Chain 2 or Magic Circle? That Is The Question. January 28, 2012

The first amigurumi pattern I ever followed, started each piece with chain two and then so many sc in the second chain for the hook. It was not until several patterns later that I was told to start with the magic circle or ring. I read the instructions from the pattern for the magic circle and was totally lost, and decided at that point just to use the chain 2 method I had always used. It was not until the construction of Blue and the monkey and the comment from a reader that I decided to look into the magic circle a little closer. According to the comment, if I would start with the magic circle instead of the chain 2 method, I would not get the big hole when the first row called for more than six sc. So, I decided to figure out the magic circle and see what I got.

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Since the written instructions I had for making a magic circle seemed to be written in a foreign language, I turned to YouTube and watched a couple of videos on how to crochet a magic circle. I learned very quickly that all videos are not created equally. The first video I watched left me more confused than my written instructions had. I understood what the next video I watched was telling me to do but when it came time to try it, I just could not get it to work. About to give up, I watched a couple of more videos and finally found one that made sense to me and that I could easily reproduce. Now, I am not going to tell you which one I finally had success with because it may not be the best one for you. What I will recommend is that you watch several different videos and determine what works best for you.

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Now that I knew how to make the magic circle, it was time to compare it side by side with the chain two method. So, here are my samples with 8 sc as the first row. I know which one I like the looks of best but what do you think? Let’s just say, I will hate to give up the chain 2 method. It has served me well and is a quick and easy start.

Look at my Coco-Dots! January 21, 2012

“Look at my coco-dots!” said the little 3 year old neighbor girl as she twirled around in her polka-dotted dress. How cute was she in it I thought to myself.

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Since I am always on the lookout for something new and fun to sew, it inspired me to sew something in cute polka-dots fabric for her, but polka-dots are not my favorite. As far as I can  remember, I  do not have any polka-dotted fabric to make anything for her with. I was trying to remember back through the tremendous number of pieces of fabric in the stash, if anything had polka-dots on it. Then I remembered this piece of fleece that I had with fuzzy bumps that I bought online from Fabric Mart’s clearance section.

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Because it was on clearance for such a good price, I had bought plenty and because I had so much fun making the last jacket, and because the neighbor girl is a size 3, my next sewing project was soon decided. The fuzzy bumps are not really polka-dots, and the gray color is really not all that cute for a young girl, but I could see the jacket with my creative eye and I knew it would all work out.

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To make the jacket I used McCall’s Pattern #3387 again. I really like this pattern, and I have made a few things using it now. The gray fleece was not as much fun to sew with as the polar fleece of the last jacket. It was not nearly as forgiving and it had stretch to deal with, but for the most part it sewed up fine. I thought that the fuzzy bumps would give my serger a fit, but they did not thankfully. The serger stitched through the bumps like a pro. I also thought the fuzzy bumps were going to be a problem along the zipper edge while sewing, but they were more out of the way and the zipper zips right up without problems. I made the pockets correctly on the first try this time which made me happy.

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I ended up using interfacing on the facings and the collar to help deal with the stretch, and I finished the hem the way I wanted to do it, instead of how the pattern instructed to. I like this hem better on this jacket than the hem on the last jacket. Unlike the last jacket, I definitely had to sew a seam next to the zipper and across the collar to hold the facings and collar in place. This was not necessary on the polar fleece jacket even though I added it to it anyway.

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Looking at the jacket on the hanger, I think it turned out really cute and I had a lot of fun sewing it together. I have not given the jacket to the little neighbor girl yet, but I hope she likes it and will enjoy wearing her new coco-dot jacket.

No it isn’t a Burda Pattern, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

How Much Fun Can One Yard of Fleece Be? January 16, 2012

After enjoying the memories of the jacket I made for my nephew so many years ago, I decided it was time to make another one. As I dug through my patterns looking for the pattern I used make the nephew’s jacket, I ran across McCall’s 3387. I bought this pattern ages ago and made two sweatshirt fleece jackets from it for my nieces also many years ago. The sight of this pattern brought back many even more great sewing memories, furthering my excitement to make another jacket.

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I started in the stash and quickly found this piece of polar fleece I had purchased on sale at Joann’s. I bought this piece to make baby blankets with, but because the design was not very babyish, I only bought one yard. So, that quickly determined that I would be making a size 3 jacket. I traced the pattern and cut it out quickly, excited to get the sewing underway. I did take the time to wash and dry the fabric before I started cutting like I always do. I’ve read that polar fleece does not shrink but I just was not willing to take the chance. I decided not use use interfacing on it either because I felt that the polar fleece could stand on its own.

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The sewing process got off to a rough start when I made the pockets backwards and I had to recut out new pockets. Luckily, I did not mess up the fronts of the jacket or I would not have had enough fabric. Because of this little bump, I decided to read the pattern guide fully and follow it a little closer.  With that, the sewing from then on went like a dream. Polar fleece is so fun to sew with! It behaves so well while being sewn together, holds a fold and does not stretch or stray like so many other fabrics. My serger did not even complain about sewing on it. I totally enjoyed sewing this jacket together. I thought that the zipper was going to be a challenge, but it went in easily with no hassles. The only change I would make to the construction of this pattern is at the hem. I would have finished the hem at the zipper differently than how the pattern guide directed.

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The finished jacket turned out great. I had a wonderful sewing experience from start to finish and as always, I learned one or two things during the construction, especially when it came to the pockets. I am excited now to make more jackets and I now see my polar fleece stash in a whole new light. Instead of just blankets, I see a whole new world of possibilities in my current stash. I want to make the other two styles of jackets in this pattern next. I am also flooded with ideas of variations of this pattern. Plus, over the years, I have purchased many jacket patterns in various styles and sizes that I have not tried yet. I can’t wait to get started.

The Hip Bone is Connected to the Leg Bone January 8, 2012

Although Halloween 2011 is now just a collection of wonderful memories and good times for me, the skeleton I was making before Halloween is finally done. Even though I did not make him as a Halloween decoration, I did start him before October 1st. But, with some endurance and a few projects made in-between, I have finally completed him.

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I bought this pattern off of the internet. I fell in love with the pattern the minute I saw it and it moved to the top of my to do list quickly. I knew it was not going to be a quick or easy project for me. I knew it was going to be one of those projects that I had to concentrate on while I was crocheting it, not watching TV or riding in the car. Although as I started to crochet the parts, I quickly fell into the rhythm of this pattern. Once I had crocheted one foot or one hand or a rib, the next one was much easier and much quicker to make. If I make a second skeleton, it will take me much less time, effort and worry. Actually, after completing the hands and feet, it was fun to see them come together and be so cute that I had no problem crocheting the last foot while watching TV.  My only complaint about the crocheting would be the small count of the rounds. Ten sc was a common count of the rounds and that is a tight area to work in especially when my hands were tired. At least he was made with a size G hook so I could keep a good grip on it. I am not a fan of crocheting with tiny hooks.

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My biggest complaint about the construction of this skeleton is, and of course you have already guessed it because it is a reoccurring theme with me, the sewing together of the parts or in this case the bones. This is really what took the most time and it is totally my fault because I can not do this quickly or for a long time without a break. So, don’t let my problems discourage you from giving a pattern like this a try. I will say though that it was fun to see the skeleton come together as I stitched it. This does bring me to the only complaint I have about the pattern and that is that the author of the pattern needs to give more pictures of the construction stage of the skeleton. Other than that, the pattern was great and well written.

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Although when I first saw this pattern I was afraid it would be too complicated for me, it turned out to be a lot of fun to crochet and, well, sew together. I am very pleased with the end results and would not hesitate to make a second one. So, the moral of this skeleton construction story is to not let a pattern that looks overly complicated at first glance discourage you from giving it a try.

Stealing From Goodwill January 2, 2012

I didn’t mean to do it, but the fabric kept calling to me. This piece of grey fabric with black rose buds was found in the mystery boxes I was sorting through earlier and it had made it’s way to the Goodwill box. This fabric was originally purchased and put in the stash to be a shirt for me long ago. When I pulled it from the box it had spent so many years in, I could no longer see me wearing a shirt made from it. Although it is the right color for me, the little flowers just did not appeal to me any longer, so into the Goodwill box it went.

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While the fabric was in the Goodwill box, it kept catching my attention until my creative mind just took off with it. Just because I did not want to wear tiny flowers did not mean that some little girl would not just love to wear them. I began to see a little girl’s dress with an embroidered design on the front made from it in my mind’s eye, so I pulled it out of the box and got to work on it..

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I decided to make a size 5 (small) dress. Since the fabric was originally purchased for me a shirt there was plenty for any size I wanted to make. I went to my pattern box and picked out a basic dress pattern, a bodice with a gathered skirt. Because the fabric was a woven cotton instead of a knit, I knew I had to make some way for the little girl to get it on because it wouldn’t stretch. Since I was not in the mood to play with a zipper, I decided to do a slit in the back with a button. And I wanted to keep the front left open for an embroidery design. Because of the grey fabric, I knew the embroidery design would need to be bright and full. But when I saw the black Mickey and Minnie Mouse red work outline design, I knew that was the design I wanted to use. This design absolutely would not work on the grey fabric so I decided to make the front and back of the bodice in white.

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With the basic design in mind, I cut out the dress and got started. I embroidered the design first with the black bobbin thread which you know worked great. I decided to double the bodice instead of making a facing. The white fabric I picked for the bodice is thin so I figured it would work as a lining as well. For the slit in the back, I drew a line in the center back about 2 & 1/2 inches long. I then sewed down each side of the line, tapering at the end. It worked great. I got the results I wanted and only had to stitch it once. I about fell off my chair at this point, since I figured I would be unpicking and restitching the slit at least 3 times to get it right. I also added some corded elastic to one side for a button hole. As always, sewing is a learning experience and I made the loop too big. So, when it came time to pick a button, I had to pick a larger button and place it to the side to accommodate my large loop.  Next time I will make the loop smaller and I will pick the button first so I know what size to make the loop beforehand.

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I decided to use the bodice fabric to line the skirt too. Since I have never really lined a garment, I was not sure which technique would be best. Should I attach it to the gray fabric? Or should I have it separate like a slip under the skirt? Because of the colors and design, this dress was turning out very tomboyish so I decided to attach the lining to the skirt. This seemed to work out fine. I hemmed the skirt with the lining before I gathered the skirt and attached it to the bodice.

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I used the floss method to gather the skirt. I zigzagged embroidery floss to the skirt and then pulled it to make the gathers. It worked great and was much easier than pulling threads and stitches. I would have liked more gathers in the skirt but I gathered it so that it fit the bodice. I will cut the skirt bigger for more gathers if I make this pattern again.

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Even though the dress did not turn out quite as I had envisioned it, it is very cute none the less. I like the colors and of course the embroidery design. I still have plenty of the grey fabric left, but I can’t decide if it should go back into the Goodwill box or back into the stash now. I am leaning towards the Goodwill box, since I have so much other fabric to work with. I’m sure my creative mind can pick a different piece to play with next.

Great, Kid. Don’t Get Cocky. December 26, 2011

Remember the part in Star Wars when Luke blows up the tie fighter and yells, “Got ‘im. I got ‘im.” and Han Solo turns and says “Great, kid. Don’t get cocky.” I always hated that line from the movie. Why wasn’t Han Solo happy for Luke that he had blown up the tie fighter? I never understood Han Solo’s words until I sat at my sewing machine, stitching on the husband’s new bathrobe. After the successful sewing from the mystery boxes, a shirt that fits me great, the completion of two shirts that the husband likes to wear, two adorable kid’s sweatshirts from grey fleece, and then the  fit of the plastic bathrobe, I was feeling pretty cocky about my sewing ability. But, as I sewed together this bathrobe, I was knocked down a few pegs and I am now a lot more humble. Mama always said, “Nothing will teach you patience like sewing.”

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Let’s start at the beginning with the fabric. I went to Joann’s to get some buttons, but, of course, had to stop and see what was on sale that week. The husband is always good about going to Joann’s with me and as I looked at the fleece that was 50% off that week, he found a super soft, super fluffy, super stretchy fleece that he wanted his new bathrobe to be made from. Even though I could name you 3 pieces of fabric in the stash that I have purchased over the years to make him bathrobes with, and I am sure there is more than that I have forgotten about, we purchased enough of this fleece plus what remained on the bolt for the husband a new bathrobe. Crazy. Because it was 50% off, it wasn’t a bad price but I am sure that is was more than I paid for the pieces in the stash and that was why the pattern needed to be correct. I was going to cut right into this fabric instead of doing a muslin first and there couldn’t be any mistakes.

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With the new bathrobe pattern complete, I started the cutting process. I was careful not to stretch the fabric as I cut. I have already learned that lesson when working super stretchy fabric. Next, I started to sew. I figured my sewing machine would not be too happy about stitching this fabric and that I might have to use my walking foot, but it did fine. On the other hand, my serger HATED this fabric. I spent a fair amount of good sewing time trying to get this fabric to serge properly. I finally got the tensions and the differential feed set to where the serging was acceptable and so I continued on.

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After stitching and serging the shoulder seams, I attached the facing to the front of the bathrobe before the sleeves and side seams. Because of the serging problems, I was trying to minimize the use of the serger on this bathrobe, so decided to use the overcast stitch on my sewing machine to finish the edges of the facings. I really did not need to finish the edges of the facings because they are tucked under in the construction but I quickly noticed that the edges of this fabric pulled apart easily while working with it so I decided it was best to have all the edges finished. Overcasting took forever and it took two spools of bobbin thread to complete, but it did work and I got the facings sewn on. I then finished up the side seam and attached the sleeves. Wow, except for some detail work the bathrobe was done. Except I had missed one important part, fitting. And that is the reason why you sew the sleeves and side seams before the facings.

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I had the husband try on the bathrobe and let’s just say I had gotten a little too cocky about the plastic pattern fitting correctly because it did not. The back neck line was way too low. I knew what I had to do, unpick the entire back facing and take in the shoulder which would lift the back up. If I had just tried it on him before sewing on the facings, this would not have been a big deal. I hate to unpick, but I knew it was the only correct way to fix this, so I got started. As I sat down to get started, I thought of Han Solo’s words that I previously thought were so cruel to Luke and realized that they were not cruel at all, and that he just wanted Luke to keep his head in the game and stay focused. That was something I needed to remember too. Stay focused.

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Unpicking this fabric is not impossible but darn near. I worked for several hours on it but I only had a couple of inches unpicked. I could not find my stitches in this super fluffy mess. So, since the husband wanted to wear this bathrobe in this life time, a new plan was formed and I decided to put a dart in the back of the neck to bring it up. I only had to unpick a little more to complete that part. It was not the best option, but it was a workable one and now that it is done, it looks fine.

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I then started the hems which required some unpicking of the facings. More grumbling was heard from me at this point. Plus, it took much longer to do the hems with the overcast stitch instead of serging them. Then came the belt and belt loops and finally the pockets which I ended up making three times to get the right size. Oh, brother!

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Finally with the bathrobe completed I look back and see that I learned many things from the construction of this bathrobe. I just hope I with not have to relearn them as I continue my sewing journey, and that I keep my mind focused instead of getting cocky. Thanks for the advice Han Solo!

Merry Christmas Everyone! December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas Everyone!

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Christmas time around the world and for the different religious beliefs means lots of different things to lots of different people. But in my experience, everyone does similar things around the holiday’s no matter where you live or what you believe.

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It usually involves traveling somewhere to spend time with friends, family and loved ones. Church, School and Work Holiday celebrations and parties. Enjoying all of the yummy foods and treats that seem to be everywhere you look this time of year. Looking at all the pretty lights and decorations. Trying to figure out that perfect gift for that perfect someone.

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I’m normally very busy at work during the holiday season so I don’t have a lot of time for Christmas sewing or crafts but I do what I can, when I can.

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For past Christmas seasons I have made new Holiday Table Runners, Tablecloths, Place mats and Napkins for the big family Christmas dinner at my house. One year I made a bunch of Toll Painted Snowmen as party gifts for one of our Christmas Parties. And other years I have made a new Christmas Shirt or Sweater to wear around the Holidays. One year I even made a festive Holiday Apron, so that I could wear it while I was making the several hundred Frosted Sugar Cookies I make every year to give away.

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This year I enjoyed making a few fun creations from the Christmas Things to Stitch and Sew book and it was also fun to follow along on Nancy Zieman’s 12 days of Christmas Blog Posts.

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What fun Christmas sewing and crafts did you get done this year? Share your thoughts in the comments! I’d love to hear about it!

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Wishing you all a Happy and Joyous Holiday Season and Peace on Earth and Goodwill toward Men and Women!

Black Bobbin Thread December 16, 2011

It’s always the little things, isn’t it? The simple act of changing the color of bobbin thread used on an embroidery project made all the difference in the world and gave a perfect end result. I am so excited about this little change that made such a huge difference in my last project.

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I wanted to put a simple black outlined design on my latest sewing project. I have used my machine to embroider red work a couple of times in the past. It has usually been a fight to get the tension just right so that the white bobbin thread is not pulled up into the design. I have even gone as far as to dab the white thread with a black sharpie pen to hide the white thread in the design before. For this design, I finally wised up and used black thread in the bobbin instead of white. This time when the bobbin thread pulled up into the design you could not see it. It blended in perfectly. The design came out rich and full and all in sharp black.

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Excited about these results, I had to try it again so I grabbed a bib towel from the closet and stitched another outline design and the results were once again rich and full.

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Now, why I did not think of using black bobbin thread years ago, I will never know. I have known since day one of embroidering that they make colored bobbin thread and that if your stitching a monogram on towels you can even use your top embroidery thread in the bobbin so the design looks stitched on both sides. But, it just never dawned on me until now to give it a try. I am so excited about the results that I plan to use a lot more black bobbin thread in the future. I am planning on using black bobbin thread on more than just outlined designs too. I plan to use it on all my dark designs and to even switch out bobbins on lighter colored projects when it is time to stitch the outline of the design.

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Stay tuned for the results.

Thanks for the Memories December 10, 2011

My niece recently posted some pictures on her blog of her kids in clothes I made for them many years ago. It is always great thrill for me to see new pictures of the kids. But to see them in the clothes I made is extra special, and it sent me on a trip down memory lane.

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The first picture was of her two youngest boys. She has 4 now, by the way. The older of the two boys in the picture is wearing a jacket I made for her oldest boy’s 3rd birthday, 7 years ago. Both boys looked so cute wearing the jacket. With a little reminiscing, I remembered the construction of this jacket. It was the first time I had made welt pockets. I did not want just patch pockets on this jacket and I remember reading about welt pockets in one of my sewing reference books.

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I remember sitting at the sewing machine hurrying to complete the pockets because they were coming to see us, and we were going to a local craft show at the high school. I remember hoping that the little guy would like the airplanes on the fabric and that he would be able to zip up the jacket by himself. I remember being concerned about the zipper because it was a smaller tooth zipper than I wanted to use but the color was right.

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The second picture that my niece posted was of her youngest boy in a shirt I made for the oldest boy back when he was just one year old. All 4 of her boys have wore this shirt now. I am amazed it lasted this long. I made this shirt just after I got my very first embroidery machine. I used the scraps from a shirt I had just made for my husband.

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In fact, there ended up being enough scraps for two shirts in size 1. One shirt was embroidered with Mickey Mouse and the other shirt with Donald Duck. Donald Duck is my niece’s favorite Disney character so you can see which one the little guy is wearing in the picture. On these shirts, I put ribbing around the sleeves. Each time I see I picture of one of the boys in these shirts, I regret adding the ribbing. To me, the ribbing gives the shirt a feminine look and I have not added ribbing to the sleeve of a boy’s shirt since.

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I would like to thank my niece for posting the pictures and for taking care of the clothes, I made so that each boy could enjoy them and I could see them wearing them.  Now that she has 4 boys and the oldest is a tween and is becoming very particular about what he wears, I have not done any sewing for them recently. But, with as much as I love sewing for kids, it might be time to get back to the sewing machine and get some new clothes made.

And… ACTION! December 2, 2011

I see where patterns are on sale again at Joanns and now that I have worn both of the shirts I made from my new Connie Crawford Butterick patterns, I thought I would report on the wearable muslins I ended up making from the patterns and how the garments/muslins are performing.

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B5503

The golden shirt I made from pattern B5503 is very loose and very comfortable and the fabric is so soft. It is a pleasure to wear but I do feel like I have a pup tent on sometimes. Even with cutting so much off the the length and width, it is still huge. This keeps me from wearing it to work or out to dinner but it has became one of my favorite hang around the house shirts. For some reason I’ve gotten tons of comments from people when wearing it about how much they love it so it must look ok on. As I said before, if and when I make this pattern again, I will use my basic sloper as the start and just use the design ideas from the pattern to spice up the shirt a little.

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B5583

The princess seams of pattern B5583 are wearing well. The first time I wore the shirt I was very self conscious of the princess seams. Would the princess seams show off my rolls that I so carefully try to hide? But, the more compliments I got on the shirt the better I felt about the way it looked. There are a couple of things that I will definitely change on the next shirt from this pattern. First, the front facings will be cut smaller. With such large front facings, I feel like the shirt has a steel breast plate in the front. The large facings make the front heavy and hot when wearing. Sitting becomes an issue too as thebreast plate bulges as you take a seat. Cutting down the facings next time will make this shirt a more comfortable fit. Next, for me the arms eye needs to be deeper. I feel a slight constriction when I reach in this shirt. This is an easy fix for the next shirt and it will make it easier to fit the sleeve in as well.  The final change is to take some of the fullness out of the back princess seams at the hem. I will need to give this some study before I make the cut on the next shirt. I may need that fullness to sit down in it.

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Embroidery

As far as embroidery designs go, check out the monorail design on the husband’s new shirt. Ooo, doesn’t he look sharp? It seems to be wearing very well and everyone including him seems to love it.