My Paint swatch Dress!

This is my third version of the Frankenpattern of Butterick 5353, combined with New Look 6224 for the bottom.  Version one is here.  And version two you can find here.  This newest version didn't disappoint either.  I'm calling it my paint swatch dress because that's what it reminds me of - all of the paint samples you can get at the paint store.

The linen fabric was part of my haul from this year's ASG Sewing Garage Sale.  There were 3 yards, and I paid a whopping $6.00 for it.  The lining is just a plain white cotton I had in my stash.  I actually paid more for the piping and invisible zipper than I did for the main fabric!  

I really wanted to use purple for the piping instead of pink, but I couldn't find any that matched just right.  The pink actually matches perfectly.

Here are the latest stashbustin' stats!

Latest Stashbustin' Stats:

Yardage for this dress (including lining) = 5 yards
YTD yards sewn = 66.375 yards
Remaining yardage to reach 100 yard goal = 33.625 yards

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

My eyeglass top - New Look 6628

My annual eye exam appointment was quickly approaching and I thought it would be funny to sew up a shirt for the occasion out of this cute eyeglass quilting cotton print I purchased at a quilt shop in Vancouver, Canada earlier this year.  I was hoping I could bribe the doc into not dilating my eyes by showing him the cute shirt I made for the occasion.  But you know what - he didn't even notice it!  The office staff did and they all loved it, but the eye doc didn't!  Oh well - it's still a cute shirt!

This is New Look 6628 - View B.  Like my different colored buttons down the front?  Cute huh!

I've made this shirt before, but never the sleeveless version.  I only bought 1.5 yards of the fabric so no room for sleeves!  And instead of finishing the armholes with the facing pieces, I just used bias tape instead.  

There are fitting darts in the back and front too.  And little vents on the sides - which you can't see here.

Just a quick post for me today as I'm still in catch-up mode.  Here are the latest stashbustin' stats!

Latest Stashbustin' Stats:

Yardage for this top = 1.5 yards
YTD yards sewn = 59.875 yards
Remaining yardage to reach 100 yard goal = 40.125 yards

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

New Look 6139 PJ bottoms

Just a super duper quick post today!  Another pair of PJ bottoms using New Look 6139.  These are from a lightweight cotton print I had in the stash.  I only had one yard of this fabric so it was perfect for these pj's.

I used a trim with little birds on it for the waistline treatment.  As mentioned in my previous post on these bottoms, I really like this waistline feature.

Stashbustin quest info -
Total yardage for these pj bottoms = 1 yard
Total YTD = 73.41 yards!

Happy sewing everyone!
Star

New Look 6224 - Round Two!

Hi everyone!  It's been awhile since my last post so here we go!

If you follow me on Instragram - you might recognize this fabric.  I purchased it while on vacation last year in England.  Unfortunately, I only bought 1.5 yards of it.  I was undecided whether to make a blouse with a cowl neck front, or make a dress.  I ended up settling on the dress - as you can see below - this is New Look 6224:

I BARELY squeeked out this dress sans sleeves from this fabric.  I could have made the blouse much easier, but after looking at the pattern envelope, I realized that the front panel on the Vogue blouse I had selected needed to be cut on the bias and I just thought having ovals on the print going sideways on the front panel versus the ovals on the rest of the blouse going up and down, would look a bit odd.

Now I know what you are thinking - "Hey, the ovals are going sideways on the skirt portion of the dress and the bias band - so what's the big deal with the blouse pattern?"  Well, I didn't have a blue that matched this print either to make a pair of pants or skirt out of so the dress pattern finally won in the end.  And, if you look really closely, you can tell that my skirt portion is cut more than slightly on the bias - it's a little off, but in order to squeek out the dress - I had to shift the grainlines slightly.  Still works though I think.

Here's the back view.

The front V on the neckline is complimented with some slight gathers to either side of it.

The band along the neckline is cut on the bias too.  I made the band just slightly larger than called for.  It's supposed to be 3/8" wide, but I made it 1/2" wide - not alot bigger I know.  The armholes are cut in 3/4" smaller at the shoulder line, tapering down to the underarm seam.  These are finished with bias tape from the scraps I had leftover.

All in all, I really like this dress.  And yes, it has two shades of pink in this one!  OMG - what am I doing here!  For someone who doesn't care for pink as a color, this may have just put me over the edge!

Here are my stashbustin' stats for those of you following along with my crazy quest:

Yardage for this dress - 1.5 yards (barely!)
YTD Total yardage = 60.66

Whoop! Whoop!

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

Time for bed!

Aren't these cute?  I am in desperate need of some more summer pj's and these will be great!  This is New Look 6139 - a camisole top and shorts.  No - I did not give them a final press before taking pictures, but it is hotter than heck here lately and I didn't want to add any more heat to our house at the moment - so - please look past the wrinkles and ruffly hemline!

The pattern has bust darts and calls for ribbon to be used as the straps.  I decided to use some fold over elastic for the straps instead.

Here's the back view.  The pattern also says to add a zipper to the back seam.  Really?  Who wants a zipper in pajama's??!?!?  No thank you!  Besides, I made this out of a crappy, very thin knit that was in my stash, purchased at the ASG Garage Sale in 2014.  I only have one piece of fabric from that year's sale that remains untouched - that's pretty good!

The waistband treatment on these shorts is a new technique to me and I will be using it more in the future.  Rather than making a traditional casing the turning to the inside, instead you turn the top hem allowance down 3/8", right sides together.  Using some ribbon (either 1/2 or 5/8"), sew that down on top of the now turned down top edge.  Sew it again at the bottom edge of the ribbon, leaving an opening to thread in the elastic.  Add the elastic, sew up the opening and voila!  It adds a decorative feature to the waistline!

Here are the shorts with a longer view.  You can see the ribbon waistline better.

Can't wait to snuggle up with these new pj's.

Stashbustin stats:

Total yardage for the camisole and the shorts = 2 yards
Total YTD = 46.41

Whoop!  Whoop!

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

August MAGAM Determined

My August MAGAM project will be a skirt from the purple linen and a blouse from the rayon batik.  I let the yardage amounts determine which patterns I will be using for both of them.  

For the skirt - I only have 1.25 yards and the only skirt pattern in my stash that will fit that amount is New Look 6762.  I'll be making View C - hopefully on the bias, but we'll see if that fits.

For the blouse - I have 1.5 yards of the batik and although I had a few patterns that would work with that yardage, I have been wanting to give the now out of print Butterick 5608 a try.  I'll be making View A.

Well see how the turn out!  The reviews for the blouse on PatternReview are all over the place.  Wish me luck!

Happy sewing everyone!
Star

My favorite dress

Have you ever had that feeling when you first starting sewing something that it was going to be a winner?  That's what happened with this dress.  I have made it before here, and loved it, but this version is much classier I think.  This is Butterick 5353 on top with New Look 6224 on the bottom and once again, it is a winner!!

All fabrics were again from my stash.  From left to right: black and white polka dot cotton for the lining of the bodice portion, crazy swirl cotton I used for piping, lightweight cotton for the skirt lining and black linen for the public side of the dress.

The piping was fun to make and it just kept getting better and better the more I sewed.  Here is the neckband and the waistline band with their piping sewn on.

Then I started sewing the bodice together and that little pop of color sandwiched between the black was fabulous!

Close-up - yes!!  Look at that!!  Ooh-la-la!

Close up of the finished neck band.

And finished waistband.

The inside bodice polka dots ads a bit of fun too.

I wanted to nice transition between the bodice and the skirt lining so I decided to edge it with a bit of rick rack.

Here are the fronts inside and out....

And the backs inside and out....

 Me again....

Left side inside and out....

And right side inside and out...

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!  Now I just need the weather to warm up just a bit so I can wear it out in the wild...

Stashbustin continues!  Here are the totals for this dress:

Linen = 2 yards
Lining cottons = 2 yards
Piping = .5 yards
Total = 4.5 yards
YTD Total = 11.875

Happy sewing everyone!
Star

February MAGAM Decided

The "Frankenpattern" theme for this month's MAGAM Challenge is one I suggested to SarahLiz as a possible theme for the future.  I'm very excited that it came up so quickly!  But alas, it has taken me awhile to decide on what my Frankenpattern would actually be. After sorting thru my patterns, I have determined what my little pattern monster project will be for this month.

Since Mother Nature seems to have forgotten to bring Winter to California this year, we are skipping from Fall to Spring.   As a result, I'm going to combine the top of Simplicity 1607:



With the bottom of New Look 6224:



For the top - I'm going to eliminate the waistband and instead lengthen the top portion about an inch. I like the skirt on the New Look pattern better than the drop yoke, 80's style skirt on the Cynthia Rowley pattern so I'll be using that as the bottom half.

I've read other reviews on PatternReview.com that the straps on the Simplicity top can be a bit of a nightmare so I'll keep that in mind with my practice muslin

Here's the fabric I've selected (from the stash of course!):

This is a Celtic print cotton that I picked up at a quilt guild garage sale last year.  There is about 8 yards of it so if I do mess up on the straps, at least there will be enough left over to try again.

That's it for today - wish me luck with those straps!

Happy Sewing everyone!

Star

New Look 6245 - My last summer top?

The weather is starting to change so I thought I would try to squeeze in one more summer top for this year as I'm sure Mother Nature will throw in a few more 90+ degree days for us before it actually starts feeling like Fall.  Using the leftover fabric from the lining of the Minoru Jacket, I wanted to give New Look 6245 a try.  After all - this would be considered a bonus garment since it was made from leftovers, right?

I loved the fabric in the jacket, but it's not quite right for this top.

There's not enough drape in it to lay properly - you can see here it hangs away from the body and looks like a box.  

The back view isn't much prettier.  Still lookin like a tent here....

Hang on, I think I might have a brown belt somewhere - let's give it a try.  Bingo!  Much better with the belt.

Yes - there is a waist hidden under all of that fabric.  

Back looks better too - although I should have taken more time to adjust the fullness before taking this picture!

 Here's a recap with belt and without..

My new total for yardage sewn since the beginning of July is 29 yards.  I'm getting there slowly!

My next project is going to be a complicated one and will use alot of fabric.  Stay tuned for a post on those project plans soon!

Until next time - Happy Sewing!