McCall's 6612...

Hello!

So this poor pattern had been sitting on my ironing board all cut since way before Christmas.  Today I thought I better finally make it.

McCall's 6612...

(You all know how I love knits.)

The hardest part was lining up the stripes on my fabric.  I also made the sleeves a little shorter.  Not so sure why they are so wide.

Anyway...

I had hoped this would be a nice candy cane dress for Christmas, but I just didn't get it done in time.  Oh well, there's always next year.  Unfortunately, it's still too cold to wear this.  Hopefully, it will warm up soon!

Happy sewing!

Vogue 8771...

Today I made a simple knit top.  I still love knits (of course).

I used this pattern:

It's a (Very Easy) Vogue pattern (8771).  Truthfully, this is my first ever Vogue pattern.  I've been kind of terrified of Vogue because they are usually never easy, very detailed, and highly tailored.  This pattern, however, lived up to its name.  It was super simple and I didn't even have to rip any seams out.  :D

I'm very happy with the results:

What do you think?  I love it!

Simplicity 1805...

Hello!  Happy Sewing Sunday!

First of all I want to express how much I hate patterns sized S -XL (or any variation of that).  Through trial and error I've found that in order for anything I make to fit properly, I need to sew a size down because my size doesn't officially exist.  Anyway this has worked everywhere except for patterns sized S -XL (or any variation of that).  Usually McCall's does this a lot.  I thought that I would just follow the same strategy that I had previously mastered.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work.  So I size up when I encounter McCall's S -XL (or any variation of that).

Simplicity 1805 is sized XXS - XXL and great I thought, I got this.  Unfortunately, I didn't "got this."  The size I made is a bit too big for my tastes.  However, it is super comfortable (can't argue there) and can be cinched with a belt for a more fitted style.

Here's the pattern:

I made top D but I used the band from E for the bottom to make it into a tunic.

Fabric:

(A super temperamental knit but I can't really argue as it was $2 a yard.  Also, I know the flowers look yellow but they are white.  Bad lighting.)

Here's my top:

I think it would be cute with some leggins.

And here it is cinched:

Super quick and easy to make.  I'm going to tackle this again later albeit in a smaller size next time.  Meanwhile, I have a super comfy top.

McCall's 6556...

I finished this finally.  You can see the beginnings here.

I have been having some pain in my hand.  I don't know if it's from overdoing it sewing wise or if I'm just an old lady.  I hope it goes away so I can sew more.

Anyway, here it is:

It's so hard to take a picture of this dress.  I think I may have missed the window for this as it's already cold here.  Maybe I can make it work with a long sleeve tee and some leggins.  If not, maybe next year.

In other sewing news I cut out another knit, a cute tee/tunic.  The one I chose was the tee but I'm going to try to make it a tunic.  We'll see if it works.

That's all for now. 

Halloween Costume #2...

In true Halloween style I went and made myself two costumes this year, just like old times.

If you read my last post you'd see the beginnings of this costume.

Here it is in its entirety:

This is Rogue from Earth-1009 or New Exiles Rogue:

No one knew who I was but that's okay.  I'm used to that where my costumes are concerned.  (Actually someone did say Rogue.  That was good enough for me.  I am aware this version is pretty obscure.)

Rogue is one of my favorite X-Men and becoming one of my favorite costumes.

Here's a previous Rogue:

I'd like to get my hands on this costume and fix it a little bit so I could wear it again.

Anyway, you haven't seen the last of my Rogue costumes.  Expect her to resurface.

I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Happy sewing times in Tokyo...

Yesterday, my new partner in costuming crime and I headed to Tokyo's fabric town.  It was the first time for me, but she had been there before.  This is like Disneyland for people who sew.  I was immediately attracted to the ¥100/m wall (that's $1 a yard for my American friends).  Fortunately, my pocketbook allowed me to walk out of there with only 4 new fabrics.

I have three dresses and one top planned with these in mind.  Total cost ¥1365 (or about $13.87).  Unbelievable!  I'll be back.

Today, I got started on Halloween costume #2.  You can see #1 here.

I'm not telling you what it is just yet but I made the tunic for it today.

Getting started:

Fitting:

Almost finished:

I just need to hand sew the facing down and hem it.  Wait until you see the whole costume.  It's pretty marvelous.

I used Butterick 4237:

Sometimes I've had bad luck with Butterick being too big but this fit just perfectly!

Next, I started a dress:

This is me testing it out.  I need to hem the neck and sleeves as well as hem the dress but I ran out of daylight and the pain (from being old) was telling me to give it up for the night.

I used McCall's 6556:

October makes me want to sew.  Also, having a sewing buddy in Tokyo makes me want to sew.

I might do one more costume just for fun.

This is Halloween...

Hello!

Lucky for you, you get to see my costume early because it debuted on Saturday for a work event.

As usual, I put a lot of detail into the costume.  Here's some detail:

Letters before:

Letters after:

Earrings before:

 Earrings after:

 Finally here are the concept pictures:

Have you guessed my costume yet?  If you guessed Suzy Bishop from Wes Anderson's masterpiece Moonrise Kingdom, you guessed right!  (On a side note if you haven't seen this film, please do so.  It's wonderful.)

So obviously (because this is a sewing blog) I made this dress.  Striving for accuracy, I used this 1960s pattern:

It wasn't that hard to make.  The hardest part was sewing in those two side panels.  I have know idea what they are called.

I wish I would have taken a picture of my makeup because that was spot on too and I know you can't see it in the above pic but my dress does have a collar.

You can kind of see it in this pic:

Anyway, what do you think?  I personally think it's awesome.  ;)