Marathon!

I may need to pull an all-nighter, at this rate.

Here's what's gotten into the queue this week, condensing my available time for the son's Cosplay jacket down to a bare minimum.

First this:

Prom dress #1 - needed three skirts hemmed,
and the straps tightened up a bit.  The most beautiful
shade of deep blue - the photo unfortunately
washes it out.

Rather than pull the entire bodice apart to tighten the straps, I
opted to open up the bodice lining/interlining/overlay up
at the strap insertion point and then restitch the shortened strap to all
three layers from the outside.  I'm betting no one will be able to
detect this stitching after about 7 pm.  :)

My favorite dress detail.  Probably EVER.

And this:

Prom dress #2.  One shoulder strap that needed adjusting,
the bodice needed to be taken in, and this one had
FOUR skirts that needed hemming.
Oh, and did I mention that the strap and waistband were
covered in beading?  

The bodice had to be taken in on one side only -
the other side had a zipper and I had to finish this
too fast to properly take the zipper out and adjust both
sides, which is the way you really should do it.  I opted to spend what
time I had reinforcing all the beading on the strap and on the waistband
along the zipper instead - this was a brand-new dress but so many
beads were already loose and falling off!

Close up of the strap - I had to shorten it by about
an inch - which meant removing about 70 or 80
beads, and then reinforcing the ones that were left before sewing
the strap into the bodice again.  

This client requested a simple drawstring bag to take
to Prom, for money, ID and her cell phone.  I had
some ivory crepe satin left from another project, some more satin from
this project, and part of the original hem that got cut off I saved and then inserted into
the top of the bag to coordinate with her dress.  I found a tutorial here:
http://www.chicaandjo.com/2010/05/03/how-to-make-a-drawstring-bag/
Took about 25 minutes, start to finish.

Way to recycle that old hem! :)
Just wish I had had more time, I would
have put in two or three ruffles instead of just one.

Cinched up.  The bag measured about 7 inches x 9 inches
and she was really excited when she saw it.

And these:

Premade Minky blankets, which had to be unstitched, hooped, embroidered, and stitched back together.  

Overnight.  But it was for twinsies!  How can you say No to that?

And finally, this:

Working on about 60 purificators and finger towels for my church's Altar Guild.  These were samples that I had stitched out previously, but they needed them to be smaller (these are an inch high) so I resized them yesterday and stitched out the smaller samples since my embroidery unit was already in place.  Forgot to photograph the final result before I dropped them off for the liturgical coordinator to review.  Oops.  I think they will like the smaller versions much better.  The circled ones at the bottom are the design they liked.  (These are available here.)

Now - 54 pieces cut out; 54 pieces all marked, clipped, and ready to be sewn; one thrift store suit coat torn apart to recycle the shoulder pads & sleeve headers (can you believe it?  Not a single fabric store anywhere in sight sells shoulder pads for mens suit coats - in fact, only one pattern company even carries a pattern for a men's suit coat!) - it was a great bargain, as the coat only cost $6 and I can use the thrifted wool for a purse or something.  If I can get the Sewing Assistant off of it long enough.

Speaking of whom, he INSISTED on helping with my son's jacket, every step of the way.  Or every SIT of the way.  He even went so far as to pull pins out while I was in the process of marking & clipping.  I think he got fired about 6 or 7 times today, only he kept forgetting and kept returning to work.  

The World's Largest Pattern Weight.  Not available in stores.

Somehow, I don't think he finds that last joke funny.  I'd better watch myself.....

I know where you live.