Sharon Sews

Last night I attended a fabulous fashion show at the Mall of America - Flight of Fashion. From what I understand, this fashion show - a fundraiser for WINGS was introduced last year and was so successful it was brought back again this year.  I certainly hope it becomes an annual event. I heard about it just a few weeks ago and immediately called one of my fellow fashion-loving friends to invite her to attend.  Neither one of us were quite sure what to expect and I have to say I was very impressed.  The experience was inspiring and entertaining all at once. Since they were accepting donations at the door for Dress for Success I brought along a few suits that were too large and have been languishing in my closet. One of them was one I had only worn once - McCall's 5815 - that wonderful striped suit with the bow incorporated into the collar. I sure hope someone will love it as much as I did the one time I did wear it. As I entered the space I was greeted by dim lights and the

There may have been a few sewing boo-boos while this was under construction but the end result is - in my humble opinion - F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S! It's a simple lined pencil skirt, faced waistline, center back walking slit and an asymmetrical flounce sewn diagonally down the front.  Realistically it should have only taken three hours to sew, but hey. Guess I needed a reminder not to push it when I'm overly tired. The flounce is finished with a narrow hem.  Since I don't own one of those fancy-dancy narrow hem foots I did it my way. Press hem allowance - in this case it was 5/8" Stitch very close to the edge of the fold. Oh so carefully trim as close as possible to the stitches.  Turn in again and stitch in place using the previous stitches as your guideline. How easy was that? Now I know you're all wondering what pattern this is, right? Surprise! It's an 11 year old design. Yep, my sewing peeps. You read that right. Eleven years old. It'

Continuing on with my weekend of sleepy sewing mistakes What's wrong with this picture?   A gazillion bonus points if you figured this one out as it's not quite as obvious as the first or second one I posted. You'd be right if you guessed that the blue trim along the left edge is melted due to a hot iron placed directly on top of it without the safety of an pressing cloth. I had even pulled the pressing cloth out before I began pressing the seams.    Wasn't too happy with myself on this one as I melted the delicate trim right up to the seam allowance.  "But", you protest "it looks fine from the right side. What's the big deal?" It does indeed look fine from the right side, but the trim can easily be pulled away because in spots it's now only resting on top of the fabric. **************************************************

What's wrong with this picture? Double bonus points if you noticed that one dart is sewn right sides together while the other is sewn wrong sides together. Sigh.  It happens to the best of us no matter how long we've been doing this sewing thing. ************************************************

What's wrong with this picture? Bonus points if you noticed the facing side seam is matched to the skirt's back dart rather than the side seam. Fortunately I caught it before the seam was sewn.  Headache avoided. ******************************************************