Mastering new techniques

Sewing:

The gray wool jacket (FSG 1945) is almost finished. It still needs buttons and buttonholes. I learned some new techniques in the process. Take a look:

I made the sleeve heads the way Ann Rowley described. Her projects always look fabulous and her sleeves are impeccable so I thought it would be a good idea to try it. The cheapie batting came from an abandoned project because I didn't feel like going to the Hobby Lobby to pick up new batting. For future projects, I will buy nice new poly batting. I kept my phone by the sewing machine so I could look up Ann's pictures and instructions as I went. Totally neat! How did we ever get along without smartphones? Anyway, Ann's sleeve head method is awesome and if you haven't tried it, you should.

Notice the skinny shoulder pad - I doctored a store-bought set to work for these rather square shoulders of mine. More about that in another post.

For the facing/hem intersection I used Kathleen Fasanella's Nameless Tutorial. Totally awesome! In her book, Kathleen explains how to make the lining and facing pattern pieces and in the tutorial, she provides a close look at all the seam allowances involved and instructions for how to put it all together. This is another one of those things that if you haven't tried it, you should.

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Inspiration:

I love the look of a shirt tucked into a skirt but the reality sucks - the shirt blouses above the waist when I sit down. To the rescue: a mock two-piece dress (looks like a shirt and skirt but is a dress). This one is from Ralph Lauren a season or two ago.

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Pursuit of happiness:

Day before yesterday, I subscribed to Skype Premium. With it, I can video-conference with my parents and sister at the same time. It's wonderful. Family time is important to me and living on separate continents means that video-conferencing is as close as we can get most of the time.