Catching up: muslins and pockets and presents

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I posted last! The mojo has taken a bit of a nose dive, although I have been sewing some, just all behind the scenes sort of stuff.
Several months ago, I enrolled in the Pants Fitting Class at Craftsy. I've been watching the videos at a leisurely pace, and I finally dove in and made a muslin. Then altered the muslin. I'm not going to show you the first one. It was SO. BAD.

No bad, eh? So, I transferred all of the changes I made to the pattern, and sewed up a second muslin. I never do that, but I wanted to follow the class and get the muslin right before I plow right in to the fashion fabric. I'm glad I did because the second one was WAAAAY too tight. No pictures of that either. I couldn't bear to take any. I slashed open the front princess seams and made some more alterations. Then I ran out of steam. I just don't know if I am going to move forward with these pants.

So naturally, the most logical thing to do when you can't get a pair of pants to fit is to make a pair of jeans, right? Since I know the Jalie pattern fits me with minimal alterations, I traced the higher waist version and just cut. No muslin, no tissue fit. I just wanted to sew. I'm sure this will bite me in the butt, but I'm actually having fun with these, so I don't care. Like my pockets? I was feeling a little wild, so I went with asymmetrical, a la Tanit-Isis.

In between, when I couldn't decided what I wanted to sew, I decided to do some reorganizing of the stash. Whenever new fabric comes into the stash, I immediately pre-treat it so that it will be ready to cut whenever the mood strikes. The exception to this is pure wool and silk (and blends of the two). I've always been nervous about just throwing these fibers in the wash, but I know I won't take finished garments to the dry cleaners, so I need to find a way to make them conform to my clothing care style. I've decided that I'm going to wash all the silks on a delicate cycle and hang them to dry. That way, even if I lose a little sheen, at least I'll actually wear the finished garments. I'm contemplating doing the same with the wools. I've even tried out a wool that wasn't too dear and it came out well, so I'm pressing forward. I really want these fabrics to have a home in my closet and life.

But I saved the best for last! The lovely and talented LadyKatza sent me this wonderful package, and it arrived a couple of days ago. Myra immediately grabbed the Princess patterns and carted them around the house all afternoon, asking me when I was going to make them for her (and me!). The fabric is a fabulous embroidered twill with a generous stretch that runs with the grain. Myra wants it, but I think it may end up as a pencil skirt for me. It's so fun!