Wool Knits and Jalie Patterns

So back in November (maybe?) when FabricMartFabrics.com had their big sale on wool knits, I bought ....and astonishing amount of yardage from them.  Which I then proceeded to make woolen warm clothes for the whole family.  I got a combination of jerseys, interlocks, and ponte knits, all of them almost 100% wool.  A little itchy, like all wools but the most cozy merinos, but for $8-$12 a yard, who's complaining?

I used mostly Jalie patterns, as I am in love with their fit and all those sizes. One of the first Jalie patterns I ever bought was 2328, their men's thermal underwear pattern. I've used it countless times for either my husband or one of my three boys.  I've got the paper pattern which is no longer available. It's still available off the Jalie website as a download, however.

Here it is in a heathered gray wool ponte knit.  I used the three yards I bought of this fabric for a pair of leggings for me, one for DD, and one for DIL as well as this pair of thermal pants for one of my sons.

I also made a whole lot of shirts for my sons and husband using Jalie 2918. No pics of those, but there's only so much to see.  It's a t-shirt. Nuff said.

For DIL, I made this matching set of leggings and Jalie 2806 the gathered scoop neck top.  I made a whole lot of these for myself a couple of years ago.  These are made of wool/lycra jersey in a gorgeous periwinkle.  Not my color, but it looks fabulous on her.  The leggings I made from a pattern copied from a pair of leggings she already has that she likes the fit.

Apologies for the crummy pictures.  Laying things out on the floor is not my preferred way of displaying my creations, but it's snowing and blowing outside and kinda dim and dreary inside.

All in all, since November, I made alot of tops and pants for all the members of the family.  Good thing, too, 'cuz it's been coooold this year.

Racerback Tanks in Jersey Print

It's summertime and time for some new tank tops.  My old ones are pretty much worn out and recently I've had to throw several away.  One got stained beyond rescue and in two others the lycra gave out and made the fabric all ripply and weird. 

I love these two newest additions to my tank top stable.  I spent many an hour developing this racerback tank top until I got the pattern and every little curve of the straps just the way I wanted them.

The yellow print is a cotton/lycra jersey several years old trimmed with the same print fabric in the black colorway.  The binding is a tiny 1 inch wide before it is sewn on -- you have to be very, very careful with that one, there's no room at all for error.

The camouflage -- and I do love camo -- is a plain cotton jersey, kinda flimsy and I don't think this tank will make past this summer season before it starts to develop holes and such.  But it was so cute, I couldn't resist.  If you look closely, you can see the butterflies integrated into the camouflage pattern.  Is that awesome or what?!  I used a slightly wider binding on this one -- 1 1/2 inches unsewn.  You wouldn't think that just a little bit of extra binding could change the look of a shirt so much, but it does. 

I've got two more tanks tops to finish off and a knit dress for Daughter as well.  As soon as those are done, it's off to a couple of simple ballet tops for me.

Woo Hoo! New Jalie 3350 Swimsuit

Doggone it! This thing is so cute.  Even in the lousy picture with terrible lighting it looks cute.  Okay the hot pink flowers accented with the black probably contributes to its cuteness, but really, I give alot of credit to the pattern.

This is the View A front with the View B back.  That front sweetheart neckline is so prettily shaped and the construction method is easy and straightforward. 

I made this for Daughter using the size that corresponded to her girth measurement, so it turned out to be a little looser in the chest than ideal since she's pretty tall in proportion to her other measurements.  It's no where near a problem, but I'll probably slim down the next one just a tiny bit.  I thought the leg openings wouldn't fit since the elastic is only a teeny bit shorter than them, but that too was no problem.  Fit perfectly.

I used a swimsuit fabric that was covered in dusty pink flowers (that I never liked) for the lining and I lined the back as well as the front.

All in all, from tracing to final stitch was about 3 hours.  Awesome.

Summer Sewing Begun at Last!

Here's my first bit of summer sewing: Daughter's new bathing suit. She's tried it on and is super happy with it.

The pattern is Jalie 3134 Racerback Swimsuit from the set of patterns that was put out in October 2011.  I've made it before for both myself and for Daughter, but since I wasn't quite satisfied with the fit either time, I wanted to try it again.  This one is absolutely perfect.  And went together from start to finish in about 3 hours.

Remember, it's important to choose the size from the girth measurement.  Anything else is kind of iffy.

Next up is a swimsuit for me.  I traced out the pattern for my size last night at the same time I traced out Daughter's, so it's just a matter of laying out the fabric, cutting the pieces, and stitching my little heart out.

After that, I have Jalie's new swimsuit pattern to try out.  Daughter wants the View A with the B back.  I want the View B with the A back.  And it'll be nice for us both to have a second suit to wear for a change.

 

Quilting Sabbatical -- Cause We Need Some Clothes!

Much as I've been enjoying my quilting journey, I've got to move on for a while and get some clothes made -- before we're all stuck in that famous condition:  I've nothing to wear, dahling!!

Raven in the Window is nearly finished -- I completed the quilting last night so all that's left is the binding.  I'll get you all some pics in the next couple of days.

This weekend, I'm going to try to get some clothes made.  Daughter needs two or three dresses and Youngest Son could use a couple of button down shirts.  I've already got the fabric -- it just needs to be washed, dried, and ironed and it's ready to go.

Daughter already got a new dress this week.  The pattern is my self drafted knit wrap dress.  The fabric a lovely drapey charcoal rayon/cotton interlock with dusty pink roses on it.  A very pretty fabric that works well with the pattern.

I'm going to try and make her another this weekend using this Kaufman jersey.

 And perhaps a second one using one (or more!) of the organic cotton wovens I've gotten in the last few months.

For Youngest Son, I have a yummy royal blue broadcloth that's going to make a handsome shirt that will go nicely with his wool suiting vest.  He likes to be well-dressed, and who can blame him?  Jalie Men's Shirt Pattern will do nicely for that.  I'll have to trace out a new size since I know he's grown alot since the last time I used it.

For me, well I can start on my Jalie Women's shirt for the PR contest as of Saturday.  I think I'm going to use a tan pin striped stretch linen.  Oddly enough, it's the negative of the fabric I used for my last PR contest.  Instead of light tan with darker tan pinstripes, it is the darker tan with light tan pinstripes.

So, wish me luck!  As always, I've got lots of plans, and sometimes I even get it all to work.

Twinkle Toes and Tshirts

Here's the wool socks and the fleece slippers, elegant aren't they?  They both have gotten a workout already.  Daughter wears the slippers every single day.  She's definitely going to need one or two new pair before this New England winter is over.

And Youngest Son's long sleeved tshirts are finally finished, too.  It's so hard to make interesting clothes for boys.  There just isn't that much variation in boys' clothing.  The pattern for all of these is Jalie 2918 Men's Tshirts.  A very nice, well-drafted pattern.  I used a size slightly bigger than his measurements, so a little room to grow.  I like the length on these.  Kid's shirts always seem to be too short for Youngest Son, but this pattern fits fantastic.

All the seams are serged, and the hems, sleeve hems, and necklines have all been coverstitched.  This is the technique I've been using to make t-shirts from time immemorial and I rarely have any trouble with it.  Occasionally one of the children will pull too hard on the hems or neck opening and pop the coverstitching.  It's pretty rare, so I haven't bothered to change the way I do things.  I guess if I really wanted to make them last, I'd put wooly nylon in the loopers.

This one on the left is a chocolate cotton/lycra -- probably from Fabric.com -- with organic cotton ribbing -- definitely from Fabric.com -- for the neckline.









The one on the right is brown organic cotton jersey with conventional organic green cotton jersey for the stripe and organic cotton rib knit for the neckline.




Here we have brown organic cotton ribbing and charcoal conventional cotton ribbing.  The color block seams really wanted to ripple on this one, but a session with my iron settled that rebellion.

The one on the left is a plain gray cotton ribbing.








This one on the right is camel and brown organic cotton jersey with brown organic cotton ribbing.








Not very exciting, I know, but sometimes the sewing just isn't that exciting.  I want to make a few Christmas gifts next, so those should be a little more interesting.

A Week in Plain Sewing

Sometimes you've just got to bite the bullet and do all that sewing you've been putting off because it's boring.  That was last weekend for me.  Several pairs of thermal pants and many, many t-shirts were at the top of the priority list, so I got out my trusty Jalie patterns, a pile of knit fabrics, and my 45mm rotary cutter and got started.

First I cut out thermal pants using Jalie 2328 Mens Thermal Underwear.  I think this is the very first pattern of Jalie's that I ever bought.  Oddly enough, I vaguely remember not liking it at first, but I can't for the life of me imagine why.  I was probably expecting something unrealistic.

In any event, this pattern gets my unqualified approval, regardless of my first impression (thereby proving that first impressions aren't always accurate, right?).  The tops fit well, the pants are well designed.  If you have men who work outside in the wintertime, and your winter is anything like New England's (or worse!) this is a great pattern to have. 

A really long time ago, I worked in a textile factory making, you guessed it, thermal underwear!  A before that I worked in a factory making, you guessed it again, long-sleeved knit shirts!  Um, so I've sewn pieces like these alot.  Like thousands of times.  So I feel like I'm a good judge of this kind of pattern.

I cut out three pair from some nice cotton thermal knit that I found at JoAnn's a few years ago.  Two of them are sewn and the last is waiting patiently to be assembled.

Assembly time: less than one-half hour.

After those, I started working on long sleeved tees for Youngest Son.  For these I chose Jalie 2918 Men's T-Shirts.  I haven't used this pattern at all yet, so I'm walking into unknown territory.  What I do know is that Jalie has been very reliable over the years, so I have no reason to expect disappointment. 

I started with the size that matched his measurements, but Youngest Son has got rather broad shoulders.  Made with a cotton rib knit, it fits in the chest, sleeve length is good, overall length is good, but the shoulders just don't quite fit.  I don't think it's the pattern though.  I think it's going to be a standard alteration on all patterns for Youngest Son.  This first tee is wearable, but it won't be long before he grows out of it.  I love how forgiving knits can be.

Next pattern tracing: Size up by 2 sizes to accommodate the shoulder broadness. 

Should have at least 3 or 4 of these tees finished by the end of the day.

So that's what I've been up to.  I do get tired of sewing practical items sometimes, but I get alot of satisfaction knowing that a great many pieces of my family's clothing have come from my hands.  That makes it all worth it.

Mini Wardrobe -- Finished Contest Entry Safari Style

So here it is:  My finished contest entry.  Safari style extravaganza!  If you're a PatternReview.com member, you can vote for your favorite mini wardrobe.  Check out all the entries.  So many people have done such a fantastic job.  It was a real pleasure to chat with them on the message board for the whole trip.

The tank top is a modified Kwik Sew 2517.  It would have to be -- that pattern is actually a dress.  I've made this tank top lots of times and I really love it.  For this one, I used the original armhole curve, but I've also modified the pattern to make a racerback tank top as well.

The pants are Jalie 2908 stretch jeans.  For these, I added expanding cargo pockets to the back and thighs and narrowed the pants legs so they'll fit smoothly into my boots.  I love these pants.  I wore them all day yesterday and they are oh-so-comfy.

The button down shirt is Jalie 2322 done in a stretch linen.  Also a comfortable fabric.  I wish I'd bought more than just enough for one shirt.

And the vest is Butterick 5616 made in the same stretch sateen as the pants.  With extra pockets.








I am really loving all of these outfits.  Different shoes give a whole different look to them, too.

Well, It's Not Glamorous...

...but it is a nice tank top.

It seems like I live in tank tops.  I can always throw a nicer shirt on over the top if I need to.  Or a sweater when I get cold.  Or a jacket.  Or I can wear it alone when I'm cooking, or baking, or washing dishes.  Or digging in the garden for that matter.  Because I really hate trying to roll up my sleeves when I'm up to the elbows in either flour, or dishwater, or dirt.

This is the second piece of my mini wardrobe.  And it's not glamorous.  But neither is my wardrobe really.  And neither am I.  So it suits me perfectly.

It's not that I don't like glamorous.  I do.   Alot.  It's just that I promised myself that this mini wardrobe is going to consist of things that I'm going to wear to death.  This tank top is going to have little bits of broken lycra poking out all over the place before I throw it out.  And my linen shirt is going to have holes in the elbows -- or at least I'm going to spill something on it that I can't get out (and I'm pretty good with stains so it's going to have to be a dilly).  Of course, I haven't been able to get out permanent marker.  Anybody know how to get permanent marker out of cotton twill?

But I digress.  The point, Trinity.  Get back to the point.  The point is this is two pieces down, and two to go.  And five days left.  I know I can do the vest in about 5 hours or so.  The pants might be a little more challenging.

Wish me luck.  I'm going to try and get both pieces done before Monday.  Hey, I got my entry in to the One Pattern Many Looks contest back in February with a whole seven minutes to spare.  I still think I can do it.

Summer in Review -- Projects #1 & #2 of Not Very Many

It's been a busy summer for me, and while I didn't get much sewing done, I managed to get a little in here and there. I totally failed when it came to the blogging part, though, so I'll try and show you some things in the next week or two. 

First up is Daughter's handkerchief dress. She does so love these and it's a neat way to use a horizontal stripe.  I got this print from Fabric.com of course.  It's a cotton jersey that probably has about 25% stretch.  Sleeveless for the summer and she should be able to wear it through the Fall as well with a sweater. I have some pretty pink acrylic sweater knit that ought to make a warm a cozy sweater for her.

I also made this mauve jacket for Daughter this summer.  It's a very basic round-necked jacket -- I don't recall which pattern I used, though I suppose I could fish it out if anybody really needs to know.  It wasn't a very impressive pattern -- it was an unlined, faced jacket meant to worn over formal wear, like a flower girl dress or something.  I added a lining (which was so easy I don't know why they didn't design the pattern with one) which turned it into a classy little jacket instead of some cheesy little thing that looks like you made it yourself.  I added the pockets as well, since Daughter was adamant that it HAD to have pockets.  The fabric is a bottom weight stretch cotton sateen with a woven vertical stripe, originally bought to make pants for myself (until I realized that pink pants and myself are not a good combination, what was I thinking?). And since it was a pretty plain fabric, it absolutely had to have trim of some kind.  I've had this heart ribbon for a while, and it fit the bill perfectly, especially since the color matched so well.  And Daughter picked out the heart buttons during a visit to Joann's last year.  They've been languishing in the button box, waiting for just the right project.

That's two of the projects and I'm pretty pleased with both of them.

A Gallery of Girls' Projects

Last post was for the boys. This one's for the girls. Okay, girl. Since I only have one daughter.

I made Daughter a couple more of her signature knit wrap dresses. This one is made from interlock from JoAnn's.  My girl is growing up, though, so this will probably be the last of the juvenile prints for her.  She has a classic taste.  When she picks fabric for herself, she tends to choose tiny flowered prints, but she still leans towards pinks every chance she gets.

The stripes are a jersey that I bought from Miss Fairchild over at Pattern Review.  Daughter made all the design decisions, including the length of the skirt and sleeves, and the ruffle trimming the hems.

I also made her a bathing suit, using Jalie's newest pattern.  I bought nylon/lycra fabrics last year, on clearance after the summer season was over, so I had several for her to choose from.  She liked both the pink (naturally!) and the purple, so the Jalie, with it's color blocking, was the perfect choice.  I still can't get over how easy these are to make.  And to think I used to spend $25 every year for Daughter's bathing suits.

This sews up in about 3 hours and as far as I can tell, the elastic lengths listed in the pattern instructions are perfect.  I made a swimsuit like this for myself last year and I found it a little short in the torso.  I made Daughter's using the size that matched her height and the fit seems pretty good.  If the weather would just get nice, we could field test it and know for sure whether or not the fit is perfect.

I also made her a cute little collarless jacket out of pink stretch cotton.  I show you that one next time.  And I realize I never took a picture of my wool melton coat that I finished in March.  I'll take a picture of that one, too.  Just as soon I sew on the button I managed to pull off.

Back in the Sewing (and Blogging) Saddle At Last

It's been a busy few months, but I'm finally getting some sewing done.  Last night I finished the shirt for my oldest son that's been hanging on my dress form waiting for buttonholes and buttons for about three months now.  I double stitched the mock flat-felled armhole seams, partly because in my first pass I didn't catch the folded over seam allowances in some spots and partly because I wanted it to look a little different from the other two I made in this fabric. This was the last of this nice yarn-dyed stretch shirting that made such beautiful dress shirts.  Ah, shucks, I'll have to do some more fabric shopping...

I also made a whole series of pants and tees for Youngest Son.  They're not very exciting, but sometimes practical sewing takes precedence over the fanciful stuff.  Youngest Son likes the cargo pockets on these, and always tells me to be sure to put them on.  I've got OOP Jalie 2107 -- Men and Boys Pants pattern.  I think I'm going to use that one for his next pair of pants.

Youngest Son's shirt series used up of alot of my knits in earth tones -- I'm going to have to do some more searching and buying in that department, too.  I've been making raglan tees for him, but this year I decided to trace out the regular tee from Kwik Sew's Sewing for Children book.  I sized down to get rid of the enormous '80's ease and lengthened for the proper fit.  They turned out very nice, though I see that, after a few washings, I'll need to reduce the length of the neckline ribbing.  I hate it when it bunches up at the inside edge of the curve.  It's truly amazing how shortening the ribbing by just 1/4 inch can make the neckline look so much better.

That's for the boys.  I've done some sewing for Daughter, too.  But I'll get to that next time.

OPML -- Last Dress in Green Wool Jersey

And here is the final dress for the One Pattern Many Looks PatternReview.com contest.  Taking one pattern and using it with different fabrics to create different looks was quite an interesting challenge.  I still have one more color blocked dress that I'd like to make, but time ran out for me and the contest ended before I had a chance to get to it.  I'll probably still make the dress, because I still think it's a good idea and it'll make a fantastic dress, but I might not get to it for a little while.

This one is made in green wool jersey.  I bought this jersey last year (I think) from Fabric.com in four different colors: hot pink, cognac, green, and granite gray.  It's a very comfortable 100% merino wool.  I used the pattern just as it is.  Paired up with a medallion belt, black tights and kitten heels, I think this is a very nice outfit.  I'm wearing it today with my brown Merrel wedge boots, and it looks great with those, too.

Here's the collage of all the dresses.  I had to take the picture off the green one at night, since I just finished it last night at 11.30 -- just thirty minutes before the end of the contest.  I've never sewn so fast in my life.

I'm pleased with these and I've added some nice pieces to my wardrobe.  And they'll be great to wear right up until the weather gets too hot come summertime.

OPML Contest -- Fourth Dress is Spanish Holiday

This dress is made with the pure, unadorned pattern.  I'm counting on the print fabric itself to make this particular incarnation unique.  It's another polyester onion skin, also bought from Fabric.com.

I made a cotton knit underdress to wear with this dress and the Victorian Rose one.  I've already made a pattern for it, though the original was intended to have crossed straps to go under a racerback tank top dress.  I can't cross the straps on this underdress because the neckline of these onionskin dresses is too wide and they would show.  I wish I would have made the straps just a tiny bit longer, as the neckline at the center front sits just behind the neckline of the top dresses.  It doesn't show, so I guess it really doesn't matter.

Now I have just to sew together the wool jersey dress, and I will have finished my entry for the contest:  the black LBD, the Victorian Rose, the Spanish Holiday, the black and red print, and the wool jersey.   If I have time, I want to make yet another color-blocked dress in a black and white print.  But the end of the contest is in two days and I don't think I'm going to make it.

OPML Contest -- Third Dress is Victorian Rose

Here's dress number three.  The fabric is a polyester onion skin from Fabric.com.  I've never sewn (or worn, for that matter) onion skin before -- one of the reasons I bought it was that I wanted to try sewing a fabric that I've heard so many people  talking about. 

I don't like polyester in general.  I don't really like the way it feels against my skin, and it usually makes me feel pretty hot.  But I thought I'd give it a try anyway.  I can definitely understand why people like it, and if I traveled more, I would be more fond of it.  You can fold it up tiny, it doesn't wrinkle very much, and I bet it would dry lightning fast after washing it in the hotel bathroom.

The fabric is a dream to sew, no doubt about it.  It wasn't that fun to cut out, though.  My rotary cutter went through cotton jersey like a hot knife through butter, but when it came to this stuff, there were always threads that somehow didn't get cut.  Trying. Very trying.  I almost lost my temper a few times.

When all's said and done, I got the dress cut and assembled and it only took around a hour.  Truth is, though,  I'm not sure about it.  I like the color--though pink is really not a color that I like very much on myself.  I really like the print, but I think it would suit me more if it was a darker or duskier pink.  And I like the concept of lace sleeves, but I'm not sure that the ivory lace is quite appropriate, even though it goes beautifully with the print.  What I'm really not sure about is that the look isn't just a little too "young" for me.

Let me say here that I've never liked the concept of "dress your age."  What is that supposed to mean?  What does "dressing like 40" look like?  And who gets to decide?  And why?

On the other hand, I don't want to dress like I've just raided my 20 year old daughter's closet.  Because I am old enough to have one (my oldest is a son and he's 22).  And let's face it.  There are some clothes that look fabulous on a twenty something that look downright ridiculous on a forty something.

So this dress is by no means a failure -- I like it too much for that.  I'm just not sure it's for me.  I'll ask you all what you think once I've had a chance to try it on.  I need to make a white slip before I can do that, since the fabric is pretty sheer.  It's not obvious in this picture, but you can pretty much see clear through this baby.

OPML -- Another Dress

I actually made this one first -- because I have many, many yards of black jersey and I wanted to make sure that I was going to like this pattern made up in the shorter length.  And I didn't post it first because it's black and there's not much to see.  When I get all the dresses done, I'm hoping to get one of my photography-savvy sons to take some nice outside pictures.  Which we'll do if the temperature gets above 10F degrees.  Which it hasn't for days.

I didn't really need another Little Black Dress, but I actually really like this one.  It's more comfortable than the other one, though not nearly as elegant.  If I get nothing else out of this contest, I'll still be pleased as punch to have made both this dress and the red-and-black one.  So as far as I'm concerned, it's a win-win no matter what happens between now and the end of the contest.

As for my progress, I've cut two new dresses, though I haven't done any sewing.  The first is in a solid green wool jersey.  Not quite the emerald green that is the color of the year, as they say (and who is they, anyway?) but in a color that is close but a bit duller and yellower.  Hmmm.  Hard to describe.  I'm going to wear it with the gold medallion belt that I wore with the brown maxi-length version of this same pattern.  I had sewing time over the weekend, but no matching thread.  And my car was in the garage, so I couldn't make it to the fabric store until Tuesday.  *sigh*

The second is an onion skin jersey knit.  Rose pink with a Victorian-esque swirling pattern.  I have a piece of ivory knit lace whose color and pattern goes strikingly well with the pink, so I decided to give this version of the dress lace long sleeves.  I'm probably going to have to sew a white slip to go underneath it as well, since I think it's a bit too sheer to wear alone. In theory, it sounds pretty, and it looks nice lying on the table, too.  We'll see if it works when it's all sewn together. 

OPML Contest -- First Dress

So I've entered the One Pattern Many Looks contest on Patternreview.com.   For those of you who don't know, the OPML contest involves taking a single view of a pattern and making it up in with different fabrics, trims, color blocking, hem and sleeve lengths, etc to make many different looks without changing the actual structure of the pattern.

I've decided to use my princess seamed knit dress pattern that I've made several times before, albeit as a maxi dress.  This is a pattern that I've been refining for the past couple of years, and I won't say it's perfect, but I do like it alot.

For this contest, I changed the neckline to a more of a scoop neck than a crew neck.  And I cut many inches of the hem so that it falls just above the knee instead of at the ankle.  The sleeves remain long sleeves, since even Spring in New England is pretty chilly, so that, if nothing else, I'll have a few three season dresses out of my efforts.

This is the first one that I'm sharing.  The picture could be a little clearer -- I'll have to take a few more. I used a deep red cotton jersey with a black floral print for the main body and solid black cotton/lycra for the trim.  The cotton/lycra didn't really want to play very nicely with the plain cotton jersey, but I gave it a bit of a lecture and it agreed to behave.  You have to talk to fabric, you know.  It is often very open to reason.











I decided to use color blocking to make a contrasting waist band type thing in the black, and then bound the neckline and sleeve hems with it as well.  Is it terribly creative?  Not really.  But I do like the effect.  I was wondering what to do with this red floral fabric, and I think this really fits.  And since it's broken up by the black, I don't look quite so much like I'm being eaten up by a bunch of black flowers.  I like it, and I am very pleased with this first attempt.










I can pair it up with black boots, but it also looks good with my high heeled shoes, low heeled shoes, and ballet flats.  A fairly versatile dress.

PR One Pattern, Many Looks Contest

This is one of the (to me, anyway) more interesting of Pattern Review's contests:  Take a pattern and make multiple garments without altering the actual structure of the pattern.  This involves things like color blocking, piping, ruffles, decorative buttons, and other purely ornamental stuff.

Self drafted patterns are allowed, so I intend to use the pattern I drafted to make  this dress.  I am going to change the round neckline to a scoopneck and shorten the hemline to above the knee, but other than that, I will use this pattern just as it is.  Well, okay, I'm also going to color block it in some places to get one of the "many looks," but that is allowed within the rules.

As for the different versions, I'm thinking I'll make the first one in black.  Just a plain LBD with no frills.  It'll be the one that you can compare all the others to. 

One I'm going to color block in a waistband, another I will color block in some  contrast pieces for illusional (is that a word? delusional is and it's kinda the same thing, right?) shaping.  That means I'm going to make a dress that encourages anyone who sees me to believe that I actually have a waist, when I don't really.  My waist is actually just a suggestion.

If I have time, I will probably make another in one of the pretty onion skin prints I ordered last week.  If I like them.  They haven't arrived yet, so there's still time for me to hate them with a passion.

And possibly another with lace sleeves.  Because I just love lace.  Doesn't everybody?

Three to five dresses in just the two weeks left in the contest sounds pretty ambitious, but the beauty of this pattern is that it really doesn't take that long, from cutting to hem.  The longest part is going to be adjusting the pattern for the color blocking, but I have confidence that I can do that pretty quickly.

New Fabric, New Inspiration

It's been a long couple of weeks, and while I have done a bit of sewing, been just too tired to do much blogging.  I've got a sweater to show you, Youngest Son's wool suiting vest, and a franken-version of the HotPatterns All Wrapped Up tank top.  As soon as I can arrange a photo session I've have them up for your jolly amusement.

As for the scoopneck top, thanks to all of you who commented, and I think I've decided to keep a couple of them, but get rid of the rest.  After all, eight versions of one pattern?  Kinda silly and shows a lack of imagination, dontcha think?  Of course, what I'm going to replace them with, I just don't know.

So to help me with my decision making I did hat every good fabric stasher does.

I went shopping.

Fabric.com is usually my go-to place for most fabrics, and they usually don't let me down.  They've got lots of onion skin right now, and while I've never sewn it before and I generally don't wear polyester, I liked a couple of the prints so much that I thought I'd give 'em a try.

I'm not a pink person usually.  But I like this print.  that Victorian swirl thing always catches my eye.

This one says beige and indigo in the description, but I confess I don't see much indigo here. Perhaps it'll will show up in real life on the doorstep.  I like this print alot, though I'm not sure what to do with it. It might be too much for a dress but I won't know for sure until I have it in my hands or draped over a shoulder.  Fabric looks so different than you might think sometimes.

And this last one is not onion skin, just a light weight polyester.  I figured in for a penny, in for a pound.  If I'm going to buy polyester I might as well go all the way.  I'm fond of black and white, so even if this turns out to be unsuitable for a dress or a top, I'm sure I'll use it for something.






And that's my order, hopefully arriving at the end of this week.  I small order for me, only 9 yards all together.  But since I'm not doing that much sewing, I can't really justify buying more fabric.  The only reason I got these is that I really do need to replace those scoopneck tops that I've retired.  Really.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.