McCall's M7430...

So I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to make a dress today.  I actually had two sewing projects waiting (because they wouldn't fit in the fabric drawer...oops).  This was one but fortunately (unfortunately?) I had a ton of this fabric left over, so I set it aside for a top.

Anyway, I used McCall's M7430.  Here's the pattern:

Sadly I bought this pattern when I was still heavier which means the smallest size on the pattern was 14 36/28/28.  I cut the 14 but it ended up being too large.

So I took it down one size which would be a 12 34/26.5/36.  It was still too big.  It ended up fitting as a size 10 32.5/25/34.5.  Now this is insane because I know those are not my measurements which leads me to believe this McCall's pattern runs way big.

Regardless, I think it turned out great and I look super fit in this picture so yay for that.

If you make this, I'd recommend sizing down.  That's all for today!

Butterick 6388...

Generally my experience with Butterick is that it's always too big.  This pattern is multi-sized which is another sewing red flag for me.  Since I've lost a lot of weight this year, I didn't know exactly what my size was before attempting my Halloween costume.  Before I was making 16, 18 and sometimes 20.  Now I'm making 14 and sometimes 12.  This pattern I bought a long time ago so I bought the larger size.  I attempted to cut it down to the M size.  I suppose it worked because it turned out nice.  (I had to hurry to get this done despite cutting it out what seems like a million years ago because my sewing room will be commandeered by my best friend who'll be staying here for Christmas and New Year's.)

Anyway, here's the pattern:

I made D which this time stands for dress.

Here's how it turned out:

It's cute even though the pockets sit a little weird.  I am, however, super in love with the collar:

That's it for this year.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I'll start sewing again next year.

Simplicity 2850...

I made a jumper dress which works pretty good for winter.

For this I used Simplicity 2850 and some fabric that had just been sitting in my to-be-made cabinet.

Here's the pattern:

All in all this was pretty easy to make.  I scrapped the button accents because I'm lazy, and they just seemed annoying.

Here's how it turned out:

Looking at this picture I was reminded that I need a new cinch waist belt (as this one pictured has gotten too big), so I went to eBay to buy one just now.  I did make the pictured belt but I cut it on the wrong grain of the fabric, so it doesn't stretch properly.  Also, I don't think it looks so great and needs a little contrast.

Here's a close up of the fabric:

That's it for today!

The Great Pants Project 2017...

I'm in the midst of making all the pants I made last year fit me now.  First I took on these which were a real pain because the material is a little stretchy and it took forever to get them to fit me properly.

The picture on the left was taken a year and two months ago.

The lighting is different as it's a different room in a different house (in a different city no less), but I guarantee you these are the same pants.  I'm glad they fit now.  You can see the original work here.

Using that same pattern I had cut these pants out around the same time but they didn't fit when I tried them on at that time, but now, of course, they were too big so this is the second pair I took in.

(No before pic of these pants because I never finished them.  Also, I'm pretty sure I have no idea which side the zipper actually goes on.)

Finally, the last ones I fixed for today were these:

I took a picture of me wearing these pants just for fun.  Trust me, they are the same pants.  These weren't so difficult to fix since the zipper was in the middle and I didn't have to mess with it at all.  (Here's the original work.)

Here's a better view:

(Yes, these are the same pants!  Hard to believe I know.)

My back is killing me, so I'm calling it a night.  I now have three pairs of pants that fit me perfectly just in time for colder weather.

Edit: Today I finished the last pair of pants.

Here's the original work.

There's one more pair of pants to fix but they have a double elastic waist, so I probably won't fix them for a while.  Plus, they are not winter wear.

I'm glad to have a nice stock pile of pants now!

Halloween 2017!

A little late on this one.  Sorry about that.  For Halloween this year I went as myself.  Now hold on.  I didn't Heidi Klum anything around here.  I went as myself as a Pokémon Go trainer.

To make this I used the two different trainer patterns available.  For the jacket I used McCall's 7556:

It wasn't very difficult.  Just the zipper was a pain in the butt.

For the sprint suit I used Simplicity 8410:

This was more difficult because the shiny fabric I bought was pretty cheap and ended up running a couple times.  Also, I could never get the zipper the sit straight, but I figured who cares as it's just a costume.

Here's the finished product (in two versions):

I actually ended up wearing this costume 4 times which I think is a record for me.  I just had so many events this year.

Regarding the Mimikyu hat, I made it by hand without a pattern, and I think it turned out pretty good considering it's the first time I've ever made a hat.

Here's a closer look:

I hope you had a happy Halloween!

Halloween preview 2017...

Hello!  It's officially the best month of the year and half way through it at that!  My Halloween costume is about 50% done.

Here's a sneak peek!

By the way if you guess what it is and comment publicly, I'll cut you.  Happy Halloween!

Fixing stuff...

So if you're late to the party I've recently lost 16kg (35 pounds).  A lot of my clothes ended up being donated either to H&M or Goodwill.  However, some were salvageable, so I spent my Sunday morning fixing a bunch of clothes to make them fit better and just like that we have new clothes.

First, this was a maxi dress from Wal-Mart (which wasn't particularly expensive especially since I bought it at Goodwill but I like the colors).  When I lost weight, the top of the dress became too big.  Voilà!  Skirt!

Next, this was another dress (from Gap) that became just a little too big, so I made it into a skirt.

 

Next, this was a skirt I made 100 years ago and I can't remember ever wearing it which is a shame because the print is so cute.  I decided to shorten it in the hopes that I'll wear it.

 

The last of the skirts was formerly a dinosaur dress (from Modcloth) that also became too big in the top.  Not being one to ever part with anything dinosaurs, I made it into a cute skirt.  I love it.

 

Finally, I bought this dress from Uniqlo.  I liked it but thought it was too long.  Well, it turns out I made it too short to wear to work, but I can pair it with leggins and it'll be fine.

That's all.  I haven't sewn anything really because the last thing I made (albeit super cute) was too big.  Once I finish losing weight, I'll measure myself and I can start sewing again.