Top Five - HITS

Let's do the Top 5 Hits today, shall we?

The Watercolor Stripe Maxi -
The things that made this a great make:
I love the fabric, both the pattern and the feel.
I had used this pattern before, so I already knew how it fit me and that allowed me to alter it to get another look.
A knit maxi dress is useful in my wardrobe.  It's the kind of thing I lust after in stores.  I'm learning to pay attention to what catches my eye in stores to help guide me in my sewing choices.  When I started sewing for myself, I think I had a mistaken idea that if I made something that was too "boring" or just looked like it could be from Target, that it wasn't worth it, so I tried to make things that were special and unique and ended up with things that were so special and unique that they never got out of my closet.

The Graduation Dress -
The things that made this a great make:
I combined two patterns to get exactly the vision that was in my head and it WORKED!
I absolutely loved the colorful pattern and the drape of this fabric.  I bought it without touching or seeing it in person, which was a big risk for such an important dress, but I WON.
I did a muslin on the bodice for fit. (go me!)  and the fit straight from the pattern envelope was perfect for me and the fit on the final dress was like a glove.

Pink and Purple Dress - (the 5th picture in the post)
This dress really deserves it's own post, but it hasn't gotten one yet.  I made it to wear to my cousin's wedding reception and I really love how easy it is to wear and, once again, the print and drape of the fabric were just a great choice for this pattern.

The Ottobre Tulip Pants -
The things that made this a great make:
These represent the beginning of my Ottobre love.  I don't use the magazines I have as much as I should because I have truly enjoyed the results of what little I have sewn from them.
The Tulip pants are practical for my daughters' wardrobes, but look (to me) like "real" pants bought from some cool boutique.  The pockets, the back yoke and the solid purple cord I used take away the possibility of a home-sewn look.

The Feather Renfrew -
This one gets the award for Most Worn in 2013!

As for misses.... well, if you want to look back through my blog, I ususally can tell up front when it's a miss or I need to change something to make it really wearable, and I say so in my post.  I don't feel like dredging up the mistakes of the past.  It might be too painful... or I might just be too lazy.  Either way, onward to a year where I hope for more hits than misses.

Top Five

I did a couple posts last year outlining favorites and fails and goals, but I'm condensing.  I guess I've gotten lazy?  I'm just not that into recording thoughts/reviews about what I'm sewing as much lately.  Maybe I'll get my blog mojo back soon.
Let's start with goals.  My goals last year were:

1. Sew a coat.  I have the pattern.  I have the fabric.  I've just got other stuff in line before it.

Aaaaaand there's still no coat.  I still have the fabric and the pattern.  In fact, I've also got a vintage little girl coat pattern now too.  So, I'll see that goal and raise you to two coats this year.

2. Sew a swimsuit.  I attempted panties recently and it wasn't a total fail.  I could see how, with a few more tries and some tweaking, I could come up with some comfortable swim bottoms and that opened up the possibility of making my own swimsuit.  That would be so cool.

I did tweak and try again.  I ended up with some decent swim bottoms and a decent top that still needs padding added, but honestly, I won't be wearing it at a pool.  I still have enough fabric for two more tries and I will continue to make it my goal to make a swimsuit I love and will WEAR.

3. Sew something for my husband.  I don't even know what it would be, but I know I would bust with pride if he ever actually wore and enjoyed something I made him.  I'd love to accomplish that.

I did not accomplish this BUT!  I have a two Departure Satchels cut out. One for me and one to surprise him with for our 3-day Walt Disney World trip in Fabruary.  So I will accomplish this goal in the next month.

4. Take control of my sewing space.  My sewing has really just become an out-of-control craft.  It wasn't really properly planned for.  It just happened.  This year, I need to recognize that it's a hobby that is sticking around and organize to make it more accessible and enjoyable.

I did this... sorta.  I have hooks to hang my scissors on, shelves for my books, a cabinet for my fabric.  But guess what?  My scissors still hang out on my sewing table and my fabric is spread out in piles all over the floor.

5. Finish the ridiculous postage stamp quilt that I started TWO YEARS AGO!!  I am just going to feel like such a lame failure in the back of my head until I FINISH IT!

Haven't TOUCHED it.

So my goals for this year will be much the same.

1. Sew a coat for me and one for one of my girls.

2. Try again to sew a swimsuit.

3. Sew something for my husband.

4. Continue to organize my sewing space.

5.  Pooh on the darn quilt for now.  I'm going to make my last goal to sew more from the Ottobre mags I have.

Ok, maybe I will break this post up into several.  I'll do top 5 makes in another post.
Linking up at Crafting a Rainbow!

Christmas Picture Sewing

Happy New Year's Eve!
My blog has somewhat fallen by the wayside.  It just hasn't been as exciting or important to get modeled shots of everything I'm making for myself and my girls lately.
I will share with you my Christmas photo and tell you about the me-made's in the picture.

I am wearing my second version of Vogue 8742.  I must not have cut the knit quite on the grain, because the seams were all twisty towards the bottom of the dress (which has nothing to do with me crossing my legs... I was trying to stop the wind from making me have a Betty Boop moment with the dress showing the "v" of my crotch area.  It kinda worked.).  I may try to cut it to tunic length to get some wear out of it, but honestly, I'm totally happy just sewing it for this picture.  The fabric cost me about $12 and I had already sewn it in purple, so it went quickly.  I couldn't have found it in a store as quickly as I sewed it, nor for that price, so I'm content.
My girls are wearing t-shirts made from Burlap Button's Tummy Topper pattern and the pettiskirts are from Tulips and Eidelweiss' Lulu pattern.  I highly recommend both patterns, although they are on opposite ends of the spectrum for time investment.  The Tummy Topper is so quick and easy.  The Lulu is tedious and time consuming, but well written with super awesome payoff at the end.

I barely finished all the sewing before we left for Destin and was just crossing my fingers for one good shot.  We had the camera on the tripod in the sand and set it to take, like, 10 consecutive shots with a delay before starting so my husband could push the button and then run to his spot in the sand.

We had a bit of a setback when the wind kicked up.

Expensive Nikon crashing down into sandy beach = not good.

We set it back up and buried the tripod a little deeper in the sand and it was after that that we got the shot that we put on our Christmas card, so I'm glad we pressed on.

Maybe we'll get an actual photographer next year.  Who knows?

Vogue 8742

Hooray for more stash busting and perfect pattern/fabric pairing.  I bought Vogue 8742 after seeing Leisl blog her amazing orange one.

Don't ask me what kind of fabric this is.  It's knit and I got it off the remnant table at G Street Fabrics near DC.  (Are you tired of hearing me say that about fabric yet?)  I had to have it because of the color. My favorite color is purple and this is one fabulous shade of purple.

I don't really have much to write as far as a pattern review.  I loved it.  It was straightforward and everything matched up.  

I was scared at the thought of inserting a zipper into knit, but it turns out that I didn't need to anyway.  I feel like I have to be gentle getting it over my head, but it really has plenty of room.

I took it in a smidge in the back because of my sway back.  I just shaped it a bit so it would curve with me.  That's a super easy fix though, since I could just put it on inside out and mark where I needed to change it.

I'm not totally sold on my look with the ankle boots.  I bought these boots specifically to go with this dress and the belt I already had.  I made this dress to wear to a wedding being held at an old schoolhouse/farm event space, so I wanted to let that guide my fashion choices a bit.  As I said, not sure I made the right choices, but whatever, I still love the dress and will just style it differently next time.

I'm already considering making another with 3/4 length sleeves and a lower cut back for family Christmas pictures.

I am glad I saw Leisl's inspiration and glad to have this pattern in my collection.

There's No Saving It

Some times I can get myself out of a pickle, and sometimes, I can just tell that it's not worth trying.
I need to go get some shut-eye, so this is going to be short and sweet.

I cut this out a long time ago so I haven't the faintest idea why it's so short.  It can't be the pattern (Simplicity 2599), because this pattern is well-reviewed and well-loved.
Issue Number 1: too short for some unknown reason
Issue Number 2: dart in completely wrong place for me

See where my fingertip is?  That's the end of the dart.  See where my thumb is?  That's where I need the dart to point to and to end.
I can't blame the pattern on this one either because I didn't mark my darts very well.  It usually turns out pretty ok when I eye it, but not this time!

Issue Number 3: the poofy ruffles!

This synthetic something-or-other fabric that I got from Hancock's sure is pretty, but it won't hold a crease and it's too floaty and not drapey enough for those ruffles.  They look downright stupid.  Very clown-like.

Issue Number 5: print + ruffles = too loud and confusing

I actually think the lovely spatter print on this fabric that I was attracted to, doesn't really work with all the ruffles.  It's too much going on, yes?

Just goes to show how important it is to match the right fabric type and print to the right pattern.  And how important it is to cut things out according to the pattern.... and to sew them according to the pattern.

Really, pretty much everything is important.  It was all too much stacked against this top for it to have any hope of not being a wadder.

Jeggings!

I bought some jegging fabric, like, months ago and it's been sitting in a pile.  I was in my post about plans to sew things... my stashbusting post and I've finally busted it!
I had plans to sew some leggings for myself and for my two girls and I've sewn two out of three, so that's something!
Here are mine, made from McCalls 6173.  Sorry, no awesome or styled shots.  These are just with the t-shirt I had on and with my Photo Booth on my Mac.

I altered the fit (again... this is the second, maybe third time) and I'm kind-of sorry I did because they are a leeeeeetle tight for this particular fabric, especially at the calves.

I wanted to do something different with these besides hem them at the bottom so I made long cuffs.  I was thinking of doing little buttons up the outside of the cuffs, but I'm not sure if they would bother me with boots on.

I don't even really have anything in mind to wear them with, besides boots.  What do you wear jeggings with?

I made them with a knit waist band because I was inspired by another pattern to try it out on these.

Wanna see the other pair of leggings and see the inspiration for the knit waistband?

It's Titchy Threads Fancy Pants pattern. It's part of the Sew Fab bundle, one of 26 patterns for $29.95

My babe is wearing her Fancy Pants jeggings with the Molly Blossom Buttercup Tunic.

This leggings pattern is really great.  There is a long and short version and a knit waistband option (thus the idea for mine). There's a panel in the bum that's great for nappy-wearing babes or just for active toddlers who want to do "tricks" without splitting a seam.

If you have a babe or two of your own and you'd like to see what else is in the Sew Fab bundle has to offer before it's gone on October 8th, you can read about the rest of it here.

A Favorite, Miniaturized

The photo above is from a while ago, but I had to show you again one of the two cowl-neck Sewaholic Renfrews I've made.

I remember thinking back when I made them, "I wonder if I could miniaturize this?"  I wanted to be able to make something like this for my two little girls.  I never tried, but thank goodness, someone else has made a pattern for it so I don't have to make mistakes and waste fabric trying to figure it out for myself.

I introduce to you the Bimaa by LouBee Clothing.

There are actually three options in this pattern; a rolled neck band, a cowl neck and a hood.

The hooded Bimaas I've seen are totally adorable and I already bought fabric today to make on for my little sweetie.

Now how am I going to draft a hood for my Sewaholic pattern?!

Do you need a mini cowl pattern in your life?  How about 25 other patterns with it and all for $29.95?  The Bimaa is a part of the Sew Fab bundle, only available through the 8th of October.  Want more info and a chance to purchase your own?

Head over here, see all the patterns that are included and read all about it.