Holiday Season

 
Sorry it has been a while between posts. I am doing more baking a the moment than sewing. Today I think I will be making some chewy ginger cookies and maybe some white chocolate holiday cookies. These are also ginger flavored with white chocolate chips. If I get really ambitious, I may also make some snickerdoodles.

The first thing the recipe instructions say  is "1 cup butter softened". It is so cold here the butter will have to sit on the stove top for a while to soften. It has been hovering above and below zero here for days and it looks like it will be several more days before it warms up. Baking will make the house feel warmer and cozy.

I did do just a little bit of sewing yesterday. I have been really busy getting everything ready for the company winter party and it dawned on me that I had better figure out what I was going to wear. I knew I wanted it to be warm, and I did not have time to deal with a lot of pieces or details or have time to go shopping. This was a time for tried and true and stashed fabric to save the day.

McCalls 6468 was on top of the pattern stack and I had made view C this summer to go with a summer dress. Besides having sewn one of the views earlier, it is a loose flowing top- no fitting needed. I picked out view D and started looking for some fabric with the proper drape. The first fabric I found was a leopard print. The drape was good, but there was not enough fabric. The second choice was an extra piece of fabric I had purchased because the bolt had been double wrapped when I purchased a piece for a blouse earlier this year. The pattern called for more than either of the double wrapped pieces were alone, but I got a good deal by purchasing both pieces and getting the remnant price for the little bit that was not quite a yard in addition to the first yard. As it turned out the fabric was wider than I expected and I did not end up using both pieces. I also did not have a plan for the second piece so it was in the stash, waiting for a purpose.

I cut it out Friday evening before I went to bed and sewed it in the morning. It took about two hours to sew, mostly because of hems. There are eight total pleats on the front shoulders and four seams. The hems took most of the time, but even that did not take long. It is a slick fabric and dark, so I used tailor tacks to mark the pleats. This was quicker than locating a light marking pencil and easier to see on the dark navy print. The cape like top was just the right touch to keep me warm.

Tailor's tacks

Happy Holidays!