Pattern/Fabric Mismatch

June's MAGAM Challenge of "Joyful June" wasn't turning out so Joyful for me.  This is Butterick 5612 - at least the start of it....  Halfway thru sewing it together, it was reminding me of a hospital gown.

There was just so much room in the underarm and sleeve area.  And although I like the color, it was just shouting institutional wardrobe to me.

And, to top it off, the DH walked into the room when it was on the dress form and said "why are you making that - it looks frumpy".  I have to admit that I agreed with him.

Trying it on didn't get any better.....

As you can see I hadn't sewn the side seams yet, but it was still not working for me.  

I shall not despair though as there is a happy ending afterall!  It fits much better in the bin than on me!

Oh well - you win some and you lose some!

Lesson learned from this dress - I think this was a case of using completely the wrong fabric for the pattern.  A nice print of some sort that had much more drape than my fabric would work out great for this pattern.  My fabric was a cotton or silk of some sort with not enough drape.  Plus, when I tried it on, it was a bit itchy around the neckline - so even if I did finish the dress, I'd end up with a nice pink rash around the neck to match the light blue color of the dress!

I'm still counting this fabric in the stashbustin quest though.

Total for this dress = 3.5 yards
Total YTD sewn = 53.625

Until next time - Happy sewing everyone!  I hope your next garment is more successful than this one!

Star

June MAGAM Plans - Butterick 5612

It's more than half way thru June and I have yet to post my June MAGAM Challenge Plans.  This month will be a two-fer!  Bonus!  I'll be making Butterick 5612 - the dress version.  This now Out-of-Print pattern has been on the sewing list for quite a long time!

I'll be using a light blue fabric that has been in the stash for so long, it has developed lines along some of the folded edges.  Luckily, I have about 6 yards of the fabric so I'm hoping I can work around the fade lines.  I'm not sure of the fabric content - it's either a linen or a silk - it feels more like a silk though but who knows!  The buttons are from the stash as well.  They are hand blown glass buttons in a darker blue, with light blue specs in them.  Not sure where I picked them up, but I know I've had them for quite a while too.

I mentioned above that this month would be a two-fer project.  Along with  MAGAM Challenge project, this will count towards crossing another item off of the Sew '16 Challenge as well.  My main focus for this year is to rid myself of UFO projects (which, they are coming along slooooowwllly!) - but this dress will cross off the "Sew Less Frosting" item from the list.  I do tend to get carried away with trims and buttons and various embellishments on my garments so for me, this will be a plain Jane dress.

That's it for today - gotta get started on cutting this dress out!

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

Simplicity 1716 - Circle Top

Hi everyone.  Just a quick post today.  Below is my latest sewing project - Simplicity 1716 - View B with the sleeves from View A. This is made from a thin, polyester knit that is perfect for our hot summer months.

Here's a close-up of the neck detail.  It's not a twist at the neckline, but rather two pieces that wrap around to the wrong side of the front and pull the neckline down, creating a sort of "twist" look.

 Side view.

Back view.  There is a center back seam that is slightly shaped at the waist.

And the left side - looks just like the right side!

That's it for today.  Just a quick post as promised.  It's another stashbuster and the stats are below.  Happy sewing everyone!

Total yardage for this blouse = 1.5

Stashbustin total YTD = 50.125

Whoop!  Whoop!

Star

How Does Your Garden Grow? - Vogue 9112

I'm a little late in completing my MAGAM Challenge for May this year.  But hey, with a theme like "Mad May", it required a little more time with added, self-inflicted frustration.  There is a reason the pattern envelope for Vogue 9112 says "Unsuitable for obvious diagonals" - but that didn't stop me from giving it a try.  Here's the finished product - I am super duper happy with it.

This is not my normal, fitted dress - but something roomy and flowy with a fabulous collar!  I was skeptical upon starting this dress knowing how roomy it was going to be, but, what the heck, I thought I would give it a try.

I started with my usual pencil drawing to determine a basic layout:

From there, things just started to fall into place.  I knew I wanted to incorporate bias piping into the dress somehow to accent the fabric I used for the collar.  So using some green and blue quilting cotton, combined with a cut-off from an old prom dress alteration, I cut bias strips and sewed the two pieces together off-setting them by 1/8".  When sewn into the seam allowances, it created the effect I was after:

Having sewn the dress together, I wasn't happy with how the front panel looked.  It just looked a bit plain to me.

I loved the collar though.  The pattern calls for just one collar piece to be turned and sewn along the edges.  I decided to double the collar and add some orange piping between the two.  I love how it turned out.

The side looked ok.

The back looked fabulous!

Just look at how well those plaid lines match up on the center back seam!  I'll go ahead and pat myself on the back right now for that!

I had quite a bit of the double bias trim left over so I decided to start experimenting.  And I came up with making some interchangable flowers for the front.

Aren't they cute!!  I added some ribbon to make the stems of the flowers.

 And a fun little stacked button flower for the collar.

The cool thing about the flowers - you can remove them for washing and bonus - you can move them around to rearrange your bouquet!

Here's a quick tutorial on how to make the snap-on flowers:

First - start with a piece of felt and the double bias strips already sewn together.

Turn under the starting edge and start sewing the bias strip in a circular motion.  You will start with the outside circle and work your ways towards the center:

 Keep sewing and turning until you get to the size you desire.

Turn under the ending edge and finish your circle flower.

Trim the felt from the back:

And sew on a button to the front and a snap to the back and you are finished.  Helpful hint -  I found it easier to sew on the snap first and then the button.

I'm super happy with this dress.  I had doubts to start with given it's roomy factor, but I think it turned out super cute!  And it's a stash buster as well!

For this dress I used 2.75 yards of a Robert Talbott shirting cotton purchased from his store in Carmel Valley, CA a few years ago.  I'll guesstimate another 1 yard for the bias strips and collar piece for a total of 3.75 yards for this dress.  This brings the YTD total up to 48.625 yards!

Happy sewing everyone!

Star