Project365 - March

I feel like this year is flying by. I'm trying to keep active in blogging, sewing and social updates.

And I'm so glad I decided to do a project365 photography project.  I think for March I only actually missed taking a picture one day, but other then that its been pretty consistent this month.

I also tried to complete as many pictures as I could for the #Marchphotoaday project through Fatmumslim. I used this as a way to give me inspiration for a picture each day.

And although I posted a bunch of pictures from my January Project365, I didn't posted the final month, so posting it now too! :)

Spring Top Sewalong!

2012 Goal: Sew More.  Part of that goal is to try and sew more clothing for myself.  Cool stuff, not cheesy "looks like its home made" stuff.

So along with sewing a dress for Angela & Thomas's wedding, I'm going to work at finishing up and making a few other projects for myself.  And perfect timing Made by Rae posted her "Spring Top Sewalong" for 2012 today!

I've been following her blog for a while now and have read and voted the last few years in the Spring Top sewalong - and although I thought about entering last year I never did.  This year I fully intend on finishing and entering a top.

In fact you can submit something that you have previously started but not finished.  Rules are you must have finished your top after March 1st 2012.  (no issues here, since its totally not finished)

I'm going to finish up (my almost started) Shearwater Kaftan summer top. I fell in love with this pattern last year  and searched for the perfect fabric.  Finding this great pale grey stone gauze fabric from etsy seller UniqueShiny.

Image borrowed from makeitperfect and Photograph courtesy of Fiona Harding Photography

But to date I've only got as far as cutting out all the pieces and sewing the the hem around the neck.  Time to pull it out and finish it.  And I really have been wanting to finish this for a while now.  In fact I had originally planned to finish it last year in time for Rhett's First birthday and Steph's baby shower which were both towards the end of last summer.  I always have such ambitious plans that never come to fruition.

But this is the time.  Maybe I'll even go and get started right now. You can start uploading pics for the Spring Top sewalong as early as Monday.  And there is a contest portion, although you don't have to be part of that you can just sew a top for the fun of it if you want!  Check out the site if your interested - I've posted a button with the link on my sidebar!

Making a Dress - Attempt #1

So this past week after looking at lots of patterns online I decided that instead of making my own pattern (right away) I was going to try out this pattern as it was written first.

Since my luck with clothes to this point hasn't been overly successful I still knew that I was going to need to make a "test" dress first. On Friday we headed up to Paul's Moms to spend the night and I brought my new tiny serger, since I knew she would be interested in seeing it.  Paul said I should also bring my sewing.  So I packed my dress pattern and some cheap broadcloth in case we had a chance to work on it.

Singer Tiny Serger - Bought of Kijiji For $30!

We were only going to spend Friday night and come home on Saturday night since it was my birthday but Paul's mom was excited to help out with sewing so we decided to stay until today.

Yesterday we set out to put the pattern together and sew the "test" dress.  I also decided to attempt to "serge" all the edges.  This was definitely the longest part as the tiny serger is "finicky". So as I worked on serging all the pieces, Paul's mom started the assembly of he bodice.  I learned some really good tips from her - she has made several dresses and clothes before.

So here is what we learned.  I am not a 32 petite. LOL  I measured myself before hand and I thought I was "close enough" to the original pattern size.  Ummm when making clothes, close enough does not cut it. The bodice is about 4 inches too small at the sides/ back. Luckily we found the pattern in "multi-sizes" online so i'm going to have to start all over again this weekend.

But it was a good first attempt.  I wasn't sure of the style before we started, but I think it will look nice. I like the way the top is fitting and with a little sweater and possibly a belt it should look great for the weddings we have this year.

Adjustments that i'm going to make on the 2nd attempt will be to make a fully lined bodice.  The pattern just has the bodice facings lined, but I going to fully line the whole thing to prevent it from being see-through if i chose a light weight fabric.  I'm also going to make the skirt a bit longer and hem it to just above my knee i think. I think i'm also going to leave the ruffle off, but i'm not sure yet. I think its going to depend on what I choose for my final fabric choice.

So my next step is to try and get to fabric land some time this week to pick up some more broadcloth for attempt number two. By the time I get to making the actual dress i'll be a pro at this pattern!

Wordless Wednesday

Organized & Clean Linen Closet

Dessert before Dinner

Full Moon

Happy Birthday Oreo!  You look good for being 100

Our Neighborhood

To sew or not to sew

I'm going to *attempt* to make my own dress.

I've been sewing for a long time (self-taught), however I will be the first one to admit that sewing clothing has not been something I've excelled at.  In fact the very few things I have made, I rarely wear.

I do love the school house tunic pattern, and until about 20 minutes ago when I put it on, I thought the size and fit was good.  However, my choice of fabric was so way off that I never wear it. In fact I just changed out of my pj's for the first time all day to put it on to take a few pics since I realized I didn't have any of it completely finished. 

But this shirt is not what I came to blog about.  Its about trying new things.  And i'm going to attempt to make a dress for my cousin's wedding in May. 

Now I've found a few patterns that I like, however I'm *contemplating* making my own pattern.  This is a crazy idea cause I've never made my own pattern before and I'm not good at math.  I think I'd be better to adjust a pattern to myself but even that is taking a risk.  Specially for a dress that I have to wear out in public and my entire family will see. 

My biggest fear is picking a style that works for my body and will fit well. I think the most frustrating part of sewing clothing for myself is that it never seems to work out the way I envisioned and I never know how to fix it once its done. 

Enough of that, lets get to the details, here are some of patterns that I've been thinking about.

This first dress that I've been thinking of modifying is actually a kids dress, but I think it could be adjusted to look a little more adult-like.

Photo from The Cottage home

Although I like that style I'm worried that since it is a kids dress, I might just look a well a kid. I really like this next dress pattern, but it might be a bit to simple for a dress to wear to a wedding. 

Photo from Sewing in no Mans Land

And this last one I just found tonight, it's a free pattern I found on Burda Style and could be fancy enough for the wedding, but simple enough to throw together. I'm not 100% sold on the ruffle, but it could be cute. 

Photo from Kylie Burrowes on Burda Style

So given all of these are free patterns, i'm thinking that I could make a few copies out of broadcloth and give them or at least one of them a test try first to see if the fit and style are right.  I'm also going to look at a few books at Indigo on my lunch break tomorrow to see if I can find anything on adjusting patterns could be something good to have on hand.

Ultimately If I had time in my crazy life, had extra money, or lets face it was smart enough I'd just go take the pattern making class at The Workroom and learn the proper way to do this. But part of me thinks learning on my own and figuring this out will be much more satisfying then just reading a pattern or someone teaching  me.  

Wish me luck.