Jalie 2682 - Wool Knit Zip-Up Top

I love, love, love this top. See the leaves by my feet? It’s definitely fall here. The mornings are in the high 30s to low 40s right now. I’m not running much right now because of my car accident (compressed discs or some stupid crap!), but I’m trying to get out every morning and walk. I get up around 5am and it’s cold! This top is Merino wool and cozy as the devil.

 

 

 

This high neckline is my favorite part of the top. It’s super good at keeping that cold breeze off the back of your neck. I wear a hat and a headlamp when I go in the mornings. The headlamp often pulls up the back of my hat and then my neck gets cold breezes on it. That’s not so awesome when it’s chilly.

 

 

I always need a swayback adjustment and never do it. I’m lazy like that.

 

 

Never run angry.

 

 

 

And these are my Cora running shorts. I reviewed them here.

 

 

 

I added my normal 1” above the busy without changing the armhole.

 

 

I love that the bust is double lined.

 

 

I love the bright neon yellow zipper.

 

 

Isn’t the fabric scrumptious? I need to get off my ass and post some of it on Etsy so you guys can have some too!

 

Here’s a link to the pattern. I love Jalie patterns!

Fabric Mart Challenge #1

The Fabric Mart Challenge was to take a garment that was a FAIL and make it into something better. You could modify it to make it fit better, you you could just create a whole new garment. Remember the pirate outfit from April? Well, I took that and turned it into a skirt.





I cut the arms off, turned it upside down and added a casing for elastic and a double-thick hem to the bottom.





Here you can see what I did. I pieced the double hem from the voluminous sleeves.




It's bordering on too short, but that's also my jam. I will totally wear this with tights and chunky boots. I think it's really cute and it's SO MUCH BETTER than what it was before.





I left the original hems but turned them into flat felled hems to make them nicer on the inside.






The thick hem is my favorite part of this skirt.





This is all that was left at the end!!!!



Click here to see what everyone made. Some of the re-makes are pretty awesome. I would tell you to click here to vote for me, but I actually think Kristen's is the best. She turned a frumpy skirt (her words, not mine!) into a super cute sundress.

August Burda Challenge (SO LATE! I KNOW!!)

So I’m super late for my Burda Challenge. I know! I’m the leader, the rally-er, the damn html button-maker! Ugh, well, anyway, two weeks ago today, I was rear-ended by someone going 40-50 mph while I was stopped with my blinker on waiting to cross traffic. She never even touched the brakes. I was the third car in line and I got hit and then hit the car in front of me. My car was so mashed up I couldn’t get my door open to get out. It was a Dawn sandwich and not in a good way. Ugh. Well, anyway, I’m lucky to walk away. No one was injured in this accident (can you say TEXTING WHILE DRIVING!!!). I did my first session of PT today and traction feels soooooo good. The machine is scary but wow. Since the accident, I’ve had some tingling and numbness in my right arm and hand and a lot of tightness and stiffness in my upper back and neck. Like I said, I’m lucky to walk away. The woman that hit me (in her brand new 2015 Mercedes)?? Oh, she flew out of the car screaming that the three of us “slammed on our brakes” and she “didn’t have time to stop.” Bitch, please. There were three of us stopped, waiting to cross traffic. Anyway, that’s why the long radio silence and the much-belated Burda Challenge. My car is totaled but I walked away and thankfully there were no kids in the car. Shake it off, right?

 

This dress looks better in person. And wow, I did a crappy job ironing it! The hem doesn’t look nearly this bad in real life. The dress is a tall sizes pattern. The smallest size was the 72 so I graded down to the 68. Tall dresses fit me well in the torso. I’m a tall woman trapped in an average-woman’s-height-body.

 

I may still peg the hem a little bit.

 

 

 

The one thing I have noticed quite a bit with the tall patterns is that the armhole seems larger or lower. I may have to go in and see if I can retro-actively make the armhole higher.

 

 

Look at all these corners. In a knit!

 

The back. They recommend a zipper. I left it off. There is some shaping in the pieces though so I didn’t just cut it on the fold.

 

The inside is not beautiful with all the interfacing. You need it for all the corners!

 

This uses a facing. I tacked it down on all the seams. You can see below what I did.

 

Isn’t this fabric lush? It’s wicking merino wool. I may put some on Etsy for you guys. Or I might not. Mwaaa haaaa haaaaa. We’ll see if traction makes me feel nice. *evil grin*

 

I’m in the Fabric Mart contest right now and I DID submit my entry for the first challenge. That was a load off my mind. It’s due tomorrow evening . . . More on that later. Remember my pirate shirt? It’s dead now.

 

And holy cow, the PatternReview contest is crazy hard this year!! A fitted shirt and THEN a fabric manipulation challenge??!?! They are hard core!

Jalie Cora Tights - Shorts!

I ran a 15.75 mile race last weekend in Seward, Alaska. And this is the best picture out of the three we took. This is right after the race. Apparently I had enough energy for crazy poses. My girlfriends joke with me all the time about pictures with me. I’m the one always yelling, “Zombies poses!!!!!!” or “Superman pose!!!!!!” I’m not sure what I was going for here.

 

Anyway, that was last weekend and this is today. I have washed everything and feel a little bit better. I can tell these knees are getting old. The last five miles is straight down on slippery rocks, roots, leaves, and creeks. That’s not a fun part of the race for me. But, I’m a great up-hill runner so I can catch and beat them all during that section (damn them for passing me!!). Mind you, I’m not a fast runner, this is all just competition in my head. But back to the shorts. I’ve made this pattern several times before in the long pants version, but never in the shorts. I’ve got to tell you that I love them. The band at the hem keeps them down instead of having them creep up my thighs like most snug running shorts. I have thicker runner thighs and things tend to get hung up on them if that makes sense.

 

The dark blue is Nike Dri-Fit and the multicolored is a swimwear fabric from Fabric Mart. (Not a sponsor!)

 

Look at those meaty thighs! Those be Power Thighs!

 

Here you can see the amazing pocket. All my girlfriends loooooved the pocket. You can tell the shorts are just the slightest bit too snug around the thighs. Next time I make these, I will add 1/2” from waistband to hem on that long piece in the front.

 

I would make a vertical cut in the pattern and it would go all the way to the hem. That would give each leg a bit more space without sacrificing the look. And I would much rather modify the front than the amazing, butt-shaping back.

 

There’s a large crotch gusset in these shorts. It makes for a very comfortable pair of running shorts.

 

I love this color combination.

 

Since it’s almost 16 miles of beautiful scenery, I took my phone for a camera (which I never use because I’m too competitive to stop – arg). I also took three Gu’s. I only used one on the race, but I like to give myself options. Can you believe it fits? (and Melissa, THESE are the best flavors!!!)

 

Of course, from the side, you look like you have a butt tumor. But if I’m running 15.75 miles, I don’t really care!

Another Bella Dress! In RED!

When I saw CissieW with her red Bella dress on PatternReview.com, I vowed then to make one. Hers looked stunning on her and I decided that I needed one. I even purchased fabric for this make, which I almost never do. I almost always try to make things from stash.

I made this out of a solid red scuba from Fabric Mart. I love how it drapes. This is fuller version than the last one I made. Last time, it was a little too long so cut 2 inches off the hem which made it look not as full. Knowing that, I folded it up by two inches in the hip area so it didn’t upset the fullness of the skirt. Well, that’s what I thought I did anyway. Once I made the dress and hemmed it, I realized that it was shorter than my other one. I went back and measured and I had tucked it up by three inches. Oops, I guess my inner whore was trying to make my clothes shorter. Oh well, it’s not too short.

 

I modified the neckline to make it more t-shirt-y casual. I like the belt because it breaks up the red.

 

It’s still super spinny!! My favorite part!

 

I added a neckband in following with the “casual t-shirt dress” theme.

 

I love blooper photos from other blogs so I include the good ones for you guys. Hello super windy photo shoot!!! HAhahahahahahha.

This is a fabulous Jalie pattern and I will make many more in the future!!!!!!