Sharon Sews

Why do business have the air conditioning turned down so low during the summer months! It makes it necessary to have a jacket or sweater (or a wool blanket) with you at all times. With that in mind, I picked up a cute, cheap little unlined jacket at a discount store a few weeks ago. It was a simple shape, a bit boxy, and made out of a lightweight, black cotton with black cotton edging around the neckline, front jacket edges and hemline. It had a simple satin ribbon closure. It is the perfect little summer jacket to keep around. I was wishing I had grabbed one in white also. Since I didn't, I figured I could easily copy the jacket and make one out of a white eyelet. Off to the fabric store to buy a few yards of basic white eyelet fabric. But wait! They have patterns on sale...I better look because one never knows when the perfect pattern might be waiting to be purchased. Only to be brought home and stored in one of the many boxes I already have sitting around that contain the hundre

After the disappointment over the completed Simplicity 4072 dress, I decided I needed to sew something quick to cheer me up again. I pulled out this pattern - Simplicity 4496 (another Threads pattern) along with two yards of a linen print from my stash. I guess the colors pink and black have appealed to me lately as this print is a black background with printed butterflies scattered through out in shades of pink (along with embroidered butterflies and sequins to really put it over the edge). The skirt is almost done - just need to finish the facing at the waist and hem it. I love projects like this! Just over an hour from the time I cut it out to the time I quit sewing. It is a very simple skirt and I like the fit. From the photographs on the cover, I expected it to be a fuller skirt, but it is almost a-line - very flattering. I choose to eliminate the vertical trims on the skirt because 1) I didn't have any around and 2) I'm too lazy to add any additional embellishments. I'

The dress is done (almost) and I am so disappointed with the way it looks on me! Drat! While I think the style of the dress is adorable and I like the bold colors of the fabric I choose as well as the high contrast black bands, this is not a style that I can wear well. I still need to hem the dress, but the excitement is gone. As I was completing the dress I needed to make more changes. I originally thought the tie in the back was too wide (it actually ends up to be the same as the finished width of the midriff contrasting band) so I make it half the width called for. Plus I made it from the dress fabric rather than the contrast band color thinking that once it was tied in the back it would have a tendency to pull downwards and the fashion fabric would blend in better with the back of the dress. As you can see, that really wasn't a good idea. The designers knew what they were doing when they choose the tie fabric to be the same as the band. So I cut new ties out of black, removed