Lyon Dress

Have you heard of the Sew What Club? It's a sewing pattern club with children's and ladies patterns. You can sign up for either option or both (me).

The Lyon dress was the second girls pattern to be released this month. I sewed it up right away... late into the evening when I should have been sleeping. I used a quilting cotton that was a gift from a mini quilt swap I participated in.

I used single fold bias tape instead of double and hid it on the inside of the neckline and arm openings. I really liked my fabric and didn't want to break it up so I overlapped the top and bodice pieces by 3/8" and then traced onto my tissue. I also cut the 5/6. 

There are several things I'll change for my next one. The head opening is a bit small for my girl, and length is a bit short. I think we could go with the 7/8 for her. She's almost 6 but she's tall and a bit big for her age... which is OK. Her dad and I are tall... it's to be expected.  I think the 7/8 would be a better length. I also plan on altering where I put the elastic. It hits my girl right on the roundest part of her belly, which she finds uncomfortable, and she dresses for comfort first and cuteness second. I think it would be better above, she wants it to go below so that's probably what we'll do.

All in all it's a fast and cute make with several options. She enjoyed wearing this one so much. Also she's been giving me more "serious model face" lately in these kinds of photos. I don't know why. She's kind of shy but I think she also feels a bit special and sassy.
 

Cocoon Cardigan

 

Now that it's officially Spring I think I'll sew up some outerwear. Seriously. I'm so behind. I have a half finished coat and several other pieces of fabric waiting for me to get my rear in gear. Hopefully I'll have them all done by Fall '15.

I whipped up this cocoon cardigan last week to wear the night I went dancing. I wanted something warm and comfy for dinner and then the car ride home from the club.

I used this tutorial from True Bias. I added cuffs to mine though because I like sleeves that hug my arms. I cut them 10" wide and 25" long and then tapered them in and back out when I sewed them so they would hug my arms from my elbow to wrist. Also I cut my sleeve openings 4" in instead of 5" like in the tutorial. That was a good size to match up with my cuffs. That was clear as mud... wasn't it?

Chartreuse Skater Skirt

Well I have a love affair going with the Skater skirt add on from Jocole. Honestly it's the best. I'm not a big fan of box pleat skirts on my body. I just don't think they flatter my body type even though I love the look of them. The skater skirt has body and movement while not adding bulk to my mid section. That, my friends is, wonderful. I've made three of these skirts so far. Two for me and one for a friend. My latest version is chartreuse. Now this may not be the color for everyone and it's maybe not really a flattering color to anyone. Have I sold you on it yet? But it's fun and funky and looks great with black and white (my favorite color combo of all time!) and chambray/denim, which is a trend that is still going strong. Just take a look at these pins that had been lurking in my boards.

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

See I'd been crushing hard on chartreuse. So I knew I wanted to get some when I was fabric shopping online.

Quick note: The last few times I've been online fabric shopping I do so while also going through my inspiration boards on pinterest. It's easy to get distracted by pretty fabrics but then sometimes I buy them and don't know what to do with them or they're not me... I find that looking through my pinterest boards gives me a visual reference for what I like lately and so I can aim to get fabrics to create things that I'm already inspired by... does that make sense? Hope so.

Back to my chartreuse fabric. I bought a ponte leggero from fabric.com that is not available anymore. It was a lighter weight and stretchier than some ponte's and just seemed wonderful. I think I bought a yard and a half and eeked a skirt out of that... it was close.

When I construct my skater skirts I cut a medium size and high calf length. I'm tall... so that may or may not be too long for you. It's just right for my preference though. This skirt pattern also has like 8 (give or take) length options. Gotta love Jodi.  She likes to give us options. For my waistband I add a wide piece of elastic to the inside of the waistband which helps hold up the skirt. I like to use 1.25'' athletic elastic. It's my favorite because it's soft and has great recovery, and it's not too wide or narrow. I cut my elastic about an inch smaller than my waist measurement and sew it closed. Then I nest it into the fold of the waistband and sew the waistband to the skirt like I normally would. If you're familiar with Jocole patterns you can use her waistband instructions and measurements from other skirts like the pencil or A-line maxi... that's what I do.

Geez I didn't think I'd have much to say for this post... oops ;) Here are the rest of the pics... that's what we stop by for anyway right?! And thanks for stopping by my little part of the sewing/blogging/internet.

 

Ruffled Maillot

Swimsuit: DIY
Earrings: DIY

Hat: Target

I have a few sewing goals this year and I'm checking them off one by one. Sewing a swimsuit - CHECK!!!

I can't tell you how excited I was when I finished this suit. I may have paraded around my home for a good 10 minutes in my suit because it felt good. I also put off sewing this suit for about 2 weeks after I cut out all the pieces because I was scared. Scared of sewing a swimsuit. Scared of putting in foam cups. Scared. I've noticed that fear has been holding me back lately. But I didn't need to fear. I've sewn a lot of knits and so this wasn't as hard as my head made it out to be. The foam cups were a cinch to put in also... so don't be afraid.

I was inspired by this suit and set out to recreate it. 

I used the free Boob Tube Swimsuit Pattern from Ralph Pink as the suit pattern. It is sized as a 10-12 pattern only so I was lucky that fit me. You could grade the pattern to fit you or work with a simple one piece swimsuit pattern and just cut off the top to make it strapless. I then drafted a flounce to attach to the top of the suit.  This pattern doesn't come with any instructions so this is how I put it together.

 

  
Materials:
1.5 yards Swimsuit Fabric
1 yard Swimsuit Lining Fabric 
Matching Thread
Ballpoint Needle

Swimsuit Elastic - I used 3/8" clear elastic that said on the back that it was for swimwear and safe with chlorine bleach

Draft your flounce piece in the beginning. It's basically two half circle skirt pieces. The small curve that attaches to the bodice will need to be the same length as the top of the bodice pieces and then you can make it as long as you want.  Mine is 8" long but if you want your ruffle more like the inspiration suit I would cut it to be about 5-6" long. You will not be hemming or seam finishing the flounce because swimsuit fabric doesn't fray... so make sure you make clean cuts.

1. Cut your front and back panels out of your swim fabric and swim lining. Cut out your flounce pieces after you've cut your main bodice pieces. Make sure you cut two flounce pieces.
2. Sew up the center back seam of the back panel, right sides together. Do this for both your main fabric and your lining fabric separately.
3. Sew the crotch seams together, right sides together/RST. Do this for both your main fabric and your lining fabric separately. 
4. Gather the sides of the front panel and match the gathers to the gather points of the back panel. Do this for both your main fabric and your lining fabric separately.
5. Add your foam cups to your lining fabric at this point. Here is a great tutorial for that. I just marked where mine looked like they should go and zigzag stitched them to the lining on the wrong side so they would be enclosed between the lining and main swimsuit fabric.
6. Sew up your side seams. Make sure your main fabric is RST and the lining fabric should be sandwiching the main fabric. Make sure the wrong sides of the main fabric and lining fabric are facing each other. The foam cups, back panel seams and crotch seams (of both main fabric and lining) should be enclosed between the two fabrics. Seam finish your side seams.
7. Stitch your flounce closed, RST. Make sure the finished opening is the same as the top of the swimsuit bodice. You may need to use a larger seam allowance.
8. Baste flounce to the top of the suit. The right side of the bodice and the wrong side of the flounce should be facing each other on this step.
9. Seam finish the top of the suit and leg openings.
10. Stitch elastic to the top of the suit and the leg openings, on the inside of the suit. I just lined up the elastic to the seam finished edges and zigzag stitched down the middle of the elastic. I cut a piece of elastic 3/4 the length of the leg openings/neckline and stretched it to fit. Here's a good video for that.
11. Turn elastic under and stitch down the elastic on both the top of the suit and leg openings. You can use a zigzag stitch or I used a straight stretch stitch.
12. If adding straps. Cut long strips of main fabric 1.5" wide, or wider if you want wider straps. Sew them into a tube, RST, then turn them right side out. securely sew the straps to the back of the suit and then try it on, mark placement of where you want the straps on the front (make sure you stretch the straps a bit so they hold up the suit) and then sew the straps securely to the front of the suit. Cut off any excess.

You're done. Take a pic and send it to me!  

Bow Front Blouse

Blouse: me

Pants: me blogged here

Shoes: Target

I saw a bow front blouse in a store and I loved it. The reason I didn't buy it was because I have a soap box... well a few of them. Anyway I'm picky about where I get my clothing because I care about who made them under what conditions. So usually now I make my own clothing under my own conditions, plus that's more fun for me anyway. The problem is I couldn't find a pattern or tutorial to make a bow front blouse like the one I saw. There are a few patterns coming out that have the same idea as what I did but they weren't out when I started or aren't exactly what I wanted. So I set out to figure it out. 

I'll be working on a tutorial to post next week on how to recreate the bow front. In the mean time enjoy the pics.

I chose to use a covered button for the closure. I'm not sure why my closure is sagging... Any helpful advice?

I leave you with these cuties that make photographing my makes more difficult and sweeter.

~ Risa ~

DIY Pencil Skirt

So remember my inspiration skirt? Well here's my version. I found the fabric at Joann's and drafted the pattern myself. Here's how:

1. I laid out my Kraft paper and used the side edge because I wanted both sides of the skirt to be symmetrical so it's best to cut on a fold. The side edge would serve as my fold.
2. I marked the top of my skirt to the bottom and then added markings for seam allowances. 1.5" at the top for my elastic and 1" at the bottom for the hem.
3.  I measured my waist to the widest part of my body, or lower hip, and marked that distance down from the top of the skirt. Not the top seam allowance marking but what would be the finished top.
4. I made a marking of how wide the widest part of the skirt needed to be.
5. I drew a straight line down to the skirt bottom and then pegged the bottom of the skirt in 5cm, or so and marked that.
6. I used a curved ruler to draw all connecting side seam lines. I didn't add seam allowances to the sides since I was working with a knit and wanted the skirt really fitted.
7. I drew a straight line down the whole length of the skirt 1" from the edge, or what would be the fold. When cutting my skirt pieces I cut the back piece on the fold from the pattern. Then folded that pattern piece along the mark an inch from the edge and cut the front piece. So the front piece is an inch less wide than the back piece. This was to help my side seams be more centered on the side and also made it more fitted... negative ease remember.

Don't sew? The skirt is available in my etsy shop as well. 

Do I need to make a quick video on how I drafted the skirt pattern? That might be more helpful than those typed instructions...

Then I sewed up the sides and it fit perfectly. This knit isn't super stretchy so it didn't need more taking in. I think a knit with more stretch might have needed taking in at the sides to get a more fitted look. I added elastic at the top and hemmed the bottom and I was done.

~ ~ ~ Risa ~ ~ ~