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!