Is anyone surprised by my next choice of print?

AKA, more florals. No, not surprised? Okay, good. I like to meet expectations, of course. 

This is my second (successful) version of Butterick 5748. My first one turned out pretty darn well, if I do say so myself. My second one (unblogged) was a couple of inches too small. Even though I used the same size. Even though I haven't gained that much weight. So for this version, because I loved this print so much and didn't want to ruin more fabric, I added quite a bit of room all over. And then, of course, had to take out all of the extra room, and then some.

This was 2 yards of some fairly slinky gray/blue floral print from Hancock Fabrics, which I probably picked up for about $1.50 per yard. (Side note - I can't imagine myself ever caring enough about type of fabric to do a burn test. Sorrynotsorry, you'll have to settle for my ridiculous descriptions. :) I really only care about the print, always and forever.)

I love the back of this dress (along with a beautiful view of my healing sunburn). However, I can't imagine the back of this will ever be seen in real life, because...

While I was putting the finishing touches on the inside (aka serging some seams)...I made a big boo-boo. I cut a HUGE hole in there, and this was my lazy effort to fix it. It probably won't last for long, I'll have to go back and find a longer-term solution. That hasn't stopped me from wearing it so far, though...and my mom even said she likes this one! Something about it being more "subtle," ha.

What's your most recent disaster? Or "make it work" moment?

Flowers to the max!

(I am really really sorry about that title. Not sorry enough to change it, but...sorry.) For once I've got a seasonally appropriate garment to share, woohoo!

Although I've had a bit of a love-hate relationship with this pattern lately, my "tried and true" Simplicity 4070 bodice came through on this one! All in all, this dress only took me a couple of hours, and was the perfect palate cleanser after a recent sewing fail.

I picked up this fabric last year after I fell off the wagon with my 2014 stash bust, and before I signed up for this year's try. It's a pretty sheer cotton with swiss dots and, of course, flowers! I think it was only $1.50 a yard at the Vogue Fabrics warehouse sale (minus an extra 15% off coupon!), and I'm glad it hasn't lingered in my stash like some of the other goodies I've picked up there over the years. (The spring sale was this past weekend, and I'm immensely proud of myself that I only picked up 2 new pieces (okay, okay, aside from some Simpson's quilting cotton for my mom (FINE, it's mostly for me))). 

As usual, I had to do my cross-back straps - these things really are a lifesaver that prevent me constantly needing to pull them up. The skirt is basically a big pleated tube, but after wearing it for a day, I realized it was kind of hard to walk quickly or take long strides in it, so I added a slit (which I did completely wrong, honestly, but hey, live and learn).

The top's completely underlined in mystery white fabric from the stash, but the bottom's only underlined to the knee (which didn't show up in any of my pictures, oops). 

 

I love maxi dresses, I really do, but I kept catching glimpses of myself while we were out shopping and was worried I looked frumpy. I think the pictures look fine, but...I don't know. Does anyone else ever get that feeling?

(Also, though I have not managed to take a single picture of it (outside of new posts), Me-Made May is going well! I've got a couple more pieces to throw into rotation before the end of the month, but I'm confident it won't be a problem.)

UFOs and Pretty Insides

My goal this year has been to finish more of my UFOs (unfinished objects). I have quite a big box full of them, most of which I don't have the energy, the creativity, or the skills to finish. This skirt, however, was not hiding in that box, which was probably why I'd forgotten about it!

I cut it out last year in the midst of my Cascade kick, and when I rediscovered it, I couldn't remember why it ended up as a UFO in the first place. I decided to pay special attention to the inside finishes so that I could parlay this into participating in my first Monthly Stitch roundup: pretty insides.

The side seems are finished using French seams, and since the hem turns too tightly in some places to do some of the fancier finishes, and I can't find a rolled hem foot for my machine, I just did a basic hem, but cleaned it up using fray blocker and trimming it down. Even the inside waistband looks pretty!

[Awkward picture, but it's the best view of how the skirt really hangs - I chose a *really* windy day for these pictures. Also - isn't that mural awesome?]

Well, after finishing it all up, I realized it was in the UFO pile because the waist ties are a bit short. Oops. Oh well, it's definitely still wearable!

On my way out of work that day, the landlord's wife made a comment about how spring-y I looked, to which I had to respond, "Thanks! I made this!" She was sufficiently impressed, ha, and started grabbing at it to feel the fabric. I love getting to brag a little, don't you?

Spring has sprung!

At least on my dress...If I can't have flowers in real life yet, at least I can have them on my clothes. Floral prints seem to be the only things I want to work with these days, and I know I'm not the only one. Glad to see that trend continuing this year!

This dress actually has a bit of a back story. Last...May, maybe? I cut out B5748 with about a yard of this pretty quilting cotton that I picked up at a *major* estate sale. (I'm honestly still upset at myself that I didn't get more while I was there/have a better look around. This lady was the ultimate fabric hoarded.) I didn't have enough floral fabric to cut the bodice on the fold, and the skirt had to be pretty tiny with what was left over, but I got it all sewn together pretty quickly (using more quilting cotton to line the bodice). I was so excited about it that I even cut out a second right away. I wore this to work one day, and then had my mom take some pics for me to post over a long weekend. It was only when reviewing and editing those pictures that I realized just how SHORT the dress was! 

I definitely didn't feel comfortable wearing it out anymore, but with all of the craziness going on last summer, this got thrown into the UFO bin for me to deal with later. Well, later ended up being a bit longer than I thought, but I finally pulled this out last weekend, when I was in the mood to sew but didn't quite feel like starting anything new. I found some matching red quilting cotton and added about 4-5" to the length. I was worried it wouldn't look right, but I think it looks pretty meant to be here, right?

Obviously quilting cotton gets pretty wrinkly, but all in all, I'm happy with this dress. I even got a compliment from a random lady on the street yesterday!

Here's my awkward back view. I like that it's cut a little lower - although I'm really not sure I'd wear it without a cardigan...

Has spring sprung where you are yet? If not, what "cheats" are you using to deal with it?

Floral skirt makeover

This is the last project I have to post from 2014 - finally! On to even bigger and better things, right?

 

I'm still really on board with the floral trend that was everywhere last year. I hope it's still on-trend this year, but even if it's not...I'll keep wearing them, because they rock (and most of the fabric I bought last year was floral-print, so...gotta use that up!). 

This skirt started its life as one of my mom's. No idea where she got it from, but it didn't fit her anymore and she figured I'd like the print.

This was horribly unflattering on me. In addition to the bad length, it gave me awful muffin top. So nothing to do but take it apart, right? I kept the original waist band and hem and shortened it up significantly. If I'm being honest, I did not do a great job keeping the hem even. But that didn't stop me from wearing the skirt once a week!

[Blowing in the wind.]

Unfortunately, I wore this so much that the stitching at the waistband started coming apart, and I now have a big hole to mend. Should be a quick fix, but right now I think it's buried in with a bunch of other projects. Gotta get on that!

This is probably my favorite upcycle - what's yours?

Rainbow stash-busting

Well, after almost 9 months, it's finally done!

As usual, it's far from perfect, but I don't care, I love it!

I've talked about this a couple of times in the past, but it was inspired by this beauty:

[Hope Valley quilt by Jolene Klassen]

For once, almost all of the fabrics I used were from the stash, woohoo! I only bought 1/4 yard for this project specifically. All of the colored fabric was stuff that's been sitting around for quite a while, and the white on the front and the blue binding were recent stash acquisitions as part of a HUGE quilter's auction. 

I think Will (my new kitten, yay!) approves, don't you? 

This was definitely a labor of love, and impatience. While I certainly see a lot of flaws with this quilt, no one else seems to, and I did learn quite a bit. I'm already eagerly looking forward to making another...my Pinterest board is overflowing with ideas. I just can't decide where to start. What do you think?

Pinterest knock-off, for real this time

My latest creation is finally here!

[Please forgive the wrinkles, this survived several days of wear and a stint on the floor, oops.]

A while back, I was gushing about this pin:

When I was more committed to stash-busting, I'd made what I considered at the time to be a pretty okay knock-off. I like that dress and wear it a lot, but it still wasn't quite what I was looking for. Since then, I've been searching high and low for a better match to the fabric in the original dress (and one that would go with a jean jacket), and finally, gloriously, Hancock Fabrics saved the day! 

This is my tried-and-true fitted version of Simplicity 4070. I've finally got the fit close to perfect, but I can mix up the skirts enough to make it look different each time (I hope).

I didn't bother with pattern matching because I only bought 1.5 yards of this and there just wasn't enough left (which is also the reason for the A-line skirt rather than a gathered or pleated one). I got this for a decent sale price ($8/yard), but it's still more than I typically spend on fabric. Like I've said before, I'm still learning, and am way too scared to invest a bunch of money in something that might not work well. Luckily, I think this one does. :)

[Again, sorry for the wrinkles! That...does not look good, but the hem IS straight, I promise!]

The straps on the original version keep falling down (as do pretty much all straps ever), so I decided to cross them, which I think is a fun little detail. 

Other than the fact that this seems to need constant pressing, I really really like it! The pin is officially knocked off.

A win and a lose

First up, the win: another pair of Tania culottes, of course!

Honestly, though, these were almost not a win at all. This fabric (picked up at the Textile Discount Outlet for $3.50/yard) is suuuuuper slippery, and since I can't find a blind hem foot for my machine to save my life, I had to stitch that slippery sucker down twice and hope for the best. Thankfully, I think it worked out in the end.

Cute print, no? Unfortunately, it wrinkles more easily than I thought, but...eh. Good enough for who it's for.

Now for the fail: 

This is the bodice of Simplicity 4070, with some adjustments made after fitting it the last time, and a little self-drafted gathered peplum flounce added on in place of a skirt. It's not terrible or anything, but why oh why did I think that sewing a peplum top would be a good idea when I've hated literally every other peplum everything that I've ever tried on? Don't get me wrong, they look good on some people but I...am not one of those people.

I was inspired by ModCloth's Third Street Promenade top and couldn't resist giving it a go myself: 
 

 

I think the Simplicity bodice is a really great match for this, don't you? Too bad it's not my style.

I made this out of some quilting cotton stolen from my mom's stash, so yay for a semi-successful stash bust on this one at least, right?

I got really tired of the straps on the other one falling down, so I decided to make these crossover straps to avoid that (and also provide a little visual interest). 

I'm not ready to throw this completely into the fail pile - I'm still hoping to make it into something slightly more wearable, probably by removing all of the gathers and making the whole top a bit more streamlined. Time will tell if I can get around to that, though - I've got a crazy-busy month coming up!

What do you think of the peplum trend? Temporary fad, or here to stay? And would you/do you wear them?

More Cascade love

Did I mention how much I adore this pattern? No? Wellllll, I do. It's awesome: 

This version especially is so flowy and floaty, thanks in part to the underlining:

[Pardon the derp-y look on my face, but I had to do one of these twirling shots.]

And the fabric is amazing. It makes me so happy. (I think it was only like $1/yard on clearance at Wal-mart, so again, not high quality, but that pattern is to-die-for.)

Here's an inadvertent close-up while I was messing with the self-timer on the camera (I really need one of those remote things, but I don't think they make them for this model) - 

I'd originally been saving the fabric for this ModCloth knock-off:

But then I decided that the chances of me getting around to making this, and making it right, were slim. At least I knew that the Cascade worked for me, and I thought it would showcase this fabric beautifully. 

[Again, stupid look on my face, but great shot of the high-low hem!]

I didn't chop the back of the hem so drastically this time, but did keep my modified pattern so that this skirt wouldn't be trailing the floor. Historically, I haven't been a huge fan of the mullet hem, but I'll make an exception for this skirt. However, I've still got to be mindful of yardages, and I barely squeezed this onto the two yards I had.

It was a bit of a pain to work with this version, as I was using TWO very slippery fabrics, and double-hemming them separately. I initially tried to hem them together, but good Lord was that a mess. The lining might be a bit too short, but at least it keeps my naughty bits from peeking through. 

This was a pretty decent stash-buster, too. I've probably had the floral fabric for 2-3 years but was afraid of cutting into it because of how slinky it is. The underlining was bought this year during a stock-up trip to Hancock Fabrics. I can never resist their spot-the-bolt sales, but I did limit myself to only buying fabrics that I thought would be good for linings (with no specific projects in mind). This one happened to be a really good match for the florals, and I used up most of it here (and have already cut into another lining for a project that I'm still working out some fitting issues on, to be posted once they're solved!).

So, version 2 completed, on to version 3...

Not the best picture, but I didn't want to do a complete photo shoot because this one's not actually for me (though I wish it were - it's the best-made version yet, and I am in love with that print!). My friend's bachelorette party is next weekend, and she's pretty shy and innocent and would totally be embarrassed by the typical raunchy gifts, so I decided I'd make her something instead. I'm planning to include a couple of nail polishes that match the colors in this dress. I think this will be the first hand-made gift I've given to someone other than my mom, and I'm very nervous! I wanted this to be a complete surprise, so I didn't consult her on fabric or pattern choice. I figured a wrap dress was a safe bet fitting-wise, but...who knows! 

Do you guys like to give handmade gifts, or are you more "selfish" sewers? And if you do give hand-made, what's the response been? Are people generally grateful/impressed, or are you worried about coming off as a cheapskate?

Cascade skirt, just in time for cold weather

I finally broke down and bought this pattern last week, yet again breaking my stash diet pledge and the whole goal of this blog, oops. However, I'd been searching high and low for a sale, and when the lovely Lauren at Lladybird introduced one of her new sponsors (Indie Stitches) with a discount code for the month of June, I jumped at the opportunity and allowed myself a small indulgence, since I've been dreaming about this pattern for more than a month.

[I braved the cold for these pictures, but yesterday really wasn't tank top and wrap skirt weather - cold and windy, and some people may have gotten flashed...]

YOU GUYS. Why in the world did I wait so long? I love this thing! I think taping together the PDF pattern took longer than cutting and sewing the entire thing...okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but this was such a quick project, even with the French seams. Not fiddling with a zipper probably helps a lot, huh? 

A million more of these are now on my to-do list. I made the tie-in-back version, but ended up tying it in front because A) it feels more secure, and B) I'm not a huge fan of bows, so I didn't feel the need to have the extra length to tie one. I also made the hem less drastically high-low, and ended up evening it out even more when I felt it wasn't sitting right in back. I'm wearing it as a high-waisted skirt because it's flattering as hell that way, even though that wasn't the original intention. 

The fabric wasn't a stash-bust, either, as I picked it up this year, but am proud that it didn't sit in my stash for too long! It was only 50 cents/yard brand new from Hancock Fabrics, talk about a steal! It's some cheap synthetic stuff, I'm sure, but it's still really soft and feels really nice on bare summer legs. :) (And obviously it's more florals, ha.) I'm also happy that I still have about 2 yards of it to use - I didn't need anywhere close to the almost-4 yards that the pattern calls for (this is the second Megan Nielsen pattern I've sewn that severely overestimates the yardages needed, though I know that cutting off a lot of the back hem contributed to that here). 

Anyway, I think I'm in love, and this may have surpassed the Tanias as my favorite pattern to-date (though I do have one more pair of those to show you soon, too!) Have you guys given this one a try yet? What did you think?

Finally finished - Simplicity 2250

Aaaages in the making, but it's finally done!

[Yay for another cool backdrop!]

It's a crazy-bright, ridiculously floral border print quilting cotton, from God knows where. I feel like this somehow made its way into my stash from something my mom picked up, because it doesn't look like anything I'd choose, but who knows? I probably had just over a yard of this to start with, which is not a lot to try to squeeze a dress out of. I ended up juuuust squeaking by - at first I thought I'd have to do the back in plain white, but ended up being able to barely fit all of the pieces I needed.

[Check out my super 90s styling, guys!]

I made view "A," but let me tell you, this bodice is super fiddly, and by the time I finished the front there was no way I was going to do all of that nonsense with the elastic in the back. (It's a shame you can't even see all of the detailing in the front, really.) I also realized I kind of screwed up the straps, so I decided to just make it into a halter - at least that way the straps won't be constantly falling off of my oh-so-sloped shoulders.

I know I look really happy here, but honestly, this isn't my favorite dress. I just don't think it's super flattering, I guess. At least I got some practice, and it IS wearable, but...yeah, not going to attempt this pattern again.

In addition to the changes I made to the bodice, I obviously couldn't make the skirt as-instructed because of A) the border print and B) the limited amount of fabric I had. I went with my standard lazy-girl pleats in the front and back, but they were sitting so weirdly in the back that I ended up just taking them out.

Yes, that zipper is embarrassing. I was having so many issues with it - I think this was my third attempt, and I didn't realize it was too low until it was way too late for me to want to fix it again. I'll have to go back and add a hook and eye or something to keep it a bit more closed at the top.

Like I said, not too flattering to my tummy or butt, but...oh well! Live and learn (and practice, practice, practice!). Woohoo for some great stashbusting on this one, though!