Here's the next product from the Kauai '13 stash -- a silky rayon aloha shirt for Bill. The pattern is my favorite old Simplicity 5581 spread-collar shirt seen previously here and here. I got this fabric at Kapaia Stitchery and it was so soft and flowy I wished I had brought back some more.
Well it didn't take long working with it to take back every nice thing I had said about it before. It was stretchy, slippery, wouldn't press for *@#$. I didn't wish for even another quarter yard of rayon, and regretted the length I had bought.
That having been said, I did manage to coerce it into a pretty nice shirt. I adjusted the collar where the pieces just WOULD NOT fit, and finally got all the seams pressed and the allowances serged.
Matchy-matchy on the pocket and a label at the bottom.
I'm hoping that if I get this one out of the dryer and right onto a hanger, I'll never need to iron it again!
After last year's fabric haul in Hawaii, I started looking forward to shopping as soon as we planned our repeat trip for last summer. This is what I picked up this year -- a few more of the tiny Japanese-Hawaiian prints, some one-color botanicals, another multi-color postcard style, some silky blue and green rayon and some prints the girls picked out for hobo bags. Oh, and half a yard of the ubiquitous Hula Girl.
This was my first stop, Kapaia Stitchery. I found this place last year and couldn't wait to get back! This year I found that gorgeous rayon and some other quilting prints. This is the store where I saw the original of my Postcards from Hawaii quilt. This year they had a pattern for sale. Mine is all finished and hanging in the living room.
I had seen this store last year but didn't have time to stop. It had plenty to look at but only ok prices -- I had actually already gotten some of the fabrics for half-price at a certain big-box retailer that shall remain nameless. I did pick up a pretty pink floral that will make a great shirt.
This store was up the road in Kapaa. It was a treat to shop there -- their regular prices were pretty much the same as a quilting store at home but I did pick up some good deals on sale.
And check this out! I thought it was just me! I told my family when we were leaving -- 12 days with no sewing? And this is supposed to be fun?!
This was the first of the Hawaii 2013 projects. Frances picked out these fabrics for some new bags for school. More projects to come!
Um, whatever happened to that Project 52 thingy? Somewhere on the internet there must surely be a website with the statistics about how far into some type of Project 52 or 365 or whatever the participants lost interest and dropped the whole thing. Kind of like that owl in the Tootsie Pop commercial. Ah-one, ah-two, ah-three. *crunch* Ah-three.
Well, I don't know if we're going to keep going or not. We have done some fun things as a couple over weeks 8, 9, and 10. The first week of Frances's school's football season we tried a new local barbecue place before heading over to the game. It was really good -- I do love a pulled-pork sandwich.
A couple of weeks ago we went on a field trip with my yoga teacher (remember her Diwali party?) to a local Hindu temple with the most amazing carvings. We got to drive over with Dolly and her husband so they filled us in about what we would be seeing. Then they picked out a bunch of delicious snacks for us to taste. It was a scorching hot day, but inside the temple filled with bright white marble, it was like a cool ice cave.
Visitors with bare legs (shorts or short skirts) were given a sarong to cover up with. Bill rocked it!
All three of us ended up with a fun family date last weekend when we went to Five Guys for dinner. I think we actually started out kind of cranky after a couple of 100-degree days with NO AIR CONDITIONING but we recovered our collective sense of humor over burgers and fries and the Guys' awesome soundtrack. Frances laughed at our dueling renditions of "Born to Run" (me--poetry recitation, Bill--caveman-style sing-along), and we all channeled Weird Al along with "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
So stay tuned to see what happens next with Project 52. With Frances cheering at high school football, our weekends have filled up with school activities and Bill has some weekend field trips coming up for his class. I'll keep you posted.
