New Jalies

Oh, how I love thee Jalie. I adore this swimsuit pattern. I can see the girls in both versions. I love the twist-front one the most, I think. I need a one-piece suit too!

 

I also bought this shorts pattern. I will make these over and over again as running shorts, bathing suit shorts, and casual summer shorts. LOVE THEM.

 

I love the simplicity of this top. Jalie always has the best fit for me, so I’m guessing this will be fantastic too. I also love their mini-dress version (on Facebook). And I want that middle version with the black sleeves and print front.

 

Ahem, I may have a leotard addiction. Blink. Blink.

 

Yes, I have other sweatshirt patterns. But nothing fits like Jalie. Plus, I will have one pattern for a hoodie, sweatshirt, and sweatpants. Forever. One pattern, people. I will make this 1300 times before my kids even graduate high school. I betcha!

 

There is another cardigan pattern that looks cute, and two more dance/gymnastics patterns. I didn’t want to buy them all, that might mean I have a problem. Blink. Blink.

Jalie 3241- More leotards and some fun circle skirts!

These two little people just got into a dance class and they NEEDED a leotard. Like NEEDED one now. So, of course, mom obliged. I used size L, which is the size I made for their cousin. I knew from when they modeled that leotard that it was a bit snug in the torso length. I added a 1/2” to the front and back, and it’s still tight! After they were all made, I measured the girls. The bust, waist, and hip measurements are in the H range (size 4!!!), but their girth is in the N range (size 10!). I think next time, I will keep the size L and add another inch to the torso. The width is fine and may be a tiny bit too loose when the length issue is solved. Smile girl!

 

My absolute favorite of the leotard is the cross-back. Here you can see they are pretty stretched and there is a gap at CB where the straps meet the leotard. That’s all from the stretch that is caused by the too short leotard.

 

Because they are Girlie-Girls (notice the capitals), they also NEEDED twirly skirts. Yes, ma'am (imagine me saluting them and then running off to my sewing room, because that’s about how it happened). Here is the result.

 

This girl was cold, but here is what they look like when they aren’t spinning.

 

And here’s the spin.

 

SPIN! We also got our faces painted today.

 

This was everyone’s favorite skirt.

 

Hearts, mesh, poofy, what’s not to love?

 

These are extremely easy to make. Circle of fabric, elastic, sew.

 

I just zig-zagged them on with matching thread. This is 1-inch elastic.

 

I didn’t even bother to finish the inside fabric or hem it, gasp.

 

This is the other favorite. Pink, leopard-print mesh. Yikes.

 

I made another Burda 05/20014 #106 and I love this one more than the last one! I just need to find some time to photograph it!

Burda 05/2014 #106 (May Burda Challenge?)

Can I do my May Burda Challenge in April? I think I can.

 

This is the May raglan-sleeved knit dress that got so much notice on the previews. The notice was well worth it too, because it’s a great pattern. Except for a little operator-error snafu, the dress went together perfectly. Mine isn’t as blingy as the model’s sequin dress, but I like it all the same.

 

It fits well in back.

 

This fantastic SPRINGY fabric is from the Swap Meet in National City. My favorite fabric “store”.

 

This is when my husband was taking pictures and I was over it.

 

Here’s my snafu. You are supposed to fold the facing wrong side together and treat as one layer when you sew the arms to the bodice, right? Well, I did the RST cowl sandwich that I normally do and it, of course, didn’t work. If you put the cowl neck facing WST, like they tell you, it goes together fine. Remember that when you sew the cowl-neck to the arm sleeve, you need to leave a seam allowance overhanging on the sleeve seam. This is what you will sew to your neck facing. I found after trying it on that the neckline was too low and stretchy. Self-facing facing would have not shown, but I needed the beefiness of this white elastic. Next time (oh yes, there will be a next time), I will reinforce the neck and then sew on a self-fabric facing.

 

Hope everyone had a fantastic Easter.

 

This dress also shows me what to do with my next Jalie raglan-sleeved dress. I’ll change the body to be more fitted like this.

Jalie 3245 as a T-shirt Dress

Yadda, yadda, best raglan t-shirt pattern ever, made it a million times, yadda yadda.

 

Today, though, it’s a dress. I’ve been meaning to do this all winter with a sweater knit and a big cowl neck. Now it’s spring and that doesn’t really work anymore.

 

I’ve got to tell you though, I’m not sold on it. I think partly, it’s the fabric. It’s a poly-blend double knit from Fashion Fabrics Club. I don’t really love how it flares below the hips and that is the fabric too. It’s does not drape AT ALL. I could have cut it more straight, but I followed the curve of the tunic top.

 

 

However, I received rave reviews today at work. There was a lot of “did-you-make-that-it’s so-freaking-cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. I’m wondering though if it doesn’t look crafty and homemade. That’s like the kiss of death for me. I think sometimes people ask because it doesn’t look RTW, and then they have to say something, so they squee a little and say it’s cute.

 

Here it’s a bit more fitted. I looked at the original pictures and decided it needed to be a bit more shapely. I added some elastic to the back in a casing. I like the front better, but not the back now.

 

What do you guys think?

 

I used the flatlock stitch on the front and back of the raglan sleeves.

 

I made a design feature, ahem, because (what the hell was I thinking) the collar is way too wide and would not lay down against the neck (like almost two inches!). So I sewed a section down at CF. It was a good solution to my problem, and I think it’s cute.

 

I used embroidery on one of the pockets. These look a little sketchy too because I could not for the life of me, make this stuff take a fold. I was trying to get the pocket pieces to lay flat which I was sewing them on. Not awesome.

 

 

What do you guys think? Too Suzy homemaker? Or cute like people at work said? My plan for the next one? I probably need to suck it up and do a swayback adjustment (do I HAVE to add a CB seam? Is there another way?). I will also make the skirt go straight after the hip instead of flaring.

 

Next up is this Burda dress. I love it. Look, it’s a raglan too!

Burda 04/2014 #112 Knit Dress

So, I had to make it. I just had to. It isn’t bad, really.

 

I made my standard size 34 with no adjustments. I used this cerulean blue knit I had in stash. I’m not sure where I got it. I think it was one of my “oh-you-sew-do-you-want-this” donations. It’s strange in that it wrinkles badly. I think the dress is only okay. The shaping darts go way up onto my bust and you can wear it either way because the darts are the same front and back. The only thing that makes it front or back is that the “normal” sleeve has a notch in it which would go with the front of the dress. I put it on both ways and it seemed to be fine either way. If fact, I have no idea now which way would be the true front.

 

I love the side/hip ruching.

 

What I don’t love is this. One of the sleeves is just sewn into a hole in the side of the dress. I don’t hate it because of that, though. Because the drop sleeve is so pronounced, it cups the shoulder and it feels like I need to pull it up all day. And it pulls quite a bit if I pull that one arm up. Here you can see how low the shoulder is on this one side.

 

Here’s a line added to show you the seam line.

 

Here you can clearly see the shoulder seam and the pulling. It’s worse on the back for sure. With my arms down, you can’t really see any pulling.

 

The cowl is pretty fun. I can rob a bank on the way home front work. Or stay warm in a blizzard!

 

All in all, I’m not sure that I love it. Husband says it’s HAWT, and I should wear it. I think if I wore it for any length of time, the drop shoulder would not bother me as much. Anyone else made this? Same issues?

Jalie 3243–Pull-on Pants

I’ve made this pattern a few times before. It’s an easy pull-on pant. Pretty simple, but wicked awesome. I’ve made my son pajama pants and my littlest daughter a pair of rain pants from this pattern.  I think I’ll be making shorts using this pattern this summer.

 

Here are three more pairs for my man-child. I’m still using size M (size 9) for the waist, but I added two inches to the length so they fit for a while. He’s lean, but growing up like a weed.

 

Nothing too exciting here as far as sewing, but my son loves them and he loves that we had a mom-son outing and he got to pick all the fabric. The angry birds pair was the only annoying pair because I had to match the pattern across the side seams.

 

I love the topstitched pockets. One day I’ll make them a contract fabric so you can really see them.

 

I love the shaped facing that you sew in and fold over to make the waist casing. It goes in so much smoother than other pants like this. I added labels to all the pants. I also put the elastic in, finished the casing, and then stitched through all the layers at CB and CF to make sure the elastic didn’t twist all around.

 

See the pockets? Yea, me neither. Rest assured though, he was excited when he saw them and that’s all that matters to me. <3.

 

I finished my April Burda so I need to take photos and show you!