SWAP 2017 I made something!!!

Hello!

It's been a bit since I've posted. I've been pretty crazy, mostly my own fault because silly me decided that I'd make covers for other people and that pretty much took over my life. I did four covers, and maybe that's not a lot for someone who knows what they're doing, it really took it out of me. Ah well. It's over. At least until I do something for someone else. If I do that. Which I probably will. Sigh.

Anyway, I'm so excited! The rules of SWAP are 11 garments and you can have 2 early birds, and I decided to start with my most difficult thing to see if I could actually get it done, and you know what? I DID!!!! So that's three coats I made this fall. CRAZY. And my husband informed me yesterday that my 9 year old also needs a coat. I told him to take him to Target and get one. Although now that I think about it... :D

What was I saying? Oh, yes, I finished my coat! I've had it cut out for four years or something for another SWAP I did, and it's supposed to be taken after the coat the Victoria vampire wore in the second Twilight movie. That was awhile ago. Great coat, though. So here's my version. I didn't line it because it's baby cord and I wanted it to be a little bit casual, but still swirly long kind of drama without the seriousness of wool.

It turned out so nice my husband wants me to make him one. I don't know about that. It was a lot of work. That collar turned out so nicely, though. Probably all that hand basting different interfacing that did it. Anyway, it's done except I might put patch pockets on instead of the inseam ones because they kind of gap open.

this is my sewing center while my kitchen is in process.

Yes, this is when I'm sitting on the floor cutting out pockets. My pattern is cut out and hanging on skirt hangers so I don't lose any pieces. Brilliant, right? It only took me how long?

This is my fabulous painting that I love so much. Not very Christmassy, but my whole room feels like this. 

This is my pattern for parisian overalls. The pattern came from France. Oo La la! 

Here is my coat, and I'm getting Christmas tree.

This is my favorite photo. I look so interesting. So je ne sais quoi.

Action sequence. The coat is good.

My SWAP plan!!!!

The basic idea is that you make 11-12 items and they form a cohesive wardrobe for the whole year. This is the picture of Fall/Winter collection, but it works great for the summer as well. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit torn about the brown leggings/tee combo. Kind of boring, but definitely one of my key neutrals (brown) that I will get plenty of wear out of. Man! I love this kind of thing so much. I'm still looking for the perfect overall pattern, or the not so perfect but accessible and not in French.

Frankenpatterning a coat.

I made my daughter a coat. I'm not sure why, but I hate making coats. Probably something to do with zippers. To be honest, I actually enjoyed almost the entire process of this making. I used a wool for the outside, a quilted cotton for the lining, and bound it with a coral stretch wool I harvested from a pair of bizarre pants I found for two bucks a few years ago. I knew they'd come in handy some day. I love wool. I love sewing with wool although it's hard to keep up with kids who need wash and wear garments.

Charlotte fell in love with Boden's Dreamcatcher's cape coat. Before I had the chance to decide whether or not it would be worth spending $125 on it, it was sold out. So, I was looking on Amazon for a similar shape and found a very lightweight cotton cape with ears and a doll on the pocket. It wasn't heavy enough for winter, though, so we (that's actually me) designed this based on a few coat patterns and voila! fait accompli! (we are studying French.) I looked and looked for a pattern in this shape. It was the most frustrating part of this project. I'm kind of pleased with how well it turned out, although I forgot the hook.

 

Something weird is going on with the pockets. They were even at some point. Maybe putting on the buttons messed it up. Maybe I'll unpick that one. 

cute and cozy. She loves it and that's what counts.

Happy Movember!!!

11 year old carved this cute kitty all by herself!

the spring or broken main. We haven't decided yet. 

She's sooooo pretty!!!!!

I caught the peeping tom on film! Wait, no, that's me.

Trick-o-treating in the neighborhood! People get into it.

HAPPY MOVEMBER!!!!

JUST.... mustastic!

A few more sunrises

Unicorn t-shirt. Makes me happy. 

I've been working on my new House of Slide covers!

Well, the first one was a total success, I think, and by first I mean second. Ahem. Let me explain. For some reason I don't quite understand, I started with the second book. Maybe because it had the cutest umbrella. So... I think Hybrid is a VERY cute cover. I love it. I think it's a bit spooky and evocative of the change she makes from caterpillar to butterfly. It took 641 photos and 40 yards of tulle to make this cover, plus a blue wig, a unicorn t-shirt and the super cute blossom umbrella. I think it's pretty spot on, though.

The second was pretty much disastrous. The photoshoot, the lighting was PERFECT and then bam! Eight photos in and my battery pack was dead. Apparently I need a backup or something because it always seems to die when I'm counting on it. And then my photoshop kept crashing and wouldn't save anything and... Headache. I do not love photoshop. Although it is sometimes less stressful than it used to be, it's still a mysterious beast I don't understand. In spite of that, I came up with something almost okay using a variety of sources that don't blend perfectly because... well, lots of reasons. AT any rate, this is the direction I'm going because pretty dresses sell and I am a heartless marketer. I'll probably redo the photo shoot and come up with something better and more cohesive. Or not. Depends on how crazy things get.

I forgot to post my last meme! The 9 year old did this one. It's marvelous!