Sharon Sews

Do you ever purchase fabric not knowing exactly how it will be used?  I used to do that, jokingly explaining that I had more time to buy fabric than I did to sew. But our move from Minnesota to Texas forced me us to downsize, and that included my fabric stash. A lot of gorgeous fabrics ended up at the thrift store simply because I no longer had room to store them. However, this floral black silk was one I just could not give up and it made the move across country. I purchased it as two separate silk remnants from SR Harris about three years ago not sure what I wanted to make. But when Meg, the online editor for BurdaStyle, sewed a beautiful fringed kimono jacket I knew this fabric had found its destiny. The pattern is from the April 2019 BurdaStyle magazine, jacket number 107.  It can also be purchased online as a downloadable PDF . This is one of those projects that you sew when you want to create something really fast! There are only five pattern pieces - a front, ...

"Oh, please, please, please pick me" begged the silk print blouse. "Aw, shoot, passed over again. I don't get it, I'm much more attractive than that boring old black top she's going to wear." I'm pretty sure if this blouse could speak that's what I would hear when I stand in my closet debating over what to wear with my jeans. Don't get me wrong. I think it's a beautiful blouse! The colors are vibrant, the silk fabric feels divine, and there are many understated details. Such as the narrow neck bias binding that extends into front ties. The soft pleats in the back sewn into the self-lined yoke. The front pleats that provide fullness for the bust. And my favorite detail (one that you likely wouldn't notice) is the center front placket with hidden buttons. It might be easier to see in this picture, which shows my well used button cutter and board. This functional front closure is not needed. After all, the blouse ha...

I did it! I finished my first challenge over at The Sew Weekly. I even managed to finish it on time. The challenge this week was to sew something inspired by an accessory - shoes, hat, shoes, brooch, shoes, jewelry, belt, shoes.  Yea, I had shoes on the brain. I figured I'd sew something inspired by a great pair of shoes, after all I have dozens to choose from. But when my eye landed on this clutch I knew this was my inspiration piece and that I would sew something that mimicked those gray fabric roses. That's when I remembered a pair of silk/rayon pants I had purchased five years ago. The. Perfect. Color. Knowing I had very little fabric to work with, I planned to sew a sleeveless tank and embellish it with fabric roses. As I searched my patterns for a simple tank and came across Simplicity 2599 .  Not only was it a B, C, D cup pattern (woot! no alterations) it included instructions for fabric roses.  Perfect. I managed to squeeze the sleeveless versio...

So I began sewing the Vogue 1247 top. You know the one. It's that oh-so-popular-with-the-sewing-bloggers Rachel Comey top. The one I didn't give a second thought to until I began seeing the many positive reviews.  Then of course I just had to have one for myself.  You, of course, never allow yourself to be influenced like that, right?  Anyway,  where was I? Oh yea. I began sewing the top the other day.  Actually made pretty good progress on it in just a few hours - see? The fabric is a beautiful fiber-unknown piece that arrived in one of those Fabric Mart Fabrics mystery bundles. When it arrived I had guessed it was a polyester charmeuse, so I washed and dried it and placed it in the fabric closet. However, as I was sewing I couldn't help but wonder if what I thought was a polyester was actually silk. Only one way to find out for sure.  A fabric burn test! I grabbed swatch of fabric, a lighter and asked hubby to join me in the garage ...

I've been busy, busy, busy in the sewing studio but don't have much I can share with you just yet. One thing I can share is this super-duper easy to sew scarf. Or if you prefer, a neck ring. It's sewn from one of the burnout silks I purchased recently at SR Harris. Aren't the colors great? Sheer brown with periwinkle and navy blues. I know I had seen instructions in a Burda magazine fairly recently. Well, at least in the past year. But do you think I could locate the issue when I actually wanted to reference the instructions? Of course not. So I just winged it. You can too. Here's how to replicate my scarf: Cut a rectangle that measures 44" long x 26" wide. Unless you have a length of fabric 44" long you'll have to cut the rectangle on the cross grain. (I would have liked a longer scarf so I could double it around my neck but I had only purchased 1 yard of 44" wide fabric. That's how the 44" length was determined.) Fold the sca...

After sewing the fun BWOF skirt (blogged about here ) I realized there was a striped shirting fabric hiding in my closet with the exact blue of the skirt that would look great in a button front shirt. The end result is a bit more casual than what I usually wear, but it's good to try new things right? The shirt is sewn from Simplicity 3684 . It's not only one of the Threads Magazine Collection designs, but it's one of Simplicity's B,C,D cup size patterns. Which means no fiddling around with an FBA. Which means more time for sewing. The pattern includes a bib front version as well as a button front version. There is a separate front band as well as a separate collar stand for the collar. Both take a bit more time to sew but, in my opinion, are well worth the extra time. The shirt can be sewn tunic length with side hem slits or shorter with a curved shirt hem. The darts in both the front and back combined with the curve side seam of the pattern result in a nicely shaped...