Pink blouse progress

Hello, everyone

Today there is a small update on the "Don't-Run-Me-Over Pink" blouse.

Progress to-date

The pocket in this photo, the lower pocket that is, had snap closures. I wanted to try putting a zip closure there instead, and turned to the Stash of Zippers.

They have their own drawer in the little plastic cabinet!

Sadly, no hot pink invisible zips are there. After crawling the internet and deciding not to order one--really, it would have been the only thing I needed and would cost a small fraction of the shipping costs--I conferred with DH and he suggested seeing if there is a zip that goes with the pocket stripes.

As happens, while there is no invisible zip in Ecru, there is one in Natural which is only a tad lighter than the pocket trims.

So, in addition to installing snap closures down the front and hemming the bottom, I will try adding a zip on the pocket opening.

The hot pink blouse has cousins, so to speak

Hello, everyone.

The blouse under construction, from the February, 2007, issue of Burda, is close to being a TNT for me. Or it was! I'm out of practice on collars, so there is no picture of the hot pink blouse today. It's a day of frustration!

Here are two of its "cousins."

In batiste, without a collar, and the gathered sleeves

In flowered shirting, with black collar and the gathered sleeves

Maybe tomorrow there will be a progress report on the hot pink blouse.

It was meant to be blogged on last year but didn't happen: orange top

Hello, everyone.

The orange top of the title has been mentioned in passing more than once. It was made to use up stash and to have a shirt to wear on the Camino Portugues.

The fabric is a nylon Taslan crinkle type, very light weight, and there is a mesh panel in the upper back for breathability. (Is that a word?)

attaching the mesh inner yoke

the mesh needed an edge, so a strip of the Taslan was added as reinforcement

"Feeding" the bronze chickens. Love the Portuguese street sculptures! 

The fabrics: the mesh was bought along with a red mesh, to patch a pocket in DH's pack that had been slightly torn on the return in 2014. A little snip of the red took care of that handily--and there was a yard of this salmon mesh just lying around, blending into the mass of stash. The orange nylon was bought at the same time--both from Fabric.com--and a Burda blouse pattern was used. (Link goes to a Pin of the pattern.)

The yoke seams have reflective piping, which is light gray, and there is an AB finish button at the front neck: a blue fish.

The light crinkle Taslan ravels quite a bit. It has a DWR coating, so moisture basically doesn't pass out of the top. Thus the mesh yoke!

Bearing in mind that the technical fabrics were all bought in late 2014, for the pack repair, and then the various 1 yard pieces were just sitting there, I call the entire project a stash buster.

It works OK for evenings but doesn't let out heat well enough to hike in during a hot day. 2015 had a lot of hot days. This top came out in the evenings.

Progress on the hot-pink blouse

Hello, everyone.

Today a small progress report on the poly microfiber blouse:

 The collar pieces are being assembled.

Bodice, with one of the chest pockets showing. (Stash ribbon for pocket trim) The pale strip going down the front edge is the organza sewn into the button area for a bit of stability.

This poly fabric being stiffer than the light cottons in earlier versions, the sleeves were positively wings when it was tried on. There are now pleats on the outside to control the fullness a little.

The fabric is not excessively hard to work with--it ravels a little, and the tightly woven microfiber often makes that popping sound when the needle goes through. I'm using hand basting to control slippage, just because the peached outside surface will get "stuck" after it slips out of place and be difficult to herd back into line.

One thing about this color of fabric: oncoming traffic will certainly have no trouble seeing me!

More on the tree ducks

Hello, everyone.

DD2 went strolling out along the edge of the field near the ducks the other day. She took my camera and had some fun with it.

 She got a lovely picture of the ducks, showing their bright bills.

She also caught a picture of a rabbit hiding in the grass.

A few notes about gear and sewing

Hello, everyone.

There has been sewing going on around here, and thinking about what to sew...paging through the mountains of accumulated Burda Style (formerly World of Fashion) issues and wondering which of the patterns would work with the stash fabric on hand.

There is a new top done now. It's cotton cambric, a smooth-finish fabric that is a bit like batiste. I still have over a yard left of this red fabric, plus there is also a chunk of blue that is like it. (Really need to learn to either make a decision or don't get anything!)

The pattern has been made before, in a linen-rayon blend with pictures of houses.

 The linen-rayon blend was comfortable to wear while traveling, and if folded right away isn't a mass of wrinkles. (The shorts were bought at Bass Pro Shop: nylon-lycra blend fabric, extremely comfortable, though I had to add a piece of elastic at the back waist and take it in a smidge so they wouldn't fall down! They still need a belt if the phone is in the pocket.)

 Some more stash used! Though now I remember that the cut-on cap sleeves are a little bit odd when I reach forward.

 Next stash usage project: a blouse, to use up the microfiber poplin in the collection. This has a peached surface on one side, and DWR coating on the other. With only one yard, there isn't enough to make an outer garment out of it, so it will be a blouse.

The pattern, except that the gathering on the sleeves may not happen. The fabrics they had in mind for it are lightweight stuff like the cambric, and this poplin is more of a regular shirting weight. Possibly the sleeve will get a small pleat instead. The possibility of a mesh pocket in the front darts is being explored. It would be a place to stick thin things, like maybe a passport or a keycard. It would also be a way to vent heat, as the pocket material is going to be mesh.

Y'all may remember the orange blouse with the reflective piping from last year's gear sewing. There was a mesh yoke in the back, under the fashion fabric layer, since the fabric (a crinkle nylon with DWR) was incapable of breathing. It worked out okay, but I mostly wore it in the evenings. It wouldn't be suitable to wear in 100 degree heat (afternoon hiking last year) as the heat had only the one mesh panel and the neckline to vent out through. (The odd remnants of the orange stuff, though, would make a usable pouch for various things.)

As far as purchased gear lately, besides the wonderful beige shorts pictured above, there is a merino knit wool dress from Icebreaker. (I peeked at their site yesterday, and while the gray I got is gone, they still have pink and also a lovely light aqua.) It is a tank style dress, and it's very comfortable. Works with regular bra straps, but not so well with the thin-strap racer back ones. (Bra straps creep into the neckline area.) I styled it with a bright long scarf and wore it to church and to official functions. It's wonderful!

Even in the Canicula (Dog Days), there is still Nature to look at

Hello, everyone.

As y'all have likely noticed, there has not been a lot of nature walking and outdoor photography lately. Something about lows around 82 (27 to 28 C) and highs around 103 (39 to 40 C) just discourages me from going out into the wilderness. Or the local parks!

This evening DH went outside and came dashing back in to tell me there was something special outside. The tree ducks were visiting.

zoomed-in shot of some of the tree ducks in the back field

more tree ducks in the field

These are the whistling tree ducks that are native to this area. Sometimes there will be a small group perched on the roof-peak of our house. (Haven't ever had a camera when they were there.) There are actually two varieties of whistling tree ducks, one black-bellied and the other not. They nest in palm trees locally, and hang out in drainage canals, golf course water hazards, and occasional park ponds. Their cry isn't a quack, nor is it that low-voiced squawking sound that mallards and domestic ducks make when it's dinner time. They whistle, or they squeak, and they do it while they fly overhead.

This visitation came around sunset, when the temperature had declined to around 100. (38 C) They will stay for a little while, maybe eat some bugs or fallen sorghum seed, and then they will take to their wings and go to their roosting place for the night.