Vogue 8825

Originally, I had not purchased this pattern when it came out, but then I saw others wear this dress and it looked so cute on them, so I thought I'd give it a try. I did not buy it at first because the skirt looked too slim in the drawing, but it ended up fitting quite nicely.

When I looked at the other dresses online, the pattern seemed to run large, especially on thin girls, so I cut size 16 on the top and graded out on the hips. I cut off about an inch on the sleeves (short arms and legs)  and made the cuffs smaller and added a stiff elastic inside. I did the standard longer skirt for winter so I don't have to wear tights.

Did you notice I'm a little off on the plaid? I originally wanted the plaid for the sleeve fronts too, but there was no way I could even begin to match anything. The fabric was from remnant bundles from Vogue Fabrics when they came to the Minneapolis Expo.

Fleece Overload

I took this picture before we went to California for our winter get-away. I had so much fleece in the stash and I had kind of turned up my nose to fleece for a long time, until I thought, what's not to like? It's easy to sew, lightweight, washes well and keeps you warm. This is a pattern from 2006. It is Simplicity 3926. It comes with a matching dog coat, to bad I don't have a dog...we could match.

In real life this looks better. These photos are just not too flattering. This is Vogue 8906. Really love the pattern, very simple and easy. This is from a glittery blue fleece. I have some more fleece coming, just need to take some pictures.

This dress is Vogue 8463, with a vest from Herberger's and boots from Kohl's purchased this year. This is a vintage pattern and I do like it, but the fabric pulls a bit between the tie at the waist. Probably because I put in elastic instead of running the whole tie through the casing. I bought the fabric from Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul. I always shrink my fabric before cutting out and it was so strange because it got red dye on my sewing machine and I can't get it out! My sewing machine now has a pink color. Bad!

This is down the road from where we stayed in beautiful Shell Beach, CA. And below was from our back yard.

Fabric purchased from Beverly's in California and patterns from thrift stores around town.

I have been fighting a cold and doing a lot of sewing since getting back. I forced myself to wind six bobbins of black thread so I could finish off much of my winter things that I had cut out...so may not get to model them until next year, we shall see!