Archive | June, 2011

another ginger – western style

28 Jun

i love this ginger pattern, y’all. it’s so easy to sew, flattering to wear, etc etc. after casey posted a tutorial for scalloped pockets, i knew i needed to make another one asap. here’s the fun part of the story – i stopped by a moving sale on my way to the fabric store (i needed to have my scissors sharpened & i thought i would buy some khaki twill to make into a western-y skirt) and ended up buying a gigantic bag of fabric for $20… including 4 yards of khaki twill! haha i love it when this stuff works out in my favor!

i still got my scissors sharpened, though. they now cut like a hot knife through buttah. and the scissor man complimented my excellent choice in shears. yes, i blushed.

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completed: simplicity 3061

27 Jun

ah, simplicity 3061, the would-be wadder. i swear, i almost threw this in the don’t-ask-don’t-tell UFO pile at least a couple of times due to fitting issues, but decided to stick it out (mostly because of the time i spent on the buttonholes :B). i’m still not 100% sold on the fit, but it’s definitely passable. and comfortable! and the buttonholes look great! yeah!

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bound buttonholes, revisited

21 Jun

time for a new sewing project!
Photobucket
simplicity 3061, in a soft/lightweight navy linen with a contrasting white linen collar.
i was going to make view 1 with the sleeves, but i followed the wrong pattern layout and now i don’t have enough linen for sleeves… oh well! sleeveless it is!

this post is actually kind of boring because i haven’t had a chance to make much real progress on the dress, save for cutting. fortunately, the muslin fit pretty well (with a few minor tweaks that can be adjusted while sewing up the actual garment) so that’s a win! man, i love me a good sewing pattern that fits straight out the envelope.

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completed: the colette ginger skirt

16 Jun

ah, the colette ginger skirt. a project that should have been quick & simple (do i hear the warning bells ringing in your head yet? how about now?). of course, “quick & simple” isn’t really an option for me, so i added a few extra steps to make myself feel like i was accomplishing something. and herein lies the rub: my two hour skirt ended up turning into a 4 hour skirt. and, as much as i’d love to pass this blame on someone else, i can’t. sometimes, we just gotta take this stuff in stride & accept the fact that we make things harder for ourselves. or wait, is that just me? whatever.

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tutorial: how to insert a fly-front zipper

13 Jun

here is the fly-front zipper tutorial i promised y’all! it’s not perfect by any means – i’m still learning zippers myself! but this is a pretty easy, tried-and-true method that delivers great results.

you want to start with the front of your shorts (or pants!), sewn together up to the point where the bottom of the zipper will reside. we will be working flat – no back or side seams yet. this makes the insertion much easier and quicker.
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completed: simplicity 5110 red high-waisted shorts

10 Jun

just finished another piece for my summer wardrobe – yeah!!

shorts pattern

i’ve been meaning to make these forever – it’s almost embarrassing how long i’ve put this off.
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completed: the colette sorbetto top

7 Jun

this project is kind of a let-down, to be honest. i made the sorbetto top, courtesy of colette patterns. i had some high hopes for this one, y’all – colette patterns are so pretty & well-drafted and ughh i even had the best fabric. however, the appeal of overfitting (which isn’t normally a gigantic problem for me, but it certainly is when the garment in question is supposed to hang loose!) turned this guy into something kind of ho-hum. not at the fault of the pattern itself – i think i just needed to cut it bigger. oh well, live & learn, right?

i’ll start by showing you the pretty fabric i bought:
sheer rayon fabric
isn’t it lovelyyy? sheerish, 50″ wide, 100% rayon. i bought it (a little over a yard) for $5! too bad it’s a BITCH AND A HALF to sew. omg i’m never sewing sheer fabrics again.
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completed: the white eyelet maxi dress

6 Jun

another weekend, another dress! ideally, i should have had this done much much sooner – it was pretty straightforward as far as construction & fitting goes. i feel like i never have enough time in the summer to work on my sewing, though, because i’m too busy running around, seeing friends & riding my bike & lounging on the front porch with a cup of coffee & my bff!

anyway, i finished this over the weekend, wore it over the weekend (ironically, to buy more fabric. haha!!), and even took some pictures so i could share with everyone 🙂 this dress marks a couple firsts – my first maxi, my first underlining attempt, my first time working with soo much trim. it also marks the last time i am ever sewing so many tiered ruffles! haha! omg those ruffles were such a paaaain.

anyway, dress deets:
eyelet dress - patterns
i frankenpattered this one; the bodice & midriff is simplicity 9164 (without the contrast or trimming) and the skirt is mccall’s 5648.
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WTF: our new etsy shop!

1 Jun

my roommate/bestie & i have decided to combine creative forces & open our own etsy shop! we are planning on manning a booth at this year’s tomato art festival (oh yes, we nashvillians love our tomatoes), but we thought it wise to start early & dip our toes in, so to speak. we have named ourselves the wicked tomato factory (WTF for short!).

i made pincushions! y’all know how i feel about a good pincushion 🙂
pincushion1
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