Simplicity 2245

Oh I can be such a doofus!  I've been sewing for months for the Sewing With a Plan contest (SWAP) at Stitcher's Guild, and I finished on time... but I totally spaced out and missed the deadline to get photos in yesterday.  So frustrated with myself.  Oh well, at least I have some great new things.

ANYWAY, moving on.  I have to catch up on showing my me-made photos, but trust I have still been participating.  For now, I'll show something brand new, finished up just yesterday - Simplicity 2245, which is apparently so out-of-print that it isn't on the Simplicity website anymore.

Now, I have mixed feelings about this.  I fear that it won't be very popular.  It has a distinct whiff of muumuu.  However, the fabric is so pretty, and it fits well, and the pockets are just so handy for toting around my iPod that I am in love.

The height of fashion?  No.  Not even with the cute little star buttons which probably push it into twee-town.

But goodness help me, I just like it.  Is it super "becky-home ec-y"?  Do I care?  I tried it with a couple different pairs of leggings, but I like it best with some white shorts just peeking out the bottom.  Hubs thinks it is super retro... like 1950s housewife housedress.  Not his least favorite thing I've made but not his most favorite either.

Do the pockets make it look like a nurse's smock?  I can't decide.  Again, though, I can't be bothered to get too worked up about it either way.  Maybe if I'd made the yoke and cuffs from the same fabric as the body, it would look more conventional?  I don't know.  Practicality wins me over either way.  I just am in love with these big pockets.

I know using a quilting cotton for a garment is the ultimate faux pas for some seamstresses, but I just can't get worked up about it.  I know this is not the latest thing from a catwalk, but I just don't care.  The fabric makes me happy.  I just hope I'm not a walking billboard for "why not to sew your own clothes."  :-)

Oh, the fabric is by Moda.

Princess Seam Dress

I'm not sure what to call this dress.  I can't find the pattern on any of the websites, so I assume it's out of print, and I've misplaced it here at home, so no pattern number.  It's just a princess-seam dress.  The pattern was for a strapless dress that was straight across the front.  I added straps, omitted the boning, and made a sweetheart neckline for some pizzazz.  The fabric is a linen/cotton from JoAnn's.  I can't find it at the online store, but I did see a bolt my local store the other day.    This is the dress I wore as a skirt with my new green top.

I didn't take a closeup pic, but I added a detail at the hem.  I hemmed as usual and then pleated a narrow bias strip and hand-sewed it peeking out the bottom.  It is a cute detail and gives the skirt some body.  

I'm just realizing these photos are quite old.  My hair is about 3 inches longer now!

Spring henly blouse

I finished up my new spring-y blouse just in time for a cold snap.  Oh well. :-) I used a button-down blouse pattern but modified it so much that it's hardly worth linking.  I'm really happy with how this turned out.  I see myself wearing it a lot when the weather gets hot. Fabric is Cindy from Sawyer Brook.

Cotton Gauze Blouse

Here is a peak at my current project, a pretty blouse made from this cotton gauze.  I am using the same pattern as my recent plaid shirt but made many modifications.

I started out by making a bunch of little pleats for the yoke before cutting out the yoke pieces.

I made quite a bit of progress the past few evenings.  It's hard to see with the busy print, but tonight, I stitched up the placket and band collar and added the buttons and buttonholes.

McCalls 6696, kind of

I was so anxious to finish my altered shirtdress that I pawed through my mom's button stash last night (I'm visiting her, obviously) and found 9 silver shank buttons that fit my buttonholes. 

So, here is my kind-of-shirtdress, made from Sawyer Brook's beautiful Vieux Carre and McCalls 6696.

 I admit I removed most of the shirtdress details - most obviously the collar, but I think this makes for a more casual summer dress.  I wore it out to the grocery store and lunch today and didn't feel too fancy or retro.  I even got a few compliments!

 I kept the yoke and gathers in the back, which gives it a little bit of shirtdress feel and makes it so airy and comfortable to wear for summer.

 I didn't use the skirt pattern pieces at all since I simply didn't have enough fabric for the full-skirt option.  What I did do is cut my whole piece of fabric (2 yards, I think) to length for the skirt and then cut out my bodice pieces from the remaining white portion.  The skirt is all one piece, buttonband to buttonband.  I just did some simple math to figure how many and how big pleats to make to attatch it to the waistband.

I explained how I did the hem here.

I am really enjoying wearing my new dress today.  I think I have been successful in my attempt to make an everyday dress that is comfortable and cool for summer!

Butterick 6739 (OOP)

Good morning!  First off, an annonymous commenter asked if I dry clean these new pants.  Actually, I hardly dry clean anything.  These pants (and most of my dry cleanables) go in my washing machine on the hand wash cycle and I hang them to dry.  No problems so far.

I have my Me-Made update from yesterday, including a dress pattern review.  I actually made this dress almost 9 months ago, last fall.  I was fawning over the fabric but couldn't decide on a pattern, so I asked my hubs to pick from a few.  He chose this well-aged pattern, and I think the result is fun and youthful, but hopefully not tooooo youthful.  :-)

 The patterin is Butterick 6739, which is long out of print, but here's a pic of the envelope.

I think I swiped this pattern from my mom since I distinctly remember my little sister having a cute party dress made from it in high school.

 This pattern takes a little while to put together since you have an overlay to deal with and a full underlining, but it's really cute.  I didn't add boning since hubs specified straps, but it is stiff enough with the interfacing and underlining that I could tuck in the straps and wear it strapless anyway.  I did cut the skirt a little fuller and gathered it to balance out the volume on top.  The straps are about 1/2 inch too long and want to slide off my shoulders - an easy fix.

 The fabric is a nice cotton voile that I think I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics a few years ago.

Here it is as I wore it to a church event yesterday with a little sweater.  It turns out to be a versatile dress as it looks like a  party with no sweater or if I tuck in the straps, but with a little sweater, it's demure enough for church.

 And for the rest of Me-Made-May day 11, I wore this tee and purchased shorts.

 

McCall's 6568

First, here is Me Made May day 9's outfit, another oldie.  (don't click on that link if you can't stand to see super adorable tiny babies who are now almost 4 years old.)

Next, Me Made may day 10, my new top and some brand new pants, which I will now review...
(by the way, I find it hilarious that my dog photo bombed almost every pic from here on out)

The pattern is McCall's 6568, some super lazy elastic waist pants with a decorative tie.  I didn't even put on the patch pockets, such is my laziness.  It doesn't change the fact that I love these pants for spring and will definitely use the pattern again.  The only altering I did was to finesse the leg shape after trying them on.

The fabric is Genoa from Sawyer Brook, which is almost out of stock.  It is a wool/silk/linen blend that works great for these trousers with no lining.

These pants aren't setting the world on fire stylistically, but they get the job done and are very versatile due to the fabric.

 

 

Vogue 8766

First off, thanks so much for the nice comments on my recent skirt and sweater.  They really make my day.  :-)  I also appreciate the compliments on my short hair.  It's a cut I've been wanting to try for about a decade but always chickened out.  Now that I did it, I LOVE it, but I do know I'll get bored with it very quickly and will grow it out again.  It is so fun and easy for the summer, though.

So it has been what? about three weeks since I've posted a sewing project?  I hang my head in shame.  Well, I finally got around to hemming this dress for church yesterday.

Pretty sure this is NOT a fair depiction of my hair color.

The pattern is Vogue 8766, kind of a combination of views plus some changes made by me.

The inspiration was a cotton boatneck dress my sister wore during our vacation.  I think this pattern is a pretty close match to the style. 

I started by making the neckline wider/straps narrower.  After assembling the bodice, I found it was a little short waisted for my taste, so I added a band.  I also had to let out the side seams quite a bit toward my waist, but lets not discuss that.  The final adjustment was hiking up the shoulder seams about an inch.  Sheesh.  Next time, I'll know what changes to make when cutting.  Of course, all these little nips and tucks would have been avoided by making a muslin...

The fabric is (don't roll your eyes too much) a decorator cotton from a local fabric store by my parents' house.  I can't help myself.  I fell in LOVE with the print.  It behaved a lot like a bottomweight cotton, I think.  Quite suitable for this style.

Thanks for checking out my newest dress.  :-)  I'll be back soon with progress on a baby quilt (not for me, I assure you).

Butterick 5535 - Madras Skirt

Butterick 5535 is a pattern I've had in my stash for quite a while and just never got around to sewing.  I used it with a madras fabric for my 4th skirt for a Sawyer Brook sew along, and I think the fabric and pattern were a great fit.  My 3.5 foot photographer took these photos at the end of a long day wearing this skirt, and the only problem is that it didn't hold the pleat crease very well.  I may go back and stitch them in.

I love how the bias yoke on this skirt with the madras, and how the pleats make it kicky but still fitted around the hips.  I'll defintely be making this again.  Even if I omitted the pleats, this would be a grat A-line skirt.

 Here I wore it with a store-bought tee (red, white, and blue for Memorial Day!), but I envision wearing it with a white top through the summer.  I'll definitely be reaching for this one.

Gradations Bag from Modern Mix

I have a new project to show today... not the usual.  I made a little bag for summer.  Usually I prefer a leather, store-bought bag (with the exception of this, I hardly ever use bags I've made), but when i saw this pattern I fell in love.

The pattern is from Modern Mix, a quilting book by Jessica Levitt.  I found it on sale at Connecting Threads.  That's a great price - I paid quite a bit more at a local quilting fabric shop.  There's a review of the book on StashBooks here, which shows a bunch more projects.

ANYWAY, I really love the projects in this book.  They really are modern and "Mix" refers to mixing prints and solids.  I do think it makes for a cleaner, less-busy look than all prints.  The project I made is the Gradations Bag.  I love the graphic impact of the bold stripes.  I mixed them with a natural linen/cotton for summer instead of the dark color shown in the example.

The example from the book:

Magnet snap - love this.

The back:

Had to show off my decent matching at the bottom seam. :-)

Inside pocket - there's just one, but it's a fairly small bag, and it would be easy to add more if you prefer it that way.

Fabric covered cardboard bottom.

Ok, it's time for a revelation.  My mom was here when I bought the book and started working on this bag.  She didn't "get" it.  I think she thought it was an interesting design with the gradually changing color, but she was not a big fan of the bag.  I thought "ok - not everyone has the same taste - the world would be boring if we did, yadda yadda yadda."  Fast forward to having it finished and carrying it around, and I've gotten not one compliment.  A bit odd given I have friends who look for my new creations.  I'm wondering if I have very unique tastes and it's really just not an attractive bag.  My feelings aren't hurt - I still love it, but it just seems odd to me.  Such dramatic problems!  :-)

Simplicity 2564

Here is skirt #2 for my Sawyer Brook sew along!

The pattern is Simplicity 2564 and the fabric is Springtime Satin in leek.  It's a bit snug.  I didn't used to have the problem that things came out too small, and this has happened before in the recent past, so I think it's time to take new measurements.

aaaand.... BOOM, the booty.  This is the reason I won't be wearing this skirt to church tomorrow.

I explained the scalloped hem here.  The only thing I'll add is to recommend doing that with a facing instead of a lining (which I did).  No matter how you smooth and pin, there will be little hang-ups on the lining, and I find myself adjusting quite often in this skirt.  In hindsight, I could have done the scallop with a 4" or so facing and then still added a lining that ended above the scallops.  Live and learn.