July Giveaway #2: Professional Transfer Paper and Tailor's Chalk

The photo just does not do these two products justice! For this week's giveaway I'm offering one sheet of professional transfer paper in red (measures 26" x 39" unfolded) and three pieces of tailor's chalk. Now do not confuse this transfer paper with the carbon paper you buy at your local fabric chain store. This stuff lasts forever. I've used a single sheet of red professional transfer paper for over two years now and it shows no sign of wearing out. I mark fabric with it (darts and stuff), and I use it to trace my BWOF patterns. (Lay the transfer paper face up, place tracing paper on the transfer paper, then lay the BWOF pattern on top of the other two layers. Trace the pattern with a tracing wheel.)

The tailor's chalk are actually crayons, and the markings disappear when you iron them. I use these all the time, and I especially like them to mark seams when I am fitting my daughter, who has the hypersensitivity of a five-year-old when it comes to pins. (C'mon, a pin prick here or there never hurt anyone!)

To enter this giveaway, you must 1) already be a Google Follower and 2) you need to leave me a comment to this post indicating you want to participate in this drawing for the transfer paper and tailor's chalk. I will randomly select one winner from the commenters on 7/22/09. The winner will be posted on 7/23/09.

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Congratulations to Sandra of Sydney, Australia, who is the random winner of one skein of waxed thread from last week's giveaway. Sandra, please email me your address and I'll put this in the mail to you. My email address is located at the top right of this web site.

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What I've been sewing: A big fat nothing! At night I've been busy packing up my son's stuff for summer camp. If you've sent a kid off to sleepaway camp for more than a couple of weeks you know this is a big ordeal.... I need to make a throw for my niece to take with her to college, and the quilting I've seen fellow sewists do lately makes me want to try my hand at it. I did buy some Amy Butler charm squares recently, so it could happen. I also need to work on some muslins for sewing class at the end of August. So, no exciting sewing planned for now. But stick with me, okay? I still have one more giveaway to go, and you'll like this one a lot. Have a great weekend everyone!

If It's Summer, I Must Be Wearing a Tunic and White Pants

Jackpot!! We finally had a perfect day here in the greater NYC area: It actually fell on the weekend, of all things; and DD and DS agreed to go to the beach with DH and me, permitting themselves to be seen in the company of their parents. People witnessed them actually speaking pleasantly to us and looking like they enjoyed our company. See, miracles can happen when the rains finally stop.

Yes, that's me making a dorky face and modeling the tunic I made on Friday night as I waited for DH and DS to get back from Denver. It's this Kwik-Sew pattern I've made before as a J.Crew knock-off. (KS pattern 3295, now out-of-print.) This time I added about three inches to the length and kept the sleeves long. The fabric is a cotton woven with lycra from the garment district. Pretty straightforward sewing exercise, though I did get out my French curve ruler and redraw the back neck facing so it was longer and less likely to flop out (hate when that happens).

And this tunic is positively the last summer item I make for myself this year. I have enough summer clothes, too many in fact. I still haven't worn the pencil skirt I made with Carolyn, Marji and Cidell! I may start on my fall biker jacket or sew some stuff for DD, who feels too many clothes is a glorious state of mind well worth achieving.

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There's still time to enter my giveaway for a skein of white waxed thread. See this post for all the details. I'll be back on Thursday with another nifty giveaway from the garment district (hint: one of you hoped I'd be giving this away), so check back then!

Finished: Beachy Tunic From July '09 BWOF

BWOF 07/09 #125 tunic

[With credit to Deepika and PatternReview for developing the format, I am being lazy and borrowing my review of this tunic I just wrote for PR.]

Pattern Description: "Purism meets opulence. The cut of this tunic is so simple that neckline and slit can tolerate a border of big, contrasting faux gemstones and beads. White trousers/pants complete the elegant look."

Pattern Sizing: I cut a 42. With BWOF's minimal ease, this fits me snugly across the upper chest. But then the midsection was HUGE on me and I looked like I was six months pregnant, so I probably ended up with a 38 in the middle after taking the front seams in.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Basically yes, though I did not go the sew-on jewel route for a couple of reasons. A, I was using a print and jewels wouldn't pop as much as on a solid; and B) sew-on jewels are EXPENSIVE! You know I have easy access to NYC's garment district and I search for inexpensive sew-on jewels there all this time. You can find some but they are either costly or look cheap and don't come in many colors. To sew on jewels similar to the ones BWOF shows, expect to pay $35 to $50 for the jewels. If anyone has a source for inexpensive sew-on jewels I'm not aware of, do tell!

Were the instructions easy to follow? Typical hard-to-understand BWOF directions. Here's what ya gotta do: Sew the darts. Sew the side panels to the front and back. Construct the combo facing (all-in-one arm and neck facing) and interface as needed. Get out your Reader's Digest New Complete Guide to Sewing or other sewing reference and follow those directions for attaching a combo facing and sewing the shoulder seams. Sew the hem. Attach any trim or embellishments by hand or machine.

Fabric Used: A poly woven with a cottony hand from Paron's Annex. I was attracted to this print because it seemed very beachy to me.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: None, other than taking in the front seams about an inch through the midsection, as mentioned above. Instead of jewels, I used some jute-colored trim I bought at M&J Trims to adorn the neckline slit (attached by hand).

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I could see making this again next year, as another tunic or a longer beach coverup. It's actually pretty easy to make.

DD's comment on seeing me model the completed tunic: "Very Lilly Pulitzer, Mom."

I would have made this photo larger but I detest the way my eyes look like slits here. Five years ago my optometrist judiciously told me to start saving up for plastic surgery because I had inherited the type of eye lids that droop over the eye with aging (example: Joe Biden). Waah, he was right! Hmm, college tuition or plastic surgery?

Here's a detail shot of the trim I used in the front. I like the color combo of ocean blue and sand—reminds me of rich people's beach houses.

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Have a great weekend everyone! I'll be back next week blogging about who knows what and giving away some more nifty stuff.….

July Giveaway #1: Waxed Thread

Giveaway #1: A skein of white pre-waxed thread

Ann of Gorgeous Fabrics introduced me to the concept of pre-waxed thread and I am forever grateful to her. This stuff makes hand-sewing soooo much easier. It glides through fabric, it's strong, it resists twisting, and it has a nice little sheen to it. I used my white pre-waxed thread for all the hand-sewing I had to do on my recent faux-Chanel jacket. I especially love it for hooks and eyes and buttons, not to mention hems. Trust me, you will vastly prefer sewing with this pre-waxed thread to waxing thread yourself.

To enter this giveaway, you must 1) already be a Google Follower (Dawn of Two On, Two Off became the last person eligible by the 7/6 deadline, so you have to be before her) and 2) you need to leave me a comment to this post indicating you want to participate in this drawing for the skein of white pre-waxed thread. I will use a random number generator to select one winner from the commenters on 7/15/09. The winner will be posted on 7/16/09.

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A couple quick replies to recent reader questions: Two readers commented on the photo of my daughter modeling her Rockin' Robin Red Dress and told me they thought it looked like a professional shot. Well, thanks! I bought a new backdrop on eBay and it is much easier to work with than the twin sheet I'd been using. I clamp the backdrop to the cross-bar on my patio that's there for the awning we're too lazy to put up, then I just shoot outside using natural light.

JoanneM asked about the fusible stay tape I used on DD's red dress. It's basically a strip of lightweight fusible interfacing, and it prevented the neck and armhole edges from getting all stretchy and out of shape. It's not the same as the Vilene tape BWOF recommends, which is unavailable in the U.S., but it could be the next best thing to it.

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Boy, is it quiet at my house. My husband and son are both in Denver on a church mission trip this week, so it's just DD and me. Or, in other words, it's just little ol' me, because DD is either off hanging with her friends or holed up in her room watching all the seasons of "One Tree Hill" she missed and now can't live without. I've asked her to remember to check on me every now and then, just to make sure I haven't been abducted by aliens or something like that. The guys will be back Friday night.

And I'll be back tomorrow with my review of the beachy BWOF tunic I just made. See you then….