Stewing in my juices . . . not really . . .

Hello people of the world. :) Many of you have emailed me expressing concern. You guys are so sweet!! To answer some questions for you all.

1. All is well. 
2. Yes, I'm fine.
3. No, I'm not mad/sad/annoyed/pissed about the Rue dress. :) It is what it is and I was "invited not to continue on" for the fourth round. That's okay. I'm NOT heartbroken, embarrassed, or sitting here stewing in my angry juices having a tantrum. I didn't particularly like the pattern, but other people made amazing dresses out of that pattern. Yes, I think there were issues with the pattern, but again, some people made AMAZING dresses even with those problems. 
4. Yes, there is big news and I'll share when I can. No, I'm not pregnant. Oh, the HORROR. I love my children, but NO. My uterus is on a permanent, well-deserved vacation. 
5. I've just been REALLY busy. I have managed to sew some in the past couple of weeks. I've whipped up a couple of those new Kwik Sew patterns and I really love them. More on that later. 

On another note, I love the newest Ottobre magazine that came out for kids. It has a lot of of larger kids/ tween patterns which is what I need to be sewing. Here's the tech drawings and a few that I just love so I'm showing you close-ups. I circled the ones I really liked. 

And this top in particular caught my eye. I love the hem, the ruffle, and the applique. I would probably do this as a freezer-paper stencil, but it's pretty much the same thing. The girls are in the 134 size range but with length added for two of them and no length added for the third one. My son is getting closer to that 170 size range. Eep!

I love this cute knit dress. This would be perfect for my girls. 

They have a ton of pull-on pants just like the popular Jalie Eleonore pant. There is even this "slim" sized pattern which is exactly what I need for the twiggy twins. I love this cardigan too. 

I just love the knit tops with fun details. That's my favorite part about Ottobre, really. 

These are great too. My son would love both of these. He's always  cold and wearing long sleeves year round. 

And Ottobre made an announcement on Facebook the other day too. Next year, they will be published seven magazines; four for children, two for women, and a new "family" issue. It will have 10 men's patterns and patterns for the "between tween and adult" sizes. I'm excited to see this new edition. It looks like it will also have some plus sized patterns and some maternity wear. 

And yes, I'll tell you the big news once all is settled and things calm down. :) You may not hear much from me for the next month or two though. Know that I'm okay and having fun!!! 

Colette Rue Dress–Sewing Bee Round 3

Okay, I did finish my Rue dress. It's kind of a mess. The bodice is cute in theory but obviously didn't work for me. I used size 2 (I think? I'm trying to think of it like pushing out a baby - once it's over, you forget) and added three inches to the bodice for my torso. Admittedly, I do have a long torso. I usually add an inch to Jalie, Burda, and KwikSew patterns. This is still higher than my natural waist. Maybe adding another inch would have helped? In these pictures, it looks fine. Well, it looks okay. I do, do, do super love the fabrics and colors together.






Here it doesn't even look bad. And I love the little belt I made. I'm keeping that even if the rest of it is going to donation.





But this, siiiiiiiiigh. Look at those bodice wrinkles. It's like I've got the Eye of Sauron on my torso. Well, I guess only if The Eye had a horizontal slit and not a vertical one. It's really too bad too, because I love this fabric.





If I stand perfectly still, The Eye goes away. The sleeves are wonky and, ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhh, well . . .  I'm just not going to be surprised when I get "invited to not progress to Round 4 of the Sewing Bee." There are so many good versions of this dress at PatternReview.com. I think most people made many muslins and did quite a bit of pattern drafting. Those are not skill sets I have. Whatever.




The red is a thin, crinkly gauze.





I really love the belt.





The zipper is put in perfectly and the lining is great too. Oh well. I tried my hardest, right? I'll be curious to see what the next challenge is even though I won't be in it.