It's Been A Minute

I started January off so strong!  I blogged several outfits, wrote some draft blog posts for two shirts I was working on and then nothing. I literally stopped sewing again...but this time for a couple of reasons:

1. Working on the shirts and getting them to look like I wanted was hard.  The sewing didn't come easy to me and I wondered if I had lost my touch.  Then I got to the part where it was time to add the buttons and buttonholes and I really stopped.  Like months later both shirts need buttons and buttonholes. Hopefully I will get my act together and get them added.

2. I've managed to lose 40 lbs. My primary care physician has made it her mission to get me back to good health.  Along with good health has come weight loss because regardless of what I wanted to believe, losing weight did affect my body's systems.  As you know I had a health crisis in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, and I resigned myself to the weight gain.  Hey I was still alive and I could sew pretty things to cover the weight gain so I was good. But being 40 lbs lighter has really realigned everything and I do feel better daily.

3.  However, the weight loss has really triggered me on a couple of levels.  Not only do I not have a desire to sew, because all of the clothes I was too lazy to get rid of now fit.  But even though I can see the body changes, I still feel fat. I'm not sure if it's that I think I should look thinner than I am or if I don't see enough change in my body.  To be completely honest, the whole thing trips me out. I've never really cared much about how "fat" I presented. So this new thought process is hard for me.

Anyway, I'm not sewing.  I own so many clothes in several sizes that I'm looking for holes to fill to sew some of the fabric that I'm still accumulating.  Accumulating at a much slower rate because I didn't buy fabric from January until just recently. But it is 10 pieces of additional fabric that's just sitting...

So why am I posting, because I did find some well loved pieces over the last several months, that I've been wearing again.  I wanted to share a few candid photos with you of garments I've worn over the last couple of months for the first time in years...

Jacket made in 2016.  Haven't worn since before Covid.

Cardigan made in 2017

Blouse made in 2017

Sienna Maker Vest made in 2019.

Me giving a presentation at work in a jacket made in 2019.

Formal Myostis made in 2019.

Basically, wearing all my pre-Covid clothes that I saved when I moved in 2020.  So, what do I want to make for summer?  Easy things...a couple of Cashmerette t-shirt dresses (since everything I previously made didn't survive), a duster or two, maybe a Style Arc Nova because I have some amazing rayon challis', and a button front straight dress.  Not a lot.  Though I'm mourning the dresses I made last summer, they're way too big now and besides a fix for the 2 myostis dresses, I don't have a fix yet for the others.

Hopefully, I will get the two shirts I started finished and shared here.  Also, hopefully, I will get a few more t-shirt dresses added to the closet. I'm still only working 2 days a week in NYC so I have plenty to wear!

Just an update before my 66th birthday occurs!  Can't believe I'm here at this age...

...as always more later!

A Fall Hope

This is the last garment that I made in 2024 and haven't blogged.  BTW, this garment was shared on my Instagram page during it's first wearing. I was lazy and just didn't blog it. However, since the Hope extended pack has become an important TNT to me, meaning you should expect to see more versions in 2025, I wanted it shared here.

Supplies ~

4 yards of a poly blend border print purchased from Fabric Mart

Construction ~

This was my fifth Hope Dress using the extension pack. While the original pattern is pretty and I made a version of it, the extension pack really ignited my creative juices. 

Here are some construction and layout pictures...

Laying out the sleeve to get a good placement of the border for the hemline

Another view...

Stitching down the bias band on the neckline which is discussed in this post.

Checking how the border print is working on the dress bodice.

There are no construction changes. I made it exactly as the pattern states.

A few photos ~

A note...getting my daughter scheduled to take pictures is challenging.  When she picked me up from the train station after work we headed to the grocery store.  It was the perfect opportunity to get some pics so we took it.

Worn with my denim jacket

I love the large raglan sleeves on this pattern.  

This print really highlighted them.

...and a back view

I'm not done with this pattern. You will see it again. I have a few ideas for fall/winter tops that I will hopefully get to this year.  And I will definitely make this as a summer dress again.

This was my last catch up post. New makes will be in future posts.

...as always more later!

Fabric In...Fabric Out

Quick Note:

If you're commenting using "Anonymous" and I understand because google is not playing nice with blogger - would you kindly sign your name at the end of your comment.  That way I know who I'm replying too!  Thanks...

Now to the blog post...

While I only made 6-7 garments in 2024, I bought a lot of fabric and notions...especially buttons. It didn't help that M&J Trimming in NYC is going out of business. 

Some fabric was purchased because I got really excited when I started sewing again in the middle of the year. Then after the election, I bought ALOT more. I bought a lot of everything that America imports from China and Mexico.  All because I truly believe that prices are going to rise on everything during the next administration and I want to be prepared.

So I bought.  Then I bought some more.  Because honestly when you start shopping it seems like it activates a chemical in your brain that encourages you to continue. *smile* That's my theory and I'm sticking to it whether it's an actual fact! Anyway, I allowed myself to buy in 2024 so I wouldn't buy in 2025. 

Now I know I will probably need to purchase something because as hard as you try to prepare, you're never ready for everything. But my goal is to NOT have to buy to create. I want to create from what I already own, especially since I now own so much!  

That leads me to this...do I track fabric in and out (hopefully primarily out) for 2025. My concern is that it will add pressure to my desire to sew.  Because my desire to sew while consuming, it's not all consuming like it use to be. Before sewing was my primary creative outlet...but now, I read, I crochet and I venture out into the world more. Well I did in 2024, let's see what 2025 brings.

I've decided to try tracking.  I want to know what I'm using and hopefully encourage me to sew more of my collection. Yes, I'm trying everything to "encourage" me to sew consistently. More complicated projects, more challenging garments, things that stretch my creativity.

So tracking tentatively begins this month. My only question is, and your thoughts would be appreciated here, do I track fabric that was ordered in 2024 but delivered in 2025.  It's just 8 yards and I've already offset it with the 8 yards I've used so far in 2025. But do I track it?  Also, do you track your in and out fabric usage?

This is my first Question of the Day in 2025 and the first since 2023.  I hope you will talk back to me because I'm truly interested in your opinion.

....as always more later!

 

Water Lilies Myosotis

I've thought about why I return to this dress pattern over and over again. Like why don't I use another pattern? Honestly it's because this pattern checks all of my boxes. It's comfortable to wear. It works in a variety of fabrics, patterns and colors. Mostly I feel pretty in it.  Let's not forget that!

At the end of May 2023, I spent my birthday with my bestie in Lancaster, PA.  The home of cheap sewing supplies and a short ride to Fabric Mart.  The true Disney World of my life! We visited a few quilting stores and shocked several employees with me stating that I wanted to use some of the quilting cottons for clothing.

At one quilt store (Burkholders), I purchased the Water Lilies border print by Michael Design Works and the coordinating striped water lilies & print pattern because as I held the fabrics in my hand, I could see another Myosotis.  So why would I deny this fabric what it wanted to become! 

One thing though, this is a complicated sew. Therefore, there are a lot of progress photos making this a very long post.  Right here I'd like to thank my pass self for being diligent in taking them because when I finally finished this a year later I would NEVER have remembered these details without them.

Supplies ~

5 yards of 100% quilting cotton Water Lilies

2 yards of 100% quilting cotton coordinating Water Lilies print

9 - 5/8" green sheer and patterned buttons (purchased from the Quilt Store) Normally I use 12 buttons but they only had 9 so I made due.

Construction ~

Working with a border print is always a challenge. It makes me think outside the box to make the fabric sing yet end up with a wearable yet amazing garment. This was a complicated sew because I was basically remaking the pattern pieces to fit the vision in my head.  There was some pattern work done to accommodate the fabric.  

Bodice:

The bodice piece was enlarged and then the button front piece was removed.  I made a separate piece for the button front. 

I knew I wanted the bodice to be from the lighter part of the fabric. So I needed to sit on it a minute to figure out how to make the fabric work for me. I ended up cutting it on the crosswise grain to make the most of the lighter fabric.

After the bodice piece was cut out, I did a trial of how the fabric from the other pieces of fabric would work with the bodice.

I also did a test with the buttons I choose to see how they would work once the bodice was completed.

Skirt:

The skirt is cut on the crosswise to use all of the border print in the design. 

I removed the original border and added the border from the coordinating piece of fabric after adding the button band to the front.

Sleeve:

Was cut from the main border piece so it coordinated with the dress' skirt. I added elastic to the sleeve to make them short and puffy.  I like this style because it adds some grown up whimsy to the dress and it covers my bodacious arms.

Collar/Front Band:

This was made entirely from the border piece of the coordinating piece. It's the ultimate border/stripe to the entire piece. And the reason it took so long to finish the dress.  Fussy cutting that border held me up for WEEKS! 

Then I had to recut the collar and collar band because of the way I added the border to the front of the dress.  I was hoping that I had enough of the border print left to just cut larger pieces. Ummm no.  The collar had to be pieced to get the length I desired.

I will admit that this went through a few iterations before I settled on this one. But this one highlights the water lilies but yet brings the drama a good border print garment should.

It took me over two months from the time I started this to finish it.  When I say my sewjo had been vacationing, I wasn't kidding.  However, I had a few days off at the end of July/beginning of August 2023, so I finished this up.  When I say this was an involved sew, please believe me that it was.  I had to rethink everything to make the border print work the way I saw it.  All of this took time and since my sewjo was weak, those things took longer than normal.

Then it sat while I waited to get the urge to sew the buttons and buttonholes on the dress.  It sat almost a year before I decided I needed to wear it to church one really hot July Sunday. Then and only then was I motivated to do the last 2 steps!

I'm calling the sewing I'm doing now, "Art Teacher Chic" cause I'm all about the fabric.  How can I manipulate it.  How I can make something unusual and different. I know I will make another Myosotis because it's my go to pattern.  Right now I don't have any planned. 

Sadly I wore this beauty only once last summer.  It is a stunner and I received so many compliments though I didn't get a photo of me wearing it.  Hopefully I will this summer.  However, since this was such a complicated sew, I wanted to make sure I posted it in case I wanted to refer to it in the future.

...as always more later!

A Pretty Poppy Border Print Mysostis

It is common knowledge that I love border prints. Like my brain stands up to attention when the good ones are around.  Cause we know all border prints are NOT created equal.

My Idea:

Use the main piece as the skirt part.  The bodice would be cut from the fence part so that it would flow into the skirt piece. I personally dislike when the border print doesn't flow so I always try to plan for that. 

Here are a few photos of the cutting layout:

Cutting out the bodice, sleeve and collar

Dress bodice and skirt layout

And because I can here are...

My Top Five Border Print Rules:

1. Overbuy the amount of fabric that you usually purchase for a garment.  If a dress/shirt takes 3 yards, purchase 1.5 to 2 yards more.  Why?  Because it allows you extra fabric to match and play.  One of my very first border print dresses, I was cheap on the fabric and this was the result.

The internet was not kind. A lesson learned and never repeated because the comments were so cruel I never wore the dress.  Though I guess I really do like poppy print fabrics!

2. Find a resource that helps you with placement and how to purchase border prints.  I wrote a blog post based on an old Sew News border print article.

3. Take your time. Move the pattern pieces around until you get your desired result.  DON'T RUSH!

4. Use a pattern that doesn't have a lot of seams - though I have done that. 

5. And TNT patterns work the best because you don't have to work out fit issues.

The Poppy Print Dress:

Using my TNT Myosotis Dress pattern meant there were no fitting challenges.  Just how to manipulate the fabric to get the most pleasing result.

As I said above cutting out and using the fabric to it's best advantage is key with any border print.  Here are some photos of the finished dress...

...and a video.

I finished this and wore it back in October 2024.  Just getting around to blogging about it. If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen it already.  Just sharing a few details now.

...as always more later!

Closing out 2024 and walking into 2025

I didn't sew much in 2024 nor did I blog much. I spent the first half of the year reading. Then something kicked in shortly after my birthday, and I picked up a pattern and fabric that was previously cut out but not sewn. I ended up finishing seven garments with one UFO I'm letting go reluctantly and another that I'm rolling into 2025 hoping to finish it up.

This post is the intro post for the sewing that I completed in 2024 and for any new sewing that I'm going to do in 2025. My sewjo has come home.  Not as potent in years pass where all I wanted to do was sew, but definitely there and making me want to create.

I just won't talk about all the fabric, buttons & notions, and patterns I bought in 2024. Honestly though I was like a squirrel stocking up for the winter because I believe that prices on everything are gonna rise in 2025.  If I have to choose, I want to be able to eat and then create without limitations. Basically I'm treating my collections like I did pre-Covid, knowing it will sustain me in the years to come. So even though I did a big giveaway in June, clearing out over a hundred yards of fabric, I've restocked with pieces I will probably use more in this stage of my life.

I'm making this my motto for 2025 - "I Was Created to Create!"  I may not create in the prodigious levels I use to, but I'm trying to find my way back to my first love. This is waiting for buttons & buttonholes...

...following in the next couple of days will be two blog posts for garments completed and worn in 2024 but not shared here.  

...as always more later!

A Nova with Short Sleeves

Originally I had an idea to make the Style Arc Nova but adding a "Bridgerton" slant to it.  I wanted a small piping at a deepened neckline with puffy short sleeves. As you can see below that DID NOT happen!

Instead I got a dress with a deeper neckline without binding and sleeves that were added but with much trial and tribulation.  See this was the first make after not having sewn in almost a full year. I was still finding my footing. I made a new pattern piece for the front adding to the shoulder width for the short sleeve. However, I DID NOT do the same to the back pieces.  Can we say drama?

I figured it out and got a sleeve on the dress but it's not a process I will share...because too messy and I would never do that again.  Also because IF I make this dress again, I would do it differently.

Here are the materials:

4 yards of a black floral & polka dot cotton lawn purchased in July from Mood Fabrics online

1 yard of 5/8" wide elastic

I made this dress during the July heatwave here on the East Coast. I wanted this to take with me to Chicago and luckily my daughter took some pictures while we were at Millenium Park. I have no construction information to share with this dress.  The tiers were sewn using the Style Arc instructions. It was just the bodice I deviated from the pattern. Good thing, it did work out so...

A Few Photos...

I loved the flow of this dress when seated.  

Probably why there's 2 photos of it that way!

I'm happy I made it even with it's challenges.  It's a comfortable, flowy dress to wear in the summer heat. Will I make another Nova next summer?  Who knows.  But I do love the pattern!

...as always more later!

The Sunflower Dress

This pattern was featured in one of Closet Core's weekly emails. Now I'm not that enthralled with 70s styles since I lived it as a skinny teenager. A teenager who also sewed so I made quite a few patterns from that era.  However, this one hit me a little differently now.

Probably because I saw it as a cross between the Style Arc Hope that I recently made. So I would use that bodice. Then using the Style Arc Nova tiers for the dress' skirt. Once it became a must make, I went looking for a piece of fabric from the collection.  Of course, I had the perfect one...this crepe-like linen blend purchased from Mood in April 2023.

I used the Hope bodice with the tie neckline and the huge sleeves from my second Hope.  

My only other change was to add a fourth tier to the skirt bottom to emulate the tiers of the inspiration dress. I did this by using the pattern's first tier pattern piece. I cut 3" off the width to make it slightly shorter than the second tier.  I wanted to add a tier but not a lot of volume near the top of the dress.  If you've ever made the Nova, you know those tiers hold a lot of fabric giving it a lot of volume.  

Please note: 

1. While I added another tier it did not have any gathers because I added the second tier exactly like the first tier. If I was to make this again, I would add a little more length to those pieces to give it a more gathered effect.

2. By adding four tiers the dress was extra long. I needed to remove 2" from the hem before I sewed a 1.5" wide hem.

The neckline ties were cut almost double the original length. One to match the inspiration photo and two because I felt the ties from my Rifle & Co Hope were too short. I also used the same construction technique as my last one to apply the neck tie. Except for the Tetris I did to cut out the tiers (cause again this pattern requires ALOT of fabric) there were no more alterations.

Here's the dress.  Did I get a good copy?

These photos were taken while I was on vacation in Chicago.  I spent the day with Carol and Cennetta fabric shopping. They took me to The Textile Warehouse - 3 floors of fabric in an un-air conditioned space! But I found some amazing pieces that will be sewn sooner rather than later. Our next stop was Rainbow Fabrics. We ended up at Joann's for the Simplicity pattern sale. Those adventures will be a separate blog post.  However, Cennetta was kind enough to take a few photos for me to share here! 

I'm loving this combination and convincing myself that I don't need a second version cause assembling those tiers are not for the weak hearted. Seriously!!!

The supplies used:

5 yards of a crepe linen blend 

2 yards of 3/4" elastic

...as always more later!

Rifle & Co. Hope Dress

Okay so I'm back for a minute.  I woke up a couple of days ago and thought I want to sew. I sat down at my sewing machine, turned it on and thought, "YES!"  Honestly, it's been almost a year but yeah, I want to sew.  I think there are several reasons why.  I recently found a church I like and have been going pretty regularly.  Which means I have a new place to go and a new reason to sew pretty things.  

Also, my daughter, granddaughters and I are headed to Chicago next month.  It would be nice to pack a few new pieces to wear...and I still think sew first instead of buy! So, I'm thinking of a few outfits for the trip too.  We will see what actually ends up being made.

This is my third dress from the Hope Dress extension pack.  To say I liked this extension pack is an understatement. 

Materials:

4 yards of rayon Rifle & Co fabric purchased from my local fabric store, Urban Sewciety in September 2022.

1/2 yard of 1/2" wide elastic

Construction:

Since this is my third version, I made no pattern alterations since this fits me. I chose this tie version with the banded sleeves because I haven't made it and I didn't want to make buttons and buttonholes which seem to be my kryptonite lately.  I seem to get stuck there and the garment sits unfinished.

Two things to note about my bodice:

1. I made the banded sleeves with the bodice and struggled to get it on when I tried the top on. Ummmm that's a no for me. So I removed the bands (which was a process) and added a 1" casing.  Then I inserted 1/2" elastic in the casing.

2.  The bodice tie gave me pause.  The way the instructions tell you to sew it to the bodice seemed fiddly.  Then I realized that I could use my bias binding tool to make the tie which made the process make sense to me.  Once I made it as bias binding, it was much easier to add it to the neckline.  I did cut mine with a few extra inches and I made a knot at the finished ends.

Otherwise, adding the bodice to the skirt and hemming it was the same as my other versions.  As always, fabric affects how the dress wears.  Since I used a rayon, it seems to fit a little closer but with more drape.

Here are a few photos:

This was my second completed garment.  I've several more in the queue.  Mostly items that were unfinished but I still wanted or cut out and remaining in my cut out/waiting to be sewn pile. It's been an easy way to transition back into sewing. I don't have to complete a project from start to finish. I can finish a garment that I've already dreamed up that just needs a few steps to be completed.

I've also have a few more ideas floating around that I'd like to make.  We shall see what actually makes it from ideas to my wardrobe.

...as always more later!