Tag: sewing

Where Did My Sewing Go?
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Where Did My Sewing Go?

LSiehLeave a comment

I’m so confused. I swear I made more things than I seem to be able to find. I’ve been late all this week and our weekend was pretty busy, so it feels like I’m missing projects!

Fancy may have a part in this. I’ve gotten this sad, neglected look multiple times in the past week when I’ve tried to get up to sew.

Now how am I supposed to resist that face? 🙂 Of course, it’s also been hard to be in the basement when my lungs are having fits.

I have been doing some mending, which might explain why I’ve sewn a bunch, but don’t have many new projects. Both the bird and the dog leggings popped stitches, so I had to repair some curves. I also had to cut off the band for the owl tunic and redo it, so it is now done, but it did take a lot of time.

Ha! i just figured it out. Two of the three projects had major mistakes that I had to redo before I could be done. My seam ripper and I are buddies.

For example:

Adorable, right? So this would be what happens when you put a purple fabric in and it leaks all over.

Separate your colors, kids! I’m going to get a color catcher and re-wash. Luckily, it’s not completely over the whole thing, just patches. The Husband doesn’t need purple Christmas pjs…

I also repeated my new trick of sewing a sleeve to the neck area on my shark shirt.

I was almost late to work because I had to unpick it and lost track of time. It’s now fixed. This is the Perfect T pattern. When I make this again, I’ll grade out the front or do a Full Bust Adjustment. It pulls a little. The pattern is meant for knits, so it is a little strange with woven. It has a blue cotton lycra back. I enjoy it. 🙂 I’m determined to use all this fabric.

I have a dark blue dress planned with a bow on the back made out of this, but need to figure out the skirt as I have not quite enough fabric. 🙂 Everyone needs shark clothing for Shark Week, right? (On a side note, I’m pretty sure the Husband really does love me. He’s actively encouraging me in my quest for all the sharks!)

I also made yet another pair of Linen Loungers. The main mistake on this one was to sew the pockets in backwards, so that the curve went towards quite the wrong direction…

It would have been very inappropriate… 😳 I, of course, didn’t realize it until I had sewn the sides together and put them on to try the fit. I had to unpick everything and redo the pockets and the sides. Then while sewing the waistband, I ran out of bobbin thread and didn’t realize it until halfway around. 🙄

There’s a good chance I shouldn’t try to sew while sick…

Luckily, something worked out at least. I made these workout pegs yesterday and wore them today while at the mall with Fancy.

I plan to wear them tomorrow for a Zumba class too. We’ll see how they hold up. They are quite thick material wise and didn’t shift today at all.

Speaking of Fancy, we got her a sprinkler on Sunday, one of those ring ones. She was all excited at first and then freaked put and huddled away from it. She normally loves flowing water and will chase the hose for hours, but this one she didn’t like.

It’s been super hot, so we thought that she might enjoy a sprinkler. We might get her a little pool instead.

Well, I am going to not attempt to sew tonight. This week might have taught me a lesson about late night sewing. I hope your night is relaxing and refreshing. Feel free to tell me any mistakes you’ve made this week, so I can feel like I’m not alone. 🙂

Why I Sew- Shark Shorts Edition
Life Posts · Sewing

Why I Sew- Shark Shorts Edition

LSieh2 Comments

I’ve been running around for the past half hour making up songs about shark shorts. I don’t know how the Husband puts up with me…

To back up a little, I saw this fabric a while ago and said to myself “I neeeeeeeeed this to make shorts for Shark Week.” Then I texted the Husband and my sewing buddy and said the same thing. Much to my surprise, they both enthusiastically agreed. Then I waited for payday, the fabric sold out on all my websites and I finally found it online at a Michigan store. It cost a little more, but these shorts and I needed to be together. Lesson learned, buy the fabric! So here are the shorts:

They are a lighter quilting cotton with a navy blue cotton trim that I bought a few weeks ago, originally to use for something else. It matched perfectly though. It’s little round shapes with a band on each edge. They have back pockets, a fold over yoga waistband, and are just the right length. Next time I’ll move the pockets closer into the center line, but they fit very nicely.

These are the same pattern as my flamingo and minion shorts from last week: Linen Loungers by Patterns for Pirates.

I had a bit of a revelation about shorts and myself while getting ready for the concert last night. Ready for it? Here it is! No one but me, cares what I wear! I was so hung up on the fact that the store shorts didn’t fit, and squeezed everything, and looked like I should be 80 while wearing them that I forgot I might just be wearing the wrong style. These have a built-in hip curve and make me look cute, rather than emphasizing the things I don’t like about my body. I seriously have not worn shorts in over 5 years because I just was so self-conscious.

The other thing I appreciate about this pattern is that although I can wear them for sleep shorts, with the right details and fabrics, they don’t actually look like sleep shorts. Minions, yes, sharks, no. Details matter.

I posted a picture of myself looking nervous, but wearing the flamingo shorts in one of my sewing groups and the response was affirming. I’m still working on accepting and changing the things I need to change, but I can’t let it stop me from trying new styles or from being comfortable.

It made me really think about how I need to change my thinking. How can I sit with clients, especially teen girls, and make all these statements about acceptance and self-esteem, if I am not willing to work on my own?

So I plan to make more cotton shorts and experiment with wearing them. For now, my sharks will definitely be my favorite!

In other sewing related news, my Mom challenged me a little on my UFO boxes and recommended that I start each month by pulling a project out and committing to finishing that project during the month. I think it’s an excellent plan. I’m cheating a little this month and fixing a couple of wonky new projects, like the shirt with the sleeve where the neck should be…

I’m also going to fix this sweet Cocoon Cardigan that I messed up the band on. It has an owl appliqué on the back and is made from black double brushed poly. It’s very lightweight. 😍

It’s going to be so sweet when it’s done!

Finishing this skirt is on my list. It’s a perfect, flowy cotton. It needs a waistband and a lining.

This star fabric used to be a faux wrap skirt that was too small. I need to see if I can line up the seams to make shorts or a tank top.

I found this skirt at the local thrift store and should probably be trying to find some more of my fabrics or materials from there. Now that I kind of know how to fit things, I can use those cheaper materials to try techniques out. A couple of the thrift stores have full sari sets and some of them carry fabric pieces. It’s all hit or miss, of course, but it never hurts to look.

You may have noticed a sudden influx of stars on my clothing. 🙂 For some reason, stars are making me quite happy right now. I’m alright with that, there are some adorable starry prints out there.

Speaking of stars, I should probably head to bed to dream under the stars. Have a good night!

Monthly Review
Gardening · Monthly Review · Recipe Roundup · Sewing

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

Well, hello! It’s hard to believe that it’s time for a review again, but I guess it is. My garden has exploded in the past month with all sorts of new growth. I had a salad made with lettuce from the garden just yesterday!

I picked some of both, buttercrunch and romaine. It was delicious! I’ve been picking the basil for caprese salads a lot too. I can’t wait to have homegrown tomatoes and basil for it.

My zucchini plant has taken over part of the garden. (Pictures withheld as to not frighten my father…)  I have five blossoms on it. I may be giving away zucchini shortly. 🙂 I think part of the plant ended up in every picture I took of the pepper box. Except the lettuce.

The tomatoes have absolutely taken over their box. I had to find some sticks to stake up the plants. The Early Girls are huge!

Mr. Stripey is holding his own in the corner.

I have some tomatoes started on the plants, but they are hard to get pictures of, as they are small and green. It’s exciting to see them growing though. So far, no sign of blossom end rot, which was the bane of my existence the last couple of years. I think the garden soil is keeping everything much more stable, moisture wise.

The peppers plants have a few flowers on them and seem to be holding up well, despite the encroaching zucchini. The herbs are also doing well. The strawberries never flowered, but that’s alright. I’ll keep them through the winter again and get some more plants for the berry boxes next spring. A friend has some raspberry plants that we can steal cuttings from too.

I’m pretty pleased with how it’s working out. I think we’ll get a lot of yield this year.

I’m also pretty pleased with my sewing this month. I have made lots of useful wardrobe items and am considering what of my ready to wear clothes I can replace or how to fix previously made items that don’t quite work.

My favorite things this month have been my harem pants, my Harry Potter table runner, the abstract floral dress, the blue lotus Agnes, and my Cocoon Cardigan.

I haven’t blogged about the cardi or the three pairs of shorts I have made in the last couple of days yet. 🙂

I finally found a pattern for pj shorts and pants that fits the Husband. He got his minion shorts a few days ago and I can catch up on Christmas pjs too. He has flannel pants with sweater bears on them that are not yet made. Here are the minions.

They were from the book Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. The failed slipper pattern was from this book, so I was glad to find a pattern that worked. 🙂

I realized that all of my recent patterns have been ones that I’ve traced! My friend slowly dragged me over to Team Trace when I wasn’t looking. She tempted me with PDF patterns that I couldn’t resist. I’m not very mad about it, for being firmly on Team Cut That Sh*t Out (terms coined by my favorite sewing group on Facebook- The Self Sewn Wardrobe by Mallory Donohue.) I will admit that it does make sense, but I still hate printing and taping PDF patterns.

I will admit, this Cocoon Cardigan by Patterns for Pirates, had a lot to do with it as well. It looked so snuggly and wonderful on everyone online who made it that I had to have it.

The shoulders look weird in this picture. I swear it doesn’t actually make me look like I’m a linebacker. 🙂  They are a dolman sleeve, so they start sloped and pick up the sleeve partway down your shoulder. It was a new technique for me and I was super nervous, but it came out so nice. I have plans to make a lighter weight black cardi with an owl appliqué on the back. It’s going to look so cool!

The stars are french terry, which is a new fabric for me too. Here’s a closeup of the stars. They are multi-colored.

There’s a grey colorway with pink stars on the website and I think I want it too. Next time I make this in a non-stretch fabric, I’ll add a tiny bit in width to the lower arms. They are a tiny bit tighter than I’d like.  I wore it to work and received several compliments.  A very stylish coworker said “I don’t even ask anymore, I figure if you’re wearing it and it’s cute, you probably made it.” 🙂 Also, it has pockets!!

The other PDF pattern I have tried and loved has been the Linen Loungers by Patterns For Pirates. I made two pairs for myself yesterday. I may have flamingo fabric ordered to make another pair…

They are both sleep shorts and have a yoga waistband. They are very comfy and didn’t make me feel fat and horrible, which most shorts do. I will be making more of these. The pattern comes with  curved hem option, pants, and bermudas as well.

I’ve done a bunch of organizing in the basement, so I’d like to keep it that way.

Foodwise, we did pretty well. We mostly planned pur meals and we used the InstantPot. We had 24 recipes, with 9 being completely new.

Hits were Korean Beef,

Chophouse Cheesy Burgers, Cinnamon Coffee Cake, and the chewy chocolate chip cookies. The Husband also tried searing pork and did an excellent job!

We only had one miss, the blueberry muffins that were very dense. I managed to make dinners even though I was horribly sick. Overall, a pretty good month.

We’re looking forward to trying to have more new recipes this month and also grilling some more.

Goals for the month:

Food Goals: 

– Try a new Instant Pot recipe

– Two canning recipes

– Battle Cheesecake

– Meal plan

– Pantry meals

 

Sewing/Craft goals:

– 1 or 2 new patterns

– 1 or 2 UFO projects

– Continue to organize

 

Garden Goals:

– Put together composter

– Keep everything alive

 

Well, I have to to get ready for a family wedding. I’m wearing a me made dress and my starry cardigan, so I will feel cute all day. 🙂 Plus, I get ice cream! Have a great weekend!

Threads Of Crazy… Or Creativity
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Threads Of Crazy… Or Creativity

LSiehLeave a comment

Fancy had to investigate every single bush on our walk today. She sniffed a squirrel’s butt, startling both herself and the squirrel. It was pretty funny.

Another funny thing that happened today was one of my more sarcastic teens telling me that I was “one of the older people, you know, another generation…” and then making me a cane. Because I’m old, you know. 😆

I love working with teens for things like this. You can really tell when you have good rapport with them.

I’ve had a couple of funny sewing mishaps, one easily fixed and one that got tossed in the projects box until I’m over it. Here’s the second one…

So this is a shirt… There’s one sleeve on the left… Then there’s the neck… With a sleeve attached… 😂

That’s when I thought I should stop for dinner. It will get fixed eventually.

I did make nice things too.

I made a pair of harem pants to test my pattern for my peacock bellydance costume. I was a little nervous at first. Before the gathering on the waistband I could fit into a single leg.

They turned out super fun though! I’ve been wearing them constantly in the evenings.

They are a navy jersey or rayon spandex from many years ago. Originally the fabric was going to be an infinity dress, but it stretched when I tried to cut it and I moved on.  They make me want to dance and fly out very well during twirls. I kind of want six more pairs. 🙂

While trying to decide what to make, the Husband suggested that I focus on the things I need, since my projects in the box held no appeal. I made two pairs of bike shorts to wear for pjs and under dresses.

They are both made from scraps, hence the different bands. I cut the left leg on the galaxy one wrong, but fixed it with a higher waistband. They are both comfy and fill a need. This next shirt was also made from scraps. It needs a neckline adjustment, as it tends to slip, but is cute. It’s the sewing machine print with black backing and bands. Both are double brushed polyester, so very soft.

I haven’t used this material for much other than leggings, so was fun to try. I have an Agnes dress with color blocking partially put together with DBP for the skirt.

Aren’t those spools adorable?

I needed to sew before work on Monday. Felt it in my bones, kind of need. So I made these heart leggings in 30 minutes and went to work slightly happier at least.

They are very comfy. My co-worker gave me a look and shook her head when I said I’d made them before work.

We have a family wedding to go to this weekend and I was thinking about making a dress for it, but hadn’t picked a pattern. I made this dress length Agnes.

It’s very soft and comfy. Hard to see, but there are little gold outlines on the flowers.

I think it’s fancy enough to attend a wedding. My arm and neckbands worked perfectly. I enjoy it greatly.

Well, we’re watching TV and keeping Fancy company while the fireworks start. The Husband is putting together the new entertainment center too. I may go sew downstairs, if Fancy gets too upset. She won’t even eat her chew.

I hope you all have a safe and Happy 4th!

Sewing Space and Garden Update- Wordy Wednesday
Life Posts · Sewing · Wordless Wednesdays

Sewing Space and Garden Update- Wordy Wednesday

LSiehLeave a comment

Well, hello Wednesday! I thought it was Tuesday, somehow missed that I have spent two days at work already. Man…

I’ll post some pictures tomorrow for a Thoughtful Thursday post, but in the meantime, here’s an update on the garden and my sewing space.

The garden is growing like crazy! I have to get out there and weed it, but it’s currently pouring rain, so it won’t be today.

Here’s a shot of the pepper and lettuce box:

I lost once lettuce, but the rest are going strong. We’re going to have a lot of lettuce though. More salads, I guess. Next year, maybe I will split lettuce with someone, or start from seed.

Here’s the tomato box:

Holy tomatoes, Batman!

Mr. Stripey is getting very big and my smaller tomato plants, the Early Girl’s have taken off! We’re going to have so many tomatoes!

My herbs are looking good. I used some lemon thyme in shortbread cookies and they were good.

I think being in the ground has really helped the garden. It’s much easier to control the consistent watering and everything seems to be thriving.

Now for the sewing part. I wasn’t up to crawling around on the floor to get patterns cut when sick, so I didn’t do a lot of sewing. I did make a table runner for Thanksgiving.

I also made this maxi skirt. Excuse the late night, silly face.

It’s super comfy and now has a slightly shorter hem. The skirt is a cotton rayon blend and I used black double brushed poly for the waistband. It’s lovely ans swishy, but I have to wait until it stops raining to wear it. It originally had a pocket, but it looked hideous, so I took it out.

I’ve done a lot of organizing to get my space ready to sew downstairs again.

The desk still has a few things on it, but now where near as bad as it was. The new lights the Husband hing are glorious, but I think I need one in front of my machine too. It’s a little backlit at the moment. It’s much brighter though, so that’s good.

I even cleaned the little messy area on top of my storage shelves.

That’s where I lost my serger pedal. 😳 Now I can’t lose things there anymore.

In Fancy news, that darn fireplace dog is still turning up trying to stealing her toys!

Shortly after this was taken, she started pawing at the door. Silly pup!

Well, that’s all my updates for now. I hope you’re having nice weather wherever you are!

Monthly Review
Monthly Review

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

This has been a very busy month! We have had meetings, outings, rain, wind, trips up north, new things with Fancy, and garden progress. Whew… No wonder I’m tired.

The featured picture is one of the new flamingos I bought. I think it looks so pretty outside. So far the neighbors have been polite, no one has even suggested I think about other yard decorations… 🙂

We’re plotting (ha! Gardening puns!) to get the garden finished over the weekend, so I can get the plants in on Sunday. It’ll be a rush,  but I think we can do it. So far my list includes carrots, peppers- sweet and hot, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, and possibly lettuce or bok choy. Also, more berries, but they will be not in the ground. Wish us luck for getting it all done. Hopefully I can grow a lot of our produce this summer.

We had some good meals this month. 22 recipes were used, with 7 being new recipes.

Hits were Crockpot Beef Stroganoff, Shrimp Pasta, and Chicken Bao.

I made Rhubarb Streusel Muffins for our trip up north from the February 2018 Food Network Magazine.

They were pretty good. I think I was the only one who ate them though. We had grilled steaks and baked potatoes for dinner at the camp. I put together foil packets of asparagus and asiago mushrooms.

It was a very good dinner. I didn’t like the mushrooms very much, but everyone else did.

We only had one miss for the month; the Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes and Ham. It wasn’t very good, kind of bland and too soupy.

My goals for last month went pretty well. I did meal plan pretty consistently this month. I didn’t try any new equipment, but grilling mushrooms was a new technique. I also made some freezer meals. We’ve eaten one so far and it tasted good. I’m still relying on fruit as a side dish and haven’t really been making many. It’s hard to make them before work and I’m normally too rushed if I’m cooking after work.

It’s been a bit of a switch lately, as I have excelled in my sewing projects, but not done so well on food. Maybe I can only do one at a time?

This past month, I made 20 items of clothing! Part of my productivity was due to Me Made May. I did complete my goal of wearing me made items 3x per week. I was not as successful in picture documentation as I wanted to be, but I kind of expected it. I’m so critical of myself in pictures. I did succeed in getting over my fear of posting of myself though, especially wearing things I’m proud of.

I also made six dresses, only one was a solid color. The rest were not neutral colors, but most of them can be worn with multiple colors.

My favorites were the green striped dress and the blue Agnes. I have rediscovered how much I like dresses. They make picking clothes really easy. I did make one dress that was a terrible fit. It was a long version of the blue clock dress. It doesn’t suit me at all. Back to fit and flare styles, I think!

I’ve also made 9 pairs of leggings or shorts from the Peg Leg Leggings pattern. I only have pictures of 8 of them.

Two pairs of shorts, 4 pairs of full length leggings, and two pairs of capri length ones. I love them. My favorites are probably my sewing machines and the dog ones I made today. I played with the fabric and used different colors as a test for my SIL’s swearing panda ones.

I think I’ll use a straight cut for hers though. I forgot it would look funny since they legs fold. I used a red band for the waist.

Skirts were also made, including two pencil skirts and a gathered maxi skirt that turned out exactly how I pictured it!

The maxi skirt has a pocket! I wore it yesterday and swanned around all proud of myself! 🙂 The heart skirt is made from a new fabric, Liverpool knit, which is the same fabric for the expensive pencil skirts I love so much. The maxi on the end is rayon spandex, also a new fabric.

I did bring my serger up north, but it keeps unthreading itself. I have to get a professional to teach me to thread it. My MIL is right, knits will be much easier with a serger.

The one thing I didn’t do much with this month, was to finish things that were already started. 😳I got too excited by knits and new patterns…

While doing some organizing, I ended up making some decisions on fabrics and patterns to try next. Most are with fabrics I’ve had for a while. Here’s pictures of 2 of them that I’m going to try to get done this month.

This one is the dress from my Joann’s birthday run.

This one has the most beautiful color changing ability, greenish-blue. This pattern will most likely be the dragon dress too.

I’m excited to keep sewing new things, but also am going to go back to trying to finish one older thing per week too.

I also need to start and finish a bellydance costume made with this fabric.

It’s “Fancy Month” for one of the sewing groups I’m in and I posted asking if this was fancy enough to qualify and several people asked for progress pictures. Now I actually have to make it! 🙂 I’m going to see if I can find any more of this at Joann’s.

I’m planning on remaking a bra and then using this fabric for a vest and belt/bustle. In my head, it has deep teal poofy pantaloons too. 🙂 I will definitely be making a test version of the vest, possibly not of the bustle. I’ve used that pattern a few times before.

So those are my plans for the month. Not really set goals, just some ideas. I think between getting the garden going and trying to get these done, that should be enough to keep me busy.

Here’s a cute picture of Fancy to close out this long winded review!

Have a good night!

Sew Satisfying
Crafty · Sewing

Sew Satisfying

LSiehLeave a comment

Hello! I hope your weekend was splendid. Mine was surprisingly hot, but filled with sewing projects and yard work. I didn’t want to go back to work today, so I made a Lego unicorn and a rainbow. The unicorn is going to join the octopus and the flamingo and be my office mascot. His name is Heinrich. 🙂

We didn’t completely finish the garden, but we did make good progress. We also bought two pots of zinnias and a solar gazing ball for the porch, as well as a pretty purple and yellow flower pot to start my fairy garden. A few more solar stakes made it into our basket, one being a flamingo, of course. 🙂

We took Fancy on a pretty walk on the river on Monday. She was very excited to go to a new place and didn’t try to chase too many of the bike riders.

It was pretty hot though, so we were only out for about 45 minutes. She took a nice nap while we went to visit the Husband’s Grandma.

After our walk, I made a nice sleeveless dress to wear to Grandma’s because there is no air conditioning over there. It’s a very nice old house from the 30’s, but it does get a bit warm on the hotter days. We had fans though and ice cream. 🙂 Here’s the dress.

It’s another Agnes from Halla Patterns. I love this pattern quite a bit. This one is hemmed. 🙂 It’s quite cool and breezy, so it worked well.

I made two other dresses this weekend as well. Same pattern – Simplicity 8294. I used two different skirt styles, one gathered, one pleated (views A and C.)

This is C, with added sleeves and no collar or tabs. I need to do a final iron before wearing it. They have a side zipper.

This is A. Excuse the face, I was trying to take a quick picture before leaving for a funeral. I like this pattern, although I added an inch to each side of the bodice. I think my dragon dress will be made from it and I’d like to try it in a drapier fabric too. These are both quilting cotton.

I think I just figured out why the necklines don’t work. I think I was supposed to bind it, not put in a knit style band. Whoops…

Since this weekend was so hot, I discovered that I needed more capris and shorts to wear in the house. This was the remnant from another Agnes dress.

I repurposed a yoga pant band which made these a 20 minute sew. I hemmed them too! They unfortunately get a little see through when stretched, so they will be indoor pants, or worn with a very long tunic. They are comfy though.

I had a second band sitting around too, so I used it for these purple bike shorts. They have been worn, so are a little wrinkly.

They are not hemmed yet. They have a castaway look to them. 😬 I desperately needed shorts though and they are super comfy. Both of these are Cotton Lycra.

I received a new type of fabric, Liverpool knit, in the mail, which I couldn’t wait to try. It’s a match for the ever so stretchy pencil skirts I love so much. I made a pencil skirt, of course, but I think it would make some cute dresses too. It’s textured on the front and smooth on the back.

I played dress up and found my Valentine’s day outfit for this year. 🙂 I wore the skirt today to see if my Lula loving boss would comment and she thought it was super cute. I think I’ve trained my work ladies well. If I’m wearing something particularly cute, they now just ask if I made it, instead of where I got it.

I did some cleaning tonight and finally unpacked two more desk boxes from downstairs. I had to stop though, too much dust, not enough asthma meds. Blech. I’m feeling better now though and am excited to have a clean desk there again. Hopefully soon, I can sew down there soon.

For now though, I should head to bed. Have a great night!

Me Made May Memo
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Me Made May Memo

LSiehLeave a comment

I really need to work on my pun game apparently. 🙂 I’m a little behind mid-May update, but I thought I would share some thoughts on my experience so far.

I’ve very much enjoyed sewing new pieces to wear and exploring ways to wear my previously made clothes. New techniques and fabrics have been used. Cotton Lycra fabric is my newest experiment for a test run of leggings.

Leggings look so weird in flat pictures. They are super comfy. I wore them briefly last week and Fancy got so comfy that she peed on them in her sleep! Silly dog.

My sister-in-law is getting a pair of panda leggings for Christmas out of that type of fabric. I’ll have to do some creative editing on those pictures… The pandas are not happy morning pandas. Hilarious, but not happy. 🙂 Don’t worry, she knows about them. I had to check first to make sure she would like them.

This dress is also Cotton Lycra. I wore it when we went to the Zoo to not pick a new dog. 🙂 We didn’t come home with a friend for Fancy, although there was one that really, really wanted to come home with us and looked exactly like her. He was smaller and younger, but had the same eyes. The sad, sad eyes! We really need someone to adopt him soon, so we can stop feeling guilty.

Back to the dress!

We took the picture in the bird exhibit, as it seemed to fit right in. 🙂 It’s a nice, heavier material, but not overly warm. It feels like a good quality t-shirt. The pattern is from Halla Patterns and it’s the Agnes Tunic. It’s actually cut on the regularly sized people tunic line. I added an inch to make sure I’d have enough to hem it, but wouldn’t have needed to at all.

The only thing I don’t like is that the bands stretched out. The material doesn’t have enough recovery and it sticks out weird and looks wrinkly, especially on the sleeves. I may cut off the bands and replace it with plain black in a smoother, stretchier material.

I felt lovely in it though and it was perfect for the zoo. At which, I will say, I didn’t steal any penguins (Dad..)! I’ll post some of those pictures tomorrow.

I’m working on a color blocked dress in double brushed polyester, which is the super soft leggings material.

It will have a black panel in the front and back of the skirt and two lines of the red on each side. It will be a long dress. I was excited that my neckband looks as nice as it does, but in true late night sleep deprivation, I accidentally used the midriff parts as arm bands and had to cut more. This version of the dress isn’t supposed to have sleeves, but I would have to wear a sweater to work with it all the time, so I added them in. I should be able to finish it in the next couple of days.

I do like this pattern for color blocking, but don’t really like it for just a regular dress. My clock dress looks cute, but it was fussy to sew.

The lines get a little wasted on the same fabrics. I may have to look for another one for options. Of course, I have the Agnes, so I may just make everything in that for a while. 🙂

The other dress I have made that I love is the green and blue striped one.

I have a couple of tweaks to make it perfect, but I think this style really suits me. My especially stylish friend liked it too and she always looks like Audrey Hepburn, so I think I’ll keep it. 🙂 The green was a risk for me, but it paid off.

My other favorite outfit has been my original Agnes Tunic, the floral and lace one.

It hits at just the right spot and makes me feel slender and cool. I really want to use more lace in things now.

I haven’t been keeping up on taking pictures of my daily outfits, although, I have been good about wearing me made at least three times per week. I am finding myself reaching more for those items than I am for my other things, but sometimes it’s been hard to pair outfits.

The realization of how my skills have improved is sinking in too. Some of my previously made skirts don’t fit quite the way I want them to, or the pockets are too small. I have at least four shirts that don’t fit right either. I learned after making them, that I wanted a small extension to make them longer. Those first ones hit at a weird spot and the necklines are a little too wide. I get concerned about leaning over sometimes!

I still love my strawberry dress and will definitely keep that pattern as  tried and true pattern, but will add the green striped pattern to my list as well.

Today I didn’t wear anything that I made, but wore my flamingo yesterday and received several compliments. I think my work ladies are catching on, sometimes I just get asked if I made it right away. 🙂

The Husband has been super supportive as well, so I do appreciate him putting up with a table covered in fabric and sewing accoutrements.

Overall, I think this is a good experience for me. I’m making things not out of panic, but out of a desire to have pretty, well-fitting things to wear. I’m getting better about taking pictures and being able to critically look at them. I’m more involved in the online sewing community and am getting more courageous about trying new things.

Right now though, my main desire is to join this cuddle bug in slumber. She’s snoring away quite sweetly on my lap.

I hope your night is peaceful! Let me know what exciting things you’ve been up to lately!

Sew Much Fun!
Crafty · Gardening · Sewing

Sew Much Fun!

LSiehLeave a comment

Ha! Sewing puns…. They go well with my sewing machine leggings!

I was so excited to finally get these made. I now want all the leggings fabric though… It’s cool to have leggings just the right size for me. 🙂

We went to our good friends’ house for J’s birthday party over the weekend and while the Husband played Halo 2, I sewed along with his wife. 🙂 I was super productive and ended up making 2 pairs of leggings, one regular and one capri length, and a new woven shirt.

The shirt is a flamingo shirt. Printed cotton front, black cotton back.

I’m going to wear it to my teen group on Monday. I don’t think they quite believe me on how much I like flamingos. I modified my regular shirt pattern for it. It’s the same as the Castle shirt. I’m trying to convince my friend to try wovens and I think this might have helped win her over a little. 🙂

Here are the leggings:

They don’t look terribly different, but I assure you, they are different sizes. 🙂 They are made with performance fabric/ athletic knit from Joann’s. I’m still working on my waistbands. The measurements on my pattern seem off. The pants part don’t stretch as much and I haven’t quite figured out the correct length yet for it.

They are very smooth and nice to wear. They aren’t see through at all and stay up. I wore the capri ones to do a spot of yard work on Sunday and they were nice and cool. We, of course, did a bunch of yard work and then couldn’t leave it alone even after cleaning up. I took down a tree wearing my lace trimmed tunic and flip flops.

I was super proud. 🙂 Fancy was very excited to help us take care of the rest of the tree.

She broke that branch off by herself after peeling all the bark off and snapping all the dry branches off. She was quite excited.

It rained a bunch on Saturday, so I did some more work on UFO’s. The rainbow railroad quilt is done! I don’t have a picture, but it’s backed with a brown doggy print fleece that was hiding in our guest room where I promptly forgot about it. Darn safe places!

I do have a sneak peek picture of a present for a friend that was finished on Sunday.  I saw the fabric and couldn’t resist. I hope she likes it too!

We’re seeing our friend soon, so I’ll show you the full picture after that. 🙂

Staying up late to sew had a lovely ending this morning, although I was very sleepy. This fabric really wanted to be a flirty, twirly dress, and now it is!

It has a pocket! Just one because I wanted to get it done. It’s big enough for my phone and keys. I will be fixing the sleeves, they are tight. It makes me feel super cute though and I love how it looks on me. There are more twirly dresses in my future!

I’m going to try to get some more of the in progress projects done. It’s lots of fun to make new things, but I’m kind of forgetting about the things waiting to be finished, which is a bad habit of mine.

The basement work area desperately needs to be organized again. Perhaps I will have an organizing day on Friday. If you don’t hear from me over the weekend, I’ve been eaten by a fabric monster. Send a search party!

With that said, I hope you have a great night!