Long Time No See...

How does an entire month go by as quickly as a shooting star in the night sky? So much has happened since last we visited...my DH and I went to Key West, then a short visit to my parents, camping at Solomon's Island, MD, and a civil wedding in a DC park..busy weekends.

Some sewing happened in the past month as well...just not a lot of it. I traced off a few Burda patterns, made a blouse from a New Look pattern, made a few muslins as well. Just not many finished products...focus, focus, focus. I have completed a few re-fashions recently...

New Look 6803, view , completed - review to follow.

Burda 06-2009-122...traced off the pattern and got side-tracked cleaing my sewing room...still sidetracked.

School is OUT!

School is out, we're going to Key West for a long weekend, and I've got 2 whole months to sew, Sew, SEW!! WhooHoo :o)

McCall's 5314, Part II

Here is the picture, via cell phone, as promised, of DD wearing McCall's 5314:

Isn't she just the cutest?!

The color is much closer to this photo:

June Burda

Last year I decided to take the plunge with the Burda World of Fashion magazine. It's a wonderful magazine and I look forward to each issue but have yet to make anything from one. I haven't been this excited about a Burda since the first one I recieved back in May 2008. This month's Burda has a ton of exciting patterns in it. The ones I plan on making are...

Muslin Making Weekend

Simplicity 2638 and Butterick 5317...well that was the plan. Butterick 5317 was the only one I was able to complete. Instead of making both muslins then the dresses - I went right to dress making after fitting the muslin.

Pattern Description: Butterick 5317 Slightly flared dresses A, B, below mid-knee have contrast, fitted, lined bodice with or without cap sleeves, empire waistline, pleats, side seam pockets and left side zipper closure. B: contrast hem band.

Pattern Sizing: BB(8-10-12-14) I made a combination of 12 and 14

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

Were the instructions easy to follow? no problems with the instructions.

Fabric Used: Stretch Cotton Poplin..Stylized Mums from FabricMart


Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I added a lining to the skirt portion, it was a bit see-thru and I didn't want to mess with a slip when wearing this. When I cut the muslin I used a straight size 14 to fit around my torso. After the muslin was basted I realized the straps were too far apart. When I cut the fabric I used the size 12 for the straps. Speaking of the straps...I made a major error sewing the tops of them together. I attached both from straps to each other and both back straps together. When it was time to try it on for fit I realised my mistake and had a good laugh. I need to remember to take pictures while I sew.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'm definately going to sew this again in a very light cotton lawn a little larger (without a zipper)to use as a cover-up and one a little more fitted (like this one was supposed to be).

Conclusion: Initially I wasn't sure about this dress. I'm glad I wore it to work with a very light 3/4 sleeve sweater - it was very comfortable and I received a ton of compliments and three "I want one!"

I'm not sure if the difference in fit from the muslin to the actuall dress is because of the stretch in the fabric or operator error. It ended up having more ease than I planned on (about an inch!) and after the zipper was in I realized I could easily get this on without opening it.

I truly hate pictures of myself...big giant dork fish, but here's one of me in the dress:

Key West Bound

We're going to Key West for our 25th wedding anniversary! Hubba-Bubba surprised me with the trip and I'm thrilled :o). This will be our first trip that isn't connected to work or a child's sport and it'll be just the two of us. Now I'm not complaining - we've had some mighty fun times traveling for work and the kids but...it's going to be so nice to do things (or do nothing) because we want to, not because we have to.

So I've got a month to get a few sundresses done. My goal is to fit everything I'll need into a medium sized carry-on. We'll be on island 3 days (taking the ferry from Ft Myers). I'll need flip-flops, a swimsuit, cover-up, a pair of shorts, 2 tops, 3 dresses, and assorted under-duds. I could carry that stuff in a large purse!

Vogue 8534

Started and finished all in one afternoon! I needed an easy-quickie...the last dress took a bit of time to complete and I wanted instant satisfaction. I chose Vogue 8534, View A, out of a light weight red matte jersey.


Yummy silky stuff I got from Joann's the last time DD and her BFF were here. I didn't make a muslin of this one...that would really defeat the easy-quick feel of it, don't ya think?

The directions call for a single line of stitching across the pleats in the front. Does anyone else feel like that's just too much of risk? If you pop a stitch while wearing it you're done for. This thought came to me after I had already sewn the neckline. The double needle used on the sleeve and the bottom hems wasn't an option without tearing out the original stitches. Ripping out stitches does not an easy-quickie make. So I added another row of stitches about 1/8" from the originals.

Initially I planned on using the contoured hem of View B but while trimming threads I snipped a 1/4" hole into the lower portion of the blouse. Arrrrggghhhh! The planets are aligned against the quickie part of this operation. I wasn't able to totally eliminate the hole but at least it's on the underside of the hem and not smack in the middle of the top.



All in all, I'm quite pleased with this top....maybe a print next time?

McCalls 5314

The latest addition to my daughter's wardrobe is finished. I can hardly wait to see it on her. She lives 6 states west of here so fitting sessions are non-existent. I made a muslin out of the top of the dress the last time she was home but I'm unsure about the skirt length. Needing a measurement, even if only semi accurate, I had her measure from her armpit to the break in her knee thinking it would be easy for her to get....she used a 12" ruler. I know, made me laugh too. So, 2.5 ruler lengths later the hem is done. I left it a tad bit longer in case we need to adjust the hem later. That sucker was miles long! The dress goes into the mail tomorrow, she'll bring it back when she visits. Hopefully she'll get a pic of herself in it before June, if not, it'll be on our "To-Do" list :o)

On The Cutting Table

McCalls 5314, View B with small cap sleeves, from a coral-ish, tutti-frutti fabric DD chose. I made the dress (with disastrous results) for myself last year and she loves the fullness of the skirt. It's actually already cut out; I'm just waiting for a free weekend. Two very busy weekends since she was last here - no time for sewing at all but this weekend looks promising (keeping my fingers crossed).

Unless You Sew

I realised something key this weekend. Non-sewing people just don't get the sewing process even if you describe it to them...in detail. They get a glazed look and say "uh-huh" and "Oh, how nice". They can't appreciate the time it takes to put a Hong Kong finish on the seams, or how key it is to make a muslin to get a great fit. All the enthusiasm you see on Pattern Review and sewing blogs is because they do get it and they're happy to give you a bloggie "hi-five". Well, a great big "hi-five" to all you out there that sew and share it with the rest of us. :0)

Simplicity 5112

The Pattern:


The Fabric:




The Dresses:





I've made this dress two previous times, one in a brown Hawaiian print and another in smooth cotton that had a little stretch - white background, red flowers, black ribbon trim (not original but still very cute) The only adjustments I made this time was swayback adjustment and I cut a mile off the length.

The second fabric (abstract print) is a medium weight polished cotton with stretch. I was under the gun to get it all done in one day while not neglecting the visiting, meal times and general family loving. Since I had just completed this dress in the raspberry cotton I thought "Easy-peasy..I'll just whip this bad-boy together in no time." How wrong I was.

First - Don't sew under the gun if you can help it. Would it have been terrible for the DD to go home with "only" one dress? Absolutely not. But (always a but), I wanted to make her really happy.

Second - that fabric stretches. Don't skip the staystitching (I did). I ended up taking it in an inch on each underarm seam....after it was all together AND seams serged. ARRRGGGHHHHHH! It was quite a challenge.

Third - Always get a picture before the recipient has worn the dress all day and ended up sleeping in it (too tired to get into pjs - I told you it was a busy weekend!)

She loved both dresses. :o)

A Fantastic, Fruitful Weekend

What a great weekend! My DD was home from the AF for a quick visit.... I miss her so when she's not here. Back to the good...for the past three days we've been on the go. The weather was stunning - sunny and in the 90s! We went out on the boat (just the four of us)yesterday for about 5 hours and it was the best part of my whole weekend. Hubba and I did major grocery shopping Friday while DS and BFF went to pick up DD. A trip to the fabric store, some medical training, and completely sewing two dresses (same pattern) for DD, and making a muslin and cutting out another..WHEW! Lots of visiting, cooking favorite meals, laundry and two very late nights later and I'm bushed, right down to my toenails. My cup is full.

Simplicity 3833...Finished!!

As long as I've been sewing, about 30 years or so, I've never been more satisfied with a completed project. The process of sewing with a muslin, and the resulting garment that fits so well, is abundantly gratifying. I actually did a twirlly-girlie dance for my husband after he zipped me up :o)

From now on I'm using a muslin for everything but simple knits. When I started, the intention was to use the organza for Hong Kong seams. But once it was on a few seams I changed my mind. It was too stiff and a bit scratchy feeling. So off came the organza and on went a very pale yellow, light weight cotton. The difference was wonderful and the inside of the dress is actually pretty good looking!

The only real problem I encountered was facing pieces that didn't fit properly...I almost paniced. When I adjusted the bodice pieces I failed to adjust the corresponding facing pieces. Not to worry though, there was enough seam allowance to make it happen.

I've worn it to work and to a college graduation ceremony and received many compliments each time.

Movies, Movies, and More Movies!!!

WhooHoo!! Just finished watching "To Wong Foo, Thanks For Every, Julie Newmar" I LOVE that movie :o) We just got a Netflix subscription and the "Watch Instantly" feature may lead to my undoing. I've watched "Out of Africa", "The Other Sister", "...Julie Newmar", "Back to Bataan", "Holiday", and "The Ox-Bow Incident" all in 3.5 days! Now, don't get me wrong, I've accomplished a few other things while watching. I finished my dress!! It took a little tweaking despite the muslin - that for a later post. I've gotten a TON of ironing done as well as laundry, vacuuming and cooking (you can pause!) It really ends up being the background sound for my activities. I've seen all the movies before so no need for strict attention. Reading back over this post I realized something....I can rationalize with the best. Nice, huh?

Next Up....Simplicity 3833

I know, I know...why start a new dress when I have all those unfinished projects lying around the cave? I'm hoping inspiration will find me some day soon, till then, I've started on Simplicity 3833. It's a very easy pattern with a minimum of pattern pieces. A thought on muslins: I worried that so much time put into a muslin would dim my enthusiasm for the final run. How wrong I was! Not only was this method enlightening, it made me really think about how things fit and the process of adjusting seams and darts. Not to mention how wonderful it was to cut the fashion fabric with muslin pattern pieces instead of tissue ones. It was glorious - I'm going to find it very difficult to use the tissue pattern in the future :o)

The Pattern:


The Fabric:
a bright golden yellow matelasse


Here are a few pics of the muslin process:



It needed another bust dart - it was gaping at the armhole.


...added a smidge to each side seam

....and a bit to the center back seam.

Tomorrrow I will be sewing this baby up, got the zipper and organza (for Hong Kong seams) today. Wish me luck!

Cherry Blossoms

Went to DC to see the cherry blossoms today....the weather was fabulous, the crowds not so much. We went to the Museum of Natural History - there was a line to see nearly everything. Won't be going to DC again when there's an event - it's so much more enjoyable without the extra bodies.




My cousin on the left my hubba-bubba on the right...he's so handsome :o)

Unfinished Projects

There are many of them...
1. V8353: black & white plaid, mostly sewn but too big on top.
2. B5130: blue, red, black jersey print - needs a sleeve revision and a hem
3. NL6774: brown and pink poly print, pink cotton lining - needs a zipper, hem and fixing on top
4. V2561: white with olive green trim, cut out last summer
5. V8233: orange gauze - need to replace bodice lining with something that won't stretch as much as the gauze and a hem
6. NL6808: working on a muslin
7. S4032: olive fleece - needs snaps or buttons and hems

See a pattern here? Finishing, follow thru, stick-to-itiveness...what ever you want to call it, I need it.

Skirt Refashions

After I finished the dress I was so jazzed I moved on to two skirts that have been hanging in my sewing room for months waiting for a little tweak.

The first is a denim skirt with a yoke and the skirt portion has a small gather at each point. I took the back yoke in about 4 inches and made a box pleat. It fits now but I think I'll wait to add it to the wardrobe - I think an applique or embellishment is needed.



















The second skirt was even easier. It's a brown embroidered cotton with lots of great detail. Because of all that detail I felt taking it in on the sides wouldn't work well. The skirt rides low (rests on my hips) which makes it too long. I shortened it by 2 inches. Golden!

Butterick 5242, View A

Boy, I had some sewing mojo going this week! Sewing with jersey has been as challenging as I thought it would be but I'm glad I went for it. The dress turned out very nicely, nice enough to wear out of the house even :o)

The fabric is a grey, very light weight jersey with a lot of stretch.

The pattern itself, Butterick 5242, was fairly simple and the directions were clear and easy to follow. The top is lined with stitched down pleats. I used the same fabric to line it.



Once the top was assembled enough for a fit, with lining, underbust facings, and lots of basting, I realized it was very low cut. Overlapping the center fronts a little more to cut down on boobage flash made it too tight across my back. I let the side seams out 1/4". This did help some - back fat is not so noticeable.



It also gaps a teeny bit so I tried clear elastic on the seam allowance for the first time ever. This is definitely something I need to research more/practice to get right. My first attempt failed miserably! Instead of giving the top a snug fit where the front overlaps it scrunched it and ended up wonky and unattractive.

The skirt also has pleats in center front - instead of sewing them down as the pattern directs, I left them loose for the extra room. Turns out I should have stitched them down - the fullness tends to make more of my tummy rather than less.

The sleeves needed to be sewn twice - the jersey slipped (stretched) enough to create a small pucker. It was distracting and had to go. Just a side note: ripping out a seam on 3 layers of light weight jersey is not fun.

I used a double needle for the first time on this project and I'm happy to report it was a success. The sleeves and the hem were finished with this method.



The serger was used for all seams after sewing them on my regular machine first - I'm not confident enough to serge jersey without it.

Lessons Learned:

I like sewing jersey!

I'm a 14 around my chest but a 12 across the shoulders and from the shoulder to breast point. I need to remember to adjust the pattern before I cut the fabric next time.

Next time I make an over lapping V-neck I'll be sure to check how low it goes - this one is waaay too low for school. Nothing a little cami underneath can't fix tho and it's an opportunity to add a little color as well as modesty :o)

Because of all the layers of fabric in the front (I treated the facings and one layer of interfacing as one layer to avoid hand sewing - lazy and a mistake) using the serger on this seam made it very stiff and wavy. Thank goodness I had a straight seam and some room after serging. I made another row of stitching about 1/8" away from the first seam then cut the serger stitches. fixed most of the wave problem and feels better next to my skin.

All in all this was a success, I learned a ton from this project and I can actually wear the darn thing!

It took a bit of time and some basting to figure out what I was doing wrong with the large waist pleats. This is the first exposed zipper I've ever put in so wish me luck. When I cut it out I opted to go with the longer length, I had plenty of fabric.

My first BWOF Pattern

After subscribing to the BWOF magazine for a year I've finally decided to take the plunge. I think I've been intimidated by the job of tracing the pattern. Initially it seemed like it would be a time consuming project but it went rather quickly. In all honesty, there aren't many pieces at all - just right for a frist attempt. The sparse instructions and lack of construction photos were daunting.

First the pattern....1/2009 Skirt 105B.


The fabric....a light-weight, green plaid, poly rayon blend purchased at Hancock Fabrics. This may be a mistake - it may be too light to hold the crease. A muted gold zipper and topstitching thread complete the supplies.

Wish me luck!

Vintage Vogue 7383 Part II

Dress before washing



After washing


Button detail


Top


This dress looks TERRIBLE on me. The collar is too high, the shoulders & bust area are too big and the pockets are too shallow. The gathered top of the sleeve doesn't go well with the tailored feel of the dress and the too stiff fabric. I re-measured my dress form and realized that I had set the bust measurement too big (wishful thinking?). It wasn't off by much but enough to throw the fit off. To add to the blunder, I had added a little extra "just in case".

I cut the buttons off and put it in a pile downstairs where I don't have to see it. What a bummer...

Vintage Pattern Vogue 7393

This vintage pattern was part of a group of patterns purchased from eBay. I didn't particularly want the others but this one called my name. It's a "semi-fitted A-line, double breasted step-in dress with notched collar and pockets in the side seams."







I spent an hour or so measuring myself and She to get it just right. Turning dials, adjusting the height of her. I pin fit the pattern and decided the back needed to be widened about an inch - made a notation on the pattern piece and off to the dining room table I went. From my stash I chose an olive green stretch cotton with a very small grid pattern to it.










After I had the major seams sewn I tried it on She....waaaaaayyy too big. Damn. I took about 2.5 inches off each back side seam and viola - it fits! Making adjustments with a dress form was fantastic.






Bound buttonholes were a snap using this tutorial. They take a ton more time than regular ones but definitely worth the effort.










It's not quite finished...it needs a hem, buttons and snaps.

An Unexpected Gift

A very large mysterious package came in the mail shortly before Christmas. What could it be? A dress form from my parents! She stood downstairs in the living room for a few weeks - scaring the entire family regularly. My son spoke to it (it was dark) thinking it was J, A dances with it every time he comes over....scared the snot out of me when I came in from the garage. She's upstairs in my sewing room now, still catching me unawares at times. Can't keep calling her "she" or "the body". Hopefully she'll solve the fitting problems I continue to have.
Here "She" is :o)