I think I jinxed us

After a long, horrible winter, we finally started to get some sunshine and warm weather in Chicago last week (the high got up to 75!). Since I was in both a spring and a stashbusting spirit, I decided to whip up a flowery circle skirt in which to enjoy the goodness.

Unfortunately, by the time I got around to taking these pictures late last week, the weather had already started to turn, eventually terminating in 4-5 inches of snow yesterday! 

I picked up 1.5 yards of this fabric from Hancock (I think) a while back, and it's some sort of stretchy denim-looking cotton. It was really easy to work with and I managed to get really clean lines at the hem (bias bound, of course), waist, and zip. 

Seriously, this is probably my best zip insertion to-date! Although you can see in this picture that the skirt is probably just a little too big...I'd like to think I'll go back and take it in a little, but in all likelihood too many other things will get pushed to the forefront.

Since this print (coupled with a circle skirt) could easily border on too saccharine, I tried to "tough" it up a bit with some grey and a moto jacket. (Alas, a black moto jacket really would have come in handy here! Add it to the to-do list...)

One last swirly pic, because circle skirts are just too fun! 

Side note - hopefully I'm back on track with my posting schedule this week. I've got some general goals for this year, but my biggest one is that I'm trying to post once a week. With this one exception, I've been doing pretty well this year, no? 

Like everyone in North America, I'm over this winter. What are your spring sewing plans while you dream of warmer weather?

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?

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?