SSPC 2012: Green Skirt (Dress Refashion)

Last summer, I made a dress from the Cynthia Rowley Simplicity 2443 pattern - the same pattern I made my jacket from. It's a bit of a tricky pattern with the curves in the bodice, especially in a knit, but if you take your time and sew carefully it'll be fine. I wore this dress a few times, but it just wasn't working for me. The issues were all to do with my sewing and fabric choice, not the pattern itself. I'd love to make this again, possibly with a contrasting band around the neckline and waist like so:

But anyways, here's the version I made (as seen at the Coliseum in Rome):

I used a striped jersey knit for the top and an ITY knit for the waistband and skirt. I eliminated the neck bands because I didn't like how they'd look in a stripe. The first issue I had was that I apparently attached the skirt crooked. I think I cut the bodice with the stripes pretty straight, but when I tried it all on, the skirt was clearly veering lower on one side - which was made even more obvious by the way it didn't parallel the stripe above it. I slipstitched the waistband to be a little more even (because unpicking that knit was way beyond what I was willing to do), and it was wearable. But the more I wore it, the more the heavy skirt pulled at that stitching. It also just pulled at the bodice - ITY seems fairly heavy for a knit, especially when paired with a much lighter jersey. Which reminds me, I also had to line the bodice because it was kind of see-through, but I didn't have enough of the white jersey I was using (leftover from something else) to do it correctly.

So I ended up just cutting off the bodice, cutting off the white band at the bottom, re-hemming it, attaching some elastic to the waist, and calling it a new skirt. Voila:

I took this picture as I was heading off to work. so it's over exposed and I only took one shot. Oh well. I really like the color of this skirt, but I don't have enough things to wear with it. I think some back-to-school shopping will be in order soon (although I'm not going back to school...). The nice thing about a dress is that you don't have to figure out which shirt to wear with it!

SSPC 2012: Status Update

Officially, the Spring/Summer Palette Challenge 2012 has ended, but I'm setting my personal deadline through the end of summer. I guess that's less of a challenge and more of a seasonal plan, isn't it? I have, however, completed 6 of my garments (new & fixed/altered). I'm partially done with two of the other garments also, but "almost" doesn't count here. A review:

Pastille dress: New garment - technically started before the challenge, but completed as part of it
Blue roses skirt: New garment - started during last fall's challenge, but sat around waiting to be finished until this challenge. It's a completely hand-stitched Alabama Chanin pattern.
Green skirt: This used to be a dress, but wasn't thrilled with it and chopped off the top to make a skirt
Voile dress: This was altered to fit better and be more comfortable
PJ pants: These were a 2-for-1 as part of Karen's Pyjama Party as well as this challenge
Grey Clovers: I made these earlier this year in a class, but I hadn't completely finished them (umm, there may have been areas that were just basted, not fully stitched...) - until now

Still to be done:

Bird print shirt: This one is almost done. Well, in some ways it IS done - I was all ready to wear it and everything when I realized the blue chalk lines on the v-neck are still completely visible and I can't seem to remove them. Plus, the point of the V has started to tear, probably not helped by my efforts to remove the chalk. I need to figure out how to fix it as it's completed construction-wise but not wearable.
Blue Clovers: This seems like it would be simple as I've made this pattern already, but I want to tweak it a bit more as I'm not thrilled with the adjustments on the first pair. I'm trying to make a wearable muslin shorts-version to test my next set of adjustments, so it's kind of a double project. The shorts are almost done. So close.
Chambray Traveler dress: I haven't even pulled this out of the closet where it's been sitting in shame (it's way too big.) I wasn't excited about this one, but I've been thinking about it more and I'm ready to be able to wear it. It requires quite a bit of unpicking stitches, though (and I used French seams for a lot of it - extra unpicking).
Navy blue interlock shirt: The fabric didn't come in for this one, so I ended up switching the plan to a: Button-back shirt. I bought a black and white linen/cotton blend for this, and I'm hoping I can use a button-front shirt pattern I have to make a button-back shirt instead... not 100% sure it will work the way I want it to.

So numbers-wise, I'm more than half done. Amount-of-work-wise I'm less than halfway. I feel like I've made good progress. I've been wearing things I made, which is fun. I made quite a bit of sewing time early in the challenge, but I just can't set aside that much time lately. I'm going to keep working on this though, and I'd like to get at least the bird shirt and Clovers done in the next month; they're the two on my list I'd most like done to wear during the summer. And one more picture of them all together, because it feels good to see all these things that I've made:

Summer Goings-On

We've been busy around here. I've been trying to eke out a little sewing time but don't have much to show for it. Last Friday we went to the Jelly Belly Factory with a group of jr. highers from our church. I'm snacking on some belly flops as I type.

On Saturday I helped my brother and his wife move into their new house. Then on Sunday we all (me, my husband, brother, sister-in-law, mom, and dad) went to the city for my dad's birthday - a Giants game followed by dinner in North Beach.

Yesterday was the 4th of July (obviously), and I worked on my Clover shorts all afternoon and got them this close to being done. They need a little hand-stitching and one more cuff sewn on. Then in the evening we went to my in-laws' house for a block party BBQ and a few fireworks.

This upcoming weekend we're heading back towards the city with the jr. high youth group to visit the Golden Gate bridge and hike around the headlands. And on a totally different topic, here's my one completed curtain. I still haven't finished the other one or ordered the fabric for the big one. Oh well. At least we can't watch our neighbors' TV anymore.

Craft Room/Office Reorganizing

This is what I've been busy with lately:

One of our extra bedrooms is an office/craft room all for me. The current organization is, well, lacking. I need shelving and boxes and have plans for things like a pegboard and a mirror I can actually see more than my knees and feet in. Today it's a little better than these pictures; this was when EVERYTHING was pulled out of the closet, out of cardboard boxes, out of piles on the floor. Our neighborhood is having a block garage sale in a few weeks, so I set aside things to sell and/or donate. Made a garbage pile. Still have quite a bit to go through and organize, but my fabric is purged and put away in plastic boxes and bins. I feel like I don't have much of a stash, but when I pull it all out there's more than I think. I only kept things I really liked and/or had actual plans for. And the supplies for my Etsy things.

And in other news, Juliet kindly nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award! Thank you, Juliet! If you haven't visited her blog, do. Her sense of humor comes through in all her posts, she makes cute clothes and posts delicious-sounding recipes. And she's a kiwi, which is just fun to say. :) Thus I bring you:

Seven Things About Me

1. I married my high school sweetheart, and married him young (I was only 19) - this fall will be our 7th anniversary!

2. I work at my dad's business - two of my uncles work there as well

3. I've been playing Clusterz online way too much lately

4. I spent my 15th birthday in Venice - I know, right? I was very fortunate to go on that trip with my parents and grandma, and made quite a lot of memories

5. I was able to visit Europe again last year and took only a carry-on size suitcase plus a backpack for a 17 day trip. I was quite proud of that.

6. I grew up on the same street that my mom grew up on - with my grandparents up the road, my aunt and uncle next door, and other aunts and uncles up the road or over the hill at various times. Needless to say, we're a pretty close-knit family.

7. I bought this today (under the less exciting name "Biscoff Spread). Let's just say, I dipped a spoon straight into that jar. A few times. Nutella has the same effect.


And I would like to pass the award on, although I'm only going to choose 5 blogs rather than 15. These are all blogs that I've just recently started reading and would certainly recommend.

Alice of The Pin and Thimble - she's a new sewer, but is already making some lovely things. Check out her tie-dye skirt!


Jo of Making it Well - another new sewer, also making lovely things! She shares multiple types of projects and a lot about the process of each one

Lauren's Musings of a Flower Child - brand new blog to me, but she's got a soft, pretty style and and eye for good details


Erin of Opportunity Knits - She doesn't just knit, she sews and crochets. And even her sweeping is pretty - I certainly don't get to sweep up pretty flowers like that!


Paige of Lux Per Diem - Photography, sewing, life. It's all there.

Summer Has Arrived

I got a new camera a few weeks ago! My old one was just getting old and starting to not work right. I'm still learning how to use this one, but it's been fun so far.

My hydrangea has started to bloom. This plant is from a cutting my grandma took from one of the plants we used to decorate at our wedding. Love that.

I made chocolate-cherry ice cream (I have a photo of the actual ice cream, but I think it's still on the camera.) Cherries are so pretty; these were cooked into a candied cherry syrup. I haven't made ice cream since last summer, I think. Working on remedying that.

I also made a sweater/jacket for a friend's new baby girl (who made her entrance to the world yesterday!) 100% cotton, pattern from Little Crochet by Linda Permann. I've made two patterns from this book so far and both were very cute. I need to work on choosing a yarn weight that fits the project ahead of time, though, I've had to make alterations for sizing both times because I chose heavier yarn than what was called for.

And the thing taking up most of my sewing time right now is curtains for our living room. We have woven wood blinds/shades right now, which I really like the look of, but they don't totally block the light. I also just wanted drapes - something to add some color or pattern or something. I'm making lined pinch-pleated draperies out of a small scale black and white gingham I bought from Fabric.com. It's coming along fine so far, but they're much more time-consuming than I anticipated. Working with these big pieces of fabric take a lot of space (and pins!)

So that's part of my summer so far. An update on the Palette Challenge will be posted soon!

Inspiration: Beaded Sleeves

Last week was one of those weeks that just wasn't productive. I didn't feel motivated to do much, so the time I did spend working on things went towards a gift (yet to be finished... I had to redo a good chunk of it). I realized today I had this post sitting around half-written.

So, two weeks ago the Coletterie linked to this Threads article showing a pair of beaded and embroidered sleeves. If you haven't seen it, do! They're absolutely beautiful. The detail is amazing.

It got me thinking about how cute it would be to add sheer beaded sleeves to a simple top or dress. I lack the experience or ability to make anything quite like the inspiration, but I have done a bit of beading and rather liked it. The Alabama Stitch Book even has a little info on beading, and the stencil patterns from it would work for beading patterns.

I started looking for examples, and while they weren't all over the place, I did find a few (quite a few wedding dresses, too). Here's one:

Photo at tomandlorenzo.com

I like that it's more modern, with the very plain bodice and bright colors, but the beading is a little heavy.

This is example from Flickr is on a sweater and different beads than I'd use, but I like the random, scattered style with a stronger concentration at the hem:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onthevraydar/6425678691/

I'd use a simple bodice and little cap sleeves for this. And wouldn't the Truffle dress look good with beaded sleeves and matching detail on the ruffle?

Notes to self: Fitting

I meant to put this in my original Pastille post, but seeing as how I forgot and it was a wordy enough post on its own, I'll put it in here. I mentioned some of these things, but I want to very clearly document fitting notes and future changes so that I can easily find them if/when I make a pattern again. Or for reference on similar patterns. I could write them down somewhere, but chances are I'd lose them. Blogs really are handy as notebooks.

Pastille Dress

• Back bodice is too long
• Waistline on front bodice needs to be raised a smidge outside of the darts
• Skirt could still be straightened a bit - near the middle it still rounds out too much
• Sleeves - didn't mark changes on pattern piece, so try to trace dress or just re-do them (or remove them)
• Check waist length between front bodice and front skirt - it didn't seem to match up, probably forgot to adjust skirt waist after altering bodice

Optional:

• Make back bodice one piece and move zipper to side, add width to seam allowances for lapped zipper
• Sleeveless or draft separate cap sleeves
• Lace insertion at hem instead of pleats
• Do the bow

Also, things I learned or tried:

Thread tracing

Using lace hem tape

Prick stitching, lapped zipper

Hand-stitched understitching on facings

SBA

Several certainly-not-textbook fiddlings to get those sleeves to lay right without unpicking everything...

And here's a close up of the fabric I used (in TWO colorways!) just because:

Via trinityquilts.com