I think I'm going to try to write the post I was thinking yesterday.

Yesterday, we returned home from a week away with family. We hit snowy roads both coming and going and ending in a few inches of fresh snow at my doorstep. After you've been cramped in a car for hours on end, shoveling snow feels wonderfully fresh and fun. All three of us were out shoveling or brooming the snow and generally feeling glad to be home Afterward once inside, I got that feeling that I should immediately start unpacking and going through the mail, but I let myself wait. Instead, I sat in my gray armchair and knit the last ribbed inch of the sock I've been working on, as the last half-hour of sunlight-on-snow lit up my window.

I love the December holidays and the busy, merry-making parts of winter, but I've also come to love the coming months, the cozy months of winter, because there's really no reason not to sit and make things and have a little tea and watch a movie snuggled on the couch. I plan on being here plenty during the cozy time. During the busy time, there was just too much going on for me to have very much good to say!

But I did make a lot. These little sewn things were gifts for my nephews, ages 1, 3, and 9—an artist and two boys who certainly are not adverse to tossing a ball. The pencil case is of course Kathy's pattern as seen in Last Minute Quilted Gifts, and the balls were this pattern from the purl bee.

First thing's first: A big thank you to Amy Karol for sewing Simplicity 2599 in Liberty. I love this poppy print so much and this was exactly the right thing to make with it. So given that I exactly copied that idea, there's not a lot of creativity put into this top in my part, but there is a nice amount of pattern manipulation—I tweaked it to fit me right.

I loved Melissa's Truthtelling post of a couple months ago—so much good advice about picking a pattern. Among other things, Melissa writes about what she looks for in a pattern as far as style goes. What things would she try on in the store. I had been nodding my head in agreement until this part, until I realized that some of her definite do nots were some of my definite dos. She says nothing that gathers at the waist for her, and I say, "yes, please gather at the waist! (Just don't squeeze it.)" She asks, "Where are the darts?" and I say you'd better be careful where you put those darts, buddy. So then the light bulb went off—we have completely different bodies. It shouldn't have been such a surprise, but it was. Now you know I love checking out flickr to see how patterns I am considering look on many different people. Being able to compare real bodies in patterns might be the best way to decide if one is going to work for you, but you have to be honest and aware of your shape. I think I consider these things when purchasing a pattern, but I'm pretty sure I'm not always honest with myself about how something that could look really cool on other people just might not look cool on me. But, OK fine, now you're at the point when you've chosen a pattern but what size to cut? Here's another falsh of knowledge from Melissa's post—I remember reading some time back on her blog that she cuts the same pattern size that I do. Good gracious! How would that ever work? The same size for two different bodies? How is it possible that anyone ever gets good results when sewing from a pattern? Enter my prime home sewing problem—The Small Bust Size.

General small bust problem: The pattern companies are not thinking about you

Sewers in the know correct me if I'm wrong on this fact, but most patterns are designed for a C cup. If you have an A cup and you cut a more fitted pattern as-is, you may end up with puffy fabric at your bosom. This is very disheartening. The pattern maker does matter some here, particularly if you compare Japanese patterns to American patterns. Japanese patterns are generally more boxy and less fitted, and I've found that works well for a small bust.

Small bust problem #1: Cup Size

A number of modern patterns are starting to include different tissue pieces for B,C, & D cups. This is a really great start. It doesn't help those of us on the ends of the spectrum, exactly, but it gives us something to work with. If you compare the different pattern pieces for B, C,&D, you'll notice that the main difference is the size of the triangle which you pinch in to form the dart. Bigger bosom=bigger triangles. Great, right?! If we want to fit a smaller bust, we just sew a smaller triangle right? Not quite so fast. If you simply cut the same pattern and sew a smaller dart, the fabric you cut is still there, it's just outside the dart instead of inside the dart, which means you have random extra fabric in your shirt, which makes it puffy feeling in the armpit. No one likes this. I think if there's one thing we can all agree on, it's nicely fitted armpits. I made the mistake of trying to fix a dart this way while sewing a vintage pattern, and here's the puffy pic to prove it. (Doesn't this shirt look like a dentist or a lunch lady? Also, BTW the small busted ought not sew vintage blouses. Torpedo bra anyone?)How do we resolve this? Oh, I had my clever seamstress friend, Sarah on the phone trying to figure this one out. Here it is: Before you cut your fabric, you need to make your side dart smaller on your pattern so you cut less fabric right there in the bust area. To do this, pinch in the middle of the dart on your pattern and just fold the extra tissue down. Keep the dart as long as it was, just make it a smaller angle.

Small bust problem #2: Side darts

If you have a small bust, you can use a side dart, but it could take a lot of manipulation (see above). Even after all that, it might not be quite right. For example, on my Simplicity 2599 Liberty top at the top of this post I cut the smallest cup size of the multi-cup, just-my-size pattern and that pretty much worked, except that the darts were under my bosom. Now, this could be because I'm on the petite side, but I think the pattern didn't account for the fact that when you have smaller breasts, the center of your bust is higher on your torso. Good thing I chickened out and made a muslin first before cutting into the good stuff! I fixed this problem by taking a half-inch tuck in the pattern above the dart.

Back to side darts. How to ditch them: One of my all-time favorite patterns, Simplicity 4077 doesn't use side darts for shaping at all—it uses front darts. This works great for a small bust as it's much more subtle, just like us, the small-busted. Subtle.

Small bust problem #3: Sidelinin' it—the side seam and bust-to-waist ratio

The side seam was a major point of contention with my gray McCalls dress. This pattern has seam shaping on the front. I should have been rather hesitant to try a pattern with seam shaping in front, but I wasn't really putting the proper amount of thinking into fitting my bust at that point. The pattern had cup sizes and the front luckily went OK, but oh the side! (See diagram.)

The pattern company adjusted for cup size on the front, but they didn't adjust at all on the side. I do not have a V shaped side. Because my chest is not terribly much wider than my waist, I do not need a lot of extra room at the top to accommodate it. How to fix: If your body has less of an angle at the side seam, just sew that seam with less on an angle. Instead of keeping strict with your 5/8 seam allowance, allow the seam allowance to grow bigger as you stitch from the bottom to the top of that seam. Warning: in patterns with sleeves this will affect the size of your armpit hole. I find issue #3 to be more of a problem with sleeveless tops than ones with sleeves.

That's my take on it. There may be more correct solutions, but this is what I've found through trial and error. If you read this blog because you know me and not because you like to craft, and you really never wanted to hear me say "bosom", I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you've read too far.

I'm listening to the happy funny sounds of Elie and Eva in the kitchen making some sort of crumble. They're saving the cherries from rotting in the fridge. Eva wants to know, actually, why the cherries are so much bigger than our wild plums. Something about "cultivated varieties". I'm trolling through the blogs because sometimes after a bit of a Monday all I can think is, "Good God, show me something pretty!" Thank you for that.

And maybe this is something pretty back. I started this dress back in June, and I was bound and determined to finish it up this weekend. It's been sitting in a pile in the dining/sewing room mocking me. If I didn't finish it soon, I would be sad. There comes a time in the summer season when unfinished projects serve as a reminder of all the things you thought you'd get done this summer but just didn't quite get to. Ha! I have turned it to a victory. But oh, it was a struggle. The top was sized wrong for me, and I had to re-sew the side seam a few times, and there was hand sewing, and I always dawdle on arm hole facings. In the end though, I love it and it fits. It's McCalls (McCalls? Who sews McCalls?) M5801. I possibly even made it in the same fabric (linen: black weft tan warp) as the envelope—weird. The sash isn't in the photo, but I made that too. I may have bought the pattern in part because I liked the funny little smirk the model has. I wish I had thought to smirk like this in the photo.

The headband is from the Anthropologie sale room in Shrewsbury, NJ. I like it, even though I don't think I can wear it to work. It's a bit distracting.

Last night I had a couple hours on my own, so I cut out these shorts for Eva, and then I sewed them up this morning. There's nothing quite as easy as shorts, and I had been owing Eva these. I bought a bunch of Heather Ross Far Far Away about a month ago, and I chose the frog prince print hoping that Eva would like it, and lucky me she did! She liked it enough to request that it be used for something for her before I even made the offer. How gratifying. We looked through the patterns together to find something she would like to be made up into froggies. There were some very tempting dresses, but in the end we decided that the shorts were more practical. Eva has many dresses that she loves, but doesn't wear much because they don't let her do her favorite summer activities, you know, climbing trees, doing cartwheels, etc. The shorts are letter "o" from Girly Style Wardrobe. I did them in size 140cm, the largest size in the book. Oh how sad she won't fit these patterns for much longer!

hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Oh, Stylish Dress Book! How you are filled with stylish dresses. This is my first stylish dress book pattern,—so excited about the book before I made it. I envisioned making every single pattern and then making a gallery page just to show each piece next to its letter. When I write it out it sounds even more crazy, especially because I know there are patterns in that book that I would never wear. I just love the idea of the book so much. In practice, I am not actually a Japanese model, and the voluminous tops don't drape in the same way. This top is letter B. It came out rather poofy in the front, and I was just going to embrace it (even though someone else in the house called it a mumu), but my mom had the brilliant idea to gather up the front under the bosom. Perfecto! Now I love it.

Used some of the Liberty I bought when I went to London last summer. I don't think I even blogged about the fabric I bought then, but it was so exciting. I happened to hit Liberty on their annual clearance and customer appreciation sale. Bonus. Also, did you know they have remnants there? They do. It took me so long to cut into the fabric because it seemed so dear, but then after a year of not using it, it made me more sad to have it go unused than it made me anxious to cut it. So!

Today was our first day of school here. It was completely uneventful, and now we have to start thinking about schedules again. It makes one realize that what is really especially good about the summer are a those unstructured evenings. Ah, well.

A couple months ago I bought myself some of this Nani Iro Fuccra print because I had really loved it for a year, and I thought that if I waited any longer, the fabric wouldn't be available anymore. I bought enough (just) to make a top, but I had a bit of a time deciding which pattern to use. I wanted flowy and drapey, like the nani iro pattern book cover, but not so flowy and drapey that it didn't have shape. No tailored button-up shirts. I found the pattern I used on yoshimi the flying squirrel's flickr pages, and it seemed just right. It's Burda 7834, and my first Burda pattern. I think I would have like the nani iro pattern book too, but I didn't want to order a whole book and then wait for the order and then have it maybe not be quite right. I'd like to see more of what people have done with the patterns in this book. I guess I'll have to keep my eye on the nani iro flickr group.

A word about double gauze: This was my first time working with double gauze, and I didn't realize that it was actually two layers of gauze until I cut it. I though double gause was a term for a fancy-thick double weave. Now I know!

Quilting again. Thanks goodness! I am still surprised (although at this point I probably shouldn't be) at how therapeutic quilting is for me. Ahhhh.

I've been behind on my one quilt blocks, and it's given me that nagging feeling of owing, even though I know that the whole one quilt project is rather relaxed and that no one is up-to-date. Really we're all just a bunch of sweet, talented, and very busy people working in what we can into a combined project. Anyway, I decided to do a one-for-you, two-for-me on the blocks to get me back into it, while still allowing me to be excited about some spring projects.

This particular blocks is Nanette's genius. Flour sacks and Japanese navy—how awesome is that? My quilt blocks are usually geometric or follow a pattern of some sort, so trying this freehand style was new (and fun) for me. No wonky seams though. I couldn't quite get it right in my head, and there was something funny about trying to get wonkyness and failing.

And, I'm back to making border on my medallion quilt. I am bound and determined to be not too far off when the quilt a-long ends in May.

Color decisions can be so hard to make. It's especially difficult when buying online, but even right up close, the perfect color is not always obvious. I spent a bit of last weekend thinking about color choices, and I plan to spend a bit of this weekend implementing them. I'm dragging my feet.

Hancocks of Paducah carries the whole line of kona cottons, which is awesome, but I'll be darned if I can tell what the color will look like from the little online swatch. You know what they have for that very reason? A color card! It's so cool. I feel like I have the key to all colors ever of fabric. Sorta. I think the kona is missing some subtle blues, greens, and grays, but I hear Amy Butler is going to do solids and that should fill in the gaps.

This last bit o'color is for the little glass-front cabinet where I'm going to keep my yarn. I hope it works out. I was going for mustard-marigold, and I hope I don't end up with something too sunshine.

It's been a week since my little girl headed out for some time on her own with her grandparents. From what I hear, they are having a lovely time with continued plans for fun.

The photo was taken before she left. She was playing the role of the bored model—being made to try clothes on repeatedly for fit, sick of it but acquiescent. The flower patch pocket is the same one that I used in this apron a year ago. (Still a favorite apron for me.) It looks so cheery and kid-like in these pinks and cutsy prints. There is a bit of fabric from my most recent shirt in the petals, so yes we could do coordinating mother-daughter outfits if we wanted to. Scared of that. The flower is that little bit of quilting that I was working on during the plane ride from San Francisco. I really liked having that work to do on the plane, and since I'm taking off again tomorrow, I think I'd better get some pieces cut.

So, I'm happy to share that the dress above will be featured in a book published by Lark. Absolutely A-line (the title) takes a simple a-line dress pattern (Simplicity 5284) and shows you different ways to change it up with embellishments, shortened bits, added ruffles, etc. My contribution is the patchwork pocket. The book is due out in about a year—I think it will be a pretty cute book!

So you know the Virtual Quilting Bee, that wonderful communal-ish quilting project started by Mama Urchin and completed by 11 talented others? I loved that idea. So did Meg. Together, Meg and I decided to start a similar project, which we're calling one quilt.

It's the same premise—12 talented quilting women make one quilt block each month. Each woman is in charge of sending the starter fabrics out for one month, and she then receives the fruits of that month's labors. So each woman receives 12 quilt blocks, enough for one quilt.

See the participants and follow our progress in our flickr group.

It's going to be fun.