Sharon Sews

Nestled in a quaint neighborhood in St. Paul is this small, yet fabulous fabric store. I had heard of the store, had met people who worked there, had sewn for clients who purchased their fabric there, but never actually went there. That changed Friday afternoon when I found myself with a free afternoon and an appointment that left me only blocks away from the shop. A few months ago I had been given a rather large gift certificate to the store as a thank you gift. I've been waiting for the right time to visit the store and Friday was it. The store has no parking lot so I drove around for a few minutes before locating an on-street parking spot. When I walked into the store on my immediate right were rolls and bolts of yummy silks and other fancy fabrics. On my left was a half wall of bright and cheerful cottons - some Amy Butler fabrics. In front of me were more bolts of linens and other natural fiber fabrics, a small selection of trims, thread, and other assorted notions. Button s

Although I'm still in the midst of completing the two skirts I mentioned earlier I am already contemplating what the next skirt projects will be. I found this remnant at Joann's in the remnant bin. It is a black linen/blend with large open circles embroidered in white and a few sequins scattered through out. There was just under 7/8 of a yard but, because it was rolled up, I wasn't sure of the width. I suspected it would be 60" wide which would mean enough fabric to sew another skirt from McCall's 5330. If it was only 45" wide I would have most likely used it for a purse. I unrolled it when I got home and it was indeed wide enough to make View C from the McCall's skirt pattern. This is also the perfect time to finish the Hot Patterns Miss Money Penny skirt. I had actually forgotten about that pattern as it is tucked away with the UFOs. The bottom portion of the skirt hem dips lower in the back than the front, which I didn't pick up on from the pattern

At the beginning of April I wrote about an embarrassing sewing moment and asked if anyone else had any embarrassing moments in sewing they cared to share with me. Ruth , Tany , and Vickie W shared some of their embarrassing moments learning experiences in the comments section, and Carolyndh left words of wisdom. Ruth learned about fabric nap in much the same way I did except she was gently informed of her error; Tany wore an over fitted skirt that split during the first wearing and; Vickie W. sewed a matching turban for a dress she had just completed, an incredibly hip fashion accessory, however it wasn't perceived that way when she wore it. Tany's story reminded me of this cute and trendy pair of jeans I made and wore to a dance in ninth grade. The jeans were bikini jeans (now they would be called super low-rise jeans) with a snap front and hand embroidered design made from chambray . I purchased the fabric based on its color not realizing that it probably wasn't the b

McCall's 5330 is a basic skirt pattern that everyone should consider adding to their sewing pattern collection. It is a good pattern to pull out when you're looking for an instant gratification sewing project. With that said, I have to admit that I'm not quite done with the skirt. Turns out I didn't have any buttons in my stash that matched. I originally thought I'd use white buttons but uh, uh. The white was too bright against the silver gray color of the fabric. Not too much of a problem as I was able to stop into Joann's on my way home from church and found some silver gray that will work very well. Hopefully in the next day or two I can find 30 minutes to make the buttonholes, sew on the buttons, and hang the completed skirt in my closet. The next skirt on my list is from Simplicity 4196 . I made a border print skirt from this pattern last year and found it easy to sew and comfortable to wear. Because the bottom of the skirt pattern is a straight line it wo