The Bride of Frankensten

I made another Wiksten Tank. This one was by far my worst garment attempt. For some reason that I do not understand (because I am a garment dummy!) the voile sewed up much smaller than the rayon. I'm thinking it has something to do with the drape and stretch in the fabric?

Anyway, I thought I was going to hulk my way out of it the top (no pictures of that), so I had to cut off my first armhole facing and make a second attempt. With the second one I also ended up cutting notches in the seam allowance to provide a little more flexibility once the facing was completed.

Bye bye armhole!

Upon refinishing the armholes it fit a little better. I mean, I don't think I'm going to rip the shirt if I move anymore. Alas, I guess this pattern just isn't quite for me. Except I just got a serger, so I'm going to try to make it in a knit. Perhaps then all my woes will be forgotten!

Um, smile? 

Here I am pulling the top down to try to get a better fit! Um...I'm also wearing the top over a dress that I pulled down to turn into a skirt. But I'm sure that's not one of the problems...

I don't think the pattern is bad, per say, I just don't think it suits my body type. Luckily I was smart about cutting up my voile, so I have a bit left to play with. Otherwise I'd be pretty bummed!

Not so bad in silhouette? 

The shirt just makes me look far more pear shaped than I do in real life. And I'm not saying that's a bad body shape, I'm just saying it's not mine, and I'd rather look like myself!

Fingers crossed that things look better in knit! Any sewing disasters you'd like to share to make me feel better?

Night Music in the Desert

I got it sewn together! I really, really, really wanted to get this basted before I left, and at the time I'm writing this I still haven't done it, but I'm hoping that I will have by the time you're reading it. Confused?

Night Music...during the day?

I was so happy to finish piecing this. Lots of the blocks are slightly different sizes, owing to my imprecise construction when I started making the quilt. Despite my obsession with getting perfect points I kind of like it the effect of slightly misaligned blocks here, it adds to the vibrant feeling of the quilt top.

Blowing in the wind. 

I was inspired by the Quilts of Gee's Bend, and Aztec and Soutwest tribal designs. I designed the pattern myself, and then planned the main color palate (teal and black with the lighter blue), and got two other colors (yellow and red), which I used as accents. While I was working on the layout my goal was to create subtle color paths with the accent colors, although it was tricky since I hadn't planned the layout prior to making the blocks! I really just focused on making each block, and once they were done I made due with what I had created.

I liked how the shadows from the fire escape played with the quilt here. 

So far it's been a fun project. Now I've just got to quilt it up. Eek? Any suggestions? I'm limited to walking foot designs (which doesn't mean straight, I just can't freemotion - both due to lack of skill and limited sewing machine capabilities).

Tula on the Left, Anna Maria on the right. 

The back is from Anna Marie Horner's hand drawn garden collection, with a great Tula Pink print to make up the rest of the width. It's going to be pretty simple, and the colors will complement the front nicely.

One last shot. Looking long and lean!

Thanks for stopping by!