Sharon Sews

Not sure how this 1988 gem of a pattern came into my possession as I'm pretty sure I would have remembered if I had sewed THIS one twenty plus years ago. No matter, McCall's 3994 is in my hot little hands now. Remove the big shoulders and it's similar to a few current offerings - Simplicity 2364 and Vogue 2980 . The only reason I pulled it out and used it was because the pattern I had planned on sewing - Simplicity 2364 - required more than one yard of fabric. And I only had one yard of fabric. Here's a close up of the fabric as the stripes do some pretty weird things when photographed. Most of the photos I took with me wearing the top look like the stripes were on a '60s psychedelic trip - all swirls and oddly shaped circles. While I carefully cut each piece out single layer so I could match the stripes, it just didn't happen. This delightful striped ottoman knit - from Gorgeous Fabrics - is slightly ribbed. The white stripe bumps up and no matter how careful

Fabulous, knit and easy. My kind of dress. Of course I have no appropriate place to where this dress. But I don't care. Because it's fabulous. And it was oh so easy to sew. Just in case you don't recognize it, it's Vogue 1151 , a Cynthia Steffe design. You might not recognize it because I added five inches to the length so it wouldn't be a mini. In my opinion, one of the best parts of this dress is the back with the exposed zipper. I didn't have a lot of choices for metal zippers at my local Joann store so it's simply a black metal zipper. Here's a close up of the zipper: Total time to construct this dress was just under six hours. And that included my pattern alterations. I did a forward shoulder adjustment, a sway back adjustment and an FBA. The fabric is a Ponteroma Knit in a soft gray purchased at Hancock Fabrics back when I still shopped there. You know, before that horrible little yellow tag system was implemented. ( I really should give them

Two hours of time + McCall's 6093 + three yards of fabric from IKEA = updated kitchen. We moved into this home six years ago knowing it had not been maintained or updated since it had been built (in the late 80s). Because my hubby is a whiz at any type of home improvement project (yay!) we overlooked the neglect and outdated decor because of the unique floor plan and great location. After six years of almost constant home improvement projects we've finally got around to the kitchen. We covered the horrendous white and gray linoleum floor with gorgeous dark ceramic tiles and added hardware to the cabinets. The wood door that was rotting at the base was replaced with an energy efficient one. We've been experimenting with stains for the cabinets. After all why spend money replacing cabinets when these are in excellent shape, just not the color we want. And we're saving our pennies so eventually granite can replace the coming apart at the seams counter tops. I used McC