Burda Challenge July: 07-2011 #110

I just finished this dress. I’ve never thought khaki was a great color with my skin tone and this is no exception. I was thinking since I was tan, it wouldn’t be bad but, alas, I’m not a fan of this dress. It’s too bad too because it has potential.

 

The seaming is great and the pleats, tucks, and bodice went together well but still, sigh. This fabric is kind of like a laminated cotton shirting. It had a very stiff hand and tends to wrinkle if you look at it wrong.

 

This was a petite pattern so I added a cm above the bust and one below the bust to make it longer. I left the armhole alone because I like a tighter armhole. You can see in the above picture that the armhole is just perfect.

 

One thing you get with stiffer fabric is what I like to call Lady-Bits-Poof. Not cute. You can see I used a pink zipper at the side seam. This dress has great big pockets which are awesome-sauce. Too bad it will never be worn. Maybe I’ll put it in the Closet of Rebirth for a while.

 

I think I would have liked it if 1) it was a different color, and 2) if it was slightly drapey. You can’t really tell with all the wrinkles (it’s the fault of the fabric!) but I did a great job matching up all the seam lines. Getting that bodice piece to fit isn’t a walk in the park either. Ugh. Screw you blah-blah-brown-dress.

 

We just got back from fishing so I’ll post some bloody fish pictures soon. We got 240 salmon one day and over 400 the next day.

Excuse me, is that a skirt on your butt?

Boy: Hey, check out my new pants!
Littlest Sister: WOOOOOOOWWWWWW. Those are nice.
Twin Ghouls (Think: Annoying Orange): Mom, mom, mom! Hey, mom! Mom! Hey. Mom! Did we get new pants? Did we? With other fabric?
Me: Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh . . .

I pick my kids up tonight and I know that as soon as I show The Boy his new pants, the three sisters will be all over me about their new pants. Because, of course, he can’t get something without them getting something. The conversation above is totally made up, but I know in my brain of brains, that this is what tonight will sound like if I didn’t make them something too.

So, I made them pants with skirts attached. The black fabric is the black Nike Dri-fit fabric. I still have about 10-15 yards but I’m keeping it all for myself and the kids! I know it’s only July, but it is already starting to get chilly (48 degrees this morning!) and these pants will be perfect for this weather. I used my KwikSew pajama pattern 3234 and I extended the legs just a smidge to make up for there being no cuff. Then, I made a circle skirt and attached it with the pants.

 

This is for the littlest one. She wanted a longer skirt with pink! Mom! PINK!

 

When I got my new (old!) Kenmore, I realized there was a stretch straight stitch on it. I have used this stitch in the past but haven’t used a newer machine in forever so I had forgotten about it. It’s a great strong stitch and you can use it for knits because it stretches. I used that stitch on the hems, to reinforce the crotch, and the waistband.

 

Here you can see the reinforcing stitches. If I don’t stitch an extra seam here, I find that my vertical serger stitches (CF and CB seams) start to unravel. I assume it’s because the horizontal serger seam cuts the threads on the other two seams.

 

Here’s the skirt for one of the twins. It’s glitter pink animal jersey knit. She’s gonna go ape.

 

Here’s the skirt for the other twin. She’ll love that it’s a sassy mini-skirt. But, of course, mom would only let her wear this with pants underneath.

 

This is a gray sparkle sweater knit. This is what I used on the inside of the Jalie cardigan I made a while back. I just used the natural tendency of the knit to roll to make the hem.

I have something fun coming up. But, and it’s a big but. We just had a lot of family fly in last night so we’ll be busy for the next two weeks or so. I’m hopeful that I’ll get some time to sew.

p.s. Someone a while back asked me to put a “Subscribe by Email” link on my blog so they could follow along. I done did it for You People.

Excuse me, is that Dim Sum on your butt?

Boy: Hey mom, wouldn’t this fabric be funny as pants?
Me: What? This fabric?
Boy: I think it might be funny.
Me: What kind of pants? Like pajama pants?
Boy: No, duh! Like pants for school and then everyone can say, “Hey! You have Dim Sum on your butt!” and “Wow, you’re sweet AND sour!” and “We will, we will, wok you!”
Me: Uhhhh . . .
Yelling Boy: Clap, clap, STOMP. Clap, clap, STOMP. We will, we will WOK YOU, WOK YOU!
Me: Pajama pants only and no wearing these to school.
Boy: Gee, mom, you really need to rice to the occasion.
Me: Har, har, har. Did you hear what I said about not wearing these to school?
Boy: Wait, mom, WAIT, this is a good one . . . . Hey, these lights are bright, can we dim them?
Me: Dim sum?
Boy: Drat.

And thus, Jalie 3243 came out of it’s envelope again. My son asks for me to make him so little that when he asks for something, I usually get right on it.

 

These are just basic pull-on pants with pockets. I used size M for him.

 

There are two pairs and I photographed both of them. Why? I don’t know. To show you the differences??

 

The pockets are a nice touch. They are hard to see here and maybe not quite big enough to be functional. I should make them bigger on my next pair but that’s just inviting him to stick crap in his pockets too.

 

Hee, hee. Duck sauce.

Burda 06-2013 #110 - My June Burda Challenge!

 

How much fun is this dress? It’s knit, it has ruching, it’s metallic. I knew when I saw this dress, I would have to make it.

 

I made it without the sleeves obviously. And oops, you can see a tiny glimpse of my bright blur bra strap. Oops! The pattern went together smoothly as all Burda patterns do. This pattern started at a size 36 so I downsized it to a 34 like I always do. I thought there would be more drape on the crossover section on he bodice. When you look at the magazine model photo, it looks like it would be a bit loose and drapey but it’s not. I know it’s really hard to see the gathers. 

 

 

Here’s a better picture to show the gathers.

 

How much fun is this fabric? It’s from the swap meet. It looks kind of flashy but when I put on a sweater and flats, it looks good in the casual mis-matchy kind of way that is popular right now.

 

Here you can see the side seams. They have clear elastic in them from the hem to the armpit. Since this dress relies on negative ease to fit, I knew those poor seams would take quite a bit of stress. This just helps to reinforce them.

 

Here’s the bodice. The cross that goes under the top section is only a partial bodice piece.

 

I know it’s hard to see but I outlined the partial cross part in red. Another interesting part of this pattern is that both the left and right side tops are finished with self-fabric facings that are just folded down.

 

Kid photo-op! Love that girl!

 

And a crazy boy!

Two new (old!) machines!!

So you guys know that I seem to be a sewing machine magnet (my Necchi Bu Mira story here and Pfaff 230 story here). I acquired two more machines and I think they will fit into my flock of machines quite well.

The first is this 1970s Kenmore. It’s a straight stitch and zigzag machine with a few other stitches built-in. It’s not nearly as old as my Pfaff 230 and Nechhi Bu Mira but it’s still hefty. I set her up and she sews really well. I’m not sure if this is a nice machine or not. I need to do a bit of research. Do any of your guys know about this model?

 

It’s the 158.13250 model. Made in Taiwan makes me a bit worried, I won’t lie.

 

I love the other stitches too. I have been keeping my newer Viking Madison only because it does the blind hem stitch. I swear to you, that is all I’ve been doing with it for the past three years. This Kenmore does the same stitch plus the stretch stitch. Don’t get me wrong, my Viking Madison also does these stitches but I’ve grown to love these older machines and I have had some problems with my Madison not being strong enough to go through things and the tension on it always seems to need tweaking. This machine will also do buttonholes but I have two buttonholers for that.

 

It comes with the booklet and I actually read it because I’m a nerd like that. I like reading manuals. See these short lines that a perpendicular to the seam guides? They are 5/8” corner marks. Bam. Really?? Duh, what a great idea! This way, you always know where to stop to turn a corner and get the perfect 5/8” corner seams. Okay, I can hear you right now laughing. Really Dawn, you’ve sewn for how many years and you’ve never seen this before? Uh, yea. This is a great idea and apparently, they had the idea in the 70s. Hmmmm. My newer Viking Madison doesn’t have it and my two older machines don’t even have seam guide markings.

 

See? Here are the directions.

And see the blind hemming? Super excited about that!

 

 

The other machine is the Viking Model 60 20. I believe it is also a 1970s machine? This one has not been tested because my gift-er forgot to give me the foot pedal that goes with it. I can spin the wheel and the dials seem to do the right things when I turn them.

 

Anyone have one? Want to share information?

 

 

 

I do know this model uses cams that makes all these stitches available.

 

Sadly, my cam-hole is empty. Say that quickly a few times. Go ahead. I know you are doing it in your head.

 

I assume this is for bobbins? There is no way to disengage the engine like on all my other machines. Like I said, there is no foot pedal so I can’t try it out.

 

I also got two bags of assorted stuff. Most of it is new in packages.

 

I also have a huge bin of bobbins. I’ve have to figure out which bobbin is for which machine.

 

 

Again, I’m super happy people know I love to sew!!!! Soon, I’ll have to start storing the machines instead of using them. I do have some sewing to show you, a dress! It’s also my June Burda Challenge.

 

I’ve been out of town which is why you haven’t “seen” me in a while. Some pictures from our trips below (gotta use those new cameras!). Feel free to skip this part!

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Every summer, I try to get a picture of the kids jumping in front of the Denali Park sign. I have yet to get all three in the air at the same time. My best is still only two out of three.