Rectangles, Squares and Circles...Still Catching Up

One of my favorite fabric stores is in Houston, TX, High Fashion Fabrics. This is just the most spectacular store I have ever seen. There are rows and rows of laces stacked twenty bolts high, and more silks than you can imagine, just a dream of a store. I've been told that singing stars and pageant contestants shop here. I've seen a few celebrities in the store with their seamstress picking out fabric. Whenever I am in Texas, it is a must stop. Whatever I am looking for, they have it. If you are ever in the Houston area, please stop, it is just a feast for the eyes. I drool over the laces and embroideries and wish I had a black tie event to attend every day of my life so I could justify buying everything that I see. Many years ago my husband and I were invited to a very special party. Ronald Reagan was president at the time and he was in attendance. Incredible!!, I couldn't believe we were there. That night I made the comment to my husband that I felt like the Queen of England. He said , "If you were, you would have to do this every night." No thanks,(not that I have any other choice!!) I like my life just fine. Special parties remain special, and memorable.
If you are in the Houston area, the address of High Fashion Fabrics is;
3101 Louisiana St.(it's located off the downtown area and they do have free parking)
(713)528-7299
(888)685-8866
http://www.highfashionfabrics.com/


Today's rectangle was purchased at High Fashion Fabrics. The picture does not do it justice. There are shades of grey and silver threads throughout the fabric. The pleating is permanent. The top portion is so finely pleated that it forms an elastic stretch.
To make the skirt, I began by simply serging a center back seam and in doing this, cutting off the selvage edge.Once I had the center back seam sewn, I divided the waist into four equal parts and marked it with pins.

Then I measured my waist , cut a piece of elastic, sewed it together and then divided it into four equal sections and then matched that to my skirt.

I then serged the elastic to the edge of my skirt.

At center back I turned the elastic down,


and stitched it down about a half inch. I could have done a zigzag stitch all the way around, but that would leave a line in the pretty pleating, so to hold the elastic down, I opted to just do some small tacks by hand to hold the elastic down around the waist.

In three simple steps, I have a beautiful skirt,

I have a fun little strapless dress that I can also wear with leggings and a t-shirt,



and I also have this funky poncho. Fun.
The last time I was in the store was December and they still had the fabric. They did have it in at least one other color. I'm so sorry, but I just can't remember what the color was. If you like the fabric, give them a call, I'm sure they will be happy to help you.


This fabric I found in the little fabric store in Granby, Colorado. It's pleated just like the silver/grey fabric above. It's really pretty. She also had the fabric in I think, rust and blue shades. This I know is still available as I just bought it a few weeks ago and she had plenty. Lorene of The Fabric Nook does not have a website, but she would welcome your phone call. Her number is (970) 887-2005. During the week she is open 10-5 Mountain Time, and she is open on Saturdays 9-2.
If you do end up with a piece of either of these fabrics, I would recommend hand washing them. I don't think the pleats will fall out, but if it looks like they will, just twist the skirt while it is still wet and allow it to stay twisted until it drys.
I wore the black and red skirt yesterday and received a number of compliments. It looks so much more complicated than it is. As you can see, with a minimal amount of effort you can have a great looking garment.

Once a Hippy, Always a Hippy

I grew up in a very conservative southern family. My father was a Southern Baptist minister. But I was different. I loved and was intrigued with anything that was a bit different. When I was able to choose, I bought psychedelic paints. I would listen to The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack on the radio and Edgar Allen Poe was one of my favorite writers. We lived in rural Mississippi from the time I was 10 until I was 13. So, not only was my family conservative, but everyone around me was conservative as well. Girls were not allowed to wear pants to school, and that was public school. My mother would measure my skirts at exactly 3 inches above my knee. I hated my long skirts and I longed to wear the frayed, hiphuggers jeans and ponchos that I would see on television.

Finally, my day arrived. My mother and I were invited to a special event in Meridian, MS. The mother of a friend of mine invited me to come along and shop for something new to wear. Now this was much more special than you can imagine. All of my clothes were homemade, and not made like I wanted. The mother of my friend was much more easy going, so I knew I had a chance at picking out something I really wanted. I will never forget that outfit. I chose a pair of cerulean blue hiphuggers with big yellow and white daises all over them. My top was sleeveless with a mock turtleneck in sunshine yellow. I felt liberated and I felt beautiful. That spring, the school decided that the girls could wear pants for one special day. We were going on a field trip. To be honest, I do not remember where we went or what we did, but I can immediately tell you what I wore. That was the first time I ever wore a pair of pants to school and it was the most wonderful feeling.

I just finished this bag yesterday, and I love it. The way the bag came about was I took a class with Nicky Epstein. What a wonderful experience. She's so full of energy and fun ideas. To prepare for the class, we were to knit two squares. On one square we did the embroidery that you see above. As usual, I can't leave well enough alone. I added the center section to make it look like a sunflower.

We never did anything with the other square, but, I kept it.
'We made a sample of the larger flower and we also made one of the hanging flowers that you see in the above picture. I liked how they looked and decided to make two more. They are super fast and super easy.

As I looked at all the pieces I had, I thought that they may make a great bag. For the sides and the shoulder strap, I knitted a cable band. To decorate the top edge, I knitted 3 i-cords and then braided them together.
To make the bag a little sturdier, I made a simple square pouch that would slip inside and then put a zipper closing on the top.

I lined the shoulder strap with a piece of grosgrain ribbon so that it wouldn't stretch.

The bag was not a part of the class. I just hate to waste anything and so decided to make use of my pieces and try to make something I would enjoy and that would be useful. In the process, I was able to take a lovely trip down memory lane.

Rectangles, Squares and Circles...WeekTwo??

The Magic Jacket

I started this series on January 5th, so I should have posted week 5 this week, but alas, I'm behind. I do promise to catch up and hopefully as the weeks go by, you'll be so happy with my postings that you will soon forget about that the fact that I allowed things to slip.

My goal is to give you items that are relatively simple to construct and yet look great. This week I will explain how to construct this jacket. The above outfit is something that I love having in my wardrobe. It's great for traveling, takes up no space in a suit case. It can be worn with sandals or with a change of shoes and jewelry look great for the evening. The jacket looks so graceful and gives just the right amount of cover up that I would like on a summer evening. Because the fabric is so sheer, it's difficult to see the back drape.
This picture shows in a little better detail how the back drapes.

This is a shorter version of the same jacket. Now that I'm looking at this picture, the black looks a little like Morticia's negligee. I have to learn how to take better pictures.

You are not going to believe how easy this jacket is to make. For a small size, start with 2 yards of fabric. For a medium, 2 1/2 yds., and for a large, 3 yds. For the jacket that is pictured above, I used the entire width of the fabric which was 60". As you can see, this made a full length jacket. If you would like something shorter, may use a fabric that is 45" wide, Or cut the fabric down to 30" or 36" wide. However, the longer the jacket, the more drape you will have in the back.

Hopefully you can see from the above drawing that the selvage edges of the fabric are at the top and bottom. If your fabric has nice selvage edges, you will not need to cut off the edges or finish them. Make sure that your fabric has a nice drape and is not too heavy.

Square off the ends of your fabric so you have nice straight edges. Fold the two cut edges toward the middle. From the top selvage edge sew a seam down about 18". Then at the top selvage edge, leave approximately 10" open at either side (This will be the opening for your arms) and stitch the selvage edge closed between the two openings.

From the bottom of the 18' sewn seam to the bottom selvage edge you will need to finish your seams. The black jacket is made from a knit that will not run so I did not finish the center front seams. You will be able to decide depending upon the fabric that you choose. Your jacket is finished! There are only two seams. It's that easy.

The pants that I am wearing are really simple to do as well. I took a simple straight legged, elastic waist pant pattern. The drape gives a very floaty feel when it is left untied.

In the above drawing I have drawn the side drape as an extension. Actually this will be a separate pattern piece that is sewn into the side seam of the pant. I also left room at the top of the pant pattern. This shows where the elastic would be. At the bottom, I left room for the hem.For the drape extension, you will need to measure across the front of your pants pattern and then add another 6" to 8" for the tie. As you can see from the drawing, the top edge has a slight curve. This will give a lovely drape over the stomach when the piece is tied. At the bottom, the width is about half the width of the pant leg.

The extensions held out.


The extensions tied at center front.

The fabric I used for this outfit was purchased at Vogue Fabrics here in Chicago. The shear is a silk chiffon and the pants are lined with a coordinating silk charmuse. So nice.

Good luck if you choose to give this a try. If there is something you don't quite understand, send me a message and I will do my best to answer your questions. The jacket is great for so many occasions, a beach cover up, an evening wrap, a light summer jacket or even Morticia's negligee!! Enjoy!

Rudy's Determination

One of my favorite movies is Rudy. The movie is based on the true story of a young man who is determined to not only go to Notre Dame and gain a college education, but is also determined to play football for Notre Dame. Everything that could be against him, is, but he overcomes every obstacle and is triumphant. If you've never seen the movie, rent it, on second thought, buy it. It's a movie that is worth seeing over and over.

I just returned from a ski trip to Colorado. We had a wonderful time. The snow was great, a little too much at times. There were a number of avalanches. Sadly a young man was killed while doing some back country snowboarding. He was found, with his dog by his side.

I had every intention of posting my weekly feature, Rectangles, Squares, and Circles. I took everything with me, had my husband take the photos one morning and yet when I got back in the evening, I was just too tired. At this point, you are probably wondering where the reference to Rudy comes in as I obviously didn't have his determination with my posts. I will make up for my laziness this week and catch up on those posts.

While I was in Colorado, I noticed on Facebook that BurdaStyle was sponsoring a contest, Are You The Next Sewing Star? What you were to do is download a pattern for the Charlie Bag, make the bag and do a 3 minute video of yourself. The winner gets to do a spot on the new television program, It's Sew Easy. I thought the contest sounded like a lot of fun, but I was in Colorado with only a laptop. Then I saw a commercial for the movie Rudy along with a clip. As I thought about it, I knew that Rudy wouldn't let any obstacle get in his way. So now, how could I make this happen? I didn't know anyone with a printer, but by asking questions, I found out that there is a library in Fraser, CO, lovely I might add, and you can use their computer and printer. The copies were only 10 cents each. Great. So the first hurdle I was able to cross. But now I needed a sewing machine. I could go to Denver, but I couldn't get down the mountain. The locals were saying that they had never seen it as bad as it was. At one point, Berthoud Pass was closed for two days, and even once the pass was cleared, it wasn't a good idea to venture into Denver because no one knew when the next avalanche would happen. Then I remembered that there is a small fabric shop in Grandy which is about 20 miles from Fraser. So off I went. There I met Lorene Linke. Such an interesting woman. She owns The Fabric Nook and has for about the last 35 years. She also taught Home Economics at the high school in Granby. She and her husband own a ranch about 20 miles out of town and with all of this, she was able to raise 7 children. An incredible woman, to say the least. I told her what I wanted to do, and before I was able to get my entire story out of my mouth, she said yes. Another obstacle overcome. Now I was getting excited, but I still needed to make the video. It just so happened that a friend who lives in Fraser for the winter season had received a video camera for Christmas and just happened to have it with her. Wow!! She was very excited about helping me. By now the time was growing short. The deadline was on Monday, the 24th, I only had Saturday to get this done. On Saturday morning, as luck would have it, we were having another snow storm, but I was determined. Off I went to pick up my friend and managed to get stuck going up the hill to her house. Once we got the car out and were loaded up, we were off. As we were driving down highway 40, the winds were howling, snow was blowing, at one point we could only see the hood of the car. My friend asked if I was comfortable driving in this weather? I told her that we were in it now whether I was comfortable or not. We made it to Granby and had such a lovely morning. I ended up making three bags. They take all of about 10 minutes to make.
Lorene's shop is such a delight. Not only is it her fabric store, it's her studio. On the back wall of the shop she has flannel boards where she works out her quilt designs. She has 26 grandchildren and is in the process of making a quilt for each child. I asked if she would adopt me.

At this point you would think that I would have accomplished the task, but no. Now I had to put my submission together. I had to download my video to YouTube. I needed a high resolution picture of myself and a resume. Thankfully, I had a picture of myself on my camera that Threads Magazine had used. I don't know if it's a high resolution photo, but I thought that if it was good enough for Threads, it should be good enough for Burda Style. Finally, I had everything together. As I read about how to submit everything, it said, email submissions[at]BurdaStyle[dot] com. I understood that a portion of the address should be @BurdaStyle.com, but I needed more than that. I tried everything I could think of, and every time the email would bounce back to me. I couldn't believe it, I had managed to overcome every obstacle and here I was at the very end and I couldn't send it out. I decided to wait for my husband to come back, I had looked at this for far too long and was too upset to even think any longer. After a few tries, my husband suggested that we try submissions@BurdaStyle.com. It worked. I was so happy. I can't even explain how happy I was. We went out that evening for a glass of wine and some dinner. No one carried me off the football field on their shoulders, but I was so proud. I stuck with it and did it, against everything. Now who knows whether or not I'll win, but at this point I feel that I won. I have not watched the video. You are welcome to view it if you like. The link is www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmzCKAeGYhY.

Once it was all over, thoughts began to creep in that I will not even repeat here as I would rather not give them any power. Then I remembered an audition I did when I was 14 years old for the DuPage Youth Symphony. I left the audition thinking that I had completely bombed. A few weeks later a letter arrived, not only did I make it, I had won first chair. Incredible. This picture is from the highest point on the Winter Park mountain. It's called Panoramic, and that 's just what it is. You really feel that you are on top of the world. A nice reminder to never give up. There's so much more than what is just in front of you.

If you would like to get the free Charlie bag pattern, go to http://www.burdastyle.com/, become a member. Once you have logged on, go to the blog and then click on competitions. Click on "Are You The Next Sewing Star." From there click on the script and then you should be able to find the pattern.

This is one of the 3 bags that I made. I gave one to Lorene and the other to my video friend.

They fold up into this neat little pocket. Once it's unfolded, it's great for your purchases. Great to take on vacation for those extra purchases. They also make great thank you gifts and a nice little hostess gift as well. As I said before, they take no time at all to make, so you can make up a dozen or so and have them on hand anytime you need a little gift.

I think I am going to rename the bag The Rudy Bag!! Enjoy.

I'm BUSSTED!!

The time is finally here. I am finally starting my pattern line!! I'm very excited. The name of my line will be a play on my name, Bussted, as in you've been found out. We've all seen the look of shock on some one's face when they've found out that we made what we are wearing.

The first pattern is a vintage inspired jacket. The jacket has the look of being a vest and jacket, but the vest is actually just two panels that are attached to the shoulder seams of the outer jacket.

The "vest" portion is held to the body by a fabric covered elastic belt.

The sleeves are a dolman shape. The front hangs fairly flat against the body, but the back has quite a bit of fullness and hangs beautifully away from the body.

The first view of the jacket was made in wool crepe and lined in a cotton.

The second view was made in velvet. I decided to have some fun with the vest.

I cut strips of my backing fabric, cording and black velvet ribbon, sewed them all together and then backed the "vest" in velvet. The coordinating fabric has an antique purple cast to the fabric.

This photo gives a better view of the fullness in the back.

So, how do you get a pattern? Well, here's the surprise, I'm giving away 25 patterns! Yes, the first 25 are free, but as we all know, nothing is really free. In order to get one of the patterns, you must be a follower on my blog, not a secret follower, but actually sign up to follow the blog. I am also asking that you will commit to making the garment. You will be helping me by giving me feedback.

So to receive the pattern, first, become a follower on this blog. Once you have signed up, send me an email, rhondabuss@hotmail.com. Once I have received your email, I will respond that I have received your request and that you will be receiving a pattern. I will be sending the patterns out the first week of February. What if you aren't one of the first 25? The patterns will be available on Etsy February 7th. The launch price will be $10.00, and the $10.00 price will include shipping.

The patterns are in Small, Medium and Large. If you buy a medium piece of clothing, then you will order a medium jacket.

I am so very grateful to those who have always believed in me. Thank you. I am also so very grateful to my grandmother who so patiently sat and taught me to do so much. I know I talk too much, but I just have to share this story with you. When I was around 4 years old, I told my grandmother that I couldn't wait to have grandchildren. She thought that I didn't quite understand and explained that I had to have children first. I told her, "Oh, I understand that. I just can't wait to have someone love me as much as I love you."

Rectangles, Circles and Squares

Welcome to a new weekly post. I have said in the past that I have a passion for people learning to sew. The problem that many run into is making something that will fit. Over the next year, I will be posting something that can be made using either a rectangle, a circle or a square. Most of the posts will be garments, but some will be fun accessories. So to get things started, my first post is a square, a tablecloth actually. Two summers ago I had the opportunity to go to the most enchanting island off the coast of Maine, Monhegan Island. The week was magical. Fifty-six people live on the island on a year round basis. When I first arrived, I knew I had to return. Within a few days, a simple return trip of a week didn't feel like enough, I needed two weeks. By the end of my week, I wanted to experience an entire winter there. In order to call my husband, I had to climb the hill toward the lighthouse where I sat on a rock and made my call. By mid week I realized that I had not seen a television, heard a radio and much less had been on a computer. I told my husband that I had no idea what was going on in the world. Before he could give me a report, I told him that I had no desire to even know. It was while I was on the island that I found the tablecloth "fabric" for this skirt.

To get started, the tablecloth that I purchased measured 58" x 58". I made a yoke from a skirt sloper that fits me, I thought. I assumed that it was fine only to find out that it was a bit too big. Usually good news, right? Well, not this time. I had already sliced the opening in the tablecloth and now the opening was too big. So heed my advice, make sure! The hip measurement of your yoke will be the measurement you will use to cut an opening in the middle of the tablecloth, minus 1" for a 1/2" seam allowance. So if your yoke hip measurement is 37 you will fold the tablecloth into quarters in order to find the mid point. 37 minus 1 is 36. Divide this number by four which in this case will be nine. You will slice the fabric 9" out from center or mid point.

I cut a seam at what would be center back in order to make it easier to install a zipper.

If you do make a mistake like I did, sew seams in what would be the side seams of the skirt portion and then reinstall the yoke.

Unless you make a mistake like I did, this is so very quick and easy to do. Once the zipper is installed,line the yoke and you're finished. There is no hemming since the piece was already finished. This is not a project for a beginner, but it is so quick and easy. I have had people stop me and tell me that my skirt is great. When I tell them that it is a tablecloth, they look puzzled until I grab the sides and hold out the skirt. I especially liked this piece because of the pattern in the fabric and the border print. The skirt flows when I walk. Actually, any square piece of fabric will work.

Good Luck. If you do give this a try, I hope you will enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

I just had to include this picture. In the corner you can see my little dog waiting for me. She's so funny. Sometimes I feel that she thinks we should be attached at the hip.

Make sure and come back tomorrow as I will have something fun to share with you.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Little Gift, A Little Crewelty, and A Surprise

I have been so overwhelmed with all the lovely responses to my blog posts as well as the new followers. So as a little thank you, I thought I would give all of you a pattern to this napkin ring. Now you would think this would have been easy, but not as easy as I thought. My nephew came over last night and showed me how to make a PDF file. I'd never made one. The good news about that was that we were successful and I learned something new. The bad news was that I found out that a PDF file cannot be attached to this blog. So, since there's always more than one way to do anything, we had to think of another way to get the file to any of you who might like to have it. We came up with the "old fashioned" way, email. If you would like the pattern to this napkin ring, email me at sewbussted@yahoo.com and I will be happy to send out a copy.
The napkin ring adds a nice touch to a place setting. They're quick and inexpensive to make and they also make a great little hostess gift.







There are just 3 pieces to the pattern, the ring portion, the leaves, and the petals.


The ring portion looks like a dog bone. The rounded pieces at each end are also a part of the flower section.
To put everything together, fold the napkin ring portion in half. Pinch together the rounded ends and slide the leaf portion over the pinched portion.

Then slide the petal piece over the pinched portion.

Arrange the petals as you would like.

When you have a pretty holiday table, you need a pretty holiday outfit. I could wear the jacket at other times during the year, but it just seems a little more special to save it for the holidays.

This jacket is made from a wool double knit.
The entire jacket is embroidered in crewel work. The yarn is wool.

The buttons are glass, a little heavy, but I love the way they look and I also like how they lay agaist the wool.

A view of the sleeve.




The jacket is not lined. I rather like that you can see that it was actually done by hand.

And now for my little surprise. I am finally just about ready to put my patterns on the market. In the beginning they will be sold through either me directly or through Etsy. The jacket that I have just shared with you will also be in my pattern line. I plan to have the first patterns out right after the first of the year. I'm so excited. The first pattern will be a great little jacket. I will be showing that to you soon.

So from my little family to yours, have a lovely holiday season.

Carl, Rhonda, Gracie and Little Bit!

Check out the collars on the dogs. Not only are they red and white, they have bells attached. I call them the Jingle Jangle Girls. I'm so cruel.