While I was away...

Hello all! It's not been too long since my last post but it has been longer than I would have liked. Life has been busy and left me little time to sew. Last week Hubby and I packed up the kids and drove 8 hours to visit his SIL in Myrtle Beach, SC. We hadn't seen her since she moved away from NoVa a couple of years ago. I've missed her four boys so and she hadn't seen my third child, Ezra, since he was just a babe and she'd never met our fourth child, Romy. It was a pleasant visit since Jeremy and I took the opportunity for a little mini vacay and made sure to get a room with an oceanview. If you follow me on instagram (and if not you should, not because my photos are fab or anything but just because I love to interact with all you wonderful people) you'll know that the weather was perfect and our visit was wonderful. I made sure to pack lots of "me made" clothes and tried to snap some pics. Of course I wasn't able to get a picture of every outfit but all in all I think I successfully managed to almost exclusively wear a self stitched wardrobe which made me feel very accomplished.

Here I am at South of the Border, a fantastic, old, kitschy roadside attraction. I'm wearing my Colette Hazel.

Here's my Colette Lily. It's actually the first time I've worn it since the Fourth.

New Look 6808 here paired with my denim Colette Ginger (unblogged)

       Before I left I started working on another New Look 6808 only I'm modifying it a bit. I mashed together the neckline of Colette Pattern's Sorbetto with the bodice/sleeves of 6808 and I'm adding a self drafted peter pan collar. So far, so good. As you can see, I have a fair bit to finish but now that I'm back I'm hoping to take to the sewing machine soon.

  While driving all....those....hours....I finished a project I've been working on for about 6 months. Yes...6 months. I'm a seasonal knitter. I love to knit but I can only do it in the cooler months for some reason. I started this pattern back in March but when it started getting warm I quickly ditched it. When I got some knitting mojo back I went to pick it up but I was a bit daunted at figuring out where I left off. The long car ride was just what I needed to finish it. I blocked it this morning and ta-da! It is by no means perfect. It's actually pretty awful. You would never believe I've been knitting for four years by the looks of it. BUT I did teach myself to knit continental with this one and it'll do it's job and keep me warm... so all in all...I'm pleased.

Anyhoo, lots of fall sewing to come. I've got the next pattern in Sew Colette 2.0 to work on, the Peony. I'm also tempted by Juniper. Anyone make those up yet? What are you all working on? I need some inspiration!

The Full-on Monet Outfit

Ok. So. This outfit was made after a decision to make more wearable pieces for fall (which came in part because of Sunni's fantastic post here....). I decided on these two fabrics that I've had in my stash forever since I felt like the went together well. And all in all, I love it. Both pieces are so comfortable and I think it's flattering for my figure. But please, oh please, don't look at it too closely.

 Let's start with the blouse....

           I used New Look 6808 and a little bit of this vintage voile. I've had both of these in my stash for freakin forever. The voile was actually purchased by my mother and I've used it as a lining here and there but I thought it was too busy to use as an actual garment. But it was so damn soft I said screw it. It's a very narrow piece of fabric from selvadge to selvadge...like less than 30 inches so I decided to make view B of the pattern so I could squeeze it out of the just over a yard I had. Squeeze it out I did, with a few close calls and only scraps left. I was all ballsy, cut a straight size 12 and did this without a muslin. Then I basted up the side, yanked it over my boobs and then squealed that I could eliminate the zipper. Yay! The idea of a zip on the side of this shirt just bothered me.

   I'll admit it's not a perfect fit. It sits a bit on top of my boobs a bit sometimes and it has a pucker here and there. It probably would have benefited from a slight FBA but I'm honestly too lazy to do all that if I can get away with it. This looks great from kind of far away but yeah...the sleeves are not even. The underarm of one has a little more to it than the underarm to the other. So like I said, don't look too closely. All in all, I call this a success and I plan on make a couple more variations of this pattern in the future. I really like it.

    Now, on to the skirt. I made this using Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity 2215. I made just the skirt using about a yard of 60" stretch camel polyester stuff. I dunno...garbardine maybe? I bought it for a pair of clovers last year (DISASTER!!) and have just been holding onto the scraps. This pattern is great. The pleats are so interesting because they aren't uniform. Again, I cut a straight size 12 and it was easy as pie to put together. Which means I had to completely screw it up. Completely. I made the mistake of sewing while my kids were awake. Not a good idea. In between potty breaks, diaper changes, drinks and snacks I put this down way too many times in one sitting. Every time I picked it back up I had to figure out where I had left off. The results of that? I installed the pockets and zipper backwards. I made the front the back and vice versa. At first I thought, NBD, I'll just wear it backwards...who will know? The problem is, the front pleats look better on the front and the back pleats look better on my butt (ya think?) so my solution is to wear the zipper on my right and let the pockets face backwards. I can pull them to the front easily but it mades the skirt sit funny on the zipper side and...again...if you look closely it's a mess. Which is a shame because I tried to make this one beautifully. The pocket lining matches the blouse and I handstitched the waistband and hem...But hey, ::said in my best Cher voice:: From far away it looks ok! I most certainly plan on making this again, and the next time I plan on putting it together the RIGHT way. Yay, go me! ha.

  Really and truly, I LOVE this outfit. The skirt fabric is heavy enough to be able to layer over tights and the blouse is light enough to sit beautifully under a sweater or cardigan. I know that the blouse fabric is a little more spring like than fall but I think the colors lend themselves well to Autumn...am I right? I only second guess myself because my husband said, "that doesn't look like a Fall outfit!" when I tried it on. He truly knows nothing about fashion but still... criticism is criticism and I take it all to heart.

 

   This is a pic heavy post because we made a stop at one of my favorite local stops, Manassas Battlefield which was the location for two major American Civil War Battles; the First and Second Battle of Bull Run. I take this area for granted because I grew up so close to it but it really is beautiful. The area is a National Park and because of that it is largely unchanged except for a very busy road running right through it. These pictures were taken at one of the monuments for fallen soldiers (which includes 2 original cannons) and at The Stone House, which is a, you guessed it, stone structure. It was built in 1848 but was transformed into a Civil War hospital during the battles. It's gorgeous although, local legend says it's extremely haunted. I've never seen anything there and the place is beautiful by daylight....but I will say the atmosphere is very haunting at night, especially when a fog settles in, as it often does.