Scheduled Maintenance (aka Vacation)

Yeah, a vacation! DS and I are headed off to Gettysburg, PA to tour some battlefields. He's kind of a history fan, but then 9 year old boy, army stuff, not surprising. We are joining some friends for a Flyball tournament in Gettysburg on the weekend but we decided to head out early.

There may be some fabric shopping included, if I can convince the kiddo. There may be some bribery involved. I'm hoping for maybe a trip to FabricMart and the PA Fabric Outlet. I'm hoping to meet up with fellow PR friend and Blogger Melody.

It's actually a perfect time to take a break from sewing. I have a lot of plans for Fall sewing but I just can't quite get my arms around sewing the leather skirt I want or the long sleeved maxi dress with the temps still in the 80's. I do have a dress laid out from the new Butterick patterns. But once again, it's a ponte which isn't really summer friendly.

So, it's a perfect time to pack up my sewing machines and drop them off for some much needed service. Hopefully, they will be done when I get back and then I'll be ready to start the Fall sewing!

Vogue 1224 Again (and some misc)

I was really on the fence with making the dress again. I made it here. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it on me either. I have worn it and do get some compliments on it though. I found this fabric at Haberman's here in Royal Oak. I stopped on my way to a Girls Weekend, it was on the way ;-). And as luck would have it, they were having their summer sale. This is a Betsey Johnson print. It's a poly knit with some sheen to it but not a ton of stretch. It kind of reminds me of silk jersey. Usually Betsey Johnson is too frilly for me but I loved the print on this and immediately thought of this pattern.

I decided I would not do the bodice lengthening I did on the first one since I think the extra drapiness (or droopiness) bothered me. I did cut an 18 because I didn't want it too snug and with my bizarre weight fluctuations I wanted to be safe. I did add 2 inches to the length. Twenty years ago I would have worn it the length the pattern calls for, but not now. It's still pretty short and I'm only 5'3".

I left off the ties and just completely enclosed the elastic on the top. I don't like the ties on the other one. They kind of annoy me and I hate putting button holes in knits!

I did line the skirt on this one like the pattern calls for and used the casing provided.

Well, I'm really glad I decided to make this again. But, I'm glad I didn't force it. It needed this fabric. I really love this dress and I can still get some wear out of it for late summer, early fall.








Now for the misc. part. I was home with my son last week and while I can get some sewing done, it's gotta be quick, easy stuff. So, in part because I really lack easy seperates and all the "Hey, Mom's" I was bound to get. I decided to sew up some shirts. I had planned on 5, but got up to 3. I did also get 2 skirts out of the deal too though.

All the shirts are McCalls 6078.


I have one View A, which is the criss cross back and two View B which is the sleeveless cowl front. I did have plans for View C but got sidetracked when I decided I wanted a skirt. I was feeling fat and wanted something cute but comfy. I never wear elastic waist skirts, never! They usually look horrible on me but I really like this one. It's drafted well and it flows away from the body nicely. I ended up making two of them.

The skirt is New Look 6816. I bought it for the top a long time ago. I made the top but really didn't know much about sewing knits 2 or 3 years ago and it didn't turn out well. I'm sure it would be better now and may make one up.

Vivenne Westwood Inspiration

I've wanted a dress like this ever since I saw a Vivienne Westwood dress awhile back. I tried to make the Twister Dress and failed.




I pulled out the LJ Designs pattern called the Seaside T for a shirt a couple weeks ago, I realized I could use that pattern and just lengthen it. It's much more large bust friendly. I found a link for the pattern and it looks like it's still available.

Seaside T





For the shirt version I made, I cut out a Size 3 which is smaller than my measurments but I wanted it to stay up on my hips. For the dress, I cut out a Size 4 because I didn't want it snug and to feel like a sausage casing on my hips. The first picture is the full length, maybe not quite because it still had some droop to go...lol! I cut it long because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I realized it wouldn't stay up on it's own but I didn't want to do elastic so I made a tie which holds it up perfectly.

Also this pattern calls for the shoulder to have a slit but for this one I didn't do it. On my last version I did the slit.

Previous Version

I absolutely love this dress. I wore it last weekend and got a ton of compliments on it from total strangers.












This week I'm off work. I don't call it vacation because it includes lot's of "Hey Mom, I'm bored!" I have managed to get some sewing done. I'm calling it my Week of Shirts! I've made a top every day since Monday. Albeit simple ones from the same pattern but man I really need shirts. I make too many dresses. Hopefully, I'll get another one done today and one tomorrow and then will post them all at once.

I'm not sure what the issue with formatting is!!! I didn't do anything different but I can't seem to get it right plus I've had about 18 "Whatcha doin's?" during the process of trying to post.