Some Starlet Suit Techniques!

I'm learning lots of new, fun stuff in my Starlet Suit class, so I thought I'd share.  I'm definitely no expert, but I'm enjoying learning about stuff that I may or may not decide to use again.

First, tailor's tacks.  Little bits of thread to mark stuff, especially useful when chalk doesn't show (your fabric is too nubby), or you are afraid of ruining the fabric (silk, perhaps).  Here are some marks for buttonholes I made on the front of the jacket, in the next step I did some thread-cutting to get the pieces of fabric away from each other & the pattern piece.

Second, here's attempt #1 at bound buttonholes.  This is definitely a practice run--there is no way I'd try this on the actual fabric on the first try.  I'm not very good at hand-work, due to a lack of patience & short attention span, so it will take me more than a few tries to get buttonholes that I'd be willing to wear in public!  I am going to give Gretchen's a few more tries, but also want to try Sherry's method.  Anyway, the photo shows the attempt, plus the little clippers/scissors I used.  Gretchen mentions another style, but I think these are pretty strong, so will try them a few more times to avoid buying yet another piece of equipment for this project!

And this is attempt #2 at a bound buttonhole.  (I am using non-matching thread just so I can see what I'm doing.)  This is actually a bit over-sized, just to play with.  It looks better, but it rather uneven (one "lip" is wider).  So now I'll try a few after I figure out what the correct size should be.  I figure if I get 3 in a row that look nice I'm ready to start on the actual jacket front!  

And attempt #3 is below.  I tried laying the "binding" fabric crossways...which didn't work, the grain & thickness of the fabric conspired to make it impossible to fold neatly.  Yikes.  This is why I'm making all these test runs--so my ideas get tried out before they matter.  You can also see that I didn't quite measure right for the size of the buttonholes.

Finally, I just want you to look at this stenciled floor my teacher, Gretchen did for her brand-new sewing room.  Amazalujah!  We've got hardwood throughout our house, all in very good condition, so I won't be trying this, but I almost wish I had a big stain or something because I'd love to do something like this somewhere...oops, I'd better be careful what I wish for.