Josephine Sews

During my prayer time I realized I had never thanked the Lord for giving me the gift of sewing and at that moment I thanked Him.  I am absolutely loving my sewing sessions lately - so much so I don't want to do anything else.   Lekala patterns is helping to increase my sewing joy right now. Through the years sewing has always been a joy for me.  It has been a stress reliever and my hiding place.  As of late the only thing I have truly desired is the time in my sewing room.  My house looks like a tornado hit it and I have 3 sewing projects for others that I need to start and finish.  I have been selfishly sewing for only for myself. Lekala has given me a respite from pattern adjustments and my sewing pleasure has sky rocketed.  I do not get paid for promoting Lekala - I just like sharing what is working for me.   Lekala S4006  is this posts pattern. I will admit I was a little skeptical about this one because there was only a back picture of the pattern but ultimately I decide

Oh my - I guess it had to happen at some point.  Lekala disappointed me with dress pattern 4603  👎. I was so excited when I saw this dress and was elated when I saw it only had 4 pieces.  I loved the drape of the dress and had the perfect fabric for it in my stash. I knew I could have this dress whipped up in no time. Lekala Dress 4603 I ordered the pattern and had it in my custom size in a 5 minutes.  I cut and taped the pieces together and that is when I saw the problem.  The back looked fine but the front looked a little short.  I checked the assemble page to see if I had left something out but I didn't. I held the back paper pattern up to my body and it looked good just like the pattern picture.  I held the front up to my body and thought surely I had done something wrong and looked at the assemble page and verified all the pieces were there. I decided I had better do a muslin first.  I quickly cut and stitched the front and back and tried it on.  The back was f

When is fabric hoarding not a good thing?  When you finally realize that there is absolutely no more space for your fabric in your sewing room and now your hallway becomes the new fabric storage facility. This year I have decided to use up my garment fabric stash instead of buying more fabric and it is an absolutely painful decision.  It means I don't get the rush of shopping for new fabric.  It means I may not have enough of the "right" fabric for a project I want to sew and have to use another fabric in my stash that may not be as "perfect" for my project. I just finished putting the final button holes on my shirt and it was a struggle to finish because I knew it wasn't the "right" fabric.  I did not have enough of the "right" fabric.  The right fabric was a rich solid navy soft drapery mystery fabric in my stash.  I'm glad I didn't let this blouse become a UFO (unfinished object) because of the fabric.  After I tried it on

2016 - what a year.  It started with what felt like a sucker punch in January.  Before I could recover from that blow, February floored me.  The rest of 2016 seemed to continue the same path it started - one crushing blow after another.  I still don't quite understand and still struggle to process all that has happened. There is something about the dawn of a new year.  For some reason the dawn of a new year brings a sense of renewed hope, a chance for change, and an opportunity to start anew.  No matter how I feel there are some truths that I can stand on. I know God loves me. (Romans 5:8) I know God cares for me. (1Peter 5:7) I know God have a plan and purpose for my life (Jeremiah 29:11) When the storms of life are raging, the Lord will be my shelter even when I don't "feel" it.  I thank God for giving me some "hiding" places in addition to his word and prayer.  I can hide in my baking and my sewing. Sewing Goals for 2017 I reviewed my sewing

Lately when I have tried to alter patterns the alterations have not gone so well and it has been so frustrating.  I am not quite sure what I have been doing wrong but in the past I have made plenty of alterations to patterns with great success.  Right now I am in a pattern altering slump of sorts. I needed some pure sewing joy and Lekala came to the rescue again - oh how I love Lekala .  I wanted to sew not fight with pattern alterations so I went back to the site where I give my measurements and get pattern custom fit for me.  The prices are awesome but you need to have some sewing experience because the instructions are sparse but sufficient. Skirt Front Lekala S3023 How I Did It I saw some fabric that would have been great for the front panel but I thought it was too expensive and I am trying to use my fabric stash.  I decided to recreate the look of the fabric with free motion flowers and fabric paint.  I wish I had taken a picture of my inspiration fabric.