October Wrap-up and Sewvember

Where on earth did this month go!?!

I felt like I 'didn't sew a lot' but with the end of the Fabric Mart contest, I still have impressive yardage out for October. Yay!

This month, I sewed:

• B6104 jacket in brown wool - 2 yards (WIP)
• V8932 jacket in black - 1.75 yards contest sewing
• V9032 pants in stone suiting - 2 yards contest sewing
• S1364 top in ivory cotton sateen - 1.5 yards contest sewing
• NL6150 tee in white - 1.5 yards (complete wadder - this fabric was horrific. I thought I'd finally found a decent white tshirt weight knit. Nope. I took it off and threw it in the trash immediately after sewing it.)
• S2255 top in white gauze - 1.5 yards (WIP)
• NL6123 dress in blue print ponte - 1.75 yards
• NL6189 skirt in floral denim - 1.25 yards (for my daughter)
• RTW copied top in taupe jersey - 1.5 yards 
• S1687 dress in black poly/cotton blend - 3 yards (for my daughter)
• V1411 pants in black ponte - 1.5
• B5789 cardigan in tribal print sweater knit - 2 yards

That's a total of 21.25 yards out. 

B6104 and S2255 were both started while the contest was going and are awaiting finishing. S2255 just needs a new collar and sleeves. I had the collar super nice and realized it was sewn on backwards (interfacing was on the OUTSIDE). HA! B6104 has a long way to go and I'm going to have to just get it sewn. It has a lot of pieces and I am not very far along on it.

3.5 yards in-progress sewing, 4.25 yards sewn for my daughter, 5.25 yards for the contest and 1.5 yards in a wadder is why I feel like I didn't "sew a lot"! But as usual, I totally did. :)

This month's favorite garment has to be the V9032 pants. I have had them in my wardrobe for just over 2 weeks and have worn them like 4 times. They fit so well. I had an inspection at work this week on a burned piece of machinery. I got soot on my pants :-( Here's hoping it comes out in the wash!

(I unceremoniously spent ALL of my FabricMart winnings already. Soooo be looking for a fabric stash post!)

I can't even begin to count yardage in right now. So let's just move right along. I have also added a crap-ton of patterns to the stash both via purchases and via a fellow sewers destash! She was so sweet to send me all these patterns after I picked up a couple Simplicity patterns for her and sending them to Canada. She was going to get rid of these and asked if I wanted them - YEP!

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Are you wondering what the heck Sewvember is?! Well, I am all over fun stuff like OWOP (WISH I could've participated this year!), MMM and the like so when I saw Bimble and Pimble's post about "Sevember", I was giddy.

C'mon! You know how much those of us in the sewing community love to share!!! :)

I'm not on Twitter but am on IG (sewcraftychemist) and will post their daily. I wouldn't think of posting on the blog daily! :-p But will post an update every 6 days (which would be 5 posts total). 

Back To Our Regular Programming!

:)

I have read every comment and wholeheartedly agree with you all. I love sewing and as a whole, I love the sewing community!!!! Let's get back at it!

FINISHED ITEMS!!

So, I've already written my October wrap-up and was going to post it today, but I have new stuff to show - woohoo!

When I got back in town from my work trip, I knew I needed to get started on my daughter's dress for her Sugar Skull/Dia de los Muertos costume. I couldn't make myself start it. Finally on Sunday evening I decided I had to sew something simple to jumpstart the mojo.

I had been meaning to do another version of my RTW copy top that I made for the FM contest and with 2 pieces and a banded hem, I decided that would work perfectly. I had this AMAZING rayon jersey from Fabric Mart and it was washed and ready to go. I assembled it on the serger and went to do a narrow hem on the neckline (the same as I finished the first one) and all hell broke loose. Suffice it to say that after removing stitches for the fourth time, I had all but given up, "But the fabric feels soooooo nice" I thought to myself, so I decided to bind the neckline. THEN, my sewing machine was happy sewing on it. WHEW. The inside isn't perfect and with all the ripping out I'm sure I stretched the neckline out a bit. I will have to add bra strap carriers - but that's okay. Because of the nightmare, I said, forget that noise, and banded the sleeves too. I *LOVE* it.

The fabric is very silky and luxurious feeling. WINNING.

So then I started her dress. This dress had the right shape and I thought it was SO cute. Why did I not say to myself, "Self, this has too many pattern pieces"

At least I was smart enough to leave off the pockets! This dress has 10 pattern pieces (x2) and pleats. It was Thursday evening and I was struggling to just get it finished. So it wasn't fitted much at all and some finishes leave much to be desired.  

I cut a straight size 12 and ended up doing 7/8" side seams. I used an invisible zipper instead of lapped. I chopped off like 4" from the length and did a top-stitched hem.

It's a little big in the upper body but she loved it. And I think it'll come in handy for her!

The dropped waist and pleats are fantastic! 

She wanted a peter pan collar but I just didn't have time to do so. I ended up bias binding the neckline.

I was off work today and I'm coming down with a cold so I was intent on relaxing today. I chilled for most of the morning and then decided I need to get sewing! :) I got myself too afraid ton start up on V1387 so I decided on 'easy knit project' -- again. Lazy.

Butterick 5789, view D. I sewed a size medium using my brand spanking new sweater knit from FabricMart.

There were instructions for finishing the collar such that you didn't see the stitching but I wasn't bothered by serger stitches so I just -zip- serged it in place. I did have to hem that entire, freaking, thing as a narrow hem. I cannot promise you that it's 5/8" and I cannot promise you that it's completely even...but it's done! :)

I don't like it buttoned though :-( It looks weird on me when it's closed. 

And I'm thinking the waterfall style just isn't for me. Maybe because I'm busty? I don't know, I realize I don't love my Vogue cardi with the waterfall and don't love this one either. 

There was no print matching attempts. Well, there was but I couldn't make it happen with the sizes of the pattern pieces and 2 yards of fabric. It doesn't bother me though. 

My pants are v.2.0 of Vogue 1411! :-D  I have a whole lot of this Maggie London ponte in black. I was smart this time and stocked up on it. It's such a good weight for so many things!

The stitching still looks super cool on all black!