Just Because It Is No Fun...

... if you neglect necessary sewing, you might get something like this:



This is a couch cushion; One side is opened and fillings are coming out. 

There was a tiny opening between fabric and zipper the other day, but I pretended not to see it. Who knew it would become this mess? 

Usually, the culprit of this kind stuff is Leo, but not this time; He is a rare cat who has no interest in thread or cushion fillings.

Not Me!

It was this one!

Zzzzzz...

Chester is usually a good boy but he loses his control when he sees anything stringy. I guess he pulled all the thread off the zipper and dug the fillings to find more...

... but I am not mad at him. He became seven years old this month. I love that he still has some kitty moment every once in a while. Happy Birthday, Chester!

Now, back to cushion sewing...

Floral Jacquard Dress Revisited

One of my favorite past projects is Carolina Herrera inspired dress (blogged here). I enjoyed every second of the project: buying the fabric, analyzing the details, adapting the patterns, making the muslins, and assembling the dress.

When I posted the picture of this dress on a sewing forum, Stitcher's guild, under the title: McCall"s 5466 + Vogue 8555 Dress, Kathryn of I Made This! said - "The way you added the netting at the hem area of the red/black dress for a faux ombré look is pure genius. "

Did she say ombré look?

I have to admit that I had never noticed that the netting gave the dress an ombré look. All my attention was given to the details like where the seams were, how the prints were oriented, etc. I was not seeing the forest for the trees, wasn't I? Well, that was my Aha! moment. (Thanks, Kathryn!)

So I told myself: When it comes to analyzing the design, looking at it from a distance is as important as examining the details.

Since I never had a chance to look at the original CH dress, I could only imagine how the netting was applied. Having said that, here is what I did for my dress: I basted the netting to the hem of the dress, sewed it using tiny zigzag stitches along the flower design, and cut the netting above the stitching line.

Adding the netting or sheer to the border-print fabric to create ombré look is indeed a brilliant idea. I cannot wait to use this technique -which I would have never known if I did not knock off CH dress - in the future. 

Parting shots: Sleeping kitties - don't we love cat's funny sleeping position? :)

Leo sleeping on the ironing board, using the fabric origami iris (blogged here) as his pillow.

Chester likes to sleep right in front of me when I study. I have been studying for the coming actuarial exam since my last post: Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti inspired coat has zero progress because of that...

Baby Leo :)

Until next time, cheers to you all!