Once upon a time

We all know this story, once upon a time I wrote a post promising pictures of some recently finished projects. Then life got busy the way life typically does, I was forced to choose between sewing and posting. I chose to sew. Now things have slowed down a bit, so I figure I can start working on posting some of my completed projects.


 I used Simplicity 2594 view A, but opted not to make the tie due to the busy print of the purple paisley fabric that I chose. Instead I figured I can use my one and only wide belt to cinch in the waist.

{Unbelted}

{Belted Front}

{Belted Back View}

The pattern came together quickly, instructions were easy to follow. I cut a size 10 for the top and graded out to a 12 from the waist down.

One shirt down, four more to go. I hope to post those all by the end of April, but I think we know how that goes. For now I'll leave you with a picture of Gatsby, the laziest bunny in the Capitol District.

Still Kicking

First off I want to say that it has been so freaking beautiful outside for the past week and I love it. This early spring weather has most certainly helped motivate me to start thinking about spring/ summer wardrobe pieces that I would like to make.

The last time I posted I was venting slightly about my wrinkly fitting pants. Since then I have picked up Palmer and Alto's Pants for Real People and have spent many nights since trying to absorb all of the fitting knowledge that it contains before I start another pair of pants. That being said I have been able to accomplish quite a bit of sewing these past few weeks- 4shirts woohoo! Of course I still need pictures for three of the  four shirts but that is besides the point.

 The first shirt I made was simplicity 3789 view B. I had been very intimidated by this pattern ever since I picked it up last spring...I mean come on it has a collar and buttons.

 I wanted to play it safe and make a muslin out of a lightweight bed sheet before using any of my nicer fabric. The shirt, to my surprise, was relatively easy to make. The instructions for the button placket required a few re-re-readings but I eventually caught on. I made a size 14 according to my bust measurement and it turned out to be somewhat roomy, next time I think I will make a 12.

{Front}

In addition to going down a size I would like to bring the shoulder line in a bit so that it rests on my shoulder at the pivot point rather than at the end of my shoulder. I have a feeling if I do that that I'll look a little less linebacker-y.

 {Back}

 By next week hope to have pictures of the other shirts I have made, but I make no promises. If I still have my sewing mojo intact after a week of working for the man I'm going to focus on production rather than pictures.

Its 2010, where is my robot?!

This is one of those obligatory New Years resolution posts, nothing major, nothing ground breaking.

To start it off I'll post the unfinished garment that made me feel the need to make said resolutions.

Pattern: Simplicity 4076 - View E

Status: unfinished, unwanted

1. When buying and choosing fabrics I will take into consideration that I am a 25 year old woman, not a 15 year old girl. I like bright colors and loud prints, but this is just a bit too much.          
   
2. Though I don't plan on purchasing tons of fabric this year, I promise to purchase better quality fabric when I do. I purchased this fabric about two years ago from fabric.com, I'm pretty sure it was from the "everything under $1.95"  section. At least it feels like it was from the 1.95 section.                   
   
3. When choosing a pattern I will try to base my decision on what suits my figure, my taste, and my lifestyle. I originally picked up this pattern for the faux-wrap top (views A & B) which I loved. This top was really made out of curiosity about the construction of the twist, I never thought about the fact that I wouldn't wear it due to several factors:
   

• The shirt hits a little too high for me.What can I say? I have a long torso and I like to keep my backside covered. I added an inch in length to the pattern anticipating this problem and still it is too short.

• The deep neck line- I don't really show off "the girls" that much. I'm just more comfortable that way. I knew from the envelope that this shirt had a deeper neckline than I'd like, but still I made the top not taking my personal preferences into account.
  

• Those damn bell sleeves- I took an inch off the bell and it is still way too much.

      4.  Finish what I start. Honestly I do not plan on finishing this particular garment due to my dislike for it.   That being said this year I hope to finish more of the projects that I start or have previously started but since lost interest.

 Happy New year and until next time, take care.

Simplicity 2804- I feel like Batgirl

Can I get a "Da na na na na na Batgirl!" I recently decided to make Simplicity 2804 view c out of some left over dollar a yard fabric that I used in a previous project.

I had very high hopes that this project that I started on a whim could possibly lead to a nice summer shirt for work. From what I have heard form others it gets unbearably hot in the studio over summer, Simplicity 2804 seemed to be a nice solution with its breezy dolman style sleeves. The pattern was easy enough, a front piece, back piece, neck band, waist band, I cut everything out and sewed it up in a span of 5 hours with multiple breaks for eating and watching Across the Universe.

Then I tried it on, like the title of the post says, I felt like bat girl. Not only that, but a stumpy bat girl.

As you can see by the picture above I probably wasn't wearing the best pants for the outfit, I just happened to have them on when I finished. It wasn't until today when I tried them on with a pair of straight leg jeans(which I've worn two times counting today) that I realized the shirt wasn't a complete wadder.

I played around in photoshop to show a comparison of the shirt with my flood pants vs jeans + strappy sandals. The photos could be better, but my camera was running low on battery so I'm short on pictures. I wish I had more shots that actually show off the shirt but oh well, maybe another time.

Proportions...wow, always knew about them, but I've never really taken the time to experiment/visually document it until today. I think I'll be paying more attention to this now that I've actually seen it in action.

Its funny how memory works...

I distinctly remember coming home from work one night in March, eating a gigantic bowl of mac & cheese, and then set about cutting out pieces for my hopefully wearable muslin of simplicity 4076. After reading so many great reviews on it I decided I had to give it a try. Despite my eagerness, I got sidetracked with work and life. The pieces sat on my table for close to two months. Earlier this week I sat down in front of my sewing machine and bam, I got my groove back.

I made view b, the wrap top with short sleeves. My only issues are:
(1) I feel the non-gathered side feels a little looser than it should be
(2) I would add about two inches of length in the torso to prevent unnecessary exposure of my midriff.
(3) the neck line stick out a bit, but I think I'm at fault on that one.

Other than that I think it looks pretty good for a project that was almost forgotten.

{front}

{back and poor posture}




{side}

Thanks for looking


(p.s) I hope every one called their moms, or mother figures, today and wished them a happy Mother's Day

Pleats me

For your viewing pleasure I now present you new look 6868 - a work in progress. No before pictures, sorry :(

{Tie Detail}

Last post I was complaining about my latest project and the sack like qualities it had. I didn't want to have this project turn out as a bust, so all I could do was try to make it work.

I deemed the problem to be the mid weight fabric I was using. The pleats at the collar just weren't laying down as nicely as I would have hoped for. After doing some general fussing around in the mirror I decided to sew those suckers down. A second later I had tossed the shirt on my home made dress form and began basting the pleats in place, down to about my waist. I tried on the shirt again and it seems to have made quite the difference in the fit of the shirt. However, I think I need to continue the pleats further down on the shirt due to their extreme puffiness.

{ Far away}

{Close up puffiness and loose threads}

It is starting to look more presentable, looks much better on me than on my dress form, but it still needs more work.

*sigh*...

New shirt or bust?

As I am posting this I'm in the process of making my new shirt for work, work for me. When I first thought about making some shirts from work I was thinking about using some knit fabric that I had with simplicity 3790. Later I remembered that fabric had been set aside for a specific non-sewing related purpose. No sweat I thought, I'll just use some different fabric and pattern. The pattern I used was New Look 6868 view D.

Initially I was really drawn to the tie detail. However, after completing it I was left with a big sack like shirt that had a tie.

{Artist's Rendition}

The fabric that I used was a mid-weight cotton blend, which I think attributed to the sack like look of the shirt. The pleats along the collar don't drape as nicely as they should. So here I am, taking a brief break from my attempt to restyle this shirt. So much for having a new work shirt for tomorrow, maybe later in the week.