Cooking/Baking Spree and My Winter Fashion Must-Haves

I have been doing a TON of research for some classic as well as new and interesting cookie recipes lately. I want to bake a plethora of cookies to give out this Holiday Season to co-workers, friends and family. I have found quite a few on the BHG website. Just warning you right now, until I find a better free recipe website and recipe storage system, I will always rave about BHG. I found some Honey-Ginger Bites, Raspberry Almond Meringues and will be making my mom's Melt In Your Mouth cookies. I also plan on making some Cranberry Apple Crush, which is pretty much cider. Tonight I will be making Minestrone soup, which I found in the (surprise!) Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. I will also be making Orange Yogurt Scones for my family on Christmas morning. I've been making this recipe since I was in middle school, it's an old one from Sunset Magazine.

In other cooking news, I have subscribed to Cook's Illustrated and should be getting a subscription to Gourmet. My brother also got Food & Wine! I just need to find the time to use all of these cooking magazines now!

As for my Winter Fashion Must-Haves... I have been hankering for some crocheted tights in a geometric pattern and for some patent leather wedges.

I did finally acquire both:


These are the shoes that I bought from Macy's. They are BCBGirls, which I absolutely adore already! I have another pair of lavender pumps from BCBGirls that are just so comfy!

Next:


Crocheted tights in a geometric print. I bought these from Joy of Socks and were quite cheap considering other crocheted tights are about $50+. These are called the Zurich Textured Tights.

I actually plan on wearing both of my Winter Must-Haves together with my Christmas dress.



I just need to add some more lining to it, as I mentioned previously, and I'm set to go!

Now I'm off to the grocery store! Then to cook, bake and sew while listening to tons of Christmas music.

Holy Bobbles Batman!

So... I just made my first bobble. It was quite the experience. I hated it to be quite frank. My fingers are really killing me now. I have to guess that it's more the fault of the yarn that I am using than the fault of the bobble being a bobble, and maybe a little because of the very cold weather we've been having. If that makes any sense at all?


See the bobble at the top? Took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to do it... In more positive news, I did learn how to cable as well. Oooh and read a chart, I think... All of this on one knit! Let's just say that I will only be making one more bobble on this baby. There are actually twelve bobbles, the yarn is just too thick for me to be able to handle all of those. In case you were wondering, this is the Chunky Everyday Cable Bag by Nguyen Le. I found the pattern via Ravelry.

The yarn I am using is what is called for in the pattern, Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick. I am making this purse in the colorway "Butterscotch" as a present for my sister. I found the Urchin beret I had originally started to be very ugly in the Homespun yarn I was using.

I plan to buy some vinyl handles for the purse and line it with some 70's looking print cotton I have.

In sewing news... Well there really isn't any. I of course bought more fabric, what's new, huh?


This beaut is from e-Quilter and I plan to make a black/grey/yellow quilt from this... eventually. I think that the free Nigella quilt from Amy Butler's website would be perfect. I would like to use this black as the large appliquéd medallion motif.


This is a very fine wale cotton/spandex corduroy from JoAnn's. I am going to use this for McCall's 5513. I will also be sure to brush up on my corduroy sewing by reading this Threads article before I start.


This next fabric is the lining for the coat and the purse. Do you think it's 70's looking? My mom agreed with me that it was... But sometimes we are both wrong. I love the wide array of colors in the print, but without the loudness. This was also bought at JoAnn's.


And last but not least in my fabric purchasing escapades... I bought this lingerie lining from Sew Sassy Fabrics for a dress that I bought from Nordstrom's. It is the cutest dress with not so cute see through-y-ness. I am going to sew this lining into the dress. It is allegedly static free which is wonderful as it is quite dry at this time of year. I hope to wear this dress on Christmas Eve or Christmas with some black crocheted tights and black patent leather wedges.

I finally baptized my KitchenAid mixer! And WOW! Does it make a difference in the production time of baking! A cookie dough took me about half an hour to make and I know that it would have normally cost me about an hour and a half! I also made a royal icing for the cookies with my mixer. Oh how exciting it was to use my mixer! The recipe that I used was from BHG (of course) and is called Lemon Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies.

Oh, and on a shopping trip to pick up some meringue powder for the icing I did acquire a cookie press, new Christmas cookie cutters and some treat wrappings. Next up on the cookie baking agenda: Spritz Cookies!

I Was Finally Invited!

I am so excited! I was invited to join Ravelry! I found my invitation in my junk mail, (good thing I check it), and immediately signed up. Let me just say that it is amazing and I find it that much more helpful than the beloved Google, which can be difficult when searching for yarn, and knitting patterns and such.

I do find it very similar to CraftMemo; which was developed with the same idea in mind but for any type of craft, whether it be beading, sewing, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, etcetera. I loved CraftMemo, but I think it was abandoned...

All in all I am completely amazed at the job that has been done at Ravelry, and I've only been a member all of 1 hour! So if you knit or crochet, I encourage you to sign up to get an invitation.

A Finished Garment, A Cake, and A Mixer

TA DAA!

This is pattern number 2017 from Onion. I used the jersey fabric that I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics quite a while ago. I'm really happy with it, I do have to sew the hem still, but it's not really a high priority at the moment. The only thing is that I do have to wear a tank top underneath, because the fabric is a teensy bit sheer. But really, that's not too big of a deal either, it just means that I can be a bit warmer when I wear the dress. I wrote a review over at Pattern Review, so if you are interested in making the dress, I would definitely take a look at all of the reviews for the pattern. I decided to wear the dress last night to my Medical Terminology class over a pair of skinny jeans and I thought that it was pretty cute.

In other news...

I baked that cake from Martha Stewart Living again. My mom requested it for Thanksgiving. This one came out even better! Well, looking better anyways... I bought a silicone baking set from my very favorite store, and it came with a round cake pan which made the cake fit nicely onto my mom's Depression Era cake plate.


Isn't it yummy looking? I only had one piece, I'm really not a sweets type of person... Ha ha, how ironic isn't it?

I also found my new favorite beverage at Starbucks, the Passion Tea Lemonade. Wow, can I say dee-lish! And so refreshing too.

I made my own PTL at home, because well, we have a lemon tree that won't stop making lemons! Let's just say that my family has been making lots of lemonade lately. I steeped a bag of Passion Tea in it and added a bit of sugar. Wonderful!


And the last bit of exciting news! I received this....


...in the mail today! Tee hee! I'm soo giddy with excitement, I cannot wait to use it! Now to figure out what to make first... I'll report back later on this.

Spicy Cake

That's right. I made a spice cake. A Molasses-Spice Cake to be exact. The recipe is from Martha Stewart Living. I'm not quite sure what issue it is, seeing as how every time I get an issue I tear it apart...

The cake took me about 5 hours to make, but It seems like it was well worth it. I really can't tell though until I eat it, or someone does.

I changed some things in it, as usual. I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and I used pumpkin cream cheese for the frosting instead of regular cream cheese.

It was fun to make and smells wonderful. I think it may be a bit too sweet for me though... I really don't like sweets that much. There's the cake that's full of light brown sugar, the cream cheese frosting with confectioner's sugar and then the glaze, made of light brown sugar again. Geeze!

I did learn a few new things while making the cake today. How to grate such things as lemon and ginger so that you aren't stuck trying to collect what's stuck on the grater. My aunt told me that you just layer some plastic wrap over the grater and scrape your ginger or lemon zest, or what you will off of the plastic. Brilliant!

I also found out that you do need to peel your ginger before you grate it... Good to know.

Oh and one more thing. Sometimes it is good to use a mixer when the recipe calls for one. Cream cheese is a bit too stiff for my puny little arms!

Christmas Is Coming!

Yes, I had to say it... I saw the first Christmas commercial today. It was for Dell computers. I was kind of irked. I love Christmas and the holiday season, but I think that the corporations and consumerism are really taking it too far... We're totally skipping Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and this is definitely one of my favorite holidays. I don't need to have tons of ads thrown in my face telling me to buy this and that for whoever. But I guess I just may be different, I pretty much plan out what I'm buying/making for everyone that I gift to.

And this brings me to my first Christmas gift project... I decided to knit Urchin for my older sister. She is quite a bit older than myself and has a vintage/eclectic style going. She's also an artist. I just hope she likes it, she seems to be kind of picky sometimes... I'm knitting it with Lion Brand Homespun so it's easy to wash and take care of.

Right now it looks like a big blob, I hope it ends up looking better...

And as I mentioned in my previous blog post, I am going to make the slippers from Sew Stylish Gifts to Make. I still haven't received the leather, I hope it comes soon...

Now I just have to brainstorm about gifts for my other loved ones... My honey thinks he's getting a roll cage for his '68 Mustang. I'm not so sure about that... Maybe next year.

And I Thought I Was Done!

So I forgot that I have a bunch of things to mention! I believe that they are all sewing/craft related. Exciting isn't it?

First up. I just received the new issue of Craft! It's looking promising. I was a bit disappointed in the last issue... This one has a lot of paper crafts in it, personalizing your own quilt, and making a t-skirt among many other crafty things.

I also just ordered a new Sew Stylish magazine! It's Sew Stylish Embellishments, I can't wait to get it! I just received Sew Stylish Gifts to Make this week. Believe me, I'm using that magazine to make quite a few things for my loved ones for Christmas. I already bought a hide of leather from Fabric Mart, at a sale price of only $10! I'm making the slippers for my gramma and auntie.

I also found out that Interweave Knits has their new issue preview up on their website and the new issue of Adorn should be showing up in my mailbox soon! I am so excited!

Now on to other things...

I think I have decided to do a little feature or two. I'm going to have a Helpful Craft/Sewing Tool of the month, every month. I also want to do a Technique of the Month as well. If only I could do a Technique of the Week, it sounds so much nicer! I just don't have the time to dedicate to this every week. We'll see if I will be able to stick with this new thing. It will be helpful for myself and hopefully for others as well. I will start at the beginning of November, since October is almost gone...

Corpse Bride Costume Completed... Barely!

So I finished my costume for my honey's party. Boy was it the most stressful 3 days ever! I just wanted to be a French Maid again, but my honey wouldn't let me do it... He insisted I be the Corpse Bride. Ha ha... Crazy guy. He was Tommy Lee, although everyone else was calling him Nikki Sixx. Whatever, it's the same band, right? And for good measure I am also putting up a picture of my brother and his girlfriend. They were Prince and Bettie Page.

The man and myself:

Full Length Pic:

Bettie Page and Prince:

Doesn't my brother have a slight resemblance to Prince???

So I wasn't able to do everything that I said I wanted to do... I couldn't appliqué the ribs onto my corset. I was not able to sew a ruffle onto the skirt, and no blue dye. I forgot to get lavender from my backyard to put in my veil. I didn't make the yarn wig. We had to buy a purple one, that we noticed was a child's wig when it was too late. That thing was moving around all over the place!

But I was able to wear the main costume and it did turn out to slightly resemble the Corpse Bride! Everyone who had seen the movie knew exactly who I was. So that is really all that counts.

I made the corset from Vogue 8325, combining the front of view A with the back of view C so that there were no ties and grommets to deal with. The skirt, which I do not have any good pictures of, I drafted myself about 2 hours before the party started. It was a cinch to sew up. I just took my skirt block and drafted a trumpet flare on the fronts and back. I also made sure to extend the center fronts so that it would have a wrap effect. I also drafted a straight waistband to hold everything together.

So in the end I was able to finish the important parts of the costume and I think that I can say it turned out to be a success!

In other news, yesterday we had some rain in So Cali, the weather definitely did work in the firefighters' favor.

'Tis the Season for Pumpkins and Fires in Southern California

Every week I get an e-mail from Better Homes and Gardens for new recipes. I always find something that I love in this e-mail. Even better, BHG has a feature that you can register your e-mail for and bookmark your favorite recipes! I absolutely LOVE this. I've actually used it quite a few times now. As a matter of fact, I used it today...

I came home from work a bit late today, about 5:30 and checked my e-mail, as I always do. I got the weekly recipe e-mail from BHG and found a recipe for pumpkin pancakes. I decided that I needed to make dinner for my dad and thought I should make these to include in a nice fall meal. I went to the store and got the ingredients and some butternut squash soup, Cannellini beans and carrots.

We definitely had lots of the color orange in our dinner tonight. I made the pumpkin pancakes with whole wheat flour and they were absolutely delish! I, of course, added some cinnamon and nutmeg as well. The butternut squash soup was the Campbell's brand in a box with some sour cream, paprika, pepper and the beans added in.

I wish I had taken a picture of everything. Oh well... It was an awesome dinner and I very highly recommend BHG.com. You will definitely find a wide variety of recipes for any meal, and even better is that you can save your recipes and rate and comment on them as well. BHG gets my two thumbs up!

In other news... It seems that Southern California is amongst another firestorm. It's really quite sad, so many people have lost their homes now... I must say that I am thankful that we haven't had another fire by our house again. There was one in 2003 and then again in 2004 in the mountains behind our house. It was really quite nerve racking. The fire in the mountains in '03 was the conglomeration of two fires, one from the West and the other from the East. They both met up at the same time behind our neighborhood. The fire was so hot and close that I remember feeling the heat on my skin, and it was really hot! Even with it that close they didn't feel a need to evacuate us. The following year the fire was a few miles away and the firefighters went around to all the houses telling us to prepare to evacuate if they came around a second time. I'm so glad that those firefighters never came again.

The fire from the West:

The fire from the East:


I guess that no matter where you live, there is a price you pay. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, earthquakes... I feel so lucky that at that time we had enough firefighters to protect us. It doesn't seem to be the case this time around. The winds are just so powerful and strong and the brush so dry from the lack of rain this past year. It's so strange though, up here it's been perfectly still and clear, you look down into the surrounding valleys and the sky is so orangey-brown-grey from the smoke from the 14+ fires. We've called in neighboring states for help, but they just cannot get here soon enough. I just wish and hope for the best of luck for those people affected this time around, I pray that they are at least safe.

Halloween Is Coming!

I haven't dressed up for Halloween in 3 years. So this year is my chance to take advantage of the costume fun. I decided on the Corpse Bride. I have to make a corset, skirt and wig. But I have everything planned out perfectly. Now I only hope I can get it done... Ha ha. It needs to be done by the 26th for my Honey's party. If not, I have a backup costume... The one I was 3 years ago, a French Maid. I know, how boring.

Here are my plans for my costume:


I have the pattern for the corset top. I'm just going to make it out of Halloween satin and some blue tulle around the edges. I want to sew on an appliqué just below the right breast for her ribs that show through. I think I will draft the skirt myself, as well as paint and dye it. I'm dying my thigh-highs blue and am going to buy cheap white satin shoes from Payless Shoes. The wig I will make out of yarn and some old nylons.

I'm hoping this costume works. Knock on wood!

In other sewing news. I bought some fabric (on sale!) from Reprodepot for my first dress! It's a cute pink cotton graphic print that's subtle yet fun!


Cute, huh? Anyways, I am working on my next design. It's very cute also. I am considering entering it in the Alice in Workingland Contest at BurdaStyle. However, I'm not so sure about my drafting abilities quite yet... But we'll see.

I must now be on my way to JoAnn's. I hope I find what I need, that store has been severely disappointing lately. Wish me luck!

My First Very Own Garment!

I had an assignment in my Pattern Making class to make a dress from my princess torso block that I had drafted. I decided to make something similar to a dress that Go Fug Yourself posted on Cameron Diaz.

I fell in love with this dress when I saw it, and I would go back and look at the picture every once in a while, wishing I had this dress! It's so simple, but the design lines and pleating make it a bit sophisticated while still keeping a cute, mod look.

I had a hard time at first with the waistband, but after I got past that point it was smooth sailing on out. This dress is a tiny bit different than Cameron's, but I feel that it captures the same idea. I love the waistband, neckband, pleated front and attached hems. I totally forgot to put in the pockets at the front seams, but those aren't really necessary. The one that Cameron was wearing has a bit more of an A-Line cut on the skirt, the front pleats are wider, the waistband is a bit higher up and well the dress is a lot shorter than mine. The original dress' sleeves are raglan and that may be beyond my abilities at this point in time. I just drafted regular old sleeves.

So here is mine, in muslin of course:

Please excuse my jeans, I was too lazy to take them off....

Pleated front detail:

Now, my muslin came out great and my instructor loved it. I just hope that the paper pattern matches up and is notched correctly!

I cannot wait to buy some fabric for this and make a real dress out of it! I am contemplating a large plaid for fall or maybe a nice jewel toned silk for the holidays. Not too sure though.

Doing the Sewing Thing.

So today I was working on my Torso Block a little. Transferring the block to tag board and making some minuscule changes and adjustments.

I also spent some time going through my practice patterns from last semester, I threw most of them out. I figure if I need to refer to them again I should learn how to do them.

I then worked on the dress that I was supposed to make for the wedding... Ha ha. It will get done... eventually.

And lastly, I traced Onion 2017 for the fabric that I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics. I must say, I love Onion patterns already! They are so much easier to trace than other patterns because they are printed on a sturdy white paper with nice, dark, thick lines. I also like that fact that I get to add my own seam allowance, I'd much rather sew with 1/2" than 5/8", because let's face it, all that seam allowance is just "in case" I screw up and cut out the wrong size or even gain a few pounds... I haven't cut out the wrong size yet, and well forget me gaining a few pounds... I just feel it's a big waist of fabric, no matter what the reasons for it all being there.

I am making view C with the short sleeves. It's supposed to be tunic length, but when comparing it to my short stature it turns out to be pretty much a knee skimming dress
I cannot wait to buy my next Onion pattern. I am thinking that the featured pattern for September will be my next. I discovered this one about a year ago in a review on Pattern Review. I love it! The jacket looks so warm and cozy.

Torso Blocks, Wooo!

I know... Excited over little things. But hey better to be excited about little things than big things that are unlikely.

Now that I have my personal front and back torso blocks I can make dresses and coats and the like! An I absolutely adore dresses and coats... I can't wait for winter!

Working Hard? Or Hardly Working?

I think I may actually be hardly working... Tomorrow is the wedding that I mentioned last month. Boy does time fly! Sheesh.

And here I am distracted by Fashion Fanatic, hosted by Stacy London of TLC's What Not To Wear. I must say this show is awesome and EVERYONE who is even a little bit interested (or obsessed) with fashion and particularly shoes and bags should watch this. It's actually quite informative and educational. But let me tell you, it makes me green with envy!

Enough of that, back to work!

Oh How Knitting Has Slipped My Mind

But, I decided to organize my small yarn stash last night/early this morning, since I could NOT sleep. I'm happy to know that most of my yarn has good intentions, unlike my fabric stash... I am working on a scarf for my dad, the Sesame sweater from Magknits, Danica from Knitty, a Patons felted needle holder, and the Dream Swatch from Wendy of Knit and Tonic.

I also have eight balls of Laines du Nord's Linea Merino left from this project. I plan on using this on Norah Gaughan's Tilted Duster from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I have some other yarn as well, but thankfully, not much of it!

Just Kidding!

Okay, so I remembered that I do not have a torso block for my body. And yes, I could make one for myself, but, I'll save myself some time and just do some major alterations to the Butterick and Simplicity patterns.

To be honest, I only made a torso block once and I don't think I had it checked by my instructor. I'll wait to make my own in my Advanced Patternmaking class next semester, I don't quite trust myself on the amount of contouring that is required.

But not to worry, I've already started tracing. I cannot wait until I get to make my muslin!

One more thing... I got the August issue of Burda in the mail and just as I noted earlier, the cute, modified trench look is everywhere!


I want to make one in navy! I'm quite taken by navy at the moment. We'll see, I really need to slim down my fabric stash...

My Very Own Dress! Well Sorta...

So I am going to my good friends' wedding at the end of August. I bought a dress in January for it, but I decided I wanted a new one. Which I knew was going to happen... But hey, I will have 2 cute dresses now!

Here's the one I bought from Nordy's:

So cute isn't it? I am actually going to wear this to another wedding in Vegas at the beginning of August.

So my idea came to design and draft my own pattern when I was looking at dresses on Nordstrom's for my mommy. I saw a very adorable Calvin Klein dress in a pretty muted blue color. I had to have a dress in that color! Or near that color anyways. So I went straight to Fashion Fabrics Club because I knew they were having a sale on silk and got this silk blue shantung to make my dress.

I'm still nervous about drafting my own pattern from my blocks, but of course I will make a muslin beforehand. In the picture below I have taken a picture of my drawing and the inspirations for my dress. I have SewStylish's Summer issue and the Simplicity's SewStylish pattern 3735. I absolutely love how they altered the skirt on the dress to a full bubble. I also have Butterick 4918. I love this dress also, but it's a little much for a summer wedding so I plan on using the bust detail as inspiration.

As soon as I'm done writing this post I think I'm going to get down and dirty on my dress.

But before I do this. I have found some cute fall fashions that I could definitely draw more inspiration from and some patterns to match!

First of all are these coats from, of course, Nordstrom's BP:

I am just loving the fresh white and cool plaid! And just as I laid my eyes on these trench like styles I thought of pattern number 115 in the May issue of Burda World of Fashion.

Just a bit of tweaking to the pattern and anyone could have that cute plaid jacket! And just a hint, JoAnn's has just put out their fall fabrics. Lots of plaids! And if you want something more like the white wool coating, Gorgeous Fabrics has some solids and so does Fabric Mart!

I think I finally figured out what I'm going to do with the Bird on a Wire fabric I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics. It was between McCall's 5388 and Simplicity 4119.

I was going to layer the sheer silk over some white dot flocked cotton I bought at JoAnn's for the dress, but finally decided to just make a sheer top from the McCall's pattern. I'm going to make view D, the puff sleeved top because I just love to layer!

Last but not least! I've been cleaning up and organizing my sewing/crafting supplies. I've organized my patterns into some boxes by type and pattern company. I also made an Excel spread sheet of my fabric stash, not including scraps. Let's just say that I am trying not to buy anymore fabric... It's very hard! Especially since I did just buy that silk shantung... Oopsie!

New Dress and Jellyfish!

So I finally have been able to make something!


It's McCall's 5425. The one I mentioned in my last post. And I'm using the polka dot fabric I got from Gorgeous Fabrics. I had to do some readjusting to the back since the dress looked like a complete sack on me. It took me about 5 hours (while checking out the Fall fashions on Style.com).


That's the Diane von Furstenberg show in the background! I must say that I'm quite dismayed by the amount of black present in most of the collections. But that's just me.

Anywho, I've been a busy bee, going to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Las Vegas and the San Diego Zoo with my honey. We're going to go camping in Mammoth Lakes with my family soon also! Sooo excited!

And I will leave with a beautiful pic of the jellyfish at the Coral Reef exhibit at Mandalay Bay in Vegas.

No Time to Sew. But Time to Buy!

Yes, I have not had very much opportunity to sew lately. I've been taking an intensive six week anatomy class at my local community college so I can hopefully get into a nursing program. I must admit, with the class 20 hours a week and then work another 30 hours I'm a bit exhausted.

I have bought some more fabric. Mostly from Gorgeous Fabrics and Fabric Mart. Silks, a cotton shirting and a knit.

I ordered one more from Gorgeous Fabrics. It's the Bird on a Wire silk.

I think I will make Hot Patterns 107 out of this. It will be perfectly summery!

Speaking of patterns, I was over at Nordstrom's website and found this dress...

Which looks a lot like McCall's 5425, which I just recently bought at a JoAnn's sale.

I really can't wait to make this dress out of a fun print like the Nordstrom's version. I think I will tone it down on the large, bright print though. I am after all 25, not 15...

Until next time!

Yay! I'm Done!

Well with Beginning Patternmaking. Of course I procrastinated a bit, not too much though. I stayed up until 4:30 AM and got up at 7 AM to finish. But it was all worth it... I got an A! I just hope I got an A on the in class final.

The take home assignment was to pick out an article of clothing from a magazine or catalog, etc. and draft a pattern from it with our block. I actually took a picture that I saved from an Anthropologie catalog two years ago and used it as my design.

Here is my flat pattern version:

There were some mistakes. Mostly I forgot to notch at some places, like the darts in the bust. And I was misled about seam allowance notching at the midriff by the handouts given on notching in class. Oh and I somehow forgot that the sleeve is a full puff sleeve and for some reason drafted a puff at the hem only. But other than that, I am very pleased. If only I was able to make it with my own personal block... Oh well.

Speaking of my personal block, I did get that back and I also got an A on it. This means that I am good to go on designing my own clothing now! WOO HOO!!!

Another pic:

Well, I'm still going to make another muslin out of it to see if it does fit correctly, we did quite a bit of tweaking like slimming the area of hip placement and taking it out a bit lower. We also did some major changing of the bust darts. I did trace a size 4 block for the top, but we did have to extend it down quite a bit because I do have a long torso, and that would mean I would need to move the bust darts as well. We also had to square the shoulders a bit more because apparently mine don't slope so much!

And just for finishing this class I bought my self some bee-you-ti-ful silk fabric from Fabric Mart that happens to be from Anna Sui.


I want to make a dress from it. Here's a great example of the fabric and a design of Anna Sui at Anthropologie. Pretty isn't it?

I can't wait to get it!