The "Kevin was a Girl" Ensemble

I have another post to share over at The Sew Weekly.  It's Academy Awards week and our inspiration could be any character from a film or any film that's ever been nominated or won for any category. I settled on Kevin the bird from the awesomely sweet and funny movie Up!  I was not featured this time (and really wasn't hoping to be with the cruddy pictures I provided), but you can see my contribution here.

Time to start looking for a remote shutter release after the failure of this shoot.  Running back and forth in those heels in timed shots was perilous.

Jumping on the Renfrew Bandwagon

 I apologize for the cell phone mirror pictures.  My face is badly broken out and I'm having some no-makeup days to give it a break.  I didn't feel like doing a whole styled photo shoot just to have my head chopped off.  I do definitely want to show you some outfits, though, eventually.

I splurged.  In so many ways, the Sewaholic Renfrew was a splurge for me.  I haven't spent more than $10 on any one pattern in the past, so $16 (+ shipping!) is a hard number to swallow... and for what?  A T-shirt pattern!  I can buy t-shirt's at Target for $3 on the clearance rack that I like perfectly fine.
But...
somebody bought some stuff from my shop so I had some PayPal money and I kept getting emails about the pre-order for this pattern with a free shipping code.  Then I started to see the testers' creations pop up.  And I got more and more curious.
I finally decided I couldn't really rationalize it, but that I would just splurge.  I ordered the pattern on the last day of the pre-order and it shipped very soon afterward.
JoAnn Fabrics was opening soon and there were sure to be a decent selection of knits and maybe I could catch a sale or get a coupon.
And that's just what I did.  I went opening day to the shiny new JoAnn's and got some purple knit at 40% off.  Then I came home and made this the next day.

I was so thrilled (despite having cut the pieces with the stretch going the wrong direction) that I wore it to church the next day and immediately threw it in the wash that evening so it would be ready to wear again.  Cost of this shirt - $23

As I was thinking about getting dressed half-way through the day today, (yes, I was in my pj's until after lunch) I was very tempted to go grab my purple cowl t-shirt again.  As I was tidying up a bit, I discovered this forgotten yard of knit fabric in my stash and immediately knew that I MUST MAKE ANOTHER RENFREW.  I whipped this one up in about an hour while my girls were napping and get this, I used LESS than a yard.  Isn't that fabulous!?

New cost analysis:

purple cowl - $15 (half the price of the pattern plus the cost of fabric)

apple scoop neck - $6 (half the price of the pattern and free fabric from stash)

And now it's not seeming quite as expensive.  Big sigh of relief and two cute t-shirts for me!

The "No, I'm Not the Plumber" Jumpsuit

What was the Muslin of Hope mentioned in the previous post almost turned into just another project to dash my hopes.  I'll let you read about it below in the post that was featured today on The Sew Weekly.  Yes.  I was a featured contributor today!  I've been following along with the weekly challenges (the button challenge for two weeks ago was my "Please Strangle Me" Blouse and I also did the make this look challenge, but haven't blogged it yet) but I haven't actually submitted any posts as a Sew Weekly contributor until this jumpsuit.  I hope to submit good enough posts to be featured a few more times this year.
Here are some pics, but go on over and read the actual feature for yourself.  I'm just tickled.

The "Please, Strangle Me" Blouse and the Muslin of Hope

I think if I had chosen New Look 6078 to sew first back when I began sewing for myself, I would've been so disheartened, I might never have sewn for myself again.  A scary thought, actually... in an alternate timeline kind-of way.  I don't think I would have ever chosen this to sew before now because of the darts, cuffed sleeves, button plackets, collar, etc. so we shouldn't worry that there is another Sara out there in the universe who is missing out on the joys of sewing.  She knew better.
Still.... New Look 6078 did kinda ruin my day.
Some of it is my fault and some of it is the fault of the pattern.  Until I hear about someone having a super easy time with this collar, I'm gonna call it a pattern drafting problem.  The blouse was going together fine until I got to the collar.  It was way too long and hung off the edges of the button plackets.  I proceeded to do my best to reshape and resize it and made it too short.  Now there are raw edges that look like a little mouse has been chewing them where the collar meets in the middle.  Thus, the bow.  And thus, the name of the blouse, because I really don't care to wear blouses buttoned all the way up and I'll always have to wear this one that way.

I paired it with some tweed pants a la Sunni at A Fashionable Stitch.  Interestingly enough, I had seen this post of hers ages ago and thought to myself, "I really hope I can sew really awesome clothes like her someday."  Little did I know when I pulled this fabric from my stash for this blouse that there might have been something going on in my subconscious.  I found this post again after I had already started to cut out this blouse and got really excited because I liked her dress so much.  Now I'm just jealous again because I like hers better and I feel like I wasted my fabric and time.

My next complaint is my fault and not the pattern's.  I suspected with such a fitted blouse, I should probably to a petite adjustment and shorten it in the waist, but I didn't.  So, now it pools at my low back. I won't be wearing it with these trousers in real life, or anything that sits at my hips.  I'll have to wear it with high-waisted things only to cover those folds of unnecessary fabric.

Two other mistakes I made were over fitting and using too stiff of interfacing for the button placket.  I tweaked and tried on and tweaked and tried on until this blouse fit me like a glove.  The problem is... it's a blouse and not a glove.  Hands do not eat and breath.  I don't think I could eat or take a deep breath while wearing this.  Note to self.  A little ease is OK!

As for the interfacing, I was being cheap and trying to use up old pieces I had lying around.  The piece that was long enough was too stiff and I should have prioritized a little better.

The last gripe I have I'm going to blame on the pattern and, unfortunately for me, I'm in the situation that scares me most about sewing garments: I don't have the knowledge to fix the problem.  See the pulling from the collar to the armpit?  Those are there on both sides, no matter how I hold my arms and I don't know why they're there, but it's bugging the crud out of me.  I just read someone else's review of a shirt dress and she said something a bout "drag lines" and poorly drafted sleeves, so I'm gonna go with that.

I put New Look 6078 at the back of my pattern basket.  I don't know if it will be like birth and I'll forget the pain and try it again in a few years.... we'll see.  Hopefully, I'll read this post first.

Now on to the Muslin of Hope.

Simplicity 2187 is next in my queue and I did a quick muslin today to check the fit.  I was particularly interested in the length of the bodice and the fit of the crotch.

The plan for the real thing is to use a spring green gabardine (this looks grey green, but it's not).

Here is the muslin made from bedsheets and I'm thrilled.

I'm planning on doing the cropped length with the gabardine, but I might even do this again as shorts because I think this turned out so cute.

What a relief to know that I CAN still make SOMETHING right.

Simplicity 2584: The "I'm Dreaming of a Plaid Christmas" Dress

When we went to Washington DC for a month to be with my husband at a conference there, I brought two bags of patterns and fabric so I could get a bunch of stuff cut out.  By golly, if I wasn't going to be able to sew, I was still going to do something to further the cause.  So cut, I did.
I brought this plaid suiting and a Vogue pants pattern, but had a sudden inspiration in our small apartment one night and cut out this Cynthia Rowley design instead.
I am sometimes very influenced by the envelope design and originally pictured this in white or something summery, but when inspiration hits, I'm more than willing to change plans.

We got back from DC mid-October and our Christmas photo shoot was scheduled for November, so I finished this dress and dresses for my two daughters before I started anything else.

My biggest concerns going into sewing this up were matching the plaid (careful cutting, lots of pinning and slow sewing helped with that), the yoke, which turned out to be no problem at all, and the fit around the waist and hips. 

I did have to widen it around the lower hip area and take it in at the middle seam for the curve of my low back.  I still prefer it belted.  I just don't like any pooling on top of my bottom and a belt keeps everything in place.

There was meant to be a zipper in the back, but I honestly just totally forgot until after I'd sewn the seam all the way to the neck and then I realized I might not have to unpick it after all because of the big ol' slit in the front.  I tried it on.  No problem at all going over my head.  Yes!  I outsmarted the zipper without even trying.

Here is the finished product in the picture we chose for our Christmas card.  We were very red and green last year, and I really like how the plaid gave this year's outfits a totally different feel.

I used what I had leftover to accent my 3-year-old's dress and try to tie the outfits together.

I'm already pinning and planning for our "look" for 2012 and I'm getting really excited.  This sewing stuff is way too much fun. :D

Colette Macaron: Balloons and Bubbles

What a cute little pattern the Colette Macaron is.  It took me some time to grow to love it.  I really don't care for the version on the Coletterie website or any of the versions I've seen using white on the top.  I think Patty the Snug Bug hit the nail on the head and helped me discover why I dislike it that way.  It reminds me of the spaghetti strap dress over a white t-shirt look from the 90's.  I wore it.  I don't want to go back.

I have wanted Sarah Jane Children at Play Balloons in Aqua for a very long time and when it came back in stock at Fabric.com after Christmas, I had money and I had a vision.  I tried to grow it up a bit with the grey for the top.  When I was at Hancock with my balloon swatch the bubblegum pink was calling very loudly that it wanted to be included, but I was too fearful that I would make an adult-sized toddler dress if I used pink for the accent color.

You might notice the skirt on mine is a liiiiiitle different than the pattern.

so proud of my truly invisible invisible zip!

back view

I had  a heck of a time fitting the bodice.  I made a muslin because I knew I wanted a flawless fit, as much as that could be achieved.  Once I was satisfied that I wasn't going to need a small bust adjustment,  I cut into the real fabric.  I really love the fit I finally got, but I did all sorts of tweaks that were too random for me to even document, so that means I'll have to be prepared for another roller coaster ride when I decide to pick this pattern up again.  

I had to completely remove the darts from the mid-back and change the curved seam between the two back pieces to a straight seam.  I took in the sides near the arm pit and went diagonally out to the original seam allowance at the waistband, which was almost too small!

The bubble skirt was just an idea that I had after I saw a beautiful coral vintage dress on Pinterest that had a bubble hem.  I decided to be ambitious and figuring out all the proportions and the pockets and the gathering and everything really ate up a lot of time.  From beginning to end, including all the unpicking and even some handsewing I had to do, this dress probably took me 8-10 hours.
There's still more work to do on it.  I've got to finish it a bit better on the inside.  I should probably reinforce some seams and I probably need to add some sort of waist stay because this skirt is pretty weighty.

orange underneath for fun

pockets!  in between the outer and inner layers of the skirt.

I'm quite happy with the fit finally achieved on the bodice.

I really enjoyed seeing the sleeves come together.  That was a really genius part of the pattern for sure.  I would love to have more patterns with unique, sweet details like this.

I'm glad I took the time to make this dress look nice.  I've never spent this long on one piece before, but it was a good exercise for me to just be patient and hack away at it a little at a time.  Now I really have something I can be proud of.

I'll be wearing it on Valentine's Day next. :)

Colette Clovers

This was the beginning.  My Colette Clover pattern I received a a gift for Christmas and two colors of Bengaline stretch suiting I got on sale at Fabric.com.  Don't ask me what Bengaline stretch suiting is.  I just knew I was supposed to get something with stretch and there wasn't anything else in bright colors like these and it was on sale.

I planned to use one for a muslin and one for the real thing, but I just couldn't decide which color of pants I wanted to end up in my wardrobe and which I was willing to let go until I got the money for more fabric.  I let my husband choose and he chose red for the muslin, so I went to it.

I was at a loss for which size to cut because the measurements from my waist to my hips are quite different.  I also knew there was the distinct possibility I would need a full butt adjustment and a sway back adjustment.  Having NEVER made a muslin before and having NEVER made fitted pants before, it was all pretty daunting, but my excitement overcame my fear and I just jumped in with both feet.

I cut my fabric exactly as the diagram suggested and then realized afterward that the stretch of the fabric was going down the leg of the pants and not across.  (cue hag from Princess Bride dream sequence) Boo!  Boooooo! I knew the stretch should go side to side, but I didn't bother to check because I assumed I should just follow the diagram.  Boooo!

I continued onward, a bit afraid that my whole muslin would really be for naught because I couldn't take the stretch into account with the fit.

Sure enough, it was too small and I couldn't tell if I needed a bigger size or just some stretch.  The butt was super tight and the waistline didn't even hit mine.  I had some serious plumber's crack.  One thing was pretty obvious.  A full-butt adjustment was in order.

I traced the top of the pattern onto some taped together printer paper and looked up the full butt adjustment tutorial Coletterie provides in their Clover sew-along.  I drew the lines in the approximate locations I thought they should be and cut it all up, spread it out some random amounts and taped it all back together.

"This looks ginormous!" was all I could think to myself.  But apparently, my butt is ginormous, because, as you'll see below, I may need to make an even fuller butt adjustment...

I had just enough fabric left to cut out the two back pieces again and this time I cut them with the stretch going across so at least I might have an accurate muslin for my booty.

The next hardest part was the zipper.  As many people as said that Coletterie's tutorial on invisible zips was so incredibly clear and made invisible zips accessible and easy for them.... I still didn't totally grasp it.  I did my best attempt and found out what the bubble effect at the bottom that everyone warned about was.

Enough talk, here's the finished wearable muslin.

Sarai from Colette patterns warns about them looking like leggings and I think mine do a bit in the front. Remember, though that the front pant pieces have no stretch across, only up and down.  So, who knows, maybe when I cut the turquoise pair out correctly, they will be a smidge roomier?

There's all sorts of crazy pulling wrinkly bits, but I'm also blaming this on the totally different grain line from front to back.

See what I mean about possibly needing a fuller butt adjustment?  I'm not really trying to go for the "Please, oh, please squeeze it" look.

And here's some indication that I probably need to go ahead and try the sway back adjustment.  Compared to ready-to-wear pants though.  This baby gap is a big improvement.  It's so difficult for me to buy pants off the rack and I have to remember that when I think about all the things I could tweak on these to make them "perfect."

Those butt darts look like they are hanging on for dear life.  haha!

As a final note, I discovered that Bengaline stretch suiting makes you sound like you're wearing a windsuit from the 80's when you walk.  It is the swishiest fabric.  You wouldn't want to exit the audience in the middle of a mime act while wearing these pants.

I have more pictures to post because hubby was kind enough to do a five-outfit photo shoot with me, so expect more in the coming days!