Monday Morning Inspiration

Good Morning All and welcome to a new week! I hope you had a lovely weekend and a special Valentine's day :)
I had intended another post this morning, but when I looked at my phone, I saw a post on Facebook that I thought was especially interesting. CarmencitaB found the link and posted it to a sewing Facebook page. It's such wonderful information and something that I think many of you will enjoy knowing about.

The company is called Toms-Sons International Pleating. Here's a little about what they do.

 Since 1931, International Pleating has been a family owned fabric and textile pleating business. Our full service facility is located in the heart of New York City’s Garment District and offers all aspects of pleating services: from sample development to production. Quality is our legacy and a heritage that we work tirelessly to uphold. Full attention is always paid to even the finest detail.  Our family master craftspeople posses  the level of artistry and unsurpassed technical design skill, that has been acquired and passed down through five generations of expertise in this industry.

The company also has a fabulous blog that is rich in information. There you will find articles like this one on the foundation of of the basic types of pleats and how they combine to make more complex pleated styles. 

Another great article on hemming pleats, HERE.

Scroll to the bottom of the HOME page and you will find links to free e-books.

Check out this link for a free sunburst circular skirt pattern along with instructions. You will choose your fabric, cut it, then send it in for pleating. The skirt will be sent back to you and then you will simply sew it together and wear it. There are no minimum orders, so this is a great resource for someone who would like just one skirt.
International Pleating also has an Etsy shop where you may purchase pre-pleated fabric.
And finally, just so you have a little eye candy this morning :), a video that showcases the pleating the International Pleating did for the Meskita Spring/Summer 2015 collection. It's lovely.



Wishing you a wonderful week!
Rhonda

Sunday Night Reflections

The news came across the radio while my husband and I were out running errands, the Jordanian pilot had been caged and burned to death. My body began to shake, and I sat in horror as I visualized the brutal execution.
In 1968 my family and I moved to Mississippi. My father was the pastor of a small country church. One night as we drove into town, we came upon a house that was on fire. I had never seen a fire of this magnitude. The flames leaped toward the sky as if the very demons of hell were trying to touch heaven, and maybe they were. From where I sat in the backseat of the car, I could feel the intense heat of the flames on my face. I remember some men standing off to the side, which seemed rather strange. An older African American man lived in this house. Was it a lynching, a hate crime? I don't know, I just remember my father saying that there was nothing we could do now and we drove on.
Mississippi was the last state to integrate the public schools. Prior to moving to Mississippi, I had always gone to school with all children, in fact, I had no idea that there was such a thing as segregation and integration. In 1970, when it became known that the state would no longer be able to allow segregated schools, the talk throughout the community was that of fear. A private school was quickly formed and my parents were told that my brother and I would be able to attend. My parents took a stand and said no, that we would attend the public school. With all that I had heard, I was afraid and I wanted to be safe and go to the private school.
The first day of school came and off I went, so afraid. What would these new children be like? Would there be the fights and the trouble that I had overheard the adults talk about?  As it turned out, the African American children were just as afraid of me as I was of them. Nothing happened. I became good friends with one little girl who was beautiful, kind, generous and funny. Over the course of the year, I learned that there were good teachers, bad teachers, and teachers with an agenda be it African American or Caucasian. There were fights, but not because of race, just children being children. The next year, seeing that we had survived, many of my friends returned to the public school and life slowly began to move on.
There have been so many times throughout history where evil has prevailed...for a time. The Holocaust, the genocide in Cambodia are just a couple of modern day examples. Just today it was reported that the same militant group who burned the Jordanian pilot, beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians. How will this end or even when? Only time will tell.
Sometimes, when we are confronted with the evil of this world, at that given moment, there's nothing that we can do. But I believe, that in time, a situation will present itself where we can make a choice, a choice to take a stand or a choice to go along. I was only a small child, 11 years old when I was sent off to school to take a stand against racism, fear and hatred. It wasn't a role that I wanted, at least not at that age, but it taught me lessons that I would never have learned otherwise and I am so very grateful.

Eating For Your Future

Happy Sunday Everyone! I hope that you had a lovely Valentine's day. My husband and I stayed in last night, had a wonderful dinner and then curled up to watch a movie. If you have not seen "Chef," I highly recommend it. You can read about it here. I was so touched by the sweet story. 

I have been waiting a week to share this recipe with you. Doesn't this look good?

Well, it is even better than it looks. The recipe focuses on root vegetables which are in an abundance this time of year. The recipe is from Simply Recipes.
I used purple top turnips, carrots, parsnips and  russet potatoes. You may be a little shocked by the use of an entire head of garlic, but trust me, the garlic seems to just melt into the root vegetables and becomes just the perfect amount of flavoring.

Roasted Root Vegetables With Tomatoes and Kale

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 pounds of root vegetables such as parsnips, rutabagas, carrots, potatoes, golden beets, turnips, and celery root, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 head of garlic, the cloves separated and peeled
• 6 Tbs olive oil, divided 3 Tbsp and 3 Tbsp
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 28-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes(I used an extra 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes)
• 2 cups (packed) of chopped leafy greens such as kale or chard
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or dried oregano
• Black pepper to taste
• Tabasco sauce (optional, to taste)(I used crushed red pepper flakes)
• 
  

1 Preheat oven to 450°F. Into a large roasting pan, mix together the vegetables, garlic, 3 Tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.  Roast for 45 minutes, turning the vegetables over in the pan halfway through cooking.

2 Meanwhile in a 4 to 5 quart Dutch oven, heat 3 Tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and sauté until the edges of the onions just begin to brown. Stir in the tomato paste, and cook a minute longer. Using your hands, tear the canned tomatoes into large pieces as you add them to the pot. Add the remaining liquid from the can into the pot. Stir well. Add the Italian seasoning. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to the lowest possible setting. Cover the pot and let cook gently while the root vegetables are roasting.
3 When the root vegetables are ready (they should be browned on the edges and easily pierced with a fork), remove from the oven

Add chopped leafy greens to the pot of tomatoes. Simmer until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the root vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

My final version. 

I made up this recipe last week and took it to my mother's house for lunch and then left the rest with her. I was craving more, so I made up another pot. The second was even better than the first! The root vegetables accent each other beautifully and the dish has a slightly sweet taste, no bitterness whatsoever.    
Be sure to check out other recipes from Simply Recipes. I found lots of things that I would like to try. Their recipes range from meats and vegetables to desserts.

Sleeves On Saturdays

Last night I had the opportunity to talk to the Chicago Chapter of the American Sewing Guild. What a great group pf ladies! My program was on drafting sleeves. I was told to plan on a 30 minute talk, but the talk went on for an hour!!! Hopefully I didn't wear out my welcome :), but they seemed to enjoy the evening as much as I did. I hope so anyway. As I drove home last night, I thought about the fact that there are a number of new followers to the blog....welcome!!! So I thought I would showcase of few of my favorite sleeve posts.

When I was in design school, I found a drafting book devoted to sleeves. I was in love! Since then, I have had a passion for sleeve drafting.

So first up is a coat that I actually drafted when I was in school....yikes!!!, 30 years ago!!! I made a joke last night about having clothes that I have made that are now vintage. Oh well, I love the coat, and yes, I still wear it. I'm actually thinking about making some separates to wear with it and put it in this year's Haute Couture Fashion Show. The title of the show is Through The Looking Glass and the focus is on Alice's journey through Wonderland, so I think this will fit into the theme. 

Piped Coat Sleeve with Shirring

Next, The Twisted Petal Sleeve.
This sleeve is actually a play on the traditional petal sleeve. You can see the finished garment HERE.

When I initially did this sleeve, I didn't give it a name, so I thought I would call it the Floating In Pleats Sleeve. The top for the above sleeve and the dress below were actually done for posts I did for Sew News on collar drafting. Take note that the sleeve actually follows the curve of the princess line. Very feminine.

All Points South Sleeve  This is a very easy sleeve to draft. Be sure to take a looking at the drafting photos to see just how easy it is.

The Bending Willow Sleeve looks rather strange when it's laid out flat, but drapes beautifully on the arm.

Watch Me As I Walk Away Sleeve This sleeve looks rather complicated to draft, but just follow the instructions and it will work out perfectly. This is a great sleeve to use for color blocking.

The Gathered Keyhole Sleeve I'll be honest, this sleeve is a little tricky to draft, but it's such fun, so I think it's worth the effort.
                          
The Pleated Epaulet Sleeve  This sleeve gives the shoulder a very squared look. It looks great in a t-shirt as well as a jacket or coat.

The Rounded Square Shoulder Sleeve  is one of my favorite sleeves. Very easy to draft and it opens itself to lots of design possibilities.You can see a picture of me in the sleeve HERE.

 The Cowl Draped Sleeve is a lovely sleeve that looks great with a cowl neck blouse or dress.

So this is just a sample of some of the sleeves we've done on Saturdays. Click on the links above to see the drafting instructions. You can also go to my Sleeves On Saturdays Pinterest page.

To all who have been around for a long time, thanks for all of your support and to those who are new, I hope you'll find lots of inspiration and maybe give a little pattern drafting a try.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Rhonda

Thrifty Thursday/Valentine's Day Edition

I'm late!!!, but it's not too late to do a little something fun for Valentine's.

You may remember the bag I did for one of last year's Sew News sew alongs, the Emily Bag from IThinkSew Patterns. I made 3 and now I have none!!! All have been given away. Maybe I need to put my things away when people come by ;) 

I receive email updates from IThinkSew whenever they have a new pattern or a sale. I actually bought a pattern this week, this super cute pen/pencil case, I could have drafted it out, but it was on sale and it was so cute, so I jumped in. I actually plan to lengthen it a bit and use it with some of my art supplies. The one with the flattened end reminds me of a tube of toothpaste! That's the one I plan to make. By the way, this pattern and others are on sale through February 27th, so pop over and take a look.

While I was visiting the website, I decided to check out their free patterns and I found these adorable heart cookies. They actually look good enough to eat!!!! I think I'm really craving sugar ;)

So I decided to make a few.

Just to give you an idea of the size, here's one in my hand.

The little hearts would make great gifts for sewing friends. They're small, but they are great as pin cushions. You can also mix dried lavender with the stuffing and make sachets, perfect to hide away in a lingerie drawer. They would even be welcomed by a little girl for her imaginary tea parties. So lots of possibilities. I used beads and pearls that I had around to decorate my "cookies."

To get the pattern, go to the IThinkSew website which you can find HERE. Once you are there, click on the Free Pattern link in the left hand bar. You will need to create an account. In exchange, you will receive emails from time to time, but I don't find the company to be at all intrusive. 

The pattern has lots of pictures and is easy to read and follow. This would also make a great project for anyone who is just learning to do a little embroidery.

I plan to make a few more, after all, it doesn't need to be Valentine's Day to share your heart!

A Giveaway Extravaganza!!!!

Good Morning Everyone!!!
I am so excited about what I have to share today!!! In fact, I've been so excited that I almost posted it last night. My husband can tell you that I have all the patience in the world when it comes to opening a gift for myself, but once I have something for someone else, it almost kills me to have to wait. So, the waiting is over, thank goodness!!!!
As I shared with you a week or so ago, Sew News has asked me back to do the sew alongs for this year.To launch the sew alongs, they have very graciously given me a 1 year subscription to give away to one of my readers. Yea!!! an entire year of Sew News!

They are celebrating their 35th year, so each and every issue is going to be packed with great projects that you won't want to miss.

The second prize is a free Sew Chic Valentine Slip pattern from Laura Nash of Sew Chic Patterns! So pretty.

I've made 2 and I am working on my third. This is a lovely pattern. If you aren't wearing slips now, you will after you've made one of these. I'll show you mine next week for a special Me Made Monday edition.

And finally, there is a third prize, the Feb./March issue of Sew News. This is their special edition that celebrates their 35th year. That's actually a little hand stitched cake on the cover. Inside there are instructions to make one of your own.

Okay, lots of great prizes, so here's the drill.
1. You must be a follower of this blog. Let me know in the comment section through what vehicle  you follow, i.e. Bloglovin, Feedly, email, etc.
2. Leave a message on this post letting me know that you would like to be included in the give away.
3. You may not pick and choose your prize. The prizes are;
    1st Prize, 1 Year Sew News Subscription
    2nd Prize, Sew Chic Valentine Slip Pattern
    3rd Prize, Feb./March Single Issue of Sew News
4. You must leave a comment on this post no later than midnight CST Friday, February 20, 2015.
5. The winners will be announced on Saturday February 21, 2015.  

The sew along for the Sew Chic Valentine Slip will begin the week of March 2nd. I'm looking forward to a fun year of great patterns, and to sewing along with you too!!!!

Get Your Motors Running....The Cool Down and a Guest Post

Good Morning Everyone and a big thank you for participating in the Get Your Motors Running Challenge. Yes, there was voting and there is only one prize to pass out, but I really hate to call it a contest. It was a challenge, a challenge to take a rather small piece of fabric and come up with something not only wearable, but interesting. The nine who completed the project all went far and above the challenge. All of the garments were beautiful, well executed, and a good use of the panel fabric.
But as I said, there was only one prize to pass out and it goes to the lovely Miss Cennetta of The Mahogany Stylis!!!!!! Congratulations Cennetta :).

As you know, Cennetta will be receiving the Islander Pattern, Motor City Express Jacket and the accompanying Craftsy class. I'm sure Cennetta will use both to create an incredible jacket!

Now for a little surprise!
I was especially intrigued with the design that Debbie of Lily Sage and Company did, so I asked her to do a guest post for us and let us in on her design and drafting process. 
Enjoy the post!

It's been asked of me to explain how I went about designing this dress, so I will do my best to describe my methods. I'm self-taught when it comes to sewing and design, so I am aware that some of my methods may be unconventional, but they seem to work for me (most of the time!).
I actually started with a pattern that I had made more than a year ago. The pattern was for this drop waist dress. I've made several dresses using this pattern, including some long sleeve variations, which you can easily find on my blog. My love of the drop waist is a poorly kept secret.

I created the original drop waist dress pattern by draping, with the help of a favorite text book. I only have some very basic draping skills, but I do find it to be the best way for me to achieve a good bodice fit, as well as get my head around unusual  or new-to-me designs.

So my starting point was a drop waist dress with long French darts and a front zipper (in those days I was breastfeeding on the hour!). This is how the flat pattern pieces of the bodice looked.

My first step was to redraft the side seam to incorporate a triangular side panel. To do this, I lined up the side seams with each other,and drew in new lines where I wanted the side panel seams to go. Here, I've pinned together the front and back bodice pieces.

Now you can see where I re-drew my side seams to make the panel. The overlay is the side panel piece from my Challenge dress. The purple line is the where the original side seam would be.

I also had to consider the dart size at this point. By adding the side panel, I was also reducing the size of the dart. I wasn't too bothered by this because my bust is a little smaller (without the breastfeeding!) since I'd made the original pattern. However, I still found the dress a little snug across the chest (not bust volume) after my first muslin, so I ended up adding a tiny bit of extra width to the front side seam.

This is what the final pattern pieces of the challenge dress (bodice) looked like. The back piece, to the left, also shows the extra wedge that I added to the back to increase the A-line shape of the dress. My original muslin didn't include this and I found that the dress looked to "flat" at the back.

In the picture below, my drop waist dress pattern is overlaying my Challenge dress pieces so you can see how I extended the length and modified the shape of the bottom.

When I finally had the bodice shape right, I went about drafting the flounce. I measured and traced the contour of the bottom of all the bodice pieces and drew up a skirt that extended along the natural A-line shape of the dress. To turn the skirt into a flounce, I slashed it in 2-3 places to give it a slight flare. There's a great tutorial (http://ozzyblackbeard.blogspot.com/2014/11/self-drafted-flounce-skirt.html)  here, on how to create a flounce for a skirt.

The organza panel is simply a part of the skirt. I drew up that panel after I was happy with the skirt shape.

Hopefully, this explanation gives you a better insight into how I came up with my design. I, for one, always find it interesting how the flat pattern pieces look compared with the finished 3D garment.

Thanks Debbie!!!!
Debbie's design would translate beautifully to a color blocked garment. You could also use a lace where she used the sheer organza, so lots of possibilities. 
Now, go get your motors running!!!!
Happy Sewing Everyone!
Be sure to come back by tomorrow as I have another super duper surprise in store for you ;) Hint, hint, it includes a pattern!!!!!