Funderwear!

A while back I bought some cute cotton batiste or lawn.  I really wanted to make a top and shorts pj set.  I searched for a pattern I liked and while reading my ginormous blog roll, I stumbled upon the Collette mini bloomers.   I hadn't tried one of her patterns yet, it was free, and it fit the bill. It took forever cutting and taping the pieces together.  I hated it and I think it's why I haven't tried a BurdaStyle project yet.

 The french seams and elastic casing.

The shorts came together pretty quickly for me though, which is insanely slow.  I used my walking foot for the first time.  The fabric shifted a lot so I thought it would be fun trying out the foot.  I used french seams throughout, even on the curvier seams which proved to be a little of a challenge.  I was not happy with the drafting of this pattern.  It seemed the pieces didn't match up all that well, but because they were pj shorts, I just improvised.  

I love the elastic casings at the waist/hip.  I think it is super cute. 

 

I couldn't decide which picture was best so I posted them all.  Sorry.  I also have a picture of me wearing the shorts, but The Boyfriend did not want me posting it.  I don't think it's that bad. Its just a mirror (ie. MySpace) picture from about my belly button down to mid thigh.  They aren't even that sheer.  

 

Hopefully I'll find a top pattern to go with these shorts. I'm thinking maybe peter pan collar and button down.  with elastic in the hems of  short, gathered poof sleeves.  Any pattern suggestions?  I'm willing to modify or do some Frankenpatterning.

Nautical Knit Vest: Simplicity 2603 (modified)

I am falling in love with stripes.    I told myself I'd never wear horizontal stripes again, but I am breaking that promise to myself.  On Saturday (it only took me 4hrs!...I'm very slow) I made a cardi/vest using Simplicity 2603.  I've made 3 cardi/wraps using this pattern.  One for me, 2 for my mom. I will post pictures eventually.  Its really a great pattern.  A little tricky in some places (mainly attaching the front to the back at the shoulders/neck.

My vest was inspired by my friend's cardi/vest.  She was wearing it the last time I saw her and I thought, "Cute! I can make that!" I also have been seeing stripes all over the blogland, (SharonSews and A Sewn Wardrobe are just two) and I really wanted to jump on the bandwagon.  I originally wanted to find a stripe for a boat neck knit shirt, but I hadn't been able to find anything I like.  Last weekend I went to Hancock to look and they only had one stripe mystery sweater knit in the value section for $4.00/yd ($2.00/yd with coupon!).  It was rather shear, very drapey, and extremely unstable, but I thought, "What the hell! Let's give it a try!" And it was only 33" wide...Weird, I know.  I immediately thought of a cardi/vest when I saw the fabric and bought 4 yds thinking I could make 2 items from it.

So basically I took the pattern, chopped off a good deal off the front drapey section (I can take pictures if someone wants to see what I did, but I forgot to document the process.  Just ask).   I also scooped out the armsyce a bit because it was going to be sleeveless.  Additionally I used Amanda's  tutorial on adding bias tape to the arm holes to finish the seams.  The tutorial was really good, but the armholes stretched like crazy.  I just re-serged part of the side-seams closing up the armholes a little more.



 I am really happy with the finished project.  Because the vest is very Forever 21, I didn't bother finishing any of the edges.  Just left them raw.

I think I'll right a review on PR later.  I could write 4 now.


Thanks Nancy for becoming my newest Follower1 The last two dresses she has made are awesome!  Check out her strapless dress. I can't wait to be able to make a dress like that one day with all that structure built in to it.

Flowy Voile Shirred Skirt

(I would never style the skirt like this.  I just needed a quick picture of me in it.  I look freakishly disproportionate).

I finally finished a UFO!  This winter, I wanted to make an elastic waist short summer skirt. I had a gift certificate to SewMamaSew and bought some of  the Anna Maria Horner voile.  I love the feel of this cotton, btw!  I decided it couldn't be too hard to draft a skirt (as in cut rectangles..).  I wanted to line it so I used a bright purple Bemberg rayon I had on hand.  (I wish I would have saved it for a jacket lining).  The elastic I originally used was 4in wide and very stiff.  My machine hated sewing on it and the project turned to be a big flop.  I was so proud of my first narrow hems too! It was devastating....really, I'm not joking.  I ripped the skirt apart twice!

I decided that shirring was the way to go.  It is easy and I achieved the results I wanted.  I salvaged the skirt! I think I'll wear it occasionally, but I think it makes my butt look big. (too bad it is too short for work).

This wasn't inspiration for my skirt, but the colorway and the style is similar.  At least I'm sort of on trend.  Haha...(And mine only cost about $16, probably the most expensive garment I have made to date.)

Free People skirt originally selling for $68, on sale at bluefly.com for $48. 




Aaaannddd....Cenetta of The Mahogany Stylist is my newest Follower! Thanks! She makes lovely garments for herself and even has her own business making clothes for people!  Check out her latest creations!

The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Sorry if you aren't interested in these kinds of posts. Saw this dress....thought it was cute....linked to my blog for a chance to win it!


The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway


The end!

Stripey Summer Beach Cover-up

This weekend I made something! A beach cover-up, that was originally going to be a dress.  It's Simplicity 2865, a Built By Wendy pattern.


I got this fun fabric from my one of my favorite sewing instructors.    I'm finally making my way through her stash.  On Tuesday, I'm going to a friend's house because she is moving and wants to get rid of some of her fabric. I have the best friends!


The color isn't quite true, but it was the best picture I could get in my apt.  


Here's the back and the close-up of the front.  You can kind of see the shirring too.

The Review from PR:


Pattern Description: 

Misses Knit dress, mini dress, or top. I made the minidress without the weird collar.
Pattern Sizing:

4, 6, 8, 10, 12. I made the 10. 

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?


Mostly, I made some adjustments! I added shirring to the sides to camouflage some of my mistakes!

Were the instructions easy to follow?

I did not use them for the most part! Woohoo! I did not use them for the first side inset and should of because I made some big boo-boos. The staystitching and clipping instructions for the inset worked well for the second side. I should have done that the first time instead of trying to pin together a very thin, rolling fabric and serge.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I like the idea of the inset, but it was really hard to install. I pretty much constructed the whole thing with my serger except for the topstitching and hem. I would probably redraft the pattern to not include the inset. I think I would like it better.
Fabric Used:

Miscellaneous (cotton, poly, ?) jersey knit. It was very thin, rolled like a B*****! I got it for FREE though from one of my sewing instructors. I loved the crazy bright stripes. Reminded me of the 80s and Rainbow Brite.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

The inset I serged was a disaster and I tried to fix it a number of times, but just couldn't. Instead, I sheared the fabric for 3 inches on either side of the side seam, about 3 inches deep to hide my flaws. It worked pretty well. To put on the binding, I just folded it in half, WS together, and with raw edges even, I serged it to the neck and arm holes. I changed the order of construction to make it easier to serge. I straighted out the hem mostly, because for some reason (probably my hasty cutting) the bottom pieces did not match up well. I used steam-a-seam in the hem and then topstitched.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I would sew it again without the inset. I would like to make a simple tank top.
I would recommend it to people who are very experienced sewing with knits and have the time to set in the inset properly.
Conclusion: 

Its good enough for a beach cover-up. 

Muslin Updates

On Thursday the Boyfriend kindly pinned me into my muslins I made for the fitting class and took pictures even though he really wanted to watch Crazy Heart. (He didn't do that great of a job, but it was greatly appreciated). He was so nice about it and didn't even prick me with a pin. That's love....



Here's the muslin for the dress.

Close ups:

Like I said before, I made it too big in the waist thinking I would need some ease there. The back looks like crapola too. I no longer have to do FBAs. I didn't realize that the weight I lost about a year ago came off my chest. And I guess when I was exercising more in May, I had lost some boobage too. :( Oh well, at least it will make fitting clothes easier.

The Palmer/Pletch McCall pattern top looks janky too.  Not too bad in the front.  Even though its pulling a bit in the high bust area. The back, looks too big, but a better pinning of the back seam and a less wrinkly muslin will help.   I hand washed a gorgeous black and white batik silk that my former sewing teacher gave me because she was destashing.  I would like to make it into the P/P top.  It will be my first time working with silk.  Wish me luck!

Edit:  I went to class yesterday, and the changes the instructor made to the dress really helped.  It felt like I had to make 100 fit changes.  She spent a lot of time with me, and I felt bad for the other students.  The instructor basically says what she thinking and told me my hips were hollow. I know I have boy hips, but using the word hollow?!?  It made me giggle, but sad at the same time.  I will hopefully let you all know the changes that were made when I make my second muslin.

For the blouse, the back did look better when she pinned me in it.  Found out that working on a computer, the 50lb backpacks of my youth, and sewing has already given me a bit of a rounded back :(  She added a shoulder dart to back piece, and the top looked so much better in the back.  I think good enough to cut into real fabric!  Hooray!

And thanks to Stephanie for "following" me! Also, thanks to all the anonymous readers (I do know some of you!) for subscribing to the blog via Google Reader.  :)

To Do List

My sewing queue is very long right now and I do not have the time to make everything I want. I am very very slow.  Everything seems to take hours upon hours to complete.  I get very distracted by the T.V. or the internet or cleaning or Pearl.

I am taking another fitting class  with some friends (Hi Julie and Barbara!) Julie and I are making the same sheath dress. It's McCall's 5753.  I am making the v-neck sleeveless version to get a good fit.  I started with a size 10 and graded to a 12 at the hips (really my low butt and thigh area.  I have no hips!)  I also took a wedge from the neckline which worked great at preventing gaposis.  My instructor told me not to do a sloping shoulder adj. yet, but looking at the muslin, I definitely need one.  I knew it!  I also cut between the 10 and 12 at the waist line to get some ease, but that was a bad idea.  It is too big.  I have no idea how the back fits because I cant pin it up myself.  I need to get the Boyfriend to  help.  I also need to take about 1in. from the bodice length.  So many adjustments!

 

Before the Saturday I will hopefully get to measure and make a muslin of McCall's 5661:

I made the muslin and I think it fits!

I'm going to be making the red.  It is very fitted and I think it will be a great jumping off point for redrafting to make other styles.  It buttons up the back which is very retro.  I love that detail.

I also have this Simplicity 2446 cut out in a wearable muslin fabric:

 And have 1/2 of this dress made.  I F'ed up the zipper.  I'm going to take it out and see if it fits without.  I love the dress and hopefully it will all work. It will go really well with my denim jacket.

And finally I want to make these shorts in a light khaki.  The ones with the pleats and the cuffs (View E).

And a vintage blouse and more dresses and.....