Mostly Hydrangeas

Photo's do not do justice to the Hydrangea's this year. They are absolutely gorgeous! The purple cone flowers are just starting to bloom. I love the birds and butterflies they bring. Summer has been very interesting so far. So much nature going on in the yard and so little time to enjoy it. I'll be back at work tomorrow stressing over whatever is new to stress over. Hopefully, I will get another pattern at least cut out this week. I got some fabric washed and ironed before we went out of town so the next project should be at least laid out by Thursday. Crossing my fingers. Not holding my breath.

McCalls 5194

I have wanted to make the top (View C) from McCall's 5194 for a couple of years now. I had even purchased the same fabric from the cover photo then later decided I didn't have anything to wear with the grean color so I waited for something else to "speak" to me. Two holiday seasons ago, I bought three Shabby Chic shower curtains on clearance at Target because I loved the fabric and knew I wanted to use the embroidered border print on something that would show off the detail. I put away the fabric (shower curtains) and forgot about them until my daughter moved out. When she needed a shower curtain I pulled them out and gave her one for her apartment. Looking at them again I decided it was time to pair one of them up with a pattern or break down and donate them. I choose the pale blue because it went so well with a pair of shoes I picked up recently while shopping with my daughter and then rummaged through my pattern binders until I came across the now OOP M5194.

I cut the pattern out taking advantage of the borders on the neckline and the hem of the lower shirt. I lined the bodice matching the border and dots from self fabric. I took advantage of the embroidery and sewed the lining along the neckline on the outside and the rest of the lining on the bodice is sewn the traditional way on the inside. Because the fabric is so delicate and sheer, I was worried I wouldn't be able to match the dots and borders embroidered on the bottom half, so I omitted the lining below the bodice and encased all the seams in seam binding in the entire blouse.

All in all, I was really pleased with how this turned out and wore it to my husband's regional conference Friday. The financial advisors have a couple 1/2 day meetings and there are plenty of fun events for spouses and children. This year we were in Sandusky again. We had great weather the two days we were there and enjoyed some very nice people's company.