End of the Year Wrap-Up

I enjoy graphs (I’m a nerd like that). I made 78 garments this year and used a variety of pattern companies. No surprise to me is that I used Jalie and Burda magazine more than any other company. I used zero McButtKwikOgues and instead tried a few new (to me) companies. I did branch out this year and make a lot more kid’s clothing. I tallied up 11 Jalie leotards. Eleven. That’s a lot of leotards. I have several stand out garments that I love and a few that I don’t. Overall, I think it’s been a good sewing year. Some highlights: I won the Pattern Review Sewing Bee contest (sqqqquuueeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!), I successfully completed my Burda Challenge, I made a lot more clothes for my runner-girls, and I have come a long way in construction (in my opinion). Good sewing year indeed.  

Burda Challenge (each picture is linked to the blog post about the garment):

Overall, I’m really happy with my garments this year. I plan to continue on with the Burda Challenge and make at least one thing out of the current Burda magazine.

Another Winter Street Dress - I know!

I had to make one more. (More husband photos, so bad posing, and weird smiles!) I had this FabricMart houndstooth sweater knit and this black ponte knit. They needed to be together. I added one more inch to the front bodice. I think it’s perfect now. That’s a total of 4.5 inches of length added to this bodice, so keep that in mind if you are long-waisted.

 

You already know all about this dress, so I’m not going to give you any details. I added a loose turtleneck to it (again) and it’s cozy warm.

 

Here are the other two dresses I have made from this pattern. I may be addicted.

December Burda Challenge 12-2014 #121 Knit Dress

 

Here’s my December Burda Challenge just one day after my November one! I told you guys I took a bunch of pictures yesterday. This is a simple knit dress from Burda with crazy draped neck. I needed a festive Christmas outfit for a couple of holiday parties and this metallic gold and red knit seemed to yell HOLIDAY to me. I made my typical size 34 although I used small seam allowances at the hips. I figured with, as short as this is, I would be wearing it over leggings and skinny jeans. You can see I have a textbook swayback, and really need an adjustment. See how short this baby is? I even added a hem allowance which I almost never do to Burda dresses.

 

Here is the side ruching. I think I should have made it tighter so that the gathers would go across my body. As they are now, they just hang down.

 

Again, I can’t make serious faces when my husband is taking pictures. The neck on this is a bit weird. It’s much longer on one side than the other, so I always feel like I’m lopsided. You stitch the cowl/drapes to the inside top of the sleeves so it stays down. You can see in this picture that the sleeves are extra long on this dress.

 

I have one more thing to show you tomorrow.

Happy solstice! We are only getting five hours of “daylight” today. Keep in the mind that the sun only gets 5 degrees above the horizon today, so the “daylight” is more like twilight!! Snow is falling right now though, yay!

November Burda Challenge 11-2014-113 Knit Top

First off, let’s pretend it’s still November, shall we? Secondly, let’s pretend I don’t have strange expressions on my face. Thirdly, let’s all ignore the fact that this shirt is not the most flattering.

 

When I first saw this top, I thought it had possibilities. I liked it and Burda is very strong in the knit-top-with-variations category. For me, it’s a miss. I don’t like the fabric I chose, and I don’t like the way they have you put together the sleeve. Another objection from me is the odd blouson/non-blouson effect. Is that girl chunky around the middle? Or is it just her top?

 

So forgive me for my face. My husband was taking the pictures today, and for some reason, I can’t do serious poses when he is behind the camera. Or even vampy poses. Or even a normal smile. See the saggy stomach portion? It would be better, I think, if the top was a little longer so you could pull the shirt up and make it more of a blouson effect. But, the length is so short, you sort of have to keep it pulled down.

 

This material was hard to work with. It is a thin jersey knit that curls like the dickens. It’s also off grain which made it nearly impossible to match the stripes.

 

When I originally looked at this line drawing, I thought that the sleeve was two sleeves with the top one gathered, and sewn on top of the bottom sleeve. Instead, the top one (rainbow) is gathered, but attached to the bottom (pink) sleeve. The results are iffy. For me, this is a miss, but I’m sure there are beautiful versions on the web. I actually did make this in November, but just haven’t done anything with it for a long time!

 

Up next: Several posts of clothing for me! I did all my photos of clothing today (be ready for all the weird faces). The sun is rising at around 1am and setting around 3:30pm, so I did all the photos on Saturday. During the work week, I don’t even get home until after 4pm!

PR Winter Street Dress (and Jalie Leotards)

Round 3 of the PatternReview Sewing Bee was to take the Winter Street Dress and pimp it. We were able to download the pattern and make it our own. I had never really noticed this pattern before then, but it’s cute. Like really cute. I can see this becoming a stable in my winter dress wardrobe. Since I had already gotten out all the kinks and it was still in my sewing room, I decided to make another one. I got this fabric from Fabric Mart (my new FAVORITE fabric website) on Black Friday. I did all my Black Friday shopping from home this year and snagged a bunch of doubleknit fabric. This one is Blue/Chile/Multi Floral Medallions Puckered Double Knit (they are NOT a sponsor, so click away!) and I really like it. Sometimes I think it might be too “Grandma’s curtains", but then I look again and really like it. It needs a belt to break up all the pattern, but maybe not this silver glitter belt. A red or dark blue belt would be perfect, I think. 

 

I didn’t really do a proper review of this dress when I used it for the Sewing Bee, I was too focused on my alterations. It’s a very simple, but cute, pattern. Knit, long-sleeved bodice with narrow skirt. I added the big turtleneck for the winter. It has two box pleats in the front sides and two in the back for shaping the skirt.

 

 

I think I need to add just a smidge to the bottom of the bodice, it’s still riding just a tiny bit too high (you can barely see the seam above the belt in the picture below). I originally added about 3” to the front of the bodice tapering to about 2” at CB. I have a long torso, but usually only have to add about an inch to bodices.

 

 

The fabric is fun and perfect for winter! I really like this dress. It’s the first thing I’ve made since the Sewing Bee. Well, I lie. It’s the first ME item I’ve made.

 

 

These two leotards are actually the first two things I made after the Sewing Bee. Our little cousin gymnast is growing and needing more leotards. She is really good at it and in a more advanced class that meets a few times a week now. She needs variety! I texted her the fabric/patterns I had, and she picked the pattern and the fabrics. I think she has great taste!

 

I love Jalie’s way of applying the binding on this pattern.

 

This one is so shiny, it’s hard to photograph.

 

 

 

Because there is really no snow here (2 inches?), we have been doing a bit of hiking. The kids love it, and the scenery is beautiful. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for snow, SKIING!!!!

Holy COW! I won the Sewing Bee!!!!

I can't believe it, but I won. I WON!!!! I really, truly can't believe it with all of those really amazing entries. Wow. Do they not care that my butt-plaid doesn't match up? I'm really excited and humbled by this.




Lookie who is going to be living with me soon?

For anyone interested, here are my four entries:
Round 1 - A-line Skirt -- Blog Post -- Review
Round 2 - Men's Shirt Re-purposing -- Blog Post -- Review
Round 3 - Winter Street Dress -- Blog Post -- Review
Round 4 - Non-stretch Pants -- Blog Post -- Review 

You should also check out the entries on PatternReview.com.

Ssssssssssssqqquuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

Burda 01-2014-111–Jodhpur Pants and Sewing Bee Final Round

I made it into the final round of the Pattern Review Sewing Bee. I think there were 11 of us for this last and final round. Our challenge was to make a pair of pants out of non-stretch material. Of course, I decide that it would be a great idea. to try to make a pair of very fitted jodhpur pants. Because those need no stretch, right? Yea, well, they didn’t turn out as badly as they could have. Here’s the line drawing. They are in the petite sizing. Usually a size 17 (the petite version of a 34) works really well for me, but since this was going to be out of non-stretch fabric, I went up to the 18.

 

All in all, I think they turned out pretty well. They are much different than my normal style so that takes some getting used to. I think these would rock with black ponte doubleknit on the back leg sections and in a smaller size.

 

I do love the inside black inner legs. I think those are a really good accent. I think in order for these pants to really work though, they need to be much tighter. Like real riding pants.

 

Arg. I love the back seaming which you can’t see very well here. What I hate is that the back doesn’t chevron. I had the great idea of cutting them so they would be mirror image and then couldn’t do it because the plaid is uneven. Someone mentioned on PR that I could have turned the pattern piece around and it would have been the mirror image. That is a head slapping moment right there. Arg.

 

I think they fit well although that little hip wrinkle popped up in the photos and I hadn’t really noticed it before.

 

This is the first time I had sewn an in-seam pocket like this before. They are super easy to do and really cute.

 

I inserted invisible zippers in each leg at then ankle.

 

The seaming is awesome and could have been AMAZING with butt-chevron!

 

I’m embarrassed to show you the inside of my pants after seeing the inside of everyone else’s pants. Theirs were fully lined, or all the seams were bound, or whatever. Mine are just serged and pinked. Eeeek. Okay, people, I work full-time and have four kids. I tried. I did. 

 

My fly front turned out really well. I haven’t made pants in a long time. I should make more. I enjoy them. 

 

 

I really only had to make one adjustment. I have a prominent swayback so I took a wedge from the back to suck it in a little bit.

 

I took a corresponding amount out of the waistband.

 

Overall, I like the pants, but they aren’t my best work. I’m glad to have made it to the final round, and I’m in awe of the other ladies. They are amazing and I can’t believe that I was lucky enough to be among them for the finals. If you go to the 14th page of this discussion, you can see all the finalists and their garments they made. The winner is based on all the things we made for this contest, not just the pants. I have zero chances of winning. Really, that’s not me being humble, I’m a realist. It doesn’t hurt my feelings, they are really amazing sewists!

On a side note, I cleaned my sewing room tonight. It was like a hurricane hit it. I can’t image doing a Sewing Bee for more than four weeks!