Falling in Love with Corduroy!

by alwaysacraftylady

I’ve been on a real corduroy kick lately. When I was younger I mostly bought quilting cottons because those were readily available and affordable. This was back before the boom in indie fabric production. You could by other types of fabric, but JoAnn’s mostly had polyester and it was incredibly hard to judge fabrics for purchase online. The few times I tried ordering I had very mixed results. So today I love that so many of the newer fabric companies (and many older ones too) are coming out with fabrics suited to garment sewing. Bring on the corduroy!!!

Elizabeth Olwen’s collection Floratopia from Cloud 9 is gorgeous. A lot of other lines skew too twee for me, but these are more appropriate for the whimsical adult so I purchased dress quantities in two colors ways, Go Your Own Way and Tiny Dancer.

Then I turned to the Emery Dress pattern from Christine Haynes. I saw a sample of the Emery Dress in the window at Sew LA (which recently closed, sob!) and purchased it immediately. I love it’s classic styling with fun details. Corduroy is not a recommended fabric, but I knew from sewing with Rae Hoekstra’s Small World fabric that it is light weight and has good drape. I forged on.

It is largely a very successful dress!

But the neckline it too big. In the front it is okay. Wearable for sure, but the back bags really terribly. You can see where the zipper is flipping out and there is just inches and inches of extra fabric.

So this weekend I’m going to try and tackle altering the back so it fits a little more closely. I want room to move, but this is just too much. I should have made a muslin I know, but I made this for Halloween and was on a tight deadline! Thankfully the way Christine designed the darts in the back means that it shouldn’t be too difficult to take in and hopefully I’ll be able to update you soon! Especially since I have another dress quantity of fabric to work up and the weather is actually fall-like in LA. Yay Fall!

12Oct2015

Rain Dance Jumper

by alwaysacraftylady

I had so many good intentions to get decent photos of this dress before Charlie really started wearing it and potentially staining it. But getting a busy 11 month old to stand or sit still is not happening.

First I tried our yard, but she looks like she is in baby jail.

Then we went to Target and the little monkey spent the entire shopping trip trying to stand up and climb out of the cart. See that look on her face? Trouble. Oh yes we have trouble right here in River City, or uh Pasadena.

Anyways, I thought I’d have one more chance to get in some good photos before she wore this dress to day care and it ended up covered in formula and dirt and who knows what else. We went apple picking this weekend and I fully admit I had a mental picture that we would suddenly be transported to New England. But of course the orchard was in Southern California and it was a bright and sunny day. The light was much too harsh for photos. Plus the ground was mostly dirt, gravel, and burs. Nothing you’d want your baby to crawl on with no covering for her knees.

In the end I gave up trying to get the perfect photo of our baby in her dress and sure enough I got a few cute photos…when we stopped by a brewery on our way home. Figures.

Look at those sisters in their matching outfits. Warms this momma’s heart to see her girls in coordinating homemade outfits. A lady stopped me at Target to compliment me and it was such a great moment when she asked if I’d made their outfits. Probably something she doesn’t see a lot, but used to be such a standard part of childhood. I love being about to make them such nice things to wear.

I’m calling this Charlie’s rain dance jumper because I keep hoping if I make her more corduroy dresses we’ll get the El Nino rain that’s been promised. At least my girls are ready for it if you considering wearing umbrellas to count as preparedness!

The dress is sewn with Small World Fabric from Rae Hoekstra. I bought a couple yards of 3 different prints specifically to make clothes for this winter. Making a toddler skirt and an infant dress has exhausted this print. Lu doesn’t really need more clothes since she wears uniforms 4 days a week, but Charlie’s supply dwindled once I cleared out all the 6 month sized clothes. So I’m sure most of the other 2 remaining prints will be used for baby clothes first.

The pattern is Geranium Dress which is easily my go-to pattern for kid dresses. Simple, quick to sew, lots of options to customize it. You’ll be seeing many more of these in the near future.

In other sewing news, not a ton is happening right now. I’m knitting away on a sweater for my husband and that take the majority of my crafting time. If you follow me on Instagram you’ve probably seen a lot of boring grey knitting posts like this one. A sleeve!

When I’m not knitting I’m working on Halloween costumes and my first (I think ever) plaid dress. Hope to have something else to share with you soon! So many plans, so little time.

30Sep2015

Victorian Dresses and Glittery Ghosts!

by alwaysacraftylady

I seem to have stumbled into Selfish Sewing Week! Hooray! I love when my project links with some sort of sewing celebration. It helps push me to finish something when I otherwise would procrastinate. For instance now that it is getting dark so early I need to have my husband take picture on the weekends. So last weekend he took photos of my new dress. but I didn’t like the photos. Luckily he was home earlier tonight, so yay! New better pictures in time for the celebration!

Enter another Washi!

This one is even better than my last Washi Dress. Made with soft Cotton + Steel Spellbound I bought at my local quilt store. I’d originally fallen in love with this pattern in lavender, but my LQS only had this soft rose in stock. This is probably a better color with my complexion anyways.

I also added the sleeves from the Washi Expansion Pack and am totally thrilled with the fit of them! Usually my arm measurement is far far different from a pattern’s measurement, but in this case fit so well that I didn’t have to alter the pattern one little bit. Yes!!!

I also added about 2 inches to the length of the skirt.

It is a little hard to see in the photos, but on my previous version in Liberty the length ends at this odd point in the middle of my knee. So this version I aimed for just below the knee and when I wear it with my black shoes the length looks really nice. Those are the shoes I’ll usually wear with this dress. We were racing the daylight and the baby’s desire for dinner tonight so I didn’t change shoes after work tonight.

There is still one more alteration I’m going to need to make to the Washi pattern before I make it again. The neckline. It gaps a lot more than I’d like. I’m sure part of it is the FBA I added, but I’ve seen quite a few people have the same issues. I’d finished the whole dress and had to go back and somehow fix it.

This will do, but next time for sure I will be rotating the extra fabric out to the bust dart. Having to take out all the top stitching was a pain, but worth it.

Now if only the weather would cooperate. I really want to wear this fun fabric as much as I can before Halloween and especially when I volunteer for Mourning Tours. Victorian gowns and glittering ghosts seem the perfect combination when helping guests at the event. But we’ll see. I may need to dress in my full Victorian dress depending on where I’m stationed. If nothing else I can wear this once a week to work where it is air conditioned.

And look who is 11 months old! We sent out invitations to her Halloween 1st birthday party and I can’t wait to celebrate my funny and determined tiny girl.

7Sep2015

Liberty Meets Washi

by alwaysacraftylady

Oh Liberty of London. I wanted to believe your fabric was not worth the crazy high price. That it was just the name and not really that nice. But this week I had my first chance to make a garment and I’m a believer.

Oh and maybe you have heard of a sewing pattern called Washi Dress? It might have been featured on a blog or two or perhaps about a thousand. Forgive me. I’ve been busy having babies and am just catching onto these trends!

Anyways, a few months ago I opened my Liberty Club package from Westwood Acres and gasped when I saw the top fabric on the pack. It was the Whiltshire pattern in color way S. A classic, but new to me! They offered a discount to club members who wanted to purchase yardage, so I took advantage to purchase 3.5 yards, the recommended yardage for Washi in an XL.

And I love it. The combination worked so well. Because Liberty is 53 inches wide I was able to cut the pieces on the cross grain and fully line the entire dress with the 3.5 yards. Fully self lined. Luxurious.

And after wearing nothing but knit dresses with a cross over front for the last oh…10 months, it feels amazing to wear a regular dress. A-ma-zing. Plus all the shirring in the back highlights the fact that I do still have a waist!

Of course I did have to make a few alterations. I did a 2 inch FBA, lowered the bust dart 1 inch, added 1.5 inches to the bodice length, and added about 1 inch to the hips. All of these alterations were relatively simple and made the Washi pattern into something that will be incredibly versatile for my life. Casual enough for the weekend, but nice enough for the office with better shoes and my favorite sweater. Looks like I might need to make a sway back adjustment next time, but this is still a solid start.

Okay, maybe the sweater isn’t the best shape, but oh so soft and a perfect weight for LA. And I just put buttons on a new cardigan today. Perhaps it will suit the shape a little better. We’ll see.

But my main take away from this project is that 1) shirring is so damn easy and 2) Liberty is worth every penny. These pictures were taken on a hot day when I’d been running around and sweating and it did not wrinkle a bit. Magic.

2Jul2015

Not Quite Utopian Dress

by alwaysacraftylady

This dress started off so well. I picked some bright and beautiful fabric from the Utopia collection from Art Gallery Fabrics. So cheerful! So summery! Perfect for a dress to wear to the office.

I dutifully picked a pattern. Something breastfeeding friendly and nice for work. Something to highlight my smallest point and gloss over my still pudgy midsection.

Then I cut out the pattern…and made the first mistake. I didn’t layout all the pattern pieces before cutting. I never do. But this time I misread the layout on the directions and had cut the pieces with the fold on the wrong edge. Which means when I went to cut the very last piece, the front skirt panel…there was no fold to cut it on. But I soldiered on and cut the skirt to have a seam down the middle. Not ideal, but also not the end of the world.

And then I sewed the dress together.

This was how it fit the first time around. Notice the gaping in the bust and the huge amount of ease in the underarm!

Okay, at this point I should back up and explain. You see when I picked a pattern the only size range in stock was the plus size version Simplicity 1653. It’s one of their Amazing Fit patterns with options for make a pattern to fit multiple bust sizes and body shapes. I had researched to see what other people had done with the pattern and seen over all positive results. I had also studied the pattern to see what size I should cut and landed on the 20W curvy fit. In theory the pattern should have come out pretty close to perfect, but as you can see the reality was different.

In order to make it wearable I took it in 4 inches overall from underarm to waist. And I took it up 2 inches in the shoulder. That made it a lot more wearable even though it also make the bust darts a little too high. Whew!

Then I started hemming the skirt and…cut a hole in the fabric. Seriously. This is the dress that just didn’t want to be. But I was stubborn. I love this fabric. I was going to make it work.

And I did.

I even fixed the whole in the fabric pretty nicely. But when I wore the dress to work I got so annoyed with the tie. Its bulky and every time I moved or had a pumping session I would have to wrestle the dress back into shape. It was annoying.

So I took it back to the machine and took off the tie closure and sewed the wrap into the side seam.

It made the dress a tad bit tight. I didn’t have any extra fabric to extend the front panel a little bit, but at least now I want to wear the dress. Before it would have just sat around unloved. Ease of wearing is just such a deal breaker right now. Plus I wear cardigans all the time, so the pulling isn’t so noticeable at work.

In the end this is not a pattern I’ll be attempting again. There were just too many issues. But at least I got one mostly wearble dress from all the time I put into it. And with weaning only 3 or 4 months away I can start dreaming of sewing clothes without boob access as the #1 consideration!

27Apr2015

Kids Clothes Week: Day 7!

by alwaysacraftylady

Ta-da! Last day! Here on the West Coast I suppose I still have 90 minutes, but I’m calling it done. Today I managed to fit in one last project. Another Geranium Dress for my younger daughter Charlie.

My friend Erica gave me a completely random package of fabric. It turned out to be maybe several eighth yards of the Moda Grunge collection as far as I can tell from what I could read from the selvedges. And I had lots of small pieces of fabric left over from the dress I made from Cotton + Steel double gauze. The little slip of Moda fabric was exactly as much as I needed to cut out the bodice of the dress.

It was also the perfect color match. I even had buttons to finish it off and a husband who took Charlie to run errands while Lu took a nap. I almost had it totally finished by the time he returned.

And I love that it is lined with double gauze. Nothing but softness for my pretty little baby.

So here is the full lineup of what I completed this week.

And everything even has buttons.

Happy Kids Clothes Week!

26Apr2015

Kids Clothes Week: Day 5 and 6!

by alwaysacraftylady

Okay so late night I was all set up to make a new school dress for my older daughter Lu. And there I am tucking her into bed and telling her I’m going to start a new dress for her when she starts talking about how she doesn’t like dresses and wants a skirt. Kids. She’s slowly becoming more interested in wearing skirts and that is difficult because I started putting her in dresses because I couldn’t find pants or skirts small enough to stay on her waist. Anyways, now she likes to wear skirts more only I have all these dress patterns ready to sew for her.

Last night I didn’t sew. I knit instead. At least I was knitting for Lu so I think it still counts for Kids Clothes Week. I was able to bind off the sweater and now is only needs ends woven, buttons sewn on, and a good bath.

This is Petal from Brooklyn Tweed in Anzula Nebula. The color way is Petals so I figured the combination was meant to be.

Anyways today I decided that I’m the parent and I know Lu has to wear navy and red to school so I made the dress.

This is from the same pattern as the umbrella skirt Olive + S’s Hopscotch. It is made with some awful poly blend interlock I bought at JoAnn’s. I hate this fabric. I still have half of what I bought left over.

But it will make a serviceable school dress and that’s the point. Now what do I make tomorrow for the last dat of Kids Clothes Week? I’ve made more things for my older daughter, but she was also more in need of clothes. Should I sew the baby some love tomorrow?

23Apr2015

Kids Clothes Week: Day 3!

by alwaysacraftylady

Today’s sewing brought to you by this tool

That’s right, a seam ripper. Adding the piping didn’t go very smoothly. It’s been more than 10 years since I last tackled sewing in piping so I did what lots of people do…I headed to the internet for some tips. I don’t have a piping foot for my machine, so I tried using my zipper foot and then proceeded to swear and yell while ripping it out 3 times. Finally I put my regular foot back on the machine and got the piping to go in nice and smooth. Well, except for sewing the skirt into the waist multiple times in both dresses. It’s that kind of night.

In the end I got both finished except buttons and buttonholes. I couldn’t find any buttons to match in my stash, so I’ll hit up a store this weekend or maybe even one of these evenings if I have a chance.

I think I like them as is with the selvedge edge as the hem. What do you think? I’d love to hear some opinions since I have a few more days to finish these before the deadline!

I tossed these cute fabrics in the wash tonight. Tomorrow I think I’ll start on a skirt for DD1 in either the umbrellas or the lemons.

22Apr2015

Kids Clothes Week: Day 2!

by alwaysacraftylady

Dinner time, bath time, nurse the baby, and do the dishes. A mother’s work never seems to be done, but tonight I carved out my sewing hour again. I made good progress on my girls’ outfits! Bodices are ready to be attached to the skirts. I made could have kept going tonight, but I want to add navy piping between the bodices and skirts. I need to be more rested to tackle piping!

I think they are off to a good start. And it is nice to make clothes with just plain quilting cotton. I’ve been using other types of cotton fabrics lately and quilting cotton is just so much easier to work with.

I’m exceedingly pleased with the the way the backs of the skirts meet.

However the back of the viewfinder bodice was not as orderly. Of well. Tomorrow I tackle piping, hemming, and buttonholes.

21Apr2015

Kids Clothes Week: Day 1!

by alwaysacraftylady

And so it begins. Today is day 1 of Kids Clothes Week and I am joining the challenge to take an hour a day to sew for my kids.

Step 1: Get your dog to get off of the fabric.

I have some good fabrics to pick from, but I only had a couple choices washed and ready to go, so I picked a couple prints from the Cotton + Steel Playful collection. Did you know the jacks fabric has a border? I did not, but now that I do it will be at the hem of DD1’s dress.