Simplicity 1620, View A

This pattern was so fun! I made view A.

 

I got to try two new things: pleats and finishing the neckline with single fold bias tape. I think it turned out pretty good. 



So many pins

 

 

I was worried about the fabric tho. Sometimes I don't pick the most wearable prints. Stuff that looks cute on the bolt often looks too juvenile for me but I think these two prints worked out. 

I'm still thinking about maybe cutting it down to the top length of view B. I think I might get more use out of it as a top. If I leave it at dress length then I want to add pockets. Also, I want to try view E to wear with it because I'm not used to showing this much top arm meat lol. 

I will definitely make this again. I want to try view B out of some cutesy fabric :) 

Looking real mature lately ;)

So, I scrapped all those sewing ideas that I mentioned in the last post and decided to go in a completely different direction. I have a wedding event this weekend and nothing to wear!  I thought I'd use the event as a deadline to force myself to sew a dress thing.

I want to try view A.  I like loose stuff and I think this will qualify. 

I'm using the black circle stuff for the top part and the wavy striped stuff for the bottom part.  I'm a little worried that it has the potential to be one of the ugliest things I've ever made lol. 

So, wish me luck.  Making something to wear outside around people is scary but my sewing instructor Nick used to always say, "Challenge yourself, dummy!"  My sewing instructor has
morphed into Dennis Duffy from 30 Rock.  Hot.

 

 

 

McCall's 5640 (The Green One)

Finished number 2. Its view B again. I really like the square neckline. My mom corrected me and said its not a collar its a neckline lol. 

My goal was a flawless muumuu but I still made some mistakes. 

But first, the things I did right: 

1. For the neckhole (hehe), I drew my stitch line on the fabric at the corners. This made it easier to maintain my 5/8" seam allowance. 

2. I used my mom's trick on corners. Instead of stitching to the corner and pivoting, she stitches almost to the corner then turns the fabric and stitches 2 small stitches diagonally. This made for a much nicer point on my corners.

3. I paid attention this time and didn't reverse the facing so the understitching is on the inside where it belongs. 

Things I could've done better:

1. My thread fell out of the circles that I marked on the front and back pieces but I decided to sew on and line it up with the ends of the facing. I realized later that this caused problems with the armholes because after sewing and pressing the ends weren't really lined up. My bad. I won't do that again. 

2. Also, I was lazy again and decided to machine stitch the neck stuff (I'm confused what terminology to use now!) instead of handstitching like the instructions suggest. 

I thought I would be so excited to have another green muumuu but actually I'm so in love with the yellow one that this one leaves me kind of meh. I really wish they had pockets so I think I'll be adding those soon. Also, if I can figure out how to do it, I'm going to enter them in the Pattern Review Stash Busting Contest! I was hoping to get two more done this month but that's not gonna happen. 

Next to sew? I just don't know what. My plan was to make some hunky fabric muumuus (view D this time) out of this stuff because I think its funny and I'm too embarrassed to wear it outside.   

But I can't get excited about it. Yes, they would be funny and very photogenic but I just made 2 housedresses. Boring. 

I might work on this instead. 

I bought this cool downloadable pattern from Burda for like $5 and I really wanna try it with the strawberry fabric I've been saving. I've never put together a PDF pattern before and I realized later that it doesn't include my size so I could practice grading up. (Trying to look on the bright side here)

So, patch pockets, hunky housedress or Burda strawberry shirt. I'll have to give it some thought :)

Knitspiration - Liz Lemon's Slouchy Beanies

I'm always looking for new shows to watch while I knit.  After finishing The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, several folks recommended that I watch 30 Rock.  This show is so fun and full of awesome slouchy beanies!

Liz is hilarious. I want her glasses and her manish wardrobe.  Back off Jack, she looks cool!

 

I thought her boyfriend in seasons 6 and 7 was going to be so lame but he was super cool!  Why am I so prejudiced against attractive people lol.

 

What pattern is this? I don't know! But I think its my fave! I can't wait to make it! Exclamation point!

 

Her hair looks a little too perfect in this one but the beanie looks fabulous!!!

 

Another close up of the purple beanie.  I think its just a rib stitch so it might be the easiest for me to copy.  Can't wait to give it a try!

Double Bump Scarf

Love it! The yarn is so pretty. If I make this pattern again tho I think I'll use a solid color. 

It called for a cast-off in purl. It looks so pretty. Wish my cast-on looked as pretty. 

It matches the hat I made earlier!

Yarn from Hobby Lobby. The pattern came from the internet somewhere. It was a knitting class project. 

Fun pattern with a four row repeat. My next scarf has a ten row repeat :-/. I'm a little worried but excited about the challenge!

McCalls 5640 (AKA The Yellow Housedress)

Finally finished this today! Its view B. 

This pattern was fun and easy and it fits! So that's good even though I'll never wear this outside of the apartment. Its too sheer and I made several mistakes on the yoke/collar. Also, its not very flattering. I put it on and immediately thought of Divine from Hairspray. 

I looked top heavy to the extreme! 

Oh well. Even though I made mistakes and its too sheer and unattractive I'm still super proud of it! I hope I can make it again soon and correctly sew the collar :)

Granny's Walker Caddy

There are a bunch of free patterns online but I didn't think any of them would work well for Gran. This is what I came up with. (I like the chalk markings that I forgot to remove lol)

She has one of those big walkers with a seat and the other patterns that I found worked best with the aluminum, hospital type walkers. 

For the body, I cut a piece 7" x 12" on fold. Then, I cut two 4 1/2" x 12" pieces. And the same from midweight fusible interfacing. I ended up with a caddy that folds in half over the walker bar with ties on the side. I sewed divided pockets for her glasses, pens, magnifying glass and Sudoku. 

The ties on the back really ate up my bias tape! Ashy toes alert. 

I had to use purple when I ran out of black lol. 

The corners are hideous but luckily for me she can't see very well. 

It has pockets on both sides but I have a feeling the pockets facing away from her will never get used. I think if I make another one it will be one sided with matching bias tape ;)

Oh! And I found a home for that ugly shirt. Gran's dog Pokey can use it.