not for me.

Third Time

There’s that saying, third time’s a charm. There was another adorable pattern in the shop, and this one plays nicely with my hips.I love the material used for the apron on the pattern cover. And I loved the style on my croquis.

Yes, this is a better balance for me, and it’s an adorable pattern. I scooped it up.

Here are the two aprons on ‘me’, side by side.Yes, the second one is more flattering on me.

Sewing Samples, Not Sewing Samples

So. I’d taken time to look at a few patterns, tested those patterns on my croquis, bought a pattern, had the material assigned to me, and then a day later made the decision to not sew the samples for Libelle Sewing’s next round.

I’ve mentioned I’ve been busy. But so many of the things I was doing, I loved doing. However, there are times our bodies let us know enough is enough. That happened to me. I ended up with an infection due to being run down. I had to make a few decisions.

So, as much as I enjoy things like testing patterns for House Morrighan (there’s a pattern being tested right now), and sewing samples for Libelle Sewing, for now I’m taking a break from both. I still think both companies are great!

And I have to say, deciding to take a break, I felt relieved and disappointed at the same time. I was disappointed because the material I was going to sew up for Round 5 is adorable! Then I realized I can simply buy some of this material. When Round 5 opens, I’ll share with you the adorable material, and I’m sure you’ll agree it’ll be perfect for an apron. I’ll share the new House Morrighan pattern as soon as it’s released too.

Happy creating!

A Balancing Act

May 16, 2018 ~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I don’t have any sewing to share with you today. And I don’t have a Craftsy sale to share either.

Some things have changed in my family’s circumstances – all for the good – but are making a daily demand on me right now. I’m driving into the city daily, which is taking up about 2 hours of my time.

With all that driving, I just don’t find I have time to do much sewing. Rather than getting all stressed, I’ve decided to take a break from my blog while I’m in this time. I’m hoping it will only be for a month or two.

However, I didn’t want to just disappear. As I said, I hope this is a short season and I’ll be back sewing and sharing soon.

Happy creating!

Canada 150 – it’s in the Bag Tour Kick Off

June 4, 2017June 4, 2017 ~ Michelle

Our blog tour starts today.

Tour Stops

(These links will be active on and after the day they are scheduled.)

June 10

Giveaway ends at midnight EDT (North America)

July 1

CANADA DAY 150

Nancy Covers The Perfect T-Shirt

March 23, 2017 ~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I subscribe to Nancy Zieman’s blog (Sewing with Nancy). She just posted about when she did the Perfect T-Shirt show, and what she learned doing the show. I really enjoyed reading her take on it, and thought you might too.

You can read it here.

Happy creating!

Baubles & Backgrounds

July 23, 2016 ~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

Do you see my new blog format? I’ve been doing a little work on it in the past week. I’ll share more on that later in the post.

This week I was playing with beads again. It was time for a new Medical ID bracelet for me, and for a friend.

old My friend had purchased this bracelet, but as you can see, after wearing it for well over a year, she needed a new one. The coating on the Swarovski pearls had worn off. Now, she wears her bracelet all the time – in the shower, swimming – she doesn’t take it off.

I’ve used Swarovski crystals and pearls in the past and they haven’t done this, but I haven’t put them through all that hard wearing either. I take my bracelet off daily.

The new bracelet I made her is in the above photo as well, but here’s a better photo:

new over old The new bracelet is over the old one. It looks much better. Classic design and lines. It’s lovely. I just might need one too.

While I had all my jewelry-making supplies out, I decided to make myself a bracelet. I love turquoise in the summer but didn’t have a Medical ID bracelet in turquoise. I do now.

bracelet

The center three stone beads aren’t turquoise, but are the same stones I’d used in some earrings – dyed Imperial Jasper. The bracelet also has some lovely Sterling silver spacer and feature beads. I’ve been happily wearing it all week. My earrings, below, show you my matchy matchy. I made these last year.

blue earrings

Other than playing with beads, I mentioned I’ve been playing with my blog format. Do you like it? I love it too. It looks so clean and crisp.

Sadly it took more time than I would have liked. I’m not the most technical person, but I’m learning! Just to give you an example I took a full day to redirect the traffic from my old blog site to my new one. After spending time researching, trying something, it not working, more research and more tries… well, I found out I couldn’t do it myself. WordPress had to do that. It was so easy after I pushed a button and paid them a very small and very worthwhile fee! Done.

After redirecting, I spent some time taking photos for my background. I’d found a lovely lace background that I would have had to pay a terrible price to use – way more than real lace cost! Hmm, time to get some lace out.

Here are a few of my attempts before I found just what I wanted:

sparkle ivory over gold

This is a lovely lace, but I wanted more in my background than just lace. The lace background was my original inspiration, but now I wanted more of me in it.

horizontal black white and gold over gold This is my kind of lace. This is so beautiful, but I found the black a bit distracting as a background when I was trying to read the text. As much as I loved it, I thought a little less just might be better for a background.

photocopy This one was a lot closer to what I wanted and what I felt represented me. But It wasn’t quite perfect for me yet. For my final background, you can see I kept my pearls and added my thimble. Perfect!

Happy creating!

Announcing The Canada Day 2016 Blog Hop

June 24, 2016October 29, 2016 ~ Michelle ~ 26 Comments

This week I’m participating in a fun blog hop – just in time for Canada Day! For our hop, we’re featuring Canadian pattern designers. How Canadian is that, eh? I’ll be trying a new pattern and new-for-me company. Our blog hop starts today over on Happy Okapi and there is a list of wonderful deals in the post – all to celebrate Canada’s birthday. See below for the complete blog schedule.