Danielle

Here are some photos of the finished Danielle. I'm going to wait until it's washed and pressed properly before I take some decent photos ... and perhaps once I finish the shrug I want for it and get some shoes that go and have a complete outfit!



I couldn't really take a good picture of it on, but here's the best I could do ... pardon the bra bits. You also can see some of the bad things going on with the pleats ... it's also before I added the ribbon, which made a huge difference in how it looked.



Trying to take photos of completed clothes really hammers in the fact that I need to get a dress form.

spring warddrobe time!

This is sort of inspired by a sewalong on craftster for spring and summer clothes. These are only some of the patterns that I'm tackling in the next few months. Never mind what I knit!

I am nearly done with Danielle ... I started with a deep purple crushed panne velvet, which I thought would be oh-so-elegant, but as it's velvet, and synthetic, and knit, I was barely able to cup the pattern pieces out, much less mark it and sew it. So I hid the pieces in a bag and hid the bag somewhere else. At least I can clean up the purple fuzz that's everywhere.

This pattern has challenged my sewing knowledge ... the instructions seem badly translated, and I hardly know what they're talking about in many regards. Thankfully I pretty much know what I'm doing by now and was able to put the dress together without too much stress. I opted for a slate grey/blue cotton. I was a little worried it wouldn't fit, but lo and behold, it does! I just had to adjust the bust darts to avoid fake-nipple syndrome. I don't know if I'd do the skirt the same the second time around; I think that particular style is not so flattering on me, but that was just at the basting stage. I haven't properly seamed it yet, and so I can still make a change. Pictures tonight when it's done!

And then I'll start on my trench coat, for real. I've only had the pieces cut for six months now.

Apron in progess

The pressure to post is overwhelming. So I'm gonna start off with my National Craft Month (March) exchange project for Dana. I'm gonna make her the pleated apron that's in Amy Butler's In Stitches. This will be my first attempt at any of the projects in this book, which I've had for over a year probably. So, I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out. I got extra nerdy and am using some of Butler's Lotus Prints.

First post

I told Beck that I'd probably fill this blog with some stuff from my other blog, just to get it going, but I felt I should start things off with something new.
I love this pattern, Simplicity 3835 by Built By Wendy. You get three options, a top and two dresses. I made the top first but made it far too large. I then sized it down and made the dress, which I loved, although the sleeves didn't fit my arm at the bottom. But recently I decided I wanted to revisit the top as I wanted a few tops that were casual but nicer than a T-shirt. I got some cute fabric (on sale, of course!) in cherries and sakura:


And the final result:


I sewed cherries with the usual 5/8" seam allowance, but for some reason it came out a bit snug (although I did try it on without a bra :) ) I decreased the seam allowance to 1/2" on sakura and it came out perfectly! I was pleased with myself a bit too as I cut the sleeve for sakura on the bias so the stripes would go the same way ... however, it only worked on the front. Oh well! That's what matters in the end, I guess.