Here's another dress for the granddaughter. McCall's 9227 with the addition of pockets and full sleeves. (The pattern has only cap sleeves.)
So far she has liked everything I have made for her but currently her favorite color is blue so the next thing I make for her will be blue.
I first bragged about this fabric here. Aaaand it's another McCall's 9065, with butterfly sleeves this time.
I think I might have overdone it a bit with the sleeves - like they're too big, too... out there? I'm not sure they're a good look for me anyway. In a way they are. They draw attention away from the hip area, which is always a good thing. But on the other hand, I worry that they might look ridiculous. They are comfortable though. I hate sleeves in the summer but these let the breeze in so I can wear them even when it's "too hot for sleeves." And I don't worry a great deal about looking ridiculous, obviously.
I am very pleased with it. Green and pink is an exciting color combination and I love the big flowers. I have plans to use this pattern with at least two more pieces of fabric but I am also interested in moving on to sewing dresses.
Tasha got me interested in the idea of sewing a birthday dress but I'm having the devil of a time deciding which piece of fabric would make the perfect birthday dress. Even if I were not thinking in terms of a "birthday dress" I would still have a tough time deciding. It makes me a little antsy being between projects and I tell myself, don't think too much, just start something but all the fabric in my stash keeps saying, "Sew me next! Sew me next!"
Two or three years ago (I can't remember exactly when it was) I bought 3 pieces of lovely cotton interlock knit at Hancock Fabric's going out of business sale. I liked what I did with the green piece (Butterick 3345) so much that I decided to do the same thing with the pink. Except, I lengthened the sleeves just a little bit on the green one but I didn't this time.
It's not hanging quite right in the photo. I assure you both sides are even. It has kimono sleeves so it was very fast and easy to make. There are only two pattern pieces. It has darts in both the front and back.
I faced the edges with wide bias tape. It was actually double fold bias tape that I pressed open. I'm not sure if wide single fold bias tape is even a thing. I have never seen any.
This is going to be very useful. I love the color and it's the perfect weight for slightly cool mornings and over-air-conditioned stores and restaurants.
Goal: Sew fabric that I have had for 2+ years at least once a month (or 12 times this year) 6/12
This seems a little odd to me but I have never owned a pair of pink shoes before. Most of my shoes are brown, black, or tan. I guess that's because growing up I only had one pair of "good" shoes at a time and maybe a pair of sneakers for summer so I got used to picking shoes that "go with everything". But I was looking at these shoes, which come in more than a dozen colors, and decided I have enough pink clothes for a pair of pink shoes to make sense.
It's surprisingly tricky to take photos of one's own feet.
The color in these photos is just a bit washed out. They are a slightly brighter pink in reality. Today I'm wearing them with jeans and this blouse.
Another McCall's 9227 for my granddaughter.
Those are not the cap sleeves from the pattern. I just wanted little ruffles so I made little ruffles. Also added the border, like on the last one. On this one I left off the sash and used elastic on the back waistline instead. (I do that on my own dresses that are supposed to have a sash because I really don't like sashes.) I feel like this photo doesn't do it justice. It's super cute and I can hardly wait to see her wear it.
I have had the pink fabric for about three and half years so it counts toward my stash-busting goal of sewing from my older-than-2-years stash at least once a month or an average of 12 a year. The blue pin dot fabric is much newer. Both came from the local quilt shop.
By the way, this and the other little dress are a size 5 in case you were wondering. It's a bit long because she's tall for her age and also she likes her dresses sort of long - well below the knee but not necessarily maxi.
Goal: Sew fabric that I have had for 2+ years at least once a month (or 12 times this year) 4/12
You know, sometimes fabric has a mind of its own. It knows what it wants to be and sometimes what it wants is different from what we had planned for it.
I guess I should call this Part II because I first posted about this fabric back in October but let's just call that the prologue. Anyway, I only bought three yards of it or else this wouldn't be a "saga".
My original plan was to make a tunic, McCall's 9065, my current pattern obsession, but the fabric started speaking to me and telling me that it really wanted to be a circle skirt. A lovely idea but... my tunic... my vision!
The solution to the problem was in the comments to that original post - make the back and sleeves a solid color. Thank you, Jo. I'll be honest, at first I wasn't wild about this idea. I wanted the whole tunic in this fun fabric. But it was the perfect solution to my problem. I love the way it turned out and I have enough of the fabric left to make a half circle skirt with a solid color bodice. That will be Part II, coming this spring or early summer.
The solid color is Kona Cotton Pomegranate. I ordered several swatches and this was the one I liked best, which was a bit of a surprise. I had in mind something closer to a true red but this pomegranate color is wonderful. I love it! It doesn't show true in any of the photos, sadly.
Here's a pic of the side.
I'm glad it was warm enough to take pictures outside yesterday, a little bit cooler than I like but tolerable for a quick photo shoot. This morning a cold front moved in. It was 55F when I went to the grocery store at about 8:30 along with the hordes of people who rushed to the store because there's a 20% chance of half an inch of snow and we might be snowed in for a whole....... day. By the time I got home it was 33F.
This fabric is a bit lighter weight and less stiff than the other two Dutch wax prints I purchased last year, just about perfect to go with the Kona cotton. Here's one more happy pic. Sorry, I know you're probably tired of looking at my face by now. :-)
I'm tempted to call this one The First Dress of Summer, even though it's not officially summer yet.
I'm not sure standing in the shade was the best choice for this picture but I've learned from experience that standing in bright sunlight doesn't work out well either.
I used Kwik Sew 2671, my go to pattern for casual house dresses. I have made it at least a dozen times with various modifications. It has huge armholes because it's meant to be a jumper so I always raise the armholes about an inch for decency. This time I added the scalloped collar from an old blouse pattern and the border around the bottom of the skirt. This is the third (or is it the 4th?) time I have made this collar and I'm definitely getting better with scallops. This is the best so far.
And of course, pockets. I was going to make side seam pockets on this one but I didn't have enough fabric.
I actually finished this one over a week ago and then spent a few days being indecisive about what to sew next. Do you ever feel like you really need to sew some of the older fabrics in your stash but you really want to sew the newest ones? While I was being indecisive though, I did sew an adorable little shirt for my granddaughter using some "scraps". Then I finally decided to start another long shirt for myself with a piece that's not one of the oldest fabrics in my stash but not new either.
But I'm really in the mood to sew dresses and the shirt will be done soon so I need to decide what's next and it really doesn't matter, does it? It doesn't matter if a piece of fabric sits in the stash for years waiting for inspiration to strike because it always does, eventually. I think we all have these weird little feelings about what we're "supposed" to do and we usually don't even stop to think about whether they make sense or not. They are our internal rules and we have an urge to follow them and at the same time an urge to break them. We must always keep in mind that sewing is one of the safest places to break rules.
This is another New Look 6963, my current favorite loose, comfortable shirt pattern.
I absolutely love it! The 100% cotton fabric had been in my stash for a year or two, I think. I had originally had in mind a shorter, more fitted blouse with short sleeves but I'm glad I changed my mind and made this instead. Sometimes you get an idea and you just know it's the right thing.
I also made the knit slacks.
Not much about them worth showing off but they are comfortable and the color goes with several tops that I already have. The fabric is a soft drapey 10 ounce cotton spandex from Nick of Time Textiles. You never can tell exactly what you're going to get when you order knits online. Even knowing the weight and percent of stretch doesn't tell you much because two fabrics that are allegedly the same weight and stretch can be vastly different. Anyway, I'm pleased with this fabric and the other one I ordered even though it's not exactly what I was hoping for.
One thing I was not pleased with was the shipping charges. Nick of Time is located in the northeast which means shipping cost is so ridiculous it almost seems criminal. Not blaming Nick of Time, not even really blaming UPS but I really wish someone out here in the middle of the country had a good selection of good quality cotton spandex.
Other than being made from a soft drapey fabric, they might be just a tad too long which would account for the wrinkles but they are comfortable and not so long that it will be a problem. When I worry about making things too short I make them too long and when I worry about making things too long I make them too short.
Nothing I wear can be honestly described as "little" but that's how I'm thinking of this one - "a sweet little blouse."
I love this fabric with its little roses on a pale pink background. I used some half inch clear buttons that I had in my button stash. I used to only buy buttons as I needed them but I'm finding that having a button stash makes life so much easier.
The pattern is Kwik Sew 3511, which I have used several times. This time I cut a facing for the hem and that worked out so much better with this curved hem. I could never get it to look quite right before. The fit of this pattern isn't the greatest and I know I should try harder to fix it but it's okay and I'm lazy and not very good at fitting.
Anyway, I love this blouse and I'm going to wear the heck out of it this spring and summer.
Something I made yesterday for my granddaughter.
I added the patch at the last minute when I realized that it's very difficult to tell the front from the back.
This is the pattern.
I feel like I have been working on this dress for a month and that I should have been able to complete three or four dresses in the time it took me to sew just this one but sometimes that's just the way it goes. I'm not going to try to figure out when I started it because it might turn out that I really have been working on it for a month. I have been working on a couple of other projects as well so it's not like I've been lazy but when I take longer than I expect to finish something I can't help feeling like a bit of a slacker. Anyway, here is the tropical print dress, finally.
This is the bodice of Simplicity 1803 and the skirt of Vogue 8811 plus pockets. I eliminated the center front seam because it was totally unnecessary and would not have worked out well at all with this lovely, large floral. I spent most of the time I was working on this feeling angsty about getting the princess seams and the armholes to fit just right. They're not perfect but they're not too bad. I have this idea that I can't let go of that if I could just find the right bra the princess seams would fit perfectly.
I love this dress. The fabric is a lightweight cotton and it feels sort of light and floaty and of course the colors are amazing. Love it! I wish I had sewed it sooner so I would have more summer left in which to wear it. Fortunately, summer is not gone yet. The forecast for this week is for temps in the mid-90s F. So I will get to wear it at least once.
Since it's still so warm and likely to stay that way for another week or two I was tempted to squeeze in one more summer dress (actually still tempted) but, even though I'm not ready to let go of summer yet I am ever so slightly weary of sewing princess seams and bust darts and attaching skirts to bodices and sewing really long hems. (Of course the blouses I will be sewing for fall will have either darts or princess seams too but they're still something different.) I decided to start the orange trousers because they will be needed sooner than long sleeved shirts.
This sweet and lovely fabric was the oldest in my stash by a couple of decades.
It was a leftover piece. I bought it in the late 80's and made a dress. It had lace trim and buttons that looked like little pink pearls. It looked like an Easter dress for a giant four year old, which, actually, was sort of the look I was going for. I loved it but I always felt self-conscious wearing something so traditionally pretty so I only wore it a few times. It hung in my closet for 15 years while I gained two sizes and finally, regretfully, I gave it up to make room for more wearable things.
I had slightly over a yard and a half of the fabric left and for all those years I have been trying to decide what to do with it. Finally, here it is: *
I used the same collar from the old McCall's pattern as this blouse but this time I put it on New Look 6078. And I love it! It also feels really good to have finally done something with that old piece of fabric. It helps to justify my pack-rat ways.
Here is a closeup of the collar. I still need lots more practice doing scallops. I'm not totally thrilled with the way they turned out but overall I'm ecstatic about this blouse. (The buttons are actually a much lighter pink than what it looks like in this picture.)
*The skirt is this one
Not a lot this week but you can always find something inspiring or tempting, right?
I sort of have dresses on the brain lately, as in "When, oh when will the weather finally warm up enough to wear breezy summer dresses again?" The weather has been strange this year. It was warm back in February. Now, not so much.
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I have actually had it in mind for years to completely hand sew a garment just to say I've done it. I actually enjoy hand sewing and I think the blanket stitch is fun to do but I don't know if I will ever tackle anything that elaborate. But doing something with a lot of applique is tempting, so... maybe.
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I just discovered Dandelion Drift. I must admit I was initially attracted to the name since, as I might have mentioned before, I have a bit of a thing for dandelions. And, going past the name, it looks like I might be finding some inspiration there from time to time, such as the colors in this room decor
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I have mostly been avoiding temptation lately but of course there is always something tempting in eQuilter's What's New section. (Nope, not advertising for them; I just genuinely love them.) My little girl heart is so in love with this ballet print but my responsible grown-up self (spoil-sport) keeps saying, "Shush! You know we probably wouldn't wear that because it's just too pretty and we have way too many quilt ideas already and the husband would never let us put that much pink on the bed anyway."
Here's one that's completely different and more likely to turn into something wearable: this large scale floral. Those flowers are nine inches across! I'd love to see a wider view of the fabric but this is something I might take a chance on.
Finally, I have actual new photos of an actual new thing I sewed. Yay, me! First of all, I swear the two halves of the front are perfectly even. This happens every time I try to take pictures of a blouse. And, even aside from that, overall, it's not a great picture but... [Stop apologizing for the lousy pictures, Lynn.]
And here are the two patterns I used. I love a couple of the collars on the old McCall's pattern but that was several sizes ago so I used this Kwik Sew pattern and reshaped the neckline to fit the McCall's collar. I like the way it turned out and I'm going to do it again.
Both this fabric and the buttons I originally bought to go with something else. The buttons are from Create for Less, which is a great store for buttons and other notions but their close-up images could be better so when I wanted buttons for something specific I ordered several different styles of button that I thought might work. These are the ones I didn't use but I loved them and I'm so happy I finally got to use them. A similar thing happened with the fabric. I ordered this to go with another print and ended up deciding to use something else for that project. It's a smooth cotton; the "texture" is just printed.
I think it would actually go better with my black jeans. Anyway, I like it and I think I'm going to be wearing it often.
Here's the dress I mentioned in my previous post. The wind was blowing the skirt around quite a bit. I took some pictures standing in the sun but the colors in those looked very washed out.
I don't have much to say about it other than, it's my new favorite dress. I guess I should add that almost every dress I make that turns out good is my new favorite dress until I make the next one, but wow... Pink! I have decided that I need to wear more pink. At least, that's what I have decided this week.
Kwik Sew 2671 is more than a TNT pattern. It is my number one go-to basic casual summer dress pattern. I have made it over half a dozen times, mostly modified versions. I have other patterns that I like but these are the dresses I wear the most so I keep making them. This is View B bodice with View A skirt. Instead of the tabs I put elastic in back. I made a casing of the seam allowances. The pockets are just rectangles. I never can get those curved corners to look right.
Next up? Yet another dress using this pattern but with even more changes. Then maybe some toddler clothes.
UPDATE: Oops. Forgot to say that I also had to make the armholes smaller. This pattern was designed as a jumper so the armholes are huge.
