We are Sewing - Along!

Are you "Sewing Along" with Gretchen and Peter on BurdaStyle.com? They are doing a fantastic job leading us step by step sewing the skirt and dress. In fact they are doing such a good job leading our Coats & Clark/Free Spirit Sewing Month Sew-Along, that I've decide to just "Sew Along" with all of you.


My very girly lunch box was my inspiration. I love the black and white accented by pink.


My first step was to select my fabric. I "shopped" in my fabric stash and found these positive/negative prints by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit. I have to admit it is a real perk to work on same floor as our sister company Westminster Lifestyle fabrics. The temptation to hoard fabric is irresistable!


For the "pink" I pulled one of our Dual Duty XP fashion bright threads, Neon Pink 9213. I'm not sure how I'm going to use it yet....Any suggestons?


Next I selected the pattern. Another perk of working in the home sewing industry is going to great sewing shows. The pattern companies will present a fantastic fashion show featuring their newest patterns which they just happen to offer in their booth at a terrific show price. I can't resist this temptation either. This skirt is one I purchased at the American Sewing Expo (which is coming up Sept 23-25 in Novi, MI by the way).


I'm old school-- so I've prewashed my fabrics and straightened the grain--which was easy since these are quilting cottons and were torn on the crosswise grain. It really is best to pre-wash fabrics to remove shrinkage. Even if fit isn't an issue, if your fabrics shrinks and the thread doesn't you will have puckered seams.

Next step: Fitting pattern (Horrors--must take measurements!), layout, cutting and marking.