Velvet Top - Kwik Sew 4134

I picked up a fun piece of knit crushed velvet when I was at the National City Swap Meet. I wanted it to be something fun. I finally decided the other night to make this out of it. I've used this pattern before here. I like the top and wear it often in the winter.

I only modified the length of the sleeves. I left everything else as is. What do you think? It's definitely a lot of this pink color which is not a normal color for me. I do love the back ruffles. 

I think I like it??

Yea, I do like it. I'm not sure it's love but I think it's growing on me. What do you guys think?

Jalie 3458 - Flared Skirt

How cute is this skirt? Spring is totally here (I REALLY hope anyway!!) and my Spring sewing mojo is in full swing. This is the Jalie 3458 Flared Skirt. I used my normal size and I extended the panel four inches on the edges. That means this is a bit longer than the intended length. I wanted it to be work appropriate and the cover photo looked a little short for that. This skirt is dead-simple. It is four panels and one waistband with elastic. Easy!

I love circle skirt and half-circle skirts but they take so much fabric. This does not take all that much. I think it would especially fun in a striped fabric. I made this Jalie top a long time ago and I didn't even realize that I used the same fabric for the trim piece. 

I couldn't stop spinning in it. 

I love this skirt and I already have two other requests for more. Little Twinnies would like their own twirly skirts!!

Jalie 2563 - Running Shorts

I have tried the sports bra from this pattern before but never the running shorts. These are just a basic, no-pocket, no-frills running shorts and I love them! I didn't realize until just now that I made a huge mistake on them though. Do you see it? Just keep looking at my pictures . . .

I used a black wicking poly/Spandex blend and a random piece of poly/Spandex for the accent panels. They fit really well and I have already done a short 3 mile run in them. They performed admirably (especially considering my mistake!) and I'll be making many more of these! Forgive my sweaty-ness. This was right after my run, and since I already had them on, I decided to just take pictures too.

Do you see it yet??? I can't believe I did that! See the contrast panel on mine? Now look at the pattern picture. I turned the entire leg upside down!!!! HAHAHAHAHAH! If they fit really well like this, I'm not sure I should turn them the correct way! In other words, the part that should be around my thigh is around my waist! Is that hysterical or what?? I will have to make them the right way now and see if they fit better. I was thinking this morning that when I make them again, I will lower the CF waist by about 1/2". If you look on the pattern, it is already lowered. Hahahaha. That's what happens when you ignore the notches and just think you know better! 

Fabric is from the National City Swap Meet (the black) and JoAnns (the crazy print). 

Hot Patterns Red Hot Mama Multi-Pocket Tote

I ordered two Hot Patterns a while back after the fiasco pants. I ordered the Red Hot Mama Multi-pocket Tote and the Deco Vibe Cosmopolitan dress. They arrived in a timely fashion but the purse pattern was missed half of the pages including the directions and the Deco Vibe dress had no directions included with it. I emailed and it took quite a while to get a response. When I did get a response, it was a nice one. They were sorry for the mistakes and they would 1) send me another purse pattern and 2) email me directions for the Cosmopolitan Dress. It was fine but it was a pain. I finally got around to making the purse. I've actually been sewing a lot even though there hasn't been much on the old blog. It's secret-sewing!!!

This baby is large; definitely a beast. I'm not sure if I love it though. the pocket in the middle is really big. I took several pictures with it on me so you can see exactly HOW big. It has three main pockets. The outer two are smaller and have all the pockets. The inner one is huge with no pockets. You can add them to the middle, of course. I used an IKEA canvas fabric for this. I wanted a firm fabric and want to use leather eventually. This is my practice bag, if you will.

I put a ton of pockets in it. It's really hard to see what I did when it's in the bag so I also drew some pictures of all the pockets. 

The inner bag is so large, I can put in an entire pair of shoes like this. Not stacking the shoes, but putting them side by side. Like I said, LARGE inner bag.

I will use it around town and then I will let you know how I like it and it's massive-ness. Here it is for scale on me.

See? She's BIG!!

One issue I had with the bag was the less-than-stellar directions. I consider myself an accomplished seamstress and I have (I think) really good spacial abilities. I can easily image how something goes together by reading the directions. This bag boggled me. There were steps that were just flat-out missing. I used the directions, the YouTube videos and a lot of wine to get through this. If I make it again, in leather, I will be more prepared. Beware if you decide to tackle it!

Bison, bitches . . .

I know this is a sewing blog, but I'm also an Alaskan and hunting and gathering runs in my blood. Don't read if you are offended by hunting, blood, and death.

It is thought that steppe and wood bison inhabited Alaska and have only recently become extinct. In Alaska, bison were transplanted here in the 1920s. Since the 1950s, they have allowed hunting of the herd. They only allow about 100 people permits to hunt this herd and I was one of the lucky out of 15,000-20,000. Once you pull a permit and have a successful hunt, you can't even put in for this permit again for 10 years. It's kind of a big deal.

Here she is, I shall call her Bessy. We will eat her delicious meat and I plan on having the hide tanned. They have the most luscious, thick, glossy hair. I've never seen a bison up close and personal and I was amazed at the thick coat. Nothing will go to waste. We are even cutting the long bones lengthwise for amazing bone marrow. As best we can tell, she's a 3-4 year old female and she has had a few births.

Of course, when you shoot something, you get to spend a loooong time out in the field skinning it out. We were especially careful this time because I wanted the hide in good shape. 

Back to your regularly scheduled sewing soon . . .

Ottobre 02-2018 #15 Knit Dress with V-Neck

Remember when I made my last Ottobre knit dress? The one with the v-neck? Do you remember that the same bodice had two different skirt options? Well, I had to try the top with the other skirt bottom. I like this one a lot too. Although, I think I like the other a-line skirt better.

Here's the line drawing. I was worried about the fabric around the hips. I knew I wanted to use a very drapey knit but one that wasn't too stretchy for the bodice. What I ended up using was a cotton knit french terry. This one is interesting because the pattern is printed on the french terry side so that the texture is facing out. It's not a fluffy french terry either. This fabric, of course, I got at the National City Swap Meet. (And does it drive anyone else bonkers that the Ottobre dress below had the chevrons slightly off center?)

I quite like how it turned out. I do like it more with the belt than without. 

See all that fabric around the hips? I was worried initially, but I think it's okay. As long as the waist is fitted, I think that the hips can have volume. One thing this dress has is huge pockets. Those are part of what create the large volume around the hips. 

Overall, another win from Ottobre!!!