Last Day

Today is the last day of my vacation. I know I needed the time off because I haven't really done much of anything. All the best laid plans, etc., but what I did the most of was nothing. A signal to my body/soul that I needed time to just vegetate. I'd been going pretty much non-stop for a year and a half.

Alex started a new job today I helped him get with a printer we use regularly for my job. It's weird to be home while HE is at work. LOL I've been thinking about him all morning and can't wait to hear how it all went when he gets home.

On the sewing front, the mojo just hasn't been there. Oh well. That's just how it goes sometimes. I did manage to eek out a couple of things and rework some others, and there's still the rest of today and, who knows, I just might get a wild hair. ;-)

I made this top, shown last post, and then made this skirt morph between my beloved Magic Pencil and the Neue Mode.

Instead of being pegged inward, using the NM shape flares out the hem a little. I again incorporated slits into the flare and topstitched the side seams with a triple straight stitch. It's still a boring brown skirt, but it has a little more visual interest now. And I wear brown at the office like NYers wear black so it's nice to have YABS in a lighter shade of brown.

Here's the one pattern piece, after morphing the two patterns together. If you have the MP, you can see how easy it is to change up the shape a bit.

Next, I "fixed" this HP Butterfly top that I made to wear on my last birthday. I wore it that day and then never wore it again because it was just too low and I felt like the middle of my bra was on display. It wasn't really, but every time *I* looked down, I could almost see my navel.

Originally, the tie was only attached at the back neck. I slid it under the neckline stitching and stitched on top of the coverstitching to hold the tie bands in place, effectively raising the neckline two inches. I think this will get worn now because I do still really like the shape of the top on me.

Next, while straightening up my closet, I found this wrap top that I made a few years ago. I always liked the fabric, which is 3D/textural - the "print" is a print but it's also separate little pieces fused to a black background. But I was never really fond of the top on me. And since I made it when I weighed a lot more, it certainly wasn't doing me any favors now. I tried it on and completely by accident noticed that when untied, that half looked a lot like a waterfall cardi.

So, I snipped it apart where the inside wrap was sewn to the sideseam and then snipped off the ties. And, voila! A waterfall cardi that I like a lot better. Since the fabric is 3D, the raw edges where I snipped don't even show. I think this will actually get worn now, even through summer as my office is always on the chilly side. A/C does that to us Floridians. We freeze when it's not 80 degrees.

I also resewed a CB seam on a skirt that needed reinforcement above the walking vent and I want to hem a pair of black pants that have been waiting in my closet for a year. Yeah, I'm bad with repairs/mending. I have good intentions but never motivation to do these tasks that take 15 minutes. Pitiful.

Frankenpattern: KS2694-Otto0207-Walmart

So, first things first. Here is the result of too many weekends spent car shopping. And the worst part? We both ended up buying from the first dealer we went to. lol Alex's is on the left - a blue/gray 2011 Mercury Milan. Mine is the other, a metallic gray 2013 Ford Focus hatchback.

This is the official Ford photo. It looks better than mine. (One would hope.) I like it. I don't love it yet. It wasn't my first choice but I needed to go with the Focus with the bigger rebate so I could pay off my previous car and not be upside down in it. I miss my old car. But it was time to let her go, since it was pushing 100K miles and I could "feel" things were starting to go. Don't misunderstand, it's definitely nice to have a new car and I do love the techno-geeky stuff inside. And I'm sure I will love the much-improved gas mileage.

So, on to sewing. Yes, there HAS been some sewing going on here. Not much, so this isn't really gonna be a true sewcation, but any sewing is more than I've done lately.

No, I did not make this top. I bought this one at Walmart a few weeks ago for $5. And I would wear it every stinkin' day if I could. I love it that much. So, all previous sewing plans went by the wayside (yes, I still have that humungous stack of Hot Patterns gathering dust now) as I decided I *had* to recreate it so I could have another one since Walmart only had this one print.

It's a crossover with an all-around empire seam. The front has fold-over facings. There is gathering on the crossovers below the bust and slight gathering center front on both top and bottom. Not so much that it screams maternity. Just enough that it flows over the middle-aged lumps nicely.

The back neckline has a self-fabric turned-down binding as a facing.

So I started digging through the pattern stash for an exact replica. Yeah, I didn't find one. Why is it with hundreds of patterns, we NEVER have the exact thing we want?

Kwik Sew 2694 was the closest.

I last made this almost TEN YEARS AGO. OMG time flies.(Speaking of which, Tuesday was the 1st anniversary of The Day Which Shall Not Be Mentioned. How can I be a year even older now? But it was a good day, spent in St. Augustine with my 3 sons. Yes, 3. My stepson is the one who lives in St. A. Tyler drove down for a long weekend with him. Alex went over Saturday and I joined them all on Tuesday.)

This is the photo from my 2004 review, in which I noted that the armholes were too low/wide. But the underbust seam was hitting at the right place so I thought this would be a good start for a morph. And guess what? I still have the tee so I could actually try it on again. I really don't know why I still have it since I don't think I've worn it since 2004. But sometimes the universe works these things out for you.

So I took out the KS pieces and laid them on my Ottobre TNT pieces and came up with new pieces. Mainly, it was using the Otto armholes/sleeves on the general shape of the KS front. Which I then slash/spread to create the underbust gathers like the Walmart top. I added a fold-on facing to the top section and some additional CF width to the bottom piece. None of this was scientific. I just eyeballed it all. I also decided the empire seam on the back did nothing and wouldn't show in a print anyway, so I just used the Otto back piece as-is, except for widening the shoulders inward toward the neck to match the front of the KS/Otto morph, which meant I re-traced that piece too.

And the finished result? Perfect! It fits JUST LIKE the Walmart top, which in this case, is a really good thing.

Here's a close-up of the gathering.

And the insides. Where, if you're paying attention, you can see that I "fixed" the wrap to be right over left, as it should be. The Walmart top actually crosses left over right. But I never even noticed that until today. Proving that we're a lot less picky about RTW than our own makes. Remember that!

Here's the back, sans empire seam. Which will never be missed, and saved a few steps in pattern morphing and construction.

I still need to coverstitch the hems. The bottom "hem" you see here is merely glued up and waiting for me to change threads on the CS machine, which I'll do after I post this so I can finish the top.

Next up, another morph. A skirt from a mix of the Magic Pencil and Neue Mode. I wear the black Neue Mode skirt ALL the time and it's time for YABS (yet another brown skirt). I won't count them if you won't. ;-)

I'm here

No sewing since my last post. Work was busy, busy, busy. Life has been busy. And then throw in car shopping for not one, but TWO cars (me and Alex). I'm pooped!

As of last weekend Alex is set, but I'm still shopping and don't know if I'll end up with something new. It's such a pain in the butt and I'm losing motivation.

But I'm now on a staycation until April 2 and I'm hoping to turn it into a sewcation but first another trip to the car dealer today. Stay tuned ...

Ready for Takeoff!

This top is a lot more flattering in person and in motion. It has movement which doesn't show in still pics. I like it and it's comfortable, and I received at least 10 unsolicitations/compliments on it today. So it's a hit with the coworkers too. I definitely feel a 2-piece dress coming on at some point soonish. I can't tell you how many times I lifted my arms today like in the first pic ... just feeling goofy with the bat wings. LOL

I changed my mind about the brown skirt and pulled out the black instead. No real reason, except I was feeling the black more this morning.

Carolyn asked what happened to my sewcation. It's been put on hold until after the first week in March due to work obligations but it's coming. I just need to pick my dates. Maybe my birthday week? I think I need to schedule a haircut during that time too cuz I'm looking very shaggy. Yikes.

SIHPC Make #1 (HP1142)

The first make of my Self-Imposed Hot Patterns Challenge is done! Granted, it was the easiest out of the bunch, but I was just happy to get back into the sewing room. Work has been very busy, and I've gone into the office the last two Saturdays. And since last Sunday was the Superbowl, today was my first real opportunity for undivided stitching time.

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This top is VERY batwing and VERY '80s, but I think I like it. I used to wear similar tops IN the '80s which means I'm OLD, but it will be fun to be on trend even if for a second time. I'm planning to wear it with a solid brown skirt tomorrow, but it will go with a black skirt (or pants) too. Actually, it will go with many solid colors. 

As for the pattern -- it's pretty straightforward but it runs HUGE, so be forewarned. I was, since I read the reviews on Pattern Review, and I'll be sure to add my own review when I have a minute and a photo of me in it since those reviews definitely saved this trial version for me. I'm not sure what my current HP size is but I think I would've started with a 14 at neck and sized out to a 16 for hip. For this top, I traced and cut a straight 12. And it fits fine, including the hip/waist band, although it's still too wide in the neck so next time I will add to the shoulder at the neck edge to keep the bra straps covered. For this one, I'll be sewing in lingerie guards tonight while keeping an eye on Downton Abbey.

For this "muslin," I made a couple of small changes from the pattern instructions mostly as personal preference. First, I eliminated the center back seam and cut on the fold. There was absolutely no reason for a seam here, except to use the neckband method per the pattern -- which I also eliminated because I'd rather have a neckband sewn in the round than try to match/finish a CB neckband seam sewn as the back bodice seam. I coverstitched the binding seam allowance flat as you can mostly see in this blurry photo below.

I also eliminated the sleevebands since (1) the sleeves were going to be too long and (2) the size 12 sleevebands were going to have to be stretched beyond belief to fit the size 12 sleeve opening. If you DO decide to use bands to finish the sleeves, cut them a size or two up and/or pre-gather the sleeve opening before attaching to the band. Or, take the lazy way out like I did and just turn the edge under and coverstitch/stitch to create a casing for narrow elastic. Since the full sleeves blouse over the edge finish when worn, no one will see what method you choose anyway. ;-)

Here's the top lifted from falling over the hip/waist band to give an idea of how wide it is. I coverstitched here too.

I like this top, especially since I was fearing another sack could've easily resulted. I don't know if I could've stood another wadder. LOL It's a fast sew, which is also a plus for me right now.

I think it would make half of a fantastic 2-piece dress, with the Magic Pencil being the bottom half. I used to rock me some dropped waist dresses in the '80s (with the requisite linebacker shoulder pads!) and maybe I can again (sans the pads).