Christmas in July

 I bought some Christmas motif snuggle-flannel last winter when it was on sale.  I stashed it away and forgot about it until I found it when straightening my stash.  I think I will make a shirt now so it is ready for the Holidays.

This will be perfect fabric for Simplicity 2741.  I use small and add two inches to the sleeve length.  This pattern has a continuous-lap sleeve placket, so I substitute a simple tower placket from another pattern.

I am using my Domestic sewing machine I bought at Goodwill a few years ago and can't believe I never blogged about it before.  It is friction-drive and the handweel goes away from you.  It is the same as a White Rotary, so I used my White buttonholer.

I decided to serge the seams with my Homelock  523.

It turned out bright and festive.

Thanks for stopping.

McCall's 8264 Slacks

 I found McCall's 8264 on sale at Joann's and thought I would give it a try.  

I am making view D, the others have cargo pockets.  View D doesn't have rear pockets, so I am going to add a welt pocket.  I watched this video for making the pocket.

I fall between sizes, I am about a 31" waist.  This means I will make the size 38, which should fit a 32" waist and slim it up at the waist.  I also will be adding 4" to the inseam.

I found some black fabric at Wal-Mart in the pre-cut pieces that should work nicely for the muslin.

I am using my White Sewmaster 611 for this project. It is a straight-stitch machine, even though it has three levers on front. 

The muslin turned out as I suspected.   A little loose around the waist.  I took them in an inch at the seat.  Then I realized the rise was extremely high.   They come up past my bellybutton.  

Extremely high rise

It is not evident on the front view, but on the rear view of the model you can see the high rise

Model's view

Time for a new muslin with 2" removed from the rise.  I have not shortened a rise before, so I looked in a few books to see how to do it.  I ended up using KwikSew 4045 as a pattern for the shorten line.  Thankfully, the pockets didn't move.

I bought some fabric from Wal-Mart for $2 which will make a nice muslin.

I decided to use my Bettina 731 for this muslin.  I have had this machine a long time, but I haven't used it lately.

Now that the muslin is done, I decided to move on to the slacks using some material from my stash.  I am using my White Euro flair 8910 for these.

I serged the seams with my Brother Homelock  523.

I finally finished them.  I don't know where or when I will wear them.

It would be a good pattern if it didn't have the high rise.

Thanks for stopping.