A UFO – not lost, but found!

Last weekend I attacked with renewed energy one of the UFOs I found when I was analyzing my #MMMay2018 results and inventorying my fabric. (Found? First I would have to I admit it was lost! Never!)

I had previously made a Designer me-made Copy of a GAP tank top for my sister with a beautiful deep teal green stretch knit, 90% polyester, 7% rayon and 3% spandex, posted here. Since there was fabric leftover from that project, and it is a beautiful fabric not to be wasted, I told my sister that I was sure I could squeeze a simple tee shirt out of the remnant. Continue reading →

My first time wearing Orange …

I do like this fabric. But this is the first time I have had Orange in my closet. I guess it is okay for the warm, sunny summer months? It was just beautiful outside when I started taking photos of my finished Orange dress, until the wind picked up!

For my #sewtogetherforsummer Challenge I asked you which fabric I should use for my wrap dress, you all voted on it here. Since this Orange knit fabric was the runner up by a close margin, I thought I would use it next for my McCalls M5974, view A. A reader was curious to know how I liked this pattern… and I just want to tell you I LOVED it! It went together very easily. I might just make another, except next time I would use a more stable knit than I did this time. The Orange knit I used was in reality more suitable for activewear. But it survived, and so did I!

Seems like this pattern was well-loved on Patternreview too!

Continue reading →

I learned something …

… even though there really wasn’t much sewing this last week. There was a lot of reading and exercising, but not much sewing. I did learn something though!

I participated in the “Makers for Fashion Revolution” daily themes organized by @inthefolds on Instagram. The daily themes made me think seriously about Fashion Revolution Week (April 23 – 29th). Some of the daily themes were easy to interpret and display on my Instagram @nicedressthanksimadeit, for example: “I made my clothes”. Other daily themes took a lot of thought, for example: “Natural Fibres”. As soon as I saw that one, I realized that, although I know the names of many fabrics, I do not know how most are made or which ones are really “sustainable”!

I researched and found a couple of interesting articles on “1 Million Women” and “The Guardian“. Continue reading →

#sewtogetherforsummer Wrap Dress

I’m done! Just in time for the sunshine too! This was an easy pattern to make. I love it! I’ve made a Sewaholic Yaletown before here. It was even easier this time as I already had the pieces traced and was very familiar with the pattern. So when @rocco.sienna, @sewsarahsmith and @sewing_in_spain announced their Instagram #sewtogetherforsummer Wrap Dress Challenge this year I was happy to make another Yaletown Wrap Dress.

I made sure I cut and matched my stripes/Chevron print carefully – pinning each stripe every few inches.

Continue reading →

Sometimes I get distracted …

I am almost finished my #sewtogetherforsummer Wrap dress, which you might have read about last week. Due to some careful pattern/stripe matching I am happy with how things are turning out.

This Sewaholic pattern, the Yaletown, has been a joy to work with. This is my second Yaltetown, my first one was made with a woven fabric, not a knit. So second time around, sewing it up has gone pretty smoothly. The only changes I made to this pattern, just like the first time it was made, was to make the bodice slightly larger as I love the loose, comfortable feel of it. I also lengthened the bodice just an inch.

I’m not sure how it happened but I did manage to have a closely matching thread in my stash!

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Waiting impatiently …

Perhaps you remember from last week that I asked for some help in choosing my fabric for the #sewtogetherforsummer Wrap Dress Challenge? Well I have my answer now, thank you Kind Readers! It was a pretty close race!

First choice, although it was close, was … the blue Chevron! (for lack or a better description)

Second choice by just 3 votes was … the orange Chevron!

So I have decided to sew both fabrics up … with few slight changes …

Continue reading →

What do you think?

We had a lovely Easter long weekend here – the weather was even acceptable! I hope you had a lovely Easter too.

I didn’t get much accomplished though, but I did manage to browse through some sewing blogs and IG feeds. I discovered @rocco.sienna @sewsarahsmith and @sewing_in_spain have organized #sewtogetherforsummer on IG again! I think this year I’m going to organize myself and my sewing and join in!

Last year the theme for #sewtogetherforsummer was Shirt dresses. I didn’t manage to sew up a Shirt dress, but I have been collecting Shirt dress patterns ever since.

I also managed to recently buy some lovely Shirt dress fabric, 3 meters of 100% rayon. I’m one step closer!

This year I am not missing #sewtogetherforsummer. If you would like to read more about #sewtogetherforsummer you can check out all the details here, but basically:

a. I have to sew a Wrap dress; and

b. by June 21st, I have post it on Instagram, tagging and following properly, of course.

Continue reading →

Stripes!

I’ve had this striped fabric in my stash since my visit to my sister a summer or two ago. It’s a heavier weight knit than what I usually have and I quite like it. The red stripe is quite bright too, which brings the grey, blue and black to life for me.

I had always planned to make this skirt, Vogue 1292, a “Today’s Fit” by Sandra Betzina, and I purchased this striped fabric for that sole purpose.

But you might already know from personal experience how easy it is to get led astray by fabrics and patterns. Continue reading →

Don’t need buttons for this one …

… and I found the perfect buttons for my last project. But before I show them to you, let me show you what I made with the remnants of my paisley Topaz knit. I had some of this lovely fabric – 85% polyester, 10% rayon, 5% spandex – left over, just enough. I think I have made a few of these McCalls tops before – one of the other ones I made is here.

Continue reading →

No Buttons!

Fresh off the Day and Night Dress Challenge, Coffee and Cocktails, I’m headed to Lisbon…

… the Lisbon Cardigan by Itch to Stitch, that is.

I cut out my pattern pieces and fabric with the help of Sophie!

I love this knit fabric, a “shades of grey” (and black) paisley Topaz knit, 85% polyester, 10% rayon, 5% spandex. Others seem to like it too! I have two co-workers who have RTW cardigans in variations of grey paisley knit – that’s why I knew I had to have one too!