Sharon Sews

I'm so behind on all of my pattern review and blog reading...so this is probably old news to most - if not all - of you. I'm talking about the Best Patterns of 2007 article on PatternReview. I've sewn four out of the top ten patterns - a knit dress from Simplicity 3775, two knit tops Simplicity 4020, a knit dress from Vogue 8386, and five ( one, two, three , four , five ) pencil skirts from McCall's 5330 - and have the patterns and fabric to sew three others listed in the article. As I was reading the article I was silently checking off the patterns I had sewn or had plans to sew. Imagine my delight to see one of my versions of the McCall's 5330 pencil skirt included in the article! It really was my favorite skirt pattern for 2007, but will it remain in the top position for 2008? That remains to be seen as I kinda have my eye on this McCall's high waisted pencil skirt pattern...

"The Daily News online Published: January 28, 2008 12:49 am Quilter ‘pays it forward’ with covers for homeless Katie Farrell GEORGETOWN — Donna Lay believes in returning a helping hand. When disaster struck in her own life last year, she received an outpouring of support. Lay was among those who lost their homes when an apartment complex in Georgetown caught fire last January. Lay and her son were temporarily displaced. Watching “The Oprah Winfrey Show” about a month ago, Lay said she was struck with an inspiration for how to go about doing something to help others. A guest on the show described how she had started a pajama drive for children living in group foster homes. As she watched, Lay, 47, said she was moved to start her own campaign — Quick Quilts for Kids. Her goal is to provide a blanket to every homeless child in the state." Click here to read the entire sto

Thanks for the comments and feedback. It's nice to hear from others who know what's involved in sewing something like this. I realized that I had forgotten to add the trim to the neck edge of the stomacher so I took care of that tonight. I knew I didn't want to try and machine stitch those thick multiple layers of fabric, so, remembering the multiple times I'd seen glue used on Project Runway, I opted to glue it. I figured if it works for them it'll work for me. The only problem was the only glue I had on hand was this bottle of fringe adhesive purchased years ago when I was sewing a lot of home dec. It works fantastic and dries clear, but I don't think it will hold if the dress is dry cleaned so I'll need to let them know when I turn the costume in. Now, onto Linda68701's questions. What does "railroad" mean? Railroad or railroading simply means to cut the fabric so that the lengthwise grain runs horizontally. (It can be called lengthwise c

This is the costume I promised to sew for a local high school's play. I spent a few hours yesterday working on the underskirt (the striped skirt) and finished the rest of the costume today. All in all, it took me about ten hours to complete. I gotta tell ya, it isn't perfect, but I kept in mind what the costume coordinator told me when I mentioned the thread they sent didn't match ... something about it doesn't matter when it will be seen ten feet away under bright lights. The dress is for a student that I've never met. The only connection I have with that high school is a co-worker's children go there. In fact, that's the only reason I was sewing this costume to begin with. Her son is active in theater and a year ago she had mentioned they are always looking for help sewing costumes. So what did I do? I said "oh, that would be fun, I might be interested in helping" when the correct response should have been "oh, I hope you find some people t