IT'S THAT TIME.... PROM SEASON

It's Prom Season!!!  That's right, it's that time of the year already.

I have 2 dresses and a male jacket to make.  I'm starting off pretty good this year, I've met with all of my clients, I took their body measurements and discussed the garments they want to have made.  I've purchased the patterns, I've scheduled a trip to Sarah's Fabric Store for all of my clients.  Sarah's is one of my FAVORITE places to take my prom clients to purchase their fabrics, they have such a wide selection of fabrics.  If I can't find what I want at Sarah's my #2 favorite place is Vina's Fabrics which is across the street from Sarah's.

I'm getting an early start on making the muslins for each garment, I've already cut out one pattern and I'm working on laying out the muslin.  I don't want to be stressed out near their prom dates. Prom season is VERY BUSY for me but I love the look on my clients' faces when they see the final product.

I will not be posting or blogging the pattern numbers or showing pictures of the final garments until my clients have posted them and have given me permission to post their pictures. 

For now, the work has begun. 

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Your talent is God's gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.  

                                                                                                       Leo Buscaglia

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! COATS, VEST, TOP AND SKIRT

Happy New Year! I know we are just about through the month of January but this is the first opportunity I've had to create this blog post. I stopped making resolutions years ago. I'm going into 2020 with goals to accomplish for my sewing business and some personal things as well.

One of my goals is to blog more this year, In 2019 I let A LOT of content go without blogging about it and it was a busy year for me.  I was teaching sewing classes in my home, the classes grew so much I had to move my classes out of my home and into a sewing studio where I rent space to teach my sewing classes.  I taught A LOT of private group sewing classes as well.

Another one of my goals is to replace my Ready to Wear (RTW) clothes with clothes that I make. For every garment I make, I will remove a RTW garment from my closet. The goal is to eventually have 90% of the clothes in my closet what I made myself.  For example if I make a skirt, I will remove a RTW skirt from my closet. I did remove a few things from my closet in 2019 and I donated them.

Moving forward my blog will not only be about sewing it will be about all of the creative things I do from sewing, cooking, gardening and teaching sewing classes, my blog name says it all "LaToriaSewCreative".  LOL!!!

Now onto my first makes for 2020. I had a 3 month nice long break from teaching my sewing classes, so I decided to make myself as few things before prom season starts.  I didn't make as much as I wanted to but this is a start.

I made 2 coats (as the pattern calls it) and a vest from Simplicity 8265 it's very easy and quick to make.  You can dress them up or down as you will see in my pictures. This tan knit fabric was given to me by a young lady in my Church, it was her mother's fabric.  I can't wait to wear it to Church so she can see what I made from it.

I paired this coat with two different skirts, I love both looks. The black skirt was made from Simplicity 1072. The patterned skirt is a pencil skirt I made last year that was made from my body measurements.  I also made the tank from Vogue 8138, this is my go to top when I want to make something quick.

This is what the top and skirts look like without the jacket. 

This coat was made from fabric from my stash. I made this coat with the slit on the sides which is View E. I paired it with the tank top I made and a pair of leggings I made a few years ago.

This coat has a back seam, for this particular one, because of the print I laid the back pattern piece on the fold so it could be one piece.  It turned out really nice.

This is what the top and leggings look like without the coat.

The last one I made was a vest, I purchased the knit fabric from Joann's Fabric, I removed some of the fabric from the back seam because I wanted a more fitted look with this vest and I shortened the hem by 4 1/2 inches.  I love the color red, I paired it with a striped dress I made last year.

 I also paired it with a pair of RTW skinny jeans. I can see myself rocking this a lot on the weekends.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my first makes in 2020.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Your talent is God's gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.  

                                                                                                       Leo Buscaglia

FIRST GARMENT FOR 2019 - Vogue #7762

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

At the beginning of the year I said I was going to blog more... well, it's now mid February and I'm just now posting my first garment of 2019.  Life happened and I've been extremely busy with teaching my sewing classes which I will blog about that as well.  Okay, so much for me being late with my first post of the year.

I made this beautiful dress using Vogue Pattern 7762 (which is out of print) for a dear friend who's also a client. She contacted me to make her a bridesmaid dress. The bride told the bridesmaids she wanted them to wear black, the dresses didn't have to be the same.  I made this dress for my friend/client before in red in a shorter version.  The beauty of this dress are the two-piece sleeves with slit shaped hem line and narrow hem. I'm going to make this for myself in red also.

PATTERN INFORMATION AND ADJUSTMENTS:

Pattern Description:

Semi-fitted, straight dress, below mid-knee, has side front pleats and back zipper slit with elbow length, long and two-piece sleeves with slit shaped hemline and narrow hem.

Pattern Sizing: I cut size 22 

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope? Yes

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It was easy and it's a great fit.

Fabric Used: Ponte knit

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I made it floor length for the occasion. 

Would you sew it again?  Would you recommend it to others? Yes and Yes

DIY MIDI PENCIL SKIRT WITH FLOUNCE - PART 2

Hello Fellow Bloggers,

This post is a follow-up to my last post.

My students were excited to start making their pencil skirts, they came to class with several kind of knit fabrics they wanted to use, LOL!!  One of my students purchased tulle for her flounce instead of using her knit fabric.  When I first saw the tulle I had no idea how it was going to look but I'm a believer in letting my students be as creative as they want to be, if they're happy with their garment, I'm happy.

My students were working hard on making their skirts.

Here are my students wearing the skirts they made.

This student wanted to use tulle with the lips for her flounce, it turned out beautifully.

This student was very happy with making her first skirt.

Both of these young ladies have plans to make another skirt and they have signed up for another sewing class session.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Your talent is God's gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.  

                                                                                                       Leo Buscaglia

DIY MIDI PENCIL SKIRT WITH FLOUNCE - PART 1

Hello Fellow Bloggers,

I know I've been away for awhile, sometimes life get in the way of what you really want to do, but I'm back on track and I'm going to work hard to be consistent with blogging.

One day I was browsing through some sewers Facebook pages to see what my fellow sewers were making, I came across Kimberly Ellis-Fason's page where she posted she made a DIY Midi Pencil Skirt with a flounce and she posted how to make it on her Youtube Channel.  First, I LOVE Pencil Skirts, second I sometimes like to make something that's quick and easy which helps to build my wardrobe.  I decided to checkout her Youtube Channel CallmeKimberly to see how to make the pencil skirt.

Recently, I started teaching sewing classes in my home again. My students told me they wanted to learn how to make a pencil skirt.  How ironic right???  I had watched Kimberly's channel earlier that day, I gave my students the supply list for making their skirts for the next class.  I decided to make the skirt myself ahead of the class so the students could see how their skirt would look.

This skirt was quick and easy.  I will be making more, a black one and a floral print one too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Your talent is God's gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.  

                                                                                                       Leo Buscaglia

Off The Shoulder Dress - First Post for 2018

Happy New Year! 

This is my first completed garment for 2018, Simplicity pattern 1613, McCall pattern 7686 and McCall pattern 6575.

I purchased this fabulous knit fabric from The Sewing Studio located in Maitland, FL when I was there visiting my sewing sister.  I've been to this store twice, they have beautiful fabric.  From the pictures the fabric looks like it's velvet.


























I was invited to the "2018 Virgin Island Association (VIA) Winter Ball" by two of my girlfriends. 

The VIA Ball was a fundraiser to help rebuild the Virgin Islands affected by the devastation caused by the hurricanes.  The VIA-DC is a non-profit organization that actively supports the enhancement of culture diversity in the Virgin Islands.  Their fundraising efforts are to assist young, college-bound Virgin Islanders with annual scholarships.

Now, on to my dress.  Prior to being invited to the 2018 VIA Ball, I had lost my sewing mojo due to the unexpected passing of my mother during the Thanksgiving Holiday.  With that being said, to get my sewing mojo back, I knew I wanted to make something that was quick and easy.  The first garment that came to mind was an "Off The Shoulder Dress". I've made this dress before to wear to a wedding.

I didn't want it to look the same as before, therefore my creative side surfaced.  I decided to put a twist to the dress, I made one sleeve a bell sleeve, the other sleeve I made with a strap across the front of my arm that was 4 inches wide.  I wasn't too sure how this was going to look, but I said "what the heck", let me try it.  To my surprise it turned out beautifully.  I received lots of compliments on my creation.

I really enjoyed the 2018 Virgin Island Winter Ball.

I had to take a picture on the red sofa in the lobby.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Your talent is God's gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.  

                                                                                                       Leo Buscaglia

GIFTED INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINE

NOTE:  Last Post for 2017

I'm soo excited. I've been sewing for over 30 years and I've never owned an Industrial sewing machine.  Throughout the years I have purchased some very good sewing machines and they have served me well. As I grew in my sewing and I started doing a lot of custom sewing, I would say "I'm going to invest in an industrial sewing machine".  I have a few friends that own industrial sewing machines and they ALWAYS talk about how fast their machines are.  They told me when I get one, I'm going to love it.

I started doing research on different kinds of industrial sewing machines.  When I would visit one of my girlfriends that live in Baltimore, MD, I would always pass a store that sold industrial sewing machines.  The store was at a busy intersection, when I would get stopped by a red traffic light, I would look over at the store, it was not a fancy store, it looked as if it has been at that location for a very long time.  I mentioned the store to my girlfriend, of course she knew what store I was talking about, the name of the store is Stadham Corp of Maryland.  I called to discuss my interest in purchasing an industrial sewing machine and to check the prices, the prices with delivery were very good.  The man that answered the phone told me when I come to look at the sewing machine, if I decide to purchase one they will teach me how to use that particular sewing machine.  He told me I could make payments on the machine, once it's paid in full it will delivered and they will make sure I know how to use it before they leave my house.  I was getting very excited about possibly purchasing an industrial sewing machine.

Fast forward to the first week in July, I received an email from one of my sewing girlfriends asking me did I want her industrial sewing machine because she was getting a new one.  I had to read the email twice to make sure I was reading the email correctly.  Instead of responding to the email, I called her and asked her how much did she want for the sewing machine.  She said "I asked you did you want the sewing machine? LOL!!!  I'm GIVING you the sewing machine."  I was super excited, of course I told her "yes".  She told me I had to find someone to come pick it up from her house.  Well, that was a challenge for me, I could not find someone to pick it up, so I came to the realization that I would not be able to get the sewing machine and she would have to give it to someone else.  I called her to let her know I couldn't find someone to pickup the sewing machine.  To my surprise, she called me on July 4th to let me know that her and her husband would bring the sewing machine to me on their way to pick up her new machine.  I was elated, I kept looking out the window like a child waiting on Santa to come.  LOL!!!  They finally arrived and delivered my Gifted Industrial Sewing Machine.

It's a Consew industrial sewing machine, she had it for 15 years before passing it on to me.  The leg lift to raise the pressure foot doesn't work so I have to use my hand to raise it which is no problem.  She prethreaded the machine for me.  I downloaded the manual from the internet, the manual says it stitches 3,500 stitches a minute, now that's FAST!!!!  I tested it once, I don't use it as much right now because it's sitting in my family room because I don't have room for it in my sewing room right now.  Once I move it to my sewing room, I will definitely use it more.