Tuesday, October 26, 2021

No Fear... of Horizontal Stripes

Actually, looking at the pictures, maybe I should fear horizontal stripes. Yes, they definitely do make me look fat but I don't care; it's comfy and kinda cute and I love it anyway.

I spotted this polyester knit fabric at Walmart. I don't often buy fabric there but I always look and once in a while they have something nice. After I got it home my original plan changed. For some reason I suddenly just had to make it with integrated sleeves. I'm very happy with that choice.

I have actually worn it in public once. (gasp!) I think it looks pretty good with this very old velour jacket.

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Sometimes You Need To Live Unintentional

A funny thing happened. You see, I often browse fabric just for fun on Etsy. I impulsively favorite a lot of fabrics without any real intention of buying. Like, out of 25 to 30 favorites I might eventually buy one. Maybe two if I'm feeling like a big spender. So I favorited this wild geometric wax print and thought no more about it. But later that day (or maybe the next; I can't remember) I got a coupon! A really, really good coupon. I think it was 20% off? I can't remember exactly. Anyway, within a few days three yards of this exciting fabric was in my hands.

I had to find something to go with it because I thought an entire dress out of this fabric might be a bit much. I don't often mix prints but I thought a simple print might be better than a solid black bodice. So after much searching I settled on this octogaon print. So, without further babbling, here she is:

I'm going to call this semi-self-drafted because I did use an existing pattern as a size and shape guide for the bodice but changed the neckline. The skirt is a half-circle. I spent some time thinking about how I wanted to embelish the bodice to make it look like it really goes with the skirt and finally got the idea to cut out one of the diamonds from the wax print and sew it to the upper left on the bodice.

And I absolutely love it! It's kind of far from what I usually choose. I'm generally more attracted to bright florals and novelty prints but this is so awesome and I love it more now than when I first clicked that little heart on Etsy.

Oh by the way, the Etsy shop is Waxprintslacesnmore. The shop owner is super nice and ships really fast.

Friday, August 27, 2021

Another "Boring" Basic Summer Dress

This is why ya'll never comment, isn't it? I just keep making the same two dresses over and over again. But this is what I love to wear. It's the bodice of Retro Butterick 5748, with a gathered skirt. It has pockets and a side zipper, of course.

This fabric is more interesting up close, some pretty colors.

I love it and I've worn it twice already. Right now I'm working on something more bold and interesting. I would say "out of my comfort zone" but I don't think my "comfort zone" has an "out of." It does involve one of my two favorite patterns but you can make any pattern interesting, right?

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Helloooo? Anyone out there?

It has been months! I didn't intend to abandon this. I'm guessing there's probably no one reading this because no one was reading it before I took a seven month break. Anyway... I want to catch up on showing off some of the things I've been sewing this year but for now just this one because it happens to be what I'm wearing right now.

It is (mostly) a highly modified Simplicity 1803, if it's anything, but I prefer to think of as just the result of my faffing around with various pattern pieces. (Huh. Spellcheck recognizes the word "faffing". I hope it means what I think it means.) It has pockets (of course) and a side zipper. The fabric is from eQuilter. Sorry, not a great photo but I think it would be hard to see detail anyway with this lovely, busy print.