Autumn Witches Tea Party!!!!!

Hey everyone,
The last couple of weeks has been a very interesting process. I have been totally dedicated to making something that I always wanted...happen. I don't know if I mentioned this before but I am a halloween fanatic and being one it's always a thrill to see the fall season take over. It's wonderful to watch the leaves change, to awesome hues of gold, orange and browns. The air gets crisper as the temperature cools down. Appreciating the natural elements taking place in the most beautiful way, excites me.
But most importantly it's all these changes that represents the most awesome Holiday of them all....Halloween. Well since I couldn't wait for Halloween, I decided for my Birthday I would do a sort of pre-party, pre-preperation, pre-holiday,gathering. In the guise of a birthday celebration.;) And what could be more perfect than an Autumn Witches Tea Party.
I have to say for the most part it was allot of fun. Most of my family memebers and co-workers came through. Which meant allot to me. But I have to say there was allot of lessons I have learned through this experience.
1. If you are a sensitive person.... Please make sure to invite people who are genuine friends, love to laugh, appreciate effort that has been made and drama free.
2. If you are a sensitive person..... Try not to take yourself too seriously nor the occassion...it's suppose to be fun.
3. Make the best of every situation and don't get caught up in expectations.
4. Make a mental note of things you can change and see what improvements you can make for the next gathering.
The list can get much longer than this but I think I will save it for another time.
One of my major concerns was the food, I figure I could save myself time and effort if I just concentrated on finger food. (Another lesson learned, if you just serve appetizers it will get very expensive.) I served the guest meatballs with teriyaki sauce, stuffed sausage and pepperoni rolls, pinwheel sandwiches, shrimp with cocktail sauce, bacon wrapped scallops, mini corndogs, chicken tenders, goat cheese with sliced bread and for desert the birthday cake with chocolate cupcakes. Yeah that wasn't my smartest move, but hey you live and learn.

These are a few pic's that I have taken of the day. The girls were allot of fun, and although things didn't go according to plan I still can say it was somewhat of a success. I hope to do it again.

I finally wore b5353.....yay!

Okay do you guys remember sometime last year when I was sewing this dress.


Well just to refresh your memory here is the link to the dress.

http://ambitioussewer.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=10



Unfortunately it was to a funeral. There is a story behind my kind of sad excitement. I had to attend a funeral my husband's uncle passed away after struggling so long with emphysema and other ailments that were slowly destroying his health. May he now rest in peace. Since this was someone special to him, I wanted to make a good impression with his family (since we don't see each other often) and that always starts with a good appearance. Right?


So for the last couple of days I racked my brain trying to figure out what I was going to wear. I bought a beautiful black dress from Kohl's a few months back...but it was a little too sparkly for such an occassion. But I thought it was my only option but honestly I didn't want to wear it, I didn't want to look like I was going to a cocktail party. So I just kept thinking until I went into my closet and started putting outfits together lo and behold there she was just looking back at me with an attitude....something like "what chick you forgot about me!". I was so happy to see her again. It was like my world made sense again. (Believe me people I was a nervous wreck.)

All I had to do was to hem the dress and stitch some miscelaneous things together and she was done. I was sooo happy!





I am relieved and elated. I still have some work that needs to get done...but for now it's just right.

Now...here is something that I cannot understand. Since when funerals became an informal occassion. Some people walk in making me feel like I was in the wrong place. At some point it seem like some people have walked in after a picnic or beach party. Is there any formal occassions left to dress appropiately to anymore?

Problem resolved.....I think?

So I decided to go with option two. I figure if I am going to the fabric store it's going to be for the right reason...and that's to splurge....lol

So here you can see I used the same fabric as the back portion of the dress. I figure it might add a little more pizazz to it than to use more of the plain blue. I hope it looks that way. I simple measured the portion needed to cover my under arm and created this piece....I am kind of proud of this creation because it looks like it was done on purpose...lol My next project is inspired by Mimi Goodwin....I have been wanting to do this for a long time. What is it that I am ranting about? I am making a jean skirt with old pair of pants....which isn't a new concept according to my sewing constructor...but I am still excited. So that should be coming up soon plus the vogue dress I am working on, which should be interesting. Although right now I am very proud of it but...we will see how the final look turn out. Anyway ladies have a good night, A.S.

b4790 update....ugh!!!!

Well first things first....this dress is a little more misleading than what I originally thought. Okay, okay it was actualy all my fault. I resized everything which to me means making everything bigger. But there is a more logical and technical way of adjusting size patterns. Did I follow any of the rules ahead of time....NOOOOO!!!!! I had to do things my way which translates to the hard way. As you can see from the side of the front pattern... I had failed to make the appropiate changes which causes overexposure of my underarms. Can we say dumb!!!! So this means I have three options... 1) Leave it alone, 2) Make the appropiate changes and cut out a new front pattern 3) Make adjustments that would require some creative solutions. Hmph!!! I don't know...my husband thinks option number 2 is best but Im' lazy (no just difficult) and I really don't see why I need to recut anything if there could be other options ;). But maybe I will take his advice and go to the fabric store which would give me a reason to get more fabric. Hmmph...When I think about it...that might be a better idea. He is so smart.

I got an award...

I won the Versatile Blogger award. I was nominated by Sassy T Sews...which is a great honor. Thanks once again Sassy! Here are the rules 1. Add the badge to the winning blog page 2. Thank the blogger who gave it. 3. List the rules. 4. List seven (7) random facts about yourself. 5. Pass on the award to fifteen (15)(since I am late I will give everyone here in the blog world a break these awards are very rewarding but I suck at doing homework..and it will be converted to five bloggers) deserving and conscientious bloggers who are nominated for their diligence, demonstrated skill, and achievements in the world of blogging and specifically in the sewing related category. 6. Contact the nominated bloggers and let them know they are recipients.(no) Seven Random Facts (i) I love horror films and my favorite holiday is halloween. (ii) I love spicy food, but my stomach doesn't. (iii) I love the creative process of making dresses but I sometimes hate the final results. My clothes sometimes look like there are made of cardboard. EEEWWWW!!!!! (iv) I love everything about werewolves....it's a weird obsession. (v) I absolutely love food. Yeah that's not a secret. (vi) I love doing hair. (vii) I hope to be one of the greatest seamstress of them all. Or atleast make a dress without a problem. In no particular order 15 or in my case 5 deserving and conscientious bloggers. Now here are my personnal favorites. http://www.mimigstyle.com/ http://themahoganystylist.blogspot.com/ http://www.newdressaday.com/ http://sassytsews.blogspot.com/ http://www.ericabunker.com/ http://sew-misunderstood.blogspot.com/ http://sewingfantaticdiary.blogspot.com/ http://trinilove.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Rules 1, 2 & 3 check. Well, well, welll, I guess I am not that lazy after all and on top of that...I selected 8 favorites instead of 5 I orignally thought I would post. Not bad. Well I hope I satisfied some of the criteria of this award. And thanks again Sassy T. It was greatly appreciated.

Making it happen....

Hey everyone, just wanted to update you on my project. So far I sewed the skirt together..and added the back portion of the dress. I am just wondering how I am going to treat the back since I added lining to it. But I will figure it out. Anyway here she is.

I am hoping everything works out....so far it hasn't been hard, which makes me real happy. I will just take it one step at a time and try to do my best. Hope all is well, A.S.

Fear....

I have all the pieces cut out for my project for the last two weeks....and everytime I have some free time I chose to distract myself I will watch t.v. listen to the radio and even worse go online, watch different sewing videos. But won't touch mine, then I realize that I am actually afraid of ruining my dress. It's weird I know I can do this but I second guess myself without even giving myself the opportunity. It maybe because I am a perfectionist and I hate making mistakes, it's the real reason I have a sewing instructor. I want a product that is finished with no errors, mistakes, issue, or drama. One of the reason I am hesitant is because I decided to use an abstract cotton print fabric on the back. Now that would mean the actual fabric will be a lining in the back section. Now do I sandwich the skirt between the two and sew them all together then flip the two sections together and treat them as one. Does that make sense? I don't know but I am going to have to figure it out. I will demonstrate what I talking about the next time I post. Another question is this has anyone have a project that they are intimited by? As always Have a good one, A.S.

Butterick 4790....

I am so excited about this project. Why? Well it's the first out of many that I will be trying to do on my own. What really got me going is the fact I read the instructions and it seems like it's going to be a simple dress. This one is in fact one of the easiest dress I have ever attempted to do. Now don't get me wrong I know somewhere in the process something is going to throw me off but I think by now I am ready. I originally wanted to do this in a gray and black pattern fabric, but somehow I got distracted and saw this amazing cobalt blue poplin fabric that was so beautiful and brilliant I knew I had to have it. So I purchased seven yards of it along with another fabric which I won't mention because I have no clue what I will be doing with a pink and yellow silk embroidered material.

So far I have adjusted the sizing of the pattern and cut it out. Hopefully everything will go smoothly if not ..... well you will be the first to know.

I hope everyone enjoy their Easter holiday.

Have a good one,

A.S.

Update....

Hello everyone,

As usual.... I have been M.I.A. No worries though I am working on a pattern that is not so easy to work with. It's Vogue 1239...it's an unnecessary nightmare. But I can't complain too much I have a wonderful sewing instructor to guide me through this dizzy process. You know it's like me to pick out the most challenging dresses to only find myself having a nervous breakdown over it. I think I have a deep seeding urge to want to torture myself....but that's another story for another time.

Now what the hell is wrong with Vogue and there instructions... seriously it's almost like learning a freaking whole new language and on top of that they have the nerve to put in ridiculously stupid freaking, dumb ass extremely unnecessary steps to constructing a garment. Who needs that f@#ing pressure. I want a dress, I am not suppose to feel like I am doing statistics. I looked at the pattern instructions and I was so confused I turned the pattern upside down hoping it would make more sense. I looked like an ape trying to read a book. I hate when a pattern instruction makes me feel inadequate, I got a mother who do that already..lol. (that was a joke mom)

Now this is the fabric I am working with....so far it's been a real pleasure. I bought this from a textile fabric store for 6 dollars a yard...and I have to say this has been one of the sweetest deals I had the pleasure of taking advantage of. She is silky on one side but have a canvas type of material on the other, so it's absolutely easy to manipulate and work with. It drapes beautifully and I can't wait to see how it looks on me when it's done. The lining is a biotch though....but since I have 7 yards of it left I am using it until it's done.

Okay, as always I shift from one obsession to another....I am a new fanatic for Alexander Henry fabrics. There is one called "Lady Yang" that got me going nuts. When I first saw it I new I had to have it... I was so absolutely in love with the fabric print pattern I couldn't deny myself. I am not going to tell you the embarrassing details of my search for the fabric...let's just say I got it from JoAnn's and my eyes started welling with tears. It was a moment....I wonder if I bought a whole bulk would that be pushing it.

I know it's weird to love a fabric the way I love this one....but I do love her. And the awesome thing is that she is all cotton. It's just to good to be true and being the person I am I hide her in my room so if something would happen to me...then at least my spirit will be at rest knowing my Lady Yang is okay. Yeah this love is deep.

Just dealing....(work not sewing related)

I have to state first and foremost...I am not perfect. I have flaws like everyone else and one of them is my temper. I am not a person who enjoys confrontation but if need be I will engage. At work I realize the hard way I can't let people in.... because at the end of the day work is work, and outside of it is my "real" life. Work is only there to support my lifestyle not be a part of it. I state this because I need to know whether I am in the right or wrong.
I have a particular supervisor who sometimes have a tendency to be moody....and being a moody person myself we don't always get along. I especially despise how she sometimes treat a particular individual at my job and since I don't want her to treat me with such disrespect.... I decided awhile back that I will only interact with her, when it comes to the job itself and not go beyond that. Now she is upset that I no longer engage in conversations outside of what we have to do? Now am I wrong for taking such precaution or is she being immature?