Snow White - Simplicity 2817

Simplicity 2817 for my sweet girl. Of course, I think she's the cutest Snow White...ever! I actually bought this pattern over a year ago during a Hancock 99 cent sale. The two blue fabrics are cotton/poly broadcloth. The yellow and pink were picked up from the bargain table....a polyester of some sort, I assume.

The pattern was fairly easy to follow and offered me some new challenges - piping, applique, sewing with "slippery" fabrics. I made only a few adjustments to the pattern, adding velcro closure rather than a zipper (easier for playing), forgoing the bow on the headband, and not adding the stand-up white collar around the cape. The bodice runs a bit big, but that will help the dress stay in dress-up rotation for a year or two.

We were rushing to go to the zoo for Hallzooween one Sunday and I ran into *issues* making the white collar. My daughter tried on the cape and said "I think it looks finished without the white part". I hugged and kissed her and told her that she made my week! I also grew tired of fussing with the hem....and decided to cut it with the pinking blade of my rotary cutter! It works just fine without a proper hem. I may finish the hem at some point, or I may not!

Big Butt Baby Pants

Awesome name for a pattern, isn't it? If you follow Made by Rae, you have probably seen Rae's new pattern for Big Butt Baby Pants. Although my only "baby" who just started kindergarten (insert sad mom face here) can no longer fit this pattern, there are babies in my extended family....who may or may not be big-butted. Guess what? They are getting new pants in the near future!

The pattern is available as a pdf download, includes two pattern pieces and is sized for newborn to 2T. The pattern offers variations for foldable cuffs and butt ruffles. Rae will post instructions for pockets. The back insert allows for easy fitting over cloth diapers...thus the big butt name.

The main fabric is "XOXOXO, The Cat" by Wendy Slotboom for In the Beginning Fabrics, ordered sometime last year. The accent fabric is a quilting cotton purchased at Hancock. the print reminds me of martini olives! Cheers!

HUGE Pool Bag

My sister asked me to make a pool/beach bag. Her one request was that the finished bag be huge enough to hold all the neccessities for her family of four's trip to the pool.

I knew that IKEA fabrics were the way to go, since my sister wanted a fun print and sturdy bag. Constanca inspired me with her beach bag made with the same Fredrika fabric. I drafted a pattern in a similar shape. For the interior, I used IKEA's striped Sofia canvas and included a large pocket (12"x16") and key fob. I added some interfacing to beef up the handles but did not add any to the body of the bag since I used the heavier fabrics.

The finished size is nearly 24" x 36"! Yes, large enough for four towels, dry clothes, diapers, snacks, purse....or a couple of toddlers!

Bathroom Makeover. Fabric related....but no sewing!

Dusting off the blog...I won't blabber on about the many unfinished, unsatisfying projects that happened this summer...this blog is meant to archive my finished projects. So here is a project that has nothing to do with sewing, but does involve transforming a space with fabric!

I saw this Target shower curtain on another sewing blog (can't remember where, though) and knew it would be perfect for my daughter's bathroom. The print is fun, modern but not too "kiddy". I love how a fun print can change your mood. The little squirrels and owls make me smile!

Without painting, it turned the room from blah to wow!

Nightshirt Refashion

After seeing this nightshirt worn on the bloganista flickr group, I purchased one at Target on clearance for less than $4 for my first refashion. This top was intended to be my second entry for Rae's Top Week. The deadline was Friday 4/30. The master procrasinator in me just assumed that the deadline was Friday at 11:59:59, so after getting my daughter to bed that night, I scurried around to finish the top and upload the pictures to flickr. I was even going to be clever and name the top "the buzzer beater" or something...but checked Rae's blog and saw that the deadline was actually 8 PM. Oh well, that news allowed me to slow down and finish the top on Saturday with a little more care.

Fortunately, the nightshirt fit me perfectly across the shoulders, so no adjustments there. I cut off eight or so inches off the bottom and got started. First I opened up the collar seams and removed the collar, leaving just the band which I restitched. I took in the side and sleeve seams quite a bit.

On the placket, I removed all buttons and sewed the bottom two-thirds shut. Then from the fabric piece cut from the bottom, I created ruffles cut on the bias and sewed them right onto the placket. I like the current ruffle-trend but in small doses, so this worked well for me.

I used a hem facing and finished with a double-row of topstitching. With facings, I have been understitching (using Karyn's tutorial) which makes a big difference in the finished product. After cutting the sleeves to three-quarter length, I considered adding a bias cut binding, but decided to go with a simple casing for elastic.

This is an easy top to throw on for a comfy weekend day.

Another go at Simplicity 2892

Last year for made by rae's Spring Top Week, I made a Simplicity 2892. Why not kick off this year's Top Week with the same pattern? This black and white cotton lawn was scored on clearance last year from fabric.com for only $3.49 per yard. (I have the same print in green and white that is destined to become a tunic)

This view of the pattern has lots of fussy details including a ruffle, a gathered yoke and hand-joined yoke facing. You can read my post about the first 2892 for some details. The only variation I made to this version was four rows of shirring at the hem. I have wanted to try shirring and it was fairly easy. The details are a little hard to see on this busy fabric.

I loved the outcome of last year's 2892 but don't love the fabric. I wore it just once. This black and white version is the most wearable of any garment I have made. It sort of has a White House Black Market vibe.

A couple of other tops are in process (along with two skirts and a dress)....let's see if I make the deadline for Top Week!

Skirt Muslin

Dressmaking, aka garment sewing, has my interest these days. I added some new books to my sewing library to focus on learning techniques and drafting patterns. A few new blogs have been added to my google reader and I registered for the classes that came with my new sewing machine.

Design it Yourself Clothes by Cal Patch is teaching me how to draft patterns. Cal walks step-by-step through pattern drafting with instructions to make skirt, pants, woven top, t-shirt and dress patterns. I started with the skirt and have been working on my pattern and muslin for the past few weeks. I've also been hanging out at KitschyKoo's sewalong over at her blog and on flickr.

The pattern drafting process is interesting. I love the idea of drafting custom patterns based on your personal measurements. As someone whose chest and waist measurements correspond to a "small" pattern size and hip measurement to "large", making custom fit clothing, especially skirts and pants, is an attractive concept. The drafting process takes patience and willingness to try and try again. At this point, I have adjusted my pattern eight or ten times.

After completing a first draft of my pattern, I realized that I forgot to include ease. Oops...I'm not going for skintight! So I erased my lines and redrew adding in an inch of ease to each measurement as the book suggests. After the pattern draft was revised, I cut out my fabric for the first trial run, aka my muslin. My muslin is not made of muslin at all, but of a lightweight embroidered black corduroy from my stash.

I then sewed up the side seams using a long basting stitch, leaving one side seam open about 8 inches at the top. Then I did a quick try-on and realized that my hand-drawn hip curve was unlike any natural hip shape in this world....with pointy bits sticking out from my hip area like some stylized couture piece...but not in a good way. (Note to self: purchase a hip curve soon.) I also found that the "sweep" (circumference of the bottom edge of the skirt) was too large, making this A-line skirt a seriously exaggerated A. So I went back to the pattern, redrew the hip curve and reduced the sweep. I ended up smoothing out the hip curve quite a bit, almost an inch inside the original hip point line I drew. My ending sweep measurement is only about six inches larger than the hip measurement. This made for a less exagerated A, but still flattering for my body shape.

Now is where I begin to sound like shampoo bottle instructions: wash, rinse, repeat...or in this case, redraw pattern, baste side seams, try on, rip out side seams, repeat. I went through this process five or six times, which is the exact reason to sew a muslin first (with basting stitches simple to rip out). The muslin allows you to achieve just the right fit and perfect the pattern through trial and error.

Once I had what I thought was a good fit, I wanted to take the skirt on a trial run. My goal was to ensure that the fit was nice and comfortable while sitting, walking, driving, etc. before I went to the trouble of finishing the waistband and attempting my first invisible zipper. So, I restitched the side seams (both all the way up) using a standard stitch length and handsewed the hem. In this condition, still with an unfinished waist, I slipped the skirt on over my head (yes, really!) and wore it work. My conclusion was that the fit was right, although the fabric stretched out a bit by the end of the day. I received a few compliments from co-workers, and thought to myself "if they only knew how unfinished this garment is."

The pictures in the post were taken after work (in diminishing natural light), so the skirt is a little stretched out but still well-fitting. Those black tights look so shiny with the flash and are doing nothing for me in these pictures :) I may go shorter on the length. This fabric could easily look dowdy at longer lengths. So now, I'll properly finish this skirt with lining, zipper and waistband...then try out the pattern in another fabric.