McCall's 6547

Here are my girls wearing their ruffle knit dresses with coordinating shrug in a jersey knit.  I actually bought this pattern for View B, which is more of a tank top with ruffle knit skirt attached.  However, once they saw View E, that's all they wanted.  

There is only 1 pattern piece for the dress.  As indicated in the pattern instructions, baste the ruffle knit down before sewing, which I did on all 3 sides.  Otherwise, it might flip around on you.  There is elastic around the neck opening.  I didn't do the narrow hem at the armhole.  I just turned it under once and sewed it down, which I found more than sufficient.  When cutting out, I recommend not following the bottom of your pattern piece, but rather go to the next ruffle below and cut underneath on the lining fabric.  If you cut the fabric right on the pattern line, you might cut off some of the "ruffle" area and you don't want to do that.  

It's a great little dress to have when they need to be a little dressy for an outing. 

Fabric purchased from Girl Charlee.

Thanks for stopping by ~ Shirley

The London Peasant Top

I really love Lila Tueller patterns.  Her directions are very thorough and quite simple to follow.  I made this blouse in a white printed gauze with a solid light green gauze.  I ordered the fabric before I knew what I wanted to do with it, and I did not have enough white for the lower back.  However, I do like how it turned out even though it wasn't planned that way!

I cut the front tie piece parallel to the selvage since gauze is stretchy.  There wasn't any stretch in that direction.  Since gauze is a little sheer, I did line my bodice top and bottom.

I pieced together a scarf with my white scraps.

We went out to dinner tonight, so I had a different place to take photos...not the forest or my bread board background. ha ha

Fabric purchased from Fabric.com.

Thanks for stopping by ~ Shirley

Simplicity 1616 Skirt

Skirt View E

Size 10

Fabric:  Printed Gauze from Fabric.com

Sewn with my Janome Serger

Hemmed with my Janome Coverstitch Machine

Thread used:  Polyester in upper loopers/Wooly Nylon in lower loopers

No alterations/followed pattern instructions exactly

 I used my hip measurement, which is 34 1/2", to select my pattern size

I self-drafted a hat/scarf to match my skirt

RTW Gauze blouse from Old Navy

I LOVE this skirt.  I'm already preparing  fabric for my next one.  This skirt is so easy and definitely a beginner level sewing pattern--gathering stitches at skirt top / elastic insertion into waistband / 3 pattern pieces / pattern guide piece so you know exactly how much to "gather" your skirt for a perfect fit to join to waistband.  

Very comfortable to wear!

Thanks for stopping by ~ Shirley

Jersey knit shorts

Yesterday my daughter came home from school and said, "Momma, I need you to make me a pair of shorts for field day tomorrow."  She liked the light blue jersey knit I had, but it was too thin to be worn on its own.  She said, "can you put a lining underneath it?"  :)   So she picked out a cute polka dot fabric she liked as well.  I used my Crafty Mamas funky pant pattern to make a pair of shorts.  Actually, I just ordered about five 1/2-yard pieces from Girl Charlee to make her a bunch of shorts for the summer, so it gave me an opportunity to prepare the pattern for that.

She loves the yoga waistband.  I don't think there will be another type of shorts or pants that she will want for a while since these are so comfortable for her to wear.

Normally I would make these in a cotton lycra so they would have a better stretch recovery.  The jersey is definitely a little more roomy, but it's all about comfort for this girl!  I really like to have my children pick out their fabrics.  More times than not, they put together fabrics that I would not have thought to do, with great results!  After all, I am sewing for them, and they are the ones that will be wearing it.  She couldn't wait to wear her shorts this morning.  She loves how the polka dots peek thru the blue...so do I.

Thanks for stopping by ~Shirley

Ottobre's Street Gear Bermuda Shorts

Here is a pair of shorts I made for my son.  This pattern is from the March 2012 edition of the Ottobre Magazine (Pattern #36).  I decided to make them out of ripstop fabric that I found online at Fabric.com.  I found the fabric to be a little thin, so I doubled up on it for the knee area.  I did not use any interfacing due to material type, which didn't seem to present a problem.  The pattern does call for a snap on the waistband; however, I just used a button instead.  I have not installed any snaps yet, so that is something I need to learn how to do in the near future.  I didn't want to learn with these shorts.

Wearing with his favorite Mythbusters t-shirt.... a perfect color match up.

With these being made of ripstop, they are extremely light weight.  

My first welt pocket!!  It was not difficult at all.  

I love the details on the knee area.  These are created by making tucks with bar tacks at the ends.

Pockets on the front.

Overall, I found this pattern to be fun and easy to make!  I made these in a size 140 and the fit is perfect!  Pattern sized from 128 to 170 cm.

Thanks for stopping by ~ Shirley

Ottobre Movimiento (tank top and tunic)

Today I made one of my girls the tunic (lengthened to be a dress) from the March 2013 Ottobre magazine.  I used the smallest size, 134, which does look to be slightly a little on the big side but room to grow into for the summer.  This is a very quick dress to make with a drawstring waist made of the same fabric.  You actually make the inside casing out of the knit fabric as well.  Instructions for this are very simple to follow and tracing the pattern was quick and easy.  I definitely recommend this pattern if you are new to tracing Ottobre sheets; there are only 2 pieces.

When I sewed the casing to the inside, I basted it on and then I used a narrow zigzag on the right side of the fabric, using my basting line as a guide.

Thanks for stopping by ~ Shirley

Anna Sui Vogue Pattern #1177

This is my very first Vogue pattern dress.  I am delighted at how nice it turned out!  It took me several weeks to make this dress since I took breaks in between to make other things for my children.  Also, with all the tucks, this dress is very time consuming but well worth the effort.  The pattern includes a slip, which I will make prior to wearing.  I purchased this cotton voile from Fabric.com last summer without a project plan in mind.

Based on the pattern picture, I thought the dress might be a little shorter than I'm comfortable with, but it was not.  I entertained the idea of making me a pair of capri leggings to wear with it.  After looking at the pattern pieces and determining the length, it was just slightly above my knees.  I am 5'1 and did not lengthen the pattern pieces any.  Perfect...no leggings needed.

I actually made quite the error in making the sleeves.  I removed my sleeves from the pattern piece before marking.  When I did mark my sleeves, I forgot to flip one of them, giving me two right sleeves.  Unfortunately I did not notice this until AFTER I had made the continuous lap.  I thought all was lost until my wonderful husband suggested that I cut off the sleeves above the continuous lap and continue from that point again.  So, the sleeves are supposed to be a little longer, but it still worked for me. 

Overall, technically speaking, this pattern is pretty easy other than the continuous lap.  I even sewed my buttons on by machine this time.  Normally I do this by hand--why?  Never again!  It is so much quicker by machine.  

Here is a close up of the tucks on the back side.

Thanks for stopping by ~Shirley