Finished: McCall's 6659

I have to keep remembering Kyle's comment; my sew-jo doesn't "leave", it takes a coffee break! :)

I swear, as soon as I utter the words, "I don't feel like sewing" - BAM! I have an idea that must be executed NOW.

A few days ago I was up making my coffee, etc and about passed out from my big, fluffy fleece robe. Ah-ha! I need a summer robe! yes! That will be my next project!


I picked up M6659 recently, after it was pointed out on Sew Sorry, Sew Fat (the GOMI blog) that this was similar to the Carolyn pj's in style.  I will never make a full pj shirt like that as I would never, ever sleep in that. But the shorts, pants and robe definitely caught my eye.

I begin searching through the stash to find a cut of fabric that would work for the robe. It needed to be light but opaque and breathable. I had no 3 yard cuts that would suffice and decided I would see what Hancock had to offer since they had an additional 25% off fabric coupon available.

I found this linen/rayon blend on the Spot the Bolt table for... $1.79/yd!!!!! score!!!! The additional percent off didn't play but still. I bought all 4 yards.

This was on Thursday which, I immediately took it home and washed and dried it knowing I was going to sew the robe on Friday (I am typing this in my new robe by the way!).


My fabric was only 50" wide so I used almost the entire cut. There are a few decent sized scraps that can be used for contrast facings, etc. That front pattern piece is really wide so beware when choosing fabric.

Particulars:
Size 16
Added 3" to the length of view A
Shortened the sleeves over 2"
Added belt carriers
Added in seam pockets
Added a loop for hanging

It's so cool and comfortable!!!

I "drafted" (haha!) the pocket from the existing robe and placed it based on the existing robe placement

Do you see the sleeve length?!? I removed 2 inches at the l/s line and then hemmed it 1 1/4" instead of 5/8". These sleeves are LONG! I was always pushing my robe sleeves up so that prompted my decision to shorten them.

I used hot pink ready-made piping and absolutely love it! I sewed the piping to the band and used handy wonder tape to hold the piped band and robe front together. 

Also, those sleeves went in EFFORTLESSLY! YES!

The belt loops needed to be placed about 2" higher, OY! I made 6" loops and caught them in the side seam. Since they are loose, I can pull them up into place just fine...

You can see the inseam pocket as well...

I almost forgot my hanging loop!!! This was a tube that was turned out as well...

Before I had thought about it, I'd sewn to the two sides of the belt and turned them. Oops...I need to attach them to each other! I decided against 'fiddly' and just turned in about 3/8" on one side and slid the other open end into that one.

I did three lines of top stitching to secure. 

hey, this is the back...and it's a robe...no one will know (or care!) :)

I did what felt like endless miles of slip stitching to secure the band. I wanted so badly to stitch in the ditch but with the piping it was so danged fiddly that it made more sense to do it by hand as suggested.

I worked on it Saturday evening while watching 27 Dresses.

Lastly, on the sleeve, I serged the end and turned up 1 1/4" and twin needle topstitched. On the bottom hem, I serged but did a double turned hem, also twin needle top stitched.

Did you notice my thread colors?  Yeah, I didn't! LOL!

So a word of caution about just grabbing two of the 'same' thread spools...people put them back randomly I suppose. I'd bought these for my magenta coat but only ended up using one spool thankfully.

Verdict: LOVE!!

A Different Kind of Mini Wardrobe...

First, I won 2nd place in the Wardrobe Contest on PR! Wooooohoo! Prize is a $75 gift certificate to Fabric Mart. You all know that's right up my alley! :)

There was some pretty strong competition over there and if you haven't checked out the entries, you SHOULD!

*****

My last attempt at an interview suit didn't make me so happy but I had to persevere and make another one! I decided on the Burda 3/2014 jacket and my TNT straight skirt, Butterick 5760. The weather had been absolutely dreadful here so I decided to make pants too! I used my TNT Vogue 9032.

Fabric is a wool/poly/lycra from Fabric Mart. Cut well. Sewed well. Pressed amazingly. I wore the pants to the interview yesterday and boy did those puppies grow! Wah! I came home and popped them in the dryer (to satisfy my own curiosity) and they fit fine. So we'll see about THAT.

Today I wore my red S1696 pants made from RPL and after about 2 hours they grew. This is why I avoid Lycra in my pants and especially in jeans. Where's the "comfort" if they can't make it through the day?!?! Whine...

B5760 skirt was made the same as here, the only change being a 1.5" hem instead of 2".
V9032 was made the same as previously...I left off the pockets and added belt carriers.

Even with TNT's, side seams get basted before being sewn. My pants have a 3/8" seam at the waist, 1/2" through the hip and 5/8" down. My skirt has 5/8" seams through waist and hip and 1" through the rest.

The jacket was muslined (as per my last post) in a size 42 and I ended up with the following changes:
*3/4" swayback
*taper the princess seams -- front and side front -- from 1/8" at the shoulder to 3/8" through to the waist, tapering to nothing.
*added 3/4" to the bicep on the sleeve. I measured and got 14 3/4" but somehow told myself it was 14 1/4". So i wanted a 15" sleeve. It's a little loose but doesn't look oversized. I made this adjustment on the upper sleeve only.
*I used 1/2" seam allowances and ended up using 5/8" at the front of the sleeve.
* I traced the separate facing piece but lost it during the cutting process...so I have excess at the shoulder seam on the facing. OOPS!

I am such a Burda fan.

It is an unlined jacket so I took the time to bind the back seam allowances; all others are serged with a narrow 3-thread overlock. I am really loving this jacket!

The photos!!!!

No, I didn't wear my FitBit to the interview! :)

All hems were done by hand

Just a little extra fabric in back.

OH the fight I had with this notched collar! It was my own fault; I'd sewn the wrong portion of the collar _and_ trimmed it back. I probably should've just cut a new collar and been done with it!

4 3/8" snaps as the closure

Pretty binding!!! You can just see the longer facing peeking through on the left :)

I probably should've done a slip-stitch. But I will usually wear the jacket closed so...

I ended up wearing the pants to yesterday's interview and will wear the skirt to the next one (different companies)

Skirt bias binding; top finished with button and elastic loop

I am really digging lapped zippers lately! :)

More binding on the waistband of the pants!

SUPER happy with how neat my fly-front turned out...

...less so about my machine stitched blind hem.

I'd run out of time and had to hem these by machine once I decided I was going to wear them. I was literally sewing on the last hook and eye about 90 seconds before I had to leave out the door.

Things went really well and the (90 minute!!!) phone interview I had today for another position went even better! I have a second interview tomorrow and an in-person for that job next week. Both plan to make a decision the week of June 8th at the latest.

Burda 3/2014 #101 WIP .and Round 2 of MMM'15

ETA: DanvilleGirl is hosting a pattern giveaway on her blog, check it out!

I've found another cute option for a suit. I knew I wanted a more 'feminine' style jacket but wanted it to have a collar. I decided on this unlined jacket from the March 2014 issue and while I'm afraid of that pleated skirt on my non-flat-tummy body, I really like skirt #104 from the same issue.

Or I can use my TNT B5760

I'm not sure which way I should go!!!   I'm going to make the suit with the straight skirt. I really like that flouncy skirt and will make it soon, just not for the interview suit.

I found SEVERAL finished photos of the jacket on the Russian Burda site and decided I needed it NOW. And then....THEN...

I made a muslin.

Oh yes. Yes I did! :)

I had this (weird) cotton in my stash from a FabricMart bundle and it was perfect for this. A little more stiff than my fashion fabric but otherwise about the same weight. I cut a straight size 42 and the only change I made off the bat was adding 5/8" to the sleeve width

Too much fabric in a few places...

I removed width from the princess seam from the waist up, slightly narrowing the shoulders along with it. I made a 3/4" swayback adjustment and took an armhole dart. I saw these lines in FFRP and it suggests adding a little to the back of the sleeve. I won't re-muslin; but will add a little bit to try to eliminate those wrinkles.

Ahhhh. YES! :)

Sure, I thought about it after that I made the changes on the side without the sleeve. So I have the seam allowance folded over. There's still a little bit of excess but  1)the lapels are large and will cover that area and 2) my RPL has a bit more drape and should lie more smoothly over the front than the stiff cotton.

I started sewing the jacket today and should be able to finish it tomorrow and get the skirt muslined. I have two interviews next week so it needs to be ready to go! :)

MMM Days 10-21

Day 10: New Look 6130 with Vogue 1411

Day 11: Style Arc Sandra jeans with Simplicity 2153 jacket

Day 12: InHouse kimono tee

Day 13: Burda 2/2014 top

Day 14: Vogue 1395 dress and McCall's 6996 cardigan

Day 15: Simplicity 2443 jacket and Style Arc Sandra jeans

Day 15 continued: New Look 6130 top

Day 16: New Look 6373 jumpsuit

Day 17: New Look 6104 top and McCall's 6996 cardigan

Day 17 continued: Simplicity 1803 dress

Day 18: McCall's 6389 top and Burda 6907

Day 19: S2255 top and V1411 pants

Day 20: Burda 7136 shirt and V9032 pants

Day 21: McCall's 6996 cardigan and Simplicity 1696 pants

Where My Weekend Went...Plus Some Sewing...

Working backwards...I started working on DDs romper (M7167) last week and quickly ran out of time before my mom got here (yay!). I decided I could finish it Sunday because I "only had a couple hours worth of work left".

Famous last words.

I had maybe 4 hours of work left. But I didn't have 4 hours. So I had to take some shortcuts. I finished at 5:10 and we had to leave out at 5:30! But DD is just happy to have things sewn and doesn't see the "imperfections" that I see and she was OVERJOYED with the final product!! I have to admit, I was too, it looked pretty darn cute on her.

When she chose these fabrics I gave her major side eye but she was adamant so I decided to 'make it work'! It worked... :)

Her muslin looked really good. I ended up raising the neckline 1", removing 3/8" via tuck from the front neckline (so it would lie flat) and adding 5/8" to the back rise. There was some back neckline gaping that I missed.

I would have taken it in a tiny bit through the princess seams but she likes a looser fit and was happy with it.

Yellow ponte and purple plaid shirting, underlined with poly pongee -- all from FabricMart.

I didn't line the bodice but lining the whole thing probably would've been easier! This ponte was SUPER thick and no way would three layers at the waistband work so I used the lining fabric for the facing. 

I had no matching zipper (I was planning to do a lapped zipper) and she chose the pink one. I ended up using a pink bias binding too to finish the neckline.

I did a narrow hem on the shorts but wish I would have done a wider hem. Bleh.

This is my favorite pic :)

 She LOVED it and got SO many compliments! SO MANY!!! She also got 3 band awards! Woohoo!!

*******************

Saturday was a day of craziness! I threw a baby shower for my niece and we spent so much time readying the house! The sewing room was converted (thanks hubby and son) to this:

We had so much fun, the food was amazing, we got a decent turn out playing games and laughing at her amazement at the "HUGE" pack of baby wipes. Uhmmm...400 baby wipes + twins = laughable :)

We're 4 generations strong here! :-D

Because I am a total spazz, within 45 minutes of the last guest leaving, we were here:

******************

Friday night hubby and I had a fun date night with dinner and a comedy show. We totally need to get out more often...top is NL6130

DONE! Pattern Review Contest Entry

Sooooo uhmm, remember those plans I uploaded before? Yeah...Never mind those.

In the end, I took out all the things I've sewn since April 1st and spread them out. I started putting together items I thought would work best (and of course that filled the contest requirements of 4 tops + 3 bottoms where all tops match all bottoms, and 2 sewer's choice).

I am very happy with my final wardrobe!!! It took an eternity to take all the photos but I am digging this wardrobe/SWAP type sewing. I want to sew all the things but I want to actually WEAR the dang things! :)

I really wanted a white piece and decided I didn't like the Burda kimono top as much as I thought. It just isn't 'crisp' enough for me. We'll see if I can make it wearable...I was *this* close to sewing a white jacket or vest or cardigan but seriously could not muster up the energy to fiddle with one more pattern. Just COULD NOT.

Since I'd been raiding my UFO box; I pulled out the navy wool jersey M6996 cardigan I cut back in January, which was pinned together in some places but still unsewn. Whipped that puppy up today as one of my "premade" / sewer's choice items. I love how well the dark navy plays with other items!

I named my wardrobe "Work Hard, Play Harder" because I really want to get my wardrobe working well together. I don't mind having some items that are exclusively 'work' or 'play' but I wanted to have a bit more cohesion and I think that I accomplished it!

Here are my combinations; you'll notice some are 'missing', but I only put together outfits that I would ACTUALLY wear.

For the dress there's obviously two options; dress alone plus dress with cardigan.

Since I know I wouldn't wear the loose, floaty NL6110 top with the straight skirt and it's too voluminous to pair with the cardigan, I eliminated those options.

For the grey top (Buda 6911); while the cardigan worked with the black skirt with the other tops, the navy, grey and black did nothing for me together, so I eliminated that option

 For the black/white striped top (M6839):

For the animal print top (M7094):

All of the items have been reviewed here on the blog; I've made M6996 a couple other times so I'm sure there's a review here somewhere :) I cut a size medium. The end :-p

Simplicity 2369

Butterick 5760

New Look 6110

McCall's 6839, Burda 6911, Vogue 1411
McCall's 7094
Style Arc Sandra

My fave looks: