Catching up: muslins and pockets and presents

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I posted last! The mojo has taken a bit of a nose dive, although I have been sewing some, just all behind the scenes sort of stuff.
Several months ago, I enrolled in the Pants Fitting Class at Craftsy. I've been watching the videos at a leisurely pace, and I finally dove in and made a muslin. Then altered the muslin. I'm not going to show you the first one. It was SO. BAD.

No bad, eh? So, I transferred all of the changes I made to the pattern, and sewed up a second muslin. I never do that, but I wanted to follow the class and get the muslin right before I plow right in to the fashion fabric. I'm glad I did because the second one was WAAAAY too tight. No pictures of that either. I couldn't bear to take any. I slashed open the front princess seams and made some more alterations. Then I ran out of steam. I just don't know if I am going to move forward with these pants.

So naturally, the most logical thing to do when you can't get a pair of pants to fit is to make a pair of jeans, right? Since I know the Jalie pattern fits me with minimal alterations, I traced the higher waist version and just cut. No muslin, no tissue fit. I just wanted to sew. I'm sure this will bite me in the butt, but I'm actually having fun with these, so I don't care. Like my pockets? I was feeling a little wild, so I went with asymmetrical, a la Tanit-Isis.

In between, when I couldn't decided what I wanted to sew, I decided to do some reorganizing of the stash. Whenever new fabric comes into the stash, I immediately pre-treat it so that it will be ready to cut whenever the mood strikes. The exception to this is pure wool and silk (and blends of the two). I've always been nervous about just throwing these fibers in the wash, but I know I won't take finished garments to the dry cleaners, so I need to find a way to make them conform to my clothing care style. I've decided that I'm going to wash all the silks on a delicate cycle and hang them to dry. That way, even if I lose a little sheen, at least I'll actually wear the finished garments. I'm contemplating doing the same with the wools. I've even tried out a wool that wasn't too dear and it came out well, so I'm pressing forward. I really want these fabrics to have a home in my closet and life.

But I saved the best for last! The lovely and talented LadyKatza sent me this wonderful package, and it arrived a couple of days ago. Myra immediately grabbed the Princess patterns and carted them around the house all afternoon, asking me when I was going to make them for her (and me!). The fabric is a fabulous embroidered twill with a generous stretch that runs with the grain. Myra wants it, but I think it may end up as a pencil skirt for me. It's so fun!

Kitschy Coo Skater Dress - Mermaid style

So, a couple of weeks ago, Myra mentioned that she wanted a mermaid costume. Since she asks me for a different princess costume on a daily basis, I sort of blew her off (also, I was in the middle of the coat, so I wasn't willing to be derailed). This time, the request stuck, and when she started asking on an hourly basis, we went fabric shopping for mermaid appropriate knits.

We did have a challenging time agreeing on a design. Myra really wanted a tail that was closed at the bottom. She's 4, so the reality of needing to walk just wasn't that important to her. Finally I convinced her (with the help of Google Images) that she really needed to be able to walk, and we agreed on a tail style. I used this tutorial for the fins.

The basic pattern is the sleeveless version of the Kitschy Coo Skater dress. It's such a great basic dress, obviously easily customizable. I think I'm going to use it for some further princess dresses. It's so nice when dress up dresses are comfortable and durable.

The fabrics we used were a hodgepodge of knits from Joann and Hancock. The nude knit on top is Joann's "Jet Set" poly knit. The sequin mesh for the shells and the green sparkle knit for the tail are both from Hancock's costume collection and the fins are poly organza from the BFF collection at Hancock.

To make Myra's "shells", I just cut a strip of the sequin knit and gathered it along the middle. I appliqued it to the bodice at around the bust level. I don't have a great back view, but I did extend the applique around the back, narrowing the band at center back to better approximate a bikini top.

The fins are just rough semicircles of organza (again, I based them on this 'tute.), pleated randomly along the front hemline for some volume. In the tutorial, the edges are finished with Fray Chek, which looks really nice, but Myra was breathing over my shoulder to wear this, so I serged the edges to finish them. Would have been nice if I had green thread, huh?

For the skirt, I used the Skater dress skirt, but slimmed it by taking several small wedges out of the pattern piece. I lengthened it to ankle length at center front and pegged it just slightly to give it more of a tail shape, but not enough to restrict movement.

My little princess is very pleased with her new mermaid costume. I'm happy with how quickly it worked up (about 3 hours, including pattern alterations) and how much she likes it. I think we'll be hanging out "Under the Sea" quite a bit in the near future.

New Look 6000

Better late than never, my Polka Dot Frock Fest frock is done!!

Do I look smug? I can't believe how quickly this dress sewed up. When I was was cutting it out on the last day of February I didn't think I had a prayer of getting it done in a reasonable time frame, but once I got it going, it practically sewed itself.

The pattern I used is New Look 6000, and I chose the view with the side pleats. I really love that collar, but since I was trying for a quick finish, I went for simple. For the sleeve, I lengthened the elbow length sleeve to a bracelet length and slimmed it a bit. As far as size goes, I honestly couldn't tell you what all I did. I started with the size 14, since the measurements on the pattern seemed logical for a fitted sheath on me, but I ended up taking it in quite a bit as I made it, so I think I ended up somewhere between a 10 and a 12. I did cut the shoulders at a 12 and took in the back neckline, as New Look patterns always gape at the back neck on me.

Speaking of the neckline, here it is up close. I was concerned that the neckline would be too wide, so I sewed the facings on with a 3/8 seam allowance to raise the neckline a tad. It worked well, and the neckline is still low enough in front that it doesn't choke me.

The feature of the dress that makes it unique is the pleats on the side. They look complex, but they were surprisingly easy to make. The fabric I chose (a poly moleskin from FabricMart) had a good amount of body to support the pleats well, but I think made it a bit too poofy in front. Fabric choice is really key, I think with this dress. Too much drape and I think the pleats may sag, but too much body and...

Well, not my most flattering look then, is it?You can see the pleats aren't doing me any favors from the side.

On the plus side, the fit in the back is pretty awesome. Between the back darts and the center back seam, there are plenty of opportunities to refine the fit if needed, but it is drafted really well back there, at least for me.

From the front though, it is a really nice look, and the dress itself is very comfortable. I wore it on Saturday and the pouchy tummy didn't bother me, so I suspect that I will actually wear this often. I love that it hits the graphic black and white trend, which I like the look of but never seem to manage to do myself. I love COLOR!

Kitschy Coo Skater Dress!!

I've had such a hard time keeping these cuties to myself!!

Myra was really excited about them, too. But now that the pattern has been released, I present to you - The Skater Dress! The sewing internets have been abuzz about this pattern since Amanda of Kitschy Coo announced that she was going to make it available for us.

Myra and I were both so excited to be able to test the pattern, since it's pretty much the most perfect dress ever. The bodice is a basic tee style with bands at the neckline and armhole/sleeve hem. You can choose between long or short sleeves, or you can go sleeveless for a summer look or a jumper/pinafore.

The skirt is a nice a-line style with plenty of twirl. It's not so full that your princess has to worry about a wardrobe malfunction, and the length is just right for playtime.

I've made 2, so far and Myra loves them both! This was the first I made, and I let her chose the fabric. She chose a corduroy-like knit from my stash, and while it is soft and snuggly, it was pretty unstable, and really wasn't the greatest to sew. She really loves this dress though.

I added some gold knit faux piping at the sleeve bands and neckband (using this tutorial) and I love the effect. Myra does too, and has decided that this is her Princess Fiona dress, since it sparkles.

The fabric for the floral print is a cotton jersey from Girl Charlee and it was really a much better choice. It's soft and comfortable, but still nice and girly. You can see how nicely the dress fits her in this shot. I made Myra the 3T/4T and it is perfect for her. For reference, she wears a size 104 in Ottobre.

So, what are you waiting for?? Stop what you're doing and go order your copy! Get it here. It's a PDF that is automatically delivered to your email when you purchase - instant gratification!! I generally am not a huge PDF pattern fan, but this one is really easy to tape together, as Amanda has each pattern piece tiled separately, so it's less of a jigsaw puzzle.

Hooray for the Skater Dress!!

Monthly Roundup: February 2013

February wasn't my  most productive month by the numbers, but given the plague that felled our entire household for a week, and the fact the I made a coat, I'm pretty pleased with my output.

I made:
1) Puppet show curtain for Myra's Preschool
2) Vogue 8831 tunic for me
3) Butterick 4910 nightgown for Myra
4) 12" doll peasant gown for Baby
5) McCalls 6069 dress for me
6) Zipper pouch for Myra
7) Burda magazine 01/2011-130 leggings (x2) for me
8) Burda magazine 04/2011-118 top for me
9) Burda magazine 08/2007-112B coat for me

I sewed up 11 projects and used 22.25 yards of fabric. 5 projects used stash fabrics and I used 3 burda magazine patterns, so that part of my Stashbusting goal went well. Unfortunately, I added 30.75 yards of fabric to the collection, when my goal was to only add 20, so since I went 10 yards over this month, my March goal will be to buy a max of 12 yards. Well, see how that goes...

My other February project got lost in the shuffle of coat making. I was really hoping to participate in Scruffy Badger's February Polka Dot Frock Fest! I have managed to get started, but I still have a few seams yet to sew before my dress is ready for the reveal. I was quite surprised at the difficulty I had finding good polka dot dress fabrics! I ended up using a stash fabric (yay!), so we'll see how it goes. I should have it finished soon to show you.

Once I finish my Polka Dot frock, I'm going to dive into the Pants Fitting class taught by Sandra Betzina on Craftsy. I enrolled in the class several months ago and have watched a few of the videos. So far it looks great and I've already learned a few key things. Next I just need to sew up a muslin of the pattern for the class. I actually really like this pattern, and if I can get a good fit, have some fabric in mind for a real pair as well.

The other big March event on the sewing front is Easter. I'm off the hook for Myra's dress, as my mother has offered to sew her up something to match her cousin. Sweet! I'd like to sew up something spring-y and sweet for myself as well, and the boys could probably do with some new pants at least. Myra has also put in a couple of requests for dress up dresses, including a mermaid tail... Stay tuned!