I’ve seen so many cute long knit skirts lately worn by people at work. So I thought, why not make my own! I had just bought myself a serger – exciting news. So this was the perfect project to test out my skills.
Not much to say about this one. I had used this pattern before, but this time I decided to try view C, but with the yoke I had constructed for view D. It’s pretty basic, with just a back panel and a front panel, and the yoke pieces to form a waistband.
When I look at some of my projects from last year…
I do! It may be a mini-obsession. I do have some non-plaid projects in the works, but for now….
This dress has been sitting as a draft in blog forever. I wanted to share this on The Monthly Stitch and even bumped it up in my project queue because the July theme was all about plaid. I rushed through all the hot sticky weather to try to finish this dress in time to post on the site and then…the blind hem stitch on my machine wasn’t working. On July 28th.
Yeah I know I could have just hemmed it by hand, but I really wanted to try out a new technique. And that was more important than trying to force a project into a theme. It’s all about my learnings as a sewist, right? (Back me up on this one) So in the corner this dress went while I worked on other stuff, involving other non-blind hems. I decided to pick this back up when my machine was properly repaired. Welp, at least I can also get that button-hole stitch fixed too.
Yes, I know it’s not the holiday season – it’s over. But now that Christmas is over, I can freely write about some presents that I made. This year, I don’t know why but I just couldn’t get it together mentally. I had a hard time getting into the holiday spirit in the first place. I felt very busy, and not able to get anything I wanted done. For whatever reason, this year I just felt off. Despite all my issues, I still managed to get some homemade presents made which I am pretty proud of.
Yikes! This project fell of a cliff fast. Okay I’m being a bit dramatic – it’s not a total disaster. These just didn’t end up being the fabulous everyday pants I imagined. I tested these pants out using an inexpensive purple corduroy I bought in preparation for this nice green corduroy that I want to use for the real deal . After making a few jeans with this pattern, I think I’ve decided I don’t like it too much. This is unfortunate because it means I will probably have to start all over again – more test fabric, more fitting adjustments. Well maybe the practice will do me good.
Well I don’t know what happened. I got super busy in August and September and put my sewing on hold. Then all of a sudden it was December and I hadn’t gone near my blog, not even to read posts from my favorite bloggers. It’s not like I haven’t been sewing – I have been working on projects here and there when I find a spare weekend. In fact this skirt I am writing about was actually made in September and I had even started a post about it. Well these things happen. Sometimes you get so focused on the constant making that you don’t take a step back to write and reflect on what you have accomplished. I felt so behind in the projects I wanted to finish this summer that I kept pushing through and I let my laptop collect dust. But now we return to our regularly scheduled blog post, already in progress…..
The search for the perfect pattern to match an idea in your head is a challenging one. But sometimes it really works out!
I found this printed fabric by accident in the back room of one of my favorite fabric stores, Sewfisticated Fabrics. It’s actually really nice quality cotton with a tiny bit of stretch to it. The print looks like the canals of Venice, Italy. Really cool find, so I had to buy some, even if I wasn’t exactly sure what it would be.
Somewhere I got the idea it would look good as the top of a dress, with the bottom being just plain black. I also figured it should probably have an empire waist – so the search began for a pattern I could use for this vision.
I started to look at some vintage patterns, because I couldn’t really find many modern patterns of the dress style I was looking for. I settled on this Simplicity pattern because the picture had a similar look to what I was going for. For the black skirt, I bought fabric that would dress up the look, but I’m not exactly sure what it is – some sort of polyester. It’s a little on the thick side, so I knew I was going to have to use a serger so the seams didn’t appear too bulky.
Most of the vintage dress patterns I have used have been really easy to construct, and this one was no different. For the bodice, it requires you to cut out a facing, which finishes the top and armholes without a lining. When you cut out the facing and sew it all together, it is one long piece like so:
Then you sew it to the bodice with right sides together so it can be flipped to the inside:
This is before you flip the facing to the inside. The raw edge is pressed and sewed as well.
I grew up in the 90’s. This was the decade where I awkwardly lived out my teen years and a few young adult years as well. Say what you will about the grunge music movement, but for a self-conscious pre-teen who had spent most of her childhood bullied mercilessly, that music felt like ecstasy inside my head. I remember spending many hours listening to Nirvana’s Nevermind over and over to try to numb my pain. And I actually spent an entire family vacation to Arizona with the Pearl Jam Vs. album constantly pumping into my ears. People say that music was depressing, but life can be depressing when you become a teenager. The music mirrored all my thoughts and feelings about growing up and trying to find my place in a world that didn’t seem to want me. And the flannel! Flannel shirts were the style – a part of the anti-fashion movement that was sweeping the country. We were no longer going to spend money on brand names and store logos. We would look in thrift shops and re-purpose old clothes from our parents. It was casual and comfortable and a way to rebel against corporations.
I’ve been working on a few blog posts for completed projects, however it’s tough to get any of this stuff done in the summer. Plus I really need a photographer since I have yet to get pictures of me in my new skirt. But anyways, this weekend I did a thing! I had a few extra minutes and access to my mom’s serger, so I tested out my own drafted pattern of pajama pants.
I used to use an old pair of pjs that had been taken apart as a pattern. But unfortunately it was thrown out after I moved out of my parent’s house. So I traced a pair that I had made a while back and then added seam allowances and extra space to make the waistband.
While I was in the middle of trying to finish up my cold weather projects that got away from me last season, I realized I would always be a season behind if I didn’t get working on some summer clothes. So I dropped everything and whipped up this little shirt, made from fabric I got for $1.99 a yard at Sewfisticated in Framingham, MA.
When I bought this, I had a vision of making a sleeveless shirt. This New Look pattern that I had already made a muslin from seemed perfect, especially with the tucks in the front and the collar-less design.
Based on my experience from last time, I cut the neckline a bit smaller to compensate for my small shoulders and cut the bottom part a little fuller. It could probably use more adjustment next time – with the bottom more flared out and the middle part taken it a bit at the waist. Continue reading “Summer sleeves…make me feel fine”→
Pattern: Burda Style Flounce Skirt Mini 09/2014 #104
New Skills Acquired:
Tracing
I’ve been curious about Burda Style patterns for a while now, but it took me awhile to figure out what they were and where to find them. In fact, it took me awhile to figure out this was a regularly published fashion magazine that featured the patterns to sew the clothes featured. I somehow came across one of these patterns when I was looking for a skirt to make that would go with some plaid rayon blend I had just recently bought. You actually can get individual pdf patterns on their website, but since I’m a bit overwhelmed with putting together a pdf pattern (have not attempted this yet!), I thought purchasing the magazine would be better for me. Plus there would be other patterns as well!
I’m not sure what I expected when I got the magazine, but when I pulled out the pattern section…
Threading Lightly 