July Wrap-up & August Plans

LOTS of sewing happened this month!

• M6559 dress in orange stripe: 2 yards
• M6841 top in white jersey: 2.5 yards
• S1373 shorts in ikat sateen: 1 yard
• B5926 jacket in green ponte: 2 yards
• M6559 dress (for my daughter) in grey/mint striped ponte: 2 yards
• M6754 top in mint ponte (not yet blogged): 7/8 yard
• S2061 pants in mint ponte (not yet blogged) 1 1/8 yards
• V1395 dress in floral challis: 2.75 yards
• NL6130 pants in stretch denim (wadder): 2 yards
• SS A1636 dress in snake print and floral print: 3.25 yards
• Kimono tee in grey cotton knit: 1.25 yards
• SS A1523 top in printed knit: 1.5 yards

That's a total of 22.25 yards! That's a great month!

Favorite item of the month has to be the McCall's 6841 top with my Sew Simple dresses coming in at close 2nd!

My plans for August are kind of crazy. Why? I know that usually when I have crazy mojo like I do now, I end up crashing.

I talked about needing some sleeved tops for work so I tried to pick fabrics that were good for summer but that could transition into fall. But then I got the crazy idea that I needed floral pants and a striped top.

My -FIRST- priority is to finish my poor abandoned Simplicity 2443 jacket that I started in June.  

Then:

There's my floral pants and striped top, two quick and easy work shirts and a vest that I've been thinking about for awhile; olive green with red zippers and cording. It's gonna be pretty cute, I think.

Then I need to muslin the Vogue pants and hopefully sew 2 pair.

I also want need to sew the denim Burda jacket.

I want to sew a cape; either Burda 08/2014 #123 or Simplicity 1775

After creating the collage of plans, I had some time while everyone was busy. I thought I'd cut out the two top patterns, as I've sewn them both before. I ended up finishing the Sew Simple top in like an hour! Construction done on the serger, hems with a double needle on the machine.

BUT this one is a little snug compared to the other two! Oops! Should've checked the amount of stretch. It isn't unwearable by any means...just a little more snug that I'd planned.

Week THREE of MMM'14

Eek! 10 more days to go! It looks like I  will make my goal of zero weekend repeats. I still have loads of casual non-work garments that I can wear on the weekends!

Day 15: KS 3115 yoga pants (my only repeat so far)

Day 16: NL 6108 top and B5927 jacket

Day 17: S2054 tunic/mini dress

Day 18: PR Winter Street Dress

Day 19: Burda 6910 top

Day 20: M6519 top

Day 21: Sew Simple A1523 top

Hopefully I'll get my hair done soon :-D

Me Made May 2014: 1 week peek

Sooooo I guess other folks who were doing weekly recaps did it like by calendar week. Ah well. I'm a rebel.

Also, I know that some (ok, LOTS) of people glaze over during the month because of Me Made May. Hence my decision to participate daily on IG and only post what will be 4 updates here on the blog (7/7/7/10 days). Bear with me! :)

I am secretly enjoying Instagram! I have avoided it as I didn't 'get it'. I still am unlikely to use it for regular, every day photo uploads but I love it for sewing. I have found many new sewing 'friends' to follow and ooh and ahh over what they make - Score!!

Day 1: McCall's 6844 cardigan
Day 2: McCall's 5890 [ I was so excited for my work conference on Friday because I could wear  a dress!!! :) ]
Day 3: Simplicity 2061 pants
Day 4: Burda 02/2014 - #135 top and #109 skirt
Day 5: Sew Simple 1523 top and Burda 10/2012 #113 jacket (Although I wear the jacket daily)
Day 6: Plantain tee
Day 7: Simplicity 1916 top

This week I wore 3 items that I had not yet worn!! And I had NO repeats! Yay!!

In other sewing news...

And I made another McCall's 6844 cardigan. Really I can't write anything else about it that I didn't write the other FOUR times I made this pattern :)

WAIT! I can!!! On the very first one, the black one, I followed the directions exactly and interfaced the band. Then the next 3 I did not interface the band/collar. But I've come to realize I like the weight/stiffness(?) that the band has when interfaced so I interfaced this one.

This is made from the same knit as the plantain tee above. I wear the others at work over sleeveless tops/shells and the ponte is getting kind of warm at times (if you overheat like I do). 

BUT anyone that works in an office knows that in the summer months you need something lest you turn into an air conditioned ice cube...so this lightweight knit version should be perfect as the mercury continues to rise.

Lily is lopsided and I can't seem to fix her :-/

Oooh. This month I am also managing the vintage pattern contest on Pattern Review. It is an interesting process to say the least :-)

PANTS contest coming up mid May! Woot! Even though I can't win, I am making red pants. Cause everyone needs red pants!

The MOST Possible Amount of Finished Items!

uhmm. I have a whole bunch of stuff to show!! Like...5 new things. FIVE! I made 2 pairs of pants and 3 tops.

Now, to be fair, the pants are my S2700 TNT pattern and one pair of pants was technically finished last weekend; well they needed hook & eyes and a button and pics. But you can't take pics during the week because it's dark in the morning and it's dark at night.

One top is Sew Simple 1523 which I'd just made. The other two tops is a new pattern BUT they're the same so...let's go!

Simplicity 2700, reviewed before...

Plaid pair: there was nary a plaid matching attempt. Nary. I was in an uhmm, mood, so I went to the cave and pulled this fabric out and cut. After I'd cut out the front pattern piece I said, Ooops. This is  a plaid. But I only had 2 yards so there was no way I could even try to ensure I matched. I just went for it. It primarily matches (LOL!) across the front and back and the side seams. The waistband? Not. At. All. I never tuck shirts anyway though...

The brown pair: Uneventful. The only mistake I made was in hemming. I might have to undo the hem because I took too deep a hem. I'll have to see how they look with my "work shoes" (which are kept in my office).

Both suiting fabrics came from FabricMart during the $2, $4, $6 suiting sale. neither has any amount of give compared to the last fabrics I made these pants from. Oops!! So they're butt huggy but that's okay. 

I serged everything before sewing, stitched the seams so I could leave them pressed open. Serged the waistband facing, removing 1/4" and then undrestitched and stitched in the ditch (I love the look and the idea of the bias binding on the facing but it's so dang time consuming! Oy!!) . I also placed my hook & eyes too far "in" and there's a weird flap at the end of the tab...again, since I never tuck shirts, this isn't a big deal. I think I'm going to make the next pair a flat front.

Also, NO VISIBLE ZIPPER!!!! Yay! I managed to do it right -and- I did not consult any source to insert my fly this time. It took a little while, but now I think I have "my way" of doing it.

ALSO, perhaps you knew this but I didn't; the zipper package has a template on it for topstitching the fly. I probably didn't know because this is what my zipper packaging always looks like:

But if you don't manhandle the packaging, you have this:

And then this:

Then, I made another Sew Simple 1523 top. You know, I had pegged this knit for a different pattern but seriously, why fuss with another knit top when I loved this one so much!?! I sewed this in 90 minutes from start to finish. I felt like a ninja warrior sewer.

THEN, because I was still amped up, I cut Burda 7866 (which for some reason I can't find on Simplicity's website now). Here's the link to the pattern on PR: 7866. I bought this pattern a long time ago after seeing some REALLY cute versions around the web and never sewed it up. Well, when I picked up that ocean blue knit from SR Harris, I knew it would become this top. How glad am I that I waited!!! I loved the top so much that it wasn't even half finished before pulling out a snake print knit and making another one up! 

So here are gazillion pics of everything! :)

***I was going to be more judicious with the pictures but I inserted them all in this weird "block" and now, if I delete one, Blogger deletes them all so...you're stuck

Simplicity 2700 in plaid  and chocolate brown wool/poly blend suiting from FabricMart 
Burda Style 7866 top in (double? Sweater?) knit from SR Harris
Sew Simple 1523 in chartreuse jersey knit from SR Harris
Burda Style 7866 top in (poly/lycra?) knit from JoAnn

I did such a good job on matching the waistband seams! And look at that blind hem!!!!

The cuteness of those giant sleeves!

"What? Huh? OH!! I'm using a PRINT?!" Uhmm yeah. No matching there.

I was getting bored

My goofball daughter. I told her I was putting this on the blog!!!!

Review for the BurdaStyle top:

Love. I love it! This top went together super fast (SUPER fast). The front and back is one pattern piece (the shoulder is cut on the fold). Then you cut out the neckline area. It looks like no adult head could ever fit through the hole that is created, but it does!! And I have a big head!

You sew the shoulder and side seam in one swoop and then attach the front and back yoke. Boom. Done.

It has very deep hems for the sleeves and top - 1 7/8". I really like the look of it.

Now, the neckband is weird. They instruct you to interface (didn't do that) the neck and then attach the facing strips. I hate facings on knits. It's weird. This has you attach the front and back to each piece and then tack it by hand. I did no such thing. There was no tacking. None. I sewed the dang thing on my machine. 

I think the top is a bit long without modifications (so if you're long waisted, you might not need to add extra length). On the snake print, I shortened the top and the yoke a bit so it wouldn't blouse over as much.

The size 14 took just about 1 1/2 yards of fabric err, more if you need to match prints ;-)

Now, I'm all tuckered out!

Finished Item: Sew Simple 1523

When I first started sewing, I had no clue the chain stores ran these pattern sales, and I just knew I would never have any of them because I wasn't going to pay $12, $15, $25 for a pattern. So it was all New Look, See & Sew and Sew Simple.

I have a few of these $.99 Sew Simple patterns and finally made one up.

I had these beauties on hand and needed a quick sewing fix

Sew Simple 1523 courtesy of "Nana27" on pattern review!

I hadn't yet hemmed it. I was too excited.

Cute shoulder pleats that help the cowl look more drapey. Yes, drapey is a word!

My subpar ruching. But I don't care! It looks cute on me!

So, yeah, I pretty much LOVE this top!!! It went together in maybe 3 hours, tops. From cutting the pattern out, to clipping the last threads. I am smitten. I want more. More. More! I cut a size 14, finished measurements on the 14 was 39.5" bust and 33.75" waist. My measurements are around 39"/34" so barely any ease.

The fabric is some rayon knit from SR Harris. It is really, really soft and has nice recovery. I will be wearing this top to work tomorrow!!


Fabric: $6.75
Thread: $1



I went into Hancock to find thread for that green and teal(?) fabric above since Gutermann was on sale for 40% off. My Hancock has a sucky selection of Gutermann (compared to JoAnn) and I couldn't find anything in the neighborhood of those colors. So no thread. But their remnants were 50% off! And the remnants are always $2/yd sooooo they were $1/yd!

I got ALL of these for $4.98

The two blues are the same fabric and I think I'm going to make this Lekala sweatshirt with it

Yes, my original plan for jackets still stands and now that I have a successful project underway I can feel the mojo rising! :)

Also, pics of me in my S2255 top: