Who's That Lady????

This is my first attempt at taking my own picture with my new phone.  Let me tell you it is much easier to send them to myself rather than transfer them from the camera.  It's not the best picture, but then it's not the best camera/phone......but not too bad.  Did I mention I really don't like to have my picture taken?

I made this skirt last year.  It is NL6898.  I wasn't that happy with it and was going to give it away.  It was in the Goodwill bag, all tied up and ready to go.  But something made me go back and decide to give it and another skirt a second chance.

The last ( and only) time I wore it I kept my top untucked.  This time I tucked it in, and added the cardy because it was a little cool at the beachfront.  I really liked how it looked this time.  You can't see the front pleat detail, but it's there.

I quit wearing my tops tucked in about 8 years ago when menopause started and the weight piled up in front.  I didn't want to look down and see that little potbelly, a reminder that I like food too much.......and exercise not enough!  But it didn't seem so bad this time...of course the cardi helped a bit.

Another issue with skirts and dresses has bother me personally lately.....I have some patches of spider veins on my legs.  And it bothers me.  I can't really have anything done about it right now so I've been shying away from skirts and dresses.  But they are so cute and cool in the hot summer.  Any suggestions?  Leg make-up? Bronzer? 

All in all, I am glad I saved this little skirt. I hung onto the pattern too, so maybe there's another one in my future.

Been A Long Time Since I Rock n' Rolled

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! And I am ashamed to say I don't have much to sew show for it.

I finished NL 6895.  It turned out okay, wearable under a cardigan or jacket.  The charmeuse was a little bit of a challenge to work with but not as bad as the ITY jersey knits!  Not sure I would make it again though.

Then I moved on to B4957:

I've seen this made by several people and it looked so cute.  I just used a green cotton print from my stash and while the dress fit nicely it just looked kind of frumpy and blah.  So I didn't bother sewing in the zipper and put it aside.

Next up was M5591:

This is another pattern that has been very popular.   Here's my version:

I'm just not feeling the love here.  Maybe it would look better if I had a head but the frown on my face wasn't very picturesque.   I really like the black and white print but it looks so busy here.  I'm also not sure this style is very flattering to me, it really accentuates my short waist and thick middle.  I tried it with the top out but...uh, uh, no good.   I'm a little disappointed and not sure I will feel comfortable wearing it.

I don't have any new projects planned right now.  I am tired of summer clothes but it has been so hot here I just can not think of  fall/winter wear yet.  I did pick up a nice poly suiting for pants at JoAnn's a few weeks ago so I might try to tweak my pants pattern a little more and have another go at that.  I also have a few pairs I made earlier in the year that need some readjusting.We'll see.

Saved!

I have saved the disaster that was M3023 and turned it into a very wearable skirt.

I used S2917 which I have made once before.  I love it.  It's a great summer skirt.  I've already worn it twice, once on the 4th and once to work.  I see this skirt getting a workout this summer!

So I am moving on......I just couldn't decide what to make though.  I have been going through all my top patterns and associated fabrics and decided to try NL6895:

 It seems like a really simple top with a little added interest in the front gathers.  I hope it's not too baggy, but if it is, it looks easy enough to taper a little.  I am doing the high neck version with the short sleeves from View C.

I decided to try a fabric I have never worked with before, charmeuse.  I bought this fabric from Denver Fabrics and the print is a little large, but I thought it would make a good muslin for this top. If it looks good fine, if not that's fine too. 

I did read on someone's blog (sorry, can't remember who's) that when working  with charmeuse it is best to starch it.  So I did, it helps a little but is slipperier than a Chicago politician!  Will see how it works out!

Skirting with Disaster

Since the weather here has been extremely hot this summer I thought some nice easy summer skirts would do the trick to keep me cool.  Well, both of these projects managed to get my temperature to rise almost to the boiling point!

New Look 6898

This skirt was up first, View E to be exact.  I figured since I always cut my patterns at size 12 then add 1/2" to the side seams why not bypass that little exercise and just cut the size 14.  Of course the skirt was WAY too large, but surprisingly the wasitband (and yes I did make sure and cut the right size) was too small to fit on the skirt!!!  Go figure!?!?

So I took it in 1/4" at each side seam, still too big.  Another 1/4" and STILL to big.  What the "F"?  I had two options at this point - take it a part or consider it done for and move on.

I went with option one, taking it a part and recutting at a size 12.  It was still too big with 5/8" seams.  Another 1/8" didn't help, but the final 1/4" seamed (ha,ha stupid pun intended) to do the trick.  And the waistband which was originally cut at size 14 fit perfectly!!! Again, what the "F".

I found the zipper insertion on the skirt a "PITA" but I can't see any other way of doing it because the waistband has to go before the zipper.  Mine came out a little wonky, not too bad, maybe it just takes practice.

At the original length the skirt looked very frumpy on me.  I had planned to put a contrasting band along the bottom, but at this point just wanted to get this skirt in the finished column.  So I cut 1 1/2" off the bottom, sewed a narrow 1/4 hem, them hand stitched another 1 1/4" hem.  It's a little shorter than I normally wear but not too scandalous for a old lady like me, especially in the hot summer.

So here she is, finally:

Would I make another one, I'm not sure at this point.  It was a lot fuller than the pattern covered showed.  It's okay.

McCall's 3023

After all the trouble with that skirt I decided to go for one that was EASY, really easy.  So I turned to McCall's 3023, which is OOP.

Seriously, you can not get much easier than this, two seams, and elastic casing and a hem......what could go wrong?

I chose the shortest version and cut it at the Medium size (12-14).  This thing is HUGE!!! And again, much fuller than I thought it would be.  And let's not talk about the frump factor, I'm sure part of that was due to the fact it was HUGE!!!  I also wasn't crazy about the skinny 1/2" casing, I think it just needs to be a little wider, 3/4" would be better.

So here is where this skirt is at:

I love this cotton print fabric, it has lots of different colors in it so can be worn with many different tops.  I think I will just take it a part and use another skirt that I have made several times before, that has a narrow waistband and zipper closure. 

I still would like a few more cool cotton skirts for summer, but I think these two are off the list for now.

A Little Sewing Going On

There has been a little sewing going on here, just not at a very fast rate.

I did finish another skirt from Butterick 3717 out of the tan/pink striped twill I recently got from Denver Fabrics.


Nothing fancy, just a plain straight skirt, but very functional. I don't know how I did it (probably rushing to get done) but the zipper top ended uneven at the top, by about 1/8 inch.


I was going to rip out the waistband and redo it but I never wear anything tucked in anymore so I figured it was okay to leave it.

B5351

I really wanted to move on to View A of this dress using this fabric:


Which is a 30's cotton Feedsack reproduction from my stash. It's all cut out and the side seams of the top and skirt are done. But I'm having some trouble fitting it because of the construction. The top band and straps go on after the side seams are done and then the bodice is attached to the skirt portion and then the zipper put in. It's kind of hard to fit it because, in essence it is 2 separate pieces. I am also not crazy about the skirt on me, it really hugs my little potbelly. Not a feature I want to emphasize. So I've put this aside to think about and work on something else.

B5331

A lot of people have made this pattern and I really like how they have turned out so thought I would give it a try. I chose this cotton fabric from my stash to make the muslin, if it works out it goes well with the taupe-brown skirt I made back in June. I just need to add a gold camisole underneath.


I'm making View B with the puffed sleeves. I am hoping they are not TOO puffy. The pattern calls for top-stitching on the princess seams and I remember Michelle at Cheap and Picky had flat-feld hers'. Since my first attempt at flat-feld seams worked out well on the taupe-brown skirt I thought I would give it a go here, after all this is just the muslin.

I was concerned about the curves of the seams but they came out good. The picture on the left is the right side and the right is the underside.


The underside could be a little neater and more even, but I think the right side came out very nice and neat. So I am very pleased with this. Now I just have to finish it. Hopefully this week.

Skirting the Issue

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of the finished skirts. Since there is really nothing special about them and it is still too stinkin' hot out to play dress-up, I just took pictures of them on the hangers. When I actually wear them I will take better pictures.

Butterick 3717

I made the capri's from this pattern and they came out really nice. I really like every piece offered on this pattern and hope to make the jacket too.



This is just a muslin, unlined, made from a quilting cotton but is very wearable. The color is way off in this picture, it is blue-grey with navy, lavender and white accents. It looks nice with a plain white tee.


This picture shows the finishing on the vent and is much more true to color. As with the capri's this pattern worked up easy and is a nice simple style. It has a very narrow waistband and front and back darts. A good TNT pattern that fits well. A real keeper!


Butterick 5036


This is the first time I have made B5036. I made it from a taupe-brown non-stretch twill. I bought this fabric from Fabric.com and it was a little heavier than I expected. I thought a more casual jean-style skirt would work and this pattern fit the bill with the fly-front zipper. Like the previous skirt, it has a narrow waistband but only back darts and no vent. It fits good, but not as well as B3717. It has a little too much room in the hip area (how often do we get to say that!) and needs to be tapered a little more on the next go around. But I like it and will make it again.

The center front and back seams are flat-felled. This was my first attempt and I was a little off as you can see on the inside seam below. To make sure it didn't fray, I put another row of top stitching down, just a smidgen away from the first row.

You can see the double top stitching above on the outside of the seam but still looks nice and it should hold the seam well on the inside.

I've finished the side seams and hem with bias, which is a first for me. I like the way it came out and it was pretty easy to do. I used a warm grey quilting cotton for the bias because it matched the inside of the fabric better than a taupe (although it looks off in these pictures).



From the Garden


Almost ready...............





Althea (Rose of Sharon)