The Savvy Sewer Salon at Sawyer Brook

I decided on the boring, white lining for my trench. At least there won't be any see-through. Not much progress in the last few days, although I have put in the sleeves. I took some time off the trench to make a quick A-line skirt for some instant gratification. It just needs a zipper and hem, and then back to the trench!

To answer Nata, the baby's doing great! He's growing so fast and really starting to hold up his head and look around. My older son seems to be adjusting well. My mom's been visiting, so there's some extra attention to go around. He's definitely asking for me to do things more than he would have before when my mom visited (like I have to put on his shoes, put him in the car, etc). There's been a big increase in temper tantrums, too, but I think that's just due to being 2! At least he's very sweet to the new baby. He just seems to have displaced his frustration.

As for my sewing area, I do have a dedicated space, though not a whole room. I have about 1/4 of the basement. This is also where we watch TV, so my son is definitely around my sewing things a lot. I don't bother cleaning up my pins and scissors anymore. He knows what he's not allowed to touch and has poked himself with a pin on occasion and remembers that. The only problem is I often sit down at the machine to find it unthreaded. Wonder how that happens...

Anyone else out there still sewing?

It sure has been quiet lately. I hope others are making progress on their projects. We had a couple of people very excited to make the trench. I hope we'll hear about their projects soon.

My machines don’t unthread themselves, but they love to turn their knobs and change all the settings. And buttons love to be “sorted” in very specific way which has nothing to do with shape, size, or color.

A piece of fabric from my stash came to my attention recently: it is textured tweed with large check pattern in variegated gray and white, with isolated red yarns woven through. I looked at it and it just felt right for the fabric to become a trench-style jacket for fall. It lends itself to soft, clean lines, low hip length, and silver gray lining. I might even make it happen – who knows.

I've been plugging away slowly at my lining. I've also been trying to finish up some loose ends on other unfinished sewing projects I'd been putting off until after the baby arrived. Top that with not lots of sleep, and there's still not much progress to show. I do want to show a picture of the trench shell on me and how I enlarged the pockets, so if my big boy ever goes down for a nap, I can take those.

Here is a photo of a pocket. You may remember from my pink jacket that I thought the pockets were small. I couldn't make them any deeper since they're already near the hem, so I made them wider.

Here is the shell of my trench with the shoulder pads pinned in. Next steps are tacking in the shoulder pads and sewing the lining sleeves into the assembled lining. Then, I get to sew in the lining and the end is in sight!

Thought I'd check in, but I haven't made any progress the past few days. I'm trying to finish up some UFOs. I just remembered I should take a new picture of my pink coat with the belt now that it really fits.

Hi Jenny - I've been lurking and reading your updates. So far your Trench looks good and I'll be looking forward to your final pic! Don't you love it when the end is in sight?
Happy Sewing.
Lois

Here are pics of my pink jacket, now that it fits right, and I can wear the belt!


As I've said before, with the underlining, the jacket is quite warm. I've only been able to wear it once, to dinner on a cool evening. It will be a nice fall jacket, though. I'm seeing some really bright colors for fall (Michael Kors), so it shouldn't scream "SPRING" too much.

This weekend, I made a dress for the summer dress sew-along. All I did on my trench was tack in the shoulder pads. But with a quick dress under my belt, I have no excuses anymore for dilly-dallying on my trench. It's at the top of my sewing list once again. This is always the point in a project where I lose momentum. I don't get it. I mean, the end is in sight - you'd think I'd be racing to the finish!

Your jacket looks great. What an adorable baby-boy, too.

Your trench coat is wonderful. Love the color on you and the length is perfect. Baby looks very alert and engaged in his photo shoot!!!! Budding fashion model??

Jenny, I was planning to just lurk but when I saw your picture I had to post a note to tell you that the trench is great and the color is really beautiful on you. What an alert little fellow you are holding! What a good boy to let his Mommy have time to sew. Blessings on you all. Brenda

Thanks for the comments on the color being good. I love the bright pink but was unsure if it was really "my" color since I think I'm more of a warm palate.

After some sewing machine tension drama this weekend, I'm up and running again. Got the sleeves in the lining, and the lining goes in the trench tonight. Yay!!!

Lining is in. Working on the hems. Then, just a few odds and ends (like sleeve tabs) and buttonholes...

Completing the lining is such a great milestone to achieve. Congrats....now you are on the homestretch. Looking forward to seeing the end result.

Thanks, Lois! Almost there. Everything is finished except buttons and buttonholes. Of course, my little man got into my buttons, and now I can only find 7 of the 13 (I think) that I need. Gotta do a major cleanup/button hunt of the sewing area or go out to the local fabric store and see what I can find. Don't want to wait for replacements to come in the mail... I'm too antsy to have it done at this point.