Merrily Mending Away: Shirt Buttons

I made a shirt, Vogue 2789, many moons ago that has seen the mending pile more times that I care to remember. It is one of my favourite makes, and I put a lot of work into it. The original (seen below) has pin-tucks sewn around the the shirt waist area.

Like I said, it was many moons ago when I was a wee skinny thing. At first, I thought I could remove all those pin-tucks but that was not enough ease. I had no choice but to add an extension to both side seams if I dreamed of saving this shirt. It worked and a favourite make became wearable once again.

This shirt ended up on the mending pile once again when one of the self-made buttons fell apart. This was the second button that went missing, the very last bottom one went missing ages ago but I pretended that it was never there since the buttonhole was not all that noticeable.

I found some vintage inspired in my button stash and away I went to work, replacing all the buttons.

After merrily mending away, I now have seven new buttons that I think makes this shirt look much better with the black inserts on the side seams.

And yesterday, over at Etsy, I found this Vogue 2789 pattern. In my size! Uncut and factory folded and I couldn't be more thrilled. I can't wait until it gets here, I can see version C on my cutting table sometime soon.

Happy Sewing Mending!

Pattern Give-away: Let's Start the Year Off Right!

Let's start the year off right, with a give-away. A couple of weeks ago I shared with you my top three makes of 2013.

One of those was a kAtheRine Tilton pattern, Butterick 5891. And that is what I have up for grabs. It is an unopen, uncut, multi-sized pattern. This pattern contains sizes 8-10-12-14-16.

Butterick 5891

Here is the drill:

✄ Promise not to sell it,
✄ Give it a good home where you will sew it up and share it with others.
✄ Tell us what pattern you used for your favourite make of 2013 and why you would recommend the pattern to others.
✄ You have until Thursday, January 9th, 2014 to enter.
✄ This give-away is open to anyone, I'll ship internationally.

And good luck.

Spring Time Patterns!

Vogue released their spring 2014 patterns today. What a lovely distraction from this deep freeze. Oh there are a few that has peaked my interest too.

First up, this one is my absolute favourite. Any surprise that it is a Marcy Tilton pattern?

Vogue 8975

Perfect bag pattern for those spring days when I can once again take out the bike (fingers crossed).  

Vogue 8990

Two lovely Vintage Vogue patterns.

Vogue 8973

Vogue 8974

And oh my!  I do love the neckline pleating in this shirt pattern.

Vogue 1385

I can't wait for spring! Can you?

Happy Sewing!

Wait for me...

I'm going to join in!

The first week should be easy since I'm still house-bound and unable to drive and it is way too cold to go outside. All kidding aside, Sarah over at Good-bye Valentino / Hello Needle and Thread is hosting a Ready-to-Wear fast. 

I love this idea. I'm so sick of ill-fitting cuts, cheap fabrics and less than perfect sewing found in RTW and fast-fashion clothing. And I can sew. 

Happy Sewing!  

2014 Sewing Goals

Happy New Year!

Wow, it is that time of the year where you reflect and try to do a wee bit better. This year I'm not going the route of sewing resolutions. That was just silliness. Who was I kidding trying to give up adding to my fabric stash?

But I do have some sewing goals that I would like to accomplish.

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✄ Make some well-fitting undies. And then make some more.
✄ Make a Channel-esque jacket.
✄ Learn and incorporate more tailoring and couture techniques into my sewing (more slow sewing).
✄ Finish that damn quilt!

How about you, do you have any sewing goals or resolutions for the new year?

Happy Sewing!

December in Review

There was quite a bit of sewing, a flurry of sewing blew through my sewing table and machines, then no more. It was an exhausting month and all I have to show for it is more fabric and patterns added to the stash.

• 78.36 metres of fabric, 
• 26 previously unused patterns, 
• 10.6 metres of trim, 
• 20.50 packages of seam binding,
• 12 zippers, 
• 17 spools of thread, 
• 6 sewing machine needles, 
• 18 snaps,
• 4 hook and eye
• 60 buttons and
• 6.8 metres of elastic.

And this this year I've added to my stash:

• 74.5 metres of new fabric, 
• 24 new patterns,
• 2 metre of trim,
• 15 packages of seam binding, 
• 1 zipper,
• 8 spools of thread
• 2 sewing machine needles,
• 42 buttons
• 2 new sewing feet
• 4 metres of elastic.  

Moral of the story:  Stash-busting is hard. Keeping New Year's resolutions are even harder.  

Happy Sewing! ( 

Year in Review: 2013's Unfinished Projects

I had so many plans last year and there are items that are cut out and waiting to be sewn. What can I say, life gets busy and then there is always someone pushing other sewing onto the table. (Must learn to say no!) 

Yes, after the placket incident I lost my menswear sewing mojo. Enough time has past that I feel up for the challenge. Two out of three done leaving one more shirt in a dark blue and black fabric cut and ready to sew.  

Good grief, I can't believe that it has taking this long to finish this one project. Okay, to be completely honest, it is further along than it appears in the picture (20 x 14 squares). But I still have another 20 x 14 square side to sew. I wonder how many years it will take to complete?

Seriously, you do have to admire folks that quilt. This project just goes to show that sewologists are not crafty people.  

This project started out as a wearable muslin for Mama R. It is about three-quarters of the way done. She's a patient woman.  

And I didn't even mention the drawer of cut-out projects.  

How about you? Do you have some unfinished projects that are likely to carry over to 2014?  

Happy Sewing!