Vogue 1027 - I was wrong!

Ok, just a quick post. We have no power, downed lines everywhere and are not expected back with power til Wednesday...Ouch! We had a huge storm move through here yesterday afternoon. Of course, I had finished my outside work and was planning on coming in and sewing. I did manage to finish the Vogue 1027 dress that I complained about. Well, it turned out nicely, even with the fiddling. I think the issues were, 1)This runs HUGE! and 2) My cutting was wonky.

The huge part is that I cut out a straight 14 but should have cut it smaller in the shoulders. Usually, I cut a 16, then cut a 14 in shoulders. I can't say that's all the time as patterns are very different but that's a generality. Then, when I didn't I should have taken up the shoulders more when I sewed them before the topstitching but I didn't. So I ended up with some huge gaping in the front. Despite the size of my bust, my underbust is small, 34 inches. I know, seems crazy, but it's true. So I go get gaping a lot of the time. I ended up taking some darts down near the waist line. It is mostly hidden when you tie it, but it did do a little bit of wonky to the pleats.



I think the hem was messed up because the skirt is so huge to cut out that I think part of the knit stretched more than the other parts with made the skirt out of kilter. I put it on my dress form and laid on the ground and did my best to get it level.



So in the end, I do have a dress I like. So, I might make this again, now that I've worked out my issues with it.

No makeup or hair...sorry ;-) The dress is kind of DVF'ish dontcha think? I bought this fabric oh 2 years ago or so at my local indie. It's VERY stretchy!




So now, here is what I did instead of sewing. This was one of the trees across our road. We have only one way in or out that's paved, the other is a glorified trail but it was blocked too. So out came the chainsaw and the tractor!

RTW Jumper

I saw this and fell in love with it. It looks so comfy and cute. I'm thinking I might try to knock it off. I've hardly sewn at all. I had plans to do so but as I said before, the weather broke and we were outside. Now, I'm playing catch up indoors. I did sew a bit tonight, Vogue 1027. I'm not in love with it. It got rave reviews, was a top ten a couple years back on PR, but I'm not feeling it. I've had to fiddle a ton with the bodice, the skirt hangs badly and I need to do some intense hemming. I'm going to finish it but It about got shredded tonight!

Anyway, I'll post pics when I'm done, but here's the adorable jumper. I found it on Gilt but I don't remember who made it.





I think I'll use the bodice of Simplicity 3775. I can even use the waist piece with the ruching and then add some shorts to it instead of the skirt. Not sure what shorts pattern yet. I'll have to look in my patterns.

Phase 2 Complete

Phase 2 done. Thank goodness the rain is coming for the next couple of days. I need a break!

Diversion from Sewing

Well I've taken a diversion from sewing. I mean, I'm doing a bit at night, pending how much I hurt. But it's that time of year here in Michigan...the hurry up and get everything done you want to do before the weather turns crappy again time. We've been slowly but surely upgrading our landscaping. We have 8 dogs who destroy the yard. We've been building more fenced area for the last couple years and finally have a special dog area and are upgrading our people area.




Two years ago we started with the flagstone patio.



Then we advanced on to adding some tiers to that area because the slope graded INTO our house! How stupid! We didn't do it that way it was like that when we bought the house. So, the other benefit is water diversion from our foundation.




Now this year we are on to a quasi decorative retaining wall which should also help with drainage and erosion control.



It's actually going a lot quicker than we thought. Thank goodnes we invested in a nice tractor. We could not have done all this without it. I grumble about the payment but it's worth it.

Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in some sewing.

Knock Off Ideas

I'm still trying to decide if I want to join the Knock Off contest on PR. I love the contests, they are so much fun. I had some ideas which included a gorgeous Burberry Prosum dress and a black leather skirt. However, my sewing plans and wardrobe options have changed quite a bit with this broken toe. I can't get too dressed up for work when I can only wear Birkenstocks or girly looking flats. So it's a casual work wardrobe for me this summer. The toe is taking it's sweet old time healing up. I'll be lucky to get into heels by Fall I think.

So I've been looking around at some new inspirations. I liked this dress a lot. It's pretty plain but I love the shape of the neck and I think it could be very versatile for Summer casual and work casual. I have some really pretty lightweight linen in kind of a raspberry color.

J. Crew Rumi Dress



I'm thinking this pattern for it.



I found this dress on Gilt one day. It looks kind of old fashioned nurse but if you get close, which I realize you can't here, the back has a yoke and the skirt is gathered up into it. Being rather flat on the backside, I thought this detail would be pretty flattering on me. I'm not sure I'd do the dress in white though. They did have a brown version but it was kind of blah too. I like how it's simple in front with some flair in the the back.

Pinky Woven (Not sure if this link will work. The sale is almost over and you need a Gilt account to get there.)




I was thinking of starting with this pattern. The front is very similar and the back is just a regular shoulder princess seam. The back would need to be redone, at least fron the waist down to add the yoke and the gathered skirt.

McCalls 6116



Something I won't have time to do now, since if I do this for the contest, I will be getting a late start, is this Helmut Lang jacket.
Helmut Lang



I think this pattern would be a good start for it.

Vogue 1164



I have actually been sewing. I made a pair of shorts last week, a skirt and am almost done with a knit top. As I said, I really had to rethink my plans (as loose as they are) about what to make for the summer. First because of the darn toe issue and second because it's been so cold here that I'm still wearing sweaters and jeans. I'm feeling really dreary with all this rain and cold.

Burda Magazine 11-2009-120 Again

This is my second skirt from this pattern and I think it's a TNT for me. I love the shape of it and the way it sits lower on the hips. Being shortwaisted, I love lower rised things. High waist and I don't get along at all!

This time I made it out of my madras plaid my mom bought for me from Joann's quite awhile ago. It's been aging awhile. I wasn't sure what I wanted out of it.

For this version, I just cut a straight skirt, no pleat. This pattern is quite versatile in that you can do the double pleat, single pleat or no pleat. You could easily modify the pocket style or leave them off completely. For this one I cut the pockets on the bias. I probably should have interfaced them and doubled them but was kind of being lazy. They are more decorative anyway and won't be holding too much weight in them but maybe a lip gloss and a car key.

I love this pattern. This one will be put in a plastic bag and tacked to my corkboard for when I need something quick and easy that isn't a knit dress or top. You could even make this out of a nice wool for winter. I have some drapey wool plaid that I think may end up as this skirt for winter.

The last time I dressed this preppy was probably the 80's. It's fun to watch your fashion life recycle...NOT ;-) However I did pull out my distressed Guess jean jacket circa 1986 from the back of the closet to wear with my super preppy skirt. This is one of the few things I've saved from back in the day. I figured it was a plain jean jacket and someday it might come back in style...lol!

Twister Dress - Final Attempt

After pondering this yesterday, this is the quasi FBA I tried. It's sort of modelled after the FFRP Kimono sleeve FBA.



Additionally, I added the two inches at the fold and added a good inch and a half all the way up to the arm on the right. But unfortunately, I still don't think it fits they way it should if I didn't have the bust I did. I'm not willing to post the muslins, they were seriously indecent...I felt like a sausage.

This one is wearable, I think, with the right accessories. Plus it's a Tshirt cotton which will stretch out as I wear it. I have a yoga skirt out of it and by the end of the day it's almost dropping off my hips it's so stretched out.

I realized too this morning that I sewed it together wrong sides out. Not enough light in my sewing area. If I cut it open and restitch I'll lose a bit of space but I refuse to pick apart serging for this.

It's just ok. There's still so much diagonal pull across the bust that it pulls the neckline all the way over. Now I realize this kind of garment is not super drafted to fit and you can get away with certain things, but it kind of bugs me.



Now if I pull it and stretch it, it will move over to be even on my neck more.



I made this shirt awhile back and at first I hated it. I was mad that I wasted some really nice tie dyed cotton on it, but now I'm looking at it and it's ok. I don't like that the sleeve flares give no option of finishing. It looks sloppy to me, but the lines of the shirt fit a ton better than the Twister dress does on me. It's the same kind of thing with the one side longer and ruched up.

I think it could be more easily modified to look more like the Twister dress. But don't get me wrong, the Twister dress is adorable and a great little pattern. It's just drafted for smaller figures plus despite having lots of ease on top, it's not real large bust friendly. Look at the picture I posted of the creator, that's how it's supposed to fit and I can't get it to fit me like that. Wish I could though.

I may wear the Twister dress, I may not. We'll see. It was fun to play around with.

Burdastyle Twister Dress

Here's an image from the creator from Burdastyle



After seeing Ann's review on PatternReview for this dress I fell in love. I downloaded it at about 8 pm last night, taped and cut out the pattern and had two muslin's done by 9 ish. There are only two sizes, I cut out the pattern for the 38-40 size and I'm more of a 42-44 depending on the pattern and fabric. So, I added an inch to the side seam which is on the fold.

Picture of the pattern piece:



For Muslin #1 I only added an inch at the fold, so two inches total all the way up. I figured I could use it in the bust as well. But it wasn't enough, no pictures, they are indecent!

For Muslin #2 I added two inches at the fold, so four inches total. And I tapered it out under the arm to about a half an inch to the hem for almost another inch. I defintely want room, no hoochie mama'ness. It was almost enough room but now the dress hangs funny.

So what I'm thinking is I need to add in the added width in a couple places. Like an inch at the side seam, cut the pattern and add an inch in the middle somewhere, and then add to the other side seam.

Now that I'm looking at the pattern closer, I'm wondering if I shouldn't do an FBA of sorts. Cut and rotate at the armcyce of the right sleeve/shoulder. There's no rule that the fold has to be on a fold, it's just to make it easier. I could cut and rotate then add a seam allowance and stitch the other side seam as well. There is a lot of "ease" for the bust but mine is larger than most and I think it's making the neck pull funny.

The fabric for the muslin I'm using is super nasty. Super cheapy poly knit and is very clingy. I want to make this out of a nicer rayon knit that I think will lay nicer and not be clingy.




I'm not quite sure why I'm bound and determined to make this fit...lol. Any suggestions?

Burda Magazine 11-2009-120

I finished up the skirt last night. I've been trying to make some more work appropriate quasi casual clothes since I broke my toe and can't wear any of my nice shoes, really anything other than sandals still. I managed to get a ballet flat on yesterday but it hurt by the end of the day. It was only a high of 47 F here today too and I was running around in sandals!

I loved this skirt when I first saw it but forgot about it. Someone on PR made one for the wardrobe challenge and reminded me about it. I cut it out in this Mystery Bundle linen I got from Fabric Mart awhile back. It's very nice linen, probably a blend because I didn't wrinkle like crazy today. The pictures are from the morning though, see the wet hair ;-)

This is a very nice pattern. It has a double knife pleat in the front. The pockets attach to make belt loops, but unless I read it wrong, I didn't see where you added other belt loops. I tend to really gloss over BWOF instructions though. This would be nice if you added a couple more wide loops to it but isn't needed. This skirt could be made easily with one pleat, or even with no pleats and still be really cute. I was going to make it with a single pleat out of the madras but now I'm thinking maybe no pleat at all. I'm not sure how the madras will deal with a pleat.

Great, quick easy pattern with some detail.

Fabric Fast....Maybe for a month

I really admire all these people who can fabric fast for months or a year at a time. I'm not that strong! I did manage to walk away from the computer on Saturday after the FabricMart sale email with a free bundle if you spent $75. I kept thinking, "They're just toying with you." I really don't NEED any fabric. They do have their leather skins 50% off though and even though I just bought a couple of black goat skins, I was really tempted with the new cow skins they have. I was good though.

So I thought about it yesterday and am thinking I can do a fast for a month. Just a month! So for the whole month of May I will not purchase any new fabric, unless it's lining or something to go with something I already have AND I will not purchase any new patterns! Whew...I'm getting all clammy here and feel a bit of an anxiety attack coming on.

I really need to do this though. I have surpassed all my storage area, claimed new areas under beds and even in my son's closet. I have patterns coming out the kazoo which I don't feel all that bad about. McVogerick has been discontinuing patterns altogether too quickly lately so I grab them up when they come out and are on sale.

So here's to a month of stash sewing both fabric and patterns! Wish me luck and keep me honest if you catch me falling off the wagon!

I have ths skirt from Burda 11-2009-120 all done except for the hem. It's in a navy blue linen. I'm channelling my prepster. I really like how it sits low on the waist. I plan on making another one out of navy/green/red madras plaid. I will only be able to get the single pleat though since the fabric isn't wide enough but it should look cute anyways. I'll post some pics when I'm done. It's a great skirt.

Back to Basics With a Twist - Simplicity 3775

It's really a shame this has been put to pasture by Simplicity. If you can get a copy and don't have it, do it! It's a great basic dress pattern and extremely flattering. I've made this several times but have never reviewed it or posted it here. Not sure why. It's kind of my "go-to" dress pattern if I want to make something TNT and quick. You can do the whole thing nearly on a serger.



I was inspired recently by a couple blog posts from Fashion for Nerds and Already Pretty about a clothing line called Desigual. Link I immediately loved this dress and started thinking about making one myself. I have so many scraps left from all the other things I've made I figured it would be a fun way to use them up. I'll never look at a 1/2 yard of jersey the same way now.

I think this is either a case of Love or Hate and for me it's Love! I'm going to send this off to my BFF along with the Vogue 1250 dress and see if she likes it. I have lots of scraps to play with and have plenty to make myself another one. My closet is on overload.