Archive for September 2012

Fall Sewing Plans

4:25 PM 11 Comments A+ a-

If y'all know anything about me by now it's that I am not an organized, thoughtful blogger who plans out posts, takes beautiful pictures and creates lovely graphic designs. I'm mostly just a lazy girl who occasionally likes to have people appreciate her sewing (or at least know that she made what she's wearing), since no one I see regularly really cares.

So rather than show you my fall sewing plans in some beautiful way (like those ladies who take the line drawing from a pattern and add in the fabric in photo shop so you can see what the piece will actually look like), I just dumped the fabric on the floor of my living room last night and took pictures with my iPhone. Also, the lighting is terrible. I'm amazed you people put up with me!

So this (with the addition of these two coats) is my fall sewing plan. Or maybe it's more like a wish list. There's a lot of projects and I'm pretty sure I won't complete them all, but this gives me plenty of options depending on my sewing mood (aka: do I want to sew something difficult or easy, a dress or a top or a skirt or a pair of pants, do I want to make something to wear to this weekend, etc.).


First up are PJ's. I've actually already made pants (view F) out of all three of these fabrics from Joann's,
but 2 of them were close to the end of the bolt so I got extra fabric and I think I'll make the short sleeve top (view A) from the same pattern with the extra fabric.

These will become Anise jackets. A mustard one with black and white polka dot lining and a black one
with a red and black polka dot lining. (not sure you can tell there are polka dots on that fabric, but there are). Both of these outer fabrics are medium weight suiting. I know that the suggestion for the pattern is for wool but it's not often cold enough here for too many wool jackets.
Medium weights are better for South Texas.

These will also become jackets. A light grey blazer, view A (with enough fabric left over for maybe a pencil skirt) and something else with the black and white stripe.
Maybe a blazer, maybe another Anise, not sure yet.
Skirts, all pencil skirts, except the grey, which will probably become a Beignet.

These will be tops. The butterfly print on the left will be a tunic like this, the grey/blue polka dot
will probably be this button down, the black/white polka dot something like this,
and I'm still not sure about the fabric on the far right. It's from my New York fabric buying binge and I've never been sure what to do with it...

Next up are dresses. This pretty teal will be a Nicola wrap dress, the grey plaid a simple pullover dress, 
the grey and black floral will be a wrap dress like this, and finally, the pretty mustard floral will be a remake of this dress, probably with a dirndl skirt.

These 2 will be pants. The plaid will be these Vogue trousers and the hot pink corduroy (this stuff is BRIGHT PINK in real life) will be another pair of Clovers.


Finally, these might end up as some combination of suiting pieces. They're all pretty large pieces, so I think I can get a few garments out of each. The left piece might be a dress and maybe a pencil skirt. The grey linen in the middle might be a pair of wide legged pants with a matching vest and the black wool on the right will probably be the Starlet Suit Jacket from Gertie's Craftsy course, (I can't find the link to this class on the main website! wonder if it's no longer available?) with a pencil skirt rather than the one from the course...

I would like to add this last piece of fabric to the project list, but I'm not sure what to do with it. It's a really loose weave knit, that has pleats ironed into it. It's pretty see-through, so it would have to be lined if it was going to be a dress or something. I bought this from Joanns a few months ago. Anybody buy the same fabric or have any ideas?



Oh yeah, I'm also making a quilt but this crazy cat keeps sleeping on it so it's slow going!


So that's my fall/winter sewing plan. I'm sure it will change, things will be added and subtracted, but it's definitely enough to keep me busy! The cutting out starts this weekend...

Cynthia Rowley Take 2

10:00 AM 6 Comments A+ a-

I'm finally getting around to posting the last of my summer dressmaking! Now I have 4 or 5 "fall-ish" dresses I need to photograph and post. Yikes.

This is take 2 of Simplicity's 2250, yet another Cynthia Rowley pattern! I do love my Cynthia Rowley! I've already made this dress once, but something always felt a little off about that version of the dress. I think it had to do mainly with my fabric choice and the length. I used a really light weight broadcloth for my first dress and it always felt a little too wispy and young. Plus the bodice never looked totally right to me because the fabric didn't press well. I ended up giving the dress to my sister though, so I won't talk to much trash about it ;) Hi Allie!

This time I used a heavier weight teal cotton, which pressed much better and even though it might not look like it, the hem is a little longer. Those 2 things have made all the difference, this time around I really love this dress! (PS this has a weird pleated skirt like the dress in my last post. Seriously, check out the line drawings. Not normal...)





Alright, now I'm done with bad pictures and unseasonal clothes! My lovely boytoy has moved back to Texas officially so he can become my permanent photographer! Hopefully next week I'll have some better pictures of my fall sewing!

Happy Weekend!

Polka Dot Dilemma

3:26 PM 8 Comments A+ a-

I'm just going to come out and say it. I think I look like a child in this dress.

This is the dress I was originally going for(on the right), from the Spring/Summer Clarks advertisements...



And here's what happened...

I used a white with pink polka dot quilting cotton I thrifted a few months back. I also used Simplicity 1873, a Cynthia Rowley pattern. Here's the good news. It fits really well in the bust and I think I did a pretty good job making it, if I do say so myself. It's fully lined with white cotton and I think that, combined with the thickness of the outer fabric and the pleated skirt, is my one problem with the construction. The skirt feels a little heavy and I think the pleats hang a little funny because of the weight. I probably should have just gathered the skirt, instead of using the typical, weird Cynthia Rowley pleated skirt. (is this just me? I feel like every dress I make with her patterns has a weird pleated skirt, either asymmetrical pleats, or just a lot of them. It's never just a gathered or simply pleated skirt. I'm not really complaining though, I usually think they're cute, just not with this fabric)

So, when I comes to the pattern, I will most likely be using it again. In fact I think I already have some fabric in mind for a fall version. I like the shape and I think it fits well. But with this specific dress, something (maybe the polka dots?) makes me look like a little girl. It just feels sort of juvenile, so I haven't actually worn it yet. I was hoping it would be a great work dress but, I'm already pretty young for my field and my position so I usually try to dress a bit older and I feel like this has the opposite effect. I can't figure out why it looks so cute in the advertisement but I don't love it in real life...



What do you think? Mid-20's working lady or 5 year old going to a birthday party?


Colette, You Did It Again!

4:20 PM 2 Comments A+ a-

Colette's new patterns are up and I've already purchased the Anise jacket and the companion guide which I'm really excited about! I contemplated getting the Juniper pants but I have a million pants pattern and I've only made 2 pairs so far, both using the same pattern, so I reigned myself in...

Anyway, I'm already brainstorming what fabric to use. Maybe I'll start it this rainy weekend. I feel like Fall is going to be the season of the jacket in my sewing room...


Parade of Dresses Day 3: Bombshell Take 2

4:40 PM 6 Comments A+ a-

A million years (or 1.5 weeks) have lapsed since I showed you my gingham Hazel that I wore to the rehearsal dinner of my fiance's cousins wedding. (is that confusing?) I've been hesitating on posting the next few dresses because the pictures are so blurry but I figured I would probably never get around to re-taking them, so maybe blurry is better than nothing? Anyway, now I'm finally showing you the dress I wore to the wedding and it's take 2 (here's my first attempt) of the Bombshell dress from Gertie's Craftsy class...

The fabric is a medium weight quilting cotton I picked up from a quilting store outside of Fort Worth last year. It had Bombshell written all over, especially since I used the sarong skirt from the pattern. It's a little kitschy maybe but I love it. (PS you can see the fabric better in the close up pictures at the end of this post. damn the blurriness of these pictures!)




The only modification I made was to add about an inch to the top of the cup so it covered a little more. (that's for you mom!) To add the extra inch I traced the top cup pattern piece on a plain sheet, marked one inch from the highest point of the cup and drew a curved line to connect that point to the edges of the pattern piece that connected to the side bodice and center bodice pieces. (does that make sense?) The coverage was a lot more appropriate for a family wedding than the first bombshell I made. Also, I noticed that my hand stitching and general construction of the dress improved a lot the second time. Obviously that had to do mostly with the fact that I had made the dress before, but I also think this fabric helped...


Here are some closeups of the fabric, lining, zipper guard and waist stay.






And here's a shot of the dress in action. Obviously it holds up well to dancing like a maniac!



Now that the season's are changing, this dress will probably end up in the closet until next spring/summer. I'm sad to see it go, I'm definitely a big fan.

PS Here's another picture from the wedding (specifically the photo booth at the wedding). It doesn't show the dress at all but I felt like you needed to see it...




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