Along Came Polly...

I haven't blogged in a year.  Sorry.  Things got nuts and blogging was not a priority nor a joy.  I got engaged last September and married in May.  Hooray!  The Boyfriend is now the Husband.  I did lots of crafting for the wedding and attempted to sew my rehearsal dinner dress, but didn't finish in time.  OH well.

Here's a blog post from last year.  I started this entry and never finished it.....

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Did you all see that movie? Along Came Polly? I thought it sucked.  I named the blog post this because, well, I couldn't think of anything clever.

I made the Polly Top and I have to say, I really like it!  It is a great addition to my wardrobe as it goes with so many things already in my closet. (Edit:  The top is super well-made. < patting myself on the back > but I'm not loving the fabrics. I have worn it once..)

I printed out the pattern at the end of June (LAST YEAR) and decided I would attempt to build a Mini Wardrobe around the blouse for the Pattern Review Mini Wardrobe Contest. (LAST YEAR!!!) It was a fairly simple top to sew, and it would have been much easier had I not chose to make the top in a poly crepe de chine and a charmeuse.  Charmeuse is freakin' slippery and it was a nightmare to sew going around the curve.  Using it for binding wasn't a problem though.  Go figure.....

I have written a full review on PR.   I'll be posting pictures of me wearing the shirt hopefully soon.  These were late night, dark room photos.  Oh well.

Finished the Apple Peel Leggings from Pattern Magic also.  Those were a pain in the butt, but they are done and wearable.  Not a fav, but I'll go into that in it's own post.  

Trying to Sew More...PR Wardrobe Contest July 2014

I'm attempting to enter the PR Wardrobe Contest this month.  Whether I have time to finish or not, I think this will force me to goal-oriented and it is a good incentive to finish more projects.  Five garments in a month is a lot for me.  I could do it if I sewed every weekend, but the weekends are the only time I have to spend with the Boyfriend because our work schedules are not in sync.

I haven't sketched in Illustrator (other than for work, of course) for a really long time.  I work in Illustrator on a daily basis creating technical sketches and updating designer flats, but I haven't created my own flats in a really long time.  The ones I made were very basic, but it was fun working on them at home.  No new designs...Just made a flat sketch of the Pattern Magic Apple Peel Leggings and a circle skirt.

Here's my plan so far.  I am posting this to the PR discussion board too to get some feedback.

Some of these garments are involved and will take some time fitting.  Even if I don't finish, at least I'll have made some.  The Polly Top is already cut and I have fabric prepped for the leggings and the other shirt.  Haven't decided on the fabric for Vogue 1170, but I have both in my stash.  I'm going fabric shopping on Sunday to see if I can find a pretty minty green or preferably a reddish/coral double knit for the circle skirt.

I can see myself really wearing this wardrobe.  These types of "bottoms" are lacking in my wardrobe, so it will be nice to fill some holes.

Let me know what you think!  Any feedback, good or bad would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

Annie's Edna

One of the Boyfriend's good friends had an adorable baby girl and he wanted to do something special for her.  We decided to make a teddy bear.  The Boyfriend helped select the fabrics and I pretty much did the rest. :-P  Oh, The Boyfriend also helped stuff the various bear parts.

We used the Purl Bee Teddy Bear pattern and tutorial.  The pattern was drafted well and the instructions were good.  I think a beginner could make this. Certain sections were quite difficult like the muzzle area and lower leg paws, but doable if done slowly.

 I wasn't happy with how the paws turned out initially.  They are uneven and a little wonky.  To fix camouflage the problem (or make it stand out more?) I did some purposefully uneven, but charming hand embroidery.  Well, I say charming; others may say shitty. Hehehe.  The arms were stitched to force them forward as they kept flailing backward.

Here are few views of the hand stitching:

Overall, I'm pleased with how the bear turned out and named her Edna.  She's a little weird and I thought she needed an odd, old-fashioned name.  Annie can re-name her when she's old enough to talk.

Edna's Tail!

For scale, here's Pearl modeling with Edna.  Pearl is 3.5 lbs.

Hi Everyone!  If you are so inclined, vote for my trousers on PR!

VOTE HERE!

Colette Juniper Trousers!

I'm back.  I've been sewing some and crafting some, but just not blogging.  Sorry :-/

I busted my butt this morning and into the afternoon to finish this pair of pants to enter into the Pattern Review Pants Contest.  I started them because of the contest and of course waited until the last possible moment to finish them.  

 Here's my official Pattern Review:

Pattern Description:  Classic wide-leg trousers, perfectly fitted through the hips and falling gently to a moderately wide hem. Has front slash pockets and fly front. Pattern Sizing: 0-18. I made a 4 with lots of fit modifications. Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes! It did! Were the instructions easy to follow? I thought they were pretty easy to follow. I sewed the pocket in a different order than the instructions called out, which made more sense to me. I thought the instructions were a little too wordy. They are too conversational and could be easily simplified and still make sense. What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really like the style of these pants. Something I always want to buy, but have a hard time finding in stores. The fit was not great for my body type. I do not have hips so I had to make some modifications. That was a little annoying because being an indie pattern (not a Big 4) I was hoping the body measurements listed on the back of the pattern would be more accurate. I measure 27.5" at natural waist, and 36.75" at hip and I had to take in this pattern a lot! See below. I also did not like that there wasn't a top pocket facing. I ended up adding one. Fabric Used: A vintage med. weight denim I bought at a church sale for a few dollars years ago and a vintage floral sheet for the pocketing I got for free when I first started to sew. Yay for stashbusting! Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Okay...here we go... Like I said above I made a size 4. I was a big-ol-idiot and thought that I would make the pants straight from the envelope and not have to make fit adjustments. I even overlocked and topstitched the sides and back rise before checking fit. Derrrr. So I had to unpick a lot and make as many adjustments as I could without recutting and redoing the entire pant. I ended up taking in the side seams from about low hip to waistseam 1/4" (1" total circumference). i also took in the CB seam 1/4" (1/2" total). Of course then my facings were the wrong size! My seam allowances for the CB facing pieces ended up being about 1 3/8" and I left my front facing pieces seam allowance 5/8." This was my quick and dirty fix. I hate recutting pieces. Also, I drafted a little top pocket facing because it is one if my pet peeves to see pocketing fabric exposed inside the pocket. I still need to address a little bit of "hungry butt" but overall, the fit is pretty good for my first real pair of pants. Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I might make this again, but I would have to transfer all my fit changes to the pattern and I'm not up for that right now. Plus there are so many other patterns I want to try. Conclusion:  Overall, its a pretty good pattern, just not great for the hipless.

 Here are a few detail shots of the pocket and the trouser closure.

 If you made it down this far, VOTE FOR ME :)

Minty Spring Dress

A few weeks ago I made a dress, but I just finally got around to writing about it.

I used M6754, and combined view C and D.

The dress does not have a zipper.  The waist is stabilized, which makes it a little tricky, but once it's over my chest and shoulders, it's quite comfortable.

Fabric is a poly/lycra double knit I got for $1.50/yd at the swapmeet.  I first wore this dress out in Palm Desert, CA and it was surprisingly cool in spite of the polyester.

So, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out except that I should have done a small FBA.  The front of the waist seam pulls up a little.  The seam is not at my true waist which makes wearing a skinny belt a problem.  Belts don't quite sit at the waist seam and droop down especially at the CF.  If I use this pattern again, I will adjust the seam.  Lastly, the neckline hem is a little wonky over the thick seams, but looks as good as RTW in my opinion.

These pics were taken in my apartment complex.  The Boyfriend was a sport.  So was Pearl.  :)

Full Review on PR.

My Super Cutesy Heart Top

Hi Everyone!

I made another version of Simplicity 1693!  This time I made View C.  The first time I made a floral, sleeveless View F.

Last time, I felt like I needed a very slight FBA with this pattern.  So this time, I cut the size 10 and added a 3/8" FBA (3/4" total). This helped add a little ease at the bust and balance the hem so it didn't hike up in the front.  I'm noticing hiking in some of the things I've been making.  Damn my boobs!

So I'm really stoked with the top.....with the exception of a few things.   I spent a long time lining up the hearts at CB and I missed it by 1/8."  That pissed me off.  It just shifted when I was cutting.  The other thing that is sad is the fabric itself.  I bought it at the swapmeet for $1.50yd.  It's a really nice stretch poly crepe.  Sadly, there are spots on my fabric.  The black bled out into the white leaving weird, grey blotches.  I didn't notice until I was pressing during construction.  Everyone who has seen the top said they didn't notice until I pointed them out.  I'm still going to wear it anyways and hopefully over time, the black will completely bleed into white creating a nice light grey. Hahaha.

I bound the neckline with packaged bias tape and overlocked the seams.

The bottom hem and sleeve hems are narrow hemmed.  I'm very proud of the hems actually.  They turned out very nice.

Well that's it.  See my full review at PatternReview.

 More pics below.  Oh, and the Boyfriend and I made the sewing pattern flower.  We made a bunch when we started watching Homeland a few months ago.  We never got into the show, but we have a bunch of flowers decorating our apartment.  Win!