The Button that took three days to sew on…

and I don’t even have a good reason why it took so long! Life just got in the way, I guess. But this skirt sat for three days waiting for one button. I suppose this is one reason why we have UFO’s (un finished objects).

I downloaded the PDF pattern from Dixie DIY – the Striped A Line Skirt pattern. It was pretty easy to put together. Here are some of the pieces for the skirt.

Nice dress! Thanks, I made it!!

I had a light blue denim made of 70% Cotton 28% Polyester 2% Spandex. It’s comfortable, not stiff, and has a bit of stretch. I bought top stitching thread and a light weight zipper and then decided I wanted the thread lighter weight and the zipper to be a heavier jeans zipper.

Nice dress! Thanks, I made it!!

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Still working on my Indie Patterns…

And I am sooo enjoying it! This time I am using a pattern from Skinny Bitch Curvy Chick, the Tonic 2 – with a few modifications.

Tonic 2, photo from SBCC

I have made the sleeves shorter for the summer and have made the hemline shorter in the front and longer in the back (like a mullet?).

Nice dress! Thanks, I made it!!

I found a material with a snake skin pattern on it. When I purchased it I had in mind to use the nice mellow solid blue (wrong) side, but after turning it this way and that I decided to go with the snake skinned side.

This definitely was an easy pattern: front, back and sleeves, then a few long strips for the self made bias tape around the neck, sleeves and hem – not something instructed in the pattern, but something else I decided to try. It was easy to sew with my sewing machine using a ball point needle and a long narrow zig zag stitch, holding the fabric taut as I sewed.

I used the blue (wrong) side for the bias tape, sewed it all on (blue side to snake skinned side) and then folded it over to the inside and pinned it so I could sew it again with my blind hem foot. This foot sewed the bias tape down, travelling in the ditch on the right side of the fabric, completely invisible.

Blind hem foot

My Tonic 2 turned out great and it is so comfortable to wear!

All for a grand total of $ 7.50 for the fabric plus thread – the PDF pattern was free!

NEEXXTT!

Happy sewing!

Indie Pattern Month and a 2nd “New to Me”

Ok it’s a re-run. Is it still a New-to-me if I have made it already? I don’t care! I just wanted to show you how much I really like this pattern from Teach Me Fashion, the two tone singlet!

This material was a polyester but it is so silky. It was even a little slippery to handle. I thought it would be perfect to use French seams. For those of you not familiar with French seams, you first sew the seams together wrong but then they turn out soooo right, like this…

Then you fold the seam over, iron it…

And sew it again…

You end up with this… (Never mind the double stitching here, I was being extra cautious!)

And this…

I love it!

I have read that sometimes sewist do this process exactly opposite, leaving the seam allowance “bump” on the outside to make a decorative seam. I will have to try that some day.

And remember, there are four corners on this top, first sew all your corners to reinforce them, clip to the sewing, and then sew your two pieces together in a 90 degree angle.

Oops! Before I forget, here is the rear view of my new top!

I have run out of weekends in The Monthly Stitch’s Indie Pattern month, but I haven’t run out of Indie Patterns! Two more to come, one from Dixie DIY and one from Skinny Bitch Curvy Chick!

So… Stay tuned!

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Indie Pattern Month and a “New-to-Me”

Some of us already know it is Indie Pattern Month at the Monthly Stitch, and for those who don’t… Well… It is!

This week’s challenge is “New-to-Me” – you have to sew up something using a pattern from an independent pattern maker, but it has to be a maker you have never tried before.

I have had the “Teach Me Fashion” two tone singlet PDF pattern on my mind for a while now – the possibilities with the colour blocking are endless! You can find the pattern here.

This PDF pattern has a whopping twelve pages (pfttt) and was the easiest I have ever seen to print off and assemble and cut out.

Two Tone Singlet, photo from Teach Me Fashion

I purchased this beautiful blue and black print and a plain black for the two different colour blocks.

My fabric was a 100% polyester, so I wasn’t sure if it would be suitable for this pattern as it looks like the model (doesn’t she have beautiful blond hair) is wearing more of a silk fabric. We shall see…

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