Shopping with a Camera

I have been known to enter and then exit Joann's without purchasing anything!

I have, however, been known to use my cell phone's camera, or even my digital camera, to help me remember what I've seen.

Click on the picture to see my album called "Sewing Fabric Seen."  This does not mean that I bought or ever intend to buy all of these fabrics, but at least something in each picture inspired me in some way.

Sewing Fabric Seen

Here is another album called "Styles" which contains shopping inspirations, both online and in physical stores.

Styles

Do you use a camera when you shop?

PS: I rearranged some albums, and here is the album showing outfits I have worn:

Styles Worn

Dickies are Neck Warmers

I made two dickies for my mom for Christmas.  I merged two patterns to make them.

I started with the wrapped collar from Stretch & Sew 333 View B, upper right:

The bodice is from Kwik Sew 2812, View D, upper right:

It was easy enough to merge these two patterns.  I traced the size Medium bodice from the Kwik Sew pattern to get the overall shape, then I laid it over the bodice piece of the S&S pattern to get the neckline for size 40:

The collar was traced in size 40 of the S&S pattern:

Notice how I mark notches:

I made this for my mom a few years ago, and found that I had made short bodice pieces.  I traced new bodice pieces and placed the old bodice pieces on top so you can see the difference:

I prewashed the lightweight fleece I got at JA's on sale.  I use vinegar in the rinse instead of fabric softener, which gives a waxy coating.  I used a size 75 stretch needle for the whole project:

All seams were stitched with a 1/4-inch seam allowance.  I stitched the back seam of the collar, and the shoulder seams of the bodice:

I pressed open the back seam of the collar with my fingers:

I turned the collar right side out, then aligned and pinned all the notches:

I matched the front of the collar at center front and pinned the layers together.  I also basted the layers together with large zigzag stitches:

With the bodice wrong side out, I marked the center front and center back with pins.  On each side of the front, I placed one pin about 1/4-inch forward of the shoulder seam:

I inserted the collar assembly into the bodice with the collar right side out, and the dickie wrong side out:

I started by pinning the center front of the collar to the center front of the bodice:

I pinned the collar to the bodice, matching all notches and adding a few pins in-between:

While pushing the seam allowance towards the bodice, I held it in place with topstitching:

This shows how well the topstitching holds the seam allowances:

Here are the finished dickies.  The blue one was made with the shorter bodice pieces:

I know my mom will like these because I asked her what I could make for her, and this is what she wanted.

Win-Win!

Here is a camera tip that I used while making this project (and the fleece socks).  I took a picture of the stitch settings just before using them.

For seams, I used this stitch - a narrow, longish zigzag:

I used a large, three-step zigzag stitch for topstitching the neck seam allowances.  This stitch was also used when tacking the heel seam allowances on the socks (click here):

For ALL the pictures, click here.

Next up - a couple of really easy projects!