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!

Burda Challenge - 03/2014 #124 Bomber Jacket

Whew, I made it just under the wire. I have had this jacket done for a few days now, just haven’t had time to take pictures and write a post about it. Here is the drugged-out Burda version.

 

Here’s my version. I used a wool blend boucle for the main fabric and a dark gray/slate blue double knit for the cuffs, pockets, and neckband.

 

I’m not sure I love it. I think it’s okay, but it seems shorter than I would have expected. And the band around the body is pretty tight, which means if I lift my arms, it rides up and then doesn’t got back down again.

 

It’s funny though because there is certainly tons of fabric. I took about 2 inches of ease out of the sleeves to get the shape where I wanted it. There was also no way the knit bands were going to stretch that far. Obviously I left off the decorative flap on the back of the Burda version.

 

Doesn’t it seem really short for how w-i-d-e it is? That area on the right side where the band and the boucle meet is acting weird here. It doesn’t look like that in real life.

 

I followed Burda’s directions (gasp!) and I was able to get nice welt pockets out of them.

 

I used a ZipperStop.com zipper I already had in stash. It is navy blue and it was too long. My lovely, strong, beefy husband spent about 15 minutes figuring out how to remove the little metal teeth. It took about three different tools, but he got the little jerkfaces off the zipper.

 

There is a self-fabric facing. I should have lined it, but I didn’t. I used FOE for the raw edge of the facing.

 

See how much boucle fabric there is compared to the knit? It was hard to stretch the band that far.

 

All in all, I’m not crazy about it. I do like it though. Maybe with some time in The Closet, it will become something I like. I think it would be cute with jeans and little colored tennis shoes. Maybe it’s the fabric I don’t love, or the combination of the fabrics.

 

On the plus side, we’ve been having a blast lately. It’s been warm (30s during the day) and sunny. This day we were making hopscotch squares on the bare (!!!) asphalt in our driveway.

 

I’m busily making pajama pants for my son. We picked out some fun fabric the other day.

Spring Fever

I think I might be suffering from spring fever a bit. When I sat down at my computer, I saw an email from Fabric.com* and then I found myself drooling over really over-the-top springy prints. I don’t even usually like florals . . .

 

But really, how fun are these?

Amy Butler Love Tumble Roses Pink

 

 

Liberty Of London Dufour Jersey Knit Gleeson Orange/Blue

 

 

Amy Butler Hapi Trapeze Charcoal

 

 

Anna Maria Horner Field Study Raindrops Poppies Teal/Candy

 

 

Anna Maria Horner LouLouThi Summer Totem Grapefruit

 

 

Anna Maria Horner Hand Drawn Garden Centerpiece Evening

 

 

Anna Maria Horner Dowry Dresden Bulbs Sunset

 

*They are not my favorite company anymore. They have free shipping for everyone else, but not Alaskans. Oh no, we don’t really count. Screw you Fabric.com! They are also a sponsor, how weird is it that I’m bashing my sponsor?

Jalie 2446 and Jalie 3247–Swimsuit

I made a new swimsuit and I did my photo shoot on location. That’s my way of saying I didn’t have time to take photos of this swimsuit before I left. But, aren’t these more fun anyway? I used the bikini top from Jalie 2446. I think it’s a discontinued pattern now. I looked at Jalie.com and it doesn’t exist anymore. I used the bottoms from one of their new patterns, Jalie 3247. It’s not made for swimsuits, but it works great. I bought this swimsuit nylon at a fabric store in San Diego.

 

I don’t normally love a billion photos with different poses, but look at that scenery people. Look at it!

 

Again. I know, I know, you can barely see the swimsuit and this is a sewing blog. Whatever. Deal.

 

Here’s the back. I modified the bottoms so this is not what they would look like straight out of the envelope. I removed about an inch off the hem so they would be more swimsuit and less booty shorts. I also scooped the CF down about 2cm to make the front a little lower. The CB was lowered about 1cm. I love the coverage of them. I’m 40 people, I don’t need my ass hanging out everywhere.

 

Here’s the envelope from Jalie. I made view E with the waistband.

 

Needless to say, we had fun in Mexico.

 

 

Now, it’s back to the grind and back to work. Oh, and it snowed 22” a day or two before we got back. But, our awesome neighbor who watches the place snow blowed (blew?) our driveway. Bless that man.

 

I need to get in gear and make my March Burda Challenge item!!!

Long time, no see!

We were only gone a week, but it feels like a month! More later!

Doesn’t this look just like me?

Three more Leotards! Jalie 3241

Sorry if you’re tired of them!

I told you to prepare yourselves! I said bright and I meant it. My daughter #3 picked out this sparkle jellybean fabric (my name for the fabric) to match the pink from her other leotard. I made this a size larger so it should fit for a while.

 

This is for our cousin. She lives in another state so we took pictures of a twin wearing it instead of her. The Twin will not take it off now and has not stopped doing cartwheels. I love, love, love the fabric the cousin picked out. I was sort of scared of the black, glitter-dot fabric, but it turned out great with the solid red. I hope she likes it too.

 

I also made another one just like daughter #3’s pink leotard. That one was pretty snug so this is like the Jellybean Leotard and I made it one size larger too. I just love the x-back on this pattern. I want to make the other version of this pattern but I love the boy shorts on this style. I could totally draft them longer, but I probably won’t because it’s extra work. I may actually do it though, because I think boy shorts with a little stripe would be awesome!

 

There was much fun to this photo shoot.

 

House fun.

 

I’m not sure what I’m up to next. I need to make me some cute easy dresses for a trip and maybe another bikini!