Fixing some more waistbands...whew!!

Okay, so this is the fifth and hopefully last time for at least a few weeks that I work on and fix a waistband.

Of course, it is lined, and why wouldn't it be? Man, I feel like an expert on taking in and redoing waistbands. Although, I must say, they are not that enjoyable to do.

Here is the invisible zipper I put back in.

I think invisible zippers look so nice. I hope she enjoys here newly sized skirt.

Today was my first day back from break, and I must say, I really missed school. I absolutely love school and would go to it for the rest of my life, if I could afford it, he he.

Turkey eatin' time

Shall Pal made a nummy turkey this week, and then turned it into turkey soup. Yeah.

I go back to school Monday, and I am totally stoked. I am ready to get back to sewing and to my Juki. Working on Christmas gifts during the break. I hope to get them all done by Christmas, he he.

Happy Turkey Day!

Gobble, Gobble. I am on vacation this week from school, but putting in the hours at the store. Working on some Christmas gifts. Got a lot to do in a little bit of time and also feeling under the weather...cough, cough.

Going to visit our friends at the beach for Thanksgiving. I am very thankful this year for:
Bubby, My Family, My Friends, Bobbers, sewing school, my job at the family-owned sewing store with all the knowledgeable people I work with, food on the table, my apartment in the ghetto, my jeepers still truckin', my Juki I use at school(I'm missing you this week Juki. Don't forget me. I will be back to sew on you next week.), my knitting needles, my new knitting group at the library, all the libraries left in the world, eBay, craigslist, the George Bush hot dog game(Thank God someone created this ridiculously addictive game online), Slurpees, nachos(my new food addiction) and the most important thing, is doing something I love, sewing. I am blessed.

Christmas came early at the Chapman's...

Yeah, that's right. Bub got a Nintendo with lots of cool games for Christmas. We decided to go "old school" at the Chapman's this year, and I love it!

By the way, I finished my wool skirt alteration. I don't think it looks too shabby.

Doing alterations on a beautiful wool skirt...just wish it was mine!

We received this beautiful Banana Republic wool skirt in for alterations. I absolutely love working with this wool. I am thinking about buying some of the awesome wool we have at the store, but maybe when I get some more mula.

Anyway, here is the inside of the waistband.

I took the skirt in on the side seams and the back. I had to open up the waistband and cut into it to do this. I put the Banana Republic tag back into the waistband, cause you know you want to keep that tag in there. Also, since I didn't take the entire waistband off, I had to create an inside seam on the top of the band and will topstitch the bottom with all the seam allowances in it tomorrow.

I measured out the hem in the lining and the skirt. I had to cut it off and am going to redo the fold and topstitching tomorrow, as well.

There are four rows of top stitching on this bad boy skirt. I pray I get them all lined up correctly.

...and Bub's dress pants are complete!

There is a party at the Chapman's tonight, because Shall Pal got Bri Guy's pants done. No, no not really a party. Just me celebrating by watching Harry Potter's final movie for the second time this week and eating Ruffles dipped in Publix French Onion dip. But, it's all good. More alterations done.
Fly-front looks exactly how it did before.

FYI-I wanted to get Bub's feet in the picture. They are adorable like him.
And the back, once I iron it and hammer it flat tomorrow in class, should look almost identical to before. Since I had to add the patches in the waistband, I had to create another belt loop to cover the seam. I think it looks quite believable, ha!

Bub came to the store tonight to help me pick out some totally awesome fleece for Christmas gifts. We had to make sure they matched the team colors. He is quite a wonderful husband. I am truly blessed. Not to mention the fact that he had pizza and tater tots ready when I came home from work. I have THE BEST HUBBY!

Still working on Bubby's pants

Whew, this is a job my friends. I am sewing through all the layers of the patches now on the back that I made with the fly-front piece.

It looks really nice afterward.

I have to finish slipstitching the waistband. Stitching the pull areas on the zipper, and creating the extra belt loop and placing them on over the sewn patch piece. Can't wait to have these done for Bubby.

Redoing the fly-front zipper for Bubby's dress pants

Bub loves these dress pants of his. I mean, he like every other man, wants to keep his clothes forever. So, I have to add a piece to his waistband in the back.

In order to have the plaids matching, I had to cut out the fly-front and use that fabric. I am going to have Bub try them on before I finish the waistband. I may even have to take out the sides. I have to redo the belt loops and all of the waistband.

I put in the new fly-front. I am keeping my fingers crossed they fit. I wouldn't do this for anyone except my BUB!!

Also, I put this cool owl patch on my book bag. Now, I just need more patches to make it look even cooler.

Takin' in the sides of my man's dress shirt

Most men these days like the more modern fit of dress shirts. I took one of Bri's gray dress shirts in on the sides. It has a much better fit now.

I redid the side flat-felled seams. That was tough to line up with the existing seam. I had to grade it up to the armhole. But, it came out swell for him.

Just need to wash off my blue marking chalk now, he he.

Got the new HP movie. Yeah!

I can't believe I didn't know the date of release for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. We were walking in Wal-Mart looking for some fleece, and my hubby said I have a surprise for you. He lead me over to the display.

Harry was passing the wand to me. I feel so lucky! Off to watch my movie...

Fixin' Bubby's jeans all the way...

So, the bottoms of Bub's jeans were a total mess, as well. I patched all those holes, rips, tears, etc. As my teacher suggested, I think I am going to try to date the patches on the inside. Now, the jeans are actually looking pretty cool. I want to look back in 10 years from now, and see all the dated patches.

Redoing a skirt because of an oversized doopa!

I had to remake the entire back portion of this skirt, because this tiny girl with a larger size rear end ripped it open.

Then, I had to fix the darts and reconstruct a waistband.

I think it came out nicely.

The back looks much better.

And, the zipper looks superb.

Fixin' Bubby's favorite high school jeans

Believe me when I say that I have tried to get Bub to get rid of these Levi's, but you know men. They love to keep old high school clothing. Last night, I was asking Bub if he had anything I could put a patch on, and he said his favorite jeans. I figured, what the heck. I can salvage his favorite jeans and get some school credit at the same time.

Here is the huge hole on the back side of the jeans.

I put a patch on and sewed these puppies back up. I'm actually excited for him to wear them again.

I feel so happy when I can sew something for my hubby.

Making alterations...

I have started on my alterations for my third certificate. Yeah, you heard me. I am on my third certificate and so stoked about it. Today, I put a patch on some jeans and resewed the gold thread on the pocket. Then, I refinished the seam on this ripped shirt.

I interfaced the top where it was starting to shred. Then, I used the four-thread serger to attach the two pieces. Next, I resewed the spaghetti strap on it.

Finally today, I redid the seam on a pair of ripped pajama pants. I had to use the two-thread and then the three-thread sergers.

Baby blanket #2 done!

Another WVU blanket is done for our friends. I think it is so cute. I love the wave pattern.

The cool patch says We Will neVer leaVe you!! What an incredible patch. I found that one on eBay. So many good items on there, so little time to buy.

Finishing up some Christmas gifts. Still lots more to do....

I just got my Gryffindor scarf completed for a lady at Bri's office. I think it looks pretty cool.

Also, I wanted to post the boys Halloween picture. I made Bo's vest and fringe arm bands. He was Macho Man Randy Savage, while, as you can tell Grant was Hulk Hogan. They are the cutest kids I have ever seen. I just hope our kids someday are that cute!

Making some quick and easy skirts

I bought a really cute elastic waist skirt a couple of years ago, and I think it is adorable. But, I just kept thinking, jeez, this shouldn't be too hard to make. And actually, with my teacher's guidance, it wasn't!

I made this first one out of a stretchy, ruffled material that is really popular right now.

This next one is made out of Charlie Brown material. I have been wanting to make a skirt out of Charlie Brown material for quite some time. I think this is super cute.

And I used a couple of different techniques. For the side seams, I used a four-thread serger. For the elastic on the top of the ruffled skirt, I serged and flipped the elastic. On the Charlie Brown skirt, I actually used the coverstitch machine with the elastic lying right on top of the seam allowance. Pretty easy to do and cute to wear. Happy Weekend!

Working on boning today

So I am working on my evening gown, and I have five layers in the stomach area. Yeah, you read that right. Five layers. It is so crazy, but it should look cool, once I do all the stitching on top. And, I hope the felt makes it look poofy on the stomach area. Also, I put in boning, as a backup. I am thinking with all of this, we should have some good support on the dress. Additionally, I was working on the stays on the upper part of the dress. I have never done those before and actually think they are going to look pretty. Can't wait to get further on this dress and explore more new techniques.

Halloween Horror House...I mean basement

Our audio visual department offered a haunted Halloween horror basement for the students. Now, you think it might be cheesy, and don't get me wrong, I laughed the whole time, but man, was it fun! One of the sewing students sewed together mummies that hung from the ceiling with our small child dress forms. Students were dressed up and came at you from all directions. One of the guys I was walking through it with got his head touched from above, he hit the floor so fast. It was hilarious! I had a blast. Bonus of attending a tech school.

I absolutely love Halloween, but I am super stoked for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love the holiday season. Got to get to work on my Christmas gifts.