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EOM Port Essoauria: V7937 Pencil Skirt

Hmm, I know what you are thinking...."I thought you totally threw your EOM collection away with all those knit dresses you have been making..."

Ahhh,, not quite so.

In fact, a little break is good, it keeps the mojo going, NO?

I made M5522, I did so with the intention of also making the skirt to wear with it and that is why I never posted a photo of me in it, because its mate was not ready yet.

 

Initially, I was not planning on making A.

I wanted to do view C but I decided to do a muslin of A and I had to a lot tucking and clipping to make it fit on my waist and hip right. While my mom was here she helped me fit it but I couldn't finish it because my sewing machine got sick.

The Fabric I got from Metro Textiles, its soft and used the London pretreating method to shrink it. I hope you can see the back its really had to see it in this color fabric.

I am going to make view C but in a grey wool,,,, maybe in a couple of weeks. This was a quick sew project once I got the fit down right.

 

In other news.....I spent Labor day cutting patterns and fabric so I have a lot of things on my to do list as usual.

 

Monday I wore B5242 but my dh was MIA for photos, so I will have to pics of that the next time around.

 

As for the new Mccalls patterns, I will definitely make time to put in my two cents about that later but as for now,,,,

   

The top is See by Chloe and if I can get my hands on some silk charmeuse, its over...

more later.

 

EOM Port Essoauria: s3506 and medical update

Where do I start.

I hate hospitals and there is a good reason for this... gosh,  I feel like I need to apologize to all medical personnel before I start venting, because I am IRRATE. I am not even playing.

This whole thing started when around 10 am Monday morning.

I started to get a headache, which turned into inner ear pains, which turned into a migraine beyond belief. I text my dh and told him to meet me at work so we can go over to the ER.

Riddle memorial is 1 mile away,,, remember this, because you will hear it again.

So, there I was, checked in, the nurse comes in, she takes and X ray, an intern comes in and start to check my breathing, I told her where the pain was and she starts to feel my neck.

The look on her face, I thought she saw the mark of death on me. She said she is going to get a doctor. He comes in, feels my neck, then immediately call down to Ultrasound to tell them I'm coming.

At this time, I am very scared, like no one is saying anything, stuff is just happening.

Next minute, I'm in a wheelchair and going down the hall to ultrasound.

The lady that is doing the ultrasound is looking even more worried and she is calling back to ER to update them, apparently she is seeing a LARGE MASS that is spreading from the windpipe to the back of my neck.

Okay.....

Back to the ER. I'm on the bed, then the intern and nurse comes in.

The intern is sitting on a chair in front of me and she is patting my leg asking me if I'm okay.

Immediately I started to cry, I was like,, how bad is it, do I have to go into surgery right now.

She says no, but I have to stay tonight so they can do a biopsy in the morning.

This is 5:30 pm -Monday Night

So,,,, I stayed the night, no food or drink until the biopsy can be done,, cool, no problem.

How about...... at 11 am the next day,, still no BIOPSY.

I kid you NOT

and guess who is starving getting all types of GAS pains,,, MOI

I paged the nurse and she comes in, I ask her when the Doctor will be in to see me... mind you,,, I haven't seen a doctor since the first ER doctor looked at me the day before. She said he will be in later.... Okay...

so I asked, what time I'm I getting the Biopsy, she is going to Look me in my eyes and tell me, THEY CANCELLED IT.

............. I am a calm person, ask anyone, but I swear the devil was getting into my body when she had the nerve to tell me some mess like I'm not getting the Biopsy they purposely retained,, and made a big fuss about me getting and worse of all, I am starving. I stared at her in utter disbelief and told her, I am hungry and I need to know why I'm still here if there is no Biospy to be here for.

She leaves and comes back, she said they schedule an MRI instead..........

Okay... so when is this happening?

Nurse,  " Oh,, we really don't know, it can be anytime, now or even 6 pm tonight"

I said,, "NO THE HELL IT'S NOT HAPPENING AT 6PM IN THE FREAKIN NIGHT"

OMG

I said I want to leave now.

She said she will be right back.... I promise you, in less than 10 mins, I had breakfast on my table and an orderly with a wheelchair ready to take me to MRI.

So tell me, why is it, that you really have to act like an ASSHOLE to get some damn service.

I get back from the MRI which is an experience I don't want to have any time soon and I called for the Nurse again.

Where is the doctor?

Nurse "He is not here, he should be here at 5:30 pm"

5:30 pm?

You mean to say, I had to stay in the hospital all day just to get an MRI, which I could have done on my lunch break,, seeing that I work, 1 mile away from the hospital, I am not plugged up to anything, I haven't gotten any meds and even worse, I haven't seen my freakin doctor to tell me what the hell is going on with me.

okay.... OKAY

Do you know what time the doctor came to see me?

7:30 pm last night... yes, TUESDAY NIGHT,,,, more than 24 hours after I was admitted into the hospital.

And guess what he said?

"I will like you to stay until tomorrow so you can do the BIOPSY"

I said, ABSOLUTELY NOT

because said BIOPSY was suppose to be today and that didn't happen, I am not staying here another day so you guys can run up my medical bill and not give me the damn biopsy tomorrow.

He looked at me incredulously....

I told him, he needs to discharge me, I will schedule a biospy in the morning.

Now, the nurse, even though she acted accommodating, she was seething the whole freakin time. She was so mad, she ripped the tape up from my hand to get off the IV and I felt like I was being waxed.. I was so HOT,, I was so passed HOT, then she is going to ask me if I need something to cool me down.... My discharge paperwork...

Oh I was so MAD

So, the biopsy is a go, but not until next week, I have to pray and hope that nothing happens to me before that. When the night nurse came in, he was mystified, because he was looking over my chart and was stunned that they retained me for absolutely nothing at all. Everthing, that was done to me could have been done with me on an outpatient status.

Oh I am so MAD........

On a positive note

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers, I need it, because I still do not know what is wrong with me and I'm praying that nothing doesn't happen to me before I could figure it out. Its really stressful, really, I can't stop thinking about it, I am in LIMBO right now, its so confusing and hard to explain.

and one more thing,, my dress

taken monday morning before the whole ER thing

Okay Ladies, I am going to get some rest, its going to be another long day tomorrow

 

EOM Jetset: Jalie 2806

I guess I brought it upon myself......

I don't think I dress a certain way for work, I just put on clothes, look in the mirror and if it looks good, its a go and if it look like its lacking something, I tweak it.. you know?

But apparently I do,, because when I got to work this morning, one of my coworkers asked me if I was feeling okay,,,, I was like,, "yea" and she was like, you haven't been looking like yourself lately,,,, well, I guess I've been really tired lately but nothing much to talk about,,, she looked at me incredulously,, up and down,,, and said,, "okay then"...

When it happened the second time, I was kind of intrigued

I don't think this looked that bad?

I mean, they did say casual for the day before the audit, I mean, this is casual,,,, IMO.

The third person, commented on my shoes, we talked about shoes for a while,, as in, what will be hot for fall from what I saw in the magazines, then the question came up again... "are you okay, you look kinda pale?".... "it may be the black" I said,,, "no,, its something though",,, did she mean pale, or plain,,, hmm,,

I did notice that "the office" as turned into a scene from the Devil wears Prada, when I first started there, everyone wore jeans and tees or a shirt and now its like,,,, "is this new?", every few days".

I find this interesting, peer pressure maybe?

I can say, that compared to most, I was severely underdressed, Oh well, take it or leave it, lol

oh,, and about the top, well, its easy, I added a little more ease to the arms and hip because the measurements didn't match up with mines on the flat pattern. The fabric I used is way to light, so the top doesn't have enough body, so I may just where this a couple times more and way it home after that. I was supposed to make the tulip sleeves but changed my mind when after a first attempt the sleeve flounced out like an umbrella, I guess this pattern is not suitable for light weight 4 way stretch jersey.

I need to get back in the game, need to do some work on my collection,, positive affirmations!!!

more tomorrow

EOM Gnaoua MFes: M5661 & S4236

He said, "an individual can improve her style, but it is better to be born with it"

Karl Lagerfeld

hmmm, maybe so, maybe not....

Are you ready?

Fastforward to Phase 2, as I talked about previously, GMfes is all about going out on the town, a step up above jeans and tees.

I had to include looks for "later events" but my lifestyle right now doesn't require anything too formal, so my dilemma in finding something that can be dressed up and dressed down had to be solved.

I figure I can wear the skirt with a white shirt to work, or the top with some tan pants or whatever.. so many possibilities, don't even get me started.

S4236

Revisited, this time I added a yoke which I self drafted, once you have sewn a few skirts, a yoke is ridiculously easy to make with your waist measurements and totally winging it, trust me.

The piping was a first time for me and I did it with a regular zipper foot, surprisingly easy. Remember my inspiration for this skirt?

I stopped in Ann taylor to check it out, looked simple enough so I knew what I had to do to get the look.

To mimic the topstitching I used a twin needle, the seams are in between the twin needle stitching, looks pretty cool and it was super quick without using an edge stitching foot.

The invisible zipper is on the side.

M5661

Previous photos here

Well, I knew this was going to be a special project when the fabric came.

I got it from Waechter's Silk Shop,,, such good quality and great presentation.

After the Muslin was made I had to add the FBA (1/2 inch) and shorten the blouse.

Now this is where I must say.. clearly I don't make a muslin for everything but I had an instinct about this blouse and thank goodness I did, because I would have never known I had to "shorten" it, I have never shorten any of my patterns and as Belinda pointed out, I should be because I have a short torso,,,,, okay,,, I have a short torso?

So,, you mean to tell me all this time I never realized I have a short torso area,, sheesh, oh well, what is done is done, moving forward i will take this into consideration.

This pattern was very helpful, once I figured out what was wrong I could look at the pattern and know exactly where to add (FBA and hip) and where to take away (sway back and length). The instructions are awesome for construction and it was very easy to adjust for the zipper (fold in the placket and add seam allowance for the zipper.

Oh the sleeves, can't forget this.

You know I always talk about adjusting my sleeves, these fit just right, which leads me to believe that it may be bigger on a person that use there sleeves straight out of the pattern,, hint, hint.

and let me tell you,, if you ever want to work on your patience skills,, wash silk cotton,,,, then iron it, this piece has much more silk than cotton in it and boy..... did it wrinkle something fierce.

If you don't say a bad word or two, you are NOT normal, lol

I know the back photo doesn't really show the fit of the blouse because its tucked in, but it fit well, I will post a better photo of just the blouse in the back later.

Hey Tany,, guess what I got?

My dh must have picked it up because it was on my ironing board when I got home this afternoon..... this is going to join me on the couch in a few, How fabulous are you?

Very

and I have to hook you up girl,,, soon!

Enough,, is enough

you know there is always more.

EOM Gnaoua MFes: M5661

Its been a uber productive weekend. I finished my Phase 2 and now I can relax and take another couch vacation for a couple of days.

No sneak peeks this time, this post is fully loaded.

review will follow with photos of me wearing it.

If I sew this week, I will be tackling the muslins for Phase 3. It has 4 garments, but 2 needs to be fitted correctly and I need to do a run through with another one to make sure I know how to sew it before I mess up the fabric.

you know how it goes.....more later.

EOM Jet set: Jalie 2794

What do you look like at 6:30 am?

This is me at 6:22 on the dot!

lol

and before that, some white pants and silver flats, but that was way to"newport" for monday morning!

I just didn't feel like "dressing for work" but surprisingly I made a lot of "waves" with my new Jalie top.

Let's back track.

So, what happen was..... I always liked it, but not loved it. I am not a sweet-heart neckline kinda girl. But when Melissa did her version,,, well,,,, I thought,,, hmmm...that is interesting!

and let me tell you something about Melissa,, that girl, is an ENABLER, yeah,, didn't know that huh, lol

I like that square neckline, frame your face yada yada, you know how I do it. I had to get on board.....

Gosh,, I guess we have to go further back than that

So,,, there I was in metro textiles handing Kashi bolt after bolt and my eyes glazed over this magnificent print. Looking at my collection of bolts waiting to be cut, I had a moment of indecision. Of course, Kashi was laughing at me, he said, "you should get it, it will look good on you"

yeah right,,,,, nudge nudge, wink, wink, lol, that is what you are suppose to say.

Did I tell you blue is my favorite color, I simply do not know what happened, miraculously it was in my box with my fabric days later when it showed up at my door,, I seriously,,, seriously, can't remember ever consenting to this................

okay I said yes, and of he went on cutting but it was not a whole hearted yes, just a "let me turn the other cheek, maybe you will sense, I shouldn't be buying another piece, while you are cutting my opteenth piece of fabric" yes.

You understand don't you...

okay,, back to the top.

I knew,, knew in my heart that this piece of fabric had to be this jalie top, and I bought it and when I got it at home, I had to but the white detail on it,, come on, doesn't this say summer on the beach,,, essaouira, morocco, come on!!

Love this pattern

I added a little ease just for good measure on the arms, just because I usually do, but I could have winged it, its FABULOUS, and now I am flying the Jalie flag because I love this pattern so much,,,,,,, get it, get it,,, get it,,, get it.

Let's see, white wide leg pants, white capris, white wide leg shorts, white linen skirt, black linen skirt, black wide leg pants, black denim pencil skirt with the silver buckle, black crepe pleated skirt with the cover buttons on the waistband, denim trouser jeans... and that is just me sitting here without even looking in the closet, lol

more photos

So,,,,,, today, one of my other co workers threaten to quit, so I really have no idea what the situation will be in the morning, seeing that she was cleaning out her desk before I left,,, wow,,,my cheerleading team is dwindling,,, dwindling I tell you!

BTW,, hi Dru, if you are reading this post, I got your email but everytime I try to reply, your mail bounce back, so email me again okay!

oh,, I got muslin problems everyone, so more later.

EOM: Gnaoua MFes Phase 2 Intro.

SHE SAID, "Remember, how you dress tells the world what type of person you are, however you don't need to wear 7 inch strappy heels to express your sexy side, after all, due to the infamous laws of miscommunication, you may be seen as more trashy than sassy, hey,,,,,,, you know what I mean right? Sometimes a red silk tie front blouse is the best thing, sexy and safe..."

-lunchtime conversations

In Retrospect...

When I started looking for inspiration for my collection, it was the Gnaoua World Music Festival that takes place in Essaouira, Morocco that I saw on the Travel Channel that pursuaded me to learn more about that country.

Maybe you know about the celebration of  Carnival in Trinidad,, a seriously big deal and its all about the Music and good times, being carefree and united with one another. I think the Gnaoua MFes can run parallel with the spirit of what Carnival is all about.

In short, I love the concept. Its not about Moroccan music only, but world music, Jazz, pop, etc.

That being said, when I think of Music, I always tend to think about the notes, black and white on a literal platform.

Then I think about the energy that excites you when you are listening to the music you love and I feel some red should be in there also, this will represent peace, love and unity.

That is my main colors (black, white and red) based on what spoke to me from the idea of Gnaoua Mfes.

In Reality.

It doesn't matter where you are in the world, you need pieces that you would use to "hit the town", go to dinner, go to listen to music in the park, like the concerts we have here in Philly at Penn Landing in the summer time. Something pretty, not to formal, so you can wear it in other situations too, versatility is always good. Breezy, not to restricted,,,,, oh maybe you like tight stuff, whatever is most comfortable to you is what goes here.

and now,,,,, introducing Phase two

EOM Gnaoua Mfes

A step up from jeans and white shirts but just as comfy, lol

Ah yes,,,only four this time and two are done,,, yes D-O-N-E. Okay, okay, just a little peak..

Isn't this fabric FESTIVE?

I used a tutorial from a blog for these pockets,,, more on this later!

 

and my TNT pattern from the She's so pique-culiar collection

this basic pattern has endless possibilities as you have seen.

so that is what's up right now. You know I like to start the week right around here, lol

and more photos from EOM Jet set will follow, just have to get them taken, which is really what's holding everything up.

Happy sunday and I hope you have a fab week too,,,,,ahead.

toy

EOM Jet set: B5223 White Pique Cropped Jacket

Finally....

My new BFJ,,, ever!

I wanted to get photos of me wearing this jacket for work and play which was the intention of making it. I will keep this in point form to keep it short and sweet!

1. So I needed a cropped jacket and I needed to use the pique I got for this.
2. I saw this review and fell in love with it, I emailed her and she told me if was easy and to make my normal size that I used for butterick patterns
3. I loved it because it reminded me of this dress,,,, which I also haven't worn but I am going to when the right occasion comes along,,,lol
4. I started about 9 am on a sunday morning and by 3pm I was done, watching a movie, everything cleaned and packed up.
5. No alterations.....
6. Except for the bound buttonhole which I used this tutorial for.
7. Its unlined, so I guess it will take you longer if you planned on lining it.
8. I wore it with this top, and a pencil skirt for work and the simplicity 2892 in the casual pics
9. I love it, love it, love it, the collar is so flattering expecially for my round face and I love the swing style and the pleats in the back, lol
10. This is a collaboration of view A and B.

Okay,,,, pics

front

back

 

bound button hole and buttons

Front/dressed for work

and another one

and front casual

one smiling,, one not smiling, lol

so if you are looking for a quick cropped jacket, maybe you should try this one, and now,, back to my icecream.

wow, we are almost done, next post will be the knit tops!

EOM Jet set: Simplicity 2892 (e) Embossed Cotton tunic

She said, "...getting around the main cities in Morocco using local taxis can be a huge hassel, its better to take the train if you can, better to just rent a car if your stay is short. Learn some basic Arabic or French and dress comfortably, it can get really hot and that makes getting around even more frustrating..."

                                                                                            -excerpt from a Travel Message board

So, maybe you are a Short Distance Traveller, someone who's idea of a get-away is not travelling 22 hours to middle earth but more like 2 hours to an outlet mall or fabric store. lol

Which is more my speed and for that I like my dark denim jeans and white tops, yes, I wear a ton of white with blue jeans in the summer its like a uniform around here.

This top took me two days, I am so serious, I would have bet that this would have been an easy sew project but there was a lot of handstitching involved.

For the Yoke, which is the top piece, you need 6 pieces; back and front yoke, lining and ruffle and all of these have to be gathered, baste, machine stitched and then hemmed down by hand, you will definitely get the couture experience with this one if you want it to look good.

But the directions are good.

I made this out of an embossed cotton I got from Joanns last year, my inspiration was

This is Jcew's Deco Dot Zoey Dress that is made out of embossed cotton also. I'm sure they would have a fit to know my fabric cost 5 bucks for 3 yards, lol

But I didn't really wanted a dress, so when I saw simplicity 2892, I figured I could make a lining that would be a little longer to use up most of the 3 yds I had. Its a little longer than I wear my tops but it works well for my low rider jeans, to keep me crack free!

This top is like a knit, in that you can't iron it so its basically wash and wear which is awesome for vacations, we were talking about having those tops that we can wash out in the hotel and through over the shower curtain to dry.. lol, woo hoo, the stories I can tell.

And I used French seams,, oh at least that is what I think it is, because the fabric is sheer enough that you would see the serging below and light enough so that the seam finish would not look bulky.

more photos here

and one more close up

so hopefully next time I can get some photos of my butterick jacket on, I think I'm going to wear it to work sometime this week.

Moving on,,, remember my fabric for 06-2008-107 well, I'm almost done, it was a really quick sew, now I am soliciting ideas for a color that would work best for the bottom,,, let me know what you think.

EOM Jet set: Photos and Progress update

My sewing and plan is the new ongoing lunch time topic, I must say, my coworkers have been a great source of motivation, pushing me and keeping me going through my planning and now, implementing of my first set of garments, its so much fun, and I'm still so excited, I can't even describe how I am loving this process.

So, as promised

and

In the beginning..........

Because of our Regional Staff, there is a lot of employee's that come in from out of state for major meetings. The concept of Jet Set came up when we were meeting at lunch, somehow the conversation of my inspiration of Morocco, turned into, how do you choose your clothes for a business trip in the summer months?

Good question!

Its hot, goodness knows how long its going to take you to get there, and I would think you would want to be very comfortable.

I said, I would do a black or navy pants,,, just to stay professional but with some stretch, a light cotton short sleeve top, not to stiff, with a print to show my creative side (after all, men do it with ties) and walk with a matching jacket or cardigan,,,, preferably cardigan, so my creative side don't overwhelm my professionalism, lol,, DONE!

Plus after the day is done, I can put on some jeans with my shirt and go out for a drink with my coworkers, which we do when they visit.

This was another aspect of my planning, making sure that everything can be multipurpose, I like to be able to use 60% of my closet for work and play, because it takes a lot of time and money to put together a pretty decent wardrobe and I want to get the most out of it.

Okay, more rambling as the time goes by

here is another sneek peak of things to come

While writing this post I got an email that my fabric for 06-2008-107 has shipped,, YAY, the Burda English Group is doing a sewalong to get everyone going with doing at least 1 bwof pattern this month, and I had to put it into my plan because I just had to be a good sport and join, lol.... I am a sucker I know, lol

So,,,,,

I will post my Fabric love portion of this post when I get the other piece.

As for my Progress, well, I am going to cut out and maybe start working on my Jalie 2806 tonight. This weekend will be about putting the finishing touches on my Vogue Safari suit so I can start on Phase 2 of my collection.

what can I say,, more later!