happy blogiversary!

Today is the first day of my 5th year blogging. Wow. Yesterday was actually my blogiversary, but I forgot to post about it! I can't believe I still have stuff to talk about after all this time. Thank you to everyone who reads and visits my little spot here on the web. It would be a boring place without you!

And...I feel SPRING COMING!!! Woohoo!!

Sorry I haven't photo'd the HP Sunshine top yet, I'll get to that this weekend. Hopefully I'll have two things to show you, because I cut out this pattern this week, the HP Deco Vibe Delicious Dresses:


I don't have a snapshot of the fabric I'm using (well I do but I can't find it on my hard drive. Yikes I have a lot of crap on here!) But, it's the red/coral/pink/black floral featured on the far right dress in this SWAP storyboard I did 2 years ago.


By the way, I love this storyboard. I made about half of these garments, but not the dress. I think that fabric (which obviously has been marinating a while now) will make the Deco Vibes dress extra Delicious. hehe.

Hey peeps, it's...

TGIF!!!

baby things & a sunshine top

I really enjoy sharing my beginning projects with you, and you've been so sweet with comments. Even though I don't currently sew baby garments, I know many of you do. But even more important, you might be able to take a technique I used on one of these garments, and incorporate that into a current project.

Today I'm bringing you two baby/toddler garments that I loved. Lu was a mid-summer baby, so lightweight, cool clothing was a must in her baby/toddler years! Plus, the child just hated clothes. The first is a pink rosebud voile baby romper, made with the Old Fashioned Baby's Summer Clothes pattern.


I added folded release tucks at the shoulder seams and a dainty lace ruffle around the neckline. Three pearl buttons are for decoration only in the center front.


There is beading and lace trim around the leg openings. The crotch closes with buttons and buttonholes because I was still afraid of snaps at this point!


The romper buttons up the back.


This was such a sweet baby garment! I know it seems a little impractical with the crotch buttons, but it actually wasn't. Lu was a year old at this point and I wasn't changing diapers every hour like when she was tiny. I saw a discussion recently where a grandmother was lamenting her daughter-in-law throwing the handmade, lace-adorned dresses and rompers in the washer and dryer. I'd like to point out this romper is 12 years old and was washed & dried in the machine many times. Looks pretty darn good to me!

This next little dress is actually a pink pinafore, made from poly/cotton batiste. This dress features something I was sort of obsessed with figuring out at the time, the "t-yoke" dress. The yoke & center front of the dress form a "T", and then the side portions of the skirt front are gathered to the arms of the "T". It's a very vintage look.


The pattern was a free one in a back issue of Sew Beautiful (my older issues are in storage, so I don't have the issue number handy! Let me know if you want it!)

This little pinafore is just precious. I adore the sweetheart neckline and the t-yoke. I trimmed the neckline and armholes with flat lace edging, and then pin-stitched over the lace header.


I traced the little rabbit applique (it's a needle-turned applique, done by hand) and embroidery design from a great vintage book reprinted at about the time Lu was a baby. It's called "How to Make Handmades for Your Baby". The entire book is adorable. The rabbit is white batiste, and all of the embroidery is done using plain cotton floss.


I mentioned this was a pinafore, although it definitely passes for a sundress or suntop! But here's the back, where you can really see how cute this design is. The back closes with 4 buttons, and the back skirt is circular, creating a cute little flair.


Underneath is a plain white batiste slip. Lu wore this slip under most of her high yoke baby dresses. She had 3 or 4 of these because they are so easy to make. I traced the armhole and neckline from a bodice pattern, then scooped each out just a bit more. I turned under the seam allowances and did a shell hem for a seam finish. The bottom of the slip is finished with a lace-trimmed ruffle.


Baby clothes are so much fun to make. I wish I had saved everything of Lu's, I'd probably be sharing it for months if I did! I hope some of the techniques or patterns you see from my stash might inspire you in a future project.

Speaking of my Lu, she had a band concert tonight. Can you believe this beautiful girl once wore those tiny baby dresses? Amazing.


This weekend turned into a Hotpatterns weekend of sorts! I not only made the Once, Twice, Three Times a T-Shirt, I also made a HP Sunshine Top. Here's a sneak peek:


You'll have to wait for some daylight so I can snap a picture of it on moi! I love love love this tee. I need about a dozen, immediately. If you don't have this pattern you most definitely need it!

HP once, twice, three times a tee

That's a mouthful, huh? This isn't going to be a long post...I'm off to pick up some Tex-Mex for dinner! But I whipped up this interesting little tee this afternoon and wanted to share! I dedicate this one to Dawn, who's waited a long, long time for it. heh.


It's the HotPatterns Once, Twice, Three Times a Tee.

Super, super easy to put together. It's basically rectangles of fabric. I'm not a fan of "slot" necklines like this and indeed I don't care for the way it flops around, or for the way the facing doesn't want to stay put. (I'm ok with the fact that I need a tank underneath. I wear a cami or tank every day anyway! I'm just old fashioned that way.)

In fact, I might be drafting a keyhole alternative neckline tonight & fixing it up. I have plenty of this muted pink & khaki tie-dye to do it. Then I think I'll be in love with the whole top. I already love the funky sleeves and the fit.

Speaking of fit, I cut a 14 in the neckline (and could have used a 12 in front I think, which might have helped my slot neckline a bit). I swung out to a 16 at the armhole, then bumped out at the bust to an 18 for a "cheater" FBA. Then I followed the 18 down to the hem, but I did cut in just a bit of shaping at the waist. Otherwise you're looking at one long rectangle for the front and back.

The front/back as drafted is LONG. I cut off 3 inches at least. I'm probably not going to hem it, I like where it's hitting me right now. I likewise didn't hem the sleeve frill. I love knits! I typically have to shorten tees because I'm pretty short-waisted. I'm 5'5 and most of that is legs!

In good mail news, I received these awesome zippers from an Etsy seller. If you're interested, I'll dig up the name! **UPDATE for that heifer beangirl: The seller is "ButtonsandSuch". There now you have zips. I can't do anything about your short legs. Muwahahaha. They ship from Asia so it takes a couple of weeks, but how darn cute are they?


Here's a closer view:


Obviously they're for exposed zipper projects, but I can't wait to use them on some cute summer skirts!

I hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

vogue sale!

I succumbed to the latest Vogue email. It's not the best pattern sale they've ever had (I barely missed the $3.99 sale the last time they had it online!) But I never seem to make it into my Hancocks when they have Vogues on sale (it's also an hour away so I need a good reason to go that far, not just a Hancocks run!)

Here's my haul. I'm very enamored of these Rachel Comey dresses...

V1161

V1170
Likewise, this Rebecca Taylor suit, V1169:


And this Rebecca Taylor dress is shown in such a busy print, that you miss the cute design lines until you look at the line drawing. V1152:


line drawing:

I have a love affair with most of Anna Sui's patterns and I buy alot of them just to have. I've yet to actually make one! This one is in Lu's size because it's just a bit too young for me. Sigh. It will be so adorable on her though that I might actually cut into my first Anna Sui! V1153:


This is so pretty too, and I do find myself in need of a more formal type of dress now and again (weddings, prom, etc. Ok, so I don't find myself in need of a more formal type of dress more than twice a year but still. This could work if the occasion suddenly presents itself.) V1154:


And since I had such great success drafting my own pants the past few days, why not BUY a pattern and start all over with fitting?? I know. I'm just nutty like that. This is the Sandra Betzina Today's Fit jean, V1034:


I ordered this morning and had a shipment notification by 5 pm. Now that's service.

This afternoon found me at home with a sick kiddo, so I took the opportunity to cut out this New Look pattern that the adorable Shannon sent me:

out of a gorgeous red sweater knit that the likewise adorable Julia sent me. I cut out the long sleeve wrap sweater, before I realized I was clearly delusional thinking I had enough of the red sweater knit to make that view. When I came to my senses, I pulled out a minty green shimmery sweater knit and tried again.

Unfortunately, I have now partially cut into the red sweater knit! Ack!! I might be able to salvage it for another, simple, short-sleeve garment... I'm not sure. I've got it tucked aside for now until inspiration strikes.

Although...if inspiration doesn't stop striking in my house I'm just going to be chasing my inspirational tail and never ending up with complete garments!

the pants journey. pt 2

Ok peeps, time for a pants part 2. Just a reminder, I'm using the Design It Yourself Clothes book. Here's the completed pattern pieces:


Since you're drafting from measurements, you can add whatever shaping or ease you wish at the legs/etc. I have added a slight bootcut and the rest is a pretty slim fit. I figured if I can get a slimmer pant to look nice and fit well, I'm in like Flynn for everything else.

And here's my first muslin. I actually finished this one Sunday but didn't have time to snap a pic until tonight. Sorry, no waist shots because I haven't actually attached the waistband yet!


Things I learned from the first muslin:
Rise Measurement: The book instructs you to hold a book or other object between your legs, then measure the distance from your waist to the top edge of the book for the rise. I did measure this way, but didn't take into account that my front waist dips about 1" or more in front. That's why you don't have a back view. It's most definitely not PG-13.
**The Fix: I raised the back pattern piece by 1", and also to the side fronts, truing the seamline to meet my original center front (which fits perfect by the way. Wow.)

Thigh Measurement: I'm so used to adding to the "thighs" of other patterns that I just automatically didn't trust my pattern draft and added .5" to the outer thigh of front & back. That's the extra 'pouchy' fabric on my outer thighs. Yeah, I guess I drafted better than I thought!
**The Fix: Remove .5" addition from outer thighs on pattern.

High/Full Hips in Back: This is just a usual alteration for me. I always muslin without adding this, and always have to go back and add it in. No difference here. Since I was using the "Rise" measurement for my pant back & front, I not only need the additional 1" above (in back) but also an additional .5" to 1" for my high, full hips.
**The Fix: I tried on my BurdaPlus pant from last week and tied an elastic around my waist. Then, I adjusted my pants by pulling up or down until I lost the drag lines and wrinkles. Lu took a tailor's chalk and chalked a line around the top of the elastic at my waist, then I removed the pants. Note, the Burda pant has an elastic waist, so I marked that 1.25" casing line also. It turns out at exact CF and CB I'm "perfect". It's just everywhere else that's a little off. ;)

I cut this piece away at the chalked line. This gave me a crazy looking piece of fabric! But it also served as a map of how much I need to add to each front and back piece to account for my assorted lumps and bumps. I traced this fabric "waist map" onto tissue and carefully labeled it. I think if you click the large version, you can see a little better how it works.


The "clear" sections of the pattern are the original waist area (the dotted line would be the actual waist seamline plus s/a). The shaded portions are what I need to add or remove. Note that I need this adjustment on basically ALL pants and some skirts, so I'll just keep this little pattern for future reference (disgarding the lefthand portion probably. I can fine-tune.) In front it's more interesting than in back, which is almost a solid 1" straight across.

I'm pretty happy so far. I've already adjusted the pattern pieces and now I just need to muslin again and add the waistband this time to fine tune. I'll get a better idea of the fit in back with a waistband.

I have to say, I can't believe how easy this was to draft. Now I'm excited to try the t-shirt pattern and basic blouse pattern! I've already recorded all the necessary measurements.

I should add that I left off one piece of equipment in my last post photo that I needed...a French curve or "hip curve". I have a French curve that I used to draft the curve at the crotch, waist, and side seam. You could probably do it without, but I found it really, really helpful.

So, have you bought the book yet??