Sewing Sewing Sewing

The hum of my sewing machine has been the dominant noise in our house the last month. Something, or maybe a little someone, has inspired me and even though I am exhausted when I finish one project, I have been starting a new one immediately. I'm not much for summer so I think I lost inspiration when it came to dressing Rivers this season. Most of her clothes were from Target, not a bad thing, but I think I purchased most of them with the mindframe that she can wear them to preschool and I will not be devastated if they are ruined. But fall is around the corner and I am envisioning her in sweaters and knee socks, boots and full skirts and most of all pinafores. I am on a total pinafore kick. I have been working on some new designs and trying to fine tune them and make them as neatly as possible because I have been thinking of selling them. Here's a little lineup of everything I have made in the last few weeks.

I finally finished the beast that was Buddy's quilt. It is imperfect to the 10th degree but it is done and he will have to live with it. 

Already making himself real comfortable.

I couldn't sleep one night because I wanted to make this so bad. The next day I asked Dave if I could have a quiet sewing day and he took the kids to his parents' house for a few hours. What a sweetheart.

Pinafore, Pinafore, Pinafore!

MORE PINAFORES!!!!

This is Butterick 5877 and it was so much fun to sew. So much fun that right after I made it, I made another. And then another. And I will probably make some more.

The sequin bow was a happy accident. I could not get the top buttonhole to go in properly and I needed something to cover the big mess. I sewed this black and red sequin bow on and then used a hook and eye enclosure and presto! All better.

Here is the second version.

And the third which little miss wore on her first day of year 2 of preschool.

I bought this pattern on Etsy and I cannot wait to make every single version. I love sewing vintage patterns so much. So simple and I love to imagine who else has used the pattern before me.

And would you believe I actually ripped the seams out on my tragedy striped dress? I broke a needle on my serger so I can't fix it quite yet but I took the first step.

The Mess of the Dress. Pattern Review: Butterick 5748

I'm currently back in a crazy sewing faze. Months will go by where I feel totally overwhelmed by the idea of making anything and then it takes one little ounce of inspiration to send me into a full blown sewing binge. I had purchased some bright striped fabric at F&M with the intention of making myself a summer dress or skirt. The fabric sat in my sewing room for three months staring at me and taunting me. I belong to Club BMV for the Butterick, McCalls and Vogue online patterns and they recently had a $1.99 pattern sale. There was supposed to be a limit of ten patterns but they didn't stop me when I had 40 in my cart and pressed the pay button. I saved over $400, my friends!! From this group of patterns, I pulled a few put that would work with the fabric and narrowed it down to one of their vintage recreations: Butterick 5748.

The pattern was pretty easy but it was my first foray into full lining and a side zipper. I actually loved the lining part. It made the neckline and armholes so clean and easy to do. The side zipper wasn't the nightmare I was anticipating but I fully admit it doesn't look awesome. I sewed the dress up within a few hours and was pretty pleased with the fit.

                       

These pictures were taken before I hemmed it 2.5 inches as with full skirts they recommend hanging for 24 hours before hemming. I waited 3 hours. I'm terribly impatient by nature and it gets me into trouble as you will soon find out.

I wore the dress to work the next day and loved it. The polyester lining made it so cool and slippery. It felt like summer and everytime I caught a side glance of the colors in a mirror, I would instantly get happy. I got home from picking up the kids and noticed a big brown spot on the back of the dress when I changed. I immediately threw it in the wash. Part of the gamble in buying fabric from F&M is that you rarely know the fabric content. From my textile class at FIDM I learned how to test different fabrics but as I'm impatient I wasn't exactly going to break out the bunsen burner for this. I told myself, it will survive the wash but don't put it in the dryer. Sure enough, it came out the wash looking just fine (although I think part of the pink color bled onto my whites but it could have been a new red t-shirt I washed in the same load. I'm not great about properly separating colors). I held up the wet dress and said, don't put this in the dryer and then I threw it in the dryer! I totally ignored myself in spite of myself and did my own thing. I meant to leave it in there for a few minutes but I forgot. An hour later I ran flabbergasted to the dryer only to discover this:

So long pretty summer dress. Ok, a bit dramatic as it may not be totally ruined. I think I can rip out the stitches (oh that will take forever) and measure from the waistline to make the hem even again. It will be about 8 inches shorter than originally intended but did I mention I quit my job? I won't exactly be needing office appropriate attire. I'm honestly so disgusted with myself I can't even look at the dress and I have about 15 other items I'm working on at the moment so it is definitely on the back-burner. Hopefully I will forgive myself sometime soon and tackle ripping out those stitches as my own punishment. 

Take Two: Pattern Review: Vintage Simplicity 7817

After a long drought, I finally felt inspired to sew for myself again. I have started three other maternity dresses that were not going to look as I imagined so I abandoned them all and gave up for a while. Even though I had not yet worn the other shirt I made from this pattern I knew I liked it enough to give it a second go around. I added piping to the collar to help break up the crazy pattern of the fabric and I love the result! I was sincerely shocked by how well my seams lined up keeping the diagonal pattern. The shoulders are less broad this time and I added an inch to the length to accommodate this ever swelling belly. I'm very happy with how it turned out and definitely happy to add a new wearable top to my closet. Especially when considering it cost me less than $10 to make!

Pattern Review: Vintage Simplicity 7817

I recently pulled out my maternity clothes and what once seemed so cute and trendy now seems dated and tired. I just don't think there is much there I can really wear again. You know at the end, I was so desperate I was wearing a pink cotton t shirt with a stain right on the front. Can you believe I saved that shirt? What in my mind made me think I would want to wear that again for another pregnancy? It's baffling.

Thus a new obsession has been born. Vintage maternity patterns on Etsy. I'll be ten weeks on Saturday and I have already purchased three patterns. I just can't help myself. Everyday there are new and cute ones that make me think - YEAH! That will make these coming months of awkward body more exciting. They range in price from $6 - $12 so I know ultimately it is cheaper than buying maternity clothes and I get to have more fun with fabric choice. I won't mess with making maternity pants - just start looking at some of those vintage patterns for those and you will immediately begin feeling bad for your grandmother. Pretty hilarious. So I have been buying patterns for tops and dresses that I like. I started to make one and abandoned it before the zipper even went in because the stripes were never going to line up. Then I started another and was to the point of finishing the cuff on the sleeves (SO CLOSE) when my sewing machine broke. The top sat unfinished in my sewing room for nearly two weeks until today when I picked up my repaired machine!

Cutting to the chase, I know I am going to wear this shirt but the whole time I was finishing it I couldn't stop thinking "You can't win them all." The fit is not the best but I don't have a real belly yet so it will probably improve. The shoulders are too broad but I can fix that the next time I make the shirt. I LOVE the Peter Pan collar and am already dreaming of making the next one with a sequined collar and heavy Georgette fabric. The fabric combination is a little clownish but I like it. Are you embarrassed for me that I made a shirt that matches the same one I made for Rivers? You probably should be. Am I? No. I have found I purposely try to match her quite often. My mom did it for me and I shall return the favor. Overall:    A (maternity clothing is on a reduced scale. In other words this top would probably earn a C+ on the regular clothing scale)

Ralpherson makes the shirt even cuter than it really is. We could also label this: homegirl really needs to touch up her roots.

With this pose I think I can officially retire any dreams of ever becoming a fashion blogger.

Yup. See caption above.

Our only full length mirror is in the laundry room

A preview of my next maternity sewing project

Pattern Review: McCall's 6328

McCall's 6328

It's funny to me that during my high school years and most of college, I was too self-conscious to wear shorts or really be seen in a swimming suit. I'm not sure if it was the ballerina in me being too critical of my body image but I continually shied away from this particular garment that would expose so much of my thighs. I didn't find them comfortable. I would constantly be pulling at them and heaven forbid the spillage I felt when i sat down and my leg muscles spread to cover the seat. Do you know the feeling? I always felt like my leg muscles weren't as firm as others because I'd sneak a peek and no one had leg seat spillage like I did. And I find it ironic that now when my body and legs have been changed by age and baby weight gain, now I want to wear shorts. And if they aren't quite short enough, then I don't want to wear them. I am almost 30 and I'm trying to squeeze out every bit of youth before it is really inappropriate to do any of it. Am I there already? When do short shorts become too much much for a ladies' age? These are questions I think but deny myself an honest answer. And so I find myself searching out the right kind of shorts in stores and rarely do I find the right kind of pair.

When I spotted this pattern for SHORTS I knew it was right up my alley. The top two versions were exactly the bit of dressy, fun and flare I had been looking for and I was so anxious to sew them up. I paid a whopping $2.95 for this pattern online and it only sat idle in my sewing room for three days before I dove in. It felt like there was a lot of cutting involved and I started to get overwhelmed by the amount of pieces. It said EASY on the front, but what kind of authority had given it that title. Was it my kind of easy? I was starting to doubt myself but I knew I could do it as long as I gave the energy and time required to do so.

This was my new sewing attitude. I used to sew quickly and carelessly because I didn't have the patience to read the pattern properly. Truthfully I didn't have the patience to sew up the garment at all. I had lofty ideas for what I wanted but I wanted to snap my fingers and be wearing it. After years of creating sorry clothing articles that sat sadly in my closet, I had a change of heart. I would take the time to sew the garment properly. I would rip out rows of stitches if something didn't line up properly or look right. I would read the directions 17 times if that is what it took to understand a step. I would actually clip the corners and trim the seams. And what do you know? With this new mantra, my sewing improved. Patterns became less daunting, my stitches neater and by some small miracle I was lining up seams and at times even patterns!

So ultimately, I knew I could do this pattern. What I was suprised to discover was how well I could really do this pattern. I am pretty proud of the result. My seams lined up very well, some of the stripes converge perfect into diamonds (a happy accident) and the round corners of the fake pockets lie pretty flat for the most part. The pattern was truly EASY. Perhaps 20 minutes of cutting time and then I was able to sew them up all within a Saturday morning. I was wearing the shorts by that afternoon. The fit is great with the exception that no one should bend over in them. The width of the legs, which gives it the charming sailor shorts look, mixes badly with the lack of booty space and they ride up when one bends over. This is not ideal for someone with a toddler who casually changes her mind every 30 seconds on whether or not she wants to be held or let free. The saddlebag look is not terribly flattering and at times during stolen side glances in the mirror I think it looks really odd but I mostly love the quirkiness. Overall, they are winners in my eyes. I have a feeling I will love these perhaps a little too much this summer. I'm already scanning my fabric stash to see what I have that may work for the ruffle version. Overall rating: A-.