Another Fleece Hat

Remember these? Here's another with a slight variation. I turned it RST and sewed the corners instead of adding tassels. The embroidery is from Emblibrary.com. I love my color combination of green, pink, and orange.

I have to remember to put labels on the back. My girls keep putting them on backwards. Funny, yes? Safe, no. I'll add sew-on labels to the back of the other hats I made. If you put them on backwards, there is a tiny little hole (neck hole) and they can't see. I'll try to take a picture next time. It's hilarious.

Burda 09-2009 #109 Pleated Trousers

This is item #9 of my wardrobe contest entry. The only thing left is my Chanel jacket. It's been sitting on my duct tape double. I'm not quite ready to tackle it yet so I think I'll do a bit more kid sewing first. I was unsure if these would be flattering when I started making these trousers last weekend. They are finished and I really like them. They are pleated at the hip without being huge, they have roomy pockets, they fit well, and I love the color. And who says I can't mix stripes and stripes and more stripes? If it looks stupid, just don't tell me. :) Oh, and the belt, that's Burda #151 from a few months back.

The nitty gritty. These trousers have side seams pockets, back shaping darts, and a single pleat in the front. They are made from RPL I found at Joann's. This fabric is on sale right now for, like, $3.49/yard. It washes well and it comes in good bottom colors. I sized down the pattern to a 36, my standard Burda size on bottom.

You can see the side seam pockets mostly stay shut at the sides when not in use. I am standing funny because I realized that all my other back photos had the belt above the waistband and looked funny. In this one, I realized it at the last second and tugged the belt down a bit.

Here's a front photo without the hands in the pockets. Can you tell it is windy? It's been really warm for October; but very windy the last few days. It hasn't snowed yet and it's currently 43 degrees out.

I used a dark gray RPL for the facing and pockets because I didn't have enough of the pinstripe fabric.

Here's the side seam pockets.

I know, I know. You aren't supposed to use a catchstich to hold down the facing but I like the catchstitch and it's effective.

The inside of the side seam pockets. I didn't read the Burda directions here so I don't know if I did it their way but it looks nice.

The cuffs. I never realized I was so short compared to the Burda models. I actually tried to use their markings for the cuffs. I had pants that were waaaay too long with 3" heels. I think I cut off about 3" and made the cuff a little bit larger.

Here's the inside of the cuff.

Next up?? I think kid sewing. My kids need mittens and I know a woman who can sew.

Early Morning Sewing

I managed to squeeze in some early morning sewing this morning due to my running being cut short by two bull moose fighting in the cul-de-sac. It sounds pretty dramatic but they were just pushing each other back and forth with their antlers and grunting. Seeing as they are much bigger than me, I decided to stay the hell out of their way. They were not huge bulls. They were about like these two bulls in this Anchorage-In-Pictures picture. I did snap some photos with my iPhone but, alas, it has no flash and it was 5:45am. I probably wasn't in any danger. At one point I was running and was about six feet away from the closest one. He just looked at me and went back to eating. The only thing they care about this time of year is female moose and other male moose who they see as competition. These two were hanging out together and feeding. Then, their hormones would kick in and they would grunt and push on each other. If you have not seen moose spar, grunt, and wave their antlers around, you should watch this:

ETA: These are not the moose I saw but they were about the same size and doing the same thing. This video was taken in Wyoming, I think.

My girls were gifted he Columba hat on the left and I really liked how it fit their heads. So, I decided to copy the design and make a few more. The one on the right is one I made out of microfleece.

This is the back.

Here it is on. Girl #1

And here is the other one I made. I love how it covers ears, some cheek, and chin on Girl #2. It took me all of about 15 minutes to trace the original hat, 15 minutes to cut, and about 30 minutes to sew and most of that was the tassels. It's a cute pattern and I'll make a lot more.

Did I need these?

My local fabric boutique is having a big sale. They are getting rid of all their Vogue patterns and are selling them off at a whopping $1 a piece. I couldn't resist these fantastic vintage ones. Did I need them? No, probably not. Do I love them? Yes.

This might be my halloween costume for next year.

I probably would never make this. My chest is not my best feature.

This coat I love, love, love.

This is cute.

This would be a cute dress but can a flat-chested girl pull it off? Maybe, but maybe not.

I love this jacket.

I love the diamond details.

I love this whole set. Love the dress. Love the coat. Love the wrap blouse.

I really love this dress. I'm confused though. The back says to use jersey, linen, or crepe. I can easily see this in a knit but they recommend a knit and a woven?

This is very cute. I can see this at knee length.

Burda 07-2009 #107 Trampy 60s Dress

Remember this cute little ditty from July 2009 Burda? I knew I would make this before the year was out. You'll notice the collar looks significantly different than this one. Let's, cough cough, call it a design element.

My original idea was a 60s go-go girl. I got a wig but it's much more Amy Winehouse. Should I put in a headband of the same fabric? Hmmmmm, some modification to the wig will be necessary. It's a very bright sunny day so I couldn't look at the camera without my eyes watering. And it's only about 34 degrees out so there aren't that many outside photos.

Obviously, it's for an adult party. Even then, we'll see if my husband lets me out of the house in it. I did leave a deep hem so I can let it out a couple inches if I need to.

This is a petite-sized pattern in size 17. I did a swayback tuck for the bubble-butt and then ended up taking it in about 2" at the waist at the CB seam. I love the pockets.

So do you see the collar issue yet? I put the damn thing on upside down!!! When I noticed, I had already topstitched it, attached it to the dress, attached the facing, and topstitched that down. There was no way I was picking out all that. The part where it overlaps should be the neck edge. The real CF is at my CB. It's still the same distance so it went in smoothly. It just means the collar points are a bit lower and sorta point upward. I did make the collar larger by extending the points of the collar piece before I cut it out.

It has sleeve facings and neckline facing. All of which, surprisingly, went in very easily.

I did one kickass welt pocket and one okay welt pocket. This is the first time I've done them in the front of a dress like this. I've only ever done them on jeans.

I used a very bright orange zipper from stash.

When at rest, it is hard to see.

Here are the boots I finished last night.

Even with all my practice, it's still hard to make the stitches even. Although with the shortness of this outfit, I'm not sure people will be looking at my boot stitching . . .

Vinyl Boot Alteration (I love Halloween!)

Why, you ask? Why in the world would Dawn be altering boots? Can one do that with a sewing machine?? Yes, my friends, you can. You just need a leather needle, a rolling foot, tear-away stabilizer, vinyl boots, and a load of patience. See these boots? My husband gave them to me as a gag gift a few years ago. Yes, they have killer 6" heels. And actually, they are pretty comfortable to wear. I have a costume to show you tomorrow. It goes with the red boots. Tonight, though I thought I would show you the alteration of the boots. First, I cut them off two inches above the knee (I want them to be knee-high boots).

Then, I unpicked the stitches that held the vinyl to the zipper. I also removed the zipper stops and repositioned them at the new "top" of the zipper. All you need for that is some needle-nosed pliers. See the underflap? That is a thicker piece of vinyl that I shaped easily with my scissors. Then I just folded under the vinyl and used a zigzag stitch to "hem" the boots.

I used a 110 leather needle with my leather rolling foot. I also sandwiched tear-away stabilizer between the vinyl and the machine bed so it wouldn't grab.

Even with all that, it is hard to get even stitches. All of the stitches shown below are of the same stitch length. When they are closer together the vinyl was getting bound up. When I grabbed it and started pulling, the stitches got farther apart. This is my test sample.

Here's the back showing the stabilizer.

I'll show the finished boots tomorrow along with the dress that goes with it. Here's a sneak peek. Anyone? Anyone? It's a Burda pattern and it's only a few months old.

CAbi Fall and Winter Collection 2009

If you've never been to a CAbi party you should go. They are like Tupperware parties but for Carol Anderson clothing. The clothing is nice but expensive (for me at least, I'm cheap) and it's fun to look at your friends dressed in something that is totally not them. I never buy anything at CAbi parties but it is fun to hang out with my friends and try on clothing. The consultant knows I'm only there to pick over details and she always tells me that maybe I should go and design for Carol Anderson. Yea, as if. I always tell her the same thing. I'm a workhorse, I have skills, I can copy, but I CANNOT design or be creative on my own. I am not an artist. For me an artist is someone who creates using their own ideas. I always use a pattern. If I change it, it's because I've seen that detail on something else and want to copy it. And, I'm not looking for "Dawn you ARE an artist!" comments. I come from a family of artists (woodworker, potter, silversmith) and what they do is way different than what I do. So here are some excerpts from the fall and winter line. I did like a bunch of the details. I sit and draw while she is doing her presentation.

First up, this cute pair of pants that was made out of a very thick bottom weight knit suiting. It was very interesting to touch. It had a bit of stretch. The details in the back where cute too. It had a notch at CB, seaming lines that ran down each leg, and a little buckle in the back.

I loved this vest/jacket thing . . . until I tried it on. I love the colors on it and I love the design on other people. I think it was too baggy in front and that kind of threw the belt off. It just looked too big and made me look very flat chested. Which, of course, I am. This is why I sew my own clothes.

There was a very cute t-back vest (far right) that I really liked. It was more slouchy than fitted. I think this Simplicity pattern is the same back but the CAbi vest is much loose; made to be worn open and flowing. The wrap dress (second on right) was made out of a beautiful fabric. It's an orchid purple with navy and black accents. You could totally use the Jalie wrap top pattern for this.

Hmmmmm, there are more but my scanner has decided that it does not want to work. More on this later.