Christmas update!

 I have neglected my posts for a couple of weeks. Of course - it is December, and so much going on, not to mention that my sewing was getting a bit repetitive (five pairs of the same PJ sets)!

However, I DID finish them all, as well as one pair of the long Carolyn PJ pants - all for Christmas gifts AND the Mitchell muslin for Montreal daughter.

The daughters' reaction to the PJs was as I predicted: underwhelmed by the top. One daughter said they looked like 'scrubs'  (you know: medical professionals wear scrubs). She was not entirely wrong - the blue and the 'green' colour did kind of give off that vibe! Montreal daughter had the good grace to admire the polished finishing touches (the hong kong binding, etc)!

The nieces were polite. We will have to wait until warmer weather to see if they get worn!

Montreal daugther did try them on later, and it actually looks great. She did not think she would sleep in the top because she felt the sleeves would be restricting - but I think she did suggest that she could wear it for lounging. And anyway - she might need some scrubs as she begins med school next month. (Says mom hopefully)

The Mithcell trouser muslin... it LOOKS great, but is a fitting disaster!

I did a second welt pocket in order to get it right - and I did.

But Montreal daugther seems to have lost some weight since I measured her, and she is drowning in the pants. The crotch is VERY low, there is so much fabric.

But the frustrating thing is that I seem to have raised a bit of a fashionista. Even though she had approved of this pattern, she took another look at the finished versions online and was no longer quite as impressed. 'Why do they always have their legs apart for the back view?' she asks... 

I bought the BEST fabric for these: a viscose linen mix in a speckled neutral colour from Core Fabrics. I want to order some for myself (in spite of projects lining up!). I want to make something she will wear...

So its back to the shop for more fabric for a muslin, back to the drawing table to retrace the smaller size, and maybe lower the waist-line, as well as narrow the leg width a bit... And fingers crossed it works!

I also finished two little pencil pouches for my student teachers with their names 'embroidered' with the lettering option on my Juki DX7, and also whiteboard cloths (old tattered facecloths) on which I had embroidered their names. These were to accompany  eco-friendly whiteboard pencils. (As seen in the photo). Discerning eyes might recognize the beige fabric from my Angelia shorts! I LOVE that fabric - so soft yet sturdy!

And I made tea-towels with a cotton/linen blend tea-towel fabric from Fabricland. What does making tea-towels entail? Well in an ideal world it means cutting them to size, then adding a hem at two ends (since the selvedge takes care of the sides. In my world it means cutting them too small, cutting one of two in half, then figuring out a way to attatch one half to the remaining longer piece together so that there is no 'wrong side'. I am calling the felled seam a design feature! I also 'embroidered' some words on them with the Juki lettering.