A Lacy Shirt And An Almost-Failed Skirt

  It's been a terribly long time since I've said anything here... I just haven't felt like talking anymore about those time-consuming boleros I've had to sew! And since I hadn't sewn anything but those until this week, I had nothing else to talk about. I finally finished the boleros, so I've allowed myself a small sewing break and whipped out a few things that aren't wedding-related.

  First, I had the exciting opportunity to be a pattern tester for Jessica at Craftiness is Not Optional. I'll share more about that in another post, but here's a teaser photo:

  Today what I want to show you are two (Two! Really!) things that I've sewn for myself... both of which were surprisingly quick sews.

  Remember this pretty grey suiting that I've been using as a tablecloth?

   I mentioned that it's only temporarily there since I wanted to use it for a skirt. Well, our 4th anniversary was this week, and I just couldn't bring myself to wear one of the two worn denim skirts that still fits me out on a date with my husband. I almost had to anyway though!

  I started out with a half-circle skirt, and added a dip in the front to make room for Beckers, then added a knit waistband with extra in the front to fit the dip. Unfortunately, it was way too big! I guess the dip added more width to the waist than I was expecting. I ended up taking out a total of 8 inches from the back center seam, tapering into the original seam. I didn't worry about a fancy interior on this skirt, just serged off all the seams (I love having a serger!) and did a narrow rolled hem on my sewing machine to finish.

  So it doesn't look like much, but it is a tremendously versatile addition to my wardrobe... so far it works with every top I've tried it with. =)

  It was simple enough that I want to try it again and see if I can't figure out how to get the measurements right on the first try. If I do, I'll be sharing that here. =)

  The other thing I made was the shirt I'm wearing with it. I found a pretty lace curtain at a yard sale a while back, and decided to make something with it this week. It had a little bit of horizontal stretch, so I treated it as a knit and underlined it with basic white knit. I wish I'd had another color to put underneath, because you can't really see just how delicate and beautiful the lace is when it is paired with white.

  I mimicked the first thing I posted on this blog, a high-waisted shirt with a slightly a-line skirt to it, and lettuce edging on the hem and sleeves. I changed things by making a simple round neckline, then adding a touch of elastic at the center front for a little detail. It was feeling a little loose, so I added ribbon ties to cinch it in a little under the bust, and a bit of elastic in the back.

  And then I tried many times and failed many times at taking decent photos. All grainy and dark, no matter which settings I put my camera on, and all of the time having to use the self timer since my remote is out of (the very oddly sized) batteries.

  But I'll share them anyway, since I feel like grainy photos are better than no photos! =)

  I used a pretty scalloped-edge, plush-backed elastic instead of a binding or facing at the neckline, and top-stitched it with a twin needle. It's a nice little detail that most people will probably never notice, but will still be there for me to enjoy.

  Did I mention that I have quite a lot of the grey suiting fabric leftover? I have a different skirt in mind to make with it, but I may wait until Beckers has arrived, because I feel the design is more suited to a fitted waistband than a maternity one. Hopefully I won't get distracted and you'll get to see that design in a few months. =)

  Anyway, I'll show you more of the tester photos and tell you more about the pattern I tested soon, and then it will be back to wedding sewing... only two more things to finish: the alterations on my dress, and the flower girl dress. And only 3 weeks until they have to be done! Eep!

Thanks for stopping by,

Linking up at The Train To Crazy

Wedding Sewing: Finished Bolero

  Well, I promised you a couple modeled shots of my bolero once it was finished, and it finally is. That was WAY too much hand-stitching for a slowpoke like me! First, I succeeded in neatly (though imperfectly) finishing the edges of the bolero:

 
  I started off with a whip-stitch for the first 4 inches, realized I hated the way it looked, and sewed about half with a ladder-stitch before finishing with a slip-stitch. I liked the way the slip-stitch looked on the inside best of the three, but it does show a bit under the lace... whip-stitch is on the bottom right and the show-through from the slip-stitch is on the left.

  I finally looked up how to do an invisible hand blind hem stitch (Fourth diagram on this site.) and used that on the sleeve hems. That came out beautifully, though I'm not sure how well it would work if I were to try it on the curved areas.

  And now, how it looks on me. I'm not wearing it with the bridesmaid's dress, since I haven't finished the alterations on mine and it isn't anywhere close to fitting me right now. I may have to change the sleeves on mine, since they are already a little tight and I have over a month to gain 'pregnancy' weight. ;-)

  I feel a little awkward with the way the bolero is open in the front, but I think it will look a lot better over the dress than it does over this tank. =)

  I might go back and add a hook and eye at the center front, since the bolero actually does easily meet there if I hold it.

  Left on the list of wedding sewing: Boleros for the sisters, alterations on my dress, and a flower-girl dress for the daughter.

  I managed to get all the pieces for the boleros cut out today! My bolero took a ridiculously long time, but I ended up with enough lining fabric to actually line the bodices of the other two. That makes me very happy, since I will only have to hand-hem the sleeves. Honestly, I have enough lining to line their sleeves too, but I don't want to make them too warm or bulky, since this will be a mid-summer wedding. Also, I think another layer in the sleeves might make them tight even on my sisters' slender arms.

  I find it odd that I ended up with so much extra lining... and so much extra lace too. I suppose when cutting three boleros instead of one, I can be more efficient in my layout. I DID buy an extra yard of each in case of accidents... but I have a whole lot more than a yard leftover. I think the extra must have come from miscalculating how much I would need for the length additions.
 
  I'm really hoping to get all this done soon, since I feel like I'm missing out on so much other sewing I want to do. I have a unique and fun maternity top planned out in my head, and it would fit perfectly in Made by Rae's Spring Top Sew-Along, and a skirt planned out that I would love to enter in Crafterhours' Skirt week... I just need to get the wedding stuff done first so it is out of the way.

  And that's all the talking I have to do today! Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, grandmothers and mother-figures out there. =)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wedding Sewing: The Dress Additions

 I have now successfully completed additions to two out of three bridesmaids dresses! As you probably know if you've read my blog for a while, I'm pretty modest in the way that I dress... I prefer high necklines, long skirts, and long sleeves. My sisters dress the same way, and will also be bridesmaids in my brothers upcoming wedding. So obviously we couldn't keep the dresses like this, cute though they might be:

  Happily, my future-sister-in-law is the farthest thing you can imagine from a bridezilla, and was perfectly fine with us making a few changes. I didn't have to alter the sleeves, since I'm also making boleros, but I did need to change the length and neckline. I knew I wouldn't be able to find a satin that matched well, so I went for a different texture and used lined lace.

  Here's what it looks like with the changes:

  To be honest, I don't really love the look of the length addition, but it does serve its purpose. The color matches a lot more closely than it appears from the photo. I'm kind of proud of the neckline addition though:

  I cut two pieces of the lining and one of the lace in the shape of the neckline opening, with seam allowances. Then I sewed them together and flipped them right side out. I wasn't sure how exactly I was going to attach it to the neckline until the last minute, but I ended up doing it similarly to how I would hand-sew hexagons for a quilt. I lined up one short side, right sides together with the neckline, and whip-stitched it together with tiny little stitches. Then I finagled and folded the pieces until I could line the longer sides up, right sides together, and whip-stitched those together. And finally I did the same thing for the last short side.

  It even looks decent on the inside, and there are no raw edges! And I was really happy with my hand-stitching this time, except for the parts where one of the daughters suddenly jumped on me. I was also pleasantly surprised by how quickly it went. I was expecting each neckline to take at least an hour, but I finished each in under 30 minutes:

  I used French seams for the side seams of the length addition, and a narrow rolled-hem (those are hard even with the rolled-hem presser foot!) on the lining. Then I gathered both layers together and sewed them upside-down to the lining of the dress, flipped them back down, and topstitched. It looks like this if you lift up the outer layer of the dress:

  Most of the time all the stitching will be hidden by the outer layer, like this:

  So the additions may not be perfect, but I think they came out well. =)
 
  Left to do on the wedding sewing list: Alter my dress and make these same additions, finish my bolero and make two more, and sew a flower-girl dress. I'm getting things done, slowly but surely! =)

Thanks for stopping by!

Wedding Sewing

  My older brother is getting married to a very good friend of mine in June... and I will be a bridesmaid (bridesmatron?). But before then, I have a lot of sewing to do. I'm sewing boleros for three of the bridesmaids, as well as adding length and a neckline modesty panel to dresses for the same three bridesmaids. In addition, I have to do extensive alterations to my dress (I will be almost 8 months pregnant!) and sew a flower girl dress for Booper.

  Here's what I've finished so far:

  It looks uncomplicated, and the pattern really is pretty simple, but you know I went and complicated everything up. First, I added a lace overlay, which required basting every lace piece to the corresponding underlining pieces. Second, I decided against using a lining, since I was already quite a bit over budget in the fabric department. Skipping the lining meant that I needed to use some other sort of seam finish on every seam, and since these are for a wedding and I really want them to look nice, I sewed every seam as a French seam:

   
  And finally, since I'm not using the lining I have to finish the outer edges of the bolero very differently than the pattern suggests. I am thinking bias strips as a facing... I haven't sewn this part yet. I'll need to sew them on the inside by hand to avoid topstitching, which I think wouldn't really look good with the lace. I also need to hand-sew the sleeve hems. So, a lot of work, and this is only the first of three!

  Booper's dress will be fun though. I don't have the design fully planned yet, but I know I want tulip sleeves, a square neckline, and pick-ups throughout the skirt. I'm using white satin overlaid with hunter green lace for most of the dress, and hunter green satin for the sash. For this, I bought lining.

  Isn't that pretty?

  Initially I couldn't find green lace in any of the fabric stores around here, so I ordered it from Joann's online... and let me just say that was a mistake. I ordered the color on the left, and the light green on the right was what I was sent:

  They aren't even close to the same color! And while both are pretty, I really needed dark green to match the wedding colors. I had given up on the lace overlay and went to Joann's in person to look for dark green satin, and was surprised and delighted to find just 3 yards of the hunter green in store... so it all worked out, except that I have to either find something to make with 3 yards of bright green lace or pay the extra to ship it back. Any suggestions?

  I'll share photos of the dress alterations when I'm finished, as well as a modeled photo of the bolero. And you know I won't be able to resist showing you the flower girl dress... I'm excited about it. =)

And now I must be off to sew... I have only 7 weeks to finish everything, and I'm not nearly fast enough at sewing yet!

Thanks for stopping by,

Negroni Shirt- Finished!

  I did it! I finished the shirt for my husband. Here's what it looks like:

  Doesn't look like much for how long I spent working on it, does it? But I assure you that it has a lot of details to it.

  Details which, unfortunately, I could NOT get a decent photo of. I tried 3 separate times. Here is a blurry cuff-and-placket photo though. Please ignore all the lint... that is what happens when I leave something on my sewing table for several weeks. =)

  I loved the placket instructions, but I hated the way the cuffs were sewn on to the shirt... the instructions have you sew one side to the sleeve at 1/4", then edgestitch the other side down...but since you baste that edge down at 3/8" when assembling the cuffs, it's impossible to sew it down neatly, without either pulling the seam of the cuff to the front, or having your former stitching show. I picked them out and sewed them my own way, and I like the results a lot better this way.

 I'm also not fond of the facing. I put so much effort into flat-felled seams and lined back yokes, that it's not really great to have this right at the front:

 It doesn't show unless you lift it, but I still don't like knowing it is there. I think I would have preferred a traditional button placket over a faced one, a regular button-hole at the collar instead of a loop, and a stand collar instead of convertible. Those are really more style preference, but overall I won't be using the pattern again as-is. I may alter it and make another later though, along with some sizing changes... the sleeves are too long for even my long-armed husband, and the waist too slim, although the fit everywhere else is very good.

  I'll see if I can convince Joshua to let me take a photo of him wearing this when he gets home... he hasn't seen it since before I finished the cuffs.

 Edited to add: Despite his dislike of being photographed, Joshua did let me take this one... just because he loves me. =) It would appear that those pounds gained last week were lost this week, and the waist now fits. =) Sleeves are still too long though.

Any grime is due to this being a minute-he-walked-in-the-door photo. =)

   I'm just glad it is finished. I do think it came out well, the pattern just wasn't as amazing as I hoped it would be. =) And amazingly, the buttonholes were much less of a fight than I was expecting, although they are a tiny bit too short and you have to fight to get the buttons through. =)

 And now to sew 3 lace boleros, add to 3 bridesmaids dresses, and come up with a flower girl dress, all of which MUST be finished by mid-June. Think I can do it?

Thanks for stopping by,

PS: Linking up at The Train To Crazy

Husband Shirt Update

   No, it isn't finished. =) But I have made quite a bit of progress on the button-up I've been working on for Joshua. I not only finished marking everything but have most of the shirt sewn together. To finish, I need to sew the cuffs, hem, buttonholes and buttons. And considering how scary this shirt is, that's a lot of progress!

  The buttonholes are the part I'm looking forward to the least, since my buttonhole lever still isn't working the way it is supposed to. It's supposed to be entirely automatic but I'm having to do parts manually... I think I'm missing a spring or something. Once I have the time and money, I'll get it looked at, but for now I'll just be extra careful with every buttonhole to make sure it doesn't make giant knots on my fabric.

  Another thing... this shirt is too small. It isn't my fault though! Some weight has been gained in the ridiculous amount of time that I've been working on it, and the waist measurement is now several inches larger than it was when I cut the fabric. Fortunately for the shirt, my husband is working on dropping those pounds again, so there is still a possibility of it being worn eventually.

  There are several things about this pattern (the Negroni, from Collette Patterns) that I'm not impressed with, but I do appreciate the clear sleeve placket instructions and the use of flat-felled seams. It's a little extra work, but it makes things look so much nicer when finished.

 There is a distinct possibility that I will finish the shirt this week... we'll see how things go! And once that is finished, I have a flower-girl dress to get started on, 3 lace boleros to make, and 3 bridesmaid dresses to add to, one of which I also have to alter. I also have high hopes for a shirt for myself, and if I get the perfect arrangement of spare time, a maternity skirt. I wish I was faster at sewing! =)

Thanks for stopping by,

Quick Dress-To-Shirt Refashion

  So I have still been procrastinating on that shirt for my husband... it still scares me. I did get the interfacing cut out, but I still haven't marked everything properly.

  I did finish refashioning this dress though:

  Here's what it looks like now:

  No more waddling due to too-tight dresses! =) It was a pretty simple fix on the length, in spite of having to hem a lining separately. I wanted the front to be a little longer, so I marked where I wanted the dress to hit on the side seams, then laid it out and cut it like this:

  This photo is after cutting... the pin is the mark for side seam length. I don't remember this dress being labeled as maternity when I bought it, but you can tell from the photo that it definitely is! The ruffle wasn't finished, so I cut a curved line to about 1 inch above the hem cut, to allow room for hemming the shirt. I just used a twin needle to hem, although I did use quite a few pins because this fabric is pretty shifty.

  I also changed the neckline a little... I'm not fond of showing my undergarments while walking around town. I used the piece I cut from the bottom of the shirt to mimic the shape of the original neckline and hand-sewed it in place. It didn't come out as well as I had hoped it would, but at least I'm not showing things I don't want to show!

 
  Now you may remember that I said this fit beautifully other than the hips, and you may be noticing that it looks a little tight. The truth is, it is a tiny bit tight now. I gained a few pounds in the past two weeks... normal during pregnancy, but obviously not in the right spot if it is making the sleeves tighter! ;-)

  I think the extra weight probably has more to do with some cranberry-cheesecake bars I made this week than it does with tiny little baby Beckers. (Yes, she already has a nickname.) =)

  Doesn't that look delicious? It's the best cranberry sauce I have ever tasted. =) I'd offer to share the recipe, but I don't want your clothes to end up tight too. ;-)

  So I may not have finished the biggest project on my list, but I did complete something this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Procrastinating

 I mentioned in my last post that I was working on a shirt for my husband. Since then, I really haven't done much on it... I finished multiple washes of the fabric last week, but I've been too scared to cut this out. A woven shirt in and of itself is a big deal to me, and making a proper button-up is more than a little intimidating. I finally cut it out last night:

  Well, excepting the interfacing... and most of the pieces still need to be marked properly. We'll see how long I procrastinate on those parts. By the way, cutting out fabric on a scratchy carpet while pregnant can lead to rub burn on knees, shins, elbows, and forearms.

  Other sewing stuff: I have this beautiful dress that I bought on sale online, no returns accepted. I knew it would be short, so I was planning on wearing it as a long tunic. However, it is ridiculously tight on the hips... waddling tight. The rest of it fits beautifully. I am planning on shortening it into a shirt. The neckline also hits a lot lower than I expected, so we'll see what I can do there. Care to see?

  Also, I am beyond excited not to be sewing at the dining table anymore... we found a folding table for sale a few days ago, and this is the setup I have so far:

  It's right in the middle of the living room, so I'm going to have to make an effort to keep it clean, but look at how much room I have! Enough for my sewing machine AND serger to be set up at the same time! And all of my fabric and other supplies fit neatly beneath the table, so I don't have to go rummage through the garage every time I need to find something. Also, see the thread rack? $23 at Walmart, and completely worth it, in spite of being slightly flimsy. I currently have all of my spools and all of my bobbins on it with quite a lot of empty pegs. The tablecloth is just a length of pretty grey fabric (The same fabric I used for Booper's hat), and is temporary, since I want to use it for a skirt eventually.

  One more thing. =) I bought a gift for a wedding shower but didn't have any wrapping paper for it... so I used freezer paper (not the shiny side), gold craft paint, and a silkscreen to make this:

  I love the way it turned out, and I am really happy that I got the chance to re-use the silkscreens after my Navy and Lace shirt.

And that is what I have been up to, besides all the cooking going on while I procrastinate on sewing.
Thanks for stopping by!