A McCall's 6964 Kind of Day...

My coat is seeing some progress:

I made the lining first; the left side (viewers right), has a dart pinned at the armscye. 

It DOES close. I was going back and forth looking at the camera and looking at the boy with the cat behind me :)

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A week or so ago, I traced off M6964 and was making an FBA and sliced one of the lines incorrectly. I got frustrated and balled the pattern piece up! Sometimes I am a 2 year old.

Well, I really wanted a bright colored tee and pulled it back out. Because I decided I did not want a dart in this ITY, I just graded from a 14 neckline to a 16 body. And sewed 1/2" side seams

I used a 3/8 seam allowance on the sleeve but that was not enough.

Because the color is PERFECT! and we're heading into fall, this will get worn. It is more likely to be a layering piece because the sleeve isn't "tight" but it's snug.

Next up...

DD is heading into senior year this year!! Eeeeek! 

Senior ladies wear all black on the first day of school and I have 87 gajillion yards of black ponte. 

She bugged me all week about this danged dress. She left at 12:30 this afternoon and I started it. At 2:25, it was done!!! This included changing the serger thread to black, dealing with a not-working-correctly tension on the right needle and winding black bobbins. 

So fast. SO FAST!!!

DD's dress was made before here

She wanted less waist shaping in this one and less flare at the hem. I just cut it straight from beneath the bust to the hi-hip. She loves it :)

And then I found this black cotton lycra in the stash. And everything was all set to go so why not!?

After making the coral version I made a 1" full bicep adjustment and a cheater FBA:

I sliced it vertically and spread 1/2" at the bust. I then sliced it horizontally to remove the extra width at the hemline. There's still a little much "swing" in the front pattern piece so I might trim down the side seam a bit to compensate.

I'm conflicted as I think I like the closer fit of the coral version, but snug can easily transition to tight and I don't want tight :/

LIGHTBULB

I typed that (and yes, decided to leave it), and realized, this could primarily be an issue of fabric choice. With all the versions of V9032 that I've made, they all fit a bit differently (the black pair and light gray plaid pair are very similar). 

For both versions I stitched the shoulder seams, attached the neck binding, sewed the sleeves and then the side seams. Saving the side seams for last will really help with tweaking the fit.

I swear I want like 10 of these. I probably shouldn't :) Hmmm....I do have a bright blue (cerulean??) modal jersey. :)

I Hope I Don't Regret This

My mojo has been non-existent this week.

After finishing my pants (thank you for all the nice comments, by the way. I have worn them twice this week. Yes, I know it's only Wednesday...but I Love them so.), I wanted to get started on 1 of 2 fall jackets I want.

Now, I love coats. Love. I own a lot of coats/jackets. Like, A.Lot. Coats and shoes have always been my 'thing'. Bags? Meh. Give me a beautiful coat!!!!

I have this Via Spiga coat that I just cannot part with even though I can't fit it anymore (it's a RTW 10).

I have always adored that subtle print and it was just the perfect little topper for fall and spring. 

I planned on the Sewaholic Minoru in a water resistant linen in tan/beige with a cheetah(?) print lining and S2508 in this cotton floral faille.

I bought this faille back in December 2013. But it was all metallic and OMGHOWWILLISEWIT?! Well, I suddenly got the urge to use this fabric now. Like, now. And was going to make S2508 (the pink coat) but with the ruffled sleeve

But no matter how I laid those pieces out, I just didn't have enough fabric. I also decided that the faille might not look good with the raglan sleeve. So I nixed it.

I love coats, remember? And I have a lot of coat patterns(!) I still bought a new pattern. WHY does this happen!? I was waiting for my daughter and was browsing the sites and decided on Butterick 6141. But since I'd just ran out to pick her up, I looked a hot mess. My son went into Hancock, found the pattern and bought it for me!

He's redeemed himself just a tiny bit with that one ;-)

I've spent daaaaaaays (whine) trying to force myself to get started. And so I decided to get it going. I don't love the lining fabric I chose. It seems so drab?? I'm hoping that I didn't force myself into a bad spot! YIKES!

So I hope to get that finished before September rolls in. Fingers crossed!

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What did I do with my few mojo-less days?

Moved some stuff around in the sewing room:

I'm shopping for a dresser or file cabinet for pattern storage. I'm tired of shuffling bins around to look for stuff!

I like the sewing table in this corner more. I need to pull it away from the wall on the left a bit (my chair keeps rolling over the vent in the floor). I also need to move my ironing board to *this* side of the mirror.

And that fabric was just in various boxes and bins and UGH! I am annoyed with my stash right now! I am going to try to pick up an IKEA Kallax shelf for my fabric. Well, for a good portion of it.

I moved the cutting table over here. I think once I buy some of the larger storage pieces I'll move the cutting table away from the wall. 

 Knitting:

I did NOT understand this pattern when I first started it (about 8 months or so after learning to knit). I'd gotten like 50% done and the pattern was just off. So I stuffed it in a bag! Well, with my hand issues I haven't knit in almost a year and was itching to do so :) I decided to finish this because I wouldn't have to do the ribbing! LOL!

So I frogged back and started over. I have messed up SO many times since picking it back up! Sheesh. But, It's almost done (I've started the decreases) and I'll have a super cute hat for fall/winter!

Making dessert (It's not really 'baking'):

I had an overwhelming urge for banana pudding. So I came home and whipped one up! :)

7th Heaven; Vogue 9032

Yep. Pair #7...True TNT style! Hey, I love this pattern!

I made the tan pair.

This fabric is AWESOME

Then the charcoal heather pair.

this fabric is pilling :(

Then the denim pair.

Then the black pair which I never reviewed because...what new thing was there to say?!

I wish I had 27 yards of this fabric. I wear these All.The.Time.

I made the blue pair when I made my suit

But then I realized this wool/poly/lycra grows. And grows and grows. 

So while the jacket is okay, the pants and skirt are a bust for that reason. They're like 2 sizes bigger by the end of the day :( This fabric should've been reserved for something else. Live and learn, right?

Next I decided I should make the other view and used a dark teal/blue fabric.

I took these out of my wardrobe and then put them back. 

We shall see...That pleating at the waist isn't my favorite

I'd detailed my August sewing plans (which were almost completely executed...) and this gray suiting was slated for another pair of V9032. I wanted another light colored pant after the suiting pants became a fail.

I was gearing up for an afternoon walk; thus the Farmer's Market tee :)

This pair has pockets (that makes 4 with, 3 without). I have to redraft that pocket or maybe try a welt. They just don't sit right...Bleh. But I needed the pockets!!! 

No real changes other than making these fit a little more on the snug side. I've gotten really serious now (I started and fell off early this year) about losing weight for my knees. I'm down just under 6 lbs this month so I didn't want to end up not being able to fit them soon after making them. 

This fabric feels really nice so, let's hope they last awhile! 

Insides are all serged, hem was catchstitched by hand, Oh! I still need to make the buttonhole on the underflap thingy. 

I've mentioned it before but, I just love making pants a "weekly" project. A little bit of time goes a LONG way to getting them finished. 

• Sunday I cut them out (I just had enough fabric so there is no pattern matching).
• Monday I did the pockets.
• Tuesday I did the zipper and attached the waistband (I attach them to the individual pieces and sew a continuous seam rather than assemble the pants first).
• Wednesday I basted the side seams and sewed/serged all the other seams.
• Thursday I sewed the side seams.
• Friday I altered the side seams :-p, attached the facing (sewed, understitched, stitched in the ditch) and hemmed them.
• Saturday I sewed the hook & eye.

I have to make another dress for my daughter (seniors ladies wear black on the 1st day of school) and I was thinking of abandoning my other August plans to get a kick start on my September plans...but then I got the urge to knit. So I'm working on a hat :)

New McCall's! And Other's...

I'm surprised I haven't seen many reviews of this latest release. Mostly because, it is AWESOME!!!!

And others??

Yeah, aside from costumes, the Simplicity release was pretty weak. And as per the usual, they are not up on their site yet. New Look's fall release is nearly entirely composed of re-released patterns. Some of them aren't even discontinued yet under their original number! Oy!

Simplicity patterns are up on Pattern Review. The only two I really liked were:

1018: A great knit dress

SO MUCH movement!

1012: A 60s vintage pattern

Honorable mention; 1016: The MimiG coat

I have an altered Lekala pattern that I bought and 'hacked' after deciding I liked the Papercut Watson, but not enough to spend that kind of money on it. Also, I prefer the Papercut capelet, how it is integrated into the seam at the front

Now let's get to the GOOD stuff!

7256 is a little too much for me but man that would make an awesome dress coat!

7262 is a Khaliah Ali pattern. Very cute. And it reminds me of my Burda coat with the crazy sleeve!

7242 looks awesome! I doubt I will make a fall maxi dress but it's gorgeous

7244 works without looking too young. There was another McCall's where it looked a bit too "ruffly" on the bottom. This is subtle...

7240: LOVE.

7241 I don't normally do a dropped waist but this one with the pleating is calling me. Plus it has cup sizing!!!!

7242; I like.

7245: I don't love their fabric choice and the sleeves are a bit much for everyday. But I am loving this dress. The little inset at front? Swoon.

7259: Drama in a good way!

7258: I had a pouty moment when I saw this was only in plus sizes. 

7254?! ALL the yeses!!!!

7247 has had several similar-looking predecessors...

7251 I almost missed due to hideous fabric. This top is pretty awesome.

I predict 7249 being popular

7261; I don't even sew activewear but this pattern makes me want to!!!