Tote bags and some chickens....

Happy Mother's Day!

It's been a good day. My girls (with some help from Daddy) painted a wooden picture frame and jewelry box as my gifts and made many some very sweet cards. Plus I got a lot of hugs and kisses. A lovely way to start the day! And then we all went to breakfast and the Botanical Gardens with my mom and sister and her family, which was fun. Here's a picture of me and my mom at the gardens:


It was beautiful, if rather hot, and we had a nice visit. Afterwards, Iestyn took the girls out to play, and I got some peaceful sewing time. I powered through the rest of my teacher tote bags. (Everything was cut out, and I'd sewn one and part of another, but now they're all done.) I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. Actually, I might make myself something like one of the first two:

(and I got enough of that purple fabric to make myself a skirt. I don't know how well you can see the fabric, but it's really lovely.)

But since it was my treat for Mother's Day, I also took some time to sew myself a wristlet:

I have a great love chickens for some reason, so I had to grab this fabric (Metro Market from Robert Kaufman) when I saw it. It's lined with some coordinating apples, which are also adorable. Plus I've been wanting a slightly larger wristlet than my current one, so new fabric was a good excuse. I'm also planning to make myself a hat out of it. I got that cut out, but I got tired after all the tote bags!

Anyway, it was a very nice day - a good mix of visiting time and quiet sewing time. And I'm all done with teacher gifts, so I can move on to some of my new patterns!

Swim Skirt

Well, not actually a swim skirt, I suppose, but a cover-up to get me to the pool:
The plan is to wear this with my previously posted Heather Ross blouse over my swim suit while I walk to the pool.

I was at Joann's the other day, sans children (bliss!), and while there I noticed a sign that said Simplicity patterns were 2/$5. I'm a total pattern junkie (possibly even more than with fabric, if you can believe that!), so of course I sat down to look through them. I found this skirt (Simplicity 2608) which also includes yoga-ish lounge pants/shorts. I'm totally going to have to make some of those for around the house. So I picked up some interlock and whipped this up. It was very easy, I must say, although I think the tension on my serger might have been a little off for this fabric, because it's a big puckery on the seams. Since it's just a cover up, I don't really care, though.

I was also pleased to see that Simplicity is starting to expand the number of shirt/blouse patterns that include different cup sizes - it's nice to just be able to sew with a pattern, rather than having to adjust it every time. They even had a dress pattern that I almost got only because it not only included cup sizes, but it also had three different body types available. I thought that was cool. So, I got a couple of tops to try. I also learned that they have a decent price on Burda patterns (and the printed patterns include seam allowances, so I wouldn't have the problems from the last post!), so I got a couple of those - a shirt and a pair of capris.

As it turned out, the 2/$5 signs were mistakenly put out a week early by some Joann's employee, but happily they honored the price anyway. I was awfully confused by my initial total, though!!

Oh, speaking of the Burda pattern from the last time, I've actually made a number of adjustments to it. The zipper still needs a bit of work, but I think it's going to be very cute. I'm really beginning to think I need to get a dressform, though. It's a real pain to pin things on your own body, and Iestyn is completely wigged out by pinning things to me. I think he's afraid he'll poke me. So, at some point that would be a good thing.

For now, however, I have teacher gifts to make, since the end of school is very soon!

Academic exercise turned wearable...

Let's see... Well, first of all, I've been wearing the capri pants a fair bit, but really they're still a bit too big. I like the dark denim look, so I've just been putting up with it, but at some point I need to buy some more denim and make a different pair. I feel like I'm constantly pulling these up and fussing with the waistband. But at least they look cute. ;)

Next up are a pair of peasant blouses for the girls, made from Michael Miller Tweet Tweet fabric.
(Sorry, no action shots - they haven't been in very trying on moods. M's does fit her, but I don't know yet about A's.) I used the same basic pattern for the tiered dresses the girls like so much. I had to make up an expanded size for A, since she's grown since last year (and the original pattern it's based off of was actually only up to size 4. So this is an expansion of last year's expansion!) I need to her to try it on to make sure it fits before I make any more tiered dresses for her. Perhaps I'll get them on tomorrow!

So the next thing I've been working on is a Burda dress pattern I downloaded. I thought it would be fun in some of those fabrics I got at Gail K a while back. And supposedly they make their patterns in a C cup, so it might not need as much alteration as most of the patterns I try. The downloadable patterns are in PDF format, and you print off 25+ pages and tape or glue them together to make the pattern. So, I did that, and then traced the pattern pieces on my beloved Swedish tracing paper (because I thought it'd be easier to use than the regular paper. And better for my scissors.) However, I didn't realize until *after* I traced the pieces that no seam allowances were included. Oops. No big deal, I'll just add it in when I cut the pieces out, right? Except I forgot by the time I cut them out. And I used nice fabric. Grr. So, I decided to go ahead and sew it together with 1/4 seams, as an academic exercise as much as anything. Which was a good plan, since the instructions were enormously confusing. I hope they're better in the actual magazine. Probably it doesn't help that they were (I assume) originally written in German. Anyway, I finished everything but the hem and tried it on - and it fits! I don't know if they included a ton of ease or if I measured wrong the first time, but here it is:
This version isn't hemmed, and the bodice is pinned in a couple of places - I need to do a quick alteration to fit me better. But all in all, I'm pretty pleased with it. I'm planning to make another version with a couple of change to the front bodice pieces next. And the whole thing actually went together pretty fast, especially considering it was my first invisible zipper, and I didn't understand those instructions at all!

This is my first Burda pattern, but I have to say that I really like the fit of this dress. It seems like it was designed a little more like my body is shaped, unlike many of the US big three pattern companies. I'm going to have to see if there are any other patterns I like from them. (Plus they have some free downloads, and I just think that's cool!)

I haven't quite decided what the next project is - I'm thinking maybe some shorts for the girls. Not that they need clothes at all, but I do like seeing them in all my fun fabrics!

New and Improved Pants....

It's amazing the difference it makes to have the the help of a) another person who b) knows what she's doing (thanks, Mom!). My pants have been altered, and now they're much better:

(Ignore the blurriness of my head. I'm not sure what the deal is.)

They still have a much wider waistband than I prefer, but that can be covered with a long shirt. And my mom was able to figure out where I should sew so that they actually fit me and look pretty cute. If I make them again (we'll see), I definitely need to go down a size. I had to take the waistband off for the alteration (twice, since I was an idiot and sewed it back on backwards the first time!), but it didn't really take all that long to fix, thankfully. And now they're wearable, which is a bonus.

I got a McCall's shorts pattern that I might try next - if they turn out cute, I can always make a longer pair for capris. It looks like it might be kind of an involved pattern, though, so we'll see how long that takes me!

Pants....

Well, I made the Smarty Pants by Favorite Things (the grown up ones this time), and I just don't think I like them much. They look cute on the models, but they really don't look that great on me. Well, for one thing, they're a little big, even though I used the correct sizing. But more than that, the wide waistband and elastic backed waist just really makes them look like maternity pants. And I certainly don't need those! Plus they make me look kind of hippy, which isn't so attractive. They were easy to make, and I could probably make some changes to the pattern to get them to look better, but I haven't decided yet if I want to bother, or if I want to try a different pattern. I have some fabric that's just waiting to be made into capris, but I don't think these are it. Oh well. At least they were pretty straightforward to make, and I did get some practice with pockets. I'll just save these for messy projects or something!

Weekend Sewing + more hats

Well, as previously mentioned, I've been planning on making the summer blouse from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. I've had it cut out for quite a while, and I finally sewed it together the last couple of nights. I used white gauze, because I really just wanted a pool cover-up. (I don't have any pictures.) So, here are my thoughts: I made it in a medium, and it's absolutely huge. I mean, I realize it's meant to be a flowy sort of shirt, but even so, the medium is enormous on me. I probably should've gone with the small (even though I definitely don't normally wear a small!) I even took it in some on the sides, and it's still really big. Oh, and the sleeves were very long - I cuffed them, which took them in about 4.5 inches, and that made them the right length for my arms. I also slightly lengthened the top, since I'd read that it was a little short. Actually, I did all kinds of things "wrong" - I didn't use bias tape for the collar; I just did a narrow hem. And I considerably shortened the placket. I also sort of ignored the instructions on the sleeves, and just did them the same way I always do set in sleeves. I did think the sleeves were pretty easy to attach, though, both because of the pattern and because gauze is so crinkly that I wasn't terribly worried about perfection, lol! All in all, it was a reasonable pattern, I think, but I don't think it's really my style as a blouse. But it'll be a great cover-up. And I'm using the placket idea for another shirt pattern that I want to make, so that's definitely useful knowledge.

I also made a couple of bucket hats for the girls:
Cute action shot:

They're the same general concept as the one I made myself (simple reversible bucket hats); I think I'm going to do a tutorial on them sometime soon. They're fairly fast to make, although sewing around the curves requires some patience. Plus I think my (homemade) pattern pieces for the adult size really fit together better than the ones I've done for the kids - I need to play with that some more before I do any more kid hats. But they're pretty cute and useful for now!

ETA: Well, upon actually wearing her hat (rather than just posing for me), M thinks her hat is too small, and I have to agree. Bother. Oh well, I guess someone's going to get the gift of a hat!

Shorts and other cute things....

Well, I did end up going to Gail K last week with M. My lovely mom met us at the store so she could keep an eye on M (and help me dig in the fabrics....) I got some stuff to make myself a couple of pairs of capris as well as some more for the girls. Last weekend I made a pair of short using the pattern (just shorter):
They're really cute, but I'm not so sure about the fit. Well, for one thing, they're big on M (but way too small for A). I took them in a little at the sides, although not in the way I probably should have (which would have involved taking them apart. I just wasn't up for that.) Plus the rise in front is really high, which my kids both hate, but not really in the back. I think I need to alter it a bit to get a better fit the next time. Oh, and as cute as the belt loops are, they were a *huge* pain, particularly since my children don't even own belts... The pockets are pretty awesome, though - I'm pretty sure that will be the most popular part of the whole thing for M and A.

I haven't started on any more of those yet, because I got distracted by Easter gift sewing. I made the girls super cute bunnies (if I do say so myself):
Bunny back:
I adapted a Melly and Me pattern (Petunia Pig - I'd made one for that swap a while back) for the basic idea, and just turned them into bunnies. I didn't think to stiffen the ears, so they flop rather hilariously, which is a happy accident. I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out - we'll see what the girls think on Sunday! Now I need to return to all my other sewing, though - the bunnies took way, way more time than I expected. I'd forgotten how much hand sewing was involved, and how slowly I do that!

Since it's spring break this week, we took a day trip to Chattanooga today, to visit the aquarium, which was lovely but exhausting, so I think I'll be sitting around tonight rather than sewing! It was a fun trip, and the drive wasn't bad - it's only about an hour and 45 minutes. We're thinking we'll take a long weekend up there this summer to see some of the other attractions. In addition to Rock City and all that, there's a Children's Museum that looks really neat. And we'd definitely enjoy more aquarium visits.