Our construction project here at home took the lead tonight, but I managed to get a little bit of sewing in. I put the invisible zipper in my skirt and got the facing ready to sew on. I didn't manage to get a photo taken, there were just too many things happening here at our house. During one part of our construction we had to move our bedroom downstairs to the basement and tonight we moved back upstairs. Our room is not totally finished, but it feels good to be back on the main floor.

I doubt I will get any sewing done tomorrow evening, since my wonderful husband is taking me out to dinner for my birthday. We have had some snowy weather this evening, but I think it will be fine for going out tomorrow evening. I'm looking forward to the evening.

Too busy

I really wanted to sew tonight, but I was busy with other things. So as to not be too disappointed in myself and my evening, I managed to sew up two seams on a skirt that I am drafting. I tried it on Sue Ellen (my body double) and I will have to take the back seam in. The front fits fine and the side seams line up with the sides of Sue Ellen. I think I must have cut something incorrectly or else my muslin is wrong. Hopefully tomorrow I can figure that out. I will also try to post a picture of what I have done so far. I really want to have it finished before Friday, so I can wear it to Form Draping class!

Classes with Jennifer Stern

Today we had our first Jeans class with Jennifer Stern from J Stern Designs and it was great. Jennifer is a wonderful teacher and lots of fun. We tried on muslins today to figure out which size to make in the jeans pattern. Then we traced our patterns, made alterations as necessary (Jennifer did the fittings for all of us) and then cut out our own muslins. It is two weeks before the next class, so we will sew our muslins before then and take them into class for a fitting and continue working on them in class. I am really looking forward to our next class.

Welcome to my blog. My name is Sueann Walter and I am the wife to a wonderful husband (everyone should have one like mine) and a mother to two grown children. This blog is about sewing (mostly.) I grew up around sewing and other needle arts. My mother made many of the clothes that my two older sisters and I wore when we lived at home. I remember fondly the prom dresses that she made for me and they were among the prettiest dresses at the event. After we all left home, my mother took up crocheting and quilting. My grandmother (my mother's mother) crocheted and made quilts. I think my grandmother must have made several hundred quilts in her lifetime along with many, many afghans and doilies. I still have some of the quilts my mother and grandmother made. I also have one quilt that was made by my great grandmother. Alas I have never made a quilt and I have only made one afghan in my life and it took me years to complete - I decided it is not a good activity for me.

I learned to sew in high school and excelled at it. I sewed regularly for several years after school and then just on and off while raising my children. Then about 4 years ago I discovered a certification program through the University of Rhode Island called the Master Seamstress program. It was just what I wanted to bring me back up to speed and get me back into apparel sewing. I took the year long course and have taken many additional courses after that. Now all I need is more time to sew! I'm working on that though.

I am currently taking a course called Draping and the really cool thing about it is that you make a duplicate of yourself for a body form. The first class you have an assigned time and you go and get wrapped in plaster cast from neck to the top of your legs. The instructor and an assistant are wrapping you and it takes about 20-25 minutes. Once they finish, they cut the cast down the front and back and slip you out of it. The next step is to plaster it back together using the marking they made to match it up straight. We then took the cast home to dry. Before returning to class, we plastered up the neck and arm holes, leaving the bottom open. We coat the entire inside of the cast with a good layer of Vaseline. Next we go back to the second class with our body cast, dressed in old clothes and pour a polyurethane two part foam into the cavity and watch as it bubbles up and fills the cast. We take our foam filled cast home with instructions on the finishing prep for her. (The gritty, dirty work of getting the cast loose from the foam!) It was a thrilling thing to see her come to life (so to speak.) Sometimes the foam gets an air bubble and you have a hole that needs to be filled in. I had holes in the tops of both of my breasts. My darling husband fixed her up and has now decided he is somewhat of a sculptor (which I have to agree with since he did such a lovely job.) After getting her cleaned up, you hook her to her stand and cover her with a knit fabric and put twill tape on all of the important measurement lines.  Here she is: