Today's accomplishments...

My back hurts.  No, that's not really an accomplishment.

But this is:

How could I not fall madly in love with this fleur de lis cardi?  Obviously, I did but I soon noticed there were button issues.  I think (more than anything else) age and use contributed to this gem ending up at Goodwill.  Note the tiny buttons I removed.  The buttonholes were too stretched for those little ones so I ordered some new magnificent fleur de lis buttons and voilà!  Perfection!

I also made a top today with my favorite fabric, knit.

Apparently, when I try to take one handed photos anymore, it's too blurry.  :/  But at least you can see the sleeve detail.

From Butterick 5497:

And here's the close-up of the fabric:

What do you think?  I didn't realize the fabric was so sheer!  But I like it otherwise.

Not really...

So I made these pants:

From McCall's 6403:

The pattern said easy.  I hate when patterns lie to me.  They were not easy.  I made so many mistakes and I don't even think I like them.

What do you think?

Skirt...

So I made this skirt:

Here's the overlay fabric:

Here's what it was supposed to look like:

Oops.  I'm sure I can fix it.  I don't really like how it turned out anyway so I think a redo would be better. 

Thoughts?

More knits...

I'm sure this falls under ending procrastination as I've had this fabric for weeks now.  Ever wanna wear something new so you just make something?  That's what I did.  All in all it took about an hour so the pattern didn't lie.   It really was easy.  (Forgive my bathroom.)

From Butterick 5388:

I really like how this turned out and it's perfect for winter!

Collar fix...

You know how you sleep on something and then decide to go a different way.  Well, I wasn't going to fix this collar but I swear it was the first thing I did this morning (even before breakfast).

I think it looks so much better!

And Lolita, I am totally planning on wearing this with some leggins'.  ;)

Truly quick & easy...

It's weekend #2 to end procrastination. I'm not purchasing any new fabric until I finish all my old sewing projects.

Tonight I made this:

It took less than an hour. The pattern, Butterick 5528 says tunic and neck ring.

But I thought it was a cowl neck. So I just turned it into one.

Do you think it looks okay?

First look - Halloween 2011...

First look for blog followers!

First of all it's Trillian from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which is an awesome book and mediocre movie but I love Zoeey Deschanel.  I have some issues with this costume which I would fix if it were going to get massive play which it's not.  (But I do keep all my costumes in case of a costuming emergency.)  I know the shirt is buttoned too high but that's to hide the tattoo.  Maybe I'll undo it and see how it looks tomorrow.  I know I'm not as thin as Zooey D and the costume has been taken in many times because the pattern I bought 100 years ago is too big.  This is before I realized I had to make my clothes a size down from my actual size because every time I made my size in the past I was tenting it.  The crotch is way too long.  Maybe the pattern works best with tall women?  It's an 80s jumpsuit pattern btw.

And of course now that I look they have my size on eBay.  :/

So if anyone knows how to shorten a crotch, let me know.  Never tried that in my life.  I also need to lengthen the cuffs a little but I have a massive headache and am still in a lot of pain.  I might just say forget it tonight.  Anyway, I think it turned out okay.  It could be better if I wanted to devote more time and effort to it and it also could be better if I was a better seamstress.

 

Funny, today I read on Zooey D's Facebook that she also puts a lot of time and effort into costumes no one can identify.  I guess we're more alike than I thought!

Happy Halloween everyone!

End procrastination!

I deemed this the weekend to end procrastination.  Let me tell you why.  I have a cabinet of fabric. Seriously, a whole cabinet.  It's fabric I bought with the intention of making vintage dresses out of it.  Well since I sold a lot of those patterns and don't wear vintage every day like I used to, it's been sitting in this cabinet for years.  Yesterday I pulled it out and thought "It's just sitting there. No longer!" Therefore it's the weekend to end procrastination!

So I spent most of Friday night crawling around on the floor cutting out patterns.  This was a poor choice.  I can't crawl around on the floor like I used to.  I also can't sew well into overtime like I used to.  It's my fault really.    I don't know when to quit and now my legs ache and my hands are sore.  It's hurts to walk.  No kidding.  So I've been in bed watching movies with a bit of Halloween in them.

Friday night I made this skirt:

Fabric:

It's McCall's 6327 and I bought it the pattern to make the version in the bottom right but thought I would try out another version using the end procrastination fabric.

I think it turned out okay.  It sits a little weird dunno why though.  Maybe it's all in my head.

Friday night I also started these pants (finished them today):

From Butterick 5044:

I love these pants even though they are a bit transparent (that's white linen for you).  Seriously if I had to live in a pair of pants it'd be these.  They were super easy too.

Finally I made this:

I am nuts for Peter Pan collars and I love how trendy they are right now.  I got this 1960s mail order pattern on eBay (brought to you by Fels soap!):

I love how this dress turned out.  So cute!  The fabric is quite stiff so the facing doesn't lay easy but maybe it will soften after a few washes.

I also cut out two others.  I might make one tomorrow depending on how I feel but I have to take in the Halloween costume tomorrow.

I also still have a bunch of white linen and nothing to do with it. Any ideas?  Skirt maybe?

Today...

Today I finished the costume which you can see later.

I also made this:

From McCall's 6112. It was pretty easy and I think it will be pretty easy to winterize this dress. It just needs to cool down here first.

Pain in my...

Yeah this shirt was a huge pain.  I messed up the collar and had to redo the whole thing.  Then I messed up the sleeves.  Then I forgot how to use my machine's buttonhole apparatus (since it's been ages).  Sheesh!  Also, I have no idea where these cute size buttons came from but I love them!

Anyway I like the way it turned out:

 

It's from McCall's 6159:

Which is totally a girl's pattern btw but they had girl's plus sizes.  I don't think the shirt I made looks little girly at all.  I did make some changes though.  I did away with the chest pockets.  Yuck.  I didn't add the sleeve tabs and I also didn't slit the sleeves.  In addition, I added another button at the top because without it the collar fell open funny.

I think it turned out cute but I wanted to do another project tonight and now after that agony I don't feel like it.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Love...

I stopped by the bigger Joann's today hoping to find McCall's patterns that my Joann's were sold out of.  Well I found 3/5 and I was in awe of all their fabric because they have so much more than the smaller one by me.  I found this gorgeous plum colored wool blend.

Sadly the picture does not do it justice. But I'm going to make these great highwaters out of it from McCall's 6403.

I haven't even mentioned the best part.  The fabric was in it's regular section on sale for 50% off. When she punched it in it was on clearance.  I ended up paying $5.31 for a little over 2 yards.  I almost cried! This is the second time this has happened.  I'm so excited to make these pants.  Now I just need the time.

Skirts...

I'll be honest. I hate this. This was the 60s dress that bombed. When will I learn that I can't just cut a pattern bigger and expect it to go okay? So I thought I'd just turn it into a skirt but I don't like it.

What do you think?  I think it never sees the light of day.

In other news I turned this dress my friend didn't like into a super cute skirt (but I forgot to take a before pic). This one did turn out great. I hope she likes it!

Love those knits...

Really I do.  I could have a closet full of knits and be happy with life.  Since I started sewing with knits in 2009, I've loved working with them.  Seriously.  I love them!

This is Simplicity 2804 that I bought years ago.  Seriously years!  And I made the aqua colored top from this pattern (in white with black polka dots).  Sometimes I pull out my patterns and see what else I can make from them.  I decided on the third one in.  Joann's has this great new Project Runway line from April Johnston.  The fabric is generally very expensive but it was 50% off so I bought this awesome black with silver polka dot stripes and made this:

Now you may think the bottom is a mistake but it's not.  I did that on purpose for two reasons.  The first is to make it look unique and the second is horizontal stripes to enhance the bust and vertical stripes to slim the hips.  ;)

I also worked on a dress today that ended up in the garbage.  (Well, half of it anyway.)  I don't know what I did wrong and couldn't for the life of me fix it so I turned the lower half into a skirt which just needs elastic.  I'm bummed but at least it's not a total loss.

More of the sewing frenzy...

Do you love these pants? I do!

No idea what they're called though. I know they're trendy in Japan and I've seen them in mags.

Pattern:

I know it's a Learn to Sew pattern. I know how to sew. I just loved the pants. :)

Newest obsession...

Steampunk.  Seriously.  Google it.  By far the coolest genre I've ever seen. 

I bought these two patterns because Simplicity patterns are 99 cents at Joann's:

Could you just die!?!?

Super Sewing Sunday!

Today I had a massive sewing spree! I made 3 things plus added the sleeves to the costume.

Basic black pencil skirt:

Supercute zebra bunout knit top:

Trendy plaid longer skirt for fall:

 

Thanks so much to Kim who made all this possible!  Great birthday gift!

Costume hint...

Costume preview...

This is all you get, sleeve detail:

Halloween: Made Awesome...

Today I purchased fabric for my Halloween costume.  Years ago I decided I wanted to make this costume and purchased a pattern for it.  So I've had this pattern and the notion to make this costume for quite some time.  Obviously, it never got made. 

Initially, I had wanted to be Ella form Cowboys & Aliens.

And I haven't thrown this costume out as a future costume.  It's just not for this year.

See for me costuming for me has become quite difficult the past few years as I've accumulated more and more tattoos.  Part of the importance for costuming (at least for me) is authenticity and I can't be authentic if I'm sporting a lot of tattoos that you normally wouldn't see on a character.  Without the use of make-up my only other option is to cover them with clothing which I don't mind at all as October can be quite chilly.  This brings me to my biggest beef with my beloved holiday.  It seems that within the last ten years, Halloween has become an excuse for girls to whore it up (or down depending on how you look at it).  Costume shops everywhere are telling girls that the less they wear, the better prepared they are to party down on Halloween.  This is an atrocity and particularly loathsome to someone like me who takes great pride in costuming.

My next hurdle for the 2012 costume would be that I just cut my bangs.  Save for someone like Chuck from sadly short-lived but brilliant "Pushing Daisies" there aren't a lot of choices for girls with bangs who are totally covered by clothes.  (No my costume is not Chuck.)

So my 2012 Halloween costume has been carefully chosen and probably no one will know who I am but that's okay.  I know that I will look awesome.  Stay tuned!

Well vintage...

It was fun while it lasted.  The last of my vintage is on eBay.

My Dresses

Everything else has sold and I did keep a couple of pieces I really love and cannot bear to part with.

Time to move on.

"So long it's been good to know ya..."