13 New Jalies!!!

Have you guys seen them? I am in love with this collection. You can see all 13 and all the pictures here. I just screenshot-ed my favorite ones. I love Jalie – clothes for me and my kids – forever. One envelope and all the sizes you could ever want. Anyway – these are my favorites. I think I see another capsule wardrobe in my future!!

A running raglan top with thumbholes AND a ponytail hole?? Instant LOVE from the runner in me!

 

A supportive bikini with loads of options for straps, tops, and the high and low-waisted bottoms? Um, yes please!

 

More running pants! They are SO FLATTERING! I love the colorblocking options here!!! I love these.

 

I have the perfect fabric for this. It’s a floral scuba. With black sleeves, this would be so cute! My daughters want one (but I might make one for me first).

 

Yes! Cozy, comfortable pants but you look like you actually got dressed. I don’t have much fabric for wovens like this. Must get more! My son would totally love these too.

 

I could just live in this when we are on vacation. With a cardigan, it would be perfect for work.

 

Love, love, love the colorblocking options for this. I also love the sports bra. It’s looks comfortable and supportive.

 

I wear my other Jalie skorts all the time. I’m excited that this one has a pocket in the leg. This is my uniform in the summer.

What do you guys think? Pre-orders are available now. I think they ship on the 15th of March. I might be spending a considerable chunk of change on this release. There are others too; a unitard, ballet leotard, two more raglan tops (one for men!!!), and a cool cardigan (I love the pockets).

Jalie, Jalie, and Jalie Update

(I love this rug in my daughter’s room and so does she.) Well, She loves every single pieces of her new outfit. She LOVES the cardigan, she LOVES the dolman top (exactly the right amount of classy), and she loves the pants. They are a bit big for her so I rolled them up about two inches. They are loose in the leg and the waist but she’ll grow into them.

 

But really, she loves them and had no advice on how to make them better. Illuminati confirmed.

 

Sparkle pockets were her favorite part of this whole outfit.

I have the older (by 13 minutes, thank you very much) sister’s outfit traced and will maybe cut them out tonight.

Maybe.

Kwik Sew 4134 - Founcy Knit Top

I’m working my way through my $0.10 patterns. There are some that I rather love, like this flouncy knit top. The front is kind of boring, but I love the back. I also think next time I will add a neck cowl neck to it. Doesn’t it just need one?

 

The fabric is from the National City Swap Meet, shockingly. It’s a thin, ribbed sweater knit. I love the heathered coloring and it’s nice and cozy on. (The scarf is just a $4.00 scarf from Target!)

 

I used Version A for the front and Version B for the back. I wanted the longer length in the back. You can see from the side view that the change in angle from front to back is pretty steep. I should have made it a little less steep. I do love the but coverage though. The sleeves are kind of a weird length. Originally, they were the full length, but I didn’t love the entire-torso-in-teal so I cut them off a bit. I think right above the elbow would have been better.

 

Isn’t the back fun? With gathering AND a ruffle? How can it get more fun than that? Well, it would be more fun if it wasn’t sticking to my Jalie Eleonore jeans, but they are still pretty fun, I say!

 

I’ll make another of these, but with a large cowl this time. And maybe lace on the bottom. Next up, outfit for Daughter #2.

Jalie, Jalie, and More Jalie

Both daughters want outfits. They are identical twins. Many of their friends still can’t tell them apart even though they’ve all been in school together for six years. Most people tell me that they look identical-identical (like VERY IDENTICAL). They couldn’t be more different little people. It amazes me sometimes.

Me: Okay Ladies, what are you thinking for outfits?

Bella: Well, let’s see. I want something that coordinates and I want it to be able to go with other things *flinging hands about*. I want something that is girly, but not too girly. Hahahahaha, you know me mom *throws head back and laughs dramatically*. Nothing like, you know, girly-girly. I want something that is, like comfortable, but not sloppy, you know? I think I want the main color to be purple, but maybe I’m done with purple? Is it too young? You know, I’m older now. I still like purple though *dramatic siiigh*. Maybe purple still. I really like that one cardigan you have mom, the purple one? The one with the pockets? I want one kind of like that. But it needs to go with something cool too. And there has to be sparkles, but not like over the top, you know, not too sparkly. I want to be classy, not trashy, mom. You know how sometimes you get, like, crazy with sparkles and glitter *rolls eyes*? Yea. No. That’s not going to work for me. So sparkles but subtle sparkles.

Me: *siiiigh*

Cora: Sweatshirt, cozy. Leggings, snug but not tight. Overall, warm.

Me: Copy that, Cora.

So here is my (hopefully) Bella-pleasing outfit. I tried to add “subtle sparkle” and make it “classy not trashy”. It started with a sketch which was approved.

For the cardigan, I used Jalie 3248, the Drop Pocket Cardigan. I made the size N which is the size 10 equivalent. They are long like the size 10, but lean. The purple is a Merino wool and the ITY is from the dress I made recently (from the National City Swap Meet).

 

Next, I made up the Jalie Dolman Top. I added “subtle sparkle” using an iron-on decal. I hope it’s subtle enough. Fabric is the from Nation City Swap Meet.

 

I think it looks nice with the cardigan.

 

Next I made up the Jalie Eleonore Pull-On Jean which is one of my all-time favorites. I used plain thread but used the triple stitch to make it really stand out on the dark denim. This fabric is NOT from the National City Swap Meet (gasp!), but it is from San Diego. I can’t remember what the store is called but there was a remnant table with denim. This was a 1.25 yard chunk for $3.00.

 

I hope she will think these are subtle bling because I love them!!

 

I used the Omnimotion stitches on my new Viking to make the hearts and I used this amazing rhinestone stuff on the pockets.

 

It took me many tries to get the design figured out. I love my new machine. I changed the width of the hearts to try to get them centered. I never got that done but it was fun to try out all these stitches.

 

Here is the stuff I used on the pockets. It is rhinestones on plastic mesh. I just cut the shape I want and sew it down. The strip comes by the yard and it’s about four inches wide? I have three different colors; white rhinestones on black mesh, white rhinestones on silver mesh, orange rhinestones on silver mesh. This stuff comes from the National City Swap Meet and it’s AMAZING. I’ve never had a gem fall off and the stuff can be roughed up and washed. It does not stretch, at all. That’s the only downfall of it.

I think the outfit is cute and hope that she will approve and smile upon me. She is hard to please. I love the challenge. :)

Next up? The comfy outfit for Cora . . . https://jalie.com/jalie3461-eleonore-pull-on-jeans

My “Dawn Alteration”

So, I thought I did a blog post on this quite a while ago. When I went searching for it on my blog, I couldn’t find it. Maybe, with moving and packing/unpacking, I just thought I did it. I did take the pictures because they are on my phone. So. Weird.

So anyway, people often ask how I do my “add an inch to the bodice but keep the armholes the same” alteration. It’s dead easy. I took some pictures to make it even easier. This is not an alteration I recommend for anyone else. I happen to be long torso-ed and my long-ness just happens to occur between my shoulders and chest. Weird, eh? Not many people have this issue, I have found.

So this is a standard bodice top (this is actually KS 4134, not KS 4143 – so much for labeling). I have found you can do this alteration on pretty much anything. It’s easier on something like this for sure.

 

I use the CB (or grainline) to make a perpendicular cut across my pattern piece. Then I slice around the armhole. I just kind of eyeball it when it comes to the armhole.

 

Then I just slide the paper down 1”, matching the CB or grainline. As long as your grainline is moved one inch, you don’t need to worry about the other distances. My preferred length is one inch. That makes the bust point, waist seam, and hip seam all line up with my body.

 

You can see the the side pieces don’t line up perfectly now. I just blend the two pieces together.

See? Easy peasy! I do this to the front and back of patterns. Mostly, I do this while I trace out my patterns so I don’t even need to cut and tape anymore. If it’s something like a princess seam or odd piecing, then I always trace it out and modify it like this.

KwikSew 3561–Simple Knit Dress

This is one of the patterns I bought for $0.10. I didn’t really need it, because I can use my Jalie t-shirt, but it’s fun to see how things compare. This is a “Kwik and Easy” pattern so it’s really easy. This version is the long-sleeved, boatneck, long dress. I have also made the shorter version and wooo-weeeee is it short. I’ll take pictures of that one too.

 

It fits well, but it certainly has more ease than my Jalie pattern. I’m not surprised by that at all. I often pinch out a half inch or so in the CF and CB of a Kwik Sew pattern. Their smallest size is an XS and I make a S. If I make the XS, the other measurements seem to be out of whack, like the vertical distance between bust, waist, and hips. Overall, I like it. It’s a cute and (very!!) easy pattern. But, you can also just make one of these out of your favorite t-shirt pattern.

 

You can see this is a bit sloppy in the back. The belt helps hold it in. The fabric is a rayon blend and it’s so comfortable (bought at National City Swap Meet). It’s kind of like wearing secret pajamas.  

 

I probable could have made the neckline binding just a bit more snug.

 

Overall, it’s a win, but I like my Jalie t-shirt dresses more . . . maybe? (Jalie dress number 1, and number 2). This would be better with a bit pinched out of the CF and CB.

Ottobre Shift – 02/2017 #19

Oh my goodness! Look! A real picture with a real camera! I still haven’t found a great place in my house to photograph clothes, but I’m working on it. So far, this is my favorite spot. However, it gets a crazy amount of direct sun. I wish I had a spot that was bright, but flitered. My windows are crazy-tall too so there is no covering them with something while I take pictures.


I made a knit dress from the latest Ottobre Women’s magazine. I made my typical size 34. I added my typical inch above the bust (without altering the armholes).  I think it’s okay but I’m not in love with it. I do love this fabric though. It’s an ITY from the National City Swap Meet (shocker!). It’s a very simple dress. The front is a tank with a faced soft v-neck.


The back has a tiny cowl at the neck. I wish the cowl were bigger because I feel like people might just think I don’t know how to sew clothing. I want it to be like, BAM, cowl neck in back. A cowl ON PURPOSE, not a mistake.


Of course pooling the back because, swayback.


I do like it and think it’ll be a cute little run-around dress or nice with a cardigan come spring.


I also made that cozy, long sweatshirt from the same issue but need to take pictures of it. Hope everyone is doing well. Things are getting hung up, put away, and situated in our little castle.