Halloween Bomber Jacket

I never even knew I like bomber jackets and now I'm obsessed. I'm always looking for new classes to teach, and when McCall's 7100 came out I thought it would be a good class. Something a little bit different, simple to put together and would be cute on a lot of different people and ages. My classes are usually filled with everyone from tiny 12 year olds to adults making their first big project. I didn't really consider this jacket to be for me but as soon as I made it up I was hooked. I felt instantly cool. BOMBER JACKETS FOR EVERYONE!

The greatest thing about this pattern is that it can be made out of all the fabrics. This is my second version, a Halloweenish Cotton and Steel from the Boo collection. The black sleeves and the bands are both a knit ponte. I was careful to make sure all the stripes matched up when I was cutting out.

 Since this pattern is cute in literally any fabric the possibilities are practically endless. I can have one for every holiday. It's cute over dresses too!  Tomorrow is Halloween so I will wear my spiderweb dress and this jacket and be double the me made holiday cuteness.  My class isn't until Decemeber so I am sure I will make some more before then.

Colette Rue

One of the benefits of working for a fabric store, is that I've known about Rue for WEEKS. I kept a secret, that never happens! A super cute secret too! We ordered copies of the pattern right away, but I printed out a pdf so I could get started on the store sample. 

I know some people love pdfs but I am not one of them. I taped together 70 pages. It took all morning. And then there is no good way to fold and store them! So when the real copies came I made used one of them, so much better!

This is version 1, the short sleeve with the pleated skirt. The other version has long sleeves with a more fitted skirt. The dress comes fully lined, with separate pattern pieces for the lining! Love that. 

The fabric I used is a Cotton and Steel halloween-ish print which I think is cute all year long. If you look closely the bottles say things like eye-of-newt, but if you are not looking closely they look like perfume bottles and flowers. I also used piping on the neckline instead of the bust piece, it would  have been weird for me with a fuller bust. 

I had a couple issues with the pattern, but nothing too major. The bodice meeting at a "V" was a problem. If you just pin the pieces together and sew the "V" ends up below the seam line. I had to fudge it so it would land on the 5/8"s. 

I made a size 14, and a bodice muslin, so when I attached the skirt and the bodice and the waist was too big, I was not so happy. I had to take it in an inch on each side to fit. I also took off quite a few inches off the skirt before I cut it out, which I rarely do. I think it might have been 3"! So beware of that.

I also need to tinker with the bodice fit a little more. I think if  I lengthen the "v" shaped bodice so the tucks sit a little lower it would be better. I had to get this project done in time for the release and I was too excited to spend the time to tinker!

I also chose to only line the bodice. Way less fabric, and easier to iron, when it's a finished product. I used a green cotton, that is so fine it's almost like a cotton-silk blend. It's so divine, I want to line everything in this.

All the supplies for the dress are from Fabricland, (the NJ one, Canada). My dress will be on display there untill November, when we are having a class for Rue! I am teaching it, so it will be super fun!

Gertie's Butterick 6322

I've made a lot of dresses this summer and blogged only a few. Mostly because I've been taking pictures and then they don't look as good as I thought they should. So I'm just gonna show this dress even though the pictures aren't top notch. 

This dress is Butterick 6322, another dress from Gertie's pattern line. I really like the corset detail and the waist and the peasant style bust. 

I spent most of the time on this dress plaid matching. The fabric is a very light-weight almost seersucker cotton. It matches up on all the sideseams, the entire center back and the corset part is cut on the bias, and the plaids match there too.

I added 2.5" to raise the bust, otherwise it would have been quite indecent. It does fall off my shoulders a little bit so I would gather the neck a little more and make the bias tape a little shorter to compensate. I also had to hem it twice, the first time it was way too long and unflattering. 

Adding the grommets to the corset was easy, except that I felt they were a little loose and went back and hammered them on a hard surface and half the paint fell off. Then it was hard to get the ribbon I originally picked out to fit. I used an 1/8th inch ribbon in hot pink. 

I sewed this dress in under 24 hours in the beginning of the summer so I guess it was quite easy.  I've been wearing it once a week all summer, so its been a successful make.

TWO Sallie Rompers

Summertime is made for rompers. Throw it on, super comfy, in a no ironing knit fabric.  This is the Sallie jumpsuit hack into a romper from Closet Case Files. It's so fabulous that this is my second version.

The fabric was love at first sight. Flamingos are my favorite and I love the look of Charley Harper art. The fabric is an organic knit from Birch fabrics. Its very soft, and almost like a sweatshirt material. 

this is me post cartwheel

For this version I followed Heather's directions and made a knit binding for the v-neck. I love the trick at the end for making the v-neck pointy instead of a curve.  I hemmed the sleeves and the shorts using my trusty double knit needle.

I also made sure all my flamingo stripes matched up. I bought two yards of this fabric at Rock Paper Scissors in Montclair NJ, and used up every inch of it. 

This version was actually my first, and I used my precious knit fabric I bought in Italy one year ago, (ahh take me back). It's like a tropical jungle cotton knit, perfect for dog walks down the street.  Rockford is being super cooperative on our walk/photoshoot here. 

I made this version like the original sallie jumpsuit, the bodice is self lined, no knit binding. I liked doing the knit binding but I think this version gaps less. 

Are you guys feeling rompers this summer?  Do you sew things in multiples?

Beach Dress and Coat : Simplicity 8139

Happy Summer sewists! It's my favorite sewing season, there are so many fun things to sew, like this new BEACH DRESS! I'm straight out of Beach Blanket Bingo right now and loving it. You will find me frolicking along the Jersey Shore in this all summer long. 

The pattern is a vintage re-release from Simplicity, 8139. The bathing dress and beach coat pattern is from the 1950's. I love that I get to recreate this vintage look, because it's something I'd never be able to find in my size normally. 

The dress is made with seersucker and has a full knit romper lining underneath, I had to make a few adjustments to get it to fit. I had to add two inches of length to the bra cups to cover everything up there. And then I had to add another inch to the bodice length because of my long torso. After I made it I had to take off some shoulder length to keep the back from gaping. 

The bust portion is made to be gathered. Kind of like the Sweetheart Sundress from Gertie's first book. I hand sewed some stitches to either side of the center front seam and pulled to gather them. Then the bow is tied around the bust. There is a whole left under the bust to slide the sash though. 

I finished the hem with rick rack, because everything is better with rick rack. I love having the knit romper under the short skirt, I am free to frolic without worrying about wind and such. 

I made a beach coat to match too! It's perfect for going from early morning "chill" to later when its hotter on the beach. I made it with a terrycloth outer and the seersucker lining. It has a button closure, over-sized pockets, with more rick rack, and sleeves that you roll up to have cuffs. 

This is so comfortable, and I have already worn it a lot, lounging on the deck, riding my bike around and at the bay beach. I want to add rompers under all my clothes now. What do you guys sew in the summer?

Yarn Dress, another McCall's 6887

It's finally spring! Time for sundresses everyday. I made another version of McCall's 6887, my third version. The other dresses are Halloween and fall appropriate. M6887 is just a simple scoop neck princess seam bodice with a paneled full-ish skirt. Sometimes it's just time to whip up something you know will fit and be cute. 

The fabric is from the Cotton + Steel Cat Lady collection. It has dancing yarn balls on it! This is basically what my house looks like. Just yarn in every corner. So obviously I had to incorporate yarn into this dress somehow!  I took a Madelinetosh Unicorn tail in the color Pop Rocks, and knitted a 4 stitch I-cord. I knitted almost the entire skein, cast off and then did another cord for the bow. 

I then gave the I-cord a really good steaming, hopefully that shrunk it up, making it ok to wash. The cord was pinned and machine stitched into place after the front bodice was assembled. (I promise that is not a pucker in the princess seam, just an unfortunate wrinkle after wearing it all day). 

The neckline is finished with bias tape, mine is navy polka dot of course. Just a cute surprise you can see when it's hanging on the hanger. I love this dress because it combines two craft universes. I might have to knit trim for every dress now! 

Ebba Sweater by Quince & Co.

Hey! I finished a sweater.  When I saw the Ebba Sweater while perusing Raverly for a new project it was true love. So much so that I immediately bought the pattern and the same yarn in the same colors. The pattern and they yarn are both from Quince & Co, which was a new to me yarn brand that I was very happy with. 100% made in America yarn, at a reasonable price, yes please. 

The yarn is called Chickadee which is a sport weight wool yarn, very classic and old school. I really liked how it knit up, and looked even better when it was blocked. I was surprised when the yarn was delivered that the lightest color was a light blue not a whiteish color like it looks like in the pattern picture.

This sweater was my first time steeking! I was a little hesitant at first but then found it to be super easy. Steeking is basically knitting a tube and then cutting it open later to insert the sleeves. That first little snip really got my heart pumping! 

               

The biggest problem I had with this sweater was the amount of yarn it called for. I bought exactly what the pattern called for (knowing it was way too much) knitted with the correct gauge and ended up with FIVE extra skeins of yarn. My size told me to buy 10 skeins of the light blue, 2 of the dark blue and 1 red. I had 4 of the light blue left and 1 dark blue. GRRR. I contacted Quince and co and they fixed the yarn amount and let me exchange the yarn. I just hope that since it was a pattern released by the pattern company they weren't inflating the numbers to sell more yarn. 

But now I have more issues with the exchange. Double GRRR. I picked out a fingering weight for my next colorwork project. Poppy and Bird's Egg are the colors, which looked cute together online. But when they came the colors were darker than picture and did not look good together. So I returned them for a store credit last week, but haven't heard anything back yet. A lot of trips to the post office for yarn!

                              

                            

Anyway, this is a super cute pattern and a great intro to steeking with instructions and an online tutorial too! It's warm without being hot, and so far has washed really well. I took these pictures when the snowfall was pretty in the morning before melting away in the afternoon. This winter has been weird. 

Happy Knitting!

Vintage Plaid Jacket: Simplicity 3622

Oh hey 2016, how would you like a blog post? I've been making things this whole time but my pictures have not been cooperating. But this coat is too cute not to show off! 

                  

The pattern is a vintage one I scored off of Etsy, Simplicity 3622. I shortened it so it would end at the hip. This is my first time really jumping in and working with plaid. I just haven't been that into it, but this wool is irresistible. Working at a fabric store is dangerous, every time I walked by the wool section I could picture the coat in my head. I wanted a classic jacket, and this black and white plaid is perfect for it. Cutting it out was a bit nerve-wracking. There is a lot to think about, what needs to match up and where to line up the bolder stripe.

I cut out the wool using the tutorial from Sewaholic. Pinning the plaids stripes together so you can cut the pieces doubled. This was easy and all of my pieces are identical. Then I just made sure my notches were at the same spot for pieces that would be connected.

The welt pockets went in easily, I followed the directions that came with the pattern, Vintage patterns have the best directions. They don't skip over steps to make it "Sew Easy". For the bags of the pockets I used black pocketing fabric I bought from etsy. 

For the interfacing I mainly followed the pattern's directions are using muslin for interfacing and basted it on. I used fusible interfacing for the peter pan color, and the hems. The sleeves were eased in trying to match the stripes up as best as possible. Then I added the sleeve heads.

The buttons were difficult to pick out. Black, just faded away, different colors weren't working so eventually I picked these tan buttons. That's the good thing about working at a fabric store, you can obsess over buttons everyday until you finally pick the right ones. 

The lining is a sunback satin in a cream color. The coat is warm but not a full on winter coat warm. I wanted it to fit over some of my bulkier sweaters so that will keep me extra warm. The pattern included directions to add the back pleat, something which is missing from most of new the coat patterns I have seen. I always add a pleat and a back stay out of muslin. 

Well I'm glad to be finally finished with this jacket, and hopefully it will stop raining/snowing so I can wear it!