The Weekly List

i rearranged some priorities this week, so while i didn't accomplish everything on my list, i am happy with what got done.

first and foremost, i finished a mug rug for a swap and got it mailed off on friday.



in the lower left side of the picture, you can catch a glimpse of some pink toes.  as usual, i had help!

i also whipped up this simple, but cute cross stitch from a book i checked out of the library to see if i really did want to buy it.



the cross stitch has a small error, but i'd already done so much ripping out of stitches for such a tiny project - it's in a 3" hoop - that i decided just to leave it!

i also decided to focus on one quilt at a time and got my purple bee blocks and improv quilt basted and quilted and got the binding machine stitched to the front.  the handstitching is getting done while M and I watch a few more episodes of Top of the Lake tonight after dinner.

as a final project for the week, i sewed up a dress yesterday.

actually, i think i sewed most of it twice, because the pattern, McCall's 5466, was a big fail!  i made the version A bodice with no pleats and scoop neck, with the version C full skirt and shortened the long sleeves to a short length.  everything about the dress was too big (except the sleeves)!  the neckline gapped, both in front and in back, the bodice was too large, as was the waistline. and the back neckline came up oddly high, which caused the top of the zipper to poke out.   of course, i didn't figure most of this out until i already had the dress mostly done, including having put in the invisible zip.

it took a lot of ripping out, including the zipper, but i was able to take in 2" in the front by adding a center seam to the bodice ans tapering to about 3" below the waistline seam, and took out about an inch more in the back by ripping out the zipper and tapering the center back seam from the neck to the waistline, while also making the back neckline lower.  this also allowed me to take in the waist.  unfortunately, taking out 2" in the center of the bodice made the bodice darts fall in the wrong place, so i had to rip out both darts and redo those as well.  the bodice from center to shoulder is still too wide, and there's some gaping in the back that some more darts might fix, but i'm frankly done with this pattern!

at any rate, my dress is now completely finished, and while it's by no means fantastic, it's a decent, simple dress for the blazing hot summer!




so, on to the goals for this week:

---> piece backing for Hope Valley quilt
---> cut out and sew dress from AMH voile
---> cut batting and baste Hope Valley quilt*

* - this depends on whether or not, and when, we go out of town for the holiday, as i won't be sewing while we're gone