The Fine Art of Never Letting Go

I'm sorry I don't have a Before photo. So here's the story. I made a dress ages ago - maybe 20 years, I can't remember - out of this really cute yellow and white check with ladybugs. But it didn't turn out well. I loved it until I put it on and looked in the mirror, then it just didn't work for me. I tried once to fix it by making a complete new bodice for it. Slight improvement but it still didn't work. So for years I tried to think of something else to do to fix it. I considered giving it to Goodwill but it's so hard to let go.

Finally a few weeks ago it hit me. Why not make something for the granddaughter! The pattern is McCall's L9462, plus pockets from another pattern.

Yes it's wrinkled. Don't judge; Her mom honestly doesn't have time for ironing.

You may notice she's holding something very small in her hand.

It was quick and easy to make and she likes it.

But the story doesn't end there. I had a few little scraps left and I had an idea. So I searched for and quickly found some black and white stripe fabric. I used New Look 6963, my current favorite long shirt pattern and here's what I came up with:

And the back:

This is different for me. I don't often wear stripes and never anything as plain as black and white stripes but I love this. Sometimes less really is more. Less of this adorable ladybug check fabric works so much better than more. And best of all, I was able to let go and yet not let go.

A Fun, Colorful Shirt

I saw these two fabrics sitting next to each other at the store and they looked so good together I immediately got an idea what to do with them. I don't have a lot of time to post this so I won't gush about how much I love it or obsess over its minor flaws. Just the details. It's New Look 6078 with the sleeves, collar, and button band of Simplicity 1538 with a yoke that I added on top of it.

And the back

And a close-up of these adorable fabrics

Colorful and Cozy

Who says winter has to be gray? I'm a huge advocate of bringing green (and other beautiful, fun colors) into the middle of winter.

This gorgeous fabric is a soft, warm, medium-heavyweight cotton flannel that I found at Wal-mart. (Yes, I know... but in this part of the country you really can't avoid Walmart and they do sometimes have some pretty decent fabric and occasionally, as in this case, way more than merely decent.) I used New Look 6963 and the sleeves from New Look 6598 because I wanted straight sleeves.

And I love it! It's too warm to wear indoors except on those really cold, overcast days when our house never really warms up very well. But I can also wear it as a lightweight jacket.

The buttons are 1 inch Dill buttons from CreateForLess.com.

I am a big fan of Dill Buttons, not only for the quality and selection but also the best packaging. Easy open, no staples.

The black t-shirt (long sleeve) is from Duluth Trading Company and the jeans are made by me.

The Call of the New

Since I'm doing really good with my goal of sewing from the older stash I felt like I could afford to give in to some of the more recently purchased fabrics that have been calling to me so strongly. I have so much that I want to sew right now and most of it is fabric I have purchased in the past 6 - 8 months.

You know fabric is like potato chips. You can't go into a fabric store and leave with only a half yard of fabric. When I went to the little local quilt shop to buy the blue pin dot I needed for the last project this fabric spoke to me and I could not ignore it.

And I knew right away it had to be another New Look 6963. ("Hey Lynn, how are you doing with that goal of using some of your unused patterns?" - "Shut up. I'll get to it eventually.")

This year I've been feeling a need for more tunics and long shirts so I'll have more choices of things to wear with comfy stretch pants and leggings. (In this pic I'm wearing it with loose fitting jeans.)

This is another one of those garments that I like way better when I'm just wearing than when I'm looking at pictures of myself wearing it. Which means, I like it. No, I love it. Very comfy and colorful like all my favorite clothes.

Fresh Oranges

I don't have just one favorite color but I'm really feeling the orange this year. It's such a happy color, don't you think? I feel like I'm spreading happiness wherever I go when I'm wearing orange.

The pattern is New Look 6963. The check fabric is from the Kona Colorworks 2 collection. I've had it in my stash for two or three years. It's a wonderful, crisp cotton with a sturdy feel. I keep hoping Kona will come out with a Colorworks 3 collection because Colorworks 2 is all sold out everywhere I go. The stiffness of the fabric makes for some weird wrinkles and some other wrinkles are because I've already been wearing it for over half the day but I don't care. I only mentioned it because I'm sure someone else will notice. You know, life gives us wrinkles. Wrinkles are just signs that we've been living our lives.

The floral fabric isn't exactly the right orange (you can't tell in the photos) but the way I saw it I had 3 choices: 1. keep looking for the perfect orange and white floral for the rest of my life; 2. tell my OCD self to just shut up and let me do this; or 3. abandon my original plan and just use the check by itself. As you can see I picked option 2 and it was the right choice. I'm totally happy with it.

Here's the back. (and, so sorry, the ugly backs of arms too)

And I have to show you the buttons. One of the buttons.

I rescued these from a blouse that I do not love. (Except for when I go through my closet looking for stuff to give to Good Will then suddenly I do love it very much.) Whether I donate it or keep it I will eventually have to put buttons on the unloved blouse but I do love these buttons and I think they look much better on this shirt, which I also love.

Goal: Sew fabric that I have had for 2+ years at least once a month (or 12 times this year) 3/12

Springtime in the Swamp

You might remember that I set a goal to at least once a month sew something that has been in my stash for two years or longer. Well, I started this one in February so I'm going to say it counts. Besides, as long as I have an average of one a month at the end of the year I will still consider that I've met my goal.

I have had this green fabric for several years. It was another of the two yard pieces that the local quilt shop used to sell before they changed ownership. I love it but for a long time I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. Then one day about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks ago I just knew.

The pattern is Simplicity 1538. It's a good basic shirt pattern that I've used several times. The contrast fabric is a piece that I originally bought to go with something else but later found something better for that project.

Here's the back and you can get a better look at this lovely green fabric. The mossy color with the lily pads, grasses, and ferns makes me think of a swamp and of course the flowers and butterflies make it springtime in the swamp.

This is probably going to be the last long sleeved thing I will make for a while. We can still have freezing weather as late as the last week of April (In fact, our latest freeze was May 2nd a few years ago.) but it's beginning to look and feel like spring and I'm ready to sew for it.

* * * * *

As you might have noticed on Google this morning, today is the birthday of William Henry Perkin, the chemist who accidentally discovered the first aniline dye, a purple originally known as mauveine. So let's hear it for all shades of purple today. (Coincidentally, I just happened to put on a purple long sleeved t-shirt this morning.)

Stashbusting goal: 2/12

Green and Pink Flannel

This is not my best work but I'm not going to criticize it too much because I love it anyway.

It's soft and cozy and light as a feather. And it's green and pink plaid. And it has sparkly buttons. What more could one want?

Been Sewing

It feels like forever since I posted anything new here but I have been sewing. I finally started quilting a quilt that I had planned to have finished by now. I have been working on the top off and on since this time last year but it wasn't going well so I got discouraged with it and procrastinated. But now I'm going to try to rush through it and just get it done.

I did make the teal, brown, and orange tunic and I love it but I don't know when I will get around to photographing it. Maybe today, maybe next week. I also made a pair of sweatpants which are now my favorite sweatpants ever - so comfy - but I probably won't be showing those. The part of me that wears pants is very camera shy, if you know what I mean.

Finally, I do have one little thing I can show you. This doesn't look very good just thrown down on the table but I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It's for my granddaughter. I put fancy, sparkly buttons on it because she likes sparkly things. And so do I, so I'm thinking I might do this for myself sometime. Flannel with sparkly buttons? Why not?

And Another New Look 6963

I think this is the last one of these I'll be making for a while.

I normally wouldn't choose a fabric with this much gray but this one is so cute and geeky. It's vintage control panel stuff with cute little faces hidden in it.

It's a nice, lightweight 100% cotton - perfect for a summer shirt. I don't wear shirts and trousers much in the summer though. Dress weather is here. I have only worn the last one I made twice so far. But once in a while I do want something like this and I like to have choices.

* * *

That picture of me above will be the last one taken on that deck because it's gone now. We demolished it to make way for something bigger and better - a huge building project that's going to take weeks at least. That has been occupying my mind lately to the exclusion of almost everything else but I have managed to finish another sewing project which I will post later.

A Pretty Comfortable Outfit

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.

Second Thoughts... and Third Thoughts

I always had it in mind to use Simplicity 1538 for this fabric but the day I cut it I was wearing an old McCall's 4922 and impulsively decided that I wanted to use that pattern instead. Then the day after I cut it I wore the Simplicity 1538 and wished I had stuck with my original plan. But it's okay. It's another one of those things that I like much better when I'm just wearing it and not looking at pictures of myself wearing it.

It was 80°F and extremely windy yesterday when these were taken.

It has a relaxed fit, which seems a little bit wrong for something with princess seams (or maybe it's just too large?) and somehow it overemphasizes my pear shape. I wish I had stuck with my original plan but, as I said, I like it just fine when I'm wearing it. I love the colors, which are a bit brighter in person.

Here's one more pic just because cat.

Happy Colors

I love this shirt! In this shirt I shall go forth into a world overwhelmed with grays and browns* and spread light and happiness wherever I go, even if it's only the happiness of getting to say you can't look at me without sunglasses.

Here's a close-up of the fabrics. The colors in this photo are reasonably accurate, at least on my screen, except the yellow, streaky fabric is a bit more orangey in real life.

The main fabric was a two-yard piece I purchased at a local quilt shop. For a long time I wasn't sure what to do with it. That store always has a lot of one and two yard pieces that always tempt me. They usually end up being sleeveless or short sleeved tops. I can't really remember my thought processes with this but after having it for a few months I somehow decided it needed to be a Simplicity 1538 so I went back to the same store to look for the contrast fabric. I originally wanted something predominantly the sort of harvest gold color in the main print but I didn't find anything like that and settled on this bright orange-yellow. I'm glad I chose it because I love the way it turned out.

This is the second time I have made Simplicity 1538. It's a good basic shirt pattern, relaxed fit but not sloppy. The sleeves are a little longer than I like. Somehow I always end up with sleeves a little too long or a little too short. They're also a little bit too loose at the cuffs but, overall, acceptable.

*The grays and browns of nature haven't taken over yet. It's been almost as warm as summer here and the grass and foliage are still ridiculously green for November. I'm not complaining.

A Little Western Shirt

Have you ever made something for a tiny person and it turned out so adorable you wish you could wear it yourself? I'm generally not a big fan of western style clothes for myself but this shirt that I made for my granddaughter is just so darn cute!

The pattern is Kwik Sew 3146. It includes two yoke styles, the western you see here and a standard yoke. It was pretty easy, just like a typical adult shirt pattern but in toddler size. The floral fabric was a scrap left over from a shirt I made for myself a couple of years ago. (I never blogged it and I'm not sure if I have a picture of it but it's one of my favorites.)

I haven't given it to her yet. I'm sure my daughter-in-law will love it. About 3-year-olds you never can tell.

And Another New Look 6963

I don't have much to say about this one other than... I love it. I love the colors, I love the lightweight, yarn dyed cotton fabric, and I love the pattern, obviously since I can't stop making it over and over again. I started out to make it exactly like view C, the one with the short turned up sleeves, but when I tried it on before hemming them I liked the sleeve length so I just gave them a standard shirt sleeve hem.

In The Pink

One cure for the winter blues (at least for me) is to sew something in a cheerful spring color that I don't have to wait for spring to wear. (I really wanted an outdoor photo and the weather is warm enough but the wind is blowing up to 30+ MPH.)

The fabric is from the Kona Colorworks 2 collection, one of my favorite fabrics. It's a fairly substantial 100% cotton yarn dye, tight weave, very stable and and a dream to sew. I bought this piece from eQuilter several years ago. You can still find a few of these fabrics at Patrick Lose. I do a search every couple of months to see if they've come out with Kona Colorworks 3 yet.

The pattern is (mostly) New Look 6963 with sleeves from another shirt pattern. I have made it several times and I'm starting to feel a little bad about being stuck on this one pattern but it's a great shirt to sew and to wear so I'm thinking there will be several more.

Fall Leaves and Critters

I don't have much to say about this other than, "I love it!"

I used the body of New Look 6078 and the sleeves, collar and front band of McCall's 4922. I have done this before and I think it might be my favorite frankenpattern. The sleeves are a little bit too long. I knew I needed to shorten them but I forgot to do it.

(By the way, I made the jeans too.)

Here is a closeup of the adorable fabric.

Blue Granville Shirt - Finally Done!

It seems like I've been working on this for a month or more. I finally finished it last week. I have been seeing the Granville shirt pattern everywhere and when I read that it was designed for pear shaped figures I thought, "That's for me!" I don't know why it took me so long. Well, actually, yes I do. There was nothing difficult at all about the pattern but there were several steps that the instructions said to do differently from what I was used to and every time I got to one of those steps I would procrastinate. I would have finished a lot sooner if I hadn't read the instructions but I actually like a couple of the "weird" methods so I'm glad I read the instructions and learned new ways of doing these common things.

Complaints about the pattern: The sleeves are way too long. I shortened them two inches and, as you can see, they're still too long. They are also too loose at the wrist. Another thing is the collar was way too long. Overall though, I like the pattern and I will try again. I have a piece of fabric in mind for the next one. Anyway, here it is.

There are some weird wrinkles radiating from the top button. (and a lot of wrinkles everywhere for that matter) I think that's because it's a very soft, drapey fabric. And I have to tell you about this surprising fabric. Several years ago I bought three sets of queen size sheets at a discount outlet store. One set was different from the others. The fabric was a very soft, smooth micro-twill, about twice as thick as normal sheets. I used them once. After I washed them I tried to put them on the bed for the second time and discovered that the fitted sheet was about a foot too short! Most people would have seen a brand new set of totally useless sheets. I saw a heck of a lot of really nice fabric so I saved them.

I cut the elastic off the fitted sheet and used it for this shirt because I was going to use the flat sheet for quilt backing but now I'm thinking I really want to use it for something else to wear. I think this pattern wasn't the best for this fabric but it's wearable and comfortable. For the most part I like it.

The buttons are a shiny, translucent blue that, depending on how the light hits them, look to be either a perfect match for the fabric or slightly off.