Funshine, New Blouse and a Surprise Visit

Yes!  The sun is shining today.  So much better.  I am so much more energized than I was yesterday with the gray skies.  I've been running all day like the Everready Bunny.  I've washed the clothes, cleaned up some of the Christmas decorations and I have finished my latest "muslin" that is actually a very wearable blouse.  I took pictures for you, of course.

You have to know the story first.  I found a darling jacket at JC Penney's when I was Christmas shopping for our Mom's.  I was in what I consider the "Granny Department", but I kept finding the cutest things for myself there.  Now, that I have lost -- drum roll ........................

on my DESM diet -- a total of TEN POUNDS,  I can now put on a garment in the store, and it fits me in the neck and the waist and the belly and the hip.  What a DElight.  I brought home so many new garments for myself that my credit card is probably having a nervous breakdown.  Yep, I'm down from 157 to 147.  And that means I lost even through Christmas.  That shows you how much we aren't included in the family festivities. 

ANYWAY, I found a darling jacket which you will see in a minute, but the blouse they had hanging next to it that was supposed to MATCH it, did not match it at all.  It was quite a bit off, and I couldn't believe it was a set.  Therefore, I bought just the jacket and decided I would make my own blouse to match.  Next problem was WHICH blouse.  I went through my zillion patterns, and I came up with Butterick 5610.

I decided to make the white/black version with the inverted pleats down the front and straigh hem.  I first, of course, had to make a muslin.

So here is the muslin made out of some cute navy blue fabric I found in my stash.

You can't really tell there are inverted pleats in this picture, so I took this picture for you:

I decided I didn't want the pleats to open up over my belly, so I sewed them up from the hem to my waist.  I think this will look better on the red blouse I'm going to make.

And here is a pic of the little-bit-too-big armhole for my PR friends:

Here is a picture of this blouse UNDER the jacket so I can see if it is a good style for the jacket:

I think it looks fine, so I put up the two pieces of red fabric I purchased to see if they matched good enough.  I think they both look good.

The second one is a shiny satin, and the first one is a linen look with little lines running through it.  The one in the store was a strange bright pink color.

And what was the surprise???  I had an unexpected visit from my daughter, and we got to talk -- well, I got to listen -- for over four hours.  I think she may have missed her Mom a bit over the last year.  I sure did miss her!  Things aren't all better by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a start.  You never quit loving your kids no matter what they do.

Gotta go.  Gotta sew.  One more blouse, at least, before next year!

Hugs, Joy