Friday, July 24, 2015

More fabric from Hawaii

Another batik from Walmart in Oahu. This is Butterick 6168 a Lisette pattern. I like the keyhole neckline in the pattern and that the front wrap does not gap. The waist seems really high and the sleeves were too tight so I had to go sleeveless on this. I added ric rac that matched the fabric perfectly. I had just enough for the neckline, sleeves and hem. Don't you love it when you find something in the stash that works perfectly?





Grabbing some lunch in Edina Minnesota.

Fabric from Hawaii

When we were in Hawaii, I made a point (of course) of going to the fabric stores. My husband waited and waited while I was hunting. I could not find anything. We went to the local Walmart to get some groceries and that's where I got all my fabric, I even made him go back so I could get some more. They were all four or five dollars a yard. This is a hot pink batik. I used my Grandma's table cloth for the top front and back.

Here is the pattern that had been in my stash forever! Super easy to sew. I just made the skirt longer because I wanted to use up the fabric.

Excuse the dorky shoes, but we were taking in The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.


Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Vintage Simplicity 1856


My stylist (husband) did not do a very good job at the photo shoot, oh well. I really like this vintage pattern although with a print fabric it is hard to see the design lines, but the fabric shows off nicely. In vintage patterns they tend to have more seams instead of placing the pieces on the fold, probably because the fabric was not as wide and to conserve fabric. I placed all the center front pieces on the fold, and changed the back pieces to have a seam and also put the zipper in the back. The back skirt was made up of three pattern pieces originally and I changed that to two, just pinned the two pieces together on the fabric and cut.

This patten will work out for some fabric that I've been waiting to sew. Stay tuned for a yellow dress.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Another green dress

This is a Franken Pattern (love that term). This is Simplicity 6406, a pattern that I've had in my stash since I was a young whipper-snapper. Don't throw those patterns away...you may need them 20 years down the line, ha, ha. The top is Simplicity 2590. Don't know why I didn't use just one pattern.

 Had a small storm last night.

The top of the fabric: JoAnne's. The skirt: Thrifted bed sheet with embroidered critters (I had to stalk a lady that was carrying the sheets around, when she put them down, I was right around the corner and pounced.

McCall's 6742

This is a dress that I didn't think I'd like as much as I do. I wore it three days in a row! It's strange how the pattern envelope shows a lime green dress and voila, I have a lime green dress. I didn't make too many changes, just omitted the cuffs on the sleeves, gathered the skirt instead of the darts and put the zipper in the side not the back.

The fabric for the top was from JoAnne about ten years ago and the bugs in a jar fabric is a Micheal Miller purchased online.

Friday, July 3, 2015

Burda again!

This is Burda 7205. This is very easy to do. I had looked online for others who had sewed this pattern. Some said that it was frumpy and I think that is because where they had you put the elastic. There is way too much length in the top. If I sew this again I will put the casing below the waist by about one inch.

I used wide silver elastic instead of putting the elastic in a casing, and I cut the elastic for the size 12 and the rest of the pattern at 44.  If you like your dresses tighter you would probably be able to go down a size. I always add length to the hem (I'm 5'8"). The dress was cut on the straight grain not the bias, no problems there.


Fabric from JoAnne's (this year) and handbag by Jonathan Adler.