Kwik Sew 3156 More Casual Clothes

Aloha Online Ohana!  How was your Christmas?  We had a blessed time with family and friends here in Maui.  My extended family, in central Oregon, kept sending me pictures of the beautiful snow covered trees and mountains, so in a way I felt like I had a taste of a typical traditional Christmas like I used to celebrate in the mainland USA.  I'm still getting used to these warm sunny Christmases even though this was my seventh one!  But I guess to all my sewing buddies down south, warm Christmases are not that strange!  

The above picture is a new discovery for me.  It is a house built on a cliff that you can rent for events near Kapalua.  It is walking distance to Kapalua Bay, which has fruitful fish sightings if you want an easy place to snorkel.  Wouldn't this be a neat place for a wedding reception?  The view is amazing.  Beyond the house is a place where you can jump off the rocks into the ocean.  The day we were there, the water was rough and surging and quite majestic.  

Oh, but this post is really about Kwik Sew 3156.  I made a combination of the tops shown in view A and B.  My top has the neckline of view B, but the sleeves of view A.  I still seem to be in the mode of sewing casual clothes.  However, Christmas brought lots of lovely new fabrics that have gotten the creative juices flowing again.  Here is a sampling of some of them.  I can't wait to get started.

I used a stretchy, heathered-mauve, french terry for this top and sewed it with the wrong side showing.  I finished the sleeve edges and neckline with the right side of the fabric folded over onto the wrong side of the fabric.  Then I topstiched both with my coverstitch machine for a deconstructed type of look, because the raw edges are showing.  The top can be worn with or without the self-tie, which isn't included in the pattern.  I made the size small and did not make any fitting adjustments.  I did cut a strip of fabric for the neckline binding.  The pattern would have you finish the neckline like the hem, by serging the edge then folding over 3/8" and stitching it down.  I like the shirttail hemline.

I don't know about you all, but one thing I really need to do is clean up my sewing space!  It has gotten out of hand.  I plan to do that with the free time I have while the kids are on their school break.  Today is also special because it is my birthday.  I would love to celebrate with a give-away for one of my crossbody bags.  How about Turquoise Tropics?

If you'd like a chance to win this bag then leave a comment, with an email address where I can reach you (like this: upcountrymom"at"yahoo"dot"com) saying that you'd like to be included in a random drawing to be held on December 30, 2012.  My boys love to pull a name out of a hat, and it has been a little while since my last drawing.  Thank you to everyone who stops by to read and comment.  It's been a great year!