Good Things Come in Threes

 

   Hope you're not sick of this pattern yet!  I'm not sure if anyone has actually ever said that good things come in threes, but when it comes to New Look 6808, it holds true for me. I've made this bad boy up two times already and I really love every version. And when you have a good thing, why give it up? I had avoided this particular view, with the adorable collar, only because I was worried that it would look too precious on me. I'm glad I decided to give it a chance because it definitely gives off a nice vintage vibe that I dig. 

Honestly, I've made this pattern so many times there really isn't anything new to say. I cut a sz 12 again. This time around the fabric I used has a bit of stretch to it so I had to take in the SA on the side to accomade that.

This is my "It's effin COLD" face.

I omitted the zipper again. Sure, I have to squish the girls just a bit when I put it on....but it's not too difficult to get in and out of without it.

 

    I've said it before and I'll say it again, this pattern is really so versatile. It makes up well in a bunch of different fabrics and it goes well with just about anything. I'm thinking I need to make up a bunch in solid colors.

 

 

         I didn't get a good pic of it, but the plaid lines up real well. go me.

 

 The construction of the collar went well. It was fiddly and irritating, as collars can be, but all in all, it was smooth sailing. So there you have it. My third, and most likely not my last New Look 6808.

 There's so much that I need to get to, that I'm hoping I can post about soon. I've got blog awards, #sewingdares and giveaways to share with you and I promise I will attend to this business sooner rather than later.

 Also, if anyone's interested I can give a small recap/review of my short trip to NYC and The Airborne Toxic Event concert. I know this is primarily a sewing blog, but if there's interest in that kind of stuff, I'd love to talk about it. Let me know, guys. :)

 

 

 

In the dark for awhile now

 I've been knitting. A lot. I have 3 projects started and not one finished. I knit like a snail. If a snail had hands. Or arms. And knew how to knit. In other words....I knit slowly. All that snail knitting makes me anxious for something finished and I knew that I needed to get up off the couch and sew something but I just couldn't find the energy to do it. No sewing mojo.

 On black friday I finally picked up Gertie's book and read it cover to cover. It made me want to go get lots of tattoos. And cut my bangs super short and be as gorgeous and cool as Gertie. And it made me want to go hand sew an entire garment. No, not really (to the sewing not to the ripping off of Gertie's style). What I really wanted to do was go make something and make it well. Enter New Look 6107

 

 I love houndstooth. So awesome. It can be kind of professional and then totally punk. I haven't been able to find fabric that has a huge houndstooth print on it so I settled for a mini one. It looks more business than party which is pretty impractical for my life. Just like these shoes. Gorgeous but so stupid. But seriously,  sometimes I just want to feel like I'm some sexy business lady that gets to get all dressed up every morning and not a stay at home, homeschooling mom who sometimes doesn't take her pajamas off...is that so bad?
 
    Yes, I do realize that this combination of black and white and red kind of makes me look like a vampire. I'm pale. Oh well.

 

 I cut a straight size 12 with no alterations. The fit is fine but I think I need to start doing a slight sway back adjustment because I always have a rumple of fabric on top of my tush and maybe a full tummy adjustment. I'm not sure if that's the proper name for it but I do have a little bit (ok, a LOT) of baby belly left over from my 4 kids and the fabric stretches weird across that area. Which draws attention to it and that is the LAST area I want people to notice. Because of the style of skirt, my ass also looks massive. Not in these pictures because I chose flattering pics where I'm kind of sucking everything in and standing just so. But really, in person, it looks quite um...large. Note to self...wear spanks with this skirt.
 

 

 I lined the whole skirt in lipstick red lining fabric. The waist facing is hand stitched and I also slipstitched the hem with this rayon hemtape I bought from Sunni recently. I installed a lap zipper using one of my vintage zippers. I've done a lapped zipper a couple of times but I think this is my best one yet. For the first time I actually understood why I was doing the steps instead of blindly following them and I think that allowed me to get it just right. And look at all that matched up houndstooth! Go me! My only critisism is this particular view did not have a kick pleat and I think it could have used one. It's hard to take long strides in this thing. Which makes me look kind of derp. 

 

 

Look how well it all matched up! Go me!

Blurry, but look a lapped zipper and matched up pattern!

  In conclusion, aside from the monster ass issue, I love this skirt. It looks and feels like something more expensive than what it is. After this skirt I finished another project and I'm already half way finished with a third. Yay for sewing mojo!

 

 

The Way It Was Shirt

Can I just apologize for my hair? Ack, I am so sick of it. It needs to be dyed and cut and I'm really leaning towards just chopping it all off. So.sick.of.it.
 
I'm going to admit to being a bit obessed with blouse patterns right now. There are so many awesome ones out there. Alma, Jasmine, Violet, Airelle, Roxanne? Oh so many gorgeous options, so many wonderful indie patterns. So much $$ that I just don't have. Le sigh. It's cool. Someday I'll have them but until then I've got to work with what I got. Which is a pretty awesome New Look pattern that cost me only $3.99, a Colette Pattern that was free and a tutorial on how to draft a peter pan collar. Hoping to get a wardrobe essential unlike one I've already made,  I mashed them all together and here we are...

   I've been holding onto this fabric for almost a year now. I lusted after almost every single pattern and colorway in Anna Marie Horner's Innocent Crush line and when it went on sale on Fabric.com, I snatched up a couple of yards of this voile. So soft, so pretty. LOVE. I took New Look 6808 and used the neckline from the Sorbetto pattern from Colette. This was so easy, guys. Really. I'm shocked. I really took my time with this one.  The seams are all french seams and this shirt should last for a long time.

  Now, obviously the meat and bones of this top is New Look 6808. Do I dare utter the letters T...N...T? My first ever!? It's an easy pattern anyway but when I omit the zip, like I did...again... it's a walk in the park. And it fits and it looks good and I think it might be exactly what I need for a basic top.

For the peter pan collar I used this wonderful tutorial from, who else, Gertie. I actually hadn't ever watched her live before but she was such a fantastic instructor for those little videos. Don't you just love her? Maybe I'll buy her bombshell course. Anyhoo, I digress. Drafting the collar was easy peasy, lemon squeezy. The bow was because, you know..I'm kinda obsessed with stuff like that.

I'm wearing this with a previously unblogged Colette Ginger. I have 3 of these skirts and I really love them in theory but I kind of hate the way they look on me. I dunno. I have a rather thick waist in comparison to the rest of me and I feel like it just emphasized that fact. BUT, they are so comfy. I can't stop wearing this one in particular. Stretch denim? comfy.

In case you're wondering...those are trashbag ghosts. ha.

 I'm super excited that my first real foray into altering and combining patterns was so...easy.
And in case anyone is wondering why the heck I'm calling this The Way It Was Shirt....it's a song that was stuck in my head the whole time I sewed this thing up. It just seemed fitting.


Next up....Peony!

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.