Sew Long Summer - Summer Crush

The Sew Long Summer started this week!  SLS is a 4 week sew along that takes us from summer and into the fall (and even has some prizes, yay!) This week's theme is "Summer Crush" and we are challenged to sew up a pattern we've been crushin' on this summer but for whatever reason (usually time, right?) we haven't made it up.

Early in the summer after my daughter returned home from college, we took a trip to the Downtown LA fabric district for a look and some inspiration.  She's been wanting a romper all summer long and she found a "Roxy-esque" gauze fabric that was perfect.

I've had Simplicity pattern 1355 for at least a year with the intention of making it up for her and Sew Long Summer got me sewing and I finished up the romper the day before I took her back to college. It's  an easy project and I completed it in a couple of hours.  I'm still looking for something different for the tie but for now a piece of bias tape worked.

I quickly snapped these photos in front of Target the day I moved her back to college.  She looked adorable in her romper even though we spent the day moving boxes, cleaning, unpacking and laughing. We topped off the day by eating lunch at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican food place (what could be better?) with the tiniest diet coke cup ever!

Nothing says so long summer like moving your baby back to college but ending it with a day with my favorite girl in a cute romper made it nice.

There's still time to join Sew Long Summer.   Check it out!

My New Yellow Dress

I don't think I've had a yellow dress since I was probably five.  It was yellow and red calico, had a smocked top and, get this, it had a matching swimsuit.  Yes folks, I was rockin' the seventies.  Well here is my new yellow dress without the swimsuit.  You can thank me later....

I've been wanting to make this pattern out of a lightweight chambray I found on a recent shopping to LA but this pattern got some iffy reviews and I decided it would be prudent to make a muslin first.  This linen has been lying around my sewing room for a while and although I love the color I never made anything out of it so I decided it was good for a muslin.

I love the pockets on Simplicity 6182 and been hoping to try the pattern for quite some time.  In pattern reviews, it gets poor marks for instructions primarily because it has you baste together the bodice first, fit it, then sew it back together.  I skipped that and made the bodice and fit it at the same time.  A few reviewers did remark there was "gaping" at the neckline (which is a problem I often have anyway) so I made the neckline smaller by slashing and folding in a "dart" on the bodice front pattern piece.  This change worked out very well, no gaping.

All in all the dress went together smoothly, I like the style and I LOVE the pockets.  They are so much fun.

Happy Stripe Tee - Simplicity 1620

Like most of you out there, I'm constantly looking at patterns.  I feel like I've either seen, purchased or sewn just about every pattern out there.  So, I absolutely love when a blogger shares a project from a pattern I've seen a million times before and simply passed over.  My happy stripe tee uses one of those patterns.

The lovable Sunni from A Fashionable Stitch made a beautiful blouse from Simplicity 1620 and I immediately went out and bought the pattern.  Although Sunni's version is much more elegant than this one, this pattern is perfect for filling the cute t-shirt gap in my wardrobe.  I have plenty of basic tees from Target but I wanted a couple of shirts that were not quite so basic but still really comfy for the summer.

I purchased this fabric from a store that was closing because it looked so happy it almost said "Hi" as I walked by.  I made a size 12 and I changed the straight hem into a shirttail.  It looks much better when I wear it with pants.  Here's how I did it:

I made a mark 3" up from the hem at the side seam.

Using my French curve ruler (every sewer needs one and they are super cheap here), I made a curve from my line almost to the hem, then flipped the curve and continued the line all the way to the hem.  I repeated this on the other side and got this:

Looks like it was meant to be, right?

 

Knits can be a little unruly when trying to put a tiny hem in them, so I serged the bottom and used that as the guide for pressing in the hem.  I used a zigzag stitch to finish it off.

This entire top took less than two hours to make.  It's a quick victory which we need every now and again.

Here it is tucked into my favorite skirt (not a great picture but the Santa Ana winds were in full force when I took this picture so I had to take what I could get).

I've got more clothing projects on deck but believe it or not I need to finish a DC comics "Squirrel Girl" costume for my niece first.  Because every girl needs a squirrel girl costume...

What are you making?

Diane

Happy New Year and Simplicity 1430

Happy New Year!  Yes, I know I'm a little late.  I wasn't quite ready for the new year just yet but it came anyway.  I usually have a detailed list of what I'd like to accomplish for year including both sewing and personal goals, but this year I have only two resolutions:

1. Make my first PDF pattern to share with my sewist friends (that's you guys!)
2. Learn to crochet.

I'm very happy to say I've started both!  More updates on the pattern will be coming (I'll probably be making a pattern tester call very soon) and trust me, no one wants to see any of my crochet projects...at least so far.  Uh-hem...

I did a lot of Christmas gift sewing over the holidays so it's nice to get back in the swing of garment sewing.  I've completed two projects so far this year, a jacket and this blouse.  I bought Simplicity 1430 when it first came out and never got around to making it until now.  I'm really glad I did.  It's quick to put together and even though it's a simple shell, it's still really pretty.

I'm not really sure where this fabric came from.  I found it in the donation bag at work and I decided to bring it home and give it some life.  It's a polyester (I wasn't lucky enough to find a silk in the donation bag) crepe with the perfect drape for the pattern.

It has only a few seams and a band at the top.  Since the pieces for the band are quite small and the fabric is very squwidgy, I found it easier and more accurate to fuse knit interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric BEFORE I cut out the pieces.  It eliminates the need to cut out the fabric and interfacing separately and then trying to line them up on the ironing board before fusing.

After seaming the front and back bands together, I serged all the way around the outer edge, as a guide, to make it easy to fold and press the small 1/4" hem it calls for. 

I love how clean it turned out!  And so much less frustrating because of the serge stitch.

I finished the band with a topstitch using my ditch-foot/blind hemming foot as the guide (I use this foot all the time) to be sure it was even all the way around.

I can't wait to wear it!

Any New Year sewing resolutions?

Here's my review on PatternReview.com.

Simplicity 2373 - Ojai Dress

Well...this is one of those projects that was difficult to get through.   I find this hard to believe since this is one of my TNT's (tried and true pattern) and some leftover linen I had in my stash.  I made the bodice and the straps and for some reason I just wasn't happy so I left it sitting on my cutting table for a day.  I have a stack of other projects I'm excited to start but I'm not a sewer that can have any unfinished projects lying around. I knew I'd have to figure out my problem or call it a "wadder" and trash the dress.  I forged ahead and I'm so glad I did.

I used the dress pattern from Simplicity 2373 and added a couple of inches to the bottom.  Since I was unhappy with the bodice, I decided to experiment with some decorative stitching and ended up using a technique I used on this skirt.  I hand wound light gray embroidery floss (all six threads) onto a bobbin and top stitched from the wrong side so the embroidery floss showed on the front.  So easy and yes, washable.

Here are my reviews on PatternReview.com. and Kollabora.

My daughter took these dress pictures on a recent trip to Ojai, California.  If you ever
can get there....do it.  It's a beautiful place.  We laid by the pool most of the day and this was my view.  Nice, right?  I can't wait to go back.

Lacey Dolman

I'm continuing to power through my lovely box of fabrics from FabricMart Fabrics.  Ooooo, and this one was really fun to make.  This antique white wavy pucker lace knit was described as "springy" and that's exactly what it is.  It's very exciting to get fabric in the mail but it's even more exciting when it ends up being what you expected!

The new spring Simplicity patterns just came out and I brought home a fashionable few and 1463 was among them.  I rarely buy fabric with an exact pattern in mind but I knew with this knit I wanted to make some sort of top and this was pretty and looked like a "quick sew"....and it was!  It was about 2 hours total cut and sew time.  Yay!

I didn't make any changes to the pattern and it sewed up like a dream.  I used a twin needle to finish the hem and to topstitch the neckline.  I'll be making it again....this time in a stripe.

Here are my reviews on PatternReview and Kollabora.

Simplicity 2365 - The Pattern Mixer Dress

For the FabricMart Fabricista Challenge we were charged with making a garment using two print fabrics.  This turned out to be a really fun project because as a fabricoholic, buying fabric prints feeds my soul.

I went to Fabricland in Orange and lying in the counter were these two fabrics.  Even though they weren't coordinates I knew right away I had to have them!  I used Simplicity 2365 and changed it quite a bit. 

I lengthened it into a dress and cut the center front piece in two, making a center front upper and lower piece.  I then pleated the Joel Dewberry rayon dot fabric and then cut the upper center front piece.  I added vintage buttons to the front and made a self tie.  It was really fun to make and the large floral print is an Amy Butler voile which was a dream to sew on. 

You can read more about the Fabricista Challenge entry here and my Kollabora review here.  And here's my pattern review:

Pattern Description: Misses' sewing pattern tunic in two lengths with front variations. Pattern Sizing:6-24. I made a size 12Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Yes....but I lengthened it to make a dress.Were the instructions easy to follow?Yes.What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?It's very versatile.Fabric Used:Amy Butler Voile and a Joel Dewberry Rayon.Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:I cut the center front piece in two so it added a front yoke. I pleated the dot rayon fabric and then cut the the upper center front pattern piece. I added a delicate trim and vintage buttons. I lengthened the the tunic to make a dress and added a self tie.Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes. I made it once before and loved it.  

Stash Bashing - Simplicity 1806

Any time I can find a piece of Anna Maria Horner fabric I'm thrilled.  I originally bought two yards of fabric to make a scarf and since I needed the length and not the entire width I still had a two yard piece left in my stash although it was only about 30" wide.  I was able to squeeze out this cute top, Simplicity 1806, and I have worn it over and over.  Way to bash away at that stash!

Here's my review on pattern review:

Pattern Description: 
Misses pullover top with bodice and sleeve variations and optional ruffle details
Pattern Sizing:
8-24. I made a size 12.
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?
Yes
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? 
This pattern went together fairly easily. It's an easy and comfortable style to wear. 
Fabric Used:
I used a cotton voile from Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks collection.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: 
The front neckline was too large and it was gaping. To remedy this I shortened the neckband and made gathers in the front center and brought them up to match the smaller neckband. I was happy with the result.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, but I would make both the front and back necklines smaller. 

Simplicity 2373 - My Wedding Box Dress

I'm continuing to work hard on organizing and decorating my sewing room with lots of sewing in between.  Here you can get a peek at what my cabinets look like.  The painted box on the desk is a "wedding box" I received when I got married and it's filled with wedding cards and our guest book.  As I was planning my new room, one of my thoughts was to paint this box and give it a fresh start but as I was moving things around in the room I realized I still love it....23 years later .... 80's tole painting and all.  When I put the dress on the mannequin and took the picture I wasn't thinking about the box but now that I look at it they are a match made in heaven.  So here is a review of Simplicity 2373, my"Wedding Box Dress".

I've made this two times before, one for me and one for my daughter and this one is for me.  Because the dress design is simple it's easy to change up and be creative. 

I used the "Boho Border" from Urban Threads (I love their designs) on the bodice, lengthened the bodice 2" and distributed the gathers on the skirt evenly instead of concentrating the gathers in the front like the pattern suggests.  I bought the fabric at Mood on my trip to New York and I'm really happy with the finished project.


Here's my review at patternreview.com:

Description:
View A sundress with empire waist, shoulder straps and softly gathered skirt.
Pattern Sizing:
I made a size 12.
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?
Yes.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
This dress went together so easily. My favorite part about the pattern itself is the shaped strap. It makes the shoulder strap really stay up on the shoulder so I'm sure I'll use that pattern piece for other dresses. This was a fun dress to make.
Fabric Used:
I made the dress from a 100% cotton lightweight stripe.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I embroidered the bodice front and lengthened the bodice 2" to accommodate the embroidery.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I've made it a few times.  It's a really easy dress to wear.
Conclusion:
This is a great pattern and a great dress for the summer.