Fall 2009 SWAP

Pattern Review's SWAP contest runs September - November, so I'm excited to work the fall sewing I had planned into the contest.  Joining a sewalong or contest always keeps me motivated to get things done instead of jumping from one project to the next.

Here's my plan, kind of:

You can see I don't have a lot of patterns picked out yet.  I do have my fabrics, though, for the most part.  The whole thing centers around the jacket, which I'll make first and hopefully enter in the September jacket contest.  I've been pining over this jacket for a while.

In addition to the jacket, there are 5 tops, all knits, since I end up wearing those much more than woven tops.  Then, there are 4 bottom.  I'm not all sold on my bottoms fabrics, yet.  I think I have enough denim for pants (trouser-style... I'm not ready to sew real jeans yet) and a skirt.  I also have enough khaki.  That would make for a boring SWAP bottom collection, though, so I threw in the embroidered corduroy for fun.  I'm not sure of a good skirt pattern for that, though.  Simple A-line?

Cutting and sewing can start tomorrow, so I'm going to trace my jacket pattern and add seam allowances tonight after the boys are in bed.

Stenciling

I thought I'd try a little stenciling before making this green t shirt.  Tonight, I cut out the shirt and pinned some seams.  I'll probably get it sewn up during naptime or after the boys' bedtime tomorrow.  Here's a little recap of my first stenciling process:

I drew the bamboo picture freehand, based on some pictures I found online.  For the stencil, I used a file folder.  I taped it onto a cutting mat (a rotary cutter mat for quilting) and taped my drawing on top.  

I used a razor to cut through both layers of paper...

leaving me with my folder stencil.

I used a stiff, short paintbrush and regular fabric paint, being careful not to slant the brush and get paint underneath the stencil.

I also taped the stencil to the fabric to make sure it didn't shift.  Here is the stencil, painted over.

and, voila!  My painted fabric.

I think it turned out well for my first attempt.  It's a pretty subtle effect, which I was going for.  We'll see how it looks made up in the shirt tomorrow.

My first Vogue 8379!

I may be the last sew-er to make this pattern.  It's extremely popular on the blogs and Pattern Review.  I didn't bother doing a review on PR since there are already over 60.  Yes, it's a great pattern.

I used a poly jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics.  It appears to be sold out now, but there are lots of other beauties there now.  I'm finding it hard to resist her jersey prints lately (just ask my husband).

I was able to cut this out of 2 yards of fabric although the envelope calls for 2.5 or more.  The only change I had to make was to shorten the hem about 4 inches.  I think it's fine.  My knees have a few good years left in them!

I did originally put on 3/4 sleeves and asked my husband's opinion.  "A little 70s" was his 2 cents, so I cut them to short sleeve length.  I have to agree, this looks more modern to me to use the short sleeves in this print.

Nothing much else to say.  I love this dress.  It's so comfy.  It's great now since it's so light, but the colors lend themselves to be worn with a sweater into fall.

Since I'm trying to be more stylish, here it is a la Michelle Obama, with cardigan and belt.  :-)  A black belt would probably be more flattering, though.

Maxi Madness!

Here's my maxi dress!  I'm really happy with it.  As everyone says, it is super comfy.  I don't think it's particularly cool to wear, though.  I wore it while cutting out another pattern and kept hiking it up above my knees because it was HOT!

I'll definitely be wearing this a lot at the beach this fall.  It's really a beach dress... made for days spent lounging and relaxing with a cup of tea (ok, beer) by the water.  How much do I love that both my parents and my in-laws have homes near the water!?  

The back looks a bit crooked in this photo.  I was careful to measure the straps so they were the same length after adjusting them to fit, so maybe it's my body that's crooked.

To make this, I used a Stacy London pattern - Butterick 4657.  It's not made for a knit, but it fit fine with my normal size 10, straight from the envelope.  The back could have been a bit snugger, but I like it a bit loose for comfort (see wearing plan above).  I put in bra cups between the bodice lining and top fabric, and I put inch-wide elastic all around below the bust to keep it close to the body.  The skirt is unlined.  To make the skirt, I just used all the fabric that was left, cut two rectangles as wide as I could and floor length, and then gathered at the center tops to fit the bodice.  For reference, this gave me about 3 inches of ease at the hips.  

Below is a photo taken during construction.  You can see the gathered sections of the bodice overlay were way big in the knit.  This is where a dress form would have come in very handy.  I ended up just draping the bottom of the bodice on me in front of a mirror.  It worked out fine.

Maxi Dress progress

Sorry, still no photos, but a quick update on my maxi dress:  It's required a lot of tweaking and trying on and modifying so that I can wear it without a bra and still be supported in my currently large state.  In addition to sewn in bra cups, I added a circle of elastic around my ribcage (kind of like a cami's shelf bra) to keep everything up where it belongs.  That worked great.  I'm finally happy with the bodice now, so tomorrow, the skirt goes on.  Hopefully will have finished pictures to post on Friday.  I'm excited!

Spaghetti straps

I worked on my maxi dress today, and I was making the spaghetti straps with elastic inside them this evening.  As I was uttering every curse word under the sun, my husband reminded me that I swore I would never make spaghetti straps again while making this dress.  Looks like I lasted a month.  Tomorrow night, I'll be sewing in bra cups.  We'll see how that goes...

I'm using some pieces from this dress for the bodice.

nuthin

I have nothing to show.  My father-in-law is visiting, so I haven't been sewing much.  I have two half-finished tops that need some hand-stitching, and last night, I cut out the maxi dress.  I had vowed to do better with only working on one project at a time... um yeah...

I'm also pre-washing the fabrics for my older son's quilt.