The Gabriola Skirt- New from Sewaholic!!

You guys!! Tasia over at Sewaholic just announced her newest pattern, the Gabriola skirt.  I am not into these knit maxi skirts that are all the rage right now, so when she sent out the call for pattern testers and said it was a maxi skirt I was a little hesitant. Then I figured Ashley would love it, so I went for it. I am so glad she selected me as one of the testers! This skirt is GORGEOUS!!! I have been not so patiently waiting for the release so I could share it with everyone.

This skirt takes quite a bit of fabric. Luckily, I had this gorgeous silk/cotton/lycra blend in my stash (and I bought it twice, so I had about 10 yards of the stuff). This is the fabric that everyone seems to have, and I don't blame everyone for wanting it. I ran the fabric choice by Ashley first, and she approved it joyously.

As with all of the Sewaholic patterns I have sewn, this pattern is well drafted. The yokes on this are wonderful. The seam lines are as well. I love the idea of color blocking it, and the stripes Tasia used are fabulous.

It was a pretty quick project to sew, but cutting the pieces took a bit of time due to the length of the skirt. I hand stitched the hem, as well as hand picking the zipper. 

This skirt can be simple and elegant, or really dressed up. I keep thinking of it in lace with a charmeuse underlining. I'm not about the weight of that with this length, but maybe...

 Don't mind the unvacuumed floor.

Click on the picture to enlarge and see more detail.

Notice the skirt has a center piece and two side pieces. 

The catch stitch is especially great for fabric with some stretch,

 as it stretches a little, too.

 (She has worn this every Sunday so the hem is a bit dirty.)

The hand picked zipper and back yokes.

This is such a great pattern! I will be making it again. I'm hoping to make one for myself, and I'm pretty sure Ashley wants a few more. I think when my sister sees this one, she will want one, too. It would be perfect for someone in an orchestra who needs a black skirt, especially a cellist. (I played the cello, so I understand this need.)

a swimsuit for me

I was planning to make myself a few swimsuits this year, so when Heather released the new Bombshell Swimsuit pattern I was ready.

 (It was also love at first sight!) I made view A, the blue one, this time. I'm pretty sure my next one will be view B in white with gold dots.  I love this pattern! If you make this, follow the directions exactly. If you read all the way through the instructions first, you will understand. If not, you might be scratching your head, but trust her. She won't steer you wrong.

Here is mine!

Casual Lady Dress from Go To Patterns

I was asked to test the Casual Lady Dress pattern for Go To Patterns in April. They needed the XXS again, so Ashley got another dress!

I ordered these cotton/spandex jerseys from Nature's Fabrics. The top one is the same fabric Katie used for the leggings she wore to our meetup and I loved the quality, so ordered some of my own. The blue with gold flecks was much thinner, sadly, so I decided to use it for this dress.

The dress was quick! 2 main pieces, 2 facing pieces. Easy. The instructions were great, and Ashley was so happy to have yet another dress. I will definitely make this pattern again. I might even try making the top for myself- yes, it can be a dress or a top.

Doesn't she look thrilled?

Simply Lovely dress for Ashley

A few months ago, Go To Patterns was looking for a pattern tester for their smallest women's dress size.  After taking a look at their sizing, I realized this would work perfect for my 12 year old and signed right up!  They sent me the Simply Lovely Dress pattern.

I picked out a stretch woven I've had in the stash for quite some time. I fell in love with the diagonal stripe, but never knew what to do with it.

I think this fabric has a little less drape than the recommended fabrics, but it works.  I would LOVE to make this in a light to mid weight linen!

The instructions were well written. The elastic at the waist was put in a way I never have seen before.  I followed the directions, not sure how it would work, but it did!  The sizing is great! Ashley is quite thin, so I was surprised that a women's pattern would have a size to fit. I did lengthen the dress, as usual.  I will probably do the straps differently the next time I make it, making the underarm binding continue up as the straps, as I think it will sit better on their shoulders.

This pattern is FREE, yes, free. You just have to head over to GoToSew.com and sign up for their newsletter.  The dress was posted there back at the beginning of April, but I believe it is still available.

Back in January I made this dress...

Ashley turned 12 back in January. I decided to make her a new dress for her birthday, as she really didn't have any dresses in her closet.  I let her pick out the fabric from my stash. I searched through my Ottobre magazines and let her pick between a few patterns. 

We went with 06/2008 37. In the magazine, the girl wore it layered with a turtleneck and tights. It is really a cute dress. I would have loved to make the turtleneck, but it just isn't that cold here.

This dress was quick and easy to make. My kind of pattern! I used a pink cotton interlock from the stash.  It's been long enough that I forget what size I made. I love Ottobre patterns. They have great styles for kids (and women). The instructions are minimalist- sew the shoulder seam, gather between marks, hem.   This doesn't really bother me, as I know how to do these things.

 I need pink thread for the serger.

Ashley loves her new dress (we moved a week after her birthday, so boxes were just a part of our life back then).

The Wellington pattern pyramid has a new home!

The Wellington Patten Pyramid is moving on to it's next destination. 

My daughter, Alona, drew the winning name for me. 

The lovely Catja from Gjeometry is the next recipient!

I look forward to seeing which pattern(s) you choose!

Blogger Meetup

A few weeks ago I went to my cousin's wedding and had the chance to meet up with Katie of Kadiddlehopper. 

She took me to Yellow Bird Fabrics, a lovely fabric shop! We just happened to run into Sunni while we were there. She cut our fabric and took our picture for us.

I bought a gorgeous brown wool blend jersey for a summer Renfrew and a stretch cotton remnant which will be a skirt for my daughter.

If you are ever in Salt Lake for a visit, be sure to stop by Yellow Bird. Katie and I petted the Liberty Lawn they had in stock. I didn't understand why it was so coveted until I touched it! It is worth the price, and I think I will be buying some in the near future!

After our fabric shopping, we headed over to Capital City Antique Mall. We were having a great time playing with the vintage cameras when it occurred to me that we should be taking pictures of our adventure. (You can see more pictures over on Katie's post.)

We found quite a few pattern stashes to raid, and I loved seeing them in old suitcases.

I found some sewing machine accessory boxes. This is the one I didn't buy.

There were several racks of vintage clothes, with a few pieces that made us question, "why?"  Here is Katie with one of them.

I did buy a few things at the antique mall. 

I found a few patterns to my liking, but none of them are for me. 

This Simplicity pattern will be great for one of my daughters one day.

Here is a closeup of the Spadea unprinted pattern.

The PJs and robe are perfect for Drew, and the adorable girl's dress will one day (hopefully) be for my a little niece. 

The Singer sewing machine accessories box I bought didn't look that exciting at first, but the top piece came out and revealed a surprise.

This is the lower section with the real goodies!

A binding foot...

...and a ruffler foot. I'm pretty sure these will fit my older machine!

I had such a great time with Katie! She is vibrant, energetic and so lovely. I had a blast! Thanks for showing me around! 

Wellington Pattern Pyramid Has Arrived!!

The Wellington Pyramid arrived a week ago, but I've been lazy. Sorry about that!  These patterns have travelled around quite a bit.  Will they be coming to your house next?

These are the patterns sent to me from Laurie and Kerrielee over at Sew Exhausted. Thank you, ladies!

I picked 3 patterns to keep- 2 for me and 1 for my daughter.

And here are the 3 I am adding to the pyramid.

First up is Simplicity 4951, easy chic. 

Vogue 7353 is a lovely fur accessories pattern.

Lastly, is Vogue2659 with 5 easy pieces-  top, capri pant, skirt, jacket, and dress. 

If you'd like to be entered to receive the Wellington Pattern Pyramid just leave a comment below before 12:00am PST (GMT-7) April 7, one week from today. This is open to anyone with a blog. I will announce the winner on April 8.

You can find the origins of the Wellington Pattern Pyramid here.

Polka Dot Frock

I joined up with Scruffy Badger Time for Polka Dot Frock Fest in February. Of course, in my usual style, I didn't finish it in February. I managed to wash the fabric that month, that's it.  The pattern is New Look 6000. I love the pictures on the pattern jacket. I wasn't sure how it would look on me, however. 

I used a double knit from Girl Charlee. They don't normally have double knit in stock, but I lucked out with a dotted one!

I graded the pattern up, as it only goes up to size 16. I basted it together and it was huge! I ended up taking it back in to just barely bigger than the 16, cutting the neck and shoulder seams down between sizes 12 and 14.  

Checking the fit before adding sleeves and neck facing.

Catch stitching the hem.

The dress went together rather quickly, and I really shouldn't have put it off so long. I was just so unsure of the sizing. It all worked out in the end!

I wore it to my cousin's wedding for it's debut.

I love the pleating!

Unfortunately, the fabric is very fond of static. I need an awesome slip and a can of static spray, apparently.

I do love the dress. The neckline is wonderful.The sleeve length is great for me. I didn't add the cuffs, as I didn't really prefer those. 

I may sew this again, but not any time soon.

Jeans

My current sewing project is a pair of jeans, using Vogue 1034.  I cut out a muslin and sewed it up.  The size isn't too bad, but there are definitely some fitting issues.  The back crotch is way short.  Although maybe the real problem is that the front crotch is all wrong and pulls the back out of place.  I feel like the seam where the two join is way too far forward.  Alas, I cannot find anything on the subject of where this seam should fall.  The front waistband is super high up, while the back is super low.  I also need to make an adjustment for my upper thigh.  This adjustment (if done as the pattern instructs) may help with the back crotch issue.  Not sure though.  I've pulled out my Fitting & Pattern Alteration book and will see what I can find in there.

How I saved my pattern...

So remember in my last post how I told you I had cut my Renfrew pattern too small?  Well that pattern seems to be sold out everywhere right now, and I really, really want to try again for the right size.  So I dug through my trash (ewww, right?) and found all the pieces I had cut with the larger sizes.  They were wadded up inside the extra fabric bits, so it really wasn't all that gross to go through the trash.  I headed to the store and bought some fusible interfacing (the non-woven kind).  I fused the pattern pieces to the interfacing (like Tasia did) and then very carefully set the cut off sizes on the interfacing and fused them in place.  So now I have my full size pattern pieces!  Well, all except for the neck band for view B (the V-neck).  The pieces were so little and I don't think they made it into the same trash can.  No idea where they went.  I think I can fudge that piece though.  Now I just have to find some fabric so I can try again...