And another sateen dress....

 

 Sometimes I just can't decide what to do with fabric. I buy it because I like it and then I can't commit to what I should make with it.

 SO, I have this grey sateen sitting in my stash (you may have noticed...or maybe you haven't, in which case I'm about to point it out... I have a slight obsession with sateen. ) for probably about 4 months and I have thought about making it into 6 or 7 different projects before I made a decision.

 

Ok...."decision" really isn't the right word here....what I did was similar to closing my eyes and picking out of a hat. I mean, I didn't close my eyes (and I didn't shove the patterns in a hat) but I did pull out all the contenders, put them in a pile, mixed it up and then just kind point at one. And Simplicity 2215 was the one my finger landed on.

 

  Before I could second guess my, um, decision, I pulled out all the pieces for view A , layed them out and cut. I cut quickly with no real plan. But as I cut, I started thinking of a plan, and my stash of notions. I had some black piping- not a lot- but enough to define the front. And buttons...oooo, BUTTONS. I totally copied Shannon and ran out to buy these after she posted hers on Instagram months ago. Sometimes it feels so good to be a follower.

 

 

 As I made it I felt pretty good, like maybe this was going to turn out pretty damn awesome. It couldn't just BE awesome, though. Because hello, my name is Jamie, and I make stupid mistakes. Like no thinking through using the fashion fabric as the bodice lining (too stiff!) and sewing the wrong side of the bodice on top. Seriously, this pattern is like cursed for me. Remember how badly I messed up the last time I made the skirt??

Oh well. The end product is comfy and pretty cute anyway. Although,  I do have some issues with the fit.

 I cut my normal sz 12 but the waist is a little large (and this is true of my skirt, also) but the bodice is a bit tight. Looking at the model on the packaging I actually think the waist is supposed to be kind of baggy but obviously I've got too much going on in the boobs to make the silhouette work. I ended up sewing only .5" SA on the side and it still pulls. Admittedly, it looks kind of funky but it could be my bra (I'm wearing the same push up style that I wore in my last post, I'll just keep blaming it).

Looking at these pics while editing them, I've decided the waist is weird. I'm thinking I'm going to bind the SA in bias tape and then hand stitch it to the bodice lining.

So, not a completely successful make but then again, not a total failure either. I think the style is cute and it'll be perfect for running around with my kids.

 I'd like to thank everyone who reached out to me about my Father-in-law's passing. It really means so much to me.

The All at Once Skirt

       In a never ending quest to build my wardrobe piece by piece I present you with another separate...another skirt, Simplicity 2451.  I bought this olive cotton sateen specifically to fit with what I already have in my closet. I think it goes well with what I have and will go well with what I have planned.

       I made view D. Not much to say here about the pattern. I cut out my typical size 12 out of  less than 2 yards of the sateen and made no major alterations. It sewed up quick, only about 4 hours from start to finish, including hand hemming. This skirt is super short, for me anyway. Can't be flashing cheek when wiping a runny nose! To keep this as long as possible I skipped the suggested 1.25' and used some fuschia lace hem tape to turn it up a scant .25" instead. It probably would have looked better a bit shorter, don't ya think? Oh well, modesty trumps fashion here.

    I had a good laugh thinking about me 10 years ago. If 20 year old Jamie could talk to 30 year old Jamie she would be shocked at the lack of cleavage and leg and vanity in general. Age and children have made me less judgemental, a bit more humble and wow....modest. Well, maybe not MODEST, but I'm certainly wearing much more clothing than I did when I was training to be a professional wrestler a decade ago. Yes you read that right. Moving along....

  Funny story about these pictures. When I went to photograph this yesterday I had just come back from my local yarn store (where I spent way too much $$...oops) and since I was all dressed up I figured I would take some pictures. When I got back inside and uploaded everything I decided I didn't really like the brown boots with the whole ensemble. It was a "what was I thinking?!" moment. Plus, my everyday makeup didn't show up well on camera, I hadn't really styled my hair and the skirt was wrinkled. I went out again today and wore the same outfit but this time with different shoes. I went shopping with my girls and so this is what I look like after 3 hours of shopping that included 1 MAJOR meltdown courtesy of my 6 years old. My skirt was even more wrinkled than before and suddenly the pictures that I didn't like so much from yesterday look much better by today's standards. Days like today make me wonder when I became so old?? Yikes!

 I had a small struggle when I picked this pattern up because it's not really my "normal" style. I don't know what I would call my normal style but I think that I gravitate towards retro inspired, whimsical clothing however I still have a love for the grunge/punk/90's style of my adolescence. This skirt is fairly modern and maybe a little matronly which is something I dread gravitating towards as I get older. I finally decided, what the heck. If I like it, I like it. End of story, right? Plus, I think it can be styled to look more "alternative" than soccer mom. ha. 

 This skirt is named after a song by one of my favorite bands, The Airborne Toxic Event's song, All at Once. It's a gorgeous song about life in general and the changes we go through...and how suddenly they hit us. "In the gut". Felt appropriate for this.

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.