It's Official!

I've entered!  :)

Will I finish on time?  We'll see.  3. More. Days....

BTW, I found a great link on Geni's blog.  It's for the Fabulous 40+ group.  And what a group we are!  :)

Hey Kardashian sisters...

I'm not fattening your wallet, but I'm keeping mine well padded!  I love some of the dresses in your Sears Kardashian line, but I'm NOT going to pay for them :) .

Instead, I created a knockoff dress in virtually the same style in a beautiful red lace on nude stretch lining.  See here:

And you know what?  It fits better than any garment I could purchase off the rack.  When I saw it in the store last May, the cost of the dress was about $60 or $70 on sale.  That's certainly not going to break my budget, but my inner snotty seamstress said, "I can make that same style, and make it better!"  It fits me to a tee and molds to MY curves.  Not the curves of the standard fit model for the K-line of Sears dresses.  Total price of my dress?  Let's see.  Stretch lace and stretch lining were purchased from Spandex House in NYC.  The amount of fabric used for the dress is about $20.  Thread and zipper?  About $4.  Total cost is $24.  My next version will be about $14 due to some drafting changes.

Here are back and side views:

Believe it or not, this was a "proof" garment.  I hesitate to use the term muslin or test garment because those evoke images or a mindset of a garment not meant to be worn except for fitting purposes.  Therefore, I call it a proof.  I drafted the garment to my exact measurements, felt pretty sure I got it right, then went about creating the dress to prove it fit, and subsequently created my "proof" garment.

Here are a few other views.  

And last but not least, a few movement pics.  Let's be realistic.  Movement produces a bit of wrinkles in a fitted garment.  This one is no exception.  The pics give an accurate view of how the dress is worn in real-world situation.  So yes, if you sit down and then stand up, you will have to re-adjust the dress.



I started this dress last May.  I created the pattern, and let it sit.  I sewed a little in June, then in July with bits of time I had available to me during the summer.  One of the things that took a while was handstitching the stretch lace to the stretch lining which served as the underlining.  There are 10 vertical seams on the dress so this process was not exactly what I would dub speedy.  I must have stitched up the dress at the end of the July because I referenced back to this post  about my feline sewing assistants and was still doing the tedious handstitching at that point.  From that point on it sat in my sewing cart as a UFO until I pulled it out in January resolving to get it done.

My dress was self drafted, and I did not use any commercial pattern for the design.  At this time, I'm not going to post how it was drafted because I want to test it out a few more times.  Right now I'm reworking the pattern and taking lots of pics to illustrate some of the steps.  I guess the best way to test it out is to use another body and draft the pattern based on those measurements.  I know my own body so it's easy.  Working it out on someone else's, maybe a few other bodies, is a good pattern proof.

But as for this dress, my first "proof" of a self-drafted pattern, I think it was a success.  It fits, it's flattering, and it's exactly what I envisioned it to be.  And I think my daughter is eager to get her hands on this dress for one of her college events.  I know there will be quite a few more versions yet to be made from this pattern. 

This one's LONG overdue!

Sometimes we get very busy with life, or simply life gets busy with us.  Such was the case with my leopard print skirt in this post.  I made it over three years ago, then was involved in a car accident, and this skirt was folded up and put away for a while.  I almost forgot I had it!  I was in no mood nor state of mind to review it three years ago, but that was then and this is now.

Here is my simple, self-drafted leopard print skirt made from a fabric remnant from another project I can't quite remember.  It must have been for my daughter, maybe for Christmas gifts for her friends.

There was a reason I decided to talk about this skirt.  A few weeks ago I pinned an outfit I saw on Pinterest to my Favorite Looks folder.  The girl had on a denim jacket, white tank, and leopard-print skirt, and then I thought to myself, "Hey!  I have all three of those pieces!"  An outfit was born!

Here are some more pics from various angles:

 And I had to include the traditional "hands on hips" pose for PR members.  Ha, ha, ha ;) .


One of the things I really like about this skirt is the peekaboo hemline.  If you look closely at the hem in the pic at the top of this post, you will see the underskirt (made out of Bemberg rayon/lining fabric) is about 2 1/2" (or thereabouts) shorter than the sheer overskirt.  I did that on purpose when I made it, probably because I saw some skirt like that on the Internet.  Both pieces are joined together at the waistline, a casing was added, and some elastic was sandwiched between the two layers.

Simple.  Fast.  Sewing.  No thinking required.  Easy peasy.  Make in the morning, wear it at night kind of skirt.  As for the fabric, I know I purchased the Bemberg online many years ago.  The sheer leopard print fabric was purchased from...Walmart.   Yes, I did say that lol.  Believe it or not, my closest Walmart has some really nice fabric with an large selection of prom fabrics with matching netting.  Definitely not the highest quality by any means, but nice enough to make a decent project.  Like I said, this was leftover material, probably from fashion scarves for my daughter's friends.

Here is a closeup of the rolled hem as well as elastic casing:
 

 Off to work on pattern reviews, and hopefully 2013 will produce more blog writing about my sewing projects than 2011 and 2012.  Cheers, and Happy Sewing!

Lots of New Stuff!

Boring post because there are no pics today.  However, I've been very busy and my machines have been smokin'!  First off, I made a quickie, no-pattern-needed knit top from the Threads website.  I became a Threads Insider last month and have been checking things out here and there and am very interested in reducing my stash.  Thus, my vast knit stash has been reduced by at least yard.  I know, I know, just a yard.  But every little bit helps.

Second, I'm halfway through making a dress for myself from my previous post on my daughter's McCalls black LBD.  She liked it and took it back to college .  It was a little short for me though.  Again, using up some stash yardage of a beautiful blue and black shiny brocade purchased from the first PR Weekend I attended.  About 2007, I think.  

And finally, a quick knit top from my Textile Studio TNT pattern that I have morphed so many different ways.  I used a knit purchased from Kashi at Metro Textiles from PR Weekend last May. 

Pics are coming.  I'm just so busy.  Also working on four pillows for my daughter's two littles in her sorority this semester.  Making two more for my niece (also in the same sorority) that is also taking on two littles.  The pillows will have appliqued greek letters on them and the names possibly embroidered.  I'm still waiting on that directive from my daughter.   I asked my daughter what do you call two littles in the same family line because I've never heard of taking two.  She responded, (a duh on my part) "They're called twins."  How cute!  She also requested two pink, fleece embroidered sorority hats--another stash reducer. 

Must get going.  Lots to do and so little time.

McCalls 6460

Let's just say I love this dress!  So much so that I'm going to make one for myself.  I'm modeling the one made for my oldest daughter who always needs something for her sorority functions.  It's her second LBD in that many months.  The first was reviewed a few weeks ago on my blog, McCalls 6111.

My full review of this pattern can be found at PR.  It's a dress that you really want to read all the reviews, google for information before you ever lay a scissors to your fabric.  There are some issues, but none that can't be worked out beforehand.  Doing so will create a beautiful dress with a beautiful fit.  My review includes all the particulars including fit issues I encountered as well as all my alterations. 

Still deciding...do bloggers want to see the full review on blogs?  Some do, some don't, and I haven't been blogging a while so I just decide to keep my full, detailed reviews on PR.  Please let me know.

And now, without further adieu, here is McCalls 6460:

Swing Jacket is a Simplicity Retro pattern, leather purse with custom-made handle was created from the book, Vintage Bags, and a reminder to never arch back for a posterior shot.  My poor satin backed crepe started puddling on me :( .  Otherwise it was looking pretty good.

An "Interesting" Discovery

It was interesting to me at first, then a bit disturbing when I was viewing a recent JC Penney ad.  I'm not sure, but I think it might be a case of photo trickery.  So I decided to ask my husband.

Here are two pics from a recent ad.  Look at the models on these two pages.  Yes, three of the four pics are of the same girl.  But look at the thighs.  They look almost identical in all four pics.  All four have that "inner thigh gap" as if thighs should not be touching.  Each picture appears to have an indent about 4" below the crotch line.  Forget trying to slide a manilla folder between their legs, you could slide a 2X4 right through without it every touching their thighs lol!  Very few people I know have thighs like that.  There are some but they are a tiny minority.

Point is, I hate advertising like this.  As if they pants they sell are going to make us normal people look like we have this huge inner thigh gap.  Or like it's even desired.  It's not normal.  Not that it's abnormal, it's just not a mainstream look and most women and teens I know are simply not built this way.  Except for that very small minority.

Now, look at a model from another JC Penney ad.  It was either the same ad or maybe a week or two apart.  This model has realistic hips and thighs.  They are fuller and normal looking.  No, not heavy at all.  Simply normal like the way many of us are built.

Please JC Penney, use young teens in your ads that have thighs built like the majority.  Go for the manilla-folder-could-fit-between-the-thighs look.  Not a stinkin' 2X4.  And if these pics were photoshopped like many are, shame on you.  

McCalls 6111

I've been sewing SO much lately, and my blogging has been non existent.  However, I have decided to actually do a blog post on McCalls 6111.  My dress has already been reviewed at Pattern Review so all details have been posted in my review.

I'm just including a few extra pics.  This is a dress for my daughter who needs some black dresses for sorority functions.  I see what she pins on Pinterest on her fashion board, and I thought this little number fit in with styles she likes.  The feature I like the most about this dress is the low back with straps that are knotted into a bow just above the waist.  I used a Slinky knit for the dress (not recommended by the pattern--wovens) and black lace on top of black silk organza for the straps.  It worked out just fine.  This is a bias cut dress so if you normally don't sew bias-cut garments, do a little review homework before making this.  I forgot to do that, but I don't think it mattered.

What I love about this style--it's hip and cute.  What I hate about this style--can't wear a strapless or conventional bra.  Must use those stick on cups or uniboob devices with adhesive. 

Here are several poses of this dress.  My major alteration was to create two, waist tucks extending near the bust apex.  The dress needed shape.  My daughter didn't not want a "bag".  There is PLENTY of ease in this dress.  I didn't make it fitted, just took out some excess as I didn't want to totally change the style.  Just wanted it to look more like the pattern cover photo.

That's it for now!  It's a cute little dress perfect for those pretty young things in the late teen/early 20-something group.